FIRE and ICE

Chapter 14: A Series of Unfortunate Events

By BG & Reaper Girl

The day had started out pretty well considering how completely fucked it was by Noon.

***

"So what's your story?" Tig asked as he walked over to her car.

"As far as the outside world knows, the office is closed for painting, which is true, and I'm in Oakland visiting a friend, which is not so true." Jaci raised her eyebrows. "What did you tell Clay?"

Tig shrugged. "Just told him I would be out today."

"Didn't he ask what you were doing?"

"Naa. The guys don't ask me that anymore." A sly smile spread across his face. "Think they're kind of scared of the answer."

Jaci laughed and rolled her eyes. "Oh that's comforting to know."

Tig laughed with her as he looked at the trunk full of stuff she had packed. "This is a lot of shit. How many lists did you make?"

"Mmmm…three… what?! Don't laugh. I forget stuff if I don't write it down."

He rested his arms on the opened trunk above his head. "I don't think you forgot ANYTHING. Looks like you packed the whole damn house."

She shook her head and explained. "No, it just looks like that because it's all crammed in this tiny trunk. These are really all necessary camping items."

Tig picked up a package of glow sticks and raised his eyebrows.

Jaci grabbed the package. "Hey, you never know when you might need ambient lighting. Alright, smartass. What did you bring then?"

He patted his backpack. "The essentials…knife, change of clothes, bottle of Jack, box of condoms."

Jaci rolled her eyes. "An entire box?? We're going camping, Tig, not to Fuck-A-Paloosa 2008"

"That's what you think…" Tig smiled as he slapped her on the ass. "Get in the car."

*****

Jaci had left this morning and in her wake were trails of Post-It notes. The little squares in varying colors hung about their new abode with various instructions to Vix. The messages ran the gamut from Don't leave your keys in the door to Stuffed Chicken in the covered dish, heat at 350 for 45 minutes. Enjoy!!! Vix smiled. She knew Jaci did this sort of thing because she cared and well, to be completely honest, because she couldn't help it – it was part of her A-Brained ness.

Vix wondered through the new house reading the various notes. When she got to the one plastered to her lap top, she sighed, sat down with her bowl of Fruit Loops and logged on to the website of California Closets, the manufacturer of closet organizers.

She had made a promise to Jaci that she would try to be less messy. Apparently, in their efforts to assist in moving the girls out of the rental duplex and into their new digs, Gemma and Jax had discovered, and mentioned it to Jaci, that it required no less than a reverse tornado to pack up Vix's room. Vix thought that was the pot calling the kettle black, especially where Jax was concerned, but had none the less vowed to at least try to be neater.

After spending the better part of an hour perusing various 'closet systems', Vix found one that would fit her needs and armed with her lap top and a measuring tape she liberated from Jaci's toolbox, she headed into her closet to try to work out the dimensions. Forty five minutes and enough swearing to cause a sailor to blush later Vix was sitting in the middle of the floor, cell phone in hand, dialing a phone number.

****

Jax and Piney had just returned to TM from meeting with Piney's old war buddy, Nate Meneke and his band of jarheads to sell them a few AK47s. Jax's cell phone rang and after glancing at the caller ID, he answered it, "Does the reason for this call involve blood, fire or jail time?"

Vix laughed, despite her frustration, "No!"

Jax breathed a sigh of relief. "Ok, you know I never thought I would say this but I can't wait for Juice to get back."

"Awe, Jax... you miss his sparkling personality too."

"Hardly, I miss him because when he is here you don't bug me. So, what's up 44?"

Vix rolled her eyes at Jax's reference to the cough syrup. "Smart ass. Um, I need help trying to measure a closet. I tried Half-Sack but he ain't answering his cell."

Jax wandered into the garage and nodded at Bobby. "You seen the Prospect?"

Bobby nodded towards the clubhouse, "Clean up in aisle 5."

Jax nodded back. "He's taking care of something here."

"Could you spare him for a bit when he is done? I promised Jaci I would order this damn closet system."

Jax looked up at the sound of a truck's beeping backup signal. Juice was pulling into the lot of TM. "I'll do you one better… your boy is back in town."

Vix jumped to her feet. "What? Really? Wait? Juice is home? He's early!!! He isn't due back 'til tomorrow! SHIT!!! I'm not even gorgeous yet!! Gotta go!"

Jax chuckled as he closed his phone and walked over towards Clay.

Clay greeted him and inquired about the gun sale. "How did this morning go?"

Jax nodded. "The jarheads were dicks but it made the old man happy."

Clay glances in the direction of Piney, who was lounging at one of the picnic tables under the pavilion of the clubhouse. "Any tails?"

Jax shakes his head. "Nah, we doubled back a few times just to be sure." He nodded towards the truck of oil drums. "Should make LeRoy happy to have his Russian firepower a day early."

Clay nodded.

***

Juice pulled into the lot at TM, parked the cargo truck and hopped out of the cab. He missed Vix and was glad to be home. He'd pushed the gun assembly and gotten done ahead of schedule. He pulled out of Indian Hills a day early and he'd been keeping it respectably above the speed limit ever since he'd crossed the San Joaquin County line. Driving the streets of Charming, he'd had to fight the urge just to stop off at the Parker's new abode. If he hadn't had a traveling companion, he may have done just that. He was quickly diverted from thoughts of surprising Vix, when Clay grabbed him around the neck demanding to know what the Nevada Sweet Butt was doing there.

Juice tried to explain. "She said she was getting out in Bakersfield."

The girl, named Cherry, attempted to come to his defense, "Look it's not his fault. I just wanted to talk to somebody."

Clay let go of Juice, turned and addressed Cherry, "You talk to someone in some other charter, you got that, Sweet Butt?"

Clay glared at Juice. "Get her outta here". He turned and noticed the audience they had, namely in Gemma and the Prospect. He cursed his luck under his breath.

Jax walked up to Juice and whacked him on the back of the head. "What the hell were you thinking?" He nodded towards Cherry.

Juice shrugged. "What was I supposed to do, toss her outta the cab?"

Jax shook his head. "Get her outta here."

Juice went to take Cherry by the arm and drop her off anywhere but here. She shrugged him off and tried to walk towards Half- Sack. He would not make eye contact. He turned around, as if he didn't even see her, and walked into the office. Cherry sighed and told Juice, "Get me outta here."

Juice led the way to his bike and handed her his helmet. He had just started up the bike and she had slipped her arms around his waist, when a Candy Apple Red, 1970 Dodge Charger screeched to a halt in front of them.

Not recognizing the car, Juice nodded and smiled at it in admiration.

****

Vix doubted she'd ever moved that fast in her whole life. She had literally hung up on Jax and set a land speed record for getting beautified and out the door. She made the Beach Boys' lyrics come to pass as she tore through the streets of Charming at a rate that made the Indy 500 look like a Roman Chariot Race. She pulled into the lot of TM just in time to witness Juice and some skinny bitch climbing onto his bike.

She choked on her spit-fire rage as she shut off the engine and stepped out of the car.

Juice was momentarily stunned to see Vix standing there, but quickly recovered and killed the bike engine. Hopping off, he covered the distance between them in two paces. With a huge smile on his face he said, "Hey, Baby!" and attempted to pull her into a hug.

Vix sidestepped the embrace and stood there glaring at Juice. He was completely confused by her actions. "Are you ok?"

Vix cocked her head and stared at him, "Would you be if you were me?"

When he continued to appear clueless, she rolled her eyes. Nodding towards his bike, she asked the Million Dollar Question, "Who's the bitch on your bike?"

****

Chibs walked over to where Bobby was watching the exchange going down in the parking lot. "Juicey Boy seems to be battin' a thousand."

Bobby nodded. "Hmm hmm."

***

Juice glanced over at his bike and seemed almost stunned to see Cherry sitting there. With Vix's sudden appearance, she'd completely slipped his mind. Without even thinking he replied, "Oh, that's Cherry- she's from Indian Hills."

Vix nodded, "Really? Well if you were bringing home souvenirs, a t-shirt woulda been a better choice. I was never really good at the whole sharing thing."

She turned on her heel and attempted to walk back to her car. Juice reached out and grabbed her hand. She attempted to pull away but he tightened his grip. "Vix, come on baby… she's not with me. I…I ju-just gave her a ride."

Vix scoffed, "I bet you did!" She wrenched free from his grip and turned on him. "And ain't it sooo interesting that I don't receive a single text or call from you since last night… and ain't it also sooo convenient that I find out second hand that you're back home early. Like an entire week and a half in Indian Hills wasn't enough play time for you? Did my showin' up here ruin plans for an extra day with your little souvenir?"

Seeing that Juice seemed at a complete loss for words, Cherry felt the need to try to explain the situation, "Vix, it's not like that."

Vix turned a death glare on Cherry and pointed at her while saying, "If you have one functioning brain cell, you'll shut the fuck up, right now!" She then stepped closer and closer to her assumed enemy, as she continued. "You aren't in Nevada anymore, My Pretty, this ain't even OZ. This is fuckin' Charming."

The girls were almost nose to nose when Juice got in between them. "Vix, leave her alone."

Vix's eyes bulged. "Why are you defending her?!"

"Why are you attacking her? I told you nothing is going on."

Vix rolled her eyes, "Yeah right and so you just bring her back with you and were gonna ride off together and you'd call me when? Tomorrow? Next week? Whenever I happen to flit into your mind?"

Cherry piped up again. "Sweetie, his mind is focused on nothing but you. I was literally sick of hearing about you."

Vix glared at her.

Juice glanced at Cherry "Please… shut up."

Cherry threw her hands in the air. "Fine…you know what… I'll walk."

As Cherry started walking away from TM, Vix smirked and called after her, "426 Bryony Court, apartment 6. It's 4 blocks that way and then make a left and go about a mile. Be sure to say 'Hey' to Gramma Ruby. She'll be so happy to meet you."

Juice shook his head. "What are you doing? I can't believe you brought my Gramma into this."

"I can't believe you brought her back here with you!"

"I didn't bring her back here, ok… well technically I did… but she's not here for me!"

Vix crossed her arms over her chest, "So then who's she here for?"

"NOT FOR ME!!!" Juice rans his hands over his face and was quickly losing both his temper and his composure.

Vix scoffed and stepped back, "And I am supposed to what? Believe you?"

Juice nodded, "Yeah, exactly like I did… when I get a weird ass PHONE CALL from Alabama from some bat-ass crazy ex of yours. I didn't think for a second that you were fuckin' around... because I TRUST you and I BELIEVE you when you say that you want to be with me and that all that 'Bama bullshit is behind you. Past is past, blah, blah, blah."

Vix nodded "And while I appreciate that… I didn't bring him home!" She turned and walked over to her car. She opened the door to get in and Juice slammed the door shut, narrowly missing catching her hand in the door. She spun around on her heel and glared at him, "Watch the car, Asshole."

"This car don't mean shit to me…but you do. So you are gonna want to listen very closely."

*****

Chibs cocked his head. "What the hell just happened?"

Bobby chuckled. "I think Juicey Baby grew a pair."

Chibs laughed. "Ooooh, this is gonna be good. I got a Jackson right here that says Vix is gonna kick his ass."

Bobby contemplated that for a moment, and then popped an almond in his mouth. He nodded , "Nah, love will prevail… but I will be happy to take your money."

Half-Sack had joined the little viewing party, "What bill has Michael Jackson on it?"

Both Bobby and Chibs slowly turned and stared at the Prospect.

Bobby shook his head. "You lost more than a nut in the service, didn't you boy? Andrew Jackson… 7th president of the United States... is on the $20 dollar bill." Still shaking his head. "Michael Jackson?"

Chibs laughed out loud. "Moron."

*****

Clay walked out of the clubhouse and noticed the show that everyone seemed to be watching and groaned, "What the hell is this shit?"

Piney inhaled deeply off his oxygen and then replied, "Trouble brewin' in paradise."

From where he was lounging at a picnic table, Opie added, "Apparently, Vix thinks Juice has something goin' with the chick he brought back with him."

They watched as the argument between Vix and Juice got more heated… finally Clay had seen enough. He looked at Jax. "Break this shit up. Despite all appearances we do have business to attend to today."

Jax nodded and he and Opie walked over to the arguing couple. Minutes later Vix peeled out of the lot at TM.

****

Tig slid his eyes to the right to steal a glance at Jaci. She was singing along to the radio, tapping her fingers and bobbing her head. He stifled a smile as they continued driving to their destination. So far this little get away wasn't as horrible as he thought it would be; he was actually having a good time. He wasn't much for overnighters and would have told any other woman to forget about it, but admittedly, Jaci had a lot more pull with him than other women. At least she hadn't asked him to stay at some god forsaken Bed and Breakfast or something, she knew better than that. He would have told even her to fuck off with that idea. Camping had been their compromise; they got some time alone together (score one for her) but in pretty much the most unromantic setting possible (score one for him).

Tig reached over and squeezed her thigh with his hand. "You know it's almost noon and your sister hasn't called or text you once. Did you steal the SIM card out of her phone?"

"Nope. Vix knows not to call unless it's an emergency. And if your boys will stay calm today too we should be left all alone." Jaci replied as she ran her fingers along his hand that rested on her leg. She was quiet for a second and then picked up quietly singing the first verse of Tom Petty's Breakdown.

"Do you have to sing every song?" He asked playfully.

She laughed. "Oh, you know you love it. Matter of fact, why don't I get closer so you can hear me better." She leaned over to the driver's seat, careful not to knock the car out of gear and pressed herself against him. She quietly sang the lyrics of the second verse in his ear.

There is no sense in pretending
Your eyes give you away
Something inside you is feeling like I do
We've said all there is to say
Breakdown, go ahead and give it to me…

She kissed behind his ear and then his neck. Her lips were at his ear and she whispered, "There. How's that? Can you hear me now?"

Tig smiled. "Well, aren't we a little devilish today?"

"You told me I should lighten up, so I left my halo at home for this trip." She replied as her teeth grazed his neck.

Tig laughed through clenched teeth. "Damn, I should take you camping more often." He kept his left hand on the wheel, but bent his right arm backwards and grabbed the back of Jaci's head, pulling her into a kiss. A very tricky maneuver considering he was still trying to keep one eye on the road. He kissed her again and then pulled away, paying more attention to the road. "I find a good place to pull this car over; I'm going to breakdown and give it to you all right."

"You don't have to pull over to do that." Jaci replied as she bit his earlobe and let her hand roam southward. "Just concentrate on keeping the car out of the ditch, ok?" She smiled and kissed him once more on the mouth and then her head slid lower. As she made her move, the slow beginnings of Alcohaulin' Ass by Hellyeah began to play.

(author's note: check it out here: .com/watch?v=Qdg3Vb7g9bo&feature=channel )

Tig tightened his grip on the steering wheel and leaned his head back against the headrest. Maybe there were perks to driving a cage sometimes. He couldn't believe Jaci was going down on him in a car in broad daylight. What a hell of a nooner. She really had left her halo on home; she had been all over him since this morning. Maybe those boundaries of hers were ready to be pushed a little. Blowjobs at noon… might have her skinny dipping by midnight.

After he cranked the volume on the stereo louder, he kept his right hand on her back, trying to be polite. After a few moments though, her mouth was feeling so fucking good on him that he wanted to wrap his hand in her hair and push her head down harder. His hand hovered on her head for a moment but instead he forced himself to just increase his pressure on the steering wheel to death-grip status.

Things were approaching a good hot and heavy pace when Jaci's phone rang. The opening bars of Dwight Yoakem's Little Sister blared through the car- Vix's ringtone. Tig and Jaci heard the phone go off at the same time, but he managed to react quicker.

Goddamn motherfucking, sister! The twangy song kept blaring and his manners flew by the wayside. Tig slammed his hand down on the back of Jaci's head. "No no no…you stay put. Don't stop. Just keep going, I got this." He waited a second to make sure Jaci wasn't going to pull up and argue and then he removed his hand and grabbed her phone.

"This better be a BIG goddamn emergency, Vix!" He hissed into the cell.

Vix was shocked to hear Tig's voice instead of Jaci's. "Where's my sister?" she asked, confused.

Tig looked down. "She's…busy. What do you want?"

Vix sniffled. "Could you put her on the phone please?" Vix had hated to call her sister, but the crazy events of this morning had her in a tailspin and she needed Jaci's voice of reason to set her straight again.

"How 'bout she calls you back in about…3 minutes…maybe 4?" Tig countered. He was about to hang up the phone when he heard Vix sniffle again. "Are you crying?" He whispered, not wanting Jaci to hear him, no sense in stopping the good times until absolutely necessary.

"Yes, goddamnit, I am! Are you happy now?? Put Jaci on the phone!" Vix snapped back as her attempts to hold herself together failed.

"Alright, alright. Shit…hang on." He tapped Jaci on the back of the head with the phone twice. "Here, take this; she's crying." He said with annoyance.

Jaci's head shot up and she flopped back into her seat in a flash. She looked questioningly at Tig as she grabbed the phone from him and whispered. "What happened?"

He frowned, pissed off at the interruption. "I don't fucking know." He began readjusting and zipping up his jeans while trying to steer the car with one hand.

"Vix? It's me. What happened?" Jaci asked as she clicked her seatbelt into place.

****

Juice walked into the chapel where Clay had called a meeting. He was more than a bit unsettled by the events of the morning and became even more so when he noticed the guys starring at his pants. He looked down and didn't see any thing wrong with them. He shot Chibs a questioning look. "What's up?"

Chibs chuckled. "We're just admiring your new set."

Bobby nodded. "Big ones."

Chibs agreed and added. "Brass ones."

Jax added with a laugh, "Just make sure you guard them those new balls of yours. I know a thing or two about datin' a Parker girl…known for taking a swipe or two from time to time."

The rest of the table erupted with laughter, all except Clay. "Alright, alright. Now if we are done discussing Retard's new... acquisitions. Can we get down to some club business? How did things go with McCeevey?"

Chibs exhaled smoke. "We have a week, maybe 10 days... and he is gonna want his $200K."

Clay sighed. "We're workin' on it."

"He made it very clear, if we don't have the money to keep the IRA flush... they sell to the Russians and we lose our pipeline."

Jax shrugged. "Well, LeRoy and the Niners are going to take the AKs off our hands."

Bobby huffed. "Yeah, at a deep discount."

"Well it is either that or we spend a month lookin' for a new buyer." Jax countered.

There was a knock at the door and Half-Sack stepped inside. "Clay, you're gonna want to come out here."

The guys all got up and followed Half-Sack out to the parking lot of TM, where a hand full of individuals in suits were emerging from dark sedans, along with a few local cops.

In a matter of moments, Clay was hauled away by Agent Stahl for questioning related to Nick Meneke and his shooting of three people that morning…with AK-47s.

****

As soon as she heard her sister's voice, Vix burst into tears.

Jaci's heart began to race. Vix was only supposed to call in case of emergencies. Now here she was calling and crying. Jaci was scared something had happened with Abel or maybe Wendy. "Vix, calm down. Tell me what happened. I can't understand you. Take a breath."

Vix took a deep breath and then blurted out, "Juice cheated on me!"

"He did what?! How do you know?" Jaci asked. Before her distraught sister could explain, Jaci took a second to let out a sigh of relief that it wasn't a real emergency. She could handle a cheating boyfriend, didn't want to face losing her sister or nephew.

Tig looked over, "What's the big damn emergency?"

Jaci put her hand over the phone. "Vix says Juice cheated on her."

He frowned. "My blowjob got interrupted for that bullshit?"

"Cheating's a big deal to most people, Tig." Jaci whispered back and returned to listening to Vix recount the events of the morning with Juice and Cherry. "I think you need to just calm down and think, Vix. Maybe this is all just a big misunderstanding like he is saying. I don't think he would cheat and then come back to town parading the girl around."

Jaci listened to more ranting from Vix. "Well, yeah…I agree the chick should not have been on his bike. But you know Juice can be a bit of a retard sometimes, he doesn't always think about how things will be perceived."

"Who was on his bike?" Tig asked.

"Hang on, Vix." Jaci put her hand over the phone again to fill Tig in on the details. "Juice brought back some bitch from Indian Hills."

Tig squeezed the wheel hard. His mind flashed back to his misdeeds at the patch over party. "What's her name?"

Jaci frowned. "Hell, I don't know." She asked her sister and then told her to stand by. "Cherry. Why? She one of yours?"

"No." Tig narrowed his eyes at Jaci. "Don't start that shit with me."

She rolled her eyes and went back to talking sense into Vix until she was stumped by Vix pointing out that Juice was back early and hadn't told her or called/text her like normal. Jaci lamely replied, "Maybe he was trying to surprise you?"

Vix then moved on to speculation about what all happened at the patch over party. She brought up the comment Jaci had made in Bama about Tig probably doing something that was illegal in seven states while he was at the party and started thinking the worst about Juice's activities. Jaci tried to throw the brakes on that comparison.

"Vix, honey- you can't really compare those two. I mean that is a case of apple versus oranges. Our situations are totally different. You guys are in a committed, exclusive relationship. I mean, the big doofus is crazy about you. Besides, Juice actually has morals and a conscience, you know… where as the other person…doesn't really."

"Yeah, Juice has huge morals." Tig scoffed. "Tell Vix to calm the fuck down. That pussy was a goddamn angel at the patch over party. Sat in a corner, huddled with his damn cell phone texting her the whole time. The strippers thought he was a fag."

Jaci laughed. "Did you hear what Tig said?" She listened to a new rant from her sister. Damn this girl was just NOT going to be convinced. Vix spouted back that Tig was probably just trying to cover for Juice or worse yet covering his own ass. "I don't think so, Vix. He looks pretty adamant. He's telling the truth." Jaci leaned her head back against the seat in frustration.

Tig's patience with the situation was over. He grabbed the phone away from Jaci. "Hey-normally I wouldn't tell you shit about what went on during a run, right or wrong. But since this Juice bullshit is fucking with my day now, listen up. He didn't cheat on you. Stop being crazy. End of story."

Vix didn't believe him. "You think I'm dumb? Why would I believe you? Next thing you'll be trying to make me believe YOU were an angel too. I'm not that stupid. I'm sure you fucked around on my sister. Didn't you?"

Tig was quiet for a second, trying not to let on to Jaci what he and Vix are talking about. He calmly countered, "If I answer that, will you believe the rest of the shit I told you, hang up the phone and leave us alone the rest of the night?"

Vix was stunned at his offer of honesty and replied quietly. "Ok."

Tig swallowed hard. "Alright then…the answer's yes. Satisfied?"

Vix yelled back at him. "Asshole! Does Jaci know about this?"

"Yes."

Vix was shocked that her sister had not mentioned anything about this news. "And she's OK with it?!"

"I wouldn't say 'ok'… it's complicated, but don't worry your pretty little head about that. Hang up the phone, go make nice with Retard and leave us ALONE!" Tig shoved the phone back at Jaci.

"Ooookay. I'm back." Jaci said.

Vix blurted out, "I believe him! I'm gonna go tell Juice I'm sorry right now!'

Jaci shook her head. "Noooo- you wait until after work! Do not be more of a pest at the shop than you already have been today."

"Ok fine. Have a nice trip...tell Tig thanks. Bye."

Jaci frowned and hung up the phone. "Vix says thanks. What's up with that?"

Tig just shrugged and stared down the road.

"No really, Tig. You didn't have to jump in there like that. So whatever you said, I appreciate it too."

He rolled his eyes, trying to deflect the sentimental value of all of it. "Your sister's a bigger pain in my ass than the Doberman bite."