Seize Control

Trying to cook was impossible with only one hand. Her left arm was still in a sling which made everything more difficult, especially dealing with a hot stove. The back door swung open and Juice stepped inside the house, looking at her curiously as she dropped the pot into the sink with a huff.

"What are you doing?"

"The fuck does it look like?" she asked, annoyed. "I give up."

He chuckled as he moved over to the sink and looked down into it. "Problems?"

"I can't do it with one arm. It's fucking impossible."

"Come on. I'll take you out."

"I don't want to go out," she mumbled. "People will stare."

"Julie-"

"Look at my face, Juice. I can't go into public. Besides, I know they're just gonna whisper behind my back." She shook her head with a sigh. "But you can take me to see Jax."

His eyebrows rose in curiosity. "You want to see Jax?"

"I have to talk to 'im about leaving."

"Leaving?" he asked, attempting to hold back the panic that was quickly seeping into his body. "You're leaving?"

"I'm sure as hell gonna try. Just have to convince my family first. I know if I can get Jax on my side, then my parents will be more likely to agree."

He nodded slowly, swallowing the lump in his throat. "Alright. Let's go then."

Juice led her out of the house and out to the black camaro parked in the driveway. She frowned upon seeing it sitting there but she said nothing as she slid gently into the passenger seat. Juice started the car and pulled out of the driveway, heading toward the garage, and neither of them said a word as they drove through town.

"They're not back yet," he noted as they pulled into the lot, noticing that all of the motorcycles were gone. He parked the car and unfastened her seatbelt for her. "Come on. Let's get you inside."

She didn't protest even though she wanted to. The only reason she had come to the clubhouse was so that she could talk to Jax. She didn't want to have to deal with seeing the rest of the guys. Juice led the way into the clubhouse and he automatically headed toward the small kitchen.

"What are you doing?"

"Looking for something to cook for you."

She gently slid up onto the countertop, not replying while he rummaged through the fridge to find something decent to eat. Finally, he gave up and shut the door, turning back to her and shaking his head. "Not a damn thing."

Juliette shrugged, wincing at the pain in her shoulder immediately after. It was still surreal to her that there had been a bullet lodged there not too long ago. She rubbed the area gently with her right hand as Juice moved across the small kitchen, coming to a stop in front of her. "You okay?"

"Fine. Shoulder's just sore still. How's your bullet hole?"

Juice cracked a smile, liftting up the bottom of his tee shirt to show her the almost healed wound in his abdomen. He glanced down as her fingertips gently grazed over the skin and she shook her head. "What do you think the odds are that both of us got shot by the same guy?"

He chuckled as he dropped his shirt back down. "Probably good. The guy that got me obviously loved shooting people 'cause he was their sergeant at arms."

Her eyebrows shot up at his answer, and she couldn't help the tears that began to form in her eyes and the shiver that shook her whole body. "His name was Lee," she informed him quietly. "Yeah, he was a fucking asshole, wasn't he?"

Juice's eyes widened. "It was him?"

"Who shot me? Yeah. The rest was either him or the two prospects."

He exhaled loudly and dropped his head as he heard this information. His dark eyes immediately found the hand-shaped bruises on her otherwise perfectly tan thighs, about halfway between her knees and hips. He gently put his hands up, lining up his fingers with the fingerprints on her legs and shook his head while she just watched him silently.

It was like what the doctor had told the group at the hospital was just now registering in his head as he saw the the bruises, coupled with the shiver that went through her body at the mention of the man and the way she had said the rest when talking about what had happened to her. She still hadn't outright confirmed it, but he knew it was safe to assume.

"Jesus Christ," he groaned, lifting his head up to glare at the ceiling. "I'm so sorry about all of this, Julie. I feel sick knowing we are the reason this happened to you."

"Hey," she spoke softly, grabbing his chin with her free hand. He wrapped his hand around hers, pulling it down from his face and squeezing it gently before lacing their fingers together. "I don't want you to dwell on it. You are the one who carried me out of there. I'm never gonna forget that."

He dropped his gaze from her piercing eyes to her small hand in his. "I can't help it. It kills me knowing I had a part in all this."

"Along with my brother and stepfather. Juice, I'm never going to be able to forget what happened to me and Silas. But I can't have you feelin' so guilty over it for the rest of your life. Not when the rest of 'em don't feel a thing."

His head snapped up and he stared at her wide-eyed. "You think they don't care about what happened to you? Julie, we killed eighteen men the day we found you in that warehouse. Jax.....well, he was real messed up when he saw how bad you were. Don't think he isn't feelin' guilty."

"Well he should," she snapped, no longer unable to control the wave of emotions that hit her like a brick wall. Her still healing bottom lip began to tremble as a single teardrop rolled down her bluish green cheek. She closed her eyes for a moment as she let out a heavy sigh. "We fought about that stupid Club the day you were shot. Just because those other guys couldn't defend themselves...."

Juliette shook her head, not even bothering to finish her sentence. Maybe she sounded bitter, but she had a right to be. After everything that had happened to her, feeling sorry for herself was perfectly acceptable. At the sound of rumbling motorcycles outside, she gently slid off the counter and walked out of the kitchen, leaving Juice behind.

The rest of the men shouted and cheered when they saw her, but she completely ignored them all as they passed, not even throwing a look in their direction. Jax was sitting on top of the picnic table smoking a cigarette and he grinned widely when he saw his sister walking toward him. "Hey, you're up and around!"

She slid onto the top of the picnic table next to him without responding and his smile faded. "Still not talking though, huh?" he said more to himself than to her. She still hadn't spoken in front of Jax, or anyone else except Juice, Kip, and her nurses at the hospital. Not even her mother had heard her speak.

"I have to leave," she finally blurted quietly.

His eyes widened at her first words to him since before her kidnapping. He hadn't expected her to say anything like that when she finally started to speak again. "What?"

"I have to leave Charming, Jax. I don't want to be here anymore. I can't be here anymore. This was the last straw for me. I decided to go to UW instead of Sacramento and I want you to help me convince Mom and Clay."

"Jules, you can't just leave."

"Why not? Jax, this town is my nightmare. I don't feel safe here and every day I spend here is another day that I get reminded. I can't even look at my fucking car anymore without feeling sick."

"We got rid of 'em," he muttered. "Every last one."

"Yeah, but what about the next Club you have a problem with? You can't just go killing twenty people every time there's a new threat. And I can't wake up every day wondering if today's the day I'm going to get kidnapped again."

He exhaled loudly, running his hand over the hair on his chin. "Mom and Clay ain't just gonna agree to that."

"That's why I'm here. I want you to help me convince them. Because I can't live here anymore. Silas is dead and he's buried here, and I'm.....this. The town's gonna talk about this forever and I really can't deal with that for the rest of my life. I can't stay in Charming, Jax. I really can't. Please help me," she begged him pitifully as she broke off into quiet sobs.

"Okay, okay," he agreed gently as soon as he saw his sister disolve into tears. "I'll talk to 'em. Don't cry. Please." She nodded slowly and took a few breaths to calm herself down. "On one condition."

Juliette grimaced at his words. "What?"

"Look at me. Into my eyes."

She hesitated for a moment, but she finally looked up at him, her teary eyes meeting his. She only held his gaze for a second or two before she looked back down at her lap, but that was all Jax needed to see the hurt, anger, and pain that his sister was feeling. It was all plainly visible in her blue eyes. "Thanks," she mumbled as she slowly slid off the top of the table and walked back toward the door to the clubhouse.

"Hey, Jules?" he called, just as she reached to open the door. She angled her body back toward him, but she didn't look up from the ground. "I love you, kid. You know that, right?" She was still for a moment, but then she nodded her head and quickly disappeared through the door, leaving her brother outside.

When she walked back into the clubhouse, Juliette made a beeline for Juice where he sat at the bar next to Chibs. She glanced at him, but didn't say anything since Chibs was still there. Juice nodded his head at the older man and he sighed as he stood up and walked away, leaving the two of them alone. "I'm ready to go now," she said quietly when she was sure they were alone.

"Alright. Come on."

The other men watched her as she silently followed Juice out of the clubhouse and shook their heads sympathetically. She climbed into the passenger seat of her tainted car and waited silently while Juice slid into the driver's seat and started the car.

After a few minutes of complete silence, he finally gathered his courage. "So what'd Jax say?"

"He promised he'd help me talk to them. Hopefully, I'll be in Seattle by the end of the month."

She didn't notice that his hands gripped the steering wheel so tightly that his knuckles were turning white. Instead, she just looked out the window as the town passed by, a small smile on her face as she thought about the chance of actually being able to leave Charming and start a new life in Seattle.