San Joaquin County Correctional Facility / Northern California / 2024
Lieutenant Althea Jarry looked through the observational mirror at the person sitting on the wrong end of the table. This was the first time they would ever speak together in such a way.
Surprisingly enough, Althea was a bit nervous. Once she had a grip on her emotions, Althea walked into the interrogation room with a manilla folder.
The events that took place in Reno were still fresh and so too were the emotional wounds. It did not take a psychology degree for Althea to figure that out.
"I will not try to ask how you are. It's plain to see things didn't go your way. " Althea started as she pulled out a chair and sat down.
"I was not there when it happened. So why don't you fill me in? What happened out there?"
Tahoe National Forest / Reno, Nevada / 2024
Jackson Teller aged as well as Tara did though both seemed to carry scars that were still healing.
His hair had grown a bit longer than before while his mustache and goatee reached just an inch above his clavicle. The sides of his face were clean shaven. Those eyes were lively and yet cold.
Tara aged moderately well though her eyes betrayed every emotion she had tried to conceal as opposed to Jax's.
Happy stood at his right hand as his personal bodyguard and assassin.
Chibs, to Tara's surprise, stood at her right hand as if he was her lifeline.
In reality, Happy and Chibs were making sure they did not kill each other.
A few steps forward and they were face to face for the first time in 10 years.
In spite of everything that happened between them, Jax could not bring himself to hate Tara. Seeing her again reignited the torch he carried for her.
"I can not imagine how difficult it has been for you to raise two kids all by yourself; the hardships and trials you had to put up with. No amount of thanks can cover what you've done for our sons."
"You're right on all those things. You have no idea what I've endured and there is no way you can repay me." Tara said. The way he spoke to her seemed patronizing.
Being so close to her again, Jax noticed for the first time a scar across the side of her temple that almost went to her left eye. "What happened?"
"I almost lost an eye." Tara said as she looked over to the National VP, who confirmed it. "Gemma did that to her. She attacked Tara, Jackie. Not the other way around. By the time I got there, the damage was done. Gemma...there was no saving her."
Jax felt a pair of hands land firmly on his shoulders. Happy roughly whispered, "Your boys are outside the door. Anything goes down here, you're going to have to do a lot of explaining to Abel and Tommy."
Using all his willpower to muscle through the grief and anger, Jax asked, "How did it happen?"
Tara took a deep breath, said a silent prayer in her mind and told Jax the events that took place in Charming back in 2014.
Jax & Tara's house / Charming, California / circa 2014
Tara was beyond grateful to Jax for making the deal with DA Patterson. All he asked in return was that Abel and Tommy would grow up away from the violence, mayhem and destruction that seemed to be commonplace with SAMCRO. That was exactly what she intended to do.
When the deal was sealed, Jax was escorted away by the authorities while Eli Roosevelt escorted her home.
The sun had already set by the time she arrived at the house she shared with Jax. For the first time in a long time, Tara felt a sense of hope. For once, she actually believed there was something to look forward to; something to move towards. Abel and Tommy would grow up without having to wash blood of their hands or run for their lives from the law or enemies of the MC. They would never have criminal records or mugshots taken of them.
A noise from the kitchen caught her attention, breaking whatever mental reflection she was having. "Wayne, is that you?" Tara asked, thinking the former Charming Police Chief had come by to see her.
Instead of seeing the friendly and terminally ill old man, Tara was staring down at an unhinged, distraught and furious Gemma Teller. It only took a few seconds for Gemma to launch herself at Tara. She threw hay-makers between slaps or slaps between hay-makers. All Tara could do at first was put her hands up to block the oncoming assault until Gemma grabbed her by the side and slung her straight at the refrigerator, leaving a deep wound on her left temple, dangerously close to her eye. The blood pouring down the side of her face did not slow Gemma down; it dialed up her ferocity higher than it was when she started.
With Tara hunched over the floor, Gemma threw kick after kick into her abdomen. On the fifth kick in, Tara caught Gemma's leg and used her momentum to make the older woman fall backwards. Pulling herself up with the aid of the counter, Tara blindly felt around for something to defend herself with. Grabbing what felt like a kitchen tool, she spun around and lashed out with all her strength...
Tara had no idea how close Gemma was or that the implement in her hand was a carving fork until it was sunk into the other woman's chest, piercing right through the surgical scar between her breasts.
Juice pulled up to Jax and Tara's house looking for Gemma. Eli was standing by his squad car parked in the driveway. "Lieutenant Roosevelt. Everything alright?"
Eli did not get a chance to answer when a loud commotion came from inside the house. Eli quickly drew his gun from the holster and advanced inside.
Entering the kitchen, Eli was shocked to see Gemma bleeding profusely from the chest. Tara was covered in blood as she frantically attempted to plug up the mortal wound, pleading for Gemma not to die but it was all in vain. Blood covered the floor along with her hands, clothes and face. "Tara, what did you..."
Eli did not see it coming but he certainly felt the butt of a Glock pistol slam into his back and then into his head repeatedly before everything went dark.
Eli was not moving but Juice stepped over him to pull a distressed and wounded Tara off Gemma's corpse. The moment he picked her up off the ground, her face was buried in his shoulder. Her hot tears mixed with fresh blood, leaving a salty and metallic taste on her tongue.
Tahoe National Forest / Reno, Nevada / 2024
Jackson Teller looked at Tara with an unreadable look on his face. He did not appear moved at all by her plight at all. "For ten years, I dreamed of the day I would walk out of prison as a free man. My mom, you, our boys all together in a house full of life. That was one of the few things I held onto to keep me from giving up. When it finally happened, I came out of prison an orphan with no family to welcome me back. For ten years, I did not get to see my boys grow up."
"They are my boys too and don't you forget that." Tara snapped. "I sacrificed everything I worked for and gave everything I had. I loved you, Jax. In some messed up way, I still do. Whether you loved me then or if you still do now, you were never mine. You made that abundantly clear every time you fucked any of your sweet butts, crow eaters and porn stars." Tara spat at Jax. "What we had may have been real but it was not enough to break the circle of chaos. I did not try to fool myself into thinking you could ever forgive me. If I was the one who died on the kitchen floor, would you have been forgiving or understanding with Gemma?"
Jax did not get a chance to answer that and since Happy was restraining him, he could not lash out. That was when everything went sideways.
The sound of glass breaking caught their attention before four deafening bangs heralded the arrival of 20 heavily armed and armored officers. "Weapons down! On the floor! Hands behind your head now!" They commanded.
In the midst of her disorientation, Tara felt her arms being redirected to the small of her back before her wrists were bound by handcuffs. "Tara Knowles, you are under arrest for the murder of Gemma Teller." The flash bang grenades made the voice of the arresting officer sound like an ominous echo in her ringing ears.
The light of day was blinding yet she was able to see and hear Abel and Tommy trying in vain to run to her while being restrained by Angelica and Angelina who were trying to keep her sons from ending up in a juvenile detention center. They dragged her through the forest to a prisoner transport vehicle.
Opening the doors, the officers released the SAMCRO Sons and the Nomad Sons before putting Tara inside. The last thing she saw was a pained look in Rane Quinn's eyes and then the doors closed shut on her.
San Joaquin County Correctional Facility / Northern California / 2024
"That is heartbreaking." Althea said as she looked eye to eye with Tara Knowles with a straight face. "In the end, the rain falls on the just and unjust alike."
"I can think of something other than rain falling on me, Lieutenant Jarry." Tara Knowles said angrily, sitting across from the sheriff. It angered Tara that she was wearing a prison inmate's outfit again.
Althea handed Tara a manila envelope. "Inside is a copy of custody papers. The original copies were given to Angelica Cortez and they were signed by her parents and Jackson Teller. Your signature is needed to make it official."
"To make what official?" Tara asked, already dreading what the answer would be.
"Your sons will be under the care and custody of the Cortez family. From what I was able to learn from certain parties, Abel and Thomas Teller are still enrolled at school in Chicago. Their school years are about to end soon and they might end up moving to New York. However, that depends entirely on what you do now. If you sign off on this, your boys will live far away from Charming. If you don't sign off on this, Abel and Thomas Teller will be returned to their father, Jackson Teller, which means they will live in Charming."
From the look in Tara's face, Althea did not mince words or pull punches. "You have two choices in front of you. One of them may be tough but it will eventually lead to you walking out of here and being able to hug your boys as a free woman. The other choice is the one you're about to stumble onto if the look on your face suggests anything."
Tara opened the envelope and looked at the paperwork. Althea waited patiently for Tara to finish reading the details. "I'm not going to see my boys again for a long time."
"For whatever it's worth, they'll be far away from Charming and SAMCRO. That is what you wanted, isn't it?" Althea asked.
Tara looked at Althea for a moment before taking the pen offered and signed her name on the required areas.
Althea took the envelope and stood up from her chair. "As a condition to your signing the documents here, you won't have to worry about being placed in general population. You'll serve your time in solitary and I heard the infirmary could use some help from an actual doctor. I am told the doctors are given better food than what's shoveled out in the commissary for the other inmates. Take care of yourself." Althea said before leaving Tara alone in the interrogation room until the guards came and took her away.
Within the year, a trial was held. Her entire confession was recorded via listening devices planted in the cabin thus the authorities had heard everything. Because she acted in emotional distress and from a basic need of self preservation, the judge convicted Tara Knowles for the crime of Manslaughter and sentenced her to 6 years in solitary confinement at San Joaquin County Correctional Facility.
Tahoe National Forest / Reno, Nevada / 2024
Walking up to them, Potter introduced himself as Daniel Randleman, a case worker for social services working in conjunction with the local authorities. For the most part, he kept his attention on the two adolescent boys though he could not ignore the tall, muscular and very, very endowed women who seemed to be tethered to the Teller boys. "I regret that we had to meet under these circumstances. How did you all come to Reno?"
"We traveled here with our mom. Where is she?" Abel asked.
"They took her into custody and no one has told me where. However, what I do know is that the arresting officers came from Northern California. That may be where they took her."
Angelica looked at the man for a moment as if she was trying to remember where she saw him last. "Do you have a relation who works in a hotel?"
Potter looked at her inquisitively before shaking his head. "No family members of mine work in a hotel and I've been a social worker for as long as I can remember."
Changing the topic swiftly, he said, "Taking into consideration what you have had to suffer, I have been empowered and authorized by my superiors to provide the four of you with the means of returning to Chicago safely and directly."
Taking a cell phone from his pocket, he dialed a number. "We'll be at the east exit of the woods in a few moments." Hanging up the phone, Lincoln Potter/ Daniel Randleman said, "An officer will have the car impounded but will have all the personnel items transported to us."
Half an hour later, the Teller brothers and Cortez sisters were staring at an 18 wheeler with a customized transport trailer capable of storing their motorcycles in one compartment while housing passengers for long distance in the larger compartment. "Give the driver, Mr. Seville, the address to where the boys live and he'll see that you get there expeditiously. Mr. Seville will also instruct you how to load your motorcycles into the compartment. Safe travels."
He walked away before they could ask anything of him.
With the motorcycles in place and their luggage taken into the passenger compartment of the custom transport trailer, the Teller brothers and the Cortez sisters settled in for the long ride.
Angelina and Angelica rocked Tommy and Abel in their arms as they cried into their chests until they fell asleep.
It was going to be a long ride back to Chicago.
A/n: Attention all Jax/Tara fans out there: Do not break out the torches and pitch forks. Not yet anyway. Regardless of what this chapter may entail or how this story as a whole is progressing, I am not anti JARA. If this story is different than most other stories that feature Jax & Tara together or apart, it's because it is. I make no apologies about it. Stay tuned. There's still more to go before the end credits roll.