Ring around the Rosie is not an easy game for Charming residents to play as their impending worries get harder and harder to dance around...
General trigger warnings for this story: Language, smut, mentions of rape, abuse, drug use/overdose, violence/death, racism/gang activity.
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CHAPTER 24: FEAR FACTOR
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"I'm fucking starving." Sydney groaned as she hopped out of the van once they were parked on the compound, bounding towards the clubhouse kitchen in search of something to soothe her rumbling stomach, Half-Sack following close behind.
"Hmmm..." She scanned the well-stocked fridge, trying to figure out what she could make that would satisfy both the carnivores and the vegetarians. "Kip, what's your favorite meal in the whole wide world?" She asked as she swung the fridge door back and forth.
"Burritos." He answered easily.
"How the fuck d'you make burritos with no meat?" She scowled, still unable to understand how a man could choose to not indulge in the deliciousness of beef.
"Rice and beans." He shrugged, watching as she pursed her lips while contemplating his answer before shrugging back in acceptance, pulling the cupboard open to find the fixings for his request. "Syd, no, you don't have to." He immediately began shaking his head. "It's not your job, I'm just a prospect and all." He didn't want her - or anyone else - to think that he'd expected her to go out of her way to cook a separate meal just for him.
She sighed as she turned around, taking a step closer to him, then another, and another - backing him against the cupboards where her Louboutins put them at a much more comparable height. "You sayin' that if you had a full patch, it would be my job?" She questioned menacingly.
"What?" He trembled. "No! Of course not, you're not just some club whore-" He stopped his babbling once he finally caught the playful curl of her lips. "You're such an asshole." He groaned, nudging her back as they both laughed.
"One day, Kippy... One day you'll learn." She smiled over her shoulder as she headed to the bar to see who would be sticking around for dinner.
"You hungry, Alexander ?" Tig winced at the sound of his real name as Sydney ran her hand over his shoulder where he sat at the bar - a name that still sounded so foreign to him, no matter how good it rolled off of her honeyed tongue in the seductive drawl.
"You know." He squinted, spinning around in his barstool to face her. "People get their asses kicked for callin' me that." He raised a brow.
"I'm countin' on it." She nodded with a dirty smirk.
"Oh yeah?" He grinned, setting his beer down and finding the back of her knee where he pulled her into his lap. "Think that'll teach ya?"
"It's a good place to start." She nodded slowly, trailing his jaw with her finger.
"God, count me out." Bobby winced.
"Yeah... I'm not so hungry anymore." Juice agreed from the pool table where he'd set up his laptop.
Sydney jumped when she heard the other voices, feeling her cheeks flush as she looked around the room - realizing that Tig had completely distracted her from the fact that there were other people around, which was the whole reason that she'd made the trip in the first place.
"What's on the menu?" The Sergeant recaptured her attention, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.
"Oh now you're hungry for what I got to offer?" She scoffed.
"I'm always hungry for you, babydoll." He growled with authority, skimming his hands over her waist as his eyes consumed her. "Just gotta keep you on your toes since I got all this competition." His mouth was hot on her neck as he rasped the words against her skin.
"How about I make you dinner, and then you can have me for dessert." She whispered with bated breath, her tongue tracing his ear as her hands roamed his chest.
"Now there's an offer that I can't refuse..." His grip tightened around her, rubbing over the smoothness of her exposed skin as he kissed her one last time before lifting her off of his lap and placing her back to the ground where he swatted her butt with a playful wink.
She bit her lip bashfully, feeling another flush coming to her face as she tried to ignore the cocky smirk that told her that he knew exactly how hot and bothered she was right now. She returned to the kitchen where she got to work cooking up enough burritos for everybody anyways, knowing that their appetites would return as soon as they smelled the food.
Once everything was ready, she made up a plate for the Vice President who had retired to his dorm for the evening, strutting down the hallway and lifting her arm to knock on his door - stopping when she heard the rowdy voices coming from behind it. "You bet, bad boy." She snickered as her fist hovered above the wood, wondering if this was how ridiculous her and Tig sounded to everybody.
Jax's entire body jolted with shock when he was startled by a pounding on his door, the shy girl beneath him squeaking in surprise. "It's okay, darlin'." He smirked, patting her knee as he lifted himself from between her legs. "I'll keep you safe." He winked at the meek woman whose name he'd already forgotten. Sally? Suzy? Something with an 'S' , he pondered as he made his way to the door.
"Hey, bad boy." Sydney said in her most exaggerated sultry voice as she leant her hip against the door frame with an arm propped up in a playfully seductive pose. "Dinner's ready." She cocked a brow as she presented him with the plate of food, scoffing as the little blonde girl with bangs scrambled to cover herself.
"We're, uh- We're kinda in the middle of somethin'..." He looked through his eyelashes with a bashful smile.
"Looks more like you're kinda at the end of somethin'." She smiled sarcastically as Jax's whore pushed past her and ran down the hallway, tripping over her own feet.
"Come on, Syd…" He whined playfully. "She's never gonna come back-"
"I'm gonna stop you right there." She silenced him with her freshly manicured index finger. "Because I know that would've been the worst blowjob that you've gotten since the ninth grade, hands down. So really, you should be thanking me." She cocked her head.
Jax just bit his lip with a smirk, knowing that there would be no reasoning with the maniac of a woman standing before him with a home cooked peace offering. "Thanks." He accepted the plate with a chuckle.
"You're welcome." She replied cheerfully.
"I meant for the food." He clarified with a knowing look.
"Sure you did." She smiled playfully. "So, I guess I can tell Gemma that she has nothing to worry about with Tara…" She raised a brow.
"She's worried about Tara?" Jax scowled. He'd only barely begun speaking to Tara again since Abel had been born, and even then, since the awkward and confusing rekindling, his old flame had seemed to have decided against stoking the fire in the almost week and a half since she'd last spoken to him.
"I think she's been worried about Tara since the day that you brought her home." She snorted.
"You're probably right about that one." He backed over to the bed where he set the plate down with a friendly smile.
"Ever regret that one?" Sydney's brow raised slightly.
Jax pondered the question that had taken him completely off guard - the question that he had been asking himself for over a decade. "Nah." He finally decided, looking at the carpet beneath his shoes as he stuffed his hands into his pockets. She was the one thing in his life that he'd never regretted.
Sydney could tell that she'd struck a nerve with the personal question about his clearly complicated past, and apparently even more complicated future with the brunette. "How's Abel doing?" She diverted towards the much more exposed, and much less private nerve - taking advantage of the rare opportunity to bond further with the blonde man while she wasn't fantasizing about ripping his head off.
"Oh, he's good!" His cheerful mood returned instantly at the mention of his son.
"That's great." Sydney smiled, taking this as a good sign as she entered the room where she leant against the dresser by the door. "What about the junkie?"
Jax rolled his eyes at her use of the derogatory term, but he didn't correct her; he knew her history with junkies, and he wasn't about to initiate an ethics argument while they were getting along. "You and my mom really have been talkin', huh?" He joked.
"It's only a matter of time now before poppin' IV lines makes its way onto my resume." Jax blinked, stunned by the demonic words that had just come from such an angelic face. "What?" Her brow creased. "Don't think that I know about that?"
"No… I just... Didn't expect you to say it." He choked out.
"Where do you land on that?" She raised a brow, knowing that it surely hadn't been a decision that Jax had been privy to until after the fact.
Jax tightened his jaw as he thought about what his mother had done to Wendy - the mother of his son. Even if the act itself didn't mess with his moral compass nearly as much as it probably should have, he hated that she continued to meddle with his relationships, his business - the shit that he should be handling, not her.
"She made it to rehab… Won't have to worry about custody shit." He forced himself to look at the positive outcome, rather than the grim reality of what had been done to get there.
"You still think it's gonna work?" Sydney had seen her fair share of rehab failures, but she wondered what the possibility of Wendy being actually getting clean would mean for her VP…
"I hope so…" He nodded genuinely. "But we both know that it wouldn't be the first time that it didn't."
"You guys split because of it?" She asked, still trying to figure out if he had ever really wanted her as his old lady, or if she had just been a rebound like she'd thought.
"Me and Wendy... That was a mistake." He shook his head, still unable to believe that he'd actually married her.
"A Gemma-fuelled mistake?" She probed with a playful smirk.
"With a full tank." He chuckled. "She was driving the wedding train… Wanted grandkids..."
"You resent her for that?" She raised a brow. "You know, pushing you into something irreversible with the wrong person? Potentially pushing you away from the right person..." She asked the pointed question as her eyes narrowed.
"Nah... My choices are on me - even the wrong ones." He chuckled, knowing just how many of those Sydney thought that he had under his belt.
"A heavy weight to carry, I'm sure..." She joked back, shaking her head with a playful smile as she turned to leave, deciding that she'd gotten enough out of this conversation before he could piss her off, or try to flip the script.
"Almost as heavy as the weight of a $200k debt." He fired back with a wink.
Sydney looked over her shoulder with an intrigued grin, nodding in approval of his clever comeback. "Looks like SAMCRO is gonna have to do a little fundraising, I'm sure you boys can get creative." She winked back.
"Hey, can I ask you somethin'?" He called after her as she approached the door after pondering whether or not it was a good idea, making the decision to go for it as he saw his window of opportunity about to close.
Sydney turned around expectantly, welcoming the question with open arms. "San Bern." He started. "How'd they feel about outlaw?" He nodded.
"Most of them enjoy it, but I don't think there would be any love lost if they went legit." She answered with an honest shrug, knowing that this question was anything but random. "Why?"
"Ah, just wondering." He brushed it off. "You were right, about Clay and my dad... I've been reading some shit, and it doesn't feel like he's carrying out my old man's vision." He nodded earnestly.
"Well, what's your vision for the club?" She cut right to the chase.
"I don't know yet." He shook his head, still trying to sort out how it was that he felt - not how his family felt.
"I think it'd be more trouble than it's worth, convincing some of these guys to go straight..." She swayed as she held onto the door frame, the depth behind her stare telling him that there was much more to her cryptic words as all the pieces of the puzzle were starting to form a much clearer picture in her mind.
"Aight, well thanks for the food." He picked up his burrito with a smile. He didn't take her response personally - from what he knew of the Cali Queen, the table of a legitimate club was the exact opposite of the table that she'd spent her entire life fighting for a seat at.
"Don't thank me yet." She laughed to herself on her way out the door, listening to the violent coughing behind her as she descended the hallway where she made it to the kitchen, hoisting the giant plate of burritos into her arms before heading out to the bar where, just as she expected, everyone rushed over. She rounded the bar, leaning overtop of it with a mischievous smirk as she watched in anticipation as everybody began eating.
Bobby was the first to start the chain reaction, coughing until his face turned bright red, and sweat began to pool across his forehead, Tig and Juice following close behind while Half-Sack began gagging from the pool table.
"Are you fucking kidding me, Juice?" She exclaimed with a hand thrusted into the air in the direction of the hispanic man.
"I grew up in Queens!" He choked out through the overwhelming use of spice while she continued to shake her head in disappointment.
"What the hell did you put in here?" Tig winced as he poured the remainder of his beer down his throat to try and help soothe the burn.
"What?" She asked innocently before taking a bite. "I grew up with latinas." She shrugged, a smirk tugging at her lips as the men watched her chomp on the monstrously spicy food in shock.
Tig raised an eyebrow at her challenge, his ego fuelling him to take another bite where he tried to withhold his outburst as his face turned red, and his eyes pooled with tears.
Juice winced before taking another bite, funneling as much air as possible through his mouth as he did so. "This is like Fear Factor." He uttered between coughs.
"We should play!" Sydney perked up.
"For fuck's sake, Juice." Bobby groaned to the younger man for giving her the idea.
"I'm in." Tig slammed his fist down on the bartop after successfully getting through his second bite, needing the opportunity to redeem himself.
Sydney grinned evilly, scarfing down her food before gathering the materials for her game while everybody struggled to finish their meals. Once everything was ready, she returned to the bar where the men all sat with their empty plates, and red faces. "Pussies." She scoffed as she waltzed past them, heading down the hallway to retrieve the VP.
"Jax!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, not bothering with the pleasantries of asking for his participation - there was no way that she was going to let him miss out on a chance to be humiliated.
Jax came barrelling down the hall a few seconds later. "What's wrong?" He asked as he looked around the room in a panic while pulling his shirt down over his head.
"We're playing Fear Factor." Sydney smiled.
"You called me out for that?" He scowled.
"Sure did." Her smile stretched into a grin.
"That meal wasn't enough?" He raised a brow.
"It was only but a taste, Jacky Boy." She mused with a theatrical smirk. "Everyone ready?" Tig grinned while the rest of the group gave half-hearted nods, knowing that bowing out of whatever further torture she had planned for them was not an option. "Great, okay." She nodded with no regard for the fact that nobody shared in her enthusiasm. "Fear Factor meets Jackass." She explained. "First round: shred the bike rail on a skateboard, if you don't make it at least halfway - you take a shot of this." She grinned wickedly as she presented the glass jar that once held habanero peppers, but now only contained the juice - thanks to her overuse of the fiery food in tonight's meal.
"Oh come on!" Bobby groaned.
"We already did that!" Juice thrusted his hand into the air.
"Well you should be a pro then." She shrugged with a sweet smile, ignoring their protests and making her way outside - skateboard in hand. "Okay!" She cooed once everybody had begrudgingly gathered at the rail which was usually lined with gleaming Harleys. "Who's first?"
"Prospect!" Tig clapped Half-Sack on the shoulder, shoving him forward.
"Oh no, come on..." The poor kid groaned.
"Come on, Sack! You can do it." Sydney encouraged.
"Fuck!" He yelled as he dove in head first - a tactic that had served him well during his short time in the army - ripping the skateboard from Sydney's hands as he began his running start before jumping up onto the board. He wobbled the whole way, flailing his arms about, but somehow managing to keep his balance all the way to the end. "Holy shit!" He cheered once he landed, reveling in the applause that roared behind him.
"I fucking told you that you could do it!" Sydney hollered as she ran up and high fived him, forcing him to take a victory lap. "Juice, let's go!" She wasted no time in selecting her next victim.
Juice jumped up and down a few times, readying his body with a newfound confidence after watching the uncoordinated prospect stick the landing. He began running, picking up good speed but fumbling when the top of his foot clipped the edge of the skateboard, which sent his entire body forward and brought his head crashing down onto the metal railing, rebounding with a clang before he hit the pavement.
Sydney stood wide-eyed with her hands over her mouth in shock while Tig and Bobby doubled over in hysterics, and Half-Sack and Jax jogged over - shaking in laughter, albeit - to check on their Puerto Rican brother.
"I'm good, guys, really." Juice tried to brush off the cavalry while the stars could practically be seen circling his head as his eyes rolled back.
"I don't think so, we gotta get you to the ER." Bobby insisted a little too strongly, helping Juice off of the ground and propping him up with his shoulder where he began walking him towards the van.
"You just wanna get out of it, huh, old man?" Tig teased.
"You each owe me a shot!" Sydney called after them. "Jax you're up!"
"I'm gonna just go with that shot, Princess." He shook his head with a grimace.
Sydney turned her attention to Tig. "Oh, yeah me too." He shrugged with a devious grin.
She rolled her eyes, slipping off her heels with a smile on her face. She took off, successfully jumping up onto the skateboard that Half-Sack was holding steady, stabilizing herself as it teetered on the metal rail, squealing as she tried to keep her balance. Somewhere along the way of willing herself not to fall backwards, she leant too far forwards. Feeling gravity working against her, she made the decision to leap off of the skateboard and skip along the rail quickly enough that she was able to make it to the end. "More than halfway!" She yelled across the lot to Tig and Jax who were shaking their heads.
"You only picked this one because you have good balance." Jax teased, nudging her playfully as they made their way back inside.
"I ain't gonna let years of gymnastics go to waste." She mused.
"You did gymnastics ?" He scoffed, a playful smirk twitching at his lips.
"Until I was old enough to realize that it's for pussies." She chuckled.
"That explains... So much." Tig shook his head dreamily.
"Old habits die hard." She winked.
"Jesus, get me that fucking pepper juice." Jax winced, shaking his head as he opted for a burning throat rather than burning eyes and ears.
Sydney poured the two shot glasses as full as she could, sliding them across the bar to their dread-filled owners. "Bottoms up." She smiled with wild eyes.
Jax looked to Tig with a grimace as the older man looked back at him with terror before picking up the shot and slamming it back, keeping his head tilted towards the ceiling as he tried to force the offensive substance down his throat.
The reaction of the Sergeant did not help Jax's case in the slightest as he hesitated, lifting the shot off of the bartop and setting it back down multiple times. "Jesus Christ… You hesitate with this just like you hesitate pulling the fucking trigger." Sydney grimaced. "You sure you deserve that VP flash?" She asked with a raised brow.
Tig barked out a laugh, immediately beginning to cough and gasp for air as he ran behind the bar, guzzling water straight from the tap, and gathering ice cubes to stuff into his cheeks.
Her words did the trick. Jax's lips formed a straight line as he grit his teeth, pouring the shot into his mouth and swallowing in one fluid motion. "Fuck you." He choked out as his face turned as red as Sydney was sure his temper was.
She bursted out laughing as she watched the grown men struggling, basking in the glory of her victory as they frantically ran around in search of objects to soothe their pain. "So... No round two then?" She asked with an evil grin.
;
The aftermath of Sydney's game had her lying on Tig's lap on one of the couches in the clubhouse while he iced his burning mouth. "I fucking hate you." He shook his head.
"You fucking love me." She snorted, not turning her attention from the game of tetris that she was playing on her phone.
"That love's gonna kill me." He patted her propped up leg with a chuckle. "You stayin'?"
"Nah, I'm gonna head home." She said as she sat up, leaving him with a disappointed look on his face. "Maybe you'll sleep better alone..." She added softly, the sincerity not quite reaching her eyes as they flicked down to the black leather of the couch to avoid his.
Tig didn't expect her comment to sting as badly as it did. He had done his best to hide the nightmare in the back of his mind, but she had just ripped it right back out. "Okay." He nodded regrettably, knowing that fighting it would only cause his mind to blow things out of proportion once he was left alone to think about it. He got to his feet with her, placing his hand on the small of her back as he walked her to her car. "I love you, I'll see you tomorrow." His words were flat as he pressed a kiss to her cheek, opening the car door and ushering her inside. He knew that now was the right time to show her how he was truly feeling; show her that there was nothing for her to worry about, let her know that for the one nightmare that she'd helped bring on, there were countless that she had chased away. But he couldn't, the effective coping mechanism of icing out his emotions was too deeply embedded in his psyche after all these years.
"I love you too." Sydney replied softly as she got into the car, wishing that she would've just bitten her damn tongue. She hadn't meant for her comment to be petty, but she hadn't realized just how uncomfortable she was with what had happened, until the words had already left her lips. She took a deep breath as she watched him walk away, telling herself that it wasn't worth getting worked up over, and that things would be fine tomorrow.
Unfortunately, Tig was not able to say the same about his level of relief as he sat hunched over the bar with a half-empty bottle of Jim Beam. He'd already been worried enough about having to risk reliving his checkered past through another nightmare as it was, but now without Sydney to comfort him, he'd had to seek out another source of comfort - taking one final swig before passing out over the bar.
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Gemma rolled onto the compound at the crack of dawn, her heels clicking against the hardwood floor of the bar as she sauntered into the dimly lit room at the early hour, rolling her eyes once she saw Tig sprawled out across the bar next to the empty bottle. But a scowl worked its way onto her face as she looked at the familiar sight that for some reason felt foreign. This wasn't unlike Tig, but it was unlike Tig since Sydney had come into his life.
Sydney groaned as the ear-grating vibration of her phone against her nightstand woke her from a sleep that had been less than peaceful to begin with. "What?" She groaned down the line once she saw that it was Gemma calling at the offending hour of 7:16AM.
"Can you come in early? Emergency backlog."
"Yup." She confirmed flatly before the line went dead.
Less than an hour later, Gemma heard the rumbling exhaust of Sydney's Challenger as she pulled into the parking lot. "Well, shit." The older woman scoffed as she lowered her glasses and leant back in her chair, taking in the sight of the gorgeous woman standing before her. "It doesn't even look like I dragged your ass out of bed." She smirked as her eyes roamed Sydney's perfectly put together appearance: a black cropped hoodie, light-washed denim shorts, combat boots, straight hair, and a daisy fresh face.
"That's the goal." She replied as she removed her dark aviators, looking around the office for the source of the so-called emergency. "What's the backlog?" She scowled as her tired eyes roamed over the clear desks that she had expected to see stacked with papers.
"There is no backlog." She got to her feet, closing the door behind Sydney. "What happened to Tig?" The finality in her tone told her that she wasn't playing games.
"Of course there isn't." Sydney scoffed as Gemma cornered her, walking over to the couch and tossing her purse onto it before flopping down next to it. "Gemma, if you're gonna worry every time that one of us flies off the handle, you're gonna have to quit your job, cause it is a full time gig."
"Worrying about you guys is already my full time gig." She argued.
"Speaking of worrying..." Sydney drew the attention elsewhere while she had the chance. "I talked to Jax last night… Found out some shit about why he's been acting so straight."
"Really? What'd you find out?" She perked up.
"He asked me how SAMDINO would feel about going legit… When I asked why, he said that he read some shit his dad wrote. Sound familiar?" She raised a brow.
"He say what it was that he read?"
"No, but it sounds to me like it was some dying confession from a broken heart." She scoffed.
"I wouldn't put it past John…" Gemma shook her head, filing the intel away for later. She had other things to obsessively worry about at the moment. "Now tell me why Tig is passed out, drunk, in the middle of the clubhouse at 8:00AM."
Sydney scowled at first, but quickly worked out the rationale behind his thinking, because it was a rationale that she had used many times before to block out her own nightmares... "He had a dream in Santa Cruz about some girl…" She slid her necklace back and forth as her eyes affixed themselves to the pale-blue-painted concrete of the office floor. "Jules?"
Gemma stiffened when she heard the forbidden name. "Juliet." She corrected with a slow nod. "He really does love you." She spoke with a small smile. To say that she was shocked would be an understatement, Tig hadn't spoken of her in well over a decade - maybe more, but if Juliet was being brought out of his subconscious, it was because he was having the same feelings for Sydney, that he did for her all of those years ago.
"I guess he didn't want to risk dreaming about her again..." Sydney shrugged as a comfortable silence fell over the two before Gemma was the one to finally break it.
"You gonna ask?" She raised a brow.
"No." Sydney answered easily. "I want him to tell me… When he's ready." She nodded slowly.
"You are good for him, baby." Gemma nodded, her smoky voice full of sincerity as she leant forward. "You will be the perfect old lady." She squeezed her hand.
;
"Alexander!" Sydney yelled as she stormed into the clubhouse, seeing Tig laying on the bar with his eyes cracked open, barely conscious.
"You look like a goddamn angel." His eyes loomed over her as a lazy grin spread across his face, not moving from where his head laid upon the polished wood as her beauty captivated him so strongly that he hadn't even detected her use of his first name this time.
"And you look like satan ass fucked you all night." She nudged him out of the barstool. "Go shower, you have work."
"Come on, baby." He groaned, feeling the soreness spreading through his body from the unconventional sleeping position, but he didn't care, because it had done its job as he got to his feet with a clear head.
"Don't you 'come on baby' me, go." She pushed him towards the hallway.
He turned around with a grin, stumbling backwards to his dorm. "I might need you to help me clean up." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.
"Get going." She grit her teeth theatrically, the two smiling as she followed him to his dorm.
Sydney tidied around his dorm as he showered extremely slowly, paying extra attention to the bed where she did her best to make it look extra comfortable in hopes that it would entice him to sleep properly tonight...
"Awe babe, you don't gotta do that." Tig smiled gratefully when he emerged from the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist, kissing her on the cheek as he walked over to his dresser to grab clean boxers.
"That's what old ladies do, isn't it?" She looked up from her crouched position by the laundry basket with a smile.
"It's also what croweaters do." He smirked.
"Well, it's a good thing that I'm your own personal croweater." She purred in a sultry voice as she walked over and draped her arms over his glistening shoulders.
"Hell yeah you are, dollface." His hands rested on her ass while a smug smile sat comfortably on his face.
"I know something else that croweaters do..." She whispered against his neck, pressing a chaste kiss to the sensitive spot as she looked up at him through her eyelashes before slowly descending his body, dragging her lips across his skin without breaking eye contact. The closer that she got to his dick, the more his eyes began to flutter - and as soon as she could no longer see the beautiful crystal blue, she stopped.
"Work." She ordered, getting to her feet quickly and pressing a peck to his lips before turning and strutting towards the door.
With the early hour and the hangover, Sydney definitely hadn't expected such a reaction out of Tig - a gasp of surprise leaving her throat as she was spun around and shoved up against the oak door, her face instantly flushing as a smile of excitement spread across her face.
"You know, I seem to remember that you owe me somethin' from last night..." He purred with a smirk as he hovered over her like a predator taunting its prey.
"More like something that you owe me." She challenged.
Tig chuckled sadistcially as he moved his hands up her body from where they sat firmly on her hips, one wrapping around her throat, and the other gathering her hands above her head. "That how it's working now, baby?" He whispered against her lips.
"It is when you act like a jackass." She spit the words at him. Of course she wasn't actually mad, but she knew that part of being a good old lady meant keeping her man in line - and if she could use it to her advantage in the bedroom, she would.
"Oh, we're gonna have fun, kitten." His eyes glimmered darkly, dipping down to press his lips to hers.
;
Even though Tig knew that he'd brought it on himself, it didn't stop him from sulking as he slowly pulled on his clothes and lugged his sorry ass to the garage to begin his shift.
"See!" He held up his time card to Gemma in a grand display. "Not even late."
Gemma smiled across the office to Sydney as she worked through the days service sheets, nodding in approval when finally, the unmistakable roar of Harley engines took over the sound of Tig's floor-scuffing footsteps as her employees filed in for the day's work.
"Hey, Ma." Jax greeted cheerfully as he swung in the door frame.
"Mornin', baby."
"Church." He nodded to Sydney.
Sydney nodded, quickly getting to her feet and following him out the door where she noticed an extra pep in his step. "How's your throat doin'?" She nudged him with a playful smile as they made their way towards the clubhouse.
Jax looked over his shoulder to answer, but instead found himself face to face with Tig who was looking less than pleased as he watched the two young blondes fraternizing. "Better than yours is gonna be doin'." He smirked, making Sydney smile once again at his unexpected cleverness, wishing that she was able to see the playful side of the VP more often.
Sydney took her seat at the table, biting her lip to suppress her bubbling laughter once she saw Juice sitting across from her with his majorly swollen head wrapped in bandages.
"What the hell did you do?" Clay sighed, dramatically swinging his head in Sydney's direction.
"Just havin' a little fun… It's not my fault that they can't take the heat." She replied innocently, a small smirk coming to her face as she detected the amusement in his tone.
Clay responded with a chuckle before turning his attention to Jax who had called the meeting. "Made a call to Jury." The VP nodded. "Checking in on how they're recovering after the patchover..."
"And?" Clay raised his brow, hoping that the newly patched Nevada charter's members that had walked out on the proposal of wearing the reaper at the beginning of the summer, had reconsidered.
"Mayans are still pressing them to pay that vig to keep running pussy." Jax hoped that his truth-coated lie was believable enough. Jury was one of his dad's oldest friends, and Clay had undoubtedly caught onto the fact that because of that, he had felt guilty that the former Devil's Tribe President was struggling with beefs that belonged to the Sons - but this time, that was exactly what he wanted, because his motive behind the courtesy call to his new brother under the reaper hardly had anything to do with monitoring their new territory.
But Jax's genius plan to get himself to Nevada seemed to fall through the cracks in Clay's expression as the deep scowl on his face told him that he cared just as little about the new charter as he had when he'd manipulated them into joining. "Look, man…" He tried. "They need back up - let the Mayans know that we're around."
"Part of asking for the vig is about shittin' on us." Bobby warned. "They knew that Jury would mention it, they're gonna be watchin'..."
"We got a $200k deficit hangin' over our heads." Tig added loudly.
"We're not wasting man power." Clay answered with finality, refusing to even entertain the request that came from the bleeding heart of his VP.
"That's what I'm sayin'… Just me and Bobby go." He looked to the older man across the table. "Low profile."
"No." Juice shook his heavy head. "That's a risky ride, brother… Northern Nevada is Mayan territory, and they're still lookin' to settle the score from our little raid." Sydney was surprised to hear the smaller man speaking up so valiantly, but she figured that the concussion was surely the result of the suddenly courageous display.
"You think we could convince him to buy some guns?" Sydney proposed. "Make the trip worth our while… We scratch their backs, they scratch ours." She shrugged. "You guys go up, fly under the radar, we get them some guns the same way, and then they've got protection the next time that the Mayans wanna blow smoke."
"Yeah, maybe." Jax nodded eagerly in response to her clever idea that he had no intention of actually proposing, the two blondes looking to Clay for an answer.
"You think you could get Jury on board?" He asked tentatively. Normally, the President would've been grateful to see the reaper royalty getting along - especially if it meant money in his pocket - but regardless of the result, he knew that this play was just another display of Jax's growing weakness.
"My dad saved his ass in Tay Nihn, he owes the Tellers a chit." He responded smugly but Clay's hardened expression didn't let up. "Hey, we're not gonna go cowboy. Okay? I promise."
"Promise." Bobby crossed his heart sarcastically.
"Low profile." Clay narrowed his eyes between the two riders. "I don't want no wetbacks knowing that we crossed into NV." He scolded. "They pull this off? I want you and Juice driving guns in barrels up as soon as possible." He turned his attention to Tig.
"Done." The Sergeant nodded while Jax stood with a smirk, clapping Clay on the shoulder who still looked brutallyunsure.
;
Sydney stared pointedly out the window as Jax and Bobby geared up for their impromptu trip into the desert, her dull curiosity suddenly spiking as she watched a familiar vehicle pull onto the lot...
Jax felt every nerve in his body short out from where he sat on his bike as Tara stepped out of her father's cutlass, flashing him her perfect smile as she motioned him over.
"Hey!" He nodded as he made his way across the lot, unable to fight the grin that so easily found its way onto his face - no matter how hopeless it may have been. "Everything okay?"
"Yeah." Tara nodded as she turned towards the vintage vehicle - something that she had expected to have to forced herself to do, but she found herself relaxing in the company that suddenly felt a lot more comforting. "I was hoping your offer still stood..."
"Oh!" He blinked a few times. After their awkward conversation, and lack of further awkward conversations, he had figured that she'd decided against it. "Of course. Why don't you bring it around back? I'll have Lowell take a look at it."
"Okay, thanks." She nodded. "So... Lowell..." Her cautious gaze shifted towards the garage.
"He's doing good." Jax nodded assuringly.
"Good." Tara smiled sympathetically. She truly wanted nothing but the best for their old friend that had been so unfairly dealt far too much of worst. "Uh." She refocused her eyes. "I was hoping you could give me a lift home?"
Gemma quickly stood from her desk, scurrying over to the window as the familiar exhaust punctured her eardrums for the second time this week. "Stupid bitch..." She mumbled, turning back to Sydney. "I'm gonna head out early, you handle this?" A discerning smirk spread across Sydney's face as Gemma began gathering her things, avoiding her knowing gaze as she shuffled quickly out the door.
"Um." Jax winced as he watched what may be his only chance, slipping away - but he felt even less confident in the probability of getting another chance to slip away from Clay. "I'm actually just about to head out for a couple of days..."
Tara felt her heart plummeting even further than it had when she'd realized that she was no safer from him in her hometown that she had been in Chicago, because this time, she believed truly it. "Okay." She finally forced the nod that she'd been anticipating. "If anything comes up with the baby, who should I call?" She uttered the poor excuse that they both knew that she had the answer to.
Just when Jax thought he'd uncovered something; some kind of longing for his presence in her cryptic statements, the moment was broken as Gemma waltzed up. "Just let my mom know if you need anything." He nodded, reaching out to grab his mother's hand. If Tara truly was just here for her car, her reaction to his mother's presence would tell him...
"Everything okay?" Gemma asked tentatively.
"Yeah, fine." Jax nodded as Tara immediately stiffened up. "She'd just here to get her car fixed."
"Oh really?" Gemma nodded thoughtfully. "Because yesterday she was 'just here to update you on the baby'." She narrowed her eyes.
Jax felt his forehead crease slightly, his heart skipping a beat as he looked over at the shorter woman who forced an awkward smile. "Actually." He turned back to Gemma, deciding to push even further while he had the confidence in where it might lead him. "Could you give Tara a ride home? She'd gotta leave the Cutlass here."
"No, that's okay." Tara practically leapt between them. "I'll just take a c-"
"I'd love to give the good doctor a lift." Gemma smirked.
Tara inhaled sharply as she felt her back immediately straighten. She should've know that Gemma would pounce on her hesitance.
"Where are you going?" Gemma nodded to her son, surprised that he hadn't jumped at the opportunity to secure some close proximity with the old flame that she only wished was completely burnt out.
"Visit Uncle Jury." He nodded with a smile.
"Nevada? By yourself?" Gemma blinked incredulously.
"With Bobby." Jax shook his head as a bashful smile came to his lips.
"Does Clay know?" Gemma sighed.
"Relax, Mom." He chucked. "It's gonna be fine." He placed a kiss to her cheek before turned to do the same to Tara.
Sydney watched the encounter from the drawn blinds, chuckling to herself as Tara attempted to turn down the ride home from Gemma, but her attention was stolen by something much more interesting than old drama; the way that Gemma's face fell when Jax presented her with the trip that he was about to take. Her forehead creased as she pondered the significance, her scowl deepening as she caught the way that Jax grazed his hand along Tara's waist as he bid her goodbye. She turned back to her work with a smirk after she caught the blush across Tara's cheeks, even from across the lot. This old drama was about to become very new.
Gemma ushered Tara into her car as she frantically searched the compound for her husband, spotting him in the garage where she immediately stomped over. "You sent him into Nevada?" She placed her hands on her hips.
"It was his idea." Clay defended, trying to reason with mama bear as he threw his arm around her shoulders and walked her back to her car. "It's club business."
"He has a two week old kid." She shook her head. "He is distracted. You have to protect him, not send him out to do the protecting."
"Protect him? From what?" Clay scowled. Gemma had been hassling him with this bullshit for weeks, and even if he was very much on the same page about the problem - his idea of how to solve it was quite the opposite of that of his wife...
"Himself." She widened her eyes as she stopped her strides.
"He's fine." He rolled his eyes. "Relax."
Gemma sighed, doing as she always did and giving him his peace of mind in thinking that he'd managed to calm her down before she would solve the problem herself. "Now, this one..." She turned her gaze to the brunette who was chatting with Lowell.
"What's she doin' here?" Clay scowled again.
"Anything she can to get close to Jax." Gemma spit out bitterly.
"Maybe she just needs a tune up." He smirked.
Gemma shook her head with a playful roll of her eyes as she tucked herself back into his side. "Didn't trust her then, don't trust her now." She pressed a kiss to his lips before making her way back over to her car where Tara was standing awkwardly by the passenger door.
"Hey, Doc!" The younger woman practically jumped out of her kitten heels as she was getting into the vehicle, turning to the source of the noise as she caught her breath. "You gotta sign these." She nodded, dropping her brown leather satchel into her seat as she stood back up and met the prospect half way where he was holding out a clipboard stacked with authorization papers.
Gemma's forehead remained creased after watching the encounter between the squirrelly man, and the jumpy doctor, shaking the thought away as she settled into the driver's seat where her eyes immediately landed on Tara's bag. She looked over her shoulder to be sure that the coast was clear as her hands got to work, unsure what she was looking, but knowing that she would find something. And boy, did she ever...
;
Not long later, after a ride that had greatly exceeded the speed limit and cut down the travel time between the long stretch of remote highway between California and Nevada, Jax found himself standing in front of the very wall that he had read about in his father's manuscript. But by the sight of beer bottles and a gleaming white cross that bore multiple American flags, it seemed that he was the only one who hadn't known about his sacred haven.
He nodded as he felt it coming on with each step that he took; the pinch behind his eyes, the twinge in his brain, the flip of his stomach - the unreachable itches that he plagued himself with as he uncovered more and more about his old man.
"Anarchism stands for liberation of the human mind." He began reading aloud, as if his father could hear him in the warm air that surrounded his goosebump covered arms. "From the dominion of religion, liberation of the human body from the dominion of property, liberation from shackles, and the restraint of government. It stands for social order, based on the free grouping of individuals."
His father was right. It was like someone had ripped the words out of his head, and written them on the wall... He took a deep breath as he pulled the manuscript out from the inside of his kutte, leaning against the wall as he flipped to the page he'd left off on - the unfinished thought that he'd refused to read the end of until he'd made it out to this spot.
The concept was pure, simple, true. It inspired me, lit a rebellious fire. But ultimately, I learned the lesson that Goldman, Proudhon, and the others learned; that true freedom requires sacrifice and pain. Most human beings only think they want freedom, in truth, they yearn for the bondage of social order, rigid laws, materialism. The only freedom man really wants, is the freedom to be comfortable.
"You think you and Jury are gonna get into it?" Bobby nodded from where he sat on his bike, puffing a cigar as Jax reappeared after his oddly long piss break.
"Yeah." Jax shook his head dreadfully as he lit a cigarette. "He didn't see the patch over comin' - the old man's struggling to hang the reaper on his back." He nodded regretfully. "None of this shit feels good to me anymore, Bobby." He sighed earnestly, feeling a little more forthcoming after his literal trip down memory lane. "Clay made a mistake... The Tribe wasn't SOA material." He grimaced.
Bobby stared at his VP with a growing worry as each doubtful word passed through his lips, watching every twitch in his body. "You alright, brother?" He lowered his voice and narrowed his eyes.
"Yeah." Jax looked up, meeting his Treasurer's skeptical eyes. "Why?"
"Just checkin' in." The older man shrugged. "You been through a lot of shit in the last couple of weeks; baby, junkie... Maybe all that noise in your head's got you turned around a bit." He suggested as lightly as possible.
"Noise in my head?" He smiled knowingly, casually brushing off the stipulations that he knew his brothers had formed, but hadn't had the balls to say out loud. "You got somethin' to say man, just say it." He shrugged.
The older man raised an eyebrow. "You've been second guessin' Clay ever since your boy was born. Club's pickin' up on it... You gotta get right with that." He nodded.
Jax nodded as the words he'd been waiting to hear, took him aback - unsure of what to say as he stamped out his cigarette and strapped his helmet.
;
"Mind if I smoke?" Gemma nodded to Tara where she sat in the passenger seat as they made the short drive to her house.
Tara forced a smile before she unclenched her jaw, shifting her gaze out the window. "And if I said yes?" She swung her head back towards the older woman, raising her brow smugly. She almost would have rather gotten a ride home from him - wherever he was lurking - but the prospect of not being confined to a vehicle that was so recognizable had her feeling bold.
Gemma couldn't help the grin that formed around the white cylinder that she had already lit up, regardless of the doctor's answer. "Right." She chuckled, turning onto the street that she wished she didn't know so well. "Must be strange being in that house alone..." She nodded slowly as she began fishing. "With everybody gone, nobody to account for those bumps in the night..."
"Hard to get lonely." Tara scoffed, refusing to bite. "My dad was a bit of a pack rat. I can barely turn around without stepping on some piece of history."
Gemma cringed at the choice of words that she didn't even think the stupid girl had consciously settled on. "Yeah, Clay's the same way; never throws anything out. He still has underwear from 1967." She chuckled as she pulled into the driveway, keeping up the friendly conversation while she had to. "Me though? I hate clutter." She told her pointedly. She was never complacent with her words.
"I get that." Tara pursed her lips as she nodded slowly, unsure what exactly she what meant as the words left her mouth in the oddly comfortable atmosphere. "Thanks." She nodded curtly as she unbuckled her seatbelt.
"Wanna tell me why you're carrying?" Gemma cut right to the chase. She'd never been one for the patience that was required while waiting for nibbles, she preferred to go right in with the net. "The gun in your bag." She nodded to the satchel sitting in her lap.
Tara inhaled sharply. "You went through my bag?" She sighed. She should've known better than to have left Gemma unattended with her belongings. She'd been right, she really was the same girl that she was ten years ago...
"I spotted it." Gemma shrugged. "I'm very observant."
"I see that." Tara smiled sarcastically as she searched the front of her brain for a lie good enough to surpass the infamously intuitive Matriarch. "I started carrying it when I was in Chicago. I lived in a rough neighbourhood." She swallowed harshly. "Just haven't gotten around to getting rid of it yet."
"A Beretta is not an old tampon." Gemma scoffed at her poor excuse. "You don't just forget that it's in your bag." She narrowed her eyes as she started to squirm, just as she always had when she'd gotten caught in a lie. "Is it registered?"
"I have a permit. It's legal." Tara nodded.
Stupid. Gemma fought the eye roll. She really had learned nothing. "You know how to use it?" She raised her brow amusedly as she watched Tara straighten up so tall that she looked like she could snap in half.
"Yeah." Tara inhaled sharply as she tried to hold her stance. "I do."
Gemma nodded as she got out of the car and stormed up to her front door, fleeing the scene of yet another lie.
;
Jax's engine roared next to Bobby as the two bikes approached the diner off of the highway, just across the Nevada border - the diner that Jury had told him about. "Gotta take a piss!" He hollered to his companion who nodded, the pair pulling into the dirt lot of the Nevada Mayans' clubhouse. "I'll be right back." Jax nodded before rolling around the back of the establishment.
Bobby shrugged skeptically as his dark eyes scanned the parking lot that looked like nothing but trouble, watching as his VP made his way around the building for his second piss break in the last twenty minutes.
A grin formed on Jax's face when his lively eyes landed on just the sight that he had hoped to see in order to really kill two birds with one crow; a row of ape-hangered Harleys. He'd got what he'd wanted from the trip out east, now it was time to get something for the man who had made that possible for him. If Clay seem didn't think that the Mayan threat was big enough to warrant helping out a brother, then he would show him that it was - and that was something that he could get right with.
;
Clay pulled his ringing phone from the front pocket of his kutte as he leant against the bar, Tig and Half-Sack's heads jerking up on instinct.
"Looks like Jury's gonna get his backup, after all." Jax's voice came over the line where the intense rumbling of exhaust almost drowned him out.
"What the hell are you talkin' about?" Clay scowled.
"I'm on my way back, and I'm not alone." Jax ended the call, kicking over the first bike in the row of Mayan machines, creating a domino effect as the others toppled over after it. He waiting until he could see bodies moving behind the frosted glass of the clubhouse door, running back over to his bike where he climbed on, revved the engine, and took off as they ran to pick their bikes up - initiating the intended game of cat and mouse.
Bobby scowled when he saw Jax peeling out from behind the building. "Mayans, go!" He heard from his VP, scrambling to get his bike into gear as the pair took off with the Mayans not far behind.
"Shit." Clay slammed his phone shut.
"What?" Tig felt his heart rate pick up.
"Mayans. Pack of 'em trailing Jax and Bobby. I knew this was a bad idea!" He yelled, whipping his phone against the wall behind the bar. He'd been right all along in thinking that they didn't have the manpower to spare with Happy and Chibs out of town, Juice out of commission, and Half-Sack without a bike - now he didn't even have enough manpower for an escort.
"Sydney!" Clay yelled from the lot as the small group made to take off with whatever weapons they had on them.
Sydney jumped when she heard Clay calling her by her name, anxiety filling her as the anger in his voice rang through her ears as she grabbed her purse and ran out to her President. "What's going on?"
"Mayans are after Jax and Bobby."
"Fuck…" She looked frantically around the spare compound. "Okay, Kip, you take Juice's bike - he keeps his spare key in his front fender. I'll meet you on the highway." She looked over the scowls on their faces as they blinked wordlessly. "Yeah..." She trailed off. "I'd suggest you all switch up your hiding spots." She grimaced.
Clay snapped out of his daily Sydney shock, shaking his head. "Yeah, okay." He waved off the nervous prospect. "Just hurry."
"Vest." Tig ordered as he tossed her the smallest bulletproof vest that he could find, shocked when she stripped down right then and there in the middle of the compound, slipping the vest over her bra and pulling her cropped hoodie back over top.
"It's nothin' you ain't seen before." She rolled her eyes when she looked back up to see three blank stares. "Now go!" She ushered them away before taking off towards her Challenger, slamming the door shut and peeling out of the lot where she raced home in record time, thanks to the handy network of alleyways and shortcuts that she'd found. But the sudden sight of red and blue in her rearview mirror, and sirens blaring in her ears brought her to a screeching half as she found herself in the worst case scenario...
;
Ok but I actually love the Syd/Jax moment :/ Also editing this made me realize how much I made it sound like Sydney poisoned them 😅... (I wouldn't put it past her)
Song for this chapter
Tragic Truth - Five Finger Death Punch