The weeks following the funeral went by in a blur. Hanna churned out designs and budgets and pitched fundraiser ideas like a woman possessed. Sleepless nights and rolling into the office still half-drunk was apparently a recipe for creativity. Though she knew if she didn't slow down, she was going to crash.
"Hanna's falling back into her old habits," Tristen said, taking on the haughty mocking tone of her mother. Hanna just laughed as she drove her little sister to choir practice. Karen wasn't wrong, but Hanna just didn't care.
She'd burn out eventually, and then she'd head back to Elliot's and hole up at the ranch and let him say, "I told you so." But until then, she was putting off the inevitable.
The shrill ringtone on her phone woke Hanna up. She cracked one eye open and took in the chaos in the club. Passed out bodies in various states of undress. Bobby's welcome home party. Without a witness, they had no choice but to cut him loose.
By this time of night, most of the bodies belonged to Crow Eaters. If Gemma or Tara had been by, they were long gone. Old ladies didn't pass out on top of pool tables with their boys. Hanna still hadn't quite adjusted her old habits to fit her new position.
The phone rang again and she rolled over, slipping out from under Juice's arm. Her hand blindly searching for a way to stop the offending noise. Finally she grabbed it, and flipped it open. Hanna pushed herself up on her elbow, and grunted out a greeting somewhere between "hello" and "fuck off."
"Hanna, can you meet me at my place?" Tara asked.
Hanna pulled the phone back from her face to check the time. "It's like 4 in the morning." Tara just repeated her question. Hanna looked down at her bare legs. "Do I need pants?"
"Are you drunk?" Tara asked.
"Maybe," Hanna replied. "Do I need pants?"
Tara groaned. "Forget it, go back to sleep."
"I'm up, I'm up," Hanna grumbled. "I'll be there in twenty." She flicked the phone closed and rolled off the pool table, gingerly stepping over the Crow Eater on the ground.
She made a loop around the room, finally spotting her jeans. She leaned down on the armrest. "You're sitting on my pants," she whispered to Tig, trying not to wake anyone else up. He cracked one eye open and pulled her into his lap.
Hanna rolled her eyes, and reached down to grab her jeans, wiggling them out from under him. "Thanks." He made no move to let her go, and she gave his cheek two soft smacks. "Get your greasy hands off my ass, Tiggy."
His arms slid away and she pushed herself up, hopping into her jeans. "Goodnight," Tig mumbled.
Hanna padded over to the bar and downed a glass of water while she put on her shoes. She muttered to herself, "This better be fucking important."
On the other side of town, Hanna pulled up outside Tara's house. The doctor met her at the door and waved her inside, glancing around as if she were expecting someone to pop out from the bushes.
If Hanna hadn't sobered up already, the sight of Unser standing in the living room did the trick. "What's wrong?" She asked, pushing past him into the room.
Gemma looked up from the couch, her face was bruised and her cheek was split open. "Oh, for fucks sake, you called her?"
Hanna glanced between Tara and Unser, looking for an explanation. "In case you've forgotten, Hanna's dealt with this before," Tara reminded Gemma. It took a second for Hanna to connect the dots.
She took another look at Gemma and dropped onto the couch next to her. "Jesus, Gem. It's going to be okay." She put a reassuring hand on Gemma's arm. "Who did this?"
"It doesn't matter, no one's going after them." She shook her head. "We can't tell the guys." Hanna and Tara shared a look. Gemma snapped her fingers to get their attention. "I mean it."
"We've got to get you to the hospital, get you checked out," Tara insisted. "We'll grab Abel, check him in, say we're running more tests."
"You could lose your job for that," Gemma warned.
Hanna stood up. "You want some tea? Your throat sounds raw." Gemma nodded and Hanna headed into the kitchen, pulling Unser along with her. "Where's her car?"
"Found it at a warehouse," he said. "Why?"
"We're going to wreck it," Hanna told him, as she put the kettle on the stove. "Gemma's not thinking straight. As soon as Clay and Jax see those bruises they're gonna go on a rampage. Unless we give her a good story."
Unser nodded. "Yeah, I can do that."
"Good. I'm going to stay with her," Hanna told him. "In case she wants to talk."
He shook his head. "She doesn't."
"Yeah, well, neither did Tristen at first. She'll want to talk eventually, I'll be here for her when she does." Hanna leaned on the counter for a moment. The whistle of the kettle made her jump. "Sorry," she muttered.
"You okay with this?" He asked.
Hanna nodded. "Just a little close to home."
"Tara should have left you out of it."
"No, no, she was right." Hanna ran her fingers through her hair. She poured a mug for Gemma, and then one for herself. "Us girls have to stick together, now more than ever."
OoOoO
Hanna joined the guys in the hospital waiting room. After spending the morning shadowing Tara and Gemma, she'd made a run to the office, if only to show her face. When she got back, Unser had called Clay to tell him Gemma had been in a car crash.
She dropped down on the couch, tossing her legs across Juice's and wrapping her arm around his neck. "Tara called, how's Gemma?" Hanna asked, as if she hadn't been at the hospital almost all morning.
"Sounds like it's just a few scrapes and bruises," Juice told her. Hanna laid her head on his shoulder and he kissed the top of her head. "You good?"
"Just exhausted," she said with a yawn. "I think I'll go back to the ranch tonight. Hang out with Tristen and grab some clean clothes. You buy shitty laundry detergent, by the way." Hanna yawned again. "Fuck, I gotta stop staying out all night. I'm getting old."
"But I just got out!" Bobby whined across the room. He was laid out on a stretcher, looking like he might puke at any moment. "I missed out on wild Hanna?"
"Sorry, Bobby, I need a break," Hanna said, shaking her head. Truthfully, seeing Gemma beaten and bruised had been a reality check. They all had to be on watch, and Hanna couldn't do that if she wasn't at her best. "Besides it was only wild Hanna, not Crow Eater Hanna."
Tig pointed at Hanna and she raised an eyebrow. "Was I dreaming or did you give me a lap dance this morning?"
Hanna furrowed her eyebrows, playing dumb. "I think I'd remember that, I wasn't that drunk."
He smirked. "Guess it was a dream."
"Just for future reference, I literally never want to hear about your dreams," Hanna told him, nose crinkled up in disgust.
"Not even if they're about you?"
"Especially if they're about me." Before Tig could reply, Tara walked into the waiting room, her eyes landed on Hanna and she nodded once. "How's she doing, doc?"
"Better." The long look she gave suggested the opposite.
Hanna nodded. "I've got to go home before I pass out, but tell her I'll call, alright?"
"Yeah, she'll want to hear from you." Tara turned to Clay. "I can take you to see her."
Juice gave Hanna a curious look. "You two close now?"
"We weren't not close before," Hanna said with a shrug. She put her hand over her mouth to stifle another yawn. "I wasn't kidding, I've really got to get some sleep."
"You want a ride?" He asked. "Don't want your car ending up like Gemma's."
Hanna almost said yes. There was someone out there who targeted Gemma because of her connection to the club. It was enough to freak any girl out. But she also just wanted to be alone, go to sleep, and double check that her gun was loaded. She kissed him on the cheek. "I'm good. I'll text you later."
Unser nodded at Hanna as she walked out the door and Hanna squeezed his shoulder. She'd always been good at keeping secrets, only this time she wasn't sure keeping this under wraps was such a good idea. But it wasn't her secret to tell, and she'd meant what she said. They had to stick together.