Three chapters in one week! I hope that makes up at least a little for being absent so long. I have real momentum going with this story and hope to continue with a decent pace until I finally type the words 'THE END' But we aren't there yet! Still a ways to go, so leave me your thoughts and tell me how I'm doing! Much love to all of you for your continued support!
Dani stood leaning against the wall of the auto office as she listened to Elliot Oswald talk to Clay and Jax about locating the man who had raped his daughter.
Gemma and Dani had spent over an hour looking for Tristan the previous night. Opie had shown up halfway through the search and searched with Dani, while Gemma split off to cover more ground. They finally got word that the girl had been found and was being transported to the hospital, but no one said why. Dani had hoped it was just as a precaution, or that the girl had fallen and inured herself, but would otherwise be ok. Opie had insisted that they go home instead of to the club house and, though part of Dani was disappointed about not getting her tattoo that evening, she knew it was for the best.
She was still half in shock with the memories that hit her as soon as she heard the girl was missing. She had, for a split second, been transported back in time and felt the strong arms wrap around her and yank her int the air, hand muffling her screams, while simultaneously witnessing and feeling some of the panic that Gemma must have felt that day so long ago currently being lived out by Mrs. Oswald. She knew Gemma must have had a similar flashback the way she had clutched on to Dani's arm. Dani had felt reassured by the grip at the time, not realizing until later that night, when she was lying in bed with Opie that she had held her so hard it left a mark. Opie had held her close all night long, but even in his arms Dani was reluctant to allow herself to fall into anything but the lightest of sleeps, sure the bad dreams were waiting for her, and not wanting to deal with them with her emotions already so stirred up.
She willingly accompanied Opie to TM the following morning, where she had gone for a run, and then had intended to take her remaining emotions out on the punching bag but Chibs had told her no.
"Yer head isn't in it today lass. Can't have ye getting hurt because ya pushin' yerself too hard." He had said. Dani had huffed and argued but eventually caved and retreated to Opie's room to shower and change out of her running clothes. After puttering about in Opie's room and down in the club house, where she sought out Happy to try and apologize for not coming to get tattooed the previous night. He had refused to let her apologize, though and assured her that they would figure out a new time for the tattoo session soon. Dani readily agreed and made her way out to the auto office to see if she could help out in there.
That was when she had noticed the office was full, and that Jax and Clay were using the space to talk to Elliot Oswald. Dani leaned against the wall outside the office, not meaning to eavesdrop, but couldn't help but overhear every word. When she heard that Tristan had been raped, Dani felt such sadness for the girl. She didn't blame Mr. Oswald for wanting to hunt down the man who hurt his daughter, for wanting to handle the matter outside the law. She was hardly one to judge, after all, she had sought her own revenge on those who had hurt her.
Dani listened as she heard Clay say "I don't want your money. This hits close to home for my family. Nobody comes into my town and does this to an innocent girl. We'll find the sick bastard, but, when I deliver him to you, I'm gonna need to know that justice will be served. You get what I'm saying, old friend?" They must have come to some sort of unspoken agreement because a moment later the office door opened. Mr. Oswald came out and started walking towards his car.
On impulse Dani called out "Mr. Oswald."
He turned around to look at her.
Dani gulped, took a deep breath and said "I'm Dani Teller. I wanted to tell you how sorry I am about what happened to your daughter. If—if she needs someone to talk to, someone who isn't a counselor, or her mom, someone who—someone who understands what she might be feeling, she can reach out to me, any time at all and I can be there for her, no judgements, no pressure, just someone who's dealt with the worst life can throw at a girl and made it through the other side."
They locked eyes for a moment as comprehension and then understanding made its way across his face. "Thank you, Dani. Call me Elliot. I appreciate what you're offer. If you have time today, feel free to stop by Tristan's room at the hospital and introduce yourself. I don't know if Tristan will feel like talking. She hasn't said much to me or my wife about what happed, but maybe it will help to know she call you if she needs to." Dani nodded so he added "I'll let my wife know you might be by." He nodded at her and then looed over her shoulder and nodded again at someone over her shoulder- a quick glance told her it was to Clay and Jax, who were standing just outside the office, watching their interaction— and then turned and left.
She felt Jax and Clay come up beside her. "Jax, Chapel in five. Get the guys." Clay told him before giving Dani a look and a nod. Dani nodded back and watched Clay walk across the lot.
"You alright?" Jax asked from his place beside her.
Dani just shrugged. "How many sick fucking asshole bastards are there out there in this world?" she asked as an answer.
Jax threw an arm around her. "I don't know, Dani-girl, but there's about to be one less."
She nodded. "I need to see something good and pure right about now. I'm going to see if Opie can take me to the hospital so I can see Abel." Dani told him.
"Ope's gone." Jax informed her. "Out doing a repo. Give me a few minutes to get the guys on board with this thing for Oswald and I'll take you over, ok?" Dani nodded again.
"Hey," Jax said, tugging on her ponytail like always, "What's going on in that head of yours?"
Sighing, Dani replied, "I'm just wondering if it's all even worth it—trying to fight back against all the bad, when it seems to keep coming at you from all sides."
"It's worth it. The way you helped that girl when we were in Oregon, that made a difference. The way you offered to talk to Oswald's daughter- that makes a difference. Bad shit is going to happen, there's no way to stop it all, but handling it, learning from it, using it to help others, even though it hurts you to do so, that's what makes it worth it. It what makes you one of the best people I know." Jax told her.
Dani's eyes glistened with emotion, and she looked down for a moment before looking back up at Jax. "Thanks, Jax. I needed to hear that, I guess. Go on inside and have your meeting so we can get out of here and see that sweet boy of yours, huh?"
"All right, Dani." Jax said and with a quick squeeze of her shoulder, he too, headed across the lot and into the club house.
Dani went into the garage office and sat in the chair behind the desk, twirling back and forth, knowing she wouldn't have been very productive anyway. She was expecting to wait a while for the guys to end their meeting, so she was surprised when the guys started to disperse after only about five minutes. Dani hurried out of the office so she could meet up with Jax and they could head out, but she slowed after only a few steps, distracted by the police vehicles pulling into the lot. She watched as Hale spoke with Clay and Jax, insisting that they call in all of the guys for questioning about what happened at Fun Town the night before. Dani was as irritated as Clay and Jax were that Hale assumed that one of the Son's would have something to do with hurting a girl like that. She smirked when they threw the accusation back in Hale's face by questioning his team.
"Look," Jax said. We'll get the guys in here. I was gonna take Dani by the hospital and check on my kid. I'm gonna drop her off and I'll be back and you and your guys can waste all the time you want from there, ok?"
"I can't let anyone leave here until I've talked to all your guys." Hale insisted.
Jax took a half step closer to Hale and lowered his voice, but Dani could still hear him. "Look, you know this is bullshit. Do you think I would allow my sister around here if I even thought one of our guys was capable of this shit? You know what she's been through, and even if it is bull shit, she doesn't need to be hanging around listening to your people asking those sorts of questions all day to people she finally feels comfortable around."
Hale glanced over at Danielle, where she was standing a few feet away, then back to Jax. "I can take her to the hospital. I'm going there next anyway to follow up with the Oswalds."
Jax gave a nod and looked over his shoulder at Dani, turning and walking her way. He gave her a slight shake of his head when Dani opened her mouth to object to his plan and said. "Let's go get your bag. Hale is taking you to the hospital so you can check on Abel for me." He didn't stop wasling as he spoke, just gently grabbed her elbow and guided her to follow him.
Once they were in the office Dani spun to face him. "What the heck, Jax? I don't want to go with Hale."
"Yeah, but who knows how long we're going to be tied up here. I'd feel better knowing someone was close in case for Abel. And Oswald said you could talk to Tristan. She might tell you something that could help us find the guy." Jax said.
"Jax! I didn't offer to talk to her to help you. I offered to talk to her to help her. She really may not remember the details about what happened, or she may not be ready to talk about it, and I'm not going to push her before she is ready, just so you guys can beat the cops to tracking this guy down, no matter how much he deserves whatever Oswald wants to dish out to him."
"We didn't volunteer for this. Oswald came to us. This is what he wants." Jax pointed out.
"And what about what Tristan wants? What she needs? That should be considered, too." Dani countered.
"Look, I don't want you to make her talk if she doesn't want to. All I'm saying is that if you do talk to her, and she does say something that can help, to let me know. I wouldn't want you to pry it out of her any more than you would."
"Ok," Dani conceded, "just as long as we are on the same page. It makes me sick thinking about how many people like that are out there in this world, and I want them off the streets, one way or another, as much as anybody, but I won't put an angry father's objective above the best interests of his daughter."
"Understood." Jax told her. "Now get your stuff. The sooner we can get Hale's guys out of here, the sooner we can do what we need to."
The ride to the hospital was awkward, with Hale making stilted attempts at conversation and Dani shrugging it off with awkward silences. The second the car was in park she was out of the car. It wasn't that she didn't like Hale, but she didn't know him enough to trust him to be alone with him for any longer than she had to.
She made her way down the now well-known halls to the NICU and got herself settled next to Abel's incubator. "Hey there, handsome," she said softly as she smiled and put one hand on the plastic incubator. "You're looking stronger. You just keep fighting and keep growing and when you get out of here, your grandma and your Aunt Dani are gonna spoil you so much. Your daddy will have to fight us off to get to spend any time with you. I've got a new book to read to you today." Dani said as she reached into her bag and pulled out a book she had been carrying around. "'Brown bear, Brown bear, what do you see? I see a…'"
Dani read to Abel for a while, and then just sat there a while, talking to him and making up silly stories in her head. She glanced up at one point and saw Tara Knowles watching her. The women gave each other a tense nod and Dani went back to doting on her nephew. Jax had seemed a little off ever since Abel was born, that happened to be the same time Tara appeared back in his life. Dani wasn't sure which event was the cause for the turbulence she felt coming from her brother, or if it was a combination of the two. Either way, Dani still didn't know what to make of Tara and questioned whether Jax should keep his distance from the doctor. Tara seemed to think herself so far above the club and the family it represented, and the thought that Tara's distain for the group would eat at Jax the more time he spent with the woman on a personal level.
She had drifted into silence as she pondered this and decided that she had better move on to her next stop in the hospital. "Ok, handsome boy. Auntie has to go now. I'll be back to check on you later." She pressed a kiss to her fingers and pressed a hand to the incubator before grabbing her bag and quietly making her way out the door.
She walked down the hall to the elevator bank and pressed the call button to bring the elevator. When the doors dinged, she entered and pressed for what she hoped was the right floor and waited for the doors to open again. She was surprised when they did and she almost walked right into Gemma, who had apparently been on her way to see Abel. Dr. Knowles was there saying "Wendy's awake. Thought you'd want to know in case you wanted to bring flowers or something." Tara gave her another glance and walked away.
"Oh, hey Gemma." Dani said still startled at the abrupt appearance.
"Hey sweetheart." Gemma said. "What are you doing here?"
"I was just with Abel, but I ran into Elliot Oswald this morning and offered to talk to Tristan if she needed someone to talk to. He asked me to stop by and introduce myself and at least give her my number if she wasn't up for talking right now."
"That's real good, baby." Gemma said.
Dani smiled, but it was strained. "Last night when… it was…"
"Yeah, it was, baby. For me too." Gemma said, giving Dani confirmation that Gemma, too, had temporarily been overpowered by memories of losing Dani all those years ago.
They were silent for a moment before the elevator dinged again and Dani shook herself om her stupor and stepped off to make way for Gemma to step on. "Anyway, what was that all about?" she asked, gesturing to the direction Tara had walked off in.
"The good doctor just wanted me to know that the junkie whore was out of detox and awake." Gemma replied, the acid clear in her tone.
Dani sighed. "How about a little compassion, Gemma? I don't like that Abel is struggling because of her choices, and may face other hurtles over time because of it, but where was Jax, when his wife, who had a history of drug abuse was alone and dealing with being pregnant and going through a divorce? Where were you? Where was her family? I'm not saying that Wendi doesn't hold a large part of the responsibility here, but she's not the only one who messed up.
Gemma shook her head and let out a sigh of her own. "You're too good, baby. After all you've been through, and to have that much goodness—well, you amaze me sometimes. I will try and work on changing my perspective on Wendy, but don't expect that to happen overnight."
Dani smiled. "Fair enough, I'll find you before I leave, ok? See you later Gem—I mean, see you later, Mom." Dani gave a small wave as the elevator door closed and Gemma disappeared.
It was easy enough to find Tristan Oswalds room. There was an officer standing outside the door, and Elliot Oswald was leaning against the wall, scrubbing his hand over his face.
"Mr. Oswald? Er, Elliot?" Dani said tentatively. The man looked up at her. "I was just visiting my nephew upstairs and thought I would check and see if now is an okay time for me to introduce myself to Tristan?"
"Yeah, Danielle, wasn't it? Please go on in. I appreciate your stopping by. Um, her mother just stepped out for some air, so I'm sure she would appreciate the company."
"Sure. I'll just pop in. And don't worry, I won't pressure her to talk, or stay for too long if she doesn't want me to." Dani said.
Elliot nodded his head in thanks and Dani turned and gently pushed open the door to the room. The lights in the room were on but had been dimmed so that a person lying in bed wouldn't be blinded by having to look up at the harsh lights of the ceiling.
"Tristan?" Dani asked softly. The girls' eyes snapped from the tv over to her, flicker of alarm at first that faded into general weariness.
"My mom said I'm not supposed to have any visitors if she isn't here." Tristan said, reaching for her phone.
"I understand. But I just talked to your dad," Dani pointed to the window where they could both see Elliot Oswald and the uniformed officer at the door. "He said it would be ok if I stopped in for a minute. We sort of met yesterday. My brother gave you some of his ride tickets?"
"Jax Teller is your brother?" Tristan asked Dani nodded. "He's really nice."
"I think so too. My name is Dani. I wanted to make sure I met you because, well it's hard to say why. I know a lot of people have probably asked you about what happened to you. Your parents, doctors, nurses, police even. I know it can be scary and overwhelming to have everyone asking all those questions."
"How do you know that?"
"Because that thing everyone is asking about—it happened to me too. I got kidnapped when I was a little girl by some really bad guys, and they did some really bad things to me, and I was stuck with them for a really long time before I could get away. And I hated all the questions and having to go over things over and over again. So it's ok with me if you don't want to talk about that, or even to talk at all. It's ok to want to sit here with someone and do nothing, or talk about something stupid, just so you don't have to think. And if you want me to leave, I will. But here-," Dani pulled out a scrap of paper she had written her information down on. "I've got my house phone on here, and my cell phone too, even my email address. If you ever need anything, you can reach out to me, and anything you tell me will stay between us, ok?" Dani asked, holding out the scrap of paper. Tristan hesitated before nodding. "Do you want me to stay or would you rather have some time to yourself?"
"Could you—could you stay, maybe? Just until my mom gets back?" Tristan asked.
"Sure." Dani said, reassuringly and sat in the chair at Tristan's bedside.
They sat there in silence for several minutes. "Does it ever… get… I don't know? Easier?" Tristan asked.
"If you let it, it can. It may take time, more time than you want it to. Some days will be better and then other days will be worse again and you'll feel like you're going backwards, but just keep going. Keep the people who are important to you in your life, talk to the people you trust, let them know how you're feeling. Eventually, it will get easier, if you do that. Eventually you'll think about all the things you used to, friends, and sports, and after school activities, and even boys, and that's ok."
"What do you mean if I let it, it will get easier?"
"It's something you have to work at. If instead of trying, you dwell on what happened, and get lost in it, it's harder sometimes. It's like if you shake up a bottle of pop, and you shake it so much, the pressure builds up and the top pops off and all the pop flies out and all you have left in an empty bottle and a mess everywhere. It's kind of the same with your emotions. If you push everything down and keep pushing it down and down and down some more, eventually there won't be anymore room and the pressure will build up and everything you've been trying to lock away will fly at you all at once and you'll be feeling all those emotions all at once and when it's over you'll feel so empty it hurts and you may not know how to put the pieces back together again. You can. You can come back from that too, but it's harder sometimes. Does that make sense?"
Tristan nodded and they were silent again for a while. "Did you ever start thinking about boys again?" the girl asked shyly—awkwardly.
Dani smiled at her. "Yes, I did. Everyone is different, but for me it took a while. But eventually I was able to think about boys, and even have a boyfriend."
"Is it that tall one with the beard and the long hair? The one you were with yesterday?"
Dani nodded. "Yes, that's Opie."
"He looks a little scary." She said, sounding almost apologetic at her confession.
Dani smiled. "When I met him, I told him he looked like a sasquatch—you know, like Big Foot?" Tristan giggled and Dani continued. "The truth is that he is just a big teddy bear. Sometimes the people that look the scariest are the ones that are the nicest people. Sometimes the prettiest people can be the cruelest. You can't judge someone on appearance alone."
"How do you know who is safe then, and who isn't?"
"That can be harder. You have to learn to trust your instincts. Listen to that little voice inside of you that tells you when something doesn't feel right. When you want to go someplace new, try and go with someone you trust. When meeting a new friend, always go to public places, and bring friends you already know to join you if you can. There are all sorts of things you can do to try and be safe, but most of it boils down to that first rule; listen to your gut instincts."
Dani could see Tristan absorbing the information, so she sat there quietly, waiting to see if she had any other questions or wanted to talk. Before either of them could speak again though, Mrs. Oswald came into the room.
"Hello, you're Danielle Teller, aren't you?" Mrs. Oswald asked.
"Yes, but please call me Dani. I was just sitting with Tristan so she would have some company until you came back, but now that you're here, I'll give your family some privacy." Dani said as she stood up. "Tristan, remember what I said. Anytime, anywhere, okay?"
"I can really call you?" Tristan asked.
"If you want to, absolutely. You just relax now, ok?" Dani said as she headed out of the room.
"Dani?" Tristan called out. "Thanks for not asking."
"Anytime." And with that, Dani was gone. She stopped at the information desk, intent on making one more stop before going back to check on Abel.
With the directions she received, she found her destination easily enough. She knocked tentatively on the door before opening it and stepping just inside.
"Hi, are you Wendy?" Dani asked.
The woman sitting up in the bed looked up at her. Her hair was in a messy bun, and it looked like she still had some faint smudged eyeliner around her eyes. Those eyes widened as they took Dani in. "Oh my God. It's you right? Dani? You're Jax's sister?"
"Yeah, that's me," Dani said offering a smile. "Is it all right if I come in?"
"Of course." At Wendy's invitation, Dani walked further into the room and sat at the foot of Wendy's bed. "I recognize you from some pictures Jax has. I heard you were back, and I wanted to come and meet you, but I wasn't in a very good place. I tried a couple times to get myself cleaned up enough that I wouldn't embarrass Jax, or myself, too much, but I guess you can tell that didn't really work out so well. I was really happy for Jax and you—the whole family, really, when I heard you had made your way home. "
"Thank you." Dani said. "I wanted to check on you. How are you doing?"
"I'm ok, I guess. I'm clean right now, but I'm not very good at staying that way. And I feel horrible that I couldn't stay that way for my baby, that he is suffering because of me."
"Abel is strong though. I have faith he will come through all of this just fine. I can't imagine what you've gone through, but it doesn't seem like you've had much of the right kind of support or motivations before. Abel is here now. He is going to need his mom. You can be strong for him. And if you need more support than that, you have me."
"You don't hate me for what I did? I guess I kinda figured you felt the same way Gemma did."
"No, I don't hate you for what you did. I don't know your life, or what you've been through that made you make the choices that you did. Gemma and I have a different perspective on a lot of things. I hope that seeing how Abel's been affected by your drug use, and knowing that he is going to need you in his life will give you the strength you need to make the choice to stay clean from now on. And if you need a friend during that process, someone who isn't about that life, someone who wants you to succeed, I hope you will feel like you can reach out to me. You may be divorcing my brother, but technically you are still my sister right now."
Wendy seemed shocked by Dani's offer of support, and when she spoke, her voice was thick with emotion. "Thank you," was all she said.
"You're welcome." Dani replied and reached out and squeezed Wendy's hand. "I'll leave you to get some rest and think about things, but feel free to reach out. Jax can get you my info if you want to talk, or I live with Opie, if you know his number you can get ahold of me that way."
"You and Opie, huh?" Wendy asked.
"Yep," Dani said with a smile.
"Good. He deserves a good one. So do you, and they don't come much more good than Opie." Wendy offered with a smile.
"They really don't." Dani grinned back. "See you around, Wendy."
"Yeah, later, Dani."
Dani stopped at the NICU but Gemma wasn't there. Dani took a quick peek around the floor before hopping in the elevator and going down a level. She had been walking the halls for a while when she turned the corner and almost walked straight into not only Gemma, but Jax as well. Jax reached out and steadied her. "Tristan tell you anything?" Jax asked her.
Dani shook her head.
Gemma grabbed his arm. "Her mom told me the whole thing. It was some guy working the carnival, dressed as a clown."
"The jerk from the dunk tank?" Dani asked and Gemma nodded.
"Does Hale know?" Jax asked her.
"No, but I can't stop her mom from telling him." Gemma said.
"Alright, thanks Ma. Can you take Dani home?" he asked, not waiting for an answer before taking off.
Gemma drove Dani home, and they shared a smirk as they were leaving, when they drove by Hale's Jeep and saw the man standing there on his radio calling for backup because his tires were flat.
The ride to Dani's was spent in a comfortable silence as they both processed the events of the day. Dani gave her mom a wave and a promise to see her in a day or two before getting out of the car, digging her keys out of her bag as she walked up to the door and let herself in.
She was surprised when she came in that Opie was there, sitting on the sofa waiting for her. "Hey," She said, unable to stop the smile from breaking out across her face. "I thought you'd be out with club, you know, taking care of the clown." She said as she dropped all of here things right there and climbed onto the sofa and into Opie's lap.
Opie immediately wrapped his arms around her. "I was, but told the guys they could handle it from there. I wanted to be with you.
"Me too. I missed you all day," she said and closed her eyes, soaking up the warmth from Opie. It had been a long and turbulent day, but they were finally together, finally home.