Turning her head from one side to the other, James took a good look at his sister's face. A big bruise had formed around her nose, still a little bit of dried blood left under it that he carefully wiped away after grabbing one of the wet towels on the coffee table.

“What the fuck happened?!”, he barked, his eyes landing on Happy who looked even worse, much worse, than his sister. “Who did this?”

“The Rivals MC. Three of them were in the house when I came home. Fucking bastards wanted revenge”, Happy growled lowly while Chibs cleaned out the wounds that were all over his torso. The clubs medic had insisted on checking on him, too.

Happy had called him so he'd check on Cassie and her nose, he didn't care about his own injuries⸺ he knew he would be fine. And even if not, Cassie was more important. Yet he didn't complain when Chibs told him to stop being so stubborn and just let him do what he was good at.

“Revenge for what exactly?”, Jax inquired with his arms crossed, a concerned expression on his face while the blood inside him began to boil. No one had the right to hurt his club or any of his brothers, especially not an Old Lady.

“Remember when Clay ordered me to kill Preston Malarkey? VP of the Rivals is his brother”, Happy explained, his eyes quickly back on his Ol' Lady who still hadn't said much since all of this happened.

“Fuck.” Sighing, Jax ran a hand over his face. “That's why they stirred up shit in the first place. They know what this little shit did?”

Happy just shrugged his shoulders. “Don't know. But who says they gonna believe us if we tell them?”

“So, there's a new threat?” Tara, who had been there the whole time because Jax took her with him just in case they needed an actual doctor, asked from behind her husband. The all so familiar judgemental look back on her face.

“None of your concern, we're gonna handle it”, Jax answered coldly once he saw the judgement in her eyes. He knew exactly what she was thinking.

“They attacked a pregnant woman, Jax. You think they're gonna sit back now and wait before you guys retaliate?”, she scoffed. “This shit means all of us Old Lady's are in danger, maybe even the kids. This life means nothing but danger!”

“Since when do you care if kids get hurt?!”, Cassie snarled, her eyes darted at the doctor. Even though they managed to get along since a while, it pissed her off that Tara became judgemental once again. “Why are you still here if you hate this life so much?”

The men in the room shared a look, all of them aware that this could escalate quickly. But they had to agree with Cassie on that one.

“How am I supposed to find all of this not alarming? Aren't you scared, Cassie? Look what they did to Happy and you”, Tara snarled back defensively. “And I told you so often that I never wanted Lily to get hurt. Shit happened, I tried to make up for it. But I can't just act like everything's fine!”

“No one said you have to act like everything's fine, Tara!” Cassie shoved her brother's hand out of her face who still washed the dried blood off it and got up, pointing a finger in Tara's face. “And you still let it happen, but that's not the problem now. I am scared, yes, but it's not their fault those idiots showed up. They're going to deal with them and it's our job to support them. If you can't do that just leave.”

With a grunt and a proud look in his eyes, he stood up and put a hand on Cassie's lower back. This was exactly how an Old Lady should be. Supportive. Something that wasn't Tara's strength.

“Don't let her provoke you, little girl”, he rasped in her ear before kissing her temple.

“Just get the fuck out”, James muttered under his breath. It was a wonder that he even accepted Tara to stay in the same house with him. Yes, she wasn't the one who hurt Lily, yet she could've prevented it from happening.

Tara looked at Jax for help, scoffing when she realized he saw it like the others. “Fine, if you can deal with all of this. I'm done with this bullshit. I'm taking the boys out of town until it's safe again for them to live here.”

Jax grabbed her arm after she swung her bag over her shoulder and was about to leave, looking at her in all seriousness. “You're not taking the boys anywhere. Hell, you have to work, you can't even leave town.”

“I'll take time off”, she shrugged nonchalantly and snatched her arm out of his grip. “If those boys mean something to you, Jax, then you let me take them for a while.”

The blonde clenched his jaw and let out a humourless laugh. “You know what, do whatever you want. As soon as this war is over, you're coming back with them, you hear me?”

“Don't talk to me like I'm a child”, the doctor sneered. “But yeah, I'll be back with them.”

“Good, because if not⸺ I'm going to find you, Tara.” Neither Tara nor the others missed his warning tone. It was clear to see and hear how serious Jax was about this. Understandable. Jax knew this war could mean a lot of danger and his mind would be at peace if he knew his boys were safe. But Gemma would definitely give him shit for letting her take the boys out of town for a while.

Another scoff left Tara's mouth on her way towards the door. With her hand on the doorknob, she turned around again and looked at Cassie. “If you're smart, what I know you are, you're better coming with me.”

“No thanks, I'm not bailing on my family”, Cassie replied, leaning into Happy's side who gave her side a soft squeeze. She knew it was his way of showing her that he appreciated her support. He really did. Not everyone was made for the life of a strong Old Lady, but Cassie definitely was.

“I'm sorry”, Jax sighed once Tara had left and sat down at the couch. There wasn't more left than the couch and the coffee table, the rest of the furniture was already in the new house except for Cassie's bed.

“Not yer fault, brother”, Chibs assured the blonde and slapped his back.

“No, it's not. But you better put her in her place before I'm gonna handle it, brother”, Happy grunted. For his Old Lady he would even mess with a chick and put her in her place if he had to. Cassie could defend herself, he knew that and he was proud of it, but he wouldn't watch Tara harassing his Ol' Lady again. The doctor bitch was lucky enough to still be alive after she helped with the plan to drug Cassie back then.

“I'll handle her. When she's back I'm filing for divorce.” Jax nodded, his face resting in his hands as he heaved a sigh, well aware that Happy in fact would handle Tara if she'd keep that attitude towards Cassie.

“You sure?”, Cassie asked, more softness in her tone now. Even though it was clear that a divorce would come sooner or later, she still felt bad for Jax. After all, Tara was his first love. But also a toxic love. “I'm sorry all this started because of me.”

“It didn't, darlin'. Our relationship has been in tatters for a long time. What she did to you and Lily was just the cherry on top”, Jax assured her with the slightest smile after he looked up again.

“It's not your fault”, Happy told her firmly and made her sit down again. “You should get some rest.”

“I'm fine. You look way worse”, the brunette mumbled, her eyes scanning all the cuts and bruises once again. Swallowing softly, she sunk into the couch and tried to get the pictures of before out of her head.

She had never been this scared in her life. To see Happy tied to a chair, beaten bloody and barely able to stay awake was something she never wanted to see again. It had traumatized her more than some other shit that had happened in her life already.

“I told you to get some rest, Cassie”, he repeated, his tone more demanding now. The guys needed to have a talk about what they'd do next and he didn't want her around for that. He wasn't blind or stupid, it was obvious how much that shit had traumatized her and he wanted to keep her away from this threat as much as possible.

She looked at him with her doe eyes and started to say something, but then closed her mouth again and heaved herself up, knowing it was smarter not to argue with him right now.

“I'm upstairs”, she just murmured and made her way upstairs to lie down, her bed was still there after all.

Happy had noticed the confusion, maybe even disappointment and slight irritation, in her tone and he would explain everything later to her that he just wanted to keep her away from the subject as much as possible. Simply to protect her and he was sure she would understand.

“What happens now?”, he asked with a grunt, his eyes fixed on his Pres.

“We sit down with the Pres of the Rivals and talk. Who knows if he even knew what three of his guys did today. But should he have known about it,” Jax paused, his gaze darting around. “Then that means war. But first we have to discuss this with everyone, get everyone around the table. We're going to meet at clubhouse later to explain the situation to Tig, Juice and Bobby. Can you drive?”, he asked Happy.

“Yeah, I can,” Happy grumbled, his eyes dark and thirsty for revenge. “What if they come back? I won't let them become a danger to my family again.”

“If they come back, don't hesitate and put a bullet in their head right away. Because then they asked for it”, Jax shrugged nonchalantly.

“So I have your permission without consequences?” Happy knew he could count on Jax, just like the rest of his brothers. Still, his respect for Jax was big enough that he wanted his blessing first.

Jax's gaze was now on Happy, Chibs looking between the SAA and their Pres. “You have, at least for members. If the Pres causes problems, we'll find a solution together before you do anything you're gonna regret later, okay?”

Happy nodded. “Got it. I'm gonna call a prospect who'll stay with Cassie. Then we can head to the club.”

“Alright, we're waiting outside.” Jax got up, nudging Chibs shoulder to follow him. The only one who stayed in the room with Happy was James⸺ who had been pretty quiet for the last ten minutes.

“They have to die, Hap”, he finally spoke up after Jax closed the door behind him, leaving only the two of them downstairs.

“They will”, the SAA growled, his fists clenched and his jaw tightened. “All I needed was Jax' blessing. I'm not waiting until they come back, I'm going to hunt them down if I have to.”

“I'll help you with that”, James assured him.

His sister was in danger, as was his unborn nephew and best friend. It was at moments like this that you could realized how similar James and Happy were. The younger's gaze was blank, any emotion locked away deep inside him just like Happy's.  He would team up with his best friend to make the three bastards suffer for what they had done.

“Never doubted it.” Happy slapped his back after he got up. His face was blank but inside he was proud of what had become of James. The once young man he had sponsored had grown into a man who would kill and die for his family. Exactly how it had to be.

Happy made sure to let Cassie know that he'd be gone for a while what got her all worried, yet she had no choice but to accept it. After they shared a brief, loving kiss, he promised her that he'd explain lot of things later when he'd be back and told her that a prospect was downstairs in case she needed anything⸺ then he left with James and the other guys to bring everyone who didn't know yet up to date.

⸺

authors note; please feel free to leave some feedback!
The next one or two chapters will be sweet ones and have a little time jump. After that there will be some drama.