Disclaimer: I do not own SOA.
A/N: Didn't want to keep you all waiting too long for this so here we go. I edited this myself so any mistakes are mine and mine alone. Thanks to everyone who has read, reviewed, favorited or followed during this journey. Special thanks to the Freak Circle, you ladies keep me inspired! Check out my profile for the information on the new blog we all started, going to be a fun fun place.
Chapter Thirty SEVEN
Juice wasn't sure how long Anthony had been gone, there was no way to track the time there was just pain. Every time he thought that he'd gotten used to it, it was amazing what you could get used to, salt would shift further into his numerous wounds and bring with it a fresh level of pain.
He almost wished that he would just die, if he was dead there wouldn't be any pain. He would just be gone. He'd long ago given up the religious beliefs which he'd been instilled with as a child. Now he just believed that when it was over, it was over. This was it, you only got one shot.
He knew that he was far gone when his mind went to what happened or didn't in the afterlife. Juice cursed himself, he needed to find something inside of him that would give him the strength to go on because giving up wasn't an option. He was a Son.
Anthony burst through the door, anger obvious on his face. He didn't say a word. Instead he moved over to the table where he'd found the salt and picked up another container.
The salt had been bad but whatever the hell was in that container was worse, Anthony used it to wash the grains from the wounds. Fire burned beneath Juice's skin, he twisted and turned as best he could against the restraints but didn't scream. He wouldn't scream again no matter what Anthony did.
There was a moment of relief as Anthony turned away. "Ran into your friends, seems like they're having a grand time without you," the man informed him, "I told you that they're not looking for you. They're not going to come."
Juice gritted his teeth, found his voice though it came out more gruff than usual. Hell, he sounded almost like Happy. "If that was true, you wouldn't keep telling me about it." Maybe his mind was still working after all, maybe he was stronger than he'd thought. "They're coming for me and they're going to kill you."
"I can not be killed Juice, not by a bunch of white trash bikers." Anthony smiled. "I've got a special surprise for you, wait right here. I'll be right back."
Juice sighed as Anthony left the room again. Where the hell was he going to go?
37 37
Madeline woke with Happy's arm around her neck, he did that sometimes when they were sleeping and she didn't really mind it except when he'd tighten his grip without realizing it. She shifted as much as she could, pressed her hands against his chest. "Hap, I kind of like breathing."
He always woke easily, tonight was no exception. His grip loosened and he shifted. "Sorry," his voice was low and gruff, "go back to sleep."
She looked over at the clock, there wasn't much time left before someone would be knocking on the door to tell him that it was time to go. "I'm not sleepy anymore."
His eyes opened back up, he recognized that tone. A smile slid across his face. "What are you thinking?"
She pushed the covers off of them, shifted to straddle him. "I'm thinking that you need to stay right there."
"Ordering me around Girl?"
"Right now, absolutely." She blushed as she spoke, it was rare that she'd take the lead in the bedroom but he never seemed to mind too much, in fact he rather liked it from what she could tell. He'd let her have her way with him for a while but then he'd snatch the control back when he'd had enough.
"Better make it worth it then," he surprised her when he smacked her ass hard. Madeline raised an eyebrow at him. "What? You gonna tell me you didn't like that?"
He knew she liked it. She knew that she liked it. Madeline was just surprised because he very rarely showed that side of him, the side that she'd heard the crow eaters whisper about when they thought that she wasn't listening. "You know I did," she placed her hands on either side of his head, lowered her head to kiss him softly.
Happy immediately deepened the kiss, nipped down hard on her bottom lip. She gasped as her body reacted instinctively, her hips moved against him and another gasp escaped her throat as his hard length pressed against her core.
It didn't matter how many times they'd been together, for her it was always like the first time. She got nerves in her stomach, her body would actually tremble but it wasn't out of fear. It was out of a need for him that she'd never be able to explain if asked. There was no one else in the world she could have loved the way that she loved him.
"What are you waiting for?" Happy questioned and broke her out of her thoughts. "Ain't got all that much time." It took effort to keep his hands on the bed and not touch her, especially when she sat up to pull her shirt over her head. After their shower she hadn't bothered to put on anything else, she knew that he liked to reach over and feel her bare skin while they slept.
Madeline lifted her hips to tug down his pants, she lowered herself on to his length and cried out as he entered her. "Hap!"
"Fuck," he leaned his head back against the pillows. When she began to move her hips he had to clench his hands into fists to keep from touching her. She placed her hands next to his head again, her hips worked even harder as she slid up and down his length.
He couldn't resist the slope of her breast and bit down. "Oh," Madeline bit down on her lip as the pain blossomed through her body, it seemed to get twisted up with the pleasure. Both feelings were so intense, there weren't words for it as her hips increased the pace and strength of their motions.
Happy began to move with her, driving his length deep inside of her and holding it there as her body tried to keep moving. "Easy," he told her and with no effort switched their positions so that he was on top.
He spread her legs wide, pushed them back as he positioned himself at her entrance. She was completely open to him, ready for him and he didn't keep her waiting. Happy let out a sound somewhere between a growl and a moan as he pushed inside of her so that she was full of him again.
Madeline could taste blood in her mouth from how hard she'd bit down on her lip to keep any noise from her to a minimum, the walls at the clubhouse were way too thin for her to let herself go completely. Happy leaned in and kissed her, "quit that shit," he mumbled against her lips. "Let me hear you."
"Everyone is..."
"Fuck them, this is you and me. Let. Me. Hear. You." He punctuated each word by moving in and out of her, the hard fast strokes drew a moan from between her lips. Happy picked up the pace as she grew louder, he lowered her legs so she could move against him.
The headboard began to smash against the wall with every stroke as the intensity between the two of them grew hotter. Madeline's fingers were dug into his back, the slight sting of her nails biting into his skin only made him fuck her harder and faster.
He felt her come once, twice and after the third time he knew that he wasn't far behind. In one fluid motion he slid out of her and flipped her over. Madeline pulled herself up onto her knees, leaned forward and looked over her shoulder at him. "Fuck," Happy sank into her warmth, grabbed a handful of hair and put one hand on her hip.
"Oh," she began to move against him and he watched his cock slide in and out of her several times before he bucked his hips against hers, "Hap!"
"You gonna go again Girl?"
"Yes, please," she added with as innocent a smile as she could manage under the circumstances. All of the self control he'd held onto, and it hadn't been much, was gone. He thrust hard against her, felt her body tightening around him just as he knew that there was no holding on any longer. He came with a roar, buried as far inside of her as he could be.
"Oh shit," Madeline collapsed beneath him when he went still, "that was..."
"HAP!" Jax's voice came from the other side of the door followed by the banging of his fist against the wood. "We got a lead on Juice."
"Two minutes," Happy pressed his lips to Madeline's shoulder as he slid out of her, "grab my bag from the closet Mad?"
"The black one?" Madeline sat up as well, swung her legs off of the bed. It was very rare these days that Happy took the black bag out, she knew that the situation called for it but it always made her worry when he had to pull out his special skills.
"Yeah," Happy dressed quickly and efficiently, sliding on his cut over the tee shirt he'd grabbed from the bed, "stay in the club house until I get back."
"I will." Madeline retrieved the bag out of the closet, it was actually pretty heavy because it was so well stocked. "Come back."
"I always do," he moved forward to take the bag from her. "Love you Mad."
"Love you more," she stretched up and kissed him.
37 37 37
Juice watched as the sleek black rat ran around in the cage Anthony had placed right at his eye level. The man had taken extreme pleasure in telling him his plans for the rat, metal bucket and blow torch he'd also placed where it could be seen. Then he'd walked out the door, left him there to stare at the fucking rat that was going to eat his insides. He'd heard of this being done before but had never seen it, it was a fate reserved for those who betrayed the club by talking to law enforcement or giving up secrets to a rival. It wasn't a quick way to go, it was a long hard and bloody death. Juice desperately hoped it wasn't his hard and bloody death.
He didn't know where his brothers were but he hoped like hell that they'd hurry up and get there before Anthony got back and put the rat to use. As the pain began to clear from his mind, he was able to think better. He just had to keep thinking, figure out a way to get the hell out of this situation.
Anthony seemed different than he had before, he was still angry but maybe just maybe he was a little shaken. He hadn't run his mouth off, his words had been brief and to the point. It wasn't much at all but it could have been an opening for him to get himself out of this mess.
37 37
The warehouse was set far back in a deserted lot off of the highway, along side it ran abandoned train tracks. There was little traffic, it was a perfect spot to hide someone. Happy glanced over to Jax. "How sure was Laroy?"
"Ninety nine percent," the President told him, "had Wolf from Tacoma run the address and the property is owned by one of Tran's shell corporations. It might be it, might not. There's only one way to find out. We go in."
Happy nodded and drew his guns from the holsters, he checked the clips and the safety. It was time to end this shit with Tran, get right with the Irish and have shit go back to the way it was supposed to be. He was ready to finish this, they all were.
Happy was the first to enter the building, Jax right behind him. The first floor was empty and they couldn't hear anything. There was a staircase leading upstairs. Opie motioned that he and Chibs would go up while Jax, Happy and Kozik checked the first floor.
It took them only minutes to realize that the place was completely empty despite the Acura they found parked in the back by a loading dock. "Fuck," Jax let out a frustrated sound and lit a cigarette.
"I'll call Leroy," Opie spoke up, "see if he has any other great fucking spots in mind."
"Wait a second," Happy held up his hand and they all fell quiet, "you hear that?"
"What?" Jax looked around.
"Sounded like..." Happy trailed off, listening again. It had been faint but he was damn sure that it was a scream. The warehouse had a basically open floor plan, they'd checked all the rooms so they knew that they were empty, where could it have come from? He knew that he heard it.
They remained quiet for several moments and then Happy heard it again. It was louder this time, clearer.
"I heard it that time," Kozik spoke up, "there a basement in this place?"
"Jesus Christ," Jax tossed his cigarette, "split up, find it."
37 37
Aiden was happily bouncing up and down in a portable crib in the corner of the room while Madeline did her best to clean up. She couldn't stand a mess and needed something to do in order to keep her mind off wondering about what Happy was doing. It was easier to stay occupied at home because there was so much more there to do.
She stripped the bed, made a face at the panties she found beneath the mattress. They certainly weren't hers and were actually stiff. "Disgusting," she said as she grabbed them with a tissue and dropped them into a bag.
A knock sounded on the door and a second later Tara pushed it open. "Hey, the kids are going nuts in here so I'm going to take them out to the yard so they can play. You guys want to join us?"
Happy had been clear about her staying inside the club house and she wanted to show him that she did listen to him. "Actually, we're going to hang out in here until the guys get back."
"You're going to get cabin fever sitting in here, it's just right outside. If you want to keep cleaning I can just take Aiden."
"We're staying inside," Madeline said firmly, "maybe you should too. Just to be safe."
"It's just out in the yard Maddy, it'll be fine."
"I remember the yard getting shot up," she pointed out, "with Abel out there."
"Yeah, that's actually a pretty good point," Tara agreed. "So, everything good between you and Happy? Sounded like you did a lot of making up last night. Thin walls," she added with a smile.
"Everything is great," she replied, "everything good with you and Jax?"
"Never better," Tara replied, "maybe I'll take a look through the DVD's Juice has here and see if there's anything that the kids haven't seen yet instead of going outside. It's sort of hot out there anyway. You want me to take Aiden? The boys have been asking for him."
"That's fine as long as he's inside," Madeline smiled, "we're in trouble with these guys being so close, going to give us all gray hair."
"Trust me," Tara laughed, "I've found a few already."
"Me too, especially lately because I've been shedding hair like crazy." Madeline dropped the garbage back into the trash can and pressed her hand to her lower back. It had been aching all day, no doubt because of her activities the night before.
"Really?" Tara eyed her. "I remember that happening with me," a smile crossed the woman's face, "it was when I was pregnant with Thomas."
"I'm not pregnant Tara, I took a test and it was negative. Besides, right now probably isn't the best time for more kids."
"There is no best time," the woman corrected her, "there's just the moments that we live in. If I've learned anything, it's that. When did you take this test?"
"The other day, why?"
"Because nothing is one hundred percent accurate," Tara's grin grew wider, "and sometimes if you take them too early nothing shows up anyway."
"I'd know if I was pregnant," Madeline assured her.
"Like you knew with Aiden?"
"Shut up," she said because she couldn't deny what the truth in Tara's words. Aiden had been a surprise, the best surprise of her life. Still, she didn't want to think about being pregnant again and have it not be the case. The let down would be too much, the let down when she'd taken the test had been bad enough. "Is there a rug shampooer in this place?"
"We usually rent one a few times a year and have the prospects do them. We do have pregnancy tests though."
"Remember the last time you swore I was pregnant? You were wrong. You're wrong now."
"Then take the test and prove it, unless you're chicken shit."
"Did you seriously just call me chicken shit? Are we twelve?"
"Who's chicken shit?" Luann's voice questioned from the hallway.
"Madeline is," Tara informed her, "unless she takes a pregnancy test."
Luann gasped, followed by a giggle as she pushed the door open and stepped in the room. "What's the problem with taking the test Maddy?"
"I'm not pregnant, you know what? I'll take the test and when it's negative I'm going to say I told you so and you're going to do my dish duty for the rest of this lock down and all of the next one."
"Fine," Tara replied, smug smile firmly in place, "and when I'm right and you are pregnant you're going to be stuck with my dish duty instead."
"Deal." Madeline told her. "Go get the test."
37 37
They spread out over the entire warehouse, searching to find the entrance to the basement. The screams were louder now but they were no closer to finding how to get down to the underground floor. Happy was becoming more and more frustrated and then he spotted a sliver of light.
After that finding the release that opened the door was simple. No sooner than it opened did shots come flying out. Happy returned fire, the others were at his side in an instant and after a moment there were no more shots. Whoever was down there was either dead, badly hurt or out of ammo.
Chibs and Happy descended the stairs first, shot the two men who were still alive. "Jesus Christ," Chibs exclaimed as he looked around the room. It didn't look like a basement, it looked like an office.
There was only one other door, the screams were still echoing through the air at full volume. "That's him, that's Juice."
They moved forward without hesitation. Happy was the first through the door. They were all shocked to see what lay on the other side. Anthony stood in front of Juice, who was strapped to a table, and had a metal bucket held against his stomach.
Jax took the first shot, his bullet went through Anthony's shoulder, the man had been so intent on what he was doing it was like he hadn't heard the gunfire outside the room or the door opening. Maybe he hadn't, he looked surprised as he was turned around after the impact of the slug.
The metal bucket fell to the floor with a clatter, Kozik swore as a rat drenched in blood took off to hide in a corner. Anthony scrambled for his gun but Chibs moved quicker than he could. "I don't think so," he told the man, "don't worry, the fun is just getting started."
Opie and Kozik were already working on unstrapping Juice from the table. "Looks bad," Kozik called out, "need to get him to a hospital."
"No hospital," Juice spoke, his voice raw. He'd started screaming when the rat started on him. Who could have stayed quiet during that. "Club house. Tara."
"He's right," Jax nodded, "you two get him back there. We've got some catching up to do with Anthony here. Isn't that right Hap?"
"Get him on the table, I'll get my bag." Happy smiled, the fun was really about to start.