A/N

This is just a short one tonight but it's a bit of fun and some upcoming trouble which I think you'll enjoy... I'll try and keep up the longer posts but this one only works as a little one, sadly. Hope you enjoy anyway!

Prepare for some extremely M-rated material in the next chapter! And let your imaginations get wild when you realise why at the end of this chapter...

S x


Darby kicked his door open for Swift to follow him in. She pursed her lips as she leaned in the doorway, half in, half out, not sure if she was ready to commit to go into a house she didn't know. Tig's gun was still pressed to the small of her back, she would be fine, she was already sure of that, but she was always cautious, it was how she had survived. Eventually, she kicked off her shoes and left them out front as a sign of where she was, if the Sons really wanted to find her, at least they knew she'd be there.

She sauntered in to see Darby already grabbing himself a beer. He offered her one but she declined, waving her hand as she leaned against his kitchen counter. Darby chuckled as he saw her swinging her legs as she looked casually around the house, taking it all in. The place was a dump and Darby seemed smart enough, he wouldn't have much stored here. He was the kind of guy who squirrelled it away or buried it in his back yard, she was already sure it wasn't worth trying to frisk him. He held out his hand expectantly and looked at her with a lopsided sort of smile.

"You promised me a grand," he said. "Double what Clay gave me."

Swift laughed out loud at that. "Five hundred dollars? That's what he gave you to catch me out?" She shook her head as she stared at him, almost feeling sorry for the tired-looking old man as he stood there with an embarrassed kind of smile. "You do SAMCRO bitch work for that kind of money?"

"Tipped me off about the raid," Darby shrugged, uncapping his beer and tossing the bottle opener on the counter beside her. Swift rolled her eyes dramatically, were these people stupid? Or just backward?

"You know he probably told them to make the raid, right?" Darby didn't say anything, the thought had very briefly crossed his mind but he had decided it would be best to try and think that that weren't the truth. Swift pulled her knees up to her chin, perching her feet on the edge of the counter. "They run this town?"

"Try to," he muttered. "I'm just a businessman."

"With a habit, I get you." She looked at him, she'd known too many men like Darby in her time. She ran her hand along her arm, rubbing absently at a faded mark on the inside of her arm. "Your shit any good?" Darby raised an eyebrow and she waved her hand. "Don't get excited, I'm retired. I just like to know a good source for… emergencies."

He snorted. "If you want to set them up, I'm the wrong person, darlin'," he said, putting his hands up in the air. "I'm just trying to turn over cash without going too far from home. I keep to the borders, get on with my shit. I don't want any more mess with Clay Morrow than I already have, and he likes me just about as much as he likes you." He motioned to her nose, the rest of those Sons didn't tend to smack around women unless they were pissed at their old ladies. Being a member of that MC had an element of respect attached to it, Clay was the only one who didn't see sex when it came to a threat that needed quashing.

"Oh, yeah, we're in love." She smiled wryly and Darby chuckled at that. "So you'd kinda like them out of your hair?" She slipped off the counter and walked over to rub her palm over the top of Darby's head. Darby smirked at her playful touch as she leaned into him.

"Better the devil I know, kid," he said, giving her a nudge away. "And all I know about you is that you're trouble."

She held her hands up with a laugh. "I'm just a businesswoman," she said, echoing his own tone. "All I've been trying to do for twenty-four hours is skip town, Charming's too small for me, I've got bigger aims." Darby grinned.

"But Clay doesn't want you here?"

"They've got… conflicting ideology," she said with a casual shrug. She poked the swastika on his chest with her finger. "Like you and I do. Doesn't mean we can't work together to a common goal." He looked at her and she returned his gaze, confident as she stood there opposite him. "Come on, like we both wouldn't appreciate a little respite from Daddy Day Care. If Chubs tries to put his hands down my pants one more time, God…"

She was funny, he had to give her that. He quite liked that charm, she was spunky and Darby smiled a little as he realised she reminded him of Gemma Teller-Morrow. "What are you offering me, kid?"

"Three grand, cash." Her voice was serious as she said it, she wanted an out and she didn't care if she had to pay off some small time meth crook to get going on her way. "You get my out of town, with a car. That's it."

"That's it?" He looked at her with a frown. "The car alone's worth three."

She sighed, of course he was going to try and negotiate. "Four, then. I'd throw in a blow job but my great great Grandpa's probably Asian or something, wouldn't want to betray your cause." Darby raised an eyebrow as he looked at her, trying not to laugh at her little tease.

"They giving you that much hassle?"

He bent over to get himself another drink from the fridge. Swift was sure she had this conversation in hand, she was positive, in fact. She relaxed a little, just a little, but Darby was fast and took advantage of the opportunity. He grabbed a syringe from a drawer of the kitchen counter and stabbed it into her arm fiercely. He watched with amusement as he pushed the syringe down, sinking it into her arm and watching as her body became limp. He tossed the empty tool on the floor and slipped his arm around her waist to carry her to the couch.

"If it's worth four to you, it's more to them," he said as he watched her eyelids flicker as the opiates flooded her, swimming through her and exhausting her in an instant. He took out his phone and dialled one of the few numbers he had stored away in the memory. He looked at her for a moment before he heard the call answered on the other end of the line.

"Yeah?"

"Trager, it's Darby." He laughed to himself for a moment, he could barely believe what he was about to offer. "I think I've got someone you might be looking for."