Chapter One: Catching Up

"There's a face I never thought I'd see again," The jovial drawling voice turned more than one head in the grocery store. The locals of Charming, California, were used to the Sons of Anarchy, but they weren't so used to noise. The call was intended for only one person.

Ava stood at the head of the aisle, almost dropping the items she was holding. She shouldn't have been surprised, really. Coming back to Charming meant she was bound to bump into somebody she knew eventually. Still, his grin was infectious and she smiled back.

"Hi Jax." She held onto her groceries under one arm in order to return the hug he'd wrapped her in with at least one arm.

"How are you doing darlin'?" Jackson Teller smiled down at her. It wasn't an easy answer to give considering everything but Ava never let her smile fall from her face.

"Good. Just spending some time with Pops. How are you?"

"Better for seeing you," Jax replied, walking with her as she continued grocery shopping now that they were somewhat reacquainted. He snagged her a cart and she dumped her items into it gratefully.

"I heard you have a baby on the way." Jax may not have known that Ava was back in town but it was impossible to avoid knowing what was happening with him.

"Yeah… Wendy's pregnant…. it's early days though. Mom just couldn't keep it to herself," Jax shook his head. Ava remembered Gemma Teller very well too, though thankfully she'd had very few face-to-face dealings with the queen of bikers. She'd seen what became of those who fell on Gemma's bad side and used to make a point of staying out of her way and not troubling the matriarch.

"Last I heard you were getting divorced," Ava said semi-apologetically in response to his mention of Wendy. She shrugged. "Lynette blabbed."

"Lynette is a gossip," Jax smirked. "Nah, we are. I mean, I filed a while back. We tried to make another go of things, hence the baby, but…" He shrugged his shoulders just as Ava had as he walked her towards the checkout.

"That's tough. Sorry, Jax." And she meant it. Jax gave her another rueful smile as they paused before she could pick which line she wanted to join.

"Hey… look. I know I'm biased, but I never had your Dad down as someone that wanted anyone to spend time with," He referenced her earlier explanation for being back in town. Ava looked up at him; his blonde hair had grown longer since she had last seen him, but he hadn't quite lost that boyish charm- and if anything, his ability to discern someone hiding something had only intensified with age.

"He isn't," Ava admitted, sounding remarkably blasé, because she was nothing if not a master at brushing troubling things off. "He's sick, though." Illness alone probably wouldn't have been enough to bring her back after five years. Her father hadn't been much of a father to Ava or her sister. He'd been present physically and made sure they didn't starve, but that had been basically the limit of his parenting. Now, though, there was nobody else to take care of him. And Ava didn't have a good enough reason to stay away.

"How long has he got?" Jax quesrioned, doing the math on his own. Ava was glad she didn't have to explain.

"Could be weeks. A couple months," She shrugged again.

"Shit. I'm sorry to hear that." There was a pause. "Are you… taking care of him by yourself?" He asked, and Ava heard the question he didn't dare ask out loud.

"It looks that way," She replied, her words equally loaded. Jax returned the nod of her head with one of his own.

"Well… you know where we are," He said, leaning down to kiss her on the cheek, "It's good to have you back." Ava bade him goodbye, his loping saunter unchanged. As she began to load her shopping onto the belt, she thought about what Jax had asked again- if she was doing this alone. Her answer had been honest… well, shit, her Dad had never had much time for her and Lord knew she wasn't qualified for the job… but if she didn't come home he'd probably just rot away amongst all the junk he'd hoarded. He didn't exactly have many visitors or friends and it was obvious by the radio silence that her sister wasn't about to come home to help. Doctor Tara Knowles, after all, was far too important these days to have time for her family. That lowly task was left to her trashy little half-sister, Ava Jean.

In the end, Bill Knowles ended up on the mere 'weeks' spectrum of his prognosis. Ava didn't bother holding a real funeral for her Dad. He had to be Charming's least popular resident and there was no other family. She didn't even bother to invite Tara to come see him off. Ava and Tara hadn't really spoken for years anyway, other than the very occasional text message or Christmas card. Ava just had Skeeter burn the remains quietly, had a few moments with her thoughts, before arranging to come back and collect his ashes the following week.

She was halfway back out of the cemetery when she saw him.
Towering over her with those thick dark curls, the leather kutte, knife at his side and the unforgettable, penetrating blue eyes.

So far Ava had managed not to run into anybody else from SAMCRO after seeing Jax. She wasn't actively avoiding them, exactly, but she had stayed away from TM and the clubhouse. She had half expected to see him before this but he hadn't showed so she had questioned whether Jax had even mentioned the fact she was in town. It had been about a month, after all. But here he was: Tig Trager, strolling towards her. He looked cocky until he was right in front of her. The next thing she knew she was being wrapped up in his arms.

"I only just heard about your old man. I'm sorry, doll." Hearing his voice in her ear, smelling his cologne under her nose, it just took her back. Ava couldn't help holding him back. "If I'd known you were doin' this today I woulda been here." Tig held her by the shoulders, looking her up and down.

"You wouldn't have had to," She told him lamely. She did the math. It'd been so long…

"I don't care." Of course he didn't. "Baby… you shouldn't have had to do this alone."

"I know." It was an honest reply, one of the first Ava had given since she returned and had to deal with all these shadows and ghosts.

"What about your Mom?" Tig was watching her closely and Ava knew he was assessing her, seeing what was safe to say and what wasn't. Ava shrugged.

"She doesn't care. Not about him, not about me."

"No change there, huh?" Tig smirked. Ava felt her face muscles twitch into a smile, a weak one, but it was there.

"I guess not," Ava agreed. The two regarded each other for a moment.

"I'm guessin' that means your sister isn't coming back to look out for ya."

"When has she ever done that?" Tara had always only ever looked out for herself, at least if you asked Ava. Sure, now that she was a doctor she took care of her patients, but her blood family? Never. The two sisters had different mothers, and Tara's was long dead, but Ava thought her own detached mother's brief stint as Tara's step-mother had rubbed off on the older sister a little.

"True," Tig chuckled. "So what do you say? Wanna grab a drink?" Even though she'd been nervous to see him, Ava was actually glad to hear him offer that. A drink was exactyl what she needed after the ordeal she'd just suffered through alone, not just today but since she came back to care for her cantankerous, ungrateful father.

"Sure." Tig offered her his arm like it was the most natural thing in the world and Ava took it, making it look just as natural even though inside she felt strange touching him like this.

"You drive here?" He asked her. Ava nodded. "I'm on the bike. Follow me to the Mulberry?" It was a slightly trendier bar in town, which surprised Ava. Tig could tell, of course. He grinned. "Didn't think you'd be in the mood for the clubhouse and the Dog is crawling with Nazis."

"Darby's crew?" Ava had figured the Nords would've long been wiped out by now.

"They're like cockroaches. You stamp on 'em and it releases baby skinheads," Tig explained and Ava laughed. Tig always had a funny way of putting things. She let out a long breath as they reached the parking lot for the cemetery. It felt good to laugh.

"I'll see you on the other side."

Both Tig and Ava ignored any weird looks they got as they entered The Mulberry. Tig found them a booth tucked out of the way.
"We got some catching up to do," He said, ordering them both whiskey when the waitress came over. "Five years feels like a long time."

"I can't say I have a whole lot to tell."

"I don't believe ya, doll," He smirked back at her. "Come on… what about… work?"

"I've done a bunch of jobs. Most recently pressing the pump to put the jelly into donuts," Ava grinned. "You still at TM?"

"As much as ever," Tig answered, "You stayin' at your old man's?"

"Unfortunately. Surprised I could find enough space to sleep with all the fire hazard crap he's collected." Tig snorted at this.

"I kinda remember something. He really got that bad?" Ava may not have been too close to him but it still felt strange to refer to her father in the past tense… still.

"He had every copy of the Charming Times for the past fifteen years stacked up in the bath tub with a shitload of old Lego."

"Jesus Christ. So when all that kindling caught alight you'd have to run across all that Lego to get out. Shit. I'd take my chances against the fire." Ava laughed a little.

"What about you? Still in the same place?" Their whiskey had arrived.

"Yeah, as much as ever." Tig had hardly ever spent a night in his own home- he generally preferred the clubhouse. "You plan on sticking around in Charming?" Ava had known all along that this was the question he'd been building towards but it was still the one she had to pause before answering. She gulped at her whiskey before staring into the depths of her glass for a minute. Then she finally looked up at him.

"I haven't decided." Her father had left the house jointly to her and Tara and he didn't have much else to leave. Ava was going to try and clear the junk and see that everything that needed to be seen to got sorted but after that… she wasn't sure. She'd never been much for having a plan.

"You got a husband to get back to?" He asked this teasingly, though Ava was sure that this too was a question he'd been building up the nerve to ask in his unique Tig Trager way. Ava didn't mind though- she was curious herself.

"No husband," She answered. "You projecting that because of your wife?" She quipped playfully.

"A wife? Never. Can't believe you'd accuse me of getting married," Tig made a disgusted face before chuckling.

It felt a little strange to him, sitting across from Ava Knowles. It had been what felt like a whole lifetime since he saw her, but really five years wasn't such a long time. She had always been a pretty thing, with hair so dark it looked blue in the sun, and she'd rarely seemed to stop smiling or laughing. Jax and Tara, her sister, had been sweethearts and Tara had often been forced to drag her kid sister along. That was how she first met the club, but the rest came later. She became a friend, a croweater, a confidante… and a whole something else to Tig Trager. But shit went south like everything in his life always did, and she'd split.

When he'd heard she was back it had actually made him smile, though he'd been waiting for it to hurt, but he kept his distance. She probably didn't want to get sucked back into the shit she'd run away from and Tig didn't blame her… but when he heard her Dad died he knew he had to find her. He just wished he'd found out before she had to cremate him alone. Still, she was older now and it was impossible to know how much she'd changed. But sitting and talking with her, it didn't feel any different. It felt like it was then again.

"Refill?" He indicated her empty glass after a pause.

"Why not?" Came her rhetorical answer.

"Glad ya still know how to drink, doll," Tig joked as he signalled the waitress who came with the bottle, topping them both up. Tig sat back with his whiskey, swilling it around in his glass as he watched her for a minute. She didn't share many features with her older sister, physically or otherwise, but one thing they did have in common were their changeable hazel eyes- one moment they were deep and dark and the next minute a piercing green, depending on the light, though Tig used to swear it also depended on Ava's mood.

"You can take the girl out of Charming..." Ava trailed off with a smile. She could feel him watching her too. Tig looked a little older than when she'd left, and his hair was shorter, the curls less wild and tighter, though if he grew them out again she knew he'd look the same. And those bright blue eyes…

"… And she'll come back even hotter than when she left." Tig couldn't help himself, a smirk on his lips. Ava rolled her eyes.

"You really haven't changed one bit, Alexander Trager."

"Well, you can take the girl out of Charming… but you can't make the guy less of a catch," He reworked the same joke with a chuckle.

"Maybe..." And Tig knew then that it wasn't just him who was feeling the effects of the alcohol. He knew it was too easy now, and so did Ava. She suddenly put her glass down and ran her hand over her face. "Shit. Not used to whiskey anymore," She admitted, but she smiled when she said it. "Prefer vodka these days."

"Nasty," Tig said with distaste. If push came to shove he would drink whatever was in front of him but vodka was never his first choice. Ava shrugged lightly.

"Maybe some things have changed," She grinned because she used to feel the same way about the Russian stuff. "Hey," She changed the subject, picking up her glass again, "You need to fill me in. I heard about Jax's baby. How is… how is everyone else? Opie? Is Piney still alive? What about, uh, what's his name… Kyle?" Ava babbled. Tig laughed.

"Opie's alright. Came out of Chino not long ago. Adjusting I guess..." Tig hadn't seen too much of the lanky biker in the few weeks since he'd been home. "Piney is still alive, somehow, and still an asshole. Kyle got excommunicated. Long story," Tig shrugged. "Who else? Ah… Juice patched in right around when you left. Chibs is still Scottish… Clay's his cheerful self… Bobby is Bobby and Gemma is Gemma." Of course no conversation about SAMCRO could go by without the Queen being mentioned somewhere. She was almost like another member as far as the guys were concerned.

"Never liked Kyle much anyway." He hadn't exactly been one of her favourites. It was weird for Ava, now, to think of having 'favourites' like the members of SAMCRO were just desirable possessions but that was how it had been back then when she had been one of the croweaters. "Didn't know Juice too well but he seemed sweet…" maybe a little too sweet, but she guessed he must've had something to offer them.

"Don't tell me you missed the others as much as you missed me," Tig asked with glimmering eyes as he downed yet another glass.

"Not even possible," Ava responded playfully. Se was taking her drink slowly now but she knew it'd be the last one for her. She might have joked otherwise but she definitely couldn't drink like she used to.

"Good. 'Cause I missed you-" Tig was planning to make some joke along the same lines, but suddenly he realised he didn't have a punchline or an end to that sentence. His words hung awkwardly between them. Finally, he shrugged and decided to just go for it. "I missed you." Ava suddenly felt very hot all over and she finished her whiskey all in one after all.

"Well, I'm kinda wasted. I needed it." She added. Tig was slightly taken aback when she didn't acknowledge what he'd just said but he took it in his stride.

"Neither of us should be driving. 'Specially you. Let's call a ride."

"I don't think I have any cab numbers," Ava sighed as she let Tig pull her to her feet and begin to lead her slightly unsteadily outside. It wasn't even properly dark yet, the sky just beginning to turn streaky orange and purple to signal sunset.

"I'll call the Prospect. He can drop ya home." Ava gave Tig a look but he let go of her as they stood outside the bar, holding up his hands. "No motive, babe. I'm not gonna let you get in a damn cab." She nodded slightly to show she accepted this as Tig dialled a number. "Yeah it's me. Get to the Mulberry. Need a ride to TM. Got a friend, she needs dropping off on the way. Come back after and get my bike… yeah." He closed the flip phone he was holding.

"Now we wait," Ava predicted.

"Yeah..." He led her over to stand beside his bike which he'd parked. She admired the huge black machine. They didn't speak for a while but it was mostly a comfortable silence. Eventually, a Teller Morrow Automotive Repairs truck appeared at the top of the street. Ava remembered the club's front business well. Only then did she respond to what he'd told her inside.

"I missed you too," She said. Tig looked down at her and she saw some surprise cross his face before he covered it and she knew it was because he'd thought she wasn't going to ever acknowledge it. He glanced towards the truck, which was nearing them, then looked back down at her. Tig Trager was no good with words. So he just leaned down and kissed her softly, tenderly, on the lips. Ava hadn't seen it coming so it was her turn to be surprised. But, it was over very quickly. Tig was already walking towards the truck. She watched him for a minute before she followed him.

A/N: Hi guys. If you're reading this and thinking wtf, what happened to your other story... please understand, I have every intention of writing it when I can do it justice but right now I have this other idea rattling around my head in my quest to make sure there is more Tig loving in the fanfiction world. I've also not been able to write for ages for one reason and another so it's nice to finally have something good to run with... anyway.

If you're reading this just 'cause, I really love feedback. So thank you and please drop a review!