HELLO MY RAVENS. I am so so sorry for the random hiatus😭 What started out as a one week break so that I could catch up before vacation turned into an all out dumpster fire when I FINALLY found myself bitten by the Covid bug😅 I am alive and well, but the brain fog is no joke :))) I am JUST finally starting to feel like a human being who is capable of looking at a screen without fainting😭 So, with that being said, the next few weeks are going to be a little rocky on top of these already rocky last few weeks, and I'm so sorry for that. I am going to Europe for 3 weeks (I've been trying to take this trip since 2020 and this mf Covid almost stole it from me AGAIN), and I'm sorry to say that I don't think I will be able to update during that time. I could be wrong, but I'm not going to put any pressure on myself while I'm still healing, to try and pump out content to be able to update while I'm gone. I do however fully plan on weekly Sunday night/Monday morning updates making their proper return come July. Thank you so much for bearing with me ❤️(PS I'm feeling real guilty so if you have any burning questions/predictions/theories/requests that you're dying to have answered, now would be the time to ask 👀)

General trigger warnings for this story: Language, smut, mentions of rape, mentions of drug use/overdose, violence/death, racism/gang activity.

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CHAPTER 10: WRECKAGE

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Tig and Clay rode down Main Street on their way back to the clubhouse in search of Sydney, hopeful that they had somehow just missed her in their hasty travels, because time was running out to give Laroy the heads up that his shit was about to hit the fan over their mistake - the mistake that shouldn't have existed.

"There!" Tig yelled over their collective roaring engines as they sat at a red light, pointing out Sydney's car parked in front of her favorite coffee shop.

Sydney grumbled as the telltale rumbling of motorcycles got louder, her sliver of peace crumbling before her eyes - or ears - as they so quickly found her in the one place that she'd had left to be alone, because apparently her own house was out of the question. She sighed, crossing her legs and placing the straw of her much-needed venti iced latte between her lips as she watched the door expectantly.

The two large men came barreling into the quaint cafe just seconds later, morning diners moving frantically out of their way - bumping into walls and tables so not to block the path of the determined bikers.

"Jesus Christ." Tig shook his head when he finally laid eyes on her, blowing out a sigh of relief.

But Clay hardly shared in his Sergeant's reprieve as he looked to her for an explanation, his brow only raising higher when she met him with a hardened stare of pure indifference. He held her gaze for a few seconds as he waited for Tig to penetrate her facade, but it quickly became clear that the curly-haired man had struck out far before this conversation had even started.

"We were worried about ya…" He decided to take on the roll of 'good cop', forcing himself to swallow the frustration over the turmoil being caused by the incest within his ranks.

"Well, here I am." She mused theatrically, resting her elbows on the table where she folded her hands together.

Clay scowled, looking to Tig for a proper explanation now - but he also gave him nothing. "You don't answer your phone anymore?" He shook his head incredulously, briefly remembering why women had never been considered for the club in the first place - because it wasn't just their emotions that got in the way…

"It's dead." She told him simply as she actively avoided whatever Tig was trying to tell her with his glossy blue eyes.

"Well then charge it." He bit out, slamming his burner down on the table. "We need a meet with Laroy."

"Alright, well then meet with him." She countered with a scoff. In the months since Donna's death, she had watched her strong and fearless President back himself into a corner with his tail between his legs - exactly like she had tried to tell him he would be forced to do if he didn't listen to her. Now with Jax calling all of the shots and barking up every wrong tree, she'd been left with nothing to scratch on - and that was a scab that was going to take more than a single bone to heal.

Clay raised a brow, leaning over the small, one-person table where he slid the phone closer. "I trust that you remember the number." He smiled sarcastically, shooting Tig a look that told him that he better get a handle on his woman so that they could get back to business, making his way outside so that the couple could have what was apparently some much-needed alone time.

Tig felt the guilt coursing through his entire body as Sydney glared up at him as soon as they were alone, looking away awkwardly as he tried to figure out where the hell to start - but Clay's narrowing eyes on the other side of the glass told him exactly where he would be starting.

"Uh." He cleared his throat, looking back to her. "That Mayan we killed yesterday… Jax went rogue and tagged him as a Nine. Need to let Laroy know that shit's about to get crazy in O-town." He explained as he rubbed the back of his neck, hoping that the news would redirect the anger that he could feel radiating off of her.

Sydney nodded slowly, watching him closely as he trembled under her stare, saying nothing as she reached for the phone and flipped it open, dialing Laroy's number.

"You gonna ask what happened?" Tig scowled when she stayed silent.

"You just told me." She scoffed, lifting the phone to her ear and getting to her feet.

"Yeah, but ain't you curious about how it went down?" He shook his head incredulously.

"I don't give a shit how it went down. It's your problem, not mine." She told him bitterly as she gathered her things and turned towards the door. "Gas station outside of town - I'll meet you guys there. Public place to keep everybody square." She explained before disappearing, just as she had the night before.

Tig sighed, forcing himself not to get too discouraged as he tried to convince himself that a majority of her attitude was coming from her hangover - as it had many times over the past months - following her outside as they did what they did best: ignored their problems to handle business.

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Unser sighed as he drove around the outskirts of town, trying to focus on the beat of the old rock song that was pounding through the speakers of the fancy car that played music much louder than he thought was even possible, instead of the steadily increasing beat of his heart.

He'd put it off as long as he could - trying to find another way to explain what had happened without explaining what had happened, but as he approached the construction site, he knew that this was the only way.

He took a deep breath as he drove the beautiful car up the small hill, wincing as he placed it into neutral and stepped out onto the dusty pavement - watching as it began to roll, gaining just the right amount of speed before smashing head-on into a cement barrier.

"Another magical day to be alive…" He sighed once again as he turned away from the smoking sight that he hoped she would forgive - that she had to forgive, starting the long walk back into town as the sun began to rise on the first day of November.

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Sydney sat back in the driver's seat of her car, smoking a cigarette while Clay and Tig did the same next to their bikes behind her where they were all parked at the gas station on the outskirts of town.

"Alright… I'll send somebody out." Clay slammed his phone shut with a sigh, looking towards Tig. "Rosen - Otto wants to talk to us."

Tig nodded distantly, his eyes wandering behind his sunglasses to the side mirror of Sydney's car where he could just barely see her face. He offered her a small smile, but she turned away the second that she saw it. He sighed, his heart pinching behind his tightening chest as he chewed the inside of his lip - looking hopefully for something to distract him from the understanding that he had royally fucked every good thing that had ever come into his life.

"Here comes Captain Black." He perked up when the Mercedes came into view - the quintessential 'corruption car', it seemed.

Sydney didn't bother removing her giant sunglasses as she took the final drag off of her cigarette, holding it in for as long as she could before she stepped out of her car and dropped the butt to the ground, grinding it beneath the thin sole of her shoe.

"Premium or regular, sir?" Clay approached the car with a grin.

Laroy ignored the old man's joke, looking past him and directly at Sydney who seemed to be ignoring her old man as the curly-haired Sergeant hovered over her while she looked straight ahead.

"Your intel checked out." He nodded. "Dead Mayan was flashing our sign…" Teaj stepped out of the vehicle, nodding Sydney's way.

"Been missin' that ass around the hood, shorty!" He called as he made his way into the small convenience store with a menacing grin.

"Hey!" Laroy hollered to his player of a right hand who had much less concern for the presence of hers, snapping his fingers. "Not now!"

Sydney chuckled, pulling her sunglasses down far enough so that he could see the wink that she tossed him - feeling herself being pulled into Tig's side as a growl rumbled in his chest. She cursed herself for the betraying reaction that her touch-starved body gave, a moan almost slipping through her lips as her stomach dipped and her thighs pressed together, but she quickly realized that this was just another display of possession in the presence of another man.

"It must've been the Mexicans - killed their own guy." Laroy surmised without a second thought, nodding with a fierce determination.

Sydney was suddenly glad to be in Tig's arms, because it stopped her from blowing their cover by physically slapping her palm over her own fucking face as her eyes widened dramatically behind her shades at the continuously shocking stupidity of the men before her.

Tig bit his lip as a smirk tugged at it when he felt Sydney squirming in his grip, squeezing her hip to let her know that he too found endless amusement in the so horribly misguided conclusion - but it was a conclusion that benefitted them.

Sydney shivered again - a feeling that she was sure he could feel this time. She shook her head, pulling herself from his grasp as she made her way closer to the gang leaders. She refused to allow herself to get her hopes up, especially for the wrong reasons.

"Guess me and you are goin' steady again." Laroy nodded.

Clay lifted his hand which Laroy grasped, pulling him into an embrace. "I'm happy to say that our little Mexican retail experiment is in the rearview, brotha." He pulled away with a smile, looking over the less than pleased expression of his new - and old - business partner. "You look tired, man..." He taunted.

"Yeah, well… Recreational H is drying up." Laroy sighed. "Ain't no stimulus package for the middle-class powder user, so black and brown are back to fighting over the junkie trade."

"The tragedies of a recession…" Sydney mused, feeling an irritating flicker of warmth in her heart as Tig chuckled behind her.

"Gonna need two dozen AKs." Teaj seemingly reappeared out of nowhere, speaking directly to Sydney who blinked out of her haze.

"Alright." Clay nodded when she didn't. "They'll be simple though - no scopes, no mods."

"Need them tonight." Laroy nodded. He wasn't picky - not when they were at war.

"I'll call you with the location." Clay nodded back.

AJ Weston blinked with each shutter of the industrial strength camera that his bulky arms held up without a problem, watching the encounter between two of Northern California's biggest players through the lens - the encounter that should've been stopped. He pulled away with a scowl, sinking down behind the steering wheel of his truck as a Charming PD squad car rolled up - immediately pointing his camera back at the scene that provided him much more intel than he had expected.

"Somethin' you fellas need?" Unser greeted the dark-skinned men as he approached what he was sure was a meeting that he shouldn't have been interrupting, but it gave him the motivation that he so desperately needed to be able to deliver the lie.

"Black man can't stop for gas in Charming?" Laroy scoffed, turning his attention to Sydney while Tig and Clay stepped forward to muzzle their nosey lapdog. "Looks like our little vanilla cupcake healed up good…" He whispered, his lips brushing the top of her head as he ran the back of his hand along her thigh.

"Always do." She nodded.

"They must be payin' you real well to be takin' beatings and bullets."

"When you're good at something, never do it for free, right?" She mused with a sarcastic smile. "We'll see you later, Mr. Wayne." She nodded, squeezing Teaj's bicep as she strutted past him with a smile.

"You boys have a nice day." Unser smiled as the unwelcome men glared at him while they reversed out of the small parking lot. "I thought that we don't shit where we eat?" He narrowed his eyes at Clay.

"Relax." Clay swatted the air as he pulled his gloves on. "Just mending some fences."

Unser nodded as he tried to force himself to say what he needed to say in a timely fashion, but he completely froze in front of the man that had always scared the living shit out of him - as he always had.

"What?" Clay scowled.

"Uh." He cleared his throat. "There's a car out by the power and water construction site - needs a tow."

"So call the garage." Tig whined with a roll of his eyes. He was tired, stressed, and hungover - he didn't need their operations being interrupted by something as minuscule as their day job.

"It- it's Gemma's Caddy…" He looked down at his boots. "She ran off the road last night on her way home fr-"

"Jesus christ." Clay cut him off, stalking up to him as his expression hardened. "She alright?"

Unser paused again. "Yeah…" He nodded unconvincingly. "She's with Tara at uh… At St. Thomas."

Sydney listened to the entire exchange with a crease in her forehead. They had driven past that same construction site on their way to the gas station, and she hadn't seen any wrecked vehicle - let alone Gemma's.

"You're just telling me this shit now, right?" Clay raised his brows as he made his way to his bike while Sydney and Tig exchanged the same look of confusion.

"I just found out!" The sound of revving engines drowned out what he hoped would be his last close call of the morning.

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Gemma sat up from the pelvic exam chair with a wince, looking up at Tara in hopes that she would tell her that the damage wasn't nearly as bad as it felt - because she hadn't yet had the courage to look for herself.

"Uh." Tara cleared her throat, doing her best to take the emotion out of this and do her job - just like she had done with Abel… Until she had formed too much of an emotional connection and inevitably crossed the line...

"There's a number of small tears, but it's nothing that won't heal on its own." She nodded assuringly as she slipped the blue gloves off of her trembling hands. "I'm gonna start you on antibiotics right away."

Gemma looked up with a concerned curiosity in her eyes. "It's standard procedure." Tara took a deep breath, not wanting to explain why it was standard procedure, but it was the only thing that was going to stop her from bursting into tears. "Advanced treatment for chlamydia and gonorrhea - even before the tests come back."

Gemma stared ahead blankly as the realization of just how much they had taken from her, slapped her in her throbbing face. She knew that there would be a recovery - both mental and physical - but she hadn't thought about the internal one as well…

Tara took her face into her hands as she made to remove the butterfly bandage that she had placed on the deepest gash in her cheek, her heart cracking when she flinched. "Sorry…" She muttered as far too many memories flooded her - memories that used to have her just as jumpy…

"Kohn tried to do the same thing to me." She whispered as she retook her face much more gently this time that she knew it was coming, tugging lightly at the bandage.

"What?" Gemma's eyes nearly popped out of her head.

Tara nodded softly. "When you came looking for Jax that morning… The night before he knocked me out and had me on the bed… I reached for his gun but." Her eyes fell closed as she took a deep breath. "I couldn't finish the job…" The bandage pulled free, a small amount of dried blood sitting on the surface of the wound. "Now you know a secret of mine." She nodded sincerely, hoping to give her the confidence that she so desperately needed right now.

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Sydney sat silently in the waiting room at with Clay and Tig, nervously bouncing her knee as her leg sat crossed overtop of it - trying to work out the timeline in which this supposed accident possibly could've taken place.

"Step aside, step aside - we got a man down." She heard the unmistakable accent coming from down the hall, looking up to see Chibs, Half-Sack, and Juice all looking extremely disheveled as they rolled a groaning Bobby into the waiting room on a stretcher.

She chuckled, but the amusement didn't last nearly as long as she would've hoped - looking back down at her phone screen that was still black, despite having been plugged into the charger for the last twenty minutes.

Tig turned from where he had been pacing around the small room, plastering a grin on his face for his brothers that were clearly having a much more manageable time with their hangovers than he was.

"How's the homecoming queen?" He nodded to Bobby.

"He's a little green." Juice laughed as he shook Bobby's leg - jolting him from his half-slumber.

Bobby looked around frantically as his long hair fell into his face. "How's Gemma?" He mumbled, vaguely remembering why they were there.

"Better than you." Clay nodded with a smirk.

"Good… Good… Alright." He nodded, passing back out against the rolling bed that was much more comfortable than the pool table.

Tig looked away, disappointed that his distraction had been short-lived - making his way back to his chair next to Sydney where he looked down at the phone that she was repeatedly trying to turn on.

"What was that about my 'shitty phone', again?" He nudged her with a smirk, pulling out his burner. "Clay chucked it against the wall this morning - still looks good as new." He proudly turned the silver device in his hands. "Doubt yours would be lookin' this good after a Jax-fueled pitch." He chuckled.

"Yeah…" Sydney's voice trailed off as her already spotty attention was stolen by the Chief of police who had clearlyattempted to slip past them undetected. "Probably not…"

Tig's brow twitched when she brushed him off, her voice going hollow and her eyes becoming unfocused. "Hey, babe." He leaned over, whispering into her hair gently as his hand found its way onto her knee. "Why don't you head home if you're hungover? I can keep you updated on Gemma-"

"I'm fine." She cut him off, shaking her head as she removed his hand from her leg and set the phone down on her chair as she got to her feet, following Unser down the hall where he ducked into a room that had to be Gemma's.

Unser stepped inside of the room where Tara was tending to Gemma's facial wounds. "Sorry." He averted his eyes from where she was covered by just a blanket over her legs - guilt flooding him as Tara pulled the curtain closed. "Sorry, Doc… I need a word with Gemma."

Gemma winced. A word was the last thing that she wanted right now. "Let him in…" She sighed, listening as the two whispered to each other while they traded places.

Tara left them alone for some privacy - something that she was sure to give Gemma as much as she could. But as she pulled the door closed behind her, she froze in place as she looked up to see Sydney's green eyes staring right through her.

Sydney felt her heart sink when Tara looked at her like that. Not like she was surprised to see her, but like she wassurprised to see her; sadly, desperately, guiltily - like she had been caught red-handed. The two stared at each other silently, forming some kind of unspoken understanding as Tara ducked back into the room with a nod that did nothing to help calm her suspicions.

"What is it?" Gemma shook her head in frustration.

"Clay's here…" Unser choked out regrettably.

Gemma felt a jolt of anxiety run through her already worry-ridden body. "You son of a bitch…" She felt her voice beginning to shake.

"I told him you were in a car accident." He did his best to put a stop to what she was thinking.

"What?" Gemma scowled.

"I ran your Caddy into a concrete barrier out by the utility shed…" He sighed as Tara reappeared, looking just as pissed as Gemma was… "Take my head off if you want." He threw his arms up in defense. "I just didn't see any other way to sell this."

Gemma didn't nod - she wasn't going to give him that satisfaction, but she retreated, looking back down at the pink blanket that covered her bruised legs.

"He doesn't know about nothing else." He assured the two women.

"I'll go and talk to him." Tara offered.

"I-" Gemma shook her head. "I don't wanna see him yet…" She couldn't see him yet.

"Actually…" Unser winced. "They're all here…" Tara twitched, knowing that a specific one of them was standing right outside the door, and she didn't know if it mattered whether Gemma wanted to see her or not…

"Jesus Christ." Gemma sneered. "Is there anyone you didn't tell?"

"I'll handle it." Tara tried to assure her as she turned back towards the door, but she wasn't sure if it was the truth… She knew that she would be able to lie to the men who didn't know any better, but she had no idea how she was going to lie to Sydney who was already suspicious; who knew what this looked like, firsthand - and she didn't know if she wanted to.

"Uh…" Unser looked around the room that was full of sharp tools for Gemma to stab him with. "Maybe I should help her…" He turned towards the door, quickly being yanked back.

Gemma tightened her grip on his arm as she tried to find the words - tried to make herself say the words. "This wasn't about me." She told him in a whisper.

"What do you mean?" Unser's forehead creased.

"What those animals did." She kept her voice level as it threatened to break. "It was to hurt Clay - Jax." She watched as it finally began to make sense to him. "If anyone finds out, then they win… And I can't let that happen."

"Who's 'they', honey?" But he was cut off by the door opening behind him, turning to see Sydney standing where her jaw had fallen to the floor. "Hey!" He yelled, shooing her out of the room as he yanked the curtain closed, but he was no match for her speed as she side-stepped him before becoming paralyzed once again as she came face to face with exactlywhat he had desperately tried to stop her from seeing.

"Gemma…" Her voice barely came out in a whisper as she ignored the old cop who seemed to know as well as she did that something was not right here.

"It's alright." Gemma told him with a shake of her head.

Unser watched her reluctantly before deciding that he wasn't exactly in a position to be disobeying her orders, sighing as he made his way out of the room.

Sydney stayed silent as dread enveloped her body and wrapped itself around her neck as she looked at the spitting image of her teenage self - the image that she had struggled to face after what had been done to her…

"I'm alright, baby." Gemma nodded, pulling her eyes away before they could begin spilling the tears that she had been holding in all morning.

"W-" Sydney tried to clear her constricting throat, but her voice still came out in a squeak. "What happened?"

"Ah." Gemma swatted the air. "Had too much to drink last night… Should've just stayed at the clubhouse with Clay." She did her best to sound nonchalant as she delivered the lie that held so much truth - she should've stayed at the clubhouse with Clay.

"So did I, and I didn't total my fucking car?" The blonde woman exclaimed incredulously as she rushed over, the confused panic in her chest turning to frustration as she continued to search her eyes for the truth.

"I told you before, I ain't young like you." Gemma forced out a chortle, but she knew that she'd been caught the second that she watched Sydney's bloodshot eyes twitch out of her deceptive hold, and fall to the blanket in her lap. "I'm alright." She narrowed her eyes, recapturing hers as her voice fell into the commanding tone that, for a second, made her feel like she actually might be.

Sydney's entire body was rigid with fear, but The Matriarch had made it clear that this was not the place for it. "Are you sure?" She whispered shakily.

"Yes, baby." Gemma nodded, confident that they were at least on the same page about this being under the radar. "Just sore… A little insecure." She chuckled - going for the one thing that she knew Sydney would be able to understand… "I just don't want them to see me like this - didn't want anyone to see me like this." She forced a playful smirk.

Sydney nodded as she tried to tell herself that it was the truth the way that Gemma wanted her to do. There was no reason that she shouldn't believe it; it was a truth that she could reconcile, and even one that she could understand - but there was also something else that she could understand… An awful memory that sat tucked tightly away in the back of her mind… A memory that was refusing to let her accept that this had been the result of a car accident.

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