Whatever It Takes || Code 8: Connor Reed

18. Finally over

Victoria woke up in a hospital bed and she coughed, sitting up fast and naturally, she also was setting off all sorts of beeping alarms as she did. "Whoa there, kiddo, take it easy!" Victoria snapped her head around to see that Davis was sitting in the corner.

"Where are they?" Victoria asked and Davis was sighing. "Connor and Pav, are they okay?" She asked.

"Take it easy there, kid. You will give yourself a fucking heart attack." Davis stated and Victoria tilted her head at them. "They are okay, we got them both here in time along with you. All of you guys are okay." He promised.

"And King?" Victoria asked.

"Arrested and safely locked up." Davis replied. "Garrett is locked up too, but, I hope that you don't mind that." Davis said and Victoria laughed at the words, before she was nodding her head.

"Finally my son of a bitch brother, gets his comeuppance." Victoria said with laughter in her voice, before she groaned in pain. "What about Jordan?" She asked.

"She's going before the courts today, trying to figure out what she deserves as a sentence. Jordan does actually seem really broken up about it." Davis quickly turned around to look at the doorway, seeing that Connor was standing in the doorway and underneath his arm looking very comfortable, was Pav.

"Well, it sure took you a whole lot longer to wake up then we did." Connor said and without warning, Pav was running forward and throwing her arms around Victoria.

"Ow! Ow, it's good to see you too." Victoria said as Pav was hugging her tightly. Victoria smiled down at her and she returned the hug awkwardly, while Pav refused to let her go and Victoria was holding onto her as well. "All right, let go of me." Victoria muttered and Pav let her go.

"She also had three bullets in her, broken ribs and a punctured lung." Davis replied evenly and Connor nodded. "I will let you guys know when I have more information about Jordan and the others but right now, your family has been relocated back to the place where you were before, they are safe." Davis said.

"Hey, Davis?" Victoria asked as he was walking out of the room and he turned around to look at her again. "Thank you." She said and Davis nodded slightly at her, before he was walking out of the room and she was shaking her head. "It's over?" Victoria asked.

"It's actually over." Connor said with a laugh and so did Pav, who was grinning and the three of them were just relieved that it was all over and done with.

Which was why after two more weeks in the hospital, Victoria was finally allowed out and everyone cheered, racing out of the big house at the sight of her limping over to them and all of the kids were cheering. Tyla, Tommy and Jaime were all hugging her tightly as Victoria laughed at them, hugging them tightly in return. "Oh, I missed you guys." Victoria murmured softly and they were all hugging her tightly, unwilling to let her go.

"Don't you dare leave us again! Ever!" Tyla pleaded and Victoria sighed, very carefully just moving her arms around her younger daughter and Victoria chuckled quietly.

"Right now, I'm not going anywhere except for the couch." Victoria promised and the kids were all cheering at the words. Victoria walked forward and Griff gave her a careful hug, almost being afraid to crush her and Victoria returned it. "It's good to see you." She murmured.

"I'm sorry about Jordan." Griff mumbled.

"She made her choice." Victoria replied and she was limping into the house, before she found her way to the couch and sat down. "I kind of wondered whether you were going to show up or not." She said as Connor was walking into the room. "How's Pav?" Victoria asked.

"Worried about you. But she's fine." Connor said and Victoria was nodding slightly, before he was sitting down next to her. "I agree with Tyla, don't leave them again." He said and she was glancing at him. "Which I know, I sound like a huge hypocrite." He said and she was shaking her head.

"You offered to go back to jail and to do more time, to protect the rest of us when King went down." Victoria said carefully and then Connor was shrugging quickly at the words.

"It just seemed like the right thing to do at the time." Connor said and she glared at him with annoyance and anger in her eyes. "Oh great, now I know that you're mad at me. What the hell did I do now?" He asked.

"You don't have to throw yourself on top of the chopping block every time, Connor. I mean, you have already missed almost six years of those kids lives out there." Victoria pointed out to him as Tommy and Tyla were laughing, cheering as they were training with Griff and the others outside and she glanced at him again. "Do you really not see how it has affected them?" She asked.

"Them? Or you?" Connor asked and she sighed.

"Both." Victoria replied and she looked out at the kids. "When I'm around here or even just around them and I have other stuff to get done, the other adults have to practically drag them away from me. They have grabbed onto me and refused to let go, because they know that you aren't going to be around." She said and Connor winced.

"I never meant to disappear out of your lives completely, I just wanted to be just out." Connor said and at the words from him, Victoria shook her head in disbelief. "Stop shaking your head, like you know what I'm talking about." He said.

"You can't be half-in and half-out of this life, Connor, no matter where your family is on the picket line." Victoria said and Connor lowered his head slightly, recognizing how much pain she was speaking with. "Five years ago, you told me that you wanted out. I helped you get out and you went to prison, you served your time and then you disappeared out of our lives. Then you show up with a kid in tow, Connor." Victoria pointed out and Connor was opening his mouth to protest. "I'm not done." Victoria said and Connor slammed his jaw shut.

"You went to Garrett instead of me, trying to get Pav the help she needed. And by doing so, you crossed Garrett and caused him to lose two of his people, got me shot and forced me to move all of my people, before the police could take out my home." Victoria pointed out and Connor winced. "So, are you staying in the life and helping us? Or are you taking off and living your own life without us and no contact?" She asked and Connor lowered his head again.

"It's up to you. But once you decide, you have to take your pick and live with it, because sooner or later, the rest of us will have to figure out how to navigate our lives again, with or without you in it." Victoria said and she was getting up, as she limped into the hallway.

"How long have you been holding that in?" Connor asked and she stopped, turning around to look at him. "All of that, must have been good to finally let it out."

"You're lucky I didn't kill you." Victoria countered and Connor shrugged. "You can still just casually look me in the eye after I've threatened your life and just shrug. You certainly have changed." She remarked.

"If I left here with Pav and told you that I would never come back to the life, would you and the kids come with us?" Connor asked and Victoria snorted at the words. "Come on Tori, I'm serious. Would you just think about it?" He asked and she scoffed.

"Talk to the kids first." Victoria said and he was nodding. "Including Jaime." She added and Connor glanced at her, before he was nodding at the order and he was walking out of the house and Victoria was going into her room.

Victoria shut the door behind her and she was looking around at it, silently remembering everything that had happened to her over the time since she had been taken in, everything was hitting her all at once and she didn't even know why.

Victoria sat down on the bed and she was looking around at the room silently, before she was grabbing a book off of the bedside table and she was starting to read.