Disclaimer: I don't own anything from this story except for Ariana and the plot, and some possible future OC's.
"Hand me that wrench over there, would you?" Ariana placed the wrench into an outstretched hand. After a few minutes the young man stood up and grinned at Ariana.
"How are you doing, little sister?" the blond man gave Ariana a hug, which she returned before handing him the cold beer she had brought. He nodded thanks. "Hey Jax. Same as always, y'know how it is. High school," she rolled her eyes. Jax laughed.
"Business a little slow today, huh?" she looked around at the rather vacant interior of the Teller-Morrow garage.
"Yeah, but it gives me time to work on other things," Jax smiled, thinking of his baby son Abel.
"Mind if I stay at your place tonight?" Ariana asked.
"Nah, c'mon. I was just about to head out," Jax tipped his beer and drank the last of it before leading the way to the parking lot outside. He took the helmet from his bike and tossed it to Ariana, who caught it and put it on. He got on and waited for his 'little sister'. As she climbed on behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist, she muttered almost too low for Jax to hear.
"Can't wait 'till I have my own," she sighed. Jax grinned and revved his bike. They took off and Ariana couldn't help the wide smile that spread across her face.
"Hey, Jax, Aria," Juice greeted the pair as they entered the SOA clubhouse. Ariana nodded.
"Hey brother," Jax replied.
"Clay's called church. I was just about to call you," he said. Jax nodded and they both went into the meeting room. Ariana took a seat on a couch. She pulled a notebook and pencil out of her black and purple plaid messenger bag and went to work on English homework.
Inside the SOA meeting…
They started with simple things.
"How are Ariana's headaches, Jax?" Clay asked. Jax frowned, though it was true that he was one of the ones who saw the girl most.
"Getting worse. She won't say anything, but I know it's been getting worse for her at school, too. They don't care that she's ours, only that she's a mutant. There's no one here like her," Jax told them. Clay nodded.
"I got a call from a guy called Charles Xavier. He runs that institute up north in New York," he said.
"Thinking of sending her there? You know she won't go, Clay," Tig put in.
"I know, and I told him so. Man said to keep the option open, she might change her mind."
"What the hell's that supposed to mean?" one of them asked.
"Guess it means if her headaches keep getting worse she'll decide to go. I wouldn't bet on it," Clay said solemnly. Since her arrival three years ago Ariana had found her way into all of their hearts. The conversation slowly moved on from Ariana to more complicated matters.
Ariana, having finished her homework, stood beside the bar and admired the photos on a wall across from her. She was looking at the one of John Teller for what had to have been the hundredth time when another headache hit her. It was stronger than usual and she grabbed the bar to keep upright. She closed her eyes and waited for it to go away, but this time it did not fade.
It pulsed in her temples and behind her eyes, an icy burning sensation that grew steadily worse. Pain lanced up her back and she couldn't hold back a cry. Her back arched of its own volition and her grasp on the counter slipped. She fell to her knees, barely managing to keep her head from hitting a stool. Ariana heard the door to the meeting open and multiple sets of footsteps hurrying toward her. The room danced in front of her and she felt nauseous.
Her vision wavered in and out of blackness as the pain steadily mounted. She could not scream; her muscles were frozen. She felt hands on her back and she was lifted gently into a strong pair of arms. Ariana pressed her face into a large chest and vaguely recognized Jax's oil and musk scent. She gave into the darkness after that, content to drift away in the arms of safety.
She woke up to see the ceiling spinning above her. She closed her eyes tight. The pain was still there as a dull, throbbing ache behind her eyes. When she opened her eyes a few minutes later, the room grudgingly remained in place. She was glad for the drawn curtains, as the room was dark and shadowed. She was lying on her back in the room she used when she stayed at the clubhouse. Ariana lay still for several minutes before someone carefully opened the door. She glanced over to see who it was.
"Hey baby girl," Gemma smiled gently and entered the room. Ariana attempted a smile, but it came off as more of a grimace. She tried to speak, but it came out as a hoarse whisper.
"Here,' Gemma handed her a small glass of water. Ariana took a few swallows and handed it back.
"Thanks. What happened?" she whispered.
"The boys came out of church when they heard you. They found you beside the bar on your knees. Your head was in your hands and you had your mouth open wide like you were screaming. We think it was one of your headaches. You blacked out after Jax picked you up," she explained.
"Shit, my head still hurts," Ariana groaned.
"Why don't you stay here and rest for a while? One of the prospects will bring you some food," she stood and stroked a hand over Ariana's head before leaving. Ariana turned over and fell into a deep sleep before the Prospect had a chance to bring the food.
The second time Ariana woke the pain had doubled. She hid her face in her pillow and tried to block out any small sound. Every noise felt like dozens of points of pain digging at the inside of her head. She felt sick, but did not throw up. After nearly fifteen minutes she fell back into unconsciousness.
Ariana woke for a third time and was relieved to find that the headache was completely gone. Her smile quickly faded, however, when a new pain made itself known. She hurriedly changed into the sweats and sweater that every room kept in multiple sizes and left her room. When she got to the main part of the clubhouse, she saw only two people: Tig and Chibs. She smiled at them and made for the kitchen, but Tig stopped her.
"Sit down, kid, I'll make ya' some lunch," he said in a rare show of tenderness.
"Thanks," Ariana sat in a chair, pulling her legs in and watching as Tig got up and went into the kitchen.
"How are y' doin', lass?" Chibs asked her.
"Headache's gone," she replied.
"Good," Chibs left the issue of the Xavier man unsaid. If it happened again, he knew Clay would make the call. Tig came back ten minutes later bearing scrambled eggs exactly the way Ariana liked them, and bacon and toast with butter and cinnamon. She ate quickly at first, but slowed down almost immediately when her stomach protested the sudden appearance of food. After twenty minutes her stomach had settled and the food was gone. Ariana frowned when she realized she felt tired again. Chibs grinned.
"If y' feel up to it, y' can go to school again t'morrow. Go on and rest now, if you like," he told her. Ariana nodded and retreated to her room.
Ariana woke up on time the next day, still feeling a bit weak but unwilling to admit it. It had been three days since she had succumbed to the pain, and she was ready to move past it and return to school. She packed her school bag and shoved a bottle of pain medicine deep into one of the pockets. Chibs took her to school on his bike. She made it through most of the morning, but before lunch she found herself needing to take two pain pills. After lunch she took two more. They were the last in the bottle. The pain grew steadily worse over the course of the day, slower than three days ago, but still there. Ariana blacked out during her last class.
"Mutie's out," someone whispered. She had slumped in her chair, her head to one side. Her purple streaked hair fell over her face and her mouth remained slightly open, revealing aspects of her mutation that could not be hidden. Her ears tapered gently to a soft point, elegant and elfin, and her canines were sharpened and slightly elongated to form fangs. It took several minutes for anyone to notice her lack of consciousness. Ariana had worked very hard to appear as though nothing was wrong, and it had worked fairly well. Until that one whispered comment, no one knew. Heads turned, though, and the teacher noticed.
"Wake up, Ariana," she said flatly. Ariana did not move. "I said wake up!" the teacher smacked a fist down on Ariana's desk. Still the mutant girl did not move.
"I don't think she's breathing," a girl sitting next to Ariana said. After confirming that Ariana was not breathing, help was quickly called for. The Sons showed up only minutes after the emergency personnel.
Ariana woke with a pounding headache. She blinked to clear her vision and saw Tara standing over her.
"Tara…" she felt weak and dizzy again.
"You blacked out, Ariana. The school called me," she told her. Ariana opened her mouth to say something else, and then closed it when Jax appeared over her shoulder.
"How many of you are here?" she asked hoarsely.
"Six, including myself and Tara," he replied. Ariana nodded and closed her eyes. She felt the fire in her head begin to die down, and she let herself slip into darkness.
At the Xavier Mansion…
The phone rang at precisely 5:06 pm. Kitty picked it up on the first ring and answered breathlessly.
"Hello?"
"Is this the Xavier Institute?" the male voice on the other end was not the one she had been expecting.
"Oh. Yes, this is Xavier's Institute for Higher Learning, may I ask who's calling?" she questioned, disappointed that the caller had not been Lance. She heard a soft chuckle at the other end of the line.
"I need to speak to the Professor. Tell him it's Clay Morrow," he said.
"Hold one minute, please," Kitty kept any trace of the valley girl out of her voice to sound as professional as possible. She put the call on hold and dialed the Professor's office. It was picked up only moments later.
"Hey Professor, there's, like, some guy on the phone. He said his name is, like, Clay Morrow," she told Xavier.
"Thank you Kitty, I will pick up the call," he replied. Kitty hung up the phone. Rogue looked up from the book she was reading.
"What was that about?" the southerner asked. Kitty shrugged and Rogue went back to reading.
"No! I am not going to some school across the country!" Ariana was standing in the middle of the clubhouse's main room, yelling at Jax and Clay. The others looked on silently, none daring to enter an argument involving Ariana and the two men.
"Yes, you are," Clay said firmly, already aggravated with her continued denial. "You have to learn how to control whatever this is."
"I don't see why I have to travel across the country for a little control," she growled. There was a slow, steady ache seated in the back of her head that did not go away, and her fey, mismatched eyes sparked with black fire. Jax watched her apprehensively, but the argument, which had started nearly an hour ago, was beginning to wind down. She was close to giving in. Jax was surprised that Clay had lasted this long without blowing up, but Ariana was special to all of them. She was the volatile daughter of the club.
"Baby girl, we all know you don't want to go, but it's the best way we've found to help you. You can be accepted there, at least somewhat, and learn about your abilities in a safe place. One of the boys will go with you; Clay's already made sure of it," Gemma's words were the ones to win her over. Ariana was silent for a few moments, and then she reluctantly nodded agreement.
"Alright, I'll go. But I get to choose who comes with me," Ariana smirked slightly.
"Within reason," Clay nodded.
"Tig," she said, turning to look at the man.
"What? Why me?" he asked, confused.
"You're you," she told him, her smirk growing. Tig shook his head, but grinned at her.
"Alright, little sister," he agreed.
"Done. We'll take you in two days."
Hope you enjoyed the first chapter! I don't have an editor, so I tried to do the best I could. I know it moves a bit fast, too. Review, leave me advice, praise, ideas, and constructive critiscm! I do have something of a plot already planned out and quite a bit already written, but I'm always open to new ideas.
~Indigo