Sons of Magnolia [4]
A sort of crossover of Sons of Anarchy and Fairy Tail
*Gajevy
*NSFW
*Not intended for younger users. Reader's discretion is advised.*
*May contain triggers. That whole show needs a trigger warning ha.
Summary: Gajeel is in a motorcycle club called Sons of Magnolia. Levy is his ex-girlfriend and together they share a young daughter. Levy is against bringing Melina to the club to see her father as there are many dangers being associated with it, but their romantic feelings for each other haven't changed. Gajeel soon gets caught up in a dispute between the club and a rival charter in an illegal gun trade, and the Sons prepare for a war where no one is safe.
Media: Every Part of Me - Godsmack
Wanted Dead or Alive - Bon Jovi
AN: Thank you for the reviews! I was not prepared for the onslaught of intense responses on tumblr. This was supposed to be just a small one-shot I had sitting in my computer for a while. But it blew up to more than that in a very short time. Thank you all who have read and replied - it has helped me in more ways than one.
-This chapter was hard to write. It fought me every step of the way. Hence the post about the redheaded stepchild.
Also. Please don't hate me for what you're about to read if you are a major SOA fan. I had forgotten about him and since I was mainly focused on Gajevy, I realized I should probably add him. I needed another character of this anyway.
Levy put her keys in her purse and checked to make sure the money envelop was still there from yesterday's bank visit. She glanced down at the child waiting beside her and held out her hand. "Come on, let's go."
With one hand clutching her stuffed horse to her chest, Melina took her mother's hand and the two of them strolled across the parking lot to the store for their weekly grocery trip. They passed an all-black motorcycle parked in the space near the front.
The afternoon sun was hot and it was a relief to step into the air-conditioned building. Sweat had accumulated and Levy could feel it under her clothing. It made her feel gross and sticky. She had to get the vehicle's AC running again. But that meant taking it to an auto shop and spending money she didn't have. She knew there was one that would do it for free, but then she'd have to go back to the club.
The thought began to make her anxious. She didn't want to be.
Pushing it out of her mind, Levy grabbed a shopping cart and put Melina in the basket so she didn't have to walk. Her list wasn't long. It was a get in and get out kind of day. The items at the top written in her rushed handwriting were things Melina needed, so they headed to those areas first.
"Cereal!" Melina cried, pointing to the colorful rows of boxes as they approached the aisle. Levy turned the cart into the aisle and frowned.
"Don't you want to eat something other than fruity pebbles?"
"No."
"Hot dogs?"
"No."
"What about spaghetti? You like noodles."
"Hmm," Melina hummed and then shook her head. She tossed the stuffed horse in the air and caught it. She smoothed down the furry mane.
She sighed.
Today wasn't a good day to try to persuade the young child into eating something else for a change. Maybe slipping in some fruit cups or some other lightly sweetened snack? Maybe Melina could be tricked into it somehow. However it happened, she'd have to think about it later.
The pair of them methodically made their way through. Levy hummed along with the country song playing on the store radio. All that was left was the produce by the registers. She wondered what Gajeel was doing. Where he was. From the phone call before he had left that night, it must have not been good news; he had seemed distracted when they cuddled before falling asleep.
It was another ten minutes before they made it to the last section. She parked the cart near a display of apples and began to look through the light green fruit pile for the ones she liked.
Part of her was glad she hadn't brought up the topic of dating again after she and Gajeel had gotten intimate. She wanted his mind clear, focused on her -and what could be- when she asked him if he would take her back. And then there was the morning. That had been bad timing as well. It was frustrating to try to get close to him, but she found she couldn't live without him now. How had she done that for two years?
Melina stretched her hand out to pick up a shiny red apple just outside the tip of her finger. The way she leaned, her foot came up and the balance threatened to dump her to the floor. Her stuffed horse dangled over the edge of the thick silver-wire cart along with her.
Levy was pulled out of her thoughts when Melina stood up in the basket and leaned towards the display.
"Melina, stop!" She cried.
She quickly grabbed the back of her daughter's shirt to keep her from falling out. Instinctively her hand tugged the girl backward and Melina fell into the basket, bouncing once as her bottom hit a few cans of soup.
"You can't do that!" Levy exclaimed in a hushed tone as she bent to face her child. Her heart beat wildly at what could have been a bad incident. If her nerves weren't already shot from the past days, they were now. "You could have fallen out and hurt yourself."
Tears formed in Melina's eyes as she rubbed her leg. "Are you mad?"
"No, I'm not mad at you. You just scared me, Melina."
Her daughter wiped her eye and looked around for her horse. It was on the floor. It must have fallen out when Levy pulled her back. She was about to round the cart to get it when someone beat her to it.
Levy automatically straightened to see who it was.
The hand belonged to a man. Tall, broad-shouldered, and blond. At first glance -aside from his hair color- the man reminded her of Gajeel. Even the vibe she got from him as he stood there looking at her reminded her a lot of her ex. Her guard was up in an instant.
There was a small, pleasant on his face as he looked from Levy to Melina. He held the stuffed toy out to her. "This belong to you?"
Melina wanted to take it from him, but she looked to her mother first. She knew it wasn't supposed to talk to strangers. Her mother nodded, and she took her toy back with a quick thank you.
The man turned his blue eyes towards Levy. He relaxed in an attempt to put the pretty woman at ease. In his arms were a few small items. "Didn't mean to scare ya," he said simply.
His eyes flickered to her left hand; there was no ring.
The bluenette couldn't decide if the man was a threat. Or from a club. Dressed in a navy blue hoodie, he wore no black cut like most members would wear out in public. His demeanor was calm and considerate. Laid back. No. Cocky. As if he knew nothing could touch him. Maybe he was an off-duty officer. Some of them acted as though they were above the law.
But then she knew most of the police officers who worked at the local department. This man standing before her she had never seen. She was unsure.
"Uh, it's ok," she replied, upbeat. She decided to be polite, as there were many in the store who could be witnesses if the man was trouble. With difficulty, she forced a neutral expression with a slight curve of her lips. "Thank you."
He could have ended with that. He could have let her go on her merry way without a backward glance. But he chose to stay planted in her way. "You lived in town long?"
The further question shocked her. She squeezed the plastic handle, wishing she had put Melina in the top seat instead of the basket with all of the items from her list. Her child was between them and she didn't like that. "W-why?" she stuttered.
"I recently moved into town. Don't know anybody," he said. A small sound escaped his mouth as it twisted in a small smile. He gestured to the space around him. "This is only my second trip here."
Levy tried to relax. It seemed that he was just being nice. He did, after all, pick up the toy. But there were a lot of wolves in sheep's clothing in the area because of the clubs. "It's a nice town. Everyone is friendly. There's a lot of help when you need it," she added. Her eyes dropped to her daughter.
The man nodded, noting that she didn't answer his question. He quickly glanced towards Melina before his gaze went back to the woman. Blue eyes discreetly scanned the way she filled out her jean shorts. There was no way that kid had come out of her, the young woman was slim and perfectly proportioned. His gaze traveled to her grey low-cut top and up to her layered cerulean locks pulled back with a yellow clip.
This unexpected pretty thing allured him.
Not wanting to make her uncomfortable, he took a step back, towards another fruit display. "Well, maybe I'll see you around."
"Yea," Levy lied, sweetly smiling until he turned.
The encounter shook her for some odd, unknown reason.
Though he was almost on the other side of the produce area, she wanted to leave. His presence had definitely made her uncomfortable. Listening to her gut in the past had saved her heartache. If it told her to be careful, she was going to heed.
"Can we go?" Melina's tiny voice cut in.
"Yes, sweetie. We can go."
She fought the urge to check over her shoulder, hoping never to see that man again.
Magnolia was a quiet town.
It wasn't exactly active and talkative. Its people were overly cautious. Maybe the location wasn't a good spot to lay down a club of his own. He had looked into Magnolia before he decided to check it out for himself. And he had liked what he saw. So much that he got a place of his own.
There was one small hitch.
A small charter already had run of the town, but as far as he could tell, they strived to live without trouble from the surrounding area's clubs. Club wars weren't likely to happen. The only way he and his eventual club would survive is if the others began to destroy each other.
They wouldn't find out about his own for a while, he mused. Especially given that there were only a few members at the moment. They were nomads, wanderers without a place to call "home". By choice or by force.
He guided the bike through the busy lot and parked it. It was a small grocery store. Just like the post office was small. And the hospital. And thankfully the police department.
Having started renting a place on the outskirts of town not much more than a week prior, Jax roughly knew the town's layout. He had yet to learn the side streets, but he could maneuver the main routes with ease.
Jax noticed that the civilians knew each other by sight as well as name. That could be of good use, but he had seen it fail and betray before. He'd have to play things out by ear and hope he found some information he could use to his advantage.
Knowledge was power. Power was knowledge.
Laying low, he sauntered through the store. It really was just for reconnaissance, but doing a mental list of things at home, he knew it would be stupid not to do some light shopping while he was there. It would also help him blend in a little better.
He tilted his head up to the high ceiling to read the aisle signs and found the toiletries. There he picked up some hand soap, a two-in-one shampoo and conditioner, and a razor. Looking at the rack, he was surprised to find that the most expensive razor was displayed in a plastic box. He shook his head. If someone was going to steal something, it had to be worth the jail time if one was caught.
A small razor was definitely not it.
Rounding the corner as he tried to find the checkout area, he glanced to his left. It was the produce section. He spied a tiny woman picking through the green apples. She had light blue hair and a shapely ass. More than enough to fit in one's hand, even he could tell from the distance. Her facial features were soft and attractive. She seemed young, in her early twenties. There was a small girl in the cart.
His lips lid up at one corner in an amused smile as he watched the girl observe the red apples next to the green ones. She reached her tiny hand out and then tried to climb the side of the metal basket to touch it. All of this and her pretty mother didn't notice.
He pursed his lips. He didn't want the girl to fall. Jax may have been nigh a felon, but he wasn't totally heartless. Should he say something? What if he frightened them both by accident as he attempted to be of assistance?
"Melina, stop!"
Jax relaxed a bit when he saw the situation was taken care of. The attractive little thing bent over to talk to her daughter, who was now seated in the cart. He fidgeted in place, knowing he needed to leave and pay for the items he intended to purchase. But eyes were glued to the seat of those shorts that was pointed at him.
Before he could stop himself, Jax found his feet had carried him the distance to them. Picking up the stuffed animal, he knew she was now aware of him. The woman's features were even more beautiful than he had first realized. His blue eyes darted to her hand. A light pink was painted on the nails and those long, slender finger also revealed something else. One in particular.
Her left ring finger was naked.
When asked directly, the blue-haired woman diverted into answering unasked questions.
That piqued Jax's interest. Because normally people assume whoever they meet in the daytime hours are going to be good people, in general. The townspeople were wary of local club members and knew to stay out of the way when they saw the black cuts. And though Jax did not wear one, this woman he had helped regarded him in alarm.
As though she was accustomed to a club and how it was run.
She was either a family member or fucking one of them. It was apparent she wasn't married; he knew men wanted their women marked in an effort to deter single males from wandering too close. If someone fucked the wrong woman -one without some symbol of a marriage bond- things could get ugly real fast.
Wars had been started and fought because of the fairer sex.
He was impressed with her intuition. Not only did she seem to 'guess' right about him, she was smart about it. Didn't hightail it out like some mule deer. The hot piece of ass actually stood her ground without making it own that she was alerted.
Jax could tell she was wanting to leave. The child was between them and of course, she would want to get the hell out. He bid her a good day and hoped to see her again. After a few seconds, he looked back at her as he kept walking.
Sexy and smart. She was definitely somebody he wanted to know. Personally.
Something didn't add up.
As he paced in front of the internal window acting as a barrier between himself and the rest of the building, Marshall frowned, deep in thought.
It wasn't right. The trade was supposed to be a quick, painless, and unobstructed deal. They had already planned it out, as the idea wasn't out of malice and it was for mutual gain on both sides, in more ways than one. It was akin to a peace treaty.
His charter was a larger one than that of the Sons. Clay had no reason to go back on his word, nor could Marshall see any reason the president would want to. The old man was all about profit. If there was none to be had, he wouldn't waste his time and the time of his men. That didn't mean he trusted him. It just meant that he understood him. How his mind functioned.
When he met with him, both had been a little on the fence about each other, given what had transpired. Marshall was inclined to believe his own over the word of an outsider. Though as he had listened to Clay, he realized something was wrong.
On his end.
Unlike him, the Sons' president had a family. That stepson and vice president of his had a young daughter and an old lady. And though it didn't matter to him, Marshall knew that family tried not to put other members of a blood relation in danger. Gajeel was supposed to have been there, but he was with his child and her mother, according to everyone in that club.
As he stood in the room where the Mayans did official business, he thought on all that had been said in both charters. He took a deep breath and slowly blew it out. What if he just took a quick look around? Nothing major, unless something major was found.
Because this recent deal-gone-bad was a shoe-in for a good relationship. There was no way in hell it could have happened without some shithead interfering. Since the whole thing was Clay's initial idea, Marshall felt the great need to be sure. To be right, and to ease his mind; there was a lot on it.
While most of his members were out, he slowly made his way through the halls that led to the back rooms that served as personal temporary sleeping quarters for the club members. All clubs had them in some ways or another, as space away from home life or other issues was essential.
He didn't know where to start. He knew he didn't fuck with it, as he had not been there. There had also been a lot of others accounted for during those nightly hours. That left the twelve that had gone.
Marshall's top lip curled in a grimace. A number greater than what was originally planned. What had his guys been thinking?
He started with the last room in the hall. With just a swift search around the room with his eyes, his feeling that someone was not telling him the whole truth grew. He didn't know why. His eyes landed on a picture of Luca with some of the others.
Luca had always been a spur of the moment kind of man. He constantly fought against rules and tried to undermine others. It was his personality. It got him into too much trouble. More than once he had had to be bailed out of jail.
Marshall's lip twisted again and he narrowed his eyes. He recalled a time where he had threatened Luca because of his antics. One more fuck up of extreme measures and they would have no choice but to force him to scrape off his club ink.
That or kill him.
Killing him would be letting him off easy. Scraping a tattoo was painful, a bad way to transfer out of a club. It was a dishonor that everyone would be able to see. One would never be able to tattoo the skin again. Especially he gave the order for the tattoo to be blocked in with black.
As much as he loved the man, Marshall had meant what he said; he would have to kick him out forever. He didn't have the heart to kill him as he could have easily done with any other of the newer members.
Luca's room was a little messy, clothing haphazardly thrown about. How did Luca ever find anything? Brown eyes flickered over the room to the wall beside the door. The desk was a little slanted away from the cedar paneling. It had been moved. How recently, Marshall didn't know.
Curiosity coupled with the dark thoughts brewing about his potential betraying club members, Marshall moved the desk further out into the room. A few random things had fallen down in between it and the wall, a pencil, a few cents. On the cedar panel, hidden under desk's surface, were embedded scratch marks.
His breath hitched when he realized there was a hidden compartment. He knew what those could look like, having made a few himself in his day. Quickly popping the panel out with his thumb in the indent carved into the wood, he removed it completely.
Peering into the shallow space within, he sucked in a breath at the same time that his heart sank. "That lying son of a bitch…"
A stack of bills two inches thick had been tossed in. The faces were intact, but the corners were folded over every which way and a few were torn. It was obvious the stack had been treated roughly and with no deference. From the years of experience with illegal dealing, he judged the amount from the size of the stack, and it had to have been at least twenty grand. The amount the Sons had been snubbed.
A deep rumbling growl echoed from his throat.
With a glance back at his parked bike, Gajeel made his way through the yard to the house. The darkening sky was turning a black navy and showed the barest greenish yellow line on the horizon. The heat had subsided and a cool gentle breeze was now in its place.
He wasn't sure exactly why he was in a good mood. The atmosphere maybe. The way the day had gone. He liked it. The past weeks had been rough.
They had met Marshall some days prior. He found that one of his members undercut them to keep the money for himself as well as sold some of the guns and mods under the table to make even more illegally gained cash.
Marshall had assured them that it was not his doing and that it would never again happen with any possible future deals. He gave back the money and then some to cover the cost of the mods already gone and sold.
Before the Mayan left the Sons' property, Clay had told Gajeel to keep the Sabers close and the Mayans even closer.
The kitchen light was on in Levy's house. He saw her facing the sink. A dish rack was on the left beside it filled with rinsed dishware. Not having blinds or curtains may be ok during the daylight, but at night she could be a show to any creeper.
Gajeel heard music playing in the house before he opened the front door. The smell of her familiar scented candles immediately comforted him. There was a kids movie on in the living room, but Melina was asleep on the area rug. Her pillow was propped up under half her body.
He quietly moved to the hall and rounded the corner. Levy had her hands in the soapy dishwater, singing along to the country song as she washed a plastic children's plate in the shape of a cartoon character. It wasn't his favorite type, but it was better than the rap music some of his club members liked.
His boots clicked on the hardwood. She gasped and sharply turned towards the sound.
Gajeel smiled and held up his hands. "Just me," he began.
"Ohh don't do that," Levy breathed. She returned her attention to the sink to wash a drinking glass with a contented smile.
He nonchalantly motioned towards the dark window behind her even though she couldn't see. "You should really get some blinds put in that window. I could see everything from outside."
"I know," she said. "The strings on the old one broke. I just haven't gotten another."
Gajeel stepped up to her and leaned his head over her shoulder. He could see down into her cleavage under the tank top. A large hand slipped into her back pocket laying flat against her. He murmured, "I don't want just anyone lookin' in at you."
She shivered at his breath on the side of her head. Her voice was low. "Then get me one."
He nodded in answer and then pointed at the sink. "How much ya got left?"
"Just a few more."
While she washed the remaining dishes, Levy snuck in a few glances at him. Her ex -or whatever he was now to her- was clearly in a good mood. The vibe was happy, upbeat. His red eyes were bright whenever she saw them. His mind was in a calm place.
"Gajeel," she said. She unplugged the drain and let the water run to clear out the dirty water. "Can I ask you something?"
"What?" He leaned his backside on the counter.
"W-what are we?"
He looked at her. His heart beat a little faster; that question was entirely unexpected. "What do you mean?"
"I-" she began, but found if she was to speak in that moment, she would just stutter. She took a breath, her eyes flickering to him. "I just don't know what we are."
"Exes, I do believe." His eyebrow rose. He hoped his voice didn't come across as rude. The last thing he wanted was to push her away. "Why?"
Levy dropped her gaze to push a strand of her hair behind her ear. Did he not feel what she felt? She fought the warm sensation tingling in her eyes. "Well, after that night, after you -we- put Melina to bed, and then the weeks since, I-"
Gajeel's felt his lips twitch. While she spoke, he watched the way her glossed lips moved and imagined them on his cock. It took him a second to realize it was a confession sweetly falling from those plump lips. She changed her mind. Being "exes" no longer held any appeal.
"Are you wanting to get back together?" He asked instead. He turned his body towards her.
"Yes."
He smiled.