A/N: I'm starting to put the Chapter Headers with the main story since they don't fit in the space I'm given for them in the chapter header when I publish. Also, just fair warning; I ship Wincest, so if that's not your thing, lol, don't worry, nothing explicit here!

Chapter Nine: Present Day; Grand Island, Nebraska/Chibs's Apartment, Charming

Sam leaned back onto the Impala with his eyes closed, hoping his hangover would let up soon. His head was killing him. At least Dean had taken pity on him and kept the radio low during the trip from the Bunker.

"Where the hell are they?" Dean's voice too loud in his ear. "It's twenty after."

He cracked an eye and looked at his watch. Dean wasn't wrong. "You know that the only time Cade is on time is during a hunt." He felt his lips turn up at the corners. "Other than that, she runs on Cade Standard Time." He smiled for real as he felt Dean chuckle next to him. "And you're just jonesing for pie."

"It's damn fine pie, Sam." Dean gave him a small shove. He could hear the undercurrent of worry in his brother's voice. They'd talked to Cade briefly before leaving the bunker and Dean had been a little off since. She'd sounded tired, but to his ears, other than that, she sounded pretty much like herself.

But Dean must have heard something that he hadn't; because since they'd hung up with her, his brother had been just a little… muted was the only word that came to mind. It wouldn't shock him if that were the case; sometimes Dean and Cade did the freaky twin bond thing even though they weren't actually twins. Hell, Dean and Cade look more like siblings than he and Dean do, which in the end, works out considering the relationship he and Dean now share.

"Heads up, Sammy. They just pulled in." He sat up and saw Betty pulling into the truck stop. He would never, never, admit it to Dean, but he thought Betty was a cooler car than Baby was. C'mon, a '57 Chevy in pristine condition? Plus, the fact that he's allowed to drive Betty more than he is Baby? Not much of a decision on his part.

When the car came to a stop, he could see that just by their posture that both Jax and Cade were exhausted. "Better be ready to drive, Sammy." Dean spoke low in his ear. Good, Dean had noticed it too. He just nodded.

As Jax killed the ignition, Cade hopped out of the car and headed towards them, Jax sliding out of the car after her.

After greetings were exchanged, Dean smiled at Cade. "So, where's my pie?"

He knew Cade was rolling her eyes behind the dark sunglasses on her face. He hit Dean with a light shot to the shoulder. "Is that all you can think about?" Trying to hide the smile that was tugging at the corners of his mouth. He knew Dean was just trying to distract Jax and Cade for a minute, so he was willing to play along.

Jax gave Dean a wry smile. "Yeah, we got your pie. Figured we'd bring lunch too." Cade was already back at Betty, digging in the back seat. She emerged with a couple of bags; one was a large silver insulated bag that was zipped closed along the top, and then a smaller plastic bag that seemed to hold one to-go box.

Cade handed him the small plastic bag. "A salad for our Sammich." She grinned at him, daring him to call her out on the nickname. Instead, he just flipped her off as he opened the box.

"What about the rest of us, you fuckin' hippie?" Dean's voice held a fake pout.

Cade just shook the silver bag at his brother with a smile. "Burgers, jackass." Opening the bag and handing Dean his own to-go box.

He called Dean jerk. Cade, jackass. It always made him smile.

Dean grinned when he opened the box. "I love you." His brother was looking at the burger. He looked down to see a burger covered in cheese, bacon, jalapenos and onion strings.

"It's also got a Cajun cream sauce on it." Jax informed Dean as Jax was digging into his own burger.

He looked over to Cade, who sat down by him at the picnic table they had parked by. She had a wrap of some sort, it looked good.

She smiled at him. "Chicken Feta wrap." Then nudged his arm with her elbow. "I figured we could share." Eyeing his salad.

He chuckled as he scooped some of his salad into her to-go box and she put the other half of her wrap in his.

While the four of them ate their lunches, they sketched out a rough plan for the day. They wanted to make it at least to Salt Lake City tonight, if not actually into Nevada. Jax had told the MC they would arrive sometime Friday evening, so they had about thirty hours to get to Charming.

As they're making plans, he notices the tension that starts to creep into Jax's voice and Cade's posture. Neither one of them want to go do this, go back to a place that treated them so badly.

When lunch is finished and Dean has gotten his apple pie, and Cade has wandered off towards the truck stop, he pulls Jax aside for a second. "Hey, you want me to drive for the first stretch so you can get some rest? Cade can ride with Dean."

Jax nodded. "Yeah." Jax ran a hand through his blonde hair, smoothing it back, the way he normally wears it. "Although I doubt I get any sleep after talking to Bobby."

"He told you everything?" Hoping maybe Bobby had spared Jax the fact that his brother basically announced his intentions to the district attorney.

"Yeah." Jax sounded numb as the man watched Dean amble off to the truck stop behind them. Once he was sure Dean was out of ear-shot, Jax turned to him. "At some point, we're going to have to figure out how to salt and burn them." Jax's voice lost its numb tone and began to shake just a little. "I don't want them coming back." Jax's voice lost its shake, but none of the emotion. "And how to keep my wife from shooting Chibs. Hell, to keep me from shooting Chibs."

He clenched his jaw to wrangle his own emotions in check; whatever this Chibs person had done to Cade, it had been bad. He can tell just by the set of Jax's jaw. But, he just nodded. "Might as well add Dean to that list."

Jax snorted. "Not you though?"

He shrugged again. "I don't know what happened, so it's a little hard to work up to anything other than a beatdown on general purpose." Trying for a laugh to lighten the moment.

It hadn't worked. Jax's jaw just got tighter. "Figured Dean would have told you last night."

"All Dean would say is that she was treated like shit by everyone there." He left out the part where a year later she would still get the shakes remembering her time in Charming.

Jax turned to him, shoved his sunglasses to the top of his head. He nearly took a step back. Jax's eyes held a look that the man reserved for demons and monsters. "He groped my wife, telling her she was just a pass-around, and when she shoved him away, came back at her with a knife to the face, threatening to give her a 'Glasgow smile' of her own." Jax took a deep breath. "Only Bobby Elvis coming to look for Chibs stopped him."

He felt sick. He really wished someone would have told him this before he ate. Taking his own deep breaths, he felt his stomach settle. "Yeah, add me to that list." He looked up to see an understanding look on Jax's face. "Fuck, do we all need a chaperone?"

Jax's mouth twitched with the approximation of a smile. "Probably, but who'd do it? Everyone we know would want to shoot him, too."

"Good point." Feeling his own lips twitch into a half-smile.

"We're just gonna have to keep each other in check." Jax put a hand on his shoulder. "Like we always do." Jax pulled a pack of smokes from his flannel pocket, tapped one out and lit it. Seeing the look on his face, Jax grinned a little. "I'm getting a last cigarette in." Nodding towards Dean and Cade who were coming out of the truck stop. "Even though it's my car, I'll be nice and only smoke when we stop." Then as he nodded, Jax grinned again. "Cigarettes, at least."

"At least roll down the window enough so I don't get a contact high." Rolling his eyes. Not that he blamed Jax, after the revelation he just got.

"So, we going to get this show on the road? Daylight's burning." Dean walked past them towards Baby, Cade strolling behind his brother, smoking her own cigarette.

"Yeah." Jax looked towards the west. "Might as well." Jax gave Cade a kiss, as he nodded to Dean.

His brother crooked a finger and as always, he went right to him. "What?" Looking down into Dean's eyes.

"Want my own kiss, bitch." Pulling him down into a brief, but intense kiss. When it was done, Dean playfully shoved him away. "Make sure you keep up with us."

Throwing a glance at Jax, who had a smirk on his face, he shoved Dean back. "How about you make sure you keep up with us?" As he turned to get into Betty. He saw Jax ditch the smoke and open a door.

Dean barked at Cade to put the cigarette out and get in the car. It was now a race to see who was going to lead their parade of two cars to a place no one wanted to go.

Laughing to himself, he thought that just about summed up their lives to a tee.

/

Chibs sighed as he closed his apartment door behind Nero. It had been a long day and he wanted nothing more than to just sit his ass on his couch and drink until he wasn't sure of his own name. "What can I do for ye?"

Nero looked as exhausted as the rest of them. "Jax Teller is on his way?"

"Aye. Tiggy called a few hours ago, they were already somewhere in western Nebraska. Why do ye ask?"

"Wendy has herself convinced that Jax and his wife are going to take the boys." The tone in the man's voice telling him that maybe Nero thought so too.

He shook his head. "Tom left the boys with Wendy, signed over legal guardianship. Jax and his old lady would have to go to court for them and they aren't gonna do that."

Nero visibly relaxed. "That's what I keep tellin' her." Nero looked around the apartment for a minute. "You seem sure they won't go to court. Did you ask them?"

He shook his head. "Don't need to, they have rap sheets longer than yours or mine." He gave the older man a mirthless smile. "They aren't goin' anywhere near a courthouse."

Nero nodded. "I'll let Wendy know." The man looked around for a moment. "I think when the funerals are over I'm taking Wendy and the kids and going to the farm."

He wasn't surprised, after all, that had been Tom's plan all along. Get the boys out of Charming and away from SAMCRO. He didn't want Abel and Thomas to be club, he wanted them to have a chance at their own lives.

"Aye, that's what Tommy wanted." He started to move the man towards the door. He was ready to start drinkin'. "Call if ye need anything, otherwise, we'll let ye know when they're gettin' here. Jax told Tig that he'd call when they hit the state line."

"Thanks." Nero stopped for a second and looked at him with a grave look on his face. "This isn't going to go well, is it?"

He shrugged because that was as good of an answer as he had for the man. "Don't know. We'll just have to wait and see."

Nero nodded again as he made his way out the door.

Closing the door, he leaned on it for a moment with his eyes closed. When he opened them, there was Gabriel, sitting on his couch, popping a hard candy in his mouth.

"Do ye ever use a door?" Hiding how freaked out he was.

Gabriel raised an eyebrow. Maybe he wasn't being all that stealthy in hiding his freaked-outness. "I figured you might not want to explain an archangel to the true believer that just left." Gabriel grinned. "Might just give the poor man a heart attack."

"What do ye want?" He just wanted some peace and goddamned quiet, was that too much to ask for?

"Nothing, really." Gabriel smiled around the candy in his mouth. "I'm just really enjoying watching your squirm under the guilt and the wondering if the revenge hammer is going to drop on you." Gabriel stood and wandered around the front room, looking at the very few decorations he had up. "It wouldn't have worked, what you tried to do. They're soulmates." Gabriel turned to him and all the snarkiness was gone and he looked, fuck, angelic. "One soul split in two, never complete without the other." The angel cocked his head for a moment, and then straightened. "Just like Deano and his Sammy."

"Why are ye so interested in all this?" Not rising to whatever bait the angel was seeming to lay out there.

Gabriel shrugged. "Because I can be."

"Yer an angel, aren't ye acting on God's orders?" If he remembered his Bible, the angels, even archangels, took their cues from the big guy.

"Pfft." Gabriel waved a hand. "Daddy showed up for about an hour to put Luci and Mikey in time-out for a bit, declared the too pretty foursome his 'firewall against good and evil'." Gabriel rolled his eyes at that. "Then pissed off back into the wind." The angel shrugged again. "Who knows where in creation he is. So, the only orders I'm acting on are my own."

He couldn't even begin to try and wrap his head around what the angel just told him. Trying to buy himself a moment, he reached in his kutte and pulled out his smokes, Jackie and his old lady had met God? The tape Tiggy had played him and Hap that morning played back through his head; Tiggy's friend had said that Jax and his old lady, along with these Winchester brothers, had stopped the fucking apocalypse, so who the fuck knew? But the angel's last comment brought him back to his original question.

"So why are ye so interested? If you're acting on your own, why are ye here? Why do ye even give a fuck?" He was relatively sure this whole situation was not going to go anywhere close to well, and he wanted to know why a fucking archangel was so interested.

Gabriel shrugged with another smirk on his face. "Like I said before Sport, because I can." Then the archangel just blinked out of existence.

Grabbing a bottle of whiskey off the kitchen counter, he sat down in the spot the angel had just been in; the residual body heat letting him know he hadn't hallucinated the last ten minutes.

Cracking the bottle open, he bypassed a glass and took a nice, long pull from the bottle. The burn these days as nearly familiar to him as breathing. Taking another pull, he thought about what little the archangel had really said. Which was really nothing at all. Just some babbling about soulmates and somethin' about Jackie and the others bein' some sort of firewall between good and evil.

Continuing to take nips from the bottle as he sat in the silence of his apartment, he shook his head. He suddenly had an awful feeling that SAMCRO may have been pulled out of the frying pan only to be tossed in the fire. He could almost hear Gabriel laughing.