Pixie, First Daughter of Anarchy: Book 2

Old Friends

WARNING: Mentions of death, blood, drugs and PTSD. 

The sun continued to beat down on the Sons as they travelled through San Carlos heading for the helicopter tours site that Cobalt had given the address to. Pixie was intrigued to find that the buildings in the area continued their Spanish influence of terracotta tiles and whitewashed exteriors which was very different from the sleepy rural town feeling that Charming exuded. The environment gave Pixie something else to focus on rather than thinking about seeing Cobalt again after a year and how anxious that made her. Hearing his deep Detroit accent over the phone had been such a welcomed relief and balm to her pain, and even though Cobalt had told Pixie that he didn't have any resentment towards her, she still worried about him. The group spotted the sign for the helicopter tour's site and pulled up in an empty corner of the parking lot, which was a long rectangular shape bordered by metal fencing in front of the hangars on one side, and tall Californian palm trees growing out of dry grey dirt against the sidewalk on the other parallel side. There was a row of three white corrugated metal buildings, one looked smaller in length to the others and Pixie guessed it was a reception place for visitors and where the whilst the other two were housing for the helicopters. There were three more hangars behind the first row and Pixie could make out numbers on each one, making her hunt for Cobalt a hell of a lot easier as on the address he'd stated, 'hangar five'. Pixie studied the area as she took off her helmet and pulled her goggles down around her neck before Piney came to stand next to her and clapped a hand on her left shoulder, glancing down at Pixie's slightly bloody and worried face. "We better clean you up before Chibs sees you, sweetheart." Piney commented, passing her a tissue from his kutte so Pixie could attempt to wipe off the last of the dried blood around her nose. "He'll go crazy otherwise." He added, recalling the way Chibs' blood pressure had skyrocketed when Pixie and the others had informed him about what had happened during his coma.

"Thanks, pops. It won't matter if I come back bloody or not, dad'll know either way, he always does." Pixie replied with a wry shake of the head, thinking over how she could never hide anything from Chibs, he always seemed to know.

"Of course, he does, he's your dad. Good parents always know that shit." Piney replied, ruffling Pixie's hair a little. "You gonna be okay meeting your, uh, informant?" He queried, gauging Pixie's face for any signs she was panicked.

"Yeah, he's an old family friend, Baltie's a good, genuine guy, I just feel a little guilty for making him worry, y'know? Obviously, I had to escape the IRA undetected, but leaving him the lurch was never something I willingly wanted to do, I really care about the fella." Pixie described, compassion and empathy clear as a bell on her face and Piney felt himself soften up.

"He'll understand, sweetheart." Piney told her firmly before he turned around, rallying the troops to form a pack so they could walk in together, eyes wary. Laroy, Pixie and Opie found themselves falling into step with each other at the head of the group and Pixie felt comforted to have them there, as much as she knew she had to lead, it was nice to know she had Laroy and Opie for backup. The group went through the metal gate and into the site, looking around them at the few people walking around with clipboards or talking on the phone, looking to be hard at work and paying little attention to the group as they walked between the hangars, heading for the fifth one. They caught glimpses of helicopters under canvases in their hangars from the few that had the big metal sliding doors open and the landing pads off to the side. Pixie wondered how long Cobalt had been in operation here considering the times she'd seen him in England, he'd had his helicopter with him back then too. She idly tapped her thighs as she walked, getting some of the jitters out of her system. In a big way, it felt like she was coming home, or at least coming back to a piece of home, but as much as she felt overjoyed, she was filled with apprehension. Opie picked up on those feelings from Pixie as he observed her facial expressions change and how she had begun to chew on her lower lip again. He nudged Pixie and gave her what he hoped was an encouraging smile, letting her know that she wasn't alone in this, she had a whole mini army with her now.