Here is the next bit, guys! Sorry about the delay. The good news is that next week is the last week of teaching for me, so I should have a nice summer of writing, which means more frequent updates. Anyway, please read and review! Hope that you enjoy!
Warning: non-explicit/graphic mentions of rape
Tess clung to him for a long time, and for just a few moments, Kozik didn't care at about who was watching or whether or not he looked like a pussy. His brothers would never hold this against him, not when each of them had an Old Lady at home that they were absolutely stupid over. As far as any of them was concerned, Tess could stand there, clutching his shirt, bawling, for as long as she wanted, and they would be fine with it. It wasn't until Kozik looked up for a moment and saw Lex's face that he decided that they had to go, immediately.
He exchanged a quick look with his brothers, letting them know that the situation was theirs to handle, before he muttered to Tess, "Come on, Tess. Let's get out of here."
It seemed as if she didn't understand his words, and if she did, she didn't hurry to comply with them. He couldn't even begin to fathom what she might be thinking or feeling, but he wasn't about to stand there and try to figure it out, not when Lex was staring at them, a lecherous look painted all over his face. Keeping his arm firmly around her, Kozik half led, half carried her from the house, Opie and Chibs eventually following in his wake.
The Prospects were lounging against the van, but immediately straightened up as Kozik approached. Opie and Chibs quickly climbed on their bikes, but Kozik wasn't able to do the same. Tess was literally holding onto him like a lifeline, and it didn't seem like she was going to let go anytime soon, and he wasn't going to make her. He groaned internally as the rest of the men looked at him. He dug the keys from his pocket and tossed them to the gangly Prospect, the one who didn't look able to crush the bike by merely sitting on it.
"You wreck my bike, I'll wreck your face," he seriously warned the man, who wore a beyond nervous look. "I'll see you guys back at TM."
He heard Chibs or Op swallow a snort, but he ignored it as he opened the back of the van and helped Tess in before climbing in after her and shutting the door behind them, locking them both in the dark for a few moments. Tess was already sitting against the side of the van, hugging her knees to her chest. He sighed as he slid in next to her. He nudged her with his shoulder, causing her to look up at him and offer him a half-smile.
"You let Ratboy ride you bike," she muttered. "Never thought I would live to see the day."
"The bike will be fine," he assured her, reaching over to take her hand. "Or Ratboy won't be. You're more important anyway."
She shook her head, looking down. When she spoke, her voice was weak and barely audible, and she hated it. "I'm not sure if that's true."
"Well, I am, and that's enough for now," he said firmly, willing her to believe him. He heard Filthy Phil get in the front and the engine start. He ignored all of it and continued talking softly to Tess. "We are going to the Clubhouse. Everybody's been staying there, and we probably will for a couple more days, until the coast really is clear. It's safe there, and you will know everybody. They will be really happy to see you. We've all been really worried about you."
"Yeah," was all she said, and Kozik didn't know why her eyes welled with tears. He couldn't sense the shame she held onto, couldn't tell that she was terrified that everybody would know what happened the second they laid eyes on her. All he knew is that a girl he would gladly kill for was about to cry, and he wanted to know why.
"Tess, listen to me, please," he begged her, his voice low enough to not be heard in the front. "Right now, right here, it's just the two of us. I need to know…I need you to tell me. What happened? What did he do to you?"
Instead of calming or distracting her, that just made the tears come, fast and hard. If he had thought her tears from inside were intense, it was literally nothing compared to this. It was as if a dam inside of her had burst, and he wasn't sure how to stop it, so he didn't even try. Instead, he just wrapped an arm around her, pulled her close, and let her cry all the way home.
After driving idly around for several miles on out of the way routes, they were positive that they hadn't been followed. The van was well covered, with Kozik and Phil inside, and Ratboy and Opie outside, so Chibs rode ahead. Back in that shitty house in Oakdale, he had seen their shop girl, seen the look in her eyes as she held Kozik with something that could only be described as desperation. The look that she had held, he had seen it before, on the faces of other women, two women in particular that he loved and cared about. He wouldn't speak it aloud, but he was pretty sure he knew exactly what had happened to her. More than that, he was pretty sure Opie and Kozik and literally anybody who looked at her would know as well, which was why he was riding ahead to prepare everybody.
As he climbed off his bike in the garage parking lot, he could tell that almost everybody had left, just as they had requested, and only the closest remained. He had barely made it five feet before the door flew open and the people started flowing out, lead by Fiona, as if the fact that they were in lockdown had never occurred to any of them. Still, he wouldn't pretend that he wasn't happy to see her, alive and well and free from pain after all she had experienced in her own life. Seeing her whole and okay allowed him to be whole and okay.
"Inside," he commanded, even as he bent to kiss his wife, forcing himself to focus on what needed to be done for Tess, rather than dredging up and of his own painful memories. "Don't any of you know what the word 'lockdown' means?"
"Where are the others?" Gemma insisted, nobody making a move to follow his commands. "Did you guys find Tess? Is everybody okay?"
He should have known that they wouldn't listen. "They are about ten minutes behind me. Tess is with them."
The group surrounding him breathed a collective sigh of relief. Gemma even smiled at him. "Is she alright?"
"I…" he started, before deflating, not sure what to say. He turned to Tara, cradling baby Abel in her arms even as she grew another baby in her womb. "Do you have your med kit?"
The mood in the group became instantly somber. "Yes, I have some of my things. Is she hurt? You took your own med kit with you. Did you do anything to treat her already?"
"No," Chibs shook his head and looked down, still not sure what to say. Whatever had happened to Tess was not his story to tell, but he had to do something. "She is hurt, most definitely, but she'll live. I think, uh, whatever medical care she needs is best delivered by a lady, Doc."
"Oh," she replied, instantly getting the message, as did everybody around them. He could feel it in the way Fiona froze in his arms and Gemma's face turned to stone that they understood his unspoken message. They were all absolutely silent for about a minute, before Tara turned to Gemma. "Can you take Abel? I will go get some things ready. I may need to get some stuff from the hospital. Will that be a problem?"
"We can arrange it," Piney told her gruffly. Chibs nodded once in agreement.
Tara headed inside, Lila following to help where she could, while the rest of them stayed firmly in place, and Chibs rolled his eyes and pretty much abandoned any hopes of getting them to go inside and actually be on lockdown. Gemma cradled Abel in her arms, while Chibs held firmly to his wife.
It wasn't until they heard the roar of motorcycles approaching a moment of two later that any of them spoke. They all turned to face the gate as it swung open, and Gemma asked him quietly, over the rumble of engines, "Tell me you at least killed the bastards."
He shook his head and looked at her. "We can't. Not yet anyway."
"Yet?" asked Fiona, knowing full well what he meant.
"Yet," he repeated, pressed a kiss to the top of her head before breaking away and moving to greet Opie and the rest of the arriving gang.
Gemma stood next to Fiona as the sounds of the still rumbling engines somehow lulled Abel to sleep. She looked at the other woman.
"I don't think any of our boys handle this sort of thing well," Gemma remarked softly.
"No, they most certainly don't," Fiona agreed, hugging herself tightly. "They have a soft spot for women, I believe. I don't know how those Russian bastards made it out alive."
"Me either," Gemma chuckled softly. "But I doubt that it will last long. They will handle that, but we have another matter to handle," she nodded at Tess, who was being helped out of the van by Kozik. "That girl is going to need a whole lot of help that they know nothing about. Are you ready for that?"
Fiona nodded. "I wish I wasn't, but I am."
"Alright then," Gemma nodded, and in a surprising gesture of friendship, she squeezed Fiona's shoulder. "Let's go."
Once everybody had returned and the gates were closed and locked, nobody had any problem getting back inside and actually being on lockdown. Greetings and hugs were exchanged, and if only for a moment, they all reveled in the knowledge that they were together and safe again. The days of exhaustion and worry wore on them all, and the late hour practically begged them to call it a night, but none of them could, not yet. They could all see Tess and the way she quaked under their gazes and the way she never moved more than a foot from Kozik. They all worried for her, and none of them knew how to approach it.
Finally, Opie spoke up. "Guys, I think we are all ready for a decent night's sleep, but we need to head to chapel for a few minutes first. We have some things to work out."
Kozik nodded as Tess's grip on his hand doubled. He looked down at her and noted the way she tried to dismiss the fear she was feeling and be brave. "Are you alright for a few minutes?"
Her eyes said no, but she nodded anyway, and he kissed her forehead before following the rest of the men into chapel, leaving her alone with Gemma, Fiona, Tara, and Lila.
"Tess?" Tara inquired quietly, laying a hand on her shoulder. "Why don't you come with me. I can clean those cuts for you, and bandage you up."
She didn't want to go, she didn't want to be away from Kozik at all, not when she finally felt safe, but she was beginning to realize that in her life, the things she wanted didn't really matter very much, so instead, she nodded and followed Tara, the rest of the women in tow.
She sat on a bed in Kozik's room, showing no pain, no emotion at all, while Tara cleaned and dressed each and every visible wound. It wasn't as bad as Tess had imagined. These women were somehow comforting to her; more so than her own mother had ever been. None of them spoke, none of them asked her what happened. Instead, they all sat around her, silent in their support, until Tara finished with the injuries on her face and hands. Tara looked over at Gemma, indicating that the other woman should take the lead.
Gemma reached for her hand, causing Tess to look up. "How long ago did it happen, Sweetheart?"
Tess blanched. She shook her head and stammered, "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Aye, you do, Love," Fiona corrected sympathetically.
Tess's lower lip began to quiver as she looked at the women. She had been afraid of this, afraid that they would all be able to look at her and just know. This was her worst fear come true. "How do you know?"
"Because where you are?" Gemma informed her. "I've been there, too."
"And me," Fiona told her.
"Me too," Lila chimed in.
"And almost me" Tara admitted.
Tess was astonished, literally astonished that all of these women around her had been through what she had gone through, and they were still here, still strong and at least somewhat normal. It gave her hope that maybe someday, she could feel okay, too.
"I don't know what to say," she admitted quietly.
"You don't need to say anything, not yet, not until you're ready," Gemma insisted. "But we need to know when it happened. Tara can get you some meds, make sure you're taken care of."
"It was today," Tess said slowly. "I think it was, anyway. I don't know what time. I didn't have a watch."
"Are you hurt? Any bleeding?" Tara asked.
Tess shook her head. "I'm just….sore."
"Alright," Tara smiled at her. "I will call in some antibiotics, just in case, and you should take a morning after pill."
"Yeah," Tess agreed, wishing roe than anything that she didn't have to be doing this. "Can I take a shower?"
"Of course you can," Gemma told her. "We got you some of your things from your house. Clothes and whatnot. Kozik insisted on a chicken shirt, thought you might want it."
That made Tess crack a smile, but it was short lived. "He wants to know what happened. How do I tell him? How do I explain it to him?"
"In your own way, when you are ready," Fiona advised.
"And not a minute sooner," Gemma agreed.
"It took me years to tell anybody, when it happened to me," Lila admitted. "I was just a stupid kid, and I didn't think anybody would believe me."
"That won't happen here," Gemma cut in, upon seeing the panic on the younger girl's face. "We believe you, Darlin. Kozik will have to understand that you'll talk when you want to talk. And if you need any help making him understand, you just let me know."
"Thank you," Tess whispered, tears attempting to fall, though this time for a different reason. "Thank you all."
"We're here if you need us," Gemma squeezed her hand. "Now go get in the shower and get some rest. I have a feeling you could use it."
Tess stayed under the hot spray until the water ran cold. She scrubbed each and every inch of her skin meticulously, until it was red. It didn't make her feel any cleaner, buts he was well aware that it was psychological. She toweled off quickly before pulling on her beloved "chicken shirt" and a pair of yoga pants and throwing her still wet hair in a ponytail. She took a moment to stare at herself in the mirror, but the face looking back at her was almost unrecognizable, so she turned away quickly.
When she left the bathroom, she found Kozik sitting on the edge of his bed, waiting for her. She should have expected it, but she hadn't, and it made her smile.
"Hey," she said as she threw her dirty, torn clothes into the garbage can in the corner, never wishing to see them again. "Can you burn those tomorrow?"
"Sure thing," he assured her with a half smile. "You tired?"
"I think so," she replied, not entirely sure whether or not she was, but knowing that she needed sleep.
"Alright, I should probably leave you alone," he realized, standing up and moving towards the door. "I just wanted to check on you, see if you needed anything."
"Kozik!" she exclaimed as he reached for the door, surprised him, but making him turn around. "Could you….could you stay? I don't think I want to be alone."
He held her gaze for a full minute, wanting to say so many things. Gemma and the other had all but confirmed his suspicions, but had warned him not to push her. He wanted to talk to her, to tell her that she would be okay and that the man who had hurt her would die for it, but instead, he just nodded.
"I'm here, Tess, and I'm not going anywhere," he promised and he pulled back the covers and allowed her to climb into bed, before toeing off his boots and following. "You're going to be okay."
AN: There are some very obvious references to some past rape experiences that the women share. We obviously saw what happened with Gemma and Tara on the show, but not Fiona or Lila. This is part of a character background I have for these two laides, that I would consider writing and publishing as separate stories. If anybody is interested in reading them, please let me know.