"The bounty is still up on your head" Viper murmured, taking a drag from his cigarette as we all sat at the table. Ripper, dad, Seamus and Slater all sat at the table with me, hard looks on their faces. I sighed, taking a sip of my coffee. "Yeah. That was expected."

"In what way? What are your parents like?" Slater asked, eyes uncharacteristically hard.

"They're not my parents." I deadpanned, putting my cup on the table a bit too forcefully. Ripper's hand came over mine and I sighed, shaking my head. "Sorry. They're both cold hearted pricks who only want to know someone if they can help them in the corporate world. And if they hate you, or dislike you in any way...." I shivered. "The last person that crossed them ended up losing everything and jumping off a bridge. He didn't survive."

Their faces all darkened, fists clenching and less than subtle tensing of jaws. I carried on, not aware of the dimming mood, lost in memory. "They tried to make me marry this one guy, Hamish, a total creep with wandering hands. That didn't go as well as they had planned- he ended up in hospital, I was on a plane to Mexico. The security guard didn't even question me when I gave him a couple of hundred dollars and asked to be put on the next flight. He had just looked at my torn clothes and let me on. I really must find out his name..." I trailed off, taking a sip of my tea then sat back, suddenly aware of all their murderous expressions.

Ripper's hand had tightened on mine, eyes shadowed as he stubbed out his cigarette. "I shouldn't have left you with them."

Dad gave Ripper a deathly look, one that promised danger and growled. "Of course you fucking shouldn't have- no matter how angry you were."

I placed a hand on his arm, "Dad. We've sorted it."

I ran a hand through my hair, looking to the ceiling. "You can't deal with my parents with brute force, like clubs usually do. They require a kind of finesse that, no offense, most of you lack."

Slater scoffed, raising a thick brow. "Honey bee, I'm the creator of finesse- I bathed in it when all those stupid teenagers were talking about swag. This is my time to protect you."

I frowned. "What?"

Slater beat a hand to his patch. "Clubs protect their own. And honey bee, you're family."

Family. A slow smile stretched across my face and I felt a tendril of happiness unfurl, felt some of my emptiness filled. "Thank you. Thank you."

____

It turns out, Slater actually had fun. Doc- the forever elusive medic in the club- helped Slater out, coming to my aid immediately, even though we had only ever met twice or three times. When I had asked him why, he had cocked his head to the side and given me an appraisal.

"I like you. You're real."

Then, ignoring my confused face, he dropped off some meds then left- going to meet Slater. Ripper was out on club business and I was tired, so I went back home, taking Seamus with me. It was better to have someone nearby, better to not be alone.

We came inside and Seamus flopped on the couch, switching on the TV and running a hand through his white blonde hair- he really was getting prettier everyday.

"So, what were those things for that you bought the other day?"

I smiled, giving him some lemon yoghurt cake I had made the night before, curling up next to him.

"If I tell you, you can't tell anyone else."

Seamus nodded, brows furrowed. Too serious for a nineteen year old.

"It's my birthday next week, and I bought you all presents."

Seamus blinked, instantly confused. He blinked again, frown slowly forming on his face. "What?"

I shrugged a shoulder, taking a bite of the cake. Beautiful, melt in your mouth goodness. "When I met Bianca, we lived in a poorer part of the world and saw a lot of hunger and poverty. The only time we really got money was on our birthday bonuses, so we both decided to buy presents for others rather than ourselves. It made more sense, and felt much better than getting things while others lived in horrible conditions."

Seamus's frown lessened, and he shook his head. "You always surprise me Cor, always."

I gave him a wink, remembering some of the faces that stayed in my thoughts. A small red headed girl name Tanny, a skinny dark skinned boy named Raj, a thin blue eyed girl named Verash. They were all so good, so untainted by society- but spurned by those they had called family. All of them, orphans.

"What did you get me?" Seamus quipped, trying to catch me out. I rolled my eyes, "You'll find out next Friday. And remember, don't tell anyone else. I want it to be a surprise."

Seamus nodded, taking a bite of his cake and flopping back into the couch. "Holy shit this is good"

I bowed my head, grabbing the rest of it. "Help yourself."

____

"What's wrong?"

There was a business at dad's house- and not the good kind. The kind that had people's faces hardening, bodies tense as they walked around the house and outside to get whatever it was they needed ready. Dad saw me and stood, coming over quickly.

"A rival club heard about the bounty on your head. Some of our boys spotted them heading this way."

My eyes widened, heart beat speeding up. "What? How much is this bounty?"

"...Three million."

A long stream of inventive curses left my mouth, ones that even had the men around me stopping to stare.

I looked outside, considering. My 'parents' wouldn't stop hounding me until I gave them what they wanted...or something akin to what they wanted. But giving up and giving out was never my style, bringing me to a conclusion.

My practically non existent pride or my family?

Easy.

I picked up my phone and called an old friend- one who probably both wanted to fuck and kill me.

The phone rang, Hugh watched me closely.

"Teddy Rik"

I exhaled slowly, "Hey Teddy. It's Corin."

___________