Already half an hour before she was expected to be at the ring, Alex stood in front of the boxing club. She'd heard the owner was murdered two years ago and that the building was sold, but by lack of a new development plan, Lumphy's nephew had restored the gym to its former glory. She however didn't go inside yet but leaned against her bike while smoking a cigarette and mentally preparing herself for the confrontation that was about to come. In the meantime, she prayed the pain the riding had caused her, would fade soon.

The plan was well thought out and sounded quite foolproof in her own head. Nobody would expect her to stab herself to weasel her way out of a simple fight and as long as she could lie without blinking an eye, things would work out as she wanted them to.

And since she was lying to everyone all day long, she didn't foresee any problems.

Alex had just put out her second cigarette when the first bike stopped next to her. A nervous feeling arose in her stomach when she realized it was Juice. The past days he'd continuously messed with her head, so she'd secretly wished he would have skipped this match. She could say goodbye to her mental preparations now.

"You're early." Miraculously her voice didn't sound like a stressed-out guinea pig.

"Yeah. Was awake anyway." He leaned against his bike too, face toward her, and lit a cigarette.

"Had a bad night again?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "Not worse than yours, I guess."

Internally she chuckled. You'd be surprised to hear that I've researched the safest way to stab myself for hours.

"I've had better nights. The fact that everyone's so stressed isn't helping either," she muttered. She looked pensively at him. Juice stared past her, his thoughts seemed miles away. She took advantage of his mental absence to enjoy the view for a few seconds before she cleared her throat and attempted to strengthen their bond. "That meeting yesterday, what left everyone was so tense afterward... what was all that about?"

Juice sighed and moved his glance to her face. "Clay and Jax want us to transport drugs for the Galindo cartel."

"What?!"

Quickly she pressed her lips together, knowing she was speaking too freely about something she shouldn't have an opinion about at all, but Juice didn't seem to care.

"It's insane," he muttered with a sigh. "Even Jax supports the idea. I don't get it."

Juice knew his friends better than she did, so she assumed that was indeed odd. "You've already voted?"

He shook his head. "No, we got some days to let it all sink in. Shit man..." Again he shook his head. It was clear the whole case was really bothering him and she understood it was a lot to take in. He'd just been released from prison. To celebrate his freedom he'd committed a murder and the day after he had to consider if he wanted to be involved in the affairs of a cartel. "All they see is the money. But once we get in bed with Galindo... we'll never get out alive."

Alex didn't know much about drug lords, but she assumed Juice was right. "Were these deals made in Stockton?"

"I guess," Juice muttered. "But I didn't notice a thing."

Alex was glad, at least he wasn't a supporter of drug smuggling. The thing with the Russians, she could see it as some kind of warfare, but smuggling drugs... that was something else.

"They saved Jax and Opie yesterday. The cartel," Juice said, sighing. "So we owe them a lot." With the heel of his boot, he tried to wipe away some smudge from the toes of his other boot. "I'm still voting a no and I know Bobby is against it too. But the others..." He looked up again. "I have the feeling we will be a minority."

"I would vote a no too," Alex muttered. "But I have nothing to say."

Juice pulled up the corner of his mouth. "Not yet. But you will once you're done prospecting."

Alex felt a warm glow spreading through her body because he believed she would get a patch one day, even though she knew that would never happen. As soon as they'd offer her a full patch, she would tell them who she really was. If she would do so after she was patched in, she would knowingly break the club rules and she would sign her own death sentence - if she hadn't done that already.

. . .

Not everyone was around. Clay didn't mind enough about the disagreement between the two prospects to leave his house, Happy and Kozik were still at Happy's aunt and Jax had undoubtedly decided to celebrate his engagement in a better way than looking at two fighting guys.

Bobby stood next to him. " Who do you bet on?"

Juice didn't know what had happened between the two boys this time, but he hoped Shane would give Miles hell either way. He must have provoked Shane anyway.

"I put ten on Shane. He threw Miles a good hook yesterday."

Shane looked over his shoulder as he heard his name. His face showed gratefulness and a bit awkwardly Juice rubbed his neck. Did the beginning of a friendship always feel so... strange? On the one hand, Juice could easily talk to Shane, pouring his heart out to him almost felt natural, but as soon as others were around, there was some strange tension he couldn't explain.

The hesitating smile Shane showed him, didn't make things better. Something in his stomach contracted and he quickly dug up his wallet to give Bobby the money.

"Now listen," he heard Chibs say to the two boys. "Inside this ring, ye fight 'til there's no frustration left, then ye two hug it out and that shite is over. Got that?"

"Absolutely."

For some reason Miles' grin made Juice clench his fist. He felt like stepping into that ring to punch Miles himself. Where that thought was coming from, he didn't know. He'd seen many irritations end inside this ring, but for some reason, it felt different this time.

Shane just nodded and climbed between the ropes to reach the ring. His movements were stiff and he'd gritted his teeth.

"Why you keepin' your shirt on?" Miles taunted. "Afraid to show your little tits?"

A pink tinge spread across Shane's face. Still, his voice sounded grim as he answered: "I rather keep it on."

Miles rolled his eyes. "You always have to be special, huh?"

"Take off your shirt," Chibs told him. His face showed that he wasn't happy about all of this bullshit at all.

"I..." Shane moved his hands to the hem of his shirt.

Juice raised his eyebrows, wondering why the hell he was making such a big deal out of it.

Hesitating Shane pulled up his shirt until his midriff. There was a bandage around his stomach.

"I'm afraid it will infect if there's no shirt to ward off germs."

Juice walked to the edge of the ring before he was aware of it. "You wanted to fight? With that? What the hell happened to you?"

Shane bowed his head, his blonde lock hid his face partly. "I got shivved last night when I wanted to enter my house. But you all had so many things on your mind and..."

"You've been shivved?" he snapped. "Without tellin' us?!" His voice echoed through the room and he noticed the others gave him a surprised look. He didn't care. He'd just talked to that guy for half an hour without knowing some kind of asshole had shivved him? He'd just vented his issues with the drug deal and Shane didn't even bother to tell him there was a fucking stab wound in his stomach?

"Why didn't ye say somethin'?" Chibs asked, also irritated.

The boy shrugged his shoulders. "It was a Russian guy. Figured it had something to do with yesterday, vengeance or something. Thought y'all had enough shit on your mind and I'm fine. I'm still alive."

I'm still alive. A shiver crept down Juice's spine and he looked at Shane with newfound respect.

Chibs put an arm around Shane's shoulder and pressed his forehead against that of the boy. "You're with us now, Shane. If club matters cause you even a small bruise, I want to know about it. Got that?"

Shane nodded briefly. "Yeah."

"Good. Well, we'll do this later. Assume you've been to a doctor?"

"Yeah..."

"Good. Go home, boy. Take a break. I'll make sure someone will come by your house every day to see how you're doin'."

"Thanks," Shane muttered.

Juice caught a glance from Chibs and nodded. He would go with the boy and make sure nobody would come to finish the job.