Disclaimer-I am not the owner of Sons of Anarchy, just NOMA, my OCs, and a 10 hour road trip with three kids.
This time Ace woke up the second Happy slid out of her bed. Most mornings she slept through him leaving, so it was nice to have conscious confirmation that he was actually sleeping in her room and that she wasn't just imagining the scent of him all over her sheets. She rolled further into the warm space he'd left behind, trying to recapture the pleasant feeling of safety that came from sleeping with him. It didn't work, Ace couldn't get comfortable again, tossing from side to side and wrapping her body around his pillow. She finally gave up, punching the pillow in frustration, then sitting up.
She looked automatically to her night stand. In the four days since Happy had gotten his cast off, he'd left a variety of random gifts there, and this morning was no different. She couldn't help the snort of laughter, because really, only Happy could consider a replacement Glock with a box of ammo a romantic gesture, but for him, it was. Unable to resist, Ace field stripped it, examining each component and reassembled it quickly. She would have to find time today to shoot, make sure she got comfortable with her new firearm.
First, though, she had a date with Tigger to get ready for. Ace dressed in a tank top, jeans, and boots, throwing a hoodie on over. She tucked the new toy into the back of her waistband, figuring that it would be handy for what they were planning anyway. She didn't bother locking her door, just headed down to Tig's door, kicking it a few times until she heard a thump followed by a girly squeal of indignation.
"You're early." Was all Tig said as he pushed the naked sweetbutt out into the hall past her.
"Yeah." Ace waited until the girl cleared out, not wanting her business all over the clubhouse. "Hap woke me up on his way out this morning. Come on, I'll cook and then I want to try again."
"You still don't believe me that the only place you went wrong was putting your piece down?" Tig yawned, scrubbing his face with his hand. "You know, I'm starting to think you just like getting your ass kicked, dollface."
"Put a shirt on, Tigger." Ace told him, and headed for the kitchen, sure that Tig wouldn't blow her off. They'd done this a few times, running through the night she'd been abducted, trying to find any opening where she could have gotten away. So far all she'd gotten were some interesting bruises and one goose egg on the back of her head, from where Tig had accidentally tripped her and she'd hit her head on a barbell. Tig kept insisting that she hadn't had a chance, but she wasn't quite ready to believe him.
Tig stayed where he was, watching to make sure Ace didn't change her course. When she'd turned the corner into the clubhouse, he counted to ten and knocked on Happy's door, second guessing the shit out of what he was about to do. Happy opened the door and Tig thought he looked like shit.
"You look like shit." He informed him, not one for inside thoughts. "I'm doing you a fucking favor with this shit, so don't fuck it up. You want to know what happened the night your old lady got snatched up, you can come down in 30 and watch me work her through it. We've been doing it for weeks, she's completely cool with it, and if you flip out like a pussy, I'm going to put your head through a window."
Tig turned to head back to his own room, forgetting that he hadn't put on a shirt yet.
"Nice ink. Bro." Happy's voice was cold and hard and gave him a momentary pause. Happy was like a wounded dog, though, he wasn't going to bite unless you looked weak, so he threw him the bird over his shoulder and kept walking.
"Add it to my tab, fucker." He called back and kicked the door shut without ever looking behind him.
No Other Man Alive
Happy lay back, bench pressing furiously in an attempt to forget the sound of completely uninhibited laughter that he'd stumbled on creeping past the kitchen. He literally could not remember the last time he'd heard Ace genuinely, deep down belly laugh. But Tig had had her really going in the kitchen, and it had taken Happy a really long minute to identify the sick, angry feeling in his gut as jealousy. He'd never had any reason to be jealous of another man, especially with Ace, and he didn't have a fucking clue what to do with that shit.
He dropped the barbell onto its rack, and sat up when he heard them coming down the stairs, pulling his shirt off to wipe the sweat from his face. Ace was still chuckling every few words, like she couldn't get entirely free of whatever had set her off. She was looking over her shoulder up at Tig when she hit the floor and he couldn't believe that she was this easy with Tig, when any time they were awake in a room together she retreated so far into herself that he couldn't get through to her. Their only real moments when her guard came down were at night, first when she stopped by his room to get her sleeping pill and then later, when he let himself into her bed. He knew that she had to be onto him about his middle of the night visits, but she hadn't told him to quit, hadn't mentioned it at all, so he continued. He'd been leaving things behind for her, too, a phone to replace the one she'd lost, same with the Glock he'd left this morning, he'd found some old tattoo magazines in his closet that he knew she'd like, too.
Her face was still all lit up when she finally turned, and she stopped when her gaze landed on him. Her face immediately closed off and he considered just leaving, but Tig's face warned him off of that. Tig gave Ace the same glare, pushing her toward the equipment desk.
"Quit acting like a bitch, he lives here, too." Tig scolded her, but there wasn't any more than his usual callousness in the rebuke. He kicked back in a folding chair, and lit a cigarette. Happy watched as Ace plucked it from his mouth and took a long drag on it before giving it back. She tried to hand Tig the supplies to wrap her hands, but he shook his head. "Nah, you got an old man, let him do that shit."
Ace looked at him, and he nodded, hating that she still questioned his willingness to do anything for her. She dragged her feet crossing the gym floor, but didn't hesitate to straddle the bench in front of him. She pulled the Glock from under her hoodie, placing it carefully between them, and then dropped the wraps and tape, too.
"When'd you pick up that habit?" Happy asked, tilting his head toward Tig, still smoking, head hung over the back of the chair.
"It's not really a habit, I just like stealing hits every now and again. It reminded me of you while you were gone, I guess." She mumbled the last part, eyes on the bench. He nodded wordlessly, not liking that she was smoking in the least, but her explanation didn't leave him any room to comment. He set to work wrapping up her hands with care. "Thanks, by the way." He looked up from his task, eyebrows raised, and was momentarily stunned by how clear and big her eyes were this close. "For replacing my gun and my phone. That was really nice and you didn't have to. So yeah, thanks."
"Sure." He grunted, dropping his eyes back to his task, not wanting her to see how badly she affected him.
"I should probably go shoot this afternoon before I go to work, do you want to come along?" Ace's offer surprised the shit out of him, and he looked up at her sharply.
"Yeah, absolutely." He couldn't help grinning at her, it was the first time she'd volunteered to spend any time with him, and she smiled a little back. It occurred to him that the last place he wanted her to spend any time alone was out at Cat's range, anyway. "Did any of the old ladies come see you while I was gone?" He asked her, pounding down the tape on her knuckles, testing it.
"No. Tig and Kozik pretty much kept everyone at bay for me." She shrugged, and then caught his gaze again. "Are you sure you want to watch this?"
"Nowhere close, but Tig said I should." He told her, and ran both his hands up her legs from her knees, and pulled her closer. She looked back over her shoulder again to Tig, but he was still ignoring them. Happy kissed her forehead, and dragged his nose down hers. "I miss you." He blurted out without even thinking the words before they were out of his mouth. Her eyes were huge with surprise that he'd said that now, and he needed her to answer and not just brush him off. "Tell me you miss me." He demanded, voice harsh, and for a second she looked like she was going to pull away from him.
"You know I do, Happy." She told him directly, her face softening.
"Let me in, baby." He pushed her, taking very advantage of any opening she was giving him. "Come on, I know you don't like this any more'n I do."
"Come on! You didn't wake me up early to watch you two canoodle! Let's go." Tig called, kicking the chair he'd been sitting in. Ace looked back to Happy, who shoved her gently away.
"Go let Tig kick your ass." He grunted, determined to stay where he was.
"Hey." Tig pointed at him. "Pick up something heavy, I want a warning if you can't handle yourself."
"He'll be fine, Tigger, leave him alone." Ace warned, stripping off the hoodie and dropping it on the floor next to the weight bench, and picking up the Glock.
Happy physically held himself in place, watching Tig and Ace move around each other in what was clearly an easy routine. It grated on him that they had moved into a new level of comfort with each other. Ace had always been at ease with Tig because she'd known he could be trusted, but it appeared he'd forced them further together, when he'd put her in Tig's care at the exchange, and again when he'd skipped out without considering who she would be turning to. Happy hadn't really had an opportunity to observe Ace with Kozik, since Kozik had all but quit staying at the clubhouse since he'd rolled back into town, but he wondered if they had developed this weird closeness, too. Kozik would worry him more than Tigger, with his laid back goofy good looks, but he didn't like how much she was leaning on Tig, either.
It was a monumental task to keep himself in place when Tig grabbed Ace by the back of the head, slamming her face first into the heavy bag. He knew that she wasn't hurt by the vicious elbow she landed to Tig's gut, but every cell in him wanted to be delivering the ass kicking of a lifetime for it, anyway, even more when he remembered that this was just a reenactment of what she'd already been through. Tig was controlling her with minimal effort, despite how furiously she was trying to change the outcome. Tig leveled a look at him over her head when he'd subdued her in a loose chokehold, and Happy nodded, knowing that this whole demonstration was Tig's way of letting him in on something Ace probably wouldn't have.
"You ain't any faster or doing anything new, so you'd still get your face jacked as soon as you made it to the door." Tig told her, pushing her away from him.
"There has to be a hole somewhere." Ace was panting and Happy watched her pull the hem of her shirt up to wipe her brow. The flat expanse of skin made him want to go to his knees in front of her and clean the sweat from her skin. With his tongue.
"We can do it again, but it's not gonna turn out any different." Tig warned her. "Face it, the only way you fucked up was putting your gun down when you weren't in a secure room."
"Tig's right." Happy called, and got up, sauntering over slowly to make sure he had himself well in check. "You lost the battle the second you put down your piece. Hitting your face into that…"
"Mirror." Ace supplied, crossing her arms.
"Yeah, that was a calculated move to disorient you. You couldn't have gotten away from multiple assailants without being able to see straight." Happy shook his head, watching her look from him to Tig and back again.
"Well that just fucking sucks!" She hissed, looking around for something to kick, but there wasn't anything in range.
"Hey." Happy grabbed her chin. "You didn't do anything wrong. Let that shit go."
"But-" Ace started to protest, but he cut her off with a kiss, then pulled back to look at her.
"Stop. It wasn't your fault, Ace." He told her again, and watched Tig slinking away up the stairs.
"It feels like I should have been able to do something." Ace told him, her brows scrunched together.
"Like what? Fought harder?" He asked, pulling her to him, so his stacked arms cocooned her against his chest.
"I don't know, I guess so." Her reply was muffled, but he could feel her lips brush his bare skin and his cock immediately took note.
"Nah, didn't you tell me that sometimes it's smarter not to fight, that it would keep you from getting killed?" He asked, stroking the column of her neck with one thumb, finding her pulse and reading that she wasn't as unaffected by the proximity as she was pretending.
"Yes." She admitted reluctantly, her taped hands spread across his ribs, rubbing slow circles.
"Do you think they would have even hesitated to kill you if you'd put up too much of a struggle?" His voice was rough, he felt like he was choking on the possibility.
"No, I guess not." He knew from the tone of her voice that this hadn't actually occurred to her before.
"Good, so shut up and let me be grateful that you're not dead." He told her gruffly, and felt her laugh slightly.
"You have such a way with words, big man." She snorted, propping her chin on his chest to look up at him.
He didn't know if it was her use of his nickname, or just the effect of her tits all pressed against his bare skin, but it only took an instant for the mood to shift between them. Two months ago, he would have already had her on the ground and halfway naked, but he was a more cautious man these days and Ace was running so hot and cold with him that he held out for as long as he could, trying to give her time to push him away if she wanted. She was caught in the same thrall, though, bottom lip caught between her teeth, eyes darting from his eyes to his mouth and back again. His mouth was on hers before his next heartbeat, forcing her jaw wide. She whimpered, but didn't back down from the onslaught.
When he couldn't get enough, Happy dragged her off of her feet, until she could wrap her legs around his hips. He moved from her mouth to her neck, biting down at the juncture of her shoulder. The sound she made was pure wanting and he was nearly cross eyed with needing to get inside of her. Holding onto her tightly, he went to his knees, and then laid her out underneath him, going back to her mouth. She moved restlessly underneath him, and his dick was so hard it bordered on painful, but it didn't stop him from rolling his hips against her. He knew he'd hit a sweet spot when she arched and threw her head back, presenting her throat to him. He scraped his teeth down the column of her throat, then licked the hollow.
Happy hitched her right leg higher on his hip, and would have dismissed the small metallic ping if Ace hadn't reacted like it had been a shotgun blast. Her eyes were huge, and she had the guiltiest look on her face. He closed his eyes for a second, sighing heavily, and then looked deliberately down, dropping her leg so her boot landed on the ground with a thump. The ring was sitting on the floor, and its presence shoved all the reasons this hookup would be a bad idea right down his throat. He looked back to Ace, but she'd crossed her forearms over her face, her hands still wrapped and taped. He pulled away from her, sitting back on his heels and retrieved the ring, holding it carefully between thumb and forefinger.
"I wondered where this got to." He said, and rubbed her leg with his other hand. "I'm sort of relieved that you didn't just pawn it."
"I wouldn't do that." She said from under her arms.
"I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess that you're not willing to actually put it on." He laid it on her chest.
"Hap." She warned, finally surfacing, tucking her arms behind her head. "I can't."
"Come on." He grinned mischievously at her. "Just let me see if it fits." He was just toying with her, wanting to see how far she'd let him push her.
"It does." She answered and he felt his eyebrows shoot up in surprise.
"Really? Hmm, that would mean you had it on at some point." He teased her, crawling back up and pinning her wrists together against the floor, the ring sandwiched between them. He nipped at the skin just below her ear. "Put it back on."
"You're playing dirty." She was trying to wriggle her hands free, but gave up when he showed no signs of relenting and letting her go. "I'm not putting it on now."
"Does that mean you'll do it later?" He was laughing softly against her neck, and loving that she was actually playing with him. She shook her head in refusal. "What if I said please?"
"You never say please." She pointed out, turning her face toward his so that there wasn't any space between them.
"Please." He said, all laughter gone from his voice.
"Don't ask me that, Hap, not yet." She breathed, and her eyelids were heavy. He got the distinct impression that she'd give in if he just pushed the issue, but that it would be a hollow victory.
"Ok." He agreed and kissed her again before letting go of her wrists and rolling off of her onto his back.
"I'm sorry." Ace didn't move, and her voice was very small. They lay side by side, and even though he should probably be disappointed, he felt pretty at peace that they seemed to be making some progress.
"Don't be, I'm good." He reassured her, tracing her forearm with the back of his hand.
"What changed your mind?" She asked him, still not moving, just staring at the ceiling.
"Not what. Who." He corrected her. "Juice traced the cell I was using and showed up at my door and refused to leave until I did."
"Really?" That had gotten her attention, and she rolled to her side to face him, scooping the ring up into her hand.
"Yeah. He pointed out that it was a stupid fucking thing to get all hung up on and told me that I was acting like a dumbass."
"Is he alright?" She asked, only half joking.
"Yeah, he's a good kid. And he's your friend's old man, I didn't want to have to hurt him."
"Thanks, I think." She smiled and he sat up before he was too tempted to roll her back underneath him and damn the long term consequences.
"Come on, we both need showers and then you need to get used to that piece." He told her, pulling her to her feet. He grabbed the scissors from the desk and started to cut the tape from her hands. She stopped him with a hand over his. He looked at her questioningly.
"Thanks." She said, and he nodded, understanding perfectly.
No Other Man Alive
Happy kicked Tig's door before heading to his own room.
"Yeah?" Tig answered like this was a huge intrusion.
"Thanks." Happy said, and Tig just nodded and shut the door.
No Other Man Alive
"Hey Happy!" Cat called from behind the counter when they got to her range. She started to come around, but Happy didn't even slow, just waved her off. Ace looked from Happy to Cat and back again, there was definitely a weird vibe going on, but Happy wasn't giving anything away. He pushed her ahead of him, pulling her piece from her waistband in the process, and went straight for the door to the range.
"Everything alright?" She asked, snagging the G39 back from him, field stripping it and reassembling it, then loading the clip and sliding it home.
"Yep." Happy answered in a monotone, pulling his own SIGs from his holster, and following suit.
Ace watched him for another minute, just enjoying the efficient ease he had with his tools. When he didn't look her way again, she shrugged and pulled her ear pro on. She'd come to shoot, she may as well get down to it. The rhythm of range practice was familiar, and even though it was a new gun, it felt just like she was used to. It was one of the things she loved about Glocks, they were consistent and reliable, and got the job done every time. She'd burned through a fair amount of ammo when Happy got her attention.
"Yeah?" She asked, pulling one side of her ear pro off of her ear.
"I'm gonna go grab some different targets." He told her, placing his SIGs on her shooting ledge. She nodded and turned back to her lane. When she'd finished another clip and Happy still wasn't back, she put the gun down and tracked to the viewing window. Happy and Cat were separated by the counter, but it was clear that whatever they were talking about, it wasn't going well. He was leaning across the counter, gesturing violently with his hand, and she didn't need to see his face to know that he was pissed off in a big way. She watched for another few seconds, turning the confrontation over in her mind, then returned to the shooting lane. She shot with half her concentration, still thinking about the hostility she'd witnessed and wondering what could have happened. Happy always treated Cat with kid gloves, but it definitely looked like the gloves were off today. She didn't look away from her target when she saw Happy come up next to her from the corner of her eye. He waited until she was done, then slid the headphones from her ears.
"You good with the piece?" He asked her, taking it from her hand and putting it down.
"Sure. It's a Glock, it acts like a Glock." She answered, careful to keep her eyes trained on him.
"Alright, let's take off then." Happy told her, and reholstered his SIGs. He was already headed for the door before she could even secure her Glock. Ace scrambled to catch up to him, he was marching through the shop without looking at her or Cat, and pushed through the door.
"Ace!" Cat called after her, and Ace paused uncertainly. "A word to the wise, honey. Don't expect a proud man to grovel, there are hundreds of women waiting in the wings to take your place if he gets tired of the punishment routine."
Ace felt her temper flare, but forced herself not to let it show on her face. "Cat, you don't know a thing about him."
No Other Man Alive
Happy took her back to the park, wanting to chill the fuck out before he had to go back to the clubhouse for Church. He also wanted to give her a chance to ask any questions, because there was no way she hadn't picked up on the weirdness between him and Cat. He wasn't sure whether he wanted her to ask or not. This time he was the one staring out over the water and she was studying him.
"You were there that day." She said, starting to put the pieces together.
"Yeah." He laid back so he could watch her face. As wary as he was of her reaction, it still fascinated him watching her face when she was onto something. She was shaking her head slowly.
"What did she say to you?" Ace asked, eyes narrowing as she started to draw some conclusions.
"Just asked some questions." He answered noncommittally.
"Don't fucking cover for her. She's the one who got you riled up over the Shark thing, isn't she?" Ace had the bit in her teeth now, and if she wasn't ready to spit fire, he would have grinned at how smart his bitch was. "She's the reason you took off."
"It was stupid, and I knew better, but, yeah, I let her get in my head with that shit." He admitted, not proud of it. He watched her walk away, pacing the waterline for a minute before she came back.
"I didn't fuck him." She said, staring down at him, arms crossed.
"I know." Happy told her, matter-of-fact. "Can I ask a question, though?"
"You can ask." She told him, still closed off and wary.
"Was he trying to cut in on me?" Happy asked quietly.
"No, he really was just there to make sure I got back alright. He'd gone to get ice for me, that's why the door was open." Ace said quietly, and sat down next to him, and he hooked his arm over her knee.
"Ok." He nodded, and played with the seam of her jeans. They were quiet for a long time.
"I have to tell you something." Ace said, shifting nervously, and she had his entire attention.
"That doesn't sound good." He observed cautiously.
"It's not that big of a thing, I swear, but Kozik said you'd be pissed and I didn't want you to hear it from anyone else." She was rubbing her palms on her jeans nervously.
"Quit talking around whatever it is and spit it out." He ordered crossly, not liking where this was headed.
"I was riding with Koz while you were gone." She blurted out and looked at him expectantly, like she was prepared for him to explode. He didn't, though, just sat and absorbed it.
"Why?" He finally asked, watching her face closely.
"Uh the first time was because he and Tig said I had to go and eat and he didn't have his car." She told him, twisting the hem of her shirt. "And after that, I guess he was trying to draw you out in case you were still in Tacoma."
Happy just nodded, face blank. She was anticipating him being pissed at her, but he wasn't, not at her anyway. "Alright. Thanks for telling me."
"That's it?" She cocked her head and looked at him. "You're not mad?"
"Come here." He told her, and pulled her down next to him. "I'm not mad at you."
No Other Man Alive
"You sure I can't just drop you at work?" Happy asked her in the clubhouse parking lot. She was holding the keys to the truck, and he didn't fucking like sending her off alone at all.
"I'm perfectly capable of driving myself, Hap." She rolled her eyes. "Besides, you have Church, and then you're gonna get loaded, and I don't want to have to wait around for you. I'll be fine."
Happy didn't say anything because he didn't really want to let her onto the fact that his after Church plan wasn't getting loaded. At least not at first.
"Go on." He told her. "Or else we're both gonna be late."
He waited while she climbed into the driver's seat and shut her in, standing his ground until she'd pulled out of the lot. He looked across to where Kozik was smoking, holding up a wall and caught his gaze. He stared him down for a long minute and headed for the stairs.
"Hey, Killah-" Kozik tried to head off, he knew exactly what Happy was pissed about.
"Don't." Happy warned him, dodging him easily. "I'll deal with you after Church."
No Other Man Alive
Ace rubbed her eyes and pulled into the lot carefully. Even well after one in the morning, the club was still partying hard, so she parked farther away from stairs than usual. She groaned as her boots hit the ground, pulling the strap of her bag over her head. She scanned the lot, but didn't see Happy or Tig, so she set off for the stairs, smiling tightly at the greetings thrown her way.
Opening the clubhouse door, Ace winced as the smoke burned her eyes. She squinted, trying to locate a friendly face, finally catching sight of Happy, Kozik, and Tig deep in a corner. Kozik had a little Vietnamese spinner rubbing his shoulders for him, but the area was thankfully free of any other sweetbutts. Happy had his back to the door, so she pushed through the crowd to get to him, leaning over the back of his chair, running her hands down his chest. Then she spotted the ice resting on his right hand, and the blood and bruises on Kozik's face.
"Hey baby." He stuck the joint in his mouth and used his free hand to pull her around onto his lap.
"Hey nothing, what happened to your hand?" She demanded, taking the joint and putting in between her own lips.
"I'm fine, relax." He told her, taking it back again.
"Really? Because it sure looks like you busted it on, oh, I don't know, Kozik's face." She hissed. "You told me you weren't mad."
"I told you I wasn't mad at you. And Koz and I are fine now, it won't ever be mentioned again." He told her seriously. "This is how shit gets settled, Ace. Let it go."
"If you say so." She shook her head and hit the joint again when he held it to her mouth. "I'm going to bed."
"You're not gonna hang?" He asked, looking confused.
"No, I'm tired, I just want to go pass out and not have to play old lady. You have fun." She wiggled off of his lap and he let her go reluctantly.
"You sure?" He asked again, reaching out and latching onto her wrist.
"Yes, Happy. I'm really fucking tired." She snapped, and pulled her arm away.
"Alright. Do you need me to unlock my door so you can grab your meds?" He tossed the bag of ice on the table in front of him, but Ace shook her head.
"No, I'm good." She shoved him back in the chair and melted back into the crowd, drifting toward the dorms. She wrinkled her nose at some of the sounds coming from behind closed doors and wondered if she should have taken Happy up on his offer. Even when her door was closed and locked behind her, Ace could still hear the high pitched porn track playing in the next room.
Ace was still awake almost three hours later when she heard the key in her lock. She didn't move or speak until he'd come around to the side of the bed, just watched as he peeled off his shirt. He looked over his shoulder and froze when he caught her watching him. He opened his mouth to make some sort of excuse, but Ace shook her head and pulled back the covers for him.
"It's not like I don't know you've been in here every night." She said tiredly, scooting further down under the covers. He nodded and made quick work of stripping down to his boxers, not wanting to give her a chance to change her mind. He climbed in tentatively, rolling toward her.
"You sure?" He asked, even though he was already trying to pull her closer.
"S'fine." She slurred, letting him settle her where he wanted. "Tired of fighting."
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