A/N ((Very excited everyone's enjoying the story so far. Warning very graphic torture mentioned. Rated for swearing and tearjerker moments. Season 5 Spoilers mentioned in this chapter. Enjoy everybody! P.S Happy is the winner for the romantic pairing.))
Head bowed she stared down blindly.
Time no longer held meaning, purpose.
In the beginning there was only the deafening sound of her screams so loud they'd had to turn on the stereo again the trio of men arguing over which station to play. Even as Nora used every ounce of will to crawl on her belly towards the door, palms smearing blood as she pulled herself forward an inch at a time. A scream of wretched desperation escaping her, clenched teeth stained crimson as she's drug backwards. Pleas and shouts of mercy crumbling away to unintelligible sounds as she realizes there were worse things than the pain of the steel blades.
More than one way to try to strip away someone's will.
Their humanity.
Side to side she swayed painting a grisly portrait.
Fight or flight, she'd been denied both. The extension cord wrapped haphazardly around the wrists had been looped through the base of the living rooms ceiling fan. They'd been confident it would hold her weight. Blood dripping down from her arms it had begun to pool beneath her feet, the tips of her toes scraping ever so slightly dragging through the red.
The crippling fear that had once been mercury in her veins had fallen away.
One hand greased in blood slipped a millimeter at a time from the cords grasp, the prickling sensation of the sleeping limb a distant echo. Chin against her chest she counts the pairs of shoes walking past her line of vision anything to hold on to her sanity, something simple, easy to understand. A pair of green and black shoes appears and Nora knows their owner well, they've become quite close in these long arduous hours. But she looks past him and beyond the blinking light of the video camera. He's cursing in her face, spittle hitting her cheeks as he shouts furious that she's ignoring him.
It's then that she hears it, the deep smoky rasp of his voice.
"Nora…Baby your dying."
Calm settling deep inside Nora's mind, the hopelessness radiating through her bones and there is no more pain. No more fear. Lifting her head she finds him so close she imagines she can smell his cigarettes. There is a fleeting second she wonders why the man screaming can't see him when she realizes he is not truly there. This is the beginning of the end.
Lowering her head she watches with half attention as the blood drips in fat droplets slower now.
"Hey, look at me!" He shouts.
With a shuddering breath Nora somehow finds the words.
"I'm so tired David."
Eyelids fluttering she can see the patches on his Cut they fade in and out of focus.
"I don't give a shit if you're tired."
Nora wants to listen to Happy, to believe he is truly there.
The man standing in front of her turns to his companion who's walking towards the kitchen.
"This bitch is done Jacob…mumbling crazyass shit. Fuck this, Pope left an hour ago let's wrap this shit up and get the hell outta here. We got drop offs to do still."
Jacob who opens the refrigerator helps himself to the fourth beer of the evening.
"Fine, cut her down. I'm starving anyway, skinny little bitch doesn't have any food in this place. Don't forget the damn camera."
Out of her peripheral Nora can see him walk to the tripod turning off the camcorder. Breaking down the equipment and placing it back inside the duffel bag near the door. The phantom of Happy watches them with a rapacious gaze hand gripped firmly on the handle of the large knife attached to his belt. Jacob finishes the last swallow of beer, grabbing the bag he heads out the front leaving the two of them alone. The door swinging shut but not quite closed. Happy looks at Nora, his eyes indicating the knife on the floor the handle slick with her blood.
"You're MY girl... You show that motherfucker what happens when he touches what's mine. You wait baby, wait for it."
Beneath it all Nora is exhausted, every breath is harder than the last each one shallower, weaker than the first. Closing her eyes as the man cuts her down her body drops to the floor with a hard thud. No more important than a bag of trash he gives her not a second thought turning away to balance his foot atop the arm of the sofa groaning as he wipes at something on his pant leg, irritated.
With his back turned Nora's hand moves agonizingly slow, reaching for the fallen knife. It feels as if she is moving through quicksand. Wrapping trembling fingers around the handle she looks one last time towards Happy. Dark eyes shining he gives a nod.
"Now…Do it now!" he growls.
She doesn't question where this last ounce of strength comes from. If she is going to die it will not be quietly. It will not be clean. It will not be to the satisfaction of one man's greed and pursuit for revenge. As he turns around Nora slams the blade into the center of his chest with shocking ferocity and there is no one more surprised than he. The flood gates open then, rage filling her. How dare they torture her, measure her life's worth. They are no one to judge her. Both hands around the hilt she plunges it down again and again until the blade is bent with the sheer force of her anger. Even then she cannot stop voice ragged as she straddles him
It is only when she is ripped off his lifeless form that she stops, the world fading blistering around the edges into a white endless haze.
There is no more pain.
There is no more fear.
There is only peace.
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Charming California, forty eight hours later.
Jax Teller sat motionless at the head of the table eyes fixated on the screen of the laptop. A package containing a single DVD had arrived from Oakland yesterday morning to the garage. Amongst the chaos of staging Clay's arrest, of failing to keep his wife from becoming an accessory to murder this had been overlooked. Gemma had opened it by mistake. Leaning against the table her back to the screen she refused to watch it again. No matter what she had endured in her life, what was on that DVD was unimaginable.
"Jax…Jackson that's Tig's little girl. That's our Nora."
Looking out through the narrow window Jax could see Tig sitting near the pool table, the white pit bull lying at his feet as he carried on a conversation to Phil beside him. If he thought it were possible he would beg God to give Pope back, he would sign a deal with the devil if it meant this never happened. Without turning to his mother he chose his words carefully.
"This is dated two days ago. I need to find out if she's alive Mom, Jesus Christ I have to tell Tig." He exclaimed.
Gemma uncrossed her arms.
"You can't expect her to still be alive Jax. Not after what those god damn monsters did."
Frustrated he shook his head voice raising.
"And what if she is huh? Huh! After everything we've been through I can't just tell Tig she's dead. We're responsible for what happened."
Rising from his seat Jax steeled himself for the conversation he was about to have, ignoring his mothers words he knew this was right decision. Running a hand down his face he didn't wait for the two men to finish their conversation.
"Hey man, I need to talk to you…now."
Looking up Tig raised a brow pushing away from his post.
"Sure, what's going on?"
Waving him towards Church, Jax closed the door behind them nudging his head towards the laptop. Looking between his President and Gemma Teller, Tig felt a strange sense of dread. Something he was rather unaccustomed to despite recent events.
"Do you know where Nora is…Where she lives now?"
The former Sergeant-At-Arms stopped short he heard the words Jax was speaking but it was the pale sickened expression on Gemma's face that made him pause.
"Uh yeah…She lives in Glendale, an hour from here. Why."
Jax pointed towards the laptop.
"This arrived two days ago…"
The Son's president knew there was nothing he could do or say to prepare his Brother for what he was about to see. Knowing they couldn't waste another second he forced himself to press play.
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The moment they descended on the property chaos ensued ten against two, tension thick enough to suffocate the feuding group. Hands held high Jax frantically attempted to reason with the tall Hispanic man with tattoo's decorating his face as he uses all of his strength to stand between Tig and the barrel of a gun.
"Whoa whoa! Listen I told you we're not here for a fight…We just want to find Nora."
Frankie is seconds from pulling the trigger.
"You roll up here wearing Cuts and I'm supposed to believe you're her friends?" He said angrily pointing towards the house, doubt heavy in his voice.
Tig isn't listening to this bullshit anymore, he's had enough.
"She's my fucking daughter asshole, we're going inside. I don't give a shit what you believe."
A woman's voice hollers above the verbal fight, halting the commotion.
"Let them go inside Frankie, this is horrible enough without you making it worse."
Turning to look at his Rachel he counts to three willing his body to calm down. His sister is right, there's no sense in starting a fight in front of Nora's house. The bikers wanted inside the house then fine, he wasn't going to stop them. Lowering the gun he clicks the safety back on eyes never leaving the blondes. The moment this happens Tig is shoving through the crowd and up the steps vanishing inside.
Jax remains where he is, strangely lost.
Rachel who stands a few feet away from the pair watches the others disperse before reaching out touch Jax's sleeve.
"He's really Nora's dad?" She questioned concerned.
He gave a subtle nod.
"She's his God Daughter..."
Pushing her bangs out of her eyes Rachel bit her lip, tears pricking her eyes.
"You have to believe us, there was nothing we could do…not if we didn't want the same thing happening to us. We could hear her…hear her screaming."
Squeezing his eyes shut Jax pulled away from her touch disgusted with what he was hearing. To know they stood outside just listening was too much. He understood self-preservation, but it didn't mean he had to like it. Swallowing the lump in her throat Rachel tried to push past her own guilt.
"When they left I called the cops…they thought it was home invasion gone wrong. They would have taken her to Mercy Medical I don't know if she survived they won't tell us we're not family. "
Exhaling a heavy breath Jax turned away from the young woman and towards the house. One step at a time, they'd find the answers they needed. It wasn't until he stood inside the living room that he realized just how little he knew his friend. Her little corner of the world was a mystery to him, the things that made up Nora's life scattered in bits and pieces around him. The last place she'd felt safe had been turned into her own personal slice of hell on earth all because of them, because of Damon Pope. Moving towards the kitchen his eyes were drawn up to the electrical cord hanging from the ceiling fan.
The stench in the house was almost intolerable, the soles of his leather boots sticking to oak floors. Unfortunately there was no way to avoid the drying mess, the particularly large pooling of blood causing the Son to think twice. The woman outside had said the police thought it was a home invasion gone horribly wrong. That would explain why there so much carnage. A woman of Nora's stature couldn't have made all this. They had to of taken more than one body. Taking a cautious step backwards the faint crunching noise underfoot made Jax tense. Looking down he saw he'd stepped on something, a piece of paper perhaps. Kneeling down he found it was a photograph.
It was a photograph of Nora and Tig. Flipping over the picture Jax read Nora's neat cursive letters scrawled across the back.
"Nora Jean and Tig 2009"
The sickening feeling swelled.
He didn't need to look far to find his Brother. Tig was sitting on the bed in the master bedroom. A cell phone held in hand.
"She called Haps prepay…That night she called him, had to be minutes before they showed up." He said voice thin, oddly clipped.
Jax listened to his friend taking in the rooms surroundings, articles of clothing strewn about. Tucking the picture inside his Cut he knew he had to take control.
"Neighbors said they saw an Ambulance take Nora…She's at Mercy Medical we need to go Tig…There's nothing we can do here now."
It didn't take much convincing to make Tig follow him outside. Both men didn't need much convincing at all.
The entire day was becoming an uphill battle, but the moment the head nurse saw Tig's face as he did his best to explain did the calm in the storm become visible. She could tell them what they urgently needed to hear. She was alive. In had been in surgery all day and until she saw an updated status on her condition there wasn't anything more she could tell the two men. Three hours later and no news, struggling to make himself more comfortable Jax realized an obvious fact.
"Fuck we have to tell Hap." He drawled out.
Tig's blue eyes narrowed.
"The fuck we do…He hasn't spoken to her in two years and the one time she reaches out he doesn't say shit to anyone."
That was truth, but the reality was still so convoluted.
"We don't know what was said Tig…"
An approaching doctor in dark green scrubs stopped him mid sentence. Both men rising to their feet as he stopped between them folder in hand the surgeon looked exhausted.
"Excuse me, your Nora Rawlins family?"
Stepping up Tig nodded. "Yeah, I'm her dad…Is she okay, can we see her?" He asked rambling.
The doctor raised a hand.
"I have to warn you gentlemen that she's suffered a great deal of trauma. She just finished her second eight-hour surgery to close up damage to her organs. There's a good 50/50 combination of internal and external harm. It's a miracle she's even alive. We counted an upwards of 14 stab wounds some superficial others not so much…that's not counting the defensive wounds on her palms. Let us get her back in her room and I can let you in. She's sedated so I apologize in advance you won't be able to speak to her until tomorrow."
It would be the longest hour of Tig's life each minute longer than the last until they were allowed inside. Hovering near the bed he looked down at the small fragile form in the bed. Swallowed up by blankets and wires was his Nora. Only it didn't look like the young woman he remembered, her gently freckled complexion marred by deep nearly black purplish bruising. Forcing himself to move closer Tig was able to see her more clearly. A nurse checking on the monitors glanced between Tig and Jax, taking note of their attire. Looking to Jax she spoke softly.
"Excuse me are you David? She's was asking for someone named David when they brought her in."
He shook his head.
"No Ma'am…that's a friend of hers. He couldn't come with us today."
Nodding in understanding the Nurse turned back to Nora's still form. Adjusting the breathing tube she excused herself.
"Your more than welcome to stay past visiting hour's gentlemen…She shouldn't have to be alone."
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By mid morning they'd removed the breathing tube, and yet Tig remained by the bedside his head resting against the bed barely touching her side. His hands curled around hers. Jax paced the hallway slowly, biding their time as he spoke to the others over the phone relaying what information he could. It was just as he drew out of sight that Tig felt the tell-tale sensation of delicate fingers combing through his hair just along the crown on his head. Lifting his head he found Nora's watching him, her hazel eyes clear, relieved. Leaning down he kissed her hands careful of the IV, the words catching in his throat.
"Oh baby I'm so sorry…"
Hesitantly Nora reached out the drugs making her movements sluggish and weak. She touched the edges of his face. It was then that Tig realized she was making sure he was real. There was no resentment, no blame from his God Daughter, only relief. Closing her eyes Nora relaxed into the hospital bed allowing the morphine to pull her back towards sleep. Now she had hope.
