A/N 9/19/2018: I was asked by the lovely... ah yes, Southerencutie23, if I would be bringing the Cullen's or the Pack into the story. The short answer yes. Kind of. I only plan on mentioning the Cullen's by name, but the Irish coven will make an appearance. Also, I'm trying to formulate a way to get the pack or at least a member of the Pack to Charming...let me know which one y'all think it should be. Also, I just feel like I have to put this out there... the dialogue you are reading isn't mine aside from Bella's interactions with the other characters. What's said here is said in the show. I hold none of the same views on race, background, or whatever. People can be cruel, so I thought I'd preemptively strike, and put that out there. I hope y'all enjoy! ~Angel
It had been a couple of weeks since Chibs and Bella had ended up in bed together, and they had yet to talk. Though, in all that time, Bella hadn't once gone home to sleep in her own be, instead choosing to sleep with Chibs again and again. Sometimes, just sleep. Other times, they'd fuck into the late hours of early hours of the morning. Bella couldn't get enough of the man, and it seemed, neither could he.
They had found themselves at Fun Town, today. A traveling carnival that had pulled into town a few days prior. Bella was having the time of her life. Renee had never taken the time for them to go to any of the carnivals that came in when she was a kid. Chibs was enjoying the pure excitement coming off of the young woman. He had had his reservations about their age differences, but decided to say 'fuck it' and roll with it. He was a selfish bastard and had no qualms taking what he wanted. It just so happens he wanted Bella.
"Hey, Chibs. Our shipment came in. Micheal is waiting at the docks for you," Clay came up to tell him.
"Aye. Leavin' now," Chibs said. He unwrapped his arm from around Bella's shoulders, and grabbed her chin roughly for a quick kiss. "Stay with the boys and enjoy your day, lass. Duty calls." Bella got a wicked smirk.
"Don't worry. I have an idea, on a souvenir or two for you," she tells him. Before she leans into his ear to whisper. "I'm going to get myself off in the photo booth, and I just so happen to be wearing your favorite lingerie set."
"Oh, for once, the luck of the Irish is a fuckin' cock block!" Chibs growled before taking Bella's lips in a demanding kiss.
"See you later," she said, pulling away. Chibs nodded and ran off.
"You two looked pretty cozy," Gemma said from beside her. Bella wondered for a moment where Clay had gotten off to.
"We haven't spoken about it or anything yet. Haven't had the time because of all of his club duties, and when we do, we're too busy fucking each other's brains out. For right now, we seem to both just be enjoying the earth shattering sex," Bella tells her. Gemma shook her head.
"He's getting attached, Izzy. Figure yourself out fast. I won't tolerate his heart getting broken. Even by you," she warned. Bella nodded her own head in understanding.
"Understood."
Bella spent the rest of the day splitting her time between the boys and Gemma. They had fun at the clown booth. The carny manning it had a habit of going too far in his heckling and jabbing of the people who participated. That was until Bella got in a lucky throw. Not so much lucky. She was aiming for the clown himself, even if he was behind plexi glass. His taunts and jeers went too far when he started bitching her out, and the boys took offense to that, climbing around to the top of the tank to make sure the clown was good and soaked all over.
As the night wore on and the carnival was set to close, Bella could hear a woman yelling for her daughter.
"Tristen!" she would yell into the crowd.
"What's going on?" Gemma asked.
"We can't find Tristen," the woman said in a panic. This obviously seemed to be a woman Gemma was familiar with.
"Oh, Jesus. Well, she must be here somewhere," Gemma said, turning to look through the crowd.
"No, we've looked everywhere," she said in a trembling voice.
"She's not on any of the rides," her husband said, walking up to him quickly. His arrival only sent the woman into hysterics.
"Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Tristen."
Everyone spread out once more to find her. It was Bella who had the unfortunate luck to do so. Oh how she wished the girl had been hiding on a ride. She had been thrown into the dirt, beaten, and judging by the blood and torn pants, raped. Whipping out her phone, Bella called Gemma.
"Gemma I'm just inside the tree line, south of the carnival. Tell her parent's to prepare themselves. She's been raped," she said without preamble. She then hung up and immediately dialed 9-1-1.
Once that was done, she looked at the whimpering girl in front of her.
"Tristen? Tristen, my name is Bella. Can I check you over for any more injuries, sweetheart?" The girl didn't respond beyond more whimpering. Not having a confirmation, Bella stayed where she was.
"Tristen, your parent's are on their way. We'll get you to a hospital, all right?"
"Oh, my God! Tristen!" Bella heard the girl's mother yell from behind her.
~~~~~~~~~)O(~~~~~~~~~
Bella got back to Chibs's dorm room in tears. Not seeing him, she curled into bed and hugged his pillow, before crying herself to sleep. Though not long after, she heard Chibs enter the room. Seeing that she had been crying, he immediately went to sit beside her on the bed.
"What is it, lass?" he asked her, wiping away the lingering tear tracks. Bella swallowed hard.
"Last night, before the carnival closed, I found Tristen Oswald in the woods, beaten and raped. She's only 13, Filip! She's still a kid!" she forced out. Chibs gathered her into his arms, and rocked her in comfort.
"Hush now, lass. She's safe now. I'm sure, you saw her to a hospital, aye?" Bella nodded.
"She'll get the help she needs. The only problem I see is one or both of her parent's trying to brush it under the rug to save their image," Bella said.
"It's out of our hands now, lass. What happens after, is now considered their family business, and they'll rally the wagons as such," he tells her. Bella sighed and nodded.
"I suppose so."
"Come on. Let's hit the sack. Let me hold you. You'll feel better in the mornin'," he offered.
~~~~~~~~~)O(~~~~~~~~~
"McKeevy's gonna want his usual per-month order and a month's insurance," Chibs tells Clay.
"I can't get my hands on 200K. I got every space cent tied up in the rebuild," Clay says.
"So what do I tell him?"
"How much time do we have?" Jax asks, removing his sunglasses and rubbing an eye.
"Well, he's going up north tomorrow. Don't know for how long… but when he gets back, he'll want his cash before he goes to Dungloe," Chibs informs them, his accent accentuating the town's name.
They hear a car horn behind them and they turn to see a Mercedes drive onto the lot.
"Tell the Shamrock I'll give him his money. But I want you to go with him. Courtesy escort. Let me know who he's meetin' with," Clay orders Chibs before he goes to meet the man who just pulled into the lot.
"Who's the dude in the Benz?" the prospect asked.
"Elliot Oswald," Tig informs him.
"As in Oswald Lumber?"
"Yeah, Oswald Lumber, Oswald Beef, Oswald Construction," Tig listed.
~~~~~~~~~)O(~~~~~~~~~
"We got a 200K deficit hangin' over our heads!" Tig yelled. "Do we really, really wanna be out there playin' some pro bono Lone Ranger?" he asked in a more moderate tone.
"They guy raped a 13 year old!" Jax pressed.
"13. Thirteen!" Bobby said in horror.
"I get it," Tig said. "I just don't like puttin' my ass on the line for some outsider. Clay, Oswald doesn't give a shit about Sam Crow."
"You know, people get jammed up in this town, they don't go to the cops. They come to us," Clay said.
"That's right, us," Chibs affirmed.
"And that means somethin' to me. I don't know. Maybe I got somethin' to prove with this guy. You know, that's my shit. So, anybody wants to pass on this-"
"We're in."
"No way, I'm in."
"I'm in!" Chibs says, getting right up in Tig's face.
"Absolutely."
"I'm in."
Everyone said from around the table.
"I'm in too. Guess we're huntin' a tot banger then," Tig said.
"Good. So what do we know?" Clay asked.
"We saw a couple of guys sportin' Aryan ink. Not sure if they were Darby's guys," Jax tells him.
"And Macon Woods is right on the Lodi border. Darby's got a meth shack couple of miles from there," Clay said.
"Rape as retaliation," Bobby shook his head in disgust.
"Certainly in the Nord wheelhouse," said Jax as he exhaled his smoke.
"Tap into the Sanwa database. Find out which Nords get hard for underage pussy," orders Juice.
"Got it."
"Bobby and I'll go after Darby," said Tig.
~~~~~~~~~)O(~~~~~~~~~
The boys exited the clubhouse to see Deputy Sheriff Hale and two officers waiting for them in the lot.
"You girls selling cookies?" Clay asked.
"We're investigating a sexual assault," Hale informed them.
"You serious?" Jax asked.
"Yeah. I need to talk to all your guys that were at the carnival last night. If they're not here, get them here. Now," Hale ordered.
"You think a son had somethin' to do with that rape?" Clay asked.
"Half of 'em have violent crimes on their rap sheets. Just following logic," Hale informed them.
"Wasn't it just last week four Oakland cops were busted for prostitution and rape?" Jax shot back. "Logic tells me we should ask where your dick was last night."
"And don't say 'in your mama'," Clay warned playfully, with a sinister glint in his eye.
"Officers Mann and Fain will be taking your statements. It could take hours."
"I'm tryin' to run a business here," Clay says.
"We can do it here, at the station house- wherever you wanna do it," threatened Hale. "And don't say 'in your mama'."
~~~~~~~~~)O(~~~~~~~~~
Bella was still out cold when Chibs went back into his room. The events of the previous night had hit her hard, and she stayed up even after they had gone to bed, tossing and turning. Chibs looked at the girl, just marveling at his sheer dumb luck at having such a creature in his bed. He brushed a lock of hair out her face, but the small gesture seemed to stir her.
"Filip?" she said softly.
"Here, lass," he responded. Bella opened her eyes and looked at him, giving a small smile. "Better?" he asked. She nodded, but still had a sad look to her.
"I need to tell you something," he said. Bella sat up, unconcerned with her nudity, and gave Chibs one hell of a view of her perfect little tits. He swallowed hard to try and maintain his thought process.
"Clay is sending me North for a few days. I'm leaving in the mornin'," he tells her. Bella sighed, then crawled into his lap, circling her arms around his neck, and straddling his lap, offering him a full view of her perfection.
"Then, today, you do what you need for the club. But tonight? Tonight, I'm going to ride you so hard, you won't even think about getting your dick sucked by a Crow-eater," she says. Chibs placed his hands on her hips and leaned forward to capture her lips with his own.
"I haven't had one since the day you hit town," he tells her. Bella pulled back and looked into his eyes.
Chibs gave her a bemused smile. "We really should have that talk as well. It's long overdue." Bella kissed him again in acceptance, but before they could take things any farther, his phone rang. Growling in annoyance, he answered it.
"Aye?… Yeah." Then he snapped the phone closed. "I need to go, love. Why don't you stay here? I have some snacks in the drawer there. I'll bring you some food when I come back. You just rest."
Bella nodded. "All right. But you had better come finish what you started, Scotty."
~~~~~~~~~)O(~~~~~~~~~
Chibs and Jax pulled up alongside the prospect at the carnival grounds before shutting their engines off.
"Been talkin' to the Fun Town carnies for over an hour," he tells them.
"Stay on him," Jax orders. Poor Half-Sac couldn't take it anymore.
"Think you guys could double up, let me take one of your bikes?" he asked desperately.
"Not unless he grows tits," Jax jokes.
"Big tits. Huge tits," Chibs put in.
"He's goin'," Jax informs the young man, pointing to Hale driving off.
Once they make sure that Hale is out of the way with the prospect following him, Jax and Chibs approach the carnies. Jax held up a school picture of Tristen.
"See this girl last night?" he asked a big guy with a wild looking mustache.
"Who are you?" the man asked.
"Concerned citizens," Chibs put in. "And what did you just say to that cop?" he asked, pointing towards where Hale left.
"Why don't you ask him yourself?" as he tried to walk away. Jax wasn't having it though and actually grabbed a hold of his arm and pulled him back.
"'Cause we're askin' you, Uncle Vinky," he said.
"All right. No, it's all right," the carny said to the others as they rose to defend him.
"This girl got raped less than a mile away. Shit like that doesn't happen in our town, which points to an outsider," Jax informs them.
"And there's not much more outsiders than you muppets," Chibs put in. The carnies all began circling the two Sons menacingly. Jax and Chibs noticed and put their hands on their weapons.
"Hey. Hey, it can go that way if you want," Jax said, showing that he was ready with his knife. He then chuckled when he heard Chibs ask, "What?"
"All right. Tell you what I told the cop. All my guys were here powerin' down rides, chaining up booths. Security guards your town hired'll tell you the same thing," Mustache man said. There were voices of assent from around them.
~~~~~~~~~)O(~~~~~~~~~
Tara Knowles was having a shit day. It fit, considering she was officially scared shitless. That phone call from her stalker cop ex boyfriend rattled her and she needed someone to let loose on. The perfect target came walking onto the ward in the form of Gemma Teller.
"Wendy's out of detox. Though you'd wanna know just in case you wanted to bring her flowers or something," she said. It was an obvious test, to see if Gemma would rise to the bait and admit to smuggling that syringe of meth in for the new mother. Ex- new mother. The woman had signed over her rights to Abel almost as soon as she woke. Tara was pretty sure Gemma had something to do with that as well.
Gemma didn't rise to the bait, though. She looked at Tara, completely not in the mood for the biker bitch wanna be deciding to challenge the Biker Queen herself. She walked away and Tara went about her rounds. However, as Gemma looked back at Tara, who should she see but Darby himself, walk out of the elevator. Pulling out her phone, she dialed 1 on her speed dial. Clay.
"I'm in the middle of it, baby," he answered.
"Still looking for Darby?" she asked.
"Yeah. Why?"
"He's at the hospital. Headin' up to the south wing," she informs him.
"Thank you," was the reply before the line went dead. Now all she had to do was make sure she kept an eye on the Aryan ass until Clay arrived.
~~~~~~~~~)O(~~~~~~~~~
The peaceful atmosphere Chief Unser found in the barber shop during his morning shave was disturbed by Jax Teller walking in.
"Give us a minute, Floyd," he said to the barber. They fist bumped and Floyd replied with, "I'll give you two."
"Jesus Christ," Unser gripped. "My one peaceful moment of the day." He began wiping the left over shaving cream off his face with a towel.
"We need to know where Hale's at with the Oswald case," Jax said without preamble.
"Do you have any idea how much heat I'm gettin' on this?" Unser asked. "I do anything to compromise this case-"
"I'm not askin' you to compromise. Just tell us what you know," Jax said with a smile.
"Got nothin'- no leads, no witnesses. Only one who knows anything is the girl, and she's sayin' she's got no memory of it. And Karen won't let anyone near her. Guess I don't blame her. Probably do the same if it was my kid."
"A'ight," Jax said, getting up to leave. Unser got his attention when he got to the door.
"Jax, you guys cannot screw me on this. I don't catch this rapist, I'm the one under the microscope. That's just bad for all of us."
"Don't worry, Chief. We'll catch him," Jax says as he leaves.
"Ah, shit," Unser exclaims once he's alone.
~~~~~~~~~)O(~~~~~~~~~
Gemma was taking a smoke break outside the hospital after visiting Abel when she saw Darby leaving.
"Shit," she says under her breath. She knew she had to keep the man there for Clay. "How you doin', Ernie?" she asked loud enough for him to hear.
"It's goin' good. How's the beautiful queen of bikers?" he asked, walking over and taking a seat on the far side of her bench.
"Holdin' it together. What brings you here?" Gemma asked curiously.
"Four packs a day finally caught up to mom. Stage four lung cancer," he says a little sadly. Gemma blows out the lungful of smoke and snuffs her cig.
"Sorry to hear that."
"You look real good, Gemma. Clay must be keepin' you happy," Darby says in an obvious attempt at flirting.
"Does the best he can," she says taking off her sunglasses. She looks to a new chest tattoo he seems to have gotten. "Interesting new accessory."
"Picked it up on my little retreat in Chino. It's simple, but it says it," Darby says proudly.
"Jewish doctors keepin' your mother alive must love it," Gemma says sarcastically.
"That's right. You got a little Jew in you, don't you?" he asked.
"A bit. On the angry Russian side," she smirks as she catches the sounds of motorcycles approaching. "It was nice talkin' to you, Ernie. Gotta catch my train back to Auschwitz." With that she gets up and strolls back into the hospital as Clay, Bobby, and Tig approach him.
"Your old lady's still a handful," Darby observed.
"That she is," Clay said. He really didn't like other men checking out his woman.
"My guys tellin' me you been lookin' for me, think we had somethin' to do with that kid getting raped last night," he said.
"Thought crossed my mind," Clay said.
"Tearin' up the daughter of an important citizen like that- you know, maybe that's your way of pissin' on Charming ground," Tig inferred.
"When I decide to piss on Charming, it ain't gonna be on a little girl," Darby said, disgusted at the thought.
"We know about your hook up with the Mayans. I'm guessing you and Alvarez got kinda cozy in Chino," Clay probed.
"Oh, I'm just tryin' to learn how to get along with my brothers of color. Opening my mind to bigger possibilities," Darby says.
"Well, don't think too big. A small mind suits you," Clay taunted.
"Last night, what? What?" Tig asked.
"All my guys were with me. We ate at Meyers. And we shot pool at the Dog. Ask around," Darby informed them.
"What about Johnny Yates?" Clay asked.
"Yates? Oh, he ain't with us. That boy never fit in. He pissed off Whistler one night, shattered Johnny's nose. Didn't see him again. You do remember Whistler?" Darby asked.
"Oh, yeah, I remember him," Tig put in. "Don't see him around much anymore."
"Yeah, he just fell off the face of the earth. It's funny how easy that can happen," Darby said, getting into Tig's face.
"Why don't you and me straighten out our business another time?" Clay offered. "Right now, I need an address on Yates."
"You know I ain't gonna rat him out to you. Ain't gonna happen," Darby said in disbelief.
"Hey, he's got a half a dozen sex crimes on his rap sheet. Now if he raped that girl, the quicker I find him, the quicker the eyes are off both of us," Clay told him.
"Hey, yo," Bobby said, thrusting his chin to the other side of the parking lot. As if to emphasize Clay's point, Hale drove up to the hospital. Darby was backed into a corner.
"His mother raised fightin' dogs up in Pope," Darby said quickly. "He used to stay with her. I think she remarried. Last name is Chester."
"Thanks," Clay said as he smiled his toothy grin.
"Whatever shit you stir up, make sure the Nords stay clear of it," Darby said, before walking away.
"Call Trammel. See if he can scare up an address on Mother Yates. I want bodies on this," Clay orders.
"You think, uh, Darby could be settin' us up?" Bobby asked.
"I don't know. But if he does tip off Yates, we could be walkin' into an angry whiteout." Just then they see the prospect pull up on a little scooter. Tig is grinning a big shit eating grin.
"Do I even ask?" Clay asked exasperated.
"No. No, you don't," Tig said, moving away.
"No," Clay confirmed.