aravenamongcrows on Tumblr (ask and submissions are open!)
General trigger warnings for this story: Language, smut, mentions of rape, abuse, drug use/overdose, violence/death.
CHAPTER 62: TIL DEATH DO US PART
;
June Stahl walked out of Cara Cara with a smug smile on her face as Luann Delaney trailed behind her with handcuffs tight on her wrists. The desperate Agent had only hoped to get one of the women to shake something loose - something that she could use to start her RICO investigation. But the porn queen had scored her an unexpected jackpot on the first stop of the day, and she still had two more to go.
;
Sydney laid sprawled out across Tig's bed with her injured leg crossed over her uninjured leg as she bounced it in time with the throbbing. She tapped her fingers against the duvet, waiting for the pain of the last trip to subside enough for her to stomach the thought of making another one out to the bar.
Her head snapped to the side when her phone started ringing, picking it up gratefully as it provided something else for her to focus on. "Hey. You still in my room?" Tig's voice came over the line.
"Yeah." She sighed.
"What're you doin?" He husked.
Sydney chuckled when she could practically hear his smirk over the phone. "Hmmm why don't you come find out?" She rasped seductively.
"Don't you be tempting daddy while he's busy." He mock-scolded.
She laughed, rolling onto her stomach. "Nah, I'm just laying down." She told him as she traced the stitching on the dark blue blanket below her.
"Tara get you all fixed up?"
"Sure did." She sighed as he brought up her favorite topic.
"How's it look?"
"Clean as a whistle."
"Maybe I'll have to come give you a blow." Tig smirked, hoping to lift her spirits.
Sydney laughed again, her smile lingering much longer this time as the throbbing in her leg faded and the throbbing in her heart took over. She couldn't believe how lucky she was to have found someone like Tig… Someone who not only cared about her wellbeing, but who also paid attention to how she cared about her wellbeing - doing everything he could to make sure that she was comfortable, even if that meant making himself uncomfortable.
"Nah for real though, you feeling okay?" He reverted back to his initial concern now that he had managed to get a few laughs out of her.
"Yeah. Just taking it easy." She dropped the sarcasm, answering him softly and sincerely.
"Are you sure you don't want us to drop you off at home? Can relax there instead of in my room…" He knew she'd wanted to get back to the normalcy of being at the clubhouse, but he didn't know how she would be able to find any kind of comfort in his dingy, small space and rock hard bed when she had the exact opposite waiting for her at home.
"You taking the bike?" She raised a brow.
Tig winced when she caught his slip up. "You sure you don't want me to get the prospect to drop you off at home?" He corrected himself.
Sydney snorted at his save. "Nah, it's okay. I'll stick around in case somethin comes up."
"Okay." He nodded, squinting in the sun from where he stood outside of the office while Clay spoke to Gemma. He was elated that this hadn't been a fight too - that she seemed to be taking her health seriously and wasn't trying to tag along when she should be resting.
"You call just to check on me?" She felt a playful grin forming on her face.
"Nah. I was gonna see if you could do me a favor. In a bit of a rush…"
"Yeah, what's up?" She sat up.
"Those two bags in my room from yesterday - the black backpacks. Think you could empty them out for me? We need em for the cash."
"I'm on it." She cooed.
"Wish you were on me." Tig growled, smiling as he heard her giggle before the line went dead.
;
"Hey!" Unser yelled at the parade of A.T.F. Agents as they invaded the station house - hauling boxes of material in with them. "I'm tryin to run a department here! Mind tellin me how I'm gonna do that without an office?"
Hale approached his superior with a devious smirk, feeling victorious when he had finally managed to get a one up on the corrupt Chief of Police.
"You knew about this?" Unser demanded an answer from his Deputy.
"No one knew." Stahl's voice surprised both men - turning to see the tall woman approaching them with a smirk. "I love a good surprise."
"What the hell is going on?" Unser attempted to keep his composure as he realized exactly what was going on once he saw Luann being escorted to the holding cells. This was about SAMCRO…
"I'm borrowing your house for a couple of weeks. Gonna be a little tight…" She shrugged.
"And what's your business here?"
"What do you think, Chief? Huh? I bet you've already made a call to Clay Morrow." She smirked. "Your personal and professional relationship with the Sons of Anarchy has been well documented." Thanks to Hale's briefing, she now had a much better idea about how the biker scum had managed to patrol the streets of this small town for so long.
"Is that so?" He scoffed.
"Yeah." She nodded, turning towards one of her detectives. "Escort Chief Unser out. He poses a security risk to my investigation." He had already tampered with the records of one of her key witnesses… She didn't need it happening again.
"You scrawny, uptight bitch…" He spit. "You don't know shit about me, or this town."
Stahl blinked in response to his insult, stepping closer to the older man. "Why don't you take a little down time, Wayne? Play golf, go fishing, get a round of chemo… You know, relax?"
Hale lowered his head when the low blow left her lips. He hadn't wanted to attack anyone - he understood why Unser chose to work with the Sons rather than against them - he had just wanted to see a day where the bad guys lost, a day where all of the reasons that he became a cop in the first place actually mattered.
"You didn't have to humiliate the guy…" He commented as he followed Stahl into Unser's office, closing the door behind him.
"You're the one who got the ball rolling, sparky. You wanna play in my backyard, or the cow pastures?"
"I want to stop SAMCRO." He reiterated as he approached the desk where she was standing.
"Good." She nodded. "Then let's catch up." She handed him a file. "We know that the Sons are getting their guns in oil barrels from Dungloe, Ireland."
"True I.R.A. territory, right?" He recalled from one of their past meetings.
"Yes, but these guys did not buy into the peace accord. The guns are how they keep their pro-Irish agenda on fire." She opened up a file of her own, producing a mugshot of a middle-aged man. "Michael McKeevy… Big Irish player. He was found beaten to death two weeks ago. Pier 56, Oakland shipyard."
"You think this was Clay?"
"No, I don't. I think it was this guy." She pulled out another photo - this one of an older man lying dead outside of an apartment. "Brenan Hefner - Oakland Port Commissioner. Very dirty. I think that a deal went south and Hefner killed McKeevy."
"So who killed Hefner?" Hale looked between both photos as Stahl widened her eyes and shook her head, waiting for him to catch on. "SAMCRO…" He realized.
"McKeevy was a friend, Hefner was an obstacle." She explained as she fished out a stack of papers. "Oakland D.A.'s gonna keep me informed."
"This intel, the murders we had here last week, Sydney's shooting - this all points to the Sons." He exclaimed - not understanding why there would be any hesitation.
"Don't be creaming those khakis just yet, Deputy. It may point to the Sons, but we've got shit to convict. It's all circumstantial evidence."
"So it's a wash… You can pin it on them and now their gun supply has been cut off."
"Well, I didn't say that either, now did I?" She slid a photo of a bald man across the table. "McKeevy has a cousin in the trade… Family business." She smirked. "Cameron Hayes. He's been spotted locally a few times now - my guess is that he will be taking over as distributor for McKeevy and will be catching the next ship back to Ireland… That's where we intercept."
"So how does Luann tie into all of this?" His face wrinkled in confusion.
"Well, in case our dear friend Camy Hayes doesn't work out, we need a back-up plan." She cocked her brows, fanning out a pile of mugshots and photos before him. "RICO. We need to prove that Sons of Anarchy is an ongoing criminal enterprise - that there's been illegal activity over the past ten years. So, we use Luann's incarceration as a bargaining chip with her husband, Otto Delaney." She held out the mugshot of the long haired man. "We dig up the dirt in the past, and then we go after the present."
"The guys will never rat." Hale scoffed. For someone who specialized in organized crime, she sure didn't know much about the kind of loyalty that ran within these gangs.
"You're really missing the theme here, honey…" She shook her head slowly, insultingly. "Outlaw clubs do not keep their women in the dark. They're smart. They use them… We go after the ones who have the most to lose." She displayed three photos in front of him. "Job, family, freedom." She pointed to a photo of Tara, then Donna, then Cherry.
Hale felt his heart skip when his eyes landed on the photo of Tara - he couldn't let her get caught up in this mess that he had created. "She's not one of them." He shook his head.
"Who?"
"Tara." He pointed to the photo of her walking through the compound. "She's not one of them."
Stahl let her eyes slide over him for a few seconds as she contemplated his anger over Tara's very real involvement with the M.C. "Well, we've had surveillance on the clubhouse and uh, Tara has spent almost every night there... Kohn was right - he pushed her right into Teller's arms."
Hale looked away, rubbing his nose as he tried to brush off the sting. It's not like he and Tara had ever dated or anything of the sort - Jax always made sure of that. But he always thought that maybe one day, the good cop and the good doctor would find their way to the same good place.
"What's the matter, Deputy?" Stahl raised a brow. "You got a little stiffy for Miss Tara?"
"Tara, she-" He began but stopped - catching himself before he could fall. "No, she's just an old friend - never the path I saw her taking." He explained confidently.
"Uh-huh…" Stahl nodded, unconvinced - turning her attention to the man at the door.
"Where should I put these?" One of the detectives asked, holding a stack of boxes.
"Put those in my office. Thanks Bill." Hale nodded. "So what about Harding?" He attempted to steer the conversation in a less personal direction - hoping to throw off his real concern for Tara with false concern for the little blonde.
"Well, seeing what she's been through, she doesn't have much to lose at all." Stahl scoffed. "Dead parents, jailbird boyfriend, a growing criminal record. She's the one who gave me the idea in the first place."
Hale's heart may have skipped a beat when he had seen Tara's photo, but it sank when he heard the words come out of her mouth: a growing criminal record. He nodded silently, praying that she hadn't uncovered the shady police work that he had stupidly performed in a failed attempt to get ahead. He turned his attention back to the open file in his hands when her face gave nothing away, wondering what it was that he had done...
;
Sydney sat on the edge of Tig's bed as he loaded his gun on top of the dresser. He snapped the clip into place, tucking it into his waistband before bending over to grab one of the backpacks off of the ground, slinging it over his shoulders while she emptied the second one.
"Did you take my panties again?" She laughed as she dug through the bag from the day before.
"What?" Tig's brows furrowed.
"From the bag." She nodded, holding up her green dress that had been inside.
"Nah… Must be in the back of the van."
"The van that people have been driving in and out of here all day?" She raised a brow.
"Yeah… That van." He ground his teeth uncomfortably at the thought. "I'll look when I get back. I gotta go." He grabbed the second bag from her.
"Hmm so one of your brothers could have my panties… That's kinda hot." She smirked up at him, pushing the subject as he tried to avoid it. There weren't many things that could make Tig Trager uncomfortable - she had to take advantage while she could.
"Maybe for you." He scoffed. The idea did not please him at all, but at the very least he was glad to see that for some twisted reason it was able to put a smile on her face. "I gotta go."
"You keep sayin that… But you're still standing here." She tilted her head innocently as she dragged her foot up the inside of his calf.
"And if you keep doin that, I'm gonna be layin here and we're both gonna be in trouble." He smirked as he leant down, hovering over her before pressing his lips to hers. "I'll see you when I get back."
"How do you know I'll still be here?" She teased, swaying back and forth tauntingly as she leant back against her elbows.
"Because I've made sure that nobody on this compound is going to give you a ride or let you anywhere near their keys." He replied easily.
"Not bad, Sergeant." She bit her lip as she nodded, impressed by his preparation for exactly what she would've done.
"Love ya." He winked, pulling the door open.
"Love you more." She smiled as the door closed behind him.
;
Tara stood over Abel with a smile as she patted his little belly, listening to his soft cooing noises when suddenly she was overcome by the dreadful feeling of being watched. Her heart sank as the familiar fear crept in - the fear that she had been running from for months. She slowly turned over her shoulder, flinching when she saw a woman peering through the glass at her and Abel who immediately started to cry when he felt her tense. She turned her attention back to the baby, motioning for her co-worker to take over before slipping out the door to see who this woman was and why she was watching her so creepily.
"Can I help you?" She greeted the sharply dressed woman.
"Dr. Knowles?"
"Yeah."
"I'm Agent Stahl, A.T.F." Tara stared blankly at the familiar badge. A.T.F…. Like Kohn. "May I ask you some questions?"
"Of course." She nodded, gesturing to the sofa behind them before she peered down the hallway in the hopes that nobody was witnessing this interaction - but somebody was.
Margaret Murphy watched the Agent approach Tara - the same Agent who had questioned the girl who had been unfortunate collateral damage in the M.C. shooting. She shook her head disapprovingly, hoping that this only had to do with Jax's recent presence in the hospital because of his son, and not something more.
"So." Stahl shook her head casually. "I'm trying to wrap my brain around your history with SAMCRO."
"Excuse me?" Tara raised her brows in surprise - using every bit of her poor acting skills that she could muster up.
"Well, your mom died when you were nine. You left Charming and your drunk daddy eleven years ago - moved in with an aunt in San Diego, right?"
"My father's cousin." Tara corrected, her heart sinking even further. There was no way that this Agent would've done this much research on her for no reason.
"Right, right." She nodded. "You graduated U.C.S.D. with honors, you were top of the class at Loyola Med, and you did your internship at Chicago Presbyterian. Really, very impressive."
"Yeah, I know." Tara smiled awkwardly. "I was there."
"Yes… And now you're here at St. Redneck's, getting dirty with the bad boys again. How does that happen? Hmm?"
Tara paused, choosing her next words very carefully. "My personal life really isn't any of your business. What is it that you want?" She asked as diplomatically as possible.
"Oh, but it is." Stahl smirked. She'd gotten exactly what she wanted - the good doctor worried. "Do you know of any illegal activity that Jax Teller or the Sons of Anarchy are involved in?"
"No." Tara shook her head unconvincingly. "I don't."
"Well that was easy." Stahl shrugged, clearly not believing her. "Well listen-" She got to her feet. "If you do think of something, or something doesn't feel right, would you please give me a call?" She handed her a business card.
"Mhmm." Tara nodded as she accepted the card, pretending to be interested in its contents in hopes of avoiding the penetrating gaze of the intimidating law woman.
"Thank you for your time." She nodded, turning towards the door.
"What exactly is it that you're hoping to find?" Tara couldn't help herself… She needed to know what this was about. "You know, just wondering what digging up dirt on old girlfriends gets you?"
"Is that what Kohn liked?" Stahl narrowed her eyes as she looked over her shoulder at the meek woman that she hoped would be as easy to crack as she looked. "Your inquisitive nature?" Tara's heart dropped completely into her stomach as she began wringing her hands. This was about Kohn after all. "You know, I understand that he never got off the plane in Chicago. He's M.I.A."
"Well, if that's the case then I guess I will be needing those bad boys since you guys can't do your job." Tara snarked.
"He threw away his career for love." Stahl shrugged. "I just hope you're not doing the same, doctor."
;
Opie walked into his house anxiously, expecting to see his wife and kids - his family. But instead, he only saw Donna packing more boxes.
"What're you doing?" His brows furrowed. She was supposed to be unpacking. "Where are the kids?"
"Next door. Nina's watching them." She ignored him, continuing to remove her books from the bookshelf and place them into the box.
"So I don't get a say in any of this?" He felt his anger brewing as tears threatened his eyes. Everything he'd done had been for nothing after all…
"I didn't get a say in this decision, did I?" She gestured to his kutte.
"Right." He scoffed. "Donna, you knew who I was when you married m-"
"There was an A.T.F. Agent here this morning." She cut him off. "She's a real nasty bitch. Grilled me about you, and the club. Said that SAMCRO was gonna tear apart my family." She practically spit the words at him - the exact same words that she had been chewing on for the last five years.
Opie's eyes fell shut when he realized what this meant - that the feds knew that they had something to do with Hefner's murder. "I'm sorry." He shook his head, praying that even though they knew it was SAMCRO, they wouldn't be able to pin it on anyone.
"We're moving in with my mom. I'm gonna find a place near her where me and the kids-"
"Donna!" Opie stopped her, grabbing the box from her hands and throwing it to the ground. "Just-" He shook his head in frustration. "Why did you stay? Huh? Why give me hope?"
"O-our kids were babies-" She stuttered, unsure how to answer the question that she couldn't stop asking herself.
"Don't put this on the kids." He shook his head. "You knew that I was gonna go back to SAMCRO. What the hell else was I gonna do? I'm not your brother. I'm not your dad. Can't be a good ol' boy chucking wood twelve hours a day. I earn with the club - that's what I know. That's how I support this family. I'm doing this because of you!"
"You aint even doing that Ope!" She cut off his rant. "We're two mortgage payments behind, I park my car in the garage so that it doesn't get towed, I can't go to Charming grocer anymore because so many of my cheques have bounced! Don't you dare say that what you do is for us."
Opie's illusion that he could get past this came crashing down when she hit him with the reality of the situation, her blue eyes burning into him with a hardness that he had never seen in the many years that they had been together. "I'm going to see my kids." He shook his head as he stormed out the front door. He needed a reminder of why he was doing all of this.
;
Jax waltzed into the hospital to see his son, not expecting to see the persistent bitch of an A.T.F. Agent standing right in front of him. He strolled past her and her partner, staring her down smugly - an expression that she mimicked - until she was out of view, allowing himself to scowl and look over his shoulder as he tried to figure out why she had been there.
"Come here!" He heard, being pulled from his thoughts before he was yanked into an empty room by Tara.
"What's wrong?" He scowled as he looked her over.
"She knew all about me! She knows about us!" She whisper-yelled.
"Wait, that Agent was here talking to you?"
"Yes! It's because of Kohn. She knows what we did."
Jax shook his head as he looked up to the ceiling, running his hands over his face. Even after doing the unthinkable - getting his mother's approval, there were still voices in Tara's ear left and right, telling her that he wasn't right for her.
"It's all smoke." He placed his hands on her biceps to stop her panicking. "They got nothing on SAMCRO, so now they're harassing people close to us." He hoped that the explanation he had pulled out of his ass was as convincing to her as it was to him. "I'm sorry…"
Tara felt her speeding heart beginning to slow as she looked to the ground. She supposed he wasn't wrong - if her time with Kohn had taught her anything, it was that this was a common police tactic.
"You didn't say anything?" Jax worried as she hung her head in silence.
"No." Her head snapped up. "Of course not."
"What'd she say about Kohn?"
"Just that he was M.I.A…."
"Kohn was a wanted man." He shrugged. "He didn't show up in Chicago cause he didn't wanna go to jail." He nodded slowly. Tara had always been a terrible liar, he thought that maybe if they talked about their story as if it was the truth, it would help her from revealing that it wasn't. "He's probably halfway around the world right now…"
"Yeah, halfway." She scoffed.
"This will never blow back on you… That's a promise." He assured her with the utmost sincerity in his whisper. "I wouldn't let you get hurt."
Tara blinked in response as she turned away from him, her head spinning with the overwhelming storm of emotions, feelings, thoughts, and dilemmas.
"Okay?" He brought her attention back to him.
She blinked a few times, realizing that if she wanted him, this was what she had to deal with. She looked into his deep blue eyes that were swimming with hope… He wanted her just as much as she wanted him. "Okay." She nodded, falling into his arms where he hugged her tightly and pressed his lips against her forehead - her eyes falling closed immediately. Yes, she could handle this...
;
Clay sat at one of the low tables in the bar with Bobby as he contemplated what he and Tig had learned during their meeting with Cameron, trying to figure out a way around the never-ending obstacles.
"Hey, Clay?" He was pulled from his thoughts, looking up to see Opie standing in front of him. "Look I know we're still recovering from the warehouse… But I was hoping I could get my payout for Hefner." He noticed Bobby looking tentatively from him, to Clay. "I'm two mortgage payments behind… Donna just told me." He sucked up his pride, hoping that a little truth could help him get the compassion that he needed to get his family back.
"You should've said somethin, man." Clay shook his head. "Waiting for the cash wasn't mandatory."
"I know." Opie nodded. "I just wanted to help out the club - wait until we got the money from Cameron."
"That's alright, I'll get it divvied up for church later." Bobby nodded, hoping to stop Opie before he could use any more of his guilt-trip bullshit on the unsuspecting President.
"Thanks man." He nodded sincerely to Bobby, not only for getting him the cash - but for keeping his secret.
"Hey, Ope?" Clay called after him. "You doing okay?"
"Yeah… Just-" He stopped, feeling the embarrassment flooding in. "Shit at home. I got it handled." He divulged as much as his ego would allow, turning and stomping out the door.
Clay scowled as he watched another one of his youngest members succumbing to the pressure. "What's going on with him?"
"His heart's in it… His head's someplace else." Bobby drawled as he watched the troubled man stalking across the compound.
Clay scoffed, pushing himself up from the table. "Too much of that shit going around lately." He spit out in frustration.
"Uh-huh…" Bobby nodded slowly.
"Clay! That was Unser. You need to call church, now…" Juice announced as he ran into the bar, holding up his prepay.
;
"Alright…" Clay began as he sat at the head of the table with his head down. "This meeting was supposed to be about Cameron, but now it's about much more than that." He sighed. "Got a call from Unser. Stahl arrested Luann."
"For what?" Jax scowled.
"Drugs. Now we knew that A.T.F. was back in town after what went down with Darby and the Mayans, but it's looking like it's more than that…"
"She went by my house today. Tried to rattle Donna." Opie perked up when he realized what the connection was, hoping that maybe this meant that they hadn't been found out for Hefner's murder after all.
"Yeah… Same with Tara at the hospital." Jax chimed in, realizing that the explanation he had given her earlier might have actually been true.
"She's going after the women - trying to hit us where we're weak." Sydney realized. "She was pushing me for info about the guns while I was in the hospital, some coup she has going with Hale."
"They're trying to find anything that they can on the club from outsiders because they got nothing." Juice explained.
"Maybe Cameron was tellin the truth..." Tig looked to Clay.
"Yeah, maybe…" Clay pinched the bridge of his nose.
"About what?" Chibs questioned.
"Said there would be a delay in that shipment of free guns cause the docks are under watch - he's going into hiding until he can get safe passage outta here. We thought it was just some bullshit excuse, but…"
"It's not. And we still have half an order waiting for us on those ports." Tig worried.
"Can't use any of our alternative methods?" Bobby suggested.
"They know that our guns are coming in from there… That's why they're watching it. They don't want Cameron, they want us." Sydney looked to Clay, remembering the contents of the file that she had gotten from Alvarez. She ground her teeth as she analyzed the angle that Stahl was working and she had to admit that as much as it pissed her off - it was smart. But smart meant dangerous.
The entire table looked to Clay for confirmation of Sydney's theory, getting just that as the President nodded regrettably. "Princess was right from the beginning. They've been onto the oil drums for a while. Only reason we haven't been intercepted is cause we've managed to cover our tracks. We cannot risk anything right now." He held up his finger as he looked around the table threateningly.
"So how do we get our guns out of there before they get a warrant?"
"Unser's coming for a proper update tomorrow. We'll know more then." Was all that Clay could think to say, lowering his head back down.
Bobby took this as his cue to pass out the envelopes that he had prepared after getting the hefty $200k from Cameron, hoping to lift everybody's spirits a little - but it did no such thing as they accepted their blood money, wondering what it could end up costing them.
"Good job, Ope. You earned that." Clay commented as Bobby handed the bearded man his envelope which was much fuller than everybody else's.
"Thanks." Opie looked over to his President before looking away quickly, avoiding Jax's eyes.
Sydney felt her chest bubbling with betrayal as Opie accepted recognition - and payment - for something that he didn't have the balls to do, or the respect to admit that he couldn't. She chewed the inside of her lip, staring Jax down where they sat across the table until Bobby handed her an envelope as well. She noticed that once again, her stack was much thicker than most of the rest - but this time she was going to accept the compensation.
;
Tig was on his way back to his room with Sydney on his arm, bringing her back to bed so that she could relax while he, Clay, and Bobby could all get started on getting the soonest meeting with Otto possible.
"Oh shit!" The couple heard coming from the bathroom, looking at each other with knitted brows. "Hey, Half-Sack! Get in here!" The door flew open and Bobby practically fell out.
"Huh?" Half-Sack ran up behind them. "What's going on?"
"Jesus Christ." Bobby groaned as he pulled the bathroom door open so that everyone could see the toilet that was spewing out sewage and colourful scraps of lace. "What the hell is this?" He shook his head in shock. "Who do you think would be flushin panties down the shitter…"
As soon as they heard the word 'panties', Sydney and Tig looked at each other with the same wide-eyed, brow-raised expression - no longer wondering what had happened to her missing undergarments.
;
Opie stormed into his house, hoping to catch Donna before it was too late. Luckily, he walked into a mountain of boxes, seeing his wife standing by the kitchen table as she stuffed a box full of his kids' toys.
"Here." He threw the envelope down on the table. "This should cover the mortgage and put a dent in a couple of the other bills.
Donna stood stunned as she stared at the envelope of cash. She didn't know what to do, she knew that as a good mother she should accept his help - use the money to take care of her kids. But all she could think about was what he had done to get that money, and what kind of person it would make her if she accepted it.
Opie hung his head. "I'm sorry that I don't earn the way that you want me to. But the way I earn will give us enough to get back on our feet." He looked back up to meet her tear-filled blue eyes. "If you can't get behind that, then keep packing." He nodded sadly before taking his leave once again.
;
Sydney laid on Tig's bed bouncing her head back against the mattress as she tried to think clearly with all of the noise coming from outside. She had spent all morning hoping for a distraction, and boy was she getting one as she wracked her brain for any and every possible solution to the gun problem.
If we get the guns out then at least we have something to hold Laroy off because there is no way he'll accept any more delays, especially if he finds out we've agreed to sell to the Mayans… A whole new problem. Selling to the Mayans means that we need more guns than we were getting in the first place which we couldn't even fucking keep up with... I can probably get Alvarez to give us at least one free pass but after that we're fucked. Maybe we can get someone to distract the feds, a diversion so that we can-
Her train of thought was lost once again when an ear-piercing beeping came from the sewage truck right outside of Tig's window. "Ugh!" She slammed her fists against the bed, pushing herself up and crawling to the window where she threw it open, ready to give the sludge workers a piece of her mind when she saw it: her solution. She jumped to her feet, completely disregarding her injury as she bolted out the door and down the hallway in search of Clay
;
Jax stood on the roof, pacing back and forth as he puffed on his third cigarette, trying to find a way out of this shit. He stared at the manuscript that he had placed back into the leather binding, trying to use all of his willpower not to open it - but he had to. He needed guidance; some kind of confirmation that he wasn't crazy for feeling like he would never get past this.
The older I get, the more I realize that age doesn't bring wisdom - it only brings weary. He scoffed as he read the first line, nodding along as he listened to the voice of his father whose words spoke to him like he had been reading his mind from beyond the grave. I'm not any smarter than I was thirty years ago. I've just grown too tired to juggle the lies and hide the fears. Self awareness doesn't reveal my indiscretions, exhaustion does.
He shut the manual, closing his eyes as he tried to find peace in his father's similar struggles, but instead all he heard was the sound of the sewage truck pumping the sludge from the bathroom into the giant tank. That was when it came to him…
;
Jax's feet landed at the bottom of the ladder when he was almost run down by Sydney. "Hey, hey, hey. Slow down." He grabbed her by the waist, knowing that she should not be moving like that with her injury.
Sydney flinched when she felt Jax's hands on her, jumping back out of his grip. "I know how we can get the guns." She recovered quickly thanks to her excitement.
"The truck." He nodded, matching her excitement and brushing off the awkward moment.
"Yeah! We can use it to get Cameron out too."
Jax chuckled as he shook his head, of course she had managed to one up his plan. "Only problem's gonna be gettin that truck."
"Oh don't you worry about that." She smirked, grabbing his arm as she took off to set the plan into motion.
;
Clay stood in the chapel hovered over the table with Tig and Bobby as they spoke on the phone with Rosen, trying to figure out a way to get a warning out to their incarcerated brother who had already been placed on federal watch.
"Dammit!" Clay yelled, slamming the phone shut. "One step ahead."
"We know how to get the guns out." Sydney announced from the doorway.
"How?" The President perked up, he was all ears right now.
Sydney looked to Jax, allowing him to present the plan and show that it had been a team effort. "That sewage truck." He nodded outside. "We take it to the ports - make it look like routine maintenance. Bag up the guns and leave the empty crates. Feds won't suspect a thing."
"That's how we can smuggle Cameron out - give him that safe passage that he needs as a show of good faith, get our guns flowing sooner in return." Sydney added as Jax nodded along.
"We can keep him up at the cabin until we find a way to get him up north." Jax explained.
"I'll call Hap… See if he's up for a companion." Clay nodded as he listened to the genius plan, thankful that Sydney had been able to access the clever part of the VP's brain that he had been exiled from.
Sydney felt her blood run cold when she heard Happy's name, blinking a few times as she brushed it off - she wasn't going to let anything ruin this victory.
"You two put your little lemon heads and matching shoes together to figure this out?" Bobby joked. Sydney chuckled, looking down at the sparkling white Air Forces that her and Jax were both sporting.
"How the hell are we gonna get that truck?" Tig questioned skeptically as he looked between the two of them, not liking one bit of this plan or the way that it had been formulated...
"Already done." Sydney smirked, letting them know that she had everything to do with securing the truck for the night.
"Okay, fine. Who the hell do you think is gonna be up for that?" He redirected his argument easily. Sydney narrowed her eyes at him, cocking her brows as an evil smirk came to her face. "No! No, no, no, no, no. Nope. Not doin it." He shook his head as he held up his hand. "If you want this, you do it." There was no way that he would be spending his Saturday night fishing guns out of a shit tank and transporting a fugitive.
"Hey, come on man." Clay shrugged. "You wouldn't want her doin that with her injury, would ya?"
"I'm up for it." She shrugged, knowing exactly the reaction it would earn her.
"God dammit…" Tig grumbled, of course she called his bluff. He shook his head, ignoring the laughs from his brothers as he stormed out of the room in preparation for a night of hell.
;
Tig was still heavy in his temper tantrum by the time that everybody was getting ready to head out. He chewed the inside of his lip, squinting in the evening sun with a pout on his face as he drove Sydney home in silence.
"There. Hope you have a better night than I do." He whined as he parked in front of her house, leaning over her and pushing her door open.
"Awe Tiggy, come on." She shoved him by the shoulder playfully.
Tig let his body hit the door before he bounced back, swinging his head in her direction as he looked at her with exhausted eyes that told her that he wouldn't be changing his mind.
"You know…" She lowered her eyes, twirling her finger around his denim covered thigh. "I thought you would be proud of me… Helping the club, letting you take care of me, doing what you wanted and resting…"
Tig began to roll his eyes but they fluttered back instead when he felt her gentle touch move to his chest, hooking her pinky into the chain around his neck, pulling his eyes to hers as she looked up at him with that exaggerated innocence that never failed to make him weak in the knees.
"Don't you look at me like that." He pulled away in mock-frustration.
"Why?" Sydney smirked. "Cause you know it'll work?"
"Exactly. Now get inside." He ordered. "I'll text you when the job's done."
"Yes, Sergeant." She whispered in his ear, sliding back across the seat - squeaking when she felt herself being pulled back to where he descended his mouth onto hers.
Tig willed himself not to smile as he felt her giggling against his lips. "Don't try and leave the house tonight. I'll be here to get you tomorrow." He ordered as soon as he pulled away.
Sydney shivered under the firm demands that his Sergeant's voice commanded, unable to help herself from carrying on the game. "Well if I do, I'm sure you'll know." She smirked mischievously as she hopped out of the truck.
"I will!" He warned her as she skipped up her front steps without a care in the world, shaking his head with a smile as he drove away.
;
Sydney was doing her best to get through her extremely uneventful Saturday night of CSI Miami reruns and countless levels of Candy Crush. She had been sitting with her leg elevated for the last four hours - which was probably the most time she'd spent taking her injury seriously since it happened - and she was bored. She hated being bound to the couch - not even being able to do something productive like cleaning.
She sighed, tossing the TV remote onto the coffee table after flipping through the channels for what felt like the thousandth time. She couldn't take it anymore - she had to do something, talk to someone. She picked up her phone, pressing #2 on her speed-dial.
"Hello?" Gemma answered groggily.
"Oh shit, did I wake you up?" Sydney scowled, pulling away and looking at the time on her screen to see that it was barely past 11:30 P.M..
"Just started to doze off, I aint young like you." She chuckled. "Everything okay?"
"Yeah… Just bored."
"Tig aint back yet?" She looked to Clay who was still up reading the paper next to her.
"He texted me when he got to the cabin not long ago, everything went okay. He wasn't supposed to come back here tonight." She clarified. "I thought I would be okay alone but this bed rest shit is killing me."
"Well, if it makes you feel better - I'm very glad to hear that."
"Yeah, I bet you are." She rolled her eyes with a chuckle. As much as she hated the bed rest, the loose clothing, the flat shoes, the setting aside of her pride - she was glad that it was actually working; the more rest and the less walking that she did, the faster the bursts of pain reduced to something manageable.
"Try to get some sleep."
"Okay." Sydney sighed dramatically.
"Goodnight, baby."
"Night." She smiled, hanging up the phone. Her eyes fell to her bandage which was exposed in the tiny black shorts that she was wearing, the sight reminding her of her conversation with Tara earlier… Tara was also struggling with being alone - maybe they could struggle together.
"Hi." Tara answered the phone much quicker than Gemma had - sounding genuinely glad to be receiving the call.
"Hey, how're you doing?" Sydney asked.
"Okay." Tara nodded genuinely as she looked around her living room as she sat comfortably on the couch - her childhood house finally starting to feel like home. "How about you?"
"I'm fucking bored." She whined.
"Good, that means you're doing what you're supposed to." Tara laughed.
"Yeah, yeah." She rolled her eyes. "Are you doing anything?"
"Jax is on his way over…" Tara couldn't help but bite her lip in excitement as she uttered the words. "Why, are you okay?" She realized that she might have completely misjudged the tone of Sydney's call - she was a doctor after all…
"Oh yeah." Sydney assured her. "I was just thinking why both be alone if we could be together."
Tara was surprised to hear those words come out of Sydney's mouth, she hadn't thought that the young girl had liked her that much. "I could tell Jax another night…" Even though she was surprised, it was a pleasant surprise - she had somehow managed to earn herself the approval of both of SAMCRO's driving female forces, and she knew just how much of an impact that had on whether or not her and Jax's relationship would be successful or not.
"No, no it's okay." Sydney chuckled, she knew that these steps were crucial for Jax and Tara to take. "Another time." She smiled.
"I'd like that…" Tara nodded sincerely.
;
Tig laid in bed watching T.V. after the almost hour long shower that he had taken to rid himself of the stench from the shit covered guns. He tried to focus on the mind-numbing cartoons that he had put on in an attempt to lull himself to sleep, but something just didn't feel right without Sydney in bed with him. He stared at his phone on the nightstand, reaching for it and then pulling his hand back - doing this a few times as he gave himself every reason not to call her. It's almost 2:00 A.M., she needs to rest, I'm being too clingy, she's gonna think I'm just trying to keep tabs on her-
His train of excuses was halted when his phone began ringing, seeing her name pop up on the display. His heart sped up as he flipped the phone open - wondering if it had somehow been telepathy.
"Hi baby." Sydney smiled as his voice came over the phone quickly, softer than usual at the late hour.
"Hi Tiggy. Did I wake you up?"
"No." Tig shook his head, feeling his heart swelling in his chest as he listened to her sweet, innocent voice that came across the line as smooth as silk.
"Good." She smiled. "Are you still mad at me?"
"No." He chuckled. "I managed to pawn most of the shit work off onto the others." He grinned at the memory of Juice, Half-Sack, and Chibs' faces when he opted to stay in the truck while they got to empty out the tank and fish out the guns - stating that he had done his share of the work by driving. "I almost wish I let you come… You should've heard them gagging." He laughed.
"You should've filmed it for me." She giggled at the thought.
"Yeah I should've." He chuckled in agreement, looking over at his alarm clock. "It's late… You okay?"
"Yeah. Just can't sleep…"
"Would it help if I came and tucked you in?" He suggested playfully.
"Mmm only if you promise to check under my bed for the boogeyman." She joked back, playing up her 'damsel in distress' voice.
"Doll, I am the boogeyman." He scoffed, a smile coming to his face as soon as he heard her cackle. "You want me to come over?" He asked seriously once he heard her laughing die down - hoping that she would say yes.
"I mean… It would help me sleep…" She confirmed bashfully.
"Okay, Princess. I'll be there soon." He smiled. He was glad that after all of the push and pull of trying to get her to let him take care of her, she finally was - and there was no way that he was going to miss out on an opportunity to do just that.
"Okay." Sydney grinned. "I love you."
"I love you too." He smiled before hanging up, gathering his stuff quickly and heading over in the tow.
When Tig arrived, he felt a nervous excitement tightening in his stomach when pulled into the driveway and saw that she was waiting at the door for him… Something he never thought that he would experience again in this lifetime. He smiled, pushing down the emotion as he stepped out of the truck, inhaling a deep, cleansing breath of the brisk night air.
Sydney felt her stomach fluttering as he approached silently, wrapping his arms around her and hugging her tightly. She squeezed him back even tighter, only letting up on her grip when she felt him pulling away so that he could kiss her.
"Let's go to bed." He whispered with his forehead pressed against hers, picking her up when she nodded - carrying her through the dark house, up to her bedroom.
Tig laid her down on the bed gently, hovering over her as he stared at her with nothing but pure affection in those beautiful blue eyes - something that she could see clear as day even in the dark. She felt his hand on her waist as he leaned down, kissing her passionately before pulling away to get undressed - crawling into bed next to her where he brought her into his arms so that they could both sleep peacefully.
;
After years of watching this show and writing this story, I have ALWAYS hated Donna until today… Now I think she kind of a bad bitch? What is happening to me😩