Midnight Pantry Raid
By: El Chacal
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for the idea of this story and the characters: Angelica, Angelina, Angelo, Angie and Coyote. Rane Quinn is Kurt Sutter's. Tommy Moran, Jonas Lennox and Psycho are property of TellatrixForever. Whether the Dixie Mafia mentioned is the same featured in JUSTIFIED is left to interpretation or just happenstance, I'm leaning more to the latter than the former.
2015
"I don't know about you but I could eat a good meal right about now."
Rane Quinn looked at Tommy Moran with surprise. "After having to clean up what Psycho left behind, you still have an appetite?"
"If I had watched everything leading up to the mess, I wouldn't have an appetite or a wink of sleep for the next month. That's for damn sure." Tommy said as Psycho washed his hands.
The SoA clubhouse in Laurel County was firebombed by the Dixie Mafia as retaliation for the destruction of their meth labs and heroin storehouses in Harlan. The attack left one Son badly burned and another in critical condition. When it was discovered that the ones responsible had taken off and were ready to flee north into Canada, Rane was called to action along with Tommy and Psycho to deal with the Dixie Mafia hoods.
Suffice to say, the hoods did not get far and Psycho had no reservations against doing to them what they did to the clubhouse with a blowtorch and a bowie knife.
"Before we find an all night diner, don't you think we ought to get off the map for a while?" Psycho asked as he dried his mits on a towel. Though he would not say it out loud even at gunpoint, it had been too long since Psycho last had a home cooked meal instead of the swill shoveled out at a grease joint in the middle of nowhere. "Besides, I'm sick of sleeping out in the dirt and I damn sure could go for an ice cold brew right now."
"What do you think, Rane?" Tommy asked.
The Nomad SoA President looked at his VP and Sergeant for a moment. "I know a place where we can lay our heads for the night. I'm sure his fridge is stocked with all kinds of foods and the cellars are filled with plenty of drink."
It was 15 minutes past midnight as a 10 year old Angelica led her 8 year old sister, Angelina, and her 7 year old brother, Angelo, to raid the kitchen for some biscotti, s'mores and milk. For as long as they could remember, it was their favorite midnight snack. "Mom and Dad are going to ground us for a week if they catch us." Angelina said, worried about being caught out of bed.
Angelica put a finger to her lips, signaling her younger sister to keep her voice low. "Then we ought to keep quiet as mice so we don't get caught."
"Don't worry, Angelina." Angelo said, holding her hand as they entered the kitchen. "As long as we don't make a mess, we'll be fine."
Walking into the kitchen, Angelica pulled the curtains over the doorway between the kitchen and the living room so the light would not spill out to the hallway.
Turning on the light, the Cortez trio were greeted by the sight of three giant men sat at the kitchen table. Nine empty bottles of beer decorated the table alongside several full bottles of beer, a half empty quart jar of Lime Surprise and one half empty bottle of aged rum. The plates in front of them were filled with roast beef sandwiches, pickles and bags of chips.
Upon seeing the three children, Quinn said, "You're up past your bedtimes."
"So are you." Angelica said before she smelt something familiar on the brutish Son who was munching down on a roast beef & cheese sandwich. "You're raiding my dad's favorite rum."
"I'm sure your Pop isn't going to mind. It's between brothers." Psycho said as he downed a gulp of Coyote's amber-hued rum. "He's got good taste in rum though. I'll give 'em that."
Angelica rushed to the pantry, breathing a sigh of relief that the biscotti was spared. Angelo was saddened when the graham crackers, marshmallows and chocolate bars were gone. Then he saw the plate of smores on the table next to the Nomad SoA VP.
Tommy smiled as he handed Angelo a smore. "I always had a sweet tooth for smores myself."
Pulling up some chairs without dragging them on the floor, Angelo and Angelina sat with the Nomads while Angelica grabbed some fresh brews from the cooler down in the cellar. Angelica put the first ice cold beer in front of Rane, who whispered in her ear, "We'll repay your Pop with a top quality rum to make up for what Tommy, Danny and I are drinking. You have my word."
Angelica kissed Rane on the cheek before passing beers to his VP and Sergeant.
What started as a midnight pantry raid turned into a clandestine dinner party between three Nomad Sons and three kids. They played a few hands of Dominos in between bites of food and told a few jokes in between drinks. While Tommy, Angelo and Psycho cleaned up the kitchen quietly, Rane sat down on a couch in the living room with Angelica and Angelina on his lap as he told them a story from his days as a Navy SEAL. The two girls listened intently while munching on biscotti.
It was an amphibious mission where he and his unit infiltrated an enemy occupied territory where guerrilla militant rebels held a town in Venezuela hostage. Angelica was enchanted as she heard how he spoke of the odds that stood in front of him, the enemy ready to attack them without a moment's hesitation and how 15 highly trained Navy SEALs freed a village and won the day.
Once the kitchen was clean, Tommy and Psycho entered the living room to find their Pres holding Angelica and Angelina in his arms as they slept. Angelo had walked to the utility room where he pulled three sleeping bags and brought them over to the Nomad Sons.
While Psycho set up the bags, Tommy took Angelina in his arms while Quinn held Angelica in his. Together, with Angelo leading the way, Rane and Tommy carried the two girls to their beds.
Kneeling down in front of Angelo, Rane ruffled his hair playfully. Angelo and his sisters reminded him of his daughter and grandson.
"Thanks for the sleeping bags, little man." Rane said. "We all better hit the hay before your Ma catches us up past our bedtimes. Take care of your sisters."
Angelo hugged him before joining his sisters in their room. Rane went to the living room, got into his sleeping bag and fell asleep. For Tommy and Psycho, it was a relief to sleep in a warm bed with a roof over their head, good food in their stomachs, and great drink in their bellies.
The next morning, as quickly and quietly as they appeared, the Nomad Sons were gone. Everything was as it was before they arrived. The sleeping bags were cleaned, rolled up and put away in the utility room.
Though Rane, Tommy and Psycho never came back for a midnight snack, the Cortez trio would always have the memory of gunslinging adventures being told over smores, biscotti, beer and roast beef sandwiches.
No one would ever know that such a thing happened, not even Jonas Lennox.
A/n: I thought of something like this and figured it would be good for a laugh at first. Then I saw some real emotional depth to it and thought it would do something a bit more. Review if you can.