A Plague On Both Your Houses
a/n: *Listen to Turning Tables by Adele. Perfect Song for these last two chapters. Hopefully, this chapter will answer all your lingering questions and put a nice little wrapped on the story. I am being purposefully vague in some areas and might elaborate on these moments in my re-write and edit. I want you to get the feeling that something brutal happened and that Jax is shuffling around it. For J/T, the last moments must have felt like a tornado of emotions, but to cope, they must have hazed through it. One more chapter left!

…

Tara doesn't know where to go, she just knows that she has to get the hell out of Charming. This place has corrupted everything she knows and loves. So she goes "home." She is unsurprised to see the cutlass on her driveway, the familiar sleek back ride a welcome sight for sore eyes. Praying that her father isn't drunk, she knocks on the door.

Her father is thankfully sober and he welcomes her inside. He smells like old pine and vanilla, and the scent makes her eyes water. He smiles like the father that she had when she was little, before tragedy and booze entered their lives.

"What's the matter, baby?" he asks, and his soothing voice is just too much. She tells him about her acceptance letter. He admonishes her for not going to school earlier and reminds her that they have family connections in San Diego. She tells him about how Gemma gave her the bus ticket, and all but threatened her out of town. She can see the anger behind his eyes, but he's sober, so he controls it. He comforts her, and after she sheds her tears he finally broaches the subject that has been a taboo in the household for so long.

"You're so much like her, you know," he says. He can't meet her eyes, and he stares at his hands as they fidget in his lap. "She had a keen medical mind, she could have done anything…it was never your fault, you know."

At this Tara lets out a sob, not realizing that she'd been holding her breath the whole time. Patrick still can't face his daughter. It's taking all his strength just to let this out.

"It was my fault. I knew that she had big dreams, but I wanted to keep her here. I knew that if we went out to the big city, I would lose her. I didn't know that I was slowly killing her. She had such a hard life in this town, and I didn't know what it meant to keep her here. She was depressed, and I ignored it, because I couldn't stand to lose her." Her father looks so much older than he really is. His eyes are haggard and his skin has a sallow tinge from all the damage to his liver over the years.

"Dad," she struggled. She recounted the happy memories of her mother, but also recognized the symptoms of depression. She had her suspicions about her mother's torrid childhood, but her young mind couldn't grasp the severity of the situation. For Tara, it was her fault-she was the one who trapped her mom, the burden that couldn't be left behind. Tara blamed herself for her mother's suicide and had spent her life trying to make it up to her father.

"You're like her, but so much stronger, my dear. I'm sorry for all the shit I've put you through. You didn't deserve it. You need to get out of Charming and live your life. Don't let yourself get tied down by a man, like I did to your mother. You deserve better." With that, he finally faced her, both of their eyes glistening with tears and finally some form of resolution. It felt as if a weight had been lifted off of both their shoulders.

"I love you Daddy," she whispered.

"I love you too, baby. You're the only thing that's saved me over the years. Now it's time to go and save yourself."

…

Jax had been searching for hours. He goes home, exhausted and weary, and worried that she may already be gone. Lost. So, imagine his shock when he finds her sitting on their living room couch, one of his guns in hand.

…

It had to be David fucking Hale. Jax was frightened that Tara had even had the nerve to hold one of his guns. The serial number was filed off, of course. It wasn't the threat of the weapon that put ice in his stomach. Rather, the fact that Tara was calmly palming the steel with a ponderous look in her eyes. It was an oxymoron, Tara with a gun.

The accusations had started out as an intense conversation and ended as an all-out screaming match. She was on edge because she wanted him to leave with her. He was frazzled because of a paralyzing sense of guilt. Neither could get their point across and both had crossed the lines of civility. It wasn't possible for them to communicate what was really on their minds, and so a shouting match of unfinished feelings and threats ensued.

Unfortunately, Jax was unaccustomed to the fact that they were no longer in the posh neighborhood of his childhood home. Apartments had thin walls. They started inside and ended up on the street. Tara still had the gun, and one of the neighbors decided to call the cops. David arrived on the scene with his shiny new deputy badge and smug smile. Blows were exchanged and words were thrown, and Tara sat shocked, not sure what to do with the gun in her hand. She put it down, where Hale later bagged it as evidence. It was a blur of events that led them into police custody and into the holding cells across from one another. Unser would see to it that the gun was lost and that the charges would be dropped, so Jax wasn't worried about criminal charges for once. It was only a matter of time until Gemma came to bail them both out, as had recently been the tradition, but it was too bad that his mother couldn't save the real problems in his life and make Tara stay. He was going to lose her.

…

They sat, looking at each other. Twenty feet away and still miles apart, iron bars weren't the only thing separating them now. Things had gotten out of hand, and there was no going back.

"So here we are again," said Jax. He tried to laugh off some of the nervous tension. The silence was almost worse than the shouting.

"Yeah, I'm always getting arrested with you," she said, blowing out a big breath of air. When she inhaled, her breath caught and she broke down into sobs. He wished he could wrap his arms around her, damn these iron bars.

"Shhhh, shhh, I'm sorry, baby," he crooned, trying to hold back tears himself. "It's gonna be okay, we're gonna be okay." He was convincing no one.

"No Jax," she worked out, "we're not going to be okay. I saw it in the papers. Eliza Skinner was murdered."

At breakfast, Tara was still somewhat optimistic. Sure things were strained, but they could make it through this. She would find a way to save him. That was until she read the news article, the black and white paper still burned fresh in her mind.

…

HIGH SCHOOL PRINCIPAL, BRUTALLY MURDERED

In what appears to be a gang related killing, former DEA and ATF agent, Eliza Skinner's body was found after being reported missing for months in the Lodi Metro area. The Oakland native dedicated her life to cleaning up the violent and drug riddled streets of her hometown. The remains were badly decomposed, but signs of abuse are evident throughout the medical examiner's findings and the cause of death is still inconclusive. The head was separated from the body, and it is unknown if she was decapitated pre or post mortem. Ligature marks and defensive wounds tell a haunting and frightening story. Students and co-workers alike can finally mourn and memorialize the former principal of Charming High School. Hopefully, something good can come of this tragedy as the violent and brutal nature of the killing has sent a ripple of shockwaves on the different law enforcement agencies. Perhaps the people who were unable to stand for her in life will take up arms and fight now that she has passed. More information to follow this heartbreaking story.

…

"Jax, I've been through so much with you. And I love you more than anything…but I need you to tell me what happened that night." He dreaded those words and the repercussions that would follow. Yet, he could deny her nothing. He made sure they were alone, and then took himself back to that night.

…

Tara was being held hostage and Jax debated on whether or not he should call the police to help, fuck the blowback from the club, anything to get Tara safe again. Chibs, always the sensible one, calms him down and comes up with the plan. Piney and Opie arrive, and he feels better now that his best friend is here.

Clay yells for her to negotiate out front whilst Piney and Opie flank from the East, and he and Chibs go in from the West. Skinner's too smart to fall for it though, and when a bullet aimed for Chibs pounds from her gun, Jax jumps in and pulls him down, saving his life. He didn't know it then, but he'd earned a lifetime of loyalty from the Scotsman.

She was a tough bitch, for sure, but even her government training couldn't stop the fury of five angry bikers. Jax went to Tara, who was glazed over. He set Piney to take her home, thankful that the older man was always gentler with girls. Before she left, she made him promise that they wouldn't kill Principal Skinner, and to save his relationship, he agreed.

Personally, he felt that Eliza deserved death. Woman or no, she had threatened Tara. Clay wanted to outright execute her right then and there. Not in Charming, Opie argued. Chibs was silent on the matter, looking to Jax to come up with one of his ideas to save the day. He did.

…

Jax sat somberly in the jail cell, the walls were a sickly yellow, and he felt haggard and trapped. He was glad there were bars to separate them now. "Clay wanted to put a bullet in her that night. Leave her cold. I didn't want to have to lie to you Tara, so I came up with a plan. "

"So you didn't kill her then?" she asked, and he was sad to hear the hope in her voice. There was no hope for him.

"No. But her blood is still on my hands. We gave her over to the 9ers, Tara. I knew that they had a blood feud with her. She's put enough of them away. We gave her to the wolves, and I can't find it in me to regret that decision. She was gonna hurt you, baby, and she deserved to die."

She was silent as she visualized the torture the woman must have endured at the hands of those men of violence. She eyed that damned Men of Mayhem patch on his vest again. They had sent Skinner to a terrible fate and into a lion's den tied and open. Raped, tortured, and killed. And she had fought back, too. That woman had spent her entire career trying to put an end to the violence, only to meet her untimely end at the hands of the most notorious gang on the west coast. No, this time Jax was right, what the Sons did was worse than giving her a quick and clean death.

"How could you let that happen?" she asked, her voice was strained and Jax could see the tremors in her arms as she struggled not to break down.

He got up and pressed his body to the bars, willing himself closer to her. "What else could I have done, Tara? This is my life, this is what I have to deal with. I wish I could tell you everything, but it would leave you scarred and broken…and you'd hate me." He fought back tears himself as he thought of his fate as the heir apparent to the increasingly violent MC. Clay was burying him deeper and deeper and he wasn't sure there was a way out.

"You're too good for me Tara. I know you want to leave. I want to beg you to stay, but if you don't go, I'll keep you here forever."

"Come with me," she pleaded, and he shook his head no. How could he go about living a normal life when the club was all he knew? How could he take care of Tara on a shitty minimum wage salary and no education? He didn't deserve her…but maybe?

"We can start over," she cried, and she reached her arm through the bar, hand outstretched and welcoming. "You and me. That's all we need. I can get you out of here. I just need you."

He didn't answer, and simply stretched his arm back. They weren't even close to making contact, but the feelings were clear. He wanted to go. It was his most desperate and heartfelt desire. He simply lacked the willpower to articulate it.

"I know you have to think about it. Your whole life is here. But you'll have me and we can go anywhere. I have to get out of here Jax. With or without you. I won't let this place consume me like it did my mother." Tara had hardened her resolve. She couldn't imagine a life without him, but to watch him be corrupted and tormented was more than she could bear. She wouldn't be weak like her mom, and she would be willing to take the hard way out. They were both unaware that outside of their line of sight, Gemma and Unser were listening to everything they were saying.

…

Unser came in to let them out, and Jax had assumed Gemma was there. He let Tara out first and she reached through the bars for him. He squashed his face up to the metal to receive her tear stained kiss. She ran her hands through his hair and he held onto her as if she were life itself.

"I'm going home to pack, and then I'm taking the three o'clock bus out of here. You can either come with me or stay here and…die." And with that she left. He rarely saw this side of Tara, but he knew it existed. He was proud of her resolve and willpower. She had that stubborn fighting spirit and knew that if she put her mind to it, she wouldn't waiver. It terrified him.

She walked off and Unser walked over to the locks, but instead of freeing him, he pocketed the keys. He simply looked at Jax with an alarming amount of pity, "Sorry kid, paperwork's not done for you yet," and left. He blew out a huff of air as he mentally worked out the inner battle of his life. Leave Charming, leave your life and home, or go with Tara, suffer with her. She was his life and home and to be without her was to suffer…

Whilst he raged with himself in that tiny cell, the clocked ticked on by, and he didn't realize that Gemma had no intention of letting him out.

…

Tara had made up her mind and nothing was going to stop her. She called her father and waited on the front steps for him to pick her up, going through the things she wanted to pack and praying that Jax would be there with her.

"So you're skipping out of town, huh?" said Gemma, the last person she wanted to see.

"Yeah, thanks for the ticket."

"Knew it'd come in handy sooner or later," she chuckled, and Gemma's snide tone was almost enough to set Tara on edge again. "You never belonged here, you know?"

"What? This backwater, inbred, hillbilly town?" she snapped. "Or to you and your fucking motorcycle gang. The one that's gonna kill your son!"

"My son is my concern, and if you're leaving, he won't ever be a concern of your again, little girl."
Tara was furious. How could this woman be so cold and delusional? Tara didn't doubt her motherly love, but her logic was flawed and almost sadly comical. She felt pity for this woman, but had to respect her tenacity.

"It's over Gemma, and I don't want to fight with you anymore. I just need you to know that I love Jax. Maybe even more than you do. I'm begging you to let him go. Free him from the trap of 'Anarchy' and the 'Sons' and let him go. If you don't, he'll end up dead or in prison, and everything good that we love about him will be stripped away."

It was a dramatic plea, and she hated that it sounded like she was begging Gemma. But the words had to be said. Tara had made up her mind that she was leaving, and even if Jax didn't come with her, she wanted him to be safe. She would beg this woman that she reviled, and hated, and reluctantly respected because she was all that he'd have left.

Gemma was taken aback by this haughty girl who'd ensnared her son. What was this new ploy she was trying? Was she really gonna leave? Then she'd better mind her fucking business. Gemma told her just that.

"Hmph. Just look out for him Gemma." Patrick rolled up in the cutlass and Tara got into the passenger side. She glanced out the window and forced a small smile out of Gemma. It was farewell and 'I'm sorry' all wrapped into one. As she drove away, both women reflected on each other with bitterness and perhaps a little bit of understanding as to each other's motives. They would both be forever bound by their love of one man.

Gemma quickly brushed off that trickle of guilt that she was feeling. Tara had no idea that she'd heard her trying to manipulate her son into leaving town, leaving the club! She'd told Unser to keep Jax on lock and not to let him out until the next day. By 3 o'clock, Tara would be out of Charming and out of their lives forever. Surprisingly, she wasn't sure if she was happy about that or not.

…

Jax had been screaming for what seemed like an hour. His throat was on fire and he was almost to the point of hyperventilating. Unser, that fuck! He wasn't going to let him out. He was going to miss Tara, and after all that inner turmoil, he'd finally decided he would go with her. As if there was any other choice.

Deputy Hale had been listening to the wails of agony for the last couple of hours. He'd seen Gemma talking to Unser, and put two and two together. He'd respected the old man, but he'd had his suspicions that Unser wasn't the man he'd hoped he was. He'd eavesdropped a little bit and the rumors around town were that Tara was leaving Charming.

Tara…she'd always have a soft spot in his heart. She was too good for that piece of trash, but why couldn't she stay and see that there was something better right in front of her, and here at home? He knew that they loved each other, hell everyone in town knew about Jax and Tara's escapades. How he'd led her astray and gotten her arrested. That's what pissed David off the most. Not only did Jax get the girl, but he was ruining her. His perfect Tara.

He'd considered letting Jax out, the paperwork had been finalized hours ago, but Unser insisted he stay the night in the holding cell. The evidence he'd bagged earlier was conveniently lost, and Tara wasn't pressing charges. All of his witnesses had clammed as well. Typical and infuriating. He was content to let Jackson rot…until he heard the sobbing.

Since middle school, through all the shit and fighting that he'd been through, he'd never heard or thought he'd hear the day Jackson Teller cried. He didn't cry when he was first arrested, or when he'd gotten his ass kicked in the sixth grade. Even when his father passed away, he had never seen Jax cry. It was unnerving. It was guilt-inducing. And so, against his better judgement, David set out to do what he always did-the right thing.

…

Jax didn't have a watch, but he knew and could tell that it was close to 3, if it had not passed already. He was exhausted and on the verge of breaking down when the sobs started to rack through his body. It was as if his soul was bubbling up and punishing him for letting Tara go. For not telling her that he would go anywhere with her, without a doubt. He tried to hold it back and quiet it down. Crying was for pussies and he forced himself to hold it inside, brushing his tears off his face.

Vulnerable and crying was the one way he didn't want David fucking Hale to see him. But when he unlocked his cell and left the door wide open, he couldn't stop the respect from manifesting. "Why?" he asked, his voice still raw from screaming.

"I'm not doing this for you. If you're hurting this bad, then I know Tara's probably much worse." And with that he left, leaving Jax feeling dumbstruck and floored. He didn't need to be told twice. He rushed off to his bike, noting with panic that it was 3:05 and that he might be too late. He was praying to gods he didn't believe existed that he wasn't too late. Please be there, he begged.

…

He didn't show. He would never leave Charming…not for her. Every insecurity and thought that she wasn't good enough flooded her heart and froze it in her chest. She had said a muted goodbye to her father and waited around for him. Gemma had a stronger hold on him than she thought. He had told her before, that the club was his life. There was no leaving or getting out. She thought that he would choose her, that their love was strong enough…but she was wrong. Briefly, she thought of turning around and running back to Charming, to him. She was on auto-pilot as she boarded the bus, and quickly made up her mind that it was for the best in the long run. She would heal and things would move on. Tara Knowles was nothing if not logical. Even though life without him seemed impossible, she would endure and be strong. She was stronger than her mother. She would live the life she never had. Tara wasn't interrupted as she sobbed in her seat. The steady roll of the bus' engine lulled and shhhshh'd her. He chose charming, and she was all alone again.

…

He was at the bus station and saw Patrick Knowles drive by in the cutlass, no Tara. He checked with the ticketman and frantically rolled through the bus depot. He looked at the time, 3:21. He'd broken every speed limit and pushed his bike to the max, and still he was too late. Jax walked out to the deserted road and roared all his pain and all his fury into the sky. She'd left without him. He would follow her of course, but if she'd had made the decision to leave him behind, then that meant that she could lead a better life, and who was he to contest that? So even abandoned and broken, Jax did not give chase. He knew from the beginning that Romeo and Juliet weren't going to have a happy ending, and so he was mourning now, the pain crippling and unbearable. But he would not chase her. She was where she belonged and he was where he was supposed to be. Miles away, Tara sobbed and mourned as well, ready to start another life far away from Charming.

…

Yeah, that was really hard to write. One more chapter to wrap things up and bring us to the pilot episode. I have to apologize for any grammatical issues or inconsistencies. I have no beta and have been too busy to do a proper edit. I will get to it eventually. I really wanted certain things to be elaborated on with my story, mainly: Tara's love/hate relationship with Charming, her love/hate/respect relationship with Gemma, the origins of their tattoos, her "wild" past and catfights, the comfortable friendship that she has with Hale and his soft spot for Tara, why she would date a guy like Kohn and how and why she would have an abortion. I had fun with Juice's little cameo and might expand on it in the polished version of this story. On Jax's end, I wanted to show how he gets in deeper with the club. We know that Kohn was his first cold cut kill, but obviously he and Tara aren't too shocked by murder and death based on the ease in which they adapt to it after episode 7. Tara even takes care of a couple of people on her own later own with no real repercussions. So hopefully the Skinner situation explains a bit of that. I also wanted to set up the rivalry/respect with Jax and Hale. Tig and Jax also have a rivalry, and I wanted to create a moment where Tig would have this animosity for Jax missing a job. Conversely, I wanted Chibs to have a moment where we build the foundations for the fun "Jacky boy" relationship they have. This is the longest story I've ever written and it was a pain in the ass to make sure I was keeping it canon. This isn't the end of J and T for me, so stay tuned and keep reading and REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW. One more chapter and we're done with this one, so let me know how you're feeling!