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General trigger warnings for this story: Language, smut, mentions of rape, abuse, drug use/overdose, violence/death.

CHAPTER 17: NINJA

As most of Sydney's mornings had started since she began dating the SAMCRO enforcer, she woke up before him, snuggled tightly in his arms - a routine she'd fallen in love with almost as much as she'd fallen in love with him. She soaked up the extra time she got to admire her man, noting how peaceful he looked when he slept - the lines of his face softened without the weight of duties or demons on his unconscious mind.

Tig felt her appreciative gaze, bringing him out of his slumber. "Mornin." He smiled without opening his eyes.

"Why d'you always gotta wake up when I'm tryin to eye you up?" She asked through a shameless toothy grin.

"Can feel you." He answered thoughtfully, rolling over and burying his face in her neck, still not opening his eyes. Sydney felt her face getting hot when she heard the sincerity of his reply. "Can feel you blushing too." She heard the grin in his voice, giggling before pressing her cold feet against his thighs, laughing hysterically as his eyes snapped open and he flew back to his side of the bed.

"You ready for today?" Tig asked as they lazily watched the morning cartoons on TV.

"Sure am. Gotta go home and get my shit in order. You know, water the plants and all, seeing as I've been imprisoned here." She teased.

"Oh Princess." He scoffed. "You love being my prisoner." He gave her a discerning look, to which she replied with a smug smile.

Sydney emerged from Tig's room by 11:00 A.M., for church after getting ready for the day. The guys all sat around the bar as they waited on her, exchanging knowing glances over that fact that she had seemingly taken up permanent residence in Tig's room, she just rolled her eyes and strolled into the empty chapel.

"Well come on, we don't have all day." She called innocently over her shoulder.

"We ride out at noon. Juice, two miles ahead, pull over as soon as you know we're heading into a trap." Sydney mentally checked out as Clay gave orders, fantasizing about how in just over an hour, she would be on the open road again and she couldn't wait.

"You okay, baby?" Sydney flinched as Tig's hand landed on her shoulder, managing to check herself before accidentally elbowing her lover in that pretty jaw of his, her fight or flight reaction only deepening his concern.

"Just excited." He nodded cautiously, figuring something was up that she wasn't letting off, biting his tongue and following the rest of his brothers out to leave her alone with Clay.

"I'll meet you guys for the drive back. Don't wanna tip em off early." She informed her President who just shook his head and chuckled with a nod.

Sydney walked out to the lot where the guys were all shooting the shit as they sat on their bikes, watching Half-Sack paint the van. She couldn't help but to laugh at the minuscule effort that they were putting in to make this look like a real charity ride as she stared at the white paint on the van's tinted windows: "LODI CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL. S.O.A. RIDE FOR KIDS."

"Wow, gonna have churches all across the state ready to sign us up with that kind of spirit." She said sarcastically to the artist himself - making him and Juice laugh before she waltzed over to the guys, opening her mouth to speak but the words were stopped by a god-awful screeching, sputtering sound. She scowled deeply, showing her annoyance as she whirled around dramatically to see Bobby pulling his Fat Boy out of the garage.

"Chitty Chitty, Bang Bang." Chibs shook his head disapprovingly.

"Hey it's an old fat boy on an old Fat Boy." Sydney couldn't help her grin when Half-Sack razzed the older member, loving the confidence that she could see him gaining day by day. "… Sorry." He quickly uttered as soon as he was met with Bobby's glare. Well, it was nice while it lasted.

"Thought you put that beast to sleep?" Jax questioned while lighting a cigarette.

"Hey!" Bobby winced, his hands up in defense. "The fat boy ain't even reached its prime."

"Barely looks like it can reach the end of the lot." Sydney deadpanned, eliciting laughter from the group who hadn't expected the clever jab from her.

"It is the best bike for a long ride." Sydney scowled again at Bobby's response while Juice chuckled as he watched her dramatic expressions. "And I'd put it up against any of your pretty Dyna's"

"You hittin a gay rodeo on the way?" Jax nodded to Bobby's chaps with a smug smile.

"It's Captain Chaps!"

"Cowhide protects the man-hide." He defended.

"Get in line, Brokeback." Sydney giggled as everyone hassled the older man before he turned away to pout, rolling his bike into formation and causing a sputtering cloud of black exhaust which only made the hassling worse.

"I'll get Gem to take me home." Sydney winked to Tig once the laughter died down, letting him off the hook as her chauffeur.

"Alright baby. You be careful." He ordered with a hardened blue gaze.

"Yeah, yeah." She giggled and rolled her eyes. "You're the one who needs to be careful. Nothin's gonna happen to me." She smiled smugly, kissing him briefly before she headed off.

"She really gonna be able to pass us oncoming and make this work in the Dodge?" Juice approached Clay, nodding to Gemma's Caddy as it pulled out of the lot.

"Who said anything about her car?" Clay chuckled, patting a very confused Juice on the shoulder before he walked off.

Sydney was dressed for the occasion in a tight leather jacket, black jeans, and combat boots. She headed out to the garage, her eyes sparkling and heart fluttering as she eyed the tarp in the middle of the concrete room. She gripped the corner of the blue polyester and pulled it loose - a lightning bolt of adrenaline pumping through her veins.

"Hi baby." She whispered dreamily.

After making the pick up in Lodi and beginning the trek back, the Sons were starting to look around in search of their blonde scapegoat. As soon as they saw the van veer off to the side of the road up ahead, they went into full panic mode, looking to the President for direction who rode without a trace of worry. They had no choice but to trust the judgment of their leader, but what they did know was that without Sydney - this plan could land them back in the hole for god knows how long, and none of them wanted that.

Suddenly the whining of an exhaust caught their attention, spotting a black Kawasaki Ninja h2r zooming past them and into the oncoming traffic lane, going at least 90mph. The men all exchanged glances as they questioned the logic of the clearly insane motorcyclist, but it was then that Tig caught the glimpse of smirks on Happy and Clay's faces, squinting his eyes to see the white-blonde hair peeking out from the helmet and whipping around in the wind.

"You gotta be fucking kidding." He grumbled as he realized that this was real the plan all along.

The confused bikers eventually caught on as they watched the lone rider cross back into the correct lane of travel. Sydney freely laughed a laugh of pure joy as she heard the celebratory honking behind her, grinning under her shielded helmet. She would've sworn up and down that nothing on the planet felt as good as what she felt in that moment.

Her moment of euphoria was short-lived as she spotted the ghost car up ahead: a dark red Kia Forte pulled to the side of the road, hoping to trap speeding motorists. She reduced her speed, letting off the clutch - as the limit was only 65mph and her current speed of 90mph would surely get her impounded - but still going fast enough for a hefty ticket by the time that she passed the cop car. Sure enough, within seconds of passing, the blue and red flashing lights went off as the cop peeled out after her. She pulled off to the shoulder, anchoring her feet to the ground but making no effort to remove her helmet as grey haired man wearing classic cop aviator sunglasses approached.

"Do you have any idea how goddamn fast you were going? You're going to cause an accident and kill someone-" His rant was cut off, shock taking over his body as the reckless man removed his helmet to reveal that he was no man at all - he was a stunning young woman with innocent eyes and an angelic face.

"I'm so sorry officer." Sydney picked up her breathing and widened her eyes. "I just got this new bike and-" She gulped. "I'm not used to controlling the speed, I… I thought it would be safer to learn on the highway."

"Uh… It's okay sweetheart…" The man said awkwardly, not wanting to upset the inexperienced woman before she would have to ride again.

"Am I… Am I in trouble?" She asked meekly.

"I'm not gonna do anything that affects your demerits, but the sensors caught that speed, I'm afraid I have to process the ticket." The roaring Harley's of the Sons passed as the officer explained the situation, grumbling once he realized that he was missing out on a potential bust on the infamous M.C.

"Thank you so much sir!" Sydney perked up. "I completely understand. It won't happen, again I promise."

The patrolman processed the ticket and let her go, taking long enough - thanks to her chit chat - that the Sons would be too far for him to even consider pursuing them, opting to notify his fellow officer who was stationed further down the stretch of highway.

Sydney was sure to ride the speed limit until she was out of view before going full throttle, unleashing the beast on the open road. Between her excessive speed and the leisurely pace of the crew, she caught up quickly. Just as she was nearing the group, the van swerved off the road abruptly. Juice had discovered an out of view trap ahead over the police scanner which had been broadcasted by the earlier stop officer, alerting his crew as quickly as he could but he worrying that it would be too late for them to slow down and for Sydney to somehow get in front of the entourage and take over the attention of the policeman who was waiting for them.

Sydney's brain started working overtime, carefully calculating her next moves and looking for her window - traffic was heavy, so she needed to make this count. She spotted it, the slight break between the flowing vehicles where she could weave through to get to her position. She cracked the throttle, straddling the yellow line that divided the road beneath her, her bike propelling her past the Sons with ease. She revved her engine three times as she passed them - just for good measure - gliding in between the cluster of Harleys and the vehicles ahead of them. She kicked up her speed, the possibility of being impounded was getting higher and higher but with the Sons close behind, she needed to be sure that she was the one who would be stopped.

She whirled around another car, trying to put as much distance between herself and her crew as physically possible. As she approached the cop, she decided to take the risk, recklessly overtaking yet another vehicle right in front of the clearly marked squad car.

"What the hell is she doing?" Jax yelled to Clay who gave him no response, watching in anticipation.

Sydney eyed her rear view mirror nervously, praying that the cop would begin his pursuit, her heart sinking when he didn't. She did the first thing she could think of, swerving in front of an oncoming vehicle and swerving back, causing an uproar of honks from the disrupted traffic on the opposite side of the highway. The bubbling in her stomach was instantly calmed as the sirens finally went off and the cop car raced down the road after her - unable to help herself from chuckling at the ass-backwards logic of her nerves.

"Protecting her crew!" Clay gave his VP a delayed answer with a proud grin when she pulled over to the side of the road. She accelerated her breathing, squeezing her eyes shut as she filled them with tears, knowing that this excuse hardly warranted the fake tears because the real ones would surely be following soon after.

The middle aged, brown haired cop with a receding hairline came barrelling out of the vehicle, yelling all kinds of unpleasantries to the delinquent. She took her helmet off, making a show of gasping for air which stopped the officer dead in his tracks - not expecting the reckless motorist to be a young woman - but regaining his composure and continuing his rant.

"I can't breathe." She choked out in a sob, making a show of gasping for air as she ignored everything that the man said. He stopped his bantering when he realized he was going to send the clearly distraught woman into cardiac arrest.

"Uh… Ma'am, I need you to calm down…"

"I'm so sorry officer, my dad, he just had a heart attack and I need to get to Charming as soon as possible." Her words were broken by deep breaths.

"I'm sorry to hear that, but I cannot let you go unscathed after that kind of recklessness."

"I… I understand sir, please just don't take me to jail, I might not get to say goodbye." The man was clearly conflicted between his heart and his badge - the Sons riding past them putting even more strain on his decision. "You can write me up for whatever you need to, I'll pay it, I just need to go sir, please." Her voice cracked.

The man contemplated for what felt like ever before finally agreeing to Sydney's terms, not letting her off easily as he gave her as many fines as possible and a lecture about how she was to ride safely all the way to the hospital.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She exclaimed, kissing him on the cheek.

"Alright, alright. Let's not be doing that." He tried to remain professional as he lightly pushed her off of him. She gave him a grateful smile before pulling her helmet back on and firing up her Ninja, sighing heavily once she was safely behind the tinted shield, shaking her head as if to rid herself of the emotionally trying situation.

She took off, riding like a proper civilian this time when her eye caught something in the distance: the sun reflecting off of the chrome from the Harleys which were all pulled to the side of the road, the van closeby. She skidded to stop when she reached the group, ripping off her helmet and shuffling over to see what everyone was stopped for, seeing Tig lying in the grassy ditch along with his bike, an unimpressed looking Clay, an amused looking Jax, and a very guilty looking Bobby - who coincidentally ran down to help Chibs and Happy aid their Sergeant, right when she arrived. She saw that Tig's injury was superficial, so she didn't feel guilty about the look she shared with Jax as they both tried to contain their laughter.

"It was that fucking Fat Boy wasn't it?" She asked the VP with a knowing smile.

"Yep." He laughed.

"I'm sorry man." Tig apologized to Clay as he gained his footing, his leg had been cut open badly enough from the wreck to cross him off of the roster for the remainder of the gun lug.

"You just get patched up." Clay wasn't mad at Tig, it wasn't his fault after all - but he was mad however, at the situation.

"I'm gonna shove that bike so far up your ass." Tig growled at Bobby as he hobbled past the older man, Half-Sack helping him to the van where he could sit.

"He's gonna be just fine…" Bobby's optimistic face fell as he saw the displeased looks on everyone's faces. Jax snickered again, him and Sydney sharing another amused smile - which only pissed Clay off even more.

"Call Piney, tell him we got a bike down, gonna need the flatbed."

"That's you. Call Piney!" Bobby yelled to the prospect.

"What was it? About the Fat Boy being the best bike for a long ride?" Sydney teased Bobby.

"Yeah, yeah…" He groaned, although he was pleased to only be taking hassling from the Sergeant's hot tempered girlfriend, rather than the verbal smackdown he'd expected.

"You tend to his every beck and call, wipe his goddamn ass if that's what he wants you to do!" Clay yelled to Bobby, tasking him, Happy, and Half-Sack to wait with Tig for Piney to arrive with the flatbed and accompany him to the hospital. Sydney felt that he was giving up far too much manpower just to go with Tig to the hospital, but she used her better judgment and kept her mouth shut rather than questioning the irritable president.

Sydney walked over to the van where Tig was sitting sideways with his legs hanging out the open door while Jax and Clay started arguing over who would be carrying his gun filled bedroll - the first time she saw Clay be a weak leader for letting his frustration get the better of him.

"What'd I tell you about being careful?" She chastised playfully as she approached the bleeding man.

"Baby, come on." Tig groaned.

"Don't worry Sergeant." She leaned in and pecked his lips. "I'll take care of ya." She grinned.

"There's only one thing that will make me feel better right now." He spoke with a grin as he pulled her to semi straddle his lap, avoiding his hurt leg.

"Mmm what's that?" He didn't answer, responding by pressing his lips back to hers, easing his tongue into her mouth. She kissed back, allowing herself to indulge in the sweet taste of him before she pulled away.

"Don't be starting things that you can't finish."

"Who says I can't finish it?" He asked with a cheeky grin. Her lips curled up before she lightly slapped the gash on his leg, making him yell out pain.

"That's who." She winked, kissing him on the cheek before hopping off of him and making her way back to the group of agitated men.

The crew split up, Clay leading his group to a gas station just off the highway where they could safely meet back up with Piney after he dropped Tig off at the hospital, without raising suspicion.

"Where the hell were you guys?" Clay barked into his phone as he leant against his bike. "And you just let them-" Everyone exchanged looks of confusion, wondering what was upsetting the President to this magnitude, and wondering if it affected them. "No, no you just wait there! You've done enough goddamn damage today." Sydney raised an eyebrow towards Jax as she bit into her candy bar, wondering what Bobby and his Fat Boy could have possibly done now.

"What?" Jax asked, Clay noticing Piney pulling beside them, waiting for the old man to be in earshot before making his announcement.

"Bounty hunters, just picked up Tig."

"What?" Sydney exclaimed, she no longer judged his decision on the heavy manpower escort to the hospital because apparently it hadn't been enough.

"The hell for?" Opie questioned.

"Didn't stop to say." Clay responded sarcastically. "Half-Sack's trailing em."

"And they just let them take him?" Sydney yelled in bewilderment.

"Jesus Christ, how does that happen?"

"Ask the Jew in leather."

"Could've been the hospital, bounty hunters'll pay admins to call in names."

"If Tig had an outstanding warrant I'd know about it!" Clay shot down Jax's smart theory, showing Sydney that the pettiness between the President and his VP that caused turmoil in the club, could go both ways

"Might be out of state… Bounty's big enough they could be hauling his ass to Maine." Jax kept his cool.

"Okay so what are we gonna do about it?" Sydney asked impatiently, not understanding why they were arguing over the 'why' rather than the 'how' .

"We gotta go after him." Chibs stated easily.

"We got a delivery to make." Clay scoffed.

"Bondsmen have no jurisdiction, there's nothing to stop us from taking him back."

"What's stopping us are these bedrolls full of illegal handguns!" Clay sneered

"We go after him now, we got a chance, if he crosses state lines…" Jax shook his head.

"If Tig was here, he'd vote to deliver the guns." Sydney stayed silent, too busy running over every possible scenario in her head.

"Got em in a motel about two miles down the road, beat the shit out of him on the side of the road. Crazy prick must've provoked em, knows they can't bring him in beaten to a pulp." Piney informed everyone after snapping his phone shut.

"We dump the bedrolls somewhere safe, relay gets pushed back a few hours." Jax tried to reason, especially since they were already late as it was, he didn't see the harm in being a little later.

"We're goin." Clay concluded.

Sydney made eye contact with Piney as the two of them listened to the grown men bickering, nodding his head towards the bed of the truck and winking at her.

"Maybe we should call a vote." Jax suggested respectfully.

"Vote all you want, I'm going to get him." Sydney responded distantly as she began her path to the truck, which was quickly stunted by Clay harshly grabbing her bicep.

"Are you forgetting the rules, Princess? Members obey the orders of their President." He reminded her. If she wanted to earn a reaper on her back and become a Son, she would have to behave like one.

Sydney's blood ran cold. Anybody else would've found themselves with the barrel of her glock between their eyes for putting their hands on her, but she knew better than to disobey her President and hold him at gunpoint. Clay's grip loosened as he noticed the change in her demeanor, physically seeing the murder fill her eyes.

"Well it's a good thing I'm not a member." She said slowly through grit teeth, the venom dripping from her seething, low tone before she ripped her arm from the giant hand that had swallowed it.

She ran and jumped up onto the flatbed, Piney handing her a shotgun. Jax grinned at her blatant defiance - of course if they were on opposing sides, he would've been pissed, but he decided to let himself revel in the victory that the blonde firecracker had provided him.

Sydney's heart was racing as anxiety bubbled within her every cell, instantly calming as Jax and Chibs climbed on with her. She grinned big in satisfaction for the support.

"Where the hell you going?" They heard Clay yelling in the distance as Piney took off down the road, meeting up with Happy and Bobby at the entrance of the gas station.

"Whats up?" Happy called over the chugging exhausted of the truck.

"Shit kickin!"

"I'm in!" The bald man climbed on, leaving the ever so grounding Bobby Elvis to tend to their President.

"So biker barbie does more than just ride bitch, huh?" Jax nudged Sydney's arm playfully. Just then they hit a bump, causing Tig's bike to topple over.

"Bitch bar's looking mighty fine." She teased.

"We have a plan here?" Chibs asked as they pulled up to the shitty motel where Half-Sack trailed the bounty hunters.

"Got em in room 12." The prospect jogged up, jumping up onto the flatbed.

Jax looked to Sydney for direction - she knew that his sudden willingness to give her control was just a result of his animosity towards Clay, but it still felt good. As much as she enjoyed toying with the VP, she was glad to know that their squabbling wasn't anything personal.

"Ask the old man." She decided to give Piney the lead.

"Alright, hang on guys!" Piney called over his shoulder.

"Jesus christ." Jax shook his head at the crazy look in Sydney's eyes once Piney swung the flatbed around, revealing that his master plan was just to drive straight through the fucking building.

"Shit! Arms up ladies." Chibs yelled over the beeping of the truck as it reversed.

Tig was tied to a chair in the middle of the motel room as the lot of burley bounty hunters attempted to patch him up well enough to ensure they would collect the bounty when they brought him in. His eyes widened as he spotted the truck outside, coming full speed towards the window, a wide grin spreading across his duct taped mouth.

The flatbed successfully crashed through the hotel room without injuring anybody. Sydney cocked the shotgun, ready to fire if necessary while Happy pushed any debris out of the way so he and Half-Sack could jump down and help Tig up onto the bed of the truck while the others held the men at gunpoint.

"Don't move!" Sydney yelled to the group of shocked men as her and Jax kept their weapons aimed at them.

"Or I will blow your balls off!" Chibs warned as he spotted Half-Sack who was untying Tig.

As soon as his hands were free, Tig ripped the tape off of his mouth. "Hey guys, listen I gotta tell ya." He stood and began collecting his weapons off the table. "I had alotta fun, I really gotta go, this is my ride." He jumped up onto the flatbed, Jax helping him scoot back. "Thanks for everything! Hopefully we can do it again sometime." Sydney chuckled at his shit disturbing ways, knowing she would've done the same thing.

The rest of the cavalry climbed on, keeping their weapons pointed at the men as the truck pulled out of the disheveled room before cheering as they drove away.

"Hi baby." Sydney gave Tig the most innocent, angelic smile that she could muster up.

"You have got so much explaining to do." He growled while she laughed and bit her lip.

The recovery crew made it back to the gas station in no time with Tig in hand, seeing Bobby hanging back by the bikes at the fuel pumps while Opie and Clay spoke on the curbside across the lot.

"Now would ya look at that, we still got time to spare." Sydney vexxed when Clay approached, feeling cocky after the victory.

Clay kept his mouth shut and his expression hard as he walked over to the passenger door where Tig was settling in for the ride back.

"Got a death wish." Opie stated plainly when he rejoined his group, not being too clear about who his statement was directed at. Jax and Sydney exchanged a look, silently agreeing not to say anything after Opie had stayed behind to kiss Clay's ass rather than helping them rescue the Sergeant At Arms. "No comment?" Sydney gave a slight nod, letting Jax take the reins on this one.

"Just a little cautious I guess. Not sure what I say aint gonna land in Clay's ear."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"You tell me, bro."

"Don't drag me into whatever bullshit you got going on with stepdaddy, alright?" Sydney bit her cheek to contain her smirk of amusement at Opie's comment.

"I know you're pissed… But the guys were right this time. Motel was a quick stop, I woulda been in Oregon by the end of the day." Tig attempted to calm Clay's wrath as he covered for his crew.

"Take him to St. Thomas. Hopefully that's within your plan." Clay mused to Piney.

"This aint on the kids, it was my idea. You'll just have to blame it on the… Dementia." Piney laughed, trying to keep the mood light. Clay gave a sarcastic smile, showing that he was anything but amused as he slammed the passenger door.

"Ah shit…" Tig groaned as he watched Clay walk away, knowing that he wasn't going to back down easily - and knowing that his girlfriend was sitting pretty on the top of his shit list.

"It's gonna be a long ride, Tigger." Piney laughed, handing him the whiskey bottle.

The rest of the run went smoothly, awkward as all hell as no one was speaking to each other - but smoothly. The Sons eventually met up with Laroy just outside of Charming to make the drop while Sydney made her way to St. Thomas.

"You guys are one short?" Laroy pointed out, normally he would've had no idea who the fuck was and wasn't on the Sons' roster, but he remembered the crazy Sergeant swooping in on the hot brunette from the day earlier.

"Yeah, got all the cargo though." Clay brushed off the black man's the hand off was completed, no words were exchanged between the Sons as they all went their separate ways, some returning home to their families, and some heading to the clubhouse.

"Sydney." A friendly voice greeted as she walked through the sliding doors of St. Thomas with her helmet under her arm.

"Hey Tara." Sydney smiled, so far she'd decided that she quite liked Tara, regardless of what Gemma thought.

"You looking for Gemma?"

"No, Tig actually, but I shouldn't be surprised that Gemma's here." She sighed.

"No you shouldn't." The two smiled as they joked about Gemma's hands-on role as grandma. "So… Tig huh?" Tara's voice dropped as she quirked an eyebrow, letting a little bit more personality show through her professional front.

"I told you I wasn't coming for your man." Sydney smirked.

Tara was leading the young blonde to where Tig was in the ER when her phone started ringing. "Hello." She answered before her face fell and she quickly hung up, shoving the phone back into the pocket of her lab coat.

"What was that?" Sydney scowled.

"Oh uh." Tara laughed nervously, trying to play off her shock. "Nothing, just thought I blocked all the telemarketers from Chicago." Sydney knew she was lying but she didn't press the issue, she didn't know Tara well enough yet to determine whether or not she should be concerned for her, staying silent so that the doctor would know that she wasn't fooling her.

"Here he is." The brunette announced somewhat awkwardly as they approached Tig, before taking her leave.

"Hey Princess." Tig slurred as he looked up to see Sydney, it was obvious that he had been given some proper pain meds.

"Hey Sarge, you look stunning as usual." She grinned back. "You gonna ride bitch?" She teased.

"Oh yeah! How the hell did you pull that shit off?"

"I guess I had a good teacher." She winked.

"You are gonna get it." He slurred.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm real worried, let's go." Sydney followed the flatbed back to the clubhouse, thanking Piney as he helped Tig into his dorm.

"Well, looks like you trapped me again. Can't be leaving you alone like this." She teased, shrugging out of her jacket.

"It was my plan all along, baby." Tig mumbled as he laid face down in his pillow.

"Mhmm, I'm sure it was." She kissed him on the top of the head. "I'm going to get some fresh air and something to eat, I'll be back soon." She laughed as she realized Tig had already passed out before she could finish her sentence.

Sydney took advantage of her favorite time of day - when the hot California sun began to retreat behind the hills and a peaceful haze would set in - to recount the events of the day as she smoked a joint on her bike. She was so relaxed that she barely noticed Clay approach, sitting on his bike next to her.

"Kawasaki looks a little outta place." He attempted to lighten the atmosphere, referring to the only slant bike sitting in the row of Harleys.

"Like me." She responded with a chuckle.

"A raven among crows." Clay surmised with a smile as she passed him her joint, sharing the weed in silence. "I'm sorry about today-"

"I don't give a shit about today." Clay cut her off.

"Whatever's going on there is affecting the club, affecting the calls being made." Sydney summed up his thoughts without him having to elaborate. "Today though… That was a textbook example of why we can't have this shit. You guys thinking every opinion and call is being made out of spite." Clay wanted to defend himself when she called him out, but he knew that she meant well and he knew she was right, and he also knew that her first priority was the club.

"You talk too much like a member." He chuckled, passing her back the joint.

"Gimme a patch then." She teased before taking another drag. "Whatever is going on, the bottom line is that Jax needs to get right with you." She finished on a strong note as she passed back the end of the joint. Today, Clay was wrong, but she knew why and she didn't blame him.

"Yeah… He does." Clay said distantly as he stamped out the roach and took his leave.