The next morning...
Season 3, Episode 3...
"Your hands look like mine feel." Clay and the rest of the SAMCRO guys approach Jax who's posted on the wooden picnic table outside of the clubhouse. Taking a drag from his cigarette he looks up to Clay. Jimmy O'Phelan had him at his wits end and he felt he was getting nowhere fast in finding his son.
"We stick with plan A," Jax huffs, "You guys drop off the guns, me and Clay will pick up mom. We all head north, find my kid." The group observes the man as he drops his head.
"Here's 10 grand for Serg's tracker," Opie steps up to Jax, handing him an envelope full of cash. Jax grabs the envelope from him with wide eyes as Opie continues, "Sold the panhead."
"Thanks bro." Jax says stepping off the table, taking him in a hug as Opie nods. The rest of the men look on.
"You ready to do this?" Jax steps, looking at his club mates, receiving nods and "yups" in approve.
"There's one more thing I got for you son. You said it best, we need all of the help we can get-" Clay starts, their club mates look back in confusion as the rumble of motorcycles entering the gate grabs their attention.
"That who I think it is?" Piney directs towards Clay and he nods. Jax squints trying to get a better look at the three when he sees the nomad emblem on their kuttes. He looks at Clay in disbelief.
➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵➶ RYDER'S POV ➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵➶
This is it. After years on the road, laying low, keeping my identity hidden, I was finally gonna let the secret out to the mother charter. The cool breeze against my skin was the only thing keeping the nerves in check as we pulled into Teller-Morrow Automotive. I was going to wait for Clay's call to meet with him and Jax in private but I had already made up my mind. I was gonna come home, or at least stop using my identity as an excuse to not be present for my family or for the club.
I follow behind Lazarus and Auro to the end of the line of bikes, parking alongside them and I take a deep breath. I recognize a few of the men in the huddle outside of the clubhouse and as I continue to scan them all, I lock eyes with the same man I saw last night at St.Thomas, Happy. I try to pay him little mind as Laz and Auro begin to get off their bikes.
"Here we go," I mumble to myself, taking in another deep breath for good measure. I unbuckle my helmet, taking it off and letting my long hair flow down my back. Placing the helmet on the handlebar, I slide off my sunglasses and hang them from the neckline of my cropped t-shirt.
Just as I turn off the engine of my bike, I hear a thick Scottish accent shout, "Holy shite, Lazarus!" Laz hops off his bike as the man walks towards him and they hug each other. He greets Auro next, "It's been ages you two, welcome back!"
Jax had spoke of a Scotsman apart of his club by the name of Chibs and my club always had good things to say. I finally decide to get off of my bike, flicking the kickstand out. Standing upright, my back now faced the crowd. Stop stalling, play it cool. I turn around, slightly dazed by the sunlight hitting my eyes. As my eyes adjust, I'm met with several confused and intrigued gazes. I meet Happy's eyes again, but my attention was grabbed quickly by the Scottish man who steps out in front of me.
"What's this? Y'all have to be joking around!" Chibs hovers over me, pointing down at my kutte then looks back at Clay. He takes a closer look at my patches reading 'President' 'Unholy Ones' 'Nomads' and then focusing on the memorial patch down near the bottom that read 'First 9', and his went agape. I smirk and proceed to walk past him towards SAMCRO's leading men. I was used to the surprised reactions to those I'd reveal myself to, but this time was rather amusing.
"It'll all make sense soon, Telford." Auro states as he follows behind me. I make a b-line for Jax as I saw him step away from the wooden table, a grin inching across his face.
"Ryder!" Jax exclaims, reaching out for a hug as I approach. Lifting my arms, we embrace for a moment. I ruffle his blonde hair as we pull apart. He looked exhausted, eyes heavy, like he hadn't had proper rest in days. Which he hadn't. All his time had been spent trying to find Abel and god knows what other club drama they had going on.
"You look like crap, Teller." I say, earning a chuckle and a nod. I turn to Clay and greet him as well.
"It's good to have you home." Clay steps forth, pulling me into a hug as well, then exchanges quick words with Lazarus and Auro.
"We gonna talk about the obvious or what?" A shorter man with long curly hair interrupts our reunion, motioning a finger towards me, as his eyes looked between the men surrounding me.
"I have a name." I retort, the small smile on my face drops, turning to the man. "Ryder Villenueva. That ring any bells for you?"
"No kiddin'? Actually? No one ever mentioned you were-"
"Yeah, that's on purpose," Auro responds. He too was used to the reactions, always had a quick response to come to my defense, knowing I've grown tired of giving the same response.
"Look, I'll be happy to answer all of the burning questions you gentleman have later, but right now there's some business that needs our attention." I look amongst the men receiving a few nods before turning to Clay and Jax.
"Let's take this inside?" I say in a more hushed tone.
"Let's go," Clay says, motioning his head towards the clubhouse doors. I look to Auro before turning and walking to the door and he tails behind me, Jax and Clay following up behind us. Laz stays behind and continues to exchanging hellos with the other SAMCRO members.
"Just the way I remember it," I say walking past the bar area, pool table and to the chapel doors. I try to quickly breathe it all in again, closing my eyes. Looking at the wall next to the chapel I see an old picture of the First 9, my dad included and I laugh to myself, letting out a breath.
"Feels like home, doesn't it?" Clay says with a smile as he opens the chapel doors. I look to him with a half smile as he turns to walk into the Chapel. The three men walk in and start to settle down as I close the chapel doors behind me. Clay at the head of the table, Jax to his left. I sit down in the chair to his right and Auro plops into the chair next to me.
"Wasn't expecting you to drop in unannounced. Thought we were gonna continue to keep things quiet." Clay sets his sunglasses down on the table, raising a brow.
"Yeah, well it just didn't seem worth it to me to sit around waiting on the next move. Plus, you have a little explaining to do."
"Hit me."
I lean back in my chair, "I want to know why I was the last person to find out my brother was shot and almost killed? I should have been the first call." I cross my arms over my chest looking at Clay, brows furrowed. I glance to Jax who is looking at Clay in confusion.
"Look, I don't blame you for being on edge. Piney and I wanted Adeline to tell you as soon as you got into town and Jax didn't even know you were coming. There was no ill intent keeping that from you. We spent yesterday finding out who set up the attack and you're going to be there to handle it with us as long as you're comfortable." Clay suggests. He looks at me and my face softens.
"You forget who you're working with?"
"Just making sure." Clay cracks a smug smile.
"What's there to know about these pricks?" I ask.
"We think it was some sort of initiation for this bullshit MC in Lodi to patch over with the Mayans. One of the guys is at St. Thomas." Jax answers.
"We were just there," I sit forward and look at Auro with wide eyes. I was about ready to jump out of my seat when Clay reacts.
"Please don't get any crazy ideas right now, we're gonna handle it the smart way. You'll be the first to know what the plan is."
I don't respond for a moment and I nod in content, choosing not to press the issue. Letting out a quiet breath I decide to change the subject, "And what about Abel? Is he still with Cameron? Where's my nephew?"
Jax lets out a grunt, putting his head down. "That's the thing, Cammy's dead. Received info last night. All signs point to Abel being in Vancouver. We're heading up north soon. We need you guys to stay out here at least for a little bit, or if you have a few guys that would want to transfer-"
"It's just us three," I responds with a gulp.
"Shit." Jax says, a look of concern faintly shows on his face, "You don't have to get into the details right now, but we need you guys with us at least until we get Abel home. It doesn't have to be permanent."
"What if we want Charming to be permanent?" I pause, "It's getting harder for us to be running around all of the time, I'm tired of the secret and quite frankly the cat's out of the bag. Nicky being in the hospital has put a lot of shit into perspective."
"You're willing to give up your charter?" Clay questions.
"Not much of a charter anymore, it just being us three now." Auro adds.
"That and if that means coming home, being with my family you guys included, then yes."
"It's been a conversation amongst us three the last couple months. It's a better option for us. Laz and I are already familiar with SAMCRO and with Ryder's connections here it wouldn't be that hard of a transition." Auro states.
"And as much as I appreciate the love and support you guys have given my mom the last decade plus and the grace you guys have given me to be sort of invisible, it's time for me to come back and step the fuck up. That's not a job I should have put on SAMCRO's back to begin with."
"Your family is our family too, Ryder. You coming back to Charming is very much a two way street. We could really use you 3 going forward. Plus, your mom has been struggling keeping Sally's afloat, we could really use your guidance there." Jax glances at Clay then back to me.
"And what about the rest of your guys? Jax, you know what happened with Killian, should I be worried?" Jax nods.
"I don't think that'll be an issue and if it is, we'll handle it."
"Honestly, Ryder, you'd be surprised how much your name has gotten around here. I don't think there will be too much to worry about. Everyone is just caught off guard right now." Clay adds, "So, we'll have you guys go on a few outings in the next few days and then we'll have a vote. Give them time to get used to the news and see how you three operate."
"Alright, well that about covers it, I think." Auro answers, looking to me and I nod.
"Well, glad to have you back, Ryder, Auro. Long overdue if you ask me."
"It'll be nice to have my adopted big sister back around." Jax smirks, I send him one in return.
"So, tell me, what's the plan today?"
•••••
After about an hour, Auro and I were caught up on all of SAMCRO's problems and just how we'll fit into it all. We finally exit the Chapel, the rest of the club members are scattered around the clubhouse, chatting away. Clay clears his throat, approaching the bar. Grabbing everyone's attention he announces, "Lazarus, Auro, and Ryder will be joining us for the time being, so let's make sure their welcome is warm, yeah?"
The crowd of men woo and clap as Piney approaches me, immediately pulling me into his arms. He was close with my dad, knew the toll his death took on me. Him and Clay stepped up after that fateful night, taking care of my mom and I. Pushed me closer to the club as a teen. Opie and Jax were practically my brothers, and with my mom always busy with work, this became all that I knew. Not that I'd have it any other way.
"We've missed you, kid," he says pulling away.
"Missed you too, old man." He grins.
"Chico'd be proud." I nod, patting his shoulder.
"You think so?" I give the older man a questioning look.
"Oh I know so."
The long haired man from moments prior approaches again clearing his throat, a friendlier expression on his face, "I don't mean to interrupt but uh, sorry for earlier. Name's Bobby." He pulls off a glove and extends his hand. I accept it.
"Nice to properly meet you," I reply. "Jax has told me about everyone actually. It'll be nice to put some faces to names."
"Yeah. Heard a good bit of stories myself, excited to be working with you."
"Well I hope I live up to the expectations," I answer jokingly. He nods before stepping away towards the group at the bar. Scanning the room I see Happy leaning against pool table next to Opie.
"RJ!" Opie shouts, pushing up off the pool table. He throws an arm around me pulling me towards where he was initially.
"Ope," I say, patting his back. "How are the kiddos, better yet how are you?"
"Good as I can be. Juggling a lot."
"Yeah, that's always how it is, huh?"
"Can say the same thing for you," He pauses, "You sticking around this time?"
I nod back, "Hoping to, yeah, if you guys will have us."
"Hap over here's been checking up on mom and Nicky for you," Opie motions his head towards the man. Looking him up quickly, the man had on baggy jeans and from his belt hung a knife and a chain. A white shirt sat beneath his kutte and the tattoos on his arms were visible. Finally our eyes meet for more than a few seconds before I respond to Opie.
"I'm aware," I extend my hand to him. Standing up off the pool table, he accepts it. His grasp was a lot gentler than I expected it to be.
"Thank you," I say now looking up to him, his eye contact doesn't falter. He nods and just as I'm about to speak again, Clay starts ushering everyone out of the clubhouse. We let go of each others hands and the crowd starts to empty out into the lot. We were walking alongside each other when Auro and Laz call for me from by their bikes. Happy stays behind and I speed up to get to my partners.
"How're we feeling, boss?" Laz questions.
"Alright, I think. Feels right. There's still a lot we need to catch up on but I think this could be good."
Laz agrees.
"Think everyone's taking a liking to you." Auro says, I look back and see him specifically motioning towards Happy, who's standing with Clay, Piney, and Bobby.
"That so?"
"Can't take his eyes off you." I shrug, looking back. That wasn't what I was here for. Auro of all people knew that was the last thing I was looking for.
Despite his comment, I chose the high road and continue, "Anyway, Laz. They want us to help them run these guns, then we're all meeting back up and are gonna head north, help find Jax's son."
"Cool, sounds good," Laz answers back.
"Mind if we steal Ryder after we handle the drop?" Laz's attention averts behind me and I turn around. Bobby, Piney and Happy stood across from us.
"What for?" I ask.
"Gonna take Bobby and Happy on a medicine run. Honey's been asking about you, thought maybe you'd like to ride with us up there. You know how close she was with your pop." Piney answers. I think for a moment then look back at the group, "I haven't heard that name in years, she still in the same spot from when I was a kid?"
"Yup, you know she'd be real happy to see you."
I turn to Laz and Auro, "You guys good with that?" They agree.
"Count me in, then."
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Unedited
A/N: Let me know how you guys feel about me doing Ryder's POV or if I should stick to third person! Would love to hear some thoughts.