Hope and Change

Chapter 6: A Glimpse of the Past

As he drifted off to sleep everything was consumed by the darkness...

. . . . .

Jax would jolt awake, lifting his head from the steering wheel with a yawn as he was parked in a parking lot now, something felt off... Jax knew this place, this memory... But before he could think about it a 7 year old Zorro would gently shake his hand "J-Jax... You ok..?" he asked softly. Jax smiled slightly, he almost forgot there was a time when Zorro hadn't called him dad... Which would mean this memory would take place about 2-3 months after he had first met Ivette.

Jax nodded "I'm alright but, I just dozed off for a moment.. Are you ready to go to the amusement park?" he would gently put his hand on Zorro's reassuringly as Zorro nodded with a small smile. Jax would get out as Zorro did too, closing and locking the door as he held Zorro's hand, Zorro staying a bit behind Jax's leg as they walked into the amusement park.

After a few hours they would be walking out, though Jax would feel uneasy again... A slight feeling of dread as he froze next to his car, a very familiar voice... "YOU!" a snarl followed "Give me my son. NOW!" a rough and heavy voice... Jax turned his heart skipping a beat as Zorro hid behind his leg, Jax would put a hand in front of Zorro.

"N-No." Jax stutterd a bit. Phoenix's prime was a sight to behold for sure.. He was visibly muscular, but not body builder levels as he was slightly lean.

"Give him here or I'll kill you to get him." Phoenix snarled and walked towards Jax, Jax quickly opening the door to the car as Zorro would hop in, waiting for him to follow. Jax would give Zorro the key and in a rather unusually demanding voice.

"Lock the door. Don't unlock it until I say so." Jax looked into Zorro's eyes... Zorro nodded as he did as he was told, holding the keys in his hands. Jax took a deep breath and turned, stepping a few feet from the car as he was face to face to Phoenix now. Jax was by no means super strong... Not compared to an alpha breed like Phoenix, his height already being a disadvantage as he wasn't short enough to have an advantage from it.

Phoenix snarled "Last chance." He glared into Jax's eyes, breathing heavily.

"No. I'm with Ivette now. You abandoned them." Jax stood up straight to try and be a bit more menacing as Phoenix smirked.

"I was hoping you'd say that." He would sucker punch Jax, hard, as Jax would wince heavily. Almost doubling over, Phoenix scoffed "So you can take a surprise hit and still stand? Nice." He grabbed Jax's throat, picking him up a bit and throwing him to the ground to the right of the car. "Let's see if that durability stays." Phoenix grinned wickedly "Because I want my son. Whether or not my name is on that birth certificate. Ivette told me he was mine when I encountered her at work."

Jax would stand, not too slowly either as he coughed, taking deep breaths and looking Phoenix in the eyes "You. Abandoned. Them. He's my son now." Jax smiled a bit as that completely pissed Phoenix off. He would charge Jax, snarling louder than before as he was fully ready to kill Jax now. Once he was closer, Jax would dodge the first swing as Phoenix overswing, going past Jax before turning to throw another punch. But he would block it with his forearm and put a hand on his chest since he couldn't reach Phoenix's throat as he kicked his leg, slamming phoenix to the ground as Jax would quickly back up. "How's that?"

Phoenix would cough, having the breath knocked out of him before slamming his fist on the ground and hopping up damn near instantly. Stepping forward a bit faster than Jax expected "You haven't fought something as rare as me." He would manage to scratch Jax across the chest, cutting him a decent bit as he started bleeding, causing him to stumble back and wince. Soon after he looked up back at Phoenix, only having looked away for a moment to quickly investigate how bad his wound was, as Phoenix would heavily right hook him. This would cause Jax to nearly spin and be flung to the ground rather quickly, barely catching himself as Phoenix stepped closer, he kicked Jax in the side hard and made him roll over a bit. "Just stop. Are you really going to die for a kid who ain't your blood?" he chuckled as Jax hadn't gotten up yet, bleeding from his nose and mouth a bit as he collapsed for a moment. Phoenix would start walking towards the car, Jax would open his eyes a bit, seeing Zorro in the car... hitting the glass a bit, crying and scared...

Jax would rise, slower than before but not too slow by any means "Phoenix!" Jax coughed a bit of blood up, wiping his mouth "Yes. I will die for him if I have too. I told him I would protect him and always be there... I won't break that promise." He glared into Phoenix's eyes as he had turned around now.

Phoenix started walking back to Jax, and raised his arms as Jax threw a punch, but quickly faked it out and threw a side kick, nailing Phoenix in the side as he actually stumbled a little bit. "You cheeky bastard." Phoenix would throw a straight punch, aiming for Jax's snout as Jax surprisingly grabbed it, quickly turning and flipping Phoenix over his shoulder with ease after kicking his leg out. Phoenix would slam into the ground, but quickly flip over, slamming his fist into the ground again as he rose "HIT ME YOU BITCH!" he barked out. Jax would back up, keeping his arms up in a ready position as Phoenix now did the same, glaring at Jax and now figuring out a straight assault won't easily take him down. Jax smirked a bit as he spun, throwing a kick directly into Phoenix's chest. Phoenix would move a bit, letting out a heavy breath as he grabbed Jax's leg, spinning a bit and chucking him into the car as it would dent when Jax made contact. Jax would cough up a good bit of blood, Zorro could slightly be heard through his crying, begging Jax to get back up... More or less to run, Jax would get up, slowly now as he heard Zorro... He turned, putting his hand on the glass where Zorro had his on the glass... Jax smiled a bit and whispered "I love you..." this would cause Zorro's ears to lower as he started nearly screaming...

Jax turned leaving a slight bloody handprint on the window as he stared at Phoenix "Come on then..." he sounded weaker now but still determined as Phoenix stepped closer, throwing his own kick. Jax would be a little slow to react but just in time he grabbed Phoenix's leg quickly pulling him close before slamming his fist into Phoenix's chest and pulling his leg up. Causing Phoenix to slam into the ground again as Jax would pull something out of its pocket quickly jabbing it into Phoenix's stomach twice as Phoenix howled. Pouncing up from adrenaline Phoenix grabbed Jax's throat, slamming him into the car twice before raising his left hand. Hitting Jax as hard as he possibly could before standing and stumbling back after letting go of Jax "You play dirty you pussy." Phoenix snarled "Next time I will too." He stumbled a bit as he held his stomach where he had been stabbed twice, rather quickly leaving before he would bleed out.

Zorro quickly got out of the car, crying heavily still as he went to Jax who was leaning against the passenger car door, his head down and shallowly breathing... "J-Jax..?" Zorro asked quickly throughout his crying... Hugging him tightly as he cried... Jax wouldn't move for a bit as Zorro would shake his head slightly as he cried.. "Dad... Please get up.... Please..." he cried...

Jax would very slowly raise a hand, putting it on Zorro's back very weakly, pulling him into a hug and holding Zorro in his lap as he cried... "Shh.. I'm here bud... I always will be.." He would slowly pull his phone out "Call your mother... and..." everything would go black as from there it was fuzzy from going in and out of consciousness...

Jax would hear Zorro.. Calling for him as he felt a shake "Dad-! Dad wake up-!"...

. . . . .

Jax would jolt up sitting up in bed as Zorro and Aurora were next to him "Dad are you ok-? You were whimpering and snarling and-" Jax just hugged Zorro tightly, very tightly as he let out shallow slightly panicked breaths... Zorro would quickly realize, and hugged him back tightly... "I love you dad... Thank you..." Zorro said quietly, causing Jax to cry quietly into Zorro's shoulder, smiling softly.

"I love you too bud... I always have..." Jax said quietly through the quiet crying, Aurora crawling up onto the bed and hugging him too, as he shook slightly. That nightmare always haunts Jax, one wrong move or if he hadn't played dirty and Jax knew he wouldn't be here and god knows where Zorro would be and if he'd be ok...