"The mother fucking Brawlers!" Jax exclaimed as he and Jabes perched themselves at the bar. There was a goofy grin on his face as he looked her up and down. It had been 8 years since the two had seen each other and it was so hard to believe that the gorgeous woman that was sitting in front of him, the president of her very own MC, had once been the young, pigtailed girl he had grown up with. Last time they had seen each other face-to-face The Brawlers was just an idea, something she dreamed about since she would never be allowed into the Sons of Anarchy. Jax could remember when her dad would visit his, and after JT's death when her dad would come and hang out with Clay, dragging her along in her jeans and Disney shirts. Even when they were 10 she would tease him that when she was president of SAMCRO, she'd let him be her VP.
Jax could also clearly recall when she first told him about her idea of creating her own MC. She had ridden in with her father for the week and had to work on her bike in the shop. She had been around bikes her entire life and since she was her father's only child, she sort of became his son. He taught her everything about motorcycles and the Sons of Anarchy way of life. He always joked that she should be the first woman ever inducted into the Sons, but he knew that that was impossible. The night she told Jax, he was out there with her just shooting the shit along with some of the other guys when she pulled him aside and told him her idea. At first he thought she had been joking, but the look in her eyes proved to him that she wanted, needed, to do this. He picked her up and swung her around and in celebration they shared a joint and a fifth of whiskey together.
"Yeah, man. The motherfucking Brawlers." She laughed and felt her face grow hot. It had been so long that she had completely forgotten how magnetic Jax was. She and her crew had only been with SAMCRO for about 10 minutes, but she already felt the draw. She couldn't act on it, she knew, she would never act on it. The boy (because he'd always be the little boy with bright blue eyes to her) was like her brother, and besides he was married now and had two sons of his own. The times had surely changed. They had surely changed.
Phil stood behind the bar watching the two. Jabes tore her eyes away from her childhood friend and looked at Phil.
"Hey, big boy. Can I get a shot of Jameson and then another one?" She tapped two fingers on the bar and then turned the stool to face Jax and began to peel her leather gloves off. Jax nodded to Phil, saying he would take the same.
Jabes looked around the clubhouse, and as Jax had warned her, it had barely changed since the last time she was here. The mugshots were still there, with a few additions of course, the pool table was still where it used to be, and there were still grungy men trying to out-testosterone each other. Tig sauntered in and looked around at all the women in the clubhouse. He stopped just inside of the doorway and put his hands on his hips. He scanned the room and he and Jabes briefly made eye contact, long enough for her to send him a smile and a wink. He tilted his head back to look at the ceiling and turned to go talk to Chibs who was leaning against the pool table.
Jax saw her wink and glanced behind him towards the door just in time to see Tig walk away from the doorway.
"Ah, you really like to fuck with him, huh?" He smiled and turned back to Jabes.
"What can I say? It's so damn easy. Plus he's wanted me since I became legal and I can't help but tease him about that. Clearly 8 years hasn't changed his mind or else he wouldn't be acting so weird. Well…weirder than normal." Phil placed the two shot glasses on the bar by her left elbow and then another two by Jax. The presidents grabbed a glass, raised them, and downed the whiskey.
"So how have you been, Jessalynn?" Jax put his tongue in his cheek and raised his eyebrows at her.
"Please, sweet Jesus, never call me that again. Don't doubt that I won't kick your ass." She pointed a finger at him and raised her eyebrows back.
"Oh, I know you will. Glad you still have the fight in you."
"What did you expect? Do you know how many assholes I've had to deal with in my life? Especially since nearly every guy even remotely interested in motorcycles is convinced that I need to be riding bitch behind some gross hairy man." She cut her eyes at him accusingly, but there was still a smile on her face.
"Hey, now! Don't look at me like that. Last time I heard I was still going to be your VP." Jax raised his hands defensively and they both laughed.
"It could still happen! Nah, but I've been alright. We've been working some minor protection shit and we've been mostly muling stuff through Georgia from the pill mills in Florida. It's shit but it pays decently…well, paid decently." Jabes straightened up on the stool and began to undo her braid. She hated plaiting it, but it was so long that there was no other way she could wear it during a run. She loosened her nearly waist-length wavy red hair then promptly put it in a messy bun on top of her head.
"Paid? Did it dry up?" Jax put his fingers around his other shot glass and on cue Jabes did the same. Together they drank the second shot and then slammed the glasses on the table.
"As dry as the Mojave. The DEA shut down the guys that hired us. We've been talking about moving west anyways. The Hispanics pretty much have a monopoly on all that shit in the southeast, so there really is no room for a white MC, let alone one completely made up of…well…us." Jabes leaned her left elbow on the bar and rubbed her forehead. "We were hoping to set up camp in Cali for a while. That's one of the reasons we came."
"Of course! The Brawlers are always welcome in Charming, darlin'. You can even set up headquarters here with us. Sit at the table." Jax put his hand on her shoulder and looked her dead in the eyes.
"Um…aren't there some bylaws against a woman sitting at the table?" Jabes gave him an uneasy look.
"We have a lot of antiquated shit written into our lawbooks that are overdue for changing. We've just been a little busy lately."
"Are you sure, Jax? You don't think any of the guys will have a problem?" Jax took his hand off of her shoulder and placed it back on his knee.
"Trust me, Jabes, they'll want you there. They'll see the benefits of having you ladies in town and they know that we need to move SAMCRO forward. Plus, if they're not already in love with you, they will be." Jabes punched him in the arm and he feigned being in pain.
Phil came by and collected the glasses.
"Can I get two more?" Jabes held up two fingers. She gave Jax a sideways glance. "You gonna keep up, hot stuff?" Jax smiled and nodded at Phil as he rubbed his hand across his mouth. She had always wanted, and had always been able, to compete with the boys. He had admired that about her since they were children.
Phil was back a few seconds later and the two downed yet another shot.
"Ey! You gonna leave any for us?" Chibs called across the room right after Jabes and Jax slammed the glasses down. Jabes stood up on the rungs of the stool and leaned across the bar in Chibs's direction.
"Hey, if you want to challenge me, go for it, Chibsy. Don't think I can't drink you and Jax both under the table!" Her challenge was answered by all of her crew hooting and clapping. The women were spread out around the clubhouse, about a quarter of them mingling with the SAMCRO boys. Some were playing pool against Happy and Juice, a few were hanging out around the tables, and a couple of others were taking turns screwing around on the stripper pole. They all stopped what they were doing, though, to support their president.
"Oh, sweetheart, you'd make your father proud!" Chibs raised his beer bottle to her and took a swig. She blew him a kiss then slid back into her stool to look at Jax.
"But, I didn't just come here to fuck with your guys and impose on you." She put her left elbow back on the bar and leaned her head against her hand. Her tone turned from being lighthearted to being extremely serious and her voice dropped drastically in volume. "Jax, I'm really sorry about what happened to Opie." Jax's head dropped about an inch and his eyes went to his hands in his lap.
"Yeah, thanks…" He said quietly. Jabes reached out and took one of his hands in her own.
"Jax…hey…" she said, trying to get him to look at her. He raised his eyes to meet hers and in them she could see the pain, the anguish, he had been, and was, enduring since his best friend's brutal death. "We rode out as soon as we heard. But, you know Opie's with Donna now. I know he is and I know he is looking down on you and smiling because you have done everything you could to both save him and this club. Okay?" Jax nodded squeezed her hand. "Is there anything I can do?"
She could clearly see that Jax was in pain. She remembered the call she had gotten just a few weeks before. Chibs had called to let her know what had happened to Opie and she broke down before she had the chance to hang up with him. She had known Opie almost as long as she had known Jax. Her dad had been extremely close with nearly all of the First 9 and he often took her on trips with him when he came to visit his Charming brothers. Opie was always the big one that she'd gently tease and Jax was the one that was in on the joke but had to do damage control convincing Opie she meant nothing by it. She and Opie had been close when they were younger, but they had only talked twice since her last visit to SAMCRO when she was 20. Those two times were always just a brief conversation that had little depth. She missed him and when she found out he had been murdered, she was crushed. She regretted not attempting to keep that friendship she had so treasured in her youth in tact.
Jax shook his head and let out a burst of air and she could tell he was trying to keep the tears back. "No. No, Jabes. Thank you, though." He leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. "I'm just glad you're here. We've gone through a lot of shit and I think you came at the perfect time. You and your girls being here is the best thing you could do for me and the club." He let go of her hands and stood. She followed suit and they took their last shot. It was a lot of alcohol, but Jabes could handle her liquor and she knew Jax could, too.
"Hey, come here." He said after they had put their glasses down. He folded his arms around her and squeezed her tightly. She wrapped her arms around his waist and breathed in the scent of leather, cigarettes, and Jax Teller. He smelled like home.
