Title: Finding Home

Rating: M

Disclaimer: The characters from Sons of Anarchy do not belong to me. They are the property of Kurt Sutter, FX and other people all richer than I am. I do this for fun. No profit is made.

A/N: This story is complete and I will be posting in full provided that people actually want to read it. Enjoy!

Chapter One

Raised voices carried from the pretty split level house and Madeline Walker did her best to ignore them as she always had. Some people grew up in families who talked softly about their problems, she wasn't one of them. As long as she could remember disagreements in the Walker house had been settled with epic screaming matches followed by physical making up, the noisier the better.

As a young child she'd been frightened by it. As a teenager she'd been disgusted by it and now as a grown woman of thirty years she was saddened by it. Sad that her parents had never had the courage to say enough is enough and divorce.

There was no way that she was going back into the house so she began to walk down the quiet tree lined street. Most of the houses were dark with the occupants no doubt asleep in preparation for the following day. She had no such obligations, not until the last week of August when the teachers of the Charming School District returned to work.

As excited as she was about the new position she was also a bit apprehensive. It was going to be strange to stand in the front of a classroom where she'd learned as a child. It was in those very classrooms that she'd made the decision to become a teacher. Over the years her goals had changed as those of a child often do but in the end she always came back to wanting to help others learn.

Learning had been an escape for her. She'd devoured every subject set in front of her and always wanted more. Her weekends and summers had been spent buried in books, doing reports for fun and in her teenage years making some extra spending cash doing homework for her peers who'd actually had lives. Her parents had worried that she was missing out on something but at the same time were relieved that they never had to worry about her breaking their rules.

Her hard work had paid off and given her a full scholarship including housing to Rutgers University in New Jersey. At first Madeline had been terrified at the prospect of moving across the country. She'd nearly turned down the offer before common sense prevailed. College was expensive and if she didn't take the free ride than she'd end up taking night courses at the local community college or be stuck in some menial dead end job for the rest of her life.

She had wanted better for herself and she'd gotten it. By the time that she was twenty three she had a degree in English with a minor in Psychology. It wasn't hard to find a position with her transcripts and pleasant manner.

The first time she'd stepped in front of a classroom she'd known without a doubt that she'd found her place in the world.

The night air was cool on her skin and it felt amazing compared to the heat of the day. She relished the feeling of not being sweaty or sticky as she cut through the field at the end of the street. It was probably silly to walk through the darkened space in the dead of night but this was Charming and nothing bad ever happened in Charming.

On the other side of the field was a street with only a few houses. She knew the route well and allowed her mind to wander as she stepped off of the soft green grass and onto the sidewalk.

A humming noise caught her ears and grew louder. It was a motorcycle, a common sight in Charming because of the Sons of Anarchy. Madeline slowed her steps as the bike approached. She'd seen this particular rider before, could tell him by shape and size even though she'd never seen his face up close.

The bike roared past her and she smiled. There was just something about a man on a motorcycle. Perhaps it was the implied danger or just thinking about being pressed against a warm body with the engine sending vibrations through your body. It was arousing and probably just not so because it has been almost a year since she'd had anyone in bed with her besides her trusted battery operated boyfriend.

"Get a grip." She told herself. "Before you end up at home fantasizing about some guy in a helmet doing you."

Laughter rang out at her words. Not her laughter. Madeline stiffened and started to walk at a brisker pace. She snuck a glance over her shoulder but saw no one. With her heart beating just a little bit faster she decided it was infinitely safer to take the long route home as opposed to cutting back across the field when she was obviously not alone.

The sound of the bike engine caught her attention again as did the single headlight coming towards her. For a second she considered trying to wave whoever was behind the helmet down but decided against it.

The bike and its mysterious rider rolled past her. A loud sound like a firecracker going off made her jump and she turned. Did motorcycles backfire? Madeline watched in horror as the rider lost control of the bike. It slid out from under him and moved on its own momentum for several more feet. The metal against the asphalt was a sickening sound.

She reacted instinctively and ran towards the down man. "Don't move. Don't move. I'll call for help."

"Don't need no help." His voice was low and gruff.

"You just had an accident, you're probably in shock. Please stay still." She dropped to her knees next to him and fumbled for her phone. "Shit!" She swore when she realized that she'd left it back at the house. "I said please stay still."

The man grunted at her as he sat up. She watched him pull off his helmet and get to his feet. "I'm fine. Fuck." His eyes were on the fallen motorcycle.

Madeline trailed after him. "I can go knock on a door, call an ambulance. You're probably in shock. Should stay still."

"Said that already." He replied.

"Because it's the truth! You could have broken bones, internal injuries or a concussion." She ticked the possible ailments off on her fingers. He regarded her with a blank stare before leaning down to pick the motorcycle up and set it to rest on the kickstand.

"Fucking tire blew." He grumbled and dragged a cell phone from his pocket. It was an older model flip phone. He pressed a number. "Yeah, it's me. I need the tow truck."

"And an ambulance." Madeline called out.

"It's no one. Some broad who saw me lay down my bike when the tire blew. Yeah, see you in ten." He ended the call and looked over at her. "You did your good deed for the day. Get out of here."

"You could really be hurt." She protested. "If you won't let me call an ambulance at least sit down until someone can come and get you."

A look flashed across his face, possibly annoyance maybe even amusement but she couldn't read it. It was too dark. "I don't need to sit. You need to go."

"But..."

"GO!" He roared the word and Madeline jumped.

She gave him one last look and moved away from him at nearly a run. The field still scared her. Who had laughed in the dark? But the man who she could feel still staring at her had managed to scare her more. She broke into a flat out run, her heart hammering out a fast rhythm in her chest. Madeline didn't look back or stop until she was back in her parents yard.

They were still fighting, no huge shock there. No longer comfortable with sitting outside she headed into the house and up the stairs to her bedroom without getting involved with the fight.

"This tire didn't blow, at least not on it's own." Jax rose to his feet and pulled a cigarette from his pack. "You see what I'm seeing?"

None of them had taken the time to examine the bike the night before. It was supposed to have been a simple blow out, there was no reason to think otherwise. The truck had brought Happy back in. Chibs had set about fixing him up. Jax had gone home and the rest of the guys had gotten drunk.

"Yeah." Happy grunted and reached out to put his finger into the hole in the rubber. "I see it." He'd known that something wasn't right. The tire was new so the chances of it blowing were slim.

"Christ." Chibs examined the tire. "Lucky you didn't break you neck." He moved over to look at the bike. "Won't take but a few hours to fix this up. Prospect!" He roared and Phil came ambling over. "Let's get to work."

"You want Tara to come out and take a look at you?" Jax questioned.

"Nah, I'm fine." He was sore but he'd deal with sore. The road rash on his arm would fade as well. Nothing that required the good doctor. "Had to be a good shot to hit a moving target." And that person would get to see what a good shot he was when they found him. "Wasn't random." Happy added. "Couldn't have been."

"Yeah." Jax agreed. "Definitely not. Tig said that there was some woman in the background saying you needed an ambulance."

"Some broad who was walking past. No one." Happy answered. The woman's face popped into his mind. Red hair and light blue eyes, concern etched across her features. She hadn't been hot but she had been pretty, seriously pretty.

"She see anything?" Jax lit another cigarette, a sure sign that he was thinking and not liking the thoughts very much.

"Didn't ask."

"Probably should." Jax pointed out. "You get a name at least."

Happy shook his head. He hadn't asked her name and she hadn't offered. "I seen her around before." Now that he thought about it he'd seen her several times in the same yard.

"Find her." The president told him. "See what she knows. See if she was involved."