Fighting the Last War

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This story is a one-shot where Jem kills Jax's dad. I recommend reading LTF, FANW, and WHW before reading this! Also, this story will be very bloody and gory and will contain literal torture! Please read at your own risk! You have been warned! This first chapter alone took me 6 hours on stream of me sitting in a chair. I'm ADHD, and sitting in a chair is not my strong suit so if I don't get at least 100 comments on this chapter, I give up and will not be writing anymore, ever!

Jax sat in front of me at my kitchen table. He had a fire in his eyes that I hadn't seen from him since I first met him.

I've known him for years now and even though we both knew it was purely for Liam's sake, we had gotten to know each other rather well which was how I knew the anger and fire in his eyes were fake and only covered whatever emotion he didn't want me to see.

He sat stiffy in the chair and his hands played with each other. His hair was a mess and the clothes he was wearing told me he more than likely raced over here right after waking up. He never came to my house unannounced and actively tried to get out of coming to my home whenever I offered to host which was why it was such a surprise to see him pulling into the driveway only a few minutes earlier. If it hadn't been for the guards posted knowing what Liam's car looked like, he would have been shot on sight but I could tell that wasn't his top priority right now.

"Are we going to keep staring at each other or are you going to tell me what's going on," I asked after the first several minutes of neither of us talking. I could all but see the alters in his mind fighting for control and even though I didn't want to make it worse, if something happened to Liam I needed to know. "Is everyone alright? Do you need protection or is this just a fight and you need a place to get away from everything for a little bit?"

It wouldn't be the first time it has happened. The five of them would fight over something and since they all lived in the same small apartment, coming here was a nice place to go to cool down. Normally it was Liam who came running home but occasionally it was Ryder, sometimes Callum, Jax and Carter usually avoided this place like the plague but I didn't want to work myself up over nothing.

Jax moved wordlessly as he pulled his phone out of his pocket. I frowned as I watched him tap randomly. Jax never went mute as far as I knew so it was weird to see him rely on a phone. His hands shook as he laid the phone on the table and pushed it towards me.

The screen showed a news article that came out early this morning.

'Springfield Country Jail experienced a prison break early this morning at 4:35. Information is still coming out as the investigation continues. We talked to the sheriff this morning and while it's unknown how the break happened, we do have a list of convicts that escaped. We will continue to update our readers as this story unfolds but our prayers go out to the victims. It is advised that if you see a name on this list that you recognize, contact the sheriff's office for protection as they work to capture the escaped criminals.

I skimmed the rest of the article to skip to the list even though the first paragraph told me why Jax was here.

Richard Young was among those who escaped and I could feel my own anger trying to take control as I sighed and placed the phone down in front of Jax.

"I can protect you," I assured him quickly. "All of you are more than welcome here or if you prefer I can have people posted outside your apartment to make sure he doesn't bother you. I can have someone follow all of you as you go to work too so you are never caught off guard. I will also work with Patrick to help him catch this bastard as fast as possible. If the two of us work together we can have him behind bars again by the end of the day."

I had hoped my words would help comfort him but he only shook more and I couldn't tell if it was with rage or fear.

"I don't want him caught," Jax seethed. His eyes still held so much fire in them but I could see the undertone of fear laced in with it. "I want him dead."

I wasn't surprised by the answer. I didn't know everything that went down between them before Jax was sent to camp but I had been there for the trial and that alone had been enough to prove that this was a warranted reaction. Hell, I've killed men for much less than this but I also knew the regret that came with blood being on your hands even if you weren't the one dealing the blow.

"Are you sure this is what you want," I asked. This kid has been through enough and this escape alone was probably going to take a toll on his mental health. The last thing I wanted was to make it worse. "Death is a pretty permanent thing. I don't want you to end up regretting this. I can make sure he never gets to you and you will never have to think about him again."