A/N - Just a really quick note to say thank you to all of you for everything so far. I can't believe I've had over 10,000 views and 100 reviews, it's just crazy. I'm so glad to have your support... And I can't wait to see how this chapter makes you react!


Nina, Tig and Chibs were all sitting quietly at the kitchen table when Happy finally slunk out of the bedroom. He simply had his pants on, his strong, tattooed body stalking through the room as he reached for a beer. His bottle clinked against Tig's as he lifted it up, and he massaged his hand along the back of Nina's neck as he dragged up the last seat and straddled it.

"You're done?"

Nina sounded surprised but Tig chuckled, Happy always too way too long to get his fill. Chibs rested his hand on Nina's on the table and nodded slowly.

"Aye, it's all done." He glanced towards the door to the bedroom, part of him wanted to go and check on Althea but the rest of him was just glad it was all, finally, over. Happy drained his beer quickly and went for another, he was tired but glad to have been offered the chance to make things right. Nina nodded for a moment and stood, waiting for them to finish their drinks in silence.

"You okay, love?" Chibs asked, standing and crossing to her. Happy stilled Tig, seeing he was about to get up, and motioned towards them to let them have their moment. Nina nodded slowly.

"Yeah, I just..." She looked around the house, this place needed clearing. It was riddled with evidence and now it just needed to go. "You guys should leave. Please. I have some things to finish." Her eyes were focused obsessively on the door to the bedroom and Chibs felt himself swallow as he realised what she meant.

"She's a cop, Nina," he said. "This shite, it'll blow back if you do it."

Nina nodded, slow at first but then more committed. "I understand that," she said. "But I know what I have to do, I'm sorry." Her hand ran against his cheek and Chibs clutched it to him, closing his eyes as he did. "You can't fix everything."

Tig's lip shook in a slow snarl as he watched them. He pulled a face and clicked his fingers at them, breaking Chibs out of his dreamy moment. "You'll come back to the club? Tonight?"

Nina stepped away from Chibs, giving herself space. Whenever she was close to him she could feel her better judgement slipping away. "Yes, tonight," she nodded. "I won't be long here, just an hour or so. You can wait, if you want, but down on the main road, away from the house. I need to do this on my own," she added with a resolute look to Chibs. He nodded slowly and waved his hand, motioning for the others to stand.

"Do what you've got to do, Nina," he said. He waited silently as she hugged both of the others, Tig pushing a hungry kiss onto her lips as she parted from him, and Chibs watched as they moved outside before taking Nina's hands in his own. "Whatever happens now," he murmured softly, "I hope it means we can start again."

He leaned into her and pressed a gentle kiss onto her cheek, closing his eyes as he allowed himself to soak up her intoxicating, innocent smell for just a moment. Nina smiled as she held onto his hand and squeezed him gently.

"Maybe."

She ushered him out and closed the door behind him. Leaning her back against it, she sighed as she picked up the gun on the table and weighed it in her hand for a moment before carrying it through with her to the room.

Jarry lay in a crumpled heap on the bed, whimpering and sobbing with whatever energy she had left in her. One of her eyes was black and swollen shut, Nina remembered how painful that was all too well. The worst of it was not knowing, not fully knowing what was going on. She raised her voice to fill the room.

"It's just me, now. They've all gone."

Jarry couldn't answer but she twisted to see Nina as the woman paced over to look at her. She flinched, waiting for Nina to hit her but Nina didn't. She ran her hand gently over Jarry's sore, swollen limbs and sighed.

"It's all shit, isn't it?" She laughed sadly. "We should have helped each other, in this world. Seems right. Men, brothers, gangland. All so masculine. We could actually have worked together."

Jarry tensed as Nina wound her arm around her and picked her up, carrying her through to the bathroom. She rested Jarry down on the edge of the bath, holding her up as she ran the hot water. She could feel Althea's eyes on her, uncertain, and Nina smiled sadly.

"I try to be a good person, I do," she said softly as she dashed her hand beneath the water and poured some scented oil into the base of the bath. "I'm not like them. A terrorist." She laughed at the word. "I'm just a girl who fell for the wrong man at the wrong time."

She helped Althea into the water and poured a cupful over her head. Unable to speak, unable to move, Jarry could only sit there, frozen to the spot as Nina helped wash away the blood and the dirt and the spit from her skin. The sweat and the semen all melted away as Nina ran her hands over the woman, rubbing away all remnants of the men who had been with her, making the evidence dissolve away in the water.

"I don't know what happens now," Nina murmured absently as she continued with the process. "With Chibs, or Tig. I love them both, I always have. It's just always been a bit complicated." She laughed at herself. "Complicated. I guess it's very simple, really. Right when I think I've got one of them right, the other throws me for a spin."

Jarry's fingers desperately wrapped around Nina's, trying to connect with her. Nina smiled, she knew what she was doing. She was hoping for forgiveness, she was trying to ask for help, but Nina simply ignored it and kept talking.

"Part of me thinks the girls and I should just leave." She chuckled at herself. "Selfish, right? Throw them all out and just get on with my own thing?" She rubbed on a spot of Jarry's skin, seeing the dried blood on a gash from one of Tig's vicious blows. "God, it must come with the territory. Being heartless like that. Guess that's what happened to Jax, too. Top of the tree, gives you a change in perspective."

Jarry tried to mumble a response but her broken jaw restricted her and she tripped over her tongue awkwardly. Nina hushed her, stroking her hair.

"Don't worry, now, you just be nice and quiet for me." She squeezed out the cloth and rubbed it over Jarry's back gently, taking care of her like she was a little girl. "I was unconscious when they cleaned me up. Pain, embarrassment, loss of blood. Probably all of them." She wrung out the cloth again and watched as the water turned red. "But that first shower, when I could do it by myself. It was like heaven. Like it was all washed away. Like all my problems were gone."

She helped Jarry stand, her arm around her waist as she took the Sheriff's weight on her to move her. Nina sighed as she saw Jarry shivering, her body shaking and tears forming in her eyes as she put a towel around her carefully.

"Hush now," Nina murmured encouragingly, massaging her shoulder as she sat her on the bed. She ruffled the towel over Althea sweetly, making sure she was dried properly. "I'm sorry he was so rough with you," she added, seeing Jarry wince as she moved her arm. "Tig, he gets really angry, he hated me being hurt. When it isn't him, I guess. Funny how things change, isn't it?" Jarry didn't speak and Nina's eyes narrowed a little. "And things do change, Sheriff."

There it was. Jarry screwed her eyes closed and took a deep breath in as Nina let her go. Her exhausted body collapsed back on the bed, weak and unable to support itself. Nina paced for a moment as she looked at her.

"You should have just picked a different Son." Nina's words were soft but eery. "None of this would have happened if you hadn't touched Filip. Me and him, we..." She swallowed as she realised why her heart was beating in triple time. "Filip Telford, he's mine, he's always been mine. Since that first time. Before Tig... and Emily..." She pinched her nose, suddenly making herself anxious with her confession. "Things, they got fucked up. I know he got mad, but I love him. We could have been okay, too. If you hadn't showed up. With your... poison. And your games."

Her eyes narrowed, she was overcome with anger as she said it. Jarry was shaking her head, fearful, trying to scrabble up the bed away from Nina as Nina reached for the gun from the dressing table.

"We're nearly even now," she murmured, holding the revolver up in her hand. "The IRA, they taught me something. Not to let anyone ever have your secrets to hold against you." She laughed. "When I came in here, I was going to clean you up and let you go. But then you made me talk to you." She wiped Jarry's tears away from her cheeks. "Don't cry. This is you, you brought this on yourself, Althea, because you were so desperate to get me out of the way. You've just turned it around on yourself, inadvertently."

Nina stood over Jarry for a moment and reached for a pillow. However much she hated the woman lying there, she didn't want to look at her when she finally killed her. Jarry had nothing within her to fight back as Nina pressed the pillow down over her face and pushed the barrel of the gun into it. Jarry scrabbled for just a moment before Nina closed her eyes and pulled the trigger before the squirming body beneath her fell still.

"Done." She leaned back on her heels, watching the red blood seeping through the sheets. Nina screwed her eyes closed for a moment, gathering herself. She had never wanted to be like this, she remembered how she had hated the way of life her father had chosen but now she was no better. She got up, not bothering to lift the pillow to see Jarry's face.

Nina straightened her clothes out as she stalked through the house. This place, it was done. She had to let it go, let go of the role she was fulfilling for the Irish. Digging through the cupboards, she pulled out a can of gasoline and sighed. Was this what it had come to? Burning down a goddamn building to cover for herself and the club?

"Whatever it takes," she reminded herself. This was for the girls, to keep them safe. Taking the can, she started to pace around the house, splashing gas around. This house, this place, it had never been home. Natasha and Emily had spent most of their nights at Tig's, Nina had spent more than enough evenings on his couch instead of here. This whole place could just go up in flames.

She tossed the remains of the can into the house as she took a few steps away. She looked at it with no regret, and fumbled in her pocket for a packet of matches. Her hands were almost shaking as she tried to strike one, but suddenly Chibs had his hand wrapped around hers.

"Don't, not like that," he murmured, leaning over her protectively. "It'll catch, let me do it. I don't want you getting hurt."

Nina swallowed as he said it, all of her confession from inside the house burning her chest. The earnest look in Chibs' eyes made her resolve melt and she leaned into him, just holding on to him for a moment as she closed her eyes, needing the comfort of his grip on her. She felt her eyes welling up and Chibs pushed a kiss on her forehead.

"Hey, darling, why are you crying?" he said softly, cuddling her to him. "I'm here, love, you know I am."

"We should finish," she whispered, fearful of standing there a moment longer with him. Chibs nodded, sensing her reticence, and he struck the match, flicking it furiously across as he tugged her to follow him and run. They both raced away from the house as the match caught instantly and the flames began to lick, the gasoline lighting and roaring around the house in an all-consuming rage. The wave of heat knocked them both off their feet and Chibs tugged Nina down on top of him as they tripped and fell down into the dirt at the foot of his bike.

"Shite, are you okay?"

He leaned up as he saw the dirt streaked on her face and chucked, pushing her hair back out of her eyes. Nina wet her lips shyly as he looked at her and nodded. "Yeah, I think I am now."

She pushed a kiss onto his mouth, just something innocent and fearful, full of all of the sweetness he thought had gone. Chibs was surprised but cupped her face gently, leading her mouth encouragingly to his own, being ever so careful and doing everything not to scare her away. He gently urged her lips open with his tongue and whimpered softly as he tasted her, he had missed her so much and this embrace felt so perfect that he didn't want it to ever, ever end.

"Let me take you home," Chibs whispered, nuzzling her, fearful of overpowering her. "You've had quite a day, you should see the girls." He swallowed and looked at the blazing building back up the track. "Rest."

He helped her up and led her gingerly towards his bike. Clipping the extra helmet onto her carefully, he smiled as he felt Nina's arms wind around his waist, just where they always belonged. He closed his eyes for a moment and smiled, knowing she couldn't see, before starting the bike and setting off to take her back to the clubhouse.