"Salazar is on the run, the hostages are safe," Ana heard a policeman say a few minutes after Jax went in. Ana looked back at Juice and the other members, who were talking amongst themselves. Juice broke away from the group and walked toward her.
She'd been distant with him since he backed up Jax, and he assumed it was because she felt the same way the rest of them did. They didn't need their VP as a hostage. He was important to the club, and needed to stay alive. However, Juice knew that for Jax, he would have rather been dead and with Tara, than alive in the club without her. If the situation was changed, and it was Ana that Salazar had, Juice wouldn't have hesitated. Hell, it almost was Ana, now that he thought of it.
Juice could see the club's side, but Jax's side was more important. Either outcome was shitty, but the thought of Jax learning Tara was dead was a scary thought indeed.
"You think I was wrong to back up Jax?" he asked Ana when he was next to her, his hands in his pockets as he observed the scene playing out.
"No," Ana replied. "It's just not what I expected from you. You don't normally go against the majority of the club."
"This is bigger than the club," Juice said darkly, glaring at the building. If he saw Salazar, his first move would be to get Ana out of the way, and his second was going to be putting a bullet between the bastard's eyes. "Jax and Tara...that's some old school romance shit there. You can't have one without the other. If he lost her, then we'd lose him as sure as shit. He'd be worse than dead."
Ana nodded. "You told him you get it?" she asked, looking up at him. "What did you mean by that?"
Juice gestured to the building. "That could be you in there. It almost was. You think I wouldn't choose the same thing Jax did?"
"I wouldn't want you to," Ana said firmly. "Not if you had a chance in dying."
"We all have that chance," Juice replied. "Every day, I got a risk of dying. It's who I am, it's the life I live. But like I just said about Jax, it's better to take that risk, knowing I've got someone waiting for me, than to lose that someone. She makes it all worth it to him, and you make it all worth it for me. If I lost you, I wouldn't be worth anything."
Ana smiled and kissed him softly.
"Babe," she said. "That's probably the craziest shit I've ever heard. But I feel the same way so maybe I'm crazy, too."
She looked over his shoulder to see Tara being led into an ambulance, and pulled away just in time to hear that Salazar was dead.
"Babe, I'm going to go to the hospital," she said, kissing his cheek. "Make sure Tara's fine."
"Yeah," Juice said with a grin. "You should do that. I love you."
"Love you, too," she said, jogging to her car. She looked back to see the guys grinning in relief, and she couldn't help the smile on her own face.
Maybe they could get that one normal day after all.
Ana sat in a chair beside Margaret, watching Jacob Hale gloat about what had happened, and how he gave himself credit for saving Tara's life as well as his own. Ana bit back the vile retort that threatened to come forth, knowing it wouldn't help anything. What did it matter, anyway? Everyone was safe, Salazar was dead. Ana couldn't find the energy to care about anything else at the moment.
"I assume you're with an MC member, too," Margaret said softly to her. "I'm sorry we haven't gotten to know each other well."
"It's fine. And yes, I'm with the one with the head tattoos," Ana said, smiling at the thought of Juice.
"The one who smiles a lot," Margaret noted. "I was here when they brought him in from county. He was a sweetheart. Said he liked my hair, but of course, I'm assuming he was feeling the morphine more than my hair."
Ana laughed a little.
"Yeah," she said. "He's a goofball. He's got a great heart. They all do."
Margaret nodded, looking at her feet. "I'm starting to get that. I made a lot of judgements about it, and I regret it now. I still think Tara deserves better, and you for that matter. But the guys you're both with, they would do anything to protect you. I see that now."
Unser walked over, shaking his head at Hale.
"You ladies okay?" he asked.
"Yes," Margaret said, then smiled when she was Tara and Jax walking down the hall. She and Ana rushed toward Tara, and Margaret hugged her first.
"I'm so glad you're safe," she said to Tara, wiping her eyes as she pulled away. Tara saw Ana and hugged her tightly.
"Ana," she said in relief. "Oh I am so glad you made it."
Ana laughed a little as she pulled away. "Geeze, Margaret said you had faith that I did," she said.
Tara nodded. "I did, but still, I've been wrong before. I'm glad I wasn't, though," she said. "You okay?"
"Cut my leg when I hit the deck that night," Ana explained. "But it's okay now. I'll tell you the story some other time, when we're not exhausted."
Jax put his arm around Tara's shoulders with a smile.
"Go home, Ana," he said. "Juice is probably waiting for you. And Abel," he said to Tara with a grin. "Is waiting for you."
Tara smiled tearfully at that, and, saying goodbye, they took off without a spare glance. Ana said her farewells to Unser and Margaret, and drove back to her place. Sure enough, Juice's bike was in the driveway, and her living room light was on.
She walked in and smiled at the sight of Juice asleep on the couch. He was sitting up, his head leaned against the back of the couch, and was snoring lightly.
"Hey," she whispered, nudging his shoulder lightly. "You're drooling on my couch."
"Don't drool," he groaned as he woke up. He gave her a sleepy smile. "Tara okay?"
"Yeah," she said, sitting next to him. He draped his arm over her shoulder and she sighed happily as he turned on the TV. She kicked off her shoes and got comfortable as they watched some black and white movie that happened to be on.
"I meant all that shit earlier today," he said softly, his fingers playing in her hair. "About being lost without you."
"I know you did, baby," Ana replied. "I meant it too. I love you, Juan Carlos, and I don't think I could stop even if I wanted to."
Juice smiled, and reached into his pants pocket.
"So, you know most of the Old Ladies have a crow tattooed on them, right?" he asked.
"Yeah, but I'm not sure about a tattoo right now. I have needle issues," Ana replied, a little nervous. She also didn't want the same type of crow that Tara, Gemma, and Lyla had. She didn't fall in love with Juice Ortiz, the SAMCRO member. She fell in love with Juan, the goofy mechanic who just happened to be in SAMCRO. That meant something to her, so she didn't want a brand of the club on her. She wanted something for him.
"I guessed something along those lines," he said. "So I saw this in Ireland, and I think you'd appreciate it."
He pressed something into her palm, and Ana looked at it. It was a charm of a black bird...a crow. Its wings were stretched wide, as if it were flying.
"I figured that your necklace could use something of me on that chain," he said, shrugging. "When I first met you, you still had Gavin's ring there. Then when you came back, it was gone, and the more time I got to know you, without that weight there, the more I fell in love with you. I think I began to love you even before you went to Seattle. I think the night of Abel's party is when it first happened for me. You and Donna were laughing at something, and all I could think of was how beautiful you were when you laughed. And I wanted to see you laugh more often."
Ana was still staring at the charm, but listening to his every word. He was telling the truth. When she first came to Charming, she was a mess. The heartbreak from Gavin's death was bad enough...then the betrayal and fallout from that was like pouring salt in a wound. She didn't know why she kept his ring for so long. Maybe it was her punishing herself. Maybe she wanted a reminder of how fickle men could be. Whatever it was, she stopped letting it get to her when she started being friends with Juice, and she was ready to let him into her life when her father died. She let everything go in Seattle. Including Gavin, and the pain he brought her in his death.
She fumbled with the clasp of the chain, and unhooked it. She carefully put it through the loop on the crow then turned her back to Juice.
"Put it on me," she said softly, wiping her eyes. Juice took the necklace and hooked the clasp back, and kissed the back of her neck softly. She turned back to him, and Juice kissed her lips sweetly.
"I promise I won't hurt you like he did," he whispered. "I want to make you happy, not put you in pain. I know sometimes it can't be helped, but know that I wouldn't ever intentionally hurt you."
Ana nodded and pressed her forehead to his.
"I know, baby," she said. "I know."
Ana got up and held out her hand.
"Let's go to bed?" she asked, a teasing lilt to her voice. "Finish what we started earlier?"
"You saucy little minx," Juice said, grinning as he took her hand eagerly, and she led him to her bedroom.
They made love all that night, both of them knowing what the next day held for them. Juice was going back to jail, and they were looking at some time. At least three years, fourteen months if they could behave themselves.
So Juice had to get his fill of her in before that happened, and Ana needed him. She wasn't going to do some bullshit prison clause.
Juice didn't leave a single part of her body untouched that night. He was gentle, he was rough, he was sweet, and then he was demanding. And Ana loved every moment of it.
"We're going to be so fucking tired tomorrow," Ana said, laughing breathlessly as Juice placed kisses on her neck. They'd already made love four times, and he was going for 5. She lost count of how many times he'd made her come.
"Good," he mumbled, moving down her chest. "Being tired after doing this with you is worth it."
"Is it worth Gemma cutting our heads off?" she asked, gasping as he took a nipple into her mouth.
"Yes," his muffled voice said, nipping the sensitive bud with his teeth before moving to the other one. "Her and Clay are probably doing the same thing now...and that totally killed the mood," he said in disbelief, sitting up and groaning. Ana giggled as she watched Juice struggle to get whatever image he had out of his mind. Juice looked over at her and laughed, too, , pulling her into his lap.
"Whatever," he said. "We're young, we'll live through one day of being tired from fucking."
"I'm young," she said, placing a kiss on his neck. She smiled as he moaned. "You've got two years on me, babes."
"Yeah, I'm ancient," he deadpanned, pushing into her again. "I don't think an old guy can do that."
"Definitely not," Ana said breathlessly, moaning from the sensation of him inside of her.
And they continued on well into the early morning hours, and fell asleep in each others arms, lost in each other as the world outside them went on.
Okay, a short chapter, but still one of my favorites. I had to use a line that Theo Rossi used in Kill Theory, because hello...Theo Rossi talking dirty is some serious hot stuff.
I can't believe this part is almost over. I've got the final chapter written, and I'm going to post it right away. We're headed to feels city, people, so get those tissues ready.