Okay, so this story has been floating around my head for a while, and I'm hoping that I don't do my usual writer's block thing halfway through writing. It's my first Sons of Anarchy story. I'm not convinced it's gonna be any good but whatever. I'm obviously taking a hiatus from my other stories because I suck, and because I have lost all love for TVD. But yeah, I hope someone enjoys this at least a wee bit.

I don't own a thing for either show and that's a damn shame.

"There's a day when you realize you're not just a survivor; you're a warrior, and you're stronger than anything life throws at you."

There are worse things in life than being alone. But right now the blonde woman couldn't think of anything. Sure, she was used to it; "People always leave" was her motto. But she figured this time she got too attached.

Peyton Sawyer was, though she didn't really realize it, a strong woman. She'd lost her mother at a very young age. She'd lost her best friend because of a boy, though they became friends again because they both realized their friendship was more important than some boy. She'd had to identify a body, as authorities mistakenly thought it was her father, lost while working his job at sea.

She'd fallen in love, not just with one boy, but also with his infant daughter. They'd become a little family to her. But because he had a sociopath for an ex-girlfriend, he had to leave.

She slept with Pete Wentz from Fall Out Boy and all she got was a song written about her.

She lost her best friend again because she was honest and told her that, though she was never going to tell him, and never going to do anything about it, she was still in love with the boy who first broke up their friendship.

She met her biological mother. That was rough at first, but eventually they got to know each other, and Peyton had grown to love Ellie. But then Ellie's cancer returned. And Peyton lost another mother.

She found out she had a brother. So a young man came into her life, and said he was Derek. "Derek" turned out to be a stalker who wanted Peyton, but most definitely not as a sister. Her real brother came to her rescue. He turned out to be a sort of asshole marine. But he taught Peyton how to fight back. Then he had to leave.

She and Lucas finally had a chance. She and Brooke fought. And the night of prom, which was supposed to be a good night, turned into a nightmare as Psycho Derek the stalker greeted Peyton at her door, dressed in a tuxedo. Ready to have his very own private prom. His idea of a good time included tying her up, attempting to rape her, beating her. Things almost got worse as Brooke came over, prepared to fight with her former best friend. "Derek" decided he would kill Brooke. Peyton stepped in, pretended to side with him. Then stabbed him and tried to get her and her friend away. The girls worked together and by the end of the night the psycho stalker was arrested. It still took weeks to recover.

But that was almost five years ago. She'd graduated college and interned for a record company, something she'd always dreamt about. She went home to get Lucas back. She thought maybe that was why she wasn't happy in L.A. But when she came home and found out that he was dating someone, she was crushed. She wanted to get him back. But he proposed to her. And yesterday they got married.

"Peyton!" voice rang out through the house.

"Garage!" the blonde shouted back. She was on her knees in front of a box, wearing a black shirt and cut off shorts.

Brooke Davis popped her head through the doorway, peaking at her friend, who was rifling through the box as though her life depended on it. "P. what are you doing? Haley had to call me because you weren't answering. We're having a girl's night."

Green eyes met hazel as the clearly frustrated woman blew a strand of hair out of her face. "I got a phone call last night remember?" Brooke nodded, remembering how her best friend had exited the reception early to answer her phone.

"Yeah, and you didn't come back."

"I went to the hospital. Mick needs a kidney. So his first thought was that maybe the daughter he didn't raise could do him a favor. Too bad I'm not his daughter."

"What?" the brunette asked, gaping. She moved to sit on the step in front of the door, facing Peyton.

"Yeah. I figured I'd do it. You know. What do I have to lose? Doctor's had to do a blood test though. Mick isn't my father. He just hoped we had the same blood type." She grumbled and relayed the full story for her best friend.

"Mick, what the hell?" Peyton asked upon entering her alleged father's hospital room. The man sighed. "Blood didn't match up, did it?"

"Yeah, so what I'm wondering is, did you know I'm not your daughter, or did you lie to me?"

The man in bed grimaced, confirming Peyton's thoughts. "Who is, then?"

Mick sighed. "I don't know. Sorry I lied to you. But I guess I sort of thought too. I don't know who your father is, kid. Ellie had her secrets. Maybe dig through her stuff."

"Wow," Brooke said when Peyton was finished. "So you're looking for clues?"

"Yeah," Peyton nodded. "I just need to know. There's a man somewhere out there who maybe doesn't know he has a daughter. I don't know, maybe he doesn't give a shit but I do and I need to know."

Brooke nodded and glanced around at the boxes scattered on the garage floor. "First of all, we're going to need extra hands.

Thirty minutes later Haley had arrived and heard Peyton's story and the three friends were moving the boxes of Peyton's birth mother's things into the living room. Once that was done, they glanced at the boxes, then at each other. "Okay, troops. Let's spread out and search for anything that can identify the man who helped bring me into this world."

Box after box was searched, and while the women enjoyed looking at many of the things in the boxes, nothing really hinted at what they were looking for. Until Peyton was in the kitchen and heard the thump from Haley's dropping a book. She returned to see Haley holding up an envelope. "Peyton, this has your name on it."

Brows furrowed, the young woman reached over and took the envelope to see that it was indeed addressed to her, written in Ellie's handwriting. She looked up at her two friends. "What do you think it is?"

Haley shrugged while Brooke spoke up, "Maybe it's a letter confessing to murder."

The other two stared blankly at her before Peyton looked back at the envelope and took a breath. With a slight tremor to her hands, she turned the envelope over in her hands and opened it, sliding her finger along under the seal to separate the adhesive.

She took another deep breath before unfolding the paper, at which point, a small photograph fell to her lap. What she saw featured a younger Ellie with her hand around the waste of a handsome young man. He was kissing her forehead. In the background was a man with his back to the camera, wearing what appeared to be a leather vest featuring a reaper, with a banner and the title 'Sons of Anarchy'. She tilted her head and passed the photo to her two friends before she began reading the letter, opting to read it aloud so she wouldn't have to explain it to them.

"Dear Peyton,

I'm enclosing with this letter a picture. There are two pictures in this world that I cherish. One is of you and me after you were born. The other is this one. It's me with the man that I never stopped loving. Your father. I'm sorry I never told you before. And I don't know how long until this letter finds you. But that's what I'm doing by leaving it in a book. I can feel my time running out. But I think this is one of those things that should come to you. That you should just happen upon.

The picture was taken in California. In a small town called Charming. I loved him so much. But when I found out I was pregnant, I could not be around. His life is, or was, filled with danger. If you decide to find him, I'll let him explain that to you. If you do find him, tell him I love him.

And know that I didn't keep this from you to hurt you. And I love you.

His name is Filip Telford. But anyone you ask knows him better as Chibs.

All my love,

Ellie"

Peyton took a deep breath as she looked back up at her friends, the photo still in Haley's hand. "I have to find him."

"Ridin' through this world
All alone
God takes your soul
You're on your own.

The crow flies straight
A perfect line
On the devil's back
Until you die.

Gotta look this life
In the eye

It was a few weeks after finding out who her real father was that Peyton found herself in California for the second time in her life. But a much less crowded town; a much smaller town. She knew she probably should have found a number for this Filip Telford person. But she couldn't bring herself to do that. So instead she packed up some of her things and booked a flight there. At least this way she figured she could see him in person, and if he turned out to be a jackass she could go back to L.A. for a bit and find some of her old friends there. If he was nice, maybe she could get to know him a bit or at least hear his tale of how he met Ellie.

It was late night by the time her plane landed, so she got a hotel for the night. In the morning when she awakened she rented a car. And that is how she found herself in Charming, California. She decided to drive around town a bit before she figured out her next move. She didn't know where to start. She supposed she could have asked the lady at the front desk of her hotel; the town seemed small enough that everyone should know everyone. It was a lot like Tree Hill that way.

It was almost noon when she felt a thump on the road. When the car started driving oddly she pulled over on the side of the road and looked to the back of the car. "Shit." She would have found it funny that she'd gotten a flat tire, but as she was in a new town she was simply frustrated. And it was just her luck that the spare didn't have enough air.

She glanced around before grabbing her cell phone and purse out of the car. It was a warm day but she grabbed her leather jacket out of the front seat before getting the keys and locking the car. Maybe she could find someone around here who could give her a tow.

Lady Luck shone down upon her as she walked up the road-narrowly avoiding getting hit by a leather clad motorcyclist. She huffed and pushed a strand of hair behind her ear as she looked to where the man was pulling in; the sign on the building said Teller-Morrow, and she noted that it was a garage. She saw a few cars pulling in noted the line of motorcycles on the other side of the parking lot. Over by the garage was a tow truck with a car hooked up to it, a deer through the windshield. Peyton grimaced as she looked around for an employee. Sighing when she realized she'd have to talk to the men by the deer car, she straightened and walked over.

"Some days you're the Beamer, some days you're the God damn deer," she heard the blond man say as she approached.

The darker haired man replied in a thick Scottish accent, "Some yuppie creamed it out by the streams." When Peyton saw his face, she stopped in her tracks. Hurriedly pulling her wallet out, where Ellie's photograph was being held, she fumbled with the zipper until she got the picture out. It was him. There was no doubt in her mind. He didn't have the scars that now graced his face in the old photo. But it was definitely him.

A voice broke her thoughts. "Jesus, man." She looked up to see the blond man hand off a chainsaw to the younger man.

"Just pretend it's carve your own steak night at the Sizzler," the blond man grinned.

"I don't eat meat."

"Figure it out, grunt." Peyton then noticed that all three men had the same vest; the vest that was on the man in the background of the photograph. The man with the chainsaw had the word 'Prospect' on the back of his; Peyton wasn't sure she wanted an explanation for that. She saw the other two men turn away from the BMW and start walking toward the building. She bit her lip and stuffed the picture in her back pocket; she needed someone to fix her tires and wasn't quite ready to meet her father.

So she braced herself and walked over to the man with the chainsaw, not noticing that as she walked over to him, two pairs of eyes noted her presence. "Um, excuse me?"

The man looked up at her and stopped the chainsaw. "Oh, hey. Uh, if you're here to see Jax or anyone, Jax just went over there, and—"

"No, no. I'm actually here because, well. The car I'm renting got a flat. It's literally up the road. I'd change the tire myself, but the spare doesn't have air. And it's actually a full tire, the spare I mean. Not a donut. I was just hoping someone could help me out," she rushed.

The man nodded. "Sure, let me go get someone for you. Or see if anyone else wants to do this," he pointed to the deer, cringing. "I'm Half-Sack by the way. Er, Kip." He waved someone over, but Peyton didn't turn to see who was being summoned.

"Half-Sack? Do I want to know?" Peyton grinned.

"Well, I was in Afghanistan. And there was an incident that left me with ha-"

"Half a sack. Gotcha. I'm Peyton."

Chibs and Jax watched for a moment as a young woman walked over to Half-Sack. When Jax answered his phone and walked off toward storage, Chibs stayed a moment, curious, and when Half-Sack met his gaze and waved him over, he knew his curiosity was going to be satisfied.

He walked over and heard the woman introduce herself as Peyton. "I'm Chibs. I've got a real name too but no one acknowledges it so it'll be Chibs to ya as well." The woman froze a moment and then turned.

She felt her mouth go dry. "P-Peyton," she replied timidly. Her eyes met his, and she cleared her throat as Half-Sack began to explain to Chibs why she was here.

The Scottish man looked to her, "Well, Lass, let's get those tires fixed."

They unhooked the tow truck and Peyton got in the passenger seat as Chibs got behind the wheel. "Just point me where your car is."

He listened as she explained where the car was parked and glanced over at her. When he saw her face, he'd almost turned around. She looked remarkably similar to-but of course if wasn't possible, so why would he think such things? Just strange coincidences and a still healing heart.

"So, Lass. What brings ya to Charming?"

"Just…family. My father lives out here, and I thought I'd visit for a bit."

"Oh? Who's your da?" he asked, mildly curious as he pulled up to the car she quickly pointed to.

They got out of the truck and Peyton watched as he worked quickly to hook the car up to the truck. He noted how she'd bit her lip instead of answering. When they got back to the garage he walked over. "Can I give ya a ride to your da's house? Or anywhere else? One of the guys is gonna take a look at the tires but we're pretty packed today so it'll be a couple hours at least."

Peyton nodded. "I understand. I'm staying at the hotel right at the beginning of town."

"Not your father's place?"

"Well, he doesn't exactly know I'm in town. Not sure he'll be too happy to see me," she replied, wondering if she should just tell him.

"What kind of man wouldn't be happy to see his daughter?" he tsked.

She bit her lip once more and yanked the picture quickly out of her pocket before practically tossing it at him. Chibs barely had time to register before he almost dropped the old photo. He steadied himself as he looked at the picture; his eyes widened and he looked at Peyton, who was sinking to the ground against the car.

"Tell me, Lass, how you got this picture."

"It was in her stuff. Up until a few weeks ago I thought my biological father was someone else. When I found the truth, I had to come find you. I didn't want to drop in on you, but I didn't know much else what to do. Sorry I sprang this on you." She ran her fingers through her hair, not daring to meet his eyes.

Chibs slid down next to her, still staring at the picture, but glancing at her in shock. "Christ, that was years ago. Last time I saw her—how old are you?"

Peyton finally looked at the man she now knew to be her father. "Twenty-three in a couple months."

"How is she? Ellie. Is she well?" he asked, a hopeful light in his eyes.

Peyton closed her eyes, refusing to let the tears that threatened to spill be shown. She shook her head, taking a deep breath. "She uh, she had cancer. She died about six years ago."

His face fell and he scrubbed his hand down his face before reaching an arm around Peyton. "Sorry, Lass. So sorry. If I'd have known you existed, I would have come to you. I still kick myself every day that I let your mother leave."

"It's okay. I didn't know she was my mother until I was seventeen," the young woman replied.

Chibs looked at her, face blank of emotion, and stood. "Let's go inside to the clubhouse. We should talk."

Jackson Teller was not a man to be messed with; he was the Vice President of the Sons of Anarchy motorcycle club/outlaw group (though if one were to ask about any crime, he would say they're just a bunch of mechanics who also happened to be motorcycle enthusiasts).

But he could also laugh easily. He knew how to have fun. He was still young. He lived his life to the fullest. Even as busy as life got, and he knew with his son on the way life was about to get a whole lot busier, he still had fun. His idea of fun did not include watching Half-Sack cut a deer out of a BMW. Good thing he had things to do.

So he found himself in storage, fiddling with a few toys, then setting them aside to keep for his soon to be born infant son. When he came across a box marked with his father's name, he frowned, wondering what it might be. He opened it to see old pictures of his parents together, and a binder with words clearly written on a typewriter.

He read the introduction, "For my sons. Thomas, who is already at peace. And Jackson, may he never know this life of chaos."

The Vice President sat down in the garage and began reading over the manuscript written by his deceased father. The manuscript titled 'The Life and Death of Sam Crow: How the Sons of Anarchy Lost Their Way'.

A short while later, Half-Sack was helping take boxes to Jax's room, and Chibs and Peyton were at a table talking. Peyton was in the middle of relaying the day she met Ellie, when she heard a man say something about a piney clogging the toilet. She assumed that meant Piney was a person, and she wrinkled her nose as she heard Half-Sack reply, "Already?"

A tall grey haired man walked in as other vested men came in and Peyton watched as he walked over to the table she shared with Chibs. "Chibs, you seen Jackson?"

"Aye, he's in his room." The tall man nodded.

"Church."

Chibs gave short nod and looked to his daughter. "We'll talk again later. I gotta go get the boy. Stay here."

Peyton agreed and watched as he stood and walked back to the hallway where Half-Sack had previously been carrying boxes. "Jax!" Less than a minute later, Chibs walked out with the blond man from earlier. "Who's she?" she heard him ask and looked as Chibs beamed.

"That's my daughter," he replied. The joy in his voice warmed Peyton's heart. Sure, she loved Larry Sawyer, but it was nice to know that this man who never got the chance to know her, was willing to accept her already.

Now all Peyton had to do was wait. She stood and walked around the clubhouse, looking at the pictures and memorabilia on the walls while ignoring the stares of the few men who did not disappear into the room off to the side. She made it to the wall featuring the men of SAMCRO and their mug shots. She furrowed her brow, wondering about them. "That's all the official members." She jumped at the voice behind her and turned around to see Half-Sack.

"Sorry. But yeah, that's all of the Sons."

"Not you," she pointed out.

"Yeah, but see, I'm still just a Prospect."

"I got that, but what exactly does that mean?" the woman asked, moving a curl out of her face.

"Means that when I get patched in, I'll be a full member. But right now I guess I'm sort of pledging. Like with a fraternity but this is better."

"So basically you're their bitch?" Peyton asked, grinning.

"Heh, yeah I guess so. But not like prison bitch. I'm not into dick at all."

Peyton raised a brow. "Me either."

Half-Sack gaped and Peyton laughed. "By that I mean, I hate guys who are dicks."

The man chuckled and nodded. "Yeah I hear those aren't any fun."

The pair turned their heads as a tall dark haired woman came into the building and her eyes landed on the two. "Where are they, Kip?"

He pointed to the door. "Church."

"Dammit!" the woman exclaimed, before she took notice of Peyton standing next to Half-Sack. She looked at her attire of black leather jacket, white tank top, and jeans with biker boots before finishing her appraisal. "Who're you?"

"Peyton," she replied.

The woman's mouth remained in a straight line. "That's your name, but who are you?"

"Who are you?" Peyton shot back, annoyed at the sudden interrogation. The woman smirked.

"Gemma Teller-Morrow," she answered. "Now what brings you to Charming?"

"Sawyer. Peyton Sawyer. I'm here visiting my father."

"Where you from, sweetheart?" Gemma asked.

"Tree Hill, North Carolina. Town almost as small as this one."

"Sit," Gemma gestured to the nearest table and waved Half-Sack off before sliding into the seat across from Peyton. "Now tell me about yourself."

Peyton frowned. "I've already shared my life story once today. That's enough, I think."

"Well if you're sticking around here, you're gonna have to share. Because you see, these are my boys you're around. And if I feel you're a threat and can harm them in any way, I'll cut you off before anything can happen," Gemma said, lowering her voice.

"Good thing I'm not here to hurt anyone." Peyton pulled the photograph out of her jacket pocket. "This is my birth mother. The man next to her is my father. I came to this town to meet him." She slid the picture over to Gemma, who took it, eyes widening as she took in the faces in the photo.

"Now that's a face I haven't seen in a while," the older woman breathed before looking at Peyton and frowning once more. "How is the bitch?"

"Dead."

Gemma narrowed her eyes. "You said birth mother. That means you probably weren't raised by her. Start talking."

Peyton sighed in defeat before launching into her tale of meeting Ellie, peeved at Gemma's opinion of Peyton's birth mother. "So I looked him up online and here I am. the rental car should be done soon I think."

Gemma nodded. "Alright. How long are you in town?"

"Just a couple weeks, I guess. I hadn't figured that out. If he hadn't wanted to talk, I'd have left and visited friends in L.A. before going home. But then I might have stayed in L.A. Tree Hill isn't exactly home anymore. Not that you care or wanted to know that," she shrugged.

"A boy broke your heart, huh?" Gemma asked observantly.

"No," Peyton shook her head. "Life broke my heart."