Title: As the Rush Comes

Summary: She rode into town in an old convertible, as if on the wind. Will she find herself caught in the middle of one of the deadliest biker wars in Charming history?

Disclaimer: the Sons of Anarchy belong to Kurt Sutter, not me. I'm a poor college student, so it'd be pointless to sue.

A/N: The song for this chapter is a song from the motion picture, Felon. It stars Stephen Dorff and Val Kilmer – I highly recommend it. The particular piece of music that I'm mentioning is towards the end of the movie, just prior to the credits.

A/N: Sorry for the delay. I'm taking another huge liberty as author and rewriting a bit of the show. Instead of the whole Gemma mess of season two, I'm making it the Vanessa mess. There is a big of writing in this chapter that some would describe as graphic, basically a rape scene. There is also some racist terms used. If that bothers you, I apologize, and would just like to point out now, that I'm writing this as an author, not as a racist.

The only sounds heard in the small hospital room were those of the shoes of the nurses passing by and the faint beeping of a heart rate monitor. If you were to glance in the room, you might assume that the only person inside was the man laying unconscious in the bed – until your eyes adjusted to the darkness and saw the once lively young woman sitting in the chair beside him. Nessa didn't know why she was still sitting there. Tara had told her a hundred times that Chibs wouldn't be awake for at least another day, that she should go home before Gemma found her and yelled at her. Years of experience in dealing with the queen told Vanessa that the doctor was right; she should leave and get some rest. Some force out of her control made her stay, though; made her keep vigil over her 'Scotty dog' in the same manner that she knew he would do for her.

"What are you still doing here, Vanessa?"

'Too late', she thought to herself. 'Ladies and gentlemen, the queen has just entered the building'.

"You look like hell."
"Gee, Gemma, why don't you tell me how you really feel?"
"You know me, never one for hiding the truth. Doc said he wouldn't be up for another day or so, so all you're doing is sitting here, stinking up the joint."

In an all-too uncommon gesture, the older woman reached out, placing a hand on the side of Nessa's face.

"Go home, baby girl. Get some rest, clean yourself up. It's not like Chibs will realize that you went home for a while. If anything changes, I'll have one of the boys come and get you."

Nessa merely nodded her head, not having the fight left in her to say no to Gemma. Well, she could've said no, but the look on Gemma's face told her that it wouldn't be her smartest move to do so. She was tired – not just physically, but mentally exhausted. So exhausted, in fact, that she couldn't remember how she got to her car and was damned impressed that she managed to get to the local coffee shop without wrecking her car. She had agreed to leave the hospital, but had never said one word about going to sleep. Nessa went inside, ordered a drink and sat down, wanting to escape reality for just a moment. Things had been pure craziness – and she was at her breaking point. All she wanted was to wake up in bed, in Chibs' arms, and hear his accent-tinged laugh. She didn't want to wake up to a nurse asking her to move so she could take the man's blood pressure or change his I.V.

'Carrying on mental conversations with yourself. Maybe Gemma's right, you need some sleep and you need it soon.'

Nessa slid her coat back on and exited the small shop, the bell of the door sounding as she walked out. She was probably about halfway to her car when a pair of arms grabbed onto her, a needle piercing her neck.

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"Wakey, wakey. Eggs and bakey."

Nessa jerked her head over with a start. It felt as if she had been asleep for a hundred years, but judging by the lack of light and the fact they were outside, it had really only been a few hours.

"Well, look at that – the princess finally decided to join us."

The voice sounded eerily familiar, and the name of the man behind it was on the tip of her tongue. Why couldn't she remember?

"We know who you are – the princess of bikers. It's a giant load of bullshit, if you ask me."
"Well, I didn't, so shut the fuck up and let me go."

Vanessa knew the hit was coming before she had even finished speaking. It stung, more so than any hit had in quite a long time. Then again, being known as Chibs' old lady had prevented anyone from daring to raise a hand to her.

"That mouth is going to get you in a lot of trouble, sweetheart. I think you need to be taught a lesson on how to respect a man."

The minute the words left the man's mouth, Nessa knew what was coming. Every muscle in her body came to life, legs failing, attempting to connect with something, anything that would stop this from happening. Warning sirens were going off in her head – screaming of the imminent danger ahead.

The men ripped her jeans and panties off of her, not wasting any time before they thrusted into her body. Her head flew back, eyes shut, wanting to deny that she was the victim of a rape like this. She felt the breath of the masked man on her ear,

"Open your eyes or I'll staple them to your forehead."

Reluctantly, she opened her eyes, now being forced to see, as well as feel, each motion inside of her. It seemed like a million years later that the man pulled away from her, unhooking her hands and letting her fall to the ground.

"You tell your race-trader of an old man to stop selling guns to the wetbacks and the niggers, or we will come back, and next time, you won't be alive to watch us walk away."

Bloodied and beaten, Vanessa sank to the ground, hoping for something, anything to save her.

'Calgon, now would be a hell of a time to take me away'.