Title: All Good Things
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Sons of Anarchy. They belong to Kurt Sutter, the good folks at FX basically people with way more money than me.
Rating: This will be rated M. If you're not old enough for M, please don't read.
Summary: Loving a SON isn't for the faint of heart but comes with its own rewards. Kozik/OC. Set in Tacoma.
A/N: Hello there! This story has been haunting my mind for longer than I like to admit. I finally decided to give it a shot and here's the result, if you have any questions please feel free to ask.
I'd like to give extra special thanks to R3-1 M4y3r for her help and support on this story. If you haven't read her stuff, I suggest you head over to her page and check them out especially her latest 'Far Gone & Out'!
And now, on with the story!
Chapter One
It was raining, not just a little drizzle, a full blown down pour that made it impossible to see the street from her window. There was no way he was going to be able to ride in this so there was no way that she was going to see him tonight. "Damn it," Eden sighed and let the curtain fall closed once more.
There was nothing left to do but find a way to pass the time until the rain broke or she fell asleep. She moved to the couch, threw her favorite blanket over her legs, picked up the remote control and flipped on the set. Honestly she wasn't going to actually watch anything so she settled on the Food Network and left it on for background noise.
Eden pulled the cover up higher, rubbed small circles on the fabric in a nervous habit. He'd been gone for two weeks, the longest they'd ever been apart since whatever this was started and five days since she'd heard his voice. If it wasn't for her brother telling her that he was fine, she'd have started wondering if he'd been killed.
As time passed her eyes started to close. She should have gone up to bed but she didn't, instead she remained laying where she was. The sound of the television would lull her to sleep. It was easier to sleep on the couch, less room so she didn't have to always think about the cold empty side of the bed.
Maybe if the television had been off and the house had been silent she'd have heard the sound of the back door when it opened but she didn't. Eden was unaware that anyone was in the house until a hand clamped down over her mouth.
"This is what happens when you fuck with Valhalla," a rough male voice informed her, pain spiraled through her body. The hand covering her mouth fell away and her screams filled the air as she saw the blood rushing from the knife wound to her stomach.
1 1 1
Kozik took off his helmet and ran his fingers through his hair. "Can't believe this fucking rain."
"We are in the Pacific Northwest," Donut pointed out with a smirk. He fished into the pocket of his cut and tossed Kozik a set of keys. "Take the Bronco, go and see your girl."
"Never said anything about my girl." Kozik caught the keys.
"Didn't have to Brother. Been two weeks, that's got to be some kind of record for the two of you."
"Surprised you can even ride with the case of blue balls you must have," Lorca commented. "Two weeks on the road and you didn't lay a finger on one warm, willing woman." The man shook his head sadly. "Might as well slap your ink on your bitch and get it done."
"That bitch is my sister," Edge commented as he got off of his bike.
"No shit Prospect." Lorca turned his attention to the younger man. "Don't you got better shit to do than listen to our conversation?"
"We've all got better shit to do than listen to your conversation," Lee got off of his bike. "Church can wait until the morning, you all go and get some rest. Edge, bunk here tonight or I doubt that you'll get any sleep."
"Fine by me," the younger man replied without hesitation. As a Prospect he had to deal with a lot of shit but the thing he hated most was the fact that his sister was with his sponsor.
"Should make him go home," Lorca let out a loud laugh. "Let him spend all night listening to Kozik pounding his sister."
"And we all know that she's a screamer," Donut chimed in.
Edge's face turned several shades of red, his anger was obvious. "Everyone get going before I change my mind about Church tonight," Lee chuckled. "The Prospect stays here, I need him awake tomorrow. We've got a special job for you Edge, you're going to love it."
Kozik couldn't contain his snort of laughter, he knew what Lee had in mind for the next day and Edge was going to fucking hate it. "Alright, I'm out of here. See you in the morning."
"Don't be late." Lee cautioned. "Church at ten sharp."
"Got it," Kozik crossed the lot to Donut's Bronco and got in. She'd never suspect that he was coming to see her tonight, not with this rain and his trusted Jeep in the shop with a broken axle. The drive to her house took about ten minutes and he spent the time wondering just how she was going to welcome him home.
It had been almost a year since they'd stopped arguing long enough to realize that all of the fighting was simply a cover up for the attraction they felt. For a few months they'd both pretended it was only something physical, they both knew better now. Lorca's ink comment wasn't far off, he could see Eden with his name right down her back so the world knew what he did, she was his.
He parked the Bronco and realized that something was off as he approached the front door, it was standing open. "Shit." Kozik pulled his gun from the holster and approached the ajar door.
He started to search the house and got as far as the living room. The television was broken and the source of the blinking light. "FUCK. Eden." He moved forward and dropped to his knees next to the couch. "No," he shook her shoulder gently. "Come on Eden, be fucking alive." His fingers sought out and found her pulse, it was weak but there. "Eden!"
Her eyes fluttered open. "Valhalla."
"What? What did you say?" His voice was now practically a shout.
"This is what... happens when you fuck with Valhalla, that's what he said." Eden's face contoured with pain. "It hurts Koz, really hurts." It was something unlike anything that she'd ever felt.
"I know it does, this is going to hurt more." He grabbed the blanket and used his knife to cut off a square to fold and press against her wound. Kozik felt physical pain as Eden cried out, her body arching off of the couch. "Gonna get you to the hospital, they'll fix you up and everything will be fine."
Eden had no reply, her eyes just closed again. He kept talking to her anyway, not quite sure what he was saying while he dialed 911 for an ambulance. Finally he heard the sirens, the EMT's came through the open door a moment later.
Once she was loaded onto the ambulance, he pulled out his phone and dialed Lee. "Hey," he said when the man answered, "we've got a problem." He didn't know if what had happened to Eden was because of him, because of the club, all that he knew is someone would pay.
1 1 1
Eden opened her eyes and the first thing that she saw was Kozik asleep in a hard plastic chair. His head was hanging back, he was snoring as always and it made her smile. She looked back down at herself, the bland hospital gown and white knitted blanket.
He'd cut her blanket and used it as a bandage. Damn it, she really liked that blanket. What kind of drugs did they have her on when she was worried about a blanket when she'd just gotten stabbed? With effort she pulled the blanket down and the gown up to see a piece of gauze covering what had to be the wound. The blanket thing was the last thing that she remembered before everything went black.
"This is what happens when you fuck with Valhalla." The words echoed in her head as she lowered the gown back down. She had no clue who or what Valhalla was and from Kozik's expression when she'd said the name he didn't know either.
Kozik jumped in the chair as the door opened, his hand going to the gun that he didn't have on him. "Jesus Christ Edge, wear a fucking bell the next time." He scrubbed a hand over his face.
"Can you two not argue?" Eden requested, her voice weaker than she'd expected but they seemed to hear her just fine.
"Shit Baby, when did you wake up?" Kozik scrubbed a hand over his face to rid himself of the last traces of sleep. He leaned forward, took her hand and pressed his lips to her knuckles.
"Just now," she told him. "How long have I been out?"
"About four hours, been out of surgery about two but they said you'd be tired." Kozik shifted forward in the chair. "How do you feel?"
"Like I got stabbed," she admitted. "How bad was it?"
"They had to take out your fallopian tube and ovary on one side," her brother told her. "Internal and external stitches and you're going to be here a few days."
"You're going to be fine Eden," Kozik glared over at Edge. "Lee send you to stand guard in the hall?"
"No, Donut's out there. I'm here to be with my sister."
"I'm here."
"Yeah, I know."
Eden rolled her eyes, this was typical of the two men in her life. "Jesus Christ, cut it out. I just got stabbed and you two are still at this shit," she leaned back against the pillow.
"You want me to leave?" Her brother's annoyance was obvious. "Fine, I'll fucking go."
"You better watch the way you talk to her," Kozik advised. "I've got no patience for you today Prospect."
"You've got no patience? Some fucker stabbed my sister and you've got no patience? What about me?"
"You've had a chip on your shoulder ever since we hooked up. It's been a year Edge, get the fuck over it already." Kozik popped out of the chair. "I'm getting really fucking sick of it."
"What are you going to do about it?" Edge demanded. "You hear this shit Eden?"
"Yeah Eddie," she sighed, "I do. And I'm sick of it. Sick of the two of you at each others throats every time it involves me." Before she and Kozik had hooked up the two men had been close, close enough that Kozik offered to sponsor him with the club. Now they couldn't say three civil words to one another in front of her.
"I just don't want to see you get your heart broken again," Edge shot a pointed look at Kozik.
"I ain't breaking her heart. Jesus Fuck, why the hell are we having this conversation again? I told you the last time, I'm done having you question me about Eden."
Eden sighed, left to their own devices she knew that the two men would argue for hours, so she decided that she needed to divert their attention. It took effort but she pulled the cover back and started to get up.
"What are you doing? Don't get up." Kozik moved over to the side of the bed, concern on his face.
"I need to use the bathroom and I'm not doing it in bed," she left no room for argument as she tried once more to get up. "Shit," Eden felt her head go light as pain shot through her.
"Easy Baby, come on. I'll help you." Kozik took her by the arm and gently helped her to her feet. "You need me to call a nurse, get you something else for the pain?"
"Yes," Eden leaned against him. "Are you going to stay with me?"
"Of course I am, where else would I go?" He pressed his lips against her temple. "I ain't going anywhere."
1 1 1 1
Kozik watched with amusement as Eden stared down the doctor. "Ms. Marko, you really need to stay here for observation."
"Look Doc, I've got no health coverage and this place is costing me an arm and a leg. Just give me some prescriptions and I'll go home, rest there." She'd been under observation for a day and a half already, she was done with it.
"I can keep an eye on her," Kozik offered and earned a dark glare from the doctor.
"Look, you can give me stuff to help me and let me go or I can sign out against medical advice."
The doctor sighed. "You need to be extremely careful if you're released, that means staying in bed and absolutely no physical activity. If you have any pain or bleeding you need to return here immediately. Am I understood?"
"Yes," Eden nodded.
"I'll send a nurse in shortly with prescriptions and your discharge papers."
"Thank God. I can only imagine how much this shit is going to cost me." Eden flopped back against the pillows as the doctor left. "We need to stop at the hardware store on the way so I can get new locks for the doors."
"Lorca's changing them for me today," Kozik leaned back in his chair. "But you don't have to worry about that because you're not going home."
"Where am I going?"
"We'll stay at the clubhouse, I don't want you alone at my place or yours." He wasn't sure that he'd ever be comfortable with her at the house again, it was too remotely located and obviously no where close to being secure. How hadn't he seem that before?
"At the clubhouse?" Eden eyed him. It was one thing to crash there after a drunken night at a party but to stay there for a prolonged period of time made her feel a little uncomfortable. Sure, people did it all the time but those were usually Nomads or other visiting patches. "Is that going to be a problem?"
"Why would it be?"
"Remember when Donut brought that girl he was seeing down from Spokane?" The woman had stayed a week and by the end of that week the entire club was annoyed by the outsider smack dab in the middle of their space.
Kozik let out a laugh, "Baby, she was crazy. You're not crazy, well not crazy the way she was. No one is going to give a shit that we crash in one of the rooms until you're feeling back to normal."
Eden bit back a sigh. The club house was a fun place, the parties that happened there were epic but so was the work that went along with it. The patches and the Old Ladies partied without paying a toll, the rest of the mere mortals did. It wasn't that she minded work, she'd clean and cook with the best of them but she did mind the way that she often felt faceless while there.
"Babe?" Kozik had a frown on his normally smiling face. "What's going on in that head of yours?" It was something that he asked and wondered often.
"I just don't know how much rest I'm actually going to get at the clubhouse."
"Hey, I'm going to behave," he protested with a smile, "well... behave as much as I can."
"I'm not talking about you," she smiled which had been his goal. "It's just that between keeping the place clean and making meals, I won't be in bed like the doctor said."
The frown deepened. "I'm not taking you there to cook and clean Eden, I'm taking you there to recover and so that you won't be alone."
"You know how it is at the clubhouse Kozik, it's not a free ride for me." Eden shifted on the bed. "Shit, I don't have any clothes here." She didn't know exactly what happened to the clothes she'd been wearing when she was brought in. "I guess I can ask the doctor for a pair of scrubs."
"I'll send Donut down to the gift shop, have him grab you something. They should have sweats or whatever." He ran a hand through his spiky hair. "It's going to be a free ride for you this time Eden, ain't no one going to make you cook and clean with a god damn stab wound to your stomach. You're my fucking girl, I'm going to take care of you."
"Okay," Eden relented because it wasn't worth arguing with him about what she knew was going to be inevitable. The only females exempt from cooking and cleaning were Old Ladies and she certainly wasn't one of those.
1 1 1
"Church, now." Lee told Kozik the second that he stepped through the door with Eden next to him. "You too Eden."
Eden looked over at Kozik. "It's okay, come on." His arm remained firmly around her shoulders as they walked into the room she'd never seen the inside of before.
"Go on and sit down," Lee told her. He'd always been kind to her. "How are you feeling?"
"Like I got stabbed but I'll be okay."
"Need you to tell me what happened, don't leave anything out." The man took his seat and waited.
"I was just home, hanging out. It was raining so I figured not to expect Kozik," Eden looked over at him. "Turned on the television and I guess that I just started to doze off. I thought about getting up and going to bed but I was comfortable so I stayed there. I never heard anything until he had his hand over my mouth. It all happened quickly, he stabbed me and said 'this is what happens when you fuck with Valhalla'. It was all so quick," she sighed. "I don't remember anything else until Kozik showed up."
"You know who Valhalla is?"
"No," Eden replied without a second of hesitation. "Not even sure that it's a who, could be a what."
"You got any problems with anyone? Anything that we should know about?"
"No," she shook her head. "I've got nothing."
"Alright," Lee's expression was unreadable. "You can go Eden. Kozik, you stay."
Kozik dug a key out of his pocket. "Just go on back to the room and lay down Babe, I'll be there in a minute."
Eden nodded and took the key. "Okay, bye Lee."
"Bye Eden, feel better," the older man told her. He watched until she was out the door. "You think she's telling the truth?"
"Of course I do, she wouldn't lie not to you or me." Kozik bristled at the mere idea that she wasn't telling the truth.
"What about Edge?"
"What about him?" Kozik sat up straighter.
"He said he didn't know who Valhalla was and I think that little prick is lying." Lee lit one of his cigars and blew a stream of smoke into the air. "We need to figure this out and fast, can't have someone hurting our women."
Kozik nodded in agreement. "I'll do whatever needs to be done."
"I know you will," Lee nodded his head. "Get out of here, go take care of your girl."