WARNING: This chapter contains description of violent acts and has a TW for rape.

Charlotte woke again the next morning to a key in the lock on her cell door. When she walked out of the hallway where the holding cells were she approached Agent Stahl

"Only twenty-four hours?" she asked, feigning surprise

"Yes," Stahl said, busying her hands with some papers on the desk in front of her. "The sheriff called this morning and it turns out someone else admitted to the murder last night."

Charlotte's heart jumped in her chest but she smiled anyway and said, "Funny how these things happen...Don't beat yourself up too much." she walked passed her and out the front door of the station. They didn't call anyone to pick her up so she walked the few blocks it was to get back to her car parked in front of the laundromat. When she was back in her car she flipped open her almost dying phone and called Sam.

"Belle" he answered on the second ring, "They let you out?"

"Oh thank God" she said over him. "Yeah. They said someone confessed...who-?"

"Pharm did." he said "He's gunna say he went off his meds for the couple weeks before and after."

She was silent for a long time, in awe. "How long have you had this backup for?" she asked slowly.

"Since the night we found you covered in blood." he said softly "We had Pharm go into a few clinics, acting crazy saying he couldn't get the blood off and some shit. His shrink knows what to say when he's called to the stand, he'll do a couple months in psych and be home."

This time her tears were real. "Thank you." she said softly

"Love you too, Belle" he said warmly, before hanging up the phone.

She allowed herself five minutes to cry in the privacy of her car before starting it and driving back to the clubhouse. When she pulled into the lot, however, it took her much longer to collect herself to get out of the car and face Tig. The choice was no longer left up to her however because Tig, seeing her orange car through the clubhouse window, had run out to meet her. So, when he saw him running toward her she got out of the car and jumped into his arms, causing him to skid on the gravel and them both to fall to the ground. He rolled on top of her digging her bare shoulders into the gravel while he kissed her.

"Don't ever do that to me again" he said, rolling off her and onto his back, running his hand through his hair and looking at the sky.

"Never" she said, looking up at the sky next to him "There's nothing else they can get me on anyway."

"That's good to know." he said, getting to his feet then reaching down to help her to hers. "Charlotte, I need to know what-"

"Yeah" she said, looking at her feet. "Yeah, let's go talk."

He took her hand and lead her through the clubhouse past everyone who just patted her on the back approvingly. He shut and - for the first time since she had been there - locked his door then sat down on the bed in front of her. The room was quiet for a long time while Charlotte paced, trying to think of the best way to begin. Finally she decided to take the visual approach and drew the curtain wide open so the room was well lit before reaching to unbutton her shorts.

"No" Tig said, his throat constricted. "I just want to-"

"Let me show you" she said, taking his face in her hand, tears falling down her cheeks. He eased back into the bed and watched her quietly. When her shorts hit the ground she covered her mouth with the tips of her fingers and closed her eyes. She took a deep breath and raised her left leg slowly to expose the scar up her inner thigh.

Tig leaned closer and reached out to touch the dollar coin-sized brand. She turned her leg so he could see better and he pulled his hand away as though it had been burned when he saw that the brand was shaped like a swastika with extra little self-inflicted cuts sticking out of it, deforming it a little. "What the fuck?!" he said, standing up and looking her in the face. "Charlotte…" he whispered, looking at her in confusion.

"They-" she spat between little sobs, "they gave it to me when they took us. I-I was twenty-one and they took me and my baby sister and a couple of our Sister Crosses, you know? Like other girls real close to the club."

He sank back into the bed in front of her and nodded.

"Anyway" she continued, swallowing back her tears and getting increasingly angrier, "These Skinhead mother fuckers took us because the club was integrated." she sighed and looked into Tig's eyes. "Got me in between one of my classes at college when I stopped to get a coffee and had to pee. Picked up my sister before cheer practice while she was surrounded by people." Both Charlotte's body and her voice quivered. "She was skinny, like me and our mom, and they gave her too much heroin the first day - I think they did it on purpose because she was biracial; a symbol of everything they hated, two races coexisting and loving one another." She sunk into the chair across from him and rubbed away the tears that were burning her skin. "she died. She died that first day. There was nothing I could do but hold her hand while they jeered and poured beer all over her dead body and some NeoNazi pantywaist shoved his flaccid penis into my ass." After saying this part she unclenched her teeth, not even realized she had been clamping them so tightly while she was saying it. "They kept us in a basement for three days. Whenever we got too vocal or mobile they just shot us up with some more shit. I didn't even think I was in a physical place." she said, shrugging, "I thought I was just existing in Pain. I closed my eyes while they beat and raped me and when they weren't around I opened them only to see my sister's dead body decomposing next to me, beer and piss and cum soaking into her skin. The second night they gave us the brands; said we were special because not every gash gets the opportunity to sleep with every member of the faction. The brand hurt" she admitted, "But not as much as having it rubbed raw after by their sticky, pasty-ass thighs."

Tig got to this knees and knelt down in front of her and reached up to stroke her face. "Stop." he said, "I can't..."

"Oh YOU can't?!" she asked pushing his hand away from her, "You can't deal with MY ra-"

"That's not what I meant" he said, putting his hand on her knees, pinching the bridge of his nose.

She glared down at him "Anyway, my dad - step-dad - died in the raid to get us out but the rest of them killed every last sick son of a bitch who was still in there." She sat up proudly but slumped back down almost instantly at what she had to say next. "After that I went AWOL for a while, couldn't shake the habit and fell in deep. I stripped for clean needles, sold it out a couple of times...I was a different person then, I wasn't myself" she pled to Tig whose face was unchanging. "Five years" she said wistfully, "I'm lucky I didn't die but I think that's what I wanted. Then the MC finally tracked me down; I had made it all the way to Texas - and brought me home, put me through rehab and saw me through school. I've been clean for two years." her eyes shone with new tears that she wiped away quickly. "But when I saw him again it put all the good I had become into jeopardy." she looked at him sadly, "It was one of the guys from the basement. He had probably beat on me and drugged me but what I remembered his face from when I woke up one night and he was raping my sister's dead body. So, as soon as I saw him I followed him down and alley and stabbed him, right in the back and through his stomach. Then I cut his dick off and shoved the knife up his ass a couple of times for good measure. He bled out and I went back to our clubhouse. The boys found me, sitting on the couch and staring into space covered in blood. They helped me cover it up and I moved out here." She smiled weakly at him and waited for him to say something.

He just sat there for a while, continuously nodding his head and frowning as though he were a theoretician trying to understand a new concept, until he got up and swung to door open so hard that it split in two. She got up quickly and ran out after him, calling his name. Bobby joined her in trotting after Tig out into the lot where he had already mounted his bike.

"Where are you going?" she called after him. In response he simply sped off so she ran to her car and sped after him and Bobby after her. They rode to a truckstop bar just outside of town and squealed into the parking lot when they saw Tig's bike parked in front of it. When they got to the door Bobby put his arm out and pushed her behind him so he went in first.

"Tig" Charlotte whispered when she walked up behind him on a barstool. "Alex, baby?"

"Hey!" he said cheerily, putting his arm around her shoulder and kissing her temple. "I was just talking about you! Yeah," he said nodding enthusiastically. "I was just telling this fellow over here that my girl is ten times prettier than that FAT WHALE DOWN AT THE END OVER THERE."

"Tig!" Bobby said exasperatedly as he squared off next to him while the guy who's girl he just insulted bum rushed Tig who pushed Charlotte out of the way as he wound up and socked the guy in the face.

Next thing they knew the whole bar was rushing at Tig and Bobby. Tig was weaving through the bodies hurling at him, punching whatever he could reach and taking a few good hits himself. People started backing away and hesitating as he stood there, holding up his fists and egging them on. When the fighting slowed down and the herd thinned the woman Tig had insulted walked up behind Charlotte and smashed her face into the bar when she wasn't looking.

Before Tig even reach Charlotte she was back on her feet and had elbowed the woman, who was much shorter than her, in the face. Recovering much more slowly than Charlotte had she was able to get another shot in to the temple while the girl was crouched down on the floor. When she was finally down after Charlotte sunk a few more into her face a kicked her in the stomach Charlotte stood up straight, spit some of the blood out of her mouth and stepped over the woman's body and up to Tigger who was staring at her, his mouth open.

"Get the fuck out of here" she said through gritted teeth, grabbing him by the ear and pulling him out the door, Bobby following behind them. When they emerged she pushed him toward his bike and started walking toward her car.

"Ride with me" he said in a tone that suggested it wasn't a docile request.

"No" she said firmly, "If I leave the Nova here those shit heads will roll it into a ditch"

"GET ON THE FUCKING BIKE CHARLOTTE" he screamed, pointing at it.

"I'll wait here with the Nova" Bobby said, shocked by Tig's tone "Have Half-Sack come and tow it back."

"Fine" she said and walked cautiously over to Tig. She saddled the bike and wrapped her arms around his waist. When he pulled out of the parking lot he didn't turn the way back to the clubhouse but, instead, toward the highway. He drove at top speed down the long stretch of road, screaming at the top of his lungs into the wind. She pressed her face against his back and rubbed against him, wrapping her arms around him tighter. At this, Tig decided it was time to go back to the clubhouse and turned the bike around, driving a more legal speed this time. The sun started to dip in the sky behind them.

When they got back to the clubhouse Charlotte noticed that her Nova was already waiting for her. Tig draped his arm over her shoulder so she could help him walk since there was a gash in his leg. When they walked inside Tig let go of her and went over to Clay and whispered in his ear: "Hey, I'm sorry, man I just needed to…"

"Yeah," Clay said "It happens. But if you ever go to let off some steam in your kutte again...you're done."

"Yeah, Clay." he nodded and rejoined Charlotte who was waiting to clean him up.

In his room she helped Tid take his clothes off, draping his cut over a chair and unbuttoning the black denim he was wearing underneath. He slowly raised his arms over his head so she could take his undershirt off and she helped unbutton his pants since his cut up hands were a little too weak to. As he slid them down off his hips and stepped out of them she took her clothes off too, making sure her shirt didn't touch her nose and get coated with blood. When she was undressed she stepped into the shower where Tig was just turning on the water and wrapped her arms around his body, running her hands up his chest and kissing his back. The water running off the two of them was a muted red. The hot water on their open wounds stung but their hand on each other's bodies quelled the pain. Charlotte reached out oh the shower curtain and grabbed a washcloth off the back of the toilet and ran it over Tig's body knocking any dirt or fibers out of his wounds and mopping up the matted blood in his hair and goatee.

He plucked the washcloth from her hands and ran it over her busted fingers, kissing each one as he went. He kissed up her arms and neck and then took her face in his hands and said, "I'm sorry...I'm so, so sorry."

She smiled at him and lifted one shoulder to her ear, "Hey, nothing you can do now." He looked away from her but she pulled his face back to hers. "I'm serious. Don't do that again, it's not worth it getting all pissed at old shit that's dead and buried."

When they were done getting clean they stepped out and dried off, hesitantly patting their wounds with a towel. Tig fetched a medical kit from his bedroom full of gauze, band-aids and antiseptic. He hoisted her onto the counter that held his sink and put a nose strip over the bridge of her nose and smeared some antiseptic over the cut there. He worked on her fingers as they rested on her knees and his eyes darted up to her inner thigh.

He put his hand between them and covered the brand with his hand and looked into her eyes. "Why haven't you gotten it covered up or something?"

She shifted uncomfortably on the sink, "It's just been really difficult for me to face." she said sadly.

"Do you want to?" he asked warily

"Of course I do." she said, closing her legs. "I hate having to look at it and be reminded. It makes me sick."

"Let me take you somewhere to get it covered up."

"Where?" she said. "Not anywhere near Charm-"

"No" he said shaking his head. "How about Idaho or some shit?"

She laughed. "When are you going to get the time to go to Idaho?"

"It could be a two day trip. I won't even wear my kutte, no one will know it's us."

"Aww Tig" she said, feigning flattery, "Is this our first vacation together?" She laughed playfully

"Is that a yes?" he asked, moving in closer to her.

"Yeah sure, why not" she said, smiling at him. He moved his hand up her leg where it had been resting on the scar, and stuck two fingers into her pussy, causing her to gasp and rest against the mirror over the sink. He leaned into her and kissed her softly, tugging her lower lip away from her mouth and he slowly moved his fingers in and out of her, getting her wetter.

When she was ready he pulled her hips towards him on the counter and slid his erect penis into her and let his smooth member get coated with her juices before started sliding in and out of her, his hands braced on the wall behind her. They breathed heavily in unison, a small whimper emitting from her throat every so often until they started coming closer together and had grown to moans. He kept his eyes wide open and on her as she arched her back and her eyes rolled back in her head. When he quickened her pace inside her she sat up and dug her fingers into his shoulders, pressing her heaving breasts against his chest. This closeness amplified the electricity between them and, in response, he started moving even faster

"Yeah" he breathed in her ear as the heat spread through his body and caused him to start sweating.

"Mmmm" she moaned in his ear and kissed his cheek and neck. he wrapped one of his arms around her waist and held her body close to his feeling her contract around him. "Yes Alex, yes...yes!" she said loudly over his shoulder

He put his head against hers and asked breathlessly, "You ready?"

"Yeah" she moaned, drawing out the word into a high-pitched shout

"Okay baby" he said, spreading his legs to get more downward leverage as he thrust into her. Their muted moans tangled in the air as they both moved quickly to orgasm. Charlotte felt the base of his cock swell inside her and the force of his load pushing the tip up into her while he felt a last rush of her juices sweep over his cock before her walls clamped tight around him. When they came he stayed inside her and rest his head in her breasts as they caught their breath together. he finally pulled out of her and she hopped off the counter and sat down on the toilet.

While she peed and went to get dressed he wrapped his fingers and put some antiseptic on his face. He got dressed again, looking at her waiting for him on the bed. When he was ready he draped his arm around her shoulders again and held her close to him.

"Beer?" she asked, looking up at him he nodded and headed over to the pool table. When she got the beer she waited until his turn was over to hand it to him.

"Hey, babe" he said to her after a swig, "You wanna play winner?"

"Only if they're ready to be a loser" she said, winking at him

"Ohh!" Bobby shouted and pat Charlotte on the belt, "Oh, hey, did I tell you guys that this girl let some fat broad have it at the bar today too?" The men around chuckled "No seriously this girl was like three times wider than our Char and she just knocked her the fuck out." he chortled into his beard.

Charlotte leaned against the back of the couch across from where Tig was standing at the table.

"Hey" Juice said from his place at the bar, "You really kill some guy?"

"No," she said, sweetly, "Didn't you hear? Someone else confessed" she winked at him and everyone cheered. Clay ducked out to answer his phone.

"That was Rosen" he said, re-entering the club floor. He explained the Luann was in the clear but that Otto was in deeper shit after smashing up Agent Stahl's face.

"He didn't!" Charlotte said excitedly when he told them.

"Oh yes he did" Clay said grinning from ear to ear.

Tig came over and wrapped his arms around Charlotte and kissed her hair in celebration while everyone laughed hysterically. "Bitch deserved it" he said, playing with a piece of her hair speaking to the group.

"Yeah!" everyone shouted in agreement

The next thing she heard was Juice screaming, "Cops!" The door burst open before any of them were able to turn around to look at it and she was being yanked away from Tig and forced to the ground. Tig called out for Clay, trying to break past the agent holding him down to get to his kings side. When he couldn't he just looked at Charlotte's eyes staring up at him through her eyelashes to calm himself down. They laid there, cursing while they arrested Bobby until Stahl kicked Gemma in the side. Everyone tried to get up and charge the bitch but were held in place by the guns pointed at the back of their heads.

When ATF left Charlotte got to her feet and rushed over to Gemma who was in Clay's arms, holding her side where Stahl had kicked her. "I'm fine. I'm fine!" Gemma said loudly, snapping at the crowd of people that had surrounded her. "Take me home Clay" she grabbed her bag and walked out the door. He followed after her.

"C'mon babe" Tig said, resting two fingers against her elbow. "Lets go to bed. We'll figure all this Bobby shit out in the morning." She followed him, shaking her head in disbelief.