Jigsaw was still glowing with warmth from the weekend he'd spent with Kimber, but now it was Monday morning and he was in downtown Boston for an entirely different reason. Dax had gathered fifteen of the clubs’ strongest men and they had ridden into the city under the cover of night, just before dawn. Ian had arranged for them to be let into the conference room early, so that they were already inside when the Blackhawks and Knightriders arrived. As Ian promised, they were frisked at the door and stripped of all their weapons. Then they were taken to a huge room that took up most of the second floor of the building. There was even a stage that all the tables in the room were centered around. That was where Dax had Jigsaw waiting now as he heard the men from the other clubs beginning to arrive. Dax and the others were waiting in the small kitchen where the food for the meeting was being prepared. Jigsaw was nervous, but it was a good kind of nervous. He was anticipating that finally, this mess would all be over and he and Kimber could get on with their lives, once and for all.

He fought with his impatience once again as he listened to the men out front greeting each other and talking shit. He struggled with busting out early when he heard Marcus's raised voice and obnoxious laugh as they ate the breakfast being served to them by the woman who worked for the IRA. He had to stand up and pace the length of the stage for a while when he felt like he absolutely could not wait any longer, and while he was doing that, he began to wonder if he would live to regret not killing Marcus himself. He was sure Cyclops would do it, especially since Dax had one more big surprise for them. But he wondered if it would make him feel like he hadn't done enough for Nick, if he didn't do it himself. He was still questioning himself when almost an hour later he heard Ian McAllister step up on the stage and take the microphone.

“Today we're here to celebrate a year of alliances. This past year has been lucrative for us all. These alliances have brought new opportunities and new successes and I want you all to be proud of what you, and we as a team have accomplished.” The room erupted in applause and when it died down Ian said, “In Ireland, we think of our brothers in the club as family and here, I would like for us to do the same. I want us to come together to be willing to have each other's backs, to be willing to protect each other's families as if they were our own...and also to be able to recognize when one in our midst might be going off track. Because this partnership we all have is like a long train. The engine can be moving along swiftly, and the caboose can be doing the same...but if one of the cars in the middle hits a rock and slides off the track, it can pull the rest of the train with it. The whole thing can be destroyed in a fiery crash and in an instant...there are no survivors.” The room applauded again but Jigsaw wondered if now they were all wondering what this crazy man was ranting about. They were going to find out soon. “So, I would like you to all keep my words in mind as I introduce you to a man that came here to speak to us today about family. Some of you might know him, and most of you will be surprised to see him. But trust me when I say it will behoove you all to listen to him.” Jigsaw listened to Ian put the microphone down and then the quiet, but steady rumble of whispers in the crowd. He took out his phone and looked at the picture of Kimber on the face, for strength, and then he stepped out from behind the curtain.

The room fell completely silent and then just as quickly erupted. Men were getting to their feet, some were staring at him in shock and others were yelling. The Blackhawks mostly looked confused. Jigsaw stood there for a few long minutes with his eyes on Marcus...who was as pale as a sheet. He hoped the man didn't pass out before he had a chance to say what he needed to say. Marcus was the one who finally broke eye contact. He looked over at Ian and said, “What the fuck is this?”

Ian smiled and his blue eyes even twinkled as he said, “When you all shut the fuck up and sit down, my new friend Jigsaw will tell you.”

Like an unruly class with a substitute teacher, it took several long minutes before the men quieted down and took their seats. When the room was silent again Jig said, “First off, I'm not dead.” There were a few nervous laughs and a solo clap in the far back. Jigsaw was good friends with a lot of these men. He knew it was a big shock, and once they figured out he had no intentions of sharing club secrets or hurting anyone, he was sure they'd come around to being happy he was alive...except for Marcus. If they didn't, that was okay with him too. He was a Skull now anyways, no matter how you looked at it. He let his eyes fall back on Marcus's face and he said, “Marcus, would you like to tell the story of my untimely demise, or should I?”

“Fuck you!” Marcus barked out, jumping to his feet. He looked at Ian and said, “Fuck you too!” He was almost to the door when two of Ian's bodyguards stepped in front of him.

“The doors are locked, Marcus. You may as well hear him out,” Ian said, calmly. Marcus's back and shoulders were rising and falling rapidly as he sucked in one deep breath after the other. He was trying to calm himself down, but he had to know what Jig was there for. He finally took a seat, near the door, but he still looked like he was about to get sick. It made Jigsaw sadistically happy.

“I'm assuming that Marcus wants me to be the one to tell the story, so here goes.” Jigsaw started with the night of the meeting in New York. “Cyclops went with the executive committee that night to meet up with Ian here the next day. The party was still raging when they left, and I wasn't feeling any pain myself. So, when I first came up on Marcus in the alley, I was willing to write off what I was seeing to his blood alcohol content.”

“This is all bullshit,” Marcus said. Jigsaw ignored him and said,

“Marcus told me to fuck off that night and mind my own business. I've never thought of myself as the gentlemanly type...but the screams I heard that night would have haunted me if I hadn't helped that woman. Marcus had torn off her shirt. Her lip was bleeding...I think he hit her. Her knees were scraped from him shoving her down on the pavement. His pants were undone, and he was going to rape her right there. I found that disgusting when I thought she was a woman....”

“I'm not listening to any more of this!” Marcus jumped up but was forced back into his chair by the big bouncers. Jigsaw didn't look at him as he went on.

“When I got a closer look at her and realized she was a little girl, that was when I lost my mind. I took out my gun and put it to his head and told him to let go of her. At that point he was holding onto her hair.”

“A little girl?” One of the guys in the audience asked. The rest of them began to rumble again. Marcus was cussing and spatting at him. Jigsaw waited for the room to calm down before he said,

“Yeah, a fourteen-year-old girl.” That was all it took to bring Cyclops to his feet.

“You motherfucker. You touched my daughter? I'm going to tear your limbs apart with my bare hands you perverted fuck!” He started toward Marcus and the bouncers stopped him while Ian said,

“I'm not going to try to stop you from ripping him apart, but not here, Cyclops. When the meeting is over, I'll have the two of you taken wherever you'd like to go. Let's finish hearing out Jigsaw first though.” Cyclops wasn't going to give in easily. It took a struggle and some words from his own president to get him to sit back down. The entire time, Marcus was denying everything and telling them Jigsaw was crazy...or “Mammoth,” as he was calling him.

“So, as I held my gun to his head and this scared, hurt little girl grabbed her clothes and tried to run away, this monster was screaming at her that even if I killed him, his boys would make sure her dad died a horrible death, but not before he watched her mother and then her be raped repeatedly.” Cyclops erupted again and now more of the Blackhawks were on their feet. It was getting impossible for Ian's guys to hold them back. Ian motioned toward the kitchen and Dax and the rest of the Skulls came out, taking their place between Cyclops and Marcus.

“You're going to protect this mother fucker?” Cyclops spat at them.

“No,” Dax said. “I'm keeping you from doing something here that will get the IRA pissed off at you. What you do when you walk out of here is up to you. As a matter of fact, if you need any help, you can call me.” That seemed to calm Cyclops slightly and when it was quiet again Jigsaw looked toward the Knightriders in the room and said,

“Marcus tried to have me killed that night. I was able to escape. When Beaner came after me again, he found my brother...my twin brother. That's who they tortured and killed. That's who you buried. I've struggled with killing Marcus myself. I want to. I could do it right now with my bare hands. But I decided it was more just to turn him over to Cyclops and let the father of the sweet little girl that this man was willing to ruin for life...decide what to do with him. I'm here to ask for all of your support for that. I know he's been your president for a lot of years now. He was mine too, and there is nothing thicker than the bond between our MC brothers...except for the one that exists between our biological families. The bond I had with my brother was so strong that sometimes I wake up at night and think about him and I can't breathe. I hate what this monster did to him. I hate that he's in a pine box and six feet under and this pig is still breathing oxygen. For almost a year my mind shut down. I couldn't remember anything at all, not even my own name. But now I remember. I remember all of you, and I remember my brother and I think you would have all liked him, very much. But since I can't bring that victim back to meet you, there's one that volunteered to come today. I'd like for you to meet Morgan...” Cyclops was on his feet again as his pretty little girl walked out onto the stage with her mother on one side and Angel on the other. Angel had traveled to New York and she'd spoken to the girl's mother. When her mother confronted her, Morgan denied it all at first, but despite what people might think of MC club old ladies, most of them are fierce, loving mothers. Cyclops old lady proved to be one of those and she had convinced her child to tell the truth. Once she did, her mother wanted her to stay at home and let her go tell everyone what Marcus had done...but Morgan was hearing none of it at that point. She stood on that stage now and looked her father in the eye and said,

“That man tried to rape me. He hit me in the face with his fist and he told me he would kill me if I didn't stop screaming,” She looked at Jigsaw and said, “This man saved me.” Cyclops threw his big body at the line of men who stood between him and Marcus. Dax looked at Ian who nodded. Dax reached over the melee and opened the door just as Cyclops grabbed Marcus and lifted him up off the floor. Marcus was screaming for help, but no one was responding. Everyone simply watched as Cyclops carried the other man out the door. Dax slammed it shut behind them and then looked at Ian and said,

“Where do you keep the whiskey?”