8
Jax Is Really Alive
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Chapter 52 Recap Jax comes up with a plan to use fire extinguishers to create a chemical fog to provide cover. He gets SAMCRO's help in getting everyone in the courtyard area to safety inside the clubhouse. Opie warns Lyla to duck. She does and Ima gets shot in the head ending her life and career. Tig is also fatally shot in the chest. Jax carries T.O. who has been wounded into the clubhouse while Opie helps a crow-eater with an injured leg. In all, the courtyard has been turned into a blood bath with ten dead and two dying.
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Chapter 53 Emotional Rescue
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After they had done everything possible for the shooting victims, Jax, Opie and JC left and returned to the operating center to debrief what was left of the team.
Tara ran to Jax and held him tightly.
"I thought you were going to get yourself killed."
He kissed her.
"I don't die that easy and I have lots of news."
Louise was at the table. Skeeter was missing and Aranora was dead.
Jax quickly brought every one up to speed on what had happened when he'd been kidnapped. His kidnappers had been so smooth Opie and JC never realized he'd been taken.
"Here's the big shock. Unser's been behind this in addition to Miles," Jax said.
"Unser?" Tara exclaimed. "What the hell?"
"It makes sense," Jax said. "He grew up around here. We know some of the alien genetic experiments began earlier than anyone thought. He had the boys kidnapped to use them to get Gemma to comply with his sexual requests. He wanted pay back for all those years she treated him like a repulsive toad. He's bitter and very twisted. Even gave me a thumb drive with some of their activities on it." Jax said.
"Can I see that?" Louise asked.
Everyone looked at Louise with shock.
"No, I haven't lost my mind. I want to see if there's a geo tag or something else that could lead me to their location."
"I did learn that there were two Sliven groups," Jax continued his debriefing. "The Aranora group wanted the bioweapon to send back to Rackle and the boys were taken as leverage. The second group led by Miles and Unser's group want 20 million for the return of Thomas. On the way back, I asked them how much that was apiece and they told me. They are each getting four million. That means there are five of them."
"What about Aranora's group?" Tara asked.
"They are all dead. It was a simple power struggle with the more ruthless side winning. Nero was tortured and killed to hurt Gemma. Unser said she's a mess."
Louise was only half-listening to the discussion. Her fingers were flying on her keyboard. She was moving so fast she seemed like she was on fast forward on a video.
"There's a geo tag in one of the first pictures. I just sent a drone to the location to take a look around. There are eight heat signatures from the building. That would be the five guys, Gemma, Thomas, but who is the eighth?"
"Brooke. They kidnapped her to take care of the boys."
"Pictures coming on line now," Louise said.
The first set of pictures showed the house. It was on the outskirts of Charming, but still technically in the city. There weren't any houses nearby making it a perfect location. There were lights on in the house. Four of the guys were in one room watching porn on TV and Brooke was upstairs with Thomas. There was a basement they were unable to get any video of but there were two heat signatures probably Gemma and Unser.
"They don't know that we know where they are," Louise said. "We don't want Thomas harmed. We could push a gas through a vent in the kitchen that would knock everyone out and then we can go in and scoop everyone up. The two in the basement might need shot with a sleep dart gun."
"You don't think we should just kill most of them?" Jax asked. "Like Unser?"
"Ultimately that will probably happen except Brooke and Thomas of course. And your mother. The rest will be interrogated and Lorna will decide. We need them for intel, but if necessary they may get killed. This involves Thomas and he's a Lornar or prince, I'll need to run this through Ryland for tactical clearance."
"Hurry!" Tara said.
Louise gave her a sympathetic smile.
"I'll be right back. He isn't here, but I can reach him."
"The three of us saved a lot of lives today," Jax said to JC and Opie.
"It felt good to be on the right side for a change," JC said with a smile. "Did Miles say anything about me?"
"He said he was grateful to you because coming back to life as an alien was the best thing that ever happened to him."
"Wasn't he buried alive?"
"Aranora dug him out before he came back to life."
JC looked relieved.
"I've always felt bad about Miles."
"You're a good guy JC," Opie said. "The MC just twists people. It isn't about brotherhood just greed."
"Yeah, Clay suckered me into it. He acted like a father to me because he knew that was how to get to me. Did it so he could always count on my vote."
"The MC did a lot of bad shit and I may have done the most of it. I can see so clearly now that it was wrong," Jax said.
Louise returned.
"OK. We're on. We'll drop the gas into a vent with a drone. We'll send a tac team . . ."
"I'm going," Jax said.
"Me too," Opie said.
"Me too," JC said.
"I'm going to," Tara said.
"OK, Tara you can't go. You're a lornness. You can't be put at risk. You can go to Ryland or Lorna but the decision will be the same."
"She's right. You need to stay safe."
"Cheer up," Louise said with a smile, "You can watch with me. They'll have cameras."
"OK," Tara said.
"I'll provide visual support as much as possible. I'm sending two security forces and two vans with you for the prisoners. Jax, your mom will be treated as a prisoner until a decision is made about her."
Jax, Opie and JC got guns from an armory the Paralorns kept in one of their myriad of tunnels. They were regular guns. The two security forces carried both regular guns and sleep dart guns.
The two security forces were twins tall with close-cropped red hair and hazel eyes.
"My name is Stuart," the older by two minutes said. "And this is Gabe." We're going to go in as a group. We'll secure the people as we come to them and then find Lornar Thomas. We would prefer not to kill, but the first priority is Lornar Thomas. Once we find him and get him to safety. We'll get the prisoners and get out. Should be simple."
He passed out earpiece camera combinations so they can stay in touch with each other and Louise.
Jax, Opie and JC climbed in the black SUV Jax had driven earlier and were followed the two black vans driven by Stuart and Gabe to the house.
Stuart using some alien tech key opened all the door's locks and they entered military style. The cameras showed all those on the two upper floors were asleep, but Thomas was no longer upstairs.
Stuart and Gabe quickly moved to secure the four men passed out in front of the television. JC went upstairs and carried Brooke out of the house and put her in the SUV.
The basement went dark to the drone's sensors so there was no way of telling how many people were in the basement, but everyone hoped Thomas was in the basement.
There was just a large black wall where a door to a staircase normally would have been. There were lights above the door that appeared to be scanning.
"The two Paralorn security forces must leave and then we will allow you inside," a voice said with Aranora's voice.
"Do you have Thomas?"
"Yes."
"You should leave," Jax said to Stuart and Gabe.
A few seconds later, Louise confirmed the orders.
"We'll take the four guys with us."
When Stuart and Gabe left the house the black door slide open. Jax led the way down a silver colored staircase. Everything was silver colored. There was a large table and a hall that looked like it led to more rooms probably bedrooms. One wall was a monitor.
The most disturbing sight was Gemma collapsed in a naked heap on the floor with a big piece of clear plastic covering her, but the cuts and bruises on her body were still visible. Her hair was chopped and burned off. Her arms covered most of her face. What was revealed showed that her face had been mutilated.
The three men gasped at the sight of Gemma's tortured body.
"Is she still alive?" Jax asked displaying remarkable self control.
"Mostly," Unser said with a smile.
Thomas was sitting on the table on a baby blanket playing with colorful alphabet blocks. He was completely healthy and happy.
"You really want $20 million?"
"I'm sick. Even as an alien I'm sick. Just my luck. I don't care about money. I care about retribution. Gemma can't handle much more retribution. You know I dug her eye out with a spoon? Then I tried to put it back in. Didn't do such a good job of it. Maybe it can be fixed. Who knows?"
With almost superhuman self control, Jax did not throw himself across the table and go for Unser's throat. It was all about maintaining control and getting Thomas.
"What do you want?"
"I'll trade you for Thomas. I don't have any bad feelings about the baby. He's kind of a cute kid. Take him out and you, Gemma and me will get blown up."
"If I refuse?"
"You can watch your son die. I gave Thomas a special little treat. He really liked it. It's a poison that you can easily scan his body for and give him the antidote. You've got about ten minutes before he's beyond the point of being saved."
"Can I have Opie take the baby?"
"Better hurry," Unser said.
Jax went to Thomas sitting in the middle of the table and picked him up.
"I love you son," he whispered. "Be a better man."
He held Thomas against his chest for a moment, kissed his head and handed him to Opie who immediately left to take the baby to the Paralorns for medical attention.
"When you picked up your son, you stepped on a large explosive pressure plate. You step off and it goes off immediately. Killing all of us."
Unser was standing by the table closest to the wall and the farthest from Jax.
"You have a minute to live," Unser said holding up a bright yellow timer. "I thought it would be fun to give you a few seconds to think about dying."
"JC go. Get out of here."
"I'm not on the pressure plate. If we switched places at the same time, it wouldn't trigger immediate detonation."
"Why would you want to do that?"
"I forgive you for all the bad shit you did or caused to happen to me."
"Don't do this, you have a life with your parents."
"I'm at peace. This is my destiny. I finally get to do something selfless and be a hero. And I'm not leaving. No point in both of us dying. Come on. On three, I get on and you get off. Just one last thing. Take care of the MC the right way."
"I will."
Jax and JC switched places in perfect sync.
"Run," JC said.
Jax ran up the stairs and at the head of the stairs he looked back and that image would never leave his brain. Gemma naked and broken. Unser holding the yellow timer consumed with physical and mental illness and JC with a look of such calm, peace and actual happiness on his face.
Even as his eyes filled with tears, Jax sprinted to get out of the house. The explosion lifted him off his feet and everything went dark.
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Author's Note: Two more chapters left.
Hunter T wanted me to bring Juice back from the dead and redeem him. I think I did that.