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General trigger warnings for this story: Language, smut, mentions of rape, abuse, drug use/overdose, violence/death.
CHAPTER 17: NINJA
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As most of Sydney's mornings had begun since she'd started dating the SAMCRO enforcer, she woke up before him, snuggled tightly in his arms - a routine that she'd fallen in love with almost as quickly as she'd fallen in love with him. She loved the extra time that she got to admire her man while he slept - soaking up the peaceful expression on his face while all of the lines were softened without the weight of life burdening his unconscious mind.
Tig could feel her appreciative gaze even while he was asleep, slowly waking under the feeling of her eyes on him. "Mornin." He smiled without opening his eyes.
"Why can't you stay asleep while I'm tryin to eye you up?" She asked through a shamelessly toothy grin.
"I can feel you." He answered as he rolled over and buried his face into her neck - still not opening his eyes.
Sydney felt her face getting hot when she heard the sincerity in his unexpectedly thoughtful reply, smiling bashfully into his hair. "Can feel you blushing too." She heard the grin in his voice, giggling before pressing her cold feet against his thighs - laughing hysterically as his eyes snapped open and he flew back to his side of the bed.
"You ready for today?" He asked her a little while later from where he laid against the headboard, lazily watching the morning cartoons while she got ready for the day.
"Sure am." She tried to keep her excitement under wraps. "Gotta go home and get my shit in order though. You know, water the plants and all - seeing that I've been imprisoned here." She mused theatrically.
"Oh, princess." He scoffed. "You love being my prisoner." He growled with a discerning look in his narrowing eyes.
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Clay sat with his crew in the empty bar on the Monday morning, glancing up at the clock for the third time as he waited on Sydney and Tig who were cutting it awfully close. He sighed when they finally emerged, sharing a knowing glance with a couple of the guys over the fact that she had seemingly taken up permanent residence in Tig's room.
Sydney just rolled her eyes in response to the bashful smiles and raised eyebrows, strolling into the empty chapel without a care. "Well come on, we don't have all day." She called over her shoulder, feigning innocence with her wide eyes and pouty lips.
"We ride out at noon." Clay began. "Juice - two miles ahead. Pull over as soon as you get wind of any kind of trap."
Sydney mentally checked out as the President ran though the details, fantasizing about how in just over an hour she would be back on the open road - and she couldn't wait.
"You okay, baby?" She flinched as Tig's hand landed on her shoulder where she sat frozen after session had concluded, managing to check herself before accidentally elbowing her lover in that pretty jaw of his - her fight or flight reaction only deepening his concern.
"Just excited." She blinked a few times as she came back to reality.
Tig nodded cautiously, he could tell that something was up, but she wasn't letting on as she stayed firmly planted in her seat. He decided to bite his tongue and trust his instincts, getting up and following the rest of his brothers out - leaving her alone with Clay.
"I'll meet you guys for the drive back." Sydney turned her attention to Clay once everybody was out of earshot. "Don't wanna tip em off early." She informed her President who just shook his head and chuckled with a nod before she made her way out to the lot where the guys were shooting the shit as they sat on their bikes, watching Half-Sack paint the van. She couldn't help but to laugh at the minuscule effort that they were putting in to make this look legit as she stared at the streaky white paint scrawled across the van's tinted windows reading 'LODI CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL. S.O.A. RIDE FOR KIDS'
"Wow." She mused. "Gonna have churches all across the state ready to sign us up with that kind of spirit." She spoke sarcastically to the artist himself - making him and Juice laugh before she waltzed over to the guys - opening her mouth to speak before the words were stopped by a god-awful screeching sound. She scowled deeply, spinning around dramatically to see Bobby pulling his Fat Boy out of the garage.
"Chitty chitty, bang bang." Chibs shook his head disapprovingly.
"Hey, it's an old fat boy on an old Fat Boy." Sydney couldn't help her grin when Half-Sack got a good jab in on the older member - living for the confidence that she could see him gaining day by day. "Sorry." He quickly uttered as soon as he was met with Bobby's glare. It was nice while it lasted.
"Thought you put that beast to sleep?" Jax questioned while lighting a cigarette.
"Hey!" Bobby winced with his hands up in defense. "The Fat Boy ain't even reached its prime."
"It barely looks like it can reach the end of the lot." Sydney deadpanned, eliciting laughter from the group.
"It is the best bike for a long ride." Sydney scowled again at Bobby's response while Juice chuckled as he watched her dramatic expressions. "And I'd put it up against any of your pretty Dynas."
"You hittin a gay rodeo on the way?" Jax nodded to Bobby's chaps with a smug smile.
"It's Captain Chaps!"
"Cowhide protects the man-hide." He explained.
"Get in line, Brokeback."
Sydney giggled as everyone hassled the short man before he turned away to pout, rolling his bike into formation and causing a sputtering cloud of black exhaust which only made the hassling worse.
"I'll get Gem to take me home." Sydney winked to Tig once the laughter died down, letting him off of the hook as her chauffeur.
"Alright, baby. You be careful." He ordered with a hardened blue gaze.
"Yeah, yeah." She giggled and rolled her eyes. "You're the one who needs to be careful. Nothin's gonna happen to me." She smiled smugly, kissing him briefly before she headed off.
"She really gonna be able to pass us oncoming and make this work in the Dodge?" Juice approached Clay, nodding to Gemma's Caddy skeptically as the two women pulled out of the lot.
"Who said anything about her car?" Clay chuckled, patting a very confused Juice on the shoulder before he walked off.
Sydney raced to get ready as soon as she got home - dressing herself for the occasion in a tight leather jacket, black jeans, and combat boots. She headed out to the garage, her eyes sparkling and heart fluttering as she eyed the tarp in the middle of the concrete room. She gripped the corner of the blue polyester and pulled it loose - a lightning bolt of adrenaline shooting through her veins.
"Hi baby." She whispered dreamily.
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After making the pick up in Lodi and beginning the trek back with no sign of Sydney, the Sons were starting to look around anxiously in search of their blonde scapegoat. As soon as they saw the van veer off to the side of the road up ahead, they went into full panic mode - looking to the President for direction who rode without a trace of worry. They had no choice but to trust the judgment of their leader, but they knew that without Sydney this plan could land them back in the hole for god knows how long - and none of them wanted that.
Suddenly the whining of an exhaust caught their attention, spotting a black Kawasaki Ninja speeding past them and into the oncoming traffic lane going at least 90mph. The men all exchanged glances as they questioned the logic of the clearly insane motorcyclist, but they eventually caught on as they eyed the smirks on Happy and Clay's faces, and the white-blonde hair peeking out from under the helmet and whipping around in the wind.
"You gotta be fucking kidding." Tig grumbled as he realized that this had been the real plan all along.
Sydney freely laughed a laugh of pure joy as she heard the celebratory honking behind her, grinning under her shielded helmet as she crossed back into the correct lane of travel. She would've sworn up and down that nothing on the planet had ever felt as good as what she was feeling in that moment.
But her moment of euphoria was short-lived as she spotted the ghost car up ahead; a dark red Kia Forte pulled to the side of the road, hoping to trap speeding motorists. She let off the clutch, reducing her speed as the limit was only 65mph and her current speed would surely get her impounded - but still going fast enough for a hefty ticket by the time that she passed the cop car. Sure enough, within seconds of passing the blue and red flashing lights went off as the cop peeled out after her. She pulled off to the shoulder quickly, anchoring her feet to the ground but making no effort to remove her helmet as the grey haired man wearing classic cop aviator sunglasses came barrelling out of his vehicle.
"Do you have any idea how goddamn fast you were going? You're going to cause an accident and kill someone-" His rant was cut off, shock taking over his body as the reckless man removed his helmet to reveal that he was no man at all - he was a stunning young woman with innocent eyes and an angelic face.
"I am so sorry, officer." Sydney picked up her breathing and widened her eyes. "I just… I just got this new bike and-" She gulped. "I'm not used to controlling the speed, I- I thought it would be safer to learn on the highway where there weren't as many stationary objects, but I guess I was wrong." She rambled with a shaky voice.
"Uh... It- it's okay sweetheart..." The man said awkwardly, not wanting to upset the inexperienced woman before she would have to ride again.
"Am I... Am I in trouble?" She asked meekly.
"I'm not gonna do anything that affects your demerits, but the sensors caught that speed... I'm afraid I have to process the ticket." The roaring Harleys of the Sons passed as the officer explained the situation, grumbling once he realized that he was missing out on a potential bust on the infamous M.C.
"Thank you so much, sir!" Sydney perked up. "I completely understand. It won't happen again, I promise."
The patrolman processed the ticket and let her go, taking long enough - thanks to her chit chat - that the Sons would be too far for him to even consider pursuing them, opting to notify his fellow officer who was stationed further down the stretch of highway.
Sydney was sure to ride the speed limit until she was out of view before going full throttle, unleashing the beast on the open road where between her excessive speed and the leisurely pace of the crew, she caught up quickly. But just as she was nearing the group, the van swerved off the road abruptly. Juice had discovered an out of view trap ahead over the police scanner which had been broadcasted by the officer from her previous stop, alerting his crew as quickly as he could but he worried that it would be too late for them to slow down enough for Sydney to somehow get in front of the entourage and take over the attention of the policeman who was waiting for them.
Sydney's brain started working overtime, carefully calculating her next moves and looking for her window - traffic was heavy, so she needed to make this count. She spotted it, the slight break between the flowing vehicles where she could weave through to get to her position. She cracked the throttle, straddling the yellow line that divided the road beneath her - her bike propelling her past the Sons with ease. She revved her engine three times as she passed them - just for good measure - gliding in between the cluster of Harleys and the vehicles ahead of them. She kicked up her speed even more, increasing her chance of being impounded with each mile that her speedometer climbed but with the Sons close behind, she needed to be sure that she was the one who would be stopped.
She whirled around another car, trying to put as much distance between herself and her crew as physically possible. As she approached the cop, she decided to take the risk, recklessly overtaking yet another vehicle right in front of the clearly marked squad car.
"What the hell is she doing?" Jax yelled to Clay who gave him no response, watching in anticipation.
Sydney eyed her rear view mirror nervously, praying that the cop would begin his pursuit - her heart sinking when he didn't. She did the first thing she could think of, swerving in front of an oncoming vehicle before quickly swerving back - causing an uproar of honks from the disrupted traffic on the opposite side of the highway. The bubbling in her stomach was instantly calmed as the sirens finally went off and the cop car raced down the road after her - unable to help herself from chuckling at the ass-backwards logic of her nerves.
"Protecting her crew!" Clay gave his VP a delayed answer with a proud grin when she pulled over to the side of the road.
Sydney accelerated her breathing, squeezing her eyes shut as she filled them with tears - knowing that this excuse hardly warranted the fake tears because the real ones would surely be following soon after.
The middle aged, brown haired cop with a receding hairline came bolting out of the vehicle towards her far more gracefully than the older, overweight cop had been able to - yelling all kinds of unpleasantries to the delinquent. She took her helmet off, making a show of gasping for air which stopped the officer dead in his tracks - not expecting the reckless motorist to be a young woman. He shook his head, regaining his composure before continuing his rant - woman or not, this behaviour was unacceptable.
"I can't breathe." She choked out in a sob, gasping for air as she ignored everything that the man was saying.
The office stopped his bantering when he realized that he was going to send the clearly distraught woman into cardiac arrest. "Uh... Ma'am, I need you to calm down."
"I'm so sorry. Officer. It's my dad... He just had a heart attack and I need to get to Charming as soon as possible." Her words were broken by deep breaths.
"Well I'm sorry to hear that, but I cannot let you go unscathed after that kind of recklessness." He tried his best to hold his ground as he looked into her tear-filled eyes.
"I... I understand sir, please just don't take me to jail. I might not get to say goodbye." She sniffled as she was the man who was clearly conflicted between his heart and his badge - the Sons riding past them putting even more strain on his decision. "You can write me up for whatever you need to, I'll pay it. I just need to go sir, please." Her voice cracked.
The man contemplated her offer before finally agreeing to her terms, not letting her off easily as he took the opportunity to give her as many fines as possible as recompense for missing out on the potential M.C. takedown - finishing with a lecture about how she was to ride safely all the way to the hospital.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She exclaimed, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him on the cheek.
"Alright, alright. Let's not be doing that." He tried to remain professional as he lightly pushed her off of him.
Sydney gave him a grateful smile before pulling her helmet back on and firing up her Ninja, sighing heavily once she was safely behind the tinted shield - shaking her head to rid herself of the emotional situation.
She took off, riding like a proper civilian this time when her eye caught something in the distance - the sun reflecting off of the chrome from the Harleys which were all pulled to the side of the road with the van closeby. She skidded to stop when she reached the group, ripping off her helmet and shuffling over to see what everyone was stopped for; seeing Tig lying in the grassy ditch along with his bike, an unimpressed looking Clay, an amused looking Jax, and a very guilty looking Bobby - who coincidentally ran down to help Chibs and Happy aid their Sergeant right when she arrived. She could see that Tig's injury was superficial, so she didn't feel guilty about the look that she shared with Jax as they both tried to contain their laughter.
"It was that fucking Fat Boy wasn't it?" She asked with a knowing smile.
"Yep." Jax laughed.
"I'm sorry, man." Tig apologized to Clay as he gained his footing, looking down at the leg that had been cut open badly enough to cross him off of the roster for the remainder of the gun lug.
"You just get patched up." Clay wasn't mad at Tig - it wasn't his fault after all - but he was mad at the situation.
"I am gonna shove that bike so far up your ass." Tig growled at Bobby as he hobbled past the older man, Half-Sack helping him to the van where he could sit.
"He's gonna be just fine..." Bobby's optimistic face fell as he saw the displeased looks on everyone's faces. Jax snickered again, him and Sydney sharing another amused smile - which only pissed Clay off even more.
"Call Piney, tell him we got a bike down - gonna need the flatbed." Clay ordered
"That's you. Call Piney!" Bobby yelled to the prospect, clearly trying to help out as much as he could to mitigate his damages.
"What was it? About the Fat Boy being the 'best bike for a long ride'?" Sydney teased.
"Yeah, yeah..." He groaned, although he was pleased to only be taking hassling from the Sergeant's hot-tempered girlfriend rather than the verbal - or potentially physical - smackdown that he'd expected.
"You tend to his every beck and call, wipe his goddamn ass if that's what he wants you to do!" Clay yelled to Bobby - tasking him, Happy, and Half-Sack to accompany him to the hospital.
Sydney felt that he was giving up far too much manpower, but she used her better judgment and kept her mouth shut rather than questioning the irritable president - she would leave that to Jax, who quickly began arguing with him about who would be carrying his gun-filled bedroll.
"What'd I tell you about being careful?" She chastised playfully as walked over to the van where Tig was sitting sideways with his legs hanging out the open door.
"Baby, come on." Tig groaned.
"Don't worry, Sergeant." She leaned in and pecked his lips. "I'll take care of ya." She grinned.
"There's only one thing that will make me feel better right now." He spoke with a grin as he pulled her to semi straddle his lap, avoiding his hurt leg.
"Mmm what's that?" He didn't answer, responding by pressing his lips back to hers, easing his tongue into her mouth. She kissed back, allowing herself to indulge in the sweet taste of him before she pulled away.
"Don't be starting things that you can't finish." She warned.
"Who says I can't finish it?" He asked with a cheeky grin.
Her lips curled up before she lightly slapped the gash on his leg, making him yell out pain. "That's who." She winked, kissing him on the cheek before hopping off of him and making her way back to the group of agitated men.
The crew eventually split up, following Clay's orders as he led his group to a gas station just off the highway so that Piney could get the bikes loaded up and transport the Sergeant to the nearest hospital without drawing any unwanted attention that they had already gone to extreme lengths to avoid.
"Where the hell were you guys?" Clay barked into his phone as he leant against his bike where they had all been waiting - chatting and snacking on various items from the small convenience store. "And you just let them-" Everyone exchanged looks of confusion, wondering what was upsetting the President to this magnitude - and wondering how it affected them. "No, no you just wait there! You've done enough goddamn damage today." Sydney raised an eyebrow towards Jax as she bit into her candy bar, wondering what Bobby and his Fat Boy could have possibly done now.
"What?" Jax asked, noticing Piney pulling beside them as Clay waited for the old man to be in earshot before making his announcement.
"Bounty hunters just picked up Tig." He sighed.
"What?" Sydney exclaimed. She was no longer questioning his judgement on the heavy manpower escort to the hospital - because apparently it hadn't been enough.
"The hell for?" Opie questioned.
"Didn't stop to say." Clay answered with a sarcastic smile. "Half-Sack's trailing em."
"And they just let them take him?" Sydney questioned in bewilderment.
"Jesus Christ, how does that happen?" Chibs shook his head.
"Could've been the hospital - bounty hunters will pay admins to call in names." Jax suggested.
"If Tig had an outstanding warrant, I'd know about it!" Clay shot down Jax's smart theory - showing Sydney for the first time that the pettiness between the President and his VP could go both ways.
"Might be out of state... If the bounty's big enough they could be hauling his ass to Maine." Jax kept his cool.
"Okay, so what are we gonna do about it?" Sydney asked impatiently, not understanding why they were arguing over the 'why' rather than the 'how'.
"We gotta go after him." Chibs stated easily.
"We got a delivery to make." Clay scoffed.
"Bondsmen have no jurisdiction, there's nothing to stop us from taking him back." Juice reminded everybody.
"What's stopping us are these bedrolls full of illegal handguns!" Clay sneered
"We go after him now? We got a chance. If he crosses state lines..." Jax shook his head with a wince.
"If Tig was here, he'd vote to deliver the guns." Clay continued to push.
"Got him in a motel about two miles down the road, beat the shit out of him. Crazy prick must've provoked em - knows that they can't bring him in beaten to a pulp." Piney informed everyone after snapping his phone shut.
"We dump the bedrolls somewhere safe - relay just gets pushed back a few hours." Jax tried to reason. They were already late as it was, he didn't see the harm in being a little later if it meant getting one of their highest ranking officers back.
"We're goin." Clay concluded.
Sydney stayed silent, too busy running over every possible scenario in her head as the grown men bickered. She eventually looked up, making eye contact with Piney who nodded his head towards the bed of the truck and winked.
"Maybe we should call a vote." Jax suggested respectfully.
"Vote all you want, I'm going to get him." Sydney responded distantly as she began her path to the truck which was quickly stunted by Clay harshly grabbing her bicep.
"Are you forgetting the rules, Princess? Members obey the orders of their President." He reminded her - if she wanted to become a Son, she would have to behave like one.
Sydney's blood ran cold. Anybody else would've found themselves with the barrel of her glock between their eyes for putting their hands on her, but she knew better than to disobey her President and hold him at gunpoint.
"Well it's a good thing that I'm not a member." She said slowly through gritted teeth, the venom dripping from her low tone before she ripped her arm from the giant hand that had swallowed it - jumping up onto the flatbed where Piney handed her a shotgun.
Jax grinned at her blatant defiance - of course if they had been on opposing sides he would've been pissed, but he decided to let himself revel in the victory that the blonde firecracker had provided him.
Sydney's heart was racing as anxiety bubbled within her every cell after the shocking choice that she had made - feeling herself instantly calmed as Jax and Chibs climbed on with her.
"Where the hell are you going?" They heard Clay yelling in the distance as Piney took off, rolling to a stop as Happy and Bobby approached the entrance of the gas station.
"What's up?" Happy called over the chugging exhaust of the truck.
"Shit kickin!" Jax grinned.
"I'm in!" The bald man climbed on, leaving the ever-so-grounding Bobby to tend to their President.
"So, biker barbie does more than just ride bitch, huh?" Jax nudged Sydney's arm playfully. Just then they hit a bump, causing Bobby's bike to topple over.
"Bitch bar's looking mighty fine right about now." She teased.
"We have a plan here?" Chibs asked as they pulled up to the shitty motel where Half-Sack had tracked them.
"Got him in room twelve." He jogged up, jumping up onto the flatbed with the rest of his crew.
Jax looked to Sydney for direction. She knew that his sudden willingness to give her control was just a result of his animosity towards Clay, but it still felt good - as much as she enjoyed toying with the VP, she was glad to know that their squabbling wasn't anything personal.
"Ask the old man." She decided to give Piney the lead.
"Alright, hang on guys!" Piney called over his shoulder.
"Jesus christ." Jax shook his head at the crazy look in Sydney's eyes once Piney swung the truck around, revealing that his master plan was just to drive straight through the fucking building.
"Shit! Arms up ladies." Chibs yelled over the beeping of the machine as it reversed.
Tig was tied to a chair in the middle of the motel room as the lot of burley men attempted to patch him up well enough to ensure they would collect the bounty when they brought him in. His eyes widened as he spotted the truck outside coming full speed towards the window - a wide grin spreading across his mouth under the duct tape.
The flatbed successfully crashed through the hotel room without any casualties - just as Piney had planned. Sydney cocked the shotgun, ready to fire if necessary while Happy pushed any debris out of the way so he and Half-Sack could jump down and help Tig up onto the bed of the truck while the others held the men at gunpoint.
"Don't move!" Sydney yelled to the group of shocked men as her and Jax kept their weapons aimed at them.
"Or I will blow your balls off!" Chibs warned.
As soon as his hands were free, Tig ripped the tape off of his mouth. "Hey, guys - listen, I gotta tell ya." He stood and began collecting his weapons off the table. "I had alotta fun, I really gotta go, this is my ride." He jumped up onto the flatbed, Jax helping him scoot back. "Thanks for everything! Hopefully we can do it again sometime." Sydney chuckled at his shit disturbing ways, knowing that she would've done the exact same thing.
The rest of the cavalry climbed on, keeping their weapons pointed at the men as the truck pulled out of the disheveled room before cheering as they drove away.
"Hi, baby." Sydney gave Tig the most innocent, angelic smile that she could muster up.
"You have got so much explaining to do." He growled while she laughed and bit her lip.
The recovery crew made it back to the gas station in no time with Tig in hand, seeing Bobby hanging back by the bikes at the fuel pumps while Opie and Clay spoke on the curbside across the lot.
"Now would ya look at that, we still got time to spare." Sydney vexxed when Clay approached.
Clay kept his mouth shut and his expression hard as he walked over to the passenger door of the truck where Tig was settling in for the ride back.
"Got a death wish." Opie stated plainly when he rejoined his group, not being too clear about who his statement was directed at. Jax and Sydney exchanged a look, silently agreeing not to say anything after Opie had stayed behind to kiss Clay's ass rather than helping them rescue the Sergeant At Arms. "No comment?" Sydney gave a slight nod, letting Jax take the reins on this one.
"Just a little cautious, I guess. Not sure what I say aint gonna land in Clay's ear." He squinted.
"What the hell does that mean?" Opie scowled.
"You tell me, bro."
"Don't drag me into whatever bullshit you got going on with stepdaddy, alright?" He stormed off, leaving Sydney biting her cheek to contain her smirk of amusement at his final comment.
"I know you're pissed... But the guys were right this time. Motel was a quick stop, I woulda been in Oregon by the end of the day." Tig attempted to calm Clay's wrath as he covered for his crew.
"Take him to St. Thomas." Clay ignored him, turning his attention to Piney. "Hopefully that's within your plan." He mused.
"This aint on the kids, it was my idea. You'll just have to blame it on the uh… Dementia." Piney laughed, trying to keep the mood light. Clay gave a sarcastic smile, showing that he was anything but amused as he slammed the passenger door.
"Ah shit..." Tig groaned as he watched Clay walk away, knowing that he wasn't going to back down easily - and knowing that his girlfriend was sitting pretty on the top of his shit list.
"It's gonna be a long ride, Tigger." Piney laughed, handing him the whiskey bottle.
The rest of the run went smoothly - awkward as all hell as no one was speaking to each other, but smoothly. The Sons eventually met up with Laroy just outside of Charming to make the drop according to plan while Sydney made her way to St. Thomas to make sure that Tig wasn't being vetted by any more bounty hunters.
"You guys are one short?" Laroy observed aloud. Normally he would've had no idea who the fuck was and wasn't on the Sons' roster, but the image of the crazy Sergeant swooping in on the hot brunette from the day earlier was still heavy on his mind.
"Yeah, got all the cargo though." Clay brushed off the man's inquisition. Once the hand off was completed, no words were exchanged between the Sons as they all went their separate ways - some returning home to their families, and some heading back to the clubhouse.
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"Sydney." A friendly voice greeted as she walked through the sliding doors of St. Thomas with her helmet under her arm.
"Hey, Tara." Sydney smiled. So far, she found that she quite liked Tara - regardless of what Gemma thought.
"You looking for Gemma?"
"No, Tig actually. But I shouldn't be surprised that Gemma's here." She chuckled.
"No you shouldn't." The two smiled as they joked about Gemma's overly hands-on role as grandma. "So... Tig, huh?" Tara's voice dropped as she quirked an eyebrow, deciding to let a little bit more personality show through her professional front.
"I told you I wasn't coming for your man." Sydney smirked.
Tara started leading her to where Tig's bed was in the ER when her phone started ringing. "Hello." She answered before her face fell and she quickly hung up, shoving the device back into the pocket of her lab coat.
"What was that?" Sydney scowled.
"Oh, uh." Tara laughed nervously, trying to play off her shock. "Nothing, just thought I blocked all the telemarketers from Chicago." Sydney knew that she was lying, but she didn't press the issue - she didn't know Tara well enough yet to determine whether or not she should be concerned for her.
"Here he is." Tara announced awkwardly as they approached Tig's bed before quickly taking her leave, knowing by Sydney's silence that she hadn't fooled her.
"Hey, Princess." Tig slurred as he looked up to see Sydney.
"Hey, Sarge. You look stunning, as usual." She grinned back in amusement, it was obvious that he had been given some proper pain meds. "You gonna ride bitch?" She teased.
"Oh yeah! How the hell did you pull that shit off?" He exclaimed as he recalled the day's events prior to his abduction.
"I guess I had a good teacher." She winked.
"You are gonna get it." He slurred again.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm real worried - let's go." She nodded out the door.
Sydney followed the flatbed back to the clubhouse, letting Piney help an incredibly inebriated, injured Tig back into his dorm - something that she surely could not have done on her own.
"Well, looks like you trapped me again." She teased once they were alone. "Can't be leaving you alone like this." She shrugged out of her jacket.
"It was my plan all along, baby." Tig mumbled as he laid face down on his pillow.
"Mhmm, I'm sure it was." She kissed him on the top of the head. "I'm going to get some fresh air and something to eat, I'll be back so-." She stopped, laughing as she realized that he had already passed out before she could finish her sentence.
Sydney took advantage of her favorite time of day - when the hot California sun began to retreat behind the hills and a peaceful haze would set in - to recount the events of the day as she smoked a joint on her bike. She was so relaxed that she barely noticed Clay as he approached.
"Kawasaki looks a little outta place." He attempted to lighten the atmosphere.
"Like me." She responded with a light chuckle as she passed him her joint, sharing the weed in silence. "I'm sorry about toda-" She began.
"I don't give a shit about today." Clay cut her off, knowing that she had nothing to be sorry for. "I give a shit about tomorrow, next week - how all this shit is gonna play out."
"Whatever's going on there is affecting the club - affecting the calls being made." She summed up his thoughts without him having to elaborate. "Today was a textbook example of why we can't have this shit - you guys thinking that every opinion and call is being made out of spite."
Clay wanted to defend himself as she called him out, but he knew that she was right. "You talk too much like a member." He chuckled, passing her back the joint.
"Give me a patch then." She teased before taking another drag. "Whatever's going on, the bottom line is that Jax needs to get right with you." She finished on a strong note as she passed back the end of the joint.
"Yeah... He does." Clay agreed as he stamped out the roach and disappeared back into the clubhouse.
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