A/N: Seeing as it's still holiday time, I figured I could manage another instalment lol ...

Also, just to quickly answer a few questions that I realised I'd overlooked - I'm not sure exactly how long this fic will turn out, but I do know the story I want to tell and how it will (probably) end, so I'd say we've got a ways to go. Eden does at least know Fiona and Kerrianne exist and Chibs' past, including his family and everything that happened with Jimmy O and Aoife (the latter being an original character from my story Scars), will crop up again. I'm not sure if I'll go too much into the detail of that backstory from Scars here, probably not, but it will have had a lasting effect on Chibs, so it makes sense that Eden would find out. Oh, and while this will get dark at times, there are also some lighter moments to come.

As always, thanks for reading and feedback or questions are always welcome!


Sixteen

Weeks had passed without a word from Eden, not that Chibs had either the time or the inclination to make a fool of himself calling every five minutes. Seeds of discontent had been sown on the streets – at least some of it seeming to stem from rumours of a new player in the form of the reinstated War Boys – and he'd had that to navigate around. He had called a couple of times though, left a message asking her to call him … Nothing.

Part of him had tried telling himself it was probably for the best. Clean break before anyone got any ideas or things got any more complicated than they already were. Especially if fresh trouble was brewing when they were still trying to get out from under the rubble of all that had gone down in what were to be the final months of his predecessor's reign.

It ain't easy being king …

He couldn't remember if that had been Clay or Jax's line. He was certainly finding out the truth of it though.

And while part of him was trying the for the best spin on for size, the other part was unable to feel anything but regret for how things had panned out. He got why the girl was so upset though. It was clear she hadn't quite told him the whole story of her past, but he'd known enough to realise trust was bound to be a big deal for her. And as far as she was concerned, whatever his motives, he'd violated that. He could argue all day that he hadn't, or at least that he hadn't meant to, but it didn't change how she'd been made to feel. Like her private life was suddenly out there on display, tied up with club business. It was the last thing he'd wanted.

She had nothing to be ashamed of though. And suddenly determined to tell her that, he'd finally given in and gone looking for her in person. Turning up at her work was a definite no-no, given the circumstances – he didn't want to make things worse – so he'd tried the apartment she shared with Seth when he'd thought she might reasonably have down time, only to find neither of them were home.

He could have tried tapping Lyla for information, since the two of them seemed friendly, but again, he didn't want Eden thinking he was broadcasting her business to the world. So that left the gym. And running the gauntlet with its owner.

"Course she'd have to have a brother built like a fucking tank," Chibs groused under his breath, climbing off his bike when he'd parked up outside the Scrapyard, rolling his shoulder muscles as he headed inside, like he was maybe preparing for an onslaught as soon as he set foot in the place.

Sure enough, Seth was in the ring with one of his fighters, holding up training pads to receive flurry after flurry of powerful blows.

"Go warm down," he ordered the young man, before turning his attention to Chibs. "So what part of me warning you I'd destroy you did you somehow not get?"

"Hey, listen-"

"Chill, dude, I'm yanking your chain," Seth shrugged, jumping down from the apron of the ring. "You think I got the time or the energy to lose my shit any time my sister has a tiff with some guy? Prison, as I'm sure you know, not real fun – so, you cheat on her, I beat you bloody. You lay a hand on her, I beat you bloody. She gets hurt because of you … You get the picture. So let's just say we're saving the bloodshed for the big shit, okay?"

Chibs conceded that was probably fair with a wry look and a nod. "She here?"

"Depends. You gonna piss her off some more? Think I got a right to know, given I'm the one who's gotta actually live with her …"

"Not planning on it," the biker drawled, cocking his head on one side as he considered that. "But then I wasn't exactly planning on it last time either."

"Yeah, I hear that. She's out back."

Chibs started to head in the direction Seth had jerked his head, only to stop in his tracks. "Seth, mate …"

"Oh no, do not drag me into it. Whatever the fuck's under her skin, that is all you, pal."

"Shane Rockwell-"

"Fuck," Seth swore darkly. "Now there's an asshole I shoulda put down years ago. Did Eden actually tell you about him? He ain't back on the scene, is he?"

"She told me some," Chibs said carefully. "Stumbled across some more. Still not sure I got the whole picture. Look, I get that she'll probably be even more fucked off with me for asking you, but … I can't make sure she's safe if I dunno what the fuck I'm dealing wi' here."

"You think she ain't safe?"

"I dunno, man – I ain't looking to ring any alarm bells. I just … feel like there's something I'm missing."

Seth cast his eyes towards the ceiling, seeming to weigh up which was the lesser of two evils, betraying Eden's trust or leaving her exposed to risk, and finally heaved a sigh. "My office. Now."


Oblivious to Seth's unexpected visitor, Eden – having already beat the shit out of a punch bag for the better part of an hour – was out in the gym's enclosed backyard, skipping with a jump-rope in the golden glow of the late evening sun. She'd stripped down to shorts and a sports bra and beads of sweat glistened on her tan skin as she pushed herself on, music pumping from the buds jammed in her ears.

It was her way of shutting out the world. And she needed to right now, what with her past seeming intent on coming roaring back into her life at every turn. Between Shane trying to reach out from whatever rock he'd crawled under, and getting back on the road at work and all the terrible memories that was dredging up … She didn't want to admit it, but she wasn't exactly in the best place.

Plus she'd decided whatever might have been growing between her and the Samcro president had probably fizzled out. She'd been more freaked out than she liked to think by his discovery of the lengths she'd had to go to in order to try to get back some control of her life and maybe she'd overreacted, having told herself that was all behind her. That no one would have to know how weak she'd been. How weak Shane had made her.

Pushing the biker away though … He wasn't going to stand for that. Why would he? There was a clubhouse full of attractive, willing women who weren't going to add complications or drama to his life. He'd move on. Probably already had.

Eden gritted her teeth at that thought, speeding up the jump-rope and hearing it smack off the ground ever more aggressively, even over the music and the sound of her own heart thumping in her ears.

Fucking Shane. Even when he wasn't there, he was still screwing up her life.

Fuck.


"Shane Rockwell's dangerous."

"Consider yer audience, mate," Chibs sighed. "Practically every fucker I deal wi' is dangerous. What we talking here? Violent, reckless, what?"

"How much did Eden tell you?"

"Enough to know she's been through hell. The crash, losing the mum and wee girl, the fall-out wi' work, wi' the da … And that this Shane prick pretty much walked out on her in the middle o' it all."

"Shit, she told you more than I'd expected," Seth said, looking surprised. "So, how did you end up pissing her off? 'Cause it sounds like she really fucking trusted you."

"Aye, that might be the problem," Chibs said grimly. "To cut a long story short, we maybe got a problem wi' a rival MC. Had to do some digging – it threw up some red flags. Eden's name came up."

"Connected to an MC? That's bullshit, she's never-"

"This Shane's apparently got a brother who's patched."

"Jesus … And this club? They bad news? Got some kinda beef with the Sons?"

"Not historically. But looks like new blood looking to make their mark. It … could be an issue."

"But you know Eden's not connected to all that, right? Is that what's put some kinda rift between you two?"

Chibs shook his head, raking a hand through his short silver hair. "It ain't that. It's how I found out. What I found out. We looked into backgrounds of all the patched members we could, family connections, criminal associates, everything. So Shane came up in his brother's records … And, well, we got intel to say he was the subject of a restraining order. Taken out by Eden."

"Getting the law involved, she had no choice – the fucker wouldn't learn when to quit."

"I get that. But Eden …" Chibs trailed off, heaving a heavy sigh. "She's hurt I was able to find out that level of detail about her life, I guess. Like you said, she trusted me and now it feels like I went prying behind her back. I'm sorry she's upset, man, but … I'd have gotten there one way or the other. You know the position I'm in. No one gets close without getting looked at. If things had keeping going the way they were wi' us … I'd have had to do something anyway. Cut her loose, or … bring her closer."

Seth sat back in his swivel chair, trying to take all that in and wiping his hands over his face. "So, where do things stand now? With you two?"

Chibs met his gaze openly. "Honestly? I ain't got a clue. She could tell me to fuck off …"

"And how would that go?"

"Well, I wouldn't be happy about it, but she wouldn't need a fucking restraining order, I can tell ya that much." Chibs said, before deciding he might as well level with the guy, even if it was his little sister they were talking about. "Look, Seth, she's … she's a good girl-"

"She is."

"And maybe a man like me's got no business trying to keep this going, whatever this is, but …"

"You care about her."

The biker was silent for a long time, mulling it over, weighing it up in his mind, trying to come to any other conclusion than the one seeming to smack him square in the face. "Aye," he gave in finally. "Aye, I do."

Seth considered that. "Then you need to hear the whole story."


"So, you said this Shane arsehole's dangerous …"

Seth nodded grimly, his fists inadvertently clenching at the mention of the name. "Because he's devious," he said. "Manipulative. Don't underestimate him, Chibs. You might think the shit you're used to dealing with makes him seem like … nothing. But that's where he has the advantage. He's this shit-hot surgeon, respectable – on the surface at least. The slippery bastard always manages to come up smelling of roses."

The biker thought he knew exactly the type and he could already see where the danger lay in dealing with someone like that. They always seemed to end up with more power than they should have.

"Eden … She's a smart chick, you know," Seth said. "She ain't some airhead and she ain't the sort to have her head turned by a doctor, thinking they're all that. But that fucker … He played the long game. Got in her head. Put insecurities there. Played on them. He didn't want a girlfriend, a wife. He wanted a trophy. Someone dependent on him. Oh, he hated the idea that Eden could have messed up with that crash – like it tainted him by association. But once she was in the clear … It suited him to try to get her back. When she'd been through hell, when she was at her lowest. Vulnerable."

Toying absently with the heavy gold skulls and cross ring he wore, Chibs eyed the gym owner, unsure if the question on his lips was going to get a response.

"How bad we talking here?" he asked finally.

Seth looked away and swallowed hard, clearly struggling with memories of what had happened. "If it had just been Rockwell, it would have been … manageable. But with him piling on the pressure on top of … on top of that guy out of his mind with grief and looking for someone to blame … It was too much. It was all too much. I'm gonna level with you here, man – there was a time I thought we were gonna lose her. Nothing anyone else said was getting through to her. She was blaming herself for everything. She couldn't sleep, or when she did, she had nightmares about that crash, about the kid. She was in such a bad place and I had no idea how to help her. I … I could fucking see how it could play out. Coming home some night, finding her … She's my baby sister, Chibs. She scared the shit outta me."

"Fucking hell," Chibs exhaled, concern written plainly across his face. "And now?"

"She ain't weak, I don't want you thinking that," Seth said, an almost angry tinge to his tone. "She got through it. I was worried when I had to go inside … But she got through that too. I just don't want that fucker back in her life, back in her head. She'd really turned a corner, man. She's been happy. Well, mostly …"

"Until I fucked it up," Chibs sighed, wiping a hand over his face. "Shit."

"Doesn't sound like it's really you that's the problem. And trust me, if it was, I'd tell you."

"So … I gotta ask … You going inside – how'd that go down?"

Seth looked away, clearly uncomfortable with the memory. "That grieving dad? Frank Powell. He spun off the rails. Booze, drugs, the works. And his fixation with Eden … He just wouldn't let it go. Needed someone to blame that wasn't him. See, it turned out he'd been drinking the night of the crash, was rowing with the wife, she took her eyes off the road. It still wasn't really either of their faults, that was all on the shithead in the stolen car. But in his mind, if he'd been driving, or they hadn't been arguing, or a thousand what ifs …"

"Eden told me he pretty much stalked her," Chibs said, by way of a gentle prompt when the gym owner trailed off again. "I'm guessing she maybe just gave me the broad strokes."

"Yeah, and let's just say the devil's in the detail. He terrorised her for months. 'Til one night, she woke up and found him in her house. There was a struggle. She had no idea how far he intended to go."

"She called you for help," Chibs guessed.

Seth nodded. "And I beat the shit out of him. Put him in a coma. I ain't proud of it – I know what he'd lost, I'd know he was sick. But she is my sister and he was out of his goddamn mind. He … He could have really hurt her, man. Killed her. Raped her. Who knows what the fuck he was thinking? I wasn't gonna wait to find out."

"Attempted murder though?" Chibs asked sceptically. "Surely under the circumstances, any lawyer worth their fucking salt coulda talked that down? He broke into her fucking home!"

Seth shrugged wearily. "Powell's an ex-cop …" he said, trailing off as if that said it all.

And for Chibs, his jaw tensing angrily, it did.


Still pushing herself harder than usual, Eden only broke off from her workout long enough to dash sweat from her brow with her arm, catching sight as she did so of her brother at the door that led out to the yard. And of someone else stood in the shadows behind him.

"Eden? Got a visitor," he called.

Suspecting, she tried to ignore the flutter somewhere in the pit of her stomach, studiously ignoring him. But she couldn't help watching from the corner of her eye as the figure stepped into the light. She tried to just keep going, to keep her ragged breathing under control, but she'd already had to blink away spots that danced in front of her eyes and when one of them – she couldn't be sure which – called out again, they seemed much further away than they should, the voice almost drowned out by the incessant thump of the jump-rope and the even faster pounding of her heart.

"Eden?"

It was definitely the Scotsman that time. She'd caught the accent, even before he continued his appeal.

"Just hear me out, darlin'. Then if you want me to go, I'll go—Eden!"

The shout of alarm was the last thing she heard before the already blurring world shrank into nothing, darkness washing over her as she crumpled lifeless to the ground.