CHAPTER NINETY-NINE

To celebrate 200 reviews on FFN and 125 on TWCS here's chapter 99. The first bit of this chapter is a a slightly modified scene from the series.

Clay moves to the doors of the Sons inner sanctum and whistles loudly, gathering everyone's attention "Welcome to club reaper, I'm glad you all made your reservations early cause as you can see we're booked to capacity. You're here cause you're family, and because SAMCRO takes care of its own. Next couple of days this clubs got some business to handle which could put our members and the people connected to us in unfriendly situations. Now chances are nothings gonna happen but shit's already happened that hit too close to home and that ain't ever gonna happen again." Clay pauses for a second and glances at me before continuing. "Nobody gets in nobody leaves without an escort. You got a safety concern you talk to Piney, comfort concern you talk to my Queen."

Looking around the room he smiles at the table right by the doors through to the Chapel where Jax has deposited me with Lyla, Cherry, Al and Donna "There are a number of new faces, all of them are just as trustworthy as you all are. Each of you is here because I love you; all of you, make yourself at home and know that under this roof you'll all be safe."

The guys all vanish into the chapel with that and Gemma joins our table, sliding in beside me with a frown "Did Jax tell you anything about why Clay ordered a lockdown?"

I shake my head "No, he was too busy sorting his stuff out and Hap wouldn't tell me anything either."

Gemma chuckles "Well then I guess we all find out cause I've got no idea either." Glancing over at her I can see she's frustrated at the lack of information she's been given but her smile is enough to make all the children and women in the room relax. One of the lower level crow eaters comes past with a tray of coffee cups, another one behind with a tray holding coffee, milk and sugar. Offering it to all of us each of the Old Ladies I'm sitting with accepts a cup of coffee by I feel my face turn slightly green at the thought of it which makes Al chuckle and Gemma frown.

Turning towards the older of the two Gemma cocks her head to the side "In the kitchen there's a red box of teabags, Donna and Sarah will both have one of them with half a teaspoon of honey from the jar on top of the fridge. And leave the bags in the cups."

Over 2 hours later the doors to the Chapel reopen and a stream of Sons comes out, all of the Redwood members, 4 Nomads, 3 from Fresno, 2 each from San Bernadino and San Gabriel along with a single Son from Eureka, Reno, Indian Hills and Tacoma have the members number swelled to 25, not including the prospects from each charter who have been outside on guard duty.

The noise level in the room decreases as they all exit, each of them heading towards their families or the bar.

Kozik pauses at the door to the Chapel and looks at Tig "You okay with this Tiggie?"

Glancing over my shoulder at them I see Tig shrug "Yeah it's all good. You wanna kiss?"

Kozik grimaces and walks off towards the bar, the crowd swallowing him as Tig turns to Clay "I'm not okay with this"

Clay chuckles "I couldn't tell." Patting Tig on the back he gestures towards us "If it makes you feel better I'll put you on permanent protection. Any of them want to leave the lot you go, along with at least one other full patch and a prospect if you need it."

Tig nods, pulls a chair over between Gemma and Lyla and grins "So I get chick babysitting duty."

I roll my eyes but Donna reaches over and lifts a bit of his hair, turning to Al "I think you're right, if we straightened it it probably would touch his elbows."

Tig leans back in his chair for a second before grinning widely and leaning forward "I've always wondered what I'd look like with straight hair. When are we doing this?"

Clay laughs as he crouches down "Not right now oh so odd one. Gem, can you and Sarah go through to the apartment, Jax and I will be there in a few to tell you what's up."

Gemma nods, getting to her feet and using Abel as a reason to leave the room. The fact that he fell asleep in my arms about 15 minutes before a good enough reason to remove him from the main room where the level of smoke is increasing rapidly. Donna heads in the other direction, out the door, with Opie right behind her. The seriousness of the lockdown evident by the fact that apparently we're not even aloud outside without an escort.

I sit on the couch in the corner of the apartment, which in reality is actually only a slightly bigger set of rooms then Jax has. The bathroom and bedroom have a tiny living area at the front of them where Gemma starts pacing, her feet completely silent on the carpeted floor. When Clay and Jax come through the door she stops and turns around.

"What the fuck is going on? I agreed to the lockdown cause you said we needed it. It wasn't till everyone started arriving that I realised how big this is." She flicks her gaze between her husband and her son, her toes tapping lightly.

Clay inhales and waves his arm towards me "Go sit down and we'll try and explain."

Gemma snorts but moves to my side "Try."

Jax sits on the arm of the sofa and rests his hand on my shoulder, squeezing lightly "We found out who burnt down your store."

I look up at him and frown "Hap told me that much wouldn't tell me anything else though."

Jax nods once "Good."

Clay sits down in the armchair and looks at me "Zobelle. We thought he was occupied with the 9ers and trying to get a foothold, turns out we were wrong. If not for the ATM footage we wouldn't have known anything about it, but he was the one that threw the Molotov cocktail which started the fire."

I drop my head into my hands "Cause it was arson that means my insurance possibly won't pay out."

Jax chuckles and touches my chin lightly so I look up at him "We'll sort it out. You're gonna be here till he's dealt with babe. We know where he is, we've got eyes watching him but we need to get him out of the picture before the Irish arrive."

I nod again "Cause the last thing you want is to be having problems in Charming when the man whose fucking Chibs' wife arrives."

Jax and Clay both start laughing but Clay clears his throat "That's one way of putting it pumpkin. It's more that we need Charming to be settled and at peace. So what's gonna happen with Zobelle will happen soon."

Leaning my head against Jax's side I nod tiredly and Gemma suddenly leans forward, pressing a hand to my forehead "You're still warm baby. Go to bed and stay there."

I lift my hand to salute but give up halfway there, getting to my feet instead "Is he okay in here?" I nod my head towards Abel and the port-a-cot that had been brought in.

Gemma smiles "Of course he is sweetheart. You just feel better. Jackson, you make sure she rests."

Jax laughs, kissing his mother on the cheek before wrapping his arm around my waist "For once I don't think I'll get an argument from her on that."

I shake my head, leaning into his side "Nope, no arguments from me."

Jax takes me through to our room, undresses me and pushes me into the bed. "Keep your phone with you, text if you need anything. I'll be out in the main room." I nod as he leans down and presses a kiss to my forehead "And don't think about going anywhere."

I giggle faintly, burrowing deeper into the blankets "Only going to sleep. Love you baby."

"Love you too Darlin'." Jax says walking to the door and pulling it closed behind him.