Everything Has Changed

Tonight I Wanna Cry

*Alone in this house again tonight
I got the TV on, the sound turned down and a bottle of wine
There's pictures of you and I on the walls around me
The way that it was and could have been surrounds me
I'll never get over you walkin' away

The farm style house in Oakdale lays nestled in between green fields, red barns, and a small calm lake that feeds the horses and other such animals that wander about on a normal California day but tonight the sky is immaculately lit by the full moon. Headlights aren't necessary for the Sons of Anarchy brothers to surround the area in silence and shrouded in shadows

Like a well-oiled military machine the men all fall into place. The front line has had a few hours of recon as the rest of the men arrive which gives them an even greater advantage since there are only a half a dozen men on the grounds. The pull of the Real IRA support has truly left Connor Malone with a skeleton crew. No doubt well confined within the halls of the massive home these few men left would protect him with their lives. Having chosen Malone over the men running the IRA they have only that choice left. Anything else and those men behind the man won't hesitate to put a bullet in their heads to say the very lest.

Having been filled in by the men Chibs, Jax, Happy, Tig, Bobby, and Juice would each lead a team onto the property and inside. Behind the house the slight crack of a window breaking provided Jax and his team the sign they needed to move ahead. Breaking down the front door, back door, and several side entrance and widows all at once provides the Sons the surprise they wanted. Not having heard any of the approaching, Connor's men are mostly unarmed and frantically trying to engage their weapons as the MC take out the men one at a time, but not without their own taking a few hits.

Chibs counts his men silently noting one dead and one injured. The injured man poured blood from his arm where he'd been hit. Chibs applied pressure to curb the bleeding but the man stands. Pale and losing blood he will not be slowed down. He has one and only one purpose here. To kill the son of a bitch that almost killed his family.

"Brother you need to sit you're losing a lot of blood." Chibs says as he tries to make Jax sit back down.

"I don't need two hands to put a bullet in the fuckers god damn head." He stands and pushes off his concerned friend.

Juice come into whispering range, "There's a room upstairs. Locked, sounds like people talking inside. Gotta be Malone."

Chibs and Jax make brief eye contact and Filip concedes the lead this time to Jax.

Upstairs the men talk in hand signals. They wait outside the closed door and listen. It only takes a second before Juice sees Jax and his current president freeze. He listens more closely before he realizes why they have stopped. The voices inside are most definitely Connor Malone and Charlie Teller.

Before anymore time can pass Jax breaks his way inside. One dead arm at his side, blood dripping onto the hardwood floor beneath his feet the other with his .45 ready to fire. Beside him Chibs holds a gun in each hand hoping to make up for the deficits and protect the child. However once inside they see only a television screen, and the images make their blood run cold. Malone has Charlie on his lap, Thomas and Abel on either side of him, sitting on Charlie's bed in her bedroom. He briefly glances down at his phone and then looks directly into the camera that is broadcasting.

"Say hi to your Da's." He smiles. The kids all look towards the camera and smile, completely oblivious to the danger. They say their hellos and show the gifts that daddy's friend has given them. The Irishman sets Charlie down and moves closer to the camera, probably a laptop webcam and says, "You take from me, I take from you."

He closes the laptop and the camera stops sending a signal, but not before they hear the screams beginning.

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I've never been the kind to ever let my feelings show
And I thought that bein' strong meant never losin' your self-control
But I'm just drunk enough to let go of my pain
To hell with my pride, let it fall like rain
From my eyes, tonight I wanna cry

Tara screams out in pain as the Malone punches her in the face. The sounds of the kids cries and screams break though any pain she's feeling. They have to be ok. They have to make it... even if she doesn't. She struggles against him as he pins her on the floor beneath him. Charlie, always the bravest of her children is hitting Connor on the back with her backpack. He shoves her little fragile body off of him. She falls to the floor as he ties up Tara, hands behind her back zip tied make her helpless. But not weak. Connor stands up and Tara takes the moment to comfort her children. She tells them she's ok, that they are all going to be ok. It brings down the chaos from a 10 to a 6. They are all still huddled in the corner crying but the screaming as stopped.

Charlie stares directly at the gun wielding man. She refuses to look away. He hates to admit it, but it slightly unnerves him. It's like this little child has a secret. Everyone is afraid of Connor Malone, except, apparently this 7-year-old girl. He has no plans to wait for the Sons to arrive. This doesn't need to a spectacle. Knowing that he will find his whole family dead when he gets home is reason enough to smile. Once he completes his task here he'll be accepted back into he IRA.

He knows he has a job to do but he's not an unreasonable man. There's no reason the children should have to watch their mother die. It may only cause damage to their psyche for the last few minutes of their lives but it would create havoc and he can't have that. Since Tara is already tied up in the little lass's room he ushers the children out and into the master bedroom, locking the door behind him so they can't escape into the house and out the front door. That would ruin everything.

Tara frantically searches little Charlie's room for something, anything to cut herself out with, something to defend herself from this monster. He's back though before too long and she has to assume the kids are safe for the moment.

Connor walks over to her and says, "I'm not going to give you some long drawn out speech like the bad guys do in movies, but I am sorry it has to be this way. I won't make the children suffer."

Tara knows in her heart of hearts that this is the end. There is no other way for things to have played out. All she hopes is that he means the words he says. "Thank you." She says, looking him right in the eyes the way Charlie had only a few minutes ago.

He points the gun at her and still she refuses to look away. He takes only a brief second to admire her bravery, the Sons never chose weak women, before he pulls the trigger. BANG!

Would it help if I turned a sad song on?
"All By Myself" would sure hit me hard now that you're gone
Or maybe unfold some old yellow lost love letters
It's gonna hurt bad before it gets better
But I'll never get over you by hidin' this way

'Cause I've never been the kind to ever let my feelings show
And I thought that bein' strong meant never losin' your self-control
But I'm just drunk enough to let go of my pain
To hell with my pride, let it fall like rain
From my eyes, tonight I wanna cry

Song Lyrics Tonight I Wanna Cry by Keith Urban