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

CHAPTER 45: TALK IS CHEAP

"You asshole!" Happy flinched when he heard the angry voice and felt a stinging in his arm, whipping around to see Sydney standing in front of him with her hands on her hips.

"What?" He scowled, unsure of what he possibly could've done to warrant a smack on the shoulder in the three minutes since he'd arrived back on the compound from the run to Tacoma.

"You let me believe that he slept with that Nevada sweetbutt!"

"I didn't let you believe shit." He smirked, bending back down to the bench of the picnic table outside of the clubhouse where he'd been tying his boot. "I wouldn't have brought her back if she fucked him."

"Well you didn't tell me why you did bring her back." Sydney's eyes widened in what she'd intended to be mock frustration, but hours of Gemma's nagging had given her theatrical annoyance a little more substance than she'd intended.

"I wanted her to tell you."

"I'm still pissed off." Sydney huffed and rolled her eyes. She should've known that this conversation wouldn't go anywhere.

"I know." Happy smirked as he straightened up, nodding toward the door. "I brought something for that."

Tig had finally arrived back in Charming - albeit much later than he'd intended - after the longest five days of his life. He practically ran to his bike after ditching the truck on the side of the road and getting shuttled back to the warehouse by Half-Sack. He pulled on his helmet, smiling as his Dyna roared to life beneath him. He was beyond thrilled to be back on his Harley after almost a full week without it.

He pulled onto the compound, scanning the lot for one of Sydney's vehicles but coming up empty handed. "God dammit." He cursed. His plan had been to return during the work day where he could guarantee some face time with her to try and convince her to speak with him at the very least, but business had wrapped up early on the Friday afternoon and he had underestimated his arrival time.

The previous pep of confidence in Tig's step had been reduced to nervousness after returning to his dorm to see his belongings that had been at Sydney's house were now strewn about his bed. But he didn't let the sore sight completely dampen his spirits, he had been waiting all week to get his girl back and that's what he was going to do.

He parked his bike halfway between Main Street and Sydney's house. He placed his helmet on the seat and shook out his curls that were growing longer than usual, beginning the short walk down the road to her favorite coffee shop. For the purposes of protecting his already shrunken ego, he'd decided that he needed a cover for stopping by her house in case she completely shot him down - figuring that some peace offering donuts would serve as just that. He rounded the corner when he saw it, right outside the cafe: her car. He ducked behind the brick building, coming up with a last minute game plan; scale the side of the building until he could see exactly where she was through the window. Perfect.

It would have been perfect. Perfect if it wasn't for the sight beyond the glass.

Tig's heart sank when he saw Sydney sitting at one of the tables, drinking her favorite iced latte and smiling the way that he used to make her smile, with another man.

"No." He whispered to himself, watching the mystery man's long hair shake as the pair laughed. She looked good; happy and healthy, like she wasn't missing him at all. He felt his heart breaking all over again. This was exactly what he had feared, that she would move on if he stayed gone long enough. He hung his head, swallowing his tears. His demons had been right all along.

Sydney laughed as Donut told her the story of how he'd managed to trick the ever-so-gullible Tank into an arm wrestle a few weeks ago. Revelling in the girlish excitement she felt behind her bellybutton as he brought some familiarity back to her life. Suddenly she felt the genuineness of her smile fading, dragging out her grin for as long as possible so that he wouldn't catch on. She hadn't found herself missing home at all until this moment - even if it was only because it was the first time that she hadn't been in San Bernardino while he was. The guilty pang quickly faded when the genuineness of his smile didn't, his squinted eyes bringing the light right back to hers.

"Look at you, Mr. fucking smiles over there." She grinned in amusement.

"I'm just happy to have girl time again." He teased, flipping his long hair over his shoulder. "One on one with my gal pal, my lady friend." He wiggled his eyebrows.

Sydney laughed, she'd missed her friend. Donut was probably the only man that could treat her with such lightness without offending her, baby her without making her feel like a child, protect her while still believing in her strength.

"I'm still waiting for you to tell me about this reaper that you let into those tight little pants of yours when I've been trying for years." He nodded across the table with a brow raised knowingly.

"Yeah, yeah…" She chuckled. "It's a bit of a sore subject." She rolled her eyes. It's not like she didn't know that this was why Happy had brought the Tacoma man down for a visit, but it was fun to pretend that it was just because he'd wanted to see her. "I cared about him."

"Yeah… Hap mentioned that." The tall man reached across the table, grabbing her hand as he looked into her green eyes. "You okay, kid?" He knew that she wasn't, that's why he was here, but he wasn't going to make her talk about it if she didn't want to. His job was to lift her spirits before Tig came home, and that's what he was going to do.

"I will be." She nodded sincerely, squeezing his large hand in both of hers.

He gave a curt nod, satisfied with her answer for now as he leaned in closer to her and looked around the room as if he was about to tell her some top secret information. "I'll kick his ass if I see him." He whispered. "You just gotta tell me which one he is."

Sydney laughed again. "Why else do you think Hap brought you down here." She scoffed with an evil smirk as she grabbed her empty cup and pushed her chair back.

Happy pulled in front of Maya's house, traversing the small walkway and rapping on the front door impatiently. He hadn't called to let her know that he was coming by, but he'd expected that she would've heard the bike and came to wait for him at the door.

Maya groaned from her bedroom when she heard a knock at her front door, pulling her pillow down over her head and trying to ignore it. Even though she gave it her best shot, whoever was at her door was also giving it theirs. She threw the blankets back, stomping to the door and throwing it open without thinking to give whoever was on the other side a piece of her mind, embarrassment flooding her as soon as she saw that it was Happy.

"Hi." She greeted him in surprise. "What are you doing here?" She didn't mind the unexpected visit - granted, it would've been better appreciated if she had been awake - but she was curious to know what had warranted it.

"Letting you know I got home safe."

"Oh." Maya was even more surprised when not only did he give a straight answer, but a favorable one at that. "Okay. Is that all?" The thoughtful gesture from the seemingly emotionless man had managed to calm her post-waking rage.

"Yeah. You sleeping?" He looked over her disheveled appearance with mild amusement. It had been obvious that she had been, and appeared to have been all day, but why?

"I work later." It wasn't a lie, but she wasn't going to add that a bottle of whiskey and a night of cheesy movies had contributed.

"Oh." He supposed that bartenders had to stay up late for their shifts, which would explain why she was always willing to have him over at such obscure times in the night and was so grumpy in the mornings.

"Will I see you later?" She squinted in the sun.

"Not sure."

"Okay." All Maya could think of was the other night as he began to walk away. She didn't know why it had been eating away at her, maybe it was because she thought it had something to do with why she might not see him tonight. "Hap?" She called after him, deciding to take the leap of faith while he was being cooperative.

Happy turned around, waiting for an explanation.

"What happened the other night?"

"Someone needed help."

"Is she going to need your help tonight?" She broached the subject as subtly as possible.

"Not sure."

"Okay." She looked to the ground."

"She's my family." He clarified, knowing what it was that she was trying to ask.

"Like, your sister?" As far as Maya knew, Happy only had his mom and aunt as relatives.

"No." He ended the conversation, walking to his bike where he pulled on his helmet and drove away. He'd been dreading the inevitable 'what are we' conversation, but Maya had been cool about the status of their relationship until this point. Maybe that was why he didn't mind sharing personal information with her, maybe that was why he didn't mind sharing things with her at all - something he'd never done with any other woman he was sleeping with. She hadn't tried to get him to commit to her and until this point, he hadn't even known that she wanted him to commit to her. Maybe she didn't, but he was glad that he would be spending a few nights at the clubhouse away from her questions about the other women in his life because he'd already shared far more with her than he was comfortable with.

Maya's familiar frustration returned. She'd made some progress with him, but progress meant nothing if he was seeing other women. She huffed, letting the front door slam and stomping down the hallway back to bed before her shift.

Tig returned back in town after a short drive to clear his head that was beginning to cloud after the sore sight. He couldn't let his doubt take over, not yet, not after how hard he'd worked. He parked on a sidestreet, trying to calm his nerves on the short walk to her house, beginning to feel his heartbeat in his throat once he saw her car in the driveway.

He realized that he was taking the gamble of a lifetime as he let his feet carry him up the pathway to her house, running through every single possibility in his head: what if she ignored him, what if she'd taken mystery man home, what if she castrated him the same way that she'd castrated the rapist clown. He had absolutely no idea what had gone on in the fiercely independent woman's head over the last few days. He didn't know if letting him earn his way back into her iron gated heart was even an option for her, but he had to try. He had to show her that he was the man she'd fallen in love with, the one who knew how to keep her when no one else could. He would do anything if it meant that he could call her his again.

Sydney had just finished changing into her pyjamas for the night when she heard the doorbell ring. She padded down the carpeted stairs, tiptoeing to the peephole where she came face to face with Tig. She wasn't surprised to see him, she had been waiting for him to come grovelling at her door ever since she'd talked to Cherry, but she realized as her nerves went haywire that she hadn't prepared for this moment nearly as much as she thought she had.

"Hi." She opened the door, greeting him coldly, crossing her arms across her chest with condescent and leaning against the doorframe so that he wouldn't notice her trembling. She had every intention of hearing him out, but she wasn't going to let him know that. Her ego, her heart, and her reputation had suffered immensely because of him, she intended to have as much fun with this as possible.

"Hi." Tig blinked a few times, caught completely off guard by how caught off guard he was to come face to face with her in the flesh as if she was the last person he would have expected to open the door. "Hi, beautiful." He attempted to compose himself but he couldn't lift it, that trance that she had always managed to slip him under...

She looked him over, noting the cuts and bruises on his face, courtesy of Happy - no doubt. "What are you doing here? I brought your stuff to the clubhouse." Obviously she knew the answer, but she was dying to hear the bullshit answer that he would come up with.

Tig hesitated. He'd come prepared with a backup plan that was even better than the first cover story after mystery douche had thrown out the window, but in the moment he completely forgot his premeditated answer, cowering under her question as he replied with the first thing that came to mind.

"I came to check on you." He grimaced harshly as soon as he realized what had left his mouth.

If Sydney didn't find him stumbling over his words so amusing, that one probably would have pissed her off. "Yes, well, you know how much I love protection. But from the looks of it, you're the one who needs checking up on." She scoffed, scanning over his battered face again which she unfortunately found extremely hot. "Is that all?"

"How was your date?" He looked to the ground as he kicked a rock around with the toe of his boot.

Her brow began to crease in confusion before she realized that he must've seen her at the coffee shop with Donut earlier, the Sergeant not recognizing his Tacoma brother with his long hair and missing kutte. "You really did pick up a few things from me, huh?" She smirked. If he wanted to think that the worst thing she'd done while he was gone was go on a date, that was fine by her.

"A guy like that can't handle you." He pursed his lips and shook his head. Something about her smugness kick-started his ego which took the reins as she challenged him with that cocky little smile.

"Apparently you can't either." She cocked a brow.

"I was wrong."

"You proved the opposite." She smiled sarcastically and went to close the door.

"Nah." Tig stuck his foot in the door, leveraging it open as he leant against the doorframe. "Nah, I let you walk away before, I'm not letting you walk away again."

Sydney's eyes trailed to his ring clad hand that was holding the door open, the sight mixing with the dominance he was exercising lit that familiar fire in her core. "You left." She reminded him after ripping her eyes away in an attempt to break the familiar trance that she was beginning to slip under as well.

"Well now I'm back." Tig knew he was on the right track when she didn't stop him even though she could've, seeing the angle he would work when he caught her staring and then getting flustered.

"You think it works that way?" She scoffed at his easy reply.

"No." He spoke sincerely as he shook his head and looked to the ground, moving his hands to his hips. "No, I don't." He looked back up and into her eyes. "I fucked up." He took a step towards her inside the house, then another, then another, gradually shrinking the gap between them. "Give me another chance."

"If you think I'm going to fall for your begging just because Happy talked you into it, then you clearly don't know me at all." She snarled with her head tilted up towards his, trying desperately to cover her burning desire with anger as he got close enough that she could smell him - that smell that she loved so much, the one that could make her feel at home no matter where she was.

"I aint gonna beg." Tig shook his head with his lip turned up as he got closer, not daring to touch her yet. "But I am gonna remind you that he can't take care of you like I do. Can't make you feel what I do, can't fuck you like I do." Sydney felt her nerves spark when the words left his lips, looking up into his lusty blue eyes with a fire in hers. She didn't say anything, waiting to see what his next move would be.

Tig knew he'd hit a home run when she looked up at him with those gorgeous, passion filled eyes - now he hoped that he could cover all of the bases. He brought his hand to hers, tracing up her silky skin with the featherlight touch of his fingertips, bringing his hand back down her arm until it grazed her thigh.

"Tell me to stop." He whispered shakily as he rested his forehead against hers and closed his eyes, gathering the black silk of her short nightgown in his hand, praying that she wouldn't take the out he was giving her.

Sydney knew exactly what he was doing as he exaggerated the movements with his hands, knowing how much she loved them. It was a cheap move; praying on an easy weakness, but it was one that she made no effort to stop. It may have been a cheap move, but it was a smart move; a move that she respected, a move that confirmed he was playing her game - and she was going to win.

Tig opened his eyes to see her staring up at him with hardened, daring eyes that were a darker shade of green than he'd ever seen before. He continued his slow movements as he slid the dress up her body, keeping the anticipation high and the touches light in hopes that the building need for release would keep her from possibly changing her mind. He felt his heart stop after pulling the garment off over her head to reveal her completely naked body, a sight that he'd thought he may never be lucky enough to see again. He took his time admiring the tanned skin that inhabited every ounce of his consciousness, his eyes falling to her delicate collarbones which looked even more naked without her necklace; the necklace that was sitting in the pocket of his kutte - the backup reason as to why he had stopped by.

He snaked an arm around her waist, his opposite hand caressing the smooth skin across her chest, sending shivers through both of them as he made his way to the back of her neck. His eyes almost rolled back when he heard her moan; a sound that he'd played over and over in his mind and was now finally hearing for real. She rolled her head back and curled her arms around his biceps to hold him in place while she pressed herself against him and parted her lips.

Tig felt his eyes closing like a dimmer switch as he got closer and closer to her lips, waiting for the feeling he'd been longing for; the feeling that made him feel alive, loved, and wanted. The feeling that would make all of his suffering and fighting worth it.

"Stop." His eyes flew open, halting with his lips a mere hair away from hers. "Get out." She spoke into his mouth with an evil tongue and a cocky grin, pushing off of him and turning around, bending to pick up her nightgown, looking over her shoulder at him smugly as she walked towards the kitchen.

Tig's blood ran cold. She had been playing with him all along.

Sydney let her taunting gaze linger on him for a while, enjoying the shock on his face until she got far enough down the hall that she couldn't see him anymore. Her lips started to curl up in a smirk but cocky stride was stopped by a hand gripping the back of her neck tightly and spinning her around.

"You fucking tease." Tig growled as he held her face close to his, walking her backwards until her back hit the marble countertop of the kitchen island.

"I've been a tease since the day you met me!" She bit back. "Thinking otherwise is what got you into this." Tig ground his teeth in frustration;. frustration that once again, she had managed to one-up him and leave him humiliated.

"I have enough men that don't know how to give me what I want." She spoke through gritted teeth. "You say you're the only one who can handle me? Then fucking handle me." Her tone wasn't any less venomous than his had been as she snarled at him, reminding him exactly who he was dealing with because lately he seemed to have forgotten.

Tig was acting purely on animalistic instinct now that she'd given him the green light, spinning her around and shoving her down against the countertop as he yanked his belt open.

Sydney felt the cool leather slapping against the backs of her thighs which was a direct contrast to the fire that was burning just above them. She pressed her face against the cold marble of the island, soothing the heat on her cheeks as he kicked her feet apart wider, spreading her before him obscenely. He smacked her ass before spitting onto his hand, pumping his dick a few times before he finally pushed inside of her.

"Fuck..." He groaned shakily. Every bad thought melted away instantly at the feeling of her gripping down on him, and the sound of her moan dissolved the puddle. This was how it was supposed to be: them, together.

Sydney curled her toes and flexed her calves when she was hit by the intense pleasure wave that only him deep inside of her could cause. She'd been too preoccupied trying to ignore her feelings that she hadn't even thought about how much she would've missed this part of being with him; the way that he knew exactly how to please her. Now she didn't have to think about it, and she hoped she would never have to.

As much as Tig wanted to thoroughly enjoy the moment, he couldn't help but notice how much more successful he'd been with her as soon as he stopped trying to act the way that he thought she would've wanted him to act, and just acted. He realized that this was what she had been telling him all along, what everyone had been telling him all along; to stop trying to give her what he thought she deserved and just give her what she wanted: him. All of him. Everything that he was, had been, and could be. He'd never been able to believe that someone could want that until now, and now that he knew, he wouldn't doubt it ever again.

Now that he knew he needed to speak her language, Tig worried that the depth of his feelings would get lost in translation. He needed her to know that this was more than just sex to him, and if he was going to do that, he needed to challenge her the way that she challenged him - show her that he could handle her, and the only way to do that was with plain english.

Sydney's moaning on the verge of an earth shattering orgasm was cut short when she felt him pull out. The hazy sex high she'd been riding crashed and her passionate arousal was replaced by raging anger. She couldn't believe he was doing this to her again, now, after everything. "You're fucking kidding m-" She swung her arm back as she straightened up, but the blow was stopped by his hand on her wrist and his other on her throat, restricting her windpipe.

Tig let up on his grip after a few seconds, letting her breathe but still holding her in place securely. She was going to listen whether she wanted to or not. "Now I never stopped wanting you, ever. I've wanted you ever since I met you, everyday, for the rest of my life. I got scared that you'd stop wanting me and I left, like a pussy."

Surprisingly, it wasn't the way that he'd deflected her outburst, his hand on her throat, or his lips against her temple that sent the shiver rolling through her body; it was his husky voice and baited breath, full of purpose and authority as he took full ownership for his wrongdoings.

Tig chuckled evilly when he felt her shiver beneath his hands, knowing that even if the vulnerable admittance hadn't worked, the delivery had. "See baby… I told you. You can lie to me, your body can't."

Sydney shoved him off of her and spun around angrily to face him, her frustration returning. "You think insulting me, pissing me off, and fucking me around is going to make me take you back?" She huffed over the action that usually would've turned her on - or at the very least would've provoked submission - but she still wasn't over the resentment she had towards him for humiliating her.

"That's why you fell in love with me, aint it?" He smirked bashfully.

Sydney felt her lips curled up. This was the man she'd fallen in love with. The man who said the wrong thing at the wrong time with every drop of confidence. The man who was unapologetically himself and didn't question it no matter how many other people did.

"Yeah… Maybe it is." She bit her lip to contain her smile as she nodded slowly.

Tig finally felt relief. Pure, proper, relief - not the hope he'd been clinging to. "Give me another chance." He brought his hands to her face, speaking softly as he rested his forehead against hers.

"You finish what you started here and maybe we can talk about it." She nodded up the stairs with a smirk.

"Thought we agreed to meet alone?" Darby lifted a pistachio from the pile on the picnic table while looking past Marcus Alvarez.

"My son Esai." He looked back at the young man standing by their bikes. "I don't travel far from home without family."

"Well hombre, I bet you've got a lot of family." Darby scoffed.

"What do you want?" The Mayans President grew impatient quickly with the disrespectful man.

"Where're you at with the Sons?"

"Same place I was at the last time we talked."

"Now I understand why you're losing your turf." He taunted the dark haired man as he cracked another pistachio open.

"You make me drive forty minutes just to shit talk me, asshole?"

"Nah. Just thought you'd be striking while the iron's hot."

"Ain't hot enough to start a war on some bullshit intel."

"Aint bullshit." Darby held up the manilla envelope. "Guess your little A.T.F. informant thought you needed an extra push to get the job done."

Alvarez glanced at the envelope, intrigued but still not sitting down with the man at the table - he wasn't going to give his time or full attention if he didn't know it was worth it. If he couldn't trust the intel he'd received from the supposed same A.T.F. agent, he sure as hell couldn't trust intel he was receiving from Darby.

"How would you like to take over SAMCRO's gun business? Niners can't buy guns, they can't protect their heroin. Mayans win out on two fronts - horse trade and gun running." Darby smirked smugly.

"Irish gun supplier." He laid the photo evidence on the table when he noticed Alvarez's hesitation. "I also know when, and how the guns are comin in. Everything you need to intercept and renegotiate the distribution agreement. So what do you say? Friend."

"What do you want?" Alvarez shook his head, he knew that the slimy man wasn't giving him this information for free.

"Same thing I always wanted… Charming." Darby spit a shell onto the ground. "You kill Clay Morrow, and while the chicken's running around without a head, you hit the rest. Wipe out SAMCRO."

"That's it? A simple little masacre?" He finally seated himself at the table. "You sucking your own pipe, gray boy?"

"Charming PD and the feds have hit a wall with these bastards. They sent me this file for a reason, the same way they sent you that tip about your little heroin house that they blew to the ground. Now do you really think they're gonna give a shit about some outlaw bloodbath? Nah. They'll count the bodies, count their blessings, and close the case."

"You sure they aren't just baiting you into a crime so they can close that case a little faster?" Alvarez explained his logic for not only his hesitation now, but for holding back on retaliation earlier.

"Alright." Darby ripped the papers from the table, getting up and walking away when his so-called 'partner' showed no faith in him.

Despite his doubt over the motives of the fed, the Mayan knew that Darby had a point, but he didn't know if having to work with the Nords would be any better than having to deal with the Sons. Unless...

"Hey, hold it."

Esai Alvarez watched his father stop the Nord after he'd tried to walk away, exchanging a few more words before sharing a nod. He made his way over when Darby started walking back to his truck, passing the balding man as he spit a nutshell onto his shoe.

"What'd he want?" He shook his head in disbelief as he approached his father.

"Gotta put down a couple of dogs that are making my life miserable."

Esai looked back at Darby. "Let me and my boys do it." His eyes lingered on the black Suburban SUV and the white trash that got into it.

"You think you can handle that weight?"

"Just tell me who." He nodded, hoping to impress his father and finally live up to his expectations.

"SAMCRO boss." The older man followed his son's gaze. "And that greedy cracker shithead."

MR. TRAGER HAS REJOINED THE PARTY. How do we feel about Tiggy being back?! Did we miss him? Or did we kind of like solo Syd? I'm more conflicted than I feel like I should be :/

A special thank you to Lindsay for character assistance (Donut) and Luka (RedwoodWriter) for lending of original characters (Maya) ❤️

Songs for this chapter:

Inside Out - Britney Spears

Feel It - Michele Morrone