It had been a long time since the boys had seen their Boss truly furious. The most he'd ever express his anger was by raising his voice and showing clear annoyance. Other than that, Shorter tried his best to carry himself as a cool and collected leader. In his mind, if he lost his control it would be perceived as a sign of weakness. A mafia boss wasn't allowed to show pitiful emotions. His men would see him unworthy as their King if he let anything get under his skin.

Right now, none of that shit he learned mattered anymore.

"What the fuck happened?" Shorter screamed. His men shared guilty glances between one another which only angered their boss even more. He pulled out his gun, cocking it back and pointed it at Viper. "Talk!" He gritted.

Viper clenched his jaw and stepped forward, refusing to show any type of intimidation. He wasn't going to be blamed and yelled at like he was a child. "We followed orders." He answered. "We brought Sing in alive like you wanted. We didn't know that your girl was in the car with him. And quite frankly, I don't give a damn about the reason. I'm focused on killing a rat because that's what you told us to do, Boss."

"Where is he?"

"At one of the pits with my serpents. He's still unconscious."

Shorter kept his gun aimed at the teen. He breathed heavily through his nose as his face stayed a light shade of red. "What happened to the car?" He asked.

"Torched." Sunshine answered quietly with his head hung low. He didn't look up knowing that the loaded gun was aimed at him now as Viper stepped back in line. Although Sunshine was one who didn't mind getting his hands dirty in order to save the gangs ass at times, he hated unnecessary casualties. "It's still in the ditch. It's probably been found already."

"Your girls stuffs in my car." Smiley responded next. He had nabbed whatever of the girls belongings he could find within the wreckage in case anything of hers were to somehow have been recovered at the scene. It was better to be cautious than leave a mess hoping for it to be cleansed by fire alone. Shorter turned his attention to the largest boy in the gang, one who's had to answer to Shorter more than once for his reckless behavior and stupidity. The scars on his face were a reminder of the wrong doings. "Except for the phones. Had to destroy them."

Shorter's finger remained on the trigger, "Who took Lux?"

"I did." Hook stepped forward into the gun that was being aimed at the center of his forehead. "Are you gonna pull the trigger or what?" He instigated, not even caring that his life could be over within seconds.

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't?"

"Because we could have left her." Hook pushed Shorter's wrist away, sizing up his Boss. "She was still breathing so I took her to the hospital."

"You dumped her at the entrance!"

"I could have torched the car with her still inside!" Hook screamed back, "But I didn't! What the fuck else were we supposed to do, huh?! How were we supposed to know that she was in the car too? I did what I thought was right. I risked my ass being caught to make sure your girlfriend would get help!"

Knock! Knock! Knock!

"Shorter?" Nadia peaked her head into Chang Dai's back room. She saw all of the boys lined up in a row and her brother holding a gun in his hand.

"Not now, Nadia."

"You should get going." His older sister told him. "All of you. I don't want any blood here." Nadia's eyes welded up with tears. She cared about the boys like they were her own little brothers and she hated to see them at each others throats. What made it even worse was knowing that they were all capable of killing one of their own if need be. That was the last thing Nadia ever wanted them to do.

Shorter unclenched his jaw and tucked his gun away. He cocked his head to the side to let Nadia know to shut the door. "I'm going to the hospital to see how Lux's doing. Nobody touches Sing until I get back." The boys stayed quiet. "I mean it. Nobody lays a finger on him."
_____________________
-Hospital-

Shorter arrived at the hospital and spotted Oz nervously pacing in the waiting room. His shirt, a shade of grey, was turned inside out, giving the impression that he hastily threw it on before rushing out of his house at this late hour. "Hey, I didn't know how to reach you so I called the restaurant and told your sister-"

"Yeah yeah she caught me up. How is she?" Shorter asked, wanting to so badly go see his Lux.

"Her parents told me that she's still unconscious and that she looked pretty bad." Oz tried to keep his lip from quivering but it couldn't be helped. A choked sob escaped his mouth. He fell down into the chair, crying into his shaking hands.

Shorter sat beside the boy and brought him in for a hug. Even though Oz never liked Shorter, he clung onto him and prayed that his best friend would be okay. Shorter held himself together to be strong for him and gave words of encouragement to calm Oz down. "Lux is stronger than you think. She'll pull through. I know it."

"But they said-"

"Doesn't matter. She's gonna be okay."

Oz nodded and wiped away his tears. "What do you think happened?"

"I don't know." He lied, "What are they saying happened?"

"Her parents and the police think she was kidnapped. Could have happened on her walk back home from school, her parents didn't see her cuz they were working so we're not sure." Oz explained, still shaking at the thought of what his friend had possibly endured and how scared she must have been. "I don't know. With the way her parents described her injuries it was like she was in a wreck."
Oz looked up when he heard the concerned voices of Lux's parents getting closer. "You should go. If I need to reach you I'll go through your sister again."

"Yeah. Take care of her for me when she wakes up okay. I don't want Lux to think she's alone."

"I promise."

Shorter paced back and forth outside of the hospital. He wanted to scream and cry but he knew this wasn't the place to do it. Lux was hurt and it killed him knowing that he couldn't be up in the emergency room with her. He looked up to see a security camera up on the side of the building, pointing right at the entrance way. There was no way it didn't catch footage of Hook dumping Lux. He just prayed that his comrade was smart enough to not give the police any type of lead.

"What are you doing here?" Shorter turned to see Sergeant Voight walking up behind him.

"Why do you care?"

"I have a victim in bad condition and something gives me the feeling that you're behind it." He accused. Voight knew about the relationship between the mafia Boss and Lux. It was hard to believe at first but it didn't surprise him. He always saw girls become troubled after getting strung up with a good for nothing guy. It never failed. They'd always do everything to defend the boy and keep him out of trouble, whilst being the one to always end up getting hurt by him.

"Who do you think you are pointing fingers at me?"

"Am I right?"

"I don't have to answer shit." Shorter growled, "But I gotta question for you." He went into his pocket and pulled out a business card that had the Sergeants name and number on it. Voight sighed knowing that the mafia must have been onto who the rat was. "You knew Sing was a new recruit. So you and your detectives dug up some dirt on the kid and turned him against me."

"I never once talked to Sing. Neither did any of my detectives."

"Bullshit! We found that card in Lao's car after Sing took it for a spin. You made him a fucking rat. And I'm sure you have a clear idea of what we do to rats around here."

Voight shook his head. This was all wrong. It was a huge misunderstanding but he couldn't explain that without putting Lao's life at risk next. "Shorter, I never gave that to Sing." He promised, "I found Lux wandering by herself at night a few weeks ago. She looked like she had a rough night and didn't want to tell me what happened. She swore she was okay and that there was nothing to worry about. I took her home and gave her my card in case she changed her mind and wanted to talk."

Shorter stayed silent. How come Lux never mentioned this to him? Who was she with that night? Were they the ones that hurt her? Was it someone else? How could they let Lux get hurt under their watch? So many questions flooded Shorter's mind and he needed answers. Someone was going to pay for what they did to her.

"Listen to me." Voight placed his hands on Shorter's shoulders. He could feel the trembling through out the mafia bosses body and he needed him to calm down. "If Lux was with Sing for whatever reason, that card must have fallen out of her bag. Sing never talked to us once. I promise you that much."

Shorter could feel his heart beating through his chest. If Voight was telling the truth then that meant the hit on Sing was for nothing. That meant, She's... she's hurt because of me... Shorter turned around and screamed, punching at the wall until his knuckles were red and bloody. He always promised himself that he'd keep Lux safe and here she was broken and bloody in a hospital because of him.

"I need you to tell me what happened. Where is Sing and what did your guys do to Lux?" Shorter stood frozen, unable to speak through his shock and guilt. "There was a car on fire not too far from here. Was that Lao's car? Your guys ran them off the road and you burned the evidence?" Voight knew Shorter wouldn't own up to the truth but his gut told him he was right. "There's footage of someone dumping her at the hospital doors. I know you boys didn't mean for her to get hurt if that's the case."

"I'm not saying shit."

"Lux has a broken arm, fractured ribs and a damn concussion! She looks like she had been in a car accident so I'm not buying that kidnapping crap!" He yelled, "That girl is hurt because your gang got the wrong rat. And if she dies, I'm coming for your head."
____________________
-Serpent Pit-

"I didn't do anything! I swear!" Sing tugged at the rope restraints around his wrists. He had woken up sore and bloody, bound to a wooden chair with guys in masks standing around him. He knew what this was.

Lao had told him once how executions of rats were carried out. The torture would last days. Sometimes even weeks. Members would take turns carving away at your flesh, burning you, pulling your fingernails out with pliers. There was more to it but that was all Lao decided to share. The last thing Sing knew about it was what Viper and Hook had warned him about in the stash house. If you're a rat, they come for anyone else who they think you were allied with in the schemes and they cut off each of your tongues before severing their heads.

"Shut up." One of the masked boys instructed. "Only reason why we haven't started torturing you is cuz the Boss told us not to."

Sing's jaw fell agape. He thought Shorter trusted him. He always followed order to ensure his loyalty. "Shorter told you to do this? Why?"

"Because you're a rat."

A gasp got caught in Sing's throat. He didn't understand why they would think that. He's never talked to the police to incriminate the gang or even considered it once. The door then swung open and in came Viper, Hook, Smiley, and Sunshine. Viper had told his serpents that they'd take over. The masked boys obeyed their leader and left them alone with the traitor. "Guys... please... you have to believe me. I'm not a rat!"

"You had us fooled, Sing." Viper circled around the bound boy. "We watched you for weeks and ruled you out as a rat for what happened to the stash house." Sing had no idea what Viper was talking about but the serious looks on everyone's faces showed that they were all on the same page. "If you wanna be a CI so bad, try getting rid of the evidence from the cop that hired you."

"I don't know what you're talking about!"

Viper pulled his fist back but it was intervened by Sunshine. "Shorter said no one touches him until he gets here." Viper scowled and tugged his arm out of Sunshine's hold. "We already fucked up once tonight. I don't need the Boss on my ass again."

"You scared of him, Sunshine?" Hook tilted his head and chuckled. "Look how bent out of shape he got over a girl. If that's all it takes for Shorter to lose control then maybe he shouldn't be our Boss."

Girl. Sing's head snapped up remembering what had happened before he woke up in the pit. "Lux! Is she okay?"

"She's in the hospital." Hook answered, "But that's none of your concern."

"Please tell me she's okay!" Sing cried, "She's my friend."

"Why was she with you?" Smiley finally spoke up. "She messing with you on the side or what?"

"No. It's not like that. We were just going for a drive. Like I said, we're friends."

"I wanna believe that, Sing." Sunshine told him, "But I think you ratted on us. Warned that girl to stay away because you knew shit would go down. And you guys tried leaving town together."

"I've never done anything for you guys not to believe me! I know what happens to rats! You guys would kill my brother too if I was a traitor. I'd never do anything to put him in danger, you know that."

The boys knew that was true. Sing had been trying to take care of Lao throughout his withdrawals and relapses for the past few weeks. He'd stay up late making sure Lao didn't choke on his vomit at night, bring him food that he thought Lao would be able to stomach, Sing even stayed by his side through out his anxiety attacks and hallucinations. Nobody doubted the love he had for his brother which was why something felt off the more they thought about it.

Viper told the boys to follow him into the other room to discuss what was on their minds. "This doesn't feel right." Smiley said, "I know Viper found that card but how do we know it was his? You said it was under the passenger seat so if Sing was the one driving then-"

"It could have gotten moved around while he was driving." Hook added, trying to convince himself that they weren't wrong. "This can't be another coincidence."

"And why not?" Smiley asked, "Shit happens. I don't wanna be wrong about this either but you can't tell me that Sing would risk Lao being killed. He's already trying so hard to make sure that idiot stays alive."

"And if he was trying to run off with Lux then why would he leave Lao behind?" Sunshine asked himself.

"Enough!" Viper yelled. "He's guilty. I don't give a shit if it doesn't make sense. People do stupid shit when they're scared. We start making the kid scream once Shorter gets here."

The boys all turned to the front door once they heard it slam shut. Shorter bumped his way past the group and flung the door open where Sing was being held. The boy stiffened up and flinched away when Shorter held a small white card between his fingers and shoved it almost in Sing's face. "Where did you get this?" He growled.

"I don't know what that is."

"A card with Voight's number on it. Tell me where it's from, Sing." The rest of the gang filed into the room, watching their Boss interrogate the rat who had tears streaming down his face.

"I don't know! I haven't talked to him since my incident at school."

Shorter yanked Sing's head up by his hair, forcing him to look him in the face when he asked, "Why was Lux in the car with you?"

"I-"

"I told you to stay away from her, didn't I? You disobeyed me."

"It's not what you think." Sing trembled in Shorter's hand. "She wasn't mad at me anymore. I thought it would be okay."

"It clearly fucking wasn't, Sing."

"Is she alright?"

"I don't know." Shorter straightened his posture, throwing the card to the side. He pulled out his gun and held it to the side of Sing's head, "Other than tonight... was Lux ever in that car with you?"

"Yes..."

"When?"

"Yesterday. I saw her walking home in the rain... I offered her a ride."

Shorter pressed the barrel closer into Sing's temple. "What else?"

"That's it I swear! Shorter please believe me!" Sing cried, squeezing his eyes shut. He wasn't ready to die. Especially for something he didn't do. "I picked her up, we talked, almost got into an accident but I got her home safe."

Those last few words peaked the boys interest. "What accident?" Viper asked.

"A car ran a red light and almost hit us."

Shorter remembered Voight's words about how the card could have fallen out of Lux's bag at some point. "Did Lux drop her stuff?"

"Yeah. Her purse flew off her lap and her things came out."

Shorter unclenched his jaw and tucked his gun away. "Keep him here." He ordered.

"Shorter!" Sing shouted, "Please don't do this to me! I thought we were friends!"

Shorter stood before his gang in the other room and ordered them to not touch Sing until he gets full confirmation that he was telling the truth. "Are you serious, Boss?" Viper questioned, "We don't need to wait any longer. He's trying to pin the blame on your girl. Don't you see that?"

"We're gonna wait until she wakes up. And if her story matches his, then we were wrong."

"What are you talking about?" Viper cocked his head in confusion. Shorter knew something that he wasn't telling them. "If your girlfriend was talking to the police then we still have a problem here."

"She doesn't know shit about what we do. I keep her in the dark about a lot of it."

"Not all of it. That's what you're trying to tell me."

"She knows I've killed people. That's it."

"And that's a reason to run to the police. She could have planted that card to get us all fighting each other. Throw us off our game so the pigs could pick us off."

"Lux wouldn't do that."

Viper scoffed in amusement. "Why? Cuz your cute girlfriend is so innocent? C'mon Shorter. You know how these whores are. That's why it's a rule to not talk to them about any of the shit we do no matter how good they suck us off and make us think we love them." Shorter clenched his fist at how Viper was talking about Lux, but he knew if he took a shot it would make him look worse in the gangs eyes. "We've all been there. We can only trust each other. There's no confiding in anybody else. That's why we call this a brotherhood. We're all we've got."

Shorter knew Viper was right, but he also knew Lux wouldn't betray him. She also cared so much about Sing. He remembered how hard she cried when he told her that he might be a rat. She wouldn't set him up to be killed. "I talked to Voight outside of the hospital. He said Lux was attacked a few weeks ago. She didn't wanna tell him what happened so he gave her his card in case she changed her mind."

"Wait." Sunshine cut him off, "Did you tell him that your girl was with Sing?"

"No. I didn't say anything. But he knows we have something to do with the car and with Lux."

"That's just fucking great." Hook threw his arms in the air, "So what do we do?"

"Hope Lux doesn't die." Was all Shorter was able to say. He didn't know how he'd convince Voight to steer the case away from the gang but he'd find a way once she was in the clear.

"You said her story needs to line up with Sing's right?" Hook asked, "To confirm that she isn't a rat either?"

"Yeah. I'll drop by the hospital and-"

Hook left the room without letting Shorter finish his sentence. He came back holding the card that Shorter had thrown. "I'll do it."

"No you won't."

"This really hurts to say but I don't trust you, Boss."
Shorter wanted to protest against Hook's advances but it would only look like he was trying to cover for Lux in case she was guilty. He knew he'd have to send Hook.

"Fine. Get what you need then leave."

"Don't worry Boss." Hook dragged his glare over to Shorter. "She's safe around me."