Raven pulled her beater up to the Teller Morrow lot. She whipped her driver side sunshade down to glance in the mirror and smiled making sure she couldn't see the bruises on her neck .
She told herself she could handle whatever lie on the other side of those bay doors. She got out of her car and began making her way to the TM office. When she reached the door and tried to open it, it was locked. She froze. It was already past 8am. They should be damn near open by now. She had come to know and respect all of these men but she knew what they were. Outlaws. They were herding her like a sheep to slaughter. Ravens stomach dropped. She would have to go into the clubhouse and meet her fate.
She wanted to run to her car and drive out of charming. Find a new small town, leave all her shit behind and start over again. She was looking back at her car contemplating if anyone had seen her yet, when juice came out of the clubhouse and called her name.
He started to jog up to her. She reluctantly walked towards him, trying to mask her emotions. "I leave for a month and you guys cant even open the shop on time without me" she said in a light hearted tone. "Actually jax wanted to talk to you first" juice said and rubbed his hand over his head. a far step from his fun happy demeanor. "alright" raven said and walked into the clubhouse.
It was pretty early when she got in. It was quiet. "Where's Jax??" raven asked. "In the chapel" juice answered. Ravens pulse quickened. Her adrenaline started to race. She was scared. She tried not to show it. She just followed juice into the chapel where Jax sat at the head of the table. Juice took the seat to his left. She stood by the door not sure of what to do. She knew her place and it wasn't in one of those seats. Raven knew this was some serious shit she had gotten herself into if she ended up in this room by herself. No one else around to see what would happen to her if shit hit the fan. She knew the rules. The queen herself had laid down the law the first couple of days she was there.
She fought like hell to earn the respect of Gemma and the SONS and she had proved her worth more then a few times to the club. She wasn't after a patch. Didn't need protection…. Up until now. She just loved being mechanic. And she was a damn good one too. She hoped maybe they might remember that and it would be enough. Enough to keep her job and enough to keep her alive. If they gave her up to him she knew she was as good as dead. He wouldn't just break a rib next time.
"Have a seat raven" Jax said as he pointed to the other end of the table. "How are you doing?" he asked. Unsure of how to answer raven sputtered "Im whole. My heart's beating. What more could I ask for" and cocked a half hearted smile.
Jax's face was stone cold. "Seriously. What the fuck happened to you? I saw you laying in a pool of your own blood. That shits not normal for the average mechanic. I need to know if your baggage is gonna blow back on us. We need to know who did this to you and why. Juice told me about you coming to charming because you were running? From what? Did you come to SAMCRO for protection?" raven sat there, there hurt written all over her face.
She just wanted to work on cars and bikes. How did she get here? She tried to compose herself before speaking but she was physically shaken. Her voice quivered when she spoke. "Look Jax I came to Teller Morrow because you seemed to be the only people that would even give me a chance. Plus it's this little podunk town in the middle of fucking nowhere CA. I mean look at this fucking place jax!! Shit looks like it came straight out of the 1950's. I thought it was far enough away from the shit I was running from so I stopped running. Guess I was wrong. I didn't even know about the MC until I started working here!! As for my baggage blowing back? I cant honestly say it wont jax. The only reason he let me go is because he thinks ill come back on my own because he keeps stalking me and finding me and… doing this. Hes watching every move I make". Ravens voiced cracked and she paused and took a deep breath. "Hes watching me while im here and at home. Ill give you his name but its not going to matter. Hes a skeevy little son of a bitch rich boy. I've tried paying private investigators to follow him but he always spots the tail and disappears. If im a liability to the club just fire me and let me run again. That would probably be less painful then having to relive this fucking nightmare in front of the two of you. Its feeling a lot like ripping open scars."
she paused to look at juice, he looked away. She knew she fucked up when she let it slip to juice and chibs that shed come to start a new life. She had gotten too comfortable. Thought she could have fun for once and got just a little too drunk.
She looked to Jax and he just stared at her boring eyes into her soul. "Im sorry if this is painful for you but I've got a whole club to protect" Jax said. "having women on my payroll getting beaten to a pulp doesn't look good for TM or SAMCRO." He paused and took a big gusty sigh." You still have a job at TM if you want it" He said through a sly smile. Ravens whole body relaxed. At least she still had her job. She knew she had to count her blessing while she could.
He'd be back. She knew because he told her if she didn't come back on her own he'd come to collect her. Like she was an object. She thought briefly about running away again. She could still run away to a new small town and start over, but she loved her job and she loved the SONS. She'd worked so hard for what she had here and she wasn't going to let him take that away. "I hope you understand the third degree. I had to be sure your motives were good. Just covering our asses" Jax looked at her concerned. She nodded and gave them his name and last known address. "so….. Are we gonna keep chatting or Can I open the shop now?" raven asked dryly. Jax threw her the keys. She and juice walked to the garage to open the shop for the day.
