I own nothing you recognize. Only original characters and storylines are my own.

Deceptively Calm

"So you want white azaleas, a bouquet of blue carnations, a bunch of hyacinth and a large, solitary, sunflower?" Rita asked as she went over the order Milla had just given her.

"Yes, and if I could get a green bow on the sunflower that says "Daddy" I'd really appreciate it." Milla responded and Rita nodded her head.

"Trip to the cemetery?" She asked and Milla nodded sadly.

"Yeah, we're leaving in a few weeks and I know we'll be unbelievably busy so I wanted to go with the kids and say my goodbyes before we head out." She told the older woman as she played with the hem of her jacket.

"I didn't know you were moving, is it job related?" Rita asked, interested in this young woman's news and Milla nodded with a smile.

"Yeah, I got a new job and Juice transferred Charters. We're starting fresh, away from all of this." Milla made a gesture in the air and it was Rita's turn to nod.

"I get it, sometimes things are too much to bear and you need a change of scenery. You wait here and I'll work on your order." She said as she lightly touched Milla's hand and Milla smiled at her.

"Thank you Mrs. Roosevelt." She told the other woman, who smiled warmly.

"Call me Rita, I'll be back soon with your flowers." She patted Milla's hand then walked toward the back and Milla began to look through the catalog on the desk. While she was looking the bell on the door rang and Milla soon felt a presence standing next to her.

"Lovely day, isn't it Mrs. Ortiz?" At the sound of his voice Milla bristled but kept her eyes on the catalog.

"It was..." She said quietly and he chuckled.

"You still hate me huh?" He asked and this time Milla whirled around and stared at him with eyes reflecting sudden rage.

"Hate doesn't even begin to cover it Lieutenant. You've tried your damndest to ruin the life of a good man and his family and I'll never forget that. I'll also never forgive you." She spoke quietly and harshly and Roosevelt stood up straighter and made his face as emotionless as possible.

"That good man brought this all on himself-" He started before Milla cut him off with a snort.

"If you believe that then you're the most delusional man I've ever met. You did this to him, you brought this shit on our doorstep. Did it ever bother you that you were sending a husband and the father of a young child up the river or were you jealous that an outlaw had a family and you had to go to fertility specialists because your boys couldn't swim?" Milla asked and Eli froze but she continued. "You forget just how ingrained SAMCRO is in this town Lieutenant, I didn't even have to call in a favor to get that info. No one likes to gossip like a nurse."

"So what, I'm supposed to be impressed that you know my secret, let this shit go because I screwed up?" He asked and Milla shook her head.

"No, what you're supposed to do is leave my family in peace, that means my husband too. Soon enough we'll be out of your hair, hopefully for good, and you can go back to pestering motorists like you're so keen on doing. You won't have to keep tabs on your brothah anymore." Milla crossed her arms over her chest in a defiant gesture and he smiled, confident that he had her.

"So the rumors are true then, you're moving. Why wasn't I told this shit?" He asked and Milla chuckled.

"You weren't told because this shit has nothing to do with you. We're moving to get a new start, to build a new life together. Part of that new life means leaving behind the shitstorm in Charming, a shit storm that you've been central in. Everything you did contributed to me almost losing my husband once and I won't let you, or anyone else, drive him to that again. You're scum and I truly feel sorry for your child. She or he deserves someone better as a father, thank god that Rita's there to make up for your failure as a human being." Milla spoke confidently and before he could retort Rita came out of the back as though she'd been summoned and Roosevelt bit his cheek to keep in the harsh response.

"Here you are Milla, I also included a Mommy ribbon, one for Grandpa and I found this bright pink Auntie ribbon. I think they look just right on the flowers." She spoke quietly but with the energy of someone who delighted in their job and Milla smiled.

"You're right, this is absolutely perfect. How much more do I owe you for the ribbons?" She asked and Rita shook her head.

"The ribbons are on the house, I'm just glad these are what you want." She said as she slid the box with the flowers over the counter and Milla picked it up.

"Thank you so much for this. I'll stop in tomorrow with the lazy susan's and the bluebells. Thanks so much for taking them off my hands." Milla thanked her and Rita got out from behind the counter and walked her to the door.

"No, thank you, it will be nice to have some new flowers in here and bluebells are always welcome. You have a good day and I'll see you later." Rita said and Milla nodded before she walked out, juggling the box ahead of her. When Rita turned she gave her husband a stern look and moved past him to take her position behind the counter again.

"What?" He asked and she continued to give him the stern look.

"I don't know what was happening out here but I know it had something to do with your beef with the Sons of Anarchy. I don't care what your problems are with them but you leave that young woman alone. She's already lost so much and now she's raising the kids of a dead friend and having her second baby. She doesn't need you piling more on her plate. Just promise me that whatever your problem is with the Sons of Anarchy you'll leave Milla Ortiz alone." She gave him a subtle ultimatum.

"Another baby? I didn't know that." He told his wife and suddenly things made more sense. With another baby on the way it made sense that Ortiz wanted out, now Roosevelt understood how much babies complicated things and changed motivations.

"Are you going to promise me?" She asked and he walked around the counter and draped his arms around his wife's middle.

"I promise to back off any further interrogations of Mrs. Ortiz. This isn't a get out of jail free card though." He told her and she nodded.

"Thank you, I hate to think of her being so young with so much stress. She needs something to lessen the weight on her shoulders." She told him and he leaned to kiss her.

"Beautiful and a good heart. How'd I get so lucky?" He smiled and she kissed him back before she shooed him away. She had a business to run after all.

…

Juice took a sip of his coffee as he watched the interaction going on across the street. Clay looked every in the powerful biker president as he spoke to one of Lin's men outside the restaurant. They'd been outside for ten minutes, an obvious powerplay by Lin and Juice had been taking pictures of the exchange, especially when something looking suspiciously like an envelope full of cash was slipped into Clay's hand before he immediately pocketed it. Juice shook his head. Clay was making him out to be the patsy when the old snake was making rookie mistakes. He wouldn't be surprised if Clay was already ten steps ahead and trying to make fools out of them as an added insult to the injury. Then again he could be overconfident in his dealing. Until everything was squared away Juice wouldn't put anything past the old man. As Juice placed his cup back in the holder and began to take video of the meet his phone rang and he pressed the mute button on the camera before he answered.

"Juice here." He greeted, knowing very few people who would have the number of his new burner.

"I need you to cut the surveillance short and head back. I just got some intel I wanna share with you and the others." Jax told him and Juice shut off his camera and turned back to the front.

"You got it." He said before he took off. If Jax had new intel and was ready to share, it had to be good.

…

Jax sat at the table flanked by Bobby, Happy and Chibs while Tig stood at the periphery. It was rather symbolic of the change in the Club and Jax ruminated on this as they waited for Juice to show up. Jax had to admit that Juice had seemed to have done a one-eighty since he discovered the evidence against them. He was finally living up to what his cut promised and Jax was proud and disappointed that this new Juice wouldn't be around to help rebuild the Club but that couldn't be helped. His family needed him more and the decision had been made.

"Where's Juicy at? Milla said she hadn't seen him last night" Chibs asked and Jax looked at him.

"He's doin something for the Club, he's on his way. Don't worry about him, he's good." Jax explained and Chibs nodded before the men in the room went silent again. Before the silence grew unbearable with tension the door to the chapel opened and Juice walked in carrying his camera equipment and Jax sat up straight. "See anything?"

"I've got a lot, he's makin' mistakes." Juice said as he sat at the table and unpacked his equipment while Jax stood up and walked to the side of the room where he had a box filled with evidence stashed. Once he had it he sat and unloaded it and finally Bobby spoke up.

"Who's makin' mistakes? What's goin' on here?" He asked and Jax looked at Juice before he looked at Tig who finally sat at the table and picked up a picture and looked at it before he spoke.

"Juice made a discovery last week that could lead to some very nasty consequences for us. Tell them what's been going on, on your end." He told Juice who nodded.

"Clay has been makin' me take him on trips to the Wahewa land a few times a week for the last couple of weeks and when we go there I load lots of heavy boxes into the van and unload them at his place. Last week I found a scrap of metal in the storage unit and when I picked it up I saw some Chinese writing. It made me suspicious and while Milla kept him distracted at the house I went into the van and found a box with counterfeit plates and printing equipment and another box full of sheets of money. I also found a box filled with surveillance pictures of Jax and me, they showed us talkin' to each other and me at Lin's restaurant, there's also some other pics that don't look too good for us." He explained and Bobby gave Chibs a look as everyone absorbed what he said.

"This alone is circumstantial at best, the pictures make us look bad but I got some more intel this morning that proves without a shadow of a doubt that Clay's working with Lin behind our backs." He told them before he passed pictures out to everyone at the table who studied the picture in front of them and Juice ground his teeth. That son of a bitch...

"When was this taken Jackie?" Chibs asked and Jax picked up his cigarette and drew the smoke into his lungs.

This was taken this mornin', if that's not enough, here's the next in the series." Jax said and watched as everyone took in what was in the picture.

"That's why our shipment was light this month. Shit, you think the Irish know?" Bobby asked and Jax shook his head.

"No, they don't know anything. I put feelers out in Belfast and haven't heard whispers. These pictures were taken by some Niners under Pope's orders so we know they aren't going to screw us over. Now that you've seen this, heard us and seen the rest of the evidence, what do you think?" He asked as he sat back in the chair and waited for the response.

"We need to get some solid confirmation from the Irish, be sure they didn't authorize this. Then we need to arrange a sit down with Lin, check him out, see how he reacts to the questioning. We also need to talk to Clay, see if we can get a confession out of him. We need to go through the channels here, no other way to do it." Bobby explained and Jax nodded.

"Anyone disagree with Bobby's plan?" Jax asked and no one raised their hand so he nodded again.

"Ok, Juice, call Lin's guy's. Set up a meet for tomorrow. Chibs, call Galen and get a meeting for as soon as possible. I'll figure out how to confront Clay. Remember, what was said here today goes no further than this room until the pieces fall into place. You're free to go." Jax said as he dismissed them but Tig stood at the table and looked through the evidence, picking up Juice's camera when the younger man left the room. "Something on your mind Tig?"

"This...it don't feel right man, it feels like somethin's too easy." He said and Jax nodded.

"I know what you mean but Juice and I have contingency plans. No matter what he's doin' he'll be the one takin' the fall." Jax told him and Tig nodded before he walked out of the chapel and left Jax to do his part of the plan.

…

Clay sat in his living room drinking a tumbler of good scotch and smiling to himself. His plan was working like a charm. He'd gotten the equipment he needed sent to Galen and the Irishman had shipped the guns to him instead of the warehouse. The beauty of it all was that Galen didn't know where the guns were going to or the money and equipment was coming from. When Jax finally got wise he'd find a dead end with the Irishman who'd been played as deftly as his stepson. He smirked as he thought about just how big the last shipment had been and remembered how Romeo had talked to him about the lack of AKs instead of Jax. The big players were all on his team and Jax was about to lose the big game. He continued to smile and enjoy basking in his plan, totally unaware of what was awaiting him in the near future.

…
Later that night...

Juice groaned as he walked through the door. The day had been exhausting but now they had a plan of attack and it was worth the stress and anxiety he was feeling at the moment. After the ritual removing of cut and boots Juice turned around and smiled as he saw his wife standing behind him holding a beer and a bag of what he assumed was take out. She smiled back and turned on the light while he sat to eat.

"I figured that since you don't eat too well at the clubhouse I'd have something good ready for you when you got home." She joined him at the table and Juice placed his hand on hers.

"Thanks baby,I haven't eaten all day. I'd hate to see what's been swimmin' around in my body all day with no food to cleanse it." He said and Milla chuckled before she took her hand out from under his. "How're the kids doin?"

"Ellie finally allowed me to pack some of her stuff and helped me pack up the majority of the nursery and Kenny was a trooper. He packed anything he didn't need at his fingertips. Of course the Xbox 360 and your games remain in their new location though. It's finally coming together baby, we're really getting out of here." She said as tears started to roll from her eyes and Juice reached a hand over and caught one with his thumb before he wiped it away.

"Yes we are, we're goin' to Thief River and once my probation ends and I can leave the state we'll make the move to Portland. Those kids are gonna have a good life and I'm not lettin' anyone get in the way of that." He said with feeling and Milla felt her body respond to the tone of his voice and she stopped crying as she looked at him he understood the heat in her eyes.

She stood from her seat as he moved his chair back and waited to see what she would do. He didn't have to wait long. She crossed the short space between them and crawled on his lap before kissing him slowly. While she did that he untied her robe and ran his hands over her body that was getting softer and mre voluptuous by the day. He loved seeing her glow and feeling the new curves her body developed. It took him no time to get hard as he gently squeezed her sensitive breasts and caused her to moan. After a moment he felt his pants shift and before he could react his dick was out of his pants and Milla smirked as she moved on him. He moaned as she started to ride him in the chair. It was fast and furious but it was what they both needed after the day they'd had and afterward Milla rested against him as he kissed her hair and held her. While they rested Milla decided to tell him a bit about her day.

"I had a bit of a fight with Roosevelt today." She told him then continued with her story. "I was at the flower shop getting some flowers for the cemetery and he must've stopped by to see his wife. He gave me shit about us moving and I got angry. I told him to leave us alone and said that he was scum. I may have said something about feeling sorry for his child but it's honestly a blur."

"He seem mad, like he'll give us trouble?" Juice asked and Milla shrugged.

"He had the cop face on so I couldn't say but I think I pissed him off. Just be careful babe, don't do anything to make him target you." Milla told him and he nodded before he kissed her hair again. He'd be seeing Roosevelt before he left, but there were more pressing matters to think about at the moment.

"Baby..." He said softly and Milla sat up and looked at him while he reached a hand up and brushed hair from her face. "There's some shit goin' down. It involves Clay and I want you to keep your distance from him and only come to the clubhouse if I'm with you. I don't trust him and want you to be safe."

"Are you in danger?" Milla asked and Juice felt love for his woman swell his chest. She didn't need to know the whats or the shys, she just needed to know her man was safe.

"I might be. Just promise me you and the kids will stick close to the house and when things go down I'll make sure you're not anywhere where you'll be in the crossfire." He told her and Milla nodded before she draped her arms around his neck and rested her forehead against his.

"I trust you baby and know that you only want what's best for us. Just keep me posted, let me know what you need me to do." She told him before she moved away and climbed off his lap Once they'd straightened up Juice took her hand and kissed it before he let it go and looked up at his wife whose eyes were only for him.

"Go to bed Mills, it's been a long day and you need your rest. I'll be up when I'm done eating." Juice told her and she nodded but before she walked away he grabbed her hand and pulled her closer to him. "I love you."

"I love you too Juice, hurry to bed. I need my furnace." She smiled and Juice nodded before she left the kitchen and he turned to his bag. He smiled when he opened it and saw that it was a wrap from his favorite sandwich shop in town. It was all organic and natural and was part of his strict detoxifying regimen. She'd remembered and it heightened his resolve. He was going to end Clay's deception and get his family out of Charming. They deserved a chance for a fresh start and it was his job to secure it for them.