Fire & Ice

Chapter 18- HELL WEEK (our version of Better Half)

By BG and Reaper

PART 3: THURSDAY Rock Bottom

When Jaci awoke in the morning, she pulled herself out of bed and rummaged through one of her bathroom cabinets. She had bought some expensive little soothing eye pads that were supposed to reduce puffiness and dark circles. Time to put these fuckers to the test! She took a shower and got dressed for the day. The house was quiet but she smelled coffee so someone had to be around. She walked into the kitchen to find BB sitting at the table.

He nodded at her. "Finally get some sleep?"

"Not much." She headed for the coffee pot. "How bout you? You hungover?"

BB shrugged. "Not really. I think I look better than you do."

She nodded and took in his attire. "Rockin' the Skynrd tee-shirt. I'd give anything to be in Sweet Home Alabama right about now."

BB set his mug of coffee down. "Ah darlin', can't change the facts just by changin' the geography."

She swallowed hard. "I need to talk to you."

"I don't like the sound of that." BB replied with a frown. "Does this have anything to do with Tig? Cause I don't want to even think about all that. And I ain't discussing Lightening-Bolt Head either. He leapfrogged to the head of my goddamn shit list."

"Doesn't have to do with them…well, not exactly."

"Shit…have a seat…let's hear it."

Jaci obliged and sat down, wrapping her hands around her coffee mug. She winced as she looked at her uncle; she spilled her guts about the Darby threats and her presented her idea to try and save all of those involved. After a few minutes of arguing, they headed to the hospital to check up on Vix and then to find Clay.

At 7am, the hospital was all quiet when BB and Jaci arrived.

"I'm gonna go check on Vix." Jaci announced to BB. He grumbled something about being in the waiting room with Roxy and Motor, as they parted ways.

BB found Roxy passed out in a chair and Motor seated a few feet away with his arms crossed across his chest. His stillness belied his attentiveness. He stood up as BB entered the room and greeted him with a nod and a half-hug.

"How it go last night?" BB asked.

"Been purty quiet. Rox mentioned something about IV alarms keepin' goin' off?" Motor held his hands up in defeat. "I'm no good with relayin' medical junk."

BB nodded towards Roxy. "How she holdin' up?"

"She's alright… said she needed to recharge her battery. You're suppose ta wake her up when you get here."

BB nodded. "I will when I 'get here'. First, you're gonna want to join me for some nicotine. I need to ask a favor of ya."

Jaci entered Vix's room to find that Juice had apparently either begged, borrowed or stolen a recliner and had pulled it up next to the bed. He was sitting in it staring at the TV, engaged in a one-sided conversation with the currently comatose Vix.

"Ok, so you know this hospital TV sucks ass and the only fucking channel on right now is PBS. And well, babe, I have another entry in our 'WTF? List'…. it is Riverdance.. I mean I just don't get it, I am trying to be totally open minded but all those people hoppin' up and down ... they all just look like they have to go to the bathroom or somethin'. And the music... I would call up and pledge money for them to stop playin' it."

Jaci smiled - a genuine smile - and cleared her throat, to announce herself. Juice looked up and nodded 'hey'.

She nodded back and walked over to the bed and looked at Vix. "So, how are things on the medical front?"

Juice pressed the button to turn the TV off and shrugged, "Fevers keep spiking, they had her covered in an ice blanket a while ago, took it off when the shivering kept causing the alarm on her IV to go off. Dr. Dickhead made last rounds. Sorta questioned my sanity for sitting here talkin' to her, but I just told him what we read on the internet 'bout how even in a medicine coma like this, she is supposed to be able to hear us. And that if she knows we are here for her it will make her fight to come back. You know ... that she won't give up." Juice shrugged. "He just rolled his eyes, wrote in her chart and left. He thinks I am a complete retard."

Jaci nodded. "I agree with that."

Juice studied her. "You think I am a retard too?"

Jaci smiled. "Um, NO! I completely agree that talkin' to her, letting her know we are here... that stuff will work out. She needs that. Vix is a scrappy girl but everyone can use a bit of back up."

Juice nodded. "So is your uncle here?"

"Yeah."

"I guess he'll want to come in and see her, so I'm gonna go hit up the 3rd floor vending machine. The selection's better." He stood up to leave the room.

Jaci put her hand out to stop him. "You know, I am… I just want to say…" She paused to get her thoughts just right. "I'm glad Vix has you in her corner. And being completely honest, I totally under-estimated you and I'm sorry." She looked up and noted his confusion. "Yeah, um... I really just thought you were a good-natured guy who took a shine to my bat-ass crazy sister - moth to a flame or whatever. But as fucked up as our time in Charming has been - it stood to show that you really care about her. And I just wanted to you to know that I am happy that she has you."

Juice nodded. "I do care, a lot." He glanced over at the bed but quickly looked away. "I… I may never know why... and I really, don't need to know why, I just know that I need to care. There is just…from like the word go Vix has had this effect on me – she's become more important than oxygen to me and um all of this shit, the drama - it's a test. Like of how much I love her and I'm gonna pass it." He nodded at Jaci and then walked out of the room, leaving Jaci more than a bit stunned.

Jaci shook her head, thinking underestimated maybe a damn understatement. She looked down at her sister. "And you….damn you would be so pissed if you could see how your hair looks right now. You're my baby sister - so I am fixin' to make everything right. You may be real mad at me when you wake up but my intentions are good ok? So remember that." Jaci choked back tears. "And I'm always gonna look out for you – even if I am not actually around to do it. But you know, I'm at ease with that… because you've got Juice now and that boy's got your back six ways to Sunday, so you'll be ok. Just hurry up and get better ok?" She bent down and kissed Vix's forehead. "I love you, baby girl." She headed out to find BB.

Jaci sat in her car, waiting for Tig to answer her call. BB stood outside the car smoking. Tig finally picked up. She didn't beat around the bush. Her nerves were too fried to try and make idle chit chat. She told him they needed to talk, in person as soon as possible and Clay needed to be in attendance.

Tig asked, "That bad, huh? You ok?"

A sad laugh escaped from her lips. "Not really."

Goddamnit. Did she have to be so cryptic? "Sit tight, I'll call you back with a meet place."

He called back a few minutes later and told her to go to Clay's house. Other than the clubhouse, it was a verified 'bug free' zone. And it wouldn't raise any suspicions if Jaci and BB went there together; Feds would just think they were just sharing hospital news.

Jaci and BB arrived at Clay's a half hour later. The first thing Clay noticed was that BB looked pissed and Jaci looked scared. Neither were good signs.

Tig stood with Jaci in the living room while Clay and BB grabbed some beers from the kitchen. He stared at her with concern. She looked horrible, a complete 180 from how she had looked when he left her yesterday- pale skin, red rimmed eyes, lips were tattered from being bit, her trademark nervous tick. He stood close to her for a moment, his hand at the small of her back. "You ok?" he whispered in her ear as she leaned into him.

She shook her head and sighed. "Ok -is officially a foreign concept. We had to put Vix on a ventilator and then medically induce paralysis last night. Juice and BB got into it." She waved her hands about, "It wasn't pretty."

"Shit." Tig whispered.

Jaci glanced over her shoulder suddenly to make sure they were alone and then placed her hand on his chest. She put her head against his shoulder and whispered. "That's not why I'm here though. I've fucked some stuff up but I'm going to fix it. I'm trying to make things right, ok? No matter what gets said here, I'm trying to help. I think it's the best thing."

Tig frowned and recoiled from her slightly. "What did you do?" Tig whispered. "Look at me."

She stared at him fiercely, eyes filling with tears. He was confused by her sudden emotion. She was a bundle of nerves, something was hitting her hard.

"Alright, let's get on with it!" Clay called from the kitchen, cutting off their moment.

They all headed to the dining room. Clay brought up the rear and watched as Tig walked along side Jaci with his palm resting on her lower back. It was a tender gesture and odd for Clay to see coming from his friend. They took seats around the table; Clay at the head, Tig at his usual spot to Clay's right, BB at Clay's left. Jaci sat next to BB and kept her eyes down. Everyone was silent and waited for someone else to speak.

BB nudged Jaci. "Go."

Jaci took a deep breath. "OK, before I start, I just want you guys to remain calm, ok? Please. Just don't freak out."

"You just tell what you have to tell and we'll see how calm we can stay." Clay said with a sneer.

"Darby cornered me at the hospital last night…" Jaci started, looking down at the table.

"What?! When?" Tig, who had been leaning straight back against his chair, shot forward to have his hands on the table.

Clay shot Tig a look. "Calm." He reminded in a sing song voice.

Tig clenched his jaw but let Jaci continue. "He got me catching the elevator after seeing Abel last night. Stepped in with me, hit the emergency stop button so we could…chat."

"Did he hurt you?" When she shook her head, Tig asked. "What did he say to you? Word for word." He felt like a complete asshole. She must had called him last night because of Darby's threats…she needed him and he turned her away. Shit.

Jaci fidgeted as she rattled off Darby's tirade. "Said Vix and I broke the 'arrangement' by coming back and staying in Charming. Said we needed to come clean about what happened to Justin." She paused and swallowed hard. "Said hospitals were dangerous places for sisters and little baby nephews. Accidents happened all the time; he hoped nothing bad happened to my family."

Clay was red-faced by the time she finished. "That motherfucker." He muttered.

"It was pretty clear that we either 'fess up about Justin or my family's going to get hurt. I figure I have a day or so before he starts applying…pressure."

Tig slapped his hand down on the table and looked at Clay expectedly. "Now can we take him out? After all the shit he has pulled and got away with…can we finally do it NOW?!"

He ignored Tig. "Darby's probably just talking shit, trying to get us in a panic. So…" Clay gauges Jaci's current emotional and mental states, "mission accomplished. He was surprised Darby hadn't made a move to harass the Parker girls before now. Apparently he was waiting for the perfect time. "Need to get someone to watching out for them though, just in case."

BB held up a hand. "Done. I gave Motor the short version of events and told him to wreck any skinhead that came near. He's sitting in front of Abel's room and more than happy to oblige. And seein' how Juice is always with Vix and if he isn't Roxy is, that's covered for now. Didn't want to freak out Juice and Jax until we had this little talk."

"So what now?" Tig asked Clay. "If you think Darby's just talking shit?"

BB snorted and glared at Jaci. "Tell 'em what now, J."

Tig caught the annoyance in BB's voice. Every exchange he had seen between the two had always been loving but BB was obviously pissed at her today.

Clay rubbed his face. "Why do I get the feeling I haven't heard the worst part?"

"Cause you haven't. Genius here…" BB jerked his thumb toward Jaci, "thinks Darby has a point."

"What point?…Talking to the cops?!" Tig's eyes widened and he stared at Jaci. "No, he doesn't have a point! Are you fucking mental?"

"Thank you." BB nodded at Tig. "Darby's just a loud mouth skin head that's about to get his ass plowed. End of story."

Clay looked more closely at Jaci. She usually had a confident air about her but not today. She looked like she was about to throw up. Something was weighing HEAVY on that girl's mind. "Spill it."

She stared at the table. "Darby wants justice for his nephew, I want my family safe, and you all want the heat off the Club. I think there is a way to make it all happen."

"And how's that going to work?" Clay asked. "You're going to just going to waltz into the police station and start making shit up about what Vix did that night and that's magically going to take heat off us?!"

"Well, yes… because I'm not going to make anything up. Vix didn't kill Justin Darby." Jaci couldn't bring herself to look at Tig so she leveled her eyes on Clay. "I did."

"Bullshit." But one look in her eyes and Clay knew she was telling the absolute truth.

Tig was too stunned to say anything. He just stared at her with his mouth hanging open. The night at the cabin, he had made a crack about her killing a Nord but he was joking. He wanted an explanation. "Hold up. Vix killed him. I mean, that's the story, right? What the fuck really happened that night??"

"Vix ran her mouth to Justin a few times, embarrassed him, so he had been eyeing her for awhile, was going to jump her, score some points with his crew…that asshole uncle of his. He tricked her into meeting him one night out in the woods where she had been going with other guys. I went looking for her cause we were going to be late for curfew again. I figured she might be out there. I walked up on her getting jumped."

"And you did what any good protective sister would do…" Clay winced and closed his eyes, suddenly feeling a headache coming on strong.

Jaci nodded. "I grabbed the first rock I came to and beat that fucker's skull in with it."

Tig let out an amused, "Huh." He couldn't get his head around her confession. Miss Straight and Narrow beat a guy to death?? With a goddamn rock?! Damn she's full of surprises.

She continued. "We cleaned up the scene, moved his body to another spot in the woods and buried him, burned all of our clothes from that night, and dumped the rock in the river. Went home and Vix caught hell from Dad like any other Friday night. We probably wouldn't have even been questioned but Justin had told one of his buddies he was going to get Vix and that guy squealed. That threw the suspicion on her and then on me since I was always getting her out of trouble."

BB finished the story. "But the cops didn't have shit and had to let them go, as you all know. Then I got them the hell out of town."

"You sneaky little bitches." Tig said with a low laugh.

"It's not funny, Tig." Jaci said quietly.

Clay disagreed and leaned back in his chair. "No, it is actually. Its funny how you popping a Nord when you were a damn teenager can come back to bite ME in the ass now. You were already quickly becoming Charming's Most Wanted, you understand that? Inside knowledge to two charters of the Sons, and you're fucking Tig…but add a murder rap to all of that and you're the Holy fucking Grail now! Stahl has to have a huge hard-on for you."

"Oh you haven't heard the best part." BB interjected. "Tell them your fucked up, crazy plan to fix everything."

Jaci stared defiantly at her uncle and took a deep breath and looked at Clay again. "I cop to the murder, which placates Darby- he leaves my family alone. Vix's in the clear for the Mississippi shit. Stahl won't go after her for Justin because she finally gets what she really wanted with all of this significant-other harassment, which seems to be ME. She will pull off SAMCRO for a while, giving you guys time to breathe and make any rearrangements you need. I'll drag my feet and toy with Stahl making her think I'm going to roll a bit more. I could have her chasing her tail for a year, easy. I'll never rat and she loses all leverage with me since I am already willingly doing 25 to life."

"No- not fucking happening. Absolutely not!" Tig snapped and pointed at Jaci. "Darby can be placated by a fucking dirt nap. You're not copping to shit."

BB threw in his two cents. "Like I told you, J- I love you, but you are out of your fucking element here. No one is going to play by the damn rules you have in your pretty little head."

"Exactly. Besides, you can't do twenty five to life… no fucking way. You'd slit your wrists in six months." Tig gestured toward Jaci with his hand. "Reality check for ya, doll…Darby is going to fuck with your family no matter what you do. Stahl will gladly throw your ass in jail then throw Vix in next to you for aiding and abetting, conspiracy and whateverthefuck . Then she's going to say SAMCRO knew all about it and helped you cover it up."

"And she'll toss in the Bama Chapter for helping you 'escape' and start tearing through our shit next." BB added.

"Goddamn RICO jackpot." Clay finished. "Believe me, Jaci, we've thought about controlled burns before; RICO makes them impossible. One little tiny thing a hundred damn years ago could bring us down these days."

"Well then what the fuck am I supposed to do??" Jaci threw her hands up in frustration and stood up, pointing to herself. "If ya'll are so goddamn smart, tell me what to do!! I'm fucking drowning here!"

"Hey- take it easy!" Tig yelled at her.

BB grabbed her wrist and pulled her back into her chair roughly. "Sit."

"Ok, ok. Everybody calm down." Clay barked. He looked at Jaci. "Look, I know you're scared about your family. Hell, we're all worried right now; even more with Darby throwing his hat in the ring. But this is how it works, how the Feds break you; they rattle your cage until you go crazy and do something desperate and stupid. You're little plan, while noble in theory, is both desperate and stupid. It would play right into their damn hands."

"Fine." Jaci said through gritted teeth. She stared at the table for a moment trying to regain her composure. "How do we FIX things?"

"We do nothing. We sit and wait and keep our mouths shut. Vix's warrant is null and void now right?" Clay asked.

"Yeah." Jaci replied. BB slapped at her shoulder. She rephrased her response. "Yes."

Clay continued. "And Stahl doesn't have shit on Justin's murder or else she would have hauled you in by now, right? No body, no witnesses, no weapon, no murder. She's bluffing."

"Short of finding the body, there's NOTHING she could have on that." She agreed.

Clay waved his hands. "Then we just wait for her to run out of steam. She can only scream and yell for so long before the brass tells her to put up or shut up and pulls her out of here."

"What about Darby?" Jaci asked.

Tig beat Clay to an answer. "If he looks like he's serious about going after any one of you, I'll pop him myself and enjoy every fucking second of it. That's a promise. You just gotta be cool."

"Be cool?" Jaci raised her eyebrows. "That's your fucking answer to this whole situation? Be cool??"

BB sighed and reluctantly defended Tig's statement. "It works, Jaci. Tried and true."

After a few more minutes of talking, they were finished. Clay walked BB outside, giving Tig and Jaci a moment alone. They stood facing each other in the kitchen. She waited for the screaming to begin. But Tig didn't scream and that made her more nervous.

"You got any other deep dark secrets waiting to jump out and fucking strangle me?" Tig stared hard at her.

"No. My closet's nice and clean now." Jaci replied without hesitation and looked at the floor, ashamed.

Tig clenched his jaw and kept his eyes on her. He believed her, killing Justin was probably the only really bad thing Jaci had ever done in her life. Hell, it would take him years of confession to clear out his closet. He walked away from her to stand at the kitchen counter, his back turned to her.

Jaci furrowed her brow and walked over to him. "Look, I'm sorry for all of this. I was trying to do the best thing for everyone." He didn't respond so she asked, "How mad are you?"

"Oh, I'm mad; pissed actually." Tig snorted and pushed an empty beer bottle around on the counter, not looking at her. "I want to kill Darby slowly and painfully and then slap you upside the head for even thinking about talking to the Feds. That's a stupid fucking idea, Jaci. You know better than that." He stepped closer beside her, still not making eye contact and his voice softened. "But you wanting to go to bat for your sister, for the club like that. That's some heavy shit... most people wouldn't stick their neck out like that."

"So…you're saying it was a nice gesture but…"

"But good intentions will lead you and me straight to Hell, Jaci." He turned toward her and lifted her chin so she looked at him. "Just keep your mouth shut. The Club…we've been through shit like this before…I swear this will all go away if you just stay quiet. I can't have any doubts about…"

She shook her head. "No doubts. My hand has been slapped so my lips are firmly sealed."

"Good." He dropped his hand away from her because part of him wanted to shake her so he thought it best not to touch her again at all. "Where are you headed now?"

She sighed. "Back to the hospital; get to our daily game of Hurry Up and Wait, you know, for Vix to get better."

Tig nodded. "Stay close to your uncle and Motor."

"Ok." Jaci replied quietly and stood still. She wanted him to say something else but he seemed to be finished with the conversation. She wanted to touch him so badly, to feel his arms around her but that didn't appear to be in the cards right now. She started to wonder if she had permanently fucked things up with him but hoped maybe he just needed some time to digest everything that had happened in the little sit down. After a moment, she received some physical contact from Tig…but it was only a tap to the shoulder.

"Go." Tig nodded toward the front door.

Clay shook hands with BB and watched the Bama Pres fire up Jaci's car. Goddamn, what a morning. Clay strolled back up his front walk as Jaci came out the front door. He told her to 'hang in there'; she nodded but avoided eye contact. He turned and watched her get into the passenger side of her car. He fired up his cigar again as he leaned against a bricked column on his porch. There was one Parker he couldn't quite figure out:

Wendy… just a lost cause.

Vix…that girl was easy, if she had a dick, Clay would have slapped a Reaper on her back in a heartbeat. Vix was rough and tumble, maybe a tad unpredictable and a bit of a pain in the ass but that girl would protect the Club at all costs without a doubt. No one had to wonder where her loyalties were…in for a penny, in for a pound, that was Vix.

Jaci…she was turning out to be a damn enigma. He thought he had her pegged as just the good sister, the one that had managed to pull her shit together despite her somewhat rocky upbringing. She seemed to be a model citizen, a protective sister and distant yet respectful of the Club. But obviously he had been very wrong about her. One minute she was prim and proper, the next she beats down a woman for insulting her family. She was a legit business woman but had her hands slightly dirty with doing favors for both the Bama and Charming charters. She seemed completely straight laced but yet she had been carrying on some kind of weird and incomprehensible relationship with Tig, of all people, for months. And, oh yeah...turns out she was a murderer. He had to hand it to her…she was very capable of keeping secrets. But she was dancing back and forth across a fine line between the Club life and the straight life. If push came to shove, Clay wondered which side she would land on. She had offered up a hell of a self sacrifice this morning. He was going to have to keep a close eye on her, make sure that brain of hers didn't cause any hiccups for him.

The main problem with Jaci and Vix was that they possessed an independent streak that ran a mile wide. Most women around MCs would follow an order blindly, no questions asked. But these two were a lot like Gemma. They were used to being in the know, close to the top and for the most part, not used to being told what to do. He expected there would come a time when he would have to put them in their place. He was giving Jaci the chance to follow an order by keeping her mouth shut…he hoped she would comply.

Clay finally walked back into his kitchen. He shook his head at Tig. "What the fuck was that? I don't know what I was expecting but it wasn't a murder confession and life in prison volunteerism."

Tig nodded his head in agreement. "No shit. She's fuckin' stressed to the max."

"You think she's going to crack?" Clay asked. "We're fucked if she decides to bear the weight of the cross here, Tig."

"No… she'll hold. Just gets a little lost without a plan. Now that she knows her plan is shit, she'll go with ours." Tig crossed his arms. "You think Darby's really bluffing? He was serious about trying to take you out…"

Clay waved him off. "Darby was too chicken shit to try to take us out himself, had Alvarez do it and look where that got him…barely missed a bullet in his own dome. Darby's not going to stick his neck out again, he's just talking shit. We keep this quiet… don't cause an unnecessary panic, just like we told her. No Jax, no Juice. You and Bobby hang around the hospital, hook up with Motor; keep an eye on things. Make sure Jaci sticks to the plan."

Tig nodded… quasi bodyguard, great.

"I'm serious…she looks like she might start thinking too independently again…you clamp down on that shit hard and fast, you hear me?" Clay warned.

"Absolutely." Tig replied. He wished Jaci would have come to him first with the news of Darby's threat and her not so brilliant idea to fix it all. He could have squashed her fears without dragging Clay into it like this. He knew Clay was already skeptical about him being with Jaci…her wanting to rat herself out to the Feds had probably made a simultaneously horrible and good impression on the SAMCRO Prez.

BB drove them back to the hospital and pulled into an empty space. He grabbed Jaci's hand as she started to get out. "Hold up, we need to discuss a few things real quick."

Jaci slumped back against the seat. She could have sworn her ass was demolished by now but apparently there was still more of it to chew. "What now?"

"It's time for you to buck up, my darlin'. You've made your bed in many ways, time to be responsible for it. I know you're scared about Vix. But that's in God's hands now, nothing we can do about it. But we can hold down the fort while she is struggling to get back to us."

Jaci raised her eyebrows, listening intently.

BB continued, "That bitch Stahl thinks she has your number, she's just waiting for you to break. But you're way stronger and tougher than she knows. It's time you showed it. No more nervous looks and slumped shoulders and tears. You go in that hospital today and own it. Fuck Stahl, fuck Darby's threats, fuck turning yourself in. You're not giving them shit. They want to tear this family, this Club apart, make them do it, don't goddamn help 'em. Like we told you today, if everybody just holds together, this will all blow over."

His words hit her hard but they were exactly what she needed to hear. She had killed Justin, she had chosen to get mixed up in Club business over the years, and she had gotten involved with Tig. All were her decisions, time to stop whining about the consequences of all of it. BB was exactly right.

"You savvy?" BB asked.

Jaci sat up straight and nodded. "Yes, sir."

"That's my girl." He opened the car door and smiled warmly. "Take a moment and get your shit together… come on up when you're ready."

She sat in the car for a long while, just zoned out. Finally she trudged inside the hospital and immediately dozed off in chair in the ICU waiting room. It had been a long night and a killer morning.

"They do everything but have you sign a damn guest book." Sadie commented about the ATF agents as she and Ruby entered the waiting room of the ICU. They found Jaci slumped to one side in a chair, elbow propped up, holding her head in her hand, asleep. She heard the ladies approaching and opened her eyes.

"Just you today, dear?" Ruby asked Jaci. "How is our girl doing?"

"Vix is the same… no better ... but no worse. I guess I should thank God for small favors. You just missed Roxy… BB finally dragged her outta here. Took her back to my place to try and sleep." She yawned and then snorted. "Sorry, it was a tough night. This waiting is so damn tiresome; it drains you."

"I am going to sneak a peek. I suppose Jean Carlos is in there with her."

Jaci nodded and Ruby disappeared down the hall.

Sadie looked at Jaci and asked. "Does he sit with her all day and night?"

Jaci sighed and smiled. "Pretty much…. This waiting room or the vending machine is about as far as anyone can get him to budge and that is only if one of the family is with her or if they need to do some medical treatment. He's too scared to leave for any extended period of time."

When Ruby returned later she sat down in a chair and pulled some knitting out of her bag. She began working the yarn and then stopped, suddenly turned towards Jaci. Ruby said, "You should have rang me."

Jaci looked at her questioningly.

"Someone should have rang me when they decided to put her on the ventilator. I admonished Jean Carlos and I am you as well. That young lady is very dear to me, why on God's green earth everyone feels the need to spare me! I am a tough old gal, I can handle it… but NO, I get to be shocked by the sight. No better, but no worse, my arse."

"I'm sorry… we didn't mean not to tell everyone. The decision to do it was very stressful and hard and then we had to paralyze her and that started this huge battle of wills and almost fists between BB and Juice."

"WHAT?" Sadie and Ruby both gasped.

"Yeah, they aren't exactly talking right now. BB was against the paralyzing and Juice was beyond freaked out about it but was completely PRO- paralyzation if it would assure that she got the oxygen she needed." Jaci looked over and saw how the two older ladies
were trying to wrap their brains around Vix's latest medical drama. She sighed and started at the beginning. "See the infection that she has been fighting due her appendix bursting and all its juices going all over… it just kept going and attacking her body. The wide spectrum antibiotics were not working and it reached her lungs. They were like sopping wet sponges and she couldn't breathe. They hit her with triple doses of antibiotics but they weren't working. All her vitals got weaker… so the doctors said they needed to put her on a ventilator. She can still breathe on her own but needed some help."

"Oh my good lord." Sadie remarked.

"Ok, I can understand that… but what about the paralyzing?" Ruby asked.

Jaci cleared her throat to cover a sob stuck in her throat. "Her body was instinctively fighting the ventilator; Tara says that can happen- they are very invasive. Well, her body's instinctive fighting wasn't allowing for the vent to do its job and so she still wasn't getting enough oxygen and she was zapping what little energy she had fighting the vent. The doctors said they needed to paralyze her so that the vent could do its job. They had to explain the risks of paralyzing her, rattled off numbers, odds of this happening… odds of that happening, but they still insisted that paralyzing her was the way to go."

She took a deep breath and continued. "BB didn't want to sign the consent form, felt, likely still does, that Vix would hate to be paralyzed and worried over the stuff that could go wrong. He really wanted to wait and see which is not like BB, he is completely spooked. And Juice kept saying that her organs need oxygen… did he want Vix to turn into a vegetable because her brain couldn't get oxygen… it damn near ended up in a fist fight right here in this room. I mean I was holding back Juice and Motor was holding back BB, Roxy was in the middle yelling at them to stop fighting. I finally piped in that she was practically already paralyzed from the Ativan coma they have her in, so in the end BB signed the papers and then went to the clubhouse and drank pretty much all night." Jaci rolled her shoulders. "He still won't talk to Juice. I think Juice's insinuating that he was gonna turn Vix into a vegetable hurt him a lot."

Ruby stammered. "But, but I am sure that Jean was just trying to make a point that …"

Jaci nodded. "Oh I am too, and he succeeded. Roxy and I know he only has Vix's best interests in mind, but so does BB. He'll come around; it'll just take a while. Like I said, BB is completely spooked by all of this, he came here to see her outta jail time and now he is just praying to see her live another day."

Ruby and Sadie stayed for about an hour. Juice had actually came out into the waiting room and tried to make polite conversation. As soon as they were gone, he headed right back inside to Vix. Jaci sat in the waiting alone with her thoughts.

She was thinking she had really fucked things up with Tig. Pretty much the most hated thing in MC life is a rat and she had volunteered to be one…granted she was ratting on herself but everyone seemed rather pissed about it. Now since her brilliant idea had exploded in her face it was apparently time to move on to Plan B…being cool.

Next thing she knew, she was looking up to see Motor and Tig walking together down the hallway toward her. She frowned. What the hell?

Motor and Tig sat down across from her. She raised her eyebrows.

Tig said somewhat cheerfully, "Bobby and me are on Nord watch. You're uncle's upstairs with him watching Abel."

Jaci nodded. Great, BB is too ticked at me to actually come by and tell me that he came back. Motor announced he had to take a piss, leaving Tig and Jaci alone.

"Told ya you'd see me today." Tig smirked.

She bit her lip. "I already saw you today…it didn't go so well." She searched his face, hoping that he didn't cut ties with her right then and there.

"Well, that little discussion has been blocked from my memory."

"So we're ok?" She ventured.

He shrugged and nodded.

Motor returned and the trio became the oddest set of waiting room companions ever. They passed the time by making idle chit chat followed by long bouts of comfortable silence. Jaci took to reading all the magazines in the room and pretty soon the guys were desperate for distractions because they even dissected a few Cosmopolitan issues themselves. The guys were unimpressed by the list of fifty super hot sexual positions, calling the list amateur.

Visitors came and went throughout the day. Mid afternoon, Motor sat with his arms crossed looking dead calm as always but he was antsy as hell. All the sitting around was beginning to get to him. Between the plane ride, the stress of maybe losing Vix, the fighting between Juice and BB, seeing Jaci upset and now the possibility of some skinheads trying to hurt his family...he was about ready to blow.

He turned to Tig, "I dunno about you, but I am ready to whoop somebody's ass."

Tig smirked. "Wound up are you?" He was feeling the exact same way.

Motor nodded and waved his hand around. "Too much waiting, not enough doing."

"I feel ya. If Darby's boys don't step up, we got a ring down at the cluhouse. We could go a few rounds, work some shit out." Jaci frowned at that idea.

The two guys were starting to like each other but still had a bit of posturing between them so the boxing offer from Tig was a bit of a challenge. Motor had a big brother vibe going with Jaci so he wasn't exactly keen on her being with Tig. Tig could understand that though, hell he fought with himself sometimes about being with her.

Eight o'clock that night…

Jaci stood up from her chair in the ICU waiting room and stretched. "I'm going upstairs to see Abel."

"You too good to hang out with us all of a sudden?" Tig asked with mock offense.

"Fine…go…see if we care." Motor mocked in his deep voice and crossed his arms.

Jaci rolled her eyes. "You guys are something else." She had to admit Tig and Motor had become quiet the pair. They had bonded quickly over mutual Dean-hate and now, after the Darby threat, the duo had solidified, patrolling the hospital for Nords and keeping an eye on Vix and Abel and Jaci. She didn't mind at all, she was able to see much more of Tig since he stayed paired up with Motor. It all made for an interesting day in the waiting room that was for sure.

Motor started to stand up to escort her but Jaci shook her head. "I don't need a babysitter. It's just upstairs. Stay put. You guys want me to send BB or Bobby down? Let you guys rotate or something?"

Tig and Motor both frowned at her.

"Oh, nevermind… I won't break up your little Sergeant at Arms party." She really wanted to say she wouldn't dream of breaking up the Wonder Twins but thought better of it. She headed in the opposite direction of the elevators, turning left instead of right. "See ya'll later."

Motor frowned and called out, "Uh…J, wrong way."

"Nope, I'm running up the stairs. Too many bags of M&Ms this week; all that stress sugar's going straight to my ass." Jaci said with a laugh and walked away.

Upstairs, BB and Bobby patrolled the hallway in front of Abel's room. They alternated between sitting and pacing but were currently trying to play poker sitting side by side. Hours of no action came to a screeching halt when Bobby spotted Darby and two Nord goons walking down the hall toward them.

"BB, heads up." Bobby said softly as he stood up.

BB glanced up and shot to his feet as well, throwing his cards in the chair behind him. He took a step toward Abel's door, blocking it. Darby and his goons looked around the wing as they strutted closer. BB gritted his teeth as he looked them over; all wearing jeans and boots, the sleeves cut out of their shirts, Nazi tattoos on display for the world to see. Fuckers. Look like damn vultures searching for prey. He cleared his throat. "You boys lost?"

Darby smiled. "Not at all." He nodded towards the baby's room. "How's the boy?"

Bobby stepped closer to the pack of Nords with his fist clenched. "He's perfect…going to stay that way too."

"Oh, I should hope so." Darby replied with that fake ass smile plastered to his face. "Well, we got to be going; on my way to see my mother."

The Nords walked on past Abel's room, headed for the elevator. BB watched as Darby split from the others and took the elevator; the remaining two guys opted for the stairs. He nudged Bobby and he pulled out his cell phone. "Those fuckers are patrolling…looking for a weak link." He hit the auto dial for Motor's cell.

Motor's phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out and answered. "Yeah?"

"You might have some anti-semantic company headed your way. They just strolled by here, taking the stairs down to you." BB replied.

"Shit. Jaci's headed UP the stairs to you guys right now." Motor hissed as he stood up and kicked Tig's boot. He nodded toward the hallway and started walking.

"Goddamnit. Get to her! I'll head down there." BB replied and ended the call.

"What's up?" Tig whispered as they walked. He knew something was wrong; Motor's normal look of boredom had been replaced with a killer's sharp focus.

"Nords comin' down the stairs." Motor muttered back as he forced himself not to take off at a run down the hall.

"Jaci…" Tig clenched his fists and fell into step beside Motor.

"I know. Slow and easy." Motor replied as they walked toward the ATF agents little camp.

"Goddamn…why are these hallways so fucking long!" Tig hissed as they tried to appear normal, as if just taking a stroll to the cafeteria.

The exact second they rounded the corner from the agents, Tig slapped Motor's shoulder. "GO!" Both men took off running for the stairwell.

After running up one flight of stairs, Jaci decided it was ok to walk up the rest of them. Shit, I hate stairs…in shape or not, these things suck. She trudged up the remaining flight lost in thought and didn't hear the door open up ahead of her; the next time she looked up, she was staring at two Nords blocking the stairwell exit. Judging by the look they gave her, she knew that Darby wasn't bluffing about hospitals being dangerous. He had to know by now that she wasn't going to do his bidding and it looked like it was time for her to pay the piper. Her heart sank.

"Oh what have we here??" One of the guys asked with a smile and stepped toward her.

She thought his name was Jenkins, but wasn't sure about the other one. Maybe something with an H? Holmes? Hoover? Shit, think! Who are they?! May have to write their names with your blood before you die.

Hoover let loose a horribly uncomforting smile. "Hell, we don't even have to make the trip downstairs to fuck with your sister now. You'll do just fine."

Jaci forced herself not to turn and run. The Nords reminded her of pit bulls; they would only get more excited if she tried to make a sprint for it. She took one step backwards and leaned against the inside wall of the stairs before taking another step backwards. Ok, talk some shit…keep them distracted, keep moving.

"So where's your master today? He got a Klan meeting or something?" She asked ruefully and took another step down.

"Joke now, bitch." Jenkins laughed and stepped down one step. "This is going to hurt."

So much for trying to stay calm and moving slowly, that cold laugh broke her calm resolve. Her brain screamed RUN and so she turned on her heel and did just that, well tried to do that. She made it to the landing in between floors when she was jerked backwards violently by her hair. Her hands flew to the back of her head and tried to pry the guy's fingers loose but to no avail. She grunted and threw elbows next, hoping to make him drop at least one of his hands but that didn't work either.

"Teach her to fly, Jenks." Hoover called from behind them.

Jenkins wrapped an arm around her waist from behind and starting pushing her toward the next set of stairs leading downward. Oh fuck…he's going to fucking throw me! No, no, no!! Jaci scrambled to try and think what to do next. She tried digging in her heels to slow him down but that only made him left her up. Luckily, she had watched way too many action movies as a kid. When he lifted her off her feet, they were on the landing facing a wall. She kicked her heels up against the wall, folded in her legs and then pushed backwards off it as hard as she could. Thank God she had substantial leg muscles from running and boxing at the gym. The move sent her and her attacker flying into the set of stairs behind them that were leading up. Jenkins thumped his head against a stair and the impact caused him to let her go.

Jaci scrambled to her feet and ran a few steps thinking she might make it…before Hoover came out of no where and tackled her to the floor from behind, knocking the air out of her and smacking her head pretty good against the floor too. As she blinked away the stars she was seeing, she gasped for air and twisted onto her back, which was the wrong thing to do.Hoover straddled her quickly and pinned her arms down with his knees. She screamed once before he wrapped his hands around her throat.

"So much for a happy accident, fuckin' squirmy bitch. Do this the old fashioned way." Hoover spat at her while squeezing her throat.

With her arms pinned under her, she didn't have many fighting options. She tried to buck underneath him but he was too heavy to throw off. She strained to pull her chin closer to her chest, anything to make his choking of her less effective. Jaci squeezed her eyes open and shut. Shit. I'm fucked. I'm so fucked. He was right…this does HURT.

Jenkins yelled from his perch on the stairs above them. "Damnit, just break her neck. We should make it look like an accident!"

"Too late now. I almost got her though." Hoover replied over his shoulder. Her lungs started to burn; she couldn't get a breath at all. Her chest began to involuntarily spasm as her lungs worked to gain air. She pushed up with her hips and legs to try and wiggle out of his grasp but nothing worked. Don't do this…please don't do this!! She had been pleading with her eyes for Hoover to stop but that obviously wasn't going to work. Tears flowed as her brain began to comprehend her fate. I'm going to die in a stairwell. End of damn story. Shit. She squeezed her eyes shut again, no way was she going to let HIM be the last image in her mind. She tried to think of happier things: her sisters, Abel, BB and Roxy, Tig's sly smile. But those happy things turned sad in her mind. She would never hold Abel in her arms, never know if Vix woke up, never get to apologize to Wendy for harsh words, never see where things might have went with Tig. Her aunt and uncle would be devastated. Damnit, damnit. I'm sorry guys…I'm sorry.

A moment later Hoover's hands suddenly released her throat, and her eyes shot open just in time to see a black blur come knocking into her attacker. The black blur was Motor dressed in his black jeans, black tee and deep blue leather cut. He tackled Hoover at a dead run, sending him flying off of Jaci. She rolled to her side and tried to breathe. She felt someone pull at the back of her shirt.

"Jaci, get up!" Tig yelled and tried to pull her to her feet as he ran passed her to chase Jenkins, who was scrambling back up the stairs. "Go!"

She fell back down to her knees and crawled to her right, a few feet away from Motor and Hoover and glanced above her. She saw BB shoving Jenkins back down towards Tig. Holy shit, the cavalry has arrived. She continued to try and breathe but it hurt badly.

"Jaci! You ok?" BB yelled. No response. He whistled loudly. Jaci's head finally shot up toward him. "Watch the door, baby!" She was looking more than a little stunned as she sat up against the wall holding her throat. He needed her to snap out of it, last thing any of them needed was security busting in on this little party. She scooted closer to the door, semi ready to head off anyone that tried to enter. BB blocked the path from above.

Motor and Tig continued to beat the ever loving shit out of Jaci's attackers. The Nords had been so busy with her they had not heard the Sons running up the stairs until the last second; too late to retreat by then. She watched in stunned amazement at the ferocity at which the two SAAs fought. She had seen fights before but this event was something else entirely. There was an intensity to the fighting that was unsettling. Punches, kicks, knees and elbows were dished out by all parties along with grunts and shouts of profanity. Motor's nose was bleeding from taking an elbow to the face. Tig's sleeve was ripped half loose and his hair was wild. Both men were in the borderline kill zone. Jaci watched as Motor deemed his fight over and finally got to his feet. He stomped on Hoover's visibly mangled arm, another bone managed to crunch and the Nord curled into a pain filled ball on the ground. Motor spit on him and then looked up toward BB.

She heard a struggle above her and saw Tig dragging Jenkins up the stairs. Tig's lip was busted and as he wiped the blood away with his arm, a sick smile broke out across his face. That smile scared the hell out of Jaci. Tig spoke to Jenkins. "You were running up the stairs, right? Let's go up them." Jeninks didn't have a lot of fight left in him; he just flailed his legs in a lame attempt to get free. Tig continued to smirk as he reached the top of the stairs and BB helped pulled Jenkins into a half standing position. Tig leaned down and said loudly to the man, "You fucked up, asshole! You hear me?! Never should have touched her."

Jaci realized what Tig was about to do. Everyone had enough blood on their hands; they didn't need an actual dead body too. She inhaled sharply and tried to call out, "Tig…no!" It came out as only a low horse whisper though; her voice was shot from being strangled.

Motor was at her side in a second. As she got to her feet and started to call out again, Motor grabbed her hand and growled. "Shhh, fucker deserves it." Motor had half a mind to walk over to his now beaten opponent, grab his head and snap his neck but had resisted. Jaci watched quietly as Tig reared back and sent Jenkins toppling down the short flight of stairs with a hard shove. She jumped slightly when Jenkins thumped against the wall. The stairwell was completely silent.

Motor pulled at her hand gently. "Let's go."

Tig frowned with disappointment as he looked down at the two Nords. "Well shit, they're still breathing. Guess we half-assed it huh, Motor?"

"Fucked em up pretty good." Motor shrugged and walked Jaci up the stairs, still holding her hand, careful to keep himself between her and the injured Nords.

BB grabbed her in a fierce hug when she got close to him. "You ok, baby?" He checked her over protectively. Tig stood behind him, watching them but didn't say anything; he was still wound too tight from the fight.

She forced a small laugh and replied into BB's shoulder, "You guys cut it kinda close, didn't you?"

"Sorry bout that darlin'." BB replied and rubbed her back. "Ok ya'll- time to go. Find the nearest bathroom, get cleaned up. We'll meet back up and figure this shit out." He pulled opened the stairwell door and Jaci led the way out.

They had no more than stepped out of the doorway when a voice asked, "Is everything ok?"

Their heads whipped around to see Tara staring at them while holding a clipboard against her chest. They had to be quite a sight; Tig and Motor were bleeding and disheveled, Jaci had picked the wrong day to wear a v-neck shirt, the bruises around her neck were bright red.

Jaci broke away from the group and took a step toward Tara. Her voice was a painful whisper. "Um, yeah, just a little accident on the stairs. Everything's fine though. Just need a few minutes, you know?" She bored a hole in Tara with her eyes. Give us a break here, let it go, help me out!

"Took a tumble, huh?" The doctor read Jaci's look loud and clear, she understood Jaci's bruised neck and face even more. She cleared her throat, looked around the hall and then quickly pointed to a close door across the hall from them. She started walking toward the door and Jaci and the guys followed. Tara opened the door and turned on the lights. "Here, get cleaned up. Use anything you need."

Jaci smiled weakly and whispered, "Thank you."

Tig smiled and said, "Stay out of that stairwell for a while, Doc."

Tara frowned but nodded and left them alone.

Once they were all inside the room with the door closed, BB unloaded on Tig. "Darby was just bluffing, huh? What the hell happened to families being off limits?!"

"No shit! Who's watching Abel and Vix right now?" Jaci hissed as she looked through drawers for gauze pads. She had to stop for a moment to make her hands stop shaking. She found a bandage and handed it Motor who flopped down in a chair, held the gauze to his nose and leaned his head back. "You got blood in your beard too, bud." She whispered to Motor who just smiled.

"Bobby's outside of Abel's room." BB answered as he paced the floor.

Tig glanced at Jaci to reassure her. "Juice is in his normal perch in Vix's room. They're all fine." Tig then shook his head angrily at BB. "Darby's lost his fuckin' mind. He's fuckin' begging for a bullet now." He removed his cut quickly and began to unbutton his ripped and bloodied shirt. He held his ruined shirt to his split lip for a few seconds then threw the shirt on the floor and put his cut back on over his t-shirt.

Jaci stood in the middle of the room with her arms wrapped around herself looking scared and small. A bruise was forming on her forehead from hitting the stairwell floor. Tig locked eyes on her throat and his face softened.

"Jesus." He whispered and walked over to her. He placed a hand on her hip and ran the fingertips of his other hand lightly over her throat, looking over her injuries. The angry bruises were quickly turning purple. The imprint of the Nord's hands could be seen. Tig grimaced. The sobering thought that they had almost been too late hit Tig hard; another few seconds and she would have died. He wrapped an arm around Jaci and pulled her to him. "It's ok. You're ok." He whispered as she gripped the front of his shirt in her fist and hugged him back.

She chanted in her head, don't cry, don't cry. She was trying hard to hold it together but that unexpected tender gesture in public from Tig had meant the world to her and the flood gates were now threatening to open.

Motor chose that moment to see if his nose was still bleeding. He opened his eyes to check the gauze pad and saw Tig and Jaci sharing their rather intimate moment. He frowned and shot a look at BB, who just shrugged and shook his head, it's ok.

Tig walked Jaci backwards and pushed down her gently into a chair. He spoke quietly to her, "Adrenaline's going to wear off, don't want you hit the deck."

He pulled away from Jaci, suddenly remembering the company in the room with them. "Ok, new rule." He stared at Jaci, who was beginning to pull herself together. "You are not to be alone at any time until further notice." He pointed back at Motor while still staring at her. "Meet your new shadow." He glanced at Motor who nodded back at him once, silently agreeing to full time bodyguard duty. Normally Motor didn't take orders from anyone but BB or Trace but he is was happy to make an exception this time.

"You going to fight me on this?" Tig asked Jaci.

She shook her head and struggled to talk. "No. Nearly murdered in a stairwell; he can tie me to his belt loop with a damn string if he wants." Her voice was extremely hoarse; she thought she probably sounded a lot like Happy.

"Need to find Clay, let him know Darby's serious." BB interjected.

Tig ran his hands threw his hair. "Yeah."

Motor stood up, finally speaking. "You guys decide to pop him, I want in."

"Absofuckinglutely." Tig smiled. "You still need to go a few rounds in the ring?"

"Naw, I'm good." Motor replied. Seeing Tig wail on the Nords and his tender handling of Jaci cleared up any doubts Motor had about the guy. Tig wasn't the obvious choice for his cousin, but there was something there. "How bout you?"

"All good, brother." He held his hand out to Motor who shook it once. The two men exchanged a long look; Tig nodded curtly once and released his new friend's hand.

Jaci wondered what the hell had just been said between the two of them; she was pretty sure it was something to do with her though.

Tig and BB left to find Clay and figure out the next move. Motor and Jaci elected to stay at the hospital, figuring they were probably safe from another Nord attack for the day.

Darby parked his truck in the diner parking lot and took a look around. He saw Clay and Tig's bikes in the lot. He rolled his neck as stepped out of the truck wondering why the hell he ever agreed to meeting those two alone. But the call from Tig had totally broken protocol. Usually if the Sons wanted to talk they hunted him down at the workshop or the bar and sat up a meet. This call was urgent…probably because Jaci Parker had squealed to the Sons about his little elevator chat with her. Fucking bitch, why couldn't she rat on something important…like her part in killing his nephew?

Clay and BB sat side by side in a booth and watched Darby walk into the diner. Tig leaned up against the counter directly across from the booth, his eyes boring holes into Darby. He wanted to beat the shit out of the cocky bastard on sight but had promised Clay that he would behave himself. Maybe Darby would slip and do something stupid so he could justify putting another Nord in the hospital today.

"And what do I owe the pleasure of this meeting?" Darby asked as he walked along side the booth.

"You know what you did, asshole." Tig answered from behind him.

Clay shot Tig a look and then motioned toward Darby. "Sit."

Darby slid into the booth and a moment later Tig sat down next to him, putting his right arm across the back of the booth. Darby frowned at him. "Feelin cozy tonight? Wanna cuddle with me?"

BB cleared his throat and leveled his gaze at the Nord. "You know who I am?"

"Yeah, I know who you are." Darby replied flatly. He recognized him as Jaci's uncle. Great, it looked like the redneck was going to run the meeting.

BB nodded and crushed out his cigarette. "Good, that that means we can skip the part of this conversation where you try to figure out how full of shit I am. I'll get straight to the point, you better thank your lucky stars that my niece is only battered and bruise right now or else we would be having this conversation in the middle of the desert."

Darby frowned and took a look at the faces of the Sons in the booth with him. Something was wrong, way more wrong than him just throwing some idle threats at a girl. "Battered and bruised?"

Tig snapped his head toward Darby and hissed, "Do not play fucking dumb with us!"

"I'm not…what the hell are you talking about?" Darby looked genuinely confused. The Sons all shared a look. He was clueless.

Clay leaned forward. "Two of your guys jumped Jaci in the stairwell at the hospital an hour ago. Tried choking her out but her cousin and Tig here broke up the little party in the nick of time."

Darby listened to the recap with gritted teeth. He looked at BB. "Is she ok?"

"Like you give a fuck." Tig growled.

"Hey…now look… I'll admit threatening her wasn't my smartest move ever but that's all it was…a threat. I didn't green light anybody getting jumped. My guys went too far…on their own." As Darby pleaded his case to the Sons, his cell phone rang.

"No shit." Clay replied and then added, "You may want to take that - probably your little heads up call. Better late than never."

Darby answered the call, "What?" He listened to the quick rundown and then replied, "Yeah, well, you're too fucking late." And slammed his phone shut. He ran his hand over his face in disgust. "Sounds like you fucked up my guys pretty good."

"Jenkins may be walkin' with a perm-a-limp." Tig smirked. "And ole Hoover is going to need to learn how to jerk off with his other hand for a while."

BB laughed coldly at Tig's recap of the Nords' injuries and then tapped the table. "I can assure you of two things, Darby. One... that Jaci's fine and two... you have a better chance at banging me on this table than you do of layin' a hand on her again, or Vix or Abel for that matter."

Darby had been completely blind sighted by the news of his guys taking the ill fated initiative and attacking the Parker bitch. His normal bravado had been temporarily rattled but he fought to quickly pull his shit together. He nodded at BB and then chuckled, "I appreciate the offer but I'll pass."

"Yeah?" BB asked with his eyebrows raised.

"Yeah." Darby's cockiness was flaring. "What makes you think you can protect them 24/7?"

BB pushed around his crushed cigarette for a moment and then locked eyes on Darby. "Because family ties being what they are... I presume you weren't born by Immaculate Conception. So your mother, father, brother, sister, niece, NEPHEW ... anything else happens to a family member of mine, blood... marriage… or MC.... we AIN'T coming after YOU, Darby."

Tig chuckled and then added, "Yeah, at least not first."

Clay smiled and lit up a cigar. "See Darby, anyway you look at it, there is no light at the end of this particular tunnel. So call off your dogs."

"Why should I? Like I pointed out to Miss Parker, the deal got reneged on. Everyone at this table knows my nephew rotted in a grave of Parker diggin'."

"I don't know that. No one ever found a body and not a shred of solid evidence against Jaci or Vix" Clay shrugged innocently. "If your nephew did take a dirt nap, as you are so quick to imply, maybe it was of your own doing. If memory serves, he was getting a bit greedy and hard to control." Clay sneered again. "Or was it that he was turnin' a little light in the loafers?"

Tig laughed "A stigma like that on a family in a town like Charming? Besides ain't being a fag against Hitler's divine plan?"

Clay nodded. "Wouldn't exactly qualify you and yours for that entry into the Aryan Brotherhood you're so hungry for."

Darby smirked. "My nephew was no fag. And I think you're confusing our worlds, Clay... 'cause that little power hungry for control scenario sounds a whole lot like the tales of trouble brewing between you and Jax Teller."

The guys engaged in a stare off until Darby finally nodded and then knocked on the table. "Alright, I'll stay out of it. That ATF bitch wants you so bad, she'll get you eventually." He looked to Tig and said, "Move."

Tig glanced at Clay who nodded once; meeting was over. Tig slid out of the booth.

As Darby stood up, Clay shook his head. "Be smart for once in your life Darby. I don't know what Stahl's been whispering in your ear but if SAMCRO gets brought down by a RICO charge… don't think you won't be drowning right along side us. Keep that in mind."

Darby turned on headed for the door. Tig smiled and called after him, "Tell Jenkins and Hoover we said 'hi'."

BB made his way back the hospital. Motor had taken Jaci home shortly after the attack to prevent any suspicions. Her bruises were way too obvious. He found Roxy sitting in Vix's room. She looked up from the book she'd been reading and shot him a smile, "How you doin', baby?"

"This has got to be the longest damn Thursday I've ever lived through." BB replied with a sigh.

Shutting the book she nodded, "I know it seems that way but even the longest, darkest day only has 24 hours in it."

BB put his hand on his head and snapped it to the right – crack – then to the left –crack! Then he took a deep breath. "So how'd you manage to un-plant Ortiz?"

"That doctor, the one who him and Jaci have taken to calling Dr. Dickhead, and I think he resembles that moniker more and more… he suggested that Juice was becoming psychotic." At a raised eyebrow from BB she clarified, "Apparently if you spend too much time here you lose your mind." She held up her hands and shook her head, "Honest to Christ, I was sitting right in this chair when he said it."

BB nodded, "And so he left for a while?"

"That is one way to put it. Another way would be that he was forced to leave by Security after threatening to take that Mont Blanc pen outta Dr. Dickhead's hand and stab him in the throat with it. His Gramma and Mr. Darling were here at the time, so they took him home. I promised to call if her condition changes."

The words were no sooner out of her mouth when alarms on the tower of monitors started going off. BB's eyes shot from the machines, to Vix lying in the bed, to his wife. "What the…."

"They've been doing that for a while. A nurse just comes in, adjusts some wires, and hits the reset button." Roxy answered matter-of-factly. "Watch out darlin', here she is now…"

A nurse walked into the room and glanced at the monitor. "Someone's heart is racing today... you missin' your man? I can see why ... he's a cutie and devoted as a puppy." She shook her head. "Damn doctors... that poor boy ain't crazy... he's worried sick 'bout you. So you need to stop this nonsense and get better you hear me?"

Another alarm started going off on yet another machine. "Ooh, someone is being sassy… well, I…" A quick look of panic flashed across the nurse's face and she began mumbling aloud to herself as she scanned the various monitors. "Oxygen rate isn't good either… BP is dropping,"

BB and Roxy stood there watching as the room quickly filled with medical personnel. Dr. Dickhead strode into the room and began barking orders. He glanced over in their direction and snapped at one of the nurses, "Get the family out of here!"

Stay tuned for the rest of HELL WEEK…