Chapter 41: June Wedding

A/N: Hey guys. We are quickly approaching the end of Season 3. This Chapter coincides with Season 3 Episode 12. This one is probably going to be a two parter. If you guys want a recap at the beginning of Season 4 let me know. I'm supposed to work Sunday. Not sure if that's gonna happen. My job has been closed since Monday for repairs. Anyway on to the next chapter. The boys are home, they got Abel. Time to find the girls.

Tig POV

The boys had just pulled into the lot and I knew thing were about to get crazy. Neither Jax or Opie had been happy when I'd told them about the girls. But fortunately we had more information about Bella's disappearance now than we did before. I walked across the lot with Kozik and we greeted them as they climbed out of the van. "Hey boys, welcome home." I said.

"Hey." Clay said. I knew they had to be tired.

"Welcome home. Come on. All of you." I said as we made our way back into the clubhouse.

"Anything on Tara?" Jax asked me.

"Bella?" Opie asked joining the conversation.

I knew he was worried about her. Hell, I was worried about her. I ran a hand over my face. "As for Tara…ATF, Charming PD are digging into Salazar. They talked to that aunt who owned that house, and they're rattling a few of that Calavaras. So far they got nothing. As for Bells, we pulled security footage and it was definitely the redhead that grabbed her. You can see the redhead pull on the lot, walk into the office and then a few minutes later they both walk out and get in the car. Was gonna get Juice to see if get could find out if Jimmy's got any properties here." I said.

They both nodded. "All right. I'll check in with Unser. You see where Stahl is at." Clay said issuing orders. "Give Juice the security footage. Have him go over and look into any safe houses that Jimmy might have."

We all nodded. "We got a complication." Kozik said. We turned around and he was pointing at the camera monitors. Alvarez and a couple of his guys had pulled into the parking lot. "Alvarez found out that the cops are all over Salazar. Now if Hector gets picked up, he could seriously blow a whistle on this heroin operation."

"If the Mayans are looking for Salazar, they're not gonna give a shit about protecting Tara." Jax said.

Gemma POV

Everyone was walking around the clubhouse. I was walking around carrying Abel. I looked around the room. Tigger and Kozik seemed like they were actually getting along. "Well, that seems better." Bobby pointed out.

"Good. 'Cause we're gonna need Kozik. And you," Clay said pointing at me. "We're gonna have to get you up to the cabin. You got to get out of sight."

I shook my head. "No. I want to stay here." I said, putting my foot down.

"Piney's already up there, waiting for you." Bobby said.

"Oh let him wait." I said, bouncing Abel.

"Gem…"

"Nobody knows I'm back. I just want to sleep in my own bed." I told them.

"We'll lock down the garage. She'll be safe." Jax told them.

Clay sighs. "Okay. For now." He said. I walked over and kissed his cheek.

I saw Lyla and walked over asking her to take the baby. Jax had walked to the dorm rooms to drop his stuff. I needed to talk to him. Tig stopped me before I could. He pointed to where Lyla was holding Abel and talking to Chibs. "She's been great. Big help with both our girls gone." Tig told me. I nodded. "How is he?" Tig asked me.

"Lot of shit happened over there Tigger. Find my girls." I told him, touching his cheek.

I walked back to Jax's dorm room to see him coming out of the bathroom. "Don't get used to staying here. You're going home with your son and your old lady." I told him.

"Yes, ma'am." He said.

"Hey sit down." I said, sitting on his bed. He sat beside me. He sighs. "I need you to tell me what's going on with Stahl."

"Ma, we've been through this." He said.

"You're doing this for me, Jackson. I think I got a right to know." I said.

"You'll find out soon enough. You have to trust me." Jax said.

"I can't protect you from Clay if he finds out. And if you go to jail with them knowing you're a rat, you'll be dead in a day." I told him.

I put his hand on my knee. "Look, I promise, everyone is gonna be okay." He said.

The guys had been in and out most of the day. They'd split into two groups. Jax and some of the guys were trying to track down Tara and Salazar while Opie and the others were trying to track down leads about any safe houses that Jimmy might have. I was sitting in the office when Opie walked in. I looked up at him. I already knew the answer but I had to ask. "Anything?"

He shook his head. He sat on the couch across from me. "Can I ask you something?" He said and I nodded. "Me and Bells…what do you make of it?" He asked.

I leaned back in my chair. "I mean, obviously I'm a little biased but I remember what things were like with you and Donna. She was constantly trying to get you to choose between the club and her. It wasn't fair to you. Bells…she was dealt a raw hand. My sister…never should have been a mother, but I guess in a way she did the best thing…leaving Bells with Charlie. You being the first one to meet her, the day she came to town…I think it was supposed to happen. You were both lost. You both needed someone that you could vent to." I told him.

"My kids have loved her since that first night that she came over and watched them." He said.

"She's good with them." I told him, thinking about the conversations that I've had with Bells but also Kenny and Ellie.

"Yeah she is." He said with a small smile on his face. "Before we left, Bella was scared. All of this Italian stuff that's been going on, it's had her on edge. I hated that I had to go to Ireland, but she knew that Jax needed me. I didn't know how to make her feel safe…and now knowing that Jimmy's responsible for not only Abel but Bella too…" He trailed off. I don't think even he knew what he was trying to say.

"You could always marry her." I said. He looked up at me. I could see the love and devotion in his eyes for her. "She needs the security. It's not about the illegal side of things that you guys do that can keep her safe. She just needs to know that she's it for you." I told him.

He nodded. "Think Tig would be okay with it?" He asked me with that crooked smile that he's worn since he was thirteen.

I smiled at him. "Only one way to find out." I told him, right as Tig came through the door.

"Everything okay?" Tig asked. We both nodded. "We think we found her. Let's go get our girl."

Clay POV

I'd gone to talk to Unser. Things had been tense for a while. "I'm really glad you found the kid." Unser said.

"Yeah, thanks." I said.

"Gemma?" He asked. I knew that he cared about her.

I sighed. "Bail hearing is set for two days from now. I don't know when I'm gonna see her again. She ain't going anywhere." I told him.

He nodded. "Okay. I'll make sure we stay clear." He said and I nodded.

"So, Tig fills me in on Hale and the department. Sanwa Sheriffs. That a done deal?" I asked him.

"If I can tie Hale to Lumpy's death, we got a shot at keeping Charming PD. Sheriffs take over Charming, and…it's a different town. A whole new ball game for SAMCRO." He said.

"So, how do we prove that Hale's dirty?" I asked him.

"We gotta take Salazar alive. Ratting on Hale is the first card he'll play." Unser said.

I nodded. "Okay, I'll make sure my guys know." I went to stand up and make my way to the door. "Thanks for Gemma." I said.

"Yeah."

Jax POV

When Clay walked out of Unser's office, I was standing in the hallway. I saw Stahl walking toward us. "Look who it is. My favorite frequent fliers." She said.

I rolled my eyes. Guess it's game time. "I'll meet you back at the clubhouse." I told Clay. He nodded. I followed Stahl into her office.

"Where's O'Phelan?" She asked.

"MIA. Just like Tara and Bella. Thought you had a tail on Bella?" I said.

She threw her hands up. "I'm not sure what happened there." She said. "Look, Salazar is still in the area. We've got it locked down. We will find her. I know that you're taking a bit of an emotional beating here, Jax, and I'm sorry about that, but you and I have a lot at stake here." She said. God, she was such a bitch.

"The Irish gave Jimmy safe passage out of Belfast in exchange for my kid. He's up north with the Russians." I told her.

"Putlova?" She asked.

I nodded. "Yeah. We're into him. We got a brother in maximum security. Lenny the Pimp." I told her.

"Lenny Janowitz. The scumbag who killed three ATF agents?"

"Allegedly. Lenny's got direct ties to the Russians." I told her. I ran a hand over my face. I was so ready for this shit to be done. "He's the real source. But he's got no visitation rights, so we gotta use Otto to reach out to him." I said.

"Otto's in the hole." She said.

"He's out tomorrow. If you can arrange for Lenny and Otto to get some yard time together we might get a lead on where Putlova has Jimmy stashed." I said.

"All right, well, I'll see what I can do." She said grabbing a folder. She handed it to me. "In the meantime, I'd like you to take a look at these. Former high-ranking leaders of the IRA now make up the ruling council of the real IRA. Did you have any contact with any other these guys?" She asked me.

I opened the folder, looking through the pages. "Few of them look familiar. I'll be able to focus when Tara's safe." I told her.

"We don't have time for this." Stahl said. I could tell that her patience was wearing thin. I didn't really care though.

I leaned closer to her desk. "The sooner we find Tara, the sooner I find Jimmy." I told her.

Bella POV

Victoria had tied me to a chair and left. She said that she'd gotten a call from Donny (Jimmy's right hand), saying that they needed to meet up. So she'd tied me to the chair and left. I was sure that my dad was freaking out my now. The whole club probably was. I had no idea what was going on. Hell, I didn't even know what day it was. I just hoped that somebody would figure out where I was and come get me.

I was bored so I'd started counting the concrete tiles on the far wall when I heard the front door slam open. "Victoria, that you? Tell me you brought me something to eat!" I yelled, knowing that it would annoy her. She hated when I yelled.

I heard footsteps but because of where she'd put the chair I couldn't turn around and see who it was. "Not Victoria." The voice said. I knew that voice.

The person walked towards me until I could see them. "Ope!" I said.

He kneeled down in front of me and quickly until my wrists and then my ankles. As soon as they were free, Opie scooped me up and I wrapped my arms around his neck and I kissed him as hard as I could. When I pulled back because I needed to breathe, I smiled at him. "Let's get you out of here." He said and I nodded.

Gemma POV

The boys had convinced me to go home and relax until we heard something about either one of the girls. I was surprised when Wayne came in through my back door. "Hey." I said as he came in through the kitchen.

"Hey. I just wanted to come by and make sure you're okay." He said.

I pointed to the chair next to me and he sat down. "Yeah. Just last week, you were pulling a gun on me." I said to him.

"Technically, I pulled it on Tig." He said.

I handed him the joint I was smoking. "Right."

"Everything's shit side up, sweetheart. This last year or so, this-this town…this…it can't catch it's breath." Wayne said. I knew what he meant.

"It'll settle. It always does." I told him.

"Not this time. It's all going away." He said. I could see the pain in his eyes. "I'm sorry."

I nodded. "It's okay." I knew that I needed to tell him. He was the only chance I had at keeping all of the boys safe. "Jax is in trouble. Cut some kind of deal with Stahl." I told him.

"What's he giving her?" He asked me.

"I'm not sure." I said.

"Well, the ATF is on this thing with Tara. Stahl's working out of the station house. I could, uh… I could talk to her, feel her out." He said.

I shook my head. "No. No, better not. Everyone needs to focus on- on finding Tara." I told him.

Opie POV

When we'd gotten Bells into the van, I'd asked her if she was okay. Did she need to go to the hospital. She assured me that she was okay. She told me that Victoria hadn't hurt her nor had she drugged her. Tig and I were both relieved at that. She asked us about Ireland and we gave her the cliff notes. Abel was fine and was with Gemma at her house. I couldn't tell her about Tara. Not till we got to Gemma's house. She would be trying to help, and that wouldn't help anybody.

When we pulled into Gemma's driveway, we walked in, Gemma greeting us in the kitchen. She pulled Bells into a hug. "Are you okay, baby? We were worried when we got that call from your dad." Gemma said to her.

When she pulled back from her hug with Gemma, she snuggled back into my side. "I'm fine. Victoria didn't hurt me. But I do need to tell everyone some information. It might be helpful." She told Gemma.

I looked over my shoulder at Tig and he nodded. He stepped out to call Clay and get an update. "Babe, I gotta tell you something." I said.

She looked up at me. "What is it? Kenny? Ellie?" She asked me.

I shook my head. "Their fine. Their still with my mom." I told her and she nodded.

"It's about Tara." I said. Her face fell. "She's been kidnapped. Happened the same time as you." I told her.

She let go of me and took a step back. "So, while you guys were in Ireland, tracking down Abel…Tara and I were here getting ourselves kidnapped." She said and I nodded. I could see the tears building in her eyes. Something had happened between her and Tara and she was feeling guilty.

After a little bit, I took Bella home so that she could take a shower and get something to eat while we waited on news about Tara.

Gemma POV

I was so happy that Bella was home. Everything always made sense with her around. Now we just had to get Tara home. Then our family would be complete again. I'd managed to sneak away from everyone and I'd driven over to Charming PD to wait for Stahl. It was a bad idea for Jax to be getting involved with her. As soon as I saw her I made my move. "Get in the car." I saw pulling my gun on her.

"Really?" She asked me. I nodded. She climbed in the car.

"Gun." I said and she handed me her gun. I pulled out of the parking lot and drove a little bit before I pulled over. "What are you doing with Jax?" I asked her.

"What did he tell you?" Stahl asked.

"Nothing. Which means it's bad." I said.

"Your son has his priorities. Family." She said.

"My son isn't thinking straight. And I'm sure whatever he's got cooking with is only gonna hurt this family." I told her.

"What do you want?" She asked me.

"Kill the deal." I told her.

"It's not your decision." She said, with a slight smirk.

"Kill the deal, or I turn myself in to the U.S. Attorney and tell him my statement was a pack of lies you fed me. I'm sure that agent you're hanging all the blame on will have no problem backing me up on that." I said.

"You have no idea what you're stepping on here, Gemma." Stahl said.

"End the deal…or I end your career." I told her. "Now…get out."

Jax POV

Unser had called us, saying that someone had called in a possible lead, so we'd gone to meet up with him. We were waiting for the all clear. "Left it pretty bad with her, didn't you?" Bobby asked me.

I nodded. "We got to find her, Bobby." I told him.

"Yeah. Well, we just traveled halfway around the world to get your boy. Tara should be a walk in the park." Bobby said.

"Anything?" I asked as Unser made his way over to us.

"Uh, looks like the girlfriend bled out, other victim was bludgeoned. Laurie Allen. Never made it home from work." Unser said.

"Salazar killed her for the ride." Clay said.

"Probably. Grey Lexus. We put out an APB." Unser told us.

We headed back to the clubhouse. Ope had called and told us that they'd found Bella and that she was okay. Ope had taken Bella home so that she could get cleaned up. He and Bella were gonna wait at the house till we got word about Tara.

A short while later, we got a call from Unser. Salazar was holding Tara and Jacob Hale hostage in his office building. We all jumped on our bikes and headed over there. "What's happening?" Clay asked as we approached Unser and Stahl.

"Uh, sheriff's taking over. Negotiator's setting up a call with Salazar." Unser said.

"If it was Tara who killed this girl, a negotiator ain't gonna do shit." I said.

"Jax, they know what they're doing." Unswer said.

"Salazar's gonna hurt her!" I yelled.

"All right, all right, look, as far as we know, Tara is fine." Stahl said. "If he was gonna hurt her, he would have done so already. Now we will get her back."

Unser and Stahl walked away. "You need to keep it together, son." Clay said.

"Yeah." I said. We heard motorcycles approaching and we turned to look. Mayans. Or a few at least.

"What are we gonna do about them?" Bobby asked.

"Shit." I said.

"Buy 'em some popcorn. Ain't nothin any of us are gonna be able to do now." Clay said.

The next thing I know, we're being told about Salazar's demands. That he'll let Tara go if I go in. We all know that the only reason he wants me to come in is so that he can kill me. But I got news for him, that ain't happening. When I got inside, things quickly escalated. The next thing I know, I'm chasing Salazar out of Hale's office and down a hallway. We struggled for a little bit. He even tried to take my head off with an ax. Fortunately for me I'm quicker and I stabbed him, killing him instantly. At least now it was over.

They'd called an ambulance for Tara and Hale. I'd followed the ambulance to the hospital so that I could make sure that Tara and the baby were okay.

When we finally made it to Gemma's house, Bella and Opie were there waiting with her. Bells and Tara had immediately started hugging both apologizing to each other. When they were done, Tara walked over to my mother and hugged her. Finally her eyes settled on Abel. She started crying again. I think they were happy tears. To finally be able to see for herself that Abel was okay. "The baby's fine." I told Ma.

"I know." She said kissing my cheek.

I'd left Tara and Abel with the others while I'd gone to meet with Stahl. I'd be so happy when all of this was over. When I walked into her office she looked up at me. "Everybody okay?" She asked me.

I nodded. "Yeah. You?" I asked, knowing that her partner had been killed.

"Getting through it. I, uh, I have to give my statement to our I.A. group." She said.

"I'm sorry about Tyler." I told her.

"Yeah…Look, you and I need to finish what we started here, Jax." She said.

I nodded. "I know."

"We just got word that Jimmy O is draining his shadow accounts out here. He's gonna jump." She said.

"Then set up a meeting with Lenny and Otto. We'll find Jimmy. Finish all this." I said.

"Let's just hope that happens before your mother tanks the whole thing." She said and I looked at her confused. "She took me at gunpoint today. Told me to kill the deal with you or she would turn herself in and tell the U.S. attorney that I made her lie under oath."

I sighed. "Sorry. She is afraid of what will happen if the club finds out about this." I told her.

"Look, I promise they won't find out if we do it the right way. Now, I need the real IRA council, all right? You give me names, I clear your mother. You give me Jimmy, I clear your club." She said.

Bella POV

I was so happy right now. They'd found Tara safe and sound. Her and the baby were okay. Abel was okay. I'm okay.

When Opie and I had left Gemma's we'd gone by the clubhouse to see the rest of the guys. Dad wouldn't stop hugging me. It's like he was afraid that I'd disappear again. After, we'd talked to everyone, Ope led me up to the roof.

We were sitting there just looking out over everything. It was beautiful. "It's nice up here." I told him.

I looked over at him and he was holding up a ring. I couldn't believe it. "I love you Bella, I think I have since that first day at the park. I hate that I had to go to Ireland, that I wasn't here to protect you…but we both knew that Jax needed me. When I got that call from Tig…I was so scared. I was afraid that I wasn't going to see you again. I'm not saying this because I fear death or anything like that…I'm saying it because I love you. For the next few days, I got to do a few things, and…I'm not sure how it's all going to land. Everything's changing." He said.

"What are you talking about?" I asked him.

"Marry me." He said. I gasped.

Stahl POV

I was sitting in an interrogation room, starting my interview with IAD. "And, uh then I returned fire. I don't know if I hit anyone. They ran to the car and took off. It was a late-model grey Honda." I said.

"Okay. Were they wearing colors?" The IAD officer asked me.

"No. I wasn't close enough to see any ink, you know, so I couldn't tell if they were part of the Calaveras or the Mayans or some other crew." I told him.

"Okay good. Um, anything else?" He asked.

"Yes. I need to disclose something. Agent Tyler and I were having a … relationship. Romantic. It was new, so we didn't have time to document. Which makes what I'm about to tell you that much more painful. Amy…Agent Tyler…confessed something to me today, before she died." I said.

"What was the confession, Agent Stahl?"

"It is about what happened last month at the safe house with Edmond Hayes." I said.

"Continue."

"Uh, she was first on the scene. I arrived and she recounted what had happened. I made the call, filed the report, because I'm primary and…well… she told me today that it was all a lie." I said.

"What happened at the safe house?" He asked.

"She got into an argument with Edmond Hayes. He…hit her. And then he tried to escape. And she shot him in the back. Then she hid when Gemma Teller showed up. And she witnessed Gemma kill Polly Zobelle in self-defense. And then she decided to frame Gemma…for the murder of Edmond Hayes."

"To protect her from the dirty kill?" He asked me.

I started crying. "No. To protect me. She knew how important this case was to my career. And she didn't want to disappoint me." I said.

"So everything in Gemma Teller's statement was true?" He asked.

I sniffled. "Yes. Gemma was wrongly charged." I said.