Disclaimer-No matter how big I dream, I'm still not the owner of the Sons of Anarchy. I do own this story, my depleted cast of OCs, and the relevant plotlines and themes. I also own a set of very sore hands from training and typing so much, so please don't yell if it takes me more than a day to update.
Warning-This is a violent story, but this chapter isn't nearly as bad as the last one. I think it's fairly safe to read. PM for clarification if you need it.
Tig skidded to a stop as close to the clubhouse door as he could manage without hitting any of the Sons sitting and standing around waiting for him. Chibs had the passenger door open before Tig even got the van into park.
"Jaysus, she's a fucking mess!" Chibs exclaimed, peeling Ace off of Tig. He was shocked as hell when Ace cracked open one eye.
"Tell me you guys have a plan." She begged.
"Of course we do." Jax stepped close to where Chibs cradled her so that she could see him. "We're gonna get him out, but we gotta get you taken care of, ok?"
She nodded, and Chibs moved her inside, laying her out on one of the clubhouse tables that had clearly been prepped for the occasion. She was shaking hard, and couldn't seem to stop, and was grateful when Chibs tucked a blanket around her.
"I'm pretty sure you're going to the hospital sweetheart." He told her, gently probing her cheekbone. "I hafta check that wound in your side, alright?"
"Where's Tig?" Ace looked around, and he stepped up next to her head.
"I'm right here." And he took her hand, pulling up a chair. Chibs pressed a gauze pad into his other hand and slapped it down over the stab wound.
"Keep pressure on that. I'll be righ' back." Chibs went to Jax, pulling him close. "We can't wait to see how things shake down with Hap, Jackie. She needs surgery."
"Fuck. Alright. How do we play this? If the cops get ahold of her, and she tells them anything, Happy's a dead man." Jax pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to run scenarios and see the big picture.
"Tell her that, Jax." Juice said, leaning into the conversation. "She won't do anything that would put Happy in danger. We can pin it on the ROC. If she tells them she was blindfolded the whole time and they didn't speak English, there isn't anything the cops can go on."
"That was incredibly smart, Juicy." Chibs admired. "Alright, let's get her outta here. How long until Tacoma rolls in?"
"Kozik called a while ago. They'll be here within the hour. He was hauling ass." Chibs nodded, and headed back to Tig and Ace.
"Alright, sugar, we hafta get you to a hospital." He told her, and Ace started shaking her head, and bypassed him altogether, looking to Tig.
"No. I'm not going until you get him back for me."
"Oh yeah, you are." Tig told her. "You know the deal. You gotta stay alive. I'll get him back, I swear."
"Listen, they're going to ask you a lot of questions at the hospital." Jax joined in. "If you lead them back to the Bastardos, Happy's not going to make it out alive, understand?"
"So what do I need to say?" Ace gasped, tears rolling down her cheeks, and not one single man could look her in the eye.
"Tell them you were blindfolded, didn't see anything. They never spoke English around you, so you don't anything about them. They sounded Russian. Just stick to that." Jax told her, and she nodded. "Alright, Chibs you go with her. Tig, I'm gonna need you with me."
Ace stuck out a hand when Chibs went to scoop her back up.
"No, I need to shower first." She told them. "If any of them have a record and they get DNA off of me, your plan won't work."
"God, you even sound like him. Are there any chicks around that can help her?" Tig asked, looking around, but it was wall to wall Sons.
"Just get me in the shower, Tig, I'll be fine." Ace told him, wincing.
No Other Man Alive
It had been a humiliating trial for both Ace and Tig to get her undressed and seated in the shower. She was scrubbing her skin with the harsh Dial bar soap as hard as she could, with the hot water turned up. She tried not to think about the marks on her skin, or the fact that she was bleeding from the vagina.
"Tell me how you're getting him out, Tig." She said quietly, not needing to raise her voice, since Tig was sitting on the floor with his back against the bathtub.
"We're going to come in from two sides. Opie is going to set off some little bullshit explosives to draw them out. The Nomads are going to be with him, and their job is to incapacitate as many as they can. I'll take Tacoma in from the other end and finish the job. We're gonna bring him home, dollface." Tig replied.
"And if you don't? If they already killed him?" Ace asked, hissing against the sting of the soap and the thought of having already lost Happy.
"He made arrangements for you. But that ain't how it's going to happen." Tig told her, and Ace nodded, even though he couldn't see her.
"Help me out, Tig. The sooner I get out of here the sooner you can."
Tig dried her off and helped her dress in one of his shirts and a pair of boxers, doing his best to keep his eyes averted. It worried him that she felt hot to the touch.
"How much does he know, Tig?" She asked him, voice back to that slurry, weak shadow of her usual brash tone.
"All of it."
"Shit. I didn't want him to."
No Other Man Alive
Happy lay facedown on the floor of the warehouse, his wrists secured behind his back. His right hand was bloody, excruciating mess. The one look he'd gotten at it before he'd greyed out had him convinced that even if he got out of this, he might never ride again. It was painful to consider.
So far, other than his hand, all his injuries were fairly minor, just bullshit beatdown stuff. Carlos and that goddamn cunt from Nevada had left the premises a few hours ago, and it had been pretty quiet since. It had been dark for a while, Happy guessed at least 3 hours, which meant Tacoma had to have gotten to Redwood. All he had to do was bide his time. He actually felt pretty good with his prospects of getting out alive, but he was anxious to get it the fuck over. He had to get to Ace and make sure she was alright.
Happy reviewed everything he knew about her condition, starting from the top and moving down. She had some scary bruising around that left eye, and she'd never opened it, so there was probably some orbital rim damage. Hopefully there wasn't any damage to the actual eye. Her lip had been swollen and split, but he thought that might be his own doing. Moving past that unpleasant truth, there were bruises on her neck where someone had subdued her by strangulation. His own throat constricted at the thought, and he moved on. Her wrists had been bloody from the zip-ties. There was the wound in her side, which had to be a stab wound, no other explanation. He stopped himself there, because if he considered any further what had been done to her, he wouldn't be able to keep his shit together.
Instead, Happy moved on from Ace's injuries and probably prognosis to the revenge he was going to exact in her name. He prayed that whoever showed up would be able to incapacitate these fuckers without killing him, because he had a serious score to settle. He rehearsed the movements in his head, satisfied with the progression, but hating that he wouldn't have time to do more. In a perfect world he'd be able to draw the pain out for twice as long as they'd made her hurt. Once he was done here, he knew he had to go to her, begin to atone for all the many ways that he'd let her down.
When she was whole again, and his hand was healed, Happy had every intention of hunting Carlos Rivera down like a dog. His end wasn't going to be quick, but it sure was going to be bloody. And that gash was in for it, too.
Happy opened his eyes again, gauging the time. He forced his muscles to relax. Any minute now.
No Other Man Alive
Ace screamed as the Trauma doc in the emergency room probed the wound in her side. Chibs was holding her down by a shoulder and trying to distract her, unsuccessfully.
"You gotta calm down, Ace." Chibs hollered over her screaming. "Jaysus, doc, can't you give her something?!"
"I need to assess the damage first, sir. You're here as a courtesy to Mrs. Perez, if you don't calm down though, I'll have you removed." The doc sounded bored as he continued to rummage around inside Ace's gut. Finally, he pulled his fingers out and snapped off the gloves.
"Alright, well we're going to have to do a pelvic exam to see what the damage is, so let's get that over with while we wait for your x-rays, shall we? Mr. Telford, if you'd please step out to the waiting area."
"No, Chibs, you can't go." Ace grabbed his wrist in a vice grip, her breathing coming in gasps.
"Mr. Telford." The doctor repeated insistently.
"No, you heard the lady. I'm not leavin' her." Chib crossed his arms over his chest.
"Sir, do you know how invasive a rape exam is?" The doctor pressed, and Chibs looked a little nauseous.
"No. I do not consent to a rape kit." Ace piped up. "I need a pelvic exam. That's all."
"Ma'am, you've clearly been-"
"Raped. I am fully aware of that fact. I am not going to consent. Either do the pelvic or I'm leaving. Chibs?" Ace put her hand out for Chibs to help her up.
"Ok, Mrs. Perez. Let me just get a nurse in here."
Chibs felt her shaking and brushed her hair back from her face.
"Be quick, doc." He called after the doc.
No Other Man Alive
Happy grinned when he heard the first explosion go off. The five remaining bangers had all fallen asleep, and there was a tremendous amount of confusion as they were all jolted awake. Bracing himself against the agony, Happy rolled, retching at the pain in his hand. He managed to get his knees under him through sheer force of will.
"Go check that out!" One of them yelled, pointing to two of the others. "You two, go check the back."
Happy took the man's distraction as an opportunity, and got to his feet. His head protested the change in gravity, aching from the beating he'd taken earlier.
"I don't think so, ese." The man caught him and pulled his gun, but Happy just stood his ground, grinning wickedly. He could hear the sound of gunfire, and even Tig and Kozik arguing. When the man glanced toward the sound of their voices, Happy sprang into action, rushing him. He leaned back and whipped his head forward as hard as he could, headbutting the fucker right in the temple. He went down hard and Happy spat on him.
"How you doing, brother? You ok?" Tig burst into the warehouse and jogged over to Happy, hugging him hard enough to make him stagger.
"I'm good. Zip-tie this asshole and then cut me loose." Happy ordered. "How's hugging my girl, Tig?"
"I don't know, man. Chibs had to take her to the hospital. Come here." Tig pulled his knife and got a look at Happy's hand. "Holy fuck."
"Just do it." And he yelled at the pain as Tig sawed through the ties, leaning over and dry heaving. The rest of the Tacoma boys poured in, dragging two bangers with them. "Did the entire charter come down?"
"Didn't want to miss the fun!" Kozik whooped, and kicked the man on the ground for emphasis. "Good to see you, brother."
Happy was surrounded by his brothers from Tacoma, and he was overwhelmed by the support. He breathed hard, wrapping his good hand around Kozik's blonde head, holding him forehead to forehead.
"You're ok, brother." Kozik told him. "You got work, and then we're going to get you outta here and go see your old lady, ok?"
"Yeah." Happy pulled away in time to see Opie and most of the Nomads bringing the remaining two Bastardos. "You guys didn't think this might be overkill?"
No Other Man Alive
"Alright, Mrs. Perez, we're going to take you to surgery now." The nurse smiled at her reassuringly, but Ace just turned panicked eyes on Chibs.
"Call them again." She begged, but Chibs shook his head.
"No, darling', you go get fixed up. He'll be out by the time you wake up." Chibs told her, walking along with the gurney as they rolled her through the halls. "I won't be far, I promise."
And then she was through the doors, Chibs on the other side.
No Other Man Alive
Happy surveyed the five men tied on the floor before him. Donut had fashioned a sling out of a t-shirt, so his fucked up hand stayed close to his chest.
"Tig, I need your knife." He demanded, holding out his left hand, grateful that even though he might never ride again, they'd left him his stronger hand to finish the job. "Pull that one up on his knees; it's time to do work."
He watched as Opie got the first one on his knees, and in his mind he flipped through the pictures he'd seen, identifying him.
"Got anything you want to say?" He asked, but before the man could reply, Happy hauled off and kicked him in the balls. Next he brought the hilt of the knife down as hard as he could on the man's cheekbone, sending blood flying. He didn't pause, tossed the knife to change his grip, and stabbed him in the side, pulled the blade and slashed his throat. He nodded to Opie to get the next one, and repeated the same process.
"Any idea what he's doing?" Kozik asked Tig quietly.
"He's recreating what they did to her." Tig said, turning away, prepay in hand. "I'll be out front, I'm calling Chibs to find out how Ace is, he's gonna need to know when he's done here."
No Other Man Alive
Every single inch of Ace's body hurt when she came back to herself. She worked hard trying to think through the haze. Hospital, she was at the hospital, she'd had surgery. Repairing her eye, her belly, and the damage done to her vagina. She shifted a little, trying to assess how badly she was still hurt, and the weight on her stomach disappeared.
"Ace?" His voice was even harsher than usual, and Ace started crying, her eyes still closed tight. The pain in her head and belly were intense, but she couldn't stop the ugly sobs. "Shh, calm down. You need to settle, baby. If they come in here and know you're awake, they're going to make me leave."
She concentrated on calming her breathing, and the weight of his arm across her legs.
"That's right, good girl." He stroked her hair back from her forehead, careful not to disturb the bandages covering her left eye. She finally worked up the courage to open her right eye, and drank him in. He didn't look nearly as bad as she'd expected, but he didn't look good either.
Happy moved toward her, and Ace flinched back against the pillows. He stopped and waited while he breathing slowed again.
"Can I kiss you?" He asked, feeling helpless. "If it's too much, it's fine."
"It's ok." She croaked. "Just be slow."
He inched toward her, the sound of the monitors suddenly loud in the room. He brushed his lips across hers once, then twice, then pressed them very gently against hers. When he pulled back, he saw that her eye was still wide open.
"Hap?" She questioned, and he swallowed hard against the lump in his throat.
"Yeah, Ace?" He kept stroking her hair back, incapable of stilling his hand, even though it shook.
"I fought back." She whispered, and the bald statement shattered him. He pressed his face into her side so she wouldn't have to see him fall apart.
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