Ophelia was exhausted. It'd been a very long time since she'd seen daylight, but between the police questioning, the family reunion, and the lack of morphine, she couldn't keep her eyes open.
"You okay, baby?" Jax's voice broke through her stupor, and she opened her eyes. The bright internal lights of the ambulance made her head pound. She saw Jax cast a glance in the EMT's direction, and immediately, the overhead fluorescents were extinguished.
"I'm alright, Daddy," she answered. "Just really, really tired. I just haven't been out of bed—" Her voice trailed off, and she fell asleep. Jax wiped her hair away from her face and stared at his broken daughter.
She'd been through so much, as had Hannah. He'd been present when Jack Petty questioned them. He fought back tears as he played the moments back in his mind.
"So you're telling me that Lucius had you hooked to a continuous morphine pump?" Petty had asked.
"Yes," Ophelia replied. So did you, you sonofabitch, she thought. She had enough Teller within her DNA to know when to let certain information go. She was smart enough to realize that the hefty officer was not the mastermind behind this madness. There was someone bigger, more connected behind it. Until more clues surfaced as to who that person was, Ophelia wasn't going to tell a soul about the Jack Petty connection.
She could see Petty searching her face, trying to assure himself that she had no clue what was going on. You're caught, you bastard, her brain screamed, but her face a perfect study in cluelessness. She hadn't even told Hannah of what she knew. It was easier keeping a secret if no one else knew it. Hannah was better off not knowing; this way, her sister-in-law could focus on Abel getting better and eventually welcoming their first child into the world.
"And you, Hannah? Were you drugged at all?" Petty turned to Abel's wife.
"Not since they took me," she replied. It was now Petty's turn to harbor a secret. None of them knew that he was the one that took Hannah. It had been far easier than even he'd anticipated. Lucius had called him from the shop to let him know Hannah was alone—they'd been waiting for the opportunity since Jax and Tara had left, and they had been running out of time.
Petty's head filled with the memory as he pretended to focus on Hannah's answers. After Lucius' phone call, he headed towards the Tellers' house. He'd brought his personal vehicle to the house. For once, he was grateful for the fake friendship he'd had with Jax—it gave him insight on their property. That's how he knew of the small gulley on the edge of the property. It was shallow enough for him to park the truck there, but deep enough where no one could see him at all, not even Hannah.
"Do you remember being taken?" Petty questioned. He was careful with his words. He didn't want any suspicion to lie with him. Because I remember, he thought.
Entering the house had been easy. The door had been unlocked. Silver Spring was a small enough town that few people cared about locked doors. Bad things typically didn't happen there. That's why WitSec chose it for the Tellers, not realizing that housing the fugitives in such a tight-knit place only opened the family up to being found. Petty worried about Hannah being completely alone, but Lucius had assured him at the time that Hannah was the only one in the house.
As he hit the top of the stairs, he spied her, laying alone in Abel's bed, fast asleep.
This is way too goddamned easy, he thought as he advanced towards her. For a moment, he stood, just watching her sleep. After those first few seconds, he reached deep in his pocket and produced a small vial and a syringe. Propofol. Petty smiled. Knocks em out every time.
She only woke once the syringe punctured her skin. If she saw Petty, she wouldn't remember it. Her reaction to the Propofol was immediate, and it provided him enough time to trash the place and make it look like a struggle. He made quick work of it all, and before Ophelia and Delylah could get back from their outing, Hannah Teller was safely in Jack Petty's truck, headed towards her elegant prison.
Hannah shook her head in the negative.
"I don't remember anything," she stated. Her hands rested on her belly. She protectively rubbed her abdomen, content with the flutters of life within. There was a strange calm about her, but Petty was certain she hadn't linked him to her disappearance.
Hours passed, and Petty, satisfied with the girls' responses, made arrangements for them to receive medical attention. Given their separate and delicate conditions, a hospital checkup was required. As he had with Victor, Jax insisted that Hannah and Ophelia go to Valley Memorial. The hospital had been good to them, and Jax, once comfortable with something, was loathe to let it go. It wasn't long before the ambulances arrived. Each girl had her own. Ophelia was loaded into one, Hannah in the other. Jax quickly boarded with his daughter, leaving Delylah to pile in with Hannah. Thomas and Will
All the Tellers under one roof, Jax thought sadly. He'd already alerted Tig and Althea of their unbelievable good fortune, but he'd given strict instructions to not tell Tara or Venus. Jax wanted Tara to find out by laying eyes on both girls, not hearing it from his lips. This would leave no room for doubt. That was the best way to inform her, and Jax knew if Venus caught wind of any of it, she'd tell Tara immediately. After all the Teller matriarch had been through, she deserved a beautiful reunion with Ophelia and Hannah. He knew Venus meant well, but he also knew that the excitement she'd feel having the girls home would be hard for Tig's wife contain.
He could feel his phone vibrating as he stroked Ophelia's hair. He knew it was Tara, and as much as it pained him to do so, he ignored it.
"I'll be there soon, baby," he whispered. "Just be patient with me."
#######################################################################
Tara was far from patient as she clicked her phone off. She knew she wouldn't see Jax—they'd agreed on that before he left—but it wasn't like him not to answer her calls or her texts. Suddenly, she was catapulted back to Charming, to a time where she wouldn't hear from him for days. Her memory was full of Gemma, of Clay, of Otto. Smatterings of Nero and Unser haunted her as well, and she closed her eyes, trying to get her bearings. This isn't the same thing, she thought. We're not going back there.
"Everything okay, darlin'?" Venus' voice forced her eyes open. She'd been with Tara for a couple hours now. Tig had requested her presence, stating that he and Althea had some business to attend to back in Silver Spring. What Venus didn't know is that they were both at the police station with Jack Petty, trying to put together the clues from the girls' questioning. They'd arrived just as the ambulances did, and yet another small reunion happened.
"This is fucking crazy," Althea breathed as Delylah climbed in Hannah's ambulance. The EMT closed the doors behind them and jumped into the driver's seat.
"Tell me about it," Jax said low. His pale blue eyes were glossy with unshed tears. He couldn't believe how everything just fell into place like this. Now, they just needed to figure out who was behind it all. Althea knew, just as Jax and Tig did, that once they figured that part out, they'd know who killed Chibs. She couldn't wait for that day. Revenge boiled in her blood, and she ached to exact it on their elusive enemy.
"What do you need us to do?" Tig was just as hungry for redemption; Jax could see it in his icy eyes.
"Stay here, help Jack," Jax said quietly. "From what Hannah and Op said, they weren't in some nasty hovel. Their accommodations were pretty fucking posh, actually. The car is brand new. GPS had to get them here, figure out what happened with that. Maybe this will be seamless."
"For some reason, I don't think that will be the case," Althea interjected. Her gut told her to not trust the ease of all this. Her gut also told her that there was something fucked up within the Silver Spring PD. She'd never run into as many issues in an investigation. She'd never had so many road blocks. She wasn't sure of who was behind it all, but she knew deep down, it all rested with Jack Petty. She just needed concrete proof before she went to Jax about it, and she was waiting for that from outside sources.
"I feel better with you here," Jax replied, and Althea nodded. Tig rested his hand on Jax's shoulder.
"We'll figure it out," Tig promised. "We always do."
"Thank you, Brother," Jax said softly. He reached out and hugged the older man, then turned and hugged Althea as well. They stayed while Jax left for the hospital.
########################################################################
Tara had no idea that Tig and Althea had stuck by the police station. She had no idea that Jax was headed her way, having left the station almost two hours ago. All she knew was that her husband wasn't answering her calls, and that could never come to any good.
"I'm fine, Venus," Tara said. Venus looked at her friend, and worry filled her. She could see the weariness in Tara's hazel eyes. It had been ages since she'd bothered with makeup. Her long, dark hair was in a perpetual ponytail, and her uniform of jeans, a plain t-shirt, and sneakers only made her look worse.
"You're not fine, sugar," Venus countered. "Why don't you go to the cabin for a bit? Get some rest, take a shower in your own bathroom?"
Tara's eyes were blank as they stared through Venus. She didn't bother speaking; she just shook her head, and turned her eyes back to Abel. Being weaned off the machines was the only good thing Tara could see, but even that came with possible problems. What happens when you wake up and ask for Hannah? Will you remember what happened? Will you remember anything?
"I know you're scared," Venus murmured as she stood and walked over to her old friend. "I'm not a conventional mama by any means, but I am a mama too. Joey is over thirty, and I still worry about him every single day. He's married with a baby on the way, and I still see him as a little kid. I'm still trying to protect him from my demons."
Tara blinked and looked up at Venus. It took one helluva woman to endure almost two decades within SAMCRO, and Tara knew that Venus had bigger odds stacked against her. Her relationship with Tig, when it began, was extremely difficult; not for them, really, but for everyone else. Her complicated, gender fluid identification of herself was not widely accepted. The fact that their love was still going strong was not just a testament of Tig's complete infatuation with her, but it was a testament to Venus' pure, gentle spirit. Despite the chaos Chibs' arrival brought, she was more than grateful to have Venus back in her life.
"We never quite let them go, do we?" Tara asked, leaning back against her friend's perfectly pressed slacks. Venus stroked Tara's ponytail, and Tara was content to let her do it.
"I don't reckon so," Venus replied. "They say it's worse when you're a grandma." Venus cringed at her own choice of words. "Tara, I'm sorry, I-"
"Don't worry about it," Tara said. "My grandbaby is going to be fine. I have to believe that. I just have to."
Venus nodded mutely. She couldn't imagine Joey's wife being the same kind of danger Hannah was in. She couldn't imagine losing her grandchild. Tears welled up in her eyes. The thought consumed her for the moment, and she could not concentrate on nothing else.
"Your phone is buzzing," Tara broke into her thoughts. Venus came back to reality. She gently removed her fingers from Tara's hair and grabbed her phone off the rolling table. Jax's name lit up the screen, confusing her, but she answered anyway.
"Hello?"
"Don't tell her it's me, Venus," Jax quickly instructed. There was no time for hellos.
"Oh—Okay," Venus said with a strange, false smile. "Hold on just a minute." She pulled the phone from her ear and looked at Tara. "I'm gonna take this is the hallway, darlin." Tara nodded, her gaze back on Abel. Venus walked out of the room, her heels clicking on the sterile, white tiles. She closed the door gently behind her.
"What the hell is going on, Jax?" she whispered. "Tara has been worried sick about you—why aren't you answering her calls?"
"Come downstairs, Venus. I'm by the emergency room. You'll understand when you get down here. Just don't tell Tara where you're going. Promise?"
"Okay," she breathed. "See you in a minute." She didn't bother telling Tara anything—it would be easier that way. She won't even know I'm gone, she thought as she made it to the nearby elevator. Her heart pounded as she pushed the button to the first floor. It seemed to take forever to make it there, but once she did, she found herself walking fast towards the ER. It didn't take long for her to arrive there, but when she didn't see Jax, she was confused. She wandered for a second, looking for him, but as she walked by the sliding glass doors, she caught a shock of silvery-gold hair. There you are. She rushed out the door.
"Jax!" Venus called. He turned in her direction, and a tremulous smile spread across his lips. Just behind him two ambulances. As she neared, she was shocked to see Delylah jump from one of them. Will and Thomas were crossing the parking lot to meet them.
"Venus," Jax said softly as he spanned the distance between them.
"What is going on? Is Alex with you?" she looked around for her husband, but she couldn't find him. "Is Althea?"
"No, they're at the police station with Jack Petty," he explained as he grabbed her hand. "C'mon." He took off, and it was either follow or fall. Within seconds, they were nearing the EMTs, who now stood outside the ambulances, doors open, ready to unload their precious cargo.
Jax, unable to hold it in anymore, brought her to the back ambulance. The doors were open.
"What's going on?" she asked once more. Her dark eyes were confused.
"Just look inside," Jax responded, stepping aside. Venus listened, and she peered around the door. It was then her eyes grew wide, and she gasped.
"Venus," Ophelia whispered with a huge smile. Venus couldn't help the tears that rolled down her cheeks. She thought she'd never see the young girl alive again. She looked rough—her face still sported a couple of yellow-green bruises. Beneath the discoloration, she was paler than usual, and her gorgeous red hair looked dull and limp, but Ophelia Teller was alive, and she would quickly return to her former glory, of that Venus had no doubt. She turned and looked at Jax, who was speaking quietly to Delylah.
"Opie! Oh God," she cried. Reaching into the ambulance, she grabbed the younger girl's hand and squeezed. A brilliant smile lit Venus features as let go, allowing the EMTs to pull her gurney out. She turned back to Jax. "I can't—how—what the hell? How did you-?" She couldn't speak. It was insane. Jax had managed to, in less than a day of concentrated searching, found his daughter. "Is Hannah here too?"
"On her way inside," Jax explained, nodding in her direction. Delylah walked by her side, oblivious to what was going on around them. Just over Jax's shoulder, she could see Thomas and Will entering the hospital, and there was no doubt that they were running to Abel's room to get Tara. By then, Venus realized, both Ophelia, who was being pulled from the ambulance, and Hannah, who was already inside, would be settled in the ER bays.
"What happens now?" Venus asked. "Are Alex and Althea coming back?"
"Later on," Jax stated. "As soon as they make sure they've covered every base." Venus nodded. For a moment, a stab of sadness took over. Any second, she'd be surrounded by the Tellers and their reunions, and she couldn't help but feel like an outsider, like she was intruding.
"Let's go in," Venus said. "Tara will be down any minute, and she's going to be floored."
Jax nodded and walked toward the ER doors. Venus followed. The lights were bright and intrusive as she spied the two girls. Ophelia, who was in poorer health, already had triage nurses in her bay. Jax asked Petty to call ahead and alert the staff, and he was pleased that his old friend came through. Venus, smiled reassuringly and walked past her, knowing that she would be able to sit with her, once everything settled. Seeing Delylah hovering by the open curtain of the next bay, Venus walked to her. Delylah smiled openly and wrapped Venus in a tight, friendly embrace. As they broke apart, Delylah turned and faced Hannah. Abel's wife's eyes were wide as she took Venus in. She almost appeared judgmental. Maybe I think too much, she thought.
"I see my reputation proceeds me," Venus chuckled nervously. It'd been a long time since she had to explain herself; even here, in the depths of redneck country, she rarely had to answer to anyone, because no one really asked about her past or present. If they couldn't accept her, they simply ignored her. She preferred it that way, but as Hannah eyed her, Venus couldn't make out her thoughts. That's what made her nervous.
"This is Venus Trager," Delylah explained. "Tig's amazing wife." She turned and faced Venus once more. "I told her all about y'all—all of y'all. About how much you've helped—about how amazing you are."
"I'm so glad to meet you," Hannah said as she smiled. "Your reputation definitely proceeds you—but it's all good things. There's much to take in right now—"
"I can only imagine," Venus replied with a heartfelt smile. She was relieved that it was just her being overwhelmed. She had been genuinely worried.
"I don't know why I'm even here." Tara's voice rang, loud and clear. "I don't like leaving your brother alone, you know that."
"Trust me, Mama," Thomas said. "Abel will be fine, and you won't be disappointed."
Venus turned just in time to see Jax speed by and intercepted Tara.
"What the hell, Jax?" Tara asked as he approached her. "You can't be bothered to answer my calls, and now you want to fucking surprise me? I don't have time for this shit—" They were still walking. Now, less than a few feet away from Hannah, Jax patiently allowed her rant. She saw nothing but him as she continued walking. Thomas and Will, who now trailed behind, were an afterthought. She didn't see Venus or Delylah. All she saw was red as Jax walked next to her.
"Babe, I—" Jax tried to respond, but Tara stopped him.
"No," she stated as she stopped in her tracks. "I'm going back upstairs. Instead of buying me surprises, maybe you should find our daughters."
Jax gritted his teeth in a mix of annoyance and frustration. His blue eyes flashed as he grabbed her arm and pulled her back in the other direction.
"No," Jax retorted. "You're coming with me. I'm sorry that I didn't call or text, babe, but I'm not going to let your anger fuck this up."
Tara glared at him as she followed. As she neared Hannah's bay, she opened her mouth to speak, but as she glanced in the other direction, she abruptly stopped. Her mouth gaped open, and she had to remind herself to breathe.
"Hannah?" her voice cracked. She looked to Jax, dumbstruck. Her eyes hungrily drank the girl in before she rushed by her side. Unable to help herself, Tara wrapped Hannah in a tight, fast embrace, and she was shocked at the belly her daughter-in-law now sported. As they broke apart, Tara saw Hannah's eyes fill with tears.
"Is Abel awake?" Hannah carefully asked.
"Not yet, baby," Tara crooned. "Tomorrow morning. They're weaning him down every few hours. As long as he holds on through the night, Dr. Parker says he'll be completely off by then. When he wakes up is anybody's guess."
Hannah brushed away the tears that fell down her cheeks and nodded in understanding.
"I'll get to see him, right? Can I be there?" Hannah had waited so long for this moment; she never imagined Abel not being awake. She couldn't believe he'd been sick for so long. She silently prayed for her husband, unsure of what else to do.
"As long as your doctor clears it," Jax answered for Tara. "I know you want to see Abel, but we have to see if the baby is okay too." Hannah nodded once more.
"I'm so glad you're alright, Hannah," Tara whispered.
"I'm actually feeling okay—I'm just glad Op and I could make it out," Hannah replied. Tara's hazel eyes widened, and she turned to Jax again.
"Op?" Tara wasn't sure she heard that right. "Ophelia?" She looked at Jax again, whose face broke into a wide, heartbreakingly beautiful grin. He cocked his head in the direction of the adjacent bay. Before anyone could utter a syllable, Tara was up and running next door. Before Jax could round the corner, he could hear Tara's jubilant cries of relief.
"Ophelia Rose," she sobbed. "Oh my God." Jax peeked his head around the curtain. Tara had all but cradled the long, lean girl in her arms. Pure joy was etched across his wife's face as she rocked back and forth, holding the child that had been so lost.
"Mama," Ophelia murmured sleepily. "I'm okay. I got out. I'm free." Jax leaned against the wall, arms crossing the wide expanse of his chest as he watched mother and daughter reunite. Thomas and Delylah had followed, while Will remained by Hannah's side. Delylah turned slightly and saw Venus heading towards the elevator, and she knew that Mrs. Trager was going to sit by Abel, since Tara was happily, otherwise occupied. Tara pulled away from her child and carefully cradled Ophelia's still discolored face in her hands.
"You're also fucking grounded," Tara smiled in jest. "You're not going any-fucking-where. Not for a long, long time."
The room dissolved in good-natured laughter, but Delylah watched her twin carefully stare back at their mother. She half-expected Ophelia to fight, to rally against the joke. After all, her mood was so tumultuous before Lucius took her, one never knew how she'd react. Ophelia's face was blank for a second, and Delylah thought the worst. Please, Op. Don't—
"Agreed," Ophelia said, a tired, but finally relaxed grin upon her face. "I'm not leaving your side any time soon."
For the moment, the world was right again. If Abel wakes up, Delylah thought, We just might be okay. It was then that Delylah and Thomas looked at one another and breathed in relief. The Tellers were still a functioning, whole family unit—at least for the time being.