A/N: I do not own SOA, I just own my OCs. Picking up where we left off, Gia will be in the hospital. For the next flashback chapter, please comment what you would like to see of their relationship in the chapter before I get into the seasons of SOA. Thank you.
Chapter 3- I'm Torn, Like a Sail in a Storm
Silence filled the room. Tig came over to the side of the bed and looked down at the sleeping girl. Gia looked over at him and sighed. She wasn't sure how this was going to go. She knew there would be a lot of questions, she knew she would have to give them answers. Tig looked at Gia, "Why didn't you tell us?"
"I thought about it, but I knew it would not have changed anything. The only other person who knew was Juice. I told him when Jax let me go visit him," She said moving hair out of her daughter's face, "I needed him to know that the choices I was making were not to save me. That I would never give him up to save me. But we both would give up everything for Aleena."
Gia looked down at her daughter and smiled. Aleena had brought her joy after her world had been ripped from her. Juan had been everything to her. Her light, her life, her world. As she was his. They worked, clicked, fit together so perfectly that when he died, she felt her soul being ripped apart. The light in everything went dark. Life didn't feel like it could go on. Her other half was gone. She was only half of a whole. But when she finally saw Aleena for the first time, she was whole again. It was like she felt Juan there in the room with her. She swore she could hear him speaking to her. He was letting her know that he had never left. That no matter what he was by her side, protecting her and now little Aleena. Aleena had made all the light come back. Made the world seem beautiful again.
"She looks like him." Gia heard a voice say and she looked up and nodded. She didn't know what to say back. She looked back down at Aleena and smiled, "My little piece of him. The light of my whole world."
Chibs came over to the side of the bed and took Gia's hand. They stood there in silence. This was a lot to take in for everyone. The last time they had seen Gia she had buried the last of her family, the last of the people she had been close to. She was alone as they watched from a distance protecting her one last time. A week later, Quinn had gone to check in on her and she was gone. They had tried to track her down but didn't have any luck. She didn't want to be found. Some days they feared the worst. They feared that she was dead. That she had gone somewhere and killed herself. It didn't seem like a far-off fear. She had lost everything. Juan, Gemma, Jax, even the club. They had turned their backs on her when they learned she was protecting a rat. Her last weeks in Charming had been filled with misery. She was ripped away from the man she loved, and she always had a patch with her, watching her every move. Then the ultimate punishment for her betrayal came. She had to look the man who was going to kill her husband in the eye and let him know that Jax said it was time. Juice needed to die.
Shortly after Gia had received a call saying that Juice was dead. The scream that pierced through the clubhouse could shatter glass. When Tig and Rat found her on her knees, rocking back and forth, saying that she was sorry, they knew that the Gia they knew was gone. Her eyes held no light when she looked up at them. She was white as a ghost, like she was already dead. She couldn't move. She just stayed on the floor. She just stared. Sometime later she spoke, "He's…. he's gone." Gia whispered. She shook her head, "I killed him. I did this. I killed him. It's all my fault."
Tig and Rat looked at her. They knew that what she was saying was a lie. Juice had ratted and Jax had his sentence carried out. Gia was the pawn. She was used because her brother wanted to punish her. Jax had gone insane. Punishing his sister was just part of it. In the end though, Gia said goodbye to him. She brought herself to forgive him before he died. He was now giving up his life to protect her. He said that he was sorry for everything. That her staying with the club was for her own protection. She knew this, of her. Not to say that one or two of them wanted to make her life hell. Both were standing in the room right now. But that would be for another time. The time for healing would be later.
Wendy then came back into the room, "I'm going to take Aleena home. Let her get some sleep somewhere that is not a hospital bed."
"Thank you, Wendy. Please let her know that I love her." Gia said watching as Tig picked up Aleena and handed her to Wendy.
Wendy looked around, "You sure you're going to be okay here?"
Gia looked around, "I don't think they are going to kill me in my sleep. So, I think I'm going to be alright." She said smiling at Wendy, "I mean if they do, it would be a dick move."
Wendy took one last look at the guys and walked out. Gia let out a sigh. She shifted a little trying to make herself comfortable again. Though she had loved having her daughter with her, she was now feeling the pain come back. She had a broken right arm, two fingers broken on her left hand, and her nose had been reset. She was surprised that no one had commented on how she looked. Maybe they just didn't want to scare Aleena or maybe they had just been to stunned at the revelation that Gia, the Princess of SAMCRO had a daughter. A daughter that looked exactly like their excommunicated brother. A daughter that was going to be a constant reminder that Juice was a person, a husband, and a friend to all of them. Gia knew that they had been devastated when they found out that Juice had ratted. She had been too, but she needed him alive. She needed him with her. She had been the one to tell him to leave and that when he had found somewhere to go, she would come join him. She would not stay in Charming if she could not be with Juice. To hell with the club. To hell with her twisted family. All they knew how to do was hurt each other.
Gia felt Chibs put a hand on her shoulder, "It's good to have ye back, lass. We've missed you. Not the same without Hurricane Gia running around." He said and the guys mumbled that they agreed.
Gia sighed, "You sure about that? I wasn't very welcome before I left."
"Lass, we all made mistakes and that was one of ours. We won't do it again." Chibs said trying to let her know that they were sorry.
"How about we talk about all of this when I get out of here? There is a lot to hash out. For right now, I forgive you. It was a fucked-up time for everyone. I just hope that all of you can forgive me for what I did as well." She said before closing her eyes and grimacing.
The pain was starting to really affect her. She could feel it everywhere. She pushed the button that was delivering her pain meds through an IV. The sensation of pain slowly dissipating was great. It was exactly what she needed.
"Do you need us to leave?" Tig asked.
"I assume if I say yes, one of you is going to stay to watch over me. Assuming the rules haven't changed in the five years I've been gone.' She said chuckling.
"You know it, lass. You always get a patch by your side. We may have gone legit but there are still some enemies out there lurking." Chibs said smiling down at her.
"Well can I at least pick who stays?" Gia asked smiling at the men in the room.
"I was going to leave Quinn here with you, if that is okay?"
Gia looked over at Quinn. Quinn whose betrayal she had taken the hardest. The look her gave her when he found out about her helping Juice said it all. He was furious. He hated her. She was dead to him. Quinn, her once lover. The one everyone had thought that she would end up with. Her protector always. Gia nodded, "I guess that will be alright but only if he wants to stay."
Chibs looked over at Quinn, "It's up to ye. If you want to stay, stay. If not, Rat can stay. Gia is giving ye the choice."
Quinn nodded, "I'll stay." Was all he said.
The guys came around to say their goodbyes to Gia. They said that they would be back tomorrow. Gia made Chibs promise to bring her breakfast from the diner. Gia then yelled out the door at the prospect and Quinn laughed, "It's been a while since you've tormented a prospect. Think you've still got it in you?"
"Rane Quinn, I am still Gia Teller-Ortiz, I can still make the life of a prospect a living hell. It's like riding a bike. You never forget how." She said looking up at his face. She would see that slight flash of anger when she mentioned her last name. She had never changed it. It was like a safety net for her. With it she could feel like she still had him with her.
Quinn pulled up a chair and sat by her bedside. The chair looked so small under him. She missed Quinn. She missed just sitting with him and feeling safe. There was slight apprehension in her eyes when he got close. She wanted it to feel like they were still friends but what they had done to each other was hanging in the room. The betrayal, the falling out, everything. Gia turned her gaze to the wall ahead of her. She could feel Quinn's eyes on her. She could feel them assessing her. She had been given this look before when Jax told him not to let her go anywhere. She had been imprisoned in her own home, or what should have felt like home. Now though, he was assessing to look over her injuries, "What happened? How did you crash?"
"I wasn't paying attention. I was just going along thinking of all the memories I have here, and I ran the light. It was stupid." She said looking over at her arm.
Quinn nodded. He was never one to say much. Gia was okay with that. She knew him well enough to read the slight changes on his face and the way he looked at things. He was worried about her. She could see it in her eyes. He sat, his hulking presence leaning towards her to protect her. She wanted this to be a good thing for her. To have new memories of Quinn but when she turned to look at him all she saw was the angry Quinn who made sure that she, the traitor stayed where she was. The hate in his eyes way back when haunted her. When she was not having nightmares about Juice, she was having nightmares about those eyes, about Quinn killing her. She had no doubt if ordered to, that he would do it. Traitors died, that was the club rule. She wouldn't have even required a Mayhem vote. It would have just been a quick bullet to the head and a ditch on the side of the road. She would have meant nothing. But death never came, only more pain. Only the constant reminder that she had been made the enemy.
Quinn silently reached for her hand and held it, "I'm not going to hurt you, Gia. You can stop looking at me like I am."
Gia nodded. She could still see those cold eyes that hated her. She wanted a new memory to hold on too. She studied his face and saw that his eyes were full of worry. They were not cold. They were warm. These were the eyes she remembered. The ones that looked at her like she was the best thing the world had been given. When he became a nomad, he and Gia had gone their separate ways. They would always be friends and he would always protect her but him being away all the time was not fair to her. T
There was a long silence before Quinn spoke, "I'm sorry, Gia."