***Well thank you to those who reviewed and followed, I really really love reading them. So I had meant to put part of this chapter in earlier in the story, thought I had and then realized I hadn't, so my smooth, all lined up race to the ending got a little ruffled. Hopefully I was able to iron it out and still have it make sense. There's a lot going on in this one, so I apologize if it gets to be a little too much. Anyway, happy reading!***

"Jax!" The sun was almost completely set as Jax was heading back into the clubhouse. Hearing his name called,, he glanced back over his shoulder and was confused to find that the voice belonged to Nero.

"I asked him to come," Gemma informed him, noticing the annoyed look that had staked it's claim on his face. All Jax could think of was Kate. Nero didn't know that she was with Jax, and right inside the clubhouse doors for that matter. With all the bullshit that he was currently dealing with the last thing he wanted to have to do was explain what the hell she was doing there. And as much as he didn't want it to be a day of grand discoveries, it looked like Gemma had gone ahead and made that decision for him.

"Can I talk to you for a sec?" He asked Jax as Gemma scampered away, making herself scarce.

"I'm a little busy right now Nero, got a lot of shit going down."

"Yeah I heard, on lockdown huh?" Nero questioned him as he walked up closer to where Jax was standing.

"Until I can figure out who's threatening my family, this is how it'll have to be."

"Yeah, I guess so," Nero scratched the back of his neck, looking down like he was thinking of something he needed to bring up, "So I heard you and your boys will be working for Paulsen now." What the hell, really?

"We don't work for anyone, but an opportunity presented itself to offer our services," Jax responded, hoping that would end this little interrogation.

"That should be good for your club, help get you out of guns," Nero pointed out.

"That's the plan," Jax answered, hesitant to how much information he wanted to share with Nero. He positioned his body between Nero and the clubhouse doors, did he really need this right now?

"How'd you manage to take that deal from the Mayans?"

"Let's just say he wanted to keep his business dealings within Charming."

"He won't be coming back to Diosa though right?" It was a valid question. But one that Jax didn't want to delve too deep into right now.

"Nah man, that will never happen."

"That bit of info could have been quite a bargaining chip."

Jax stared at Nero, knowing what he was getting at, "Definitely would have helped sway the fuck."

Nero leaned the side of his body against the wall, folding his arms across his chest and looking around, "You think all this might be backlash from the Mayans?"

"Like I said, I have no idea who's threatening my family. But since my wife was killed, I'm not taking any chances." Jax's phone started to ring and he pulled it out of his pocket, flipping it open, "Yeah?" He answered.

"Jax, I heard about Juice." Unser started. Jax could see Nero out of the corner of his eye decide to go inside after Gemma.

"Listen Unser, now's not a good time." Jax told him quickly, trying to end the conversation. What he really didn't want right now, was for Nero to walk inside and right into Kate. There were too many questions that he didn't want to answer. Too many questions he had already given him different answers to.

"There's something you should know Jax," Unser informed him, keeping his attention a little longer.

"You must be happy," Nero snuck up behind Gemma, grabbing her around her waist and smiling into her hair. She was sitting on a barstool, bullshitting with Chuckie. Wendy and Kate had taken the boys to Jax's room to settle in, but Gemma was too curious about Nero's conversation with Jax to go join them yet.

"What were you talking with Jax about?"

"Just business," He said as he slid around her side and leaned his back on the bar, "It seems that they're doing business with Martin Paulsen now, your boy will have his club set."

"What do you mean?" She asked him, taking a sip of her water.

"Meaning Paulsen is invested a lot of businesses around here, so with them protecting his interests, it could mean a lot of income. That, plus Diosa and the expansion we're working on, they won't need to be involved in guns anymore."

"So he's really doing it, getting out of guns," Gemma said, more to herself than anything else, her fingers nervously tapping the countertop.

"Seems that way, I'm sure it was fairly easy for Jax too, knowing the shit we know about Paulsen from Diosa."

"What kind of shit?" She asked, taking another drink.

"He had a favorite girl there, one that Jax took a liking to as well. But Paulsen, he was getting real kinky with some school girl nonsense. And then it started to get physical, trying to choke her out and shit like that."

"So where's this girl now, she still work there after that?"

"No, she disappeared after that, but I suspect it has more to do with the gang her boyfriend was involved in."

"Hmm," Gemma said, thinking to herself. "So the club has leverage with Paulsen over some used up pussy? Who'd a guessed a whore could have so much influence"

"Yeah, funny shit huh? The only way I can see his plan falling through is if the Mayans themselves deliver her to Paulsen on a silver platter, which won't likely happen since she's probably long gone. So pretty much your boy is good as gold."

"Nero," Jax called out as he walked in from outside. "They need you down at Diosa, said there's some asshole not paying and shit."

"Shit," Nero responded, "I have to go baby, but I'll call you later and see how everything is." He leaned over, kissing Gemma on her cheek before running out of there.

"Hey," Jax said smiling when he found Kate in the hallway, peeking in at Wendy who was in his room with the kids, "How are the boys doing?"

"Fine, a little hyper from the excitement of being here, but we were thinking about locking them in the room with Gemma," Kate answered, cocking her eyebrow at him.

Jax laughed, "You guys are fucked up." He leaned in closer to her, the wide spread smile on his face was causing her to smile back. Why was he smiling right now?

"Come with me, I want to show you something." Jax grabbed her hand and pulled her with him towards the room that was next to his. He gave her hand a gentle squeeze, dragging her attention back up to his grin and winked, before closing the door behind him.

"So what did you want to show me?" Kate asked, looking around at this other bedroom. She wondered who it belonged to.

"I want to give you something," Jax answered, reaching behind him to grab something from the back of his pants. His hand returned with a small black handgun. Kate looked up at him, stunned, and was met with an apprehensive look, one she had never received from him before. "I need you to keep this on you, at least for the next few days."

"But...why...I need that?" Kate wasn't sure why she was so sickened by seeing the gun, the thought of just touching it, thinking she might have to use it, could she use it? She knew what the reality of this life was, so why was she so stunned?

"It's small, so you can carry it on you and no one will see it," He spoke, only looking at the gun, "It has a two-position safety, so don't worry about it accidentally firing, it's loaded now, but you push this up for the safety," He said as he showed her how to work the tiny gun, "It will keep the gun from firing and locks the slide in place, push it down to engage, if you need to fire, and then just point and shoot." She didn't really understand what he was saying, but heard how to shoot it. Please don't have to shoot it.

"Jax," Kate started, not sure exactly what she was going to say. No. Hell no. This is your thing not mine. Why the hell did he think she needed that?

"Hey," He spoke softly, finally bringing his eyes to her nervous ones. He stuck the gun in his waistband and grabbed both sides of her face in his hands. "You're not going to have to use it. I just need you to carry it ok?"

Kate really did not want to carry that thing on her, and being with the boys, that didn't seem safe either. She sighed and turned her head away, his hands still holding her jaw, not really letting her escape. "But..."

"It's just for my peace of mind. Nothing's going to happen to you, I promise, I won't let that happen." He pulled her eyes back towards his, "You're going to be staying with the boys and I won't always be around, just carry it for me ok?"

Kate nodded, of course she would do it to make him feel better. Turning him down wasn't an option once she saw the vulnerability in him.

Jax pulled it out of his waistband, coming close to her, so close that she could feel the heat bouncing off his skin, tempting hers. He reached around her, his left hand gently resting on the waistband of her jeans against her back, while his right one brought the gun around her, meeting his left hand at the spot it had opened up for it. He moved his head around her, his face barely skimming hers as he leaned around her left side, his chest lightly rubbing up against hers. She sighed to herself, smelling the familiar skin on his neck that was teasing her from mere centimeters away. Damn he could frustrate her, all she could think of was kissing him, but he was all business right now and she struggled to stay focused on what he needed from her. She felt him slip the gun into the back of her jeans, it's cold frame chilling her skin, giving her goosebumps and pushing her thoughts further away from the task at hand.

"Your clothes are pretty tight you know, not that I'm complaining," He said to her, coming back around her and hovering inches from her face. Ugh. "This won't work. Do you have your purse? Nah..." He pulled away and walked over to a dresser, grabbing the first t-shirt he found. "You can wear this, just act like you wanted to be comfortable or something, I would rather the gun be on you."

He placed the balled up cloth in her hands and looked at her expectantly, so she took her shirt off to slip the new one on. She could feel him staring at her and tried to act like she didn't notice. He didn't need her distracting him with what was going on in her head. "So, things aren't really coming together are they?" She asked him as she pulled the oversized shirt on, adjusting it so it was loose around her.

"They are," He responded, not convincing her in the slightest.

"Jax..." She started, going over in her head what was the best way to get her point across to him. It wasn't coming together, it was falling apart. And everything that was falling, was landing on his shoulders. And from her point of view, the kids were the ones losing the most. There had to be a reason that he wanted them there with him now. She didn't know everything that went on with him but she was scared, scared for him, scared for herself, and scared for the kids. "Maybe we should just..."

His lips fell on top of hers, crushing the rest of her sentence before it could come out. The kiss was aggressive and demanding, his hands gripping hard at her face, not allowing her to move. He pushed her against the wall with his body, trapping her and causing her to forget whatever plight she was debating in her head. "Just trust me," He whispered as he pulled back for air, he brushed her bangs away from her eyes and searched them for assurance. She slipped her hands up his chest, not able to control her thoughts anymore and kissed him softly, hoping he would feel how much she cared. His hands slipped under the big cotton t-shirt, the calloused pads of his fingers causing her to gasp faintly against his lips.

"You two almost finished? Because there are a couple of boys in the next room waiting for their daddy to tuck them in."

Jax stepped away, looking towards his mother, but gave Kate's hand another gentle squeeze before leaving her. "Thanks for the heads up." He said to Gemma as he passed her on his way out of the room. Kate decided to follow his lead, wanting to be alone in the room with Gemma about as much as she would want to stab herself in the eye with a razor blade. But it seemed that Gemma was just getting started.

"If you're looking for happily ever after sweetheart, you best keep moving your scrawny ass right out those clubhouse doors." The coldness in her tone was unmistakable.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Kate asked her, turning around and staring her right in the eyes. She knew the woman was bold, but she never expected to be confronted by her like that, especially when she didn't even know her, and Kate was not one to back down.

"If you want love, you're not going to find it spreading your legs for my son," Gemma told her, moving closer towards her face and trying to intimidate Kate, "He already gave away his heart and now that shit is forever buried, six feet under."

"So is this your nice way of telling me you don't want me around him?"

"This is my nice way of telling you that you mean nothing to my son. The only thing you can offer him is a place to warm his dick at night, and trust me honey, you aren't the only one."

"Hey, you guys, you gotta come out here, Jax got a call and it doesn't sound good." Wendy told them, breaking up what was more than likely going to end badly for both of them. Gemma took off down the hallway, rounding the corner towards the main room.

"What was that shit about?" Wendy asked Kate, one eyebrow raised, her lips curled up in curiosity. But before Kate could even answer the sounds of yelling came barreling towards them. They quickened their pace to see what the hell was going on out in the main room.

"This is bullshit man, we need to go there now and end this shit. It's gone too far."

"Trust me Tig, I'm with you, but we have to be smart about this."

"We can be smart about this and think about it on the ride over."

"Jax, we can't just leave Chibs with Alvarez." Happy joined in.

Holy shit, Kate thought, looking at Wendy and seeing that same sentiment spread across her face.

"Chibs would want us to plan this out. Not go in there aimlessly and risk loosing everyone. Everybody get their shit together and meet outside." Jax ordered them, all at once passionate about leading them to confront the Mayans. He turned to head towards the hallway, but Gemma stepped in from of him, blocking his path.

"Jax, you need to get this club back in order. Go get Chibs and bring him home." She said to him, stroking his upper arm with her hand. "He needs you, they need you."

Jax just tilted his head away from her, not at all wanting to hear a lecture right now, while right in the middle of everything else that he was dealing with.

"This is your club Jax. Pull them together and lead them, do what your father couldn't, what Clay couldn't."

Jax nodded to his mother and Kate's heart melted. She had just witnessed the real person with control over the club do what she did best, manipulate her son into providing her the result she craved so badly. Gemma's face was proud and Kate felt nothing but rage at what she knew was happening.

Following Jax back towards the room they had been in before, she passed by where the kids were sleeping, only they weren't both sleeping. Abel was standing in the doorway, and had heard everything that had just gone on.

"Hey buddy, get back in bed ok? Everything's fine and Wendy will be in soon." Abel reluctantly listened to her and made his way back to bed, barely lifting his feet off the floor as he shuffled slowly along. The rage that Kate felt before was practically bubbling up inside of her. She pushed her way into the room that Jax was in, only to find him arming himself with several weapons for whatever he decided needed to be taken care of.

"Jax, what's going on?" She asked, desperately trying to keep her emotions in check.

"Alvarez has Chibs."

"So what? Your loading up on weapons? You can't just go storming in there and getting in some big gun fight or whatever it is you're planning. That'll be suicide."

"Listen, you keep that gun on you and you don't let anyone know it's there, no one, not even Wendy, got it?" He told her, not losing any momentum and ignoring the shit storm that was brewing inside her.

"Jax, I'm serious, please, please think about this," Kate pleaded, trying to reason with him. His back was turned to her, his leg up on the bed as he stuffed another gun under the pant leg of his jeans.

"Please Jax, think about your sons. I'm sure there's another way, just give yourself time to figure out what to do. Going in there in angry retaliation, it's just..." He turned around, continuing to ignore her, but he had to hear. She knew he heard. He sat down on the bed, finishing securing the holster on his leg.

"Jax," She tried again, the fact that he wouldn't acknowledge her was pissing her off even more than she had already been, "Look at me!" Kate yelled at him, doing all she could to grab his attention, but it was useless, so she spoke anyway, hoping to get through the thick stubborn barrier he was putting up, "It's honorable, it really is, this loyalty you have for the club. But do you think that each of them expect you to choose their lives over your sons?"

He sat there on the bed, rubbing his hands over his face and hair as if trying to wipe away everything that he was facing. Maybe she was getting through to him.

"I understand, I do, I know you are the president and you have to lead them, and you should. I get it. But do you know who else you are a leader to? Do you?" The frustration was overwhelming her, why didn't he understand? "Jax, look at me."

But he wouldn't. Kate went over, getting on her knees and pulling his hands down, forcing him to face her. "Abel and Thomas, Jax. Abel and Thomas. Not Chibs or Bobby or Tig or whoever, Abel and Thomas. They come first. You are their everything. You are ALL they have. You need to be here for them. For them. They can't lose you."

He stood up and went to get out of the room but Kate ran ahead, blocking the doorway. He couldn't leave. He couldn't walk out on those two boys. "Something else has to fix this, maybe, maybe you can swap me for Chibs," She tried in desperation, "Alvarez might want me, I'll say I killed Carlos, I'll say Paulsen will want me. There has to be another way. Please wake up. Please."

Jax didn't even look at her, he just reached over her shoulder and pushed open the door, walking past her like she wasn't even there.

"You're captain of that ship too," She said quietly to herself, defeat finally taking her, "And the ship is sinking."

***Pretty please leave me a review so I know if you like this...I need to know, like something FIERCE...I DID give you probably my longest chapter yet...please and thank you :)***