Oh my God! It's been so long and look! I wrote a chapter! Ah! I'm proud of myself for that. I've been caught up in the new season and a whole other bunch of excuses that I won't bore you with so the fact I got this out makes me happy. I hope you guys enjoy it. I really do. AND, (don't quote me on this... even though I'm actually writing it down as evidence) I am going to try and get at least one more chapter out for the holidays. Hopefully more, but I'm going to strive for at least one more. Okay, enjoy! and let me know what you guys think.
Chapter 51
Ablation
Opie and Jax sat at the picnic table, the President relaying everything that had happened since their stint in county, everything. Aside from Tara, Opie was the only other person (not involved) that knew exactly what was happening and after everything he'd done for Jax… the blond couldn't lie to him. Not anymore.
"Shit," Opie muttered, leaning against the table again, he and Jax sitting backwards on the bench with their backs against the top.
"Yeah," Jax agreed. He took a long drink of his beer and tossed the empty can into the pool.
The water rippled and the can bobbed on the surface as silence moved between them again.
"What are you gonna do?"
"I don't know," Jax sighed, leaning forward and running his fingers through his hair before propping his elbows against his knees. He stared out at the water, shaking his head lightly. "There's so much shit in motion right now… And Chibs is still missin'…. I just…" he shrugged.
"You should've let me fucking kill him."
The words were guttural, evil and vindictive. Jax glanced to Opie and saw why. The young man looked like he was in physical pain at the mere thought of Clay Marrow. He even went so far as to clench his broken hand, busting open the scabs that had formed, but he never noticed it. He was too deep into his hate for the former President, too deep in his loathing and rage. Jax's brows came together sadly for his brother.
"I know bro." he muttered softly. "But you know why I couldn't. Besides, I didn't have any evidence to…"
"You had proof!" Opie bellowed, shooting up from his seat and squaring himself off on his brother. Jax wasn't angry; he understood Opie's rage and didn't react. "Unser, your mom…"
"And what about the Irish? The Feds?" Jax countered. "They were up our ass, and none of that shit about Clay and your old man came out till after he got out of the hospital. I couldn't risk it."
Opie was almost shaking with hate, but he bit his tongue. Literally. So many things wanted to come spilling out that he had to physically bite down on his tongue or risk it coming out. Again, Jax understood. All of it, every decision he made and Clay made before him somehow always landed on Opie. It was like the shit was drawn to the young man and no matter what it'd affect him the deepest.
"I don't know how many times I can say it, but I'm sorry Ope. I am." Jax said sincerely.
Opie glanced down at the blond and felt himself sigh. He could tell Jax never meant anything he did to be negative, it was just the way everything landed. Taking another deep breath to try and calm himself down, Opie ran his fingers through his hair and regained his seat, his eyes on the yard.
"And now you're in bed with Pope, dude who burns people alive." Opie said under his breath. "And tried to kill me."
"It's a shaky truce." Jax clarified. "I don't like it, none of us do, but we ain't ever gone up against a guy like Pope. Piss him off, he'd slaughter everything SAMCRO, from the Club to anyone who knows us." He said sadly, knowing in his heart he wasn't exaggerating. "Besides, he's buying us over." Opie turned and gave Jax a skeptical, questioning look. "Gave us the address of that guard you hit."
There was a glint, an evil glint, in Jax's eyes that let Opie know the guard wasn't around anymore. A soft chuckle left Opie's lips in one breath. He didn't know why, but knowing his brothers 'avenged' him and finished what he'd started inside made him feel better, almost proud.
"Yeah well… at least he didn't go after your family, I guess."
"Yeah," Jax scoffed sarcastically, knowing the alternative wasn't any better.
"Tara freak?"
Jax chuckled before he could stop himself. He turned enough to see Opie over his shoulder.
"She punched Gemma in the face, bro."
Opie smiled before he could stop himself. It wasn't that he was glad to hear Gemma was injured, he still considered her a mother, but he couldn't fight the grin at the thought of Tara lashing out at the Matriarch.
"Jesus," he muttered, still smiling and shaking his head.
Jax only nodded and again silence began to move in. There was a lot to talk about, the pair having done it, but it was still so awkward to be around each other again. Both had their reasons, but while Jax was overjoyed on the inside, part of him wasn't sure he had the right to be. With the way he'd treated Opie before they went in to county, and after, and knowing how much he hurt his brother, he didn't want to assume anything.
"So, you gonna tell me what happened to your hand, or what?" Jax finally asked, leaning back against the tabletop again to better see Opie's right hand.
The large man glanced to it briefly, turning it one way and the other before dropping it again to his leg. He shrugged a shoulder.
"He punched a car." Alex replied.
She drew their attention, appearing in the doorway with their fresh drinks and looking thoroughly disappointed in the fact.
"I think he broke his knuckles." She said, handing Jax his beer and then Opie his. "Maybe his hand."
"It's fine." Opie grumbled under his breath.
"Tara can have a look at it if you want. I mean, she can't do much cause of her hand, but she can at least clean it up, tell you is something's wrong." Jax offered.
Opie turned to his brother, his brows pooled together in the center of his head.
"She knows, bro." the blond confirmed. "She knows everything."
Opie nodded slowly. He didn't know why Jax would want to bring Tara into the fucked up life of the MC, but he knew she was too much like Alex not to. They were smart, smarter than other ol' ladies and a hell of a lot smarter than crow eaters. There was no hiding anything from the two young women bright enough to put two and two together.
"I still can't believe she married your dumbass." Alex said under her breath.
"No shit." Opie agreed.
"Fuck the both of you." Jax said forcing the pair to smile at him. Jax chuckled and shook his head before reaching for his cell phone to check the time. He sighed heavily. "Shit, I gotta go. It's late."
Jax pushed his body up and stretched, stiff from sitting in the same position for well over an hour. He turned and looked to Opie who was in the process of standing. Opie reached for Jax and hugged him again, almost as tightly as he had the first time. After a moment or two they parted and Alex moved in to hug her brother. There was love there, but not the desperate, relieved love he had for Opie.
"I'll call you tomorrow." Alex said as they parted.
Jax nodded. "I'll talk to Tara about your hand." He told Opie. "Love you guys."
"Love you." Alex said while Opie nodded his sentiment.
Jax looked to his brother, his eyes lingering for a moment before he turned and left the backyard. It was almost like part of him knew he might never see Opie again and he had to make sure he got one final good look beforehand.
Alex sighed when Jax was gone, the sound of the bike disappearing in the distance. She stretched, her body stiff and sore for some unknown, non-physical reason.
"Let's go to bed." She said, rolling her head to look up at Opie.
"Yeah," he nodded, feeling the weight of his day drag his shoulders down. He nodded again as though solidifying his statement. "Yeah."
Alex reached for his unbroken hand and gently pulled him towards the house. She'd begun to notice that since being in Charming, there was little Opie did on his own. It seemed like he was stuck somehow, unable to do much of anything without gentle persuasion. Like going inside to sleep, he needed Alex to initiate his trek like he couldn't make himself do it on his own.
During the day, while she was out grabbing all of the random things she seemed to have to get, Alex wisely bought a large blanket, pair of cheap pillows and cheap airbed. It didn't dawn on her at the time that she didn't have electricity until she nearly made it home with her purchase. Kicking herself for doing something so stupid, Alex turned around, returned the air pump she'd purchased and switched it out for one that actually had a car lighter adapter. It was awkward, blowing up the airbed with her damn car lighter, but she'd rather sleep on it than the cushions alone. Opie just thought it was funny, sitting back and watching her maneuver the king sized air bed as it inflated through her car door.
With the cushions on the ground, she placed the airbed on top of them for added cushioning and lay down beside Opie. The small trip home was turning into an adventure and she didn't like it. She was supposed to go in and out, not linger. Lingering was what caused problems. Lingering made the risk of Opie being seen greater.
The pair made themselves comfortable on the bed, adjusting themselves and the blanket before settling. Alex curled into Opie's side again and while she waited for sleep to take her like it had before, it wouldn't. Instead she was left staring at the wall that once held Emmett's cat blood message thinking. Opie had the same problem. His body was exhausted, but his mind wouldn't stop and he found himself staring at the ceiling.
Minutes passed and still neither was able to sleep. No matter how tired, they just couldn't sleep.
"Ope," Alex whispered, unsure of whether or not he'd been lucky enough to drift.
"Hm?" he asked. He didn't bother being verbal while she was lying on his chest.
Alex pulled back and rested her head on her pillow so she could see him. Opie rolled his head to the side and saw worry on her face. There hardly seemed to be a time she wasn't frightened, confused or worried. He missed her happy…
"I…" she began before finding herself stumbling over the words. She knew what she wanted to say, but Alex was having trouble putting it into a tangible sentence. "The fuck happens now?"
Her words were barely a whisper and not needing to be any louder. She stared at him, her brows pulled tightly together. It forced him to mimic the emotion.
Opie had been propping his head up on his pillow with his left arm. When Alex spoke, he pulled it out from under his head and reached for her, gently cupping her cheek. He ran his thumb along her skin.
"I don't know." He told her honestly. "What do you want to do?"
Alex took a deep breath and felt herself shrug.
"Heal." She replied, her eyes turning glassy. "I just want to heal." His gaze turned sad as she verged on tears. "I mean shit," she sighed. "When can we just sit back and breathe? I just want to breathe,"
Her breath hitched and Opie pulled her close. He let her rest her head on his chest again and cradled her, squeezing her lightly. He understood what she meant. The two of them had gone through more than any normal human should ever have to go through. While they weren't entirely alone, they kind of were. Jax knew how they felt, but only to a certain degree. He may have been the closest to it, but he wasn't in the middle of it like Opie and Alex.
"I know." He said softly, running his fingers through her hair as he held her. He pressed his cheek to the top of her head. "I know."
They remained that way until finally slipping into sleep. Sheer exhaustion eventually won out and the two were dead to the world until the following morning.
~~!~~
Opie roused first in the morning. He rolled off the airbed. It wasn't graceful, but it was the only way he could get off it, not only because it was so low but because airbeds weren't known for their stability. If he'd simply sat up, the air he displaced would be enough to likely roll Alex off the other side. Even though it'd be funny, Opie didn't much feel like having her angry first thing because she hit the carpeted floor with her face. He smiled to himself at the thought and went into the kitchen.
The running water caught her attention. Alex took a deep breath and sighed. She looked around before noticing Opie standing at the kitchen sink, his back to her. She watched him for a moment or two as he splashed water on his face. He wasn't wearing his shirt anymore which gave her a solid view of the Reaper smiling back at her. Part of her hated seeing it, knowing what it had done to the young man proudly wearing the patch, but part of her knew it was a necessary part of his life. The ink was as much a part of Opie as his own skin. He'd never black it out, even if he were meant to be dead. But as she watched him and saw him rub his wet hands over his shoulders to relieve the knots, she began to see the discoloration between the black lines.
Bruises still touched his skin. Most of them were faded, the deep brown and purple tones more or less gone and replaced with the sickly yellow and tan shades a bruise turned when it was nearly gone. It broke her heart that even a then, give or take a month later, he still had them. Her brows came together and Alex stood to join him.
Opie had turned the water off and planted his palms against the countertop on either edge of the sink. His shoulders were slack and his head was down. He was deep in thought when she snaked her arms around his waist and pressed her forehead to the spot between his shoulder blades. Opie jumped from the unexpected touch, but relaxed when he saw her small hands. He touched her arms briefly before turning. Alex relented her hold just enough he could move, then gripped him again and rested her cheek against his chest. Opie hugged her just as loosely, his chin resting on the top of her head.
"So," Opie sighed heavily. Alex heard his word rumble deeply in his chest before it left his mouth. For some odd, unknown reason, it made her smile. It was like when she was five years old and used to listen to her dad's heart. It was the same innocent, trivial little thing that made her feel kind of normal. "What's happening today?"
Alex shrugged her shoulders and kept her ear to his chest.
"I don't know." She replied. "But you definitely need to shower."
Opie laughed. It was real, borderline happy and made her stomach flutter. It had been so long, so unbelievably long, since she heard him laugh and mean it. It was a sound she never realized just how much she missed and it made her smile too.
"I'd be good with food." He replied finally.
"Yeah well," Alex craned her neck to look up at the man that stood so much taller than her. "Maybe if you'd eaten last night, you wouldn't be as hungry."
He made a face, something telling her he didn't appreciate her logic, but didn't refute she was right.
"I can go grab some take out from the diner, eggs, bacon, maybe some pancakes. What do you think?"
Opie shrugged. His hand came up to touch her cheek, but it quickly caught Alex's eye. It was black, blue, purple, brown, red and just about every other color you could think of with gashes across his knuckles. It looked worse than the night before now that it had time to settle.
"Jesus Christ." She gasped, pulling back enough to take his swollen hand into hers. Opie grumbled something under his breath about it not being so bad, but she ignored him. "I'm going to give Tara a call. Shit…" she sighed, turning his hand over and inspecting his fingers. "This looks so bad…"
Again Opie grumbled that it wasn't and again she ignored him. Stepping out of the kitchen, Alex grabbed her phone and called the only person who could help that wouldn't have a heart attack if they saw the eldest Winston above ground.
