Thank you so much for the reviews!
It feels so good to be back! I'm especially ecstatic that you welcomed me back with open arms. The previous chapter took me awhile to write since I had to get back into the routine of doing it. It's also bittersweet reliving the last season of Sons of Anarchy. I still have no idea how I'm ending this and even if I did, I'm not giving any spoilers away. The real SOA ended badly, however I understood why Kurt Sutter did it. This fiction form of SOA is going to end... Again, I have no idea.
Megan: Thank you for the passionate review :)
Fallon: End of an Era
Let me go. Those words sparked an unending apprehension in Jax. He knew what Dru meant by saying them. She intended for him to move on without her. Jax knew from experience that progressing without her was impossible. When she had disappeared before he had lived in the past, anticipating for her return. Even that long ago he had loved her, but just hadn't fully grasped it. Now that he had it'd be a cold day in hell before he just let her go.
"You're fucking crazy!" he reacted. "You've totally lost it, Dru!"
Her jaw dropped in contempt. "What the hell's wrong with you?!"
"You've finally lost it! You think I can just let you go after everything?! You've done everything imaginable to keep all of us alive not giving a damn about yourself. You have loved me…" his voice broke with emotion. "You've loved me even when I gave you no reason to. Dru, you're the only one that has shown complete and total devotion to this club without asking for anything in return."
"That's not true," she denied.
"Yes, it is. The only thing you wanted was for me to love you, but you never demanded it. You want your father's legacy, this club, to move forward and continue for many years. It's going to as long as you're here to protect it with me out of the picture."
Her brow furrowed. "What are you talking about, Jackson?"
Jax sighed and looked over at the others that were still sitting there watching them waiting for the explosion to come. "I knew telling them about what really went down could cause the Mayhem vote to go through. I was willing to take it so the club could continue the way you wanted. I know what Connor's legacy means to you. Your dad was everything to you, Dru. I could tell that even when we were younger. I just happen to be the lucky son of a bitch you fell in love with in the meantime."
"Jax, there is no club without you," Dru said. "This legacy is just as much yours as it is mine because of John. Yes, John and Dad built this, but it was ultimately your Dad's vision."
"And look where that got him, Dru. He went down a dark path and it got him killed. It's the same path I just took after doing everything in my power to get this club back in the light."
"You can do that again, Jackson. I'm tying up the loose ends so you can."
Jax shook his head. "But I can't do it without you. That's what you don't understand. You're standing there announcing your death sentence as if it doesn't matter and this was after I explicitly told you not to get involved. I refuse to have your blood on my hands, Dru."
"And I refuse to have yours on mine!" Dru shouted. "Fuck, Jackson! Bobby is gone! And now your mom…" she trailed off. "I can't just stand by and not do anything whenever I hold all the cards in my hands." Dru held her hands up. "I can practically do anything with these hands and you're trying to tie them up."
"Because you told me what would happen if you chose a side!" he butted back in. "Goddamn it, Drusilla! I love you and I intend on you getting out of this alive even if I don't. If both of us live then that's even better, but I wanted to do it without you meddling!"
"Oh, shit," Chibs muttered rolling his eyes. "Here we go."
"My meddling?!" Dru exclaimed narrowing her eyes on Jax. Her fury shot through the roof.
"It's gonna be a replay of the good ole' days," Tig added.
"What's happening right now?" Montez asked the rest of the group.
"Just World War whatever number they're on now," Tig replied. "No big deal, but we might wanna step a little further back."
"My meddling has kept this precious club from destruction! Not just recently either, but you know that already. My meddling has saved your all's asses so many times that I've lost count."
"Your meddling is gonna get you killed!" Jax cut in.
"Maybe I'm comforted by the fact that I have something to die for."
"Then you should be comforted by the fact that you have something to live for, people to live for. We want you to live. I want you to live. I need you to live, Dru," Jax told her.
Those words were a balm to her soul. What she had done the past twenty-four hours had made her question her humanity yet again. Dru had resorted back to the assassin that she was—calculating, aloof, deadly. Jax would argue that she hadn't lost a bit of her humanity compared to him after the steps he had taken. But Jax also didn't know the toxic truth. The disgust she had displayed when Jax had told her about his mom killing Tara, it was all a huge lie. Dru hadn't forgotten the fact that she'd helped Gemma cover that up. Then again, Gemma also didn't know the retribution that was heading her way.
"I'm not gonna stand here with you any longer and fight about this. We're not getting anywhere. I just ruined your stupid plan, get over it. Now we've got bigger things to worry about," Dru told him.
Jax scoffed. "You're right. Why argue when no one can get through that hard head of yours. You do what you need to do, Dru. Fuck all the rest of us and what we want."
"So, what just happened?" Tig asked.
Jax turned to the others. "Dru took it upon herself to get their decision reversed with a fake confession from Henry Lin saying that it was Jury who sold us out."
"And you killed Barosky and the Kings in the meantime, darling? Good stuff."
Dru smirked. "Well, I had to make sure that all the mouths who knew something were no longer able to speak."
"It doesn't matter now," Jax cut in. "We need to move forward with what needs to be done."
"Did Conner take the deal?" she questioned.
"After what you did to the bosses? He was more pissed than anything."
"Then we need to find him and make sure that he goes along with the plan."
"Dru, you're finished," he shook his head.
"No, I'm not. I started this and I intend on finishing it. Connor must go down the path that we want him to. I'll put the fear of God into him if I have to."
"He's probably disappeared by now," Chibs said.
"I'll find him," Dru shrugged.
"Conner could be anywhere by now," Tig told her.
"Right, but he's not gonna be using commercial transport," Chibs added. "He's gonna need cash to go underground."
Jax nodded. "Call Tyler."
"You want the Niners to start looking for him?" Happy questioned.
"No, Conner doesn't know that Tyler's with us. We get him to call, tell Conner that Marks needs a shipment of guns when he gets out and that black will give him half the money down," Jax explained.
Chibs smirked. "Conner shows up for a duffel full of cash."
"I'll set it up," Happy said.
Dru's phone began ringing. She smirked when she seen the ID. It was amazing what a little bit of payoff money could do. She quickly escaped the Red Woody warehouse to speak outside. Dru couldn't chance any of them, especially Jax, knowing exactly what she was up to.
"Yes?" she answered.
"She's here."
Dru sneered. "Good. Thank you for informing me. The money will be in your account at the end of the day."
She hung up the phone just as everyone else was coming out too. "Listen, I have an errand to run. I probably won't be back until sometime tomorrow. You all deal with Conner," Dru told them.
"Where the hell are you going?" Jax questioned.
"That's for me to know and for you to dot, dot, dot…" she smirked as she walked away.
"Do you want me to follow her?" Happy asked Jax.
Jax thought about it and ended up shaking his head. "No use. She'll make you in a few miles. Just leave her be. I'm done fighting her." He looked at Tig. "Have we got anything on my mother yet?"
"Not yet, brother, but we're still scouring," Tig answered.
"I'm sure Dru will have people looking for her too, Jackie," Chibs told him. "We'll find Gemma soon enough."