A/N - May I strongly suggest you don't eat your lunch while reading this / read straight after a meal because there's a little bit in that second half that's pretttttttty grim.

15.26 GMT - Apologies for the formatting problem - should now be corrected!

With every day that passed, Chibs felt all of the profound happiness he had discovered disappearing. Fiona haunted his house like a ghoul, never leaving as he hoped she might, and she sat with him every night as he lay in bed, wishing for Nina and silently crying himself to sleep. They had been happy, she had been happy. Chibs couldn't understand it, why she would leave so suddenly. She was ignoring all his messages and had turned her phone off, it simply kept diverting to voicemail each time he tried to call. He'd left a dozen mumbly apologetic messages but had had nothing back. She wanted nothing to do with him.

Maybe she had felt his trepidation. He hadn't meant to react to the scar on her back, it had just been a flash of an unhappy reminder of what she had been through but he was sure it had been no more than a fleeting look on his face before it disappeared again. It couldn't have been that, could it? He hated himself for the thought that it could be, that that moment of fear might have made her leave.

It was a week before Jax next called church. The Sons filed into chapel, Chibs slipped into his seat beside Tig's in sullen silence. He didn't want to be here, he wanted to be out looking for her but he didn't even know where he would start.

"Diosa." Jax looked around at his club, glad to see a full house again, even if he could tell Chibs wasn't really paying full attention. "Let's talk about the new house."

"Cash is cleared from Nero," Bobby murmured, opening up the ledger and looking through the incoming monies. "We can make the first full payment on the new house today. TM already paid the deposit, we can start slipping the back over the next month."

"New house?" Chibs was hardly listening but he looked up. "What new house?"

Jax smiled, with no Nina, Chibs had no reason to go chatting to Nero. This was club business now, and now that personal connection was removed, there would be no more issues with him.

"Nero wanted out, but the money in gash is good, we all know that. We have enough to start up our own escort agency, no OGs involved."

Tig raised his hand. "Bagsy pussy approval."

"They're all excellent," Jax assured him. "Got most of the Cara Cara girls coming over for a few months. You guys give them anything they need, make them feel loved, they need every reason to leave Nero's place and hookers love attention just as much as they love dollar bills in their hands."

There were some amused grunts from around the table. Chibs listened in silence before murmuring,

"So we're setting up solo?"

"We had a vote, your say wouldn't have mattered, it was unanimous." Jax looked at him dismissively. "It's a good business move, we don't owe Nero anything and those Cara Cara girls are ours anyway."

"How'd you get them to move?" Clay asked with a wry smile. Jax smirked.

"The way I get any girl to move."

There were a few approving hoots and Jax couldn't hide his wicked grin. Any shame he'd felt about sleeping with Ima disappeared, he was securing a legitimate future for his club and, in the end, all that meant was a quicker get out for Tara and his family. To him, his move was totally justified. The fact that he could screw Nero over in the process only made him feel better about his decision.

"We can open in a week," he said. "Got people doing the place up as speak. Smart, open, like Diosa but classier. Twenty rooms, twenty girls, up to five grand a night a girl. Clean money for drinks and cuddles."

"How's the rest of business?" Clay asked. Jax nodded.

"Good, happy customers all around. This is just another stream of income, one that nobody can question." Jax was the cat with the cream as he sat back, he was doing exactly what Clay had never thought was possible, bettering the club without guns or drugs. "This is looking better all the time, guys. Everybody's doing well."

Chibs leaned back in his seat, his fingers entwined behind his head. "What happens to Diosa?"

"Why do you care?" Clay scowled. Bobby could see the compassion in Chibs' eyes, he was concerned about Nero and, more importantly, Nina. "I thought your little Latina ran away, anyway?"

There was a quiet that fell over the table as Chibs just about held himself together. It was impossible to ignore how upset he looked. He eventually glanced up at Jax and sighed.

"Aye, I was told she moved on," he said solemnly, the misery in his voice clear. Tig looked guiltily down at his hands, sure that it was partly on him. He never meant to upset his brother like that, it was never meant to go down that way. "Seeing someone else, Charming was just a... pit stop."

"Your family are here for you, Chibs," Jax said supportively, wanting to welcome Chibs fully back to the fold. "Whatever you need."

Chibs nodded, it wasn't like he had any other options. "Thanks, Jackieboy. Much appreciated." He gave him a tired smile and rubbed his hands together. "Guess I should thank you for getting my old lady back in town after all, huh?"

Tara looked hot and bothered as she swung through the door to her office. She had been running around like a lunatic all day, she was exhausted. Pinching her nose, she sighed as she say down for the first time in hours, only to have someone knock within seconds.

"Is it important?"

Jax smiled as he came in holding a sunflower. Tara softened as she saw him and stood up, meeting him halfway across the office. "I thought your day could do with brightening up," he said, catching her and pulling her close for a kiss. Tara sighed, relieved, and wrapped her arms around him.

"Thank you, it's beautiful." She toyed with it in her hand for a moment before lying it on the desk. "It's quite a day, they're short in clinic so I've been roped into normal doctor duty as well as my surgery schedule. Having to dust off some old knowledge," she added with a sigh. Jax gave her a sympathetic smile.

"Can I do anything?"

Tara chuckled. "Tell those nasty Diosa girls to use better protection. One of them came in, that Ima." Her name fell out of Tara's mouth with an ugly thud. "I thought they were meant to be clean, you should talk to Nero about that shit. Last thing you need is an epidemic of... weepiness." She shuddered. Jax was sure he could feel his balls shrinking at the thought, if he'd caught something off her, there was no explaining how mad he'd be.

"You serious?" he frowned, shifting uncomfortably. "You can treat it?"

"Penicillin will be fine, but maybe you guys should have 'the talk'," Tara said, rolling her eyes. "You'd think professional sex workers would be a little more careful, I'm surprised she was so sloppy. I just feel bad for any guy who gets what she has, for men it goes kinda, you know, crusty." She wrinkled her nose. "It's gross, I swear."

Jax was sure he might be sick, he made a mental note to make sure he swiped some medication from Chibs later that afternoon. "I'll, uh, we'll sort it out," he said shortly. "Guess it makes no difference to Nero, we're taking the Cara Cara girls to the new place anyway."

Tara looked up in surprise. "You're going ahead with that? I thought it was just an idea."

"The more distance we get from Nero, the better," Jax said. "I don't trust him, I don't trust anyone but my own guys. Nero's a loose link, he lets emotional things get in the way."

"Like his daughter?" Tara was nibbling on a sandwich now as she filled in a form. She barely had a second to herself, but at least she was the ultimate multi-tasker. "I heard she skipped town, Chibs must be devastated, Gemma was saying he was quite taken with her."

"Probably for the best," Jax shrugged. "Once a whore, always a whore, right?"

"If only he could hear the irony in what he was saying, Jax was far from trustworthy when it came to sleeping around. His current itchy predicament was the perfect example. Tara shrugged. "Maybe. He seemed happy."

"Old ladies make Sons happy," Jax said, sitting on the desk and playing with her hair before he leaned down and kissed her head. "Like you make me happy. Now I got a couple of things to do the next few days, gotta take a run out of town and start working on the new place. But after that, next week maybe, you and me, maybe we should leave Gemma with the boys and take a couple of days up at the cabin? Just rest up? Catch up a little?" He walked his fingers along her arm and she smiled, nodding.

"That would be great, as long as things calm down here," she said, leaning up to press a kiss on his lips. "Then I'm all yours, Mr Teller."

"Good thing, Mrs Teller." He stood up and headed towards the door, pausing for a second. "So... Ima, how long is she out of commission for?"

"A couple of days," Tara shrugged. "As long as she takes the meds, it's just an infection."

He'd be clear by the cabin, then. Jax gave her a bright smile and nodded. "I'll have a word with her," he promised. "Don't you worry, I'll make sure she doesn't do it again. I can swing by tonight, put the boys to bed before I have to head out." He blew her a kiss. "See you later."