Disclaimer: I do not own, or make profit from The Son of Anarchy, nor do I own or make profit from any of the music used in the story.
I do not condone the use of alcohol, drugs, and/or violence.
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Gemma left the men to climb onto the bus, Donna right behind her. The four girls managed to fit onto one couch, all cuddling into each looked at Gemma, "Do you think we're monsters?"
"What? Why would you think that?" Gemma asked softly.
"Because we're able to do that to someone," Mouse shrugged. "It wasn't hard to hurt him."
"You aren't monsters," Donna told them. "Your friend needed you. And not only did you make sure she was taken care of, but you also took care of her attacker, which was something else she needed."
"We have to leave now," Val whispered.
"You girls aren't going anywhere," Gemma snorted. "You all saw me fight for you out there. Clay could have kept fighting me, but he didn't. He doesn't expect you to leave, and in fact, I'm fairly certain you would piss him off, not to mention other people, if you tried to leave." Gemma gave them a serious look. "Now, instead of hiding on this bus, because there is no reason for you to hide, we're going to get you into the clubhouse and get ice on some hands before they swell up and are useless to you."
The girls changed into their pajamas, long flannel pants and t-shirts, and followed Gemma into the Clubhouse. It was quiet outside on their short walk. Everyone seemed to be gone. They filed into the kitchen, and heard murmuring coming from the lounge area. Kes was already in the kitchen having coffee. The five girls moved together and held each other, placing their foreheads together the way they had the day Mouse had shown up.
Gemma and Donna filled two large pots with ice, and made Val and Mouse soak their hands they'd used in the beat down. Gemma leaned her head into the lounge and motioned for Chibs to enter the kitchen.
"I need you to make sure they didn't break anything in their hands," Gemma told him, her voice the only noise in the room.
Chibs was looking over Mouse's hand when the Sons who had decided the girls were theirs entered the kitchen.
Happy moved over to Sam, and she looked up at him. "Let's go to bed."
She nodded, hugged all of her sisters, and left the room.
Sledge was next, and he picked Toni up and carried her out.
"Ye've got a broken knuckle, Lass," Chibs murmured. "I think it'll be fine as long as we wrap it really well."
Mouse nodded, staring down at the offending appendage. Juice took the stool behind her, scooted closer, and pulled her into his body, kissing the top of her head.
Kozik looked at Kes. "Stay in my room tonight? I'll sleep on the floor, or in the chair…"
"I will be really pissed off if I stay in your room and you don't sleep in the bed," she told him softly, with a serious look.
"Nothing broken, love," Chibs told Val. "Might be a little swollen for a day or two, but if you continue to move it, all should be fine."
"Thank you," Val murmured.
Once she heard that Val was okay, Kes and Kozik left.
Gemma moved over to Val and Mouse, while Opie moved over to Donna. He hugged her tightly, and she held him back.
Jax had moved up next to Val, and was softly brushing her hair away from her face.
Gemma kissed both girls on the cheek. "You both need to sleep." Then she focused on Val. "And you need to stop thinking we're going to kick you out, or that you have to
leave. We WANT you here."
Val nodded slightly.
"Come on, I'll tuck you in," Jax told her. They walked down the hall past dorm rooms, and Jax stopped at his, "Do you want to stay in here with me tonight?" he hoped she said yes.
She nodded and he opened his door. Val moved to the bed, and crawled over to the side close to the wall, putting Jax between her and the door. Jax lay down, and wrapped his arms around her. She was shuddering and he figured she was suffering from a bit of shock. "You're so brave. Like a little warrior queen," he started speaking softly to her. "I'm so glad you're here, Valeria. Don't leave. No one here is going to make you, so if you go it would be entirely your decision. I don't want you to leave."
Val turned over in his arms so that she could put her arm over his chest, and her head laying atop his heartbeat. It was soothing. "You're not scared about how fucked up we are?"
"No. We're just as fucked up. I hate that things happened to you in the past. But everything up until now brought you to me. I think you're super smart, super scary, a little crazy, and a whole helluva lot of wonderful."
Val smiled a little bit. "Thank you."
"Get some sleep, Darlin'."
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The next morning Val woke up wrapped in Jax's arms. She felt warm and safe. But she had to pee. She managed to crawl out of the bed without waking him up, and instead of using his bathroom, headed down to the room she'd been using. Half an hour later she'd peed, showered, and was ready for the day to begin. She was just praying it was a little calmer than the few days before. Too much drama.
Flexing her hand, Val felt it was a little sore, but not bad overall. Probably a good thing when Mouse took over that portion of the night's retribution.
Not many people were up when she made her way out of the Clubhouse. They'd covered the piano with a specialty tarp the night before, and Val pulled it off. Best way to tell
if the hand was going to give her problems would be to play. She wasn't performing, just playing, but of course she found herself singing a long, her voice soft in the quiet of the early morning.
Let me in your room
I've seen the rest of you
But I know there's something more in your room
I'm right outside your door
Show me things you've never shown before
A few pictures from your past
And those walls you painted black
And the secrets that you keep under your bed
All you have to do, is let me in your room
You can be yourself
You don't have to hide from me I won't tell
I know everyone you've ever trusted has let you down
And you don't want to come out
And show me, show me
Getting lost in the music, Val continued to play, her voice getting a little stronger. Like the night she played the acoustic guitar, she didn't notice she'd drawn the attention of bikers and Crow-eaters. The music brought sheer joy to her. Whether she was by herself, with her sisters, with one person listening or a crowd, music fed her soul.
A few pictures from your past
And those walls you painted black
And the secrets that you keep under your bed
All you have to do, is let me in your room
You know every part of me
I let you in, I let you see
All the dark and every color of my room
Let me do that for you
And tell me all about your past
Why you painted those walls black
Baby it's all right you're safe in here with me
Open up so I can see
A few pictures from your past
And those walls you painted black
And the secrets that you keep under your bed
An unopened letter from your dad
A poster of your favorite band
It don't matter, I'll take every part of you
All you have to do is let me in your room
Let me in your room
As the last note trailed away, clapping began, and her eyes popped open. She flushed to see the attention she'd garnered. "I was just seeing if my hand was okay to play," she murmured.
The girls decided on a quiet day by the time they were all up. They had checked on Vinnie, who looked miserable, so they gave her another pain pill which would allow her to sleep. Tig hovered over her like a protective bear. After that, they went out to the bus, got into their bikinis and cutoffs, and dragged out some lawn chairs, a few acoustic guitars, and their notebooks so they could work on their music. This is how they normally started; brainstorming, throwing out ideas, and possible lyrics they'd thought of at some point.
At this point the guys had gotten to work in the garage. It was soothing to hear the girls' quiet murmuring. They were all still worried about their girls. But they didn't want to hover. Sam had hopped up to go into the bus, and came out shortly after carrying a violin case. She handed it to Val, who opened it, and played a series of notes making a melody, and then all of the women started nodding and writing.
"How many instruments does Val play?" Juice asked.
Sledge was helping the guys out while they were visiting, and he stared at the ceiling for a minute. "Let me think… Val plays something like eight. Sam plays about six, and Kes and Toni play four."
Mouse sat with her sisters, but just worked on soaking up the sunshine.
Jax heard the car pulling up outside and watched as Clay approached Deputy Sheriff Hale. He heard Mouse give a little squeak before she said, "Oh my God it's Minute-Dick!" Which almost made Jax snort. He had to wonder how she came up with the name.
"Shit, hide Val," Kes's voice was horrified.
Jax looked over and saw Val's cute nose wrinkled up at seeing the man. "He can't possibly be here to see me."
Clay walked over to Jax hiding a smile, and Jax saw Hale walking over to Val. He frowned. "Apparently, they met at the diner and he just wanted to stop by to say, 'hi'."
Jax looked at Clay like he was nuts, "What is he twelve again wanting to ask a girl to the school dance?"
Sam was chuckling as the cop began his way over to where they sat, "Oh, he's definitely here for you."
"It's not funny, Sam," Val was frowning.
"Well, good morning, Ladies," the man actually tipped his hat to them.
Mouse started coughing, "Sorry swallowed wrong."
"Good morning, Deputy Sheriff Hale," Val said politely.
"I remembered that you said you liked music," he began, "And my church is putting on a concert. I was wondering if you'd like to join me?"
All five girls stared at him dumbfounded.
"It's a lovely offer, but I'm going to have to decline."
Hale looked dejected. "Oh, I see, well, I will get out of your way then."
The guys decided to take a break for lunch and headed over to the ladies. "What'd Hale want?" Jax asked as they approached.
"Awwww, I think Valli girl broke Minute-Dick's wittle heart," Mouse said and waved to the officer as he pulled out of the lot.
"Brave of him to come to enemy territory," Toni stated.
Sam decided to share since Val still looked pissy. "He was just here to invite Val to go with him to a concert."
Jax felt anger burn through his body. He knew Hale didn't know about their relationship, but he still got pissed.
Val narrowed her eyes at Sam. "He invited me to church."
Jax rubbed her neck, and she leaned back to smile up at him. "You wanna go see Abel with me later?"
"Jax?"
"Yeah?"
"You don't ever have to ask me if I want to go see Abel with you. All you need to do is tell me when we're going," she said softly.
He smiled at her, and ran his knuckles gently up and down her cheek. "We'll go about seven."
"I'll be ready."
"I'd better get back to work," he sighed dropping a kiss on her upside down lips. Jax was walking back to the garage, when he turned and ran back over to Val. She was
about to speak, when he swooped in kissed her, one of his hands held her so he could kiss her as he liked.
His blood pressure skyrocketed. He hated to sound like a pussy, but he'd never felt the way he felt kissing Valeria Winters. Her sisters were cheering, and the guys were cat-calling. He pulled away, and she was looking at him a bit dazed. "Sorry, Darlin', he told her, his voice a bit deeper than normal, "I had to do that first."
She gave him a brilliant smile, "Any time."
He was still sporting a huge grin, and a hard on, when he straightened. Thank god for coveralls. That's when he noticed that at some point Tara had arrived on the lot. She was looking between him and Val with not a small amount of shock. Probably because she thought she'd scared Val off. Bitch. He walked over, and bless Opie, but he approached the car as well. "Something we can help you with, Doctor?"
"M-My brakes," she stammered out. "I think they're going out."
"We can take a look at 'em for ya," Jax shrugged.
"Great! Do you think you could give me a ride home?"
Jax immediately started shaking his head, "Sorry I can't; I need to stick close by for Val. It's been a rough couple of days and she needs me."
"So you can't take fifteen minutes to take an old friend home?" she snapped.
"I can probably," he started and saw her smug smile. She should fucking finish listening before smiling. "Get one of the boys to take you home. It would have to either be.."
Jax was trying to think who wasn't involved with a new girl. "Well, either Half Sack, Chibs, or Bobby."
"I think Chibs is going to try to help with Tig," Opie told his best friend.
"Dr. Knowles," Val had approached the car where they were talking. Jax grabbed her hand, and she leaned into him.
"Hello again," Tara's mouth twisted a little bitterly. Obviously the girl was going to now rub her face in Jax's new relationship.
"I was hoping we could possibly impose on you for a moment," Val asked.
"Val, I don't think that's a good idea," Jax murmured.
"Jax, she's not going to let Chibs look at her," she told him. "And though I tried my best, I don't know that I did everything she needed."
Jax leaned into her and kissed her forehead. Val might not be obvious to Tara, but Jax was damned well going to get the point across. "You know better than me for this one,
Darlin'."
Val waited for Jax and Opie to head back into the garage, and she turned to Tara. "Our friend was brutally raped last night," this got a shocked look from the doctor, "She didn't go to the police. Refuses to. It was one of the hang arounds. I have seen something similar, and I tried to do my best, checking for anything she might need, but I'm not a doctor. I know you don't like me, but I'm hoping you'll check her over. Please?"
Tara was already nodding, "Of course," she got out of the car with her bag, and saw the girl, Val, nod to the other four girls sitting down.
On their way into the Clubhouse, they ran into Gemma. "Hey, Baby Girl, how are you doing?" she asked Val, smoothing a fly away piece of blonde hair away from the girl's face.
"I'm good, Gemma," Val hugged Gemma tightly.
Gemma nodded to Tara, "Doctor. You going to look in on Vinnie?"
Tara just nodded. Val continued down the hall, and if Tara remembered correctly they were at Tig's room. Val tapped softly. Tig whipped the door open. "I thought you were
Chibs."
"We asked Dr. Knowles to check on Vin," Val said soothingly. "I think Vinnie would probably feel better with a woman doctor, no matter how wonderful our Chibs is."
Tig was nodding rapidly, "Yeah, yeah, of course, makes total sense." Then he looked directly at Tara, "Thank you." He turned to face the room. "Hey, beautiful, we've got a lady doctor come to see you."
Tara heard the small voice protest. "I don't want cops, no."
Val walked in, "Vin, no cops. This is a friend of Jax. She works at the hospital. I really think that if you aren't going to go to the hospital, we should still have her look you over."
Vinnie nodded hesitantly, and Val let Tara into the room. Fortunately, Tara knew how to keep her thoughts to herself. Because as soon as she saw the girl she was surprised Vinnie was still alive. Tara smiled at the girl. "Let's just check you over a little. That way if you need antibiotics, or something, I can prescribe it right now."
"I'll wait in the hall," Tig said abruptly.
Val nodded, "I will too. But I'll be right outside." She closed the door on her way out and then stepped to Tig to give him a hug.
"I'm confused," he admitted. "She keeps talking about how she knows that she had her turn…and she thinks I'm just going to leave her…. To go hook up with a Crow-eater. But Chibs said she likes me."
Val wondered how much to say, and then decided, fuck it, "Tig, Vinessa is under the impression that you sleep with one of the Club girls, and immediately move onto the next. She likes you a lot, but she's never thought you would return her feelings. So, she thought she was going to have to be happy being able to be with you whenever you decided it was her turn again."
Realization began to show behind his vivid blue eyes. "But I kept her with me three nights in a row. I had her stay the entire night."
"I don't think she realizes that you don't see her the same as other club girls."
"You see it though, right?"
"My sisters and I all see it. And we're super happy about it. She's an amazing girl, and you're a great guy. And if it continues in this pattern, I think you'll take good care of
her."
Tig flushed a bit. "Yeah… yeah, you're right. I will."
A few minutes later Tara came out of the room. "She's doing well. Better than a lot of other people would be doing. I did give her a prescription for antibiotics, but, you did everything you could for her last night. She's not in need of stitches, and you kept her calm. I don't know what you did to settle her so much, but I think she's going to be okay."
"Thank you," Val nodded. "I figure in a few months we'll start talking to her about visiting with someone. I appreciate your help, Dr. Knowles." Val led Tara out of the
clubhouse, and back to her car. "I heard Jax saying he was going to have Bobby or Half Sack give you a ride home. Did you have a preference between them?"
"Half Sack wasn't here back then…" she leaned and whispered. "Why do they call him Half Sack?"
"He lost a testicle when he was in the marines. Something about a bomb or explosion. My sisters and I don't call him that. His name is Kip."
Tara sighed. She wanted to pitch a big fit until she got her way and Jax took her home. But here was this young woman, at least six years younger than Tara herself, showing poise and common courtesy. She wasn't smug, or rude. "Bobby would be fine."
As Bobby took the doctor home, Val headed back to her sisters and her music.
"That was his ex?" Sam asked, worrying for her sister and her heart again. She remembered Tara from the hospital. Sam looked at where Jax was busy in the garage. Sam
was terrified he was going to break Val's heart.
"He's definitely upgrading with you," Mouse snorted.
"She's a doctor," Val reminded them. She couldn't help it. Tara was beautiful, had history with Jax, was a doctor, and wore a crow that once belonged to Jax. Val had no problem being confident, but this was different.
"I don't care if she's the fucking President, he's still upgrading with you."
Bobby had only been back a few minutes when Clay called for Church. Jax winked at her before heading inside.
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Clay banged the gavel. "As you all can see, we have our brothers from Tacoma here with us, they'll be going on home tomorrow." The men all nodded to each other.
The President of the Tacoma Chapter, Willie, smiled, "We appreciate you having us."
"You said you and your men had some questions?"
"Well, hell, Clay, a few of my boys were interested in knowing if any of those young ladies were available. They respect the no touching without permission, especially after
last night's demonstration. Some of the boys are looking for something more permanent, and were thinking those Houston girls seemed like good picks."
Clay looked around at his men, hell. What did he do in this situation? "Toni is Sledge's Old Lady."
"Val is spoken for," Jax stated clearly. His eyes flicked over to meet Happy's, Kozik's, and Juice's. "If I had to, I would say they were all spoken for."
"But they ain't wearing no one's tattoo yet?" Willie's SAA asked.
Jax's teeth clenched. "No."
"So it's up to them if they wanna give us some time?" Another man said.
"If you feel strongly enough about trying," Kozik's face was like stone.
Val saw the anger riding Jax as soon as they came out of Church. In fact, Juice, Kozik and Happy looked pretty pissed off too. She hated that look on Jax's handsome face.
Hearing her sisters muttering about the looks on their men's faces, Val headed for Jax, hoping to put a smile on his face.
As soon as she reached him, he jerked her into his arms, pulling her head up so their lips could meet. Oh my god, she thought as her body started burning up. He picked her
up, and her legs wrapped around his waist, her hands buried in his hair, holding his mouth to hers. This wasn't just showing her affection. This was him claiming her in front of everyone. It made her heart race.
His mouth moved to her neck. "What's wrong, Baby?" she whispered.
"The Tacoma Sons asked if any of you were available."
"And?"
"And I said you were spoken for, but they pointed out that none of you except for Toni was wearing a man's tattoo. So that gave them the right to see if you were interested."
"So was this to show them whose I was, or to show me?" She nipped at his ear.
He took a deep breath. "I'm sorry," he said and started to pull away. But she held him to her.
"Did I ask for an apology?" she smiled at him. "If this makes you feel better, then do it. You made me feel better. So mark me," she whispered and bared her neck for his
teeth.
"You, Valeria, are more than a man could even hope to dream of."
She laughs, and the sound brought a smile to hia face, chasing all of hia anger off. Let those guys flirt and hope. He got the girl. But he still left his mark on her neck.
(Songs: In Your Room—Halestorm)