Chapter Text
This takes place in S6 E10, Tara catches Jax cheating with Collette, she beats the shit out of her, breaks her nose, gives her a black eye, and leaves her bloodied. She slaps Jax hard and they have the confrontation outside, in which Tara pulls a gun on him, and drives off, but instead of going to D.A. Patterson to ask for a deal, she is lost in her thoughts and tears and just drives, does not go home, and goes missing for three days. She does not pick up calls from Jax, does not reply to messages, and does not listen to voicemails, but her phone stays on. [The plan for the MC to break out Clay does not take place the next day as in the show, but two days later].
After being caught with Collette, Jax goes back to the brothel, picks up his kutte, bag, and keys, talks to his MC brothers, then rides home thinking he will find Tara there, but she is not. He calls her she does not pick up. His first thought is that Tara has gone to pick up the kids, so he decides to wait for them to arrive.
An hour passes, and they are still not home. He calls the daycare to find out if Tara has picked them up, but he is told she has not shown up or made any phone calls to inform them of an alternative pickup. Jax decides to go to the daycare to pick up the kids and hopefully run into Tara, but she is nowhere in sight.
Abel and Thomas ask for their mother as soon as they get home, but he tells them, ''She is visiting a friend, but she will be home soon.''
Their obvious disappointment is evident on their little faces. He feeds the kids, bathes them, and tries to put them to bed. The boys again ask for their mother, and Thomas even cries, refusing the earlier provided explanation and ask if they can call her to at least hear her voice and say goodnight.
Jax has to come up with another lie on why that is impossible. He wonders if the boys ask about him just as much when he is not home, and how Tara handles it. The boys agree to climb into their beds after he promises them that she will be there in the morning to wake them.
When the kids finally go to sleep, he thinks about calling Tara but decides that since she wants to be stubborn, he is also going to do the same and busies himself fixing his dad's bike while waiting for his wife to get home. But hours later, Tara has not shown up, she has not texted or called.
He closes the garage, takes a shower, checks on the kids, and goes to bed, but he does not sleep. Jax lies in bed staring at the ceiling and consumed with thoughts of Tara, thinking of their happier times; their teenage years, the first time he saw her after she returned to Charming, the way they make love, her beautiful smile, and the way she plays with the kids.
His phone dings, indicating a message, and diverts him from his thoughts. He reaches for it quickly, thinking it is Tara, but it is Collette. He ignores it, and another message comes through, still her.
Jax decides to swallow his pride and call Tara, but she does not pick up. He sends a message: ''Babe, I am sorry, come home. Let us talk about it.''
She does not reply or call back. He stays up the whole night waiting for her to show up or communicate.
In the morning around 6 am, before the boys wake up, he calls Gemma and asks her to pick up the boys to stay with her when she asks about Tara, he just sighs and hangs up. Jax readies himself for the day while waiting for Gemma and checks his phone multiple times for Tara but nothing.
He calls her, but she does not pick up, he texts her; ''Babe, at least let me know you are safe.''
When the boys wake up, the first thing they ask for is their mother, and Jax is at a loss on what to tell them. He instead lies, while pouring their breakfast cereal, about her having to go to work early and not wanting to disturb their sleep.
Abel gets excited, thinking that it means at daycare he will see his mother, and he will get to spend time with her. He explains it to Thomas, who also gets excited, but their happiness is short-lived when Gemma shows up and Jax explains to them that they are going to spend the day with Grandma.
Abel and Thomas protest, saying they want to see their mother, but Jax lies again, saying that she will pick them up at their grandmother's house after work, and they calm down a bit.
The guilt for lying to his children about the whereabouts of their mother is building up in his throat, and he swallows hard to prevent his frustration from showing on his face.
Gemma pulls Jax aside, leaving the kids to their breakfast, to question him about Tara; he explains that she did not come home last night, and she is not picking up his calls or replying to his messages.
Gemma informs him that she knows about what happened at the brothel and that Tara pulled a gun on him. Jax, obviously ashamed, not because Gemma cares about his cheating but because he remembered the look on Tara's face as she held the gun. He just sighs and says nothing. He looks down at his wedding ring and tries to think of where she could be.
''She has run again,'' Gemma offers an explanation in a sure tone.
''She left you again, I mean, she practically divorced you, that is the only explanation that makes sense. ''
Gemma does not mention the threat she made to Tara; ''....Mommy moved away or Mommy passed away….''
Jax looks at his mother and replies; ''She would never leave the kids plus her case is still pending, she cannot leave the state.''
He had not even entertained the thought of Tara running; she made him a promise that she would never do that again, but then he also promised never to sleep with other women, especially when angry with her.
He turned to his mother with a sad look and asked her; ''Can you try calling her? ''
Gemma pulls out her phone from her jeans pockets and dials Tara, but she does not pick up. Jax sighs heavily and starts walking back to the kids while talking to his mother and stops at the kitchen entrance.
''We have some important business with the Irish today, can you look after the kids? They can sleep over at your place, I do not want them at the daycare. If Tara calls you back, let me know immediately, and if she shows up at your house to take the kids, do not let her leave alone or with the kids, tie her down if you have to and call me, '' he says in an angry tone.
Gemma nods. He ruffles the kids' hair and asks them to behave for Grandma while waiting for Mommy. The boys nod in agreement and wave goodbye as Jax leaves. Gemma waits for Jax's bike to leave the driveway, to send a message to Tara; ''Bitch, you made the right choice, and don't come back this time.''
When Jax gets to Scoops, he pulls Juice aside and orders him to run a search on Tara; ''I want you to find the GPS location of her car and cellphone, as fast as possible.''
AN: A few things; in this story, Tara doesn't do the miscarriage plan. I found the plan to be tacky and not believable at all for a neonatal surgeon. Although she was pregnant when she went to prison. Tara doesn't die in this story and Hale did not die in season 3.
Also, in this story it is September 2012 (this is based on my calculation of the SOA timeline, which is screwed up in the show.) Abel has just turned four years old; his birthday is August 25th, 2008, and since he is 16 months older than Thomas, the younger brother is two years old and is about to turn three on October 20th (I made up the date since it is not given in the show). But since Tara was six weeks pregnant when Jax and the guys went to jail at the end of Season 3 (in April- it is mentioned that Abel was eight months when he was kidnapped) she should have given birth around October or November, I settled for October. Also, I am going to be borrowing some dialogue from the show to use in this story