Chapter 5: Part ONE

I'm finally updating this story! Thank you all for the patience and kindness. You're the best! I know I'm a slacker.

This chapter will be split into two separate parts.

For those of you who are curious, this chapter ties in with Season 1 Episode 9. This chapter has not been changed much from my original story. However, next chapter has a few differences, AND THEN WE WILL GET INTO THE NEW MATERIAL AND I AM STOKED.

Enjoy!

"Sometimes these things just happen," tears rolled down Danielle's cheeks as the doctor continued to speak. "It's no one's fault, and it doesn't mean you can't try again. Your body should heal naturally, but pills will be made available if there are any issues."

Danielle looked up at her husband as she grabbed his hand and squeezed it. She was looking for some sort of emotion in his eyes as he stared blankly into the wall. She could see his tightly fixed jaw trembling as he tried to appear strong.

Feeling her squeeze his hand, David escaped her grasp by folding his arms against his chest. He couldn't look at her. He couldn't touch her. If he did, he'd fall apart.

Danielle laid in bed as she listened to her husband rustle around in the bathroom. She laid her hand on her stomach as tears began to form once again under her red, swollen eyelids. Yesterday she had touched her stomach and smiled at the thought of her unborn child, today she sobbed at how permanent the word "unborn" would be.

She looked up as her husband entered their bedroom wearing his uniform.

"What are you doing?" she asked—shocked that he was leaving.

"Going to work," David stated simply as he sat on the bed to put on his shoes.

He hadn't looked her in the eye since they'd left the doctor's office.

"Just stay, David." Danielle pleaded. "They know we had an appointment today. They don't expect you to be there."

Her voice began to break.

"I need you here, David."

For the first time in hours, he looked into her eyes and Danielle could see the tears that were threatening to spill down his cheeks.

"I can't stay with you right now," he whispered before quickly leaving her.

"It wasn't SAMCRO. It was Mayan filth that killed my guy."

"We have your statement," David spoke harshly to Darby. "We'll look into your accusation."

"Accusation?" Darby's lip trembled in anger. "You arrogant piece of shit!"

Darby rose from his seat and hit the deputy with a strong right hook. The impact of the punch causing David to stumble into a wall.

Wasting no time, David quickly came back at Darby—pushing the sleazy man into the corner and continuing to hit him.

Two cops pulled the angered deputy off of Darby as Unser watched the seen unfold. He had never seen David react with such anger. Fire could still be seen in the younger man's eyes as he glared at the racist crook that he had just attacked.

"You okay?" Unser asked, but he knew that Hale was far from being okay. The boy had barely spoken two words since he radioed in that he was on duty.

"The shithead caught me off guard," David answered before storming away.

~ Three Weeks Later ~

Danielle sat in her office and stared at the papers in front of her as she clicked her pen. It had been over three weeks since her miscarriage, but life seemed to be at a standstill. She had returned to work but only was able to find enough energy to produce the minimum amount of effort needed to avoid being fired, she hadn't worn makeup in days and she carelessly tossed her hair in messy buns before arriving to work casually late, her desire to eat had demolished, and her husband was still avoiding her.

He had always been a hard worker who dedicated some of his free time to work, but lately he would leave for work before she had even woken up and typically didn't come home until she was in bed. Many nights he would sleep in the livingroom—claiming that he had fallen asleep while watching television. But Danielle knew that he was purposely avoiding sharing a bed with her. There were no hugs, no kisses, not even kind words shared between them. On the rare occasion that David was around, any attempt that she made at having a conversation was halted by one-word answers.

She knew her marriage was in a bad spot. But she tried to continue living anyway-hoping that they would somehow recover.

Eventually David would come around, she thought. She couldn't blame him for being hurt. He had always wanted a child even more than she had.

"This intel, the murders we had here last week, this all points to the Sons." David stated.

"Yes," June Stahl purred, "But I've got shit to convict. It's all circumstantial evidence. That is why I'm going to use RICO. We need to prove that the Sons of Anarchy is an ongoing criminal enterprise."

"And how does Luann Delaney play into this?" David asked, confused on the angle that Stahl was playing.

"We have to show that there's been illegal activity over the past ten years," she began explaining. "So, we'll use Luann's incarceration as a bargaining chip with her husband Otto Delaney. We dig up the dirt from the past and then we go after the present."

"These guys will never rat," David scoffed.

"You're really missing the theme here, honey." Stahl turned her nose up in a grimace. "Outlaw clubs do not keep their women in the dark. They're smart. They use them. We go after the ones who have the most to lose."

Stahl opened a folder and began spreading out an assortment of pictures of women associated with the Sons.

"Family, freedom, career, everything." she spoke as she used her index finger to point at each woman.

David looked at the fourth picture that Stahl pointed to and quickly began to feel heated.

"She's not one of them," he stated firmly. "Danielle isn't one of them".

Stahl smirked discreetly as she looked up at the man leaning over her desk.

"Mhmm," she hummed. "That's your wife, isn't it? I almost didn't recognize her with the new style she's sporting."

David's heart fell slightly at June's remark about Danielle's appearance. As he looked over the photo, he had to admit that his loving wife looked ill. Her skin looked pasty, her eyes looked dull, and loose t-shirt she was wearing in the picture made her look unattractively thin. There was no makeup covering the bags under her eyes and her usually well-kept hair was falling out of a bun placed high on her head.

He knew that he was probably at least partially to blame for her ill appearance. He had been avoiding her as much as possible since the miscarriage.

Looking at her hurt too much.

"Records show that she and Jax were once a very hot item," June continued. "And a few witnesses have reported seeing the two together occasionally these past few months. You might not be the only one getting some on the side in your marriage."

David's heart fell to the floor as June winked at him. Though her manner seemed light, David knew that she had made the comment with every intention of hurting him.

Knowing that he was cheating on his wife made him sick. His affair had begun right after the miscarriage. It had started as a one-night fling, but the two had been intimate with each other almost every night since. David hung his head in shame as he thought of the lonely nights his wife had been through while he had been sleeping with the ATF agent.

He didn't have feelings for June, but he had to admit that her desire to take down SAMCRO was attractive to him. It was their only shared interest.

"Your feelings can't stand in the way of us taking down SAMCRO, dear. I am going to be pressing your wife."

Danielle glanced up from her computer screen once she heard a knock on her door. Expecting to see the elderly secretary, she was surprised when her gaze landed on a tall, well-dressed woman with a badge hung on her hip.

"Mrs. Hale," June began to speak. "I'm Agent Stahl—ATF. It's so nice to meet you."

"How can I help you, ma'am?" Danielle offered the cheesiest fake smile she could muster.

"Can we chat for a few minutes?" Stahl asked.

"About who?"

Danielle assumed that the agent was there to discuss one of her clients.

"I'm trying to wrap my brain around your history with SAMCRO," Stahl smiled. "Mom was a tweaker, Dad was never in the picture, you lived with your grandparents until their fatal car crash. Then you went to live with your longtime sweetheart, Jax Teller. For some reason, the two of you broke things off. You left town, went to college, graduated, came back, and lived happily ever after. Tell me, Danielle, how does a girl go from living with a gang member to marrying a cop?"

"Where is my husband?" Danielle asked—suddenly aware of where this conversation was going.

"At the station, I suppose. Since he's your husband, he can't be around while I'm questioning you. It's a conflict of interest. I'm sure you understand," Stahl's voice seemed filled with accusations. "And don't worry. Whatever you say here will just be our little secret—complete confidentiality."

"There's no confidentiality needed. I have nothing to hide," Danielle glared at the agent. "I dated Jax when I was in high school. As far as my involvement with SAMCRO goes—there isn't any, nor has there ever been any. I was a naive, starry-eyed teenager who liked bad boys. That's it. I know nothing about the club."

"Hmm," Stahl thought over her question before she spoke. "When is the last time you spoke to Jax Teller?"

"I don't know," Danielle quickly tried to do the math in her head. "Maybe two months ago? I briefly talked to him the night that Gemma hosted the charity event for the middle school choir."

A long pause was shared by the two women as they looked each other over.

"I heard you lost the baby," June spoke. "You have my sympathy. It must be hard to lose your child and your husband on the same day."

"What do you mean?" a breath was caught in Danielle's throat. She was shocked by Stahl's bluntness.

"Honey," June smirked. "We both know your husband hasn't been home much lately. He spends all his time at work. He's avoiding you."

"He's hurting," Danielle quickly defended her marriage.

"He blames you. He's losing interest in you. And, no offense, but why wouldn't he?" Stahl gestured towards Danielle's body. "Since you lost the baby you've really let yourself go. I really hope you and David work things out. I've been spending a lot of time with him lately, and when you're brought up he just seems... indifferent."

"You've been spending a lot of time with him?" Danielle questioned as her ears began the ring and she fought off the tears that once again threatened to form in the corners of her vision.

"Oh, yes. We've spent a lot of late nights in the office together."

Danielle felt as though she was going to throw up as she watched the agent smiled as she spoke about David. Part of her wanted to ask Stahl why they were discussing her when they were working. But the smile on the woman's face seemed to hint to Danielle that David's late nights "in the office" weren't spent working.

David wouldn't cheat on her. Surely not. He had never been that type of man, and that was one of the reasons she loved him so much.

He wasn't cheating on her. He wouldn't. He couldn't.

"Do you have any other questions for me?" Danielle hid her shaking hands under the desk. "Or are you going to continue to make negative comments about my marriage and my appearance?"

"Do you know of any illegal activities that Jackson Teller and the club has taken part in?"

"Nope," Danielle answered simply as she glared at Stahl.

"Well," June faked a smile. "That was easy. If you think of anything that might be pinpointed to SAMCRO, you know how to get ahold of me."

"Thank you for your time, Mrs. Hale," June called over her shoulder as she walked out of the office.

Again, thank you guys for being patient with me while I took a much needed break from writing to focus on issues in my personal life.

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