Disclaimer: I do not own Sons of Anarchy

To All My Lurkers (and I say that with much love, too):

Yeah, that's right. You know who you are. All y'all undercover sisters who have been reading the Jaxene Saga and only NOW have shown up to the party to review. Well, as my beta always says 'Better late than never,' and she's right! :) I really, really, REALLY appreciate getting your "love hits." It makes my day when my phone goes off and it's a review telling me your thoughts on the latest chapter.

As a woman who works for probably the most demanding person in New York City, my hobby of writing SOA fanfiction has helped calm my nerves and keep me out of jail, especially after one of his "episodes". Writing about Jax and Jolene is definitely better than prescription drugs, but it's hearing from you guys that really gives me a lift, so please KEEP THEM LOVE HITS COMING AND I'LL KEEP WRITING!

Enjoy!

Keeping vigil with his brothers outside the station house, Jax was in danger of burning a hole in the blacktop of the parking lot as he paced back and forth, chain-smoking. Clay sat on his bike and watched his son-in-law start to work himself into a lather again as sunrise finally burned away the cool dampness of the night and gave way to a beautiful morning. Jax, who was being denied access to his old lady since yesterday afternoon, had spent most of the night on his feet, waiting.

From the moment Officer Eglee had given him the news that Jolene was in the custody of federal agents, Jax had been in a rage. Clay had called Rosen, only to be told that he was on a three-week holiday in the South of France and couldn't be reached. His partner, Ally Lowen, was holding down the fort on another matter for one of Rosen's clients and was unreachable, but had advised that Jolene couldn't be held longer than 24 hours on a bench warrant without being charged. It was best, she insisted, if they just wait it out.

"I can't believe Unser let this bitch set up shop in the station." Clay growled as he lit a cigar for breakfast. The Sons had been taking turns waiting with Jax throughout the night for any word on Jolene's release, but now that it was morning, all of SAMCRO was waiting in the parking lot for Unser to bring them news.

"This has Hale's stink all over it." Opie replied. "He's been trying to get rid of SAMCRO ever since he came back to Charming."

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Jax contemplated his best friend's assessment of the situation as he continued pacing. He had been thinking along the same lines all night, but had hoped to talk himself out of the frame of mind that possibility put him in. After the beat down he had served on Charming's Deputy Chief, Jax hoped it unlikely that the bastard would go to this length to try and get Jolene away from the Club, especially if it put her in the ATF's crosshairs. Right now, Jax had to believe that because if Hale was indeed responsible, he would be adding cop killer to his multitude of sins.

Tig shook his head. "Hale we can handle. It's this ATF skank that has me worried. With a clubhouse full of ex-cons, why would she pick up Doll Face?"

"To rattle our cage." Bobby replied. "Get under our skin."

"And we can't let that happen." Clay said with strong resolve, aimed mostly at Jax. "We are going to deal with this situation and this bitch, but with cool heads."

Turning to look at Clay, Jax saw the automatic glass doors to the station house open.

"Chief!" He called out to Unser as the older man started coming down the stairs towards the small group of Sons. "What the fuck is going on?"

"Good morning to you, too." He replied sarcastically. "Jolene should be out in a few minutes. She's changing into the clothes Gemma sent over." Turning to Clay, Unser said, "You raised a tough daughter. She really held her own."

"So she faired okay with the AT and F?" Clay asked, his cigar hanging from the corner of his mouth.

Unser chuckled. "Was cool as a cucumber during all of Agent Stahl's interrogations. I wasn't made privy to their last conversation," He explained, looking from Clay to Jax, who was now leaning against his bike with his arms crossed. "But I do know that Stahl ended it abruptly and then trashed the interrogation room after Jolene left."

"What the hell?" Jax said disbelievingly.

"Yeah, crazy bitch had a fit, breaking furniture and shit. She even threw a chair through the window and into the observation room. Almost hit one of her own men." Unser snorted.

Jax almost smiled at the thought of his raven-haired goddess giving back as good as she got. He could recall several times during the course of their relationship that Jolene would gain the upper hand on him during an argument. He could definitely relate with the desire to break furniture and shit when that happened, but just as quickly, she would refocus his pissed off energy into angry sex.

I'm a lucky bastard!

"She gave her nothing," Jax stated emphatically. "And probably ripped her a new asshole while she was at it."

"And most likely smiled the whole time she was doing it, too." Clay said proudly. "That's my baby girl!" He howled.

Hale was waiting for Jolene when she exited the bathroom. Having done her best to freshen up after her overnight stay in Charming PD's lockup, all Jolene wanted was to see her old man, her son, take a long hot shower, and eat some good food. However, despite not having the shower, Jolene still managed to look incredible in the fitted black tee and low-rise jeans that Clay had passed along to her through Unser.

Jolene stopped abruptly as Hale approached her. "What do you want?" Her stormy green eyes met Hale's and he had to look away when he saw not only Jolene's anger, but her disappointment in him reflected in them.

"I just wanted to make sure you were alright." He replied.

"Obviously, I don't need you to make sure I'm okay. My old man can handle that business for me just fine." At Hale's hurt look, Jolene's anger exploded. "What is it that you want from me, David?"

"I want to be your friend." Hale said grimly.

Jolene shook her head, her disdain for Hale at this moment made obvious by the grimace on her face. "Friends don't let this kind of shit hit their friends sideways." She retorted as she put on her messenger bag cross body. "Did you know that this bitch was going to pull me in? And that she was going to do it in front of my students with me in handcuffs?" Jolene challenged.

She could hear Hale's jaw click it was clenched so tight. "Yes, but—"

"No buts, David. That woman can cause more problems and heartache than even I can relate." Jolene said bitterly. "I know that you live by the word of the law, but I'm going to do you one better than you did me. I have to warn you that when it comes to Stahl, you need to tread very carefully and reconsider just how far you are willing to go to gain her as a 'new friend'."

As Jolene walked towards the exit of the station house, David contemplated Jolene's accusations against Stahl and wondered just how much worse the situation could get.

He would soon find out.

"Hey, I wasn't expecting the Calvary!" Jolene smiled as she bounced down the stairs of the station house to a smattering of applause and wolf whistles. Dropping a quick kiss on her father and Uncle Elvis, Jolene proceeded to bounce right into her husband's arms. "Does this mean I get to choose which bike I ride home on?" She teased as Jax held her in a death grip against his body.

"No, you don't." Jax growled from behind his sunglasses as he pulled away from her.

"Aww, I would've picked you, baby." She rubbed her nose against his before dropping a kiss on his lips, forcing Jax to smile for the first time in the last 18 hours.

Pulling away from Jax, Jolene asked anxiously, "How's my baby boy? Has he missed me?"

Jax shook his head solemnly. "I'm sorry to break it to you, darlin', but I don't think Little Man even noticed you weren't home."

"He didn't miss me at all?" Jolene pouted.

Smiling, Jax pulled her into his arms again and squeezed her ass. "I'm teasing. I have to warn you, though. The last time I checked on him last night, he was so busy being spoiled rotten by G-Ma and Neeta that I don't think he's had time to miss either one of us too much." Jax replied. "I'm sure he's up to his elbows in Miss Neeta's pancakes by now, too."

"And where were you last night?" Jolene asked with a furrowed brow and a slight smile.

"I've been here all night, darlin'." Jax replied, surprised that she would even ask, as well as by the sudden neck hug Jolene was nearly choking him with.

I knew it! God, I love this man.

Jax closed his eyes and rubbed her back as he inhaled her familiar sweet and flowery scent.

"You were here the whole time?" Jolene cooed as she held his face and peppered him with kisses.

Jax smiled. "I'll never leave you, Jo. Never."

As much as Jax loved his brothers, they started to intrude on their reunion before he could swap some serious spit with his old lady.

"How'd they treat ya, luvvie?" Chibs asked.

"Just like the good ol' days," Jolene replied, taking her helmet from Jax and strapping it on. "But the food's shit and I'm starving."

"What kind of shit is that, Chief?" Clay called out to Unser. "You lock up my kid overnight and then you don't feed her?"

"What can I say? She's not a big fan of cheese sandwiches." Unser replied with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Cheap ol' coot!" Tig called out. "Couldn't you buy her a burger? Jax would've paid you back."

"Leave him alone." Jolene said, as Jax climbed onto his bike. "He pulled an all-niter with me. Refused to leave me alone with that ATF skank."

"Good man, Chief," Clay gave Unser a thumbs up. "I owe ya one."

"Just one?" Unser kidded.

"Now that you're here, Jo," Opie started. "Maybe someone can fill us in on why the Feds picked you up."

"No one told you?" Jolene rolled her eyes in disbelief.

"Eglee mentioned something about an outstanding bench warrant," Jax replied. "For unpaid traffic tickets."

Jolene shook her head. "That's bullshit." She climbed onto the bike after Jax and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Of course it is." Clay agreed. Turning to address Unser, he said, "Why would the Feds execute a bench warrant for traffic tickets? I didn't know that kind of shit was in the ATF's jurisdiction."

"Actually, Clay, it was a little more serious than some traffic tickets." Unser started explaining. "Seems like your little girl here had an altercation with a State Trooper over some moving violations in Washington about a year ago. It appeared that she had failed to show up for the hearing and a bench warrant was issued. ATF picked up on it 'cause there gun was involved."

Jax nearly ripped the sunglasses off his face as he turned to confront his old lady. "What the fuck, darlin'? You're smarter than that. And how come I'm only hearing about this shit now?"

"Hold on, Jax. Before you get all twisted, it was either pay the fines for the moving violations or show up for the hearing." Jolene started. "I paid the fines, which the Chief was able to prove right away yesterday before the courts closed. As for that so-called altercation, that was just me 'allegedly' calling the Trooper a douche bag, so the judge tossed it. And the gun was legal and licensed, making it moot. The bench warrant was issued in error." She explained.

"She's right." Unser agreed. "Between us, Stahl knew that the warrant was bogus. It took me one phone call to figure that out. Stahl just needed an excuse to haul Jolene in and question her about the shooting four years ago with no interference from the Club."

"Whatcha tell 'em, Kit?" Bobby asked.

"Everything I know," Jolene shrugged her shoulders, sticking to the same story she has repeated over and over. "Which isn't much. I never saw a face and didn't even know I'd been shot until I woke up in the hospital." She hated talking about the shooting in front of Jax. Jolene felt him squeeze her hand reassuringly, so she hugged him tighter. "Get me outta here, baby." She purred into his ear.

With his jaw clenched and his eyes unreadable behind his sunglasses, Jax started his bike. "We done, Chief?" He called out to Unser over the roar of the motor.

"We're done." Unser responded, knowing he really didn't a have say in the matter. Without another word, Jax threw his bike into gear and tore out of the parking lot with Jolene in tow.

"He is pissed." Juice said as they all watched Jax leave. "If it's the Club Stahl's after, targeting Jax's old lady was a big mistake."

"That ATF bitch is definitely poking the wrong bear." Opie agreed, settling onto his bike.

"Let her." Clay said as he walked over to his bike. "That gash will find out soon enough that messing with the VP's honey pot is a bad career move."

Jax rode down the street leading to the Morrow house and pulled into their driveway. Jolene was exhausted and it showed. Jax watched her as she removed her helmet and hung it from the handlebars.

"You okay, darlin'?" He asked, pulling off his gloves and shoving them into the pockets of his cut.

Jolene nodded. "Nothing a hot shower and some breakfast won't fix." She smiled. "A proper greeting from my old man would work wonders, too, Grumpy."

"I'm only grumpy 'cause I missed you." Jax said as he pulled her towards him. "You sure you're up for a proper greeting 'cause that could take hours." He flashed her a wicked smile.

Jolene giggled, her arms casually draped over his shoulders. "Don't threaten me with a good time, Teller." She leaned in for a kiss and Jax quickly took control, his hand on her breast as his tongue danced against hers. "I missed you, too." She said as she pulled away and ran her thumb over his lips. Jolene looked down and smiled as Jax was still kneading her breast through her shirt, in spite of the fact that the tree-lined neighborhood was buzzing with people going about their Saturday morning business, such as mowing their lawns. "Let's go get Abel before you get me arrested for doing something indecent in public."

"Mommy!" Abel scrambled down from the chair he was occupying to run into Jolene's outstretched arms.

"Hey, baby boy!" Jolene wrapped her arms around her son, lifting him off the ground, and peppered his little face with kisses. "Did you miss me?"

"Uh huh!" Abel nodded his head emphatically. "And Daddy too, but me and Papa and Grandma had a good time. We stayed up late and watched movies."

"Yeah," Clay replied, overhearing his daughter's homecoming celebration as he walked into the dining room, having followed the couple back to his house. "My grandson has a big thing for dancing penguins." He said as he rolled his eyes.

Gemma walked over and wrapped her arms around both Jolene and her grandson. "How did you make out with that scum—ATF witch?" Gemma quickly modified her speech in deference to her grandson.

Jolene sat down in her son's seat. "I did okay. She was a real piece of work, but I held my own."

"Would you expect anything less from my old lady?" Jax replied with pride.

"Not really." Gemma was battling her own concern for Jolene versus her desire to box someone's ears for keeping her out of the loop. She hadn't heard about Jolene's arrest until after returning from grocery shopping in Lodi for tomorrow's family dinner.

"I'm exhausted." Jolene said as she smiled down at her baby, who was playing with her soft hair, trying to hold a strand between his nose and curled lip like a mustache. Suddenly, Abel looked up at his mother with wide, surprised eyes as her tummy growled rather loudly.

"Mommy!" He giggled. "I think your tummy's trying to tell you something."

"Yeah," Jolene agreed. "It's telling me I smell home fries." She stood up and passed her son to his old man and headed towards the kitchen to see what goodies Neeta still had left. She found Neeta standing at the kitchen counter pouring herself a fresh cup of coffee, a large square of her freshly homemade coffee cake sitting on a plate to her right. The no-nonsense woman didn't even turn her head when she spoke.

"I thought I heard trouble in the air. Glad to know I still got my good hearing."

"Trouble?" Jolene wise-cracked. "What trouble? I'm the easiest-going, mild-tempered person I know."

"Hmph. I didn't know that one night in a jail cell could change a person so drastically as that. Nine years, maybe, but not one night." Neeta snarked as she thought about her own hard-headed self. She grabbed a mug and poured Jolene a large shot of coffee. As she turned to hand Jolene the mug, Neeta raised her eyebrows.

The child is as pale as a ghost, she thought. Hmm, I wonder . . .

"Why don't you sit down, honey? You don't look like you got much rest in Unser's cell. You want something to eat? I got some more bacon here. What about a couple of eggs?"

Jolene sat down as she sipped on the hot steaming coffee. "Sounds great, thanks. If you don't mind, I could use a slice of that cake to go with my coffee while I wait." She smiled cheekily at Neeta as she quirked an eyebrow at the young woman, but cut a big piece and put it in front of Jolene anyway.

Walking over to the refrigerator, Neeta grabbed a couple of eggs and quickly started to whip them up, adding fresh herbs, milk, and cheese. Turning around to face Jolene, she was surprised to see that the woman had practically inhaled the coffeecake. "Girl, you better watch out. Remember your mother's old adage—'Nobody likes a fat old lady'."

"Hey, don't you worry about me, Neeta. I need the calories to burn if I want to keep up with my old man." Jolene wriggled her eyebrows lecherously.

"Yeah, I guess I can't say I 'm surprised about that. Y'all still in the honeymoon phase, huh?" Neeta said as she poured the eggs into a sizzling pan.

"You betcha. I have to admit, thought, after last night, I feel like I've come crashing down from my cloud nine. My overnight stay at Hotel Lock-Up has kind of taken a little of the shine off." Jolene sighed.

Neeta placed the plate of eggs and bacon on the kitchen table and sat down across from Jolene and watched her dig in. "Child, there will always be some bump on the road looking to derail your journey through life. The life you and Jackson have chosen is not an easy one, so you do what you can to get through the difficult times. Love your baby, love your old man, deal with the trouble and move on. I can see the love you two share written all over your faces. That boy was a mess last night, by the way. I have no doubt that you can get past any obstacles thrown your way. As long as you're honest and true with one another, you'll be okay."

Jolene had stopped eating to watch Neeta as she spoke. The woman she had grown to love like family over the years had never steered her wrong. Jolene made a mental note to remember these sage words of encouragement as she lovingly patted her friend's hand, not realizing the impact they would have on her life in the very near future.

This is what I get for not closing the fuckin' door, thought the SAMCRO VP as he tried in vain to head off the direction of the conversation, but to no avail.

"Papa, do you wrestle?"

Clay looked down at his grandson. "You mean arm wrestle?" Clay put down his knife and fork and flexed the muscles in his still impressive biceps and then flexed his hands as those gathered around the Morrow's dining room table looked on smiling. "I used to, but I haven't in a long time. Why? You want to take your grandpa on?"

It was one of Gemma's special Sunday afternoon dinners at the Morrow family home with all of the brothers who sat at the Redwood table in attendance, along with their family members. Clay had been digging in with gusto into one of the steaks he had grilled to perfection that Gemma had gotten from the German in Lodi when his grandson posed the question.

But apparently Abel didn't have arm wrestling in mind.

"No, I mean with Grandma." The little boy replied as he reached for the hot dog on his plate.

Jax's head shot up at that statement, but unfortunately for Jolene, she was just a little bit slow on the uptake and far too busy scarfing down her steak to anticipate just where the conversation was headed.

"Uh, Clay, could you pass me the broccoli?" Jax tried to steer the conversation away. It didn't work.

Gemma, who had just passed the bowl of potatoes to Bobby said, "Baby, why would I arm wrestle with Papa?"

Abel, who was now getting a little tired of the questions, sighed. Like most children, he was incurably inquisitive and, as of late, prefaced most of his statements with the word "why." He was accustomed to asking questions or making observations and quickly getting the knowledge he was after, but right now, everybody kept asking him questions.

"Because you and Papa sleep in the same bed, like Mommy and Daddy do and they play wrestling all the time, so I wanna know if you do it too."

Jolene suddenly lost her appetite as the full impact of what Abel was saying finally penetrated and the room exploded in full blown laughter.

Bobby nearly choking on his steak gasped. "Oh yeah, your Papa and Grandma certainly do wrestle!"

Tig snarked, "Yup, just like your momma and daddy. And that's a good thing. That way, Abel, you'll get another brother or sister." The whole table roared, the loudest and the hardiest being Clay.

Abel bounced in his seat as he looked at his mother. "Mommy, you can get me a brother and sister by wrestling? When are they gonna get here?"

"Real soon, if your daddy has anything to do about it," Piney barked and the laughter continued.

Ain't that the truth, Jolene thought red-faced as she looked at her slightly smug old man.

"Daddy?"

Jax, who was sitting on the patio sofa with Clay and Bobby drinking a beer, smiled at his son. "What's up, Little Man?"

Standing by his father's side, Abel's green eyes were shining into Jax's blue ones. "We need to go to the garage."

Jax's eyebrows rose at the urgency in his boy's voice. "What for?"

"I gots to show you something. Come on." Abel took his hand and tugged on it for emphasis.

"Oh, damn. I think I know what's this is about." Clay replied, grinning.

Jax looked at his father-in-law and then his son, who was smiling angelically at him. "You wanna give your brother a heads up?" He inquired of Clay.

"Nah, this is some father/son bonding shit you got to deal with."

"You're just gonna send him in blind?" Bobby asked, his ample belly jiggling with laughter. "That ain't right, brother."

"Yeah, but I guess you didn't get enough of a kick busting my balls earlier, huh?" Jax shot back.

"Hey, consider it payback for all of the crap you and your old lady put me and your mother through back in the day." The SAMCRO President snarked. "You think this is rough? Just wait and see if you ever have a daughter. Payback is a bitch and her name is Karma."

Rolling his eyes, Jax rose from his seat and found himself being pulled by his son towards the garage, not realizing that his old lady had come out of the greenhouse and was watching them.

The Morrow's three-car garage was huge. Having room for both Gemma's Cadillac and her Escalade, the third bay was set aside for Clay's bike, but he made better use of it by turning it into his work shop.

Abel steadily marched his way through the garage, past his grandmother's cars and to his grandfather's shop. As Jax entered into the work area behind his son, Abel let go his hand and made a beeline for the darkened far corner.

Oh, damn, thought Jax, almost in awe.

Standing in front of a large object covered with a gray tarp. Abel smiled widely.

"Daddy, can I have it?"

Stalling for time, Jax squatted down beside his son. "Have what, Little Man?"

Abel reached out and flipped up part of the tarp to reveal the front end of an old motorcycle. "This bike. I want it for my birthday. Please?" Abel wheedled.

Jax tried to hide his smile as he looked at his son's huge green eyes sparkling with excitement. "Abel, you already have a bike." He said, referring to the silver and blue power cycle that his grandfather had given him.

"Yeah, but that's a little bike. I want a big REAL one." Abel put his tiny hands on his denim-clad hips. "Me and Papa was working on his bike in the garage and I sawed it and he told me all about it."

"He did, huh?" Jax thought about the wily old biker. I'm going to get him for this. "And what did he tell you?"

"Papa said that this is Mommy's bike."

Jax smiled to himself as he threw the tarp back and looked at the bike. Wrapping his arm around his son, Jax nodded. "That's right. Your mother bought this bike a very long time ago. It's a 1957 Harley-Davidson Sportster. Your other grandpa, my father, had one just like it when he was sixteen."

"Papa said that you was fixing it, but then you didn't finish it. Why didn't you?" Abel inquired.

"I meant to, but a lot of things got in the way." Jax hedged.

Jax had worked on the Sportster with Jolene up until he had ran off to Reno like a little bitch after their incident at the streams. When he finally came to his senses and returned to Charming—and her arms—the last thing Jax had time to think about was finishing the bike. Instead, he had spent the time over the next few years while Jolene was in college getting to really know his old lady.

After Jolene left Charming and fell off the grid, Jax had managed to get all of the parts that he had needed to finally finish the bike, but found that working on the Sportster evoked too many painful memories. He couldn't stand seeing it in the garage of their old home anymore, so he had asked Gemma if he could store it in their garage. The truth was, he had forgotten that it still was in storage at the Morrow home.

"Well, I think that you should fix it and I should get it for my birthday."

"Son, it's your mother's bike. Why don't you ask her?" Jax suggested, sensing that Clay was setting him up for a major ass-kicking from his old lady.

"'Cause I know Mommy will say no, but you won't."

"Oh really, huh?"

Abel nodded his head. "Me and Papa worked it out."

Yep. One major ass-kicking coming right up. Thanks a lot, Clay!

"Abel, it's still your mother's bike, so she's the one that's has to be okay with it. Besides that, it's going to be a long time before you will be old enough or big enough to ride it, but I will make you a deal.

Abel narrowed his eyes in imitation of his mother. "What?"

"If Mommy agrees, when you turn fifteen, we'll finish restoring the bike together and when you're old enough to ride, you can have it then."

Abel thought about this for a good long while and then replied with a counter-offer. "I thinks we should work on it now."

Rolling his eyes, Jax finally caved in. "Yeah, I guess we can do a little something with it."

Abel wrapped his small arms around his father's neck. "I love you so much, Daddy."

Jax's eyes were moist as he replied, "I love you so much more."

As he hugged and squeezed his son close to him, a silent and tearful Jolene watched the two loves of her life from the opposite end of the garage. Seeing the old bike again had brought back many wonderful memories and Jolene knew beyond a shadow of a doubt why Jax had not finished restoring it. It was the sweetest, most gut-wrenching moment she had seen them share so far.

But I will have to be dead and buried a hell of a long time before Abel gets his ass on that bike.