This chapter was going to be extremely long and I wasn't quite finished it yet, so I figured I'd cut it off where I did and post it as its own chapter. It's not too exciting, though and I apologize for that. Thank you for sticking with me and waiting patiently as I slowly update this story! And again, please let me know what you think.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Sons of Anarchy characters.

She held a hand against her brow, shading her eyes from the sun and could feel a content smile soften her face as she sauntered towards the clubhouse from the garage office, holding onto a brown envelope addressed to Jax. With Clay away in prison, if only temporarily, she felt like she could finally breathe again and enjoyed the freedom of walking across the lot like she was owned it. Not having to pretend she wanted to be with that animal took a huge weight off of her shoulders and her life was starting to, in its own weird way, get back to normal. Besides Tara being in prison and watching Jax aching to get her out, Gemma's life seemed quite manageable at the moment.

She recognized her sons voice as soon as she opened the clubhouse door, but his deep, smooth voice prevented her from making out what he was saying. As she took a few steps further inside, she spotted him standing next to the pooltable with a pretty blonde who she soon recognized as Lyla. Surprised to see her there, Gemma smiled, then halted, quickly feeling a vice grip on her heart as she remembered that Opie, the man she thought of as her son for as long as she could remember, was dead and gone. She swallowed the lump in her throat and continued forward, putting on a brave face for Lyla and Jax.

"Lyla," Gemma called out happily. "What are you doing here?" she asked as she got closer.

Lyla turned around to find Gemma approaching her with out stretched arms and a look on her face that she didn't often see on Gemma. "Hi Gemma," Lyla greeted her. "I just came by to thank Jax for everything he's doing to help us out," she answered while in Gemma's tight embrace. Lyla appreciated the concern she was showing for her but she had always felt a little tense around Gemma, even when Opie was by her side. And the fact that Gemma was genuinely glad to see her shocked her to some degree.

"How are the kids doing?" Gemma asked as she pulled away from Lyla.

Lyla put on a small, unconvincing smile and looked down before answering. "They have hard days when they really miss Opie and Donna," she said through a deep exhale, "and it's taking them some time getting used to me as their mother, but they're doing well," she finished with a nod as she paused, taking a look over at Jax and smiling. "And the fact that Jax is setting us up with a home and me with work is making things a lot easier."

Gemma watched the pained look in Lyla's eyes and hugged her tightly again. "You just remember that you're family and we always take care of family," she said firmly, pulling back and looking her right in the eyes to make sure Lyla understood. "You hear me?"

Lyla nodded. "Thank you."

"And how are you? How's the leg?" Gemma asked conversationally, trying to lighten the mood.

"Good," Lyla answered, raising the hem of her skirt to reveal a fading pink, circular scar that shone as it caught the light. "It's healing pretty nicely," she added, thankful that the gunshot hadn't done any serious damage to her leg.

Gemma's eyes drifted towards Jax and she then felt the smooth envelope against her fingers. "Jax," she began with a small shake of her head, "this came for you in the office," she explained and handed over the envelope.

Jax stepped closer to Gemma and took the envelope from her outstretched hand. Stepping back, he looked at Lyla with a smile and put a hand on her shoulder, trying in his own way to reassure her that everything he was doing to help her out was his pleasure. His hand fell back to his side as he walked away to open the envelope in private, needing a minute to compose himself after her surprise visit, which brought back a lot of memories and guilt concerning Opie. Jax opened the envelope and fumbled to grasp the single sheet of paper inside. He quickly looked over at Gemma when he heard her laughing at part of a conversation he couldn't hear, then turned his attention back to the paper in his hand. His eyebrows pulled together as he tried to make sense of what he was looking at. On a mostly blank piece of white paper read the word "soon" across the middle in thick, blank marker.

"What the fuck is this?" Jax called out to Gemma without looking up, more in confusion than anger. Instead, he looked at the corners and turned over the envelope to see if there was a return address. There wasn't one. There also wasn't a postage stamp, telling Jax that it was hand delivered instead of sent in the mail. "Where'd this come from?" he yelled even louder.

"Don't know, it was just mixed in with the office mail," Gemma answered, growing concerned with the look on Jax's face. "Why, what is it?" she asked, walking towards him.

Not knowing what this note was supposed to mean, he turned it over then looked inside hoping to find some other clue to its meaning. Who the hell sent him this message? What was this supposed to mean? And then it hit him. Jax felt his stomach drop and a cold shiver went through him, followed by a warm rush all over his body. Pope's crew. The Niners. This had to be some sort of retaliation for Pope's death. Jax suddenly had difficulty breathing as he thought of how Pope vindictively went after Tig's daughter after his own daughter had accidentally been killed. Were the Niners going to go after his own family as payback? His boys!

"Chibs!" he called out loudly as the thought of his sons in danger made him sick to his stomach. He took out his phone and quickly dialled his house, desperately trying to get a hold of Laurel to make sure they were okay. Four rings later and there was no answer. Tara's voice came on the line and he hung up, knowing that leaving a message and waiting for a response wouldn't be fast enough. He needed to know they were safe, now. "Chibs!" he cried again, this time with more urgency in his voice.

"What?" Chibs answered from down the hallway, walking towards him.

Jax dialled his house again, finding the same results as last time. "Get Tig," he seethed with wild eyes, shoving the paper into Chibs' chest when he finally reached him.

Chibs looked at the paper, not understanding what Jax was trying to tell him. "What is this?" he asked blankly, sensing the panic in Jax.

"I don' know," Jax answered with wide eyes, "but there's no answer at the house," he told Chibs, knowing that he could trust his Sergeant at Arms to understood what he was thinking.

"Gimme a minute," Chibs answered, then went back down the hallway to find Tig in his dorm room.

Jax wiped his hand over his mouth and approached Gemma. "I gotta go check on the boys. You call me if anything happens," he instructed his mother, who was looking at him with worry and confusion.

"Jackson, what's going on?" She tried grabbing onto his arms but he was pulling away and heading for the door. Tig, Chibs and Phil caught up and followed behind him.

"Call me if anything happens," he yelled impatiently over his shoulder to Gemma.