All characters, etc from Sons of Anarchy belong to Kurt Sutter.

The OC's are mine.

Any mistakes are my own. Feel free to point them out but please be nice

CHAPTER 4:

Ashleigh swerved the TVR into the parking lot at the Teller-Morrow garage and parked it in one smooth movement. The sound of the engine and the brakes brought several of the Sons out from wherever they'd been to take a look at the car. Happy emerged from the garage wiping his hands on a rag and smirking at Gemma. "She got to you then?"

"Yeah, I can't think why you won't go for a ride with her." Happy laughed at Gemma's sarcasm.

"I would, but she won't let me drive it." He smiled as Ashleigh sauntered over and stretched up to kiss him.

"Don't even think about stealin' the keys baby. I'll be upset if you do." She said slipping her arms around his waist.

Tig had appeared from the club house and was running his hand over the bonnet about to ask his daughter if he could take a look at the engine. He caught Happy's eye and winked. A plan was born. Ashleigh caught the look between her father and her husband and made a mental note to hide the keys in her safe.

Jax rocked back on his heels with his arms crossed. "Bit flashy ain't it?" He teased Ashleigh. "Won't do you much good when Ma takes you on the store run."

"This li'l sweetie is for entertainment only honey." Ashleigh wasn't rising to the bait.

Everyone turned to the entrance of the lot when they heard the growl of a Harley engine approaching. The bike skidded into the lot at an unusually fast speed which immediately had everyone on their guard. In the split seconds that followed Ashleigh registered that she recognised the bike and wondered why the rider had covered his face with a bandana. It was Happy that spotted the rider reaching under his leather cut for the small semi-automatic and yelled "Down! Now!" Pushing Ashleigh in front of him he grabbed Gemma's arm and dragged her down too. He raised his head to check that Jax and Tig and dived for cover too as the bullets sprayed over their heads. The tires of the bike squealed in protest as the rider swung the bike round in an arc and back out of the lot.

Tig, Happy and Jax jumped up. After checking that Ashleigh and Gemma were unhurt they sprinted over to their bikes. "Stay here and get inside the club house!" Tig yelled the order as the three rode off after their attacker.

"You OK Gem?" Ashleigh asked looking at the older woman with concern whilst the both brushed themselves down.

"Don't worry about me baby, it'll take than that to put me on my ass." Gemma eyed Ashleigh carefully, watching to see if she'd really escaped unscathed. "Come on; better do as your daddy says until they catch up with that dead man riding."

Ashleigh patted her jeans pocket to check that she had her phone as they walked quickly into the club house. Gemma flicked some lights on to dispel the gloomy half light that seeped in though the heavily curtained windows and went over to the bar to set up two glasses and a bottle of whisky. Gemma watched Ashleigh pull her phone out and start scrolling for a number. She narrowed her eyes at the bottle and paused for a moment before pouring two drinks, downing hers and refilling it immediately.

"Come on baby pick up." Ashleigh muttered talking to herself as she paced and stared at the ceiling.

Gemma was about to wonder out loud why Ashleigh would be trying to ring Happy at that particular moment until she continued taking to herself.

"Come on Crash you fucker, answer your damn phone." Ashleigh cut the call and redialled. She tried another two times, obviously letting the phone ring out to the answer machine before redialling. Eventually she left a message, her Texas accent thickened with worry.

"Crash, where the fuck are ya honey? You ain't answering your damn phone. Baby it's Ashleigh, call me the instant ya pick this up."

"Something you wanna share sweetheart?" Gemma asked holding out a glass of whisky to Ashleigh as she approached the bar shoving her phone back into her pocket.

"I recognised the bike. It was Crash's, but that sure as shit wasn't him riding it." She accepted the drink and downed it one.

Gemma's phone rang startling both of them. She flipped it open. "You OK baby? Good. Right, we'll be here."

"That was Jax." She said turning to Ashleigh. "They've found the bike but not the rider. He's called Opie to come and get the tow so they can bring it back in."

Ashleigh just pushed her glass back towards the whisky bottle in answer. Gemma refilled it and decided against questioning Ashleigh any further until the boys got back. Ashleigh was perched on one of the bar stools, resting her elbows on the bar and twisting her fingers with anxiety. Gemma had probably seen Ashleigh show more emotion than anyone else in Charming, but she couldn't honestly say she'd ever seen her afraid. Gemma was apprehensive herself. One the face of the situation it looked like a member of the Lone Star MC had tried to take out several member of SAMCRO, including the president.

Eventually Tig stuck his head round the clubhouse door. "Ladies, you need to see this. You especially Ash."

She took a deep breath and slid off the bar stool, the whisky putting strength into her legs that she didn't have. The two women walked out into the bright sunlight, towards the group of men stood around the black and chrome Harley.

"We found it abandoned with this on top." Happy handed a leather cut to Ashleigh. She shook it out and examined it, hoping that a miracle would occur and it would turn out to be someone else's cut, or that she'd wake up from the nightmare she was currently trapped in.

Opie was staring at the bike, eyebrows drawn in confusion, his meaty arms crossed over his chest. "This is weirdest thing. Someone obviously took care of this machine. They've kept up the paint job but it's got dents in it all over."

Ashleigh was running her fingers over the leather of the cut examining scars in the leather in between the patches. She looked up at Happy. He was unnerved to see the fear and confusion written all over her face.

"It wasn't him Hap. You know it wasn't him." She said with quiet desperation.

"Hey sis, you wanna clue us in." Jax wasn't asking. She could tell he seething with anger that someone had dared to attack his club, his family and she didn't blame him one bit. "Hap said you needed to see this before he'd tell us anything."

"The bike and the cut are Crash's. Remember him?"

Jax and Tig looked at each other remembering the twitchy Lone Star brother who'd helped move Ashleigh from San Leon to Charming.

"It's his bike and his cut but that wasn't him on the bike Jax. I know it wasn't him."

"How d'ya know darlin'? He had his face covered." Tig asked gently. He knew his daughter was well aware that the shit would hit the fan royally over this.

"I've been trying to phone him but he won't answer. But it wasn't him, couldn't be him." Ashleigh sounded almost frantic.

"Sis in know you love that club 'n' all but.."

"No Jax you don't understand." She cut him off, earning her a scowl. "Crash couldn't have done that, shooting and riding at the same time, he's not physically able to."

"What do you mean baby?" Gemma asked, speaking quietly to try and calm Ashleigh down.

"Crash grew up in Lone Star like I did. His dad was a brother, but he's been in Travis County since Crash was sixteen. Crash joined the Marines out of school, but was injured on his second tour in Iraq." Ashleigh squeezed her eyes shut, remembering scenes she preferred to leave in the past.

"He came back with severe head injuries. A mortar round had exploded over his head." She opened her eyes, staring at the cut, running one finger down a particularly large scratch in the leather.

"Crash wasn't always like he is now. He couldn't use his arms and legs properly at first, it took a lot of work for him to be able to walk and ride again. His personality changed some too. He's got aggression issues now that he didn't have before and he's got the attention span of a goldfish. He didn't patch in until after he'd recovered, but he still has major problems with his balance. He's called Crash 'cause although he can ride he falls off a lot. There's no way he could ride and shoot at the same time, he'd have come off the bike."

"That explains why he doesn't bother knocking the dents out." Opie glanced back at the bike. "But if it wasn't your boy how in the hell did they get his cut as well as his bike?"

"I don't know. All I can tell you is that there is no way he could have pulled that stunt off."

"He didn't seem so fucked up when he helped move you in." Ashleigh couldn't blame Tig for being suspicious. He'd probably spent the most time with Crash that day swapping stories and reviews of strip clubs and hookers.

"Some days are better than others." Ashleigh shrugged, knowing that she was losing the battle to convince them of Crash's innocence.

"This could have been one of his good days." Jax pointed out.

"OK, never mind couldn't he wouldn't have done this Jax. He might be a few shades of crazy now but he wouldn't put me in danger." Ashleigh looked Jax directly in the eyes.

"You sound awfully sure of that considering someone riding his bike and wearing his cut just did." Jax couldn't understand how Ashleigh could remain so adamant in the face of all the evidence.

Ashleigh was suddenly calm. "Jax he wouldn't have done this. I was about a hairs breadth from becoming his old lady before he got hurt."

"He might have been jealous, tipped him over the edge." Tig suggested with a shrug.

"No, that's not him." Ashleigh shook her head. "Any issues we had we worked through years ago. He wouldn't suddenly go off the deep end now."

"You said yourself he's several shades of crazy." Jax continued. He looked at Happy who wasn't showing any emotion and wondered if he'd known about this aspect of Ashleigh's past.

Happy had shut down so that he could keep his tenuous grasp on the fury that was threatening to overwhelm him. He was enraged that someone had tried to shoot his president and his old lady. It didn't make sense for it to be Crash, but whoever it was would be in a world of pain when he got his hands on them. Giving in to a destructive frenzy now wouldn't help; he needed to stay calm until they found the culprit.

Ashleigh looked up to the sky. She felt like screaming. She knew the evidence against Crash was damning but she was certain it hadn't been him on the bike.

"Look." Jax rubbed his hands over his face. "I need to put a call in to your dad. Ope, Hap, you come with me. Tig, call the others, I want them here five minutes ago. Hopefully this is just a random jealousy thing, but if its' anything bigger we need everyone on alert."

Ashleigh started following them into the club house when Jax stopped and turned. "No, you're not part of this Ash. You're Hap's old lady. Go get Rosie and stay in the house 'til this is sorted." He turned to Gemma. "Ma, can you grab Abel and Thomas and fill Tara in?"

"Sure thing baby." Gemma put her hand lightly on Ashleigh's arm. "Come on Ash darlin'. I need you to drop me back home for my car."

Happy noticed that Ashleigh had gone still as and as pale as a corpse and knew she was either going to blow up at Jax for putting her in her place or she was going to do something that was probably impulsive and dangerous.

"OK." Ashleigh whispered. Without saying anything to Happy she turned on her heel and walked over to her car, closely followed by Gemma. She was too angry to notice that it had miraculously escaped damage. Gemma decided to keep quiet for once since Ashleigh was driving. She knew that although her daughter had been brought up in an MC and was well-versed in the way clubs worked, that she was also used to holding a certain amount of status and respect thanks to her job.

As the TVR screeched out of the lot in a cloud of tyre smoke, Happy reflected that it might have been better if Ashleigh had blown up. She'd obviously chosen impulsive and dangerous instead.