At the risk of being mad cheesy, I'd like to start this chapter off with a thank you to you- my lovely, lovely readers for your support thus far. This is my first time writing on here and I am truly humbled and so, so grateful for each follow, favorite, and piece of feedback. It's a HUGE deal to me. I absolutely love hearing from you guys! Every time I get notification about the story it makes my daywhat a gift, right?! (I'm having a blast with this, by the way, so don't expect it to end anytime soon.) I'm absolutely hooked.

Thank you again & loads of love and light to each and every one of you.

Kas

Jax

I pull open the doors to Church to see Chibs sitting alone at the table, both of us early. He's pouring over an old biker mag, drinkin' black coffee. I shut the doors behind me as he looks up with a wicked grin.

"Ahhh, Jackie-Boy. Good mornin' fer ya, eh?" He slaps me on the shoulder as I sit.

Tess and I drew quite a few stares from the guys pulling into the parking lot this morning from our ride, something that seemed to make her a little uncomfortable…which is surprising. She's gotta draw looks wherever she goes. Regardless, she's been in my room since we got back a few hours ago.

I give him a knowing smile and light up a cigarette, pulling the ash tray closer.

"Can't complain."

That's all I'm going to give him.

The others start filing in and taking their seats, Tig and Clay being last.

Once we've settled Clay starts in.
"First order of business…"

"The Mayans." I interject.

"Mhm. Lines were crossed yesterday." Bobby agrees, leaning back and crossing his arms.

Juice is nodding in agreement, eyes on the table, mind on yesterday's crash. And Tess's injuries. "We need to make sure they aren't planning on crossing any other lines…" I continue, "Tryin' to bring this shit into Charming."

This gets grumbles of approval laced with anger.

We all know this war stays out of town territory. It's the first unspoken rule. Well, usually it doesn't have to be said. But this shit with the Mayans and Tess is making us say it, something that none of us like. No blood gets spilled in Charming. It's the classic don't-shit-where-you-eat boundary that's been with the club since it was founded. It's what's let SAMCRO's roots grow so deep into Charming soil. Outlaws or not, we keep our town sheltered from the lifestyle we take part in and the community knows they're safer with us here. Hell, most of the cops know it. Even Clay knows it.

Opie chimes in,"They know we were in Nevada for the patch over for the Tribe…think it could be that simple?"

"You piss in my territory, I piss in yours?" Clay clarifies.

Tig shakes his head, "Nah, it's more."

"Aye. Kickin' out a random bike jus' to get away? There's more to't than that, you can be sure." Chibs voices what we're all thinking.

It was a huge risk to kick out an innocent girls bike. Bringing a civilian into it signifies something bigger. Had Tess come to and refused to go with us and mentioned the Mayans to cops, they'd be waist deep in an investigation. They probably wouldn't get em on anything, but it'd be a hassle and it'd put 'em at risk of being discovered for bigger shit.

"There's a reason they wanted to get away bad enough to resort to what they did with Tess." I agree.

Bobby nods, "My guess is they had something on 'em that day they didn't want us to find out about…"

The room gets silent as his thought sinks in, each of us pondering what the Mayans could be in on, knowing Bobby has likely struck the truth of the matter.

"We reach out, put out ears for the any new dealings they got their hands in. Meanwhile we stay close to home, protect what's ours. I don't want this shit on my doorstep." Clay's words ring out, sent home by the crack of the gavel.

Everyone pushes out of their chairs, headed toward the bar and I see Cherry toss her phone in her bag, getting ready for the rush. Church dismissed.

I stay behind to talk to Clay, and he lights up a cigar as Prospect shuts the doors.

"Hows the girl?" he inquires, exhaling a series of tight puffs of smoke.

"She'll be alright." I answer, "Coulda been much worse."

He shoots me a knowing glance.

Clay and I aren't on the best terms, and we sure as hell have different ideas on what's best for the club, but we can usually tell where the others head is at.

He knows I want blood for what happened to Tess.

"Charming comes first." he says, getting right to it.

Little does he know I'm in agreement with the decision we made today. Tess is here now, so keeping her safe is in alignment with keeping Mayans out of Charming. I also know that the more dirt we get on the Mayans-and I think Bobby's right about it being something SAMCRO won't like- will get the fire lit under all of the club to come at them once we find it. I'm not about to object to that.

"I want to be the one who handles the guys from yesterday," I let on, "I know which ones they are."

Clay's eyes fills with understanding. He gets vengeance. Most of us do.
He gives me a silent nod. Done deal.

I nod and push out from the table, ready for a shot of jack myself. When my hands are on the door handles, Clay speaks again and though I don't turn around, I can practically feel his eyes burning holes into my cut.

"Keep your head clear. We can't have you getting cloudy with this shit goin' on so close to home."

I pause on turning the door handles, but continue to face the doors.
"You don't gotta worry about my head." I answer, then push out to the bar with the rest of guys.

My eyes scan for Her in the crowd even though I know she's probably asleep in my room, tired from the ride and the medicine she took for her headache after it. I slide into a stool and grab the glass in front of me, the annoyance from Clay's bullshit concern about my head fading fast, mostly because it's already filled with thoughts of Tess.