Vanessa barely slept a wink after Jax's phone call. She wondered who he could have been talking to about Kellan Ashby. Who else could know about the man and why he was involved in their son being missing.

She woke up the next morning with an ache in her head and in her back. Jax's arms were wrapped tightly around her midsection, usually leaving her a sense of comfort but not today. All she could think about was her son, the phone call, and the damage that was likely to be done to them today in Ireland.

So when Jax stretched awake, she was glad she no longer had to pretend to be asleep. Instead, she watched as he stood up and went towards his bag to change before she went towards hers.

Vanessa was glad when she walked downstairs to see everyone awake, Bobby handing her a cup of tea as she sat on the chair. She mumbled a thank you as Jax stood behind her with a cup of coffee in his hand.

"So what do we know?" Clay asked, sitting next to Gemma who had a worried look on her face.

"Kellan says he moved Abel out of Belfast to protect him from Jimmy." Jax started, looking over to Vanessa who had an almost distraught look on her face.

"Why?" Gemma jumped in, immediately concerned for the safety of her grandson. "What the hell does Jimmy want with Abel?"

"Leverage." Vanessa spoke up with a wobbly tone as they all looked over to her. "They're all using him as a goddamn pawn."

"He wants leverage against what Kellan wants from us- Jimmy dead." Jax shook his head. "Apparently, he's become a problem for the Army."

"Then we kill Jimmy." Gemma said matter-of-factly, and Vanessa nodded her head in agreement.

"It's not that simple." Jax muttered.

"Yeah, it is." Gemma scoffed.

"No, it isn't!" Jax yelled. "Look, everything they say is… it's like smoky truth. I don't trust them. I don't trust their priest. The only thing we know for sure is he wants Jimmy."

"So we find Jimmy, trade him for Abel." Clay said nonchalantly, as if it was the most simple thing in the world.

"I think that's the only thing that makes sense." Jax agreed. "We can't kill O'Phelan."

"Should I bring SAMBEL up to speed on this?" Juice asked, unsure if they could trust them.

"No. As far as they know, we want Jimmy to grill him about Abel. Let's just leave it at that."

"Belfast has a protection run this afternoon." Bobby spoke up. "Gun shipment. McGee told me that Jimmy will be at the pickup in Dungloe."

"Then so are we." Opie agreed.

"I'm sorry, guys." Jax crossed his arms over his chest and leaned on the arm of the chair next to her. "I had no idea what I was walking you into. Shit going on down here."

"How do we know this isn't a setup?" Vanessa spoke up and the guys looked to her again waiting for her to explain. "That shit with the police on the way into Ireland had to be a setup. How do we know we can trust McGee and the rest of these guys enough to know that they didn't help orchestrate it?"

"You don't worry your pretty little head about that." Clay said, almost condescendingly, leaving Vanessa to huff out a breath and clench her jaw.

"What if she's right though?" Juice spoke up this time and she silently thanked him for not just blowing her concerns over. "It's not like we can trust them right now."

"Then we deal with that if it comes to it." Clay gritted his teeth. "We go and we watch every move these Irish pricks make." The guys all nodded their heads in agreement. "We'd all better crash for a few more hours. It's gonna be another fun-filled day in the six counties."

Everyone but Jax, Gemma, and Vanessa moved into their respective rooms while the three stay back and look between each other. Vanessa took a sip of her tea as Gemma cleared her throat.

"This feels all wrong to me." Gemma said and looked over to Vanessa who was biting her lip, not wanting to interject, even though she completely agreed with the older woman. "Feels wrong to her too, obviously. Who the hell are these people? Using a baby like a goddamn poker chip."

"It's not just them, mom. This happened because we deal guns with the Irish. Let's not kid ourselves we're the victims here."

"Maybe that, um, profound awareness helps relieve your guilt, but now is not the time for soul-searching. You focus on the hate you need to kill all these Irish pricks." Gemma walked away and Jax shook his head, looking over to Vanessa.

"You think she's right?"

"I think she has a point." He rolled his eyes, not knowing when Vanessa started becoming so much like his mother. "You do too, though. You know I agree with you. That's why you want to fix the club. That's why you've been focusing on your dad's manuscript. You told me you want to fix your dad's legacy for our son and for Lily. We need to find Abel to do that. After we find Abel, I'm by your side every step of the way to help you fix this club and to help you get out of guns, Jax. You know that. But Abel is the only priority right now, baby." She stood up in front of him and grabbed his hand. She saw that he was teary-eyed as he squeezed her hand gently. She kissed him and escorted him to their room, knowing that now she was the one who needed to be strong because it was clear that Jax was beginning to break down.


Vanessa sat at the picnic table by herself as she watched all of the guys go into the chapel for church. She sighed, finally feeling like she could have a moment to herself to go over everything that has happened in the past 24 hours. Just a few minutes into her peaceful silence, her burner phone began ringing.

"Hey, Jes." She greeted before she wondered if Jax had been talking to him about Kellan. "Have you heard from Jax at all?"

"No, was I supposed to?" His voice was tense.

"No, uh. Just forget I said anything." She cleared her throat. "Everything okay there?"

"Shit's crazy here." Jesse said with a groan. "Fuck, Charming ain't exactly charming, is it?"

"What's going on?"

"You know Lumpy Feldstein?" Vanessa hummed in agreement. "Well, he was attacked last night. Beaten badly and basically forced to sell his gym."

"What the fuck? To who?"

"I don't know yet. The guys asked me to look into it. Lumpy said it was Mayans that attacked him. The guys think it's Salazar."

"Who?" Vanessa shook her head, at a complete loss.

"Shit, Jax didn't tell you? The guys here are having me look into this guy Hector Salazar. He was the president of some other MC, the Calaveras, but got patched out. That MC was behind the shooting at the wake. They killed your brother. Apparently the Sons have some beef with him. But, uh, they think Jacob initiated the hit on Lumpy."

"Wait, what? What the hell are you talking about?"

"He paid some guy, Darby or some shit, to scare Lumpy into selling his gym. It didn't work. Then a day later someone else attacked him and is practically forcing him to sell his gym. Sounds like your brother is still behind it."

"Jesus Christ. That greedy piece of shit. He doesn't give a fuck about anything but lining his own pockets and hurting the club, just like my dad." Vanessa scoffed. "Is Lumpy okay?"

"I don't know. It's not looking too good. Sorry, Nes." He said apologetically. "Uh, I wanna tell you something, but I need you to listen and not freak out, alright?"

"Okay, but, you're kinda making me a little nervous."

"I'm thinking about moving here… prospecting for the club."

"What? Why the hell would you do that?" She was thoroughly confused now.

"I don't know. Spending the past few days with them… it's like a family, Nes. A family I haven't had in a long time."

"Yeah a violent, bloody family where you sell illegal guns and get shot at nearly every fucking day." Vanessa said angrily through gritted teeth. She looked over to the door, seeing the guys starting to make their way out of church.

"I said I was thinking about it. And you said you wouldn't freak out."

"Well, I don't think Jax will let that happen anyway. Fuck… Just please don't make any stupid decisions until I get back, okay?" She hung up the phone when Jax started walking over to the bike he was using for the trip. She stared at him worriedly, before walking over to him. The last thing she wanted him to do was go on this run with the Belfast charter.

"It's gonna be fine, Nes." Jax pulled her into him as he stood next to the bike.

"This doesn't feel right, Jax. I can feel it in my bones." He could see the uneasiness rolling off of her in waves. He kissed her deeply. She sighed when he pulled back, the kiss doing nothing to put her at ease. She just had a stronger feeling of doubt. And when he pulled away, she didn't want to let him go. Though miscommunication, arguments, and cruel words have been at the forefront of their relationship lately, she did not want to lose him. "Just promise me you'll be careful. I don't trust these guys, Jax."

"I promise, babe." She nodded, kissing him once more. "With all the shit going down here, you stay close to my mom and keep your piece on you."

"Yeah." She wanted to tell him she loved him and he wanted to tell her the same. But it was not needed, they both saw the love that they have for each other radiating in their eyes.

She was about to walk away from Jax as he sat down on his bike when she saw Father Kellan dropping off Kerrianne and Fiona. Her and Jax both just stared at the priest as Chibs shook his hand before hugging him. And she wondered how someone putting the life of a baby in jeopardy can call himself a man of God. Kellan walked over to the two of them and Vanessa wanted to scream and curse and yell at him. Beg him to just give him their son back, but she stayed silent.

"Have a safe run." The man told Jax. "Hope you find what you're looking for."

Jax didn't respond, just nodded a short nod before staring at the man with a look of contempt as he walked away. Vanessa leaned down and kissed him one more time and took a deep breath, not needing to say anything. Jax sent a solemn smile her way and put his helmet on. Vanessa stood off to the side with Gemma, watching as all of the men left on their bikes. She bit the inside of her cheek, feeling a sickening twist in her stomach as she knew that danger was imminent.


After an awkward lunch at the Ashby home, Vanessa began bringing the dishes to the sink. She watched as Kerrianne sat against the counter looking bored out of her mind. After the nth sigh that came out of the young girl's mouth, Kerrianne finally spoke up.

"Can I go down to the shop to hang with Trinity?" Kerrianne practically begged her mother.

"No. You stay up here."

"Why? Afraid someone's gonna shoot me?"

"Don't you brash me." Fiona spoke sternly, putting more dishes into the sink.

"If you go down to the shop, Triny will have you stocking shelves." Maureen told her. "Come on. We'll go into her room and set you up with some movies, love."

"Ooh, I remember that age." Gemma says to Fiona and Vanessa. Vanessa just smiled, almost solemnly at the thought of how Lily would have been at that age. She exhaled and tried to think about something different but she couldn't.

"Uh, I'm gonna use the restroom." She said when she couldn't seem to control her thoughts. She grabbed her bag off the couch and went into the bathroom. She rubbed some water on her face with shaky hands as she tried to calm herself down. She sat on the toilet seat for a minute, pulling the pill bottle out of her bag. Vanessa stared at the bottle for a moment before quickly putting one of the anti-anxiety medications into her mouth. She swallowed the pill and sighed as she rubbed at her eyes. It was only a few seconds later that she heard the yelling. Vanessa locked the door quickly, trying to hear what was going on. It was quiet for a moment before she heard more yelling and what sounded like Kerrianne scream before she heard sobbing. Vanessa got the gun out of her bag, flipping the safety off quickly.

"You've burned it now, Jimmy." She heard Maureen yell, and she knew that Jimmy O'Phelan was under the same roof as her. "Kellan practically raised those brothers. They are like sons to him."

"Well now he can bury one of them, yeah?" She heard a man, presumably Jimmy, scream back at her. "Let's go."

She heard a muffled and quieter voice but couldn't hear what they said. It was quiet for a moment and she was about to exit the bathroom when she heard Jimmy raise his voice again.

"Do I have to kill another one, Fi, to show you how much I love you? I'm taking my family home." She heard Fiona agree, begging for no more bloodshed. Just a moment later she opened the door slightly and heard footsteps coming in her direction. She tried to quiet her breathing and stop her hands from shaking when she saw a man going into Trinity's room through the crack of the door. She saw Trinity run upstairs quickly, causing the man to hold his gun up and fire a shot, surprised at Trinity's appearance. He just barely missed and Vanessa opened the door wide, firing two shots at him. Both of which hit his flank. She saw that he was bleeding out but didn't care because she heard yelling in the kitchen again. She ran to the kitchen to see a man, who she presumed to be Jimmy, with a knife sticking out of his hand. She pointed her gun at him when he tried to reach for his gun that fell to the floor.

"Don't move, asshole." She moved a little closer to him. He tested her, moving just slightly trying to reach for his gun. She shot a warning shot at his feet. "I said don't fucking move! You move again and you'll have two holes in your chest, just like your friend out there."

"Drop the gun, girl."

"No." She refused, still pointing the gun at him. She moved closer to his gun on the ground and kicked it away from him, looking over to see Fiona pick it up. Maureen yelled for Trinity and ran towards her daughter, not looking twice at the unmoving body on her living room floor.

"We okay in there?" Gemma yelled out to Maureen.

"Yeah, she's fine." Maureen called out.

"Good." Vanessa spoke up and pointed to the chair with her gun. "Sit down. Sit!" She watched as Jimmy took a seat in the kitchen chair.

"You should take Trinity and Kerrianne downstairs." Gemma told Maureen. Maureen nodded but Fiona refused to let Kerrianne go too far from her.

"Vanessa…" Fiona started.

"Ah, you must be Jackson Teller's lovely old lady."

"Shut the fuck up." She spoke through gritted teeth at the man sitting in the chair, blood oozing from the wound in his hand.

"What are you going to do, Vanessa?"

"Our family has a few things to work out with Jimmy." Gemma spoke up this time.

"That's a mistake." Fiona said.

"No, it's not." Gemma spat harshly at the woman and looked to Vanessa. "Get the girls out of here!" She yelled to Maureen. "Do what you have to do, sweetheart."

"Go on, girls, come on." Maureen said before escorting both girls out of the kitchen and down the stairs.

"Put it down." Fiona put the gun to Vanessa's head.

"What the hell are you doing?" Vanessa spat at the woman, still refusing to take the gun off of Jimmy.

"Protecting you. Give me the gun."

"I don't need to be protected!" Vanessa yelled at the woman. She was tired of people not giving her any choices under the guise that they were trying to protect her. She could fend for herself. She could fight for herself. And she had to fight for her son. "I just want my son. The only way I get him back is to kill this son of a bitch."

"Not before I kill you."

"He is the reason my son is still missing, Fiona!" She spat. "I have to kill this asshole to get my son back."

"You already killed Donny. Do you want to hold your baby again? Because if you go through with this, you'll be dead before you ever see your son again." Fiona tried to reason with her. "Give me the gun now." Vanessa grew teary eyed and her jaw twitched as she relented, putting the gun down on the ground. Gemma went to get the gun but Fiona pointed the gun at her next. "Don't think about it. Kick it over here. Do it!" Gemma kicked the gun over to Fiona who picked it up.

"Mother of Christ!" Jimmy laughed, a real and amused smile on his face. "You're crazy bitches, the lot."

"Shut up!" Fiona pointed the gun at him. "Get out. You come trying to fetch me and Kerri again, and I swear on my Catholic God, I'll fill your thick Irish skull with bullets. Go!"

"Gemma, always a pleasure. Vanessa, I can see why Jackson cares so deeply for you." Jimmy got up from the chair and stood up, taking a step towards Fiona causing her to point the guns directly at his head. "I'll see you real soon, love."

She watched as Jimmy left the kitchen and then the house, Fiona still pointing both guns at him. Fiona put the guns on the table and Gemma took a swing at the woman, missing completely before the woman punched Gemma in the stomach. Vanessa took the Irish woman by the hair and pulled her away from Gemma, slamming her into the wall with her hand on the woman's throat.

"You do not touch my family again, do you understand me?" Vanessa growled through clenched teeth, staring at the woman who gave a short nod. Vanessa pushed off of her before walking over to Gemma who was coughing and groaning in pain.

"Why the hell did you stop us?" Gemma asked Fiona.

"You kill Jimmy, and his crew would wipe out your whole family. Total bloody genocide. You don't know… Neither of you know." Vanessa was about ready to swing on Fiona again, instead of doing so, she grabbed her gun from the table and her bag that she hadn't realized was on the floor near the entrance of the kitchen.

"The next time you threaten to kill me, you better be ready to do it." She couldn't help but stare down the woman as she walked out of the home and back to the flophouse. She needed to get away from everyone before she started letting bullets fly on each and every person that got in her way.


Jax looked around the barn in Dungloe, staring at the men surrounding them suspiciously behind his sunglasses. He didn't know who to trust. He followed a few of his Dungloe brothers into the barn to see the hardware that they would be transporting. When the hay stack was opened, Jax whistled at the sight of the heavy artillery.

"These are magnificent." Happy nodded with a smirk before picking up the weapon and aiming it, almost pretending to shoot it.

"Saws." Clay was taken aback too. "Who's dealing these?"

"We don't ask those questions."

"Brilliant shit, man." Bobby picked up a similar weapon. "Seen a dozen trucks hauling hay."

"Just another farmer bringing the food back to the horses. Never been stopped yet."

"Let's hope we can keep that streak going." Opie spoke up from the back of the group. Jax just stood near the weapons with his arms crossed, impressed by the sight but more focused on seeing Jimmy. Jax felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. When he saw that it was Vanessa he decided to ignore it, knowing that finding Jimmy was more important.

Barely a few seconds after he ignored the phone call, his phone began ringing again. The same name popping up on his prepaid. With a sigh, Jax finally picked up his phone and walked towards an empty side of the barn while the other guys began loading up the truck.

"We're in the middle of it, Nes." Jax said without a greeting.

"Jimmy was just here. At Maureen's." Her voice sounded worried and fast.

"What the hell are you talking about? Are you okay?"

"I… I shot one of his guys, Jax. I killed him." She took a deep breath before continuing. "He tried to shoot Trinity. I had to kill him."

"You and my mom okay?"

"We're okay now. He came looking for Fiona and Kerri. But he was supposed to be with you guys, wasn't he? Jax, if he was here, then the run you're on has to be a setup." Jax's eyes widened at the realization that they had both come to.

"Shit. Shit." He said as he watched two of Jimmy's young recruits shut and lock the barn door. Vanessa heard a bunch of yelling over the phone.

"Jax! Jax!" She called out to him, begging for him to answer her. "What the hell is going on?"

He didn't respond to her yelling, only pushed his phone into his hoodie pocket before running over to the barn door, kicking them violently to get them open. Vanessa still called out to him, hearing the muffled yelling and banging.

Her lip trembled as she heard the dull gunshots before a loud explosion blasted in her ear. Her breathing became shaky while she called out his name, the trilling of the dead line causing heavy tears to fall from her eyes. Her head began spinning while her hands shook, gasping for air as she felt like the world was crumbling around her.


All Jax heard was a blast before his vision turned bright and blurry. His head felt like it weighed more than he could handle as he struggled for air, causing him to drop it onto the dewy, soft grass of the field. He shivered at the cold feeling on his neck, but it felt comforting to him. The muffled sound of ringing accompanying fire crackling in his ears sounded silent yet deafening at the same time, just amplifying the pain in his head.

The heaviness of his head obstructed him from lifting himself up, rather it just fell to the side as he blinked several times, trying to clear his fuzzy vision. He opened his eyes, a heavenly white cast lingered over the sight of two people walking towards him.

He saw the outline of her flowy white gown and wavy hair flowing in the wind before he saw her face, but he knew who it was. He could always tell who she was. He watched a smile grow on Vanessa's face as she carried Abel on her hip, his familiar gummy smile adorning his face. Jax stared at them before looking to the other person who was holding Vanessa's hand. She was a little girl, no more than eight years old. Her golden blonde hair was in a long braid while she wore a dress matching Vanessa's that too drifted in the wind.

"Jax…" Vanessa called out to him, still smiling. "Jax."

He tried so hard to speak up, but his voice wouldn't work. The little girl smiled at him too, her blue eyes were almost an exact match to the ones that he saw in the mirror daily, except he didn't see the darkness in hers like he did his, instead hers were innocent and full of life. They were beautiful.

"Daddy!" She reached out her hand to him as the dimples became more prominent in her cheeks as she smiled bigger. He gasped, trying to reach out to her but he couldn't. He couldn't move his body.

"Jax, get up. Jax."

"C'mon, daddy! Get up." He watched as his little girl pulled her hand away from him. His family took a step away from him before turning around. He fought to get up as he watched them walking away from him and towards the blazing fire.

"Vanessa? Lily?" Jax finally grunted out, he was in severe physical pain, but the pain of seeing his family walking away from him nearly crushed him. He coughed as he tried to speak up again. "Wait. Don't go. Don't go."

Jax watched as his two girls looked back at him for a moment before they just continued moving and stepped into the fire. He watched them disappear, his eyes widening in trepidation. He struggled to get off of the ground, feeling the pure instinct to get up and run towards his vanishing family. But he couldn't. He couldn't move. He couldn't speak. He barely felt like he could breathe anymore.

"Son, Son. Are you okay?" Clay stood in front of him and called out to him, worry drenching his voice. Jax didn't answer as Clay pulled him up off the ground. When he finally stood up on shaky feet, Jax just nodded in pain, too afraid to speak as he looked around for his family. For the only woman he had ever loved and their beautiful children. But he couldn't see them anywhere. All he saw was carnage and fire raging on.