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Waiting is never an easy thing to do, no matter who you are. For a group of full grown, outlaw bikers and their associated families, waiting was a site more than uneasy; it was torture. They had been under lockdown for days, crammed into the Clubhouse, and the were more than ready to get back to their own homes, and their relatively normal, chaotic lives.
Gemma, who was more used to this than she wanted to admit, wanted to be tending to her plants or feeding her bird or doing something other than chain smoking and sitting around the Clubhouse. Opie's and Lila's kids were beyond over life on lockdown; they had run out of movies to watch and were routinely snapping at each other. Kerrianne had been on a baking spree, which delighted everybody, but she was experimenting with adding strange, healthy ingredients to everything, which brought nothing but dismay. Lila had been getting bitchy texts from producers and her fellow porn stars about holding up production of College Cum Queens 4. She needed to to back to work. Tara had actually gone back to work today, insisting that she couldn't be gone any longer. Two Prospects were spending their day stationed on the neonatal floor at St. Thomas. Fiona had gladly volunteered to watch Abel. She had a soft spot in her heart for babies, but even she was ready to sleep in her own bed. Tess, well, Tess didn't really know what her future outside of these walls held.
The guys were just as eager for this lockdown to be over, but they weren't about to utter a complaint. Being a member of an MC came with many perks, but unfortunately, it also came with shit like this. Complaining about that fact wouldn't make it any better. Piney was as at home at the Clubhouse as he was anywhere else, but Chibs and Opie didn't share that particular trait. They wanted a change of scenery just as much as the women did, but it had been decided that they would all stay put until the Irish arrived to help smooth things over. None of them would put it past the Russians to exact a little more revenge.
Luckily, Chibs had received words at quarter til six that morning that their Irish visitors had arrived in California safely. They were apparently settling in at their safehouse and were going to make arrangement to meet with the Sons later in the day. Chibs had mentally cursed up a storm and wondered why, if they weren't meant to meet until later, he had been woken with a phone call on one of the rare days that he wanted to sleep in. He and Opie choose to spend their waiting actually working in the garage, that had reopened today.
"Chibs, toss me the ¾ socket?" Opie asked from the far side of the Jeep he was working on. Chibs nodded and rifled around in the unfamiliar tool set. He usually worked at the berth nearest to the office, but had traded with Kozik today. Not that Kozik was actually working. He was more or less just leaning against the pole smoking and staring at Tess, who was in the office, filing paperwork. The boy was so damned obvious. "Chibs? You find that socket?"
"Aye," Chibs replied, grabbing the item requested and walking over to hand it to Op. "Sorry. Not my tools. I want my own damned station back."
"You could go tell Kozik to move," Opie suggested. "That would be fun."
"For you maybe," Chibs doubted. "Do you suppose he is just going to stand there staring at her all day, like a moron?"
"Probably," Opie shrugged, pretty much giving up on doing actual work and pulling out a smoke. "He's like a fourteen year old boy, isn't he?"
Chibs laughed. "I don't know about you, but I was much smoother than that when I was fourteen. Just ask Fi. She'll tell you."
"Sure she will," Opie rolled his eyes with a grin, before turning more serious. "Maybe we should pull him away. We are going to need him focused when we go meet with the Irish."
"I'm not convinced pulling him away will help," Chibs pointed out. "He's just worried. EIther of us would be the same, in his position. He wants revenge, and he knows that the Irish are a big part of that. When the time comes to meet, he will be ready."
Opie didn't reply, but the way his eyebrows knit together told Chibs that this wasn't over. Luckily, his mobile rang, making it not his problem for the moment.
"Irish," he told Opie quietly, before walking away to answer.
Opie kept his eyes on Chibs, wondering if he should follow the Scot or go pull Kozik away from his staring spell. After a split second thinking, he decided Kozik took priority. He trusted Chibs to handle the details with the Irish, and knew that as soon as the call ended, he would be brought up to speed.
"Koz," Opie called, noting the way the other man jumped, as if startled. "Irish are on the phone. We are going to need you in the chapel as soon as Chibs gets off the phone."
"Yeah," Kozik said, after a moment. "Okay. Can you, um, send somebody out here? A Prospect or something? I don't want Tess out here alone. Not if we are all inside."
"You do know that Tess can hear you, right?" the woman in question said from the office door. She was trying to look stern, but there was a tiny, grateful smile playing on her lips, appreciative of the blonde idiot who was only trying to take care of her in his own stupid way.
"Yeah, of course," Kozik sputtered. "I just thought-"
"I know," Tess cut him off before he could finish. "I'll go in. I could use a drink anyway. Maybe Fiona will let me hold the baby."
"I wouldn't count on it, Love," Chibs cut in from behind them. "But it's worth a try. Come on, boys. Let's get inside. We need church."
"So the Irish are all settled in, I take it?" Opie asked as the wooden doors closed, shutting out the rest of the Clubhouse from the four men inside.
"That they are," Chibs agreed, sitting between Opie and Piney at the table. "They have talked with our Russian friends and set up a meet for tomorrow, out in Wahewa."
"That was quick," Kozik observed, eyebrows raised in surprise.
"The Irish don't work slowly," Chibs agreed. "Unless they're drunk. And even then, they're quicker than most."
Piney let out a bark of laughter, nodding in agreement. Opie allowed it for a moment, before prodding him to continue. "What do they need from us?"
"Help. Today," Chibs informed them. "The hardware for the Russians arrived about an hour age, and they want us to help transport from the airstrip to Wahewa."
"And I am guessing that they want that help immediately," Opie guessed.
"Aye," Chibs nodded. "Really, I think they just want to meet with us and go over the plan for tomorrow. But of course they won't say that."
"So if we have to go meet with the Irish, are we really suppose to leave the Clubhouse unprotected?" Kozik wondered, a note of panic in his voice.
"No," Opie vowed. "That's not going to happen Kozik." He was quiet for a moment, thinking, before speaking up again. "Tara's shift is almost over. The Prospects will bring her back here. I want the four of us at the meet with the Irish. We will have three Prospects here, until we get back."
"Three Prospects?" Kozik questioned. "Is that really going to help, if the Russians decide to hit the Clubhouse?"
Chibs rolled his eyes. "We'll give Gemma and Tara and and Lila and Fi guns. The Prospects will be the least of their worries if they decide to show up at the Clubhouse."
Opie personally agreed with Chibs, but he knew Kozik was worried, so he tried to be patient. "I understand why you're worried, but I think it will be fine. The Russians know that the Irish are backing this deal. They may think that they can dominate SAMCRO, but they would be stupid to go up against the Irish. I wouldn't leave my family here if I believed differently."
Kozik and Opie shared a looked, before the blonde man nodded. "Yeah, okay. Let's do this."
"Who's staring now?" Opie joked as he stood next to Chibs, whose eyes were trained on his wife as she gently rocked Abel to sleep, bringing back memories from years ago, when it was their baby she rocked to sleep.
"Shut up," Chibs groaned. "Prospects are on their way back with Tara. We need to be ready to go when they get here."
"We will be," Opie told him. "You think that it would be wise to bring the Irish up to speed on exactly how temporary this deal will be?"
"I think that they have some idea already, but yeah, they don't really like surprises much. Letting them know what's going on early will be beneficial," Chibs agreed. "Don't forget that those Russian bastards are responsible for down an entire apartment building in Belfast. I am guessing that the Irish have no interest in a long lasting deal with the Russians."
"I hope you're right," Opie said. "Because it will be hard enough convincing Kozik to wait a few months for revenge."
Both men looked over towards the table where Kozik and Tess leaned close together, talking softly. Tess was obviously worried, and Kozik was trying his best to comfort her, though he wasn't sure it was working. She didn't want him to go, and felt incredibly embarrassed by that fact. She somehow felt safer when he was around.
"I won't be gone for a long time," Kozik told her. "We just need to meet with the Irish, and then I will be back."
"Yeah, I know. You said," Tess murmured. "It's just….is it weird that I am worried about you? I know you said that you guys have it under control, but I hate the fact that you have to deal with...him. With those bastards."
"I know," he easily agreed. "I hate it, too. But it's necessary for right now. The Irish are helping us make a deal for now, but he'll get what's coming to him in the end. I promise."
She read the serious tone in his voice, and wouldn't dare question it. He had rescued her from her worst nightmare; she trusted him implicitly. "I believe you."
"Good," he said softly. "And just think! After things are settled, we can all get out of here and go home. No more sleepovers at the Clubhouse for everybody."
"Yeah," she attempted a smile, but it didn't reach her eyes. "That's….that's great."
He opened his mouth to reply, but the moment was interrupted when Tara and the Prospects walked in, but he wouldn't let it pass. He knew damned well that they would be leaving to meet the Irish in about thirty seconds, but he had been waiting for this opportunity all day, and he would be damned it he wasn't going to say what he needed to say.
"About that," he started, drawing her attention back to him. "I was wondering….if you want to, I mean…" He stuttered for a moment, looking for the right words. "I think it would be good for you to come stay with me for awhile."
"What?" she asked, surprised. "I mean, really?"
"Well, yeah," he shrugged. "You have been through a lot of shit, and you shouldn't have to be alone. And Lex," She flinched at the use of the name. "He has been to your apartment before. He knows where you live. I can't let you go back there on your own. If you are stubborn and insist, you pretty would be forcing me to spend all night, every night on your doorstep, because I won't take a chance at him getting to you again. So really, I think it would just be easier if you agreed to come stay at my place."
Charming and gallant would never be his style, but she found him charming anyway. Tess realized that she could make his life hell by arguing, but really, she wasn't interested in that. With him, she felt safe, and safety was valuable to her right now. So instead of arguing with him and starting a fight she wasn't very likely to win, she just nodded.
"Okay."
"Really? Are you...really?" he wondered, completely shocked at how easily she had agreed.
She laughed. "Really. But I will NOT be doing your laundry. That's where I draw the line."
"Does this look like enough to keep our Soviet friends happy?" McCormick asked, standing beside the five open crates, filled with enough illegal hardware to earn each of them life sentence.
"It better be enough to keep them happy," Opie proclaimed.
"It'll keep them happier than they deserve to be," Kozik spoke. "For now, anyway."
"Good," McCormick commented. "Some of my boys will be here tonight, guarding the weapons. The Russians should be here at noon tomorrow. I would like us to all arrive before they do, just to prepare in case of any unplanned circumstances, not that I expect any of those. We will finalize things tomorrow, but once a month, things will work much the same. At least until SAMCRO is , I expect this deal to change a bit."
"That sounds like a plan," Chibs commented, taking a drag from his smoke and shaking his head. "'Change a bit'. You sure have a way of putting things."
"Of course I do," McCormick smiled. "We don't actually take kindly to innocent people being burned alive in their homes as they sleep, and women being kidnapped and raped. They will feel that pain, in time. We just have to be patient."
"We appreciate your help with this," Opie told him. They all nodded in agreement, as McCormick indicated to his men to pack and store the weapons.
"This is a mutually beneficial agreement," McCormick insisted. "So no need for thanks, though I would let you boys buy me a drink in celebration, after the deal is done. By tomorrow, this nasty business will be put to bed, for now."
"Amen to that," Chibs piped up. "We'll be here early tomorrow. If you need anything before then, you know how to reach us?"
"I do, my boy," McCormick assured him. "Filip, a private word before you go?"
Opie raised his eyebrows in question, but Chibs just shook his head and followed McCormick away from the group.
"I am sure you haven't forgotten, but there is something else that I wanted to discuss with you," McCormick told him, seriously.
"Well, here I am. What's going on?" Chibs asked, disliking the unease that rose in him with his former teacher's words.
"Nothing bad, I assure you, but now's not the time. I want to settle this gun deal first, but after, perhaps I could meet with you and your lovely wife? What we need to discuss involves both of you," McCormick informed him.
The fact that Fiona needed to be involved did absolutely nothing to reassure Chibs, but he knew that there wasn't much to be done about it. He had no choice but to trust the other man.
"That's fine," he agreed.
"Excellent!" the older man exclaimed. "Until tomorrow, then, my boy!"
Chibs stood by and watched the older man head back to the black SUV he had arrived in. He nearly didn't hear Opie approach from behind.
"What was that all about?" Op questioned, concern evident in his voice.
"I wish I knew, brother," Chibs mumbled. "I wish I knew."