* I do not own anything you recognize*

I want to thank everyone who has reviewed the first three chapters and everyone who has been reading. I also want to give a special shout out to those who are trying to keep up with both Reaper Ink and this. I plan to try and keep up with an alternating updates schedule.

Thanks again for being so great and I hope you continue to enjoy.


Happy wakes up groggy the next morning on the clubhouse sofa. There may not have been a party the night before but he and Tig had managed to tear up the main room all the same. With a spinning head Hap glances towards the bar and finds Tig right where he expected him; passed out on the tall wooden surface. The bald killer pulls himself up and heads for the kitchen searching for water and aspirin. He's not usually a heavy drinker, preferring to keep his wits about him at all times but last night had been an exception he was willing to make. He hits the kitchen just in time to find Bobby pulling a batch of muffins from the oven.

"Morning killa." The larger man seems cheerful and it's a rare change from the last few weeks.

"Uh huh. What time is it?" Hap pushes past his brother to drink directly from the sink.

"Ten. Tig's late for work." Bobby dumps the muffins out on a cooling rack before leaning against he counter. "You two really had a time last night. Anything up?" Happy just keeps slurping down water and shrugs before pulling away.

"Tig needed some pussy, I was just being a good brother." Bobby raises an eyebrow and crosses his arms.

"Has Jax seemed off to you?" And there it is, the question Hap doesn't want to answer. Yes, the new president seemed off. They'd all been fucking off for the last few months.

"No." He snaps the word before turning to leave. He maybe a part of the Redwood Originals now but he doesn't plan on playing clique politics. He has his own shit to handle. He stomps across the main room to shove Tig off the bar. "You're late for work." He ignores the man's low groan from the floor and heads out.

"Where you goin?" Tig sounds like shit from behind him.

"I got somewhere to be." It's been four days since he's seen Ma and with time running out he's going to make sure she's taken care of.


"Mrs. Hartley, I know what your son requested yesterday but there really is no way I can allow you to have a dog in the home." Tia has been at work for two hours and she's already sorry she'd come in. The meeting with the Hartley's the day before had gone poorly and it seems that no matter how many times she said no they still didn't understand why their mother couldn't keep her Pomeranian in her room. The daughter-in-law had dropped the mutt off that morning and was refusing to come back to pick it up.

"Charlie's a good dog. He won't bother anyone." Tia looks down at the yippy ball of fluff currently peeing on the lobby floor and shakes her head.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Hartley but this is an impossible request. If you want to keep the dog you'll have to find another facility that allows pets." Tia takes in the firm set of the elderly woman's jaw and she can tell they're about to get into another all out row. "Can someone come clean this up?" The puff has finished it's piss and is now running circles around it's master's wheelchair. "Suzie!" Tia's voice rings through the main atrium and she glances around at the residents who have gathered to watch the show.

"Tia Connery?" The male voice from the doorway is unfamiliar and Tia turns on the spot.

"Yes?" The two men walking through the front doors are both wearing expensive suits. Lawyers maybe? Tia has no idea but she's got too much going on. She's just about to ask who they are when Suzie bursts onto the scene with a roll of paper towels. "Suzie, thank you. Can you please clean up Charlie's mess and help Mrs. Hartley back to her room?"

"Ms. Connery we'd like to have a word if you have time." Tia turns back to the gentlemen and offers them a smile.

"Of course, just, who are you?" The man in the front smiles and Tia doesn't miss the way it never reaches his eyes.

"We're here with news on your brother. We know you called looking for him last night." Tia feels relief go through her, finally some news on Ernie. She'd called the rehab last night but it had been after hours and the night nurse had been unable to give her any information.

"Yes, right. Suzie, can you handle this?" Tia turns back to find her secretary already mopping up the mess. "Right this way gentlemen my office is through here." She leaves the disaster that is her job behind, making sure the men follow as she heads towards her office suite. "I'm so glad you came with news, although you could have just called." She pushes into the office and turns to motion them to follow. Turning to walk behind her desk she continues, "He's stopped writing and I was concerne…"

The nonsense she'd been rambling off is cut short when a hand wraps around her throat and she loses the ability to scream as she's slammed down on the surface of the desk. It's the silent man who's got her, his hand so tight she's having trouble breathing and her mouth opens and closes soundlessly as she attempts to pull in air.

"You can let her breathe." The blonde man speaks from the back and Tia's eyes flick from his face to the now closed door rapidly. The hand loosens just enough. "Ms. Connery, your brother has gotten himself into a bit of trouble. He seems to think you'll be willing to get him out of it." The blonde man's eyes are cold and he's pulling on leather gloves that match those worn by the man holding her down. Something clicks deep in her brain and she struggles against the polished surface of the desk.

"Stop." The silent man finally speaks and his cold voice stills her movement immediately.

"Ernie has racked up quite a debt with my employers and we're here to collect." The blonde man nods as he speaks and she suddenly finds herself released. Sitting up quickly she rubs at her quickly bruising throat.

"I don't have any money. Not here. Is he okay?" She can hear her heart in her ears and she wonders if this is what it feels like to know you're going to die.

"That safe behind you says different." The silent man is already moving towards the wall safe and Tia can feel panic rising higher in her throat.

"That's not my money, that's for the…" She's cut off for the second time when the blonde man pulls a gun and she can do nothing but swallow.

"It doesn't really matter to us." The gunshot that shatters the safe lock is unimaginably loud in the confined office and Tia screams, covering her ears on instinct. There's yelling from outside the office and she doesn't turn to watch as they empty the broken metal box. "This is a down payment Ms. Connery, we'll be back for the rest." The blonde man actually winks and salutes her with the gun as he and his partner bust through the office door. Tia hears Suzie scream and then they're gone, the smell of gunpowder lingers in their wake.

"Ms. Connery! !" It's Juan who comes running through the office door and Tia can just see security behind him. "What happened? Are you okay?" Juan's running his hands down her sides as though he's checking for wounds the sudden touch breaks the trance. Tia pushes him off and jumps down from the desk on shaky legs.

"I'm fine, it was a robbery. Just a robbery." She takes several deep breaths but she knows she won't stop shaking for days. "Is everyone else okay?" Juan's searching her face with big eyes and she can tell he thinks she's lying but she ignores him. "Juan! Is anyone else hurt?"

"No, no ma'am. Everyone's fine. They broke the front window on their way out." Tia nods.

"Call the contractor and have a board put up. Please have the residents reassured and… and call the police." The police are the last people she wants to call. She'll have to lie about the circumstances but there's nothing else to be done. This is how you handle crisis.

"Yes ma'am. Are you sure you're okay?" Tia tries to force her eyes to focus on the young man before her but all she can see is her twin beaten and dead somewhere.

"I'm fine, I have to go. I need to go lie down." She's already grabbing her coat.

"The police will want to talk to you." Juan catches at her arm and she shakes him off.

"It was a robbery Mr. Feliz. You saw their faces just as clearly as I did. If they have questions please be so kind as to give them my card." He still looks uncertain but he nods and she grabs her case pushing past him. She stops in the outer office to make sure Suzie really is okay but the secretary has always thrived on drama and Tia finds her already relating an exaggerated version of events to the nurses. "Suzie, I need to go home and lie down. I'll be in tomorrow. Mr. Feliz is going to call the police, please tell them they can reach me at home if they have any questions." Suzie barely looks up from her captive audience and Tia rushes out of the building.

The familiar interior of her beetle is far less reassuring than she'd hoped and Tia throws it in drive without her usual concern for double checking the mirrors. Can she go home? Should she drive to the rehab? She could go to the police, she could tell them everything. They might arrest Ernie though and the thought has her turning away from home and the local station. She drives aimlessly, not sure where she's going. The blonde man's eyes are bright in her mind and she knows he was serious when he said they'd be back.

She ends up pulling over in front of the small house she once shared with her grandmother. The house had never been in the best neighborhood and without Nana's healing touch it's fallen into disrepair. The front porch railing is broken and the roof is sagging. Tia can still remember when it was painted a sunny yellow and the garden was a riot of color. She'd give anything for Nana to walk out the door right now with a cup of tea. Tia presses her forehead into the steering wheel just in time for the first sob.

It's hours later before Tia turns the bug into her usual spot in the underground garage. Her eyes sting from the wealth of tears she'd shed and there's a dark bruise forming around the column of her throat. She grabs a silk scarf out of the car's center console and ties it neatly to hide the fingerprints starting to stand out in dark relief against her skin. She's twitchy as she walks to elevator and she's still not sure coming home was the right idea but she has nowhere else to go. Ernie is her only surviving family and he's in more trouble than she is.

The elevator dings open on the third floor and Tia is drafting the email she'll have to send out to the families of her residents tonight. She shouldn't have wasted the afternoon panicking, she needs to do damage control and fast. If she's not careful she'll be running an empty nursing home. People don't like the idea of guns around their loved ones. She knows she doesn't, Ernie's just never really given her a choice. She digs in her bag for her keys trying to decide if it's necessary to mention the gun in the email at all when she spots the man by her door.

He's a stark contrast to the men from the home. Sitting on the floor with his back against the wall, he's got a dirty backpack clutched to his chest and a ball cap pulled low on his head. He's thin, dirt packed deep under his fingernails and Tia can smell him from five feet away. She takes in the curve of one cheek visible under the cap and lets out a small gasp of recognition. His head snaps up at the sound and Tia takes in his bloodshot eyes, her eyes. She stares down at her twin in shock.

"Tia? Thank god." Ernie pulls himself up off the floor and Tia doesn't move just staring at the man who used to look so much like her. He's practically emaciated.

"Ernie. What are you doing here? There are men looking for you." He has the decency to look ashamed.

"No, no. That's just a little misunderstanding. I can explain it." She doubts that but she pushes past him for the door all the same.

"Okay, quick get inside." She wants to believe he can talk it all away.


Reviews are always welcome. Thanks for reading.

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Thanks again for everything. See you all soon.