Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from "Sons of Anarchy." They are the property of Kurt Sutter and Fox Network. No money is changing hands in the writing, reading or distribution of this story.

Chapter 18

Tig sat in his usual chair to the left of Clay at the redwood meeting table in the Chapel, it was only the two of them, which made it even more difficult to try to discreetly crane his neck over his shoulder and then strain his eyes to look for Joss between the slats of the blinds on the windows. He also looked for Opie, but from where he was sitting, in conference with Clay, Tig couldn't see a damn thing. But, he must have looked obvious in his attempts to. Clay's hand suddenly gripped his shoulder.

"Everything's fine," Clay promised. "You know Happy and Bobby wouldn't have let Opie or anyone else take her out of here." His voice was a confident comfort, halting all the scenarios that had been playing out in Tig's head. Tig nodded, but wouldn't relax until he had a visual on Joss, but he turned his attention back to Clay, who repeated his theory. "Like I said, I think Ope's just bluffing, he won't really move on her, he just wants you to think he will. Paranoia is the ultimate payback."

"Yeah," Tig sighed, but once more looked over his shoulder out of the Chapel window, realizing there was a small crowd around the bar where he'd left Joss in the charge of Happy and Bobby. It looked like money was being laid down on the bar, followed by the silence of the onlookers whose currency sat on the bar, then he faintly heard Bobby asking Joss to apparently recite something, and then he heard her do it, able to see now that Joss was sitting on the bar itself, with Bobby seated on a stool to her left and Happy seated on a stool to her right. Whatever Joss had said, Bobby quickly confirmed it, and the small crowd erupted in a mix of cheers and groans, the money being swept up, by the winners, who only laid it down on the bar again in preparation of whatever the next round of this was. Curiosity was killing Tig, but he was mostly so relieved to know Joss was safe. But there was still no sign of Opie. "But I'm telling you, Clay, I even think Opie's got some kind of eye for an eye shit in mind, he's gone, and it won't be club business. It'll be personal."

Clay nodded. "Your old lady, your prerogative, I understand." He said; the noises around the bar attracting Clay's attention now too, and he stood to see what it was his flock was into. There wasn't much left to be said about Opie's faux pas anymore anyway. Tig could tell Clay had found Joss in the sea of betting men, he saw him smile, a glint in Clay's eye that conveyed just how much Joss meant not only to the man that owned her, but also to Clay himself, and therefore, the club. "But she'll be fine. We won't let anything happen to her."

Tig nodded, knowing he had the support of the club like this was what he needed, but he was hoping Joss would be okay; he knew better than anyone that "accidents" happened. He'd never considered that now he had something to lose, and that maybe Opie had been waiting for these exact circumstances to one day occur. Joss, what had Tig gotten her into?

"Hey!" Clay walked over to the door now, opening it, his smile was so out of place with what Tig was feeling, but Clay waved him out of the Chapel. "You've got a great girl, get over there and enjoy her…don't give into that paranoia, got it?" Tig got the impression that Clay hadn't quite finished what he was saying, but that's when Clay's cellphone rang. He pulled it from the pocket of his. "Gemma," he said and rolled his eyes a little. "She's probably on her way finally; this is where you find out how well you've been taking care of the girl you took out of her house!" He laughed then answered the phone.

Clay was right, in both instances. Gemma was coming, and there was certain amount of protection for Joss in that alone. Tig got to his feet, trying to think only of the good things this evening. It had been a great night, Joss was everything he could have ever wanted in an old lady and even more. He couldn't have scripted a night more perfect than this one, except for the Opie part anyway, and he definitely couldn't have fantasized a more perfect girl, perfect in every way. Even in his absence she'd somehow found a way to be fascinating his brothers. Joss, his beautiful, gifted, sweet, sacred darkness; he wouldn't lose her.

It was getting late; Opie was likely gone home to his kids, and even if he was still here somewhere, Tig had his knife…he always had a knife. Besides, the logical part of him knew that Opie wasn't likely to try anything here, tonight. He took a deep breath, shook off the suspicion and fear, and walked out of the Chapel and over to see what Joss was up to.

"Tig!" Juice couldn't have been more excited, holding nearly two hundred dollars in his hands, and standing behind Joss where she sat on the bar. "You gotta see this, man!"

Well, Joss's clothes were still on, so it couldn't have been anything like that…and if it was, Tig wasn't sure just who he'd kill first. But the more he watched, the more things were slowly beginning to fit together now. Joss was currently sitting there speed reading the manual for the ice maker from cover to cover, then she handed it over to Bobby when she finished, looking at the crowd with a slight smirk. Ah, so that's what this was. Tig couldn't help smile, and be proud of her again…still haunted by the thing with Opie, but more aware of it than he was focusing on it. He was eager to see how the rest of this ice maker manual thing would play out.

Bobby closed the manual and tucked it under his arm on the bar where no one, particularly Joss, could see it. "Okay gentlemen, we have your choice of thirty-seven pages, counting the very back cover. Someone call it."

"Seventeen!" Said Chibs, standing with his arms crossed, the guy next to him commenting on how Joss had to be wrong one of these times.

All eyes fell on Joss, who smiled, waiting until Bobby had the manual open to the appropriate page, closing her eyes now and saying, "Assistance or Service, Before calling for assistance or service, please check 'Troubleshooting.' It may save you the cost of a service call. If you still need help, follow the instructions below."

Bobby sat reading the very first paragraph on the page with close intensity. "Nailed it!" He reported to the betting crowd. "Word for word!"

Once more there was celebrating and groaning amongst the crowd, Juice scooping up his share of the pot again. "You see?" He said with great excitement to Tig. "Your old lady's like psychic or something!"

At that, Joss looked up at Tig, saying nothing, but her grin spoke volumes. He looked back at her the same way. "Joss," he said to her with a proud, sneaky, gleam in his eyes. "Are you 'psychic?'" he questioned her like a parent grilling a child with a ball and bat about a broken window. "Or 'something?'"

Joss still smiled, but her eyebrows furrowed a bit. "Do we have to tell them?" She asked him, but there was no real opposition in her voice. "People always treat me differently after they find out."

"No they won't," Tig replied, but his eyes made serious and level contact with everyone around the bar when he said it, refusing to continue with any of this unless everyone nodded their agreement that indeed they would not start treating his old lady like she was some kind of freak. "Can I see this?" He asked Bobby, his hand already on the manual to the ice maker.

"All yours," said Bobby, as eager to see where this was going as everyone else was. "So what's the scam?"

Tig smirked, but ignored the question. He opened the manual, flipping through for just the right page to ask Joss about. "Aha!" he smiled challengingly at her. "Joss, page thirty, what's the heading say?"

"It's in French," she answered, looking over at him as if she was hesitant to try this one.

"What's it say?" He demanded sternly; how she felt about her confidence in this was meaningless, because he knew she had it, even if she didn't. There was silence around the bar again, but even heavier than the silence prior to his arrival at this game.

Joss took a deep breath, her insecurity showing in her summer-grass green eyes. "Nettoyage du système de la machine á glaçons." Her accent was perfect, which did nothing to surprise Tig, because Joss had memorized what accent and inflection marks all indicated within a word when she was likely still in pre-school.

Already there was gasping around the bar, but Tig calmly turned the manual away from Joss and towards Happy. "That look about right to you?" he asked.

"Holy shit!" Happy exclaimed after a few seconds, and his confirmation made everyone else gasp once more, the crowd clearly more impressed than before, but Tig shook his head at them all.

"Gimme a minute," this got better, he knew it did. He looked down at the page again and then back at Joss, smiling at her again in that way that told her how proud of her he was, and how much fun he was having showing her off like this. "Joss, number three in the list on page thirty, what's it say?"

She was still a bit apprehensive with the French, but she was also becoming more comfortable, her eyes locked onto his as if she was drawing her strength from him. Damn! Tig quietly sighed, that had felt better than anything else had tonight! This was so much better than obsessing about the newest Opie situation all night, but Tig still couldn't stop himself from scanning the clubhouse for him every now and then. After a second, maybe two though, Joss nodded, stealing his attention back. "'Dévisser le capuchon de vidange du bas du bac à eau situé à l'intérieur du bac d'entreposage, voir l'illustration. Laisser l'eau se vidanger complètement.'"

The crowd was still awed, but they were now waiting for some finale, Tig had after all implied there was one. He turned the manual away from Joss but showed it to Bobby this time for verification, but Bobby put up one hand in front of the book.

"Shit man," he said laughing. "I can't even remember what she said!"

The crowd began to laugh, but Tig double checked the page, nodding his head. "Yeah, that looks like it," he said, then smiled back at Joss, about to make things tougher. "Now," he stared levelly at her, knowing she could get this, but also knowing she'd feel better about attempting it if he was somehow with her on it. "Look at me," he told her softly, "what's it mean?"

The crowd of men actually drew a step backwards as if she was about to perform some kind of firing eating-flaming sword swallowing stunt, and Tig couldn't help but laugh at them, hoping he wasn't throwing Joss off, just maintaining eye contact with her, because he knew it helped her to focus. She smiled, having found her place once again. "'Unscrew the drain cap from the bottom of water tank located inside the storage tank, see illustration. Allow the water to drain completely."'

It was as if she'd made it to the other end of a tight rope, the crowd applauding and whistling now, but Tig quickly halted and hushed them, looking unimpressed. "What page can I find the exact translation on so I know you didn't just make that up?"

Joss smiled. "Page twelve."

Tig flipped to it, handing the manual to Happy, who read where Tig indicated with his finger, nodding his shaved head, but saying nothing other than, "Hey, I got this trip to Vegas planned, can I borrow your old lady? I think she may come in handy out there!"

Everyone laughed, including Joss and including Tig, who took the manual back from Happy, but smiling at Joss the whole time. Did she know how incredible she was? Not only because of what she could do with letters, numbers and words, but in the eyes of his brothers alone. They all wanted her, Tig could feel it, but he was the only one who had her, and the only one she belonged to. "Page thirty," he said to her, putting his arm around her waist and pulling her close to him, but carefully shielding the manual from her eyes. "Number eight on the list, the very last line, spell out all the words for me."

Joss sighed as if she was getting bored, but her smile betrayed her attempted portrayal. "E, A, U, comma, space, R, E—"

"No no no, baby," Tig shook his head and laid his finger against her lips. "Backwards!" He smiled at her, this little show ceasing to be for his brothers, who all stood waiting on pins and needles; it was something only between him and Joss now, furthering the bond already between them, his gorgeous, sweet, shadowy Joss. Opie had no idea how dead he was already.

Joss smiled, but cocked her head at him as if to ask 'what do you want from me?' Tig laughed, so did she, but in no time began to give him what he asked for. "Period, E, A, G, Y,O,T,T,E,N, space, E,D, space, E,L,C,Y,C, space, E,L, space—" but she never got to finish; Tig kissed her, hard on the mouth, like there should have been a preacher or justice of the peace standing in front of them, not even realizing he'd did it until the small crowd around them chimed in with their guttural cheers.

Fuck! He didn't like it when it was just Joss who knew he did that…and now it was everyone. Stupid fucking party! He pulled away from Joss, wanting to forget it ever happened, and trying hard to distract the onlookers from what he'd done. He laid the manual down on the bar. "You can check it if you all want to," he invited. "But if I were you, I'd believe her. She's got an IQ of 164; her memory is photographic down to the last detail. She reads something, sees something, hears you say something, she'll remember everything, down to what you had on when you said it." Tig paused for a moment, looking towards Joss with half a smile and half a sneer on his face, "It's a annoying as shit!" The guys were all laughing, no one paying attention to the little wink he proffered in Joss's direction, except for Joss, who smiled sweetly and devotedly back. Tig stroked his fingers through her lusciously soft raven hair and sighed, wishing he was still able to stop himself from reacting the way he had been all night long. What would happen to him if this kind of thing ever got be comfortable? It was too unsettling a thought, and he quickly sought out a distraction, looking to his brothers once again. "If you're going to play little memory games with her, at least make her sweat it a little!"

"Who the fuck are all of these people?" Gemma suddenly appeared out of the crowd around the clubhouse doorway, her frustration evident, but Clay soon at her side.

"I told you to get here early, baby." He said, giving his wife a hug and a kiss. "It's a special occasion, you know."

"Well I had to wait until Nita was there with Abel, and—" Gemma looked up, her eyes finding Joss and what she was saying seemed to be not so important anymore. She smiled, turning quickly to her left and seeing that Tara was approaching as well, and she smiled even more. "Alright, you boys have had your fun, it's our turn now!" She held out her left hand to Tara and her right hand to Joss, who looked eagerly at Tig.

"Is it okay?" she asked, looking like she'd be more than disappointed if he said "no."

Tig could only smile. "Are you kidding? Gemma out ranks me!"

"Thank you!" Joss beamed, moving to get down off of the bar, but before she could jump down, Tig grabbed her by the hips and gently set her on the floor. She smiled at Gemma, but gazed at him before she walked away from him, leaning close, but not touching him. "I love you."

It was the softest of whispers; Tig felt it flutter against his neck, making him close his eyes and try to capture the feeling forever. What? God fucking damn it! He hadn't asked to hear her say that…but she had, and instead of disciplining her for it, he'd gotten lost in it, and now it was too fucking late to mentally slap her for talking out of turn like that. Right? Great, what did he do now? What did he even say? And furthermore, why wasn't he more pissed about this whole occurrence? "I know." He whispered back, unable to control what the longing in his voice described of his emotional desire, but his hand went to Joss's shoulder and pushed her forward towards Gemma, trying to get Joss away from him before he did or said something stupid in front of everyone…again.

Joss smiled sweetly up at him again, just before Gemma grabbed her hand and pulled her, and Tara over towards the couch; the three of them already laughing about something…probably about how pathetic he was becoming. Tig sighed, but before all of this stuff and the Opie stuff could shake hands inside his head and really start to tag team him to death, Clay stepped up beside him, also sighing.

"You see that?" Clay said, indicating the trio of women now taking over the couch. "That's my wife and our two girls," he smiled, somewhat proudly and somewhat beaten into submission at the same time. "I always suspected Gemma wanted a daughter, but she was too afraid of passing on the heart condition to another kid." Clay lit up a cigar then laughed a little as he looked at Tig. "So I guess she just hijacked two of them."

Tig grimaced but nodded, reaching for his own cigarettes. "It's just good to know there's someone for Joss," he said, pulling out a smoke and popping it into his mouth. "Besides me, that is."

"Yeah, it can't be all on you." Agreed Clay then pointed over to the women again. "And Gemma really does like Joss. It isn't that she dislikes Tara, but she didn't get to choose Tara, Jax did, and so Gemma had to make the best outta that as she could. But Joss," Clay smiled, cigar between his teeth. "That's the princess!" He announced, sort of chuckling as he patted Tig's shoulder. "Congratulations!"