A/N: Thank you for reading, I hope you continue to come back and check out the story. I'm working on getting back on a regular updating schedule for you guys again. Please let me know what you think of the story so far.

Ghostwriter- You are so right—Opie is worried about Dani, he's very protective of her and doesn't like the idea of her willingly going into possible dangerous situations.

Chapter 30

"What the fuck was that?" Opie asked her.

"Which part?" Dani asked

Opie scoffed and shook his head. "That's a great question. I have problems with so much shit that just happened I don't know where to start."

"Why not start with the most important and work from there." Dani suggested. Dani put her hand on Opie's chest to try and calm him but he took a step back, rubbed his hand over his face and paced the length of the room several times before stopping in front of her again.

"The most important? Ok. Why the fuck do you think it's ok to put yourself in danger? You don't need to be there. We can handle this." Opie told her.

"I do need to be there. You heard me down there, I know you didn't like it, but I need you to understand that I have to do this." Dani told him softly.

Opie took her face in his hands. "Let me do this for you. Let me protect you from this." He looked into her eyes and she could see the worry in them and hear the undertones of pleading and frustration in his voice.

"You protect me from so much. But I need you to protect me a different way this time. Protect me by giving me your strength, by having faith in me that I can face this. Protect me by being there with me, by helping me save a child." Dani leaned into Opie's touch as she gazed at him earnestly. "I can't do this without you."

Opie sighed and pulled her to him. "I'm going to be with you. Promise me you will listen to everything I say. No taking chances."

"I promise." Dani said. She rested her head on his chest, but he gently pulled her away.

"We still have a lot more to talk about, baby," he told her.

Dani nodded. "Ok. What do you want to talk about?" She asked.

"What did Clay say to you?" Dani hesitated so Opie continued. "You said he accused you of bringing drama to the club or something. I want to know what happened."

Dani looked away for a moment before hesitantly looking back at Opie. "It was nothing."

"If it were nothing, you wouldn't have brought it up back there. What happened and when?" He demanded.

"It was after the incident with the van, Clay said something about not appreciating me bringing problems to the club, putting his guys in danger, and wouldn't appreciate it continuing." Dani explained. "Once Bert told us what he did back then and why, I made sure Clay knew that none of this was my drama, that I didn't do anything to bring any of this to us, that's all."

"When did Clay even have a chance to talk to you that day? Why didn't I know about this?"

"When I was at the hospital. Jax stepped out of the room to take a call and Clay stepped in to talk for a minute. I didn't say anything because I handled it, and we were dealing with bigger crap than Clay making an insensitive comment that day."

"But it bothers you? What Clay said and the clubs' involvement in what happened to you?" Opie asked.

"Yeah, what Clay said bothered me, but like I said, I handled it. He knew that day that he was wrong about what he said and an ass for saying it. As for the club… it's complicated. I get why they put a stop to what he was doing. Drugs bring more cops to the area, which means more risk for the club and what you do. Plus, they're bad for the community, and you guys need the community on your side. So, I get that. But the way it was done, they took everything from that man, and no one followed up to make sure he wasn't a threat. It was reckless, and I paid the price for that recklessness. And I worry, is the club still reckless? Do you all take to many chances, or not think about potential risks or aftermath, and who will have to pay the price if so. I don't want to think about something bad happening to people I love, I worry about you and Jax, Chibs, Bobby, all of you."

"We know what we are doing, baby. We have to take risks sometimes for the club, but we can handle it. That's the life, we all signed up for it. You didn't, I know. I need you to trust that we know what we are doing—that I know what I'm doing and that I and the club will do everything we can to protect you from danger." Opie assured her.

"I know you would. You, Jax, … Chibs. It's like individually I can believe it, but its harder to accept it's true collectively as a club." Dani shook her head and sighed before she continued. "I don't know. I think maybe when this whole mess is over it might be easier to reconcile that they are more or less one in the same."

Opie nodded, processing what she was saying. "Is that the reason why you're hesitating about getting my crow?" he asked.

"It's part of it." Dani admitted, looking down.

"What's the rest of it?" Opie asked softly. When Dani kept looking down, Opie took her hand and pulled her over to the couch in his room, sat down and pulled her onto his lap. "Talk to me baby."

Dani pulled Opie's arms around her and leaned her head on his shoulder. She took a moment allow the warmth and the feelings of love and safety that always came from being in Opie's arms like this. She tilted her head up and her eyes finally met his. "You know it's not about you or how I feel about you, right?" she asked. "If it were just about us and how I felt about you, if life had dealt a different hand, Opie, I would tattoo your name over every square inch of my body if you asked. I'm terrified, though. Getting that tattoo terrifies me."

Dani felt Opie tense at her words, though his hands were moving in soothing motions where they rested on her back and knee. "Why?" he asked.

"I know the situation is totally different, that this is my choice, but I can't help it. I can't help but think of the marks another man put on me. I'm scared that if I decide to get that tattoo, when they start to put it on me, that I'll freak out—that I'll flash back to that night. God, Opie, I didn't feel human when that happened, not for months. I don't ever want to feel that way, and I don't ever want you to see me that way. I'm scared that if I don't freak out and I do get the tattoo, that every time I see it, I'll see my scars too and the negativity I feel about them will…infect the way I feel about your tattoo.

"Most of all though is how much I do want to have your crow on me. I've thought about if I should get it in a different place, like maybe on my the top of my foot or my ankle—where you touched me that night we were watching scary movies on the couch. But I like the idea of it on my neck more, so close to that spot that you love to kiss, the one that sends shivers down my spine. I like the idea that when I want to, I can pull my hair up, and the world can see that tattoo and know that I belong to you, or the idea that when I wear my hair down, and it's hidden from the world it would feel more intimate, like something just between us. I love the idea that every time my hair brushes across my neck, it will make me think of that tattoo and remind me that you love me, that I'm yours."

Opie's arms tightened around her. "Let me get this straight. You want the tattoo, but you're scared to get the tattoo because it might bring you back to the night you got your scars, and even if it doesn't, the scars being close to the tattoo might change how you feel about it, and then on top of that, you're don't know how to feel about the tattoo's connection to the club right now. Is that about right?"

"More or less," Dani nodded shyly.

Opie kissed her forehead. "God woman, how does your head not explode?" Dani let out a shocked laugh and Opie chuckled before turning serious, though his eyes still sparkled with affection. "I want you to know there is no rush, you can take all the time you need to decide." After a pause he spoke again. "Have you ever thought about seeing a dermatologist or a plastic surgeon or somebody like that to see about getting rid of your scars or making them less noticeable?"

Dani shook her head. "I kind of have a thing about doctors, and people I don't know, and especially people I don't know seeing and touching my back. It would be a panic inducing nightmare, but… maybe it would be worth it. Do you really think there might be something that would make them less hideous?"

Opie gave her a squeeze. "First, nothing about you is hideous, not even your scars." He pressed a kiss to her temple. "But yeah, I do think that there is something that could help. I know your scars bother you, an if there's something that would make them less noticeable—if that would make you feel better, then you should look into it."

"I think I'd like to do that." Dani hesitated. "Would you—would you go with me?" she asked.

Opie nodded before placing a kiss to her cheek and then a second kiss below her ear along her jawline. "If you want me there, I'll be there." Opie continued to kiss his way down her neck.

Dani let out a shuddering sigh, as her eyes fluttered closed. "Not that I'm complaining, Sasquatch, because I'm not, but what are you doing? I thought we were talking."

"We talked. It's been a trying day for both of us. It's been emotionally trying for you for about a hundred reasons, so right now I'm kissing you so you will feel safe, and loved, and adored, and respected," Opie told her while continuing to press kisses to her face, neck and shoulders. "Then, when I'm done with that, because it's been trying for me, because my beautiful, crazy woman can't be stopped from willingly putting herself in dangerous situations, making me overprotective, frustrated, and possessive… I'm going to kiss you so you know that you're mine and you're going to listen to everything I say."

With that, Opie took her earlobe between his teeth, giving it a light tug before finally crashing his lips to hers. He invaded her mouth fiercely, possessively, just as he said he would. Dani moaned into the kiss, her good arm clutching at Opie's shoulder. Opie's hands moved to grip her hips and lifted her off his lap to move her instead to straddle him. He guided her into a rocking motion over his lap, her core grinding against his hardening erection, causing them both to let out moans of pleasure.

"Mine," Opie growled against her lips as she gasped for air.

"Yours," Dani agreed breathlessly, pulling his lips back to hers.

Opie's hands travelled under her shirt up her sides, coming up to cup her breasts, his thumbs rubbing over her lace-covered nipples. He reached around her back to unclasp her bra when bang-bang-bang-bang a loud knocking on the door interrupted them.

"You two kill each other yet?" they heard Jax call through the door.

Opie groaned as his forehead dropped to rest on her shoulder before he called back. "No, but I'm about to kill you, brother."

Jax's laugh could be heard laughing through the door. "Just remember that's my sister in there with you, brother, and I don't want to hear anything that will make me want to bleach my brain, so put it away and get your asses out here and have a drink."

They took a few minutes to pull themselves together and went out to join the others. They were met with knowing smirks as they approached the bar, and Dani flushed. Jax's eyes were filled with amusement as he tugged on the ends of her hair and handed her a drink.

Clay looked at Opie with a raised eyebrow, silently asking if he had managed to talk Dani out of going with them when they went to Tacoma. Opie took a long drink of the beer that was handed to him and then shook his head. "She's a stubborn ass," he said.

Clay acknowledged him with a grunt before telling them that they were going to be gathering more intel on the location and that they would head up to Tacoma in a few days.

Dani nodded and took a sip of her own drink and sighed. "What is it with me and this place?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" Jax asked her.

"I mean, this place has been the sight of the beginning, middle and/or end of almost every emotional breakdown, argument, freak out, and meltdown I've had since I've been back. It's like this place is my emotional black hole." Dani took another sip of her drink. Every time I come here, I don't know if I'm going to have a good time with friends, or if I need to prepare for the black hole's crushing gravitational force."

Jax shook his. "Dani girl, I love you, but you can be really fucking dense sometimes." Jax seemed frustrated, bordering on angry. The others seemed to be sharing his sentiment.

"Wait, what do you mean?" Dani asked puzzled. Jax just shook his head again.

Dani was surprised when Clay took up the conversation for him. "What your brother means is that for a smart girl, you can be pretty damn slow on the uptake." Dani just looked at him and shrugged, still not understanding what they were talking about. Clay continued. "This place doesn't suck that shit out of you. You choose to let it out here. You chose to come here when the feds came by the house. You chose that moment to talk about what you went through when you argued with your mother. There's only one place a person can be ok letting that shit out and still feel comfortable to spend time at." Dani stared at him and again shrugged and shook her head, still not sure about his meaning. "Home is what we're talking about." Clay put a hand on her shoulder. "This place, these people. This is your home, girl." He gave her shoulder a pat and grabbed his beer and left her with Jax and Opie.

Dani stood there by the bar processing what he said. She knew that this place was important to her family. She knew that everyone she cared about, excepting Alice, all came here. She remembered telling Jax that she was starting to recognize that there were people here who cared about her. "Huh," she said to herself as she continued to think about the relationships she had made here, and acknowledging that she came to the club when she was upset not just because she knew she would find Jax or Opie there, but also because a part of her felt safe on that lot.

She looked back and forth between Jax and Opie and then looked around the bar, spotting Chibs and Bobby at a table, Juice talking with Kip at the end of the bar, all the members scattered about.

She put her hand on the bar and bent over taking in a breath as she acknowledged the feeling of belonging. "Well fuck," she said finally standing up and looking at Jax and Opie. "I really am an idiot."