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Previously in And the Angel Rode: A girl with a bullet wound showed up at the clubhouse asking for Tig. Tig knew the girl as Ellie and obviously cared about her very much. Tara was about to give Ellie a dose of morphine so she could take the bullet out of her shoulder when Tig stopped her and Ellie revealed that she was pregnant with Tig's child, but no one else knows it is his.

Chapter Two

Tig was sitting in the waiting room of St. Thomas Hospital. Gemma had been with him for the whole time, but had left a minute ago to get some food for the guys who were camped out in the sterile, white room. She had been unusually quiet, just rubbing his arm or patting his back comfortingly. She must have realized he was in no condition to talk.

Ellie had been in surgery for two hours so far. Before Tara had gone to scrub up, she had promised him that as soon as they were done she would come tell him how Ellie was doing.

"She'll be fine Tig." Tara had reassured him. Tig knew that, Ellie was strong, she was a fighter, it would take more then one bullet to bring her down, but it wasn't just Ellie he had to worry about.

The baby, his baby.

Even though she had told him almost a month ago that she was pregnant he still couldn't wrap his head around it.

Yah, he had been a father in the past, but he had never cared about Fawn and Dawn's mother nearly as much as he did Ellie. Fuck, he wasn't sure he had ever even loved her. Looking back he should have realized it would end badly, but he never expected her to take off with his girls and fall off the face of the planet.

After three years being together, he and Maria were always fighting, usually about the club. She couldn't accept that sometimes the club had to come first. But he never expected to come home from a run one day to find the girls' rooms empty and a note on the counter next to her wedding ring saying that she had had enough and wouldn't have her girls growing up amongst the violence. No one had seen any of them since.

Not that he hadn't looked for them. He had spent a year scouring the west coast for them. And not just himself either. All of SAMCRO had helped, as well as every SOA chapter within a four state area.

As well as the club, Unser used his police contacts. Still, nothing.

Clay pulled him out of his memories when he sat down in the plastic chair next to him. For a moment he just sat there, watching his Sergeant-at-Arms slumped in defeat. Clay had only ever seen Tig like this once before, when he realized that his bitch of a wife had up and left with their two daughters in tow.

After a moment he finally broke the silence, "Want to tell me what's going on here Tig? Who is this woman? What's she to you?"

Tig leaned forward, rested his elbows on his legs and buried his face in his hands. "Fuck, I don't know, brother. I guess she's girlfriend, but she's not." He muttered.

"Some ass you're getting?"

"No!" Tig snapped up and glared at Clay, "no, she's…she's…she's so much more." He let his head fall back into his hands.

Clay let him calm down for a moment, considering the situation. "You really care about her, don't you?"

"Yes."

"Care to tell me why I didn't hear 'bout this 'till she shows up at the clubhouse with a bullet in her shoulder? What happened to her anyways?"

"Her motherfucking father is what happened to her." Tig growled out. Before Tara had allowed them to move her out to the van to get her to the hospital she wanted to stop the bleeding. While she worked on her shoulder and Chibs on her head, Tig kept Ellie talking. Tara had told him to keep her conscious for as long as possible, so he quizzed her on what had happened, even though he was sure he already knew what had happened. Or more specifically, who.

Clay raised an eyebrow, but waited for Tig to explain.

The younger man leaned back in the chair and began to explain Ellie's story.

"Ellie's mom died when she was seven, her dad had never really been around, he was a big business man, ran some kind of international business out of their home in Argentina. After her mom's death he became even more reclusive, buried himself in his shit. He needed to get away from Argentina, so he decided to move them to Houston. That's when he hired Lucas." He spat the name in disgust. "He was the son of an old friend and about fifteen years older them Ellie. He had just graduated from the top business school in Argentina."

"Ellie's father buried himself in his work and didn't notice that Lucas was abusing his own damn daughter. At first it was calling her degrading names, making her feel like she was a piece of shit. When she was ten it became physical, he would hitting her, yank out her hair, spit on her, that kind of fucked up shit. But when she turned thirteen he convinced her she had to begin earning her keep. That motherfucker raped her, she was thirteen years old Clay, thirteen." His voice rose as he told the story.

Clay put a hand on Tig's shoulder, half in comfort, half restraining him from doing something violent in a hospital. He knew what he was feeling, knew the feeling of having the one you love the most hurt in the worst possible way and not being able to do shit about it.

"She finally got up the strength to run away when she turned eighteen. She left Houston and became an American citizen so she could change her name and Lucas couldn't find her. Apparently that wasn't enough though." The last line came out with a dejected sigh and Tig again buried his face in his hands.

Tig and Clay sat there in silence for a long time. "You have the complete support of the club for whatever you need, brother. Retaliation, protection for Ellie, whatever. I can see why you kept her away from the club, but you've got to understand, she's a part of it now whether you like it or not."

Tig sighed and lifted his head to look at Clay for the first time. "Ja, I knew some shit would happen sometime to drag her into club life eventually."

"Besides, did you really want her around the guys, Tig? Your girl's hot." Tig chuckled softly, knowing Clay was only trying to lighten the mood. Even though he had not once explained his relationship with Ellie, Clay, and probably the rest of the guys, had figured it out on their own.

Just then Tara came in, still wearing her scrubs and looking weary. Tig jumped up quickly, once again thinking about nothing but Ellie and the kid.

Tara wasn't used to the look of worry on Tig's face, he was usually the cool, calm and collected one; he must really care about Ellie.

"She's in recovery, surgery went well; we got the bullet out of her shoulder and stopped the bleeding. She also had some internal bleeding, two broken ribs, a concussion, and a broken wrist as well as many cuts and bruises. It looks like she fell through some glass, we found a lot of small pieces imbedded in her leg. I have to warn you, Tig, she's pretty beaten up. I don't want you freaking out when you see her."

"Will she be ok?"

"She should be. Right now she's in a medically induce coma, it will give her body time to heal its self. She'll be completely out of the woods when she wakes up."

"And the baby?" Tig choked out; there had been no doubt in his mind that Ellie would make it, but what a seven week pregnancy? Clay had come up behind Tig and put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"They're fine, Tig." Tara reassured him with a smile. "We'll run some more tests while she's here, but there shouldn't be any permanent damage, to either of them. You've got yourself one strong woman in there."

"Don't I know it." In an unusual sign of compassion Tig wrapped Tara up in a hug. "Thank you." He whispered.

"Your welcome." Tara said, pulling back.

"When can I see her?" Tig questioned.

"As soon as she's out of recovery they'll bring her up to the ICU. I'm going to go change and by then you should be able to see her."

"Thank you again, Tara. I don't know what we'd do without you." It was Clay who answered this time.

"You might have to learn how to stay out of trouble." Tara smirked.

A deep voice chuckled in her ear and Jax's strong arms enveloped her. "Never."

Tara turned her head and stole a quick kiss before she pulled away. "I'm going to go change, then I'll come bring you to see Ellie." She told Tig, before heading to the break room where she had left her cloths.

As Tara walked away, Tig's brothers turned on him. "So brother, how long have you been shacking up with that?" Juice once again showed that he had no filter between his brain and his mouth.

Jax hit him upside the head.

"Ow, what was that for?"

Everyone ignored him, "But really, how long have you been together and how come we haven't heard or seen anything of her before?" Jax asked.

"About two years and we just decided to keep our lives separate, then I wouldn't have to worry about her getting' hurt because if what I do." Tig left out the rest.

Jax and Opie looked at each other knowingly, they both knew what that was like and never wanted a brother to go through that kind of pain again.

"So, bruther, tell us more 'bout the lass." Chibs said.

"She's Argentine, owns the pastry shop on main street, makes one damn good pot roast. She has a dog, Ailin and keeps a horse at a stable a few miles outside of Charming. Speaking of which, I'll need to go get Ailin and bring her to the clubhouse. Ellie would have my balls if I let anything happen to her while she's in the hospital."

"Ailin, what kinda name is that?" Opie asked.

"It's Mapudungun, native language in Argentina. I'll let Ellie tell you that story."

"Well, Juice can go get the dog and bring him to the clubhouse so you don't have to worry bout it." Clay trailed off as Tig shook his head.

"No, Ailin doesn't like strangers and is very protective, she'd attack anyone who tried to enter the house. Then again I do owe the asshole." He said, glaring at Juice. Everyone laughed, remembering the botched attempt to steal a car, where Juice's incompetence had literally bitten Tig in the ass.

When everyone settled down there was an awkward pause until Happy broached the subject they were all avoiding. "What happened to her, Tig?" Happy was naturally very protective, but the fact that this girl had somehow snuck under his defenses before he even knew her unnerved him greatly.

"It's a long story, and hers to tell when she's ready." He glanced over at Clay and took the slight nod to be reassurance that he wouldn't tell anyone what Tig had just told him. "The short version is an old friend of her father's wasn't particularly happy when she decided to she wanted to be an independent woman."

Happy noticed how Tig's voice and eyes hardened as he talked about Ellie's story and figured this was the much shortened and very censured version of the truth.

"What are we going to do?" Tig was surprised to hear Happy say we. He wasn't one to get himself involved in business that didn't concern him. And technically, since Ellie wasn't an Old Lady, revenge didn't.

"I'm going to find that fucker and make him regret ever looking at Ellie." Tig growled out.

"Juice, Opie, Bobby, head back to the clubhouse." Clay ordered. "Juice, do your shit and find this fucker." He nodded at Ope and Bobby, "The garage is opening in a few hours, keep everything under control."

The three of them treaded out of the hospital, leaving Tig, Jax, Happy, Chibs and Clay waiting when Gemma returned with enough food to feed an army.

"Where'd everyone go?" She asked her husband.

"Sent 'em back to the clubhouse. Juice is going to find this fucker and Opie and Bobby are opening up the garage."

Gemma glanced quickly at Tig. "How is she?"

"She's going to be fine. Tara came out when they were done with surgery, said that she won't be completely out of the woods till she wakes up, but there shouldn't be any permanent damage."

"And the baby?" Everyone had heard the truth when they had arrived at the hospital and Tara had rattled of facts about Ellie's condition, including the fact that she was pregnant to the ER doctors and nurses.

"The baby's fine."

"Thank God." Gemma sighed and wrapped her arms around her husband's closest friend.

Tig allowed Gemma's physical contact to comfort him. Most of the stress was off his shoulders now that he knew Ellie and the baby were going to be fine, but he was still worried about his girl.

Tara had changed and went to recovery to see how Ellie was doing, only to discover that she had already been moved into the ICU. When she made her way downstairs to tell Tig the good news, she stopped short by the strange, but heart warming scene in front of her.

Tig, the usually callous and harsh SAA, was standing in the middle of the waiting room, holding on to Gemma as if his life depended on it. Tara just stood there and took in the scene for a moment before walking forward, making her presence known.

"Ellie's been moved to the ICU, she can have visitors now, as long as you keep it to two people in the room."

"We'll come talk more later, you go take care of your girl." Clay turned to Happy, "Watch his back ok? I don't want her alone and I know Tig's gonna need some sleep soon. Not going to give that fucker a chance to come by and finish the job." The last part he said softly, so only Happy could hear. Hap nodded his head.

Clay clapped Tig on the shoulder and Gemma kissed Tig on the cheek before Clay threw his arm over his wife's shoulder and they made their way out to Clay's bike in the parking lot.

Tara looked at Chibs, the only person left that didn't have an express purpose to be left at the hospital, since Jax was her ride home.

"I wanna see the lass, then I'll be takin' the van back to the clubhouse." He replied to Tara's questioning look.

She nodded and headed towards the elevator, with the boys right on her heals.

When they got to Ellie's door, Tara put her hand on the door knob but didn't open it. "Tig, I warned you, she's pretty banged up, she has a lot of bandage's. I don't want to be explaining to Margret why there is a hole the size of your fist in the wall." She stared down the curly haired man.

"Ja, got it. Keep my temper in check." Tara glanced quickly at Jax, hoping that he or Happy would be able to constrain Tig if the sight of Ellie was too much for him.

Tig was worried about his reaction too; part of him didn't want to see his girl if she was anywhere near as bad as Tara was building it up to be. But it was easily trumped by his desire to make sure she was ok, to hold her again and be there when she woke up.

Tara opened the door and Tig rushed to Ellie's side. Her head was wrapped in gauze and she had a bandage on her check. She was hooked up to about 5 different machines and they could all hear her heart rate monitor beeping away in the corner. She also had a breathing tube taped under her nose, providing oxygen to her battered body.

The rest of her body was covered by a blanket, for which he was thankful. Tara's fears might be affirmed if he had to deal with anything else at the moment.

He fell to his knees next to the hospital bed and ever so gently cupped her check in his big, calloused hand. "Ellie, Angel." He sighed.

After a moment Tig looked up. His eyes harder and his face more stoic then Tara had ever seen before. It was probably one of the most deadly looks she had ever seen.

"This fucker is going to pay." He growled out. "I'm going to make him wish he had never been fuckin' born."

"Don't worry about that yet, brother. Juice will find him and you can get your revenge, but till then just stay here with your girl. She needs you right now." Jax comforted, slapping Tig on his shoulder.

Tig looked torn between wanting to get revenge and staying with Ellie, but when he looked back at the fragile body laying in the bed his mind was made up for him. He pulled the recliner up next to the bed and sat down next to Ellie, carefully taking her small hand in his large one, making sure not to disrupt the IV.

"Come on guys," Tara said, motioning with her head for everyone to get out of the room. "Let's give them some privacy."

Chibs, followed by Jax, went up and kissed Ellie on the forehead.

"Get better soon sweetheart. Before you give your old man an aneurism." He murmured. "We need him and he needs you."

Tara, Jax and Chibs left the room, Tara softly closing the door behind them. Happy was still standing vigil in the hallway.

"Make sure he doesn't do something stupid, will ya?" Jax asked.

The only response they got was a curt nod. Very Happy. Tara thought, before Jax wrapped his arm around her middle and began pulling her downstairs towards his bike.

Tig heard the door close but didn't move for over an hour till the exhaustion just became too much.

He lay down in the recliner, facing Ellie, but still grasping her cold hand in his. Just as he was losing his fight with exhaustion the sun peaked up over the window sill and feel down around Ellie's face like a halo.

She really is an angel. Tig thought. My angel. And with that thought, he fell into a restless asleep.

A/N: Thank you so much for reading! Please review! Constructive criticism is always welcome, but no flames please.

Rose