Fallen Bast*rd

Willa, Georgie & Demitri – Home Coming - 22 years old

Their journey home was quiet, each of them reflecting on their time away from home, making space to blend who they had become at King's with who they were in Eastbrook.

As usual, Demitri sat behind the wheel as they drove through familiar East London streets, the boot of his car once again crammed with luggage, laptops and enough belongings to suggest neither Willa nor Georgie had ever heard of travelling light.

As the Fallen Sinners compound came into view, Willa smiled to herself.

"Feels weird being back."

Georgie nodded from the passenger seat. "It'll feel even weirder unpacking."

Demitri chuckled. "You two enjoy unpacking. I'm going home for twelve uninterrupted hours of sleep."

"You've been saying that since we left Kent." Willa laughed.

"And I meant it every time." He said, winking at her in the rearview mirror.

The electric gates slid open, revealing the familiar clubhouse standing proudly against the skyline.

Their families were waiting for their arrival.

Bear and Frankie stood beside Butch and Lilly, chatting away with Alexi and Sarah, while several brothers busied themselves loading motorcycles that sat in neat rows outside the clubhouse.

*

Bear and Frankie both pulled Willa into a quick one-armed hug. "About time." He smiled.

"I was gone two weeks," Willa said, narrowing her eyes.

"Still too long."

Across from them, Butch embraced Georgie while Lilly kissed her cheek.

"Welcome home, my girl." Said Lilly

Georgie smiled. "It's good to be back."

Alexi stepped forward, shaking Demitri's hand before pulling him into a brotherly hug. "Ready to start earning your keep, Demi?"

Demitri rolled his eyes. "I've been back like thirty seconds."

"Your point?"

Sarah laughed, slipping an arm through Alexi's. "Stop, save the bullying for tomorrow."

"See?" Demitri grinned. "At least one of you has common sense."

Alexi ignored him.

Instead, he looked between Bear and Butch before addressing everyone gathered outside.

"Early this morning, Roberto officially announced me as the new head of the family." The courtyard fell silent.

"So now I'm making it official. "From now on, our organisations move forward together. No more territorial bullshit. No more pretending we don't all benefit from working together."

Bear nodded once. "But everyone remembers where the lines are drawn."

"They do," Alexi agreed. "But from today, the Fallen Sinners. The Soulless Bastards and the Costas Coexist."

A murmur of approval spread through the gathered brothers. Business would remain business.

But more importantly to them, "Club business" would remain just that.

The constant balancing act between alliances and old loyalties had finally settled.

*

"Our bikes." Freshly serviced and polished, Willa's metallic midnight-blue Harley Softail sat beside Georgie's metallic purple one.

"Oh, how I've missed you," Willa exclaims, running her fingers along the body.

"You've missed speeding," Georgie corrects.

"Same difference."

Butch tosses them their keys. "Shall we?"

Willa looks across the compound as patched brothers from both clubs begin climbing onto their Harleys.

The familiar sound of V-twins rumbled to life one after another.

*

In the weeks that followed, life returned to normal—or at least their version of it.

Friday nights were once again reserved for Inferno, heavy nights of drinking and making plans they'd forget come Monday.

Every other Sunday, both clubs broke bread together, and Willa would do her best to steer clear of Ax.

It was the weekdays, however, that looked very different. Instead of university lecture halls, Willa, Georgie and Demi found themselves walking through the doors of Royal Victoria College.

A one-year Business Management course. That neither Willa nor Georgie particularly wanted to do but needed to so that Demitri wasn't left doing all the heavy lifting.

Between the three of them, they could dismantle a network, write code, launder data, expose fraud and rebuild an operating system before most people had finished breakfast.

Business, however, was a whole other language. Accounting, employment law, leadership, marketing and supply chains.

They needed to understand how a legitimate business worked. If they really wanted to build something together one day.

One month into the course.

Four weeks in, the lecturers quickly learned two things. Never ask Willa if something was secure. And never tell Georgie a process couldn't be improved.

Questions led Willa to go out of her way to show them nothing was ever truly secure.

Their tutor wasn't sure whether to congratulate them or report them.

Demitri laughed.

"You know," he said one afternoon, "normal people just study."

"That sounds positively dull," Willa replied.

Six months into the course

Inferno's dance floor pulsed beneath an array of lights. The music beat against the walls of people crammed onto the dance floor.

Demi leaned against the bar, waiting for another round, when someone bumped into his shoulder.

"Sorry."

He turned. And saw the most beautiful woman he'd seen all night. Dark hair. Warm brown eyes. Wearing a silk camisole that delicately dipped between the gentle swell of her humble breasts. And black jeans that looked like they'd been painted on.

She smiled apologetically before ordering another drink.

After much flirting, he found her name was Sabrina. And She’s in her third year at UEL.

"So?" She nodded towards Willa and Georgie dancing together in the V.I.P section. At the same time, the men around them tried and failed to grab their attention.

"Which one's yours?"

Demi blinked. "What?"

"You've been watching them all night."

He laughs. "No."

"No?" She frowns.

"They're family."

She raises an eyebrow. "They don't look like your sisters. Unless different mums?"

Demi smiles "There is, nor has there ever been anything romantic between us." Technically true.

He neglected to mention there'd been drunken nights, blurred lines and enough history to confuse the masses.

Instead, he explained growing up beside them, their mothers having been friends. The club. And how they'd practically spent every weekend together since childhood.

By the end of the evening, Sabrina had relaxed.

"Another drink?" Demi asked.

"Sure." She smiled.

Twelve months later.

Their course had finally ended. They attended another graduation, though this one was quieter than the last—their celebration only for them.

Within days of receiving his certificate, Demi accepted a position working alongside his older brother Alexi.

Who figured since he was there every Friday he'd cut his teeth at Inferno.

Alexi grinned. "About bloody time, Mr Costa."

Georgie accepted a software development role with a new tech firm, EVIH. Their hybrid working model suited her perfectly; she only attended site when there was a meeting.

And most importantly, no one cared she preferred biker boots to heels.

Willa being Willa took a different path—cybersecurity consultancy. Freelance, of course.

Sometimes legitimate corporations paid her to find weaknesses. Or law enforcement quietly subcontracted specialist investigations.

Other times, though, organisations with considerably fewer morals paid substantially better.

Willa never asked too many questions. And so long as innocent people didn't get hurt. No job was denied.

Soon they'd be able to make their dream come true.

Current Day - Blade 26

Dex stared across his office where Georgie sat sprawled out on his custom leather sofa.

"You know?" He said thoughtfully.

Georgie didn't look up from her laptop.

"I've asked you the same question for well nigh on two years."

Silence.

"Gie, what happened in America?"

Her fingers never stopped moving. "So, stop asking, because I'm not telling."

"Not even me." He asked, his voice softening.

"No."

Frustrated, Dex leaned back into his chair. For over eighteen months, she'd dodged every conversation or direct question about America.

Something happened. Willa was never the same when she came back—always guarded, looking over her shoulder. Huddled over the burner phone she didn't think I noticed.

Three hours later.

Law answered his call on the fourth ring.

"What?" he snapped.

"I need answers, Law, and you seem to have 'em all."

Silence. Law already knew where this conversation was heading.

"Sorry, Prez, I don't do gossip."

Blade sighed. "I'm not asking as your Prez," another pause. "Asking as her big brother."

The line went quiet long enough that Blade wondered if Law had hung up.

"Fine." Law exhaled long and slow. "You ever heard of HIVE?"

"No."

"You weren't supposed to. HIVE is a global collective of hackers. Some of the best cyber operators you've never heard of. Governments use 'em. Corporations fear 'em. Criminal organisations rent 'em.'

Pausing, Law scrubbed a hand down his face as he watched Willa from afar.

"They're who you go to if you want records disappearing, money moved, identities changed. HIVE can make it happen."

Blade frowns. "What's Willa got to do with it?"

Law's voice hardened. "Everything."

"Our sister club has gone full one percenter. They weren't just into moving drugs and firearms, money laundering, blackmail. They were trafficking too. Anything that turned a profit."

Pausing, Law lit a cigarette. "They used HIVE to erase evidence, alter financial records. Destroy witnesses and rivals. On paper they were untouchable."

Blade's jaw tightened. Motherfuckers. “Willa?”

Law laughed. "Your sister broke their golden rule. She was invited for a find the flag. She got bored, ran a counterhack on their system from the inside, and found the mother lode. Names, dates, accounts. Bodies. She copied every file."

Blade swallowed. "What did she do with it?"

Silence. "The Feds and Justice Tram's son used it to start a coup. Which ended in a gunfight, last stand at the Alamo."

Blade closed his eyes. "Christ"

Blade's breathing slowed. "And Willa, she didn't?"

"No," Law answered immediately. "When I found her, she was standing over Tram, knife to his throat." Another pause. "I disarmed her; she'd already won. No need to make her a killer."

Blade rubs his hand over his scalp. "You didn't think to tell me."

"I did as you asked." Law's tone turns deathly calm.

"I don't write reports. I watch and protect. The only time you'll ever hear from me is if I'm made or there's a chance of blowback. Then you'll be the first person I call."

The line goes dead.

Georgie was right. Some stories weren't for others to tell. Silence is sometimes a shield.

But this... this could start a war. Or worse, his parents could lose their only daughter.