Thank you to ks, Robin.D, nanarosedarkness, Samantha Renk, Emmalock9, and BlackBatLicorice for the reviews on chapter 7. I'm sorry the update was delayed this week, I had some medical stuff going on that sucked up all my spare time. This is a short one but I'm aiming to post another soon. Enjoy.
It's early the next afternoon and Chibs has been trying all day to get information out of River with little to no luck. He'd woken that morning to a call from Jax with questions about where they'd disappeared to. Jackie-boy wasn't happy with Clay pushing River out of the clubhouse and into Chibs' home but by the time they'd ended the call Chibs had gotten him to admit the logic of the shift in locations. Jax also passed on a gentle reminder that the sooner they find out who she is the sooner they can put the entire Cartel favor behind them.
So, like a good club man Chibs woke River, again by shaking the bed, he made her breakfast and watched her flip through channels on the muted TV until she got bored. He'd tried getting her to write with him again on the notepad from the night before but she'd pushed it away with only the words fingers hurt scrawled across the page.
They'd spent a few minutes having a silent fight over him re-bandaging the injured digits, a fight which he'd won. She'd sat still through the ordeal and after he'd rubbed in more of the numbing antiseptic ointment she'd again made the gesture with her hand arcing forward off her chin. His curiosity got the better of him and he'd asked her to interpret. Now, here they were two hours later, sitting on his couch with the TV forgotten while she teaches him signs.
"Okay, okay. How do yeh sign motorcycle?"
He laughs at her reply, watching as she holds both hands out in front of her like she's gripping handlebars before twisting one to mimic cranking a throttle. He's been asking aloud for words and watching as she moves slowly waiting for him to mimic. So far, they'd covered thank you, where is (insert name), hurt, hungry, bathroom, among other key phrases and were finally moving on to some fun words.
"Not a subtle language, is it?" She rolls her eyes at the question and flops back onto the cushion behind her dramatically.
He's gotten used to these silent displays of drama and her bold facial expressions. The stoic shielded eyes and face she'd worn the night before at the clubhouse seem to be wearing off and Chibs is starting to suspect that she compensates for her lack of voice by being overly expressive in other ways. He already knows that raised eyebrows indicate a question although he's usually left on his own to figure out what the question is. She rolls her eyes a lot and quirks this little half smile that practically screams you're an idiot.
It feels a little odd to be basically bonding with what is essentially a prisoner of the club but he's been excused from work and other business to deal with her. He'd feel weird about locking her in a room considering so he's not sure what else to do. It helps that she's an interesting mystery. She seems to shift from confident to comfortable to uncaring with rapid agility. He can't figure out if the emotions are genuine or if she's an impressive actress but she certainly has him curious.
She taps his arm to get his attention and her eyebrows are raised, head cocked to the side. He realizes what she wants and mimes the sign for motorcycle back to her. She rewards him with a smile and then makes a new sign, hooking the first two fingers of her right hand around the thumb of the left, with left fingers flat in front and then jumps both hands towards him.
"What?" She makes the move again and then follows it with the motorcycle sign. He raises an eyebrow and she grabs the pad to write.
Ride. Ride motorcycle.
He laughs and mimics her again. He's done something wrong though because she makes a frustrated noise in the back of her throat and shakes her head before reaching out to correct finger placement. He tries again and she shrugs with squinted eyes. He'd learned this means good enough earlier that morning when she'd tasted his attempt at scrambled eggs.
He's just about to try again when there's a knock on the door. He's on his feet instantly, the gun from his back holster in his hand, safety off. He's already taking a step towards the door when she makes a strangled sound from behind him. He turns to find her wide eyed in fear on the couch, looking up at him and he spares a moment to notice how they keep flicking from the gun to his face. It's first indication of fear he's seen from her and he realizes she didn't hear the sound from the door.
There's another knock and he doesn't have time to consider how it must seem to her. One minute they're having a grand time on the couch and the next he's holding a loaded weapon looking tense. He nods down the hall towards the door and it seems to be enough because she jumps off the couch, one hand tugging at the too big jeans she's wearing and with grace he didn't know she had she dances around him into the master bedroom.
Chibs pads down the hall sideways to present a smaller target. Peering out through the peephole he sees Gemma standing on his front steps and feels himself relax. Tucking the gun away he pulls the door open with a smile.
"Hey Scotty," Gemma doesn't wait for an invitation before she pushes into the house, "Clay asked me to bring by some clothes for our little Mexican friend." She's holding out a set of shopping bags to him and Chibs takes them leading her deeper into the house. "Where is she?" Gemma looks around his living room as she speaks.
"I'll get her. Clay didn't mention yeh'd be stopping by so I had the lass hide." Gemma nods and Chibs moves past her into the master bedroom.
He's surprised by the sight inside the room. River is crouched in the corner of the bedroom closest to the bay windows. She's opened one of the sliding glass panes and she's got the bat he keeps tucked under the bed held defensively. Smart lass, a way out and a weapon. Her big eyes search him as he moves towards her and she seems to notice he's relaxed because she drops the bat and stands.
"It's a friend." She nods. "Come on, she brought yeh new clothes." He's not sure if it's the she or clothes but her eyes light up and she follows him willingly into the next room.
Gemma has made herself comfortable and she's sitting on the couch with the shopping bags. Chibs watches as the SAMCRO mother looks River over with a keen eye.
"Someone did a number on her hair. Jesus." He looks back in time to see River run a hand over her short locks, her injured right hand wrapped tight around her middle. She looks embarrassed.
"What do yeh mean?" He turns back to Gemma on the question.
"Someone did a hack job on her hair, look it's all uneven. Done with a knife." He turns back to River and takes a closer look at the short hair. He'd noticed it sure but he'd been focused on other things recently. Now that Gemma has called attention to it he can see she's right and he feels his chest tighten. From long ago an old fact surfaces in his mind. Ritual hair cutting is an old punishment of the Cartel.
"Dunno," he replies to Gemma. "I'd ask her but the communication is a bit tricky." Gemma raises and eyebrow at that and he feels River step around him so his back is no longer to her. He realizes she's probably only been able to see half the conversation.
"Cat got your tongue?" Gemma directs the words at River and Chibs winces as the younger woman stiffens and then points to her ear with the shake of a head. "What's that then?" Gemma is looking at him expectantly and he shrugs.
"She's deaf. She'll write a bit but the bast—" he cuts himself off remembering the Cartel are supposed to be SAMCRO partners in this story, "Luis pulled out a few of her fingernails trying to get her to talk. Don't think they knew she couldn't." Gemma hisses in sympathy. Then she surprises Chibs by jumping off the couch and walking over to put her hands-on River's shoulders.
"Deaf, tortured, and stuck wearing those skank doctor's clothes. That's a rough couple days baby. I brought you some clothes that should actually fit. I'm Gemma." Chibs watches stunned as with the announcement of her name Gemma twists her fingers into a series of signs. River's face relaxes and she watches Gemma's fingers hungrily.
"Oh, and does everyone in the fucking clubhouse know sign language but me?" Gemma laughs at his outburst.
"Don't worry Scotty, I only know how to spell my name and even that is left over from the same charity runs as Bobby." Gemma turns back to River. "You can read lips, right?" River nods. "It's amazing you can read his lips with that fucking accent." He sees River's eyebrows go up over Gemma's shoulder and the younger woman pushes away grabbing for the notepad on the coffee table.
You have an accent?
His booming laugh fills the small house as he reads and he can't help ignoring River's still raised eyebrows and questioning face to show the paper to Gemma. Gemma just gives him a sharp look and puts an arm around River's shoulders.
"Don't worry baby, we'll get you cleaned up, into some new clothes, and I'll explain." He watches as Gemma leads River off into his bedroom shopping bags thrown over one shoulder before he sinks on to the couch.
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