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Ashley sighed as she pulled the brush meticulously through her wet hair. Violet was finally sleeping and Mark hadn't been home in two nights, which was very unlike him, but Ashley couldn't help but feel happy for the peaceful feeling it had left her with. Maybe he just needed some time for himself, she thought, remembering everything that had gone on between them since he had suggested that horrible idea of getting married.

Ever since she had verbalized her thoughts of waiting to get married to Mark, he had begun to withdraw from her completely. She could understand him feeling rejected and she felt horrible that she had caused him to feel that way. But there was no way she was rushing into something that big so fast. She was just getting used to being a mother and making a new life away from everything she had always known. Marriage was the last thing on her mind, well, at least marriage to Mark.

Even more than that, she was starting to feel like there might be something off about him. Once the baby was born, he had changed, and became very overprotective. It was almost as if he was already taking over the role of her husband and Violet's father. He was always worried about them, even more than when she was pregnant. He would stress that she couldn't ever leave the house, and as much as Ashley agreed that it was what was best, it seemed like his intentions were more than that of concern for her safety. After her "stunt" of calling Jax (those were his words) Mark had taken her phone away, leaving her with only a prepaid cell which would let her place an emergency call if she needed to. Of course, if she really did need to call someone, she could walk to a payphone or even borrow one of the neighbors. At first she had found his possessiveness somewhat cute, but eventually it began to seem more disturbing than anything else. And now, now he was withdrawn and quiet, brooding even. She couldn't help but wonder what was coming next.

Standing in just her tank top and cotton sleeping shorts, she looked herself over in the bathroom mirror. When Mark had started to withdraw from her she decided that she needed to have a back up plan, just in case things ended as badly as they seemed to be heading. Mark had shown her where he stashed some money in the house in case anything ever happened to him, and the little house was completely paid for, but she needed more than that. She needed to be strong in every way. Not just financially, like finding a job and supporting her daughter, but also physically. One thing she was figuring out while living this crappy life in hiding, was that she did not want to be a victim anymore. And what kind of mother would she be anyway if she continued on with a life like this.

She decided to start working out and training. She would do push ups and sit ups, squats and torturous things that she saw on TV called burpees. She even began shamelessly running circles around the house in a pathetic attempt at cardio. Did she really know what she was doing? No. But she was doing it anyway and with each passing day she could feel herself growing stronger, she could see the small muscles in her arms and stomach more defined beneath her skin. She twisted to the side to look at how she was shaping up and spotted the tattoo that was permanently etched across her skin, well halfway etched anyway. She traced her finger along the jagged lines...another constant reminder of the life she once had.

Every day that passed she still thought of Jax. She knew she shouldn't, with everything he had done to her, what kind of woman was she anyway to have him constantly haunting her thoughts? Weak and stupid, that's what. How could she not remember all the bad things that he had done, and of course the blaring fact that he was married with a family. But as much as she tried, she couldn't help her thoughts from drifting back to him, over and over. Maybe it was looking at Violet and seeing the uncanny resemblance that triggered a response in her brain. Maybe it was being cooped up in this house all the time. She hoped the latter was the reason. And what would she do if he came back to her anyway? SAMCRO was not the life she wanted for Violet and besides that, she could never just take him back after everything that had happened between them. Not like he would even want that anyway.

Ashley finished brushing her hair and twisted it into a messy bun, pinning it in place with a small black hair tie. So, what was she going to do now? Stay with Mark when they didn't want the same thing. She didn't love him, and she was starting to realize that she never could, or would. But what was she going to do? It wasn't safe for her and Violet to be on their own. Besides, how would she be able to make it on her own anyway? That's why you are working so hard on getting stronger, she reminded herself and smiled a small smile at the changing woman she saw in the mirror in front of her.

Jax pushed himself out from underneath the car he was working on. When he was laying below it, trapped in such a small area, it only forced his mind to think, and thinking was the last thing that he wanted to do right now. It had been just over three months since he saw Mark and not one minute had gone by that he didn't think about Ashley and his daughter.

"Jax," Tig said, walking over to where he was straightening up while handing him a rag to wipe his hands on.

"What's up?" He asked, nodding his head.

"Clay's got a present for you," Tig sang. "It's in the club house."

Jax nodded again, wiping his hands off on the towel before tossing it into a basket on his way out. He could only imagine what the present was. Probably some shit job he needed him to carry out to once again prove himself as vice president.

He opened the doors to the clubhouse and immediately spotted his gift.

Mark.

He was sitting in a chair, his arms and legs bound behind it, with a rag stuffed into his mouth and tied around his head. Jax smiled at first, happy to have Mark in such a compromising position, but his smile soon faded as he saw Clay walking up to him with a smug ass grin on his face.

"Happy?" Clay asked him, smacking his hand against Jax's shoulder.

"Should I be?"

"Well of course," Clay responded, looking into his eyes to search for any emotion. Jax looked away and sneered over at Mark, there was no way he was going to let Clay see what he was really thinking.

"I have some unfinished business to conduct with Mark here, and when that's done, I thought I would leave him at your mercy for shall we say, his exit interview?" Clay's eyes followed Jax's, landing on the sweating man in front of them. He was squirming, fighting, even fucking squealing like a scared pig tied to that chair. His hair was a mess, sweatily plastered across his forehead and his tie looked like someone had used it as their way of dragging him in the clubhouse.

"Sounds good to me," Jax answered, his eyes never leaving Mark's.

The sound of a phone ringing broke the tense silence.

"Shit, it's your mother," Clay muttered, looking down at the phone in his hands.

"You better answer it, she's making lasagna tonight and is expecting you home," Jax calmly informed him, hoping that Clay would take the call outside, all he needed was two minutes.

"Yeah, you're right, keep an eye on this fucker," Clay said as he walked towards the front doors, "Hey baby..."

Jax didn't even wait one second to go after what he needed. "Listen you piece of shit, you have about one minute to tell me where Ashley is," Jax said, practically seething at the man as he grabbed at the rag in his mouth.

Mark smiled as soon as his mouth was free, obviously happy at seeing Jax's distress.

"Tell me right now Mark, I'm not playing fucking games," Jax growled at him under his breath.

"No..fucking..way."

Jax pulled the rope down and tight against his neck, "You see this fate right here? You want her to have this too?"

"I'm not worried about that, you would never let that happen," Mark croaked out as he struggled to breathe.

"Yeah, well, I might not be able to stop it. But maybe if you tell me where she is, I have some chance of protecting her." Jax loosed the rope slightly to allow the man to speak.

Mark sneered back and spit at him. "You don't fucking deserve her."

Jax couldn't take it anymore and lost what was left of his restraint, grabbing Mark with both hands around the throat, "If you don't tell me where she is, she will fucking die, just like you, is that what you want? You have ten seconds to fucking answer me."

Marks eyes grew wide as reality took over his hate for Jax. "She's in Walnut Creek, Oak Hill Rd off Main Street."

Jax let him go, sending the chair down with a sudden thump, with only seconds to spare before Clay walked back in.

"Thanks for not killing him yet," He greeted Jax again. "Your mother needs you to pick up some Italian bread and bring it over, I'll try to keep him alive until later, but I can't guarantee it, he might not be so forthcoming with the information I need."

"No problem," Jax answered, heading for the door. He was glad he had a reason to leave. He needed to find Ashley before anyone else could.

With Mark gone for over two days and the baby now wide awake, Ashley decided she was going to take Violet for a walk and head into town. She had barely left the house since she had given birth to her, only venturing as far as Main Street on the rare occasions that Mark thought it was a good idea. But today the weather outside was beautiful and it seemed like the perfect day for a walk, she had always loved going on walks. Plus, she really needed to get some fresh air in hopes of stopping the same thoughts that were constantly invading her mind.

Making her way into the small downtown area, Ashley spotted a quaint little card shop. Maybe I can buy a card, to send to my mom, maybe it's time, she thought to herself.

She opened the door and tried to maneuver the stroller up the one step and inside, which proved to be much harder than it looked. Once inside she pushed it down through the overly narrow aisles and searched for the section of cards that matched what she was looking for. After browsing for a few minutes, Violet started to squirm in the stroller, not at all happy about being strapped inside of it. Ashley sighed and rocked the stroller back and forth as she continued to try to look through the selection of cards in front of her. "Shhhhh." She said as she tried to comfort the irritated baby.

"Eh, eh," Violet whined as she slithered her body down in an attempt to break free of the belts which held her in. "Ehhhhhh."

"Come on Violet, just give Mommy one more minute."

Violet's face started to squish up tight, turning red and threatening to scream at any moment.

"Ok, ok, you win," Ashley said, leaning over to unbuckle her and sweeping her up into her arms. And just like magic, Violet was perfectly happy and bubbly once she was free. "You are too much."

Ashley walked further down the aisle, picking up one card after another and scanning over them, not finding one that really said what she was looking for. As she reached for another one, she glanced over at Violet and quickly wondered why she didn't notice what she had been up to sooner. Violet was clenching an envelope in her fist, pulling it towards her eager mouth. With drool starting to come down her chin, Ashley knew exactly what Violet was planning to do with that poor envelope.

"Oh no you don't baby girl," She playfully scolded Violet, gently pulling the crinkled up paper out of her fingers. "We need to get out of here, and fast." She told her as she slid the wet crumpled envelope behind a random card on the shelf. Ashley turned to find where she had left her stroller and something, someone, caught her attention out of the corner of her eye.

Jax.

***Hey everyone, I hope you like where this is going. I almost have the next chapter done so this update will be much quicker. Would love to hear from you!***