Fractured

Chapter Twenty Six

Jax sat astride his bike staring up at the building in front of him. He felt angry. It had been a thought at first. Nothing but a misplaced accusation, but now that he knew that that accusation was the truth he didn't know what to do.

Nothing had been easing. Since having the gavel forced upon him he had felt the true weight behind it. A weight that no one would know or understand unless they had been issued the charge.

It felt almost strange to him that this had been what he had yearned for when he was a boy. When he had entered through those Chapel doors with JT at the mere age of 6 he had wanted nothing more than to be like his father...shit that dream had lasted up until about 3 years. Till he found out the devil you had to be to become a president of a leading of MC.

He looked at himself sometimes and it scared him.

Take today. After chopping the hands off one of the men responsible for barging himself, Chibs and Bobby off the road last night he had given a hand both to Unser and Pope, he hadn't even flinched when he had done it. He had just wanted answers and when he had fond out what he needed to know he had gone after the guys who were responsible and tracked one of them down. He had threatened him for the answers-some he did want and another he didn't- and he had shot him. Close rage straight into the stomach. Again he hadn't flinched. Killing was becoming easier. It was almost terrifying. Agent Kohn had been his first kill. It wasn't done in defence to save himself or to save a brother. He had walked straight up to the guy and put a bullet in his head. He had struggled to come to terms with it for a few days. But now...now it was just another thing he had become accustomed to. Just like all the other shit that came with being President.

Like his mother.

He threw his leg over and dismounted his bike and with a heavy heart he walked through the door of .

His mother was in the private room that they had for Abel. She was sat with Thomas in her arms. The anger burned deeper. His mother had always been a pain in someway or another but how she had been lately was worse than anything and she was becoming more of a pain, she was acting like a fucking teenager. All the drama, the drink, the drugs and now the lie. He didn't need that shit. She was a danger and not just to him now but to his family. Jax couldn't allow that.

He pushed open the door. His face like stone. He stalked over to his Mother, collecting his son from her arms.

"What's wrong baby?" Tara spoke from behind him. He never stopped looking at his mother though.

"I got some information." He spoke loudly staring straight into his mothers now fearful eyes. "Are you going to tell her or am I?" He asked in a voice just so she could hear.

"I love him so much baby." Gemma went to reach for Thomas but Jax stepped back. Unable to allow his mother to touch him. She had already done enough.

Tara felt the tension. Her eyes darted from her husband to Gemma. "What's going on?"

"No one tried to run me off the road." Gemma spoke firmly as she stood to her feet.

After talking to Nicole and Nero she was going to tell the truth but she just wanted to spend a little time with her grandbabies because she knew once the truth was revealed that she would be oust from their life. Unfortunately it seemed like it was happening sooner that she wanted it to. But she was old enough and big enough to take what was to come besides this was all her fault.

"I was high...I thought I was okay to drive." She looked at Tara hoping that the woman heard her pleas. "I just didn't want to miss my chance to be with them."

The hit came from nowhere and sent his mother doubling over. He pulled his son close, shielded his young eyes from the violence. He watched though. It was what his mother deserved. She needed to understand what she had done. And that her actions had consequences.

"Your done. You don't call, see or come near MY kids again."

"Tara..."

"GET OUT..." Tara screamed before she could control herself.

Gemma felt the wet liquid pool in her mouth. Her hand went to it straight away. Blood. She heard Thomas' cry as Tara shouted for her to get out. Gemma felt floored and when she stood to her full height and as she stared into her Sons eyes and all she saw was hurt, the hate she almost let herself fall to her knees. She knew it would do no good. So calling on the last ounce of willpower she had Gemma grabbed her bag and marched out of the hospital room. It was only when the door closed behind her that she let her tears fall.

"I knew this was her Jax...I told you." Tara sobbed as Jax pulled her to him.

"I know. I'm sorry." He felt her shake her head to disagree. After talking to Nicole he had been the one who had started defending his mother to Tara. He should have gone with his gut he shouldn't have listened to Nicole. Not that this was her fault.

"That's it Jax. I can't have her around my children." Jax pulled back so that he could look at his wife.

"She's done with this family babe."

Nicole sat crossed legged on top of her queen sized bed, leaflets spread out in front off her. There was a lot of information to take in, talking to Lyla was the easy part in some ways but trying to read through all of this was a lot harder. There was so much that she didn't know. The price being one. She buried her head in hands trying to push away the headache she felt brewing.

Looking up when she heard the rumble of the approaching bikes Nicole jumped off the bed and scooped the papers off the bed depositing them in the bottom draw of her night stand under er underwear. Dressed now in khaki sweat pants and a white v neck t-shirt Nicole hurried barefooted from her bedroom down the hall. She heard the door open in the kitchen followed by two sets of footsteps. With a deep breath she turned the corner and lent against the door jam of the kitchen.

"Hey." Happy said noticing her first. Getting two beers from the fridge he came to her first and kissed her on the mouth before turning to Jax and handing him a beer.

"Thanks." Jax spoke accepting the drink.

He looked back at his cousin. He had been surprised when he had come out of Church after crisis talks about the Nomads to find a text asking if he could stop by her and Happy's place tonight. He looked at Happy and it seemed that he had received a similar text from Nicole.

It hadn't said anything as to what she wanted to talk about just that she wanted to talk, but Jax hadn't received a text from her like that in a long time. So even though all he wanted to do was to be at home with his family who had come out of a little over an hour ago he found himself standing in her kitchen curious as to what she wanted to say.

"Thanks for coming Jay."

"You said you wanted to talk."

"Yeah." Nicole looked at Happy as she pushed off the door and came to stand at the table. "You should take a seat...both of you."

Nicole watched Happy eye her. He was just as curious as she could tell Jax was. She would have liked to have talked to him before but she knew that it was probably safer to do it this way, at least Jax as his President would be able to calm him down if things got to bad.

She let the two of them sit first and then took a seat herself.

"So what's this about Nic?"

"Clay." She felt both of them straighten in the chairs that they were sat in. She really had their attention now. "Clay was behind the Nomads."

"How do you know that?" Jax asked leaning forward on his elbows.

"Gogo told me. He wanted me to understand why. He told me Clay had approached them offered them money in exchange for his seat back at the head of the redwood. Clay was behind all the house invasions including the one at Gemma's and Roosevelt's wife."

Jax ran a hand over his face as he sat back in the chair. He had always known that Clay had to of had something to do with the Nomads but to actually hear it be confirmed was something else. It seemed that today had just be full of wrongful truths. Truths that he had to right.

"The club needs to know about this." Jax looked at Happy. He was right. But if they were going to take this to the table they needed evidence.

"Would you be willing to share this with the..."

"No." Happy snapped before Jax could finish the sentence. He knew what he was going to ask and it wasn't happening. He was not going to allow Nicole to be put in that position. Exposed. it wasn't happening.

"Hap..." Happy spared a glance at Nicole upon hearing his name fall from her lips.

"No." He repeated. He looked back at Jax. "Clay gets a sniff that this has come from her we might as well just end her now because we both know that Clay will go to any lengths to protect himself."

"He's right Jay. Clay approached me at the hospital today." Nicole didn't stop looking at Jax but she could feel Happy's fiery eyes burning into her. "I'm not going to take this to rest of the club. This is your issue to handle not mine." She finally looked at Happy. Her hand reaching out to cover his hand that had now balled into a fist. "And it's not yours either. You handle this as a club, the right way and if you need evidence then you need to find Frankie."

As much as it pained Happy she was right. Knowing that Clay was behind everything. Her getting hurt. Happy wanted to kill him with his own bare hands but she was right if they were going to bring Clay down then they needed to do this the right way as a club.

"She's right Prez."

"Yeah." Nicole was right but that didn't make it any easier.

Clay was already aware that Juice was trying to locate Frankie. And if Clay knew- which was obvious that he did considering he had approached Nicole- then he would want to silence Frankie before he could tell the club the truth. Happy had just said it. Clay would go to any lengths to protect himself. Finding Frankie wasn't going to be enough. Clay needed to stopped once and for all.

"Gogo also told me that they gave Clay the papers." Jax furrowed a brow a his cousin. "All the birth certificates. Gemma and Clays marriage certificate from the safe. They gave it to him and my guess is that Clay isn't going to just get rid of that."

"You think he has it at the house?"

"Only one way way to find out." Both Tellers looked to the enforcer beside them. This was what Nicole hadn't wanted. She didn't want Happy to take this on just because it involved her. This wasn't just his fight.

"Your right Hap. But it won't be you. It should be someone who he is close to, someone he trusts and someone you can or least someone that you can manipulate."

Looking between the two who were looking at her with worry and intrigue she took a breath. She had thought about nothing else all day. But her mind kept going back to the hospital, and the way he had just stood there and let Clay grab her. Clay was consuming him. Nicole would like to think that he wasn't completely gone but she wasn't sure either way. However he was the only person who could do this.

"Juice."

"Juice?" Jax didn't look at her when he asked the question. No he was looking at Happy. Nicole wasn't stupid. She knew Happy had suspicions about Juice and even though she had repeated what Juice had told her about not going through with ratting on the club she guessed that Happy hadn't believed her meaning there was no way that Happy wouldn't air that worry to Jax, his President, especially if he thought that Juice may be a threat to the club he loved.

"The RICO case that was against the club. To get a case like that built you need past crimes which we all know that Otto is responsible for."

She looked between the two. She knew that the club were making efforts to cancel out Otto's testimony against Bobby and the club. Gemma had called her and asked if she could remember the name of the perfume that Luanne used to wear. Tara had wanted it for some care package. Nicole thought differently. Tara was working to try and get close to Otto using her doctor status. Nicole had to give her some credit for that. What Nicole remembered of Otto was that he was a lovely, kind and gentle man, however she knew better and now if he had ratted on the club then that dark, fearful, angry and dangerous part of him- a part that nearly all the Sons held- had come out and now it was being aimed at Samcro. Tara was very brave to put herself between that man and the club. Brave and stupid. But then again the stupid part belonged to Jax because there was no way that Tara would be doing that without Jax's say so.

"They also need present crime."

"And you think that's Juice?" Jax asked making sure he was hearing his cousin right. Happy had made his point that night telling him that he didn't trust Juice. Now he wanted to know more. He wanted to know what his cousin knew. And maybe what Happy hadn't told him.

"I know it is. Roosevelt has leverage over him. Juice's father is black."

"Shit..." Jax muttered under his breath.

"He told me that he hadn't given Roosevelt anything...but I don't know anymore. Either way you can use it. He's the closet Son that you have to Clay. He wouldn't be expecting it, I can see it, he thinks he has Juice. Shit in a few weeks time he probably will." She looked between the two of them. "I'll leave you two to talk."

Nicole excused herself from the table and headed back into her bedroom. She felt nervous in a way. She knew she had done the right thing telling Jax about Clay but she felt guilty for throwing Jax under the bus to. Deep down he wasn't a bad guy in fact she almost found herself falling for him and maybe if it had been another time and place she would have loved him but it hadn't happened and all that felt like a life time ago. Plus she had to think about herself for a change, her safety. Clay knew that she knew the truths about the Nomads. He hand't thought twice about Donna, Piney, trying to kill Tara or laying hands on Gemma what made Nicole so special to think that Clay wouldn't do to her what he done to them.

It was another 20 minutes before she heard footsteps heading towards her room. Surprisingly it was Jax.

"Thank you."

"You needed to know." Jax nodded at her answer as he lent against the door jam.

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry I never told you about Juice earlier." Jax shook his head. It wasn't her place he guessed for her to tell him that. This was club business.

"Don't be. I'm gonna head out. Abel's home."

"Give him a kiss from me okay."

"Will do." He said starting to edge back down the hall.

"Jay...Hows Gemma?"

"Lets not talk about that right now." Nicole took that answer as Gemma had come clean about what really happened. She'd give her a call later, see if she was okay because by the anger lingering behind Jax's eyes that little revelation wouldn't have gone without repercussions. "Look if Clay comes near you..."

"He won't. He'd have to get past Happy first right.." Her comment made him smile. It was nice to see.

"Yeah." He answered running a hand over his beard. "So I guess I've been replaced?" This time it was Nicole's turn to smile.

"Yeah things have defiantly changed. I mean your a married man now." The shock was instant. It was followed by a questioning gaze. "Tara. I spotted the ring on her finger today at the hopital. When?"

"Just before we went inside before Ope..." His words died. And Nicole felt her eyes well up. They were quiet for a moment before she spoke again.

"Congratulations."

"Nic..."

"No it's okay Jay. We couldn't stay the way we were forever right. We both had live our own lives. You've got your family Jay and I'm happy for you truly I am. Plus I have my own twisted,weird kind of family as well now." She smiled again."I'm happy with Happy Jay..." She shook her head. "No pun intended I swear."

"I don't know if you know this but I wasn't exactly a fan of you two especially when I found out about your little arrangement. In fact I warned him off you." Jax explained walking from the doorway, taking a seat on the black leather ottoman.

"Wow...you warning a guy off me shocking..." She mocked. "But no I didn't know that." her tone serious now.

"Hap's a great guy."

"Yeah he is."

"I'm sorry how things have been between us."

"No need to apologise I get. You, Tara. Your just protecting your family. I always thought that meant me. But I get it now."

"I love Nic you know that right?"

"Yeah I do. But what we had before it was probably a little unhealthy. I put so much on you Jay but now..."

"Now you have Happy."

"Yeah. Just like you have Tara."

"Shit, does his mean were actually growing up." Nicole laughed.

"I guess it does."

"Just promise me one thing."

"What?"

"Be safe."

"Okay. Can you promise me one thing." Jax nodded.

"Don't get lost in it Jay. The hate. Please don't."

Jax didn't need her to clarify what she was talking about it was something she had been trying to do ever since this shit with Clay had started. Where as the other women in his life wanted him to end Clay Nicole didn't. He didn't know what was stopping her or why after everything he had done to her she didn't want him dead- at least by his hands- maybe she knew where it would lead him where it was leading him. He thought back to that morning. The guy he killed. It did make him think maybe he had already got lost in it all. However he she didn't need to know that.

Getting to his feet Jax walked down the length of the bed to wear she sat. He dropped a kiss upon her head.

"Okay. I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry to."

Leaving her alone he headed back to the kitchen. Happy was sat at the table with a cigarette. Jax didn't miss the relieved look on his face when he had returned. He was clearly glad that the talk between himself and Nicole had gone off without so much as one raised voice.

"Thanks man." Jax squeezed Happy's shoulder as he passed behind him.

"Church at 8?" Jax nodded."I'll call Quinn. See where he's at with Frankie."

"Thanks brother."

Happy locked the door behind Jax. His head resting against the door. He was tired. Bone tired. His age clearly catching up with him. Not to mention all the shit that was surrounding the club. He felt himself relax when a pair of arms wrapped around his waist, delicate fingers inching up his stomach.

"I'm sorry I didn't talk to you about this first. Are you mad?" Her voice was barely audible. But given their close proximity they were in he heard her loud and clear.

"Nah I ain't mad kid. Not at you." He felt her smile against his back.

"You tired?" Happy turned in her arms pulling her closer. His arms enveloping around her. He nodded his head before catching her lips with his. "Come on, take a bath with me." Nicole spoke pulling him with her.

Jax made another detour on his way home. Nicole was right and he was grateful to her for telling him what she knew but it wasn't going to be enough. Clay was a snake. He always managed to get away with his sins. And Jax wasn't sure that he could just trust Juice to do this. He needed a plan B and he knew the exact person who could be that plan B.

His mother.