Venomous (Jax Teller)

nine

Julia drowned her pancakes in a layer of butter and syrup with a grin, "Remember when we were kids and I'd sneak you out here?"

Eli laughed, "Yeah, we'd drink all the milkshakes we wanted until we were throwing up. Then we'd stuff our faces with pancakes and throw up again."

Julia nearly choked on her food from the laughter, "Oh my God, it was horrible. Those poor fucking waitresses hated our guts."

"Hey, you were the one throwing up on the table! At least I had the decency to run to a trash can."

"Whatever, man. Look, I wanted to talk to you about something," Julia calmed down, leaning her arms on the table.

"Shit, what'd you do this time?" he looked amused.

"I'm getting a place for mom and I for when she gets out in a few months. She's gonna need somewhere to stay while she gets on her feet, and I can't keep living at Vince's place."

Eli's expression dropped, "You're fucking joking, Jules. After all the shit she put you through, you still wanna hold her hand?"

Julia reminded herself once more that he didn't know the truth, "I know you hate her, Eli, but this isn't your decision to make."

"Fine. It isn't. You're right. But I'm looking out for you. I don't want all that PTSD shit getting worse because she's around all the time."

The air around them became awkward and tense as they began to play with their food. They already knew this conversation wasn't going to go anywhere good from there.

Eli looked up, "I started talking to Tara like you told me to."

"No shit? How's it going?"

"It's going good. We went out to dinner. Talked. Caught up. I liked it. I think she did too," Eli shrugged.

Julia smiled brightly, "No, no, that's good, Eli. Tara's good for you."

"You saying that because you mean it or because you wanna make sure Tara doesn't try crawling back to Jax?" Eli asked, only half-joking.

"Oh, come on. Why is everyone up my ass about Jax?"

"Because you two have had a thing for each other practically since you met."

"That's bullshit. Jax adored Tara," Julia shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

"Only because you wouldn't open up. You still won't 'cause you're too scared he's gonna break your heart. You and I both know he's the last person who ever would. If he did, Vince would bury his ass. So would I, so would you. Hell, even Gemma would be pissed."

Julia didn't know how to respond. She didn't want to admit the possibility. She didn't want to think that the person she had liked for years could ever like her back.

Julia pulled out her phone when she got a message from Vince.

'Got trouble. Club meeting. You're wanted there.' - Vince

Julia sighed, "I gotta head out."

"I get it. Me too."

Julia hugged her brother tight, "It was good to meet up, Eli. Wish we could do it more often."

They never got to just sit with each other any more. Julia was with the outlaws, Eli was with the cops. It didn't mix well.

"One more thing, Julie. Just...things are starting to heat up around here after the warehouse. Be careful."

"I will."

~

"We've taken every precaution to stay out of ATF's crosshairs. No busts, no investigations for five years. We don't know this guy's here for us."

Julia had her head down as she tried to reel in her frustrations. The last thing they needed was a federal officer rolling into town and getting into their business.

"Hale flagged Bluebird as our gun warehouse," Jax pointed out, "He's pissed off we made Unser crush the case, and he called in the feds. I think it's gotta be about us."

"What else would it be about?" Julia muttered.

Bobby nodded in agreement, "Be my guess."

"And we've got a garage full of 25 to life," Tig said.

"Any legit place we store those guns is a straight line back to us."

"Can't Rosen get us some storage short term?" Bobby suggested.

"He's killing Bluebird, man. He's setting up a dummy corp. Takes a few weeks."

"We got that call from Jury last week," Jax said.

Jury was an old friend of John Teller's. They had done service together. Julia was sure Vince and him had worked together a few times too.

"Mayan's pressing the Devil's Tribe to pay a vig. To keep running book and pussy out of Nevada. Look, maybe I do head to Indian Hills, offer Jury some advice. He offers our AKs a safe house."

"No," Juice shook his head, "No, that's a risky ride, brother. Northern Nevada is Mayan's territory. They're still looking to settle the score from our little raid."

Julia wished she could speak up and voice her disagreement too, but, as much as she hated it, it wasn't a bad plan. And as much as she wanted to protect Jax, he was a big boy and he was a Son. This was his job and she couldn't keep him from that.

"The Mayans know that the Tribe's a brother club. Part of asking for that vig is shitting on us. They knew Jury would call. They're gonna be watching."

Jax nodded, "That's what I'm saying. That's why just me and you go. Under the radar. We'll bring the guns in the same way."

"I'm in too," Vince voiced, giving a nod to Julia to assure her he had Jax's back.

"And you think you could bring Jury on board?" Clay asked.

"Shit. My dad saved his ass in Tay Ninh. He owes the Tellers a chit. Look, man. We're not gonna go cowboy. I promise."

"Promise," Bobby added almost sarcastically.

"I'll keep 'em in line," Vincc said.

Clay finally gave in, "Low profile. I don't want any Mexicans knowing we crossed into NV. They pull this off, I want you and Juice driving the barrels."

Tig nodded, "Done. We'll need something big though."

"I'll call Unser."

Once Julia noted that the meeting was over, she was the first to leave. She couldn't pretend she was happy about this whole thing. It was smart, but dangerous. If the Mayans caught on, there could be heavy fire on them.

"You ok?" Jax asked her as he followed her outside.

"All good here."

Jax took her arm, "Hey. We're gonna be fine, Jules. It's just in and out. A few days max and I'll be right back here."

"I know the job, Jax. I'm not gonna sit here and beg you guys to stay or any of that shit. But I'm still gonna be worried no matter what until I see for myself that you get back safe."

"Wow, sounds like you actually care about me," Jax grinned.

Julia smacked his arm, unamused, "Shut the fuck up. Of course I give a shit about you idiots."

"Just quit worrying."

"No."