A/N: Welcome to my new Sons of Anarchy story. Obviously, I do not own anything related to the Sons of Anarchy franchise; otherwise, Tommy Flanagan and I would be off on an island somewhere having constant sex and getting drunk. Anywho, hopefully you enjoy this story. It takes place around the beginning of the series (it definitely starts right before the Mayans blow up the gun warehouse), but it won't follow all of the events that occur… most likely.

Oh, and the title is from Kenney Chesney's "American Kids" song. If you'd like, go listen to it; I think that it will fit the story.

Prologue

Adriana Teller is the twin to Thomas Teller, and the daughter of John and Gemma Teller. Adriana has the same congenital heart defect as the rest of the family. When Thomas died at age six, Gemma pulled back from Adriana. After John Teller died and Gemma married Clay Morrow, Adriana began to bond with him more than Jax did – partly because Jax was older and had spent more time with John, and partly because Gemma pulled Jax closer, but not Adriana. As Adriana grew up, she started to resent the lifestyle of the MC and her mother's dedication to it even though she wasn't a member. After graduating high school, Adriana went to work as a personal assistant for Elliot Oswald, and she coordinates the many different businesses that he owns.

Chapter One

Adriana Teller was going to kill her stepfather. As much as she loved him, and as much as she and he had bonded with one another after her twin brother and father died, she could not absolve him from guilt in this instance. Clay Morrow had sent members of the Redwood Charter of Sons of Anarchy to the workplace of her boyfriend and had them threaten him, and Adriana was not going to let him get away with it.

Jax looked up from the engine he was working on when he heard tires screech and an engine roar into the parking lot of TM. His younger sister, Adriana, stopped her red Mustang a few feet from a customer's car, narrowly avoiding hitting it. He heard her rip the emergency brake through her open windows and he gritted his teeth. How many times had he told her to be more gentle with that? Jax threw his wrench into his toolbox, grabbed a rag to wipe his hands, and started towards her.

"Ree, I've told you-" Jax started, but he was silenced as his sister rolled out of the car in a rampage.

"Where the fuck is dad?" Adriana yelled, slamming her car door and turning on him, her long blonde ponytail swinging.

"Wha-, Clay's in the clubhouse." Jax replied, confused. "What's wrong?" Adriana had formed a much closer bond to Clay than Jax when they were younger because their mother, Gemma, had pulled away from the young girl after Thomas' death, and she was much more comfortable with calling him 'dad.'

"He sent Tig and a couple of the Nomads to Paul's work. To his work." Ree headed towards the clubhouse, stomping in her four-inch high heels. "Where does he get off on that?" Paul was Ree's boyfriend of three months, and she had known that it was optimistic to think that she could keep it a secret. However, she hadn't thought that once her dad found out, he would send club members to threaten her boyfriend.

Jax shot a look over at Juice, who just looked back at him with wide eyes before going back to working on his bike. Jax turned to head into the garage office to get their mom, but she was already opening the door and stepping out.

"Was that Adriana?" Gemma asked, stepping into the garage.

"Yeah. Clay sent Tig and a couple of the Nomads over to her new boyfriend's work. She's pissed." Jax replied, shrugging as he walked back over to the engine he was working on earlier.

"Dammit." Gemma groaned, and she started towards the clubhouse.

Ree couldn't believe her father's audacity at sending Tig, Quinn, and a couple prospects to Paul's work. Did he think she was incapable of choosing someone worthwhile? Did he think she was an idiot? Adriana pulled open the door to the clubhouse and stomped inside.

"You." She said, pointing to the new prospect, Half-Sack. "Where's my dad?"

"Uh, he, I… he's in the chapel." Half-Sack responded, stuttering as he looked up from wiping down the bar.

Adriana started towards the chapel doors and pushed them open, finding her dad and Tig sitting at the table, talking and smoking.

"Hey, kid." Tig said, smiling as he looked around at her.

Adriana glared at him and slammed her hand down on the table. "Don't you 'hey, kid' me, Tig Trager. I swear to God, I should shove that cigarette up your ass." She turned her glare to Clay. "You sent club members to my boyfriend's work; you didn't see anything wrong with that?"

Clay bit on his cigar and leaned back in his chair. "I needed him to know the value that you hold." Clay said slowly, as if he was choosing his words carefully.

Adriana scoffed. "The value that I hold? That's bullshit. You just get off on being in charge. He's a fucking normal person. He has a job; a house; a car." As an afterthought, she added, "No criminal record."

Clay sat up and stood, dropping his cigar in the ashtray on the table. "One of Laroy's guys saw him in Oakland. In Mayan territory."

Adriana threw her hands up. "He's a fucking plumber! In the Oakland area! It's his job." Ree turned around when she heard her mother's heels on the floor. Gemma walked into room and placed her hand on Ree's shoulder. "Tell him to stay out of my personal life."

"Adriana, Clay would only do this if it was necessary, and –" Gemma began, but Clay interrupted her.

"It is necessary. Mayans have been quiet for too long, and we don't know what their next move is. Darby's getting out of Chino soon, and we've heard that he's been trying to make friends…" Clay turned his look from Gemma to Adriana and pointed at her. "You need to keep your ass out of Oakland. Tell Oswald that whatever errands you run, they don't take you into Oakland."

Ree paused, then said, "Wait a minute. How did you know where he worked? Paul said the guys met him out front of the office when he was about to leave for a job."

Clay looked over at her and raised an eyebrow. "Juice. He already had most of the information because you ran a background check on him yourself."

Ree stomped her foot, stifling a scream. "Little rat. I'm a grown ass woman, dad. I can take care of myself."

Clay came around the table and stood in front of her, taking her face in his hands. "You're my responsibility. You'll do what I say, or I'll move your ass back home and put a detail on you 24/7. We clear?"

Adriana gritted her teeth and pouted, giving him her best puppy dog eyes. Clay gave her a small smile and kissed her on the top of her head. "Not happening." He turned around and went back to his chair, sitting down and picking up his cigar. Ree and Gemma were officially dismissed.

Gemma grabbed her daughter by the elbow and led her out of the room, closing the doors behind them. Adriana glared at her and said, "Thanks for the help, mom." Adriana stomped outside and headed towards her car, but changed course when she saw Juice working on his bike in the garage. "Juice!" She yelled at him, and the young Puerto Rican froze like a deer in the headlights. "You. You son of a bitch. You gave my dad the information on Paul? You helped him embarrass the absolute shit out of me?!"

Chibs came around the corner of the building in time to see Adriana kick off her shoes and start running towards Juice. "Hey, hey! What's all the yelling?" Chibs grabbed the young woman around the waist and took a right hook to the jaw for his efforts. "Ow! Jesus Christ, girl, wha' tha hell is tha problem?"

Adriana huffed and jerked her head around to look Chibs in the eye. "I'm going to kill your protégé, that's what's going on. And right now, my problem is that you're holding me back."

Chibs looked from the frozen Juice to the amused Jax, and then back to the angry woman in his arms. "Well, Jackie boy, do I let her go? Is what Juicy did worth a beating?"

Jax shrugged and stepped towards his sister and Chibs, then said, "I doubt Ree could beat anyone, Chibs. She's probably not even carrying." Jax looked over at Adriana. "Are you?"

Adriana looked down, and replied guiltily, "No… but it's in the car."

Jax rolled his eyes. "It's not going to do you any good in the car, dipshit."

"Well I don't think that I'll be attacked here in broad daylight at TM!" Adriana shot back at him, looking up and sticking out her tongue at him.

"You never know what could happen, Ree. That's why Clay and I tell you to always carry." Jax looked over at Chibs and said, "You can let go of my little sister, now, Chibs. I think she's calmed down."

Chibs let go of Adriana so fast that she stumbled a little.

"Thanks for the heads up." Adriana growled, glaring at Chibs. She turned her glare to Juice, and then she pointed at him. "I asked you for help on making sure that Paul wasn't a psychopath. That does not mean that you can use that information to aid my father in threatening and scaring my boyfriend. That also does not mean that since I had you help me look into Paul, that gives you license to dig into him even more. Now, I realize that you can't say no to my dad, because of this fucked up chain of command shit, but I do expect a heads up next time."

Juice looked from Adriana to Jax and then back to Adriana. "That would be ratting, though."

Adriana gave Juice a small smile and replied, "You give me a heads up, or I'm going to rip you to shreds, okay? Nobody messes with my sex life."

Juice nodded vehemently, then turned back to his bike. Adriana walked over to her brother and hugged him, then stepped back towards her car and opened the door. "I have to get back to work. Elliot wants me to run a few errands before I go back to the office."

"Alright. Are you coming to family dinner tonight?" Jax replied.

Adriana shrugged. "I might. It depends on whether Paul can come over tonight… or if he's even still interested."

Jax laughed. "Bring him to family dinner. I would pay to see that."

Adriana glared at him and gave him the finger. "Fuck off, Jax. That's not happening." She slid down into her Mustang and started the engine. Jax stepped over to the driver's side window and put his hand on the roof, leaning down to look at her.

"Fine. Don't come to dinner. But you need to stop being so rough on that emergency brake, and you're due for an oil change. Make sure you bring it by when you have time for us to do it."

Adriana sighed as she put on her sunglasses, released the emergency brake, and put the car in reverse. "I'll make sure to do that." She looked over at him and smiled. "Have a fun day. Try not to kill anyone."

Adriana backed away, turned the car around, and sped out of the parking lot, waving at her mother as she passed her. Chibs and Juice watched the red Mustang disappear as it turned left and then they heard tires squeal.

"Your sister scares the shit out of me." Juice said, looking over at Jax.

Jax sighed and shrugged. "Yeah. I used to be worried that I'd be the next Teller to die, but she might beat me to it."

A/N: So, let me know what you think, and if you think I have a good enough basis to continue!