Bad Medicine - An SOA Fan Fiction

Chapter 4

Mae was late, she was really late and he was not happy. She skidded into the abandoned lot that sat between the edge of a small patch of woods and the mill. First the incident with the car and now this, Mae was truly terrified of his reaction.

"I'm sorry."

It wasn't the way he walked or spoke, it was the look in his eyes and the sickening way his lips curled into an evil grin that made her skin crawl. Prowling over toward her Darby shook his head.

"Where were you?" He already knew. The lackey who'd damaged her car told him who she left with. "Got someone following you?"

She shook her head adamantly. "No. I was just with a friend." Scowling she pursed her lips. "Someone screwed around with my car."

"You think that was me?" He scoffed, the crack of a sunflower seed shell between his teeth made Mae jump.

"I didn't say that," she cowered back. Even the slightest attitude was too much, she quickly decided to button her lip. "It won't happen again."

"Pop it." He instructed, she did without hesitation. "Our little agreement," he spit out the shell over her head. "You think you can just run to someone else? We made a deal, I watch your back and you run my product."

Mae nodded. She was a damn mule, there had to be a way out that she just couldn't see yet. "I know." What she didn't know was why it was so hard for Darby and the Nords to move the meth from Pope through Charming. It didn't matter to her right then though.

"You know what happens to rats?"

She pulled a face, Mae had no idea what the hell he was talking about. "I don't... Look I didn't go to the cops or anything."

Darby laughed, Unser wasn't even on his radar. It was Zobelle and SAMCRO he was worried about. "Don't play the babe in the woods with me. You keep that mouth shut, keep doing your job and I won't toss you back to those animals you needed protecting from."

That was enough for her. Mae nodded, refusing to ask what he even meant, she would do exactly as he said.

It wasn't Mae's little car that caught Tig's attention it was the pickup he'd seen Darby driving just a few days before. He slowed and tried to sneak a peek at the little meeting but he couldn't get too close without being heard on his Harley.

This was a better patrol than he'd expected. Nords in Charming, especially around the school, was worrisome for the club so Tig wanted to take a quick spin around to see if he could get any kind of information and he'd stumbled upon a nice big pile of it.

Parking up a little ways he sneaked around and into the lot from the back, behind the Nords. He watched as Darby leaned over and chatted away but he couldn't make out anything of consequence visually or audibly.

"You filthy little bitch."

Tig couldn't believe it when he saw Mae leaning against her car as the trunk was loaded up. She was scared, that was clear. There was a very marked difference between who he had seen earlier with Opie and the woman he saw in front of him.

As Darby jumped back into the pickup he nodded to one of his guys who moved threateningly toward Mae. She raised her hands up to try and shield herself but all he did was jump at her, fake her out solely as some kind of game. Mae dropped down to her knees in fright and prayed that they'd just go.

Tig was a violent man, very little bothered him but the really didn't want to see this clearly terrified woman be teased and tortured. He stood along a line of trees searching for something to cause a distraction. Tig hurled a rock back into the mill, it smashed against some piece of equipment. They all froze, as Tig hoped, and under Darby's order he left her but not before kicking some gravel up at her as he made his way back to the truck.

Once she was breathing their exhaust Mae cried, hard. She wanted Opie but she didn't know why. Tig stepped closer but was still quiet, he wasn't sure of his next move. He watched as she clambered to her feet and locked herself safely in her car.

"What shit are you mixed in with girl?" He ruffled his dark hair as Mae started the engine and realizing he had to follow her bolted back to his bike.

Keeping a good distance Tig watched as Mae let a sketchy, clearly drug addicted man, empty her trunk and carry it into what was going to Darby's newest meth lab. It was in Charming, right under the club's nose. He had to go to Clay.

--

"Tiggy, what are you doing here?"

Gemma was still awake but in her pajamas and had her robe tied tight around her waist as she let Tig into the kitchen. He looked antsy but without injury, that was always the first concern.

"I need to talk to Clay, he wasn't picking up his cell."

She smiled and pressed him to sit at the kitchen table, she had a mug in her hands but he declined her offer for coffee. Clay could hear the muffled conversation from the other room, he strolled slowly out into the kitchen in a black undershirt and pants.

"Shouldn't you be in bed with some crow eater?" Clay groaned as he took a seat across from his Sergeant. "Gem," he nodded out into the other room. She nodded and left them to talk, Clay would come to her after. "What's going on?"

Hunching over the table Tig shook his head. "Darby's cookin' in Charming." He said flatly, that was enough to get Clay's attention. "And that little chick floating around the lot with Ope today? She's mixed in with the Nords, they're using her to shuffle the shit in town unnoticed."

Not only were they having issues with Zobelle that they weren't sure how to handle, his game was above board and not what they were used to, but now Darby was making waves.

"Jesus Christ," he pounded his fist on the table causing the marble ashtray to jump. "How do you know this?"

Tig went through the story in extreme detail, Clay listened to every word. Darby would have been enough to cause an uproar but this girl's involvement pushed it up a notch.

"That lab goes up in flames and we need to crack down, none of that shit comes through our town." Tig nodded along with Clay's words. "This girl, what do you think?"

"I don't know," he shrugged. "She didn't look too thrilled, didn't seem to say much either."

Clay nodded, he already had a plan in his head. "Keep this between us for now, brother."

"Of course, always." The chair screeched along the floor as Tig pushed back and stood. "So, how are we going to handle this, boss?"

Tired, mentally and physically, Clay sighed. "Talk to her, get her home address off the work order from TM." It was perfect. "Like I said, until we know everything, keep it quiet."