Father Knows Best

Chapter 12

"I just can't believe it," Alice sighed heavily. "Emma, Emma of all people, it's insane."

Abel listened, sitting close to Alice as he comforted her, nodding along with each word. He handed her the joint he'd rolled to help calm her and she took a few long drags. "Your mom said to stay away?"

"Yeah," Alice was annoyed by that. "I get why but ya know, she's the closest thing I have to a sister."

"You girls fight like sisters," he joked. "There's nothing you can do for her," he said. "And your mom will call you right away, you know that."

"She has to be okay," Alice said to herself quietly. "These things don't happen to us."

Abel looked at her with bewilderment. "Ally, this shit happens all the time."

"I mean," she shook her head, "I know people die. My mom told me about Juice and what happened with Gemma and Piney and Clay but I mean with us, you and me and Emma and Knox."

"We're not kids anymore," Abel commiserated with her. "I get it, it's scary."

"I never thanked you," she suddenly shifted topics, "Or apologized for all that shit with your cousin."

"Mike's a piece of shit," Abel hissed. "You're welcome but you don't have to apologize. He's been kicking my ass for years."

She nodded, "So you should probably kick his ass back."

"Nah," he laughed. "I like to have the moral high ground with him."

"Oh please, no matter what you have that," she laughed slightly. "He's a real asshole."

"Yeah," he chuckled. "He is but I can be too."

"Not Abel," she bumped her shoulder against his. "You're such a sweetie."

"Yeah," he grew shy, "I guess."

"Do you think of me like a sister?"

Abel paused, thinking about it, and Alice felt her stomach churn with anxiety. They had spent a lot of time together as children; Amelia helped David Hale enormously with Abel after his mother died. Part of it was guilt, having been the one to end her life, but she also wanted the best for Abel, he was an innocent in the whole situation. Jax, of course, supported it but only for the good will it would undoubtedly buy them.

"Not really," he shrugged. "Childhood friend, I guess. It was always very clear that I wasn't one of you," he sounded disappointed. "My dad reminded me, a lot, guess he wanted to keep me on the straight and narrow."

"I like you crooked," she said sweetly.

"Yeah?" He moved a little closer. "Well, that's good."

Alice began to blush but leaned in anyway. "Don't tell anyone," she warned him sternly. "Seriously."

With a twinkle in his eye and the same dimples his father had, Abel hooked his pinkie with hers and nodded. "Pinky promise, I won't tell anyone." He closed the rest of the gap between them, their pinkies still connected, and they kissed. It was twenty years in the making and both Alice and Abel couldn't believe it was finally happening.

--

Emma was out of surgery, her prognosis was wonderful, but Rory was still furious. She sent her sons home, they had been through so much and now that they knew Emma would be okay barring any unforeseen complications it was time they slept. Of course, as brothers are wont to do, they put up a fight wanting to stay with Emma but Mom won, as usual. Rory saw her sons out and found Happy lingering by the ambulance bay.

"Emma is out of the woods," she said calmly.  "Doctor said she's going to be fine."

"Thank fuck," he cried. "When can we see her?"

"Any minute now" Rory said, "They just had to get her set up in a room."

"Ror, I'm sorry," he moaned.

"I know," she admitted. "I know you would never put our kids in danger. This isn't your fault."

"You blamin' Tig?" He asked, assuming she had heard the full story by now.

"Partially," she huffed indignantly. "I always knew who Emma was, far from Alice and the other girls, even Thomas, but I didn't realize how off my plans were."

Happy drew his head back, his eyes turning into slits as he examined her expression for some idea of what she meant. "What were your plans?"

Unable to say it yet, Rory took his hand and pulled Happy back into the hospital and Emma's room. "She's so much like you," Rory whimpered. "You don't get to have her," she began to cry. "She's mine, Emma is supposed to be mine."

Happy's brows furrowed. "What? What are you talking about, Ror? She's our kid, she's always been ours."

Rory shook her head and looked away from their comatose daughter. "Olivia died, then you took Ash and Tig took Knox; they're Sons now. They're SAMCRO's, club above all and I knew that would happen, but Emma was supposed to be mine and you took her anyway."

"Babe," he didn't know what to say at first. "You were a goddamn bounty hunter."

"Different," she sighed. "It was different. The club is... it's all consuming. You remember her trying to wear your shit as a kid, she wanted nothing more than a cut and a Harley, Hap. As sensitive and sweet and artistic as Knox is he's still a goddamn Trager and Ash has been an outlaw since school, you know that. So here I am, the odd man out."

"Ror," Happy was still unsure how to talk to her. "We're all out there and we come home to you, you're our goddamn rock baby."

Rolling her eyes she shook her head and let out an exasperated sigh. "Yeah, okay," she shrugged.

"I'm sorry," Happy said again.

"Just stop," she headed for the door. "I need a minute. I'll be back."

--

"Tig," Hale looked up from his desk in surprise. "I wasn't expecting you."

"I know," he nodded. "I didn't tell Jax." It was understood that Jax would set up the meeting but Tig skipped that pointless step.

"Can I help you?"

He sat across from him, "Just wanted to give my statement."

Hale inhaled sharply and sighed as he pulled out his recorder. "Okay, whenever you're ready state you name and start from the beginning."

"Alexander Trager," Tig said sadly. "I took Emma Lowman up to the warehouse to do some shooting. She wanted to go but her parents wouldn't let her and her brothers wouldn't go against Rory or Happy. I was showing her the basics, for self defense, and the gun just...went off."

Hale drew his head back and clicked off the recorder. "Guns don't just go off, Trager. We both know that."

"I know," he shrugged. "I don't know what happened, man, it just went off."

With an annoyed grumble, Hale began to record again. "She fell, I did what I could and called 911. There was no one else there. It was just a goddamn accident."

Hale's disapproval and regret was on his face as he stopped the recording again. "The gun wasn't registered. The serial numbers were scratched out. I can't sweep this under the rug."

"I know," he nodded. "I'll turn myself in for the parole violation and the gun charge, whatever you want, but you gotta lay off the club with this."

Hale knew he had to oblige. "You were just taking her shooting," he shrugged. "There's nothing to press."