Loving Judas

Chapter Two.

The insistent banging on the door woke her up and she let out a squeak of fear, sitting upright in her bed just as Judas stood from his, he held out a hand motioning at her to stay in the bed.

"Sit tight,"  He said.

She glanced at the clock between their beds and saw it was six in the morning, the sun wasn't fully up yet and from the large window to her right the room was cast in a cool, gray light. She watched Judas approach the door stopping to pull a gun from his leather jacket on the floor. She nibbled on her lip, her heart pounding nearly as loud as the knocks on the door.

What if the people who murdered her parents followed her here? What if they knew she was inside? Could Judas really defend them in a shoot out if he was out numbered?

"JUDAS!" A voice yelled on the other side of the door called.

He looked out the spy-hole then set his gun aside and opened the door, she leaned over in her bed switching the lamp on and spilling the room in light. Rogue stepped into their room, he was sporting a black eye and busted lip, his clothes were covered in dirt.

"What happened?" Judas barked.

"We went to the bar down the street, just for a few drinks. There were saints there, they jumped us in the parking lot. I got away but Viper and Snake they're hurt really bad." Rogue said.

"Damn it, where are they?" Judas demanded grabbing his shirt.

"In their room, I don't think Snake is going to make it."

"I'll be there in a minute," Judas said quickly as he pulled on his jacket

Rogue glanced briefly at Alice then turned and rushed from the room, Judas shut the door behind him and snatched his pants off the floor. She hesitated, wondering if she should go with him. Seeming to read her mind he shook his head and pushed a hand back through his thick hair, he pulled on his boots while sitting on the end of his bed.

He was dressed and grabbing his gun in a matter of minutes.

"You stay here." He ordered.

"But...."She was about to protest, and tell him she wasn't crazy about being alone.

"No, stay,"  He ordered just before he breezed out of the room.

She stared at the door and then with a heavy sigh flipped off the bedside lamp. She slid deeper into the blankets feeling the warmth wrap around her, when she was little and scared her mom would lay in bed with her and hold her close, she wished someone was there to hold her now.

 Despite his reassurance she was scared, she was afraid of Judas, the club he rode with, the red dragons and everything that this life offered her but she was also afraid to be on her own. 

She couldn't sleep. Her mind raced and being alone in that hotel room made her feel claustrophobic now that she wasn't too exhausted to care. A

After a few long minutes of tossing and turning she threw back the covers. The cool morning air gave the room a bite of the outside chill and she shivered as goosebumps broke out on her skin, she grabbed her jeans and pulled them on then her hoodie followed. 

She opened the door and stepped out onto the concrete porch, she could see her breath in the cool morning air. A dampness hung around the motel making the cold even more unbearable. Are standing on the concrete a few minutes her nose began to hurt from the cold nipping at her. 

The still morning peace was disturbed by a sudden scream, she jumped as it pierced the morning. Her heart began to hammer  and soon enough the first scream was followed by another. She winced and took a step towards the sound, then another and another. She walked until she was standing just outside door 109, it stood slightly ajar the light inside lit brightly.

She pushed the door open and stepped inside, there were at least six men standing in a semi-circle around the first bed. She didn't see Rogue, Pops or Reaper, but Judas was standing to the far left with his back to her. The man on the bed screamed again and she winced, pure curiosity pushed her forward and she took another hesitant step.

A second before she could see anything other than the sea of leather jackets she ran into a hard chest and strong arms wrapped around her shielding her from seeing anything. The person gripped her tightly and ushered her from the room, she tripped twice on her own feet and when the door closer behind them she was back outside.

"I told you to stay in the room." Judas said, he sounded breathless.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't tired and I just wanted to know what happened."She said, moving away from him.

"Rogue, Snake and Viper got jumped Rogue is beat up but he'll live. Viper is cut up pretty bad I guess the other guys had knives but nothing too deep. Snake is bad, the cuts are deep and we can't stop the bleeding, I don't think he's going to make it." He said.

"I'm sorry." She said, meaning every word.

"I'm taking Reaper, Savage, Ford and Havoc and we're going out for blood. Promise me you'll stay in our room." He said, lighting a cigarette.

"You're going after these guys? Is it safe?"

"No, but it has to be done," He replied shaking his head and taking another long drag on his cigarette.

"What am I supposed to do?"She asked.

"Stay in the room. Pops will bring you lunch and I'm letting Rogue here plus a few others. You'll be safe." He said.

He turned and walked towards their room, she fell instep behind him just as another scream from Snake split the Morning air. She jumped and quickened her step slipping into the room behind him. He grabbed another gun from where he placed it on the table and checked the clip.

"Pops won't go with you?" She asked.

"No, He's the leader but I'm next in line. He lets most of this stuff up to me,"  He replied.

He grabbed a few things and shoved them into his pockets while she chewed off what was left of her fingernail.

"Be careful,"  she said before she could stop herself.

"I'll be fine," He replied stopping for just a second to look at her.

He shook his head and then breezed out the door closing it behind him. She heard his bike as well as a few others start up and rumble out of the parking lot, she supposed lecturing a hardened biker about being safe wasn't the normal thing to do, but if anything happened to him she wasn't sure what her next move would be.

She flipped off the light and approached the door. The tiny gold chain still hung broken and useless but the lock on the door itself was intact. She turned the lock on the door, knowing he'd be mad if he was locked out but not caring enough to risk her life.

She walked back to her bed and peeled off her jeans before crawling under the covers, she heard Snake scream out in pain and she winced, grabbing her pillow she put it over her head to muffle the sounds of agony. Sometime in the early morning light the screaming stopped and she drifted off to a restless sleep.

She heard a knock on the door and peeled her eyes open, she felt like they were full of sand and she stretched. Her first thought was that Judas had returned but when the knocking only continued at a gentle rate she knew it wasn't him. She pulled her jeans on and walked to the door looking out the spy-hole she saw Pops, she smiled as she opened the door.

"Morning Gorgeous," Pops smiled.

"Morning," She replied, rubbing her eyes.

"I brought you a few things."He said handing her a large plastic shopping bag.

She took the bag and carried it to the nearest bed, dumping the contents onto it. More than a few items spilled out that she was happy to have, a hairbrush, socks, a toothbrush, toothpaste, a heavy wool lined coat and a sandwich.

"I figured Judas didn't feed you and you'd be hungry,"  Pops said, as she tore the wrapper from the sandwich.

"Is he back yet?" She asked, before taking a large bite..

"Not yet." 

"How's Snake?" 

"He's better, he passed out but the bleeding stopped." 

"Aren't you worried? Sending Judas out there like that?" She asked, taking another bite of the sandwich. She knew it was just a vending machine turkey on wheat but it was delicious to he starving stomach.

"He's the best fighter and shooter we have. I worry but some things have to be done and he knows that. I'll worry until he's back safe but if I fuss to much he gets pissed about it."

She swallowed another bite of sandwich and Pops began digging in his wallet, finally he pulled out a few twenty dollar bills and he tossed them on the bed beside her.

"That's for you, get snacks, clothes whatever you need. When you run out let Judas or me know and we'll see to it you get more." Pops said.

"Oh, I can't take your money." She protested.

"You're family now, we're going to take care of you. One day when you're older and a real member you'll more than earn it." 

"Thank you," She said putting the money in her pocket.

"When Judas gets back he's going to show you everything you'll need to know." He promised.

"He doesn't like me," She said with a small shrug.

"He'll get over it, he always does," Pops said with a wave of his hand.

"Thank you, for everything."

"I always wanted a daughter." Pops replied.

She smiled, a daughter that's something she never thought she'd be again and the thought of her parents brought tears to her eyes. She wiped them away and Pops moved closer putting an arm around her.

"Hey now, it's going to be okay." He soothed pulling her close.

She buried her head in the older mans shoulder and felt the heartache she'd been keeping at bay finally spill over. She sobbed until there was nothing left and he held her close. Finally after close to an hour her sobs subsided and he pulled away.

"Now, no more of that." He said with a smile.

She sniffed and wiped her eyes again, he pushed her hair back from her face and kissed the top of her head.

"I'll let you get cleaned up and eat, I'll check on you later." He promised.

She gave a feeble nod swiping at her eyes again as Pops stepped back outside closing the door behind him, she picked up the hair brush and hoped it would go through her tangled hair. She began to brush out her long brown hair while eating her sandwich, all the while wondering where Judas was.

As dusk slowly fell there was still no sign of Judas and she began to worry about him, what if he was hurt? What if he was dead? Pops brought her supper and she voiced her concerns to him but he waved them off and later that night when Rogue came back to visit her she asked him if he was worried.

"About Judas? Nobody worries about him," Rogue said.

"But he's been gone a long time, shouldn't you go look for him?" She asked.

"Nah, he'll be back. These things take time," Rogue said with a shrug.

He collapsed onto the bed next to hers and she took in his appearance, his face was still red and swollen his left eye completely blackened. He had to be sore, and Snake was still fighting to stay alive.

"We're going to stay here awhile, until Snake is good enough to ride again." Rogue said, as if reading her mind.

"Don't you usually stay in one place?" She asked.

"No, we keep moving almost always."

"Do you get tired of moving place to place?" 

"Sometimes, but most of us don't know any different. Pops picked us all up in different places when we were younger, some of us were just teens. Judas he was born on the road he never knew what it was like to be in one place." Rogue said.

"I think that's sad." She admitted.

"Maybe, but we love each other. We're a family and this is how we live." He said with a shrug.

"I'm glad I found you guys." She said.

"Well, I don't know about anyone else but I'm glad too." Rogue said.

She turned on the television and Rogue made himself comfortable in the bed next to hers, at one point she went to the vending machine and returned with snacks. She dumped them onto the bed Rogue was laying in and then climbed in next to him.

"Damn, you have good taste in snack foods." He said, rummaging through the assortment.

"I never watch a movie without snacks." 

"I think you and I are going to be good friends." Rogue said, stealing a pack of M&Ms

She laughed and stretched out, it felt good to just relax with someone watch t.v and pig out. She was afraid the loneliness would drive her crazy living with these bikers but Rogue made her feel like she had a friend and she was grateful for that.

At some point during the movie he fell asleep and she decided to let him stay, just before he fell asleep he had complained that Pops snored and usually kept him up. He slept deeply and she continued to watch television munching on her snacks.

The door burst open hard enough it hit the wall and she jumped. Rogue shot upright in the bed beside her as they both faced a very angry Judas.

"What the hell are you doing?!"He demanded.

"Watching movies," Alice squeaked.

He strode over and grabbed Rogue by the shirt front lifting him off the bed.

"Get out of my bed now, before I blacken your other eye." He growled, tossing Rogue aside and little roughly.

Alice sat paralyzed as Rogue scrambled from the bed and then rushed out the door. Coward! She thought to herself, but as Judas turned his gaze towards her she found herself shrinking away. She moved to get off his bed.

"You can stay if you want too." He said.

"N....no." She stuttered slipping from the bed and grabbing up her snacks.

He snatched a bag of chips before she could grab them all then collapsed into the bed, the springs creaked under his weight and she shrank further away from him.

"Stop looking at me like that." He said, his voice low. He kicked his boots off onto the floor.

"I'm sorry."She said.

"You look at me like I'm the devil himself," He said, opening the small bag of chips and up ending the bag into his mouth.

"I'm sorry." She said again.

"And stop apologizing all the time, it's damned annoying." 

"I'm....."she was about to apologize again but one look from him silenced her.

"Get in bed and get some sleep we have a big day tomorrow, you're going to start learning the tricks of the trade."He said, tossing the now empty chip bag aside.

"Like what?"She asked, sitting on her bed.

"Riding, fighting, shooting and sometimes a combination of at least two at the same time." He said.

She frowned, she'd never held a gun before he came into that motel room, never threw a single punch and the first time she'd been on a motorcycle had been on the back of his. He seemed to sense her hesitation.

"I'm not thrilled about it either but Pops said you have to learn," He said.

"I can do it," She said with more confidence than she felt.

"We'll see tomorrow."

He leaned over and switched off the light before she had time to protest or even get into her own bed. In the darkness she found her bed and climbed in, she was apprehensive about tomorrow but determined to prove to Judas that she could do this. She could fit in this lifestyle, she didn't really have a choice.