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Previously on And the Angel Rode: Ellie is in the hospital, but she and the baby are fine. Tig reminisced about being a father again and we learned his ex-wife kidnapped his daughters when they were three and he hasn't seen them since. Clay had a sit down with Tig and he told him that Ellie ran away from home when she was eighteen because her father's friend was raping her.

Chapter Three

It was a warm fall night in Charming, California. Ellie had completely settled into her life here, finally deciding to put down roots somewhere and stop flitting around the country like she had been doing for the last five years.

At the beginning, the thought of finding a place to call home scared her, she hadn't stayed anywhere more then eighteen months since she graduated college from Penn State with a degree in small business management. She hadn't allowed herself to connect with anyone in case she had to leave at a moments notice.

But as her thirtieth birthday approached, she decided that she couldn't be a nomad her entire life. So she packed up her small apartment in Minneapolis, Minnesota and moved west. She didn't like the show much anyways, and picked a small town far from Houston that could use a pastry shop and moved in.

That was over a year ago, now Bailey's Bits was doing booming business and for the first time since her mom died, she felt at home.

At the moment she was transforming Bailey's Bits from summer to fall and Halloween themed. She had all the summer decorations boxed up and was bring the fall ones in from her old Honda.

Who knew plastic pumpkins and fake leaves could be so heavy. She thought.

She grabbed the second one out of the trunk of her car that was parked on the street outside of the shop and began lugging it inside. Brett, her manager, was supposed to help her out, but had come down with a bad case of the stomach flew a few days ago so she was on her own for the evening.

As she was maneuvering the box in her arms she forgot to watch out for the curb. She felt herself falling, but before she could brace herself for the crash, she landed on the pavement, her hand squished under the weight of her body, as well as the decorations.

"Fuck," she moaned, rolling over and extracting her arm from under the box.

She was cradling her wrist up to her chest when she heard a motorcycle roar up to the curb in front of her. She was unsurprised to see a man in a leather cut getting off when she looked up.

The local motorcycle club was not something she had expected when she moved to Charming and, at first, she had been nervous, hearing some of the stories that her customers told her. But all of her experiences with the men in cuts who stopped by to pick up a cup of coffee or a doughnut had been pleasant.

They were courteous gentlemen who always tipped well. She had a nagging suspicion that half the stories she had heard were false. Just exaggerations and rumors spread by people who were scared of what they couldn't understand.

"You ok, sweetheart? That was a pretty nasty fall." The curly haired man asked her, taking off his helmet.

"Yah, I'm fine. My wrist will be sore for a while, that's all." Slowly she stood up, keeping her hand protected.

"Here, le' me see." He reached out for her arm, but she took a step back, shaking her head.

"No seriously, it's fine. Thank you for your concern, but it'll be fine." She rotated her wrist and flinched, maybe it was more serious then she thought.

"Give me." It was a suggestion this time. He reached out and grabbed her arm and pulled her hand towards him. "What's in those damn boxes anyways?" He said, prodding her wrist.

She winced, but spoke through it; she could handle a little pain. "It's the fall decorations. I'm supposed to be decorating the shop for fall tonight." She jerked her head towards the business behind her.

"You work at Bailey' Bits?" the man asked, not looking up from his work on her hand.

"Own it." She said curtly, she'd never admit it but her wrist hurt like hell.

"Well, you won't be doing any more work in there tonight. I don't think you broke it but probably a bad sprain." He told her, letting go of her hand.

"Well, what am I supposed to do then? I can hardly just leave these sitting here, and I have more things to move out to the car." She snapped, crossing her arms and staring up at the biker. She was used to being on her own and didn't like other people telling her what to do.

He stared back at her, not used to being questioned, especially by a bitch. After a moment he decided to let it go and reached down and picked up the box with ease. "Where do you want these?" He smirked.

"Showoff," she muttered under her breath, but turned around and lead the way into to the shop.

Ten minutes later, all the fall boxes were in the back of the shop and the summer ones were in the trunk of her trunk, she would have to actually put the decorations up later. "Well thank you for the help, if you ever want something, it's on the house." She said, opening up the door to her car.

Abruptly his hand stopped the cars door from opening. She gave him a look of incredulity.

"You didn't really expect me to let you drive this thing home, did you?" He looked down in disgust at her beat up old car. "How exactly are you supposed to shift if you only have on good arm?" He glared down at her.

For a moment he reminded her of Lucas, but she shook those thoughts away quickly. This man, whom she'd learned name was Tig, had done nothing but help her this evening. She looked at her old, beat up, sedan, and sighed, realizing the truth behind his statement.

"Fine," she sighed, closing and locking her car. She began to walk away when an arm wrapped around her middle and pulled her back.

"Exactly where do you think your going?" His voice growled in her ear. His chest was pressed firmly against her back and she could feel every inch of his toned body against hers. As his lips grazed across the shell of her ear she shivered. The feeling that erupted in the pit of her stomach was stronger then anything she had ever felt before.

Sure she had had sex before, but none of her former partners had oozed sex like Tig did.

"I'm walking home," She said, trying and failing to pull out of his arms. "I only live a few blocks away."

"Like hell you are." He growled, spinning her around and grabbing her shoulders, forcing her to look at him. She saw that his eyes were blazing and his pupils dilated, but she had no idea why.

"We'll how exactly am I supposed to get home then, if I can't drive and now I can't walk either? What am I supposed to do? Sleep at the shop?" She snapped.

He smirked before he let go off her shoulders and walked over to where his bike still stood on the shoulder of the road. He unhooked his helmet from where it had been hanging on his handle bars and held it out to her. "I'll take you home." He stated simply.

"What?" She was shocked. Never once during the evening did she expect to end it on the back of this man's bike.

Tig just stood there smiling, very pleased with himself for rendering her speechless for the first time that night. "The bike, doll. I'll take ya home." His tone was condescending.

"I got that." She snapped, irritated at his smug attitude. "Just, why would you do that for me?" He had already spent half the evening helping her move decorations. Why would he want to bring her home, not unless he wanted something there…

He watched the emotion flitter across her face as she considered the fact that he might want a sexual favor for his help. He wouldn't deny that, if given the chance, he would totally fuck her, but he hadn't stopped and helped her with the expectation of sex.

"Nothin' like that, darlin', just wanna get ya home safe. Charming ain't the safest place after dark." He reassured her.

She looked suspiciously at his bike, then at the out stretched helmet, at Tig and then back to bike, before heaving a sigh. She hadn't particularly wanted to walk home in the dark anyways.

"You sure you know how to ride this thing?" she asked, buckling on the helmet. She had always had a slight fear of motorcycles and wasn't completely comfortable with what was about to happen here.

"Believe me, darlin', bikes ain't the only things I can ride." He teased, a sparkle in his eye. He had been making innuendos all night, enjoying the faint blush that appeared on her checks every time he did.

"Let's just get this over with," she muttered, climbing on behind the biker. This whole situation was completely outside her comfort zone, and it was exciting.

"Where da ya live, doll?" he asked, clearly enjoying her discomfort. She gave him her address. For a moment he was upset, that was more then a few blocks away, as she had said earlier. But he quickly got over that when he felt her settle in behind him.

"Better hold on tight, Ellie. I'm gonna take you on the ride of your life." With that the engine roared to life, Ellie grasped her arms tightly around Tig's middle and they surged forward.

It only took a few minutes to get home, the whole time Ellie's head had been buried in Tig's back, hiding her face from the wind and the nauseating sight of the road flashing by on either side of her, a very short few feet below her.

Her home was a small, Spanish style, stucco house, cozy, but not claustrophobic. When the motorcycle pulled up in front Ellie quickly dismounted, wanting to get as far away from the damn death machine as possible. She took the helmet off and handed it back to Tig.

"Thanks for the help and the ride. But I think next time you can ride while I walk." She swayed, slightly light headed, as Tig put his helmet back on.

He chuckled, watching her. "Does that mean I get ta see ya 'gain?" his tone implying much more then a lunch at her shop.

Over her dizzy spout, Ellie blushed and began the walk to her front door, waving over her shoulder.

"Wait, Ellie!" She stopped and looked over her shoulder at the man still straddling the bike. "You need anything, you know where to find me?" He said seriously.

She just smiled. Everyone in town knew where to find a Son, it was hardly a secret. "Goodnight Tig."

She heard the motorcycles engine growl and before the he took off he called. "Lock your doors," before roaring off down the street.

Ellie just smiled as she unlocked her door and was greeted by Ailin, who was clearly upset at being left alone all night. She closed the door and made sure to lock it before throwing her purse on the table and making her way up to her bedroom. "It's been a very strange night, Ailin." She said, scratching the Australian Shepard behind her ears.

As she crawled into bed, Ailin jumped up and curled up next to her, clearly forgiving her master for ignoring her.

She fell asleep thinking of the mysterious Tig, and for the first night in over twenty years, she slept soundly.

The beeping was the first thing she heard and it was incredibly annoying.

The louder and more frequent the beeping got the more Ellie began to notice other things, the bumpy bed she laid on, the warm blanket she was curled up under, her painful ribs, and the itchy spot on her face.

Still half asleep she reached up to get whatever was irritating her face off.

She heard a familiar chuckle and a soft, but firm hand grasped her wrist and pulled it away from her face. "Sorry, Angel, I know it's annoying, but ya can't mess with that."

Responding to the comforting voice, Ellie slowly turned her head towards him and slowly opened her eyes.

"Ugh." She groaned. When she had opened her eyes to the light that filled the hospital room, she snapped them closed again, the light giving her a horrible headache.

Alex frowned, conscious of Ellie's pain. He intertwined their fingers and cupped her cheek in his other hand, looking into her face, waiting for her eyes to open again.

When she opened her eyes again, she was unsurprised to see Alex's face just a few inches from hers, his chin resting on the bed next to her. She smiled slightly, "Hey," she mouthed, her throat not ready to talk yet.

"Hey, Angel." He whispered and quickly pecked her on the lips. When he pulled away, he smiled. "It's good to see your eyes open again. Ya had me worried. Ya know I don't like to be worried."

She gently squeezed Alex's hand with her own and closed her eyes closed for a moment, but opened to gaze into the icy blue eyes she loved. "How-" her voice cracked, sore from lack of use. She cleared her throat and began again. "How long have I been asleep?"

"Almost two days," he murmured, "took ya longer to wake up then the Doc thought."

Ellie had tried to push herself up, but had gasped in pain as she moved.

"Whoa, where da ya think your goin', Ellie." He put his hands on her shoulders and gently pushed her back into the bed. She relented and sank back into the pillows with a pained sigh. She put her hand on her side where the worst pain had come from.

That's when she noticed the IV sticking in her hand and the bandage around her ribs. Slowly she inspected her body, finding bandages all over her body. She realized that the itchy spot on her face was really the spot where the oxygen line was connected under her nose.

"What- What's wrong with me?" she simpered.

"Nothing's wrong with you, Ellie. You are just little disrepair." Alex knew his girl had had self confidence problems in the past. He didn't want her to fall back into that again.

"Alex," she groaned.

He sighed, "You had a bullet in your shoulder, a collapsed lung, broken wrist, two broken ribs, a concussion and some internal bleeding. I think that was it, it was a pretty damn long list."

She closed her eyes and collapsed back into the bad, completely defeated. Then she asked the question she was most anxious and nervous to know the answer to. "And my baby?" she whispered, softly laying a hand on her stomach.

He put his hand on top of her, resting against her belly. "Our baby's fine." He reassured.

She let out the breath she hadn't realized she was holding. Alex saw a single tear escape the corner of her eye. He caught it with the pad of his thumb, wiping it away. "You're going to be fine, Angel. I'm going to protect you. He's never going to touch you again." The end came out in a growl.

Ellie was getting tired, and the longer she was awake the more painful everything was getting. But she still reached up and cupped Alex's cheek. The hard edge in his eyes faded with the physical contact. "I know you will, Love. You've never failed me before; you're not going to start now."

"Hell no." He smirked. They just sat there for a moment, savoring the moment together before her headache became too much and she had to close her eyes to try and block out the pain.

"You need to sleep, Angel. Let me get the nurse to sedate you." He kissed her quickly on the forehead before sticking his head out of the room to get one of the nurses outside.

None of his brothers were out there on guard duty. Happy and Chibs had been taking rotations, but Tig had convinced them that he could handle a few hours on his own. He hated being babysat and the only reason that he put up with is was because he knew he owed Clay.

The nurse came hustling in. She was a kind looking, elderly woman. All the guys who had been in and out to see Tig had liked her because she didn't treat them differently because of the cuts they wore.

"Hey sweetie," She said in a soft, gentle voice. "I hear you're still not feeling very well today." She was looking at the monitor where all of Ellie's data was displayed.

"Not yet." She squeezed Alex's hand again.

"I just have a few questions, then you can go back to sleep, alright honey?" She smiled down at the bed ridden women.

After a quick analysis of what hurt and how much, if she felt nauseous, and how much she remembered from the day of her attack, the questioning was finally over.

"Here you go, sweetie. Sleep tight." The nurse injected a syringe into her IV and the narcotics began to work almost immediately, ebbing away at Ellie's concentration. As the nurse left the room Ellie whispered, "Alex?"

"Yes, Angel?" He said.

"You'll be here when I wake up, right?" She yawned.

"Of course, Ellie. I'm not going anywhere." He reassured her, kissing her forehead, letting his lips linger there for a moment before pulling back on looking her in the eyes.

"Lay with me." She barely got it out, but Alex heard her loud and clear.

Carefully, Alex slid off his boots and crawled into bed beside his love, careful not to disrupt any of the tubes or wires. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and she slowly nestled her head into the crook of his neck.

"Just sleep, Angel. I'm right here, nothin' is gonna hurt you." He kissed the top of her head.

She was asleep before she could respond.

A/N: Wow, that took longer then expected, the flashback was just supposed to be a little exert, not take up the whole chapter! Oh well, just have to get the rest of what was supposed to be in this chapter into the next.

Sorry this chapter is late, I came down with a cold on Monday and I still have a crap load of commitment's for school. I crashed when I got home at 9 last night.

One more thing I'd like to say, I know Tig seems very different from the Tig we all know and love, but we will see the slow transformation from battle-hardened Tig to doting Alex in the flashbacks. It wasn't that he just meet Ellie and woke up the next day a new person. So it's not as drastic as it seems.

Thanks again for all the reviews I've gotten, I hope I've replied to all of them, but FanFiction has been acting weird lately and I haven't been getting emails, but I love them all. As always please review, constructive criticism is always appreciated, but flames are not.

As always,

Rose