"You lost, sweetheart?" there was a softened warmth to the other woman's voice that hedged around one of her shoulders to the other, drawing her into a turn as the blonde's heels clicked around her. "Chibs isn't here."

"That's fine." Ally shook off slowly, letting her hand brace against the bar as her shoulders relaxed and she looked over the long run of perfectly placed blonde hair. "Lyla? Right?"

"Yeah." There was a country corn fed innocence to the other woman's perfectly pale skin and doe wide eyes, but it was somewhat wasted and shredded by a latent layer of too much trauma. "Out of uniform, Sheriff?"

"Ally. Off duty." She forced a smile onto her lips as she watched one of the workers that was laying carpeting in the spacious room cast an obviously blatant look over the both of them, his attention distracted into the way he tripped up slightly over a discarded tool. Both women let up a similar breath of laughter before sharing another glance, this time a little friendlier.

"But still wearing your badge and weapon." the blonde shifted easily behind the bar, her fingers catching up a binder from the shelving beneath it, drawing it into her chest. "I can call him. You need him?"

"I'm perfectly capable of calling him if I need him, thank you." Ally asserted softly, the sudden up drive of her spine completely reflexive and unintentional as the fingers that were resting on her hip wiped against the badge the other woman had drawn attention to so easily. "Don't you worry about that."

"Okay. You're not here for him." Lyla nodded slowly into a caged understanding, her bright eyes suddenly darkening with a tightened knowing. "Gotcha. Jax is in the back. I'll get him."

"Thank you." She nodded into an apologetic smile of appreciation, head tipping as the blonde stepped back down the line of the bar and voice softening in an attempt to thread something back toward cordial. "I thought you were running things at Red Woody? I didn't expect to see you out here."

Lyla nodded quickly, "And working on the books until they can pin it on somebody else. None of them have the patience for numbers anymore."

"They don't generally seem to have all that much patience to begin with." Ally offered as her fingers flexed tighter into the bar. "Being here doesn't make you uncomfortable, Lyla? It doesn't - "

"It just is." The blonde shunted at her tightly. "It's what happened. We deal with it."

"You've dealt with a hell of a lot." She intentionally relaxed against the bar, letting her arm loosen as she searched over a lot of prettiness that was tarnished up. "Why stay so close? Why take the risk?"

"They're my family. They do everything they can for me and the kids." The younger woman shook her head slightly, confusion filling the brightness of her eyes. "They're what I've got. What I am."

Ally nodded slowly, "You sound just like Chibs."

The other woman gave her a cocked glance that carried a suddenly fierce smile, one that strengthened thin shoulders, "He likes you, Ally. I mean, really likes you."

She couldn't help herself from letting scrutiny shade the angles of her face as she straightened up from the bar again, both hands skirting her hips. "As in?"

"As in," Lyla lifted her hand from the binder, waving her fingers out around the room as she started turning toward the back. "girls at both places have sorta missed him lately. He's one of the good ones. You're breaking some hearts."

"Yeah? Tell your girls to have a good wallow and move the fuck on, huh?" She cast off with a prized smile, catching the grin Lyla nodded into her before moving down the hall.

"I'll do that."

"Lyla?" she leaned into the bar tightly, her fingers prying on the edge of it as she watched the waves of blonde bounce into the stalled turning of the younger woman's head, questioning in blue eyes. "You're serious?"

"Far as I know." The blonde let her face soften into the truth as she shrugged. "He's in house. But he's not… ya know, in house."

The brunette nodded tightly, appreciation drawing the color of her eyes a shade brighter as they shared a tentative but true smile. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"You can't push through Charming." She took the drink he handed over the bar, accepting it lightly as she let her spine lean into the stool back. "Go around, Jax."

"I know." He nodded as he tipped the neck of the bottle against another empty glass, dumping it near full to the brim before letting up. "I need your boys on one side or the other though. I need a clear road."

"You think I haven't been busted down to directing traffic before?" she commented tightly as her elbow rode onto the back of the stool on a hardened glance. "I need your travel times. I'll keep cruisers spread out."

He lifted his glass in her direction sharply before dropping the shot back, swallowing hard as he held the empty up a moment before letting it set to the table. "Chibs can let you know. He's taking this one."

"You're sending him out of the county again?" she asked tightly, eyes catching against his as she swallowed down the shot he'd poured her and let the burn of high end liquor warm her lungs.

Teller cocked her a sliding smirk, lifting the bottle in an offer that she just couldn't damn well refuse in the face of his haughtiness. "I seem to remember you once telling me that he's a big boy, Lieutenant."

"I just dislike him being out of jurisdiction." She settled the glass to the table and shrugged into waiting. "Where are you on the Marks situation, Jax? In regards to - "

"In regards to you? Wouldn't generally be my highest priority, Jarry. But…" He lifted the bottle and tipped another pour into both glasses before skidding his tongue against his teeth, bottle set to the bar. "In regards to my club? And your connection to it? It's just more weight. Marks was already waiting out the Reaper. It'll come."

She blinked full surprise into his words, hand pausing curled against the glass. "I didn't expect you to actually tell me that."

"I'm only telling you because I need you clear of it when it lands." He pulled his glass closer, matching the unmoving hand she had on her own. "Both professionally and personally."

"I can't promise you that, Teller." She flicked him a darkening glance. "You know I can't make this all work by constantly closing my eyes. And if I lose my job, you lose your leverage. If you want me out of it, keep it out of my face."

His eyes shifted dark and thin and instead of responding he lifted his jaw into the sound of voices outside the door. He slowly lifted the glass that his fingers were wrapped around, aiming it in her direction before swallowing it down hard. His palm flipped the glass to the table as he nodded forward and looked toward the door.

"Drink the whiskey and smile, Jarry." He cast over her tightly. "Make it look like we weren't just waving dick at each other. They don't need any more nerves riding on them."

She gave him a forced smile as she lifted the glass, catching the taunting tone of Trager's voice as the doors broke open behind her. Telford's lower tone was another, more welcome, breaking wave behind her as she swallowed down the next whiskeyed burn into the way Teller was intently watching her with a complicit nod.

She knew by the sudden visceral and feral breathing silence behind her that they were prowling up along her back, and as Teller turned away from her she felt the unswayable combined heat of a pair of cross hearted brothers flush along her spine. Ally forced her shoulders to stay into a sort of calmly jaded stillness as both of them broke along her sides, their bodies matching into the way they bracketed along her against the bar. Trager was already reaching for the bottle that had been left open along the bar and she lifted her glance away from his stretching hand to find a darkened glance shading over her from the other side. There was a shift of near on distrust in Telford's eyes as his jaw angled slightly, his lips parted as he exhaled.

"Didn't realize you were switchin' teams on me, love. Coulda given me some warning." He cast a glance around the place with a brazen shrug of supposed surprise. "Woulda spent more time drivin' south."

"You could, ya know." She tipped him a taunting glance in response, lips pursed into the way Tig was snorting laughter as he shifted back into the seat on her opposite side. "I wouldn't complain."

A half grin rose on his face as his brows went up, "You not complainin'? That'd be a first, darlin'."

Ally just leveled him a slow smile in response, her spine fencing into the slow teasing murmur Trager laid up along her back, "You're slidin' into Old Lady territory here, AJ. He's drawing you in slow like. Making it seem like he's just damn adorable."

"I know that, Trager." Her fingers lifted from where they were spaced against the wood of the bar, shifting to tease faintly along the underside of Telford's wrist where his hand was flexed against the bar.

"Havin' chats with Jackie again?" Chibs ignored their whispered playfulness, his jaw firmed as he watched her hand press forward, forcing him to shift his weight up and lay his gloved palm flat onto hers before pressing back down.

"How come he tells me you're leaving my jurisdiction but you don't?" her glance rose accusingly into the way he finally angled a pained but patient look over her.

"You worry too much." Chibs murmured over her before catching the way Trager pressed up and away from the chair, bottle raised in a mock salute as he stepped away from them and toward a few of the others who had battered their way into the room as well. "And I don't tell you such things anyhow. Do I?"

"No, you don't." she sighed off, letting her shoulders bend into the way he'd slanted his hips enough to mostly face her, palm still holding her hand pinned down. "This is my only day off until next week, Telford."

He winced a look over her and shook his head slightly into a dragging regret. "I can't. Too much coming down."

"I know." Her other hand crossed over to tighten and tug on his cut. "It's okay."

"Wait here, yeah?" he asked quietly as he dropped his jaw closer to hers, eyes flirting toward her lips and back up. "It won't be too long. Just stay."

"Some of your other friends don't like me just hanging around, Filip." She let off a discordant laugh, "It makes them uncomfortable. Makes them edgy. You think I can't tell?"

His eyes darkened up a little as his face slacked lighter in color. "Y'think I care?"

"Yeah, I do." Ally softened into truth, her face panning acceptingly sad as she studied his frustration. "But it's okay. I get it."

"Just wait awhile." His other hand broke off the back of the stool with a shift of surety, catching against her head as he downed a kiss against her, forcing it strong and heady with a hard stroke of his tongue against hers. "Don't go anywhere."

She tucked into herself as he pulled the leathered heat of his body away from her, glance pinning blindly back to the bar as she exhaled, "Then tell Trager to gimme back the damn bottle."

"Get your own, Lieutenant." Tig shot off as he back stepped around the bar, Telford's hand shunting up along his shoulder to keep his backwards steps moving as the whole lot of them disappeared into the back.