A/N: Thank you for reading, following, and reviewing my story. I love hearing from you all and getting your feedback!

Ghostwriter- Thank you again! You're right, Unser and Hale would not have allowed that to happen, and we will find out more in just a few minutes.

Occasional-episode- Glad you liked the chapter. Hope you get a smores fix soon!

Khyharah- Thank you! Dani had some great moments in the last couple of chapters, but then I had to throw a wrench into things with that article. At least she and Opie are moving forward with things.

Ks – I'm done with the guest part, lol, you sign all your reviews, so I know its you. We will have to see if the news article will affect Dani's safety, but you aren't the only one with that concern.

Now, onto the story!

Chapter 16

Opie led Dani into the clubhouse, and as she glanced around, her eyes immediately focused on Gemma, who was standing at the bar with Clay. Jax was there too, along with a few other club members and, to Dani's surprise, Chief Unser. Opie guided her to the bar where the others were, careful to put several people, including himself between Gemma and Dani. Dani had picked up the last part of what Clay was saying.

"—didn't know about this?" Clay was asking Unser, with an edge to his tone that made her uncomfortable.

"I had no idea this was coming out. I had a missed call last night from the guy who writes the crime beat for the Charming Chronicles, and when I called him this morning he was pissed. He got a call yesterday with information about the case, caller identified themselves as feds, wanted the story published in todays paper 'to assist in the investigation.' He was interested in the story but said it would take some time to verify some facts and reach out to respective parties involved in the case. Apparently, the feds reached out to as cub reporter instead and gave her the scoop, practically spoon-fed the article, complete with pictures. The girl just took what she had and showed it to the editor, who thought it would make a better headline than the farmers market and ran with it."

Clay thanked Unser who said he needed to head out. "Sorry, sweetheart," Unser said as passed her. Dani barely acknowledged him; her mind was busy processing the information.

"Why the hell would the feds do that?" Clay asked.

"Shines a light on SAMCRO. Makes it harder to do business." Jax suggested.

"I don't think so," Dani whispered, her face pale. "I think they did this because of me. That one agent specifically, Johnson, he seemed like he'd push me any way he could to get information. My return going public, if the people who had me are looking for me, this could get their attention. If they find me-" Dani broke off, taking a sharp breath. "I feel like he thinks if he pushes enough, if he can scare me, plant enough doubt in my head about the club, that he can get information, not only about my kidnapping, but about you guys too." When she saw Clay's raised eyebrow she continued. "That's not going to happen." She told him. "But he did expose me. It's true, they might still be looking for me, and if they…" she started shaking. "I can't…"

Jax moved to her side and pulled her away from Opie's side into a hug. "That's not going to happen. I promise you we are going to keep you safe."

"Alright. Chapel, five minutes." Clay said, effectively breaking up the group.

"You gonna be ok while we handle a few things?" Jax asked and Dani nodded.

"I was going to let her wait in my room while we're in church." Opie gestured towards Gemma subtly, looking at Jax.

Jax glanced quickly towards Gemma before looking back to Dani, his eyes searching her face before settling on the still colorful bruising on the side of her face. Even in her current state of upset, she could tell her brother wanted to meddle, but had decided against it as he agreed and the three of them walked to Opie's room at the club house. The room was like a small studio apartment. It held a bed, a couch and a desk. There was also a mini fridge and microwave in one corner and an attached bathroom.

"You gonna be ok here for a bit?" Opie asked her.

Dani wanted to ease some of the concern she saw on his face, so she nodded. They turned to leave, but she stopped them. "Opie, Jax. That Agent Johnson, I only spent a few minutes with him, but he definitely seems more interested in you, than me. He's playing my weakness right now, but I honestly think that what he ultimately wants is SAMCRO. Don't lose sight of that. You all need to be careful."

Jax smirked. "Don't worry, we can handle Agent Dick, especially if he's putting you at risk to get to us."

Dani sighed as they left her alone. Dani slowly sat on the couch and brought her knees up, wrapping her arms around her legs so she was curled up in a ball. She didn't know what scared her more; the thought that Jax or Opie could be at risk because of Agent Johnson, ultimately because of her, she corrected, or the thought that those who were responsible for her captivity might be searching for her, might find her, might hurt someone she cared about, and most of all might succeed in taking her back.

She shook her head and forced herself to get up. She could not let herself crumble under the overwhelming weight of her fears. She dug through her purse and dug out her journal and pen, seated herself at the desk and began the cathartic process of writing. This was how she channeled all the bad, all the negativity, this was how she would turn her fear into a weapon, into strength. She didn't know how long she sat there, she was so focused on what she was doing that she didn't hear anyone enter the room, or realize she was no longer alone until she felt a hand on her shoulder.

She startled and slammed her journal closed as she looked up. She relaxed a little as she found herself looking into Opie's face. She brought her hand up to her shoulder to cover his hand that rested there. "Hey," she said, putting on a brave face.

Opie knelt next to her. "You doing ok?" he asked.

"I got a lot of shit going on up here," she gestured to the side of her head, "I'm working on it."

"You sure you don't want me to stick around today?"

"No, Opie, go see your kids. Spend some time with them. They need that. So do you. I'll be here when you get back." She told him. "I don't suppose you're going to tell me what you guys decided to do about the situation…"

"Don't worry about it. You said yourself you think this guys goal is SAMCRO, let us handle it. You got enough on your plate. We're looking into the guy and we'll figure it out." Opie said. Dani eyed him skeptically but nodded. "Jax can take you home if your ready now." He informed her and she nodded again. He stood then, pulling her up with him and pressed a kiss to her forehead. Dani leaned into him for a moment, drawing strength from his presence. When she pulled back, Opie grabbed her hand and led her out of the room and through the clubhouse out into the daylight. She saw Jax waiting by his bike, and she could see Gemma and Clay standing in the doorway of the garage office. Gemma's eyes were trained on her and Opie, though Dani couldn't make out her expression. Opie walked her over to the row of bikes and, cupping her face, gave her a quick kiss. "I'll see you tonight," he told her.

"Have a good time. Drive safe." She replied as they parted ways, Opie making his way to the truck, Dani heading to Jax, who was making kissy faces at her. "Knock it off." She grumbled taking his helmet, despite the small smile that appeared on her face.

While the ride to the house did calm her a little, it was not as effective as usual at clearing her thoughts. Jax could apparently tell because as he followed her inside he sat her down on the sofa and asked, "Ok, what's going on in that head of yours, Dani Darlin?"

"Jax, I'm tired. Do we really have to talk about this?" Dani said. She knew she normally shared her concerns with him, but she still didn't have everything straight in her head. "I just want to pretend that the rest of the day is a normal fucking day and we are just hanging out without any big fucking emotional moments hanging over us. I'm so over emotional fucking moments right now. I'd rather bash my head into a fucking wall right now than talk about my fucking feelings." Dani didn't think she had ever used the word fucking so many times in one minute before. She was a little surprised at her outburst and so was Jax, who held up his hands.

"Ok, we won't talk about it right now. What do you want to do instead?" he asked.

"I promised Alice I would do a video call thing on the computer today, so I'll get that out of the way and then, I don't know, maybe we can watch a couple movies or something."

"You sure you're good to make a call when you don't want to talk?" he raised an eyebrow at her.

"Alice will let me tell her only the good stuff and won't ask about the rest of it. She just knows, she is kind of amazing like that." Dani said.

She retreated to her room where she took out her computer, opened the Skype program, and clicked on Alice's name. She smiled when she saw the septuagenarian smiling back at her with her wild curls and tanned skin. She told Alice how great Jax and Opie were and how she was getting to know the rest of the club. She told her about her garden, smores, and playing pool, and that she was doing better with physical contact with people, promising the older woman a well overdue hug the next time she saw her in person. She didn't mention Gemma or the marks on her face, but she knew the older woman wasn't fooled.

Just as she had told Jax, though, Alice didn't mention it, and instead asked her more about the men in her life. Dani flushed slightly as she explained that Opie was gone for the day and that Jax was waiting for her in the other room. Alice gave her a sly look at seeing her flush but didn't otherwise acknowledge it. She did insist, however, on meeting Jax immediately.

Dani called for her brother, who came and sat next to her. He greeted Alice and thanked her for taking such good care of his sister and helping her find her way home. Dani was shocked when Alice began flirting shamelessly with Jax, and further stunned when Jax acted like he was used to that sort of attention, turned the wattage up on his smile, and returned her flirtations with good humor.

Jokingly, Dani asked if the two would like a moment alone, you could have knocked her over with a feather when Alice said that yes, in fact she would like a moment alone to speak to Jax. "You're messing up my game," Alice had teased, giving Dani her first real laugh of the day. Dani said goodbye to Alice and promised to call her the again in the next week or so, and the left Jax alone in her room with the video call still running.

Going into the kitchen, Dani started throwing together an easy lunch of macaroni and cheese with tuna. Jax came out and joined her in the kitchen as she was straining the noodles she had just boiled.

"She's a spitfire," Jax chuckled. "I can see why you like her so much."

"Yeah, she's pretty great. So did you two fall in love? I don't know what scarred me more, her flirting with you, or you flirting back." Dani rolled her eyes as she added the butter and milk to the noodles and mixed it with the powdered cheese and tuna.

"Its not my fault that no woman can resist my charms." Jax joked. "Nah, she just wanted to make sure we were taking good care of you, is all."

Dani dished up a bowl of the macaroni and handed it to him. "Ok, Romeo, why don't you go find us a movie." She said as she dished up her own bowl. She followed Jax to the living room where he turned on an action movie, Die Hard, he told her. She sat there picking at her lunch but had stopped pretending to try and follow the plot about 20 minutes in, reverting back into herself and her thoughts. She did not see the glances Jax was throwing her way. When Jax told her it was her turn to choose a movie she selected something at random, vaguely registering something about global warming causing a new ice age, before tuning out again. Jax had taken her lunch from her at some point and with nothing to pick at she curled herself back into a ball, as she had started to do back at Opie's room in the club house.

She jumped as she felt Jax's hand reach out for hers, not only in surprise, but at the almost burning sensation of his touch. A fraction of a second later she realized Jax wasn't too warm, but she felt freezing.

"Christ, Dani. What's going on? Talk to me." Jax pleaded, worry evident in his tone as he took her hands successfully this time to try and warm them.

"I can't. I'm still trying to make it make sense." She said, her voice quivering.

"Let me help you, Dani."

"Soon. It's just so fuzzy but I'll have it soon. I just need to rest, I think. I'm so tired Jax," she told him.

Dani allowed Jax to pull her into his side and grabbed the throw blanket to cover her with. "Just try to sleep then, Dani. I'm right here."

With the warmth starting to seep back into her body, Dani felt herself start to relax and within minutes she was asleep.

"Diana, you stupid girl, come here!" She shook her head. This wasn't right. Dani looked down at herself, she was herself, fully grown, but she was in the building where she was first held as a little girl. That was the voice of the first man to ever say he owned her. She turned and she saw him standing there. He was not alone though, he was with the other two men who would each claim ownership over her for years before discarding her to the next for an unknown sum. There was a fourth man there as well, the man who meant to have her just to torture for a short while before ending her.

"No," she said. "This isn't real. This didn't happen."

"Stupid girl, you've forgotten yourself again. You only dreamed you escaped and found your brother and the one you call Opie. You tried to escape, but we've brought you here to punish you. You know how we punish bad, stupid girls, don't you Diana?" Dani shook her head. "Say it Diana!" he commanded.

"NO!" she screamed. The man picked her up with the same ease he had when she was a little girl and carried her to the pitch black closet, only when he threw her in, it was no longer a closet, just an endless void of darkness. She started to beat on the door, but suddenly they were with her in the darkness too, their hands grabbing her, restraining her. "You'll never get away from us." The men said as if they were one, and they held her down as an unseen knife began carving patterns in her back once again.

Dani screamed, hands holding her down as she thrashed and fought for consciousness. Her eyes opened wide a she sat bolt upright, a scream dying on her lips. She instantly registered that Opie and Jax were holding on to her in an effort to wake her while attempting to prevent her from hurting herself or either of them with her thrashing. They both eased their holds on her but before either could speak, she was pushing past them into the kitchen, where she lost the contents of her stomach in heave after heave. She felt someone try, more than once to assist her or offer her some comfort but she flinched away each time, until they stopped trying to help and she was now dry heaving over the sink. She grasped for the faucet to turn the cool water on so she could rinse out both her mouth and the mess that was all in the sink. Someone had placed a clean cloth within her reach, and she took it and ran it under the faucet to wet it before wiping her face, chest, and the back of her neck. Putting the towel back on the counter she gripped the edge of the sink with both hands and tried to school her breathing as she watched the water flush the griminess of the sink clean.

"It's ok" she whispered to herself, "I'm ok." She repeated it a few times to herself. Finally, she let go of the sink and turned slowly to face Jax and Opie, who were watching her as if she was a wild animal about to bolt. Taking in her surroundings, she noticed the sun was gone from the sky and it was dark out, though she had no clue what time it was. She could see two of the dining table chairs were toppled over. Likely, the two men were sitting at the table talking before her nightmare had scared them to action. Jax and Opie themselves looked haunted at what they'd seen, helpless even. She slowly put her hands out in front of her to indicate she was ok.

"I'm sorry," she said, her voice hesitant and weary. "I guess we should probably have a talk now."

A/N: I'm sure a lot of you are thinking WTF is going on with Dani this chapter, but I think you will all understand as soon as the next update is posted.