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

CHAPTER 68: CAPTIVE

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Sydney sat in her bedroom alone with the covers pulled up to her waist, kicking her feet around under the pink blanket while she waited to be tucked in. She knew that it was way past her bedtime by the way that the light coloured room was almost pitch black except for the twinkling night light that was plugged in next to her bed. She sighed, pulling the covers back and sliding out of bed until her little feet hit the scratchy carpet as she shuffled towards the door that was open just a crack.

"Mama?" She called down the hallway, thinking that maybe she had just forgotten to tuck her in again. She'd done that a lot lately.

But she got no answer. She stayed still for a few seconds, listening for any sounds but she heard nothing. She crept out into the light, peeking her head into the master bedroom across from hers. "Mama?" She called again as she entered the dark room, carefully making her way to the bathroom where she again found nothing. She turned back, scurrying out of the room quickly until she was in the light of the hallway again, the fear fading as she walked towards the spare bedroom which was illuminated by a night light like the one in her own room - entering this one more comfortably.

She looked around the small room, not taking long for her to realize that her mother couldn't be in there either. She sighed as she turned around, standing in the hallway where she still heard no noises. That was when she realized that they must've gone out without her again. She would be going to bed alone tonight. She hung her head as she turned to head back to her bedroom, but her ears perked up when she heard something coming from the guest bathroom further down the hall - the tap dripping.

"Mama!" She exclaimed with relief as she ran towards the noise. "It's bedtime!" She hollered as she bursted into the bathroom to see her mother lying in the empty bathtub, slumped over the side with a needle sticking out of her arm. "Careful mama, that's sharp!" She yanked the needle out and threw it into the sink, looking back to see that she still wasn't moving. She felt her heart sink as her eyes travelled up the blackened veins in her arm to where the foam had dried around her mouth and she laid perfectly still with her eyes rolled back. She knew that her mother was dead, and she knew that it was because of him.

"Daddy…" She whispered, knowing what she had to do as the paralyzing fear crept in when she realized that she would have to tell her father that she had lied to him, and worse - what her lie had caused.

"I'm right here, baby." Tig smirked with his eyes closed as Sydney mumbled against his chest, having woken up when she'd begun stirring - but he quickly realized as her breathing became rapid and her chest heaved against his that she wasn't awake, she was having a nightmare.

Sydney finally worked up the courage to pull her eyes away from her mother's lifeless body as she turned to search the house for the phone so that she could call her dad, but she stopped dead in her tracks when she came face to face with him.

He said nothing as he stared at her with those animalistic eyes, watching her like she was helpless prey - just as he had done every day since he'd come into her life. He got to his knees slowly, looking between her and the body as a sinister smile spread across his face and he reached out to touch her cheek. She shook her head as he got closer, feeling the tears pouring from her eyes as she silently begged him not to touch her, but the hairs on the back of her neck standing up told her that her prayers were not going to be answered today.

"No!" Sydney screamed, her eyes flying wide open when she felt it - only it didn't go away when she woke up. There was still a hand on her face.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey. It's me!" Tig tried to bring her back to reality as she screamed and pushed him away frantically, pulling his hands off of her so that she would stop fighting long enough to get a good look at him. "Baby, it's me." He continued talking to her as soothingly as possible, hoping that his voice would register in her brain between her screams and she would come to the realization that it had just been a bad dream.

Sydney blinked rapidly as she tried to catch her breath, feeling all around her as she realized that she was in her bed and that it was Tig who had been touching her. But she didn't feel comfort when she looked into the safety of his blue eyes - she felt every emotion except comfort, hitting her all at once and pushing a waterfall of tears out of her eyes and a barrage of sobs from her chest. "I-" She choked out, but she couldn't find the words as embarrassment enveloped every ounce of her being.

Tig shook his head as soon as she tried to explain herself, pulling her into his arms where she clutched onto him with a grip tighter than he'd ever felt before. He rocked her back and forth as he rubbed her back and told her over and over that it was okay and that she was safe.

Sydney felt the panic leaving her body by the second as his warmth grounded her, but as the panic escaped, the humiliation took over. "I'm sorry." She pulled away after working up enough strength to get the words out clearly, wiping her eyes angrily as she got to her feet and stormed out of the room. She hadn't had a nightmare that bad in years, and all it did was remind her that the one person who always chased them away for her was gone.

Tig let her go, grimacing as he listened to her practically run down the stairs and through the house until he heard the patio door open where he breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that the fresh air would help calm her down. He knew the throes of nightmares all too well, knowing exactly how she was feeling: scared, upset, traumatized, shocked, embarrassed - because it was exactly how he had felt when he'd dreamt about Juliet just a few short weeks ago.

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Donna sat in the cold family room in what she knew to be a government safehouse with her knees bouncing anxiously as she listened to the eerie silence in the middle of the night while her kids slept on the floor by her feet. She shivered as she looked around for what had to be the hundredth time since they'd been brought to the highly secure building, the bright lights straining her bloodshot eyes. She had no idea what the hell was going on, but she knew that it was because of Opie. It always was.

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Tig sat on the edge of the bed staring at the white carpet in the dark room before he decided that he had given Sydney enough time to shake off the initial shock, getting to his feet and heading downstairs where he filled a glass with water and grabbed a blanket from the couch.

Sydney sat cross-legged on her new outdoor couch in the dark as she stared ahead into the night that enveloped the rolling hills just beyond her backyard as loose tears trickled down her face, the numbness stopping her from getting startled when the light turned on behind her. "Can you turn that off please?" She asked flatly, not bothering to turn around.

"You wanna sit out in the dark?" Tig asked with a scowl on his face and one foot out the door.

"I'm not scared of the dark anymore." Her voice was hollow as her unfocused gaze remained fixed on the abyss.

Tig blinked a few times as he listened to her cryptic words, turning slowly back towards the light switch where he gave her a chance to change her mind - but of course she didn't, letting his hand fall against it before the backyard went black.

"You know, I didn't think this was what you meant when you said you wanted me to help remind you why you bought this fancy table." He joked lightly as he approached slowly in the dark, setting the glass of water down onto the table as he draped the blanket over her shoulders.

Sydney felt a small smile come to her face as she looked up at him, clutching the blanket to her chest gratefully after sitting in the cool night air in a cropped tank top, pair of shorts, and a layer of sweat.

Tig was glad to see her smile, even if it had been practically microscopic. He moved his hand to her knee gently, making sure that she wasn't still jumpy. "You okay?" He asked softly after letting it rest there for a minute.

She nodded, leaning in closer to him where he immediately took the cue and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her to lay down in his lap where he rubbed his hands up and down her arm and legs to warm her up.

Sydney felt her eyes well up again as the warmth of his body and comfort of his touch engulfed her, letting the tears fall silently as the sound of her soft sniffling mingled with the crickets in the night air around them.

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Opie sat in the interview room with his head down as the nagging hum of the obnoxious fluorescent lights tortured his anxious brain - this was a place that he had never wanted to find himself in again.

His ears perked up as the door finally opened after what felt like hours of sitting in the cold room in the middle of the night. "Where is my family?" He demanded as Stahl entered the room.

"Down the hall." She told him calmly. "My people packed a few of their things so they're very comfortable." She nodded. "Justice uses this facility to transition informants into witness protection, so it's-"

"What the-" Opie shook his head in confusion. Informants? "Are you charging me?"

"No." She shook her head easily.

"Then you gotta cut me loose?" He shook his head incredulously.

"You need to stay here for your own safety, Opie."

"For my own safety." He scoffed.

"Yeah. You see, we have an eyewitness who saw two men gun down Brenan Hefner."

Hale watched through the two-way mirror as Opie's eyes shifted downwards as he attempted to keep his composure. They had done it. They had actually done it.

"Bobby Munson was positively identified. Your ID could take a little court time, but it'll happen."

Opie shook his head slowly, pushing all of the panic into the back of his brain. "I have no idea what you're talking about." He smiled a little too smugly.

Stahl stared him down for a few seconds, testing the confidence of his denial before she pulled out his composite sketch. "You see, she didn't get the eyes or the nose quite right…" She placed the uncanny drawing down onto the table in front of him, watching him clam up as soon as he saw that there was real evidence.

"I want my lawyer." He demanded as his body went rigid.

"I'm sure that SAMCRO will find out quickly that you and your family are gone." She ignored him. "And lots of your neighbours saw you get into our big, comfortable, black sedan. No cuffs." She mused. "And what with all the inconvenience, I figured that the least I could do was uh, pay off some of those big bills of yours."

Opie felt his heart sink as she placed another piece of paper in front of him where he saw thousands of dollars worth of federal wire transfers into his bank account. "You crazy bitch…" He looked up at her battered face. "You're setting me up at the rat."

"Unfortunately." She took a seat and propped her elbow up on the table, leaning on her hand. "That's how it's gonna play out, yeah."

Hale felt his stomach drop as the conversation unfolded. Set up? Rat? This hadn't been part of their plan? He scowled as he turned back at the other detectives in the room with him. "What the hell is she doing?" But he got no answer from his fellow law men who wanted nothing other than to take down the club, no matter how they did it.

"They'll know I wasn't the witness." Opie shook his head.

"Mm, eventually." She nodded with her lips pursed optimistically. "But, you see, the U.S. Attorney won't release the identity of the witness until pre-trial, and that could take weeks. I can only hold you for forty-eight hours." She shrugged smugly. "Now… What is going to happen when I put you and your family back into Charming? Hmm?"

"I tell the club the truth." He stared her down harshly.

"And maybe they believe you." She shrugged again. "But… Maybe they don't. Are you really willing to risk the life of your family on the love that Clay Morrow has for you?" She raised a brow as she stared deep into his worried brown eyes.

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"I hate that he still scares me…" Sydney whispered from where she had been laying in Tig's lap silently for the last half hour.

Tig nodded slowly, stroking her hair as he tried to piece together the little information that she had given him about her dream. "Does uh… Does he show up a lot?" He knew that she'd mentioned nightmares being normal for her, but she seemed extra shaken about this one in particular.

"No." She shook her head against his knee.

"Good." He nodded. "Any idea what caused it?" He decided to take the risk asking the invasive question if it meant that he could help prevent this from happening in the future.

Sydney felt the panic in her chest spreading again. She knew exactly what had caused it, and her inability to answer the question was exactly what would keep causing it

Tig felt her tense under his gentle touch, listening to the squeaking coming from her locking throat as she tried to come up with an answer. "One of those things that we can't tell each other?" He answered for her - saving her the unnecessary guilt.

She nodded, squeezing his knee gratefully when he didn't press the issue. She took a deep breath, pushing down all of the emotion in her chest as she sat up, reaching for the water and taking a small sip. "Can we go back to bed?" She asked meekly as she looked down at the glass in her shaky hands, refusing to make eye contact.

Tig felt the sting when she wouldn't look at him, hating that he had taken part in scaring her just as she had thought she'd done to him after his own nightmare. "Yeah." He nodded, getting to his feet slowly. He was glad that she at least felt like she could sleep again - something his nightmares usually kept him from being able to do.

Sydney walked through the dark house slowly, holding the blanket around her as Tig guided her towards the stairs with a hand on the small of her back while her vision was still blurry and her eyes were still heavy from the tears.

"Wait." Tig heard, feeling her pull away. His brow creased in confusion, watching as she leant down to the crystal bowl on the short table by the door. "Baby, no…" He started shaking his head as he realized that she was reaching for her keys, scowling even deeper when she picked up a rosary.

Sydney ignored him as she clutched the red beads that Cameron had given her, heading upstairs where she rounded the bed to her side and wrapped the necklace around the iron post - continuing to avoid what she knew would be a judgmental gaze from Tig.

Tig stood at the foot of the bed, watching as she hung the holy pendant next to where she slept in an attempt to ward off the nightmares. He felt his hand instinctively creep up his chest to where the locket she'd given him was hanging from the chunky silver chain, his heart constricting as he ran his fingers over the smooth gold that had once brought her so much comfort - that he had selfishly allowed her to give to him.

"Hey." Sydney heard from behind her, the initial tense of her muscles fading as soon as she recognized the softness in his voice. She turned around to face him, but she didn't meet his eyes - staring straight ahead at his chest instead.

Tig grabbed her hand, trailing it up his chest where he closed it around her old locket, feeling the calmness spread through her body as he rested his forehead against hers. "I think you should take it back." He told her gently.

Sydney shook her head against his softly. "It's always closeby." She nodded, releasing the necklace and flattening her palm against it where she pressed it into his chest.

"Did you see him?" He whispered as he held her close, knowing that if she was going to try and go back to sleep - she needed to let go of what she had seen.

"No." She ground her teeth angrily. "I can see the man that I killed but I can't see the one that was taken from me." Her words were bitter as she felt her throat locking again.

"You'll see him one day… I promise." Tig nodded, pulling her against his chest as he rested his chin on the top of her head. He had gone over a decade without seeing Juliet until the day that they had gone to Santa Cruz - she would see her dad again.

She nodded against his chest, wrapping her arms around his waist as his hung over her shoulders. He knew that now was as good of a time as ever to finally break down that wall and tell him about his own dream, his own past, but he just couldn't...

"Come with me." He pulled away, nodding to the bathroom. "I wanna make sure you didn't hurt yourself." He brushed his fingers over the tensor bandage that had loosened during her less than peaceful sleep.

Sydney nodded softly, letting the blanket slide off of her body as she decided to accept whatever help that she could without discomfort - the only things that she could feel right now were mental.

Tig squeezed her hand lightly, leading her into the bathroom where he lifted her up onto the counter like he had a couple of days ago. He unhooked the silver clip that was barely holding the scratchy material together, slowly unravelling it.

"It looks good." He nodded as the bandage slid off, showing him the stitch-free wound for the first time. "Does it hurt?" He turned her leg slightly as he tried to figure out if any disruption had come from the nightmare or if the redness was just a lasting result of her doctor's appointment earlier.

Sydney shrugged, unable to know what the difference would've been regardless of there being one or not. All she could feel in her mangled thigh was a blissful numbness.

"That's good." Tig nodded, reaching for a folded face cloth by the sink and dowsing it in cold water before pressing it to her healing wound.

Sydney jolted when the cold cloth made contact, clutching the end of the sink with one hand and his elbow with the other as goosebumps broke out across her skin.

"You see why I wanted you to wear sweatpants to bed?" He chuckled as he felt her tense muscles starting to relax as the shock wore off.

"Yeah, yeah." She groaned quietly with a small smile as she rolled her eyes playfully.

Tig frowned when her eyes returned to her lap instantly as he refastened the bandage, knowing that it was going to take more than a little reality and light-hearted teasing to help her forget about what she had seen and get back to sleep, and he knew just how to do that.

"Stay here." He told her quietly, pressing his lips to her forehead before he pulled away and headed downstairs where he filled a cup with ice, coming back up to the bedroom where his kutte was lying by the nightstand on his side of the bed - picking it up and fishing his pack of smokes out of the pocket along with his silver lighter, making his way back to the bathroom.

"What're you doing?" Sydney murmured as he set the supplies down on the counter next to her, looking up into his eyes properly for the first time since she had woken up to them.

"I'm gonna put you to bed." He explained simply as he found the hem of her black top and pulled it over her head.

Put you to bed. Sydney cringed harshly as the poorly timed words left his mouth, hating that even the heavenly sound of his smoky, authoritative yet caring voice couldn't make her like them after what she had been forced to relive.

Tig knew he'd struck some kind of chord when she recoiled and crossed her arms in front of her exposed chest, pulling her eyes away from him again. He began to curse himself, listening to the faint voices in the back of his mind getting louder and louder as they told him how stupid he was for trying when she was clearly overwhelmed, but he shook them away. Now was not the time for that.

"I'm gonna help you get to sleep." He rephrased gently, placing his hand on her arm as he pulled a joint out of his cigarette pack and brought it to her lips - coaxing her eyes back up to his.

Sydney felt her body relaxing as she dropped her arms, looking into his eyes where the safeness had returned. She nodded slowly, parting her lips where he placed the joint between them and lit the end, reaching for her waistband as she inhaled.

Tig was relieved when her body reacted favorably to his touch as she leveraged herself against the edge of the counter and lifted her hips up towards him so that he could slide her shorts down. He tossed them aside once she was free of them, turning back to see her holding the joint up to him as she held the smoke in.

"Uh-uh." He hummed with a curt shake of his head. "You enjoy that-" He lifted reached for the glass of ice, tipping an ice cube into his mouth. "While I enjoy you." He dove down to her neck where his cold tongue made contact with her hot skin, the ice melting instantly and trickling down her chest.

Sydney threw her head back and moaned as the smoke expelled from her mouth, not at all expecting him to do that or for it to feel as good as it did. She took a shaky breath as her knees locked around his hips, shivering as the slow stream of cold water travelled down towards her nipple.

Tig pulled away, satisfied as he watched her writhing against the marble. "Good?" He asked as he guided her hand back towards her mouth where she wrapped her lips back around the joint obediently.

"Mhmm-" She began to nod with her eyes closed as she inhaled the marijuana once again, but she was cut off by her eyes flying open when his cold lips wrapped around her nipple. She coughed as the smoke escaped her lips prematurely, squeezing her legs around him tighter as he gripped her waist to keep her in place.

Tig pulled away with a smirk as she composed herself, leaning in as his hand circled around to her back where he pulled her against him. "That's good, baby." He nodded as she quivered below him, staring directly at him with her green eyes full of the only type of distress he wanted to see her in. He plucked the joint from her fingers, bringing it to his lips where he took a drag before leaning closer to her mouth and blowing the smoke into her parted lips.

Sydney felt her eyes roll back as the icy hot smoke rolled across her tongue, whimpering as she grabbed his face and pulled him to her lips.

Tig felt his chest filling with pride as she devoured his mouth. This plan was the perfect combination to help her forget every awful feeling she'd had just minutes ago: the cold of the ice would shock her back into reality, the marijuana would clear her mind, and the orgasm was going to relax her muscles.

He pulled away, guiding her to lean back against the mirror as he pulled her hips as close to the edge of the counter as possible where he tipped another ice cube into his mouth, holding it between his lips as he dragged it across her skin, feeling her trembling until he reached her belly button where he let it rest.

The feeling only intensified as Tig descended her body, the sensation growing with each puff that she took off the joint, a long whine leaving her lips as the melting ice pushed a steady stream down her stomach and between her legs.

Tig dragged his mouth all around her thighs and hips, his kisses getting hotter and hotter as his tongue thawed against the warmth of her skin. He waited until the ice cube was fully melted, nipping at her skin one last time before he spread her legs open.

Sydney squealed when his hot mouth wrapped around her clit, providing the perfect contrast to the cold water that had coated and chill it. Her entire body went rigid before relaxing almost instantly, smiling as she let her eyes fall closed and brought the joint to her lips once again where she inhaled deeply. Yes, he would definitely be putting her to bed.

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"What if this rat trap backfires…" Hale asked cautiously. "Clay will kill this poor guy." He nodded to where Opie was sitting behind the two-way mirror.

"Poor guy?" Stahl looked at him incredulously. "This scumbag just killed a state official. He spent five years in prison for arson. He is not a 'poor guy'." She sneered. Maybe she had been right in worrying about his loyalty after all…

"Look… I get it. Okay?" He lowered his voice. "They hurt you, you're pissed off…"

"Oh please!" She shot out of her seat. "Save it, okay? Save it! This is not personal, alright? I can take a few knocks! My God, it's part of my job! But you know what? If you can't detach yourself from your history with these shitheads, well then maybe you better shuffle on back to-"

"Hey!" Hale clenched his jaw as he took a few steps closer. "I know these guys! What you are doing, and how you are doing it? It is wrong. And someone's going to get hurt." That was the simplest way he could put it. It wasn't that he didn't want to take them down for the crime that they flooded his hometown with - it was that he was still able to see the kids that he had grown up with, and they didn't deserve to die.

Stahl stayed quiet as she chose her next words very carefully, realizing that she had said too much to the Deputy that she now really wasn't sure that she could trust. "I'm sorry. Okay? I'm-" " She told him as she relaxed her body, letting down the physical guard that she had put up. "I'm sorry that I snapped at you. It's been a tough couple days and I just-" She squeezed her eyes closed once she saw him nodding his understanding. "You're right." She exhaled, placing her hands on his chest. "I appreciate your concern, David." She looked deep into his blue eyes... The blue eyes that were far too easy to deceive. And if she could do it, anyone could.

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"I'll be right there." Sydney told Tig with a soft smile as she stood at the sink in the bathroom, looking into the mirror as she tied the drawstring on her grey sweatpants.

"Okay." Tig nodded, closing the door softly behind him where he went and turned on the TV, flipping through the channels as he tried to find something that she could fall asleep to.

As soon as Sydney heard his footsteps lead away from the door, she pulled the drawer open - digging through the mess of hair ties, clips, brushes, and combs until she reached the back where she pulled out the orange pill container.

She dumped two of the white pills out into her palm, reaching for the glass of melted ice to wash them down. She knew that it was far more than she needed, but she didn't want to leave any room for doubt that she wasn't medicated enough to ensure that she wouldn't be seeing him again tonight.

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The perfect chapter for Mother's Day amirite😅