I've returned earlier than expected with a brand new chapter. I guess I'm making up for all of that lost time.
Please read and review.
Fallon: End of an Era
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chibs couldn't quite figure out what Dru was up to, but it had to be grave considering Jax was left out of the loop. He didn't like keeping secrets from his president, especially considering it was about Dru. But as much as he respected Jax, he needed to respect Dru's privacy more. He already had a good idea as to why she called. She sounded desperate and it worried him. Dru had previously told him of her predicament, the misfortunes that had a high probability of taking her life. Chibs never believed it would come to this. He believed Dru to be too smart, too good at what she did to be captured. Obviously Dru was too concerned about her future, which forced Chibs to fret over it too.
"What is this about, Chibs?" Tig asked.
"I told you I don't know, Tiggy. She just called and asked to meet us here," he answered.
"I don't think she asked, brother. Dru demands more than she asks."
Chibs smiled. "Okay, she demanded we come here."
"There you go," Tig muttered.
"Listen, I don't know what this is about, but Dru is worried."
"Does this have anything to do with what she's done?"
"I can only assume that it does," Chibs sighed. "She warned us, Tiggy. She warned us and it didn't matter."
"Hey, hey. She chose this, brother. She chose to put her life on the line for us."
"It doesn't make me feel any less guilty, and it sure as hell doesn't matter to Jax. I think the both of us have witnessed enough arguments between the two of them to know that it doesn't matter."
Tig knew that. He knew, but he didn't want to admit it. There were not a lot of times where he felt guilty about things, but he undoubtedly felt guilty for the position that Dru was in now. Tig felt that some of this was perhaps his fault. After all, everything began with him and Clay—the side deals, the secrets, the betrayals. Tig recognized every day that some of those got the Sons to where they are now. Now, he wondered whether or not those choices procured Dru's fate.
"Did we do this, Chibs?" Tig asked.
Chibs looked at his friend. He could admit that he had pondered the same question, but doubted he could answer it without feeling a profound sum of pain. "I don't want to say, but in this instance, I think I need to," he sighed. "It is our fault, Tiggy. All of this…it would be very foolish of us to believe otherwise."
Tig nodded. "Of course," he mumbled.
It was at that time when they heard little Drusilla Fallon walking into the junkyard. Chibs studied her and noticed the fatigue that was finally taking a toll on her body. Her face showed a significant amount of weariness, and it scared him to see it. He glanced at Tig to see that he had noticed it too.
"What is this about, Dru?" Chibs questioned her right away. He didn't want to beat around the bush.
"You're jumping right in, aren't you, Chibs? What, no hello?"
Chibs sighed. "Dru, we know that something is wrong. You wouldn't have called us otherwise, nor would you have told us to keep it a secret from Jax. So, stop running around in circles and tell us what's going on."
Dru looked away from the men she had known more than half of her life. On the way here she had concluded that this was her last deal, and the one that would matter the most. Tig and Chibs were the only ones she trusted enough to carry this out. More importantly, Jax absolutely could not know.
"I just spent the last seventeen hours settling everything. This way no one will ask questions and ponder how I decided to split it all accordingly."
Tig was confused. "What are you talking about, baby doll?"
"I'm talking about all of my assets. It's all been liquidated except for two properties—one has a house on it in Savannah, Georgia and the other is a warehouse in Phoenix, Arizona. You'll understand later why those two are being kept in a trust. Once I closed on everything else, there is $17.4 million dollars being split into several accounts and another $3.8 million that you don't need to know anything about. And don't worry, nothing can be traced. It's all being perpetrated in a very secretive manner, so none of you will be questioned on how you came into money in such a short amount of time."
Tig and Chibs looked at one another and both of them very quickly came to the same conclusion. They didn't even acknowledge the money.
"What are you trying to say, Dru?" Chibs asked her.
"I'm trying to say goodbye, and I know that I'm doing a horrible job of it, but it needs to be done. I just don't know how to do it," Dru replied.
"Have they found you? Why haven't you run off before now?"
"I'm tired of running, Chibs. I accepted my fate the minute I drew on August, and I wouldn't take it back for anything. Because now you all can go on and continue what my father started. That's been my goal from the very beginning. That was my mission, and I fulfilled it. It didn't hurt that I was also able to get revenge for Dad's death and for what happened to me," she paused as she gathered her thoughts. "I have you all to thank for that. You allowed me to finish what I had set out to do and helped me along the way. You helped me to accept what had taken place and to put it behind me. I can't ever express just how grateful I am to you all.
"Nevertheless, the most important thing I need you all to do for me is to look after Jax. When I'm gone, I need you all to take care of Jax. I don't want you to babysit him, but I need you to make sure that he's okay. There will come a day when he will no longer need you and he will walk away, but until then you will stay by his side. Do you understand?"
"Dru, what's going to happen?"
She struggled and eventually won the war against her tears. "It doesn't matter," she whispered. "It doesn't matter what happens from here on out. It's meant to be. I knew the day that I contracted myself out that I was also signing my death sentence. I would never be able to live a long life, and I was always okay with that. I was always okay as long as I was able to get to the finale. And this is it, boys. This is my conclusion.
"Jax doesn't know, and I don't want him to. He doesn't need to know anything until the minute it happens. And even then some things need to be kept undisclosed. But it's vital that you look after him. I trust you two to do that for me."
Tig opened his mouth to say something, and then thought better of it. He ended up saying, "He's our president, Dru, and more importantly our brother. Of course we'll look after him, but we can't play the cloak and dagger game with him."
"That's a little hypocritical coming from you, Tiggy, especially after all the things you've kept from your so-called brothers over the years," Dru told him.
"Let's not hash out the past, Dru," Chibs jumped in. "The past is worthless now. Tig has more than made up for what he's done."
"And I've done more than that to make amends," Dru argued. "I won't mention the past again, but you need to promise to never tell Jax the truth."
"The truth about what, Dru?" Chibs questioned again. He was tired of her running around in circles. More than anything, he was frustrated with her mind games.
"The truth of who I am."
"We know the truth. We know exactly who you are, Drusilla Fallon."
She sadly shook her head. "You don't even know half of who I am. The only part you know is the Dru that would give her life for the Sons."
"And the Dru that loves Jax so relentlessly that her eyes glimmer with the dreams of an untold future," Chibs said. "A future you've wanted since you were a wee little girl."
The tears silently fell from her eyes at that moment. "The wee little girl didn't know anything about the real world. She didn't know anything about her father's trade or about the Sons criminal dealings with the underworld. She especially didn't know how much of her heart that she would have to sell off to the devil to become what she needed to be, to be who she needed to be to save the ones she loved most. But that little girl learned quickly, and hated what she had to sacrifice to be that person."
"You didn't need to sacrifice any—"
"I would have died a lot sooner if I hadn't, Chibs," Dru cut in. "I had too much to do, too much to finish to take the easy way out. No one ever knows how strong they are until they have to be, and I figured it out so fast. I used to resent just what the Kings had done to me, but in all reality I can only be indebted to them."
"What the fuck are you talking about?" Tig asked.
"It was because of what they taught me that I was able to assist you. Before you all would've made me stay behind so you could protect me. But my skills benefitted you this time."
"Look at what you had to go through to get those skills!" Tig growled.
"It doesn't matter. It no longer matters because you all are alive and well, and the club has a brighter future than it ever did. I got the revenge that I sought after, but really…" Dru shrugged her shoulders. "I wanted to kill Galen for so long, longer than you can imagine. I detested what he did to me. You all will never understand the disgust that I had for that man. He broke me, and yet I was able to put the parts back together because he strengthened me enough to do so. He did that. I don't approve of his mechanics, but it worked."
"And now you're paying for it, Dru! Do you hear yourself?!" Chibs exclaimed.
"But my father's legacy is intact!" she shouted. "The Sons are alive, Jax is alive because I was able to save you all. Please understand…that's all that mattered to me. Nothing else mattered but that. That's what I came back for. I didn't come back for a family, I didn't come back for Jax's love and acceptance. I came back for this! Right here, right where I'm standing, I'm telling you this was all I wanted!
"I signed my life away for this. I got in bed with the most horrific people—criminals, politicians. You name it, and I was striking a deal with them, so I could get closer to my goal of saving you. I would love to regret the day that I stepped foot into the Department of Justice, but I can't. Without them, I never would've been able to do the things that I've done to clear your names."
"The Department of—of Justice?" Chibs stuttered out. It was all starting to make sense. Her contacts, the secrecy, the esteem she held herself in… By God, did she really arrange a deal between herself and the government?
"I know you're raking your brain trying to figure it all out, trying to put the pieces together," Dru said. "You can only get so far until your head starts to hurt."
Wasn't that the truth? Tig and Chibs were struggling under the weight of what she had brought to light. Why had she believed them to be worthy of such knowledge?
"Why—Why are you telling us this, Dru?" Chibs queried.
"Because someone needs to know who I am," she spoke softly. "Someone needs to know that my sacrifices will never be in vain. Not once has my life been worthless and I want someone to acknowledge that. Jax will have to because he loves me, but you guys…you'll acknowledge it because I'm Connor Fallon's daughter and because I safeguarded your way of life and freedom."
Chibs took in a heavy and broken breath. "We'll acknowledge it because we love you too," he told her.
There was a long pause of silence between the three of them. An understanding began to blossom and Dru was left feeling humbled and fulfilled.
"I'm so sorry," she murmured.
They had no idea why she was apologizing, but before they could ask, Drusilla Fallon disappeared.