The turmoil of the hospital rushed past him, bouncing off him as he paced up and down the white, depressing hallway. His hands kept slipping through his slicked back hair, some strands had already loosened and were hanging in his face from all the ruffling.

His thoughts could hardly be silenced so many were buzzing around in his head, but then there were seconds when it was completely quiet in his head and his body was filled with nothing more than revenge against his mother.

Dawn, who was waiting with him for a doctor to finally come and tell them what was wrong with Cleo, had tried everything to calm Jax down a bit, although she herself was distraught and had a hard time thinking positive. Enrico was still at the police station and would have to remain there until Cleo was able to make a statement to confirm that Enrico had acted out of pure self defense.

But if she would lose her nerve now too, that wouldn't help anyone. Again she tried to get Jax to stop by putting a hand on his arm and looking at him intensely, asking him to look at him as well. For a moment he gave her the attention she wanted.

"Look, she'll be fine. Cleo's been through worse", the brunette said calmly but the nervousness in her eyes gave away that she wasn't as optimistic as she tried to be.

"It's not the injuries I'm worried about, Dawn! Her father pulled a gun on our daughter, she had to watch him threaten a newborn baby. Then she watched him getting shot. And we don't even know if that's all that happened", he scoffed, his voice cracking towards the end.

Because of him Cleo had been through so much shit already that he really had no idea how to make up for it. Even though it was her father that showed up, it was because his mother made him. When he arrived at the hospital he had a quick moment where he was allowed to talk to Cleo, that's when she told him what happened.

She was still too weak to tell him everything, yet she managed to give him enough information to let him know what had happened and promised him to explain the rest once she's back on her feet, which was hopefully soon.

After Enrico called the ambulance he made sure to call Dawn and let her know that the paramedics had to get the police involved, which he knew that would happen the moment he gave them a call. And as much as he hated to talk to the Cops, this time he had to.

"I know I know", Dawn nodded quickly. "And she'll need some time to get over this but she has you, Jax."

The blonde ran a hand over his face, letting out a deep sigh. Deep down he knew she was right. Cleo would recover from this but the events would always come back somehow. In her dreams, flashbacks caused by the trauma, every time she walked into their house.

No, he couldn't let that happen. Gemma needed to go and then he needed to get his family out of this poisonous town and away from all the bad memories. He had made his choice, now all he had to do was implement it.

"Can you do me a favor?", he asked the brunette.

Dawn crossed her arms and looked at him with a frown, her feeling telling her this wasn't going anywhere good. "Depends. If you're going to do something stupid then no."

"Gemma needs to go, you know that. Carlos said she showed up at his house, maybe she's still there. I need to do this and you need to stay with Cleo until I'm back. Dawn..please", he sighed.

Pressing her lips together while she tried to resist the pleading look on Jax face, his eyes holding a sadness that even touched her soul. This was one though decision she had to make here. Let him go and kill Gemma, which he might never recover from. Or do everything in her power to make him stay and risk Gemma escaping again and continuing to be a danger to her best friend and the kids.

"Let Happy do it, please", she lowered her voice, looking over her shoulder a few times in case a nurse or a doctor walked past them. "Cleo needs you more than she needs anyone else. You're her rock and if she'll lose you, she'll lose herself also."

Jax started pacing around again, his hands back in his hair as he ruffled them. Overwhelmed with the whole situation, he kicked a chair that stood in the hallway earning a warning look from a nurse that walked past him. Dawn wasn't wrong and he knew that, but how was he supposed to get over his anger if it wasn't him pulling the trigger?

"Hap, we're leaving!" Jax nodded the SAA, who followed Jax before on Chibs' order and now sat at one of the chairs, over and turned around to face Dawn again, his gaze so intense that a chill ran down her spine. "You make sure to stay with Cleo until she's allowed to leave. I'm not sure when I'll be back but I want you to take her to your apartment. Don't let her go back to the house."

"You're making a mistake, Jax. Don't give Gemma that much power over you!" It was too late. The blonde already turned on his heel and walked down the long hallway, the sound of his and Happy's quick and heavy steps bouncing off the walls leaving her in despair.

⸺

By now night had fallen over Charming, making it easier for Jax and Happy to get into Cleo's father's house. As they watched the snobby building from the outside and saw light inside, they knew Gemma was inside. Why should Carlos' employees be there when he wasn't there himself? It could only be the woman Jax wanted to see dead and knowing that Gemma was only a few feet away from him but had no idea that he would be standing in front of her soon gave him a sense of power and satisfaction.

The rocks under his shoes crunched as he walked up the rocky path to the gate, Happy always behind him with his hand resting on his gun just in case. It wasn't easy to break through the security/alarm system of the house, but Juice had already hacked into the system from the clubhouse so that the two men could easily enter without being noticed.

Jax and Happy both sneaked up to the door without being spotted by Gemma through the large windows. When Jax looked through one of them and saw that his mother was actually in the house, he felt a tingling in his whole body. It was as if he were on a hunt, except that his prey wasn't an animal but his mother.

"Okay, let's go in. If she tries to escape, stop her. She can't get away again," Jax said seriously, his voice lowered but assertive. This had to work.

"Got it, boss", Happy rasped.

"Good." Jax nodded one more time, probably more to himself to reassure himself that what he was doing here was okay.

Of course it wasn't okay. He would kill his mother in a few moments instead of just handing her over to the police like normal people would. But he and his club weren't normal. This was their way of payback.

Jax kicked in the door with a firm kick, the bang of the door swinging open made Gemma flinch hard. The older woman was on her feet in less than a second, swallowing heavily as her son and Happy stood in front of her. She thought the hateful look that had been on Jax's face back when he'd banished her from town was bad. But his current look was a lot worse. Vengeful, hateful, cold and disgusted. His hair messed up and the dimmed light made his features appear even harder and more monstrous. Not even Happy's typical intimidating look could keep up with Jax' current one.

"I thought we'd find you here", he stated simply and took slow steps towards her, his gaze never leaving her. "You know what's going to happen now."

"Jackson, let me explain." Gemma's trembling hands reached for his face, surprised he let her touch him.

The blonde felt disgusted by her touch, yet he saw it as a punishment for not being able to protect his family properly. "There's nothing to explain, Gemma."

Her gaze dropped when he called her by her name instead of calling her Mom, but she probably deserved that. It angered her greatly that Carlos wasn't good enough to get one damn job done. He only had to make Cleo leave Jax. It was one god damn job.

"Yes, there is", she insisted firmly. "I really wanted to give Cleo⸺"

"Don't take her name in your mouth", he said through gritted teeth, his disgusted look turned into a deadly, menacing look.

Gemma swallowed before she gave him a quick nod and eventually kept talking. "I wanted to give her a chance but then I saw the danger she brought with her. I was just trying to protect you but she didn't listen to my threats. She never listened", the woman laughed harshly, pulled away from Jax and rested her hands on her hips.

"And then you cut me out of your life", she added bitterly.

Jax snorted a bitter laugh and pulled his gun out of the holster on his belt, backed Gemma into a corner and scowled down at the frightened yet stubborn woman. "You handed me the scissors, mom", he spat the last word at her.

"I just wanted to protect you and my babies", she said in a whisper, covering her mouth with her hands to muffle the sobs.

"They were never your babies, never will be. Once again you put my family in danger. First Cleo and my boys, now Cleo and my little girl", he seethed, his face only inches away from hers. "If this is you showing how much you love me and your grandkids, then you have a fucking sick way of showing how much you love us."

The matriarch closed her eyes, nodding slightly. She knew that for some people her love was too much, too intent and exhausting. Why couldn't anyone appreciate how important they were to her? She would never go that far for anyone she didn't love so much. But if this was her end now, she was okay with dying. By the hand of her son. She knew deep down that Jax could never live with it and as much as it hurt her to admit that she would take her son to the grave, she was glad he would be free of Cleo. He could find his peace. Cleo wouldn't last long without Jax, so the kids wouldn't stay with her for long and would be given into better hands. So Gemma got what she wanted, somehow.

Gemma steadied herself and cleared her throat, looking into Jax cold eyes, her own filled with tears. The words she was about to speak now were probably the most truthful she ever spoke. Careful, she put a hand against his cheek, smiling sadly. "I love you, Jackson. From the deepest, purest part of my heart. You have to do this. It's who we are sweetheart. It's okay, my baby boy. It's time. I'm ready."

Jax stepped back, his breath trembling. The moment he pointed the gun at his mother's head, who was still looking at him with understanding, tears welled up in his eyes. He wanted nothing more than to pull that fucking trigger, but he couldn't. All the memories he had with her when he was a kid, how well they used to get along and how much he used to love her made it impossible for him to put a bullet in her head. If he did that, he would lose himself⸺ he just realized that. And suddenly Dawn's words played in his head again.

"I won't let you ruin my life anymore." Jax stepped back even more, putting his gun back into the holster. He made his final decision. The decision not to kill her himself and give her what she wanted. "You'll be gone in a few seconds and I'll walk out of that house and get my Old Lady and our kids out of this town as soon as possible. Cleo's going to adopt them, be their mom also on paper and you can't do shit about it. And you know what satisfies me the most? To know that my little girl will never meet her psychotic grandmother."

The pure pain and shock on Gemma's face gave him everything he needed. The tears running down her face and falling to the ground made him feel better than it should. For once his mother was speechless, something he never managed to do before. He then turned around and gave Happy a nod, motioning to him that it was time for Gemma to go.

As Happy pulled his gun at Gemma and shot her in the head, Jax stood there with his hands folded in front of him, watching how the walls behind Gemma were now covered in her blood. As hard as he tried, he felt nothing as he watched her body fall down onto the marble floor. It was done. His family was free. Now he just had to give them the new start they deserved.

⸺

authors note; so, I really thought long about this. I wanted Jax to pull the trigger but I just knew he would never come back from that. So I decided to do it like this. I hope it's realistic. Please leave feedback, it always keeps me motivated! 🖤