Jax pulled up to Kit's workplace around lunchtime. He hadn't seen her since her night at Charming PD. He tried to call her but she wasn't answering. Either she was mad at him or she was really busy. His money was on the former but there was no chance to see her before now. The club was busy setting up the new warehouse for their Irish shipment that was due to arrive any day now. More importantly, they needed to figure out who their enemy was before they took another hit. So far, they had come up short.

He decided to have a smoke outside first to clear his head and take a moment. It felt like he hadn't had room to breathe for a long time. The day was beautiful and he wanted to enjoy at least five minutes of it. Just as he was finishing up, Kit came out of the building and met him in the parking lot. She was wearing her leather jacket over a dark green dress that just grazed her knees with short boots, her dark hair blowing in the wind.

"Sean saw you loitering," she said. She didn't look pissed but wasn't exactly happy to see him. "What's up?"

"You weren't answering my calls. I wanted to make sure you were okay," Jax explained.

"You could have asked Rat. He's been following me like a fucking shadow up until when he dropped me off this morning," she retorted.

Jax sighed. She wasn't going to make it easy. "Sorry I wasn't there to pick you up. Something came up. I couldn't get away in time so I thought it'd be better to have Rat get you than leave you sitting outside the police station for another hour. It was Rat or Gemma. I like to think I made the right choice." He could see her holding back a bit of a smile.

"Don't make promises you can't keep, Jax. I hate that. Keep your fucking word, even if it is something as small as this," she told him. To Kit, your word was akin to law.

He nodded and moved to wrap his arms around her but she stepped back. "Something else?"

"I don't need a body guard to protect me from Hunter, okay? I've got that covered. I know you worry about me but I can handle him." She crossed her arms over her chest. "He's never going to hurt me again," she said more to herself than him.

"The prospect was there more for me. I couldn't be there and I just needed some assurance that you were safe," Jax said, only telling her half the truth. He just didn't trust the fed not to go after her and try something stupid. But he wouldn't always be around to protect her. He just had to trust that she had it covered. "I know you're a tough bitch."

She laughed a little. "That's what you think of me?"

"Is that so bad?" he asked her, grinning. He pulled her close and she let him. Looking into her green eyes, he felt like he could see into her soul. He always knew she had secrets, that under all the toughness something dark was buried.

"No, I kind of like it," she declared. "Now tell me Jackson, how are you going to make up the fact that you couldn't pick your girlfriend up from the slammer?"

Jax let his hands drop to her waist and kissed her. It felt like it had been so long since he'd held her in his arms. Both of them yearned for more especially after the past couple nights without each other. Finally Jax pulled away when he realized something. "Girlfriend? You're not my girlfriend."

A flash of insecurity crossed Kit's face while she waited for him to elaborate. "Do you have some other girl shacked up somewhere that I should know about? Because I think we both know how trigger happy I can get."

"You're my old lady. Don't forget it."

Kit smiled, reveling in those words. She didn't think she'd feel so happy to hear Jax say the words out loud. She'd chosen the life she wanted during that raid. She was with him, his old lady. "So you didn't pick up your old lady from the slammer. That seems a lot worse. You really need to think of something good to make up for that," she teased.

"I already have something in mind," he said, mischief in his voice. He sighed, knowing he had to say more. Checking up on her wasn't the only thing that brought him up to see her. "It'll have to wait though. I need a favor, Kit. The club does."

"Took you long enough. Juice called this morning. Follow me to my office. I just started working on it but I need some more information. Figured you show up eventually." Her hand fell into his and she led him along.

"Wait, so you weren't answering my calls but you talked to Juice?" Jax asked her, playing offended. "I see how things are. I knew you always liked him better."

"That's a relief. So glad I don't have to explain it," she said, smirking back at him.

Jax laughed, glad they were back on the same page. Even though it was only two days since he saw her last, he missed her. He was happy that even though she was pissed off, she didn't drag it out into this huge issue. She wasn't that kind of girl and that's what he loved about her.

After an hour, Kit and Jax had come up with nothing. There were paper and notes covering Kit's desk. She'd done everything she could think of with what little info the Sons got from Dmitry. Kozik and Opie had even gone out to the hospital and questioned the witness again. He didn't have much more to tell. They were sitting on nothing.

"Nothing about the name?" Kit asked, even though she knew the answer. "Not even what it might have been? A syllable? A letter?"

Jax shook his head. "We're not going to know until they hit again." Nothing scared him more. These guys weren't just about intimidation. They were perfectly okay with murder. He got up and scanned the notes on the desk, hoping to grasp at anything. At this point he would be happy to pursue even the most obscure detail as long as it meant he was doing something.

"Well, you know they're coming. So that's some sort of an advantage," Kit said, feeling stupid even as the words came out. She knew how he felt. She'd heard stories from Rachel about the fucked up things that had happened to this club. Abel was held hostage half way across the world, members had died, and she had been present when the clubhouse had been shot at.

"What's this?" he asked, picking up a pink post-it.

Kit shrugged as she glanced at it. "I was thinking about that guy, Jacob Hale from the last time I helped you out. He's got his hand in a bunch of things in Charming, figured maybe he'd be involved again? He had some dealings with this white supremist group a couple years ago. League of American Nationalists. I didn't think it was important. It seemed like a huge stretch."

Jax's stomach fell. As he re-read Kit's scribbled words, he knew that she'd figured it out. Everything seemed to fall into place. Ethan Zobelle wanted to hurt them. After all, the club had cost him the only thing that had ever mattered to him, his daughter Polly. They'd turned his right hand man against him and run him out of the country. Now he was back with a vengeance.

"I have to get back to TM. If this is really the guy who's been doing these things…you have no idea what he's capable of, Kit," he said, crumpling the note in his hand. "Come with me."

Kit nodded, sensing the seriousness of his expression. It didn't make sense to her yet but she didn't dare ask for any details now. She trusted him. "I'll meet you there. I just have to wrap some stuff up here."

"I'll wait for you out front," he told her, pulling his phone out as he left her office. He had to tell the club. His mind was racing, memories of the past surfacing, what happened to Gemma, Chibs, even them going to prison. In the back of his mind, he always knew it wouldn't be over with Zobelle. He just didn't want to believe it.

Kit started cleaning the stuff of her desk and shoving all her stuff into her bag. After a quick word with Sean, she was ready to go. Truth be told, she was a little nervous to hear about this enemy of the club. She swore to herself that she wouldn't be scared off again. She'd chosen this. As she walked out into the sunshine, she saw Jax on the phone pacing by his bike. He looked so stressed out. She just wanted to hug him and tell him it was all going to be okay, but she knew it wouldn't be.

Jax was shoving the phone in his pocket by the time Kit was in front of him. He handed the spare helmet to her wordlessly. There was nothing left to say. He was still trying to process what the hell this meant to the MC. As soon as Kit was on the bike and holding on, he took off. He was glad he was on the back of his motorcycle now. He needed to be in control of something with all the shit going on around them. He wondered how long that feeling would last before everything fell apart.

Kit tried to relax. Everyone was on edge since Jax broke her little discovery with the club. They were all on alert. Since there was no way to know when this Zobelle guy would strike again, keeping everyone on lockdown indefinitely seemed extreme. 'People had lives they couldn't just drop,' was what Tara had said when Jax suggested she stay with them. They were still arguing across the lot. Kit had come outside for some fresh air and didn't expect them to still be at it. Tara knew exactly what these LOAN guys were about so Kit found it strange she'd be arguing about the lockdown still. Maybe it was a principle thing. Jax just looked worn down from it all.

Gemma walked over from the TM office to where Kit was standing beside the clubhouse door. "Jax said you figured it all out."

Kit shrugged, modestly. "Just got lucky, really. A shot in the dark."

Gemma scoffed. "Good thing I hear you're an excellent shot." Her gaze fell to Tara and Jax. "She's out of her mind if she thinks that I'm going to risk my grandbaby's safety because she doesn't feel like being here."

"She'll come around."

"Yeah, after something bad happens. She may be a brilliant doctor but Tara never made good choices." Gemma turned back to Kit. "I've got to run to the store to get some food and stock up this place. Could use a hand."

Kit was caught a bit off guard. "Yeah sure, I can help," she replied without thinking.

"Good, we'll take my car."

Gemma led the way to her black Cadi. Kit briefly wondered if this was a power play to show Tara that she'd been replaced. Or if she hadn't figured out the Zobelle thing that Gemma would be making an effort. It was always hard to tell with the club matriarch. She could play games with the best of them but there was a good possibility that she was finally accepting Jax's and her relationship. Kit decided to put her money on that.

"So, you gonna tell me what the hell that fed did to you? Jax wouldn't say. Either you haven't told him or he's protecting you." Gemma never beat around the bush. There was no need for small talk today.

"He…He, uh…" She didn't know why it was so hard to put into words what he did. It was simple. She had spent years hating him but the words to describe everything had left her. "I don't have a family anymore," Kit said.

Gemma turned her eyes from the road for a moment and looked at her. She suddenly felt very maternal and protective over the girl. Kit was a survivor and she respected that about her. "How long ago?"

"I was fifteen."

"I don't ever want to hear you say that again. You have a family now and that's what matters, darling," Gemma told her. "Jax won't let you go through with it. You don't know what it is to kill a man and he won't want you to deal with everything that comes with that. He loves you too much to let that happen."

"I know he wants to protect me but I need to do this. I need to end it. Have you ever hated anyone for half your life? Wished that they wouldn't die because you needed to be the one who ended them? I know that for some people, murder fucks them up and they're never the same. I know myself and I know that won't be me. It'll be me if I'm not the one to pull the trigger," Kit confessed.

Gemma parked the SUV on the road in front of the local grocery store. "Remind me to stay off your bad side. You should tell Jax the whole story, Kit. He protects the people he loves and will do anything for them. He's a good man but if that is what you really want, he won't let you do it unless you lay it all out."

"I know and I will."

"And I know you think you're tough and hell, you might be, but I want you to promise me that you're no going to resist SAMCRO's protection. You don't know what happened last time Zobelle was around but he will stop at nothing to hurt us. That might mean you've got a target on your back too. Don't be stupid," Gemma said, bad memories flooding her brain. She would kill that bitch, Zobelle's daughter, again and again if she had the chance.

"I promise, Gemma," Kit told her. It was strange how there had been so much tension between the two and now it was like the matriarch had just scooped her under her wing. It was sudden but maybe people did change. All it took was time and tragedy.

Gemma smiled. "Alright, let's get some food. We've got a lot of hungry men to feed."

Jax walked into the clubhouse late in the night, or early in the morning depending on how you looked at it. It had been a useless past couple of hours. Most of the club had gone out looking for Zobelle and fishing for information. A lot of people were staying at the club, still up, drinking and having a good time although it felt like there was a damper over the whole evening. Jax made his way to the dorm room in the back.

Kit was sitting at the desk with a glass of whisky, a book laid out in front of her. Jax quickly recognized it as his father's memoir.

"Where'd you get that?" he asked. He wasn't angry or upset, just shocked. It felt invasive almost.

"My necklace fell behind the bookshelf. This fell out when I moved it. I like your father. We would've gotten along," she said before taking a sip of her drink.

Jax smiled. "He would have liked you too. How much have you had to drink?"

"Enough to build some dutch courage. I've got to tell you a story," she told him. "Do you want to hear how Kate Nix became Kit West?"

He crossed the room and sat on the bed, facing her. "More than anything."

"I must warn you that it's not a nice story. The worst one I know in fact. I hate the characters and there's not much of a happy ending." As much Kit trusted Jax, it was hard to push through. It wasn't him. She'd never told anyone everything about her life, just bits and pieces. She straightened out her thoughts and looked up into Jax's blue eyes. He gave her this warm look and took one of her hands in his, his eyes urging her to continue.

She cleared her throat. "I guess it all started with my father…"

A/N: Just got back from a month of traveling and feeling refreshed if not more than a little jet-lagged. Onto the next. Until the next. A