"I now pronounce you Mister and Missus Jackson Nathaniel Teller..."
Wendy looked down at the plain silver band on her finger in disbelief. The boys were all congratulating Jax loudly, clapping their hands onto his shoulders so they slapped onto the leather of his kutte with loud thuds. Denise had excused herself briefly to the bathroom for Sofia, and Wendy had her first moment of quiet contemplation over the fact that she was Jax's wife again. Not a lot of people got second chances this way, and she inhaled deeply, resolving herself to do things right this time.
The thought that Jax Teller and Wendy Case would be getting married again, that Juan Carlos and Denise Ortiz would sign off as witnesses, was still a strange, surreal thought to process, made even stranger by the fact that someone other than Bobby Munson was singing the Elvis Presley songs. The question of where Chibs and Bobby were still resonated in every brief moment of silence, but as a favor to Jax, everyone let the day remain focused on him and Wendy. There were so few genuinely happy moments that they could hold onto, it was blasphemous to cut one short.
They took off as a group down Virginia Street, a long main road lined with casinos and bars and restaurants. Abel and Tommy walked along in front of Denise, who was pushing Sofia in a stroller, and they paused in front of one building in particular, looking up at the bright-colored clown emblazoned on the building.
"Circus Circus," Juice read aloud, squinting up at the sign. The downstairs was clearly a casino, filled with slots and tables and hostesses in tight black skirts, but the billboard at the top advertised the kids' games and circus acts upstairs.
"I can handle the kids," Denise piped in helpfully. "You guys have your night on the town, we'll be fine."
"I'll stay with her," Juice added. "I don't think -"
"Oh, come on," Denise smirked, raising an eyebrow playfully. "You think I can't handle three of these munchkins? Besides - I'm sure Tig can come and help me with the kids, play some arcade games, win us a few prizes."
"Oh, sure," Tig chuckled. "Anything I can do -"
"Sofia'll be thrilled if Uncle Tiggy wins her some new dolls!"
The group - minus Tig - erupted in uproarious laughter while Tig's face paled at the mention of dolls. Denise gently jabbed his shoulder and grinned, shaking her head.
"I'm kidding. Abel's gonna be my helper, right?" she asked, reaching over and gently ruffling the young boy's hair.
"Right!"
"You sure about this, Deedee?" Wendy asked. "I mean, you know... watching them the whole time?"
Jax looked over and saw that in addition to her wedding ring, Wendy had a keyring wrapped around her finger - the key to the Lovelock cabin. He blinked incredulously at Denise and cleared his through, laughing.
"C'mon, this is too much," he said.
"Don't start with me. Consider it a wedding present from your maid of honor and your best man - you two deserve a honeymoon," Denise said with a grin. "Juice and I don't mind playing babysitter tonight. You two cut out whenever you're ready to, you know... get to honeymooning."
There was another round of embraces and thanks before they all walked into Circus Circus. As Denise started to round up the kids and start off towards the children's area, however, Tig caught up with her and gently grabbed her by the arm. "Deedee," he said - the lack of a Chinese-food-based nickname had Denise's hackles immediately raising, because this meant business. "You keep that burner on you, keep us posted, yeah?" he asked. Denise nodded in understanding, patting her hand on her small clutch purse where she kept the phone.
"I'll let you know if I hear from them," she nodded. Satisfied, Tig leaned over and gave her an uncharacteristically kind kiss on the side of her head before rushing off to catch up with the others.
"Tiggy bye bye!" Sofia called out. Denise grinned and crouched in front of her daughter's stroller, planting a few fond kisses on the little girl's cheeks before glancing back at Abel, who was holding Tommy's hand and looking up, dutifully awaiting directions as Aunt Deedee's official helper.
"Remember, stay together at all times," Denise said, placing a hand on Abel's shoulder and making sure the directions were sinking in. "When we're walking you keep one hand on me, and the other hand on Tommy."
"Got it," Abel nodded. Denise grinned, kissing his forehead before straightening up and grabbing a hold of his hand.
Thankfully, the crowds weren't too large or unruly since it was the middle of the week. There was the usual gaggle of tourists and their kids, but they had an easy enough time keeping together. After winning pair of large, bright green dinosaur hats, Abel one on himself and one on Thomas so that they were even harder to miss in the crowd.
They had already won a large bag full of stuffed animals - many of which were won more by Denise's smile and pretty eyes than by their actual skill at any of the games. The baseball bat that Abel was holding under his arm, however, they had won fair and square. Denise had outshot all of the college boys who were trying their hand at the shooting gallery game to win the prize, and she shot them a smug little grin as the game attendant handed it to her.
Now all seated in a little group at the ice cream parlor at the edge of the area, Abel sat admiring the bat in his hands while Denise went back and forth feeding Tommy and Sofia little spoonfuls of strawberry ice cream.
"I'm gonna be the best on my team now," Abel said proudly, eyeing the baseball bat like it was made of gold. "Thanks Aunt Deedee!"
"Anything for my little Superman," she grinned, again reaching out and ruffling his hair. Denise felt a strange, ominous sense of apprehension however when from the corner of her eye, she realized that the man at the table next to them who was partially concealed by a newspaper he was reading seemed to be watching. Listening. Just from her peripheral vision, Denise was able to catch sight of the fact that he had ink - a great deal of it - on his dark skin, including on his neck.
"Can we, Aunt Deedee?"
Denise flinched slightly when she realized that Abel had been talking to her and she hadn't heard it all, so she cleared her throat to regain her composure and looked back at him.
"What was that, honey?"
"Can we go watch the circus show?" Abel asked, pointing to the edge of the area where people were starting to take their seats. The posters scattered around the walkway showed that it was going to be a show with acrobats and tigers, and Abel's excitement seemed to bubble over into the other two children as well, who were bouncing in their seats even though they didn't even know what they were getting excited about.
"Alright, let's head over there," Denise nodded, rounding everyone up yet again. As they filed out of the ice cream shop and back onto the main floor, however, Denise got a brief but clear glimpse at the strange man's ink - IX on his neck. She gulped quietly, but quickly hurried away with the kids. It was probably nothing.
Denise got everyone settled at seats towards the edge of the crowd at the show, knowing that large crowds were still overwhelming for Abel. He bounced excitedly as the ringleader of the show stepped out and gestured up to the acrobats on the trapeze above him, and he tugged on the hem of Denise's skirt.
"Lookit!" he said with a bright smile. "Look!"
Denise had just looked up, however, when there was a faint buzzing sound - she quickly shuffled around and reached into her bag to see that the burner had just received a text, no doubt from one of the guys' phones.
Niners are here. Get out to the entrance ASAP. Car will swoop you there.
Denise's heart felt as though it had completely skipped a beat, and when she glanced around, she noticed that the man from the ice cream shop was now in the crowd as well on the opposite side. A scan of the area verified the fact that there were Niners posted by the elevators and exits, and Denise felt a twisting sensation in the pit of her stomach.
"Abel, honey, we have to go," she said, leaning over and muttering in his ear. Normally, he would have spoken up in protest, but his actual reaction betrayed the fact that he had a wisdom and an understanding beyond his years. He knew that tone. Denise's eyes scanned around and realized that there was one area that the Niners didn't have covered - a carpeted walkway leading to the boarding area of a monorail, which led to the hotel rooms on the other side of the building. Denise glanced around and noticed that a man who was standing up to watch the show left his jacket on his chair, and she deftly reached over to grab it, tucking it into the bag with their stuffed animals and prizes.
Knowing that the window of opportunity to make a break for the opening was limited, Denise kept an eye out for the first arriving monorail train - rickety old things that got from point A to point B with a series of creaks. Seeing one finally pull in and hearing the doors creak open, Denise grabbed a hold of both Abel and the stroller, weaving through the crowd as casually as she could manage until they reached the train door. As it slid shut, one of the Niners she had seen guarding the other exit caught sight of her, and Denise felt a chill when she realized, right when they were pulling away, that he was alerting the others.
Alone in the small, rickety train car, Denise pulled the burner out of her bag and fired off a brief text.
Swarming with Niners. Coming thru the hotel.
Next, Denise made quick work of rifling through the bag of prizes, pulling out a pair of t-shirts they had won. She took off Abel and Thomas's jackets, swapping them out for the new t-shirts, pulled on the jacket she had stolen from the man watching the circus show - swapping their appearance out might be a distraction, in any case. Denise kicked off her shoes and scooped Sofia up into one arm, then gestured for Thomas to come to her and be carried in the other. She struggled slightly with the weight of two kids in her arms, but she crouched down while the train was still moving and looked at Abel.
"We're gonna get to the car and get outta here, okay?" Denise said, trying her best not to spill any details of the potential trouble they were in. "I - I need you to do exactly what I tell you to," she explained, glancing back and forth between Abel and Sofia. Abel was getting bigger, and he'd picked Sofia up once in a while when they were playing before. If worst came to worst...
Denise shook her head, banishing the idea from her mind for the time being. As the train car pulled to a stop, she stood up with both kids in her arms, squirming around obliviously, and looked down at Abel again. "Hold onto me, okay?" she said in as calm a voice as she could manage. Abel nodded, his expression fearful but determined as his little hands curled around his baseball bat.
The coast seemed clear as the door slid open, and Denise moved as quickly as she could with all of the kids in tow to the escalator. Having gotten ahead of their tails by a good amount, Denise thought that perhaps there was a chance for them to get out clean and safe. She could see the door, they were just a matter of steps away when again out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of the same man in the One Niners' colors, nodding off to someone on the opposite end of the room. With Abel still holding onto her dress, Denise increased the pace of her steps to the door which led to a street leading off of where the car would need to be coming from. But they were coming - and if the Niners caught up to them, they'd have no trouble overpowering them and dragging them off in one neat little package before anyone would even notice.
Still walking quickly, Denise kept walking over to street they would need to turn onto, but just before she turned the corner, a hand curled around her arm and yanked her into an alley. Denise reflexively held onto both of the kids a little more tightly, but saw the man - one of the Niners - grab a hold of a shocked Abel, who was shaking and couldn't even scream. She managed to put Tommy down on his feet, then Sofia, though she wobbled slightly.
Getting the kids in a safe position at the opening of the alley took only a few seconds, and though the Niner had dragged Abel a few steps farther into the dark alley, Denise hurried forward and pulled the bat from Abel's hands, taking a wild swing that hit the man square on the side of the head. He immediately slumped to the ground, bleeding from the head, and Abel stared on in shock. Denise realized, however, that there was movement from the end of the alley. There were more of them, and if she picked up the kids first, they'd all be caught. The side door of the building swung open and a group of five Niners emerged from the door of the building, catching sight of Denise. They kept walking, and their eyes were on her. They were after her, not the kids. They weren't interested in the kids...
"Abel, go pick up Fifi, grab your brother's hand and run -"
"But Aunt Deedee -"
"Go!"
Abel flinched slightly hearing Denise raise her voice at him for the first time, but he suddenly understood what was happening - the little ones needed him. They needed him to be a hero to them now like he had been for his Aunt Deedee. He tore off a few steps towards the small children, who were now crying having realized that something was wrong,
"Run!" Denise repeated, reaching into her bag and pulling out the small Bersa pistol, firing off a few well-aimed shots at the Niners coming nearer, listening to make sure Abel's footsteps were getting farther. Denise managed to take down a few of the men who had started to move towards her even faster, but found that as they drew nearer, her hands started quivering - by her count, she had just shot and probably killed three men. Three men. Her hands shook violently and gave the two remaining men a chance to get close to her.
"You ain't gettin' outta here until we get what we need, bitch," one of them roared at her, close enough now that he grabbed her by the hair and shoved her against the nearby brick wall. The other yanked and twisted her arm violently until she cried out in pain - the gun and her purse fell to the ground. She cowered slightly raising her arms to defend herself, only to find that they reached into her bag instead, pulling out the burner she inside. A look of confusion crossed Denise's face, and in her moment of shock, the back of one of the Niners' hands struck Denise across the face, knocking her onto the ground with a yelp. Denise clutched her face in pain as she heard their footsteps tear off in the opposite direction.
Right as Denise was trying to pull herself up to her feet, she heard rapid footsteps and felt a hand on her back. Still clutching her face with one hand, she swung out with the other, but found her wrist caught by whoever was behind her. Denise felt herself being pulled to her feet and found herself face-to-face with Tig. She immediately gasped, collapsing and burying her face against his shoulder.
"Tig, the kids -"
"We got 'em, sweetheart, we got 'em," he said, rubbing her back consolingly. "C'mon, let's get you to the car - what'd they do? What'd they want?"
"I don't know," Denise said, realizing now that she was crying, and that the act was a painful one when her eye was slowly reddening from being struck. "They - they just took the burner out of the bag, roughed me up a little and ran," she said, shaking her head and Tig lead her out of the alleyway to where the car, driven by Juice, had pulled up, flanked by the other guys on their bikes, except for Jax and Wendy who had probably left for the cabin already. Juice immediately got out of the driver's seat to meet his wife and usher her to the passenger side door, but Denise was preoccupied with looking into the passenger seat. Her shoulders slumped in relief at the sight of all three kids in the back seat.
"Baby," Juice said, taking over from Tig and gently cupping Denise's face with both hands. "I'm so sorry - I should've been with you, I shoulda -"
"No, no," she said, shaking her head gently, burying her face in his shoulder now. "I just - it's my fault. I just - I can't believe I let the kids run off alone - I screwed up -"
"She stayed behind and let the bad guys get 'er so we could be safe," Abel said, leaning his face out the window. "She didn't do anythin' bad, Uncle Juicy, don't be mad at her..."
"I'm not mad at her," Juice said, wrapping his arms around his wife and making a soothing, shushing noise, glancing around at the other guys who remained on their bikes out of respect for the fact that this was very much a family moment. "We're goin' out to the Lovelock cabin. Call up Jax, tell him to lock up," Juice barked authoritatively. "We should be there in about an hour."
Denise found that her hands still shook while Juice ushered her into the passenger seat of the car. She pulled the stolen jacket around herself and took a few deep breaths. Nothing made sense - her heart was beating too fast, her mind was racing too wildly. She didn't understand what was happening, but she knew that this would only be the beginning. Even the familiar scenery, the beautiful landscape of open land and sky on the way out to Lovelock, one of her favorite places in the world, could provide her with no comfort knowing that something - something bad - was probably just over the horizon.
A/N's
Rapid update! This one, I realized I liked how I had written it and left it mostly as it was. So, here we are. Anyway, I hope I didn't lose anyone here! I really couldn't write a wedding scene the way I wanted to, so there was a bit of a time skip here to after the ceremony. And my, what a honeymoon it's become. That cabin in Lovelock is turning into quite the destination. The next chapter will consist of some questions being answered, and a whole ton of problems.
As far as this chapter, Circus Circus is a real casino/hotel in Reno, Nevada that I used to go to with my family as a kid, and on my Tumblr page (la-vik-ffn) I've posted some pictures of the monorail trains that Denise and the kids make their getaway on in this chapter if you're interested in looking.
The next chapter should be coming within the next few days, and it's going to be a rough ride for all of our favorite characters. Though I'll be honest, there's a slight temptation to change the direction of where the story goes afterwards - I've already written it, but I've been flip-flopping and playing with possibilities. So, there eventual resolution of the conflicts revealed in next chapter may still be up in the air. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this humble chapter and I hope to hear from you! I'm very excited by the fact that I hit 200 reviews on my 40th chapter, so of course, I'm really thankful to all of you for that. Until next update, cheers!