Chapter Text
“They, said some day you'll find all who love are blind. When your heart's on fire you must realize smoke gets in your eyes”
1979
John Teller knew his time was up. He had survived two tours of duty in Vietnam only to come home to a country that was either indifferent or outright hostile to him. So he wandered around the country with his platoon buddy Piney Winston. He met Gemma Maddock and started a family.
Jackson was born and life was good.
As much as he hated the war, he missed the brotherhood of his platoon, especially Dave Knowles. That crazy Irish bastard, along with Piney Winston and him, were like the Three Musketeers, but jokingly called themselves the Sons of Anarchy. Dave saved him and Piney on more than one occasion. He needed to find him so they could get the Sons of Anarchy back together and off the ground. Make it real and not just an idea they dreamed up trying to stay alive in the jungle. Once they got their band of brothers back together, the MC they talked about forming would be real, off the ground, and running.
Last he heard, Dave had fallen head over heels in love with Nick Manolis’ sister. Apparently, she was absolutely beautiful. She had to be to get Dave to settle down. According to Piney, she caught your eye and kept you with her mind. She either had to be a witch or a fairy tale princess to tame Dave. That guy was an absolute legend in their platoon for having his pick of the pussy whenever they got leave.
Gemma was from a town called Charming in North central California. She was a wild sweet butt he met in Oregon. He saw her across the lot at a MC party. She was what he thought he was looking for. Young, wild, and free. She helped him forget all the shit he still saw in his mind at night as a tunnel rat during the war. She loved caring for him and he loved being taken care of.
She knew the life and they got hitched when she was ready to pop pregnant. They then headed to Charming with Piney, Otto, and Clay, fellow Army brothers from a different platoon. They were able to get an auto repair shop going and settled in.
One balmy summer night they went to the local carnival, Fun Town, and were wandering around when John caught sight of the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. All almond green eyes, porcelain skin, and long, silky black hair. Piney clocked her too, and they went in for the smooth move when she went and kissed none other than Dave Fucking Knowles.
John practically ran up to him and Dave was shocked too. They went in for their bear hug and Dave introduced them to Taisia Manolis, his fiancé. Her brother, and their platoon buddy, Nick wandered up too; John and Piney dragged them all back to the auto shop and their newly built clubhouse.
Gemma and Otto’s old lady, Luann, hit it right off the bat with Taisia and they all partied for a week straight. John had a strange sense of serendipity tinged with the sadness of the reality that the world they lived in had marginalized them. They would forge their own fiefdom and a sense of hope for endless possibilities they had now that the brotherhood was back together.
Dave and Taisia were married soon after and the party that took place was epic by any standard. It was akin to a two week medieval feast right out of a Brothers Grimm tale. She was the most beautiful bride anyone had ever seen.
Dave’s handsome mug in his uniform had all the women swooning, but it was beyond a shadow of a doubt that he only had eyes for Taisia. Hell, all the guys were jealous and some of the women too.
Real life set in and they had to make a living. The auto repair business was good but they needed more when that slowed down. That’s when John went to Dave to discuss what he had told him about his history during their deployment.
Dave used his Fenian connections and got them in with the the Cause. It was a good time for gun running. The Troubles had everyone looking for ways to keep the money flowing. That meant guns going out and the money coming in was almost too good to be true for the Sons.
Dave kept his role in all of this quiet. Taisia was expecting and she was always on high alert because of her history with the Russians. He would storm the gates of Hades to protect her and the money helped keep her tucked safely away at home.
Their baby girl, Tara, came soon after and life was good.