Authors note: I own no character but Kailin and maybe a random here and there. Kurt Sutter is a Genius.
Although I'm a huge fan of the show I just couldn't like Tara. I always felt there was someone better out there for Jax. So of course with my active imagination I began wondering who would be better, and how she would be intertwined in Jax's life. What better way than the sister of his best friend. I know I've started a story already with this same concept, however, for me it went too fast and I lost interest. Here I will show the slow burn that is Kailin and Jacksons relationship and also the bond between brother and sister and father and daughter. We will grow with these characters together and as always, reviews are welcomed and encouraged. This is an AU but will tie in with the show's plot in later chapters. I hope you all enjoy!
p.s - sorry for any spelling mistakes. I was so excited to share that I had to post, but rest be assured I will be editing.
-Leah
Summer 1992
BANG, BANG, BANG. Kailin's head snapped from the kitchen sink to the front door. She wasn't supposed to answer unless her mother was home, which was rare these days. She took her little seven year old hands out of the soapy water and started to walk towards the front window.
BANG, BANG, BANG!
"Answer the door Sunshine; we know you're in there!" It was a man with a low grumbly voice, he sounded mad and he was looking for her mom. Men usually didn't come to the house unless she was home. "We don't want any trouble, we just want the girl."
Kailin took a step back, the girl? They wanted her? She had a few of her mother's men take an interest in her before but never like this. The never specifically asked for her, just found her when her mother was passed out. She saw a few shadows walk in front of the front windows and she ducked. Her little body started to tremble; she wasn't going to let another one of her mother's men touch her. She knew it was wrong.
Kailin crawled back into the kitchen and reached straight into the knife drawer for the biggest knife she could find, slicing her finger in the process. She whimpered in pain, however, instead of grabbing a Band-Aid she ran into her room and into the closet. Silent tears rolled down her little face in fear.
A few minutes had passed and all was quiet. Her finger was throbbing and Kailin wondered if the men had decided to give up and go home. Just as she was about to open the closet door she heard a smash coming from the back of the house. They were in. Her whole body jolted back and she gripped the knife tight, she didn't want to use it, she didn't want to hurt anybody but she knew she would if she had to.
"Listen Sunshine, we're going to find you" Kailin shivered at the malice in the man's voice. "You think you can show up at the clubhouse after seven years, slurring that I have a DAUGHTER?!"
The little girl in the closet froze. A daughter? What did he mean daughter? Sunshine always told her that her father didn't want her. This man sounded as if he didn't even know about her. The voices drew closer.
"What did you expect me to do huh? If it's true, did you expect me to leave her with the likes of you? Look at this place! Its covered in filth, you disgusting, neglectful whore!"
Kailin cringed at his words. She wanted to stick up for her mom, like her mom had done for her a few times when she wasn't drunk, but she was too scared to say anything, and she was just a little girl.
"Piney look, this must be the kids room" Another male voice shouted from her doorway. Kailin peeked through the slots of her closet, praying they didn't find her. The man had crazy, curly hair and a leather vest with a skeleton on the back. Kailin had seen them around town before on their motorcycles. Sunshine always avoided them saying that they were no good.
Heavy leather boots drew near. "Jesus fucking Christ, the whore does have a kid" the man with the gruff voice mumbled. He ran a hand through his hair "A part of me thought she was lying, she was always good at lying."
The man with the curly hair and big belly gave him a hard pat on the shoulder. "Don't worry too much brother; she could still be lying about the girl being yours."
Kailin squeezed as far back into the closet as she could get. Her father didn't want her! That's what she was told and that's what she believed.
Two more men reached the doorway. "Doesn't look like she's here brother, the kid either" A man with long hair said sighing. "I'm going to call Luanne and Gemma and update them; you know they're going crazy"
The man called Piney, the man supposed to be her father, leaned against her doorway. "Yeah, okay Otto. Tell them there is a kid, we just have to come back when they're home" Otto nodded "You got it brother."
A hint of panic came forth into Pineys eyes. "What if she took the kid and ran?" his head snapped towards the man she couldn't see. "JT, what if that good for nothing crow eater took off with my daughter?"
The man who came into view had very kind eyes, "Then we'll find them" he said in a calm voice. John Teller looked around the room "However, it doesn't look like she ran" he pulled open the dresser "nothing is missing, no clothes or toys." His eyes caught something on the floor "Bobby come here for a second" Curly head walked towards JT. "Yes pres?" JT pointed at something on the floor, Bobby bent down and wiped it up "Its blood, and its fresh."
Kailin gasped and gripped the knife as a new set of panic washed through her. She looked down at her finger that was still bleeding and cursed herself for not finding a Band-Aid.
All three men looked at the closet curiously and Piney sprang to life. He ran and opened the doors.
Kailin reacted out of fear; she lunged at the man before her with the knife and managed to slice his arm. He was taken aback and moved enough for her to run past.
"Jesus Christ!"
She was little and fast, she managed to get past the other two and a sense of relief hit her. All she needed to do was get out the front door and call for help. Kailin looked back to see if they were chasing her and ran straight into something solid. The impact knocked her down and made her dizzy.
"Whoa slow down kiddo" The man named Otto said. She forgot about him. "Are you okay?" He bent down and she tried to move away but she couldn't, her vision was getting blurry. She heard the other men run down the hall and before her world turned black she heard JT say "well she certainly has your temper old man."
SOA SOA SOA SOA SOA
"Look at her Luanne, doesn't look like she's had a good meal in years. She's skin and bone" a female voice whispered from the doorway of the room Kailin was in. She was waking up slowly and realized real fast that she wasn't home.
"I know" Luanne whispered back "the poor girl, she's cute as a button though. Look at all the blonde hair!"
Gemma rolled her eyes. "She would probably be cuter if she wasn't malnourished and had a shower and some proper clothes; I swear if I ever see Sunshine I'll kick her ass. Even if it turns out this isn't Piney's kid."
Luanne was quick to agree and Kailin was quick to start crying. The two girls whipped around to comfort the young girl.
"It's okay sweetheart, We're not going to hurt you. We're here to help you" The one named Gemma said in a soft voice while the other nodded her head vigorously. Gemma was a pretty woman and she looked nice.
Kailin tried to control her sobs "are you here to help me get back to mommy?" She asked innocently. All she wanted to do was go home.
They looked at each other before answering "well, no honey we're not going to take you back to your mommy's house until we find out something very important"
Her heart started to race and fear started to grip her heart, "What do you need to find out?" She asked between sniffles.
Gemma's heart almost broke for the little girl, what a traumatic life she's led so far. She was surprised the girl was holding it together so well. "Can you tell me your name sweetheart?"
Kailin looked up at the lady with her big blue eyes and whispered "Kailin."
Gemma seemed shocked "Wow, I wasn't expecting such a normal name for a girl whose mother is named Sunshine" Luanne chuckled. "It's nice to meet you Kailin, my name is Gemma and this is my friend Luanne" Luanne waved "Are you hungry?"
The truth was she was starving. Just as she was about to answer her stomach rumbled and Gemma smiled. "Luanne how about you go and make this good girl a sandwich and bring her a juice box, I'm sure she's thirsty too."
Kailin gave Gemma a small smile, she didn't trust the woman, but she liked her.
Just as Luanne reached the door Gemma got up and whispered something to her, she nodded and left. Gemma turned from the door to look at Kailin. Luanne was right, she was definitely cute.
"Miss Gemma, where am I?" Kailin said in a small voice.
The lady smiled "You can just call me Gemma sweetheart, and you're inside of the Sons of Anarchy motorcycle club. You're up in one of the dorm rooms" she answered truthfully.
"What am I doing here?"
Gemma gave her a long look. "Maybe you should have something to eat before I answer that" She said as she looked out into the hall.
"Does it have something to do with the guy who thinks he's my father? The one they were calling Pinetree?" Gemma snorted and let out a belly laugh. This girl was smart as a whip and funny to boot.
"His name is Piney sweetie, not Pinetree. Although that's a good one" Gemma said laughing again "That is why you're here though, we think you could be Pineys daughter" Gemma sat beside her on the bed and looked for a response. Kailin went white "My mommy said my daddy didn't want me" she whispered.
"Well Kailin, If Piney is your daddy he most definitely wants you. He just didn't know you existed until yesterday"
Kailin didn't want to believe the woman, she hated to admit it but she was excited that she might have more family and relieved that her dad wanted her.
"Well how do you figure out if he's my dad or not?"
Gemma mumbled to herself "That's what we're trying to figure out ourselves."
A knock on the door made Kailin jump and Gemma look at her with wonder. This kid must have had many sleepless nights. She got up and answered the door, she has asked Luanne to get Piney to bring up the sandwich and here he was. They nodded to each other and Gemma opened the door wide enough for Kailin to see.
She brought her legs to her chest and there was fear in her eyes, but she held her ground.
Piney cleared his throat "I brought you a sandwich and a juicebox" he said awkwardly, not knowing how to approach the little girl who may or may not be his daughter.
She lowered her legs and looked him in the eye "Thank you" she said as she grabbed the plate and dug in. It had been a day or two since she's had a real meal, even longer since she's had a juicebox.
They let her wolf down her food in silence, Piney not knowing really what to say to her. He wanted to tell her it would be alright, that he would protect her from everything and everyone but he couldn't bring himself to say it, because if it turned out she wasn't his it would all be a lie. God did he ever want her to be his.
Gemma spoke first, in a hushed voice so that little ears wouldn't overhear. "Are you sure about this Piney? I mean think about it. This could ruin your Marriage with Mary and girls are way harder to raise than boys are" She didn't necessarily want to talk the man out of it, because she wanted to see Kailin properly raised, however, she needed the man to think about what he was doing and the possible consequences.
Piney looked at the girl and then at Gemma, "I don't care if it was an alien sitting in front of us Gem, if it has my DNA I'm not abandoning it" Piney said with authority, and with that he walked towards the little girl he kidnapped not even a few hours earlier.
She looked up at him with the most gorgeous blue eyes he had ever seen and that's all it took, he was hooked.
"I don't want you to be scared of me sweetheart, I just want to ask you a few questions" she nodded and took a sip of her juice.
"First off I want to apologize for the way the guys and I barged right into your house today, I know it gave you quite a fright and that was the last thing that we wanted" She looked down at Pineys arm and seen that he had a bandage over the place where she cut him.
"Well I'm sorry I cut you so bad on your arm" she replied. An apology for an apology.
"I don't want you to ever be sorry about that, you were protecting yourself and that's a good thing. I shouldn't have given you any reason to go to those lengths" Kailin nodded and started to catch herself liking this man. It wasn't an easy feat because she really didn't like men in general. This one was different though. He smelled of leather, whiskey and smoke mixed with cinnamon and it oddly calmed her down.
"Can I ask you what your name is" He said in a soft voice.
"Kailin" she answered bashfully.
"Well that's a very pretty name Kailin, it suits you. My name is Piney" She stuck out her hand for a handshake and it took almost everything in him not to chuckle. He shaked her tiny hand.
"It's nice to meet you Piney" she said with her head held high. She was a firecracker, that's for sure.
"It's very nice to meet you too" he said a chuckle escaping. "Kailin, there is something I want to talk to you about. You know by now that you might be my daughter, in order to really find out though we need to do a test"
Kailin's face dropped at the mention of a test. "What is it honey?" Piney asked.
"Well it's just that I'm not good at tests, especially the math ones. I can spell all my words this week though! So maybe we could do that" she said starting to perk up. This made both adults laugh.
"It's not that kind of test sweetheart" Gemma said. Now Kailin was really confused.
"What kind of test is it then" before either had a chance to respond, young voices were heard in the hall and before either adult could stop it, two young boys entered the room.
"Hey Ma, whose the girl" The one with the blonde hair and blue eyes asked Gemma.
"Jackson Teller! I told you not to come up here. You were given orders and you disobeyed; go outside like you were told to do, you too Opie." Gemma snapped. The last thing they needed was these two finding out about Kailin, at least not until they knew the truth about her.
"Yes mam" Opie responded, ever the obedient one. Jax however, wasn't easily swayed.
"I'm nine years old Ma, I'm practically a man. I think I deserve to know who the girl is" he said with a smug grin.
Kailin looked into the boys eyes and realized he has the same kind eyes of the man that figured out where she was hiding today, she beat Gemma to a response "My name is Kailin and you're not a man, you're just a little boy" She said with a hand on her hip. Jax frowned and Gemma closed her mouth waiting to see how this panned out.
He looked around the room and then into the girls blue eyes "Well my name is Jax Teller and I might not be a man yet but one day I will be. One day soon I'll be president of the Sons of Anarchy and Op here will be my VP" He cocked his head to the side and realized this girl named Kailin had no idea what he was talking about. He couldn't help but like her though. "And if you stick around here long enough maybe you'll even be my old lady" with that Gemma pushed the boys out of the room and shut the door, shaking her head and smirking all the while.
Kailin didn't know what an old lady was, or what he was talking about. But if it meant she got to stay here and play with the boy with the blonde hair, she was all in.
