SURPRISE. Blessing you all with some bonus content since today is Sydney's birthday 🎊
First off, we have this bonus update, because what better way to celebrate our Aries queen than by watching her scheme?
Second, I made a 3D tour of Sydney's entire house (which took 15 hours so don't let it go to waste, I beg) which is linked on the Masterlist on the ARAC Tumblr page (aravenamongcrows). Let me know if it's anything like what you've imagined!
AND THIRD, head over to my Instagram m. s. alexis for an exclusive Sydney birthday edit/post! (Because it's cool as fuck and I did a really good job on it, ok? Ok.)
OK NOW LET'S GET INTO IT
General trigger warnings for this story: Language, smut, mentions of rape, abuse, drug use/overdose, violence/death.
CHAPTER 99: COMMON GROUND
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Tig made his way into the office after a grueling morning of working double time in order to complete all of their cars for the week, a day early - wiping his hands on a service rag when found Sydney at her desk, anxiously tapping her pen against a stack of paper while her knee bounced in tune.
"Nap time?" He raised a brow. He could tell that she was exhausted and in desperate need of a cigarette - another bad habit that she had ramped up lately.
Sydney snapped out of her jittered haze, blinking a few times as she looked up at Tig. "Lord knows I fuckin need it." She scoffed.
Tig felt his face fall into a grimace as a pang of guilt jolted through him - a feeling that no matter how often he experienced, he never got better at hiding.
Sydney felt her face fall as well as she realized what she'd done, pushing back from her desk. "If we're partying tonight." She clarified casually, doing her best to avoid drawing attention to the slip up for both of their sakes.
"Mmm." He nodded as he reached for her coffee, not completely convinced, but not willing to accept the feelings that came along with acknowledging that. "Jesus." His face contorted as he yanked the paper cup away from his puckered lips. "I can't wait until tomorrow when all this pumpkin shit is gone." He grumbled with a shake of his head.
Sydney giggled as she dug out her cigarettes, thankful that at least something good had come from her coffee run with Tara.
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Bobby sat back against the hard chair in the interview room of the ATF facility in Stockton where he had been held captive by the feds for the last eighty-six days, narrowing his small eyes at Stahl as she walked in with her head down.
"Release papers." She told him as she slid the stack of documents across the table, still avoiding his questioning gaze. "Your lawyer has already been through them. Read them, initial the boxes, sign them, and we'll have you home to your wife and kids by the end of the day." She plastered a fake smile on her healed face.
"Rosen told me that my case was thrown out at the end of August. You mind tellin me why I'm just gettin cut loose now?" He raised a brow.
Stahl sighed through her nostrils and her eyes fell closed as the scumbag who sat smugly before her, forced her to relive the blunder of an investigation - all thanks to them. "The witness went missing. The State Attorney dismissed the case." She growled through her clenched teeth. "But, we can detain for up to sixty days in the hopes that the case gets reinstated... It didn't." She finished with another fake smile before quickly turning towards the door.
"So that's it, huh?" He chortled, waiting until she turned back around to carry on the taunt that he had been waiting to give. "Your pretty face gets smashed in… You spend months, thousands of dollars trying to crush us… What for, bitch? What'd you get?"
Stahl chewed the inside of her lip as she contemplated her answer. "Peace of mind." She told him simply, finally ridding herself of his presence.
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Clay sat anxiously at a quiet table in the bar with his thick black-framed glasses teetering on the bridge of his nose as he sifted through dozens of charter records, doing whatever he could to busy his mind before he had to face Opie; and worse - Jax.
"You plannin a trip?"
Relief instantly flooded him as he heard her voice - the kind of relief that only came from the one person that you didn't have any secrets with in a time where secrets were the only thing keeping you alive. "Ah, I'm just seein what charters we're gonna need to make this thing work with the Irish." He looked up at Gemma, then down at Abel where he sat, happily cooing in the stroller that she was pushing.
"Well, if it involves you and a map - we're screwed." She teased.
"You sayin' I got no sense of direction?" He smirked up at her.
"I'm sayin' that you need a GPS to get from the driveway to the front door." She bit her lip.
Clay chuckled, pulling her into his lap. "You know I'd be lost without you, baby." He teased.
"Got that right." She scoffed, leaning down to his lips where she indulged in his taste until the inevitable sound of Abel crying pulled her away.
Clay chuckled as she got up out of his lap, shaking his head as he returned to his paper stack. "How'd that nanny thing go?" He raised a brow.
"Good." Gemma smiled, finding herself a little extra grateful to have a husband who so fiercely valued every word that came out of her mouth - even if they were just mundane details about her daily schedule. "I hired her to help with him - Neeta."
"Neeta?" Clay scowled. "Oh, jesus…" He threw the map back down to the table in mock-anger. "There goes my under-aged nanny fantasy." He rolled his eyes, sliding his glasses off with a sigh before his smile could break through prematurely.
"Actually…" Gemma narrowed her eyes as she sauntered up to him. "It's time for your one-o'clock feeding…" She rasped, running her fingers over his broad shoulder before making her way down the hall with a seductive grin.
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Sydney made her way out of Tig's dorm after a peaceful - and thankfully dreamless - nap, sucking in a deep, cleansing breath as she stretched her arms above her head before starting down the hallway, stopping when she heard something very unusual.
"Wait." She whirled around and placed her hand on Tig's chest to still him as she examined the noises coming from one of the floater dorms - the noises that they usually made in the middle of the day, but she pushed the bitter thought away. She needed redemption after the way that she had let this exact scenario embarrass her the night before. "Is that?" She raised a brow, knowing that there was only one couple that the scandalous medley of groans and moans could belong to.
"Yep." Tig chuckled in amusement, pulling her against him to keep them both quiet as they pressed their ears against the thin wall.
"Hey!" They were startled by an overly chipper voice, looking up to see Half-Sack making his way towards them - completely oblivious to both their eavesdropping, and what they were eavesdropping on as he hauled a giant box over his shoulder. "Could you guys help me with that door?" He nodded.
Sydney's eyes lit up as the perfect opportunity presented itself on a silver platter. "Sure thing, Kippy." Tig nodded through the sinister grin on his face, trying not to laugh as he nudged Sydney forward where he could feel her shoulders starting to shake.
Sydney held in the laugh that was bubbling deep in her stomach and steadily climbing up her chest as she turned the knob just enough that he could push the door open with his body weight and keep them out of sight - and line of fire.
"Oh shit!" Half-Sack blinked once he realized what he had just walked in on. "Balls! Shit. I'm so sorry." He froze in place as a half-clothed Clay and Gemma came into view. "I, uh… Um, I was just putting this here." He rushed to set the box down, looking frantically between them, and the doorway where Sydney and Tig were cackling.
"Either join in, or get out, Sparky." Gemma rolled her eyes over Clay's shoulder from where he laid on top of her.
"Okay." Half-Sack nodded, pulling the door shut behind him before her words tugged him back. "Wait…" He re-entered the room, sending Sydney and Tig into a further fit of incredulous hysterics. "You didn't really mean that you want me to join in, did yo-"
"Get out!" Clay hollered, sending the babbling kid bolting down the hallway before he could think to reprimand his makers.
Gemma sighed once Half-Sack was finally gone, chuckling as she returned to her husband's lips before, yet again, Abel pulled her away with his shrieking.
"Oh my god." She groaned with a laugh, her smile only widening as one graced his lips.
"Ah, kids… Huh?" He breathed out through his hearty laugh, leaning down to her lips one last time. "I'm sorry, my love…" He rolled off of her and flopped down onto the bed with a sigh.
Gemma shook her head with a smile, wrapping herself in the Harley Davidson blanket on the end of the bed as she crossed the room to Abel.
"I meant what I said, you know." Clay told her as he pushed himself up, leaning back against his elbows as he admired the only person who could've gotten him to crack a smile today. "I would be lost without you." And it was true. She had been his true north the last few months, even more than she ever had. He knew that no matter what, as long as he had her by his side, everything would be just fine.
As the joyous thrill of shit disturbing buzzed through Sydney's weakened body while they held each other upright in an attempt to recover from the hysteria, she decided that now was as good of a chance as she was going to get anytime soon.
"Joining in… Huh?" She raised a brow suggestively as she smoothed her hand up his chest.
Tig shivered under her touch, but it wasn't the shiver that he was used to feeling from her - the one that went straight to his cock - it was one that sent a flash of horrendous scenes from the shooting, into the backs of his eyes. He knew that this was his opportunity to push through it - to finally allow himself to feel something other than guilt while she was willing to overlook it, but he couldn't find it in himself to do it. A demon like him was not worthy of the pleasures from an angel like her.
"Doll, I don't think Gemma would take too kindly to us ruining her afternoon tango and bein' late." He winked, pressing his lips against her temple before he took off down the hallway so that he didn't have to see how badly he was disappointing her.
Sydney sighed, letting her eyes fall closed as she chewed the inside of her lip and wrapped her hand around his ring. She had been fighting the urge for weeks, and she had been patient with him the same way that he had been patient with her. But as time continued to stretch on, her patience was running out as her pounding heart shrunk in her chest, just as her ego did.
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The harsher that the dread became for everybody as the realization of what the afternoon would mean began to set in, the faster the time seemed to pass. Before they knew it, they were face to face with Opie on the compound; the one place that he had steadily avoided since the death of his wife - and maybe even before then.
Opie fought the grimace that threatened his expression when not even the sight of every single member awaiting his return to the place that they all had the luxury of calling home, could put a smile on his face. He took a deep breath as Clay approached him with his arms out, emotionlessly stepping into them, just as he did everybody else, until he reached Sydney.
"Hi, Ope." She gave him a weak smile as she pushed herself onto her tiptoes and into his embrace, locking eyes with Jax who stood in the distance with Piney.
"Thanks for your help with the kids." Opie mumbled into the sweet smell of her hair that was lighter since the last time he'd seen her. "Really appreciate it." He gave a curt nod as he straightened back up.
"The club protects their own." Sydney nodded back, struggling for the first time to believe her token statement - especially as Jax scoffed behind them. She kept her gaze on him as she slowly turned to follow everybody inside, praying that whatever he was hanging back to tell Piney, would not blow back on her.
"I talked to Hale. He understands." Jax told the old man without taking his eyes off of Sydney.
"Yeah, right." Piney scoffed, letting his own eyes linger on the snake of a girl who he saw as being just as responsible for tearing his family apart. No matter how well Clay liked to believe that he had covered his tracks, it hadn't been hard for him to fit the pieces of the puzzle together on his own - the confirmation from Jax had simply been a short-lived bonus.
Jax sighed as the familiar squabble began. "Piney… Keepin this between us? It's the best thing… But just for now. You hear what I'm sayin?" He fully intended on outing the real rats at the table that would soon belong to him, but he had to wait until the time was right - until Opie was right, because he couldn't do it alone.
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"I haven't been able to say this yet on a club level…" Clay began the heavy session that he had been dreading for months, turning his sympathetic gaze towards Opie. "We're all broken up about what happened to Donna." He nodded sincerely - lacing his words with as much truth as he could. "She was a great girl… I know how much you loved her." He focused on nothing but Tig and Sydney's incessant nodding as he avoided the eyes of Jax and Piney. "She sure loved you… And I'm sorry."
"Thanks." Opie spit out the second that there was silence in the air, keeping his eyes glued to his lap.
"Now we gotta deal with the underbelly of this." Clay breathed out, glad that the younger man seemed to want as little to do with the sentiments as he did. "Those bullets that killed her? They were meant for you." Jax and Piney exchanged a glance as they waited to see what direction this took while Sydney and Tig shared the same one, but for a completely different reason. "We gotta settle that."
"Had to be the Niners." Opie looked up for the first time since church had started. "Unser said it was a gangster SUV, black guy driving." He scowled.
"No one saw who was driving, Ope. No one." Tig assured him. "We're pretty sure the guy was not black." Because if he was, that would be bad for business.
"Brown." Sydney corrected.
"Right." Clay nodded.
"Mayans?" Opie's scowl only deepened. This was the first that he was hearing of this. "How do you know?
"Jax and Piney talked with Laroy, so we know it wasn't the Niners." Chibs nodded.
Sydney breathed a small sigh of relief when the Scotsman unknowingly covered for them - glad that at least someone was buying what they were trying so hard to sell.
A few moments of silence passed as Opie pondered the confusing new intel, looking to Jax for confirmation that he still didn't quite understand the lack thereof.
"That's right." Piney nodded from the end of the table - blinking his glossy eyes at Jax who he was placing all of his trust in. "As far as Laroy's concerned, the, uh… The Niners and the SOA are good."
"And you believed him." Opie scoffed at his oaf of a father without an ounce of inquisition in the question that fell from his mouth as a statement.
"Yeah." Jax retook the reins. "We did." He nodded slowly. "I know the truth when I hear it."
Though Sydney should've been glad to hear the eerily convincing words coming from his mouth in her favor, all she could feel was terror. Terror because Jackson Nathaniel Teller was slowly learning how to hide the softness that used to bleed from his pores - masking it in a way that she was all too familiar with, because it was what made her so powerful.
"It's gotta be Alvarez." Tig nodded. "He thinks we set him up… We took his money, then we left him behind to get shredded by the Niners."
Opie put his head back down as he ran through the second scenario that made just as much sense as the first one had - willing himself to keep his frustration at bay. He would find out who killed his wife, once and for all.
"I had Trammel look into it." Clay unfolded the piece of paper that Tig had gotten from their friend on the force the day prior, hoping to put any of Opie's confusion to bed. "Black Range Rover got jacked outside a bar that same night. Turns up two days later a few miles down the road from the Mayan clubhouse in Oakland - MAC-10 casings on the floor." He explained with a raised brow. "I, uh, convinced Trammel to let us handle the arrest."
"I'm the one who kills him." Opie declared without a second thought.
"Agreed." Clay nodded. "You, Tig, and Chibs."
"And me." Jax added. There was no way he was going to send Opie on a job without him this soon - especially with Tig.
"Yeah, I want Jax." Opie nodded.
Clay sighed through his nostrils as he looked over at Jax who was staring him down, then to Tig who simply nodded. "Alright." He shrugged with a slam of the gavel, watching as everybody filed out into the bar to welcome back their grieving brother - everybody except Jax.
Jax shut the double doors, making his way back over to where his stepfather sat with his head down - plucking the falsified police report from his decaying hands.
"Looks like Trammel earned his pay." He scoffed as he made his way back into his seat.
"You got something you need to say?" Clay raised a brow, finally free to go on the defense now that they were alone - a disadvantage that Jax had learned to reap.
"We both know this is bullshit. And the only reason I don't set fire to it is because I love Ope, and the truth would kill him." He delivered the lie that couldn't be classified as anything but the truth - for now.
"We all love Ope." Clay snipped as he stood from his chair, swiping back the report from Trammel. "He needs this - and we're gonna give it to him."
"Whoever you put this murder on." Jax called after him. "Just make sure that they deserve to die." He told him pointedly. "Cause the guy that actually killed Donna is out there sharing a beer with her husband."
"You better be real careful how you navigate around this one." Clay's voice dropped an octave as his pointed hand raised in front of him in a scold.
"Or what?" Jax scoffed - feeling a tiny surge of that power that he had allowed to poison his veins in Opie's absence. "You gonna put a bullet in the back of my head too?" He smirked.
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Gemma made her way back into the clubhouse with Sydney in tow after they finally closed out all of the orders for the week in preparation for tomorrow's unexpected day off. But her relief was short-lived as she crossed the threshold to see Clay at the same table as before, but this time with his head down.
"You watch him for a minute?" She looked back at Sydney who had migrated to the bar where Half-Sack was already pouring her a drink.
"Yeah." Sydney nodded, reaching for the stroller as she tipped the rum and coke towards her lips - she had to get an early start if she wanted to properly enjoy this night, and her already high tolerance had been expanded greatly over the past few months.
Gemma pushed the stroller over to her before she made her way over to her husband, approaching him much more cautiously than she had the first time.
"You okay, baby?" She asked quietly.
"Oh." Clay lifted his head, blinking a few times as he sorted out his expression. "Yeah." He smiled up at his wife.
"How'd it go with Opie?" She asked as she scanned the wall full of framed mugshots behind his head.
Clay followed her gaze, sighing as he considered his response carefully. "Good." He nodded, pulling her into his lap once again. He did much better when he had her in his ear telling him not to worry - he didn't want to give her a reason to stop. "We determined it was a Mayan problem - boys are out taking care of it."
Gemma's eyes shifted nervously as she contemplated the question that she feared the answer to. "Jax?" She asked skeptically.
"He's on board." Clay nodded confidently. "Just like I told you he would be." He raised a brow smugly as his hand tightened around her waist.
"Is that what you told me?" She flirted, leaning down to his lips.
"Mhmm." He hummed as he kissed her, smiling against her mouth.
Gemma giggled, allowing herself to settle into the embrace for a few seconds as she trailed her hand down his chest. "Now why don't you take me home and finish what you started earlier?" She raised a brow.
"What about the kid?"
"Tara's comin to get him… I'm all yours tonight, baby." She smirked.
"Oh…" Clay hummed again, returning to her sweet taste of security.
Sydney leant over the bartop, sighing as she wistfully watched the couple that she idolized - the couple that she thought she had a chance at being - shivering as the icy chill of embarrassment crashed through her tense muscles.
"Oh, yeah!" Half-Sack stole her attention away as he looked between them. "Thanks for that earlier." He rolled his eyes. "It's like you want to get rid of me sometimes, I swear."
Sydney chuckled as she brought her drink to her lips. "Don't worry, Kippy. I would never do anything to get rid of you… Someone needs to keep me entertained." She winked.
Half-Sack rolled his eyes again, but his smile shined through the weak facade. Even if she was just playing around, he was glad to hear that she did want him around.
But the unintentionally tender moment was cut short by the booming of Clay's demanding voice as he followed Gemma out the door. "Don't forget your costume!"
Sydney scowled as the words painted a wince on Half-Sack's face. "You guys actually dress up around here?" She found it hard to believe that the largest chapter could set their masculinity aside for one night when even the smallest ones couldn't.
"No." Half-Sack winced again at the reminder that not only would he be dressed ridiculously, he would be the only one dressed ridiculously. "It's my punishment for what you guys did to me earlier." He whined, kicking the hardwood floor with the toe of his boot.
Sydney bit her lip in amusement. "You get to choose?" She raised a brow - already knowing the answer.
"Nope." Half-Sack sighed as he reached down under the bar and retrieved the heinous outfit that Juice had found at the pop-up Halloween store.
Sydney grinned as the skin tight, red leotard came into view - complete with a tail, horns, and a sparkly pitchfork. "I can work with that." She nodded, grabbing his hand and yanking him out of the bar behind her.
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"Tell me you did it." Opie demanded from the Mayan as he ripped the duct tape off of his mouth from where they had him up against a utility box in an abandoned industrial lot in Oakland.
"What?" The confused hispanic man looked around, trying to recognize the faces of the men who had yanked him off of the street, thrown him into a van, and brought him here.
"Tell me." Opie growled as he pressed the barrel of his Glock against the liar's forehead. "Tell me that you killed my wife." Tig stole a glance at Jax from where he stood looking just as concerned in front of Chibs as the innocent man continued his pleas of confusion before Opie stuffed his gun in his mouth.
"I don't know what the hell you're talkin about man." He insisted with a very convincing scowl.
"Tell me that you pulled up behind her and unloaded an entire clip into the back of her head." Opie persisted.
"No." He shook his head casually, even with his teeth around the weapon that threatened to end his life - which only scared the left and right hands that much more. "You got the wrong guy, homes."
"Ope!" Jax finally intervened, yanking his best friend away from their scapegoat as he gave Tig a look that told him to take care of it.
Tig blinked back after a few weary seconds of questioning what Jax's true motives could be, but he realized that he didn't have much of a choice but to trust him - especially without Sydney by his side to tell him otherwise.
"Go with em." Tig nodded to Chibs. "Go on." He watched the Scotsman head towards the two younger men as the incriminating expletives started spilling from the Mayan's mouth.
"What the hell are you doin, man?" Jax forced a scowl once he got Opie far enough away that he wouldn't be able to hear whatever Tig was going to have to do to pull this off.
"I'm not leaving here with any doubt." He sneered.
"The longer this takes, the greater the risk." He argued weakly as Chibs appeared behind him. "Ope, just do the guy and let's get the hell out of here."
"You guys can go." Opie shook his head. This wasn't for the club. This was for him - for Donna.
"Listen to me-"
"If it was Tara who had her head blown off, you would be ripping off that guy's fingers, one by one." Opie cut him off. "I gotta know, Jax…"
Jax took a deep breath, realizing that he had no way around this except to hope that he had stalled long enough for Tig to figure it out - and placing his only hope in the person that had crushed it in the first place was not something that he was eager to do.
"Okay." He nodded, leading Opie and Chibs back to their victim where they heard a gunshot - the sound that, for the first time ever, provided him some relief.
"Shit!" Chibs ran towards the Sergeant.
"Tig!" Opie followed after him.
"He broke loose - reached for my gun." He explained as he watched the Mayan rolling beneath him in the dirt with a hole in the side of his mouth. "Had to blow him up, man. I'm sorry, Ope…"
"No doubt, bro." Jax nodded, looking to Opie. "This guy killed Donna."
Opie didn't know what to believe, but he had to believe something, and his best friend seemed like his best choice - pointing his gun at the head of the agonized man where he pulled the trigger and ended his misery, just as he had done to his life.
But a new problem arose as Jax, Tig, and Chibs all shared a look this time when Opie got to his knees and ripped open the shirt of the now lifeless man and pulled out his knife - carving the SOA marker into his stomach.
"Jesus christ." Jax shuddered as he listened to the squelching of the blood around the blade as it dug into his flesh.
"So that Alvarez knows who, and why." Opie nodded.
Jax took a deep breath as his lifelong friend so valiantly declared the exact opposite of what they needed. "Get rid of those guns." He nodded to the three men. "You guys take the van - head back. I'll dump the body."
"You're droppin him on Mayan turf… You can't do that alone, Jackie Boy." Chibs nodded.
"You guys need to be there when the feds drop off Bobby." Jax shook his head. "I got this." He nodded, bringing Opie into one last hug before he would be left alone to clean up his mistake.
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Song for this chapter
Detention - Melanie Martinez