Author's Note:

Hey everyone. I am working on the next chapter, and I really need some feedback. I have a way to link this back to the club, sort of, a sort of way to link Dani to the club, in a long, round about way. And give Dani an opportunity to go head to head with Clay. But I am not sure about it. So, if you could, would you please give me some feed back if you would like to see that? Or do you like the idea she has no link to Samcro and if she were to inter act with them it would be because Happy introduced them to her.

All feedback would be appreciated and considered.

In the meantime, enjoy.

Angie

November 16, 2012

Quinn pulled into Dani's driveway. He had heard from Loco. Rusty had the bike and was going to look at it first thing in the morning. Loco would be there when he did. In the meantime, Loco would set up at the motel not far from Jack's. It had great Wifi, and he could tap and hack if need be from there.

The garage door opened, and Quinn looked up. Dani was at the door into the house. She pointed to the spot Happy parked in and Quinn pulled in.

Back in the house, Quinn and Dani sat on the couch. She handed him a long list. "Most of that is probably non-starters, but you said everything."

The list included work, the VFW, the Hog Chapter, the Sports League she did all the coordination for, and people she could think of who she had pissed off.

"I left Caleb Perkins off the list, he is still in Jail." Dani said.

"Yeah I thought of that little shit. I had Loco check that." Quinn said.

"You know about that?" Dani asked.

"I was there." Quinn said. "Didn't get to do much, Hap did all the heavy lifting. I just stood guard."

"Do you know any more?" Dani asked.

Quinn sat there. His instinct was to not tell her anything. But with her background, and how Happy talked about her, that wasn't going to fly with her.

"Hap's gonna put a list together too, of people who might be out for revenge against him. Went and saw the bike. It's really not bad. But you are right. The car hit you. There is blue paint on your back fender." Quinn stated.

"What did you say?" Dani said.

"Blue paint," Quinn repeated.

"I don't know if this is anything, but." Dani started. Quinn could see Dani was thinking about something.

"Everything can be important Dani, what is it.?" Quinn responded.

"Back in April 2011, there was this beat-up blue Honda Accord that was in the Faculty parking lot, parked close to me every day for a week. I turned it into Campus security because it didn't have a faculty parking sticker." Dani said.

"Do you remember exactly when?" Quinn inquired.

"End of the month. Dani answered.

"Have you seen it since?" Quinn asked.

"Yeah, it is occasionally in the parking lot at community sports league games. But I have no idea whose it is. Oh, and I have seen it when I am at Walmart." Dani stated. Dani was concentrating, which made her head hurt.

"Does campus have cameras in the lot?" Quinn asked.

"Just the still picture kind." Dani stated.

"Ok, I will get Loco on that." Quinn stated.

"Who is Loco?" Dani asked.

"He is the Nomad intel guy." Quinn stated. That made Dani smile. Quinn looked at her inquisitively. "What?"

"Any time I wonder how Happy knows something, he says he has a "guy". I am guessing he means Loco." Dani said smiling.

Quinn chuckled. "Probably. Especially if it was anything that involved a computer. Hap can barely operate his phone."

Dani laughed. "I have noticed."

"Dani, its late. Why don't you go to bed. We can pick it up in the morning," Quinn stated.

"Ok. Guest room is 2nd door on the left upstairs. Bathroom is across the hall. Coffee is," Dani was interrupted.

"Dani stop. I will figure it out. I am not your guest. I am your protector. Now off to bed with you." Quinn ordered.

Dani laughed. "Is giving orders a requirement if you are in an MC?"

"It is if you are the President. Besides, Happy would want you to be a good girl." Quinn said as he smiled.

"Ha, I am not falling for that one Quinn," Dani said. Then she looked at him. "Is he coming?" Dani asked. Her look was hopeful, but sad, and afraid to hear the answer.

"If I were a betting man, I would say yes. But I told him to not come unless he was ready to tell you how he felt. Told him you deserved to know." Quinn said as he smiled at her.

Dani nodded her understanding. "Well then, goodnight Quinn," Dani said as she headed up the stairs.

Quinn waited till she had made it up the stairs and shut the door. Then he headed out onto the patio for a smoke. He called Loco to see if he was in. Loco answered on the 3rd ring, he had been in Redding about 10 minutes. Quinn downloaded him on what Dani had told him. He told him he would get him Dani's list, but he wanted him to get right on those cameras on campus and see if there was film/pics from April 2011.

Quinn sat back in the chair, enjoying his cigarette. He better call his wife. It rang, once, twice, three times, and then he heard her voice, "Hello Honey." She said.

"Hi darlin, how are things in Reno?" Quinn asked.

"Interesting, but I am guessing you expected that?" Katherine asked.

"Oh? And why are they interesting?" Quinn asked as he smiled to himself.

"Happy is out on our patio, smoking. And don't act surprised." Katherine quipped.

"Well I wasn't for sure. I figured it was you or his mom he was headed for when he said he had an errand to run." Quinn replied.

"He's a mess. This guilt is killing him." Katherine said. "How is Dani?"

"She is resting. She is putting up a good front, but she is pretty rattled. Tell him we have a hint of a lead, and I am not sure it is us." Quinn said.

"He loves her you know," Katherine said.

"I know. I have known since he was in jail. You know he may have fucked this up." Quinn said.

"Nah, I know women. She loves him in her soul. She will take him in back, after she makes him grovel." Katherine said.

"What have you talked about?" Quinn asked.

"Not much, other than he is pretty sure he is not good enough for her. And he doesn't want to get her hurt." Katherine said.

"But he already hurt her." Quinn said.

Katherine laughed. "GET her hurt, not hurt her you goof. Like this bike thing." Katherine said. "You remember, like you were afraid me being associated with you would get me killed?"

Quinn nodded, he remembered that conversation. "Yeah I remember. Set him straight darlin. And then send him to Redding. I don't think he will want to miss out on this. I better get some rest darlin, I love you." Quinn said.

"Love you too big guy," Katherine said.

They hung up. Quinn headed back in the house. He grabbed his bag and headed upstairs, putting his bag in the guest room. He cleaned up in the bathroom and slipped on some clean jeans and shirt. Then he headed back downstairs. He couldn't protect her sleeping upstairs. He settled into the couch. He would doze, he knew that. But he was acutely aware he was on watch duty.

The next day.

Katherine had called. Happy had a list, and she was going to email it to Loco. She also told Quinn Happy was rolling for Redding. About noon Loco called. He had information. Quinn told Dani he was going to go meet Loco. Dani said why doesn't he just come over, or at least she wanted to go with Quinn.

"Look Dani. Hap wouldn't want that." He raised his hand when she started to protest. "The more distance we keep between you and the club the better. That's how it needs to be till we know more." Quinn explained.

"Yeah, but he isn't around to call the shots. He hasn't been around for almost 9 months. And he wasn't the one run off the road, I was. I deserve to know what is going on." Dani stated emphatically. He could see her getting visibly upset. This was bothering her way more than she had let on.

Quinn rubbed his face. She was right, but he couldn't let her go. "Look Dani, I get it. And I promise, I will tell you everything I can, but if this is about the club, the less you know the better off you will be if the cops somehow become involved." Quinn explained.

"And if this has nothing to do with the club it's my fight not y'alls ." Dani said flatly.

Quinn stepped right in front of her. "Dani, even if this turns out to be about you, it's not just your fight. You called me, and now, until this is over, you are my responsibility. Look, I know you are scared, but you have to trust me I will keep you safe, just like Happy would." Quinn rested his hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her.

She huffed at the comment about Happy keeping her safe. But then she nodded. "I just don't want to be kept in the dark. I know you can't tell me everything if it is club related, but I need to know what, and why." Dani said. There was a single tear running down her cheek.

Quinn wiped the tear away. "Fair enough. Now I am going to go see Loco. You keep the doors locked and that gun ON YOU." Quinn ordered.

As Quinn turned to leave, Dani spoke softly, "Quinn?"

Quinn turned, looking at her, "Yeah Darlin,"

"Don't tell Happy I am scared. I don't want him to come just because he heard I was scared and crying. I promise I will get it together." Dani said.

Quinn smiled. "I didn't see anything Darlin. I'll be back."

Quinn was sitting in Loco's motel room. Loco had been a busy boy. He had been over to Rusty's already. Loco and Rusty had done some positioning, and best guess, the right front bumper of the car that hit Dani should have a huge scrape mark on it.

Just as Loco and Quinn were getting started looking at the photos from campus, they heard a bike pull up outside. Quinn got up and looked out the window. He smirked. He stepped out the door, giving Hap a manly hug. "Heard you been talking to my old lady." Quinn said to him.

"Yeah. I am lucky she didn't beat the crap out of me for the shit I have been doing." Happy said.

"She has her ways. My guess, she 'talked' to you." Quinn stated.

"She do that to you a lot?" Happy asked.

"All the time. Its one of the big benefits of having a woman in your life." Quinn said.

"Let's talk about you and Dani in a bit. Loco has some shit you are going to want to see." Quinn motioned Happy toward the motel room

Loco had already hacked the University's security logs. He had found the camera stills from Dani's faculty lot for the week in April 2011. He had a picture of the car. Dani wasn't kidding, there was a huge dent in the car. Finally, after what must have been 300 pics, Loco had got a shot of the man getting into the car. He had printed the pic.

"We know who this is?" Quinn asked.

"Not for sure. But the car is registered to a Jose Ramirez." Loco stated.

"Mayans?" Happy inquired as he looked at the photo.

"No link so far. Zoomed in as much as I could. Doesn't seem to have the usual ink for a Mayan." Loco said.

"What else do you know about him?" Quinn asked.

"So far not much. He's married. He has one bank account. It appears he gets a weekly direct deposit from a job." Loco stated.

"Where does he work?" Happy inquired.

"Jacobson construction." Loco replied.

"Anything else?" Quinn asked.

"Yeah, Quinn, I don't think this is us. This shit is white collar. These are suburb people." Loco stated.

"Yeah, I am seeing that. Keep digging. Let me know what you find." Quinn said as he stood up to leave.

"I am going to go talk to Dani about this." Quinn said. "Call me when you know more."

Happy stepped out with Quinn, heading to his bike. "Where are you going?" Quinn asked.

"I am coming with you," Happy said flatly.

"Ok, but you aren't coming in till I have talked to her. We need information from her. And Hap, she is scared. She is trying real hard to not show it, but this is really bothering her. If you aren't here to stay, you need to just leave her alone." Quinn lectured.

"I know. Your wife said the same thing. I am not going anywhere, but to her." Happy said.

Quinn smiled. "Alright. You wait outside till I have talked with her." Quinn said as he started his bike. He and Happy headed for Dani's.

Quinn pulled up, opening the garage door. Dani had given him an opener. He and Happy pulled into the garage and closed the door. Happy waited in the garage as Quinn walked into the house. Dani was asleep on the couch. He had heard her upstairs last night, up and down. He wanted to let her sleep, but he needed some information from her.

He walked over to the couch and touched her shoulder. "Dani wake up." Quinn said softly.

Dani stirred and then sat up. "Hey Quinn, when did you get here?" she asked.

"Just walked in. Got some info. Want to go over it with you." Quinn answered.

"What do you have?" Dani asked.

"Loco dug up the security photos. Is this the car you were talking? Quinn asked as he handed Dani the photo of the car.

"Yeah that's it." Dani said as she looked at the photo. "Do you know who owns it?" Dani asked.

"Do you know a guy named Jose Ramirez?" Quinn asked.

"Not that I know of." Dani said after thinking a bit.

"Does this guy look familiar?" Quinn asked as he handed her the picture of who they thought Jose was.

Dani pondered. "No, not that I can say. What do you know about him?"

"Not sure we know anything about him," he said, pointing to the picture. "But we know somethings about Jose."

"Well, what do you know, maybe that will help," Dani asked.

"He is married. Gets a weekly paycheck. Works for Jacobson Construction."

"Jacobson Construction?" Dani asked.

"Yeah, that mean something to you?" Quinn asked. His interest peaked suddenly.

"Yeah, but I am trying to think why." Dani said. Dani sat there. She had all the folders from all her "projects and volunteer work" on the coffee table.

She picked up the folders, looking through them. When she got to the Community Recreation Sports folder, she opened it, paging through items. Her eyes got wide as she saw it on the page in front of her.

Quinn saw her eyes. "What do you have Dani?" he asked.

"I don't know if I have anything, but I have an email from someone else at Jacobson." Dani said.

"Who?" Quinn asked, taking the printed email from Dani.

"The owner." Dani said flatly.

Quinn read the email. It was a doozy. Whoever this man was he was ranting and raving at Dani about how he was going over Dani's head and he WOULD get to watch his daughter's games, and that he would show Dani that no one messed with him without paying.

"What did you do to this Andrew Jacobson?" Quinn asked.

"I banned him from Rec Soccer for 2 weeks because he came on the field to yell at a referee. It caused him to miss a game where supposedly his daughter was being scouted. The latest is I have a person assigned to his kid's games. If he gets out of line at all he is out. We are forcing him to sit 50 feet from the field."

"How long has this guy been threatening you?" Quinn asked.

"As far as I am concerned he hasn't threatened me. Quinn look. This guy is like, 5'9", maybe 240 lbs. He is living out his dreams of being a professional athlete through his children. He is a dick." Dani said.

"I am sure he is. But he also is a connection to you and the guy with the blue Accord. Now how long?"

Dani sighed. "He has been a pest since I started being the coordinator 4 years ago. But he has hit new levels the last year since his daughter entered Jr. High. And especially since I banned him the 2nd time and implemented the 3 strike rule."

"And how EXACTLY has he been a pest." Quinn said.

"He rants, and raves, acts like his shit doesn't stink. Wants special treatment. But he is all wind. I mean I know he was a big reason the last coordinator stepped down, but he has figured out I am not backing down one bit. I told him last time, if I had to take action again, his kids would be banned as well as him, permanently." Dani explained.

Quinn nodded but didn't say anything. He was thinking to himself, this guy had possibilities. He needed to get Loco his name. Get him digging into this guy. In the meantime, he didn't want to alarm Dani too much. "Ok darlin, this is all good. Not much we can do till it's dark, and truthfully, I doubt this Jose will try anything during the day."

Dani nodded. "So once its dark you are going to 'talk' to Jose."

"Something like that." Quinn said.

"So what do I do?" Dani asked.

"Just sit tight. And…" Quinn said, pausing.

"What is it Quinn?" Dani asked.

"Hap is here. He wants to see you. I told him it was up to you." Quinn said.

"Where is he?" Dani asked. She was wringing her hands Quinn noticed.

"In your garage, I told him he had to wait till you said it was ok. Look, it is up to you…" Quinn started to say. He didn't even get the sentence finished before Dani was up off the couch. She bolted toward the door to the garage and flung it open.

Happy's head jerked to the door when he heard it open. She was down the stairs into the garage and headed to him before he could react. He got about 3 steps toward her before she was right in front of him. Her arms wrapped around his torso and he could feel her holding on to him tightly.

He wrapped his arms around her and just held her to him. He kissed the top of her head as she clung to him.

They just stood there, but after a minute Happy could feel her trembling. 'Shit, she is crying,' he thought. "I got you little girl," Happy said softly. Happy bent down and scooped her up. Dani curled into him, her arms around his neck. Happy walked into the house, past Quinn and over to the couch. He set her on the couch.

Dani looked up at him. "Hap, please please don't leave," she said softly.

Happy caressed her cheek. "Not going anywhere. Just going to talk to Quinn for a minute, then I will be right back." He looked right at her till she nodded.

Happy walked over to Quinn. "What do you have?" Happy asked lowly.

"Dani gave me some info. Let Loco and I follow up on it. You handle your shit here. I will call and download you." Quinn said.

Happy put his hand on Quinn's shoulder. Quinn looked at him. "Thanks. For looking after her when I was…"

"Being a dipshit. That is the phrase you are looking for," Quinn said as he smiled at his friend.

"Yeah, when I was that. I'll talk to you soon." Happy said.

As Quinn left, Happy walked back over to the couch. He sat down and pulled Dani into his lap. He just held her. She was curled up against him, her head on his shoulder. That sat like that for what must have been 5 minutes before either one of them moved.

Dani looked up at him. When she did, Happy gently caressed her face. "I didn't want you to come because of something like this," Dani said.

"I didn't come because of this situation. Well, not just because of this situation," Happy clarified. "Dani, look. I need to tell you some things, and if you want to wait till this is all over, I understand. But I need you to know, I didn't come just because you are in trouble."

"Well, according to Quinn, we have nothing but time this afternoon," Dani said. "So, what is it you need to tell me." Dani said. She scooted up so she was looking him more in the eye.

"I have been a dick. When you said those words to me, I didn't know how to react. And then, every time I thought about how I felt, all I saw was that blood. Streaked across your face from my hand as you patched me up." Happy stroked her cheek at that spot. His voice got softer. "How I had brought danger to your door. It was all I saw when I thought about what you said, so I just didn't think about it. My answer became to ignore it. All I could think was how much you would be in danger. I have seen old ladies be attacked, even killed for their association." Happy said.

"You mean like my current situation," Dani replied. Happy nodded.

"But mostly, I was afraid of 2 things. That I couldn't love you like you deserved, and that I didn't deserve your love." Happy said softly.

"You mean like I was going to make you give up the "others"?" Dani asked.

"Truth, I hadn't been fucking anyone but you for about 6 months. Since I got out of Jail. Being faithful wasn't my worry. Being worthy was. I wasn't sure I was worth loving." Happy said.

"And what changed your mind?" Dani asked.

"Well your visit made me think about it finally. And… Well…. Quinn's old lady had a long talk with me." Happy said.

"Quinn has a wife?" Dani exclaimed.

"Yep. And she is fierce, and smart, and I think she wanted to beat me senseless. But she pointed some things out to me. Mostly about the fact I am able to love, and to be loved." Happy said.

Dani looked at him. "So, am I just supposed to forgive you for disappearing for almost 10 months?" Dani asked.

"No. According to Katherine, I have to be ok with whatever you need. If you need space, time, to beat on me, that is what you need." Happy said.

Dani sat and thought for a while. She looked at Happy, "I, can't really make that decision now. You know Quinn didn't come out and say it, but he thinks this is about me and not the club." Dani said.

Happy smiled at her intuitiveness. "So do I." Happy said.

"If it turns out that is true, then I am going to need to handle this before I can even think about where you and I go next." Dani said.

Happy gripped her chin, focusing her right on his face. "You are not handling this. At least not alone. I am not going anywhere." Happy said with force.

Dani nodded. "Till then, can you stay close? Unless there is something you need to do?" Dani asked.

"I am not going anywhere unless I have to," Happy said.

Dani laid her head against his shoulder. He was pretty sure he felt her relaxing. And then he felt her yawn into his chest.

"Quinn says you are not sleeping, that true?" Happy asked.

"Just a little bit here and there. I keep jolting awake." Dani said as she hid another yawn.

Happy stood up with Dani in his arms. He headed up the stairs. "Come on little girl, let's go lay down." Happy said.