Thank you all for your amazing words of encouragement and support. It has been a hard time, but I'm glad to be back with you and am even more enthusastic about this project than ever thanks to your support and encouragement. You all inspire me to keep working hard, not only to make this story as great as I can make it, but also that encouragment and enthusiasm is spilling over into my daily life, making rebuilding myself back up that much easier. I love you all and am glad to take this journey with you. Now let's get to reading!

Chapter 39

The next day Dani woke early, excited about her plans for the day. She quietly extricated herself from the bed so she wouldn't wake Opie. She had been asleep when he came home and woke only for a moment when he came to bed and noticed it had been after 2AM.

She spent her morning tending to her garden before chopping up some peppers to add to some omelets she had decided to whip up for breakfast when she finally heard Opie start to stir and started a fresh pot of coffee and added the egg mixture to the pan. She had just finished adding the cheese and was preparing to fold the omelet when she felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her. Dani smiled as she felt a kiss press to the side of her cheek.

"Mmm, amazing." Opie spoke quietly in her ear.

"The breakfast or me?" Dani asked playfully.

Opie chuckled. "Both, actually, but I was referring you."

Dani plated the omelet and turned in Opie's arms to hand him his plate. "Here," she said looking up at him, her eyes sparkling. "You should eat while it's hot." She stood up on her toes and kissed him good morning before turning around to begin her own omelet.

Opie stayed where he was, one arm holding his plate, the other still wrapped around her. "I love watching you work in the kitchen. You're so fucking sexy," he told her as he placed a series of kisses along her neck.

Dani sighed in appreciation of the affection she was getting. "I missed you last night," she confessed leaning back into him.

"Sorry I was so late. Let me make it up to you?" he offered as he nibbled on her earlobe.

The sound Dani made was somewhere between a gasp and a laugh. "You can make it up to me… after breakfast. Maybe in the shower. Now go eat before I burn my breakfast and steal yours." Dani could feel the reluctance in his motions as he placed one last lingering kiss on her shoulder and moved towards the dining table. "Can you get the coffee please?" she asked as she worked to finish cooking her own breakfast. Opie nodded and after he set his place at the table came back and began fixing a cup of coffee for them both. "About last night…" Dani began.

"Yeah?" Opie asked.

"Is everything ok with… whatever you all were up to last night?"

"It was a protection run." Opie told her.

"Oh… I don't think I know what that is." She confessed. "Is it something I want to know?"

"It's not a bad thing. We accompany Unser's truck drivers on deliveries when they've got expensive cargo and there's a chance the goods could get stolen."

"Oh," Dani said again, with more clarity this time. "So, everything went ok then?"

Opie laughed but it was without humor.

"It didn't go ok, then?" She asked.

"Let's just say it went exactly as Clay wanted it to go and leave it there," he said somewhat dryly.

Dani nodded, but let the words settle with her for a moment as she pondered the meaning, but allowed other, lighter conversation to fill their mealtime. Once the dishes were rinsed and had been placed in the dishwasher, Dani did indeed let Opie make up for his absence the night before in the shower, not once, but twice before they finally ran out of hot water.

Later, Dani looked over herself in the mirror as she added a touch of balm to her lips. She was wearing a pair of long, fitted light wash jean shorts, with fraying along the hemline and some light distressing on her thighs. She had on a white camisole that had a bit of lace trimming the neckline and had thrown on a blue and white plaid button-up shirt of Opie's. She rolled up the sleeves of the oversized-for-her shirt up to her elbows but leaving it unbuttoned. She had paired the outfit with a comfy pair of white eyelet lace espadrilles and braided her hair into two braids, securely pinning it up into a braided crown. She felt comfortable in the simple, but cute outfit, and gave herself a nod before going grabbing her bag and pulling it up and over her shoulder and went to find Opie so they could leave for the carnival.

He wasn't in the living room, but she noticed the garage door was slightly ajar, so she poked her head out and noticed the garage door open with the bike parked out in the driveway and Opie at his workbench fiddling with some sort of mechanical part she doubted she would be able to identify. He looked up and saw her hanging half outside the door. "You ready?" He asked. Dani nodded and hopped down the stairs, turning to make sure the door closed securely behind her. When she turned back to Opie, she noticed the heat in his gaze as he took her in. "Is that my shirt?" he asked as he reached out and pulled her into him. He continued without letting her answer. "You trying to drive me wild, Xena? Being so sexy in the kitchen this morning, and then in the shower, and now wearing my shirt. Do you know what that does to me?"

He wrapped a hand around her neck and pulled her in for a searing kiss. Their lips moved together as their tongues dueled. Dani let out a whimper of appreciation as she felt Opie's hardness against her when he pulled her into him, so they were standing flush against each other.

"Well," Dani gasped between kisses, "You're a sasquatch. You are wild."

"The things I'm going to do to you…" he murmured as he kissed his way from her lips down to her collarbone.

Dani let out a whimper of pleasure but reluctantly stepped away. "You'll have to do them later. We have to meet the others, and I really want to see the carnival." She looked up at him, her eyes still slightly glazed over with lust as she gave him a playful, pleading look.

"Fuck, I can't say no to you. We've got to go or we're going to be late. We're talking the scenic route there on the bike so I can cool down," he grumbled, as he slipped her helmet on her head and climbed on the bike.

"That's fine with me. I love riding your bike with you. I have a surprise for you after the carnival, and then later you can give me a different kind of ride, she laughed as she climbed on behind him and wrapped her arms around him. She didn't hear the groan he let out as he revved the engine before they took off.

Dani's eyes lit up with glee as she bit into a warm piece of funnel cake. "This is so good!" she said before she even finished chewing. Fun Town carnival was so much fun. Dani was so excited to try a bunch of the rides when they first looked around, even some of the ones that were targeted towards younger kids. When she gestured to the kiddie roller coaster and asked if it was too childish to want to ride it, Bobby and Tig assured her not only was it not childish, but they insisted on riding it as well. Dani laughed the entire time and was grateful her friends were so willing to do silly things with her, so she wouldn't be embarrassed about wanting to do them. They found the games and played several, Opie and Jax each one her a stuffed animal.

Much to Dani's delight there was indeed a game where the prizes were live goldfish. There were tables full of little fishbowls. In order to win, you had to toss a ping pong ball into a fishbowl in order to win the fish that was swimming in that bowl. It sounded easy, but before long the whole SoA group were tossing, and missing, until finally someone landed a ball into a bowl that had not only one but two fish. Dani was so excited as she peered into the bag that held the fish. One was the traditional orange goldfish color; the other was white and orange. Dani exclaimed over their cuteness before a thought occurred to her.

"How are we going to get them home?" she asked turning to Opie? "I'm not sure they will travel so well on the bike with us." She frowned as she thought to herself about how on earth she was going to get them home safely, when Jax gave her a nudge and took the fish from her gently.

"I've got this Dani." He told her. "Prospect!" Jax called out for Half-Sack who hurried to the front of the group. "Take the fish and get them safely to my sisters. Make sure you take good care of them. If something happens to either of those fish, my sister will be very sad, and I won't be happy about that. Neither will Opie. You don't want my sister to be sad, do you? Jax asked.

The prospect shook his head and was quick to take the fish. He assured us he would take care of them before quickly walking away.

"You didn't have to make him leave just to—" Dani started to say.

"That's his job." Opie interrupted. "To do whatever we tell him until he earns his place with us." At Dani's doubtful look he added "Trust me. He's happy to do it."

Dani just nodded as the group made their way through the crowds towards a fun house. Clay picked up Gemma and Gemma laughed and said something to Clay, though Dani couldn't hear what it was, but Dani was happy to see her mom looking so happy. They stopped as Clay shook hands with a man named Elliot, who was with his wife and daughter. When the young girl said she wanted to go on one of the rides, her mother told her she had already been on that ride several times.

Jax dug into his pocket and pulled out some ride tickets and offered them to the girl, insisting she take them because he 'got kicked off for screaming too loud.' At her mother's prompting the girl thanked Jax before rushing ahead towards the ride. Dani smiled at the cuteness of it all before she, Opie, Jax and a couple others went ahead to the fun house while Gemma and Clay sounded like they were going to take some pictures in the photo booth. Dani had fun weaving her way through the fun house and stopping in front of all the distortion mirrors, laughing at how silly they looked, though when they finally made it through the large rotating tunnel at the end, she was feeling a little dizzy from all the trickery. Despite that she laughed and clung to Opie's arm until she was steady.

As they were strolling through the carnival looking for their next ride, they came upon a clown sitting above a dunk tank. Jax grinned as he paid the fee and threw the first ball. When he missed, the clown started taunting him, and his next two throws missed as well. The clown went a step to far when he referred to the men as biker butt buddies and Dani watched as the men walked towards the dunk tank and hit the button to make the clown fall into the water. The clown tried to apologize, but the guys dunked him again a couple more times before they decided they had punished the clown enough.

Opie came back to her and pulled her to his side as they walked away, back in the direction of the rides. "You doing okay today?" he asked her.

"I'm having a blast," Dani told him honestly.

"Crowd isn't too much for you?"

She shook her head. "I've barely noticed between my excitement and having you guys around me."

"And no feeling like you're being watched at all today?" he asked.

Dani paused as she considered this. "I hadn't realized it until you asked, but no, I don't feel that way at all. I really am starting to think it's just my nerves getting to me when I'm out on my own," she confessed.

"I still think you should be cautious. I don't want you to completely disregard your instincts, just in case." Opie told her. "Either way, we'll figure it out, and if it is just nerves, we will find a way to deal with it."

Dani just nodded and they continued making their way through the carnival going on rides like the tilt-a-whirl, and the salt-and-pepper shaker. She was enjoying herself more than she could ever remember when Juice came up to the group and said something about the Irish and Clay saying they needed to go.

Opie swore under his breath.

"Duty calls?" she asked looking up at him.

"Yeah, babe, I'm sorry. I can either run you home before I head in, or you can hang here with Gemma, and I'll be back as soon as I can." He offered.

"I'll stay, I see Gemma over there." She gave him a quick kiss. "You guys be safe, she called as she took a couple steps backwards before turning and making her way to Gemma.

"Hey Gemma," she called when she got closer.

"Hey hon," Gemma said, waiting for Dani to catch up with her before the pair began walking aimlessly through the fairgrounds. "You having a good time?"

"Yeah, it's been great. Too bad the guys had to take off." Dani said. She paused before asking, "Do things like this come up very often, where they have to leave in the middle of something?"

"Sometimes, baby, sometimes. They never want to leave us, especially when we are out having a good time. But they'll always make sure you're taken care of, and they'll always do their best to make up for it," Gemma said, linking her arm through Dani's.

"Yeah, I know Opie felt bad about having to go. We were having a pretty perfect day. Opie doesn't know this but when we went to the clubhouse later, Happy was going to start on tattooing my back to deal with my scars… and he was going to put Opie's crow on for me as well. I hope whatever is going on with them, that I can still do that." Dani was a little hesitant to let Gemma in on her plans, because even though her relationship with Gemma was so much better than it had been, they hadn't had very many emotional type talks that were successful, so Dani was feeling slightly vulnerable.

"Opie talked to you about getting his crow put on you?" Gemma asked.

"Yeah, he mentioned it a while ago, but I was in a place then where it felt like a branding, and I wasn't dealing very well with the 'branding' that had been forced upon me, or the idea of letting someone I didn't know touch me long enough to tattoo it on me."

"And now?"

Dani sighed. "We've grown together so much. He's been there for me and encourages me to face my issues and grow as a person, without being pushy or condescending. If I think about where I would probably be in dealing with all of this if Opie and I hadn't gotten together, I don't think I would have come half as far as I have with him. I worry about him when he has to go off like this, because I can't imagine something happening to him or being without him. It helps that I trust everyone to have each other's back, but I still worry." Dani confessed.

"You'll always worry about them. It's part of the deal, being an 'old lady.'" Gemma chuckled as Dani wrinkled her nose in distaste at that term. "I'm happy for you, baby. I can see it when that boy looks at you; he sees forever. I can tell you see it too." Dani nodded. "Ok, then, enough with this sappy shit. Let's stop at a concession stand for some deep fried Oreos."

"They do that?" Dani asked.

"Baby, the deep fry everything at the carnival," Gemma told her as they walked off together.

They spent the next hour or so wandering the fair, sampling treats that should have been disgusting but, somehow, thanks to the magic of the fair, were spectacular. They were on the hunt for a lemon shake up to wash all their snacks down with when they heard a woman shouting "Tristan!" over and over, each time growing slightly more panicked. She and Gemma looked around and noticed it was Mrs. Oswald, the wife of the man Clay had greeted earlier in the day, the mother of the girl, Tristan, that Jax had given his ride tickets to.

"What's going on?" Gemma asked her as they got closer.

"We can't find Tristan," the woman explained. "We've looked everywhere."

"She's got to be around here somewhere," Gemma said, concern creeping into her voice as she looked around, trying to spot the missing teen.

"We looked everywhere. She's not on any of the rides, Elliot can't find her either. We went to get a drink. We told her to stay here if the ride ended before we got back." The woman was clearly panicked.

"We'll find her." Gemma said.

While all this was going on, Dani was only half aware of the conversation. The rest of her was frozen; ripped back in time to when she was a young girl, much younger that the girl now missing, and she was taken, disappeared in the crowds of happy people. 'It's not the same.' She forced herself out of her stupor. 'It's not the same thing. She's not been taken. People are looking for her. We will find her.' She repeated that to herself once more before jumping into the conversation. "You keep looking around here," she told Mrs. Oswald. "My mom and I will start on that end of games and work our way back towards you. We'll find her." The other women nodded, and they split up as Dani suggested.

"Are you ok? For a minute you looked like you—"

"I was. I'm not ok. I won't be til someone finds that girl and she's safe." Dani said shortly.

The two walked in silence, peering up and down the rows of games, Dani growing increasingly more disturbed the longer they went without any glimpse of Tristan.

"Gemma." Dani said hesitantly. "I know they're probably busy, but… do you think… I mean do you think he would mind if i…?"

"Call him." Gemma said with certainty.

Dani didn't need to be told twice as she pulled her phone out of her bag and punched Opies name on her contacts. He picked up on the third ring. "I need you," was all she could say.