The Reaper and the Death Angel Part 51
Looks like I'm back on track, I'm very happy with this chapter.
Series Masterlist
Part 50
Contains: Angst, fluff, hurt/comfort, drug driving, injury to a child, follow the plot of 5x07-5x08 loosely
7.7K words
Comment if you want to be tagged/removed or follow #the reaper and the death angel.
Gemma loses the last bit of good will.
Gemma didn't know why she was in that hotel room or why she decided to spend the night with a man she didn't know, what she did know was that having her car stolen after getting black out drunk was going to mean that she would be back to not being alone to spend time with Abel again.
She wondered what Nero would say, things were going well with him but they had never had a conversation about getting serious, but she called him anyway, hoping he would understand, hoping he wouldn't tell Jax what had just happened.
****
"What is it?"
Jax was making a ruckus throwing on his clothes, "That was Nero, Gemma's had her car stolen, at a no tell motel."
You rubbed the sleep out of your eyes, "I guess she's not better, was she with someone?"
Jax shrugged, "no idea, I'm about to find out."
You climbed out of bed, "I'll head into the lab early, maybe get a post or two done and then I'll come home and pack. Go easy on her Jax, she's going through a lot."
Jax huffed, "she has been given chance after chance to pull her shit together, this has to stop before she gets someone hurt."
You nodded, "see how she is when you get there, is she's sober she can have Abel while we leave, if not, Wendy can take him and she doesn't get another chance until all this shit with Clay is over and done with."
Jax sighed then walked up to where you were sitting on the end of the bed and leaned down to kiss you, "alright, but if she's still drunk she's done."
You nodded, "that's fair. I Love you Jax, please be safe."
"Love you too darlin."
****
Gemma's heart dropped when she heard the bikes, she could see the look on Jax's face as they walked up to her with Nero in tow, Bobby and Tig went off to talk to the manager while the other went to speak to Gemma. When they got within speaking distance, Gemma leaned in close to Nero to talk to him, "if I wanted them to come I would have called them."
Jax did his best to stay calm, "what the hell happened?"
"I cashed here last night and someone stole my Caddy."
Jax wasn't buying it, "someone?" He went looking around the hotel room and returned with a bottle of white liquid "since when do you drink banana vodka?"
Nero was kinda as they stood around her waiting for the truth, "what happened?"
"I woke up to take a piss and he stole my wallet and my SVU. I don't remember his name."
Jax tried to suppress his disgust, "Jesus Christ, who are you."
She walked away upset, Nero going to comfort her, "this is why I called you, because I don't need that shit."
Jax took a deep breath and walked up to Nero, "I'm sorry you got pulled into this, she's a Goddamn train wreck."
"She still your mother ese, respect that. You know, she's caught between a husband she hates and a kid she thinks hate her. Women like your mum, Jax, they don't do so good without family. Hmm, go easy." Nero left to take a call and Tig and Bobby came back with nothing, but when Nero hung up he had a determined look on his face.
"My guys found the Escalade, and the dude is still there." With one last glance at his mother, Jax left.
****
"Y/n said I'm not allowed to let you go back to work."
Ima's hands were on her hips, there was no way Sam was going to win this, "come on baby, you know I'll be alright."
Ima rolled her eyes, "no, we need to start planning the nursery anyway."
Sam smiled, "alright beautiful but only because I know you're more loyal to my sister than me and you'd call her if I went to work."
Ima smiled, "damn right I would."
****
"Ahhhh, y/n, Clay Morrow is at the door for you, do you want me to let him in?"
You rubbed your face, "yeah, walk him in please, and don't go anywhere, he won't be here for long." Travis escorted Clay in and sat down watching him while he tried to speak to you.
"What do you want?"
He shrugged, "Juice is here with your intern, I thought I'd tell you what you needed to hear rather than sit in the van."
You shook your head, "why do you still have to O2? You're breathing fine."
He huffed, "doc says I still need it for a little while. Does he need to be here?"
You waved your hand, "yes, now hurry up and say what you need to say so I can get on with my life."
"I know you're not going to take this well but I also know you can listen to reason. Jax can't run this Club, in the last few months your brother has been shot and Charming is at risk, you need to tell him to step down." You kept your face neutral despite the urge to shoot him in the head.
"You really think I have that much pull over him? And let's be honest Mr Morrow, we both know that this isn't on Jax. He's done more for the Club and for Charming since he's taken over than you had in twenty years. Now kindy fuck off, before you put your foot in it and I start looking at your motivations a bit closer."
You turned to Travis, "get rid of him, please."
Travis stood up to his full height, "with pleasure, you want me to bar him from now on?"
You shook your head, "don't make it any harder on Juice, he can sit outside and wait for me to come out if he wants to talk from now on." Clay walked out and Travis looked at you through his peripheral vision, smiling as you shook the recorder by your side, Clay was getting worried and it was showing.
****
Jax felt a strange anger when he found out what Gemma's one night stand did for a living, you would probably tell him that he was a sociopath who didn't care and felt nothing for the women he hurt but your calming voice in his head did little to quell the building rage as he got on his bike the chase after the man.
As the bikes gained on the torn apart car, Jax thought about what he was going to do to the man when he caught him, he didn't have to think for too long because he was jumping out of the car and shooting at them before running away into a patch of bush by the side of the road. Jax was on his in seconds, throwing his fists into the man's face while Chibs tried to pull him away.
"I'm good, let me crack this piece of shit."
Nero stood next to Chibs to block the man from Jax's view, "you want to be on the five o'clock news. Take what's yours. Let's get out of here."
Jax did his best to reign in his rage as he stalked up to the man, "I should kill you for what you did to my mother."
He got a bit of sick satisfaction at the fear in the man's eyes, "that makes sense. But you're not going to do that right?"
"Not today. Check his pockets." Chibs went through them and handed the money to Jax, the man's protest going unheard. He walked off in a huffed, Nero threatening him one last time before they mounted their bikes and drove off.
****
"Jax's has got to go, I don't care how you do it but get rid of him. He's leaving tonight to spend some time at the cabin with his bitch, do it then."
Gogo swallowed, "you want us to take him out?"
Clay shook his head, "nah, hire someone from the outside, make it look like a beef. I have another job for you three."
Clay sounded so angry, "what?" Franky didn't know where this was going, only that Clay was going off the rails.
"I need to to scare my old lady, she drives home the same way every night, she needs to know that pimp can't look after her like I can."
Greg's eyes went wide, "so what, you want us to run her off the road?"
Clay shook his head, "I didn't say that, just give her a reason to think that Jax can't keep Charming safe."
"Fine, but this better get you back at the head of the table, we can't just off Jax and get away with it without you running things, especially is y/n gets in the Club's ear."
Clay felt his blood pressure rise, "don't worry, once the little prince is dead, you can get rid if her too."
****
"Hello my love, to what do owe I your call?"
Jax chuckled, "my mum was sober when we got there, we got her car back too. I think she should be alright to take Abel."
You rubbed your face, "ok, I have a few more things to do here then I'll be done."
Jax sounded tired, "I'm going to have Tig go up with you, make sure you're safe."
You sighed, "alright, I can look after myself but I know it will ease your worry so I'll agree. I'll air the place out and make dinner, how long before you get there?"
"About two hours after you, thank you for being so patient."
You smiled, "I love you Jackson."
You could hear the smirk in his voice, "I love you too darlin."
****
Jax watched Gemma head into the office after talking to Nero, he took a deep breath and followed her, sitting down on the couch and readying himself for the oncoming conversation. "I'm sorry I embarrassed you."
Jax waved his hand, "It's ok. You and y/n, she's really trying mum."
Gemma nodded, "I know. I know she is, if I was her I wouldn't let me anywhere near Abel." Jax was a little shocked at her self awareness.
"What's going on with you mum?"
Gemma's face fell, "when my Thomas died, I did the worse thing a mother could do, I made you make up for the love he couldn't give me anymore. I'm sorry Jackson, I'm sorry that I've always been too much."
Jax ran his hands over his hair, "when he died, I felt so bad."
Gemma did her best to comfort him, "I know baby."
Jax shook his head, "it wasn't because he was dead, it was because I'd have you all to myself. I knew how wrong that was"
When Jax, filled with shame at his jealousy of your relationship with Sam brought this up to you, you hugged him and told him it wasn't his fault that he felt like Gemma didn't have love enough for both of them. At first, he was offended that you had suggested something so horrible but the more he thought about it, the more he realised that growing up, he felt like his mother didn't have space in her heart for everyone.
"I love you mum, and we're going to get through all of this, I promise." Jax stood up and pulled his mother into his arms for a hug, Jax didn't know what to do, all he knew was that things needed to change.
****
"You all packed?"
You nodded, "I just got to get the cool stuff in the cooler, you're staying for dinner at the cabin right?"
Tig smiled, "you want me there?"
You nodded again, "I do, I realise that you and I have serious fundamental issues but we can't let them stew. I have yet to make up my mind about you, which has never happened before, so I'm trying to like you, not only for Jax and the Club but so there's no bad blood between us."
"I don't know what to say."
You took a deep breath, "don't say anything, just deal with your personality problems that got us to this place originally."
Tig knew what you were talking about, you thought he was a coward and in many ways, you were right, "I'm trying."
You smiled, "I know, that's why we're having this conversation."
You looked around, "alright, I'm ready to go."
You handed Tig the cooler, "right on time, I'll text Jax before we leave." You nodded, "how did today go?"
Tig shrugged, "we got Gemma's car back and Clay didn't make a scene, I think we got off easy."
You sigh, "yeah, has Clay stirred the pot about these home invasions? I know he's been sowing the seeds of doubt."
"Yeah, he has. Why do you ask?"
You thought for a moment before giving an honest answer, "because he's the only one who has anything to gain from them. Not only does it make Jax look weak and unable to lead but it makes Charming look unsafe without him at the head of the table."
Tig went pale, "he's behind this?"
He huffed, "shit, who's doing the dirty work?"
You titled your head, "who's been absent every time something goes wrong?"
"The nomads, do you have proof?"
You nodded, "bootprints, fingerprints and a bug in his house. Would you like to hear him admit everything?"
Tig blinked, "who else knows?"
You smiled sadly at his tone, "Jax, Sam, Opie, Bobby and Happy, Clay sent the Nomads to Happy's house to go after his mum and aunt."
Tig swallowed, "Sam?"
You nodded, "Greg pulled the trigger."
"Why are you telling me this now?"
Your smile turned a little nasty, "because I needed to know if you were involved before I was alone with you, far away from help. Don't worry, you passed."
He snorted, "gee thanks. Let me guess, you want me to act like I know nothing?"
You nodded, "unless you want to run a foul of the CIA."
"I hear you."
****
Gemma knew she shouldn't be smoking before she took Abel home, but after her conversation with Jax she couldn't calm down. Stopping by Unser's and talking to him had helped a lot but the last few days had made everything so much worse, between getting her car stolen and Clay trying to worm his way back into her life, she felt lost. Nevertheless, she stamped out her joint and headed T-M to bring Abel back home with her, grateful she had been given more time with him even after last night.
When Gemma got to T-M, Abel jumped into her arms and hugged her, "grandma, I missed you."
Gemma pressed a kiss to his little cheek, "I miss you too, are you ready to go?" Abel nodded, and Gemme buckled him in, driving off with the radio blaring. Had she been sober, she might has picked up on the dark van following her.
As she drove down the road, she grew tired, the loud music barely keeping her awake. It was the sound of a horn blaring that shook her eyes open, the van came up fast and almost bumped the back of the car, the wheels screeching as her car shifted. She managed to right the car before the next wave came, and then another, then the van pulled away. Just as she thought it was over, the van was back and this time, she didn't have to reflexes to correct the swerve.
The tree came fast and hard, then there was nothing.
****
"You might as well come inside and help me sort this place out."
Tig didn't look impressed, "Tragger, I'm not a child, no one's going to come up on us without me hearing it, and let's be honest, I'll be protecting you."
Tig shook his head with a smile, "you're kind of mean."
You huffed, "am I lying?"
He rolled his eyes, "no, but it makes me feel inadequate."
You handed Tig and knife and slid him the cutting board, "good for you, please chop the carrots."
He did as you asked, "what are you making?"
You washed your hands and turned on the oven, "baked skin on chicken breast with veggies."
Tig licked his lips, "yum, I'm glad I said yes to your invite."
Before you could say more, your mobile rang. It was a fast conversation, "we need to leave right now. Jax and the guys have just been attacked on their way here." You and Tig raced out of the cabin, when he got to his bike, you practically pulled him away, "is that thing bullet proof?" He didn't answer as he climbed into the passenger seat and you drove off.
It didn't take long for you to get to the scene. Jax and Chibs were by the road, their bikes nowhere to be seen. You ran up to them and grabbed Jax's face in your hands, "what the hell happened?"
Jax looked so angry, "are either of you hurt? Let me check you." You ran your hands over Jax then Chibs, then Jax was putting and hand on your upper back and leading you into the bushes.
"A van came out of nowhere and someone started shooting, we managed to down this guy before the van drove off."
Tig turned to you and you gave him a knowing look, "he's black?"
You nodded, "yeah, my guess is someone's getting worried we're on to them and wants to throw us off."
Chibs blinked, "why am I getting the feeling that I've been left out of the loop."
You took a deep breath, "load the body into the truck, Jax can explain to you what I just told Tig."
Jax glanced at you, "I've called the others, Bobby's on his way."
You shook your head, "we have a problem, the shells on the road are for cop killers, they were planning on killing both of you." It didn't take long for the four of you to return to the cabin, Jax downloading Chibs from the front seat while Chibs and Tig sat in the back.
When they got the body inside, you all stood around the corpse, "check his tats."
They pulled up his sleeves, "a few prisons tats, Black Nation."
You nodded, "we need to get an ID." Before you could go outside to get the fingerprint scanner, Jax was producing a fire axe. With two violent swings, the stranger's hands were off his body.
"What are you doing Jackson?"
He puffed on his cigarette, "take one to Pope, have him ID the prints. I want affiliations, who he works for, everything."
You threw your hands up in the air, "I'm going to get an ID now so we don't have to send hands to anyone."
You left to get the kit and your laptop from the car while the others waited, "who's the other one for?"
Jax glared at the body, "Unser. Same request" You returned and knelt by the body.
"Why Unser?"
Boddy huffed, "because if he's working with Clay he'll lie about it."
You shook your head and pressed a dismember hand to the screen, "Charles Turner, pretty standard rap sheet, more time inside than out."
Before you could say more, Hale's ringtone pulled you away, "I'm sorry, I need to take this." You could tell something was wrong by the way Hale sounded, his voice was shaking and there were sirens screaming in the background. It was like your brain was stuck in mud, car crash, Abel badly hurt.
You came racing out, the body on the floor still there but out of your mind, "we have to go."
Jax knew something was wrong, he had never heard that tone in your voice, "what happened?"
You were already at the door, "it's my baby."
****
Jax wanted to throw up, after getting authorisation from Hale to travel under lights and sirens you slammed on the gas and drove like a mad woman, all Jax could do was hold on while you worked the old mustang like a high performance race car. "Did he say anything else?"
You shook your head as you ran the red light, "there was no paint on the back of the car and Gemma said someone was trying to hit her. I have a very bad feeling Jax."
"What?"
You took a deep breath, you were close to St Thomas but it felt like a million miles away, "Clay wouldn't put her at risk and he wouldn't risk breaking her heart by killing Abel, if he's ordered this, he would have told them not to hurt her."
Jax was catching up slowly, "so the only reason she would have crashed is because she wasn't sober."
Your eyes never left the road, "we're about to find out."
Sam and Ima were already at the hospital when you go there, Sam putting a hand on your face to slow your racing mind, Ima had clearly been crying, "I've already signed to consent papers, the surgeons are looking after him now. You can go through and be there if you want."
You rubbed your face, "go, it's alright." Seconds later, a nurse was coming to take to you and Jax back to the cardiac OR.
Abel was already out when you got there, Jax watching from behind the glass while he shifted from foot to foot, "Jesus, how long does this take?"
You took a deep breath, "they run the wire from his femoral artery up to his heart, thirty minutes at most if this is the fix."
Jax's eyes went wide, "and if it isn't?"
You shook your head, "we'll know soon." You looked at the monitor, "it looks like it's working, it's going to be ok my love."
"Like this kid hasn't been through enough shit."
Jax wouldn't stop moving, "this is on Gemma, if she was drunk or high I swear to God Jax."
Jax turned to you, his expression becoming angry, "I know, I know."
You grabbed Jax's hand as they went to deliver the shock and Jax felt you relax, "it worked, he's fine." Jax pulled you into his arms, resting his cheek on the top of your head, "we should go check on Gemma, they need to stitch him up, we don't need to see that."
On the way to the room, you stopped by a nurses cart and looked around, Jax slowing to watch you as you swiped a syringe, "what are you doing?"
You huffed, "testing a theory."
Clay was waiting when you got to the room, "fuck off."
He didn't move, "if you don't get the fuck out of this room right now you'll be happy you're in a hospital." The noise was waking Gemma, so you stepped closer to Clay, "I don't want to traumatise her anymore, get out." Maybe it was the expression on your face or the way Jax was standing behind you but Clay got up and left with a glare.
When Clay was out of view, you screwed the syringe into her IV and drew some blood before capping it and dropping it into your pocket. Gemma woke up soon after, looking around with worry. "Abel?"
You swallowed, "is in the peds ward. He had an irregular heartbeat due to the crash and needed a Cardiac Catheterisation, he's fine now."
That didn't ease her worry, "he was bleeding." you were trying to be gentle but Jax wasn't having it.
"What happened, were you drunk?"
Gemma looked at you and you crossed your arms over your chest, "there was no paint on the car Gem and you're a good driver, being run off the road in a car your size isn't that easy."
She shook her head, "no, I almost got away but a truck came out of nowhere just after the van pulled off, I was too busy pulling away from the van to see it."
"Jesus Christ, did you get a look at them?"
She blinked, "the van was dark brown, that's all I could see."
You pulled Gemma into a hug, all your worries forgotten, "I'm so glad you were the one driving, all Abel had was a cut on his head, that's where the blood came from, he's ok."
You saw her relax, "when can I see him?"
You smiled softly, "he's still asleep but you can see him when he wakes up." She smiled, "thank you."
"I'm just happy you're both ok." Before you could say more, Unser arrived.
Jax left to talk to him while you headed to Abel's room. In the hallway, you met up with Holt, who had come for moral support, "how's your boy?"
You shrugged, "he's fine. I need a favour."
Holt nodded, "anything."
You reached into your pocket, "test this blood for me, I need to know if there's anything in it."
Holt's eyes went wide, "you think Abel's grandmother was under the influence?"
"I don't know, but I want to find out."
****
Sam and Ima had wandered into Abel's room before you, "you guys doing alright?"
Ima wiped her face, "these guys have to go."
You had never heard her so angry, "I know, we're working on it, you didn't answer my question."
Sam sighed, "we're alright, the baby too, it's just been a long few weeks."
"You should go home and rest, the last thing we need is you back here because of an infection."
Sam shook his head, "I'll stay until Abel wakes up." You didn't argue, instead you pulled up a chair and waited for Jax to return.
Bobby walked in soon after, "Jax went to see Pope, Unser came through, we can trust him."
You sighed, "we better settle in, it's going to be a long day."
Just as you were getting comfortable, Wendy arrived, "what happened?"
You shrugged, "looks like road rage, Hale thinks it was random."
You readied yourself for a fight, "but Abel and Gemma are ok?"
You nodded, "fine, if you think you can…."
She cut you off, "I'm not going to use this against you, you've let me into Abel's life, the last thing I want to do is hurt that by pulling something at a time like this."
You were taken aback, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have jumped to that."
She waved her hand, "it's understandable, I came back into Abel's life when things were rough for you. I just want to be here with him."
You swallowed, "stay for as long as you like, I'm not sure when he's going to wake up."
She nodded, "where's Jax?"
You looked at Sam, "Club business, Gemma managed to get a look at the van, he's gone looking for it."
She huffed, "let's hope he gets to him before Hale does."
****
"The hand belonged to Charles Truner, Tyler's LaRoy's number two, he has the info on all his known associates. How's your boy?"
Jax shrugged, "alive."
Pope smiled, "and your old lady."
Jax huffed, "out for blood, she's not going to rest until these people are dead."
Pope nodded, "if someone went after my daughter, I want the same thing. The CIA are very nervous Jackson, they want to know if I'm still on board even with your… internal issues."
"Are you?"
Jax chose to ignore that Pope was aware of the Nomads, "of course, they assured me that their asset was dealing with the matter, I'm guessing that's still your future wife?"
Jax nodded, "yeah, I'm not happy she's had to jump back in, neither is she but the work's got to be done"
Pope chuckled and the tone changed, "August will help you if you need men, we don't want people who go after small children and elderly women in out ranks Jackson, you have free reign to deal with this how you see fit."
Jax heard the message loud and clear, get rid of them.
****
"I told you to scare her, not run her off the road. How did you not know Abel was in the back?"
Greg rubbed his aching face, "she was already all over the place when we pulled up on her, it's not our fault she was on something."
Clay shook his head, "that bitch isn't going to think that, she's going to boil us all alive if she finds out were the ones behind the attack."
Gogo huffed, "I don't know Clay, she seems harmless to me."
Clay's face turned cruel, "that's what everyone thinks. She's a fucking viper, if you piss her off, you'll be dead before you know what hit you."
Franky wasn't worried, "you said it yourself Clay, once Jax is gone, she's next."
****
Nero walked into Gemma's room, Chucky leaving with a smile. When they were alone, she started to cry, "hey, it's gonna be alright."
She shook her head, "I was stoned driving Abel. I lied about a truck, I couldn't swing the car around fast enough. I thought I'd be alright, I drive high all the time. I just didn't want to miss my chance with them."
"It's going to be ok baby, it's ok."
Gemma knew he was lying, "no, it's not. y/n isn't going to care, if I had been sober, I would have gotten away from the van, she'd know that."
Nero sighed, "she's a good girl, I'm sure she'll understand."
Gemma swallowed, "no she won't, she's been telling everyone to watch their backs, it was worse than getting her child hurt, I couldn't protect him because I was high, she and Jax are never going to forgive me if they find out."
"That will come back Gemma, you know how that shit works, you got to get in front of it. Tell them the truth."
A knock from Chucky broke the conversation, then Clay was rounding the corner and walking through the door. "I need to step out, my bowels very loose in situations like this."
Nero smiled, "well on that note. I'll check in on you."
Clay followed Nero, "I'll walk you out." Clay has grown bold since the crash, "whatever it is between you and my wife, it's over."
"Maybe we should let her make that call."
Clay shook his head, "I know you and Jax are tight and the Club appreciates your pussy salvation but make no mistake, you get in my way with Gemma, I'll kill you."
Nero didn't flinch, "don't worry, mano, I don't make mistakes, not like you."
****
Abel was still asleep when Holt came back from the lab, you waved him inside and he sat down, handing you an envelope, "where's Jax?
You shrugged, "finding the guys that tried to kill him and Chibs, what did you find?"
His face told you what you needed to know, "I went back to the scene, the only tire tracks were from Gemma's car and the van, and I had Angela look at CCVT on the road, no trucks entered any of the exits to the highway at the time of the crash. She lied, to what extent isn't for me to say, your answer is in there."
He patted your leg, "I'm sorry, I've bought in one of your backups, take as much time off as you need."
Without another word, he left. Sam clenched his jaw, "I'm gonna see what's going on out there."
He got up and left, taking his rage with him, "are you going to look at the tox screen?" Sam wasn't the only one who sounded angry, Ima wasn't happy with her and you could understand why.
"When Jax gets back."
Ima grabbed your hand, "if she was on something, I'm not letting her near my baby, ever."
"I know, I don't blame you."
****
Jax felt lost, sure he had got the guy who tried to kill him and Chibs but it left him with more questions than answers, either Gemma lied and there was no van or worse, the Nomads went after his family themselves. At least they had Franky on the hook, Jax just had to find a way to explain everything to you, without you going over the Club's head and killing them yourself.
****
"Hey, what are you doing here?"
Clay huffed, "I hate hospitals."
Juice nodded, you had sent him back to the Clubhouse for that very reason. "I can't find anything on anyone, I asked around, The Mayans are doing some digging but I think we're still in the dark."
Clay knew something was going on, "anything you need to tell me." Juice shook his head, "no, why?"
Clay smiled, Juice's tone told him he was on the right track, "well, Roosevelt was pressing you pretty hard when we got out."
Juice shrugged, "yeah, I guess."
"Why just you?"
Juice was getting worried, "I don't know."
Clay's voice got higher, he was trying to seem like he wasn't digging, "I think you do."
Juice huffed, "he's just an asshole cop."
Clay shoved Juice down as he went to stand up, "what's he know Juice?"
Juice felt his heart race, "nothing."
Clay wasn't buying it, "don't lie to me."
Juice swallowed, "I'm not."
Clay leaned in close, "hey, you can tell me the truth son."
"Please Clay, I can't."
Got you.
"You've got no choice. Tell me Juice."
Juice took a deep breath, "my father, he's black. Roosevelt tried to use him to get me to rat but…"
Clay smiled, "but y/n already knew and lied for you."
Juice nodded, "yeah. She told me she'd take it to her grave."
Clay felt like rubbing his hands together, he had Juice right where he wanted him, "I'm the one who set the Nomads in motion."
Juice wasn't shocked, "what happens now?"
Clay smiled, "you keep my secret, I keep yours." Juice nodded, the moment Clay was gone, he was going right to you.
****
"You should take your wife home."
Sam shook his head softly, Ima had fallen asleep against his shoulder hours ago, "nah, she's getting this weird pregnant lady strength, I'm worried she'd kill me."
Jax huffed, "yeah, I can see her doing that. Has Abel been awake?"
Sam shook his head, "for like a minute an hour ago. y/n just went to take a call, she'll be back in a bi…. speak of the devil, are you ears burning?" You rolled your eyes as you walked in and kissed Jax's cheek.
"Did you get the guys?"
Jax nodded, "only the ones that went after us, my guess is the Nomads were the ones that went after Gemma."
The envelope was burning a hole in your pocket, "Jax, I have something to tell you and you're not going to like it."
Jax crossed his arms over his chest, "what?"
You took a deep breath, "there was no sign of a truck Jax, the only treads that were there were Gemma's car and van's, traffic cameras show the roads in and out of the highway were free of trucks too."
You reached into your pocket, "I have the drug test, I figure we ask Gemma once more before we open it."
Jax looked at the white paper in your hand, "Sam, take Ima home, she doesn't need to stress if this goes wrong, and neither do you. The last thing we need is you popping a stitch."
Sam smiled sadly, "sure brother, call us when Abel's up and we'll come back." When Sam woke Ima, he didn't give her the chance to protest before he was taking her home.
"Thank you for that."
Jax swallowed, "you're not the only one worried about the stress on Ima and her baby y/n, let's not talk about it anymore."
Jax sat you down, his eyes still on the paper in your hand, "you wanna look?"
Jax huffed, "not really."
You handed it to him, "we don't have to but Jax, if she can't protect Abel because she's using drugs, we can't let her near him."
Jax rubbed his face, "I know."
Before he could say more, Juice came in looking like he had seen a ghost, "what's wrong Juicy?"
"I need to talk to you, alone."
Jax's eyebrows rose, "it's alright my love, I'll be back soon." You got up and followed Juice into a quiet hallway, "what's going on Juice?"
Juice was almost hyperventilating, "Clay knows about the black thing."
You did your best not to react, "he's not going to tell anyone Juice, he won't get anything out of it."
Juice was still panicked, "he's given you an assurance, hasn't he?"
He nodded, "let me guess, he's behind the Nomads?"
Juice's eyes went wide, "yeah, how did you know?"
You smiled, "I've been lying, the bootprints were a match to Greg and I have fingerprints on the shells from the bullets that hit Sam. Jax, Opie, Bobby, Happy, Chibs and Sam already know all the details, we're telling people as we need to. I'm still working on Galen so we can't risk this getting out."
Juice relaxed, "what do I do?"
You smiled, "you come clean Juice, if it goes wrong, then I can get you out of the country and with a new identity in hours. Then I'm talking Abel and leaving his father because there is no way I will let my child be raised by a racist."
Juice blinked, "you would really leave Jax over this?"
You nodded, "in a heartbeat. Now let me make some calls and then we're going to put this to bed."
Ten minutes later, you were returning to Juice with a smile, "it's all set, if shit goes wrong, I have a plane waiting to take you to where ever you want to go. You ready?"
Juice gave a nod, "alright how do you want to do this?"
Juice took a deep breath, "can I get Chibs here?"
You smiled, "sure, how about we do it at my place, a little later, that way no one's worrying about Abel?"
Juice nodded, "that sounds good, what are you going to tell Jax?"
You shrugged, "that you need to tell him something later on and he better be ok about it if he ever wants to see me again."
He stopped you, "maybe it can wait until tomorrow? I don't want make things worse."
You nodded, "of course, you wanna come in and spend some time with Abel?"
Juice shook his head, "nah, it will just make things harder."
****
"Mummy, my head hurts."
You shot up off Jax's shoulder, almost knocking him in the head on the up, "hey little man, I'll go get a nurse to have a look." You ran out of the room and came back in record time, Jax having climbed into bed next to him.
The nurse cleaned his cut and gave him some pain meds, "you feeling a bit better now?"
Abel nodded and rubbed his face, "yes." You waved Jax over and lay down opposite to Jax so Abel was in the middle, "is grandma ok?"
Jax smiled, "yeah, little man, she's ok. Do you remember anything?"
Abel nodded, "grandma's car went funny, then she hit something."
"Did you see a big truck in front of you?"
Abel shook his head, "no, there was a big car behind us."
You looked at Jax, "we need to look at those results Jackson."
He took a deep breath, "just a little bit longer, I want to enjoy the peace while it lasts."
****
When you left the room to get coffee, the Nomads were standing around, if you didn't know any better, you'd think they felt guilty, "have you found anything?"
Franky shook his head, "nah, but we're still looking. We're gonna find the guys that went after your family."
You smiled and placed a hand on his shoulder, "thank you for everything, you've been such a help to Jax and the Club."
The looks they shared made it clear that you had lulled them into a false sense of security, it wouldn't be long now they made another slip up.
****
"That's your fourth coffee, you doing ok?"
You rubbed your face, "my head's acting up, I'll be alright."
Jax made a face, "go home, Abel's going to be asleep most of the night anyway."
You shook your head, "we need to talk to Gemma first."
The envelope was still in your pocket, "I know, do you think she lied about that too?"
You shrugged, "for as much as Holt tries to be stonefaced, he loves Abel, his reaction pretty much told me what's in it."
Jax nodded, "yeah, I know, he called me to apologise."
You huffed, "he's a good man, despite the fact that he thinks we show too much affection towards each other in public."
Jax chuckled, "because he shakes Kevin's hand when they meet up for lunch."
You giggled, "yeah. Don't knock it, that could be us in ten years."
Jax shook his head, "I can't wait."
Knock Knock
It was Nero, Jax got up and let him in, "what's going on man?"
Nero swallowed, "can I talk you outside for a minute?" Jax left with a nod, his hand lingering on your cheek. They walked to an empty hallway and Nero stopped, "Gemma lied about the truck coming at her."
Jax snarled, "I know."
Nero's face remained calm, "what are you going to do."
Jax huffed, "she almost killed my kid."
"So what pres, you're gonna beat the shit out of your mother, hasn't that been done enough by your family."
Jax shook his head, walking away in a rage, "she's your problem now."
Jax returned and the conversation turned back to the tox screen but as you reached into your pocket, Gemma walked in, "maybe we ask her first."
Jax stood up, his face going hard, "are you going to tell her gonna tell her or am I."
Gemma stopped in her tracks, "I love him so much."
You stood up and walked next to Jax, reaching into your pocket, "this is a drug screen, I don't want to have to get my answers from this."
She glared at you, "you ran a drug test on me?"
"Yes, I did, there were no treads from a truck Gemma, and there was no paint on your car, there has to be a reason you lost control."
She crossed her arms over her chest, "why haven't you opened it?"
You huffed, "because I want to give you the chance to come clean." Jax stepped closer, putting himself between her and Abel.
"There was no truck, I was driving high and couldn't right the car after the van pulled away. I just didn't want to miss my chance with Abel." Rage, all you felt was white hot rage, you understood what Frank meant when he told you there's no anger on earth like the anger you feel to someone who hurts your child.
"I'll be back in a moment." You walked out, heading right towards the guys, "can someone please take the gun off my hip."
You raised your arms and Chibs walked over, lifting your shirt and taking the gun out of its holster, "why?"
You took a deep breath, "because Gemma was high when she got into the car with Abel and I don't want to do anything I might regret." You walked back into the room, your shirt over your belt showing the missing gun, a brief look of fear coming over Jax's face.
"I love you Gemma, I really do but you're done, you don't call, see or come near my child until you can be trusted to keep them safe. Driving high is one unforgivable thing, but driving high while our enemies are hunting us is another. You've done more than just get into the car when you shouldn't have, you've failed to protect my child when I handed him over to you for just that."
She stood there, her eyes growing wet, "Jax can get your key and we'll be changing the alarm codes, you won't be getting a new one for a very long time. You should stay away from me until you've got whatever's going on in your head sorted because I don't trust myself around you right now. Now please, get out of my sight."
Jax relaxed when she left, "thank you for not killing her."
His eyes were still stuck on your empty holster, "had we not been in public, I would have."
****
You and Jax left the hospital late, having left Opie and Kip to stay with Abel. As you climbed out of the shower and crawled into Jax's open arms, you took a deep breath to drop the next bomb, "Juice and Chibs will be here in the morning, Juice has some things he needs to talk to you about."
Jax's eyebrows furrowed, "it's not my place to say anything Jax, just leave it be until the morning."
Jax sighed, "do you ever regret moving here?"
You shook your head, "not for a single second, this will all work itself out Jax. Let your mum get over Clay and get her shit together, maybe spending some time away with Nero will get her back to her old self."
Jax huffed, "how are you so forgiving."
You smiled sadly, "because she's your mother and you love her, I want nothing more than to put a bullet in her brain but I love her too and killing her would just cause more pain. I won't stay angry at her forever, I just need time so I don't look at her and see my father's face staring back at me."
Jax huffed, "I would have let you shoot her."
You nodded, "I know, that's why I got rid of the gun."
Jax swallowed, "how long before we can bring Clay and the Nomads to the table?"
You shrugged, "Galen in back in two days, I'll know after that. Vance has already greenlit him, once the Irish are squared away he's even more of a dead man than he is now. As for the Nomads, they have no idea we're onto them."
Jax went to reply, but Ima was knocking on the door. You invited her in and she sat in the bed next to you, "I have an idea, can I talk to you in private?"
Jax didn't protest, waving his hand as you went to leave the room with Ima in tow, "don't get up, I need a drink anyway."
Jax left, shutting the door on his way out, "what's your idea?"
She smiled, "you're not going to like it, but I think it's going to end things."
Part 52
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