This chapter takes place in Episode 3 of Season 1.

Hope you enjoy it!

CHAPTER THREE

Danielle stood over the sink brushing her teeth when David entered the bathroom. Through the mirror, she could see that he was dressed in uniform.

"You know Elliot Oswald's little girl?" he asked as he leaned against the door frame.

Danielle wasn't close to the Oswalds by any means. But she had become acquaintances with Karen after years of working at the local grocery store while she was in high school. She had always offered the younger woman friendly 'hellos' and small talk if they happened to see each other out in public.

"Mhmm," she answered before spitting into the sink.

"She was raped last night at Fun Town."

"Oh my god," she covered her mouth in shock. "Do they know who did it?"

"No," he shook his head. "I'm gonna try to find something out today."

"Okay, babe," Danielle walked towards him and pressed her lips against his. "I hope you find that sick freak."

She watched as he disappeared from the room and she patiently waited to hear the slamming of their front door.

Once she was certain that he was gone, she rushed toward her purse and dug around until she found what she had been looking for.

With the two boxes in hand, Danielle rushed back to the bathroom and locked the door behind her.

She leaned up against the door as she looked at the pregnancy tests resting in her hand.

Please God, she thought to herself, let it be real.

Danielle was shifting through files in her cubicle when she felt a presence by the entryway.

"Yeah?" She asked without looking up.

"A Jackson Teller is here to see you," The stubby, older woman stated as she pushed up her glasses.

"Thanks, Patty," the young brunette said as she finally closed the file and looked up. "Tell him he can come in."

Once Patty left, Danielle quickly organized her desk and turned the files over so that no names were showing.

"Nice place, Officer Hale," Jax walked in—closing the door behind him.

"Thanks," Danielle smiled. She had gone above and beyond to make her cubical feel warm and home-y. Pictures of her and David sat on the desk. A coffeemaker sat in the corner displaying a beautifully designed mug that she had paid too much for, and the wax melt made the entire office room smell like homemade banana bread.

"Look," Jax began. "I'm sure your husband told you about the little chat we had. But, I need your help, darlin'."

"I'm sorry about David. He gets a bit heated when he remembers we used to be together," Danielle felt awkward as she apologized for her husband's jealousy. "What are you needing?"

"You hear about Elliot's daughter?" Jax questioned as he stood in front of her desk. His fingers played with her pen holder.

"Yes," Dani answered. "It's horrible."

"I need you to help us catch the sick son-of-a-bitch. The girl ain't talking—says she can't remember anything. But her mom is like a fucking leech. She won't let anyone even talk to the girl," Jax paused and stared into the brunette's eyes. "But Karen might let you in. You could use that feminine charm and talk to the girl—see if she remembers anything about the fucker that raped her."

"Oh no, Jax," she shook her head. "I can't do that. I work for D.O.C.. And, even if I didn't, my husband is the Sherriff Deputy. I can't just hand a criminal over to you guys. It could ruin my career and David's."

"Dani," the handsome criminal sighed. "I know I'm asking for a lot, darlin'. But, you know as well as I do, that if Hale gets him, the man will never pay for what he did. It'll take months of going through the court system before he's even sentenced. Then what? Two or three years before he's released from prison? Maybe less if he gets out for good behavior? You know how fucked up the system is. What would you want if that was your daughter?"

And Danielle knew he was right. The criminal justice system was a joke. This sick man would do a few years in prison and then be free to go as long as he didn't skip out on his sex offender registries and stayed away from school. And if he did fail to register? If he did rape again? He'd just go back to prison again… and then get out again.

Jax stared at the woman as he waited for her answer.

Finally, after what seemed like a century, she let out a long sigh.

"Okay. I'll come with you," Danielle answered. "Give me thirty minutes to wrap up some important paperwork."

Danielle and Jax quickly approached Gemma in the hallway.

"What the hell is she doing here?" Gemma asked. Her hands were placed firmly on her hips.

"Karen might let her in with Tristen," Jax stated.

"Bullshit," Gemma sneered as she eyed the younger woman. "I just caught her giving your husband an earful for asking Tristen how she was feeling."

Danielle's heart raced at the thought of David seeing her with Jax and Gemma.

"I don't think this is a good idea," she tried to back out of the plan Jax had made. "I shouldn't be here."

"Shit," Jax ran a hand through his hair as he thought about what to do. "Dani, we need you. Please. Just try to talk to the girl. If you can't get anything out of her, you can go home."

Jax looked over to his mother who was glaring at the younger woman.

"You two are gonna need to work together. Eventually, Karen will have to leave the room. When that happens, Dani will sneak inside the room and question Tristen, and Mom—you're gonna stand watch. Or Dani can distract Karen while you talk to the kid."

"I'm standing watch?" The young woman knew Jax's mother would have issues with his plan. "Why doesn't that Princess Dianna knockoff stand watch while I ask the questions?"

"Look," Danielle could see the stress in the biker's eyes as he spoke. "I don't give a shit what you do. I just need a lead. And as far as getting past Karen goes, we all know Dani has a better rep than you do, Mom. Karen will know you're up to some shit."

Danielle entered the room slowly as Gemma followed behind. The two had patiently waited and bickered so intensely over who would distract Karen, that they both almost didn't realize that she had left the room to visit the cafeteria.

"Are you feeling any better?" Gemma asked as she cut in front of the younger brunette. "I guess there's a lot of people asking you questions."

Tristen reached for her phone.

"My mom told me to text her if anyone tried to—"

"Oh, it's okay, honey," Gemma softly spoke as she reached to grab the phone from the girl. "Your mom and I are old friends."

"She told me everything," Gemma continued as she sat on the edge of the hospital bed. "I'm so sorry that happened to you."

"She told you?" Tristen's voice was meek.

"Don't worry, baby," Gemma comforted. "It's gonna be okay."

"She told me to tell everyone I didn't remember," Tristen stuttered out.

A lightbulb seemed to flash in Gemma and Danielle's heads at the same time as they quickly made eye contact.

"You remember what he looks like?" Danielle questioned as she sat down in the chair beside the bed.

"Yes," Tristen began to sob.

"Tristen," Danielle spoked softly as she grabbed the girl's hand and squeezed it.

"I know how scared, and alone, and embarrassed you feel. When I left for college, a guy did this to me. And you know what I did about it?" Danielle paused as the girl looked up at her. "Nothing. I did nothing. I never told anyone what happened, and the guy never got in trouble for what he did to me. You know what the really sad part is?" Danielle paused as unwanted memories flooded her mind. "Because I didn't tell anybody, he could have hurt other girls too. You are such a strong, beautiful girl, Tristen. And we need to know what this guy looks like so we can stop him from doing this to someone else."

"One of the carny guys raped her, " Gemma told Jax as the three of them stood in the hallway again. "Fat guy—dressed like a clown."

"Jesus," Jax said before looking at Daniellel. "Does Hale know?"

"I don't know," Danielle shrugged. "But if he doesn't, I'm sure she'll tell him soon."

"Shit," Jax said. "Thanks Mom, thanks Dani." He mumbled before quickly making his way down the hall—in hopes of finding the man before David did.

"That was pretty cool," Gemma crossed her arms. "—what you did with Tristen."

"Thanks," the younger woman leaned against the wall.

"Is what you told her true?" Gemma was referring to Danielle's rape story.

"It doesn't matter," she purposely avoided the question. "Tristen's story is the one that matters."

Before Gemma could reply, David popped around the corner and froze in his spot when he saw his wife standing by the queen of bikers.

Danielle's heart raced as she immediately tried to think up excuses to cover up the fact that she had ruined her own husband's investigation. She saw his jaw tighten. She could practically hear his teeth grinding together out of seething anger.

Danielle laid in bed waiting for her husband to get home. She knew she had betrayed him and it made her feel absolutely sick to her stomach. She would like to think she did it because she wanted the rapist to receive the punishment that he deserved—and she knew he wouldn't get that through the justice system.

She remembered her own rape. She was 19 when it happened. She remembered the embarrassment and the feeling of invisible grime covering her body. She couldn't imagine being as young as Tristen was. She couldn't imagine having her virginity ripped away at 13 by a sweaty, fat, old man. The bastard deserved death. Of that, she was certain.

And though this was a large factor that led to her helping the Sons of Anarchy, in all honesty, she probably did it just because Jax asked her for help. She loved his company, it reminded her of the reckless love that they shared many years ago. Hearing his gruff voice was almost like an adrenaline rush for her.

She then heard the front door open and slam shut. Her heart began pounding once again, and she debated turning over and pretending to be asleep. The thought of facing him–looking in his eyes and seeing the hurt she had caused–just made her want to disappear.

As he emerged into the bedroom, she could see the rage and the sadness that still flickered in his eyes.

"I've been thinking for the past few hours. I was trying to figure out why you were in the hallway with Gemma—then I realized you must've been helping them find Tristen's rapist. Then, I tried to justify your behavior… And, honestly, I can't. I cannot figure out why you would help them when your husband is leading the investigation. I am disappointed in you."

Danielle opened her mouth to answer him when he cut her off.

"I don't want to hear your excuses. I probably don't even want to know why you did it." He sat on the edge of their bed and began removing his shoes. "I'm going to go to sleep. Hopefully, by tomorrow morning I'll be cooled down."

"But," his voice became even more stern. "Ruin my investigation to help that low-life, criminal, ex-boyfriend of yours again, and this marriage is over."

"It has nothing to do with him," Danielle defended. "It has to do with making that man pay for what he did."

"What do you think I was trying to do?" David's voice raised as he became angrier by the second. "That's what we're both supposed to do! That's why we have the careers we do! And tonight you shot that all to hell!"

Danielle couldn't remember David ever yelling at her before. Yes, they had arguments like every couple does. But they never yelled and they never insulted each other.

She knew she should just be quiet. Tonight obviously wasn't the night to share her opinions.

But that wasn't the kind of woman Danielle was.

"I guess that's the difference between you and I. It's your job to uphold the law. But it's my belief that every man should be held accountable for what they've done." She paused briefly. "The law doesn't provide justice. My career has taught me that. And I hope someday you realize that this world has way more variation of gray than it has black and white. I'm sorry you're upset with me, David. I'm very sorry I went behind your back. But I'm not sorry that disgusting low-life won't have the opportunity to rape another girl."

"And I suppose if any of your parolees came up and asked you to help them murder a guy, you'd do it?" David almost chuckled at the preposterous idea. "No. You did it because Jax asked you to. Don't try to defend this by making it about holes in the legal system. This is about your feelings for the criminal you used to fuck."

David glared at Danielle as a thousand more words rushed through his mind. He wanted to yell. He wanted to throw things in frustration. But instead he climbed into bed, turned facing away from his wife, and tossed the blanket over his body.

Danielle watched him for a moment as the heat from the argument left her body. She thought over his words and once again felt remorse for hurting her husband. She slowly reached out and rested her hand on David's arm–hoping he would see that as a silent apology for her actions and words that night. Instead, he hastily moved his arm–showing Danielle that he did not want her to touch him right now.

Pained by her husband's reaction, Danielle turned over in bed–staring blankly at the wall as tears began dripping onto her pillow.

Thanks for reading! I'm SOOOO ready to get to a new chapter. I know rereading these can be pretty boring. Especially since I haven't changed much yet. I promise there's a method to my madness though and there will be big changes in the upcoming chapters.

I'll be posting the next revised chapter in a couple days.

Love you all! As always, I'd love some reviews if you're enjoying this story.