A Raven Among Crows

Chapter 89: Life and Death

BIGGGGGG disclaimer before you read this one, so please hear me out. After WEEKS of stressing over this, I've decided to go ahead and stick with the original dialogue taken directly from the show for these next few chapters involving the Niners. I want you all to know that the views expressed by some of these characters do not at all align with my own, but I hope that with your knowledge of the show and this genre of story to begin with, you already understand that. That being said, racial slurs will be present in the next few chapters. These are very hard for me to write, but I feel that they are imperative to the scenes and to the mindsets of some of these characters. I have taken out as many as I possibly can, but if you've seen the show then I hope you will know why it is crucial to keep some of them in. I am very very sorry if this is offensive to anybody, and I again would like to reiterate that these are not my words, they are words from the script in which I am writing from.

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General trigger warnings for this story: Language, smut, mentions of rape, abuse, drug use/overdose, violence/death.

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Tig felt Clay come up behind him, placing his heavy hand on his shoulder as he too laid his eyes on the heartbreaking sight that they could only blame themselves for - but no matter how much it hurt, he couldn't bring himself to look away. He deserved this punishment.

Sydney sighed shakily when she finally finished, pulling her eyes away from the savages who were responsible for this painful position that she found herself in. "I gotta go..." She told Ellie softly as the young girl wiped her tears. "But I hope that I did your momma proud."

"Are you kidding?" Ellie threw her arms around her, brushing off her own emotions. "You were so much better!" She hugged her tightly before letting her get up to leave. "You have to come back and sing for me again, okay? I didn't mess up once! That never happens!"

"Okay." Sydney chuckled as she got to her feet, the angry tears returning to her eyes as she made her way towards the door, glaring harshly at Tig and Clay who stood with their heads down. "I never want to have to do that again." She uttered through gritted teeth as she pushed past them, making her way out to her car without saying goodbye to anybody else.

Tig nodded as Clay tried to console him, choosing to accept his fate instead as he followed Sydney out of the house and found her in the driver's seat of her car, staring blankly at the wheel. He sucked in a shaky breath as he pulled the passenger door open, readying himself for what he knew was coming - but once again, his dreary expectations dissipated as soon as he was in her presence.

"I didn't know that you could sing like that..." He started after a few minutes of silence. He had no idea where to begin, but he figured that this would be a good starting point to help him gauge where to go next.

"Neither did I." Her words were hollow as she remained fixed on the worn black leather of the steering wheel that had spent decades in her dad's hands - running her thumb over Tig's ring before starting the engine and pulling out of her parking spot, wanting to get as far away from that house as she possibly could.

"I'm sorry..." Tig sighed, shaking his head sorrowfully as he allowed the tears to gather in his eyes. He knew that he had to get this out, and there was no better day to do it than on the one day where the reminder of his mistake would be waiting for him at every turn.

Sydney kept her eyes fixed on the road, waiting for him to continue but getting no such thing as she looked over to see his lip clamped harshly between his teeth. "What-" She cleared her throat. "What exactly are you apologizing for?"