One good deed doesn't stop Sydney from growing increasingly tired of Jax's alternative methods while he tries to steer the outlaw club onto a straighter path as the feds begin to close in.
General trigger warnings for this story: Language, smut, mentions of rape, abuse, drug use/overdose, violence/death, racism/gang activity.
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CHAPTER 18: BEFORE BULLETS
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Tig felt himself being slowly coaxed out of his deep sleep by a pleasant tightening in his stomach. He felt a smile creeping across his lips as he kept his eyes closed, still not fully awake as his hands gripped the sheets below him before eventually moving to grasp the source of his pleasure. His eyes flew open the second that they made unexpected contact with the softness of hair, realizing that his wet dream was very much a reality as he was met with Sydney's wide eyes from where she knelt on the bed between his legs, topless and sucking his cock into her mouth. His own eyes widened once he realized what exactly he was looking at - the feeling so intense at the early hour that he didn't even acknowledge the pounding in his head, or the throbbing in his leg.
"Baby." He groaned, beginning to sit up before she pressed her tongue harder along the underside of his dick, withdrawing him from her mouth and licking the tip teasingly before pushing herself up the bed to meet him halfway.
"Relax." She pressed her lips to his in a hard kiss, curling her tongue around his before pulling away just as abruptly - pressing her palms against his chest and pushing him back down to the mattress.
"You are gonna kill me." He growled through gritted teeth as she made her way back down, smoothing her hands down his thighs as she neared his length once again.
"Why's that, Tiggy?" She asked with a pout, her lips only a hair away from where he wanted them as she looked up at him innocently.
"Because-" But before he could get his sentence started, she shoved him all the way to the back of her throat. She withdrew again, laughing sadistically as he caught his breath. "That's fucking why. Get up here." He ordered with a growl.
"Or what?" She bit her lip.
"Come on, doll." He whined. "You wouldn't do that to an injured man, would ya?"
"Maybe you don't know me as well as you think you do." She grinned playfully. "Now, are you gonna be a good patient and sit still for the nurse?"
His eyes glinted, saying nothing as he obeyed her commands and laid back - besides, letting her finish wouldn't exactly be the worst thing in the world.
Sydney raised a brow and narrowed her eyes as she lowered herself back down, continuing the sloppy blowjob that she had started.
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Vic Trammel sighed as he pulled up to the bones of the Sons' warehouse that he had been guarding for weeks under the guise of 'evidence protection', stepping out of his squad car where he popped the trunk and began fishing through the sea of law enforcement equipment for the personal items that he had brought on the job to help make time go by just a little easier - a fold out chair, a bag of sunflower seeds, and some XXX magazines.
But his newfound morning routine was interrupted by the sound of another vehicle rolling over the gravel, looking up to see none other than Deputy Chief David Hale. "Shit!" He slammed his trunk closed, shuffling over to the old Ford Bronco that had another Charming PD marked cruiser in tow.
"You're a little outside your jurisdiction, aren't you, Hale?" The older man squinted in the sun.
"Well." Hale shrugged as he stepped out onto the rubble-littered ground. "When something blows up this close to your town? It would be bad law enforcement not to look into it." He nodded as he approached what he could now be sure was a crime scene, thanks to Kohn.
"Well this is county property." Trammel took a step forward. "San Joa. sheriffs can handle this." He narrowed his eyes at the other two cops that began to circle the perimeter.
"It might've been..." Hale nodded. "Until we got a tip that it may be linked to the Sons of Anarchy." He held up the search warrant with a smug smile. "Which, if you'll remember, Vic... Is outside of your jurisdiction."
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"You gonna keep making me ask what went down yesterday?" Tig asked as he lightly tickled Sydney's exposed ribs as she laid with her back pressed against his chest - enjoying what was the relaxing sensation of his hands caressing the sensitive skin covering her upper body before the increased pressure made her squeal as she tried to wiggle out of his grip before he managed to calm her, stilling his hands and pressing his lips to the back of her neck.
"Maybe I just want you to make up for falling asleep on me so early. I was so lonely, I almost had to use Jax to get off." She tilted her head all the way back to look at him with those sparkly, mischievous eyes - watching his bright blue ones narrow. "What first?" She caved, rolling her eyes as she turned onto her stomach, using his outstretched arm as a pillow.
"The fact that you ride." He scoffed.
"I got my motorcycle license not long after I got my drivers." She shrugged. "I'm surprised you didn't catch on when you were teaching someone who has grown up around bikes their whole life, but supposedly had no idea what side the clutch was on." She smirked.
"Yeah, yeah." He groaned. "What about Clay?"
Sydney's light expression fell slightly as the conversation took a more serious turn. "He didn't think that the bounty was serious." She pulled her eyes away. "Jax tried to reason with him, and we all know how that seems to go." She scoffed.
"Didn't used to be that way." Tig observed aloud.
"Yeah..." She nodded slowly. "You think it has anything to do with me?"
"Maybe." He blinked. "Started just before Abel was born, got worse when you came. But I don't think it's anything against you - think it's somethin' against you siding with Clay." Sydney nodded along with the theory that she hadn't yet considered.
"Piney knew it was serious, so I went with him." She continued. "Jax, Chibs, and Hap joined... And then you know the rest."
"Syd…" He shook his head. "Crossing Clay... You gotta be careful-."
"Yeah, I know." She snapped. She didn't need a lecture from the man who was laying in his own bed, and not in a jail cell, because of her. "I talked to Clay." She waved off his concern. "He ain't happy, but he ain't pissed at me either. I'll be fine."
Tig just nodded, chuckling as he realized that the little firecracker was even harder to be reasoned with than he was, but that was a problem for another day. "Guess I have some explaining to do, too." He grimaced.
"Yeah! What the fuck?" She exclaimed with wide eyes and a crease in her forehead, punching him in the shoulder.
"Ow!" He recoiled. "The hell you hittin' me for? I'm cooperating!"
"You're fucking stunted if you don't know why!" She playfully hit him again. "Making me forget that you were the one who caused all this shit, getting your ass hauled off for God knows what!"
"Hey." He held up a finger in protest. "Technically, Bobby was the one who caused it."
"Oh, yeah? Bobby cause the bounty too?" He just winced in response. "Yeah, that's what I thought." The pair chuckled before Tig went on to tell her about the horribly misunderstood crime that had caused the bounty in the first place, about the bounty hunters themselves, and about Bobby being dubbed his bitch until he was healed - the two of them laughing hysterically as he recounted what he had done to provoke the beating that had ironically saved him.
Even battered and bed ridden, Tig was glowing - basking in the safe haven that she provided him. He'd never expected to see the day where he would be spending a morning laid up with a blonde in her twenties, laughing about his less than conventional mishaps. "I love you." He grinned.
"Yeah, I bet you do." She shook her head discerningly. "You're lucky you're hurt, or I'd make ya get on your knees and grovel to me."
"That would hardly be a punishment." He smirked suggestively.
"Oh yeah? I'll hold you to that." She smirked before finally getting herself out of bed to begin getting ready for the day's work at TM - unbraiding her hair from the night and dressing in the only things that she had around his dorm; a pair of leggings, a slightly cropped red tank top, and combat boots.
"I need more clothes here." She whined as she stormed out of the bathroom, feeling her skin beginning to crawl with discomfort in the thick leggings that she longed to be a pair of shorts on the hot July day, and the ground level shoes that didn't at all match the outfit as a whole.
Tig raised an eyebrow as she stomped around the room, gathering her things in a huff. He didn't understand what she was so upset about - he thought she looked hot in the tight pants that hugged her curves in all the right places - but if there was anything that he'd learned from his short time as a husband, it was to simply smile and nod.
"Babe." Sydney was temporarily distracted from the tantrum that she felt bubbling in her chest, looking up to see Tig sitting against the headboard in amusement as he watched her pout like a child.
"I don't wanna hear it." She whined, knowing how ridiculous he probably thought that she was being.
"Bottom drawer." He chuckled, nodding towards his dresser. "The black Harley one on the top."
She furrowed her brows in confusion, but followed his instructions anyways - opening the drawer to see a bunch of t-shirts. "Tiggy, you don't have to-"
"It's fine. I don't need it back." He nodded. He'd seen her wear band tees before, and he didn't mind sacrificing one of his if it meant that she would be more comfortable - especially since he was the reason that she didn't have her proper clothes. "We can just consider my debt squared." He winked.
She bit her lip, swaying bashfully as a blush spread across her face, grabbing a pair of scissors and heading back into the bathroom where she cut out the front of the shirt to expose her cleavage - leaving the neckline intact to give a choker-style effect before knotting it up in the front to tie the look together.
"I should've left you in the other top." Tig grimaced when she re-emerged after somehow having turned the large men's t-shirt into something even more revealing than the tiny top that she'd been wearing earlier. "Bring some more of your clothes here, I can give up another drawer if I need to." He smiled sympathetically.
"You only got yourself to blame, Sergeant." She smiled back as she walked over to him and leant down for a goodbye kiss which she deepened, showing her gratitude for his thoughtful actions. "Thank you." She whispered before pressing her lips back to his in another sweet embrace before she finally pulled away to get to her shift on time.
"Hi, Kippy." She cheerfully greeted the prospect who was lugging cases of beer to the fridges behind the bar as she passed through on her way to the office.
"Hey, Syd." Half-Sack raised a hand in greeting before remembering just as she was walking out the door, that he was supposed to be keeping her confined to the clubhouse. "Shit." He grumbled, racing after her. "Hey!" He caught up to her just as she was about to cross the threshold. "Uh, that was cool yesterday." He attempted to look nonchalant by sticking his arm straight up and flopping his body against the doorframe.
Sydney raised a brow in amusement - the poor kid couldn't be deceptive even if his life depended on it. "It was." She nodded with her lips pursed, her expectant eyes telling him that she was onto him.
"Your bike looks real cool, you know... With all the other bikes." He waved his hand frantically towards the bikes that were lined up in the middle of the compound.
Sydney glanced quickly in the direction that he was pointing before using the element of surprise to catch him off guard, taking one giant step and pressing him against the wall with her body, holding him in place.
"Cut the shit, prospect." She nodded as he squirmed against her. "What're you tryin' to distract me for?" She spoke close to his face.
"What? Distract you? No way." His grimace overtook his scoff.
"You wanna keep that one nut, don't ya?" The poor kid winced in defeat. Even though she only stood at a mere 5'4 - he found her calm, casual tone to be scarier than any menacing threat that she could've presented him with.
"In the garage..." He mumbled.
Sydney looked him up and down with a smirk. "Good boy." She nodded before taking off in the very direction that she wasn't supposed to go.
"Thought the ol' Fat Boy was supposed to be lyin' in a ditch somewhere off 99?" Bobby and Juice jumped at the sound of a woman's voice behind them, whipping their heads around to see Sydney leaning against a car with a smirk on her face.
Bobby scowled, scanning the compound for Half-Sack who he'd tasked with keeping Sydney and Tig away from the garage whilst he and the Intelligence Officer attempted to fix his beloved bike. He found Half-Sack standing in the doorway, wincing dramatically to try and let him know that he had done everything in his power to keep the invasive blonde occupied.
"All you had to do was get him to tell me that I had the day off." She stated matter-of-factly, sporting a smug smirk as she taunted the men - and their lack of effort.
"Look, this bike is my baby, okay? It's my baby!"
Sydney turned her head dramatically and raised her brows. "Tell ya what, I won't say anything to Tig if you all pretendthat Half-Sack told me that I have the day off."
"Deal." Bobby replied easily.
Sydney smiled big before waltzing back to the clubhouse, looking around the poorly lit room where a few more members had trickled in for the day. Her eyes landed on Jax who was sipping his coffee at the bar, deciding that she would attempt to maintain their current good standing.
"No church?" She slid into one of the empty bar stools next to him.
"Money's in the safe, marked envelopes." He nodded to the chapel, assuming that was what she was interested in.
"Damn... He is pissed." She raised her eyebrows with a snicker - her knowing smile matching the one spreading across his face. "What's going on there, anyway?" She questioned as casually as possible.
"I don't know, man..." He shrugged. "Just thinkin' about shit since the kid was born... The club, the future, my dad." He explained. With the recent reconciliations between himself, Tara, and Wendy - he had managed to regain control of his emotions that had spiralled so wildly out of control the past weeks, keeping them tucked into the back of his mind instead of lashing out defensively.
"She could be good for you." She shot him a knowing smirk as she nodded. "How's Abel?" She asked with a smile.
Jax returned her knowing smile, glad that at least somebody seemed to be on the same page about Tara - even if it was Sydney. "Seems to be out of the woods... Gonna be in the cage for a while though." A smidge of resentment found its way back into his tone.
"Like father, like son." She mused playfully. "And Wendy?" Her voice softened as she broached the next, and even more sensitive subject.
"Ah." He shook his head, hoping to show her that her hesitance wasn't necessary. "Shipping her off to rehab... Again." He chuckled.
"Think it's gonna work this time?" She raised a brow.
"Don't know." Jax shrugged. "I'm not holding my breath, but I think having the baby might make a difference."
Sydney nodded understandingly, falling into a short silence as she contemplated his words. "You don't think that Clay is carrying on your dad's legacy." She surmised with a distant nod as the conclusion finally came to her.
"Yeah…" Jax scoffed. "Somethin' like that."
Sydney could see the quick change in his demeanor as his jaw clenched tighter, his eyes went darker, and his expression went sour. "Looks like I'm not the only one with daddy issues." She nudged him playfully. She knew that there was more to the story, but she would find that out later - now that she finally knew where to start.
Jax allowed the much lighter subject to put a halt to the brooding that came a little too easily these days. "Darlin'..." He scoffed. "You got more than daddy issues... You got grandpa issues." He smirked.
"If grandpa issues are on the table..." Piney husked as he entered the room, hauling his oxygen tank up onto the bartop. "Then I'm next in line."
"You're my next stop, old man." Sydney licked her lips as she gave the founding member a lazy once over.
Jax grimaced at the sight that he thought could be no worse than seeing her and Tig together. "You ever fucked anyone your own age?"
"Uh, yeah." She rolled her eyes. "What do you think made me realize that juvenile dick ain't my bent?" He smiled bashfully - the brashness of the young woman never failing to take him aback.
Sydney took her leave after some more progress with her male counterpart, heading to the chapel to retrieve her payout before returning to the main room. "Hi, Chibby." She greeted the Scot with a friendly smile, taking a seat at the table that he was occupying.
"Aye, Princess." He nodded. "You ain't workin' today?"
Sydney glanced out the door where Bobby and Juice were still working incognito. "Apparently not." She smiled.
A couple of hours later, Tig came hobbling out of his room after his calls to Fat Elvis went ignored. "Bobby!" The Sergeant screamed at the top of his lungs, startling Chibs who was in the middle of a heated round of five finger fillet with Sydney.
"Holy fuck!" Sydney exhaled, wide-eyed and laughing nervously with her hand pressed over her heart after dodging the knife that would've found itself plunged through the top of her delicate hand. "That's you." She looked to Half-Sack who was parked behind the bar, looking frantically between the needy Sergeant, and the door.
"Christ! Nearly chopped your lass' hand off!" Chibs caught his breath between his hollers of outrage. "I'm sure you don't want that." He gave Tig a pointed look.
"Where the hell is Bobby?" He whined.
"In the garage fixing the Fat Boy." Sydney replied casually, not looking up as she began slamming the knife between Chibs' fingers.
"What?" Tig exclaimed right as Bobby walked in.
"What do ya need, Tigger?"
"I thought I told you to leave that hunk of junk on the side of the road! What the hell you doin' fixin it?" Sydney smirked as the argument began.
"You can't be serious, man-" Bobby began to protest.
"No, no, no, no, no." Tig shook his head, holding his finger up to Bobby's lips. "I don't give a shit." Bobby shifted his gaze to the unbothered blonde who was supposed to be keeping him, and his Fat Boy under wraps.
"Really?" He widened his eyes and held out his hands.
Sydney looked up, still moving the knife across the hand of the foreign man. "Slip of the tongue." She stated sweetly with a shrug, slamming the blade down harshly without looking. She grinned sadistically as the entire table shook under her force - seeing the worry on everyone's faces before she pushed herself up. "Oh, by the way." She called over her shoulder as she made her way out of the clubhouse. "You should try replacing the fuel lines." She winked at Bobby.
"Is there anything she can't do?" He sighed, looking around in disbelief.
"Taxes?" Juice suggested.
"Did 'em in San Bern. when Joker was in the hospital after that pile up." Happy seemingly came out of nowhere to answer the question.
"Handstands?" The younger man tried again.
"Nah, brother." Tig smirked. "She can do those too." He winked devilishly.
"I don't even wanna know what that means." Juice sighed as he made his way back outside.
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After some much-needed TLC from his wife, Clay had managed to get over his mood from the day prior - finally gathering up the courage to show his face in the clubhouse after the embarrassing outburst.
"Afternoon, kids!" He greeted as he emerged from the chapel, holding the envelopes that had not yet been collected. "The Niners are officially taken care of - spoke with Laroy and he is giddy about his new assault rifles." The President had a giant grin plastered on his face as he tossed the envelopes to their respective owners.
Sydney and Jax exchanged a look of amusement, knowing that his excitement was being heavily exaggerated in an attempt to distract everyone from his equally dramatic tantrum the day before.
"I love the greed! All about the benjamins." Chibs waved his envelope around.
"Hey!" Juice got everyone's attention before they could get too excited. "Just got an update from my City Hall snitch… Looks like Hale's got a warrant to search the warehouse." He winced.
"The warehouse that burned down a month ago?" Sydney drawled with a dramatically raised brow, unsure how, or why a warrant was now being obtained for a pile of bones that had been sitting untouched for weeks.
"Why's Hale the one doin' it?" Clay sneered. "That ain't Charming jurisdiction!"
"Well is there still evidence up there?" Sydney was appalled that she even had to ask, but based on Clay's reaction - she already knew the answer.
"Trammel was keepin it under wraps." Jax sighed.
"So what the fuck is he doing now?" She exclaimed. "You are seriously telling me that you haven't bothered getting that shit cleaned up?"
"Had bigger problems to deal with." Chibs defended.
"Twenty-five to life seems like a pretty big fucking problem to me." She retorted.
"Our names ain't connected to that warehouse... Hale should've had no way to link it to us. Trammel was keeping it contained!" Clay's voice boomed in frustration, taking him right back to the mindset that had plagued him the day before as things continued to go wrong.
"Well something has made him decide to start looking into it, now hasn't it?" Sydney blinked. "Warrants aren't granted on suspicion. He's got something credible, and if there is even a shred of your DNA somewhere in that pile of rubble and gun parts, then you better get cozy with the idea of spending the rest of your days getting topped by a cellmate."
"Shit!" Clay cursed after sitting on her words for a second. She was right, the evidence of gun running in the warehouse was never the issue - hence why they had been lazy with the clean up - but now, the very real possibility of Hale linking it to SAMCRO, was. "Call Unser, call Trammel, call everyone! I want everybody at the table!"
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Opie stalked back into the house from where he had been working in the garage, hoping to avoid Donna on his way out after getting the call from Clay - but he was stopped in his tracks when he came face to face with where she was standing in the middle of the kitchen.
"You headin' out?" She asked much less accusingly than he had expected.
"Yeah..." He answered cautiously.
"Um." She ignored the urge in the pit of her stomach to ask where he was going. "I'm gonna need the truck..."
"Okay." Opie blinked. That was perfect - now he didn't need an excuse for riding his bike. "Something wrong with the Wagon?"
Donna sighed, pulling the folded papers from her back pocket. "We're three months behind... I gotta lock it in the garage or they'll repo it."
Opie shook his head, examining the papers. "I don't know how to get in front of this shit... We're getting buried here, Donna." He threw the notice down onto the counter.
"Look." She took his large hands in hers. "I'll pick up some weekend work, you'll get that pay bump soon..." She looked up into his eyes optimistically in a way that she hoped he could believe. "We're gonna make it through this, baby." She pressed a kiss to his unmoving lips. "I promise."
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"Trammel said that there was nothin' he could do. Hale showed up with the warrant in hand - started pokin' around." Tig relayed his phone call with the San Joaquin sheriff, to the full table.
"If we don't get this shit taken care of, that gun factory could land right on our doorstep." Jax winced.
"And ATF takes up a permanent residence in our collective rectums." Juice added - eliciting a giggle that Sydney forced herself to swallow.
"That warehouse sits on county property..." Clay tapped the table as a cigar hung out of his mouth while he tried to remain calm and logical - like a good President was supposed to do. "Hale's gonna have to wait days for San Joa. to shake loose a forensic unit."
"It's a local case, county won't get involved." Juice scowled. "Hale will just wind up borrowing a unit from Lodi."
"Hey…" Jax remembered something important. "Otto's sister still works for the A.D.A. in Lodi... Call her, see if there's a forensic team heading this way."
Sydney nodded in agreement. She was starting to realize that when Jax was level headed, he was a force to be reckoned with - not just a pretty face. Perhaps she'd judged the temporarily weak-minded Vice President too harshly...
"I still gotta talk to Unser." Clay sighed. "Maybe I can convince the Chief to put a leash on his hyperactive Deputy." He scoffed.
"Unser's just waitin' for the clock to run out." Jax shook his head. "That old boy's a lame duck."
"Yeah." Clay chuckled as he smacked the gavel, hoping that there wasn't as much truth to Jax's statement as he thought that there was.
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After church, Sydney took the lull in business as an opportunity to head back home and actually make a dent in the chores that Tig's company over the past few days had her neglecting - it was her day off, after all. She fired up her bike, revving the engine as she got ready to peel out of the compound and make her debut to the town as a rider, when she realized that the keys to her house were still in Tig's room. She sighed, cursing the delay for keeping her from her Ninja - and her change of clothes - any longer than necessary, ripping off her helmet and jogging back into the clubhouse. But she stopped with one foot in the door when she saw Tig lying on the couch with none other than Cheryl as she tried to rub his leg.
"I said I don't need anything." He tried to brush her off, but his injury didn't exactly have him in a position to make a breakaway.
"He needs more medical shit." Sydney answered for him. "You can go get that from the hospital, can't you Cheryl?"
The croweater straightened up when she heard the unexpected voice from behind her, turning around with a nasty scowl. "I don't take orders from you-"
"You can go get that from the hospital, can't you Cheryl?" Sydney raised her voice - a much firmer tone as she repeated herself, letting the older woman know that it wasn't up for debate.
Cheryl looked to Tig for confirmation - or rather backup as the mouthy little blonde tried to order her around.
"What are you, deaf? You heard her." He nodded out the door. "Go." He shooed her away.
Sydney stood firmly planted in front of the door, staring Cheryl down as she was forced to awkwardly try and slip past her.
Tig's eyes were wide as his mouth opened to plead his case, but Sydney just raised a brow and shot him a discerning smirk as she made her way down the hall to retrieve her keys before walking right back out to where her bike was waiting.
The blue-eyed man sat on the couch in a conundrum, blinking through his confusion. He had no fucking clue if she was actually pissed, or if this was just another one of her games. He thought that he'd seen a ghost of a smirk on her face, but the way that she'd stormed past him without a word had made it impossible to tell. He groaned for the hundredth time today, falling back against the armrest as he yelled for Half-Sack to bring him a bottle of whiskey.
;
"So, your boy..." Clay began as he and Chief Unser strolled down Main Street, smiling to the neighbourhood kids playing along the sidewalks. "Not really a team player." He raised his brow from behind his sunglasses.
"Hale's not interested in teammates." Unser shook his head. "He thinks that Charming is stuck in 1969 - wants to bring it into the twenty-first century." The older man sighed.
"Hale is a half-bright clerk with a Wyatt Earp complex - hardly seems like a guy with a vision." Clay scoffed hopefully.
"Don't underestimate him..." Unser warned regretfully. "He's tight with city council, and his old man's got deep political ties in Northern Cali."
"Yeah." Clay shrugged. "But you're the boss, right?" He narrowed his eyes.
"Come on, Clay." Unser sighed. "Since they found the cancer last year, I got one foot out the door." He explained a littletoo optimistically for Clay's liking. "The squad's his now - it'll be official in a few weeks."
Clay felt his blood run cold, side stepping his old pal as he stopped him dead in his tracks. "This uptight piece of shit is gonna make our lives miserable." He leaned down to the shorter man's level. "Do you understand what I'm saying?"
"There's nothing I can do about it." The soon-to-be retiree shrugged. "Doctors, colleagues... They're making me step down. I'm sorry, but it's done."
"Yeah..." Clay stepped out of the way and continued his stride. "I'm sorry too..."
"W-well this doesn't mean that we can't keep our business arrangement." Unser chased after him. "Me and you, we had a good thing going for a lot of years." He nodded desperately. The whole point of his current predicament was for Clay notto blame him - not the opposite. "We need each other."
Clay stopped, turning back to face him with a smile on his face. "Yes we do." He nodded. "What's the run?"
Unser looked around, pulling the roll of papers from his back pocket. "Got Blu-rays and iPods headin' down to San Jose." He narrowed his eyes. "Goddamn lowlives have been jacking the shit out of them. Keep your eyes open on this one."
"I'll make sure that they get where they're going." Clay smiled as he tucked the info into the pocket of his kutte.
Get where they're going, indeed.
;
Sydney spent the early afternoon giving her house a much-needed tidying, leisurely sipping rosé and absently listening to Forensic Files as it played through her speakers before the broadcast was interrupted by a call. She padded over to where her phone was plugged in on the coffee table, lifting it to see that Tig was calling. She chuckled as she pressed ignore, letting him sweat a little after the incident this morning. She wasn't at all upset, in fact, the bit of competition after such a reassuring past few days had really turned her on - but she didn't need him to know that yet.
Tig groaned as his call went to voicemail, sure now that she was upset with him. He ran his hands over his face in frustration. If she was going to get upset every time that a croweater or a hangaround tried to hit on him, they were going to have a lot of problems. But something about the predicament vaguely ticked a memory in his brain; the memory of her storming off before her sneaky little striptease on the night that they had played darts - making him once again question the motive behind her actions. But regardless of what his standing was with his much younger girlfriend, he was not in the shape to deal with it.
"Sack!" He yelled into the bar where he knew the scrawny kid would come running. "Call Syd for me." He ordered when Half-Sack did just that - trying to look as enthusiastic as possible after spending his entire day catering to the injured Sergeant.
"Did you need me to get your phone for you, or-" He turned down the hall.
"Did I say ask questions?" Tig cut him off. "Nah, I said call Syd for me." The poor kid wasn't trying to talk back - he was genuinely curious, but he had yet to catch onto the fact that the reasoning for his curiosity wasn't the problem, the problem was the fact that he expressed curiosity, at all.
Sydney snorted when she saw her phone lighting up seconds later with a call from Half-Sack. "Hi, Kippy!" She answered cheerfully, knowing that even if Tig wasn't listening, he would, at the very least, know that she'd picked up the call. Men were so painfully obvious with their tactics.
Tig glared at the younger man as his call was instantly answered. Half-Sack widened his eyes frantically, half in apology - not wanting to be collateral damage in whatever sick game that the odd pair was playing at - and half in uncertainty over what he was supposed to say.
"Church." Tig grumbled, pushing himself up off of the couch and hobbling off to the chapel.
"Uh, could you like, come back to the clubhouse? You know, for church?"
"I sure can." She replied sweetly. "I'll see you soon." She ended the call before she rode her bike back to the clubhouse, swapping her leggings and combat boots for a pair of denim shorts, and black Converse - still not her usual heels, but they allowed for riding, and that was something that she was going to have to get used to.
She pulled onto the compound a few minutes later, waltzing into the clubhouse with a bubblegum-flavored lollipop between her lips, mentally preparing herself for whatever other bullshit that these men were likely preparing to lay on her as she fell into formation behind Bobby, Juice, and Chibs who were all lined up outside of the chapel - dropping their phones into the empty box on the pool table, now that the threat of anonymously-tipped-off police was present.
"Jimmy Cacuzza called." Bobby told Clay as he took his seat. "The Italians wanna place an order - I didn't know what to say..."
"How about, 'the store burned down, they missed the fire sale'." Clay suggested with a smirk while Sydney snorted in response - her expression falling as soon as her eyes landed on Tig who was already in his chair.
"Well, I talked to Otto's sister…" Juice sighed as he sat down next to Bobby. "Lodi forensic team will be here first thing in the morning." He reported the bad news regretfully.
"And the shit keeps piling on my head." Clay gave a sarcastic smile.
"So we distract 'em with something big in Lodi - get the shit out while they're busy." Sydney suggested easily, not able to keep the blatant disappointment out of her tone. For such smart men, these guys could be incredibly fucking stupid.
"There's only one thing that's gonna stop that Lodi forensics team from gettin' to our warehouse... And that's another murder in Lodi." Clay narrowed his eyes.
"Yep." Tig agreed.
"I don't know..." Jax exhaled, shaking his head.
Here we go again... Sydney thought as she fought the urge to roll her eyes, seeing that Clay was apparently thinking the same thing as his head snapped up, prepared to defend himself against whatever bullshit excuse Jax was surely about to come up with.
"Hale's on red alert; Mayan's, Nord's - everyone's twitchy as hell, man..." He grimaced, defending himself in the least defensive way possible.
He had a point, but Sydney failed to see what two thirds of it had to do with the situation at hand. "You're all gonna be twitchy as hell sitting in ATF holding." She reminded him of the vast difference in consequences.
"It's not a good time to kill-" He shook his head.
"It's never a good time to kill." Clay cut him off. "But we're talking about the whole club here - stayin' outta ATF's crosshairs." Jax nodded half-heartedly along with everybody else as they pondered the ramifications of the messy situation that could land on all of them. "We hit the projects - find ourselves a scumbag, a dealer..." Clay tried to present the grim solution to his stepson in the most ethically sound way that he could.
"We should off a couple more Nords, Clay, is what we should do." Tig nodded. "Alright? We should just do that, and then dump the bodies in Lodi. Buys us some time to get shit cleaned up at the warehouse, sends one last message to Darby - kills two birds with one crow."
"That points finger at us with Hale and with the Nords." Sydney shot down her man's idea. She wasn't doing it purely out of spite - she truly did mean what she said about it blowing back on the club - but she didn't mind the exciting idea that her disagreement would give him.
"Yeah, very clever." Chibs scoffed. "With the cops watching the warehouse-
"Doesn't matter, doesn't matter." Tig shook his head quickly as they argued against what he'd thought was a seamless plan.
"I'll handle that." Clay told Sydney. "You." He pointed to Tig. "Set it up."
Tig nodded, hastily getting up from the table as his injury temporarily slipped his mind that was too clouded with the adrenaline that came from the delicious combination of getting to slaughter some skinheads, brownie points with his President, and winning this battle with Sydney.
"Looks like you lost this one, Pussycat." He purred into her ear before heading towards the door.
Sydney felt all of her senses electrify as his smooth but condescending words passed through her ears. She smirked, moving the lollipop from one side of her mouth, to the other. She was weirdly okay with the defeat, as it proved that just when she'd thought that she had the upper hand, he pulled her right back into another challenge - just the way that she liked.
"Hey!" Jax called after the Sergeant who was about to exit the chapel, forcing Sydney's smirk into a full blown grin - giving her the feeling that the approval on Tig's plan was about to be revoked. "What if I could do this without spilling blood?" He suggested.
Sydney fought every single urge that her body had to retaliate against his ridiculous proposal, only because he was her saving grace in this round - but luckily for her, she didn't need to as Clay rolled his eyes, and Tig bore a scowl deeper than she had ever seen before.
"Look, this ain't me tripping some guilt shit because of my kid, okay?" He sighed. He didn't know if it was true or not, but if he put the idea in all of their heads - including his own - before they could draw the conclusion themselves, he hoped that they would believe it. "This is about one of us thinking straight."
Sydney raised an eyebrow and pursed her lips in amusement, it seemed that Jax had caught onto their assumptions over his mindset, after all. "Brains before bullets, right?" He pointed to the sign with the matching quote on the wall behind him - pulling out all of the stops to attempt to throw them off of his trail. She snorted. More like bullshit before bullets.
Tig retook his seat, looking less than impressed as he avoided her taunting gaze - but she couldn't help her glossy eyes from lingering on the brooding man who looked sexy as hell while he stroked his goatee with those ring-clad fingers.
"Let's hear it." Clay uttered out begrudgingly.
"All we need for murder are bodies, and a crime scene." He explained.
"Jackie Boy... Now you lost me." Chibs shook his head.
"Skeeter... He's always got more gambling debt than he can handle. I'll make it worth his while." Jax explained smugly.
"The cemetery guy?" Bobby scoffed.
"Cash for cadavers... I like it." Chibs agreed.
"I give Lodi a front page murder, and we don't stir up another shit storm to bite us in the ass." He finished his pitch on the strongest note possible.
Sydney decided that she wasn't necessarily against this plan - she much rather would've offed some kiddie-fucker in Lodi, but she supposed this would get the job done - what she was against, however, was the mother chapter's VP going soft.
"What about educating Darby?" Tig argued the second that Jax finished talking, still avoiding Sydney's eyes as she found herself entranced by every single thing that he did, and said - even if she disagreed.
"I'll figure that out." Clay nodded. "The important thing right now, is keeping our DNA out of a petri dish - protect the club." He looked around the room, deciding that now was as good a time as ever to erase the strike that he'd put on his own record, the day prior. "Path of least resistance is always best, right?" No one seemed to object - not openly at least. "We do it your way, VP." He nodded, but the glare that he gave Jax was not lost on Sydney. "The other thing..." He switched gears before everyone could clear out. "Unser's supposed to be stepping down as Chief... Hale's taking his spot in a few weeks." He sighed.
Nobody seemed to be too surprised by the news, but surprised or not, the fact didn't change that having the new Chief of local police up the MC's ass would be very bad for business.
"What does that mean for us?" Sydney asked.
"Not too sure yet... Made several gestures of friendship, and Hale's declined every one."
"There's no way that we can convince the good Chief to stay on any longer?" Sydney raised a brow. "Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer, right?"
Clay smirked at Sydney's suggestive inquisition - wishing that more of his patches could be as like-minded as the young woman. "Well, maybe there is." He smiled. "Gonna find out after this protection run." He held up the papers from Unser. "That's all I got for now." Everyone cleared out after he finished, stopping to retrieve their phones from the box outside of the door.
"Don't make me regret this." Sydney heard Clay sneer to Jax on her way out, a smirk finding its way onto her face as she pulled both of her devices from the now empty box.
"Tig! Syd!" Clay called as he exited the chapel - the Sergeant and his girlfriend turning quickly to face their President. "Go get Darby's car to transport the bodies." He smirked.
The couple momentarily forgot about their little game of ignorance, to share a wicked grin - glad that they were at least getting some satisfaction from Jax's plan.
Just as everybody was about to head out to complete their respective tasks - Tig and Sydney to fetch Darby's vehicle, and Jax, Chibs, Half-Sack, and Juice to talk to Skeeter - Hale pulled his Ford Bronco into the lot. Clay, Jax, and Tig all exchanged a look from their respective positions on the compound, beginning to walk over to the nosey Deputy with Sydney trailing close behind - not caring that this was clearly a task to be taken on by the highly ranked members.
"You know, I took a ride to the other side of the stream today…" Hale nodded to the pavement as the bikers approached from multiple angles. "Saw that warehouse that burned down..."
"Outside your jurisdiction, ain't it?" Sydney asked casually as she approached alongside Tig and Clay.
Hale scowled as his eyes struggled to adjust in the afternoon sun. He had no idea who this little tart was, why she was interjecting herself in their conversation, and most importantly; why Clay was allowing her to. "I'm sorry, and you are?" He asked condescendingly, hoping that his authority would overtake his shock as he properly focused his blue eyes on what he could now see was an absolute dime of a young woman.
"Sydney Harding, nice to meet ya." She smiled, sticking her hand out to the man who was clearly trying to mask his surprise as he zoned out, but still managed to keep the hard-ass look posted on his face. "C'mon Deputy, you wouldn't leave a girl hangin', would ya?" She teased when he didn't return her handshake.
Hale snapped out of it - remembering where he was, and why he was there. "David Hale." He introduced himself, shaking her hand briefly before cutting off the contact and quickly returning his attention to his real target. "Whole area was littered with casings and gun parts - warehouse was a weapons depot."
"No kiddin'." Jax drawled unamusedly in a way that told Sydney that there may have been a little more animosity shared between the two than just that of cop and criminal...
"Chief Unser is retiring at the end of this month, and I'll be stepping into those shoes." Hale looked around the circle that had closed in around him - just as he intended on doing to them. "I know that Unser's always had a 'look the other way' policy with the Sons of Anarchy, but I-"
"Look, I don't know what it is that you think Chief Unser is lookin' the other way for." Clay dragged his large hand through the warm summer air. "We're just mechanics, and motorcycle enthusiasts." He shrugged casually, in a way that was almost taunting - in a way that told Sydney that she wasn't the only one who liked to play with her food.
Hale looked between his former classmate, and his former classmate's stepfather. "Just a friendly heads up that I will not look the other way." He told them with a curt nod before turning back to his vehicle.
"We're all free men protected by the Constitution." Jax shrugged. "You look any way you want, Chief." He held eye contact menacingly as they began to part ways.
Sydney tossed a flirty wink to the lawman who tore his eyes away from her before she felt Tig's hand on the small of her back as he guided her to the van, glaring at Hale as he did so - apparently just as aware as she was about how taken aback the Deputy had been by the green-eyed charmer. He walked her around to the passenger side, yanking the door open before his loaded grip found her waist, lifting her up and into the seat without a word - seemingly forgetting about the injury that'd had him crippled for the better part of the day, which of course had nothing to do with him being dramatic...
She flashed him a cocky grin, biting her lip under his domineering action. "Don't think that I won't drag you to the back of this goddamn van..." He told her in a low growl - possibly lower and darker than she had heard thus far as she deliberately continued to push him.
Her eyes widened and her pupils instantly blew out as a blush creeped up her neck. "I knew there was a jealousy kink in there somewhere... " She teased as he was about to shut her door.
Tig stopped his movements - realizing that he hadn't been crazy in wondering if she had just been toying with him, after all. He threw her door back open, grabbed her out of the seat that he'd just placed her in, and ripped the sliding door open where he shoved her inside without a word. His original plan on how to kill two birds with one stone wasn't going to pan out - but this one was; round up the game, and blow off some steam.
Sydney smirked as he tossed her into the van just as he'd said he would, not bothering to even try and look innocent - she was pleased with herself, and she wanted him to know.
"This ain't me giving in easily." He informed her with narrowed eyes as he climbed into the box of the van himself, and slid the door shut.
"Of course not." She widened her eyes, speaking with mock-innocence as she looked up at him.
"You've been fucking with me all day." He growled as he fisted his hand into the back of her hair.
A small whimper escaped her lips as her head was harshly jerked back, but her eyes were filled with fire as he manhandled her in the way her body loved. He clenched his jaw, releasing his grip on her hair before lifting her by her hips to set her on top of the block heater where he got between her legs, placing his hands on her thighs as he licked his lips.
Sydney tried to regulate her breathing under his predatory gaze so that he wouldn't catch on to just how excited she was, biting her lip nervously as she waited for his next move. He took his hands off of her and began unbuckling his belt, keeping his eyes trained on hers - daring her to look away. She shivered under the intimidation of his ice blue stare, goosebumps breaking out across her skin where there was no physical contact to combat the chill.
Tig pressed his lips to hers in a gentle, passionate kiss - surprising her as she melted into the familiar comfort of his arms that she knew would be short-lived. And it was as he took advantage of her position, yanking her bottoms off in one swift tug.
A rush of adrenaline coursed through her veins as she squeaked in surprise, the rough movement pulling her back to earth after her moment of weakness. She wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him into her as soon as their clothing was out of the way, but her ministrations were halted by his hands prying her thighs from his hips and pinning them to the metal box that she was perched on, doing the same to her hands. Without any warning, he pushed directly inside of her - sliding all the way home, thanks to her abundant arousal.
They both reacted exactly the same - rolling their eyes back and holding their moans in the back of their throats, not wanting to give each other the satisfaction. His thrusts were hard, and they only got harder - but remained just as deep as he tried to coax the noises from her lips, instead being met with her defiant, dark green stare.
He drove into her with even more force, pushing her backwards with a hand to her throat, pinning her helpless body against the wall behind her. She gasped when her back made contact with the cold metal, but the air was quickly knocked out of her lungs by the angry, animalistic snapping of his hips that had the van shaking.
She continued to glare at him as she took his punishment, silently challenging him to push even further - even if she didn't think that she could take much more. She knew that she wouldn't be able to hold back her screams for much longer, so she figured that she may as well squeeze every last drop of satisfying frustration out of him, before letting him win.
Tig grimaced as the ruthless blonde challenged him with those irresistible eyes. He was the kind of guy who liked it rough, and often had to hold back - but with the way that the girl who inhabited his heart took everything that he had to offer, he wasn't sure if he was even capable of giving more.
"Turn over." He pulled out, giving her thigh a slap - praying that the change in tactic would work, because he was running out of ideas in the limited space, with the limited tools that he had.
Sydney smirked when he lazily bent her over the metal box, knowing that he was nearing his limit. "I wanna hear those pretty little sounds that you make for me." He growled as he smacked her ass with one hand while the other yanked her hair back - his cock pushing into her at the same time, creating an overwhelming medley of sensations that elicited a moan from deep in her throat. "That's better." He pulled her hair tighter as he leaned over her, his lips making contact with the soft skin behind her ear while he bottomed out inside of her - hitting that spot that he knew drove her crazy.
Sydney didn't react to the deeper penetration, but it wasn't purposely this time - she was too overwhelmed by the pleasure to formulate any kind of response.
Tig released her hair and roughly shoved her down against the metal surface when she didn't comply. "I'm not gonna ask again." He spanked her harder this time - making her cry out in ecstasy as his rough hands spread pins and needles across the plush skin of her ass. "That's it, baby." He lightened his tone when she finally gave in - whether it was purposeful or not - and placed a gentle kiss against her shoulder before letting loose a barrage of bruising thrusts, using her shoulders for leverage.
"Tig-g-y." She whined helplessly as she felt her orgasm approaching, the intense tightening in her stomach telling her that it was going to the best one that she'd ever had.
Tig felt her the clenching of her walls getting stronger and stronger around his dick as he continued pounding into her, getting much tighter than he had ever felt from her before, than he had ever felt from anyone before. He decided to ignore the worry that she might actually snap his dick off, and instead focus on the fact that he was about to give her a mindblowing orgasm, and secure a final victory for himself.
"I feel you baby, come on... Come for me." He cooed in her ear, coaxing her gently - knowing that the contrast between his rough actions, and sweet pleas would launch her over the edge.
"Oh God!" She cried out as a mind-numbingly strong feeling ripped her to shreds beneath him, her release exploding between her legs.
Tig's stomach dropped and his dick swelled as he felt her gushing around him - a wicked grin forming on his face as hers reddened in embarrassment. There was no way that he could've gotten that lucky...
He continued fucking her, trying to hold off for as long as possible just to teach her a lesson, but unfortunately for him, her squirting and squealing were far too intense. He pulled out of her, instead grabbing her wavy blonde mane and dragging her down to her knees before him, pushing himself into her mouth where he coated her tongue with his seed before he pulled her back up, wrapping one hand around her throat to tip her face up towards his where he crashed his lips down to hers before pulling away just as suddenly.
"Get dressed. No more fucking around." He ordered as he released his grip and began redressing himself.
Sydney was glad that the rush of excitement had managed to mask her embarrassment over the unexpected finale. "I told you before, I'm never done fucking around with you." She replied with a smirk as she went to slip back into her shorts, but stopped when she realized that wasn't an option... "Um..." Her cheeks flushed scarlett as her chest began to tighten.
Tig chuckled, grinning wolfishly as he reached out and placed his hands on her waist. "You never told me that you were a squirter, baby." He couldn't have hid the cockiness in his voice if he tried.
"You know me, always the element of surprise." She teased with an eye roll, clutching to the lapels of his kutte - needing some intimacy after the less than romantic encounter.
Tig realized by the way that she was looking at his chest yearningly, that they had crossed a line today - a line that she had clearly never crossed with anybody before. "I love you." He said gently, resting his forehead against hers.
"I love you too." She whispered back weakly while looking deep into his eyes as the exhaustion of relief began to set in. He pulled her into a hug, both of them sighing contently as they revelled in the comfort of each other's scents.
"I'll go grab a towel." He kissed her on the forehead and winked before pulling away.
"Okay." She laughed, grateful that the shame was only one-sided with the wild man.
Tig pulled the door open, revealing Clay, Jax, Chibs, Half-Sack, and Juice all standing with raised brows. Both his and Sydney's eyes widened as they realized that not only were they caught - but that Sydney was completely naked below the waist. He quickly jumped in front of her where luckily she was sitting sideways, stopping the men from getting a full peep show.
"Hey! Didn't anybody tell you girls? If the van's a rockin', don't come a knockin'." He mused with a sly smirk.
"Get goin'." Clay winced, regretting his poorly thought out idea to pair the two together on this mission.
Tig jogged across the compound after safely shielding his naked girlfriend from the inquisitive eyes of his brothers, grabbing a blue towel from the rack in the garage.
"God dammit… You spill somethin' in the van again?" Gemma questioned with a raised brow from her desk in the office.
"Somethin' like that..." Tig grinned, winking before he took back off to clean up his mess.
;
Song for this chapter
Poker Face - Lady Gaga