AN: I am more and more convinced that I should have left this story as it was intended, a one shot, just the first chapter. Nevertheless, it has been a joyful experience for me and I learned a lot along the way. Since this is my story and I am now using it as my practice run, I am giving myself the opportunity to change the first person writing into whatever I like to practice on now ;-) I am sure it won't affect your reading experience, who knows it might only get better.
It was in the early afternoon when Tig and Sue rolled onto the Teller Morrow lot. Tig backed his bike in his spot and Sue reluctantly got off. She looked at the door of the clubhouse and took a deep breath. She wasn't sure what Sampler's mood was like now and she wasn't looking forward in finding out either.
"Chin up girl." Tig said as he came to stand next to her.
She gave him a weak smile. "I can do this." She said obviously trying to convince herself more than she was Tig, her eyes trained on the door with determination.
"You bet your pretty ass you can." He said comforting as he pushed her forward towards the clubhouse and tried to ignore her tear stained face.
He had known she had been crying on the back of his bike and despite the fact that he hated emotional women that didn't seem to be able to get a grip on themselves, he felt she wasn't all to blame for that. He had seen the other side of Sue, in Crossroads when she was hustling at the pool table, the act she performed in the clubhouse with Koz and when he found her at the parking of the Tippery Inn wondering if that Dipshit would show up.
She was confident, strong and well able to handle herself, that's what made him ask her to stick around in the first place. Well maybe not the first place, that must have been her body and the fact that he hadn't fucked her yet, but it certainly came a close second.
Sue wasn't scared easily, she had proven that the day they had send her off, she was pissed off, annoyed but she wasn't scared. She wasn't even scared when he had gone after her and leached out to her in Oakland. She kept it together helping them out at the Tyre's R Us and even when she was followed and shot at by the Mayens. She was pulled over by the police with a truck full of weapons and still found a way to get them safely to Teller Morrow.
It was just like she said, she wasn't doing too well when it came to interacting with other people. Hell, he could relate to that, he wasn't exactly known around town as the sociable one was he?
Yeah she was a hostess in Vegas and showed rich men a good time, taking care of them and he knew she was good at that. That was work for her, she loved it, still it was work. She didn't care about those guys, she was just playing her part.
And that is exactly what she was doing with Sampler. She seemed to do fine with Sampler and she had been with him for about two years, but Sam had set strict rules, she knew how to behave around him, she knew what part to play around him. She didn't need to figure it out herself, he had taught her well. Making sure she knew how to be the good old lady, or the clubs moneymaker, while he was not the old man to her.
The ride he suggested at the hospital to clear Sue's head, had been very liberating on his own thoughts as well and it was starting to piss him off. Sam's bullshit about letting Sue do what she needed to be doing for herself, let her live a little. Maybe she bought it, but he certainly didn't any longer. Sam had her do exactly what he wanted her to do and without a doubt he was the one who was the most benefiting out of the deal.
Sampler was a manipulative bastard, he had money and power in the town, you don't get that kind of respect only by just offering beers and pussy or wearing a cut, not even in Vegas.
Sue must have loved Vegas and there was no doubt in Tig's mind that she loved Sampler too, or maybe she loved what he offered her. Company, protection, someone she could love and play the part with, the part that she was longing for now. She wanted to be loved, feel loved, she wanted to belong somewhere, but she never learned how to be herself around others and never trusted anyone enough to try. Sam and Sue had a deal, that's what they both had said at one point or another.
Tig could feel her hesitate when they reached the door, causing him to return from his musings. He looked down at her and saw her exhausted face, again he felt himself getting pissed off. She was a strong girl and no doubt she was happy in Vegas and happy with Sam, but it didn't teach her anything. So what happened in Vegas? He inwardly snorted 'what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas'. Still when she got out of lock up she never went back to Vegas … she roamed the states all by herself, taking care of herself and not doing half a bad job at it either. Didn't she tell him in Oakland that she was lost, that she didn't know who she was anymore? She wanted to change her ways and was searching for who she was, without the setup in Vegas.
Sam probably wasn't the first who controlled her in her life, maybe he wasn't the worse in his ways since Sam really did care for her, Tig didn't question that. Still Sue was so much stronger than she gave herself credit for. She managed to keep her cool at the times that asked her to be strong. It all went from bad to worse when Sam showed up. It was Sue who called out for him, the night she was pulled over with a truck full of hardware, telling Unser she was Sam's Old Lady because she needed to get in contact with Clay. Tig was starting to get a bit annoyed with his brother. He would always back up his brothers, but it was clear to him that for Sue to find her way, she needed a way out of this world and maybe she needed to get out of his world too. Maybe Sam had known that too, maybe that was why he didn't want to take her back to Vegas, knowing what it would do to her.
She looked up to him and nodded reassuring to him, grabbing his hand for a brief moment and tugging it slightly indicating that they needed to get inside. That was exactly what he liked about Sue and what made him somewhat determined to make sure she would land on her feet. She didn't back down when times get though, even though she thought of herself as a runaway. He even thought she was, but every time that she was challenged she stayed around and faced it head on and here she stood, telling him it would be alright and that it was time to face the music. Crazy bitch.
She took a deep breath before she opened the door and walked in. She moved towards the bar where they all seemed to be gathered around ready to face what she had coming to her. Her eyes locked on Samplers and he took a swig of his beer before he nodded his head towards the dorm rooms, telling her to go there and wait for him.
Tig watched her obey his silent command, like a good old lady supposed too. It made him crinch inside as she moved away to the back of the clubhouse.
The prospect offered Tig a glass of whiskey and a beer to chase it with.
"How's the arm?" Clay asked. His voice didn't carry much concern for the girl, still he wanted to know that she was alright.
"Small fracture needs to take it easy for a while, but it will heal perfectly," He shot a look at Sampler, "sprained wrist and an overstretched elbow."
Sampler motioned the prospect for another beer, making no insinuation that he was planning on going to check up on Sue anytime soon. "Girl has been through worse, she'll bounce back."
"Sure she will." Tig said and couldn't hide the traces of venom in his voice.
"Thanks brother for taking care of her." Sampler offered Tig and clasped his shoulder in a gesture of appreciation. He wasn't oblivious to the signals that Tig was giving off, but he chose to ignore them.
"Anytime brother." He answered in return.
Happy had been looking at the exchange between Tig and Sampler and didn't miss the annoyance in Tig's voice either. In the eyes of many Tig was a crazy, cold and heartless son of a bitch. Happy understood that, he had the same labels stuck on him often enough. Tig was more expressive than Happy was, which made it all the more clear what was happening in front of him. Sue had warmed Tig's heart just enough to get him personally involved. Happy hated to admit it, but Sue had done the same to him. Way before he even knew who she was and what she looked like. That night when she hustled her way into the clubhouse and he put his money on her, he knew she wasn't foreign to the club. She moved to easy, was too confident to be a first timer in the MC life. The morning that Koz had called her out and all her dirty details were discussed in church it had all clicked with him. He knew then who she was and what she had done. Clay had said it this morning, this is all kinds of wrong, but to be honest the girl was the only one he would put his money on.
Vegas was a dirty city, all fake and make believe, it was hard to find the real gems in between the two dollar fake crystals. It was great to go on a run, spend a few nights in the city and enjoy what the city had to offer, other than that it was a deathtrap, a swamp and to be honest he didn't like it all that much. None of the Charming brothers would be able to settle down for a longer period of time in Vegas, that might have been the reason why they hadn't kept an eye on what was going on there that much.
Jury and Needles reported in every now and then, but most of their day to day Vegas business was overseen by Sam. The Vegas crew was a closed bunch he began to realize. No wonder Vince was so dead set on bringing the girl back as quick as possible. Still why didn't Sampler want her back in Vegas?
He shook his head, time to decompress.
"Tig." Happy said to get the attention of his brother who was getting a bunch of questions fired at him. "Fifty I beat your ass at the pool table."
Tig and Happy were circling around the pool table, it was their sacred spot. The place where the two killers often retreated to get away from the others. They knew they would be left alone, not counting the occasional sweetbutt. Being it only early in the afternoon there weren't many of those hanging around. Tig was eyeing Sampler who was still nursing a beer at the bar.
"Hope she fucking bails through the window." He grunted at Hap.
"Don't worry about her Tig, she's fine. She won't waste her time and energy on something she can't influence. She isn't pacing around in that room waiting for his ass, she is probably catching up on some sleep, hoping he stays away."
"Ya think?" He lifted his head to look at Happy.
"I bet you another fifty on that. No point denying that they have a connection bro, they are both as bad as one another. Sam ain't a bad guy Tig, hasn't done half the shit that you and I have done and he cares for the girl."
Tig let out a disgusted snort but had to agree with Happy. "Suppose so." They both looked as they saw Sampler make his way towards the dorm rooms.
Sue woke up by the bed dipping a little when Sam got in beside her and pulled her with her back against his chest in his arms. "Wake up Suugs, we need to talk."
"I have said more than I wanted, I think it is time I shut my mouth." She replies, shrugging a little to break free from his hold. She didn't want to be close with him, she was still pissed off.
"Don't fight with me Sue." He pulled her back against his chest.
"You are hurting my arm Sam." She snapped back feeling him loosening his hold on her ever so slightly. She sighed, "I am sorry. There hasn't been a day that I didn't think about what happened to Ty, I know what it must have done to you."
"It wasn't your fault." Sampler whispered in her hair.
"You were willing to break my neck this morning and now it isn't my fault?" She was still stroppy with him and he could hear it in her voice.
"Trust me, it wasn't your fault and yes I was angry enough to break your neck, but not of what happened to Ty. I was disappointed and hurt that you hadn't come to me. You know that when you have issues with the club or my brothers that you come to me. It's not your place to handle that on your own."
"I handled nothing, I fucked off but I had no choice."
"You always have a choice Sue." She was starting to raise the hairs in his neck again with her stubborn petty party.
"Don't feel like I have much of a choice when it comes to the club Sam. I had very little options in Vegas, I didn't leave because I wanted too, I left because I had to. Only thing I regret is that I didn't get the hell out of Charming as well. Would have saved me a whole lot of trouble."
Sam laughed a little. "You love trouble, you certainly found plenty of that with Tig."
"I know, but don't pretend that I have a choice when it comes to club, because you know nothing is further away from the truth."
He had to agree with her on that, the club always came first and had its own ways to make people walk the right path. "I promise that you won't have any more club dealings Suugs, you just have to tell me the truth babe and we will make it right."
"I never lied to you Sam."
"I think you have, I know you have, but it's time to come out with it now. We will deal with the aftermath. I think Vince has told a few lies of his own, maybe a few more than you know, maybe even more then we all know, but this won't fall back on you, I won't let anything happen to you and Tig and Happy sure as hell aren't going to let anything happen either."
"Yeah about that, what's Happy's deal in all this?" She was wondering about that often enough, it was like he always had her back. It made no sense to her, she wasn't close to him, they didn't even have full on conversations. If anything he ignored her when he could.
"I know what happened in Phoenix, the night you got arrested, Happy has filled me in on the blanks. Things didn't add up Sue, but the net is closing now, it is all coming together. You didn't tell the truth about what happened and you better stop making things up."
Sue heard the warning in his voice, but she had been thinking about it all so much herself. Thinking about the night that Ty was shot, the night she ran away, the night she got arrested, but she still couldn't understand why. "What would Happy possibly know about Phoenix?"
Sampler sighed, he was getting nowhere with her. This game would go on forever and he was losing his patience. "Want to hear my truth? I got a lot wiser over the last couple of days Suugs. I think Vince had you by the balls. You knew how much I cared for Ty, I sponsored him. The kid still felt that he needed to prove himself even after he got patched in. That's why Vince had him working on the side and that's why he was out that night and probably why Vince had me sent out of town. I don't think Vince was aware that you knew it was a bullshit story that he told everyone about Ty being mugged and killed in an alley. I think he realized that later and he needed to make sure you kept your mouth shut, one way or the other. You and Vince must have had a one on one conversation the night that you skipped town. To be honest, I think you done the right thing that night, knowing now what Happy told me."
"He said that you would never forgive me for killing off my brother. I know how loyal you are to the club and that the club always comes first, no matter what. I know how it works Sam, even in the wrong, a brother or the club is always right. You stand by each other and if things need to be dealt with, that's taken behind closed doors. I couldn't just come out and say that Vince was lying could I? You don't go around telling everyone that the President has blood on his hands. How would I explain that I did know what really happened? They would have … " Sue was fighting the tears and was glad she still had her back towards Sam so she didn't have to look at him.
"Shhh … I know babe. You legged it, you went to Phoenix and I let you go. It was time for us to break up anyways, you needed to find your way, be yourself by yourself. I was selfish for keeping you that long anyways. I never liked the fact that the club used you and I hated the fact that I was using you too. Vince wasn't happy with you roaming free, knowing what you knew, so he contacted Quinn."
"Is that who tried to shoot me in the alley in Phoenix?"
Sampler laughed. "Nah Suugs, Quinn is the president of the Nomads. That's where Happy comes into the story."
"Happy wasn't there. I would have remembered him."
"He wasn't, but his brother was in that alley. Happy was a Nomad for a few years. When Vince contacted Quinn he didn't give all the details, he just wanted you taken care off, saying you had caused problems and had served your purpose. Quinn knew you were my old lady and asked Vince about that. Vince had told him that was why he couldn't have anyone in the Vegas Chapter to take care of business. The Nomads tracked you down and Sill was sent off to do the job. Things didn't sit well with Quinn and he ordered Sill to hook up with you hoping to find out what you knew and if you were indeed a risk for the club. You and him spent half the night gambling in some illegal joint."
She thought back at that night, Sill was a nice guy and they did have fun together. "I could smell from a mile away that he wasn't a gambler and he had 'biker' written all over him. I knew he was there for me and I needed to know what he was there for."
"I know. He followed you outside when you left, you already knew that he was sent to come for you, so you were ready when he did. You told Tig you had a bit of a standoff in that alley and that Sill took off and you got caught by the cops waving your gun around. That's not what happened."
Sue smiled and turned on her other side so she could face Sam. "It could have happened."
"Bullshit, that is the crappiest lie I ever heard coming from you. Sill made a mistake, he was focused on you and didn't pay attention on what was behind him. He never saw the scumbags that followed him into the alley, he wanted to talk to you like Quinn had instructed but you pulled your gun out. Sill didn't expect that, but you weren't pointing at him, but at those bastards behind him. That gave him the opportunity to take control of the situation and knock those two out. That's when the cops came flying around the corner. You asked Sill if he was a Son and if he was sent by Vince."
"He never gave me an answer to that, but it felt like that, I was so sure he was there to put a bullet in my head. It had that 'robbery in the alley thing' that Vince had come up with about Ty's death written all over it. It made perfect sense, I had been gambling and I had plenty of money on me. I just walked out of a gambling joint, if I died there no one would have thought anything else of it."
"That's probably what those two scumbags where thinking as well and make yourself no illusions Suugs, Sill would have put that bullet through your head if he needed to without blinking an eyelid if you didn't give him the answers he needed to hear. I don't know how things would have ended if those two muggers weren't in that alley trying to rob you or Sill. I am sure he would have made you talk and …."
"He probably would have done the job, because you know I don't ever say anything."
"Yes I think he would." Sampler brushed the hair out of her face, glad it never came to that. "Still you offered Sill an escape, you gave him enough time to fled the scene. Waving your gun around and scream like a little bitch. You told the cops that those two knocked out bodies tried to grab you and that a stranger protected you but that he ran off before you even had the chance to look at him or say thank you."
"Hmm. I couldn't think of anything better to come up with at that time. That's when I was caught for resisting arrest, illegal gambling and waving a gun around that I didn't have a license for and that had no serial numbers."
"Sill reported back to Quinn about what happened that night. You were going to be tucked away for at least three years. I still wonder how you came out so early, anyway, the story still chases Sill, being the center of the jokes at his expense. He fucked up such an easy job but he wasn't even able to talk to you, let alone kill you and on top of it he needed you to safe his ass from two muggers and a very unfortunate arrest. That's how Happy knew, because of the crap the guys have been giving him over it. Happy figured it out the morning in church where your criminal record was discussed."
"He deserves every bit of crap they gave him." She said smugly.
"If Sill was pinched that night, there was a real good chance that he would have faced life in prison. You handed him a 'get out of jail card' that night."
"Hmm… I just figured he had better chances of getting out of there than me. Besides, I owed it to Ty to make it right. That Sill, never said anything about the club or who he was, but I hoped he was a Son. I told myself he was my chance to balance things out a little, set one Son free and take the fall myself and do the time I deserved for what happened to Ty."
"You didn't have to do anything Suugs. All you had to do is come to me."
"If I knew then what I know now…"
"Same goes for me babe, get some sleep." Sampler said as he dropped a kiss on her forehead. "I got to get out there before Tigger blows a gasket."
"He won't."
"You know he will, now shut up and get some sleep, you look like shit."
Sampler walked back into the clubhouse and walked straight up to Tig.
"We alright bro?"
Tig stood up standing as tall as Sampler and looked at him with the challenge in his eyes. "Depends if she is."
"I told her enough of what we know so she can get over it and I told her to get some sleep. She's fine."
"She's not fine Sam." The words she spoke to him earlier playing in his head. "She wants to die or sleep and never wake up."
Sampler cocked his head, not happy with the attitude the Charming SAA was giving him and gave him a questioning look as if he was saying to Tig to mind his own business. "She needs to get high, dance the night away and have a good fuck. Release some steam."
"That's not what she really needs…" Tig's eyes piecing into Samplers who were now starting to show an anger shimmer.
"You…" Sampler pointed his finger at Tig, "You. Do. Not. Tell me what she does or doesn't need."
Hap broke it off before it could get any further. "This certainly isn't what any of us need. Clay will kill her off himself if you two keep fucking about over her."
Both Sam and Tig looked at the bar where Clay was looking at the scene in front of him with a raised eyebrow. Although the reasons were totally different, he was starting to understand why Vince wanted to get rid of her. The thought made him inwardly smile, the girl definitely was trouble for the club.
"Take it outside." Hap ordered both of them. "Play nice."
I hope this chapter gave a little more about what happened in Vegas, the night she was arrested, how Happy was involved. I hope it makes sense. We are slowly moving towards the aftermath of it all, the end might still hold a bit of a surprise.