Short chapter, but there's a need for it. It's sort of a teaser chapter for what's to come.

Thank you for the reviews :)

Megan: You're amazing, as always.

Fallon: End of an Era

Chapter Thirty-Two

"August Marks was just gunned down on the courthouse steps. No one knows where the shot came from, but it was a perfect head shot."

Jax's blood ran cold.

It was a perfect head shot.

Only Dru could make a perfect head shot every time.

No one knows where the shot came from.

Jax squeezed his eyes shut battering the words away from himself. Dru… Dru could do those things. 'Oh, God', he thought.

"Find her!" Jax roared. "Find her now!"

Unbeknownst to them, Dru was on her way back to Red Woody. She knew facing the music was the only thing she had left to do at this point. She had finished what she came here to do. At last, she had guaranteed the club's survival. 'But not my own', she thought to herself.

A ringing noise came from her phone. She had already missed several calls from Jax and the others. Dru hadn't been able to respond to their cries just yet. She went to pick it up and noticed the blocked caller ID. Her fate was calling.

It was late in the evening when Dru arrived. The only vehicles she seen at the warehouse were motorcycles. She knew they'd be waiting on her. They could kiss her ass if they were going to be angry about what she did. The only thing she was guilty of doing was ensuring their legacy, her father's legacy.

When Dru walked in she was met with a dreaded silence that settled deep in her gut. It sickened her. They were sitting at the bar nursing glasses of whiskey.

"Did I miss the party?" she joked. They slowly turned towards her. Jax wouldn't even look at her. It was worse than she thought.

"Where have you been, lassie?" Chibs asked her.

"Taking care of some unfinished business," she answered.

"Did that business involve August Marks?"

Dru smirked. It had been three hours since she'd made the shot. Of course they had heard of his death by now. "Listen…"

"What the fuck were you thinking, Dru?" Jax calmly questioned her.

She glanced at the President. He still refused to look at her. "I was thinking of a surefire way of making this charter go legit once again and saving your all's asses…once again."

Jax scoffed and finally looked at her. What Dru seen…it scared her. "I was doing that myself. Why did you have to be the one to do it?"

"Because I was the only one who could do it undetected. This way you don't have a target on your back. You're not gonna go to prison. You can stay here and run this charter the way it needs to be done. You can raise your boys."

Jax's eyes strayed from hers. Immediately Dru knew something had happened. Jax had done something. "What did you do, Jackson?" she asked.

"I sent Abel and Thomas away. They're with Nero and Wendy," he sighed. "For good."

"Are you fucking kidding me?!" Dru shouted. "What the fuck, Jackson? Why'd you do that?!"

"I had no other choice, Dru!" he yelled. "Look at us! We are killers. We can't even look at ourselves in the mirror because we can't stand the people that we are. You live in pain every day. You hold on to that rage like no other I've ever seen. I hold on to every bad feeling I've ever had until it swallows me whole. And I live with your pain too because I feel it every day. We can't do this, Dru. We wouldn't be able to raise Abel and Thomas without warping them in some fucked up way. They can't be here. They can't be around this club. I don't want them to know anything about it. I want them to hate me."

"Hate you?" she questioned. Dru was shocked by his outburst. She hadn't seen him giving his boys away. "They're gonna hate you because you abandoned them. Just like Edie abandoned me!"

"And look where you ended up, Dru," Jax told her. "Look at you!" She jumped at his outburst. "You're standing there as if nothing happened. You just got done killing Marks. You told me you wouldn't become involved. But that was the worst thing that you could've done. You told me what happens. "

"Nothing is going to happen to me," she said trying to assure him.

"Why don't I believe you? Your life has been nothing but secrets since you came back!"

"So, that warrants you giving your boys to Wendy?" Dru barked. "Your boys should be with you. I just now got done giving you the perfect beginning to being with them and not having to worry about anything. I handed you a legit way of getting out yet again. I handed you your freedom. All you had to do was accept it and not worry about the consequences."

"You mean your consequences," Jax stated. "Whatever your consequences are they're mine too. Because I love you, Dru. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. And I can't do that if you're gonna be looking over your shoulder waiting for the shadows to close in."

"There are no shadows, Jackson. There will always be ghosts, reminders of what my life has been, but there aren't any shadows. I did what needed to be done. I protected all of you, but especially you, Jax. I have no other purpose in life other than to protect you and love you. I can't be any other way because this is all I know. This was the only way I knew how to do it," Dru softly cried.

"And that's why Abel and Thomas needed to go," Jax told her. "Because this is the only way I know how to be too."

"I didn't have to stay. You could've had your boys."

"And not have you?" Jax smirked. "That's not possible for me."

"I would have left," she repeated.

"I know," he nodded. "You've sacrificed everything including your own life to make sure this club continues because of your dad. But Dru, there's more to this life than just SAMCRO. What about me? Were you thinking of me when you pulled the trigger? Were you thinking of the future when that bullet hit Marks? Come on, Dru. Tell me what the fuck you were thinking!" he shouted.

Dru closed her eyes in shame. She opened them back up to stare at him. All she could do was hand him the truth. "I was thinking of you. But, not in the way that you're talking about. Jackson, if I hadn't taken out Marks he was gonna take you out first. There was no escaping that fact. You had gone and taken one too many steps. Marks was going to kill you."

"And now whoever the hell you work for is going to kill you."

"I don't work for them anymore," she told him.

"It doesn't matter!"

He stalked towards her and grabbed her up in a forceful and passionate kiss. This is what he lived for. Dru savored every sensation. She was melting…and flying. When he finally pulled away he burrowed his nose into hers simply smelling her. He was grateful for this woman, but fearful of what was to come.

"What happens now, Dru?" he asked.

She opened her eyes to meet his blue ones. They were so clear. Tears came to hers and began falling at a rapid pace. "Please don't make me tell you," Dru whispered.

"What happens now?" he demanded.

She heavily sighed and said, "They're hunting."