Walk Away from the Son

by BG.0715

As the events of Season 2 unfold - and the going gets tough for the folks of Charming, when loyalties are tested and relationships pushed to their brink, will the Parker Sisters be able to hang on or will they be forced to walk away. Tig/OC, Juice/OC

26. Chapter 23 Spilss

Walk Away from the Son
Parker Sister Saga continues - Season 2 of SoA
Chapter 23- Spills

By BG and Reaper

Take NOTE: we are staying Canon for as long as we can – with the exception that FX and Sutter have up and decided to change Juice's name from Jean to Juan. (even went so far as to redub some audio from S3 prior to DVD release)... that is just stupid and makes those of us who paid attention from the very beginning (and, I might add, have official documentation to prove Juice's ORIGINAL NAME) look like dumbasses. He is and always will be JEAN-Carlos Ortiz who is half Puerto Rican, half English in Parkerland! Reaper's Rant to an end cometh!

Ok, one more – since those of you who read from the beginning might recall – The Parker sisters rolled into Charming at Valentines time. In Parkerland more time has passed and Abel (as hinted at in a previous chapter) is 1 year old (making it February Ha! So the lyric below is appropriate on too many levels to count!

But February made me shiver, with every paper I'd deliver bad news on the doorstep, I couldn't take one more step...

~Don McLean, American Pie

XXX

The only light source on the back deck was the glow of the embers in the fire pit and the burning end of Hap's cigarette. "How you feelin' kid?"

Vix slumped down into the wicker love-seat next to the chair he was occupying, pulling her feet up and hugging them to her chest. She sighed heavily, "If there is a word in existence to describe how i feel, I don't know it."

He watched her fiddle with the wrist cuffs of her hoodie, tucking her hands up inside. Her head swiveled in his direction, but with her face in shadow he heard her clear her throat. Vix Parker was ready to talk. Happy wasn't surprised it taken her half the night, Parker was synonymous with close-vestedness. Short of assuring her older sister she was fine, Vix hadn't spoken another word after Jaci had broken the news of Luann's death. They'd watched her head down the hall and lock herself in her old bedroom, leaving them all in the dark about how she'd ended up beaten up. With the black cloud hovering over all of them, the Sons had agreed that the Parkers should not be left alone. The Nomad had offered to hang at Parker Place, keep an eye on Juice's old lady and her sister, Jax and Bobby said they'd stop by in the morning and The Prospect had been instructed to meet Hap at Luann's house with a van at dawn.

"I never killed anyone before..."

Hap sat extremely still, "You didn't kill Luann, Vix."

"Not directly but J said she was beat to death, I don't believe you guys don't have a line on who, but even if you don't... I do."

"Yeah? Who's that, darling?'"

"Georgie Caruso... if he didn't do it himself, he ordered it, just like sent his goons to Cara Cara - that killed my Spawn-baby, just like he'd made that distributor Devon lure Luann to Redwood City, they knew we were comin' and knew we'd have to park in that underground garage cause they knew there was never any parkin' at Devon's office across the street. They were waitin' on us, cut the lights…" She blew out a steadying breath. "I've what-if'd everything, every second of what happened. What I coulda or shoulda done different... "

"What you DID was get you and Lu outta there... I'm proud of you."

Vix heaved a wry laugh, "What I DID was beat a guy with a tire iron and shoot at another..."

"You missed?"

"On purpose...fucker slit my baby's throat, shootin' him woulda been too kind... and I didn't have a knife on me."

A chuckle bubbled forth outta Hap "I change my mind... I'm VERY proud of you... and a little scared of you too." He shook another cigarette out of the pack he pulled from inside his cut and lit up. Offering one to Vix, he leaned forward to offer her a light as well and inquired, "Where's the hardware now?"

After a long drag and slow exhale Vix replied, "Gun's in the top drawer of the dresser in the bedroom. Tire iron's under the driver's seat of Ruby's Torino. The jeans and hoodie I was wearin' are in a garbage bag in the trunk of the car. Please tell me you don't need my boots, Juice just got 'em for me... early anniversary gift, day y'all got locked up... like he knew he'd miss it. He is gonna lose his shit when he sees me lookin' like this."

"Probably, but it's better than the alternative." He watched Vix flick her ashes in the fire pit. "Guys that jumped you were Georgie's?"

"Yeah... one tried to recruit me."

"Guess that was before you shot at him, hmm?" Hap finished his cigarette. "And the other one, you know if he was still breathin'?"

"He was groanin' when I left, I don't know how he faired. I swung with everything I had and there was a lotta blood on my clothes, a majority of it not mine."

"You step in any?"

"Hard to say."

"Probably gonna need the boots, sorry kid."

Vix cursed and stood up and he watched her walk into the house. She returned a minute later with the boots and the gun, setting both of them on the deck floor. "I know you say I didn't cause her to get killed... but I still feel like shit. Maybe I shoulda stayed with her."

"We'd just be burying you too, Vix."

She bit her bottom lip, her nose scrunched up, cute as hell. She was fiercely loyal and in possession of bigger balls than some dudes he knew. His brother may be considered a retard in many ways but Juice was smart as hell to lay claim to Vix Parker. She was a looker, even with a swollen top lip, a goose egg on her temple ... and the bruises he knew without a doubt would look far worse in the morning light than they had at first sight, and they'd been plenty nasty then. She was wrong though 'bout one thing, her old man wasn't gonna lose his shit...Juice was gonna lose his mind. Hap stood up and crushed his cigarette butt in the ashtray on the edge of the fire pit wall. "Where're the keys to the Torino?"

Vix pulled them outta the front pocket of her hoodie. "Thanks, Hap."

"Yeah, go get some sleep...take somethin' if you gotta."

"Yep."

XXX

The sun was just peeking over the horizon when Happy and Sack arrived at 379 N. Philodendron Street. The Prospect killed the engine of the black utility van and the two made their way around the back of the Delaney home after seeing that the cops had indeed cleared the premises. As they approached the backdoor leading into the garage, Kipp asked, "Hey, um...you think Luann hid a spare key. I don't think Jax want us kickin' the door in or..."

Hap took out his cell phone. "I got an APP for that."

Sack cocked his head, disbelieving. "Really? What, Lu have like electronic locks or some shi..." The Prospect was silenced mid-word as he watched the Nomad take the butt of his cell phone and smash the lower left panel of glass on the door. Using the phone, he cleared the glass shards out of the small window square before reaching in and unlocking the door.

"Let's find the fuckin' dobie-cicle and get the hell outta here." Hap instructed as he pushed the door open and entered the home.

"There's the freezer." Sack said nodding at the chest freezer against the opposite wall of the garage. Walking over he popped the lid and groaned, "Oh man!"

Hap glared again. "What? It's in there, right?" A second later he was staring down at the four frozen dog paws. "Where's the rest of him?"

Kipp nervously scratched his head, "I ...I think he's under the ice cream."

XXX

Arriving back at TM, Clay spotted Hap and the Prospect with the van. Hap was walking out of the garage with a hacksaw. Clay frowned, "Unsuccessful body snatching?"

Hap shook his head. "Nah, we got him."

"Good. Do I want to know what the saw is for?"

"Well," Kipp cleared his throat, "Dog's sorta frozen like this…" Thrusting his arms straight out in front of him, he gave a demonstration of the riggored Dobie. He quickly lowered them upon seeing Clay's expression and nervously scratched his head, again. "And well we don't know what Vix's plans are but we may have to you know..." A crazed sorta laugh escaped him as he pantomimed sawing. He abruptly waved them off, "I'll ah... go wait in the van."

The SAMCRO President and the Nomad watched the Prospect scamper off. "What's on your plate for the rest of the day?"

"Not ice cream" Hap muttered with an odd grin. "O Town with Vix. She's gotta pick up The Olds from the airport."

"Airport Escort, wasn't aware of the expanded duties of our Nomad charter."

"Favor for a brother…Juice. If he knew 'bout all of this shit goin' down, wouldn't want his family unprotected. Last I knew we still didn't have a lead on where Caruso is..."

"Thailand... headed out this morning, calling it a buying trip." Clay advised, "But speaking of Juice, got someone we need intel on. Need it yesterday."

"Got a name?"

"His Honor Anthony Franklin...INS judge."

XXX

Started with a perfect kiss

Then we could feel the poison set in,

Perfect couldn't keep this love alive…

You know that I love you so,

I love you enough…to let you go

Jaci laid in her bed, staring at the ceiling as the pop song droned on from her clock radio about knowing when love was wrong and being smart enough to let go. The Already Gone tune was striking some very raw emotional tones with her given the dysfunctional state of things with Tig. She had actually played this song over and over the first time a breakup with Tig had occurred, right after Donna's death but it looked like the lyrics were still extremely relevant.

As bad as the blow up with Tig had been yesterday, the roadside massacre of her car, the public humiliation at the potluck…she still couldn't just let him go. Over the last year, the wound of them had been gashed open, healed closed, ripped open again and sewn back hastily a few times. But now that wound was infected, it was ugly but not seeping but Jaci wasn't sure a quick peroxide bubble bath was going to do any real good. This time she needed closure…permanent closure, whether good or bad. And maybe the American Idol winner was right, she needed to walk away…but she'd never know if she didn't try to talk to Tig one last time.

"Goddamn you, Kelly Clarkson." She muttered and slapped the clock's off switch. A moment later there was a soft knock on her door. She leaned up slightly and stared at the door only to see it push open and Vix's sleepy face appear.

"You awake?"

"Yeah...I just don't wanna get out of bed…ever." Jaci replied as she sat up.

Vix gave a weak smile. "Me neither." She walked across the room and crawled onto the empty side of the bed and flopped down next to her big sister, just like she had done a million times while they were growing up.

Jaci looked over at her little sister, taking her bruised neck and thinking about the drama of the night before. "Spill it, chica. I let you slide last night but I need to hear it all, sister. You and me are way too out of touch. There are waaay too many riffs in this town right now; the Parker Connection needs to be solid."

"Well, prepare yourself, sis…it's pretty goddamn brutal." Vix replied but spent the next fifteen minutes telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth to her sister. She started with the horror of find out about Spawn's murder and ended with the parking garage smackdown between her, Luann and Georgie's goons. After she finished, she gave Jaci a minute or two to process the dramatic details and then ventured a familiar act…she asked for J's advice. Yes, she was a grown ass adult but facts were facts, Jaci was full of goddamn wisdom.

"Do you think I did the right thing, J? I mean really? I haven't told Juice about any of this shit…he is going to absolutely flip his fuckin' lid. I just …. I was tryin' to spare him. You havent' seen him... he looks so pale and tiny all laid up in that hospital bed. "

"Shhhh." Jaci soothed and reached to touch her sister's arm, ending the panicked rant that was starting to brew. "You did everything right, Vix. Well other than not finding ME and telling me about this shit so I didn't have to think you were dead on the side of the road too. You did the right thing by protecting you and Luann like that, it was a no-brainer. And not telling Juice…you had to shelter him from this shit for a while, Vix. Your reasoning was right, there was nothing he could to help the situation. Matter of fact, anything he would have done would have HURT the situation and himself...which hurts the Club. And you didn't lie to him, sis…you just delayed the truth for good reason."

Vix nodded along, she had known she was right, it just felt good to get some familiar assurance. Jaci nudged her one more time. "But…you better get your ass up to the hospital and tell Juice about all this shit ASAP. Your man doesn't need to hear about all of this second hand from someone."

"Yep, I'm set to roll out for a day full of fun….just wanted to talk to you first." Vix replied then waved her hand around. "Ok, enough about me. What's going on with you? What have I missed?"

Jaci sighed heavily, "Well, let's see...I almost fucked Rosen the night the guys got locked up, Tig found out about it because I got ratted out by the owner of that Chinese place we like in Oakland. Had a massive ballistic blowup including a very intense screaming match in the middle of Gemma's potluck dinner, Tig was serving up public humiliation. Half the club thinks I'm a slut and I guess Tig and I hate each other. And oh yeah, if I'm preaching complete honesty here...I've had a bit of a medical condition that I've been hiding from you for a few months." Jaci watched Vix's mouth fall open in surprise. "Yeah, little sister, you're not the only one with secrets and drama. My life isn't nearly as boring as you think it is."

"Holy shit! Say what?"

It was Jaci's turn to spill all of her beans and she did for the most part, only leaving out the gruesome details of Tig's car beat down. For some reason she couldn't own up to being a part of that and told Vix that vandals had done the damage while she worked in Oakland. She covered her medical drama and the blow by blow details of the Potluck from Hell and all the crazy riffs that seemed to be brewing with the club.

"Ok, first things first…this blood pressure shit, are you ok? I mean really ok. You CANNOT stroke out on me. You can't pull a stunt like Dad…here one day, gone the next sorta shit."

"I'm fine. I've been taking the pills for months and they're doing what they're supposed to do. BP is looking great and I'm not having any issues. Even with all this crazy ass stress, things are holding steady. Mentally, I might need a crying jag but physically, I'm fine."

"Ok, good…second question. Does Tig's dick taste like apple pie? I mean, Jesus Christ, J! How much shit are you going to take from this asshole? I don't get it. It's like he's a drug and your fuckin' addicted or something. But he's a devil in disguise, a snake with blue eyes and you're gonna rue the day you ever met him, J."

Jaci couldn't help but smile in confusion. "Rue? Really?"

"Hey, I'm in college goddamnit. My vocab is expanding."

"You know you sorta just quote Cowboy Casanova to me?"

"If the shoe fits…"

"I know, I know. Him and me…it's a fucked up mess. But I'm going to get it figured out. I just need to talk him…maybe later today, we've had some time to settle down."

"Hmmph. I bet that goes fuckin' great."

"What are you doing today?" Jaci asked, effectively changing the subject.

"I gotta head out to the airport; pick up Mr. and Mrs. Henry Darling and the rest of the Olds." Vix sighed. "Ya know I'm glad Juice is still in the hospital cause I gotta shit ton of info for the Intelligence Officer and between Ruby and Henry gettin' hitched, the murders of Spawn and Luann he may have a stroke... that is if he doesn't have a heart attack at the sight of me."

"Oh, you're not goin' to Oakland alone... talk to Sack."

"Nah... Happy." Vix corrected and saw her sister blink in surprise. "He offered... and I ... I honestly welcome the shadow."

XXX

"Made some banana bread, wanna piece? Still warm." Bobby offered to Clay. Instead the increasingly onry SAMCRO President told him to shut the door.

"Unser just picked up three of your cum-divas in a low rent hooker sting. "

"Shit."

"I knew getting into porn was a bad call... I want us out."

"Losin' Luann was awful but we got other directors...Cara Cara is in full swing. It's a solid money maker."

"It's DIRTY. And I'm DONE with it!" Clay seethed. "Liquidate. You sell off whatever you can. "

"Porn was Jax's deal. We all voted yes." Bobby reminded.

"CLOSE IT DOWN." Clay demanded. "I'll handle the Little Prince."

XXX

Sack pulled open the back door of the van and stared at the carcass of Vix's dead dog. "You don't think she's really gonna stuff this thing, do ya?"

"Her prerogative...grab the ass end. I'll get his head." Hap muttered.

The door to the house opened as they carried the body into the garage. Jaci walked a few feet toward them. 'Gonna need to move that van, getting ready to roll out to work." She eyed the frozen remains of the dog. "How'd they get him in Lu's freezer with his legs like that?"

"They musta taken everything out of it cause he was stuck in, spine down, legs up and like six gallons of vanilla ice cream were stuck back in all around him." Sack advised.

Hap upnodded at Jaci. "Where's your sister?"

"Out back digging a hole, she agreed to bury him in my back yard" Jaci replied but frowned. "But unless we um, re-position his legs…" She eyed Sack and Hap trying to stress that she wasn't too keen on heaping on more insults to what had already been done to the poor pup. "Hole's gonna need to be real damn big."

"Two options... break 'em or cut 'em off." Hap answered simply, "Swung by TM for a hacksaw, just in case."

"OR... or... maybe, ya know… it be better to cremate him. Vix could put his ashes in a nice little urn or one of those pet mausoleum thingies." Kipp offered.

"Sorry, Kipp…but where we come from, beloved pets are buried in the backyard, under a tree. They are not torched and ground up and dumped into a ceramic pot or shoved in some weird-ass drawer at a cemetery." Jaci advised.

"I'll help her dig. Vix won't want his legs broken or sawed off on top of ..." The prospect waved at the body and sighed as he headed towards the back yard to dig yet another grave.

"How many shovels you got?" Hap asked.

XXX

"You are the love of my life and my future... will you marry me?"

Vix's eyebrow shot up her forehead, her lips parted slightly and then she snickered and pressed her lips tightly together to contain her amused laugh. Shaking her head, she laughed. "That is the tackiest thing I think I've ever witnessed."

From the seat next to her, Happy emitted a "Hhmm." and shook his head as he watched the buxom brunette, twenty feet away from them in the transit lounge at Oakland International. The chick spazzed out but finally choke out a 'yes!' to the dorky-bond-trader-lookin' dumbass still on bended knee in front of her. "What time's the flight supposed to get here?"

"According to the automated flight information, The Olds have landed. Ain't been on a plane in a long damn time so I have no idea how long it'll take 'em to get through the gates and shit." Vix replied then looked over at Hap. "Thanks for taggin' along today. At least if you're driving Henry Darling will have one less thing to bitch about."

"I heard that..." announced the grumpy voice of His Truly.

Vix gasped and spun around, a huge smile spreading on her face as she shot up outta the chair to her feet "Grandma Ruby! Ms. Sadie! Ms. Millie! Darling. How are my world travelers?"

"We're lovely, dear. How have things been back home...Holy Mother Mary,what? What happened to you?" Ruby exclaimed, sitting her carry-on bag down on the floor with a thud.

Vix reached up gingerly and fingered the scarf she'd looped around her neck. It had obviously failed in its purpose to cover up the worst of the bruising. She waved off Ruby's concern, "It looks worse than it feels..."

"It looks like Hell." Millie advised.

"Ok, I take that back, that's exactly what it feels like. It's ...it's ... "

"Something you can talk about in the van." Came the gravelly voice of Hap to aid in ending what would have turned into a game of 20-questions to the nth power.

Ruby's head shot up and she looked surprised at seemingly just noticing Hap's presence, "oh, hello, William... nice to see you, dear."

Hap forged away the anger at the usage of his given name. Ruby called everybody by their Christian names. How the old woman ever learned that officially he was William Montalvo, he would like to know. Instead, he nodded in reverence to Juice's grandma, "Mmm hmm"

"Where is Jean-Carlos?"

"Um, he's not here... it's just me and Hap." Vix went to inform before her voice caught. "It's..."

"Something you can talk about in the van." Hap mumbled again.

Ruby's face hardened slightly and her chin jutted up, "Is Jean responsible?

"For this?" Vix couldn't keep the shocked value out of her voice as she once again fingered her bruised throat. "NO! No... Juice and me, we're good. Jesus. Ruby... this ... this is something else."

Henry cleared his throat, "Perhaps we should move along to the baggage claim."

Ruby nodded and let her husband take her arm and guide her along in the direction everyone in the place seemed to be headed. Vix watched Millie and Sadie fall in behind The Darlings. She held back and eyed the Son next to her, "I never thought that would be her first assumption, Hap... sweet Lord!" Vix sniffled, she couldn't help herself.

XXX

Jax rode onto the lot at TM and was backing in his Dyna as Bobby approached. "How'd it go with the Chinese?"

"Ok."

Jax noticed the fat man's pensive look, "What?"

"Clay heard what happened to the porn girls. Between that and Luann, he wants me to kill Cara Cara."

"It's club action, he can't shut it down."

"He don't give a shit."

"Someone paid our girls to be on Darby's roster... wanted them to get busted. You think Clay needed an excuse to shut me down?"

Shaking his head sadly Bobby admitted, "I'm not sure I know what either one of you would do any more."

Jax strode purposefully into the clubhouse. He found Tig and Clay in the Chapel, looking over area maps. "We NEED Cara Cara. It's our ONLY club income."

"Gun biz is back online." Clay responded. "We're done with pussy."

"Just for a minute, try to think past this bullshit between you and me. Porn is a legitimate business."

Clay sneered. "So is auto repair and that don't make my skin crawl."

Jax begged his President to take a look at their run with guns over the last few years, how they had lost more than they had earned in both money and blood. But Clay didn't want to hear and assured him all that was going to change but Jax doubted the Chinese were some great fix-all. And after Bobby told him the guns were really coming from Hamas, Jax was shocked and scoffed, "Jesus Christ! THAT's where you're putting the future of the club?"

"SAMCRO deals guns!" Clay yelled. "You had your little romp as Porn King. You've tied us to prostitution and got a member's old lady killed."

"You're really gonna stand there and lay the guilt of a dead wife on me?" Jax asked through gritted teeth.

Clay eyed him seriously, "You remember that promise I made?"

"Let me make it easy for ya…" Jax pulled out his handgun and laid it on the table in front of his President. He turned around, giving him a chance to take his best shot.

After a long and extremely tense moment that had the other Sons in the room wondering what the hell was going on, Clay decided to pass on keepin' his promise, engaged the safety on the gun and put in back on the table.

Jax turned back around and has he picked up his gun said, "You need a majority vote to shut down Cara Cara."

Everyone watched the VP stride out of the clubhouse.

XXX

Gramma Ruby and Vix always said nothing good happened on soap operas save for Cliffhanger Fridays and from what Juice could gather, they must be right because it wasn't even half-past 2pm and he'd been a witness to a kidnaping, an attempted vehicular homicide, a shocking revelation of paternal identity that lead to the realization that said Daddy had been about commit incest with own daughter, someone miraculously survive a combo stroke/heart attack/aneurysm only to have Nurse Naughty shoot poison into their IV and at least 14 different couples having sex.

"Not too shabby." He mumbled to himself as he hit the button on the remote, stopping at the next channel. "Ooooh, Springer!" He said fully aloud then smiled as the subject matter of today's freak parade came onto the screen: Liars, Cheaters and Sex Fiends, Oh, My!

"Watchin' Springer makes me feel better about my own life." Advised the asshole assigned to the room's other bed.

Juice rolled his eyes. He hadn't been pleased when the hospital staff had wheeled the dude in late last night. His irritation not only stemmed from knowing Vix would be hesitant to stay the night with company but the guy just radiated suspiciousness. He managed a nod, "I know, right?"

"The episodes with Southerners are the best, man. Bunch of backwoods rednecks all married to their cousins...even those NOT on the show." The roomy snickered until he noticed the glare Juice was shooting at him.

"What?"

"My ol' lady is from Alabama, it don't get much more Southern that that."

"Real-ly?" The guy answered and shrugged as he nodded at the flat screen TV on the wall. "I think I've seen this one before... the chick is a deaf stripper, whose husband left her because they were evicted from their home because she didn't make enough money stripping and he, of course, has no job. NOW he lives with his sister, who he is also having sex with. The really, really crazy part: is the girl wants her cheatin', sibling-fucking hubby back because it's not his fault. His sister brainwashed him ... into incest. They're from Alabama, come to think of luck with your girl, man. Southern people are crazy."

"Hmph, there are no more crazy people in the South than up North."

Both men snapped their attention to the door, finding Vix leaning against the doorjamb. "Hey, baby." She fixed a smile for Juice and eyed the roomy with suspicion. "In the South we're just proud of our crazy people, like to put 'em on display. No one in the South ever asks IF you have crazy people in your family, they just ask what side they're on."

Happy entered the room after her and after shutting the door stood silent sentry duty, eyes narrowed on the roomy. Roomy looked intimidated as hell, "Hey, you like Jerry Springer?"

Hap remained silent and Vix crossed the room, stopping to tug the privacy curtain across before continuing to Juice's bedside. "Grandma Ruby and The Olds are in the lounge down the end of the hall. They wanted to come straight here from the airport but I told 'em I needed a minute with you." Drawing the chair up next to the bed, Vix sat down and took in the worry that had embedded itself across Juice's face. Up close her makeup did little to conceal the garish bruises. With a sigh she reached and unwinds the scarf from her neck again and watched Jean's eyes flash.

"What the hell happened to you?" He inquired in a terse whisper.

"I had a bad day yesterday, Jean..." Vix bit her lip, only to wince because it was already split and damaged. She unleashed a controlled bean spill in a voice barely above a whisper. At the end, she could clearly see anger and confusion added to the worry written all over Juice's face. "I didn't want to not tell you but I didn't want to have you all worried. You need to get better, I need you back at 100 percent and you can't be that if you up and sign yourself outta here early."

Juice rolled his eyes and leaned over, not without some effort, and whispered back through gritted teeth, "Some asshole almost chokes the life outta you... your dog gets killed... a member's old lady gets to death with a baseball bat and I'm supposed to be unaffected? I... I don't have that capacity. The only things that I give a shit about are You, The Club and my Gram..."

"Vitals check." A nurse announced with a rap on the door followed by the sound of sneakers squeaking on the tile and the wheeled cart her laptop and various medical gadgets are housed on.

"Mr. Ortiz, how are you feeling today?" The nurse chirped as she fitted him with a blood pressure cuff and stuffed a thermometer in his ear.

"'I'm a 7, 'bout the same I guess."

She typed a note. "The doctor let orders for your bandages be removed to allow for showering. I'll send in the CNA to assist..."

Vix narrowed her eyes and shifted in the chair next to the bed. Juice managed not to grin at his girl's abject disdain. "I got all the assistance I need, thanks. Besides I've got some visitors in the lounge, could you swing a wheelchair. I'm not up for distance just yet."

"There are some out by the nurses' station. I'll have one brought by."

"I'll grab one." Vix interjected.

XXX

Jax straddled his Harley in the TM lot and gritted his teeth as he pulled his cell phone from his pocket. His knee jittered violently from the adrenaline still flowing through his veins after his showdown with Clay. Afterwards, Bobby had done his best to calm his nerves, to assure him that there was no way that Cara Cara would be shut down, but the secretary had no clue that the porn business was just the tip of the iceberg of troubles with Clay. He was somewhat surprise to have the little heart to heart with Tig as well, with the SAA seemingly very concerned about Opie. He had calmed down for exactly two minutes but when he thought of the INS judge they were going to have to persuade all for some rogue Chinese weapons connections, his anger started to rise again.

His mind raced over a million thoughts but landed on the one thing he knew it was time to do and what better time to do it than before he was putting his neck out for the Club again tonight. He thumbed through his contacts and found Jaci's number. She answered on the third ring. "Hey, it's Jax. Need to talk to you about some shit, think you can take a break from work, meet me up at the Overlook?" She must have registered the anger and frustration in his voice because she didn't hesitate a second before agreeing to the spontaneous meet.

XXX

"Well, I think that went swimmingly." Ruby announced as she settled into the middle seat of the minivan. Vix cocked her head but shrugged as she typed swimmingly into the dictionary app on her phone. She watched as several definitions filled the little screen, confirming she was correct and Grandma Ruby must be high, because... very well; effortlessly; exceedingly good were not at all how Vix would begin to describe what happened in the family lounge when Juice was given the news of Ruby's marriage to Henry Darling.

Millie saved Vix from having to do so when she commented, "Ruby, get real! If you think that went swimmingly then you're delusional. Juice seethed so hard I thought he was gonna rupture something."

Vix nodded along in agreement as Sadie added to the commentary, "Poor boy heaved himself out of that wheel chair dead set on kicking Henry's behind or in the very least slapping him something good."

Vix ventured a glance over at Hap behind the wheel. His face held a slightly amused expression. She shook her head at the memory of Hap having to control his brother and corral him back into his seat. "Juice ain't supposed to be jolstin' about… doctors' orders…he's still healin'."

"Correct me if I'm wrong, Ms. Vix, but I thought you advised Ruby that you'd pass the news of our marriage on …"

"Oh! Don't you hang this on me, Henry Darling!" Vix said as she twisted around to face the Olds. "You two go and pull the coup of the millennium and I'm supposed to be your proxy at the firing line? No thank you! I had enough news to pass on to my beloved."

Ruby sighed, "Jean Carlos will come around in due time. Now, William if you will be a dear and locate an eatery. I am personally famished and Sadie needs to take her medication."

"Mmm hmm, three-thirty… I need to take my little orange, square-shaped one, keeps my ticker in good working order." The sweet, little old lady added from her seat in the very back of the van. "Need to take it with food or milk, but milk gives me awful indigestion and makes me gassy."

Vix watched Hap slowly turn his head and shoot her a really look. She smiled and laughed. "There's a diner up the way… Sunrise, Sunshine or something like that, or a Friendlys." She winked at Hap, "At Friendly's they give Happy Endings."

His eyes narrowed but he smiled. "Perv!"

She cracked up but she swore she saw him shudder as if at some thought or memory just before he added, "I don't like ice cream no more."

"Ok, that's random…diner is up on the left at the second light."

As Vix, Hap and The Olds exited the van in the restaurant's parking lot, Hap's cell rang. She watched him fall back out of cadence, pulling the phone out of his pocket and checking the caller ID before answering. "Yeah?"

Vix continued on but would have to purger herself to swear she wasn't in part listening to Hap's side of the conversation, especially as it pertained to Juice and his not being able to do something for many reasons up to and including the new roomy, who she was pleased to find Hap being suspicious of as well. She had to physically stop herself from nodding along at his concurrence that the guy looked like a federal plant just looking for SAMCRO's resident retard to slip up and give 'em something they could use .

When he ended the call she stopped walking. "Anything I can help with?"

"Nah." He lit a cigarette and then sucked in half of it with the first inhale.

"Well if you change your mind, I'm willing to try. You can't practically live with Juice for a year and not learn the fine art of what he does."

She watched the Nomad study her intently then shrug. "Got someone we need to know better."

"The information era has been dawnin' for sometime, Hap. The feds have themselves to thank for the accessibility of records. Freedom to Know…God Bless Bush."

Hap chuckled. "I second that!"

Vix rolled her eyes and shook her head, "Now who's the perv? Let me help, Hap."

"INS Judge. Anthony Franklin. You do this... I'll owe you one."

"Always a good thing to be owed a favor by my favorite Nomad." Vix replied and upnodded. "We feed the seniors, drop 'em home then I gotta hit up Twisted. With Juice laid up, one of us needs to be earning. I'll find what I can on your judge."

XXX

The scenic overlook, known to locals simply as the Overlook, provided a grand vista view of the entire town and a pretty secluded meeting place depending on the time of day. Jaci parked her car near the main pavilion that also housed the restrooms and walked across the narrow road, headed straight for the picnic table where Jax sat.

"What's up with the stealthy location?"

Jax crushed out the last bit of his cigarette and blew out a stream of smoke. "Got some stealthy shit to talk about." He motioned for her to sit down. "How's Vix doing?"

Jaci shrugged. "Controlled devastation, but I guess that's the best anyone could hope for given the circumstances. We got Spawn buried, she's off to corral the Olds, see Juice. I think she's going to help Gemma and Luann's sister with funeral stuff. She'll be fine." She smirked at her brother-in-law, "You know us Parkers…take a lickin', keep on tickin'. I think the better question is how are YOU? Seems to be a lot of shit going on…"

"You got no fuckin' idea." Jax replied with a frustrated shake of his head but he knew she did have a clue. She'd see a lot of the shit blow up along with everyone else at dinner the previous night she just didn't know the driving forces behind all of it. But more than that, she'd grew up around the club, same as him, knew the inner dramas and goings on that happened. "Lately, putting on this cut feels like I'm strappin' on the goddamn weight of the world."

"You look tired…pissed off." She commented as she noticed the baby smooth face her older sister had fallen in love with wasn't so smooth anymore. Fine lines had started to creep in, probably at a faster rate than an average guy in his early 30s. Hard living would do that to you though and she wondered how many little wrinkles she had earned in her year back in Charming.

"Your uncle ever look like this?"

"Sometimes…but not for very long. Seems like he always figures out a way to fix whatever is bringing him down."

Jax nodded along as he stared down at his hands resting on the concrete picnic table. The thoughts swirling in his head were all means to fixing his problems but he knew so far he hadn't come across the right solution, well except for one area.

She let another long moment of silence lull between them before venturing a question. "You get the feeling everyone in this damn town's lost their ever loving minds?"

"That's exactly what I wanted to talk to you about…I need a favor." He replied and watched her roll her eyes at the mention of the dreaded favor word. "And before you balk…it's not a club thing, it's for me."

Jaci stared at him with raised eyebrows. "Shoot."

"I need you to draw up some papers, legally binding shit. If something happens to me, I want you to be Abel's guardian."

"Whoa, what?" Surprise and confusion fought for supreme position in Jaci's mind and on her face.

"You heard me."

"Yeah, I heard you but I don't understand you. Why are you worried about something happening to you? And even if something, God forbid, did happen, aren't we skipping a few people in line here? What's going on, Jax? This is totally out of left field, I don't…"

He held up a hand to end her aggressive questioning. "Just listen…Stahl dropped by my place the other day. Just her normal endless pestering bullshit but Tara was there. Stahl started these lame ass threats about guardianship and getting child protective services involved, should Tara be taking care of Abel, etc. It's all bullshit…but I wouldn't put it past that bitch to push the issue. I just want to be protected, for Abel to be protected."

Jaci blew out a breath and rubbed her hands over her face. Through gritted teeth she hissed, "God, I hate that bitch. Seriously, who threatens shit like that?"

"I dunno…but there's nothing I would put past her, she gets desperate enough, she'll do anything."

"Ok, ok…I get the need for some papers but why me? Did Tara say no or something? She's been his acting mom pretty much since he was born."

"I didn't ask her." Jax replied quietly. "Look, you said we're skipping a few people in line and there's a reason for that. Wendy's a lost cause, yeah she's doing the sober living thing but she's checked out on Abel and we both know it'll just be a matter of time before she's got a needle in her arm again. I know she's your sister and all but I think she's gonna go out like your mom."

He watched as Jaci gave a sad nod and waved him off, nothing more needed said on that topic. "And Tara…she's great with Abel and I love her to death, J but I don't know. We're shaky at best…neither one of us can decide if we're in or out on this shit on any given day."

Jaci snorted and thought of her volatile and iffy relationship with Tig. "I know how that goes."

"I can't have her deciding six months down the line that she suddenly doesn't want to be a mom anymore. I mean it's not her kid really and this life…I don't know, might not be for her."

"Ok, well then…what about your mom? Gemma is a fierce grandma, Jax. Takes doting to a whole new level. She'd take Abel in a heartbeat."

"I need a stable, level headed person in Abel's life, to put him first, give him a better life." Jax said with barely controlled force. "You and I both know I'm not gonna die of old age in my sleep, J. Chances are, if it happens anytime soon, I'm gonna die bloody. And if that happens, I want Abel away from this life…I don't want him to end up as a pawn in some club bullshit, that takes my mother out of this. And don't even bring up Vix. I know she loves Abel but she's just starting to get her life going. She doesn't need saddled with a kid out of the blue."

He was beginning to unsettle the shit out of her. Usually, Jax was calm, sure he could lose his cool every now and then but normally he was very chill. But judging by the blatant emotion on his face and in his voice, there was obviously something big brewing and he was honest to God worried. "Jax…"

"And don't act all offended like you're the last choice or something. Hell, you're really the ONLY choice." He snapped then added, "If you don't want to do it, Jaci, just say it."

She bristled at his tone. "It's not that. You say you want stable and levelheaded, right? That's what I'm giving you. This is a big deal and you're taking a weird goddamn path. I'm just making sure you've really thought about this."

Jax had thought the request through; the idea had sparked the day that Stahl had made her threats but came to a head today after his showdown with Clay. In that moment, after he had handed a loaded gun to his step-father and waited to see if Clay would really make good on his promise of killing him if he ever mentioned the Donna situation again, Jax realized he had some decisions to make, protections that needed to be in place. It was so hard to make Jaci see the grim writing on the wall without out-right telling her of the danger he knew he was facing.

He sighed and looked directly at Jaci. "If these papers are needed…it means this club has become something that I wouldn't want to be a part of, wouldn't want my son to be a part of. We would be so far down the road, past the point of no return that no one would ever recover, understand? Tying Abel to Gemma would only ensure he drowns right along with everyone else associated."

He stared harder at her. "I trust you get what I'm saying, what I'm asking. I'm taking a huge risk and I have no real right to ask but you're the only one I know that can walk away. Vix, I love her, I do. She's finally getting her shit together but she's 100% club and 100% Juice, she's too far in to ever get out. Wendy, Tara, and my mom are out…I need you."

Jaci nodded her understanding but shook her head. "Jesus, people are gonna…"

"No they're not. No one needs to know about this. This is between you and me." Jax gave her an apologetic look. "This is worst case scenario shit, sweetheart. Draw up the papers, I'll sign em, bury em in a drawer and I apologize in advance for the shit storm you'll face if they ever need to see the light of day."

She glanced at him and watched his jaw flex in nervous anticipation of her answer. She took a moment to think about his line of reasoning and had to agree with him. She was the one with a college education, a good paying job and the same Parker blood that was running through Abel's veins. She had uprooted her life to be at Abel's side, to make sure he was safe and raised right.

She mulled over the doomsday scenario Jax was lining out. If he died in the way he was hinting, Jaci would need to uproot her life again and that would mean leaving Cali, probably not going back to Bama either. Essentially he was hinting at isolation, giving up family to SAVE family. What was the big deal about legalizing her intentions? "Ok, I'll do it and I get what you're saying… if shit goes south, I'll move him to the middle of bumblefuck Wyoming if I have to. I'll make sure he gets a normal life, Jax. I promise you that."

"Thank you…and I'm serious about the down low shit though, J. No one can know about this…I've got enough drama going on right now."

"What's one more secret, Jax? This damn town's full of 'em. At least this one's for a good cause right? I mean, I'm stabbing my own sisters in the back, risking losing like the only friend I have in this town and potentially pissing off your mother and unleashing Hell on Earth but we have to do what we have to do right?"

"Fuckin' A." Jax replied and stood up. Jaci followed suit and he walked around the table, pulling her into a quick hug. "Thank you."

She nodded and they walked across the road to their rides. "How soon do you need these papers?"

"Sooner the better."

"Ok, give me a couple of days. I'll get it done." She replied as she watched him straddle his bike and hook his helmet in place. "Take care of yourself, Jax. I might make a hell of a mom but Abel needs his daddy."

Jax gave a stern nod as he fired up his bike. He hoped to God Jaci never had to cash in those papers but then again, expect the best, prepare for the worst. Wasn't that some kind of famous motto? Suddenly his mind flashed back to dealing with Ima earlier in the day and he whistled to get J's attention. He up-nodded and smirked at her. "Hey, on a bright note...guess what happened today?" She shrugged, not even willing to venture a guess. "Ima and some of the Cara Cara girls got caught in a goddamn prostitution sting."

A satisfied smile spreads across Jaci's face, "I guess the smurf blue wore off?"

"Guess so."

"So sorry to hear about that, Jax." She added sarcastically. "Can't say I'm surprised though...stupid is as stupid does."

Jax rolled his eyes, "Yeah no shit." He walked his bike backwards and roared off toward town.

XXX

Henry Darling parked his Town Car in one of the designated spots in front of Twisted Scissors. Entering the salon, he was greeted with a relaxing spa-like atmosphere. The only jarring note was the young woman behind the reception desk. He noticed she was strikingly pretty, when she raised her head he was met with large, liquid eyes and a bright smile. Her hair however, was an odd shade of purple and twisted into strange little spikey knobs over her ears. As if that wasn't odd enough, she had felt the need to shove sticks into each knob and attached to the end of each stick were decorated beads on a spring, looking for all the world like insect antenna. Henry could do little more than stare.

"Welcome to Twisted Scissors. May I help you?" The girl greeted and asked politely.

"I'm here to see Vix Parker. Henry Darling."

"I don't see an appointment, but we do have a few openings today. Let me see if she is willing to fit you in..."

Before Henry could protest, the receptionist stood up revealing her true height, as well as a mid-drift baring shirt coupled with a purple leather mini skirt. He watched her walk across the main room, antenna bobbing away as she took the stairs. "Dear Lord." He muttered to unoccupied salon.

A few moments later the sound of footsteps descending the stairs drew his attention.

"Hello, Henry." Vix greeted. "You've met my new employee Brittney. Britt this is Henry Darling. He's married to Juice's grandma Ruby."

"Pleased to meet you." The girl replied.

"Same." Henry nodded then glanced at Vix, "Am I interrupting you?"

"Nope. Finished placing my orders and started workin' on a persuasive essay about affirmative action."

"Doesn't that sound like fun?" He said with a dry chuckle. "How many times did you happen to use the word douchbaggery?"

Vix laughed, "That IS The Greatest Word of all time, simple yet pleasingly kick-assed-ness." Vix crossed her arms under her bust. "Well, since you won't let me within a foot of you with scissors or a razor, I'm gonna guess you aren't here to be beautified. Why don't we talk in my office?"

Henry followed her up the stairs into her office. "What do you think of Britt?"

He raised his eyebrows in thought. "She's odd. Looks like something out of a rock n roll video in that mini-skirt and the bobbly doo-dads in her hair. But, do I expect you to employ normal people?" He cleared his throat, pulling a small manila envelope out from inside his windbreaker and setting it on her desk. "If I forget that when I go, if I leave it lying there. I want you to return it to me immediately. I haven't got another copy and under no circumstances do I want you to open it up and read the contents or share them wiith your friends. And I will never wonder why you, a Natural Born United States Citizen, might have a hankering to inquire about a justice for the Immigration and Naturalization Services."

Vix bit her bottom lip, eyes big as saucers. She wasn't dumb, she knew just how much this request was costing this man. "Henry... Thank You. You-you don't know what this means...how much we…"

She watched his face contort into stony eyes, hard lines and angles, tight jaw, and pursed lips. She'd never seen this side of Henry Darling. The side she had no doubt more criminals sent before his court than she could guess at, had seen. "I know exactly what this means... it means I've done a SILENT favor to my new bride... a one-time-favor! Call it a wedding gift if you will, but do realize that it won't be happening again. I married Ruby, not The Sons of Anarchy, regardless of her grandson's affiliation." Turning on his heel he exited the room, leaving the manila envelope behind.

XXX

I tell myself that you're no good for me

I wish you well but desire never leaves

I could fight this to the end

But maybe I don't wanna win

~Familiar Taste of Poison, Halestorm

Jaci parked down the street from Tig's place and turned off her engine. She got out of her car and casually walked up the sidewalk to his house. Glancing around, she confirmed his bike wasn't parked in its usual place in front of the old detached garage. She had no clue how long she'd be waiting for him to make it home. He never kept any type of regular schedule; he might come straight home from work or hang at the clubhouse until midnight. But either way, she had hid her car to prevent him from spotting her and driving right past his house in an attempt to avoid her. It was childish of them both but that was the state of the union with them right now.

She knew Tig never used his front door so she headed straight for the backyard. Lifting the U shaped lever on the chain link fence, she pushed through the gate and closed it quietly behind her. The act felt like a covert mission but she figured it was best to ambush him at his house instead of calling him or going by Teller Morrow. Tig with an audience was a dangerous thing as she had seen recently; she didn't need a crowd to rile him up again. Even alone she might only have a 0.0001% chance of getting him to listen to her but it was better than a flat zero chance.

Tig's backyard was never going to win any awards or be featured in Home and Garden magazine, it was completely barren. There were no trees, no flowers, no shrubs, just dead winter grass. But the yard didn't look much better in the Spring or Summer, his grass was less than enthusiastic even in warmer weather but who could blame it; Tig's forte was not tender loving care…with anything. The only structure in the postage stamp style yard was a small back porch, well it was technically a stoop but being from the South, Jaci called every door entrance a porch.

There were three wide concrete steps leading up to a small concrete platform with an old rusted awning covering the space. Jaci smiled slightly as she realized his stoop was a 2 Butt, 2 Beer space…just enough concrete slab to allow for two people to sit next to each other with a beer on the side of them. It was a stark contrast to her own backyard which was fairly lush with a beautiful back deck. Her yard also now had a newly buried dead dog in it but she pushed that morbid thought away.

She took a seat on the hard concrete slab with her feet planted on the top step, elbows resting atop her knees. It was probably a good thing he wasn't home yet, her little custody chat with Jax had sent her mind for a loop and she needed a bit more time to get her thoughts straight. She realized it was a little twisted that she had just promised Jax that she'd drop everything and everyone in Charming and leave if needed and now she sat waiting to talk to Tig. But really, she was just tying up loose ends, the same as Jax.

She also realized some might see her coming to Tig's house as desperate and she supposed it was. Most women would have never talked to him after his behavior over the last few days but then again, most women would have never bothered with Tig Trager in the first place. They would have used him for what he appeared to be on the surface, a quick thrilling fuck, a little walk on the wild side and then they would have moved on like a sane person. Hell, she had never planned on bothering with him but shit happened. However, in her defense, she wasn't here to grovel for forgiveness or to try to get them back together. She just had a few important things to say and then she was going to leave. She didn't have any real clear expectations of how the meeting would go, but she had made peace with either of the two possible outcomes.

XXX

At Teller Morrow, Tig was walking to bike, on his way home to change clothes before heading out to do a quick check of Lin's guns and then wait for word on the judge shakedown. He had spent more time than he could afford after Jax had left, just waiting and watching Clay…making sure his best friend didn't do anything stupid. That standoff between Prez and VP had been way too intense.

He hoped Happy pulled off a miracle and got them the judge specifics soon. The Nomad had said he was taking care of it but Tig knew info was a little trickier to come by with their info officer laid up in the hospital with shiv holes. No sooner had he gotten the thought of Juice out of his head did he see Vix roll into the lot in her Jeep. He rolled his eyes, wondering what in the hell she wanted. He was in no mood to be irritated, especially after having to round-a-bout admit to the Jax that the Donna shit had his and Op's heads twisted. Admitting shit always made him cranky.

"What do you want, Parker?" He asked with annoyance as she cleared her Jeep.

"Is Hap around?"

"Nope, just missed him; went to gas up his bike."

Vix pursed her lips in thought as she tapped a manila envelope against one of her hands. She would have felt better handing the info off to Hap since he had been the one to ask for it but she also figured time was probably of the essence. She held out the package to Tig. "Here, I think you guys are needing this."

Tig eyed her cautiously and couldn't help but think back to the last time a Parker had given him a package like that…it had been Jaci with devastating "proof" of Op's Fed involvement. All that had turned out to be a complete clusterfuck but he snatched the envelope from her without a word and opened it anyway. As he read the contents, he frowned. "Juice give this to you?"

She shook her head. "No but it doesn't matter, consider me his info stand-in. What does matter is that it's all very credible and it's needed so there you go."

"Ok…fine." He retorted and started to walk past her back to the clubhouse but she cleared her throat. He pulled up short and gave her an irritated look. She didn't say anything, just stared at him for a long moment as if she was contemplating something again. He'd had never seen Vix so thoughtful, twice in the space of three minutes, it was a goddamn record. Finally he ended the silent stare down. "WHAT? Just say it already."

"J didn't sleep with Rosen. You're being stupid." Vix blurted. She had told herself that she'd keep her mouth shut but just couldn't keep her promise after laying eyes on her sister's ex. He was giving off that irritated I don't give a fuck vibe that even she knew was bullshit half the time. Maybe that was why Jaci couldn't just give up on the douchebag, because yeah he kept a wall up most of the time but when you could get him to drop it for just a second; there was something of substance behind it.

"Fuck a duck…" He muttered, not wanting to get into THAT talk with Vix. He didn't have time and even if he did, it was a convo he'd just as soon skip.

"How many times you think she's gonna turn the other cheek with you?" Vix asked with raised eyebrows then her expression changed to ever so worried and her voice dropped. "She's hanging in but she's getting tired, Tig...of everything in this town."

Tig just rolled his eyes but the personal talk softened his vibe ever so slightly. He walked off but turned around after a few steps and stared back at the youngest Parker sister. She was an irritating little shit most of the time but you had to respect her moxy. "Hey...you ok?" He waved a finger around his neck to indicate her bruised up state.

She nodded and he nodded back as if to say good. She smiled, "I'm still in the game, so I'll take it, ya know? Vix Parker lives on to fight another day."

Tig smirked and opened the door to the clubhouse. He found Clay still sitting at the bar and walked over, pulling the judge info from the envelope and waving it into Clay's line of vision.

The SAMCRO President snatched the papers and read them quickly. "Hap came through? He go to Juice?"

"Not exactly... Vix got us the intel."

Clay snorted and tried to contain his annoyance. He'd really goddamn glad when all his members were healed and back doing their jobs. Now they had Old Ladies involved in club business, what was the goddamn world coming to? "Well…make sure she didn't fuck up the address, her being dyslexic and all."

For some reason the snide comment rubbed Tig the wrong way, it was a low blow and shitty. Hell he was cranky too, just the same as Clay but spitting on someone trying to help you was just one more sign that his Prez was impossible to please as of late. He rolled his eyes as he walked away without saying a word.

Clay caught the eye roll, checked his growing frustration with his SAA and raised his eyebrows. "What? Are we back on the Parker bandwagon today?"

Tig just shook his head in frustration. He hated when Clay got snippy with him. He waved him off and through gritted teeth replied, "I'll double check it."

"Good...thank you." Clay smirked and replied with insincerity and sarcasm fighting it out for the lead in his voice.

XXX

An hour had passed when Jaci heard the low roar of Tig's bike coming up the street, approaching from the opposite direction of where her car was parked, just like she had planned. The rumble continued as he steered his bike up the short driveway, parked it and killed the engine. Boots crunched on the narrow gravel path to the backyard and her heart started pounding in anticipation. Suddenly she didn't know if she should stand or stay seated, either way he was still going to shocked to see her so she just stayed put. He pushed through the gate and kicked it closed behind him, still not looking in her direction. She took a deep breath, Here goes nothing.

His eyes finally scanned to his back door…and landed on her. He pulled up short, actually took a step backward in surprise then stared at her, a frown sliding over his brow. "The fuck you doing here?"

"Um…" She finally stood up and cursed herself to get a grip and just stick to the script she had planned. She held out her hands, fingers splayed in a calming gesture. "I'm not here to fight. I just wanna say a few things and then you say whatever and I'll go."

Tig didn't react so she raised her eyebrows finally at him and he gave a slight shrug. She took it as a go-ahead gesture and started her speech. "We buried my sister's dog in my backyard today and it hit me that I'm damn lucky I wasn't burying Vix, that it was just a tiny little twist of fate that kept her from being in Luann's shoes. There's so much shit going down around here, people can't even see straight. It's like everybody's just detached. Bonds are breaking and…"

She glanced down at her feet to break the hard stare Tig was giving her. After a second she glanced back up and crossed her arms over her chest. "Last night was brutal…we all made goddamn fools out of ourselves. I mean, I've never seen a club fight like last night. And I feel like an idiot for my part in all of it. I just wanted to come by here and try to squash whatever riff is between us…because it doesn't mean anything in the big scheme of things, Tig. People are getting hurt, killed even…our thing is just so….small."

"So it's squashed." Tig replied without an ounce of sincerity. "You can leave now."

Jaci frowned at his smartass answer but at least he was listening and standing still. She swallowed hard, now came the part she hated…the admitting fault part. "Your reaction…that was over the top, psycho crazy bonkers bullshit but I get it. Lin told you all lies but you got punked out in front of your brothers and that's completely unacceptable, I know that. I know your status, hell I guess your life, depends on appearances. And at that moment, I guess you appeared weak and I'm sorry. None of that would have happened if I hadn't pulled my little stunt with Rosen in the first place, so even though my car's a mess and you're bull headedness pushed me too far, I guess I deserved it in a roundabout, very fucked up way."

"Deserved it?" He retorted. "I should have beat the shit out of YOU."

She eyed him and replied coolly without missing a beat but with totally honesty. "Tig, you ever really lay a hand on me...neither one of us will like where that leads."

It was a solemn statement and a threat all wrapped up into one, but he could hear the absolute sincerity in her voice. Any other woman would have said it as a challenge, a dare and he would have smacked them on principle. But he knew coming from her that she wasn't trying to push him or give him some 'oh you better not or I'll…' crazy warning, It was a sad statement of fact...if he ever hit her, it would be the end of them, no coming back and he was sure the next time BB or Motor saw him, he'd get the beating of a lifetime too. She had talked about being knocked around a few times by her father and how she had no plans to ever take that shit from anyone again.

They stared at each other for a long moment before she finally spoke again, "Can I finish talking?"

Tig rolled his eyes and waved his hand, sarcastically signaling oh but of course.

"You messed up, I messed up…we pushed each other too far. You take people for granted and this is what happens. But I try…I try so hard to be perfect, Tig. You know that. I try to be everything for everybody and keep my cool and do the right thing and fix shit when it's broken but this time I just fucked up." She shook her head. "And even though I'm not completely wrong here…I still hate…I hated seeing that look on your face. Like you realized I'm not what you thought I was, you know? I know it's hard for you to trust…" She stopped talking because she could feel the lump rising in her throat.

He knew exactly what she meant…it was like she was pulling words straight out of his goddamn head. He had seen that look from people before…from his ex-wife, his kids, hell Clay had given it to him twice yesterday. Those looks burned deep but he had no one to blame but himself for the current clusterfuck with Jaci. The second he had bought those flowers for her a year ago, he had sealed his fate; had broken damn near the number one rule in the Man Handbook….never put the pussy on a pedestal. Back then, he hadn't even fucked her yet and he was so goddamn lost in her it wasn't funny.

In his mind she had been an anomaly, a rare combination of everything he wanted in a woman and shit he never even knew he'd care about. She was beautiful, smart, sassy, had a wicked sense of humor, tough, understood club life…the list went on and on. Most importantly he had thought she was loyal, she knew how shit in The Life went, he had thought he could trust her. She was his Miss Straight and Narrow, would never do him wrong. She was perfect. So he had taken a risk, a risk he hadn't taken in so very very long...he had let her in and for a long while she had proven him right time and time again. But then she had pulled this Rosen stunt and the façade of perfection had been shattered in an instant, all his unrealistic expectations of her had fallen to the floor and he was left feeling like a sucker. That reality check had shocked the shit out of him and his only response had been pure rage.

Jaci shook off her heavy thoughts and decided to shoot straight to the point, enough with the explanations and apologetic bullshit. He had probably tuned her out three words into her speech anyway. She ran her hands through her long brown hair. "Look, I'll be perfectly honest here…part me wants to tell you to fuck off, to never talk to you again. If I had a brain in my goddamn head, that's what I would do. I mean, I can't even remember the last time we were happy together, how fucked up is that? But the thought of actually doing that, of letting you go…I just… can't. And that doesn't make any logical goddamn sense…nothing about us makes any sense."

"No shit." Tig muttered.

"I'm stumped. For once in my life, I don't have all the answers. I'm completely in over my head and I don't know what to do about it. And I don't think it's gonna get any better. I mean, this town's a goddamn pressure cooker and I honest to God think it brings out the worst in us." She held up her hands in finality. "So I guess that's the long and short of it…I'm human…I'm going to make mistakes. But like 99% of the time, Tig….I'm going to do right by you and that's better odds that anyone has ever given you. Hell, it looks like it's better odds than your own club will give you right now and its damn sure better odds than you're giving me."

"So?"

"So….you should think about it. All these goddamn fractures that are popping up around you…do you really want me to be one of them?"

Her question hung in the air for a silent couple of minutes. Tig touched the space between his eyebrows with two fingers like he had a headache and then looked at her, thinking about what all would need to happen to make bringing her back into the fold possible. For one thing, he couldn't come off looking like everything was goddamn instantly fine and he was whipped. A few very long moments ticked by before he finally spoke out of the blue. "Ok…first thing…you don't work in Oakland anymore. Your commuting days are done."

Jaci couldn't help but shake her head in disbelief at his selfish, macho edict. He didn't want her anywhere near Rosen and this demand was one last little way to throw his weight around. "Ok, A) that's a bullshit demand and B) that's part of my job, Tig. I could get fired for refusing."

He pursed his lips, "Not my problem...maybe you need a new job."

"Maybe you need to TRUST ME." Jaci spat back. "God knows the slack I give you."

"Not just YOU I don't trust…goddamn town is full of whack jobs…Chinese, Mayans, Niners. O-Town is no longer in your flight plan." He watched her frown and continued with his list of demands. "Another thing, I got a lot of shit going on, I can't have you shoved up my ass right now."

"When have I ever been shoved up your ass, Tig?"

He shrugged, "Just sayin' we need to cool it for a while." Keeping her at arm's length yet again was good for two reasons, one he was still pissed at her and two, it would keep Clay from thinking his judgment was impaired more than he already did.

"So this is how it's going to be?" She asked with a smirk and felt her anger rising. She had extended an olive branch and he was standing around hem-hawing on whether or not he wanted to take it, angling for a better deal or something. She gave him a stare and felt her mood of compromise vanish. "This isn't a goddamn negation. I'm not paying for this stupid misunderstanding until you think I've had enough. Either let it go or let me go, I'm trying to fix this shit here, Tig."

"When you gonna get it through your thick head you can't fix everything and everybody?"

His response stunned her but she managed to snort a laugh, realizing just how stupid she had been for trying to talk to him. With Tig, it was always going to be give, give, give…and he was never going to give her an inch back in return. "You know what, you're right. I CAN'T fix you. You're a goddamn lost cause."

"Are you done?"

She shrugged, looked down at her feet then back up at him. "Yeah…I guess I am."

"Good, get the fuck off my porch." He said flippantly and walked right past her to the back door, let himself in and slammed it behind him without another word.

Jaci stood on the stoop completely stunned. Did that really just happen? Did I really just pour my heart out to him? Did he really just tell me to fuck off?Motherfucker.

Tig's back was leaned up against the door he had just slammed. It was probably a horrible decision but his macho pride had been flying on autopilot for a few days now and had once again taken control…but it was cracking. All of her words started to really hit him, a delayed reaction of understanding and the slightest bit of forgiveness started to bloom inside him.

Hell, even her apology had been perfect...she knew just how to walk that line between taking blame but pointing the finger too. She knew better than to grovel, knew he didn't respond to shit like that, he needed to be stood up to...but in just the right way. Damn girl should have been a salesman, making you want shit you know you didn't need. She had went the extra mile to reach out to him tonight but his defenses were going to make her walk a few more inches.

Maybe his little demands had been a bit much, he probably should have saved them until after the makeup sex went down but live and learn. Surely, he'd have his hands on her in a few minutes. He rolled to his right and came to stand with his forehead resting against the door and knew he'd cave if she pushed, kicked or knocked on the door. One more push, just one more word…I'll let you back in.

She stared at the door and shook her head. Walk away, J. Give it up. Two full minutes ticked by, the Mexican standoff in full swing. Well maybe it had nothing to do with Mexicans but she stood waiting in his yard and he stood waiting inside his house. She blew out a deep breath and walked toward the back gate, letting herself out. As she walked down his driveway, she muttered quietly, "Good luck with the rest of your life, dickhead…you're gonna fucking need it."

Five minutes later, Tig opened his back door and stared out onto an empty yard. She left. He shook his head, not liking the feeling of permanence her leaving left behind. But he couldn't dwell on that shit right now…Club business called and he had to move his ass, he was already running late. He needed to grab his shit and head off to checking out Lin's guns then get to the judge's house; he had work to do.

XXX

Two hours later…

"I can't do it… shit, goddamnit…I can't do it." Tig breathed as Jax told him it was his turn to take a run at the stonewalling judge. Luckily after a long moment, Jax could see the state his SAA was in, squeezed his shoulder and told him to relax.

Relax was something Tig was trying desperately to do but wasn't having much luck. We both know my shit's upside down. He thought about the comment he had made to Jax earlier in the day…now it looked like his personal assessment was a huge understatement. He had wanted to protect Opie tonight, to keep him from running headfirst down the path of return but fat lot of good he had done…epic fail. Now it was all he could do to keep himself from falling out from a full-fledged panic attacked. He swallowed hard and sucked in ragged breaths with his eyes squeezed shut as he tried to get a grip on what had just happened.

The judge shakedown had been FUBAR'd from the beginning. Tig had let Op take the lead, thinking that he'd just step in if things went sideways. He had even been optimistic…but no one had planned on the judge being such a heartless piece of shit. Once the judge's kid had arrived home, shit had deteriorated fucking fast. Normally, if you were strong arming someone, you threatened a family member even in the least little bit, Joe Public would cave in a hurry but the judge had seemed un-phased by any aggression toward his own son. He sat smug and seemingly unaffected as Op held a gun to the kid's head. God, who could blame the kid for being a worthless druggie piece of shit when you had a Hitler wannabe for a father?

Tig had watched from the side as Opie ramped up his voice and the threat level, thinking surely any second now the judge would bend but the fucker held steady. Opie had been doing fine, applying more pressure saying things like he was going to beat the kid, break off his fingers then kill him. Tig caught himself nodding along as the kid started to panic at the harsh words. Any second now…but then the judge rolled his eyes, disbelievingly. In that one second, shit crossed over from steady and on point to complete chaos. He watched as Opie's hand made an ever so slight movement and suddenly fired a shot into the kid's foot, shooting one of his toes.

The kid yelled at the top of his lungs and Tig had to lunge at him, clamping his hands over the kid's mouth to muffle the pain and terror filled screams. Holy shit! Goddamn, I would have beat the kid first. You work your way UP to bullets, you don't start with them! Tig thought as he dropped to his knees, hand still over the kid's mouth and started trying to shush the bleeding boy. "Shut up, shut up. Shhhhh!"

He heard Jax trying to tell Op to cool it, that they couldn't go pluggin' holes in the kid but the next thing he knew, Op was grabbing the kid by the shoulder and dragging him, chair and all in front of the judge. That's when all the screaming started and Tig felt like a knife had been jabbed in his skull, things got surreal as the tension in the room cranked up to eleven. Op flipped the kid onto the ground and pointed the gun in his face. The kid was begging for his life and panicked screams came out between breaths.

Looking to the judge, Op had screamed, "Is this what you want? This is how you protect your family?" The judge squeezed his eyes shut, still stoically refuses to toss the case and save his child. Opie's rage began to boil over, "Open your eyes! You see what you've done, look what you've done to your family!"

Tig had been sure that Opie was no longer talking to just to the judge. The poor guy was screaming at himself and at Tig as well. Donna. It all came down to Donna. He wanted to make Op stop, to push him aside and stop the whole crazy situation but his body felt severely detached from his brain. All he could hear were Opie's growled threats and he knew he was 100% responsible for the rage filled monster standing in front of him. He had taken Donna away, firing those fateful shots had killed her and something inside Opie as well. There was no saving him, he was already gone…already a shell of the man he had once been.

He watched as Opie tried to get hisgun in the kid's mouth. The pressure in the room reached a fever pitch with everyone breathing hard. Hearts were threatening to explode in all their chests and still Tig's feet stayed rooted in place. Finally Op plugged three holes into the floor instead of the kid's head. A second later, everyone realized the ruse and relief flooded over all of them.

That was when Jax had pulled Opie away, talking softly and assuredly to him, concerned that his best friend is in a daze, barely holding back tears. Tig had ended up slumping down into a kitchen chair with graphic visions of busted, bloody back glass of a pickup truck, Donna's dead body laid forward against the steering wheel.Goddamn fuckin' conscience. It was rearing its ugly head at the worst goddamn moments these days.

Open your eyes! You see what you've done, look what you've done to your family! Op's words rang in his ears again and Tig felt the full force of his brother's pain and devastation. He flashed on Jaci talking just an hour ago about fractures and riffs and things falling apart around them. She had no idea how right she was, just how fucked up everything had become, how fucked he was. She had reached out to him, offered to be there for him and in the current moment, he wanted nothing in the world more than to have her sitting on her knees in front of him, telling him how the hell to get out of this mess they were neck deep in. He wanted her to fix it, to fix him, to fix Opie, to fix everything but he knew better. Nothing would ever been ok, Op would never be whole, and Tig...he knew she was right, he was absolutely a lost cause.

XXX

Early the next morning, Bobby and Tig walked across the lot at TM towards Clay. It had a been a very long tense night with the judge finally seeing the light of reason after they found valid leverage with a stack of old love letters from his dead wife. Pretty fucking sad that he would crack over some memories but not for his own son.

Their President held out his arms, "Well?"

"It was rough but it's done. We stayed till he made the call this morning, case closed." Bobby reported. Clay looked over his secretary's shoulder as Jax and Opie made their way to their bikes and asked where they were going. Bobby snorted and thought about all the drama the four of them had been through, all the near mental breakdowns he had witnessed. "Home, it's been a goddamn long night."

Tig was thankful Bobby didn't share any details of the night. God knew he wanted to forget it had ever happened and he quickly changed the subject. "Yeah, man…it's all good. And I checked out Lin's guns too, primo stuff."

Clay gave a nod and kept his eyes on Jax and Op has they left the lot.

XXX

At the hospital, Vix sat in the chair next to Juice's bed. "Heard a song on the way here, parts of it reminded me of you."

Juice smiled, "Really? What were they?"

She smiled in returned and began humming, "Here in town, you can tell he's been down for a while... but my god, it's so beautiful when that boy smiles. Want to hold him, maybe I'll just sing about it..." She looked up to sees him smile again and pat the mattress next to him.

"Don't just sing about it, Vix."

She moved over and climbed in the hospital bed next to him, settling by his side. "It's a real good song. Says there's a light at both ends of this tunnel and all these mistakes you make you'll just make them again."

"What're you tryin' to say?"

Vix turned and stared at him. "I'm scared, Jean…for ALL of us. I don't know how many more hits we can take... you, me, the whole club. I'm not going anywhere, good or bad, I'm here. I just hope there IS a HERE when the smoke all settles."

"I know, babe...me too. And I'm sorry you got hurt. More than sorry, I'm pissed off."

Reaching up, she touched the side of his face. "I love it more when you smile... makes my world when you do." It took a few minutes, a couple of nose scrunches and half-a dozen throat clearings but finally he managed one. "There ya go." She grinned. "What happened to your roomy, anyway?"

Juice shrugged, "Not sure... might have mentioned my non-stop chattering to the nurses."

XXX

Back in Charming, Jaci stood in line at the donut shop, ready to splurge on the sweetest, most caffeine filled coffee concoction she could buy. Today was going to be rough, she needed fuel. Today was the first day of the rest of her life without Tig. No more shades of gray, their little chat the previous night had cut the cord in her mind. They were DONE. Oddly that fact didn't hurt as bad as she thought it might. She looked around the donut shop at all the other people rushing about with their normal morning concerns and she half smiled. The world was still turning and yes, there was a lot of bad shit going on in Charming right now but she thought she'd honestly be ok. Her turn at the counter came a minute later. She smiled and gave the guy her order, "I'll take a large Milky Way Mocha with an extra shot of espresso and whipped cream."

XXX

Just as Jax had reached home and started to push the nightmare of the previous evening out of his head, his cell had rung. Ten minutes later he was standing at the fringes of the burnt out ruins of Cara Cara. "Just couldn't let me have it, could he?" He asked of Bobby and Happy as they surveyed the utter destruction. He was 100% certain Clay had had the place torched overnight, fearing the upcoming vote on keeping the porn business alive.

"You talk to Quinn." Jax instructed as he slapped Happy on the shoulder. "I want a transfer. I'm going Nomad."

TBC…