So here's part two in this story. Been a little nuts in my life, but I have been working on ALL my works. Just tweeking here and there on some and will have more of soon. Hope this ties you over till then. And hopefully things will settle down more so I can actually work more on these. :-)

Scout's Origin

Part Two

Charming - August 1987

Two years before Scout

It was about mid-afternoon and Karen found herself on her hands and knees in her kitchen scrubbing the floor for the millionth time that day. There was a water bucket next to her with soap suds in it and the smell of Pinesol filling the air. She was in one of her 'moods' and couldn't help but feel the need to scrub all the dirt, whether it was there or not, away. And that's how Tig found her when he pushed in through the cracked front door. Her hair was in a seriously fucked up looking pony tail and the sweats she wore were ripped and looked like they'd swallowed her tiny frame. He stood there a moment just staring in awe before he finally spoke up. "I think the bitch down stairs probably has soap suds seeping through her ceiling."

Karen's head snapped up at the sound of Tig's voice and he was shocked by her appearance. Admittedly, he hadn't seen her in the past week or so, but he wasn't expecting to find her in the state she was in. Her eye's looked like they'd been sucked into her skull with some seriously dark rims around them. Her skin was still lightly tanned, but now it was marred with the beginnings of tiny red sores, almost like scratches. Her cheeks had lost what little fullness they'd had to begin with and now were just like bones jutting from her face. Tig knelt down in front of her and grabbed the brush roughly from her hands. "What the hell? Are you using?" He hadn't taken her for a heavy drug user when he'd first met her, but now it was obvious she was entangled in the downward spiral that came with the use of needles and crank. From the looks of her he'd guess it was meth.

"I don't know what you're talking about." She said with venom in her voice and tried yanking her brush back so she could continue scrubbing. There was still dirt on the floor, she could smell it, and she was damn well going to make it go away. She was very irritated when he pulled the brush out of her reach then stood up looking around her apartment. It smelled heavily of the harsh cleaners and looked like it could damn near sparkle. He found that odd though knowing she had a young child living in the space as well.

His eyes narrowed and he looked back down at her. "I find that hard to believe. Where's Teagan at?"

"I don't know what you're talking about Tig. I'm not using anything! Now give me back my brush."

"I asked you where your damn kid is Karen. Do you even know?" He was growing impatient with her defensiveness. He honestly was just trying to make sure she hadn't pawned off the poor kid for a fix because at that exact moment, it was looking more and more possible with the youngster's absence.

Karen shot up from the floor and made another grab for the brush across the room. Next thing she knew she was pinned up against the fridge; one muscled arm on each side of her toothpick sized arms. Her eyes were wide as Tig's face came very close to hers and she moved her head to the side trying not to gaze into his piercing blue eyes. "Look at me when I talk to you god damnit!" He let go of one of her arms to jerk her chin into facing him. "Where the hell is your daughter, Karen? Where. Is. Teagan?"

The blonde's chest started heaving as she struggled to take a breath. The high she'd been on was starting to wear off and the situation was dawning on her full blast. Her lungs felt constricted and she gasped, trying to suck in as much air as she could. Her mouth opened and closed like a fish and she really tried to answer, but her words weren't coming. Tears did though, as they were now flowing freely down her face as she stared at the man in front of her. "I-I-I"

Tig let her go and she dropped to the floor in a heap. He quickly made his way to the bedrooms near the back of the apartment in search of the little girl, but came up empty in both. Each room was clean and tidy and looked untouched in days. Though that could have been due to the little cleaning frenzy Karen had just been on. He came back out to the kitchen and was opening drawers at an alarming rate, paying no mind to the crying mess on the floor next to him. Once he found the little address book he knew she kept he flipped though it till he landed on Luanne's name. He frantically dialed the woman's number and waited for her to answer.

"Hello?"

"It's Tig. Where are you?"

"I'm at home. Why? What's going on? How the hell did you get my number?"

Tig ignored her questions and cut straight to the chase. He needed to figure out where the hell the kid was. "Teagan with you?"

"Yeah, I picked her up last night. Why? Karen throwing a fit I took her?"

"Just keep her with you for the next few days. Mommy's going to be hurting for the next couple." With that Tig hung up and looked at the weeping mess on the floor. Bending down he picked her up without much of a fight, which was surprising with the way she was earlier. Now though, she just went lax in his arms and let him carry her to her bedroom.

After a few hours, Karen had finally fallen asleep letting Tig get up from his spot next to her on the bed. He grabbed his address book from the pocket of his prospect cut that was hanging on the bed post on his way out. Once at the phone he dialed Otto's number and jotted down a few notes. When he hung up he studied the napkin that was in front of him, not liking too much what he was seeing.

He'd been hoping the shipment was going to be coming in sooner then three days bringing their new friend along with it, but of course, he wasn't that lucky. On the other hand though, Daisy was out of town till the following week helping her sister with the new baby. That left Tig a few days to get Ms. Meth-head into a somewhat sober state.

Summers in the valley were always hot and today was no different. Being at the port of Stockton didn't help much either. The black asphalt behind them sizzled with the 100+ degree heat bearing down on it. The water probably wasn't as cool as it looked either, but Tig wasn't about to test that out. He was currently waiting with the patched members of the Son's, who'd opted to wear their mechanic shirt in favor of their cuts, as they watched their shipment of 'oil' being loaded into the two flat bed Chevy's.

Clay and John were talking quietly to the Irishman who'd come to deliver while Otto and Bobby helped the other man that was with him load up the barrels. Having not been given his orders, Tig hung back until Otto waved him over.

"Help Chibs load this into the truck. We gotta go talk to McCeevy."

Tig just nodded and grabbed one side of the barrels while the other man, Chibs, grabbed the other. Once it was lifted into the truck, Tig got a good look at the man next to him. He was young, only in his early twenties, but what really stood out were the fresh looking scars on his cheeks. They were bright pink lines that started from the corners of his mouth and trailed about half way up either side of his cheeks. There were still a few stitches even, but it looked like most of them had already been removed. Tig held out his hand and the man in front of him took it, shaking.

"Name's Tig."

"Chibs."

"Good to meet you." Tig had looked around, but had yet to spot anyone else with the shipment. Seemed to be a two man crew this time and he'd been hoping that there would be a certain man on this one, but it didn't seem so. "I heard there was a Filip Telford comin' over. Know what happened?"

Chibs let out a small chuckle, but not a large one so as not to irritate his still healing wounds. He looked at the man in front of him a moment and sized him up. He was young with long curly hair. From that way he was around the other's he assumed he was a prospect. "Ain't nothing wrong with him. I be standin' rite in front 'o your eyes, lad."

Tig took a double take of the man in front of him then let out a stress relieving breath. "Thank the fucking lord. Please tell me you're not planning on getting back on that barge to Ireland."

"Can't say that I am. Put in for me transfer from SAMBEL last week. Clay approved me stay over 'ere. Why ya so interested in me?"

"Cause we have a mutual friend and she needs your help at the moment. Lil' blonde thang named Karen?"

Chibs' face fell and he set dark eyes on the man in front of him. He hadn't heard from his long time friend in well over a month and he had to admit, he was a bit worried about her. He thought she'd at least keep in contact with him when she left, but she hadn't. "Why, what wrong wit 'er?"

Chibs was still trying to wrap his head around what Tig had told him on the way over to the apartment complex. He was standing in the door way to Karen's bedroom watching her sleep in the bed. It was late-afternoon, but the heat was still sweltering and even though she was sleeping on top of the cover with a tank top and shorts, Karen's hair clung to the sides of her face from the sweat beading on her skin. No more were the smooth lines of the beautiful porcelain skin that his father had loved so much, but in their place were sharp lines with pale skin made to look ghostly with the gray hue marring the surface.

He'd known that she'd had a problem with drug before she'd come to Ireland, that she'd only been sober a few months when she'd arrived, but he'd never actually seen her in this diminished state. He pitied her. The once vibrant young woman that had managed to catch he's father's eye was definitely not the troubled woman in front of him slumbering.

Gathering his wits, Chibs straightened up and made his way to kneel next to the small bed and pushed her hair back away from her face gently. He pulled a cloth from his back pocket and used it to wipe some of the sweat from her brow. The touch stirred her though, and her long lashes fluttered up, revealing her once striking blue eyes. Now the life had been drained from them, almost like that of a woman who'd been defeated. She blinked a few times trying to register the face in front of her, before recognition finally took hold. Her voice was hoarse, throat scratchy from coughing and screaming. Tig had let her suffer through the withdrawals, not letting her up to inject herself again. "Filip?"

He didn't answer, just nodded his head letting her know it was him. He knew his appearance was not the same as she'd remembered, and never would be, but even with his new permanent smile, she still knew who he was. Her hand reached out to trace the scar on his right side, but before she could form her sentence to ask who'd marred his face he told her. "Jimmy O. Didn' take ta da fact dat I married Fi. Found out she was carrin' me kid and took her from me and pretty much sent me to exile."

Karen nodded, not needing an explanation. She knew who Jimmy was and that he'd climbed the ladder of the IRA threw more forceful means. In many people's eyes, Jimmy hadn't earned his spot near the top, but near the top he was, no matter how he got there. The fact that Filip had even thought of crossing the sea to the US told her that things had been bad, and by the looks of his face, painful as well. Trying to lighten the mood some, Karen sat up and Chibs was able to see the full effect the drugs had taken on her now skeletal frame. "Fuck Ireland anyway. I obviously can't function without a Telford around to keep me from fucking up."

"Aye to that luvy."