Kit sighed and pushed her lunch off her desk and into the garbage bin on the ground. William had just left after dropping it off. Things had gone from bad to worse. He was being so sweet lately that it just never seemed like the right time to break it off. He had made it really clear that he both needed and loved her. Every time Kit built up enough nerve to say something, it quickly diminished whenever Will was actually in front of her. She could stand in front of a woman shooting bullets without fear but not her own boyfriend. On top of that, she'd broken her promise to herself and seen Jax. They'd been hanging out a lot actually. He had spent the night at Kit's a couple of times when Rachel was out. Her revised promise was that she wouldn't have sex with Will ever again. So far it'd been working. She lied and said she had a yeast infection. That's the thing about lies. Once you start, it's like they all become so insignificant that you didn't even feel bad doing it anymore.

She rested her head on the desk for a while. There was so much work to do. Everyone had lost things. Her latest assignment was a search for a 21-year old runaway who was supposedly hiding somewhere in the area with a few pieces of very valuable jewelry she nicked from her aunt.

"Rough day?" The last person Kit ever expected to show up at her office stood before her looking absolutely fabulous. "Can I come in?" she asked, not waiting for an answer before sitting at the chair in front of her desk. Gemma Teller-Morrow, the SAMCRO matriarch, in the flesh.

Kit sat up straight in her chair. "What are you doing here?"

"I think we got off on the wrong foot. You aren't the woman I thought you were. My son actually seems to care about you," she said, still sounding a little surprised about it. "I never thought he'd get over Tara but I can see a difference in him since he's been seeing you. He's happier."

Kit nodded and waited for the demands to come in. Gemma had been nothing but cold toward her since they met. She obviously wanted something the way she was buttering her up. She wouldn't have come all the way to Lodi if she didn't.

"Not very talkative, are you?"

"What do you want Gemma?" she asked. "I have other work to do."

She nodded. Even though she didn't show it, she had a small growing fondness for this woman. As much as she was unsure about her for Jax, Kit had shown her nothing but respect no matter how badly she treated her. Gemma liked how she straight forward she could be. "I need your help. It's about Tara. She has something, a set of letters, that I need."

Kit pulled out her notepad and a pen. She didn't expect that this would be a real job. "Letters to who?"

Gemma eyed her with a smirk. "It don't matter. They were meant for Jax to find and if he reads them it would end with murder and destroy the club. I know you care about Jax but you don't know him like I do. He can't find out about this or those letters."

"Why didn't Tara give them to him? She must know who they were intended for."

"She understands that Jax can't read them, especially now, with the way things are with Clay. It would ruin their relationship and our family. It would also really hurt my son and she doesn't want that. I can't let her hold this threat over the club. When she gets emotional, she gets stupid," Gemma explained. "I broke into her office a couple of weeks ago and found them. She made copies and moved the originals."

"Where are the copies now?" Kit asked.

"I have them."

Kit put down her pen. "Sorry but what exactly do you need me to do? You seem to be figuring things out just fine. It sounds like it's only a matter of time before you get the originals yourself."

"We don't have time. I got worried and told Clay about the letters. I don't know what he's going to do if he doesn't get his hands on them. You know how desperate men act."

"Unfortunately, I do." Kit considered the offer. It was important not only to Gemma but to the club. Clay never rubbed her the right way. Something about him just struck her as selfish and untrustworthy. Jax had been clashing with him lately about the direction of the club. He'd told her that before he went into Stockton, things were really bad between them. From what it sounded like, these letters could completely change the father-stepson dynamic for the worse. Something in them implicated Clay in a way that threatened his life and position. Maybe they even involved Gemma too.

"I need this done fast. Can you swing it?" she asked.

She nodded before she'd thought of all the risks. "I'll find them today and we'll just say you owe me one." A plan had already started to materialize in her brain.

"That's it? You're not going to overcharge me like you did the club?" she asked, her eyebrows raised.

Kit smirked. "Let's just say that I like the idea of you owing me a favor. Do we have a deal?" She stuck out her hand and Gemma shook it.

She got up to leave. "Bring them by the garage when you have them."

As soon as she walked out, Kit turned to her computer and got to work. She pulled up the St. Thomas Hospital page. It was time to figure out everything she could about Dr. Tara Knowles.

Kit knocked on the door of Tara's office. On the average day, she'd be a bit tentative about an encounter like this. Tara was nice the last time they talked but a lot had changed since then. She and Jax weren't officially anything, just spending time together. Who knew how Tara might react to her being with her ex? But today was different as she was here on business. She came off most confident at work.

The doctor was in. Tara opened the door, a bit surprised to see the woman before her.

"Kit, hi. What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Can we talk?"

"Of course, come in." Kit sat in the chair in front of the desk and waited for the doctor to take hers. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, I just wanted to talk to you. It's about Gemma actually," Kit started. Tara immediately became guarded. "She asked me for a favor. She's looking for some letters that she thinks you have."

Tara got nervous. How did Gemma know about them? She hadn't told anyone except Piney and he wouldn't say a word. There were some pretty incriminating things in those pages. "Uh…I don't know what she's talking about."

"She already found them and took the copies."

"What?" She fished the key to the desk drawer out of her lab coat. She opened it and took out the manila envelope. She pulled the papers out and saw they were blank. It really was true. "That sneaky bitch. I'm not giving her anything," Tara told her. "They weren't meant for her. I can't believe she broke into my office."

Kit cocked her head to the side. "Really?"

Tara smiled slightly. "You're right. I know how she can get. Is she giving you a hard time?"

"She's not being friendly if that's what you mean. I figure this will win some points and when I really need it, she'll return the favor." She crossed her legs. "What's in the letters? She was pretty worried about Jax seeing them."

"They're love letters to John Teller from a woman he was seeing in Belfast," Tara said, which was true. She wasn't sure if she should tell Kit the whole story. She didn't know her or how serious she was about Jax.

"I know there's more. You can trust me. I won't tell Jax, or anybody for that matter. You obviously know him better than I do. If you think he shouldn't have them now, I can respect that. It's your choice," Kit told her. Tara looked at her tentatively. "I want to help you."

"Why?"

She shrugged. "I like you. You care about Jax and you'll always be his family. You love his kid and you've been nice to me so far, unlike his dear mother. And to be honest, I could have tried to find these on my own. I'm guessing they're either somewhere in your house, Jax's, or that storage locker you have. My money's on the locker. It's discreet and probably hidden under a ton of stuff, which would make it hard to find. Unless you have some other secret place to stash things that no one knows about…"

Tara leaned back in her chair and thought about what Kit said. Jax seemed to trust and care about her. She didn't seem to be malicious or like she would go back on her word. And she knew exactly where the letters actually were. She took a deep breath and decided to take a leap of faith. "JT thought Clay was going to try and kill him. He even says specifically how he thought he would do it. It's what really happened. JT's bike malfunctioned and he was hit by a semi."

Kit didn't expect that. Not at all. She almost regretted agreeing to not tell Jax now. He had a right to know. "You weren't going to tell Jax something that important?"

Tara got up and started pacing. "Of course I was. I just couldn't spring it on him once he got out of jail and then we broke up. I know if I hand these over to him that I'm sentencing a man to death. I don't know that I can do that."

"I can."

"How?"

"Clay deserves it. He killed Jax's father, his best friend and fellow patch. There's no turning the other cheek to that." It hit a little too close to home. Kit had never killed anyone but if she had the opportunity to end the life of the man who was responsible for her parents' deaths, she would pull the trigger in a heartbeat. "You have to tell him."

She exhaled heavily. "I will, eventually," she said and sat on the couch.

Kit turned to her. "I need the original letters. Clay knows about them and I don't trust him. He knows what's in these and he'll do anything to stop you giving them to Jax. I'll scan them to a disk and give the originals to Gemma. You can always print them and give them to Jax later. How does that sound?"

Tara nodded and smiled. "It sounds like a plan." She reached into her pocket and took the key to the storage locker off her key ring. She tossed it to Kit. "You were right, they're in the locker. Near the back in a box of TM invoices."

"I'll drop the disk by later in the week." She got up to go.

"Thanks for doing this, Kit. I hope it works out with you and Jax. He seems happier than he's been in a long while," Tara said. Their break-up had been pretty explosive and it left them both upset for months. It was hard to see Jax with someone else and for him to be so happy at that but it was a pill she had to swallow. This is what she wanted despite the lingering feelings she'd always have for him. She felt like hugging Kit but thought it'd be too much. Under Gemma's regime, the women of SAMCRO hadn't exactly been nice to her lately. Jax's last flame, Ima, was particularly nasty.

"I'm really glad you came to me."

"Yeah, me too. I'll see you around, Tara." Kit gave her a warm smile and walked out.

It was well into the night when Kit arrived at the TM garage. The day had been long and all she wanted to do was curl up on the couch with a glass of wine under a blanket. She had gotten three jobs done, including the one for Gemma. It was easy once Tara gave up the letters. She considered breaking into the locker first but figured that asking might be a better route. Jax's ex wasn't a monster and she'd always be in his life. If she had done things as she originally planned, knowing Gemma, she would probably turn Tara against her using this incident if she saw the need in the future. She could still try. This way everyone stayed happy.

She pulled herself out of her car and checked herself in the window's reflection, fixing a few flyaway's in her long, dark hair. She'd decided to hand the letters over to Clay and Gemma together, not simply the latter. She needed the security that came with the real threat being extinguished. Who knew what would happen to the letters once they disappeared with Gemma? Tara had to remain safe.

After checking the TM office and seeing it empty, Kit knew she'd have to go into the clubhouse. There was a party going on, probably just a regular post-church event. There were two reasons she didn't want to go in. One was that she and Rachel were on the outs. Her cousin wasn't speaking to her ever since she had seen Jax and her together. She knew William and her will still attached and Rachel definitely didn't approve of the triangle Kit somehow found herself in. The second was that she didn't want Jax to know she'd helped Gemma. He would ask questions and she didn't want to lie to him. It was in everyone's best interest if this business was dealt with quietly.

Kit made her way through the people, smiling at those she had met before. She spotted Rachel and Juice on the couch, talking closely. Gemma was standing at the bar with Tig, a beer in her hand. She saw Kit and immediately came over.

"You get them?" she asked, her anxiety coming out slightly in her voice.

"Yeah, but I want to give them to you and Clay. He has to know they're in your possession and that Tara doesn't have them anymore," she told Gemma.

She was taken aback. "I'm going to destroy them, darlin'. We don't need to involve Clay in this. It's our business. He has more important things to attend to, you know being President."

Kit just waited, looking at Gemma. The matriarch would give in. The ball was in Kit's court after all and she was the one with the letters. She could do whatever she wanted, even tell Jax. After a good minute, Gemma conceded.

"Fine, I'll play by your rules. Come by the house tomorrow morning and we'll finish this up." She smirked at her. So many women came through here and did their best to impress her just to get an in with the Sons. Kit stood her ground and treated her as an equal instead of putting her on a pedestal. Gemma respected that.

"That will work," she said, pleased they could come to an agreement easily. Now all she had to do was say hi to Jax and she could split. She scanned the room and saw him in a compromising position. He was sitting talking to Opie while a woman sat comfortably perched on his lap. Kit wasn't expecting it and it felt like a slap in the face.

"What are you going to do about that?" Gemma asked, hand on one hip, eyeing her son with that bitch, Ima. "You may not be an old lady yet but she has to know he's not a free dick." She gave her a light push in that direction.

Kit walked over to Jax, suddenly wondering where Rachel was. She wasn't anywhere to be seen. It would have been nice to have a little back up even though she needed to do this on her own, whatever this was. Jax saw her approaching and winked, but the woman on his lap saw her first. She rose to face Kit and head her off.

"Hey guys," Kit said, attempting to move around the blond. She was stick thin but looked fierce, like she would totally take Kit on if it came to that.

"What do you think you're doing, honey? These men are occupied right now. Best you run along. You don't belong here," she said, hands on her hips. "What are you waiting for? Go on." She took a step closer and got right in Kit's face.

Kit wasn't sure what it was that set her off. It could have been this woman's sense of self-importance, her stance, the way she was dressed (or wasn't), or maybe the overall situation. It also didn't help that she was never good at personal confrontation. She burst out in laughter. She took a step back and covered her mouth in an attempt to stop but it was the kind of laughter that was simply unstoppable and contagious. She looked at Opie who had started to smile and chuckle. "Is this really happening?"

Disgust flashed across the woman's face and she raised her hand to hit Kit but she had anticipated this and grabbed the blond's wrist. Her laughter decreased at the threat. Jax stepped between them before it escalated. "That's enough, Ima. We're good here." He watched her stalk off to the bar, glaring at them.

Kit raised her eyebrows at him, a smile still lingering on her lips. "Was she being serious? Should I not have laughed?"

"She is kind of joke," he told her, an amused look on his face. "I didn't think you'd be coming by but I'm glad you're here." He pulled her in for a kiss, taking her face into his hands. A part of her always melted when he kissed her that way. It was like he was holding on to her, like it might be the last time he'd ever get to kiss her.

"Is this what you do in your spare time, Jackson? Entertain scantily clad women who pounce at the sight of a little competition?" she asked, grinning and not nearly upset as she thought she'd be. It was like she suddenly remembered that she was seeing the VP of an outlaw motorcycle club and they were in no way exclusive.

"She's just a croweater and there is no competition when it comes to you." Jax took her hand and started to lead her across the room. "I actually want to talk to you." He brought her to the hatch that led to the roof, wanting some privacy. He pulled it down and after a bit of hesitation from Kit, they both went up.

They sat in his spot that looked down over the TM lot, Jax's arm around Kit. He had grown to really care about her. She was sweet, funny, sexy, and she could be tough as nails when she had to be. He could talk to her about club business and she usually had good, logical advice. She was introspective and thought things through before acting, unlike Jax most of the time. It was a nice balance. The only thing that bothered him was that she occasionally got a bit distant. One day Jax would feel really close to her and the next Kit would act like it was nothing, like they were just really casual. To be fair, they hadn't discussed their relationship but it was frustrating. He wanted more but it wasn't clear if she did.

"What's on your mind?" Kit asked.

"You've never told me what you think of Clay," he said, unsure of how to start.

Jax wanted to talk to someone impartial about the changes Clay was making behind the club's back. He wanted to start selling guns back to the Russians. There was a new regime in place that reached out. Jax didn't trust them but they were requesting a huge order that would mean a lot of cash for the club if they could pull it off.

"He's your step-father and the president of the club. A bit intimidating and seems a bit sneaky. Why are you asking?" The last thing Kit wanted to do was say the wrong thing about him or express her true feelings. She had spent an hour skimming JT's letters and had concluded that Clay Morrow was a monster. When the time was right, if Tara didn't show them to Jax, she would.

"He wants to expand and start selling merchandise back to the Russians."

"The same ones that stabbed you in prison?" She thought of the scars on his abdomen.

"Different men but same old Russians. It passed in church but it just doesn't feel right."

She looked at his conflicted expression. She didn't feel right about it either. "People don't just forget, especially criminals. Is there anything you can do to change their minds?"

He shook his head, regretfully. "They're sending over someone to talk numbers tonight. Clay agreed to it before he put it up for a vote. He just wants to get as much money as he can before he steps down. He doesn't fucking care about this club anymore or he wouldn't have made a call like this." He sounded bitter and even he noticed.

"His hands are going. It's only a matter of time before he can't ride. You just have to ride this shit out for a bit longer," she told him. "Then you can really change things, set this club right."

Jax held her closer and kissed her head. "Yeah, I can."

"I have a proposition for you actually. It could jumpstart that change." Kit stood up so she could face him. She wasn't sure why she was a bit nervous. She'd been sitting on this for days. "My uncle's best friend, Ben, is thinking of selling his gun store in Stockton. It's not the biggest operation but there's room for expansion and it's near the gun range. I could introduce you. It's not on the market yet. He wants the right buyer before selling his life's work."

Jax half-smiled. This was really unexpected and a great idea. "You want us to go from running illegal guns to selling legal ones."

"You're the one who said you wanted to legitimize. You don't have to meet him if you think it won't work out," she said. She had begged Ben not to tell anyone else about selling until he met Jax and the club so she was secretly hoping they'd at least get to meet.

"It can't hurt to talk," he said. "We'll set something up this week."

He held out his arms and Kit gladly went back into them. It meant a lot that she thought not just of him but also of the club. It was something an old lady would do, a fact that wasn't lost on Jax. They just stayed like that for a while, close. He liked that when he was with her they didn't always have to talk. Quiet was good and comfortable.

The quiet didn't last long though. A van screeched into the TM lot and the shots of semi-automatic weapons sounded. Jax immediately pushed Kit to the ground to protect her. They heard more gunshots, likely from Sons, and then the sound of the vehicle driving off. It was quiet for a moment until the screams from below were all they heard.

A/N: I hope you liked this instalment. Please review/drop me a line and let me know what you think. My thoughts about Clay this week, "a khal who cannot ride is no khal"

xox-A