Elle could only pay half a mind to the forms in front of her. Her thoughts kept going again and again to what had happened earlier. That biker, Scorpio or whatever Joel had said his name was, had been mere moments from hurting Honey. She knew it. Something she felt in her bones. A gut instinct that she knew was true no matter how much Honey wanted to deny it. Or blame her for putting herself at risk.
That thought just made her temper flare, again. Whenever she remembered the high handed way he’d tried to talk down to her. The nerve! To tell her that she had no right! No right to try and save him, to try and help him. No right to, well, do the right thing. It was infuriating. He was infuriating.
She hadn’t spoken to him since earlier, he’d spent the day working in the greenhouse and then disappeared out into the fields an hour ago, and she’d spent the day working in the office. Well, trying to work at least. She hadn’t been very successful so far. Thoughts of him kept her distracted. Partly because she didn’t know what to say to him, how to convince him that she didn’t need him to afraid for her, and partly because, well, because he was right. A little bit. A very little bit. Sometimes, she did put herself in risky situations but look who was talking! He was a member of a notorious biker gang, for Pete’s sake!
As if he’d never taken a risk or done something dangerous before. Elle shook her head. It was the same argument she’d been having with herself all afternoon, and it still hadn’t gotten her any closer to forgiving him. Not that he’d asked for forgiveness, or had even apologized! He was just the most…the most infuriating man she’d ever met. And what was worse was that she still wanted him. Desperately.
What is wrong with me? she asked herself, but no answer came. Instead all she heard was the sound of a motorcycle engine driving up to the farm and the sound had a shot of fear flying through her as memories from earlier filled her.
Elle jumped up and leapt to the window, sighing in relief as she caught the familiar rebellious expression on Hot Wheels face as she parked her bike and slid to her feet. She had barely had time to take a step before Elle was racing out to meet her, Carla not far behind.
“Hot Wheels, what are you doing back already?” Carla asked as she jogged close enough so that she didn’t have to yell the words, “How did it go?”
“How did it go? How did it go!” Hot Wheels raved, throwing her helmet on the ground as she kicked up a cloud of dust with the toe of her black leather boot, “Not fucking good, that’s how it went.”
“Oh,” Elle said as she came to a stop, the word slipping out before she’d realized she had spoken.
“Oh? We’re about to go to war with the Nomads and all you can say is ‘oh’?” Hot Wheels sneered, glaring at her through a sheen of tears, “What the hell are you even doing here, Elle? Don’t you have to go teach some rich, privileged kids a useless skill?”
“Hey!” Carla said, stepping forward with one hand raised between them, “That’s enough, Wheels. Just tell us what happened.”
“Where’s Joel?” she shot back, “I need to talk to Joel.”
“He went back to the Cruisers.” Carla sighed, “He thought he might be able to talk to some of the guys that are still loyal to him, to the crew.”
“Well, we all better hope that he finds some. More than some. An army would be preferable.”
“Hot Wheels, what happened?” Elle asked, repeating Carla’s question as she took a step forward. She didn’t take offense at the other woman’s harsh words. It was obvious that she was upset, barely holding back the flood of tears shining in her pale green eyes.
“I went to the Nomads, like Joel asked,” Hot Wheels started, taking a deep breath to try and get a hold of her riotous emotions, “Things didn’t go as well as we might have hoped. The president of the Nomads threw down the gauntlet, Carla. He wants a cut, and one way or the other, he said he’s going to get it, even…even if he has to take the farm for himself.”
“What?” Carla gasped, shaking her head in dismay, “He can’t…he can’t do that.”
“He’s the leader of one of the worst gangs in the area, Carla. He can pretty much do what he wants–” Hot Wheels words were interrupted by another approaching rumble and her face fell as dread flooded her features, “Oh, shit.”
“Oh shit?” Elle whispered, “What’s ‘oh shit’?”
Hot Wheels just pointed towards the opening in the drive as five large bikers rode in, “That’s oh shit.”
They were all big, the one at the front the biggest by far, and none of them where Dirty Cruisers. They had to be members of the Nomads. With a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach Elle watched as they circled the small group of woman, the one at the front finally close enough for her to recognize.
“Scorpio,” she said softly, her mouth suddenly going dry.
“It’s Scorpion, actually, sweetheart,” the big man said, still circling around her with the four other bikers. “Don’t worry, though. After today you won’t have any problems remembering my name.”
“W–Why?” Elle asked despite Hot Wheels hissed advice to keep her mouth shut.
“Boys, why don’t we show the pretty lady why they won’t ever forget us, huh?” At his words the other bikers whooped excitedly, three of them breaking off and that’s when Elle noticed that they all had baseball bats and metal rods with them.
She watched in horror, helpless as the Nomads set about destroying everything that was within their reach, smashing equipment, plants, and the machines without prejudice. Nothing was safe from them as they tore the farm apart, right in front of their eyes. It wasn’t until one of the men went rushing into the greenhouse that Carla reacted.
Elle watched wide eyed as Carla ran after him, yelling at him to stop, begging with him but there was no reasoning with the men and the others quickly joined in, breaking the fragile glass of the building’s walls. Elle’s heart broke for her friend as tears started to run in a steady stream down Carla’s cheeks as she watched all of her dreams and hard work were destroyed and she couldn’t do anything but stand there and watch it happen.
Elle was so distracted that she didn’t even hear the approaching footsteps until a large shadow fell over her. With a gasp she spun around, twisting her ankle on the uneven ground but she didn’t move her gaze from the big man who was suddenly standing far too close to her.
“Wh–what do you think you’re doing?” she demanded, hating the fear and weakness in her voice. She couldn’t see Hot Wheels or Carla now even though she could still hear the telltale sounds of destruction coming from behind her.
“Did you mean what you said earlier?” Scorpion asked, stepping even closer. She tried to back up, the twinge in her ankle stopping her.
“What did I say?” Delay him. Keep him talking. Hopefully Honey would notice the noise and come running. She prayed, just this once, that he would be there to save her because she had a sinking feeling in her stomach that she wouldn’t be able to talk herself out of this one.
“What you said about me believing in myself. That I was important.” There was something in his dark eyes that said this meant something to him, even though for the life of her she couldn’t figure out why. But she still nodded her head.
“Of course,” she said quickly, desperately searching for a way to escape. He kept walking towards her, backing her up closer to the empty office. “I always say what I mean. And I think that everyone is important.”
“No! No,” he shouted, obviously fighting to moderate his tone but his outburst still had a new wave of fear rushing dizzily through her, “You said I was important. Me. Not anyone else.” He tilted his head to one side, “Did you mean it?”
Elle stared at him, wondering what she could possibly say to get herself out of this mess. He was a foot and half taller than her and as wide as the tool shed that was currently being dismantled and smashed to pieces. Finally, she took a deep breath, nodding, shaking too much to form words. She jerked back as he reached out a hand, sliding it across her cheek.
“I meant what I said, too.” Scorpion leaned close, inhaling a lock of her hair, “You are pretty.”
“Th–Thanks,” Elle forced out after he stared at her, waiting for some sort of answer. He took another step forward and she cried out, more in terror than in pain, as her back ran into the outer wall of the office. That was it. There was nowhere else to go. No other way to escape him.
He leaned forward then, grabbing her arms and jerking her off of her feet as he slammed her so hard against the wall that all the air rushed painfully out of her lungs and she knew she’d have bruises across her upper arms, and her ribs where it had dug in.
“I also told you something else, earlier. You should have listened to me,” Scorpion shook his head sadly, as if he was disappointed in her, “I told you that there would be consequences.”
Elle closed her eyes tight against whatever was coming. She’d rather not know. It seemed easier to face somehow. But one moment Scorpion was there, holding her in the air in a bruising grip, and the next he was gone and she was dropping like a dead weight back down to earth. She landed with a jarring force, pain shooting up her ankle. Her eyes flew open in shock and widened ever more as they saw him.
Honey let his fist fly, landing squarely on Scorpion’s jaw, he swooped in like some avenging angel and Elle couldn’t help but marvel for a moment. Her wish had come true. Just past Honey she could see Joel and Tucker dealing with the rest of the bikers, with the help of Hot Wheels, and even Carla who was chasing after one with a baseball bat.
Elle would have laughed in relief but for the fight that was playing out just feet in front of her. Honey had gotten in the blow because of the element of surprise but the other man was far larger, and far stronger and Elle felt a moment of panic as one of Scorpion’s punches hit caught Honey in the side, causing him to double over in pain.
Without even thinking about it, Elle leapt forward, grabbing Scorpion’s ankles as Honey let another one fly and once again, surprise made the bigger man topple backwards. A moment later Joel and Tucker were surrounding him, the rest of his crew members already chased off with their tails between their legs.
“Tell your boss,” Joel said as he dabbed at the blood that was oozing from his split lip, “That if he tries something like that again, we’re not just going to let you leave peacefully. Consider this your only warning.” Joel tossed the blood-covered bandana at the man who stalked towards his bike with a baleful glare. A moment later a strange, empty silence settle over the farm especially after the noise and destruction of just a few moments before.
The trembling came then. A bone deep cold that sank all the way to her core that even the bright shining sun couldn’t warm her. Elle was shaking so hard her teeth were chattering as she stared blankly at the remnants of the farm they had worked so hard to build up and keep running.
The next moment, Honey was there. He wrapped his arms around her but she was so numb that she could barely feel it at first, and then it was like a wildfire rushing through her and she clung to him, trembling in his embrace. For the first time since earlier, since the first time Scorpion had darkened their doorstep that morning, she finally felt safe. She finally felt secure. Like she was exactly where she was supposed to me.
“Take me home, Honey,” Elle whispered painfully as Honey rubbed comforting circles over and over on her back, “Please, let’s just go home.”