Sons of Anarchy - Angel of Death

Previously…

Jax clapped him on the shoulder, "Oh and you're welcome." He smirked. Hap just cocked an eyebrow. "Really?" Jax scoffed, "You think I'd really push up on Stevie Vale after listening to you fuck her two weeks ago?" Hap's brow furrowed. "Jesus, Hap. I don't have a death wish." He winked, then slid off his stool to go join Tig and Chibs at the pool table.

Happy watched Jax go, mulling over the VP's confession. So Stevie was trying to make him jealous. He still needed to figure out who the hell this Maverick character was. He grabbed the bottle and stalked back towards the dorms, suddenly glad he'd stashed his stuff in her dorm room instead of using his usual bunk.

Chapter 10: Fatal Flaw

Stevie Vale paced, practically wearing a path in her oriental rug, wringing her hands in frustration. Happy's bag sat on her bed, his fucking toothbrush was already in place on her bathroom sink. Even his tattoo gear was set out on her desk. Looked like the asshole had made himself comfortable. "Fuck." She swore, she definitely needed a drink.. She wrenched her door open to sneak back into the bar for a bottle of comfort, coming face to face with Happy. His hand was comically raised like he was just about to knock. She leaned against the doorframe, crossing her arms.

Happy half expected to find the room empty, she did have another place to go to. He'd purposely spread his stuff out a little trying to further stake his claim on her.

"Oh, Hell yes," Stevie breathed, reaching out and snatching the bottle of Southern Comfort from Hap's hand. She cracked the top, turned away from him and took a hit.

Happy chuckled darkly, moving into the room and closing the door. Stevie jumped a little when the door shut, setting the bottle down on the desk by the window.

"Just make yourself at home, Hap." Stevie gestured to his possessions strewn about the room. She picked up a piece of paper lying on the desk. She immediately recognized it as her feather tattoo. It looked like Hap had gone ahead and finished the sketch while they were apart. His memory had to be photographic, it was perfect.

"Maverick." Hap spat, "Who is he?" He demanded, crossing his arms over his chest, positioning himself between her and the door. There was no running away this time. He'd get his answers.

"Maverick?!" Stevie scoffed, rolling her eyes, setting the papers down on the desk. "This is about my guard dog?"

"What?!" Happy scoffed, confusion coloring his cheeks, "Guard dog?! I thought-"

"You thought since you didn't bother to call me, I'd replaced you?" Stevie finished for him, her eyes flashing with anger. She stepped forward, bottle of booze in hand. She took a hit and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

Happy shook his head once, "No, I-"

"Yes!" Stevie corrected, she set the bottle down on her chest of drawers with a thud. "Yes, you did." She shook her head, swallowing hard, pointer finger jabbing into his chest. "You didn't call me for two fucking weeks Happy Lowman, what about that, says you care about whatever this thing is between us?"

Happy growled, gripping her upper arms roughly, his eyes searching hers. "I thought you didn't take this-" He cut himself off, clearing his throat. "us seriously."

Shit. Stevie didn't count on him picking up on that. "Us?" She squeaked. She had it all planned out, she'd get him to admit he was jealous at the idea she'd replaced him. But that wasn't the case. He thought she didn't care for him the way he did for her.

"Fuck" Hap swore. "What are you doing to me, woman?" He released her arms, taking a step back, sitting on the edge of the bed, dropping his head in his hands.

"I'm sorry." Stevie murmured, sitting down next to him. His head head snapped up at her apology. "Jax offered to help, guess I didn't know how else to get to you." His eyes burned with a look she hadn't seen before. Maybe, no...was Happy becoming possessive over her? She leaned over and bumped shoulders with him, trying to lighten the mood. "You weren't even a tinsy bit jealous of Maverick?"

He grunted, "Ain't jealous of no dog." He flashed her a ghost of a grin. Then he sighed, dragging a palm down his face. "I shoulda called."

"Damn right." Stevie agreed with a harsh nod, fighting back a grin. That was as close to an apology as she was going to get with a man like Happy Lowman.

"Surprised you didn't just kick me out." He smirked.

Stevie snorted softly, "Thought about it." She suddenly sounded really small, "You really want to do this?"

Happy glanced sharply at her, cocking an eyebrow. "Do what?" He rasped.

Stevie sighed and rolled her eyes, standing to her feet again. "This," She gestured to his stuff spread out on her desk, and his bag on the bed. "You march in here and just slide right back into my life like it's completely normal." He opened his mouth to speak, but she raised her hand to stop him, "We're not normal, Hap." She shook her head, motioning between them.

Happy shook his head, "Nope, definitely not normal." He reached out and pulled her down so she straddled his lap, his hands gripping her hips, holding her in place.

"Hap," Stevie pushed at his chest, "You can't just waltz back into my life, spread your shit out and kiss me like you own me whenever the whim strikes you." She sighed, biting her lip. "I don't belong to you."

Happy smirked, his hand smoothing up her back to palm the back of her head. "You don't?" He questioned, his lips hovering over hers. Stevie whimpered, unable to hold back the rush of desire that ran hot through her veins. "Then what's stopping you from tumbling into the VP's royal bed?"

"H-he's with Tara, Hap." Stevie glowered, palms flat against his chest, trying to put some distance between them so she could think clearly.

Happy chuckled, "I'm sure he would make an exception." Stevie rolled her eyes and pushed off his lap. "You didn't hear him at the patch over party."

Devil's Tribe MC Clubhouse - Indian Hills - Patch Over Party

"Patch over party!" Happy Lowman exclaimed, a look of pure glee on his face.

Stevie Vale, enforcer for The Devils Tribe MC, now Sons of Anarchy Indian Hills Charter, pushed off her barstool at the declaration and headed for the door to grab some air. Parties were fine, but it was always a complicated affair trying to find a good lay that didn't declare his undying love for her and want to slap his claim on her. She wanted to grab some fresh air before facing the inevitable loneliness that came with being the only female member of the MC.

A fellow MC enforcer, Happy Lowman, caught her eye. He was known as the Tacoma Killer, as he belonged to the Sons Tacoma Charter. Rumor had it he killed for the MC, really enjoyed it, practically got off on it. Pretty much a man after her own heart; dangerous, gorgeous ink, and a gravely voice that made her toes curl. He nodded to her, lifting his beer. He currently had one of the best looking sweetbutts straddling his lap, one of his big hands resting on her hip as she ground into him, throwing her blonde hair back. Stevie felt jealousy rise in her chest and almost strode across the clubhouse to rip the bimbo off his lap when SAMCRO's president tore her attention away.

"Stevie!" Clay called out, waving her over to the small table he'd settled at. "Got a minute?"

Stevie smirked. She always had a soft spot for Clay. He reminded her so much of her father, that it was easy to let him assume that role. "Sure, Pops." She winked, sliding into the chair opposite of him. "Whiskey, neat." She told Cherry, one of the long sweetbutts of the club, "Make it a double." Cherry nodded and went to get her the drink.

Clay leaned back and lit up one of his signature stogies, take a few puffs before explaining his offer. "Now that you're a patched member of the Sons, I think it's time to come home." He explained. "I want you in Charming. I've already cleared your transfer with Jury."

Stevie's eyes shot to where Jury sat at the bar. He had a wistful look in his eye as he watched them. He raised his beer in acknowledgement.

"What about SAMCRO?" Stevie questioned, "They want me in Charming, too?" She sat back in the chair, crossing her arms over her chest. She noted how the leather stuck to the chair a little, involuntarily pushing up her chest. Hap's mouth went dry at the sight. Stevie looked like she was still getting used to wearing a leather kutte. Most Tribe members wore denim. Clay told them Stevie's mother brought the leather by Teller-Morrow when he'd informed her of the patch over. Stevie had yet to sew on the front patches, her mother had already sewn the rockers and reaper on the back.

Clay smirked, "You kidding? They're over the moon to have you join us at the table." He chuckled, "You're quite the legend."

Stevie sighed. Her career as a military sniper didn't go unnoticed in the MC world. She was known as the Angel of Death in the streets. She was a gun for hire, but worked exclusively for the MC and their associates. "Touche." She smirked. "I get my own room, with a bathroom." She knocked back the drink she'd been served.

"That can be arranged." Clay nodded. "Welcome to SAMCRO, baby." He stood up and she followed so he could pull her in for a massive hug. "You'll ride back with us in the morning, make sure you've got the right patches on that kutte." Stevie nodded, and excused herself. She went outside to grab some air before returning to settle at the bar.

"Hot Damn." Jax swore, catching sight of Stevie Vale, notorious Angel of Death as she settled across from the SAMCRO President. "What a woman." He smirked, nodding at the semi assembled reaper crew. With the patch over complete, she was now a member of The Sons of Anarchy. Clay was currently talking with her about transferring to SAMCRO. They needed someone with Stevie's skill for what was coming at Charming. The ATF presence and increased activity from the Mayans had them itching to thicken their ranks. Most of the men were a little wary of patching her into the mother charter simply because she was a woman. Her reputation with the Tribe and her unprecedented skill helped ease that worry. It helped she was easy on the eyes too.

"You can say that again." Bobby nodded. "That one seems pretty untouchable though, if you know what I mean." He chuckled.

"Yeah," Jax agreed, "That makes her that much more desirable, right?" He chuckled. He took a drag of his cigarette then released it. "We grew up together."

"Seriously?" Bobby scoffed, then his voice dipped, "You ever, you know…"

Jax shook his head, "Nope." He sighed, "Can't say I haven't tried though." He laughed. "Now that she's patching SAMCRO, I think I'll have to make that dream a reality." He waggled his eyebrows.

Happy had heard enough. He pushed the blonde off his lap and stalked up to the bar where Stevie was nursing a beer and tearing off the Nevada rocker on the bottom of her kutte.

"Transfer?" He rasped, smirking a little when she jumped.

"Shit." Stevie swore. "Warn a girl, Killer." She shook her head, not bothering to look up from her task. "Yeah, transfer."

Happy's eyes widened a little, two patches sat to her left, Redwood Original. SAMCRO? Hmm. He'd been spending more time in Charming lately, was even considering going Nomad to be closer to his mom. Now the whole idea seemed just a little more appealing with the female enforcer landing in Charming. "Why SAMCRO?" He asked, settling on the stool beside her.

Stevie smirked. So, she didn't imagine the hungry look in his eyes earlier. "What? You hoping I was gonna patch Tacoma?" She teased, nodding to his Tacoma patch while taking a swig of beer.

Hap scoffed, "Nope." He took a swig of beer, "Probably gonna go Nomad."

Stevie nodded, "Sorry to hear about your Mom, Hap." She murmured, locking eyes with him.

Happy stared warily at the completely vexing woman in front of him. Here she sat, surrounded by a raucous patch over party, fixing her kutte, taking the time to address the thing most important to him. He just nodded, averting his gaze, watching a sweetbutt dance on a pole in the corner.

"Nomad makes sense," Stevie shrugged, starting to sew on the new rocker. "She's in Bakersfield, right?"

"Yeah." Hap confirmed, turning back to watch her work. In the time it took him to finish his beer, she had the new California rocker in place as well as Redwood Original instead of Indian Hills on the front.

She slid on the kutte, and it fit her shoulders well, but was extremely loose at the waist. "Figures."

"Looks good." Hap rasped when she turned around to face him.

"Thanks," Stevie smiled, "I'll have to take it in quite a bit for it to fit right for riding." She tossed her hair over her shoulder, biting her lip, watching him through her lashes.

Hap reached out and took ahold of the kutte. He pulled the leather so it fit properly around her waist. "Better?" He asked. Stevie just nodded, taken aback that Happy reached out to touch her. He released the leather and waved down the prospect behind the bar to get them a round of shots. "Leave the bottle." He ordered. The prospect nodded and made himself scarce.

"Sons." Happy lifted his newly filled shot glass to her.

Stevie lifted her glass and clinked it with his. "Sons." She murmured before slamming the shot.

They continued exchanging shots for awhile. Stevie found herself relaxing for the first time since Jax blew into the clubhouse that afternoon. Once the bottle was empty, Stevie slammed her last shot down on the bar.

Happy had worked his way closer and closer to her as they drank, so now his arm was slung casually around her shoulders. She looked up at him, her lower lip caught between her teeth. Before he could stop himself, he leaned down and closed the distance between them, covering her mouth with his. She thankfully relaxed into the kiss, her hands coming up to grip the front of his kutte. His tongue swept in, stroking hers drawing a delicious whimper from her throat. His hand smoothed some curls away from her shoulder, sliding down to her hip. He let go of her mouth to trail kisses to her now exposed ear. Before he could suggest they go somewhere more private, she shook her head. "No." Her voice was small, but it was firm.

Happy felt like he'd been doused with a bucket of ice water. He'd never had a woman turn him down. Especially not after a toe curling kiss like that. She slipped out from his embrace. "Thanks for the drinks, Happy." She leaned up and kissed his cheek. "See you around, killa." Then she disappeared back towards the dorms.

He brought his fist down hard on the counter. Jax slid up to the bar where he sat. "You okay, bro?" He asked, having witnessed the kiss and Stevie hightailing away towards the dorms.

Hap grunted. "She got an old man?" He asked the VP.

Jax smirked. He knew that look. "Nope."

Happy grit his teeth. He grabbed the nearest blonde sweetbutt and whisked her off to a shadowed corner. He pushed her down to her knees. He gazed down at the woman as she undid his belt, trying to control his rage. He imagined it was Stevie staring back at him as the woman wrapped her lips around his aching cock.

"Didn't have to." Stevie murmured, shaking her head a little to clear the memory. She sighed. "You put the moves on me first, remember?"

Happy smirked, "Didn't work, remember?"

Stevie laughed, "Yes, yes it did." She insisted, "I had to get away from you before I just tumbled into bed with you and became another notch on your bedpost."

"Not just some pussy." He rasped, standing up from the bed.

"You keep saying that like it's supposed to mean something more than me wearing the reaper." He squinted at her. They'd definitely consumed too much alcohol to be having this conversation. Stevie shook her head. "I'm sorry. I can't hardly figure out what end is up right now."

Happy stood in front of Stevie and looked her over. Dark circles were forming beneath her usually bright green eyes. Her shoulders slumped a little, and she looked like she might have lost a little weight. She looked fucking exhausted. He wondered what had her so worn out.

Stevie glanced at the clock. "I gotta go let Maverick out." She sighed. "You're welcome to stay here, I can send in one of the blondes for you."

Happy saw red. She was suggesting he get his dick sucked by a croweater now? Is that what she really thought of him? She was obviously exhausted and understandably upset so he would just settle for table scraps? Fuck that. "No." He shook his head. "I'll make sure you get home okay." Stevie opened her mouth to protest, but closed it as Happy moved about the room. There wasn't a point in arguing with the man. He moved to the bed, gathered up his bag and slipped his tattoo gun and sketchbook inside. He went to the bathroom and grabbed his toothbrush. "Let's go." He wrenched open the door, his hand resting gently on her lower back to guide her out of the room.

Stevie let him walk her out to the parking lot. She told herself, she'd let him tail her home, then tell him goodnight. She did a quick survey of the room, Jax had disappeared, so had Opie. Bobby was passed out near the pool table. Tig had his lap full, balancing on woman on each knee. Juice looked equally occupied, a blonde was giving him a decent lap dance. Looked like a great party. Too bad she was fucking exhausted. She'd been plagued with nightmares since leaving Hap's Mom's house. Plus with the ATF presence in Charming, she was constantly doing surveillance at odd hours of the night, trying to stay one step ahead.

Once she was on the road, she felt better. The crisp night air seemed to revive her enough to make it home without passing out. She pulled up to her house, Hap in tow. She dismounted and bounded up the steps, unlocked the door, pushed it open, and promptly sunk to her knees.

Hap's eyes grew wide as a huge, rambunctious blue nosed Pit Bull charged at Stevie, almost knocking her over. He licked her face and nuzzled her neck, tail wagging excitedly.

"Hey Mav." Stevie cooed, "Sorry I took so long, big guy." She patted him and leaned forward to kiss his forehead. "There's someone I'd like you to meet." She waved Hap over to them. "This is Happy."

Maverick cocked his head to the side for a moment, a low growl ripping through his chest. It wasn't malicious, it was more of a thinking noise. Happy knelt down and held out his hand. Maverick padded softly over to him and sniffed. After a moment, Maverick nuzzled his hand, allowing Hap to pet him. "Good boy." Hap rasped, opening his arms to receive the animal. Maverick allowed him to pet him for a few moments before bounding off the porch to do his business.

Stevie went inside the house, Hap close on her heels. She flipped on a couple of light switches and hung her kutte up by the door. After stripping off her boots, she headed back towards what Hap assumed to be the bedroom. The house was simple; single story ranch, small eat in kitchen with a generous living room. After Maverick came back inside, he followed after her to make sure she stayed upright and was able to get into bed.

After washing her face, Stevie returned to her bedroom to find Happy standing in the middle of the room, holding the picture of her father and mother on her dad's harley. He had stripped off his kutte and boots, and turned towards her when the bathroom door squeaked open. He set the picture down on the chest of drawers. "Maverick's inside." He rasped, taking a step towards her.

"Thanks." Stevie nodded, pulling her sweater closer around her body. She took a step closer to him and felt her knees buckle. Having him near helped her body relax, evidently the sleep deprivation was catching up with her.

Hap rushed forward, wrapping his arms around her waist to hold her up. "Hey," He murmured. "Easy, baby." He reached down and scooped her up into his arms bridal style, carrying her over to the bed. He pulled back the covers and deposited her into the softness. He leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Get some sleep. I'll be on the couch."

Stevie fought back tears at the display of tenderness from the hardened man. She reached up and caught his arm as he turned away from the bed. "Thank you." She whispered.

Hap turned back towards her and nodded. He reached over and clicked off the lamp, plunging the room into darkness. After double checking the front door to make sure it was secure and using the facilities himself, he returned to her bedroom. Maverick lay at the foot of the bed and raised his head when Hap approached the bed. Hap held out a hand to the dog to sniff again and the beast grunted and nuzzled his palm. "Good boy." Hap rasped, a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.

He returned to the living room and settled down on the couch, stripping down to just a tank and boxers. The couch was comfortable, a little cool since it was black leather, but he found a blanket stashed inside the ottoman and pulled a decorative pillow from the oversized chair for his head. As he drifted off, he wondered how the hell he'd gotten to the point of crashing on this woman's couch instead of ravaging her in bed. The simple answer? His stupid ego, that's what. He sighed. His mother was right. Stevie Vale better watch out, there was no way in hell she was getting rid of him now.

Dearest Readers,

Fatal Flaw - Anchor & Braille - A&B is Stephen Christian's (Former lead singer of Anberlin) solo project. If you're an Anberlin fan, check it out. Songs For the Late Night Drive Home is a fantastic record.

I had a work conference this past weekend, so instead of posting this last week like I wanted, I was an adult and did work. Gotta make that paper.

I'm thinking of doing a companion piece (like an extensive one shot) of the Patch Over episode itself. I want to explore more of who Stevie was before being blindsided and thrust into the world of the Sons. No promises, but I'd love to hear if you'd enjoy reading something like that.

Thank you for all the follows/faves/reviews. Hearing from you is an absolute delight.

xoxo

Lumora the White