I know it's been awhile since I've updated, but I've been busy. Once again, some personal issues came up. But I'm back with a brand new chapter. Thank you all so much for the reviews. I appreciate it so much.

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Fallon: End of an Era

It had been the vulnerability in his voice that had triggered every protective instinct that she possessed. She had watched from a distance what had occurred. Of course she hadn't seen the video, so she'd had no idea what had happened to Bobby. It wasn't until Jax had placed that phone call to her that she found out. It had broken her heart.

He had asked for her help. Dru didn't quite know if Jax had meant to ask for her "help". It was an emotional moment for him, which is why she had given him time to think things through. That night Dru simply tried to comfort him to the best of her ability. She went to find him the next morning. She went to the first place she thought of—the rooftop. She found him there, sulking and weighed down by the guilt that he carried with him every day.

"What do you want to do, Jackson?" Dru asked him. Jax shook his head. "You've got to make up your mind," she said frustrated. "This is not when you take a timeout, Jax. The club can't afford for you to, and I'm sorry, but that's just the way it is. They need a leader. They need you."

"I don't have any more to give them!" he shouted. "Look what I've gotten them into already! There's been so many members killed—"

"And you've grieved for every one of them!" she cut in. "You act like their deaths were in vain. They might have been during Clay's leadership. God knows plenty of people died then that didn't need to. Unlike Clay, you have mourned for the ones you've lost. But Bobby isn't dead, Jackson. Not yet. And we can do something about that. However, you have to tell me what to do."

"I can't tell you what to do," Jax shook his head.

"You're gonna have to. Or did you forget that you asked me for help?"

That got his attention. "You can't help, Dru."

"I can help. I can find Bobby right now and get him the hell out," she told him.

"No! No, you can't do that!" Jax turned frantic. "You told me if you chose a side, you'd die. That can't happen!"

"And I told you that I would choose your side if you needed me. You need me right now, Jackson," Dru assured him.

"Not at the cost of your life. I need you more alive than dead, Drusilla. Nothing can happen to you."

Dru understood what he was saying. But Jax needed what she was capable of doing. Her skills, her gifts could be used to get Bobby out of this mess. She could shut August down if she wanted. But it would be at the cost of her life. Once she chose a side, there would be a target on her back. And even with her connections and her assets, there was no place on the face of this planet that she could hide.

"Dru, I love you. Nothing can happen to you."

And she gave up the fight.

The next body to join Jax was a far more welcoming person. At least he wouldn't have to worry about a confrontation from this person. He knew what Dru had been trying to say to him. It didn't mean that he needed to hear it. It had been on his mind since last night whenever he made that desperate call to her.

"Happy and Rat are on their way back. They've been trying to track down Tyler," Chibs told him as he took a seat next to him.

Jax shook his head. "How could I not see this coming? I'm out of depth here, man."

Chibs sighed. "This is not on you, Jackie."

"How can it not be? I completely underestimated August. I didn't wanna listen to Dru and she tried to tell me. He's smarter than I am. Zero vulnerabilities. He's got no family; no one close to him. It's the perfect move. He knows how tight the club is…how much I love my guys."

"You can't let this pull you off track, Jackie. Those guys downstairs, they need you focused and strong," Chibs said.

"I'm done, man. Diosa, Colette, West…and now Bobby."

"Hey, Bobby knows the risks. We all do, and we're all still here."

"Some of us," Jax nodded. "I can't risk anyone else."

"You can't risk not to," Chibs disagreed. "If you cave now, everything we've done over the past few weeks will all be for nothing." He paused. "Why did we start this?"

Jax didn't want to have this conversation, but he knew Chibs would push him. He had done it for the mother of his children. "Tara," he answered.

"Right, and the brutality that was done to your family. That's not finished. Marks is just a part of this now. Sons of Anarchy have a duty, brother, a mission. And we need our goddamn leader."

Jax stood up. "I love you, Filip."

"I love you too, Jackson." Chibs stood up as well and patted him on the shoulder.

Jax knew what he had to do. At the same time, he was flying blind, and he didn't particularly like the feeling. He was terrified of making the wrong move and it seemed that's all he was competent in doing anymore.

Jax came down off of the Red Woody rooftop moments later. He looked to find the guys walking in with Tyler. Evidently it hadn't taken much to find him. Jax glanced to his left and found Dru leaning up against the wall staring at him. He had a feeling that she had something to do with Happy and Rat locating Tyler so quickly.

"Hey, Montez is up at the cabin with Gemma. I got Quinn with Wendy and the boys," Chibs told him.

"I put Tacoma with Lyla and the garage," Happy added.

"Good," Jax commented.

"I'm sorry about Bobby, man," Tyler said whenever they pulled away from their hug.

They all took a seat except for Dru who observed from afar. She was waiting for the moment when Jax needed her. She knew it was coming because it was inevitable. The problem was she didn't exactly have the patience to wait. It didn't matter how much Jax didn't want to risk her life. That one moment would come and she'd jump right into the frying pan.

"You talked to Marks?" Chibs questioned him.

"Just his new commando leader," Tyler replied.

"What do we know about Moses Cartwright?" Jax probed.

"He's ex-military," Dru cut in pushing herself away from the wall to join the crowd. "Special Ops, Blackwater graduate. He received the Silver Star before he was honorably discharged. His team is also cut from the same cloth."

"Shit," Tig muttered. "That's a serious resume."

"And what does August want?" Jax asked.

"What do you think he wants?" Tyler mocked. "He wants the dead pastor and his family. That photo and statement set him on fire, man. I've never seen him do nothing like this before. Moses said for every twenty-four hours August has to wait, he's gonna cut off another part of your guy; which means you got till the end of the day."

"Jesus Christ," Rat mumbled.

Dru began pacing back and forth. She couldn't handle being leashed like this. She had such an inferno building in the pit of her stomach she was about to explode.

"We need to find out where they're holding Bobby," Jax told him.

"I already got my guys on it scoping out Pope's office buildings and construction sites," Tyler responded.

"What about safe houses? Pope had a couple outside Oakland."

"Those got compromised awhile back, but we'll still check them."

Dru shook her head. "They've put Bobby where none of us is going to think that he is." Her brow furrowed. "Has August made any purchases on new buildings lately?"

"Not that I know of," Tyler answered.

"I'll find out."

"Dru, no!" Jax exclaimed. "I told you to stay away from this."

"I can find Bobby. I can find him faster than Tyler ever will," Dru assured him. "I can get him out of there by myself."

"And that is why you're not getting involved," Jax ordered. "You're not risking your life, Dru. I won't let you."

"She's already involved, man," Tyler spoke up. "August has her looking into you guys."

"No, he wanted me to," Dru cut in. "I told him that I wouldn't give him anything. I was neutral."

"And you have to stay neutral," Jax added.

"I don't have to do anything," she retorted.

"Dru, if I have to, I'll have Happy sit on you all day to make sure you don't do anything stupid."

"Oh, well, I'm sure Happy would be so happy to be my babysitter," Dru sarcastically remarked. "Happy wouldn't be able to stop me."

"You wanna try me, Dru?" Happy asked.

She about tackled his ass before Tig got in the middle of it. "Calm down, Dru," he told her. "Jax doesn't need this right now."

"Yeah, well, he needs me to do what I do best, but he won't allow me," Dru said.

"Cause I can't lose you!" Jax shouted. "Don't you get that? I love you, and I intend to spend the rest of my life with you no matter how long that is. So, you're gonna sit this one out because you're that important to me, alright?"

It was that speech that pulled at her heartstrings. Dru gave up the conflict that had been building in her bones.

"Are you calm now, sweetheart?" Tig asked.

"I'm good," she muttered.

Jax turned back to Tyler who had been sitting there taking the battle in. He seemed to be struggling with what to say. "What is it?" Jax questioned him.

"You know, I'm with you on Marks, Jax, but I don't how much longer I'm gonna be able to keep playing double agent," Tyler told him.

"Niners are the only ones who can get close to Marks so we can get Bobby back," Chibs said.

"Yeah, I know. But with this new kill squad on the street, they're gonna put it together that I'm helping you."

"There's no half in, Tyler," Jax cut in. "You want business after Marks we do this together or you're on your own."

"Alright," Tyler nodded. "I'll let you know what we find out."

They shook hands and Tyler left. Jax sighed and went to fix himself a cup of coffee. He looked over at Dru who was sitting on one of the chairs across the room. At least she had composed herself enough to where she was relaxed. He had seen the fight in her when they were arguing. It had been blissful to see. Anytime he seen the sparks in her eyes he knew that she still had her soul. It reminded him of when she first returned to Charming. The emptiness that had been there before had been replaced with something much more fulfilling, and he was thankful.

"Jax, we heard from Collety, the bounty hunter with Bobby's ex. He's got intel on the guy that we used for the Chinese in Selma," Tig told him.

"Not today," Jax muttered.

"Jackie!" Chibs shouted getting his attention. "There's nothing we can do for Bobby right now. Until we hear back from Tyler…"

"If we track down whoever ratted us out to Lin, then we can shut another door," Tig said.

"We need to find the rat, Prez. He could be the one feeding intel to Marks too. This shit should've been handled already," Happy added.

Jax nodded. "Alright. Bring Collety here."

"This kid, O'Leary, where did you last see him?" Collety asked him.

"Selma. He helped us with a job," Jax answered.

"That makes sense. That's where his VA checks were going," Collety said.

"He was a vet?"

"Yes," Dru cut in. "Iraqi Freedom. He had a few juvie priors before he enlisted." Jax turned to look at her. She shrugged. "I looked into him too. Just…with everything going on, I had completely forgotten about the info that I had received."

Jax nodded then put his attention back on Collety. "Continue," he told him.

"He's been MIA for a couple of weeks," Collety said.

"How about family or old war buddies?" Chibs questioned.

"Nothing on his friends. His mom is off the grid. Renee O'Leary. She popped up for a marriage license two years ago. Her husband, Carl Leegan, did a five year stretch in Corkren for running guns across state lines," Collety informed them.

"Arms dealer?"

"Not to sell. To distribute for the cause. One of those militia wack jobs. He's got a compound north of Lockford. No street address, just rural roads and county markers."

Dru scoffed and walked over to Collety to look at the papers laid out before him. "And let me guess…" she muttered as she picked up a particular piece of paper that had a satellite image on it. "These guys like to think they're ghosts. But they forget that there's this little thing called Google Earth. They'll watch you piss and shit in the middle of the night." She handed the paper over to Jax. She looked at Collety. "You did good work."

"Thanks," he nodded.

Chibs pulled an envelope full of cash out of his cut and handed it over to Collety. "Thank you."

"Could you ask Bobby to reach out to Precious?" he asked once he checked what was in the envelope. "Insurance doesn't cover the kids' inhalers anymore. I mean, this helps, but she asked me to mention it."

"Sure," Chibs nodded. "We'll let him know."

"Appreciate it. Take care, guys." Collety walked out.

Jax turned to Dru. "How much information could you have gotten on O'Leary?"

Dru smirked. "I could've gotten way more than him. I knew the basics about him. I just hadn't dug any further; didn't exactly have the time."

"And we wouldn't have had to pay you a cent," Jax grinned.

"Oh, you would've paid me with something," she leered.

Jax chuckled. "Let's take a ride."