Just like I predicted, I didn't get to Nate Madock's house until about midnight. I hadn't gone there as much as a kid, only a couple of times from what I remembered, but I knew the road well enough to be able to go without needing anything more than the address. Last I heard the old Reverend had serious dementia that was getting increasingly worse. I had to credit Gemma though, his house was a decent place for a hideout. The roaring engine of my Firebird tearing through the streets probably woke half the neighborhood, but I didn't give a shit at that point.
Turning off the engine, I literally climbed through the open window of the Firebird, minding my baby as my boots hit the pavement. I didn't even get a chance to reach the door, but it opened wide and there stood Gemma. I loved her like a second mother, hell even a mentor and it was amazing what it did to my entire being to see her standing there, looking stressed as hell but otherwise alright.
She smiled at me tiredly, her warm brown eyes lighting up just a little when she looked me over. "Oh babygirl, I missed you," she said, her mouth twisting into a genuinely happy smile. It was enough to make my own lips twist into a matching grin as I stepped forward to embrace her. "Gemma, you have no idea how crazy worried I've been over you the past couple of days. Damn mom really wasn't kidding when she said that trouble flocked to you huh?" I said hugging her tight, sighing in relief just to be near my family again and to see that she was, if anything at all, healthy and safe.
"Yea well, now you know how I feel every damn day thinking about you. It's bad enough I have my husband and son putting themselves in danger at every corner, now I gotta worry about you too. Get in here." Gemma pulled me inside and shut the door soundly.
"Jesus Christ Anna, it's a god damn shit storm in here right now. Look I'll explain everything in a bit, right now I need you're help with a foreign pest problem," she said walking me over to a door where I heard screaming and cursing coming from the other side. It was then that I noticed the gun in her hand, which made me wonder how the hell I missed it earlier.
Typical. I didn't know what to think or expect, but I braced myself and kept cool. Granted, it took a lot to phase me after living the life I did, but better safe than sorry. Going down the stairs to the basement, my eyes widened in surprise as I saw this little Hispanic looking chick handcuffed to a pipe coming out of the ceiling. Her arms were stretched far over her head and she was practically standing on her tip toes.
Despite the situation, I found myself choking on a laugh. I really had to learn to expect the unexpected when I visit family. "Um... wow. You have no idea the amount of scenarios that are going through my mind right now. What the hell happened?" I pushed a blonde curl that escaped from my ponytail out of my face, keeping my eyes trained on the girl.
"The little Guaty here decided to do some snooping for some extra pesos from our government by turning me in," Gemma said in an angry icy tone that I knew well. My eyes automatically narrowed in a glare, but my demeanor stayed as casual as ever. "Is that so? Curiousity killed the cat, and greed is a corruption of the soul. Tsk, tsk," my voice took on a low tone, a lilt of seduction and anger woven through every word as I looked over the woman who looked between Gemma and I, her eyes never straying far from the gun.
"Don't worry babygirl, we don't let that kinda thing go unpunished. Grab me that duct tape over there. Check in her bag too, it's right by the desk. I'm sure we'll find something that'll work as a new set of clothes." Gemma kept the gun trained on the woman while I did what she asked.
Tossing her the duct tape, I rummaged through the bag, there was nothing more than a hospital gown, a couple of rolls of gauze, pretty much basic first aid stuff plus some needles and what looked like vials of medicine. "Nothing much here other than basic hospital supplies. What are you planning on doing with her anyways?" I asked while glancing at her over my shoulder. The only thing I noticed was a contemplative look on Gemma's face that slowly twisted up into a smirk.
"Babygirl, go upstairs to my dad's room. In the bathroom there, in the closet there should be a bed pan. Bring it down for me would ya?"
"Kay," I said nonchalantly, rolling my eyes at the glare from the cuffed woman. Damn there was something seriously wrong about me to not be phased in the least. With the violence that came with underground racing and growing up with some exposure to SAMCRO, I pretty sure I'm desensitized to that kind of shit. That and I was damn pissed that this stupid bitch wanted to turn Gemma in."
"Oh, and Anna?" I stopped on the top of the steps before I opened the door, waiting for her to continue. "Just so you know, Tig's in there. I'm pretty sure he's got some pants on by now but no promises."
Despite myself, I couldn't help the smirk that came over my face. Oh man. It looked like I had some amusement coming my way. Without a word, I closed the door behind me and walked down the hall to the bedroom.
Leaning against the doorway, my eyes freely roamed over Tig, sitting in sweats and clutching his shoulder. I had no shame whatsoever taking in the shapely and toned back muscles, the smirk on my face widening. "I know I called you Superman for the whole 'faster than a speeding bullet' thing, but this is too much," I said from the doorway when I spotted the bullet hole in his shoulders. His head whipped around, making him wince in pain from the movement and causing the amused smirk on my face to widen.
"What the- Anna?" Tig's really pretty blue eyes went wide as he looked me up and down a couple of times, not even bothering to hide his gaze aimed right at my chest. "Holy shit. Look at you, you look like a girl! Decided to go for the lipstick look over butch. Looks good." He said with the trademark smirk he worse since I've known him.
"Eat dick asshole. Just cause I managed to resist sleeping with you, the Wonderful Walking STD, doesn't mean I'm into chicks," I scowled at him and gave him the finger.
"I feel the love Anna, really I do." The smirk on his face was enough to make my annoyance simmer down. It was a routine for us since I turned eighteen, and to be honest I loved our banters and insult exchange. "Get over here girl, lemme get a look at ya." Tig motioned me over with his hand and I complied, if only because the guy just got shot and he needs some kind of amusement.
A scoff escaped me as Tig's eyes looked me up and down, a low appreciative whistle escaped him. "Wow. You've done some serious growing up. What happened, finally discovered a Beauty Magazine?" The only response he got from me was the finger/glare combination. "No I'm serious. Who knew you were hiding this tight little body under all those tents you called shirts? God damn. You got your mom's tits too and her -"
"Tig!" The warning in my tone was evident as I tried seriously hard not to blush from both embarrassment and from the compliments hidden in there.
"What? I'm just telling it like it is kid." He finally looked up at my face with that trademark smirk I had an urge to slap off sometimes. His smile softened a bit, and I knew right away why. It's eerie how much I looked like my mom, we had almost exactly the same face, and I knew from Gemma that it was hard for many who loved her to look at me and not miss her. "You still got those same huge green eyes though, and I'm betting you still use them for evil, don't ya?" The smirk he wore only widened when he saw the mischievous grin appear on my face. "I fucking knew it. I knew you would be trouble from the start. Get over here and gimme my hug now." Tig opened his arms and used his fingers to beckon me to him, a wicked grin on his face. "C'mon you know ya want to. Can't move you know, Doctor's orders."
"Bull, you're just a horny ass that won't miss an opportunity to touch a girl," I said with an expectant look on my face. Tig and I had possibly the strangest relationship ever. Yea he knew me since I was a kid, but when I was around fifteen and grew out of my awkward stage, he started calling me 'Jailbait' affectionately, if that's even possible. Then when I turned eighteen, oh forget about it. At that point, my outgoing and shameless nature fit right into a routine we made that quickly turned to a conversation full of sexual innuendos. He got a kick out of the fact that I'm pretty shameless about having a dirty mind and never found any reason to hide it.
"My ass wouldn't be the part I'd call 'horny' Dollface," he added with a lewd grin. Perv.
"I suspect the part you're referring to is quite a prick, and you can take that however you want to love." I winked at him with my own signature mischievous smirk. Damn it's no wonder girls go nuts for Tig though, those eyes were like an instant shot of tequila to the the brain. I didn't even like light eyes all that much, but I admitted that times like now made it painfully obvious why Tig had women falling all over themselves for him.
I definitely knew that I was staring way too much when the smirk on his face became smug rather than appreciative. "Like something you see?" The tone in his voice was enough to make me shake my head and go back to digging through the little bathroom closet.
"Actually, yea. Too bad I'm not in the mood to get the clap or whatever you got now." I missed the scowl that came across his face as my face had scrunched up in concentration, looking for the bedpan Gemma was talking about. "So you wanna tell me what the fuck happened? Like why you got shot, and why you guys didn't cover your asses with the little nurse?"
I heard a sigh escape from Tig, and though I couldn't see him I could picture the look on his face easily. He gave that starting point growing up on my knowledge on cars and sort of planted that seed for me to end up where I was then. While other kids that were my age would spend the days going to football games and hanging out at the movies, I was the quirky little tomboy that spent every waking moment learning how everything possible about cars, the different models and how parts can be made compatible to just about any model. Tig was probably annoyed by me hanging around so much, but he never said anything to me about it. Then again, I had made efforts to not get in the way so Tig and the others guys that would work on the cars wouldn't find any excuse to kick me out or stop teaching me.
"The bullet is cause Nate caught me with the nurse and shot me cause- fuck off it's not funny!" He growled when I stopped my search for the bedpan and burst into laughter. I couldn't help it, just the way he said it and the fact that I really should had expected something like that to happen to Tig sent me over the edge. "Oh come on," I attempted to say through my laughter. "Guy caught you plowing his nurse and shot you for it, and I'm expected not to laugh? Right."
It took me about a minute more to compose myself, and when I finally did the first thing I saw was Tig's scowl at my outburst. "Oh don't be like that. Look I'm done, I promise. See look totally serious. Look at my serious face." I made the most solemn face I could muster, and it was pretty damn convincing if I do say so myself. "Why the hell would Nate shoot you for that? Isn't he total anti-violence?" I asked, resuming my search for the bedpan in a seriously disorganized closet. And I thought I was bad.
"Nate thought I was with Rose."
That made me freeze in place, go figure just as I found the damn bedpan. "Shit. I didn't realize it got this bad. Aw man poor Gem," I said softly, swallowing hard. I didn't know Nate all that well growing up, the only reason I knew where he lived was because my mom's parents lived like five minutes away. It had to be killing her to see her father slowly dying in front of her.
It took a small effort to stop myself from getting nostalgic and emotional, reigning my emotions in and literally shaking myself out of it. I pulled the bed pan out of the mess in the closet and straightened up, squaring my shoulders back as I walked back into the bedroom. "I'm gonna go give this to Gemma. You need anything? Wait! Lemme rephrase- do you need anything that doesn't involve me getting naked and making you very happy." The cheeky smirk came back on my face at my attempt to lighten the mood. Anything that heavy made me uncomfortable, hell let's be honest, getting emotional in general was tough for me. Not a surprising trait for a girl that grew up around a bunch of macho 'men don't cry they smash' guys.
The sly grin was back on Tig's face and I knew that I at least got him in a better mood. "That being the case, least you can do is try and score up some more painkillers for me. I finished the last couple of pills in a vicodin bottle, but there gotta be more around here."
"Drugs would be the next thing you ask for huh? No worries, I'll finish up with Gemma and see if it's possible to dig something up." I leaned over and kissed his cheek. "I realize I probably should take an HIV test after that, but what can I say, I missed your man whore self- HEY!" Tig had promptly responded to my comment by smacking my butt. "You ass. No pun intended." A small giggle escaped me despite my attempted at being coy. "So you know, I'm getting you back for that."
"Looking forward to it. Now go do your woman stuff or whatever." Nevermind, nice eyes or not, he's a pain in the ass, literally at that particular moment and I would rather straighten my curls than touch him... okay that was a lie, I loved my curls too much to risk ruining them like other bimbos did for no reason. True it's only hair, but that was like claiming my car was only a car, which is total bull.
I made my way back to Gemma, but not before giving Tig the finger that of course only widened his smirk. Cheeky bastard.
By the time I got back downstairs, the nurse was bound to chair and in a hospital gown. Gemma was just finishing binding her hands when she looked over at me as I made my way down the stairs. "Bout time you got here. Tig get to ya?" She raised a knowing eyebrow at me, holding her hand out for the bed pan.
Before I could come up with a witty retort, the tied up chick started yelling. "You're just gonna leave me here? I'm gonna have to move eventually you crazy psycho bitch!"
"For fucks sake," I muttered in a low voice and stepped back to allow Gemma to handle it. Handle it she did, and as always it made my lips twist into a smirk.
Casually as ever, Gemma walked behind her and tightened the bandanna she used to cover her eyes. "You can try and move all you want, I ain't gonna stop you. If you make the chair fall over, you're staying down there. Might make going to the bathroom a bit awkward though." She patted her head a little too hard before she made her way over for me, nodding with her head to go upstairs. "Sleep tight, don't let the roaches bite," Gemma said as her words of parting, ushering me up the stairs and shutting off the lights.
Locking the door behind her carefully, I took the opportunity to study my Godmother, cringing almost as I finally took in her features. I'd been in the dark when it came to the events in the club from the past couple of months, but just looking at her then, the lines that became even more prominent on her face and a more jaded and haunted expression on her face told me that whatever went on wasn't pretty.
"I don't look that bad do I?" Gemma's teasing voice shook me out of me reverie, making me smile. "Naaaa, you're still one hot lady, and again you're gonna have a ragamuffin tomboy tagging along after you for a couple of days to taint your image," I shot back and with the laugh from Gem that followed, I felt that warmth that came with being back at home where my level of comfort and safety enveloped me like a warm blanket.
"What ragamuffin? I don't see one around." She put an arm around me in a rare display of affection and squeezed my shoulder. "When I opened the door for you, for a second I thought you were Beth." Ah she was referring to my mom again. Her death was still fresh enough for a heavy feeling of sorrow falling over the mood whenever she was mentioned. "You finally decided on wearing clothes that fit ya instead of clothes that looked like they swallowed you. Makes a big difference, you finally look your age for one and finally showing off your-."
"Alright already! Christ, I get it, wearing Aaron's shirts and band shirts with old ripped jeans and sneakers doesn't work for me," I grumbled with a scowl on my face. It gets really tiring really quick when hearing how much better you look compared to before so many times with little spacing between them.
Gemma just smirked and nudged me, looking like she was about to say something before stopping, the expression on her face one of uncertainty while she stared at something behind me. "Dad?" I whipped my head around and couldn't keep my eyes from widening when I saw the old Reverend. He was staring right at me with a far away look in his eyes. "Beth? Is that you darling? Does your momma know you're over here?"
Great, another person who looked at me as my mom. By that point I was seriously tempted to just shave my head or stuff myself with fast food to get really fat, just so I could stop hearing that.
"No Daddy, Beth died remember?" I heard Gemma's steady and gentle voice falter just slightly when she said that. "This is Anna, Beth's little girl. Remember, you used to teach her at Sunday School."
I smiled sweetly, taking in the older man in front of me. "Hello Reverend Madock. It's great to see you again." For the life of me, I couldn't be upset with this man. He had such a sweet and gentle demeanor and right then my heart broke for him. I couldn't imagine what it must be like to forget everything in your life, to have to relive the knowledge that what you thought was going on was all wrong. It made my smile tone down even further into a gentle one while I tried to keep strong for Gemma's sake.
Nate peered at me carefully, as if trying to decide if I was really who Gemma said I was and trying to remember. Something probably clicked in his head though, because after a moment he gave me a pleasant smile. "Anna! Yes I remember you! You look beautiful!"
That made it impossible not to grin, and I stepped up to give him a gentle hug. "Great to see you again Sir. Looking better than ever, and they say Sean Connery is the best looking older man alive," I said with a wink, making Gemma snort, and I imagine roll her eyes as well while Nate just smiled as if he wasn't sure what I was referring to but accepted it anyways.
"Dad, come on let me put you back to bed, it's pretty late," Gemma said stepping forward to take her dad's arm. Looking over at me, she motioned her head toward the bedroom down the hall and I got the message right away. "Good Night Reverend Madock," I said politely, leaving Gem to take care of her father while I went to look in on Tig.
Before I went over to check on him though, I stopped by at the main bathroom in the hall and opened up the medicine cabinet. Holy Crap, it was like a pharmacy in there! There were prescription pill bottles of lining the shelves, painkillers, antibiotics, the works really. Scanning the prescription bottles, I picked up a nearly full bottle of 500mg Percocet. I closed the cabinet with a satisfied smile on my face and made my way back to Tig.
"If this stuff doesn't kill the pain, you're shit out of luck. It's five hundred milligrams." I tossed him the bottle when I walked into the bedroom. Grabbing his glass of water by the bed table, I handed it to him so he could take the pills.
"Thanks Dollface. Nate doing alright?" Tig said taking two of the pills and downing them with the water. I sat on the bed next to him and shrugged, wringing my hands on my lap. "I don't know if he's remembered what happened yet. I didn't... expect him to be so bad off." I swallowed back any of the emotion that I was feeling. Tig shook his head, letting out a loud sigh,. "Really makes you think huh?"
"Yeah..." I trailed off, the both of us sitting there in silence, faintly hearing the sound of Gemma's voice talking to her father several doors down. "Tig..." He looked over at me, scrutinizing me the way he always did with people when he was trying to figure out their intentions. "What happened the past couple of months? I know some bad stuff happened, and I appreciate you guys wanting to keep me away from it, but it's not working out very well since I'm here anyways."
I bit my lip when Tig looked away from me and avoided my eyes, a feeling of dread instantly filling my gut. "Nothing's wrong, don't worry about it, everything's gonna be-"
"Bull-FUCKING-shit Tig. Do I look that god damn stupid to you?" I interrupted, my short temper coming out at the frustration I'd been feeling at not knowing. "I'm not a fucking croweater, you can't just pat me on the head and tell me it's nothing or that it's club business." It was a struggle to keep myself from yelling since I didn't want Gemma to hear me. "I know something's wrong, hell there's always something wrong but I don't get into it unless I know it's really bad. Why isn't Clay and Jax here with Gem? Why didn't you guys want me to come down right when I called? And why the hell has Jax been lying to me, and don't you dare tell me he hasn't been. I know him better than that, he's the one who taught me to pick and choose my words when I lie."
I found myself in a glaring contest with Tig, his piercing blue eyes bore into me the way, but without the normal malice present like when he looked at people he hated. The air was thick with tension, but I didn't falter my glare or stance. Seeing Gemma just then, the haggard and plain out tired appearance of a woman who a year ago was still going with Clay on all night rides and had the energy to cook an enormous dinner the next night told me that whatever had been going on was far worse than I thought. I lost my own mother, and I would be damned if I was going to stand by and watch Gemma and the rest of my surrogate family suffer.
It had to have been a couple of minutes before Tig broke my gaze and sighed, running a hand in frustration through his hair. "Anna... look I ain't gonna argue with you, it's not fair that you're in the dark, hell I hear Jax giving you shit all the time when you withhold stuff from him. Now ain't the time for me to tell you though." My glare hardened as I stared at him expectantly. He must be seriously high from the painkillers if he thought I would leave it at that.
Before I could open my mouth to retort, Tig held up his hand to silence me when he looked over at me. "I'm gonna give Jax a call tomorrow, tell him that it ain't fair to keep you in the dark. He says no then I'll remind him you're now aiding a fugitive, and that should be enough. Till then though, sit tight. Can you do that for me?" His voice was sincere, and I had known him long enough to know when he was being genuine and when he was trying to manipulate someone.
Even though I wanted to know really badly just to ease the worry I felt, I found myself nodding to his request, letting out a breath and casting my eyes down. "Okay." What more could I say? Tig looked tired and stressed, and I couldn't help feeling bad for him.
I heard Tig sigh again, and the next thing I knew he was tugging my arm gently. "C'mere Dollface." Without a word, I scooted over to him and allowed him to wrap his good arm around my shoulder in comfort. My head rested on his shoulder and I allowed myself to relax into him, that feeling of warmth from being at home returned.
We stayed like that in silence for several minutes, his hands rubbing my shoulder absentmindedly. I was the first to break the silence then, opening my eyes that closed from the warmth of his hold. "Things are really bad aren't they?" I asked in a quiet voice, almost a whisper but not quite.
"You don't know the half of it babygirl." I looked up from Tig's shoulder to see Gemma standing in the doorway, looking at the two of us on the bed. She looked so sad, and so tired. "Come on, me and you are gonna talk. Tig, get some sleep Tara should be here tomorrow."
Tig nodded, already looking tired and gave my shoulder a final squeeze. I leaned over to kiss his cheek when I stood up, smiling softly at him and holding back a giggle since it looked like the pills were kicking in by his dazed and tired look. He nodded at me and carefully moved to lay down in the bed. I guess Gemma figured he'd be better off here without being moved, which made sense.
Closing the door behind me, I followed Gemma into the kitchen in silence, my heart beating a little harder in anticipation for what she would say. For awhile there was only silence, Gemma taking out a bottle of wine and filling two glasses with it. She took the wine glasses and motioned for me to follow her to the living room. "We're gonna need these if I'm going to fill you in. I'm sorry babygirl, I should have told you about it sooner."
I sat down next to her on the couch and took a sip of the wine she gave me, studying Gemma carefully. She took a long swallow of the wine and took a deep breath. She told me everything then, everything that happened since Donna's death, and some of the stuff before that. I sat there in quiet shock as she told me about Zobelle and the White Supremacists, the problems that were going on between Jax and Clay, and the issues within the club that I knew I wouldn't be privy to had the situation not been so serious. When she told me what Zobelle had those White Supremacist shitheads do to her... I couldn't describe the feeling that came over me then. It was a mix of emotions that had me both horrified and angered, an intense feeling of hate coming over me for a flash at the thought of Gemma going through that. It was all I could do to not cry for her and what she had to endure.
The wine relaxed her enough to go into details that were pretty horrific about everything. She told me how that cuntbag Stahl set her up, forcing her to go on the run. By the time she told me everything, I felt sick. My wine glass was half empty, and I stared at it with glassy eyes fighting to take control of my emotions to not upset Gemma further.
"Babygirl? Are you alright?" Gem asked in a gentle tone. Swallowing hard and mustering up the ability to keep my tone steady, I answered her in a quiet tone. "Why didn't you call me? Gemma, you shouldn't have had to be alone after... that. I would have come down, I could have done something. You should never have had to wait that long to..." I didn't trust myself to speak, perhaps the shock of everything I was just told had yet to settle and was at that point where hysteria was likely to occur. There was no way in hell I would cry, not now and not if I could help it. I had a reputation to protect, and didn't feel like ruining it by bawling like a baby and letting Gemma think I couldn't handle it.
"Oh Anna," She reached out and gave me a hug. "I wanted you there so badly, but you have no idea how much it made me feel better just to hear your voice on the phone or see those pictures you would email me. I couldn't ruin that for you babygirl, and hell I didn't want to. Beth had gone through so much crap in college cause of the club, and I don't want the same to happen to you. Besides..." She stroked my curls softly in such a familiar way that it calmed me gradually. "I hate to admit it, but it was a blessing in disguise. Everything is supposed to happen for a reason, and with the hate that was brewing between my son and my husband, well when I told them what happened was what made them cut the bullshit. It gave them a reason to unite against something, and probably saved my family."
It was times like then that I realized how strong this woman was and how lucky I was to have her in my life. She had something horrible happen to her that would have broken anyone else, but she overcame it for the sake of her family. My mom used to always tell me that Gemma was one of the strongest people she knew and that I would be smart to take a lesson from her. I knew she was strong, that she was one bad ass lady, but now I looked at her strength differently. She was the rock for her family, for the club, and for me. Even if it hurt her, she put others ahead of herself which honestly could only be called selfless. Yeah she was no angel, and I knew she would be a very dangerous enemy, but she had a heart filled with so much love that it could humble anyone. I hugged her tight, getting reassurance on my own, though I'm not really sure for what exactly.
We stayed up really late and talked, something I had a feeling Gemma hadn't done with anyone since everything happened. She wasn't much for spreading her business, but I knew that being her best friend's daughter, I was an exception and it was probably why she called me up to see her. I hated thinking that the only reason she opened up to me like this was because I reminded her of my mom and how I remembered the two of them talking till the early morning when they had their 'ladies weekends' together. I couldn't complain though, I'm glad she told me, because it would help me prepare for anything whatever might happen, since there was no way I was leaving my only family at that point in time. I'd dare them to make me leave, because that would result in an epic failure.
Author's Note:
Thank you so much to all those who reviewed and subscribed to my story. I'm open to all feedback and will hopefully update by the weekend. Let me know how I'm doing so far, and I'm also open to answering any questions and all that fun stuff.
Also I apologize for the curses if it bothers anyone, but realistically most people in a biker gang would have a pretty dirty vocabulary so I'm going with that.
Reviews are happiness. Just sayin' ;-)
