***Thanks for following over to this story, hope you like it...review if you can!...I don't own anything SOA***

Chapter 1

Jax sat on top of the picnic table enjoying a long drag from his cigarette. Life seemed to be leveling out lately and he was happy. Things were pretty quiet with the club and business was being handled smoothly, no one threatening to disrupt the flow or try to stake their claims on SAMCRO territory. Clay had backed off trying to make him prove himself as a worthy successor, realizing he knew what he was doing and that he could handle shit when things got crazy. Gemma, well she was still as annoying as hell but at least he hadn't had to hear her bitch about his choices in his personal life since he put her in her place after her sneaking over to Ashley's that day. Now she mostly stayed out of his business, adding her occasional two cents when he didn't ask for it. And then there was Ashley. She had been at a point where she would worry herself into an early grave, but he had been able to shake her out of that, even if it was only for a little while. She was stubborn but beautiful, smart and sweet at the same time. He grinned just thinking about her. Things had literally hit a climax when he confronted her about her feelings and for a while after it had been a very active honeymoon phase that he was thankful for. But things had been different since shortly after Lorraine came back. Ashley had pretty much slipped back into the parenting role with her. Always keeping tabs on where she was and not going out as much so she could keep an eye on her. As for alone time, it was pretty near impossible to get any. Lorraine was never going out anymore, unless it was to an AA meeting, which seemed to only happen while he was at work and Ashley would never come to the club house. A few times he had gotten her over to Gemma's but it wasn't nearly enough. He loved her more than he even loved himself, but it looked like it was time for another one on one talk with Ashley. She hated them but he loved how she squirmed under his gaze and always gave in, usually ending up in pretty phenomenal sex afterwards. It was a win-win for him. As for the whole threatening note thing, it had seemed to blow over, but he still had his eye out and if he did catch that little shithead he was definitely going to realize that he left that note on the wrong girl's doorstep.

The only thing that wasn't good right now was Opie and he felt powerless about that whole situation. He was trying anything he could to get him out of Chino, but it wasn't going to happen. Hobart had received such an ass beating after freaking out and leaving Opie to be caught, that it was questionable if he was even still alive. But it wasn't enough to make him feel better about the position his best friend was left in. And Donna, he helped her all he knew how to, financially. She was still pissed as hell at him and he didn't blame her. But she knew what being an old lady meant and unfortunately for her she was getting the worst of it. But for Opie he would always be there for her and the kids. He knew Opie would do the same for him. They were brothers.

His phone vibrated and he looked down, grinning when he saw it was Ashley.

"Hey babe" he answered.

"Hey Jax, what are you doing?"

"Just getting ready to finish the rest of my shift, why is something wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong, I was just wondering if you wanted to come over after work."

He paused, actually considering not seeing her. He couldn't stomach sitting with Lorraine lately. She was entirely too self righteous since rehab and even had the nerve to try and convince him to walk the straight and narrow every chance she got. She seemed to forget the night she ended up in the hospital. It was still clear in his head though. He only dealt with her for Ashley.

"Jax?" her voice sounded so sweet.

"Yeah I'm here sorry."

"Lorraine is going out, she has a date with some guy she met in AA."

That got his attention. "Yeah babe, I'll shower and come right over."

Ashley laughed, "Yeah I thought so, I'll see you later."

"Love ya babe," he said before hanging up. Things were starting to look up. Maybe he would save the one on one for another time and just take advantage of their alone time for today. He hopped off of the table in an even better mood and headed back into the garage.

He worked quickly, trying to finish everything up so he could get the hell out of there. He finally pushed himself out from under the last car he was working on when someone yelled from the club house.

"Church!"

"Fuck," he said to himself, wiping his hands on a rag. Hopefully it wasn't anything important, but it usually was if they were having a meeting over it.

He walked into chapel and took a seat next to Clay, his eyes skimming over him for a hint of what could be going on. Everyone else funneled in and Bobby shut the door.

"So let's just cut to the chase," Clay started. "I spoke with Darby about Opie. He said they would protect him at Chino but we have to help them with a couple of shipments out of Lodi."

"A couple meaning two?" Tig asked.

"I don't know at this point, these assholes have the upper hand if we want to keep Opie safe. I would say it could possibly be more if Opie stays in much longer."

"So what kind of help do they need?" Jax asked.

"We have to send a few guys tonight to provide them with some muscle as they move the meth out of Lodi," Clay said to everyone, "I want you to go Jax, and bring Rob and Matt with you."

"So me and the prospects?"

"Yeah, you can handle it," Clay said giving him the shit job, obviously back to making him prove himself. "As for everyone else, we will have to help with another move soon so don't get too comfortable."

As church ended Jax was pissed. He was pissed they had to help those assholes move their drugs, the one thing they fought hard to keep out of Charming. But Darby had them by the balls, they needed Opie protected on the inside and they were the ones who could do it. But he was pissed too because he had to call Ashley and inform her he wouldn't be coming over. Maybe they would be done with the move early and he could still sneak over but he doubted it. "Fuck." He said to himself again. Clay was such an asshole sometimes. But he had to do what he had to do. He pulled out his flip phone and reluctantly dialed the number.

"Hey, are you on your way yet?" she answered. He could practically hear in her voice how much she was ready for him, which only pissed him off more.

"Sorry babe, something came up and Clay has me dealing with it."

"Really? It has to be you?" he could hear her disappointment in her voice, but he couldn't let her rattle him. He had to stay focused and show Clay he was president material and not just some pussy whipped beginner.

"I'm sorry babe, I promise I'll make it up to you."

"You better, I love you."

"Love you too, I'll call when I can."

"OK. Be careful."

He flipped his phone shut and was now able to focus on the bullshit job he got stuck with.

They pulled into the lot of the warehouse that Darby's boys used to cooked their meth in. Darby was already outside waiting for them as they pulled in.

"Hey boys," he greeted them, an evil smirk spreading across his face. He knew he had them at his mercy.

Jax got off his bike and unstrapped his helmet. "Darby." He nodded to the man he despised, the prospects following him over to where Darby stood waiting.

"So what's the story?" Jax asked Darby, wanting to get it all over with.

"We're loading up the truck now, I just need your guys to follow it to the delivery point. Keep an eye out for anything suspicious and be ready in case shit starts to go south."

"Alright," Jax replied. "So where are you delivering it to anyway?"

"We've had some demand in Farmington lately."

Jax knew what that meant, Farmington was dangerously close to Charming, practically bordering on the outskirts. "Darby, that shit doesn't get into Charming, that seems close enough to seep in."

"I'm staying out of Charming. I can't help what happens to it once it's delivered." Darby replied with a grin.

"I can," Jax warned.

"I'm going to check and see how they're doing, I'll let you know when we're ready to move. You and your guys can wait here." Darby said before walking away.

Jax knew they needed Darby's help, but there was no way he was letting him get into Charming. That was one thing they managed to keep out and they would keep it that way. He would inform Clay once this was done where Darby was dropping the drugs. Maybe there was an alternate plan to watch out for Opie, one that didn't involve doing favors for assholes or hopefully he would be out soon. Jax, Rob and Matt stood by their bikes waiting for Darby's go ahead.

"So Jax, how's thing's going with your girl?" Rob asked him. Was he out of his fucking mind?

"Why the hell you asking?" Jax answered him, glaring like he should be very careful or he would get an ass beating right there, task at hand or not.

"No reason man, I just feel like I'm always over there." He answered, obviously not catching Jax's drift.

"We might need to change that," Jax said looking at Matt.

"Great," Matt said.

"Let's focus and get this done, then we can all get back to our lives." Jax reminded them, hopefully they had their heads in this.

"Ok boys, it's time," Darby said coming out from the warehouse. "This is Mitch," he said motioning to the main guy, "Larry and Phil."

"You two just follow me, watch my back." Jax ordered the prospects. They nodded and got on their bikes. The small moving truck pulled out of the lot with the bikes right on it's tail. The ride went smoothly, no signs of any trouble and they got to Farmington pretty quickly. But that's when things slowed down. They had to wait in an abandoned parking lot for a couple of hours until the "customer" showed. As he pulled in Jax and the prospects came up closer to the truck, just in case there were any problems with the exchange. The guy who got out of the car was a middle aged balding man who seemed all strung out. His clothes looked like they hadn't been changed in days. He had a woman with him who was very thin, somewhat pretty but looked like she was strung out as well, probably only with him for the drugs. How the hell could these two be suppliers? He thought to himself.

"You got our money?" Mitch, the one Darby obviously left in charge asked the man.

"Yeah right here," the man replied throwing an overstuffed envelope to him.

Mitch tossed it over to Phil. "Count it."

Everyone stood on high alert as he counted the money.

"It's short."

"How much?"

"Two grand."

"What? No it's all there," the bald guy said in disbelief.

"Are you calling us liars?" Mitch said trying to intimidate him.

Jax put his hand on his gun. Now shit was going to go south. He didn't know who to believe but he was there to protect Darby's guys. He glanced at Rob and Matt and they were drawing theirs, following his lead.

"No, no. I don't want any trouble. It's definitely all there, I counted it myself." The bald guy said, practically shitting in his pants.

"Well I can think of a way we can settle this." Mitch stated, nodding to Phil.

"How?" the bald guy said panicking.

Phil grabbed the woman and pulled her over to the rest of them. "She can earn the rest." The woman screamed before one of them could cover her mouth. Jax cringed at how badly they were handling this.

"No, no, just give me the money back. Let's just cancel this whole thing." The bald guy was saying. Jax couldn't believe these assholes were trying this shit.

"That's not how this works." Mitch said as Phil dragged the woman behind the truck.

"Hey man, that's enough." Jax shouted at him.

"You shut the fuck up, you're here for us." He shouted back at him.

"Yeah while you dropped the fucking drugs off, not while you raped a woman."

"She's just a fucking junkie whore. Let her earn the drugs."

Jax raised his gun to Darby's guy and knew he was crossing the line, but he couldn't stop and think about Opie right now. He couldn't let this guy be sloppy like this, there was no way Darby would be OK with this.

"Jax, don't," Matt said from behind him. But Jax couldn't see or hear anything except for the asshole in front of him.

"What are you going to do? Shoot me? You my as well put the bullet in your friend yourself." Darby's guy taunted him. Jax had had enough and was up in his face in less than a second. He shoved his gun in his mouth.

"Now let her the fuck go or you're going to eat this fucking bullet."

Mitch motioned to Larry with his hand, silently telling him to go get Phil back with the woman. They released her and she ran over to her boyfriend.

"Now give them the fucking drugs."

He motioned again and Larry got the drugs out of the truck, handing them to the local suppliers.

"Get out of here," Jax yelled over his shoulder to the couple and they quickly got in their car and left. "Now I'm only going to tell you this once. You fucking try that shit again while we're here you won't walk out of here. You understand?"

Mitch moaned from underneath the barrel.

"Good," Jax said and sneered in disgust. He pulled the gun out of Darby's guy's mouth and punched it back in with such force he saw teeth and blood come flying out. "That's for being an asshole." He turned to face the prospects. "We're done for the night kids."