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

CHAPTER 18: BULLSHIT BEFORE BULLETS

Tig felt himself being slowly coaxed out of his sleep by a pleasant tightening in his stomach. He kept his eyes closed, still not fully awake as his hands gripped the sheets below him in pleasure before moving to grasp the source of his euphoria.

His eyes flew open the second that the softness of hair made contact with his rough hands, realizing that his wet dream was very much a reality. He opened one eye and looked down, meeting Sydney's wide eyes as she knelt on the bed in front of him, topless and sucking him into her mouth. Both of his eyes opened quickly when he realized what was happening, the feeling so intense at the early hour that he didn't even acknowledge the pounding in his head as a result of yesterday's painkillers and whiskey.

"Baby." He groaned, starting to sit up before she pressed her tongue harder along the underside of his cock and withdrew him from her mouth, licking the tip teasingly before pushing herself up the bed to meet him halfway.

"Relax." She pressed her lips to his quickly in a heated kiss, curling her tongue around his before pulling away just as abruptly, pushing him back down to the bed lightly by her hands on his chest. She smirked to herself as she made her way back down the bed, smoothing her hands down his thighs - careful to avoid his injury - after hearing his whimper at the loss of contact.

"You are gonna kill me." He growled through gritted teeth as he craned her neck to look down at her.

"Why's that Tiggy?" She asked with a pout, her lips only a hair away from the tip of his cock.

"Because-" Before he could get his sentence started, she cut him off by shoving him back into her mouth, all the way to the back of her throat. She withdrew again as he caught his breath, laughing sadistically.

"That's fucking why. Get up here." He ordered.

"Or what?" She bit her lip, teasing him as she knew there wasn't much he could do in his predicament.

"Come on doll, you wouldn't do that to an injured man would ya?"

"Maybe you don't know me as well as you thought you did." Her tone was playful. "You gonna be a good patient and sit still for the nurse?"

His eyes glinted as he laid back - he didn't have a reputation as a kinky bastard for no reason. Besides, he figured that letting her finish the task at hand wouldn't exactly be the worst thing on the planet. She raised an eyebrow and narrowed her eyes discerningly as she lowered herself back down, continuing the sloppy blowjob she had started.

"You gonna keep making me ask what went down yesterday?" Tig asked playfully, lightly tickling Sydney's exposed ribs as she lay with her back pressed against his chest, enjoying what was the relaxing sensation of his hands caressing the sensitive skin covering her upper body. She squealed, trying to wiggle out of his grip before he managed to calm her by stilling his hands and pressing his lips to the back of her neck.

"Maybe I just want you to make up for falling asleep on me so early, I was so lonely I almost had to use Jax to get off." She tilted her head all the way back to look at him with those sparkling doe eyes and mischievous smile, seeing his bright blue eyes narrowing. "What first?" She scoffed and rolled her eyes as she turned onto her stomach, using his outstretched arm as a pillow.

"The fact that you ride."

"I got my motorcycle license not long after I got my drivers, I'm surprised you didn't catch on when you were teaching me and somehow I knew how to switch gears and lean opposite while turning." She smirked.

"Yeah, yeah." He groaned. "What about Clay?" Her expression went far for serious when he brought up her defiance.

"He didn't think the bounty was serious, Jax tried to reason with him and we all know how that seems to go."

"Didn't used to be that way." Tig observed aloud.

"Yeah..." She nodded slowly as he confirmed her ongoing suspicions. "You think it has anything to do with me?"

"Maybe." He blinked. "Started just before Abel was born, got worse when you came. I don't think it's anything against you, think it's somethin against you siding with Clay." Sydney nodded, agreeing with the theory that she hadn't considered.

"Piney knew it was serious so I went with him, Jax, Chibs and Hap joined, you know the rest." She was short as she recounted the rest of the day's events. She knew he was joking about her having to explain herself when it came to riding, but she had a feeling that his playful demeanor did not extend as far as her blatantly disobeying orders.

"Syd… Crossing Clay… You gotta be careful-."

"Yeah, I know." She snapped, not needing a lecture from the man who was currently laying in his own bed and not in a jail cell, because of her. She took a deep breath. "I talked to Clay, he aint happy but he aint pissed at me either, I'll be fine." Tig just nodded in response, chuckling as he noted that the little firecracker was even harder to be reasoned with than he was.

"Guess I have some explainin to do too." He grimaced.

"Yeah, what the fuck?" She exclaimed with wide eyes and a crease in her forehead, lightly punching him in the shoulder.

"Ow!" He recoiled. "The hell you hittin me for? I'm cooperatin!"

"You're fucking stunted if you don't know why! Making me forget that you were the one who caused all this shit, getting your ass hauled off for god knows what."

"Hey." He held up a finger in protest. "Technically, Bobby was the one who caused it."

"Oh yeah? Bobby cause the bounty too?" He just winced in response. "Yeah, that's what I thought." The pair chuckled before Tig went on to tell her about the bounty hunters and Bobby being dubbed his bitch until he was healed, the two of them laughing hysterically at the Sergeant's shit disturbing ways. Even battered and bed ridden, Tig was glowing - basking in the safe haven that she provided him. He'd never expected to see the day where he would be spending a morning laid up with a blonde in her twenties, laughing about his less than conventional mishaps.

"I love you." He grinned.

"Yeah, I bet you do." She shook her head and smiled teasingly. "You're lucky you're hurt, I'd make ya get on your knees and grovel to me."

"That would hardly be a punishment." He smirked suggestively.

"Oh yeah? I'll hold you to that." She smirked before exiting the bed to get herself ready for the day's work at TM, unbraiding her hair and dressing in light washed jeans, a slightly cropped red tank top, and her combat boots, ditching her leather jacket for now. Between the ground level shoes that didn't at all match her casual outfit, and the jeans that she longed to be a pair of shorts on this hot July day - she was feeling like less than herself.

"I need more clothes here." She complained as she exited the bathroom, feeling her skin crawling in frustration as she moved around the room to gather her things for the day.

Tig raised an eyebrow when she stomped around in a huff. He didn't understand what she was upset about - he thought she looked hot in the tight jeans that hugged her curves in all the right places, but if there was anything that he'd learned from being a dad and a husband in his lifetime - it was to smile and nod when it came to things like this.

"Babe." She was temporarily distracted from the tirade she felt bubbling in her chest, looking up to see Tig sitting against the headboard, watching her pout like a child.

"I don't wanna hear it." She whined, knowing how ridiculous he probably thought she was being.

He chuckled. "Bottom drawer, the black Harley one on the top." He nodded towards his dresser.

She furrowed her brows in confusion but followed his instructions anyways, opening the drawer to see a bunch of t-shirts. "You don't have to-"

"It's fine. I don't need it back." He nodded, letting her know that she could do whatever she wanted to make it her own, knowing it would make her feel better about the situation. He'd seen her wear band t-shirts before and he didn't mind sacrificing one of his if it meant that she would be more comfortable, especially since he was the reason that she didn't have her proper clothes. "We can just consider my debt squared." He winked.

She bit her lip and swayed bashfully as a blush spread across her face before she grabbed the scissors and headed to the bathroom where she cut out the front of the shirt to expose her cleavage, leaving the neckline intact to give a choker effect, knotting it up in the front to tie the look together.

"I should've left you in the other top." Tig grimaced when she re-emerged after somehow having turned the large men's shirt into a top even more revealing than the tiny one that she'd been wearing earlier, quickly dropping his facade and grinning. "Bring some more of your clothes here, I can give up another drawer if I need to." He winked, wanting her to know that this space was just as much hers as it was his - even if this was the space that he lived in.

"You only got yourself to blame, Sergeant." She smiled back at him as she put the scissors back, walking over to him and leaning down for a goodbye kiss which she deepened, showing her gratitude for his thoughtful actions. "Thank you." She whispered before pressing her lips back to his in another sweet embrace before she finally pulled away to get to her shift on time.

"Hi Kippy." Sydney cheerfully greeted the prospect who was lugging cases of beer from the main room of the clubhouse, to the fridges behind the bar, as she passed by on her way out to the office.

"Hey Syd." Half-Sack raised a hand in greeting before realizing just as she was walking out the door, that he was supposed to be keeping her confined to the clubhouse. "Shit." He grumbled before racing after her, tapping her shoulder just as she was about to cross the threshold. "Hey! Uh, that was cool yesterday." He attempted to look nonchalant by sticking his arm straight up and flopping his body against the doorframe.

Sydney raised a brow in amusement; the poor kid couldn't be deceptive if his life depended on it. "It was." She nodded and gave a half-assed smile, her expectant eyes telling him that she was onto him.

"Your bike looks real cool you know… With all the other bikes." He waved his hand frantically towards the bikes that were lined up in the middle of the compound. Sydney glanced quickly in the direction he was pointing before using the element of surprise to catch him off guard, taking one step and pressing him against the wall with her body holding him in place.

"Cut the shit prospect." She nodded to him. "What're you tryin to distract me for?" She spoke close to his face.

"What? Distract you? No way." His grimace overtook his scoff.

"You wanna keep that one nut don't ya?" The poor kid winced in defeat. Even though she stood at a mere 5'4, he found her light tone to be scarier than any menacing threat she could've presented him with.

"In the garage…" He mumbled.

Sydney looked him up and down with a smirk. "Good boy." She nodded with a cocky smile before taking off in the very direction that she wasn't supposed to go.

"Thought the ol' Fat Boy was supposed to be lyin in a ditch off 99?" Bobby and Juice jumped at the sound of a woman's voice behind them, whipping their heads around to see Sydney leaning against a car with a smirk on her face.

Bobby scowled, scanning the compound for Half-Sack who he'd tasked with keeping Sydney and Tig away from the garage whilst he and the Intelligence Officer attempted to fix the beloved Fat Boy that Tig had ordered he leave behind. Half-Sack stood in the doorway, wincing and shrugging his shoulders dramatically to try and let Bobby know that he had done everything in his power to keep the invasive blonde occupied.

"All you had to do was get him to tell me that I had the day off." She stated matter-of-factly, sporting a smug smirk as she taunted the men for their lack of effort.

"Look, this bike is my baby, okay. It's my baby!"

Sydney turned her head dramatically and raised her brows. "Tell ya what, I won't say anything to Tig, if you all pretend that Half-Sack told me I have the day off."

"Deal." Bobby replied easily.

Sydney smiled big - half in satisfaction, half in gloat - before waltzing back to the clubhouse where she walked into the poorly lit room, seeing a few more members had trickled in for the day. She spotted Jax sipping his coffee at the bar, deciding she would try to converse with the prince in an attempt to maintain their current good standing.

"No church?" She asked, sliding into one of the empty bar stools next to the blonde man.

"Money's in the safe, marked envelopes."

"Damn… He is pissed." Sydney raised her eyebrows and snickered, her knowing smile matching the one on his face. "What's going on there anyway?" She questioned as casually as possible, knowing that she was still on thin ice with the VP.

"I don't know man…" He shrugged. "Just thinkin about shit since the kid was born. The club, the future, my dad." He explained. Since Jax had regained contact with Tara in the past few days, he had managed to soften up enough to at least control his emotions on the spot instead of lashing out and getting defensive.

"She could be good for you." She shot him a knowing smirk as she nodded, which he returned. "How is Abel?" She asked with a smile and a softness to her tone as she broached the sensitive subject.

"Seems to be out of the woods, gonna be in the cage for a while though." Jax spoke with resentment while he referred to the incubation chamber that Abel was to stay in until he was bigger and healthier.

"Like father, like son." She chuckled before falling into a short silence. "You don't think Clay is carrying on the legacy." She surmised with a distant nod as the conclusion finally came to her.

"Yeah, somethin like that." Sydney could see the quick change in his demeanor: the way his jaw clenched tighter, his eyes went dark and his expression went sour. She knew that there was more to the story - making a mental note to do some digging where she could, remembering what Tig had said about his behaviour since she had arrived.

"Looks like I'm not the only one with daddy issues." She nudged him with her elbow.

Jax dropped his brooding temporarily in response to her playful subject change. "Darlin... You got more than daddy issues, you got grandpa issues." He scoffed.

"If grandpa issues are on the table… I'm next in line." Piney husked as he hauled his oxygen tank up onto the bar top.

"You're my next stop, old man." Sydney licked her lips lazily as she gave the founding member a once over.

"You ever fucked anyone your own age?" Jax scoffed.

"Uh yeah, what d'you think made me realize that juvenile dick aint my bent?" He smiled bashfully, the brashness of the young woman never failing to take him aback.

Sydney took her leave, heading to the chapel to retrieve her payout from the gun run before returning to the main room for some more company. "Hi Chibby." She greeted the scot with a friendly smile, taking a seat at the table he was occupying.

"Aye Princess. Ye aint workin today?" Sydney glanced towards the door where the men were working incognito.

"Apparently not." She smiled.

A couple of hours later, Tig hobbled out of his room after his calls to Fat Elvis went ignored. "Bobby!" The Sergeant screamed at the top of his lungs, startling Chibs who was in the middle of a heated round of 'five finger fillet' with Sydney.

"Holy fuck!" Sydney exhaled in relief, wide eyed and laughing nervously with her hand pressed over her heart after dodging the knife that would've found itself plunged through the top of her delicate hand, no thanks to her man's outburst. "That's you." She looked to Half-Sack who was parked behind the bar, looking unsure of what to do about the needy Sergeant.

"Christ! Nearly chopped your lass' hand off! I'm sure ye don't want that." Chibs gave Tig a pointed look.

"Where the hell is Bobby?" He whined impatiently.

"In the garage, fixing the Fat Boy." Sydney replied casually, not looking at Tig as she began slamming the knife between Chibs' fingers.

"What?" Tig exclaimed, right as Bobby walked in.

"What d'ya need Tigger?"

"I thought I told you to leave that hunk of junk on the side of the road! What the hell you doin fixin it?" Sydney smirked while she listened to the men arguing.

"You can't be serious man-"

"No no no no no." Tig shook his head while the long haired man protested. "I don't give a shit, get rid of that fucking bike." Bobby shifted his gaze to the unbothered blonde who was supposed to be keeping him and his Fat Boy under wraps.

"Really?" He widened his eyes and held out his hands in disbelief. Sydney looked up, still moving the knife across the hand of the foreign man.

"Slip of the tongue." She stated sweetly with a shrug, slamming the blade down harshly between his ring finger and pinky without looking. She grinned sadistically as the entire table shook under her force, seeing the worry on everyone's faces before she pushed herself up. "Oh by the way." She called over her shoulder as she stood in the doorway of the clubhouse. "You should try replacing the fuel lines." She winked at Bobby.

"Is there anything she can't do?" He asked in disbelief.

"Taxes?" Juice suggested.

"Did em in San Bern. when we didn't have a treasurer." Happy seemingly came out of nowhere to answer the question.

"Handstands?"

"Nah brother, she can do those too." Tig winked and nodded with a devilish squint.

"I don't even wanna know what that means." Juice scowled.

Later in the day, Clay had finally gotten over his mood from the day prior, gathering up the courage to finally show his face in the clubhouse. He emerged from the chapel and into the main room, holding the envelopes that had not yet been collected.

"Afternoon kids! Deal with the Niners has officially closed. Spoke with Laroy, and he is giddy about his new assault rifles." The President had a giant grin plastered on his face as he tossed the envelopes to their respective owners.

Sydney and Jax exchanged an amused smirk, knowing that his excitement was being heavily exaggerated in an attempt to distract everyone from his equally dramatic tantrum the day before.

"I love the greed! All about the benjamins." Chibs waved his envelope around.

"Hey! Just got an update from my City Hall snitch, looks like Hale's got a warrant to search our warehouse." Juice reported.

"The warehouse that burned down a month ago?" Sydney questioned with a scowl, unsure why how or why a warrant was now being obtained for a pile of bones that had sat untouched for over a month.

"Why's Hale the one doin it?" Clay sneered, concerned over why the Deputy was barking up a tree that he had no business scratching on. "That ain't Charming jurisdiction!"

"Is there still evidence up there?" Sydney was appalled that she even had to ask, but based on Clay's reaction, she already knew the answer.

"Warehouse bones haven't been touched." Jax sighed. "Trammel was keepin it under wraps."

"So what the fuck is he doing now?" Sydney exclaimed. "You are seriously telling me that you haven't bothered getting that shit cleaned up?"

"Had bigger problems to deal with." Chibs replied.

"Twenty-five to life seems like a pretty big fucking problem to me." She retorted.

"Our names aint connected to that warehouse, Hale had no way of linking it to us, Trammel was keeping it contained!" Clay's voice boomed in defense.

"Well something has made him decide to start looking into it, now hasn't it? If there is even a shred of your DNA somewhere in that pile of rubble and gun parts, you better get cozy with the idea of spending the rest of your days getting topped by a cellmate."

"Shit!" Clay cursed after sitting on her words for a second. The evidence of gun running in the warehouse wasn't the issue, the possibility of Hale linking it to SAMCRO was. "Call Unser, call Trammel. Get everyone at the table!"

"Trammel said there was nothin he could do. Hale showed up, started pokin around, got enough for a warrant." Tig relayed his phone call with the San Joaquin sheriff, to the full table.

"If we don't somehow get that shit taken care of, that gun factory could land right on our doorstep."

"And ATF takes up a permanent residence in our collective rectums." Sydney smirked at Juice's analogy.

"That warehouse sits on County property, Hale's gonna have to wait days for San Joa. to shake loose a forensic unit." Clay smoked a cigar while trying to remain calm and realistic.

"It's a local case, County won't get involved. Hale'll just wind up borrowin a unit from Lodi."

"Hey, Big Otto's sister still works for the ADA in Lodi… Call her, see if there's a forensic team heading this way." Sydney was starting to realize that when Jax was level headed, he was a force to be reckoned with - not just a pretty face, perhaps she'd judged the temporarily weak-minded Vice President too harshly.

"I gotta talk to Unser. Maybe I can convince the Chief to put a leash on his hyperactive Deputy."

After church, Clay took off to meet with Unser and Tig laid whining on the couch in the clubhouse while everyone went about their day as usual. Sydney took the lull in business as an opportunity to head back home, it was her day off after all. She fired up her bike, getting ready to peel out of the compound when she realized that the keys to her house were still in Tig's room. She groaned at the delay in time keeping her from her Ninja - and her change of clothes, ripping off her helmet and jogging into the clubhouse. She stopped with one foot in the door, seeing none other than Cheryl sitting on the couch, trying to rub Tig's leg.

"I said I don't need anything." He tried to brush her off but his injury didn't exactly have him in a position to make a break away.

"He needs more medical shit. You can go get that from the hospital, can't you Cheryl?" The croweater straightened up on the couch when she heard the unexpected voice from behind her.

"I don't take orders from you-"

"You can go get that from the hospital, can't you Cheryl?" Sydney raised her voice, a much firmer tone than her previously exaggerated sweet one as she repeated herself, letting the older woman know that it wasn't up for debate. Cheryl looked to Tig for confirmation.

"Are you deaf? Go." He shooed her away. Sydney stood firmly planted in front of the door, glaring Cheryl down as she was forced to awkwardly try and slip past her.

Tig's eyes were wide as his mouth opened to plead his case but Sydney just raised a brow and gave him a discerning smirk, walking down the hall to retrieve her keys and walking right back out to where her bike was waiting.

The blue eyed man sat on the couch in a conundrum, he had no fucking clue if she was actually pissed or if this was just another game that they would play. He thought he saw a ghost of a smirk on her face, but her storming past him without a word when she left had made it impossible to tell. He groaned, yelling for Half-Sack to bring him the whiskey bottle to help cope with the stress that the day had put on him.

Sydney was spending the early afternoon cleaning around her house, absently listening to crime podcasts and leisurely sipping rosé when her phone began ringing with a call from Tig. She decided to ignore it, let him sweat a little for the incident this morning. She wasn't at all pissed, in fact - the jealousy turned her on, but she didn't need him to know that yet.

Tig groaned as his call went to voicemail, surely she was ignoring him. He ran his hands over his face in frustration, unsure of how to handle the situation. If she was going to get upset every time a croweater or a hangaround hit on him, they were going to have a lot of problems. However, something about the predicament vaguely ticked a memory in his brain, the memory of her storming off for show before her striptease when they played darts, making him once again question the motive behind her actions. Regardless of what his standing was with his much younger girlfriend, he was not in the shape to deal with it hands on.

"Sack!" He yelled for the hundredth time that day. "Call Syd for me." He ordered when Half-Sack jogged over, who was trying to look as enthusiastic as possible after spending his entire day catering to the injured Sergeant.

"Did you need me to get your phone for you or-"

"Did I say ask questions?" Tig cut off his alternative solutions. "Nah, I said call Syd for me." The poor kid wasn't trying to talk back - he was genuinely curious, but he still had not caught onto the fact that the reasoning for his curiosity wasn't the problem, the problem was the fact that he expressed curiosity at all. He fumbled with the pocket of his kutte, pulling out his phone to call his friend.

Sydney snorted when she saw her phone lighting up seconds later with a call from Half-Sack, unable to believe how obvious men could be with their tactics.

"Hi Kippy!" She answered cheerfully, knowing that if Tig wasn't listening - he would get a run down of the conversation at the very least.

Tig glared at the younger man as his call was instantly answered. Half-Sack widened his eyes frantically - half in apology - not wanting to be collateral damage in whatever sick game the odd pair was playing at, and half in uncertainty over what he was supposed to say.

"Church." Tig grumbled, pushing himself up off of the couch and hobbling off to the chapel, too defeated to ask for help.

"Uh, could you like, come back to the clubhouse? You know, for church?"

"I sure can. I'll see you soon." She replied sweetly, hanging up the call before she rode her bike back to the clubhouse, swapping her combat boots and jeans for black converse and shorts - still not her staple black Louboutins but they allowed for riding, something she was going to have to get used to if she wanted to patch in someday.

Sydney entered the clubhouse with a bubblegum flavored lollipop between her lips, mentally preparing herself for whatever other bullshit the group of men would likely lay on her this afternoon. She fell into formation behind Bobby, Juice and Chibs who were all lined up to enter the chapel, dropping their phones into the empty box on the pool table.

"Jimmy Cacuzza called. The Italian's wanna place an order, I didn't know what to say." Bobby looked to Clay for direction.

"How about: the store burned down, they missed the fire sale." Clay suggested as he crossed the threshold, to which Sydney snorted in response, her expression falling as soon as she saw Tig already in his chair.

"Well, I talked to Otto's sister and Lodi forensic team will be here first thing in the morning." Juice reported the bad news as he sat down.

"And the shit keeps piling on my head." Clay smiled sarcastically.

"So we distract em with something big in Lodi, get the shit out while they're busy." Sydney suggested easily, not able to keep the disappointment out of her tone - for such smart men, these guys could be incredibly fucking stupid.

"Only one thing that's gonna stop that Lodi forensics team from gettin to our warehouse, and that's another murder in Lodi." Clay surmised.

"Yep." Tig agreed.

"I don't know…" Jax exhaled in distress, shaking his head doubtfully. Here we go again… Sydney thought, seeing that Clay was apparently thinking the same thing as his head snapped up, prepared to defend himself against Jax's doubt. "Hale's on red alert, Mayan's, Nord's, everyone's twitchy as hell man…" Jax had a point, but Sydney failed to see what half of it had to do with the situation at hand.

"You're all gonna be twitchy as hell sitting in ATF holding." She reminded the VP of the vast difference in consequences.

"It's not a good time to kill-"

"It's never a good time. We're talking about the whole club here… Stayin outta ATF's crosshairs." Clay cut him off, to which he and everyone else half-heartedly nodded in response, knowing that this was a messy situation that could land on all of them. "We hit the projects, find ourselves a scumbag, a dealer…" Clay tried to present his plan in a way that seemed more ethically sound.

"We should off a coupla Nords Clay, is what we should do. Alright, we should just do that and then dump the bodies in Lodi. Buys us some time, sends a message to Darby, kills two birds with one crow."

"That points fingers at us with Hale and with the Nords." Sydney shot down her man's idea which on any other day, she would've been more onboard for. She wasn't doing it purely out of spite - she truly did mean what she said about it blowing back on the club, but she didn't mind the idea that her disagreement gave.

"Doesn't matter." Tig shook his head quickly in response to her argument against what he'd thought was a seamless plan.

"I'll handle that." Clay responded to Sydney. "You." He pointed to Tig. "Set it up." Tig nodded, hastily getting up from the table in a temporary slip of the memory about his injury, too hyped up with adrenaline from the combination of getting to slaughter some skinheads, brownie points with his President, and winning this battle with Sydney.

"Looks like you lost this one, Pussycat." He purred into Sydney's ear before heading to the door.

She felt all of her senses electrify as his smooth but condescending words passed through her ear. She smirked in response, moving the lollipop in her mouth from one side to the other with her tongue. She was weirdly okay with the defeat as it proved that just when she thought she had the upper hand, he pulled her right back into another challenge - showing just why he was perfect for her.

"Hey!" Jax called after the Sergeant who was just about to exit the chapel, making Sydney's smirk grow into a full blown grin as she had a feeling that the approval on Tig's plan was about to be revoked. "What if I could do this without spilling blood?"

Sydney fought off the urge to roll her eyes only because Jax was her saving grace in this round with the angsty Sergeant. Luckily for her, Clay rolled his eyes and Tig had a scowl on his face deeper than she had ever seen, she didn't even need to use her expressions when the blood hungry men could do it for her.

"Look this aint me tripping some guilt shit because of my kid. This is about one of us thinking straight." She raised an eyebrow and pursed her lips in amusement, it seemed Jax had caught onto their assumptions over his mindset. "Brains before bullets, right?" He pointed to the sign on the wall behind him, pulling out all of the stops to attempt to throw them off of his trail. Sydney snorted, more like bullshit before bullets.

Tig retook his seat, looking less than impressed as he avoided Sydney's taunting gaze. She couldn't help but linger her eyes on the brooding man who looked sexy as hell while he stroked his goatee with his ring clad fingers, the games of deception and dominance only adding to her lust.

"Let's hear it."

"All we need for murder are: bodies, and a crime scene."

"Jackie Boy… Now you lost me."

"Skeeter… He's always got more gambling debt than he can handle. I'll make it worth his while." Jax explained smugly.

"The cemetery guy?" Bobby scoffed.

"Cash for cadavers… I like it." Chibs agreed. Sydney wasn't against this plan necessarily, but what she was against - was the mother chapter's VP going soft.

"I give Lodi a front page murder and we don't stir up another shit storm to bite us in the ass."

"What about educating Darby." Tig asked the second that Jax finished talking. Sydney found herself smiling bashfully as Tig spoke, entranced by every single thing that he did.

"I'll figure that out. The important thing is to keep our DNA out of a petri dish, protect the club."

"Path of least resistance is always best, right?" No one seemed to object - not openly at least. Sydney would much rather off some kiddie fucker in Lodi, but she supposed this would get the job done. "We do it your way VP." The glare that Clay gave Jax was not lost on Sydney. "The other thing…" Clay switched gears before everyone cleared out. "Unser's stepping down as Chief, Hale's taking his spot in a few weeks."

No one seemed surprised by the news, but surprised or not, the fact didn't change that having the new Chief of local police, up the M.C.'s ass would be very bad for business.

"What does that mean for us?" Sydney asked.

"Not too sure yet… Made several gestures of friendship and Hale's declined every one."

"There's no way that we can convince the good Chief to stay on any longer?" Clay smirked at Sydney's suggestive questioning, wishing that more of his patches could be as hands on and likeminded as the young woman.

"Well maybe there is." He smiled. "Gonna have to find out… That's all I got for now." Everyone cleared out, retrieving their phones from the box. "Don't make me regret this." Sydney heard Clay sneer to Jax as she exited the chapel, smirking to herself.

"Tig! Syd!" Clay called as he exited the chapel, the Sergeant and his girlfriend stopping in their tracks and turning quickly to face their President. "Go get Darby's vehicle to transport the bodies." The couple momentarily forgot about their little game of ignoring each other to share a wicked grin.

Just as everyone was about to head out to complete their respective tasks: Tig and Sydney to fetch Darby's vehicle, and Jax, Chibs, Half-Sack and Juice to talk to Skeeter, Hale pulled his open canopy sheriff's vehicle onto the lot. Clay, Jax and Tig all exchanged a look from their respective positions on the compound, beginning to walk over to the nosey Deputy, Sydney trailing close behind - not caring that this was clearly a task to be taken on by the high ranked members.

"How you doin Jax?" Hale greeted the VP who was the first to approach. "Heard about Wendy and the baby, I'm sorry."

"Thanks. What brings you here?" Jax gave a cordial nod, remaining short with the man on the other side of the law.

"You know, I took a ride to the other side of the stream today, saw that warehouse that burned down."

"Outside your jurisdiction, aint it?" Sydney asked casually as she approached alongside Tig and Clay.

David Hale scowled, wondering who this little tart was, why she was interjecting herself in their conversation, and more importantly - why Clay was allowing her to. "I'm sorry, and you are?" He asked condescendingly, letting his authority show stronger than his shock over the fact that the young woman was an absolute dime.

"Sydney Harding, nice to meet ya." She smiled sarcastically and stuck her hand out to the man who was trying to mask his surprise, he had zoned out but managed to keep the hardass look posted on his face, not letting onto the fact that he was completely taken aback by the green eyed charmer. "C'mon Deputy, you wouldn't leave a girl hangin, would ya?" She teased when he didn't return her handshake.

Hale snapped out of it, remembering where he was and why he was there. "David Hale, sheriff's Deputy." He briefly introduced himself, shaking her hand and cutting off contact quickly to turn his attention back to Jax. "Whole area was littered with casings and gun parts. Warehouse was a weapons depot."

"No kiddin." Jax said, unamused with Hale's accusations - even if they were true.

"Chief Unser is retiring at the end of this month. I'll be stepping into those shoes. I know Unser's always had a 'look the other way' policy with the Sons of Anarchy."

"Look, I don't know what it is that you think Chief Unser is lookin the other way for. We're just mechanics and motorcycle enthusiasts." Clay replied.

"Just a friendly heads up that I will not look the other way."

"We're all free men, protected by the Constitution." Sydney smirked at Jax's response. "You look any way you want, Chief." Hale and Jax held eye contact menacingly as they began to part ways. Tig put his hand on the small of Sydney's back as he guided her to the van protectively, glaring at the younger man - clearly the way that Hale had acted towards her was noticed by him as well.

Tig walked her around to the passenger side of the van, opening the door and gripping her waist, lifting her and placing her onto the seat without a word, seemingly forgetting about his injury that had crippled him for the better part of the day, which of course had nothing to do with him being dramatic...

She flashed him a cocky grin, biting her lip in response to his dominance, the sexy look on her face only pushing him further. "Don't think I won't drag you to the back of this goddamn van..." He said in a low gowl, possibly lower and darker than she had heard thus far as she continued to push him. Her eyes widened and her pupils instantly blew out, a blush creeping up her neck.

"I knew there was a jealousy kink in there somewhere... " She teased smugly as he was about to shut the door.

Tig stopped his movements, realizing that he wasn't crazy in wondering if she had just been toying with him the whole time. He threw her door open, grabbing her out of the seat he'd just placed her in, ripping the sliding door open and shoving her inside without saying a word. His original plan on how to kill two birds with one stone wasn't going to pan out, but this one would: round up the game and blow off some steam. Sydney smirked as he tossed her into the van just as he said he would, not bothering to even try and look innocent, she was smug with herself and she wanted him to know.

"This aint me giving in easily." He informed her as he climbed into the box of the van, sliding the door shut. It was like he was reading her mind.

"Of course not." She widened her eyes and spoke with mock innocence as she looked up at him.

"You have been fucking with me all day." He growled as he fisted his hand into the back of her hair.

A small whimper escaped her lips as her head was harshly jerked back but her eyes were filled with fire as he manhandled her the way she loved. He clenched his jaw, letting go of her hair and lifting her by her hips to set her on top of the block heater, standing between her legs as he placed his hands on her thighs and licked his lips.

Sydney tried to regulate her breathing under his predatory gaze so that he wouldn't catch on to just how excited she was as she bit her lip nervously, waiting for his next move. He took his hands off of her and began unbuckling his belt, keeping his eyes trained on hers, daring her to look away. She shivered under the intimidation of his ice blue stare - no physical contact to combat the chills that his eyes gave her.

She was surprised when Tig pressed his lips to hers in a gentle, passionate kiss, melting into the familiar comfort of his arms that she knew would be short lived. Tig took advantage of the element of surprise yet again when he yanked her bottoms off in one swift tug.

A rush of adrenaline coursed through her veins as she squeaked in surprise, the rough movement pulling her back to earth after her moment of weakness. She wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him into her as soon as their clothing was out of the way, but her ministrations were halted by his hands prying her thighs from his hips and pinning them to the metal box she was perched on, doing the same to her hands - remembering how badly she'd wanted to touch him the night of the fair when she was handcuffed to the bed.

Without any warning, he pushed inside of her, sliding all the way home thanks to her arousal. They both reacted exactly the same: rolling their eyes back and holding their moans in the back of their throats, not wanting to give each other the satisfaction. His thrusts got harder but remained just as deep as he tried to coax the noises from her lips, but instead being met with her defiant, dark green stare.

He thrusted with more force, pushing her backwards with a hand to her throat, pinning her body against the wall behind her, slamming into her so hard that the van was shaking. She gasped when her back made contact with the cold surface, but the air was quickly knocked out of her lungs by the angry, animalistic snaps of his hips.

She continued to glare at him as she took his punishment, silently challenging him, asking if it was all he had - even if she didn't think she could take much more. She knew she couldn't hold back her screams for much longer, so she figured she would squeeze every last drop of frustration from him before letting him have the satisfaction.

Tig grimaced as the ruthless blonde challenged him with those irresistible eyes. He was the kind of guy who liked it rough and often had to hold back, but with the way that the girl who inhabited his heart took everything he had, he wasn't sure if he was even capable of giving more. He pulled out, giving her thigh a slap.

"Turn over." He ordered lazily, praying that the change in tactic would work because he was running out of ideas. She smirked when he ordered her to bend over the metal box, knowing that he was nearing his limit. "I wanna hear those pretty little sounds you make for me." He growled as he smacked her ass with one hand and the other yanked her hair back, his cock pushing into her at the same time, creating an overwhelming medley of sensations that elicited a moan deep in her throat. "That's better." He pulled her hair tighter and leaned over her, his lips making contact with the soft skin behind her ear, bottoming out inside of her and hitting that spot that he knew drove her crazy. Sydney didn't react to the deeper penetration, but it wasn't purposely this time, she was too overwhelmed by the sensation to formulate any kind of sounds.

Tig released her hair and roughly shoved her down against the metal surface when she didn't comply once again, smacking her ass harder this time. "I'm not gonna ask again." Sydney cried out, loving the way that his rough hands felt as they spread pins and needles across the plush skin of her ass. "That's it, baby." He lightened his tone and placed a gentle kiss against her shoulder before letting loose a barrage of bruising thrusts, using her shoulders for leverage as he marinated in her perfect wetness.

"Tiggy." She whined helplessly as she felt her orgasm approaching, the intense tightening in her body telling her that it was going to the best one she'd ever had.

Tig felt her walls getting tighter and tighter around his dick as he continued pounding into her, beginning to worry when the tightening didn't stop - getting much stronger than he had felt from her before, from anyone before. He decided to ignore the worry that she might actually snap his dick off, and instead focus on the fact that he was about to give her a mindblowing orgasm, meaning victory for him as she came undone below him.

"I feel you baby, come on… Cum for me." He cooed in her ear, coaxing her gently, knowing that the contrast between his rough actions and sweet tone would launch her over the edge.

"Oh god!" She cried out, a feeling so strong washing over her as her release exploded between her legs. Tig's stomach dropped and his dick twitched as he felt her squirting around him, a wicked grin forming on his face. There's no way that he could've gotten that lucky…

He continued fucking her, trying to hold off on his release as long as possible just to teach her a lesson but unfortunately her squirting, squealing, and pussy milking his dick was too intense for Tig, even from behind where he couldn't see her face. He pulled out of her, grabbing her wavy blonde mane and dragging her to her knees, pushing himself into her mouth and coating her tongue with his seed before he pulled her back up, wrapping one hand around her throat to tip her face up towards his, crashing his lips down to hers and pushing his tongue into her mouth before pulling away.

"Get dressed." He ordered. "No more fucking around." He added as he redressed himself.

"I told you before, I'm never done fucking around with you." She replied coyly as she went to slip back into her shorts, but was stopped when she realized her legs were covered in her own release. "Um…" She looked to Tig, pleading for help with innocent eyes and cheeks red with embarrassment.

Tig chuckled, grinning wolfishly. He reached out, placing his hands on her waist. "You never told me you were a squirter baby." He couldn't have hid the cockiness in his voice if he tried.

"You know me, always the element of surprise." She teased with an eye roll, clutching to the lapels of his kutte, needing some intimacy after the less than romantic encounter they just had. He noticed the way she was looking at his chest, knowing that she was yearning to be pressed against it.

"I love you." He said gently, resting his forehead against hers.

"I love you too." She whispered back weakly while looking deep into his eyes, exhausted from what her body just went through. He pulled her into a hug, both of them sighing in contentment and inhaling each other's scents.

"I'll go grab a towel." He kissed her on the forehead and winked before pulling away.

"Okay." She laughed at the situation as he pulled the door open, revealing Clay, Jax, Chibs, Half-Sack, and Juice all standing with raised brows.

Tig and Sydney's eyes widened as they realized that not only were they caught - but Sydney was completely naked below the waist. Tig quickly jumped in front of her, luckily she was sitting sideways, so the men hadn't gotten a full peep show.

"Hey! Didn't anybody tell you girls? If the van's a rockin, don't come a knockin." Sydney snickered at Tig's rendition of the classic saying.

"Get goin." Clay winced, regretting his poorly thought out idea to pair the two together on this mission.

Tig jogged across the compound after safely shielding his naked girlfriend from the inquisitive eyes of his brothers, grabbing a blue mechanics towel off of the rack in the garage. "Spill somethin?" Gemma questioned with a raised brow from the desk in the office.

"Somethin like that." Tig grinned, winking before he took back off towards the van that Gemma expected would've been long gone by now, wincing when she realized what the crazy eyed man was referring to.