Disclaimer-I don't own the Sons of Anarchy. I do own this story, its relevant plotlines, and my OCs, including Shark (RIP). I also own some beat up hands from kickboxing on the bag, but I'm still here typing away.
Warning-This chapter contains graphic and disturbing scenes including rape and violence. If you are not 18+, or these are triggers for you, please discontinue reading. Adult readers can feel free to PM for the all clear and a summary.
Ace came awake slowly, but the memories of the night before were disturbingly clear. She kept her eyes closed and tried to think through the excruciating pain in her face and head to inventory her current state. She was aware that she was naked, and her hands were zip-tied behind her. Her feet and ankles seemed alright, but as she mentally moved up her legs, her anxiety rose. Her thighs were sore, and sticky, and she tried desperately not to think the word. Rape. Fuck, too late. Her stomach roiled, and she pushed away all thoughts about what had likely been done to her and what it meant for her and Happy. Oh shit, Happy. She forced herself to return to the task. Stomach seemed ok, she was nauseous, but nothing she couldn't handle. Her wrists hurt from the zip-ties, and her shoulders were sore from being wrenched back. Probing her lip with her tongue, she found it swollen and split, but that was Happy's fault. She tried to grit her teeth against the flash of rage, but her face hurt too badly and she had to force herself to relax. Finally, she tried to open her eyes and the pain was so blindingly severe that she found herself retching, which made the pain even more excruciating.
"Oh fuck." She moaned, and this time she only tried to open her right eye, barely squinting in case her gag reflex kicked back in for a second round.
"Good, you're awake." A saccharine sweet voice cooed somewhere above her head, and Ace cranked her neck back to see if the voice really belonged to who she thought it did. The busty blonde sat in a chair not far away, phone in hand, she held it up when she noticed Ace looking at her. "Nice phone, honey. It takes incredible pictures."
"You're the one who came into the shop asking about me." Ace worked it out. "Why would you do this to me?"
"Well my part was payback for taking everything away from me. You took Happy, and I might have been alright with that, but then he made me leave Nevada because of you. I think we're even now." Starla explained, sounding bored. She held the phone up again and Ace heard the shutter sound effect of her picture being taken.
"If we're square, then let me go." Ace reasoned, shutting her eye against the tears that she wished desperately would take a long fucking vacation.
"Oh, this isn't about me anymore. It isn't really even about you; you're just a means to the end. It's your old man the Bastardos want. Carlos is going to strip his cut and humiliate him in retaliation for that tattoo on his face."
"Shut your fucking trap, slut." Carlos barked, and Ace closed her eyes, willing her pulse to stop racing. The scuffle of his shoes didn't give her nearly enough warning to brace against the hard kick to her stomach, and Ace lost the ability to breathe, wheezing as she struggled. He dragged her to her feet by her hair, and Ace swayed, trying to find her balance, but it was futile because Carlos stomped ruthlessly on the backs of her knees. Unable to put her hands out to break her fall, Ace went face first into the dirty concrete, and her vision went grey from the impact to whatever the damage to her cheekbone was.
"Open your mouth." She came back to herself on her knees, with a hard dick in her face. She closed her eyes, but it didn't stop the useless tears from sliding hotly down her face.
"Please don't. Please." Ace begged, her voice small.
"Open your fucking mouth." She went completely still when she felt the muzzle against her temple. Shaking, she obeyed, hating herself for being so weak. "If you bite me, I will blow your fucking brains out, you got that?"
Ace checked out, taking a mental vacation back to Tacoma. She pretended she was back in Happy's dorm room, that morning after the fight with Lorca. She couldn't ignore her body for long, though, and she screamed when another Bastardo pushed into her from behind.
No Other Man Alive
Jax, Opie, and Chibs all stood outside the yellow police tape surrounding the door to the room that Happy and Ace had shared. They all watched solemnly as the gurney with the black body bag rolled past to the waiting ambulance.
"Roosevelt's on his way over, how you playing this, Prez?" Opie muttered under his breath to Jax.
"Mr. Teller." Lieutenant Eli Roosevelt crossed his arms and stared him down. "Motel owner says the room was paid for in cash, no name. He also said that the guy coming and going wore a cut, and that there was a woman staying here, too. What might you know about that, huh?"
"Yeah, Happy was staying here with his old lady." Jax admitted, lighting a cigarette. "But Happy's mom had a heart attack last night, he's down in Bakersfield. The hospital there can confirm."
"And his old lady? Is she in Bakersfield, also?" Roosevelt pressed, conversationally, but he didn't miss the look that passed between Jax and Opie.
"Sure." Jax finally answered.
"And her name…?" Roosevelt didn't sound conversational anymore, and he was beginning to lean forward.
"Don't know, man." Jax shook his head, shrugging casually.
"You don't expect me to believe that, do you?"
"Believe me or don't, man, I don't care. Happy's not on my crew anymore, so his old lady isn't any of my business."
"Well if you hear from either one of them, you let me know." Roosevelt shook Jax's hand and left the scene.
"Call everyone. Chapel in 90."
No Other Man Alive
Tig lay facedown on the couch in Happy's mom's fussy little livingroom, one arm trailing down onto the floor. At the sound of the prepay ringing, his head popped up and he fell off the couch trying to get to the phone in his pocket.
"Yeah?" He yawned
"Tig, we got a serious problem here." Jax replied, and Tig sat up with his back to the couch, trying to clear away the fatigue. "Shark was gunned down last night in Hap's motel room. Tell me you two really went straight up to the hospital."
"Shit. Yeah, man, we were there all night and all morning, just got back here about an hour ago. Is Ace alright?"
"Dunno, no sign of her. I was hoping you would know where she might have taken off to."
"Wait, you don't think she had anything to do with it. Jax, that don't make sense." Tig got to his feet, not wanting to wake Happy until he knew what was doing. He let himself out the front door, and circled the house to make sure the upstairs windows were closed.
"I don't know what to think. I know that Happy and Shark had some tension, and I know that Happy and his old lady aren't on the best terms, either. If she was around and had some sort of explanation, that'd be helpful, but she ain't here."
"Jax, if she's not there it's because someone took her. You gotta find out where she is." Tig was starting to panic, trying to figure out how he was going to tell Happy that his old lady was missing. "Happy's going to flip the fuck out."
"No. Tig, you are not going to say one word to him about this." Jax warned. "Not until we know more."
No Other Man Alive
"I need to use the bathroom." Ace informed the mid twenties gang member that was currently tasked with guarding her. The day had been an endless torture session, there were six Bastardos with her in the warehouse, and they'd never let up on her for a moment. Even when she'd lost consciousness, someone would douse her in cold water to bring her around and they'd continue. In the first hour, she'd tried to fight, but she quickly lost the energy to do even that, barely able to keep breathing. She was starting to hope that one of them would just kill her. She really had nothing left to go back to, and if she were dead, they couldn't try to use her to draw Happy out.
"Yeah, come on." The guy hauled her up by one arm, tucking his gun into the waistband of his jeans. He dragged her through the mostly empty warehouse, and she dimly thought that she should be taking notes on the layout, but she was too focused on that gun. It wouldn't get her out of the warehouse, but if she could get her hands on it, this could all be over. No more rape. No more violence. No need for Happy to ever know that she'd been ruined. She quickly glanced away from the gun when they came to a stop in the little hallway where the bathroom was. Bracing herself, she looked up at him imploringly.
"Could you cut my hands free? You can retie them in the front, I just need to be able to reach to, uh, you know." She indicated her body with her chin, pretending to be embarrassed.
"Turn around." He grunted at her, pulling out a pocket knife. Ace waited, muscles tensed as he sawed through the plastic. The second her wrists were free, Ace sprang into action, snatching the pistol from his waistband. She tried to maneuver the slide to chamber a round, but her hands were too swollen and numb to manage, and she sobbed, scrambling backward as the man advanced on her. Finally, out of room to move, she tried futilely to club him with it. Enraged, the man ducked the blow, and came in low with the knife, stabbing her in the side.
Only barely conscious, Ace felt herself being dragged back to her spot on the floor, and her hands were quickly secured behind her back again. She was aware that of the group gathering around her.
"I thought you said her old man would come for her." One of them accused.
"He will." She recognized Carlos' voice easily, and Ace prayed that by some miracle the tiny knife had found an artery and she'd bleed out. "I'm going to make sure of it. Get me the bitch's phone."
No Other Man Alive
Redwood's four remaining free members were uncharacteristically quiet sitting around the table. They all knew what had happened, and that Ace was nowhere to be found. Juice had his laptop out, furiously typing, attacking the firewall that protected the Sheriff's department database. Given what he knew about Ace and also the intelligence on the Bastardos that had been rolling steadily in for weeks, Juice was sure that she was in serious danger. All he had to do was convince Jax that she hadn't been responsible for Shark's demise, and for that he needed the on scene reports.
"Got it!" He yelled, triumphantly and started scanning through the detailed report. "No eyewitnesses, not surprising given that part of town, early ballistics indicate a Beretta. Doesn't seem like something Happy would give her, does anyone know what she carries?"
"Get my phone. Tig will know." Jax ordered Opie.
"Jax-all of Ace's stuff was still in the room. This has to be the Bastardos." Jax held up a finger to cut Juice off and took the phone from Opie.
"Tig?" Jax put it on speaker laying it on the table. "Do you know what Ace carries?"
"Yeah, man, she's a Glock girl. Registered G19, but carries an unmarked G39. Why?"
Jax met the eyes of his SAA and his intelligence officer, reading that both of them thought Ace was in danger.
"Listen, Tig, I think Ace might be-" The phone started beeping indicating a rapid fire of messages coming in, brows furrow, Jax leaned in and checked, and the first picture started loading. "Hang on a sec, Tig. What the fuck is that?" He started to tilt the phone in Opie's direction when the picture finished loading and clarified Jax's face went white and Opie looked ill.
"What, man? What's going on?" Tig sounded worried, but Jax couldn't answer him, because the pictures kept coming. They were all of Ace, being brutally raped, and beaten. The last one showed her lying on a dirty floor, blood pouring from a wound in her side. It was the only one with a caption. 'Are you Happy now?'
"Get Happy here now." Opie told Tig calmly. "His old lady needs him here."
Jax's phone started ringing again as soon as he hung up on Tig. Quinn. Then the bar line began ringing. And in moments, there was a chorus of ringtones as calls from the West Coast SOA Presidents began rolling in. Very slowly, Jax slid the phone to Juice, who took it, perplexed.
"Oh fuck." He breathed as the slideshow of depravity scrolled across the screen.
"Can you trace that number?" Jax asked him, and Juice dragged his attention away from the pictures and looked at the number. He didn't stop Chibs when he reached across the table to take the phone, still trying to figure out what had happened.
"That's Ace's number." Juice said quietly.
"Chibs, start answering the calls. Tell everyone not to call Tig. Anyone who wants to send reinforcements is welcome. Opie, call Romeo, I need to know everything about the Bastardos. And I mean, everything."
No Other Man Alive
Tig took the stairs three at a time, missing one and catching himself on the railing before launching himself upward again. Happy was already up when he reached the top of the stairs, the noise alerting him that something wasn't right.
"Is it my Ma, did something happen?" He croaked out, his voice rusty from sleeping.
"No, man." Tig shook his head. "Jax called. Shark was found dead in your room this morning. Ace is missing, we gotta get back to Charming."
Happy bumrushed Tig, shoving him hard against the wall, forearm against his throat.
"What the fuck do you mean, Ace is missing?" He glared, and his voice was deadly quiet.
"That's all I know." Tig was completely calm, not threatened by Happy's outburst. "We got to go. Jax's Cartel contacts are your best shot at finding her alive."
Happy pushed off of him, and disappeared back into his room. All he grabbed was his gun holster and cut, pulling them on as he headed down the stairs and out the front door. He was on his Harley and gone before Tig could get Delia's door locked behind him. Cursing, Tig took off after him, hoping that he would be able to catch up without killing himself.
No Other Man Alive
"Alright, these guys are pretty small time according to Romeo. They have some big contacts in the Lobos and Red Nation, which is how they tracked Ace down so easily. They've been biding their time since Tacoma, maybe before. Juice has the location of the phone, so if we can hold out until some extra bodies arrive, it should be cake to get Ace out." Jax explained. They were all still at the table, three hours later, trying to hash out a plan.
"Did you talk to any of them, brother?" Chibs asked, he'd been fielding the calls from the outraged Presidents. Reinforcements were coming from all the charters, available to help with the extraction or the blowback, but it took time for them to get to Charming. Tacoma was coming in force, but even at top speeds they wouldn't make it for another 8 hours. Nova and his partner, Bulldog had called in from the road, they were expected in the next hour or so.
"Sort of. The one who seems to be in charge said he'd only negotiate with Happy. He put Ace on, though, so we know she's still alive." Jax answered gravely.
"How'd she sound?" Juice asked, trying to rub the screen fatigue from his eyes.
"Alive." Jax avoided. "She asked me not to tell Happy-"
"Tell me what?" Happy burst through the door with Tig hard on his heels. The silence in the room was deafening, and it wasn't lost on him that not one single man looked him in the eye. "Someone better tell me what the fuck is going on."
There was more silence, and Jax and Juice exchanged looks. Finally Jax nodded, and Juice handed over the prepay. Opie muscled Happy into a seat, and looked significantly at Chibs, warning him to be ready for Happy to lose his shit. Tig watched over Happy's shoulder as he scrolled through the pictures. He turned away when they came to the picture of her with a dick in her mouth and a gun to her head, tears visible and the bruising on her eye was so dark it was black. Happy kept watching, though, and when he was done he closed the phone and placed it gently on the table.
"Who else has seen these." He demanded quietly, then shouted when no one answered him. "Who the fuck has seen these?!"
"A mass text was sent out from Ace's phone, it went to all the West Coast Presidents." Juice answered him, and Opie clamped a hand down on Happy's shoulder, keeping him in his seat.
"Calm down, brother, we're figuring it out." Opie warned him.
"Do you have a location?" Happy asked Juice directly, ignoring Jax's protests. Juice looked to Jax uneasily, then looked down at his hands.
"Yeah. She's close, Happy, and she's alive." Juice tried to reassure him, but his voice caught, and he cleared his throat loudly.
Happy pushed back from the table abruptly, shoving Opie hard when he tried to hold him down. He caught Chibs in the face with an elbow, and headed for the doors.
"Send the location to Tig." He yelled over his shoulder, and Tig followed him.
"Hey!" Jax yelled, jogging to keep up with Happy. "You can't go in there alone. There are at least six guys there that we know of-"
Happy spun on him and jacked him right in the mouth, and Jax went down hard. Happy stood over him.
"You know there are six of them because the entire MC sat here watching while they raped my wife!" He roared, hands on his head, chest heaving.
"Just wait a few hours, Hap. Nova and Bulldog'll be here any minute, and guys are coming from every charter. We'll go in strong and decimate them, brother. You just gotta be patient."
"Did she look like she had a few hours to you? If I wait any longer, she's dead."
"Got the location." Tig pulled Happy off, and Jax stared at Juice in disbelief, as the two disappeared out the door.
"You just got him killed." Jax spat, as Opie helped him to his feet.
"Jax, those pictures, his old lady, I couldn't not give it to him. He's right, Ace won't last until Tacoma gets here."
No Other Man Alive
Tig followed Happy to the motel that Ace had been staying at. He watched his brother staring at the room he'd shared with his old lady.
"Give me the phone, Tig." Happy held out a hand.
"What are we doing, Hap? I got your back whatever you decide, but you hafta tell me what the plan is." Tig handed him the phone.
"You know as well as I do they want me. I'll offer the exchange, you get her back to safety." He didn't look at Tig, just kept staring at the door.
"Jax is right, they'll kill you."
"I don't think they will. At least not right away. We'll arrange a neutral location; they won't know that Juice traced their location. Wait for Tacoma, then come get me."
"And if you're wrong about that?" Tig asked, pulling off his sunglasses to wipe his face.
"If I'm wrong, take her to Tacoma. They'll watch out for her." Happy pulled his helmet off and lit a cigarette. "We'll need the van. Go let Jax know that I'm doing this. I'll be there in a while to let you know when and where."
No Other Man Alive
Happy dialed the number for Ace's phone, breath coming in pants. There was silence on the line.
"You got something that belongs to me." He growled, and fisted his left hand so hard it hurt.
"Ah, the Tacoma Killer finally shows. Took you long enough."
"Don't bullshit me. You want me. I want her. Where do you want to make the exchange?" Happy tried to open his fist and found that he couldn't.
"I'll text you the arrangements in half an hour. I'm looking forward to seeing you."
"Ah, ah, no. Put her on the phone, I need assurances." He cut Carlos Rivera off, and kicked a car when the little fucker laughed.
"Of course." And Happy heard him move the phone away from his face and the distinct sound of a slap, and he growled at his powerlessness. "Wake up. Your old man wants to hear from you."
"Hap?" Her voice was small and slurred, and Happy squatted down, covering his head with his free hand.
"Yeah, baby." He choked out. "Don't you worry, I'm coming for you. You gotta hang on for me."
"I'll try." She slurred.
"See? She's fine." Carlos came back on the line. "You'll come unarmed and alone."
"My partner will be with me to handle transporting her. We'll be unarmed."
No Other Man Alive
Ace couldn't even fight when they finally cut her hands free. They dropped her clothes on the floor, and she struggled hard to get them on, her hands were shaking from blood loss and she couldn't make her legs work enough to stand.
"You two, go meet them at the rendezvous. Make sure they're alone and unarmed. We'll be right behind you." Carlos directed. "Go put her in the van."
They weren't gentle with her, and she couldn't get her legs under her, so they dragged her. She closed her good eye and chanted Happy's name in her mind. Trying desperately to hold on to him coming for her. Dreaming about disappearing to Quinn's lake house or back to Tacoma, staying far away from Redwood. She moaned weakly when they tied her wrists again, the plastic digging into her bloody skin. They dumped her on the floor of the van, and she curled into herself in an attempt to protect the stab wound in her side. Happy. The Lake House. Tacoma. Tig. Happy.
No Other Man Alive
"You put on the vest, right?" Happy double checked with his partner as they watched a car coming toward the deserted underpass where they waited.
"Yeah." Tig answered. "You sure about this?"
"Yeah." They waited in silence as two Bastardos got out of the car, locked and loaded with autos. Sighing, Tig and Happy both put their hands in the air, submitting to the search. One of them peeled off and checked the van to make sure they were alone.
"We good here?" Tig smart mouthed. "Because if you want to get any more personal, you gotta take me out to dinner first."
They ignored him and pulled out a phone.
"All clear. They're alone and unarmed."
Happy leaned back against the hood of the van and crossed one boot over the other, hands clamped down on the edge to keep himself in place. Tig pulled him close, and Happy let him pull his head down, but couldn't return the embrace.
"I love you, brother." Tig told him, and stepped back as another van pulled up. Happy just nodded, putting his shoulders back, psyching himself up for what was to come.
"So good to see you again." Carlos got out of the van. "You ready, Happy?"
"Let me see her. You can give her to my partner and I'll come willingly, no fight."
Carlos nodded to one of his guys and they opened the side door of the van, and Happy could see her curled up on her side. He'd studied the pictures over and over, but they couldn't prepare him for the reality of how completely they'd devastated her. They pulled her upright, although it was clear she couldn't hold her own weight. She picked her head up and opened one eye, looking right at him. She smiled, and Happy felt like puking.
"Give her to my partner." He said again, pushing off from his position against the van. He put both his hands behind his head and waited until they'd pushed her across the way to Tig, who caught her before she hit the ground. He crossed the short distance without hesitation, eyes focused on the horizon, not resisting when they pulled his arms down behind his back.
"Take his cut." Carlos ordered, and his voice brought Ace partway out of her stupor. She looked from Tig to Happy and started shaking her head in protest.
"Jesus." Tig swore, holding her with one arm around her waist, incapable of looking away from his brother, letting his cut be stripped from his back, chin high and jaw clenched so tight all the muscles stood out.
"NO!" Ace screamed, coming alive in Tig's arms.
"Let me talk to her, say goodbye. You can do whatever you want to me." Happy bargained with Carlos, watching Tig struggle to hold onto her. His stomach roiled again when he caught sight of Tig's hand covered in blood.
"Hold his arms." Carlos nodded his permission.
Happy didn't waste any time, crossing to Ace. Tig held her upright, and she stopped fighting against him. Hap leaned down, resting his forehead on hers gently.
"You gotta go with Tig now, baby." And felt her shaking her head. "Shhh, no, don't worry about me. I'm so sorry." He opened his eyes, and looked right into her good one. "I love you. Now go with Tig, baby. Get her out of here now, Tig."
Tig scooped her up, carrying her to the passenger side. He deposited her gently, and turned to see them shove Happy to his knees. Carlos kicked him flat with a heel to the back.
"Lay his hand out." Carlos ordered, pulling an aluminum bat from the van behind him. "The right one. I'm going to make sure he can't pull a throttle."
Ace lunged across the console when Tig opened the driver's side door, screaming. He pushed her back and got in, locking the doors behind him. He held her tightly against him, her blood all over him.
"You gotta stop fighting me, doll. You're gonna get him killed. We are going to try and get him out, ok? But I promised him I'd get you to safety, so you gotta work with me."
He peeled out as she sagged against him, and he watched in the rear view mirror as the bat descended on his brother's hand over and over. He shifted Ace enough to reach his phone and dialed Jax's number.
"I got her. Make sure Chibs is available, she's in bad shape, Jax."
"Alright." Jax answered quietly. "How'd our boy do?"
"They broke his hand, Jax. Call Kozik. Tell them to hurry."
Tig hung up, and punched the gas even harder as Nova and Bulldog fell in behind the van. His hands were slick with Ace's blood, and he prayed that she was going to survive because Happy would be lost if this were all for nothing.
"Hang in there, sweetheart." Tig muttered, and kissed the top of her head.
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