A/N - A bit of brotherly bonding, Nero/Gemma and Jax/Tara to come in the next chapter. Enjoy! :)

"Come say hey, you'll cheer up," Jax said as he walked Nina back down the corridor towards the others. Waiting a moment to see Tara leave, he put his hand in the small of her back and guided her into the hospital room. Chibs was sitting up in bed, smoking a cigarette and looking thoroughly pissed off.

"How you holding up, big guy?"

Jax leaned over Chibs and pushed a kiss on his forehead supportively. Chibs groaned and shifted the covers back off his legs to reveal the nasty, bloody graze down his calf. The muscle and skin was shredded, it made Nina gag to see it and she shielded her eyes quickly from the sight.

"Not gonna lie, Jackieboy. Stings like a fucker," he muttered. Noticing Nina daring to look over her hands, he wiggled his boxer-covered crotch at her with amusement. "See anything you like, love?"

She suppressed the urge to vomit, unable to tear her eyes away from the gory wound on his leg, and turned away. Jax chuckled.

"Don't think she does, brother." Watching as she stepped outside to try and regain her composure, Jax gave the door a slight kick before turning his attention solely to Chibs. "You allowed to smoke that thing in here?"

Chibs smiled with amusement. "You'll have to excuse me, but I told your old lady she'd have to blow me if she was going to deny me the only other pleasure I got in here. Apparently hospitals don't serve beer with the meals," he added, nodding to the untouched tray of bland hospital food. Jax laughed, at least Chibs was powering through.

"You were right, about the lights. I should have listened, man, I'm sorry."

Chibs waved his hand and offered Jax a drag. He sat on the side of the bed and took one before handing it back. "No troubles, Prez. Just listen to me next time." He gave him a nudge. "You worked out who it was?"

"Tig's on it. He's pissed he missed the fight." Jax tugged at his beard a little and shook his head. "Just a couple of shots at you, doesn't seem like a big threat."

"That's because they weren't shooting at you," Chibs muttered as he strained to sit up. His whole side ached, bruised by the weight of his Harley. He was lucky to get away with just the damage to his calf, in all truth, it could have been a lot worse. "You think I was a target?"

"You piss anyone off?" Jax shrugged, it could have been anything. "Didn't see any cuts or colours."

"Could be anybody." Chibs stabbed out the remains of his cigarette on the edge of the bed. "Fucking bastards, must have known our route. Better shake that shite up next time."

Maybe they were getting lazy. Or comfortable, that was even worse. Jax furrowed his brow, it seemed strange that anybody except the cops would be interested enough in what they were up to to track their journey.

"Tipped off?"

Chibs frowned. "By who? Irish and SAMCRO are the only ones who know what we're doing."

Jax pulled at his lower lip as he considered the two options, neither was particularly comforting. "That's what worries me," he said ominously. "We keep shit between us now, brother. I got your back, you've got mine. Elvis, VP, it works like this."

Chibs nodded dutifully. "Whatever you need, Jackieboy. You know we're on the same page, nothing's going to come between us."

Jax was grateful for the support. Without Opie, it was the one thing he had going for him. He trusted Chibs, there was nobody else he knew would stand up for him in the same way. They'd been through too much together to lose faith in each other now.

"Same to you, brother."

Chibs leaned out of the bed to peer out of the door at Nina. She was fiddling with her phone, texting, her back to them. The perfect curves of her waist and ass made him whistle. "I'd ask for a slice of that but-"

"Anything but that," Jax laughed, patting Chibs' good leg. "I need Nero on side and his shit with my Mom clear. That goes balls up? She's all yours."

Nero pursed his lips as he saw Gemma at his office door. Her knuckles grazed the wood but she was already inside by the time he called her in.

"Hey mama," he murmured, gazing up at her from his seat. He folded a few papers into his top drawer, trying to keep his hands occupied. It was almost impossible to suppress the urges he had for her, it didn't seem fair but it was Jax's deal breaker and that was just fine by him.

"I keep getting this feeling around you," Gemma said coolly, stalking the room before sitting in the chair at the furthest end from Nero's seat. "Like something changed and I didn't get the memo."

Nero closed his eyes, he missed her like crazy. Just looking at her sitting there, like a queen in a realm she didn't even own, she was beautiful to him. Impassioned, strong, powerful. She was perfect to him.

"I, uh..." He forced a smile. "We talked about this, Gemma. I'm not ready for the commitment you want."

She laughed at that. "Bullshit," she said, her eyes narrowing. "We both know that's nothing to do with it. What happened?" Her expression suddenly eased. "Or who said what? Was it Clay?"

"It's not as simple as that," Nero said, standing. He poured her a scotch and pressed it into her hand before pouring his own. The briefest touch sent an electric spark through each of them, Gemma stared up at him with those dark eyes he was so in love with and the mere sight of her made his heart ache.

"I'm a smart girl," she said patiently. "And I want an explanation."

He shook his head, he wished he had one. He couldn't exactly tell her that Jax had ordered him to keep his hands off, knowing Gemma she'd only go and slap the poor boy down. Trying to deflect, he moved around to the front of his desk and took a sip of his drink.

"Tig was here earlier. Went screeching out. Your boys okay?"

Gemma frowned and glanced at her phone, she hadn't heard anything. "They'll tell me if something's up." Necking the remains of her glass she put it down on the table beside her and stood. She moved carefully towards Nero, her steps were those of a prowling tigress. "Just like you should."

Nero blushed and pulled at his collar, it was getting too warm and she was getting too close. "Something's always up around you, mama," he said playfully, trying to slip out of her grip but Gemma was already against the desk, her body between his legs and her hands pinning him in place. She was too used to having what she wanted, she hated being denied.

"Are you going to tell me?" she asked, leaning into him closer. Her lips were millimetres from Nero's, every single part of her just wanted to kiss him and work out why he was being so strange later. When Nero blushed and put his hand on her torso, pressing her away from him, she gave him a hard slap across the face. It surprised him, he blinked twice before spinning her around and slamming her hard to sit against the desk.

"I'm trying, Gemma. You have no idea how hard this is for me."

"Why don't you give me a goddamn idea?" she asked with a scowl. "We were okay. We were more than okay, then suddenly you go all ice block on me."

"I love you," Nero said furiously. "And I... can't."

It had been too long until she had heard those words. It had been years, in fact. Gemma felt her heart stop for a moment as she looked at him before she pulled him close to her, tugging on his shirt as she drew him into a hungry kiss. Her legs wrapped around his waist as her lips glided against his, urgent, needing that taste of him on her tongue.

Nero tried to prise himself back but Gemma held tight. "Just tonight," she pleaded, stroking the silver hairs around his face. "Please, Nero, just tonight."

Tara watched as one of the nurses finished off the last of the bandage. She frowned as she pressed the wound again beneath her fingers, it was so well padded now that Chibs probably wouldn't really notice any pressure on the skin.

"Keep the weight off it," she said firmly, handing him a pair of crutches. "I know this isn't ideal but let it rest, you can be back on the bike in a week. There's a lot of skin regrowth you need, don't sit around, I need you to keep moving to stimulate the blood flow."

"Aye, doc," Chibs beamed as he got up and hopped onto the grey supports like it was second nature to him. "I was an army medic, you know that?"

Tara rolled her eyes. She didn't mean to treat him so contemptuously, the guys in SAMCRO were usually supportive and relatively helpful but to her, being angry at Jax warranted annoyance at all of them.

"Discharged, weren't you?" she said with a touch of irony as she signed the discharge papers and handed them to him. Chibs laughed at her joke but she simply walked out and back towards her office. Jax watched her go and Nina gave him a nudge.

"Go after her," she said encouragingly. "Go and talk to her, just the two of you."

Jax hesitated but stood. He wanted to, he was great at being a man about most things but Tara and domestic stuff really knocked him for six. "I should run you home."

"I got her covered," Tig said, dropping his arm around Nina's shoulders. "You want to come have some drinks with us at the club, baby? Bit rougher than Daddy's place."

"Already sounds a lot better," Nina nodded. "Don't know what people do in this damn town for entertainment."

Jax smiled knowingly. People either got involved with the club or they kept to their own business. "I'm sure you'll find something to do."

He yanked Tig back by the collar and lowered his voice as Nina helped open the doors for Chibs on his way back to the van. Tig was already staring at her, this was going to get boring quickly at this rate.

"I don't think you're listening to me when I say 'hands off'," Jax frowned. Tig shrugged.

"I'm just saving up for the next solo show, man, you can't begrudge me that."

The thought made Jax groan, Tig always shared too much when it came to those things. "Just, you can't. You and Chibs are already arguing over it, she's a bit of gash and she's not worth the hassle. Understood?"

Tig shrugged, he could find a way to make Chibs ease off, he was sure of that. "Yeah, yeah, Prez. I'll take her to the club, get her hammered and take good care of her."

He slapped Jax's back as he followed them out to the front. Jax sighed. "That's what I'm afraid of."

He waited for them all to leave before slicking his hair back beneath his hands and heading down the corridor. He stood at Tara's office door for a moment, waiting to knock, before deciding to take off his cut. He slung it over his arm and thumped his knuckles against the door.

"Come in?"

Tara knew it was him already. When he opened the door, she glanced at her clock and said, "I've got to be somewhere in five minutes, Jax."

"That's plenty of time," he said softly, dropping his cut on the back of his seat. "Because you and I need to talk."