Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

As far as Chibs was concerned, Reynolds had been the perfect cellmate. Old and predictable. Quiet. Good at cards. Didn't snore. He and Chibs had gotten on just fine.Then Reynolds had keeled over dead in the chow line from a massive heart attack - ashes to ashes, dust to dust. That was that.

Chibs promptly moved to the bottom bunk, but he only got to enjoy a single day by himself before he woke up with a throbbing ball of agony lodged in the side of his face. The pain started in his ear and radiated down into his jaw and, fuck, it hurt like a bastard and he was pretty sure he had a fever too. Just to top the bastard off. Chibs had to wait in the infirmary for hours before the doc swung by, wrote him a script for some heavy duty antibiotics, and kicked him out.

By the time Chibs was back on the block he had a new cellmate waiting for him. The new guy was still standing there holding the blankets he had been issued, looking lost.

Chibs must have been getting old because the first thing he thought was how young the new guy looked. Hell, he wasn't much more than a kid. Chibs assessed his new cellmate as best he could through the haze of pain and fever - mid-twenties at the oldest, dumb head tattoos, looking a little worn around the edges. Hardly surprising if it was his first day in the pen. However, the posturing attitude that Chibs associated with young new prisoners was surprisingly absent.

This guy looked apprehensive, eyeing Chibs as Chibs eyed him, and his swallowed audibly when he noticed Chibs' scars. He didn't necessarily look scared, yet, but Chibs didn't think that wouldn't be much work to he him there. Not that Chibs wanted to scare him. Just -

It was going to take some adjustment. Clearly. He had gotten used to Reynolds,  who was an old con doing long time. Now he had this mangy looking kid eyeing his scars like Chibs was just going to start carving him up for fun.

"Um..."

"Not right now, lad, alright?" Chibs moved past him and sat down on his bunk, twisting his head in an animal instinct to try and relieve the pain in his ear. Talking only made it worse. "I feel like shit."

"I just...don't you want the top bunk?"

Chibs could only stare at him for a moment.

"What the hell? Do I fucking look like I want to keep hauling my old ass up and down from there each time I've got to take a piss?"

With that, Chibs laid back on his bunk, closed his eyes and prayed that the antibiotics would kick in sooner rather than later. The pain from the ear infection made him dizzy and nauseous, and the boiling heat in his head sure as fuck wasn't helping. All that Chibs wanted to do was sleep and pretend he didn’t have this skittish new celly.

No such luck. The kid hadn’t even finished making his bed when Chibs heard a familiar voice in his doorway.

"Well, would you look at that?"

Chibs sat up just enough to see Tig standing there eyeing the kid like a piece of meat. Chibs couldn't see the look on the lad's face, but from his posture it looked like he was trying to make himself disappear. Of course Tig would pick the worst possible time to drop by.

"I heard you got a new roommate, but damn, Chibby, you really got upgraded."

"Leave him alone, Tig."  Chibs groaned "And leave me alone too, while you're at it."

Tig just licked his lips and ignored Chibs.

"What's your name, kid?"

"Juan Carlos."

"...ok, sure. JC." Tig's expression slowly morphed into one of delight, and Chibs definitely didn't want to know what was going through that twisted mind of his. Too late.

"JC. Hmm. JC, more like Juice-y, am I right? Chibby? Chibs?" Not getting a response, Tig plowed ahead undiscouraged "You don't gotta worry about me, Juice. I was just curious to know what Chibs is going to be moaning tonight to keep us all awake. Isn't that right?"

Tig was a lot to deal with at the best of times, and right now Chibs just couldn't take it.

"Tig, for the love of Christ will you just fuck off?"

"Calm down brother, just checking out the new piece of-"

"Tig! If you don't get the fuck away from me I am going to cut this fucking infected ear off and I am going to make you eat it, I swear to God."

Chibs didn't hear any movement, nothing that sounded like Tig leaving him alone to die in peace. Another pause, and then

"Wait, Chibs, are you sick? I thought you looked like shit, brother. You should go to the infirm-"

"Tig. Fuck! Off!"

---

The antibiotics had started kicking in by breakfast the next day, so Chibs already felt less like someone had poured molten lead down the side of his face.

Chibs was busy stuffing soggy eggs in his mouth when Tig elbowed him.

"Looks like your boy Juice is having some problems."

"He's not my boy" Chibs said, reflexively, but he looked over a couple of tables to see where JC was sitting by himself. One of the Aryans had just snatched his box of milk, and JC was trying unsuccessfully to protect the rest of his meal.

"Christ, he told me that he'd been in before."

(Juice - shit, no, of Chibs started calling him that Tig would never let it go - JC. JC had volunteered that info, apropos of nothing, during the morning headcount. "I've been locked up before, you know" he'd said, a strange expression on his face. Chibs had stared at the lad like he had three heads, and the kid had looked even more uncomfortable than normal before turning to look at the floor.)

"Venus, baby, can you go talk to the kid?"

"Him?" She looked over "No problem, Tiger."

"That's my girl."

They all turned to watch as Venus strode over to Juice (fuck it, the nickname was already stuck in Chibs' head) and sat down next to him,  dainty as you please, fending off the harassers by force of presence alone. Messing with Venus was, by extension, messing with Tig. Most people were smart enough to pass on that particular can of worms.

Juice stayed hunched tight over his tray until Venus said something that made him glance up at their table, his face red and embarrassed. Then Clay was talking, and it was back to business.

All signs pointed to a bit of a civil war brewing in the Chinese gang. As the prison's mainly neutral supplier of non-drug related contraband (put that on a business card), the Sons were liable to get caught in the crossfire if the warring factions tried to insist that they take sides.

After some group discussions as to contingency plans if things got especially rough, Clay changed topics and caught Chibs off guard

"Chibs, that new cellmate of yours. What do you make of him?"

"Jui-, shit, JC? Honestly can't say. I was feeling shitty last night, couldn't exactly get acquainted with the guy." Tig smirked at that, but Clay cut him off before he could say anything.

"Hmm. He seems a little useless, but I want you to bring him in."

"What? In, in?"

"Of course not." Clay scowled "Just get him under control and keep him there. He seems vulnerable, doesn't seem to have any ties in here yet. It might help to have someone disposable of we need to hit yellow."

"How do you know he'll be loyal?" Tig asked

"I said disposable,  didn't I?" Clay's reply was gruff. "He doesn't need to be loyal. Just needs to know his place."

"So what are my orders here, exactly? Break him in A-S-A-P?" Chibs was not a good man, but he wasn't really  comfortable with the idea of having to rape his cellmate because his boss had told him to.

"Yeah. You just got to take him for the team, Chibby." Tig was grinning as Bobby chuckled at the joke. "You know I'd help you out if I wasn't taken."

"If he's been in before, he knows the deal." Jax said, leaning back from the table and crossing his arms. "Just watch his back in the yard, and -"

"Wash his back? In the yard?!"

"WATCH, Happy. Watch. God damn. Anyway, Chibs, just look out for him. Make sure no one hassles him in the showers. I'll bet a pack of cigs you're not going to have to 'break in' anything. He'll come to you, sweet as can be."

Chapter Text

Time moved different on the inside, doubly so when doing a long bid like Chibs was. It was easy to fall into routine and zone out, to get stuck in a loop of doing the same thing every day only to wake up one morning and realize that months of life had passed almost entirely without notice. Reminded Chibs of being in the army, a bit, with the strictly regimented schedule and the uniforms and the godawful food.

Wake up, eat, go to work, go to the yard, eat, go to sleep. There was the club business to keep things interesting, at least, and boredom was always good in that it meant nobody was getting killed. But Chibs didn't get visitors, and he didn't have anyone to call during phone time. Unless Clay was planning something, the most exciting part about Chibs' week was usually commissary day.

(A bunch of those foil packets of tuna that doubled as currency on the block, some Cup of Soups, new socks. Really dramatic stuff.)

Chibs had been stuck working in what was generously to as the 'Paint Shop' for a year, before finally getting transferred to the laundry. In that year Chibs hadn't painted a single thing. All the job had been was sitting around and occasionally mopping the floor or reorganizing the equipment - due to a combination of the prison being too cheap to buy paint and the excess of available labor, there wasn't really anything to be done.

The laundry wasn't  that much different, 60 guys doing what could have been accomplished by a quarter of that number. It was make-work like most prison jobs, but at least Chibs kept himself busy, got to hang out with the other Sons. They brought in most of their contraband with the loads of industrial laundry, and the guards were happy to look away as long as they got cut in. It was a profitable side gig - the Sons took care of their own, without as much of the lame interpersonal drama as the other gangs seemed to have.

'As much' being the key phrase.

"I just don't know what she sees in you."

"That's because you have no taste."

"Shove it, Tig."

"You wish."

"Ugh, see? That's exactly what I mean."

"I've got no idea what you're talking about. I'm a perfect gentleman. You're just jealous anyways,"

"Hate to break this to you Tig, but your lady ain't exactly my type."

"Like I said, jealous."

"Can it, you two." Unser was checking off names as they filed into the laundry. "Munson, Traeger, you're unloading today. Telford-" Unser glanced down at his clipboard, brow furrowing.

"Telford, you're not supposed to be here. List says you're sick today. No work."

"What in the hell? It's a fucking ear infection, how is anyone gonna catch it?"

"Do I look like like a doctor?" Chibs had to admit that Unser did not, in fact, look like like a doctor. "Why are you whining anyways? You get to take it easy. Go back to your cell."

The sick list was one of those things that was always getting fucked up. A guy who was sick as a dog could get forcibly rousted from his cell and dragged to work if his name wasn't on the list, but people who hadn't been to the infirmary in a year got their names slapped on it for no discernable reason. The whole thing had never made a ton of sense to Chibs - who had done time in places where he would have had to work even if he'd had the black plague - but it couldn't be argued with. Not that Chibs was going to let that stop him from trying.

"What am I supposed to do all morning, then?" Chibs grumbled. He didn't exactly feel great, especially after eating those eggs at breakfast, but even if working in the laundry was boring it was still infinitely more exciting than laying around doing nothing.

"You could try reading a book. You might finally figure out if that little engine could or not." Everyone snickered at that, except for Happy who just looked confused. Bobby was lucky that he was already on the other side of Unser.

Before Chibs could argue, Clay put a hand on his shoulder.

"Settle, Chibs. We can hold it down without you. You still look like shit anyways, just go back to sleep."

Chibs finally relented. He would have stayed awake on purpose just to be ornery, but much to his chagrin he passed out almost as soon as he laid back down on his bunk.

---

Lunch was effectively free time, since the prison only organized meals for breakfast and dinner. If someone felt like they absolutely had to eat in the middle of the day then they could use their commissary snacks. Chibs' appetite was still crap, so he swung by the infirmary to pick up his next dose of antibiotics and went to go shoot the shit with Piney. Because what the hell else was he going to do.

"Clay said you're bunked up with that new kid. Sorta brown, head tattoos?"

Chibs raised an eyebrow. "You too, Piney? I expect that shit from Tig, but not from you. You old pervert. "

"Watch your mouth, Telford. Just figured you should know that he ran into some trouble in the library earlier."

"What? Why was he in the library?"

"That's the first question you ask? Christ." Piney shook his head. "Because that's the job he got, idiot."

"Really." Library jobs were coveted; they mostly went to old timers like Piney or the couple of white collar guys who had college degrees. "He didn't exactly strike me as the, uh, reading type. I figured they would have put him on the road crew."

"Beats the hell out of me. But I thought you would wanna know that Tully made a pass at him. Cornered the kid in the back by the encyclopedias." Having dealt with Tully before for club dealings, Chibs could assume that what Piney called 'making a pass' was probably more intense than a couple of pickup lines. Sure enough-

"I told Tully he should get his hand out of the kid's pants, 'cause you'd already spoken for him." Piney continued. "Said that if he wanted a piece he'd have to talk to you first. Your kid was real jumpy the rest of the day."

"Yeah?" Chibs wasn't terribly surprised about Juice being jumpy, considering

"Mmhmm. Just about came out of his skin when I went to tell him that time was up. Must not have heard me coming up behind him." Piney laughed mirthlessly. "Boy whipped around so fast that he slammed his head right into the shelves, knocked himself a good one. Then the guard threatened to write him up for knocking the books over."

In his head, Chibs could hear Tig repeating what he'd said at breakfast, telling Chibs that Juice was 'having some problems.' Tig didn't know the half of it.

---

The next time Chibs saw Juice was when they were all heading out to the yard for rec time. And goddamn, Piney hadn’t been kidding when he said that the kid had knocked himself good.

Juice had angry looking black and purple bruises darkening the area around his right eye, smudging back towards his temple and down across his cheek. Didn't look like the kid would have to deal with his eye swelling shut, but his mouth looked puffy at the edge and the skin had split across his cheekbone and a little bit at the corner of his eyebrow.

For whatever reason, Chibs had just assumed that Juice had hit the back of his head on the bottom of a shelf. Thought that the kid may have gotten a bad goose egg bump or something. If Chibs hadn’t trusted Piney's word, he would have been looking for whoever had taken after the kid and punched him in the face. Juice was definitely having a rough day.

It was spring - not warm, but sunny enough that most of the guys, including Chibs, were down to their undershirts and the baggy grey prison sweats. Juice stood out like a sore thumb with his shirt buttoned to the neck. Still, Chibs didn't call out to the lad until they reached the yard and Chibs realized that the boy's plan seemed to be to stand awkwardly by the gate for an hour.

"Hey! JC!" Chibs whistled and the lad looked up, finally walking over to where Chibs was lounging back on the bleachers. The boy stood there looking confused until he finally sat down next to Chibs, moving cautiously as if he expected Chibs to freak out on him even though Chibs was the one who had asked him to come over.

"Looks like you got into some trouble earlier."

Juice's shoulders tensed as Chibs sat up and reached out. Chibs was gentle when he took the lad's chin in his hand and turned his face so that Chibs could inspect the damage. Chibs didn't miss how Juice's eyes cut down and away from his, or the little shiver when Chibs touched the bruising on his cheek.

"Heard that you wanted to make a name for yourself by beating up bookcases." Chibs said, and the boy looked up, seeming confused for a moment until he smiled slightly, face chagrined instead of worried. Much better.

"That's a new idea if nothing else. But you might want to practice your right hook, lad." Chibs kept his face serious, though his tone was joking. "Looks like it got the better of you this round."

"Guess it showed me, huh? Just figured that I'd -" Juice cut off when his eyes tracked something over Chibs' shoulder. Whatever the lad had been about to say died on his tongue, and that sweet smile vanished instantly. Chibs watched as the lad trapped his hands between his knees and looking straight ahead, suddenly very serious and intent on the basketball game. What the fuck? Chibs turned to look behind himself.

Tully.

"Well, well. Color me surprised, Telford." Tully wasn't looking at Chibs as he spoke to him. Instead, he was leering at Juice's bruised face. "Guess I should've known that you'd be the type that's quick to use your fists."

"Anything I can help you with?" Chibs hadn’t ever had much of an opinion on Tully one way or another.  The man had strong connections that made his a good business partner for the Sons, even if he did have a bit of a reputation. Either way, Jax wouldn't appreciate it if Chibs just told him to fuck off.

"I guess not." Tully grinned, still watching Juice, pausing the conversation for a moment before Tully finally turned to Chibs. "If you're the type to slap him around just for offering to jerk me off earlier, I'm guessing you won't want to share."

Out of the corner of his eye Chibs saw Juice startle slightly, the color draining from the lad’s face. Chibs smiled at Tully in a way that was all bared teeth. Chibs told himself that he wasn’t going to get pulled into this discussion, didn't dignity the claims Tully had made with a response no matter how badly his pride was screaming at him to set the record straight.

"You guessed right. Sorry."

"Too bad.” Tully didn't seem too torn up about it. “Just thought I'd ask."  As Tully turned to leave he spoke to Juice directly for the first time. "Listen sweetheart. If you ever want someone to treat you nice, you just come to me."

Chibs watched as Tully strutted back over to the Aryan corner of the yard, looking pleased with himself. Juice was still facing ahead with his back ramrod straight. Chibs just waited and watched as the lad bit his lip and took a deep breath, finally turned to look at Chibs with wide, wary eyes.

If the lad had been planning on saying something, he moved too slow. Jax sat down heavily on Chibs' other side

"Have a good nap, old man?"

"Quit it Jackie-boy.  Didn't you hear that I've got a delicate constitution?"

Jax laughed, then leaned forward over Chibs' shoulder, pitching his voice low and curious.

"What was that about with Tully? Didn't think we were bringing anything in for him until next month."

Chibs just grunted, cocking his head towards Juice and watching as the recognition dawned in Jax's eyes.

"Ah." Jax nodded, straightening up and turning to look at the lad "I don't know what he said, but you're gonna want to stick with us Juice."

(Christ, was everyone calling the kid by Tig's terrible nickname? Jesus wept.)

"I know." Juice replied quietly, looking down at his hands again.

"What'd you do to this kid anyway, Chibs?" Jax elbowed him a bit "He get on your bad side already?"

Chibs knew that Jax was joking, having known the man for years, but Juice had no way of knowing the same. The lad was going to think that Chibs was a monster before Chibs even got the chance to fuck things up himself, in his own sweet time.

"Guessing you haven't talked to Piney then."

Jax just shook his head. Chibs wasn’t sure if it would be better or worse for Juice if word got around on how he’d really gotten those bruises.

Bobby and Tig had made their way over to the bleachers by that time, and the topic shifted much to Chibs' relief. Still, Chibs couldn't help notice the looks that he was getting from the occasional passerby.A couple were harsh, but worse yet were those that looked approving. One guy even winked at him, and Chibs had to remind himself that he didn't care - so what if the other inmates thought he beat Juice? Clay had all but ordered him to, anyway.

That Chibs had always harbored a personal hatred of domestic abusers didn't matter, regardless of what his pride was saying. What was going to have to happen between him and Juice was hardly a domestic situation. It was just the law of the jungle. Chibs really hoped that his initial impression what right and that Juice wasn't the type to step out of line, that Chibs wouldn't need to. To correct him.

Everyone did what they had to when they were locked up. Chibs included.

The sooner the novelty of Juice's arrival wore off, the better. Unfortunately Chibs knew it would be a while before that happened - in such an insular community, the smallest changes were always blown way out of proportion. All this new cellmate nonsense genuinely made him wish he could go back in time and beat a pulse back into Reynolds. Change was never a good thing, in Chibs’ experience, and everything had been much easier before the old man had gone and kicked it.

Chibs was startled out of his moping when the siren started blaring. Great. So much for things settling down anytime soon.

He didn’t have any idea what had happened to trigger the lockdown, but Chibs certainly wasn't going to stop to and worry about it. Across the yard everyone was stopping what they were doing, dropping to their knees and raising their hands. The Sons followed suit. Guards were already pouring into the yard, the gunmen in the tower swiveling to cover them. Without thinking, Chibs reached out and grabbed Juice's forearm, squeezing it in what he hoped was a reassuring manner as he pulled the lad down to kneel on the dusty ground with the others. Chibs raised his hands and motioned for Juice to do the same.

"I think this kid is cursed!” Tig cackled, inappropriately happy given the situation. “Juice-y, you are having one fucker of a first week."

Chapter Text

It took almost two hours to get everyone chained up in the yard and led back to the cells, shuffling in ordered lines. Two hours of hurry up and shut up and wait. But it wasn't even 20 minutes after they were back inside that news about the lockdown spread up the block. There was a low whistle and Chibs got up, reached out through the bars until his fingers snagged the paper kite that was flying up the row of cells. It had been opened and refolded so often that the paper had gone soft and fabric-y by the time it reached Chibs.

"Can I ask what that's about?" Juice was laying on his bunk, looking down as Chibs squinted at the note.

"Everyone else knows, apparently." Chibs grumped. It wasn't that other people had been reading a private message - this kite was more like an all points bulletin, spreading news among inmates who were kept in the dark and thirsty for knowledge. It was just that the words were almost too smudged to read, and Chibs definitely didn't feel like getting his glasses.

The kite said that the Chinese on D Block had tried to hit Lin in the shower, Lin's cronies had hit back, and the fight had gotten big enough that the brass were worried a full scale riot would be triggered. Lockdown.

"Chinese civil war got out of hand."

Juice looked stunned. "There's a civil war in China?"

Chibs had folded the paper and tossed it to the next cell but now he was staring at Juice, dumbfounded. "Are you fucking with me? The Chinese gang. In this prison."

"Oh. Yeah." Juice looked away and laid back on his bunk, but not before Chibs caught his embarrassed look, how the tips of his ears had gone red.

Chibs dug his playing cards out of the small box that held his personal items before he sat down on his bunk and stretched out his legs. Kneeling in the yard for an hour hadn’t done him any favors, that was for sure. He knocked the cards out of the box and shuffled them absently on his thigh.

(The Cold Case cards had been distributed to the inmates by the state six months ago - each had a picture of a victim and details of the unsolved murder. Pretty depressing, in Chibs' opinion, but he hadn't been about to turn down anything free.)

"You know how to play cards?" Chibs asked, waited for a minute until Juice finally stuck his head over the edge to look down.

"Me?" The look Chibs gave him must have answered that question pretty quick. "I know a couple games. Blackjack and poker. Go fish."

Hmm. There was no point playing blackjack or poker with only two people. 'Go fish' wasn't even an option - Chibs had almost stabbed a man over 'go fish' once. The only other option Chibs could think of was to try and teach the lad something to keep them both entertained; if nothing else he could use the opportunity to get a better read on Juice, get to know the lad a little. But it was going to be a long fucking afternoon if the kid was as dumb as he acted sometimes.

"Ever play cribbage?"

"Never heard of it"

"Come down here then. I'll teach you."

---

He needn't have worried - as it turned out, Juice was killer at cribbage.  Chibs wanted to write it off on beginners luck, but he had to admit that the lad had a head for numbers. Once Juice had gotten the basics down he could count points out like a pro.

"You missed a fifteen there, see?" Juice reached over to point at Chibs' cards. "That's another two points."

"Christ, Juice." Chibs marked the points, glowering "What're you smiling about?"

"That nickname. I like it."

Chibs didn't even realized that he had used it until the lad told him - he had been being overly mindful to only call the kid 'JC' out loud, mostly just to spite Tig. But Chibs knew that he had lost, as much as it pained him to finally admit it.

"Really. Not super flattering is it?"

Juice just shrugged. "It's just nice to have a nickname, is all. Better than Juan Carlos."

Chibs wasn't too sure about that, but he kept his mouth shut.

It was good to see the kid come out of his shell a bit - when Chibs had started teaching him the game, Juice had sat stiffly on the edge of the bunk, his back rigid, wary eyes trained on Chibs when he should have been looking at the cards. Now the lad almost seemed relaxed, grinning as he worked on beating Chibs for a second time.

---

Experience had taught Chibs that there was little chance the lockdown would be lifted by supper time. Sure enough, it wasn't until evening count that they got anything to eat. Styrofoam plates were passed into the cells, each with a cheese sandwich and a bag of plain chips.

Juice wolfed his food down in huge bites and didn't pause until everything had been devoured. Chibs was only half way through his own the chips by then, and didn't miss the way Juice eyeing his plate. Luckily the lad kept his mouth shut - Chibs didn't feel much like eating and everything tasted terrible, but it was the principal of the matter. If anyone was going to be getting extra food it would be Chibs taking from Juice, not the other way around.

"So you haven't told me what you're in for." Chibs mentioned as he put down his plate. He had thought that he was feeling better, but the sandwich was making him want to hurl. He hadn't wanted to be too easy on the lad, but it was looking more and more like Juice was going to luck into some extra food.

"Grand theft auto. Possession." Juice paused and hunched his shoulders, awkward. "And computer crimes."

"Computer crimes? So just stealing computers?"

"Not really. More like hacking."

"Hacking?" Chibs was lost all of a sudden. Stuck in a different country where he didn't know the language at all. He knew what a computer was, of course, but had never had much use for them on the outside.

"Yeah. Breaking into secure files, trying to erase records. That kind of stuff." Juice broke off, rubbing at the back of his neck and looking embarrassed "Nothing real impressive."

"You know there are guys in here that can't even read, right? And I get bunked with some big shot computer genius."

Juice smiled at that, ducking his head. "What about you?"

"Well, I can read at least." Chibs knew what Juice was getting at, but he ignored it. Hoped that he could take a hint.

"No, I mean what are you in for."

Chibs sighed. So much for taking a hint. "That's none of your business."

"But I told you..."

"Your fault then, isn't it. Listen, lad, I'm not a rapist or a kid fucker." Chibs kept his tone light, but he saw the lad flinch at the harsh words anyway. "All you need to know is that I've never led a decent life. Now I'm here to pay my dues."

Juice nodded at that, but he was definitely looking edgier, more nervous than he had moments before when Chibs had caught that shy grin. Chibs figured that the lad's imagination was coming up with way worse scenarios than anything that was actually on Chibs' rap sheet. Good.

"Here." Chibs held out the styrofoam plate with most of his sandwich on it. Juice took it cautiously, didn't touch the sandwich.  "Relax, lad. I know you got your breakfast stolen. Just don't think I'm going soft on you."

Chibs hoped silently to himself that those words were true - most guys, Chibs would have flushed his sandwich down the john rather than give it away. It wouldn't make things any easier if he got attached.

---

Chibs awoke, silently startled by the darkness until he realized that he must have napped past lights out. So much for just closing his eyes for a few minutes. He had fallen asleep on top of his blankets, book slumped on his chest and the glasses dangling from his nose (god damn it, old man). Chibs swung his legs off the side of the bed when he sat up to set his things aside, rolling his shoulders and running a hand over his face as he removed his glasses. He had to admit that he felt about a million times better than he had earlier, even though he'd been convinced that he was over the worst of it by lunch. Hell, he was even hungry again.

Chibs was about to start raiding his stash of commissary goods for a midnight snack when he heard movement from the bunk above him. As Chibs watched, Juice climbed down and stood at the foot of the bed, face shadowed, before he took a seat on the mattress to Chibs' right. Not close enough that their sides touched, but plenty close for Juice to reach out and take Chibs' hand, to draw it over and place it on Juice's thigh.

Plenty close enough to see the look that Juice was giving him. Cautious, a little scared and maybe a little hopeful? Fuck. Chibs hated it when Jackie-boy was right. He sighed, squeezing the lad's leg gently.

"Where'd you do time before this?" Chibs asked, holding his gaze.

It was never completely dark on the block, just like it was never completely quiet. In the low light Chibs could see the startled look that crossed the lad's face at the unexpected line of questioning.

"Upstate. New York. I, um. I aged up from juvie."

Oh.

In his mind, Chibs could see a young (well, younger) Juice in a juvenile facility, where he would have been older and bigger than most of the other kids. Getting complacent, feeling secure. Turning eighteen. Still just a kid but old enough to get transferred to the State pen, where he would have realized fast that he wasn’t very big at all. Chibs had seen it happen before. Fresh meat. Free game.

Juice shifted nervously next to him as Chibs stared, gaze darting between Chibs' face and the hand that Juice had put on his own leg.

"Your, uh, your friend. She said you were nice. That you wouldn't ra-" Juice stumbled on the word, didn't recover. Chibs watched as Juice took a deep breath and looked away - saw the muscle clench in his jaw, the dark flush that seeped across his face.

It took Chibs another second to figure out who in the hell the kid had been talking to before he remembered and nodded.

"Venus had the right of it. I'm not going to force you." Chibs preferred his partners to be enthusiastic (though he would settle for willing) but what he’d told the lad was a lie. This was business, not personal - Chibs had orders. He had just been hoping it wouldn't come to that. "But if you wanted to be sweet, though, I could take care of you."

Juice nodded, then after a brief pause whispered "I just don't want to. To get shared around. Ok?"

"Can't promise that, lad."

The startled look he got told Chibs that there had probably been a nicer way to break that news. But if Juice needed to remember who was going to be setting terms then, well, Chibs would have to be the one to educate him. Chibs shook his head.

"I've got people I answer to. If the club needs you for someone then you'll do as your told. But I'm not going to turn you out without orders, alright?"

"Alright." He didn't sound happy about it, but the lad wasn't stupid. He could recognize a good deal when he got one. Juice swallowed hard and looked at Chibs, the question clear in his eyes even before he spoke

"What do you want me to do?"

From the circles that had darkened under Juice's eyes (well, the one that wasn't already bruised to hell) Chibs could figure that he hadn't slept much. If at all. Chibs could imagine him laying awake, on edge for hours, his nerves fraying with anticipation while Chibs slept on oblivious. Had Juice been waiting for Chibs to wake up, waiting for the older man to try and get the drop on him in the darkness? How long had it taken the kid to work up the guts to take initiative, here? It wasn't a stretch to assume that Juice had learned the hard way that offering his body up before it could be taken from him might make things easier. Whatever this lad had been through, it had clearly taught him that fighting wouldn't help.

Thinking about that made Chibs feel like an asshole, but it didn’t stop him from starting to get hard. He wasn't exactly proud of that hot curl of desire that was unwinding in his stomach, the thoughts that were crowding all good sense out of his head. Then again, it wasn't as if he had ever claimed to be a good guy. The way his blood ran hot at Juice's easy submission just confirmed that he was going to hell. Oh well - in for a penny, in for a pound.

(A memory surfaced, annoying and unbidden, of his Gram using that phrase. Chibs pushed the thought away. He didn't think the old lady would have had the same opinion of the situation at hand. Speaking of hands...)

Chibs moved slowly, lifting his hand off Juice’s thigh and cup the back of the lad's neck. His thumb stroked, gentle, across the nape where the soft short hairs were already starting to grow in. He could feel the muscles tensing beneath his touch and the kid shivered minutely before Chibs pulled the hand away

"I want you to suck me off." Chibs spread his knees apart, leaned back on the bed to rest on his elbows.

He watched as Juice stood and stripped his shirt off. Chibs took the opportunity to look his fill - the cut of Juice's waist, the slope of his shoulders, the tattoos that were fuzzy and indistinct in the murky darkness. And yeah, fine, Chibs would admit that he had freely chosen uglier pieces of ass on the outside. If he had to be stuck with someone randomly selected by the justice department, Juice was as good a pick as any. Not too hard on the eyes at all.

Juice set the shirt on his bunk. Got down on his knees.

This obviously wasn't Juice's first rodeo, but as the lad got down to business it became clear that he wasn't exactly the world's best cocksucker either. He struggled to set a rhythm, alternately hesitant and rushed. Choking a bit. Not too careful about watching his teeth. But the boy's mouth was hot and wet and he went easily when Chibs sat up and reached out to guide him with a gentle hand on the side of his head.

The lad kept his eyes closed, but the sight of him kneeling between Chibs' spread legs was almost as good as the sensation of the boy's mouth on his dick. Yeah, Chibs wasn't going to mind the opportunity to teach Juice a few tricks. Practice made perfect, and at the moment Chibs was looking forward to nothing more than helping Juice practice.

Chibs looked up and away to catch his breath and he was startled to see one of the guards standing outside the bars. Kohn, the creepy fucker, just staring at them. The guard smiled slow when he saw that Chibs had noticed him, reaching down to adjust himself, holding Chibs' gaze the entire time.

What. The. Fuck.

Chibs felt himself tense up, dick starting to go soft. Juice pulled off of him with a wet pop.

"Am I -" Juice started quietly, voice wrecked, before swallowing loudly. Chibs broke his staring contest with Kohn and looked down to see him wiping the back of his hand across his mouth. Juice had his eyes trained on the floor, shoulders tight. At least he hadn't noticed Kohn watching. "I'm sorry I'm doing it bad."

Chibs glanced back to the bars of the cell. Kohn was gone, thank Christ. There was no way Chibs could have gotten off with that asshole staring him.

"It's alright lad. Just -" Chibs whispered as he reached out to guide the boy's mouth back to his dick. "Just like that, yeah. Good boy."

Juice moaned softly around his cock and yeah, there, fuck. Chibs definitely wasn't going to need to worry about getting hard again.

When Chibs felt himself getting close he had to remind himself that Juice probably wouldn’t be good enough at taking it for Chibs to fuck his mouth. Had to remember to hold his hips still. But god damn, even the thought of it was almost too much. Chibs took a shuddering breath and swiped his thumb across the hinge of the lad's stretched jaw, felt the blood pounding in his neck as he pulled Juice off his thick cock. Staring at Juice - the curve of his shoulders, his wide eyes, his, fuck, his shiny wet fucking mouth - Chibs finished himself off with only a few tight strokes.

Chibs shivered through it, savoring the image. His come striping the other man's shoulder, his chest, the one shot that ended up catching Juice on his bruised jaw. Fuck, yeah. Chibs wanted to look at him like that forever - instead he fell back on the bed, needing to catch his breath and regain higher mental function.

Worn out as he was, Chibs still sat up fast when he felt a hand curl hesitantly around the back of his calf, heard Juice make a muffled noise. For one horrible moment he thought that the lad was crying, and fuck, how the fuck was he supposed to handle that? But then he looked closer. Saw the quick flash of teeth as Juice bit the back of his fist, saw how his hips stuttered forward awkwardly against nothing except the friction of his pants, heard the hot little whimpering noise again.

Brain still hazy with pleasure, Chibs reached out and ran his hand across the boy's face. He smeared his thumb across the come on Juice's jaw, leaving a shiny trail, and Juice gripped Chibs' leg a little tighter as he turned into the touch.

"Yeah, fuck, that's it. That's good. Come on now lad."

Juice had to stifle another moan, curling forward to press his forehead against Chibs' knee as his body trembled. Even in the low light Chibs could see the patch of wetness on the front of Juice’s pants.

Oh. Fuck.

Juice wouldn't look at Chibs when he finally rose from the floor to go clean himself off. Chibs lay back down, stretching out on his back and listening to the quiet noises of Juice moving around the cell. He stared at the bottom of the bunk above, starting to drift, until he realized that Juice had been standing motionless next to Chibs' bunk for longer than necessary.

"What?" Chibs asked, hushed. The lad didn't reply.

Sighing just to show how put out he was, Chibs moved closer to the wall and patted the empty space next to him. The mattress dipped as Juice lay down next to him, but the lad was apparently keeping his distance despite the invitation. It was a small bunk, but when the boy curled in on himself with his limbs tucked in tight the only point of contact between them was where Juice pressed his forehead between Chibs' shoulder and the mattress.

Hiding his face. Taking the only small bit of comfort that he thought he'd be allowed to have, maybe. Chibs didn't know. He wasn't a fucking head doctor.

They were both silent for a long time, even though there was way too much weird tension in the air for Juice to have fallen asleep. When the lad finally spoke, all that he said was

"I'm sorry."

"Stop." Damn, that had come out way harsher than Chibs had intended. He sighed as he felt the boy tense up next to him. "You don't need to apologize."  

Chibs had to seriously consider his next words. Clay had given him an order, but. Well. Chibs thought the lad deserved to know his options. Given the circumstance.

"If you're queer -"

"I'm not." The words were fervent, even muffled against Chibs' shoulder. Chibs waited for a second before he spoke again, annoyed by the interruption.

"If you're queer  you can get put in protective custody."

"No." Juice sat up fast, his face panicked as he whispered frantically. "I'm sorry. I said I was sorry. I'll do better."

"Lad, I don't know why you think I'm threatening you, but you need to calm down." Chibs stared at Juice until he laid back, but the other man's body was drawn tight, held very still. Not calm at all, really, but it would have to do.

"It would be safer for you. In PC. Just thought you should know you had an option."

"I know. I just. I can't handle being alone-" the lad choked on the word "- alone like that. Please."

Chibs stared at him hard for a minute before he turning away, looking back up without really seeing anything. He really didn't want to think about how out of his depth he felt.  “Go back to your own bed, lad. Get some sleep.”

Neither of them slept for a long time. Chibs could hear every rough hitch in the other man's breathing as Juice shifted restlessly on the bunk above. It was a long time before Chibs heard Juice fell asleep, his breathing finally evening out and quieting down. Chibs was still awake, and it seemed like no time at all until the lights blazed on and the door rolled open.

Chapter Text

Juice was edgy in the morning, all quick sideways glances and stumbling apologies whenever he got in the way. Chibs'd had a lot of time to think while he had been busy not sleeping, long enough to figure a few things out. (And no, he told the insolent Tig voice in his head, he hadn't been thinking the entire time so that was why the smoke alarm hadn't gone off.)

Chibs bided his time, waiting for the opening that finally came when Juice was buttoning his shirt. In his apparent quest to take up as little space as possible, Juice had wedged himself up close to the wall but he had left his back exposed to hide his face against the cinder blocks as he changed. Rookie mistake.  Chibs was almost amazed that, for all of Juice's obvious past damage, he still hadn't learned to never turn his back on someone. If Chibs had been a different kind of man... well, maybe he wasn't as different as he liked to believe. Because he fucking delighted in that little hint of vulnerability, of the softness that hasn't yet been ripped out.

Chibs didn't try to sneak, exactly. He just didn't bother telegraphing his presence as he slid up behind Juice and pressed his hand against the lad's side, felt the warmth seeping through the fabric and the ladder of his ribs. Chibs couldn’t miss the way that Juice jumped and trembled under the touch.

"You don't need to be afraid of me."

Juice had been looking down already, but his shoulders hunched farther forward at Chibs' admonishment. Chibs had been expecting him to apologize, again, and was caught off guard when Juice choked out a harsh, rueful laugh and muttered

"It's not because I'm scared."

Ah. Right.

Chibs used the hand that wasn't braced against Juice's ribs to stroke the lad's shoulder, smoothing gently across the rough fabric until he relaxed with a sigh. Then Chibs hooked his fingers under the collar of Juice’s shirt and pulled it to the side, revealing skin, and Juice twitched with his entire body when Chibs' breath ghosted across the top knobs of his spine. Chibs grinned to himself, victorious, as he fastened his mouth on the soft spot where neck met shoulder, right where the collar would be. He tasted salt as he sucked at the skin there, let his teeth drag just a little.

Juice made a needy, strangled noise and pressed up into the touch but Chibs held him firm until he was sure that the mark would last. Then pulled away to examine his handiwork. Yeah, definitely a job well done.

"You sit with me. At meals and in the yard."

Juice nodded (even though Chibs hadn’t meant it as a question) as he fumbled to finish buttoning up his shirt. Chibs still couldn't see his face, but he didn't miss the way the lad touched at the mark as he finished getting dressed, the careful press of his fingers against the darkened skin like he was worried he could wipe it away.

---

Convicts were worse than a bunch of middle schoolers when it came to gossip.

Chibs was the type to keep his mouth shut rather than let it spew shit, but the vast majority of guys didn't have the same type of connections he had with the Sons. You could hardly fault a man for trying to stay informed when he was cut off from the free world and locked in the shitty correctional microcosm. The gossip was fun to listen in on, but Chibs didn't give any of it a shred of credit. He got his news from the club.

At the first meal after a lockdown the rumor mill always ran full tilt, and that day's breakfast was no exception. By the time he made it through the line with his food Chibs had already heard that Lin was dead, alive, in the hole, on the lam, and about twenty-five thousand different speculative theories about the source of the discontent. But it wasn't until he got to the Sons' table that he got anything that could be considered real news.

Sure, it was nowhere near as interesting as the theory that Lin had crawled up to the roof in the vents and caught a helicopter. But it was infinitely more believable.

Anyone who the prison staff suspected of having an even passing connection to the fight was in ad seg. Which meant, in practice, that almost all of the Chinese were cooling their heels in the hole while the administration tried to figure out what the fuck was going on. Things would be up in the air once yellow was back interest the general population but at the rate the warden made progress Lin and his boys would be out of gen pop until further notice.

There was enough to talk about with the Chinese that no one had started to harass him about Juice yet, and Chibs wanted to keep it the way. At least while the lad was sitting right next to him. But Jax and Tig had been shooting Chibs curious looks all throughout the meal and Chibs had been very pointedly not acknowledging him.

It wasn't until much later when they were in the laundry, unloading a washing machine, that Chibs sidled up to Jax and slipped the note his pocket - Chibs had scrawled a large 'I.O.U' across the top and drawn a picture of a smoking cigarette beneath.

Jax raised an eyebrow as he fished the paper out of his pocket but Chibs just shot him a shit eating grin and pushed the cart of wet sheets away. He hadn’t ever made it to the drier when he heard Jax muffle a laugh behind him. Chibs had never thought he would be ok with losing a bet so quickly, but fair was fair.

---

The showers at Charming Correctional weren't a stereotypical open room - instead, there were individual stalls separated by tiled partitions that ran up from the floor. No curtains, but at least a guy could wash his nuts in some semblance of privacy.

Chibs had flipped off a few wolf whistlers (not the least of which were his own brothers) on the way in from the yard, but he had made his way without incident to direct Juice to the stall next to his. Juice looked nervous about it, clutching the mesh bag of toiletries he had been issued like it was a shield. Chibs clapped him on the back, tried reassure him.

"Don't worry. No one's going to hassle you." Then he added, slightly louder, for the benefit of any eavesdroppers "If they do, I'll rip their dicks off."

"You tell 'em Chibby! Rip those dicks!"  Tig yelled out from a couple of stalls away.

"Not helping, brother." Chibs shot back, and Tig just laughed.

Juice grinned at that, his face lit up like he couldn't help it. Chibs glared at him without any real ire, and when Juice ducked his head to try and hide his reaction Chibs was the one who couldn't help but smile. It was good to see the kid looking less jumpy for once

"You're all right lad. Wash up." Chibs patted him on the shoulder again, thumb brushing the mark he had made there, before he left Juice behind as he went into his own stall.

He wasn't going to catch feelings for this kid. No way. Chibs wasn't the type to get attached, never had been since the clusterfuck that had destroyed his family. He wasn't about to go soft now. Besides, Clay could decide that Juice was up on the chopping block any time things went south. It was for the best. If Chibs felt protective, well, it was just because he actually (had) told Juice that he would take care of him. Chibs liked to keep his word if he could, there had been too many times in his life where he hadn't.

Chibs set his bag on the little ledge and turned the water up as high and as hot as it would go (not very, on either count). He stood directly underneath the spray to savor the sensation - the pounding of the water was lackluster compared to a proper shower on the outside, sure, but it was still a relief. Getting clean for the first time in a couple of days felt like he was finally washing away the last of his sickness.

Chibs had zoned out pretty good under the water when a hand suddenly curled around his hip. Blunt fingers dug into his skin without warning and Chibs snapped to attention. Just like that he was -

(face down duct tape digging into his wrists and ankles)

- blinded by the water. His mind whited out as the adrenaline blew into his bloodstream and everything instantly slowed down.

Someone was grabbing his hip. If one of their hands was on him it meant that the shank would be in the other hand. Amateur. Chibs would have just stabbed himself in the neck without preamble if the positions had been reversed. But the delay in attack gave him about half a second to think.

(chibs can't see who it is that comes up behind him and pulls him up with a fist twisted in his hair but he can see the knife shining in their other hand)

Calling for backup would be useless. By the time that Tig or Jax or Happy made it, Chibs would have been sucking air through some unwelcome new holes in his back. While the shower wasn't an ideal place to fight - cramped, slippery, the water impeding his vision - it could work to his advantage just as much as it worked against him.

Chibs slid to the side and threw his elbow back. He felt it connect hard against the collar bone before he dug back sharply into the muscle between the shoulder and the neck of his assailant. The man who had come up behind him gasped and staggered and Chibs lashed out, gripping hard when he caught a forearm and kicking out to tangle the other man's legs.

It wasn't a great move for such a slippery environment. Chibs toppled both of them over, falling on top of the guy as they dropped. He figured he had about a 70/30 shot of landing on the shank and doing himself in, but the odds weren't in his favor. There was just enough time to say a quick prayer to not die naked (in any situation that wasn't an orgy, that was), and then they collided with the tile. There was a loud thud of meat meeting ground. Chibs had the air knocked out of him when he slammed down hard on his own fist where he had pinned the man's arm between them. He tensed with the anticipation of pain as he waited for the shank to slide in between his ribs. But nothing happened.

Where was the knife?

(where was the knife where was the knife where was the keen edge of the blade that sliced through his face as they mutilated him and his mouth was too full of blood to scream he was soaking with it and oh god he was choking on the knife the knife the)

Chibs sucked in a ragged breath and he realized then that he was snarling. His lips were curled back over his clenched teeth, his face contorted with animal fury, and in that moment he wanted to rip out his attacker's throat, sink his teeth into their fucking jugular and show them what he was capable of. Except. Whoever had attacked him wasn't fighting back. Chibs reached up to wipe his eyes with the hand that wasn't still locked around his attacker's arm, and as pushed his hair away he finally got a good look at who had jumped him.

There was no attacker. No knife. There was just Juice, who stared back at Chibs with wide brown eyes, his face a wet mask of pain and terror. Chibs shoved himself away, breathing hard, scrambled to his feet and fumbled with the knob to turn off the water. Juice didn’t move. Juice stayed exactly where Chibs had dropped him, still holding his arm to his chest where Chibs had pinned it and already there were bruises blooming under the skin.

"Oh fuck. Juice? Are you okay?"

Chibs stepped toward him to... to help him up? To make sure he was alright? To apologize for the latest in the series of enormous fuckups that was his life? Chibs wasn’t entirely sure. But that motion seemed to finally break whatever trance Juice had been in. He jerked, scrambling backward away from Chibs. There wasn’t anywhere for him to go after about three inches, but Juice kept pressing back against the tiled wall like maybe he could sink into it if he tried hard enough, his eyes desperate and as they tracked Chibs.

“Don’t. I’m sorry. Don’t. Please don’t.” Juice’s frantic whispers were almost lost in the shushing of water from the surrounding stalls. The lad’s feet skidded ineffectively, unable to get traction as he pushed himself back even harder against the tile.

Chibs wiped the water out of his face again, thinking hard, trying to come up with a way to even partially salvage this. Finally he stepped around Juice and out of the stall. Juice made an ugly, choked off noise as Chibs moved past him. Chibs shot him a hard look.

“Stop.”

Chibs hadn’t bothered to specify, but the lad stilled instantly, his eyes dropping to the floor as he curled in on himself. Naked, vulnerable. Chibs felt something cold slide into his chest but he couldn’t stop to worry about it. He stepped into the corridor outside of the stalls and both Tig and Happy were already halfway to him, their faces grim and determined. They paused when they saw Chibs standing there uninjured. Chibs cocked his head towards the stall where Juice was still curled in on himself.

The bizarre pause that followed may have been funny under different circumstances - all three of them buck ass naked and dripping, staring into the stall like characters in a Tarantino movie staring into the trunk of a car. It was too quiet, only the soft shushing sound of water as every ear in the room turned to them. Then Tig and Happy shared a look, an agreement of what had to be done that had somehow been reached without saying a word, and the moment was broken.

Tig turned to Chibs, looked at him carefully. "You alright, brother?"

"Aye."

Chibs' right hand had been twitching by his side, clenching into a fist and releasing once every couple of seconds, and he felt just about as awful and useless as he could ever remember feeling. But worse still was the -

(the knife where was the knife)

- sense of a photo negative overlay on everything the he just couldn't seem to shake. His hand twitched again.

"Hey. Lay down. Fuck. Fine. I'll do it." Happy muttered from the stall and Chibs turned to see him pushing Juice over, laying the lad out on the floor. Juice wasn't fighting it, but he was stiff as a board and he sure as shit wasn't moving by himself.

"Chibs."

Chibs snapped his attention back to Tig, breathing hard. Tig led him into the stall where Juice had been and the three steps felt like a mile. The water was still running and Tig shoved Chibs under the ice cold spray, shot him a look that said that they were definitely going to have a talk later. Then Tig was gone, and Chibs heard a brief muffled exchange between him and Hap before their soft sound of their footsteps moved away.

“Guard!” Tig yelled, somewhere up the row of stalls. “Hey guard, someone slipped and fell. You should call the infirmary, I think he hit his head.”

Chibs could hear the slapping of heavy soled boots as the guards responded, but it seemed very distant. The pounding pulse of blood in his ears was much closer. His hand refused to cease its damned twitching, the clench, release, pause that was the only outlet that he had as the leavings of adrenaline and blind fury that boiled together in his head.

Chapter Text

Juice wasn't back from the infirmary by supper time, but Chibs hadn’t really expected him to be - he had been stretchered out of the showers in a cervical brace in case of neck injury, and if Chibs given the kid a concussion by tackling him to the tile then Juice would be under observation all night.

Chibs realized as he got his food that the gossip train had derailed - jumped tracks from the Chinese to him. It wasn't a welcome feeling, knowing that all eyes were on him. This time sitting with the Sons brought no relief; they were as eager for an explanation as anyone else. Tig sat down heavily in the seat across from him, and everyone else honed in when Tig stared him in the eye and said

"So."

Chibs didn't want to have to explain himself, didn't want to have this conversation ever. But. His brothers had covered for him and Chibs owed them an explanation. He knew that it would be better to just rip off the bandage, yet the words still stuck in his mouth against his will.

"Juice came up behind me. I didn't realize it was him. I." Chibs reached up and ran the tips of his fingers across his left cheek, traced the scar from the corner of his mouth to the bolt of his jaw hoping it would be explanation enough. He took a deep breath and tapped absently at a sensationless patch of nerve-damaged tissue along the scar before he managed to say "I lost it. Clearly."

Nodding, all around. Chibs' hand twitched and he hid it beneath the table.

"Was he actually trying to attack you?” Jax asked. “Could someone else have flipped him? Alvarez or Tully?"

Chibs shook his head, curt. "No. He didn't have a weapon. I think he was just..."

"Looking for some action." Tig finished for him. Chibs nodded as he stabbed at his gluey mashed potatoes, thankful for once for Tig's big mouth.

"He should've known better than to sneak up on you." Clay said, and there were noises of agreement from everyone. "But maybe take it easy on him when he gets back."

"No problem boss." Chibs' attempt to keep his tone light fell flat, and he got a concerned look from Happy of all people.

"You sure you're okay there brother?"

"Aye." Chibs' hand clenched under the table again. "Why wouldn't I be?"

---

There was still no sign of Juice lights out that night, and Chibs knew that something was up when he saw Kohn standing off to the side at roll call the next morning. Fucking of course it would be Kohn. Once Chibs had been counted he was being shackled - it was standard procedure for any inmate being investigated but it still made Chibs' skin crawl.

"Telford, you're coming with me. Need you to answer some questions about your cellmate."

The fact that he was getting questioned at all meant that Juice had probably been seen by Dr. Tara Knowles down at infirmary. Anyone would have noticed that the lad's injuries didn't quite line up with a fall, but Chibs couldn’t think of anyone on the staff besides Dr. Knowles who wouldn't have just turned a blind eye to it. She was the type to get involved. Ironic, considering that Chibs was fairly certain that she was fucking Jax.

With Tara treating him, Juice had a pretty good chance of ending up in protective custody for a couple of days whether he wanted to be there or not. Chibs was sure Juice hadn’t talked (maybe, not as sure as he would have liked to be) but the Doc surely couldn't have missed the condition that he was in. The suck mark on his neck, the hand shape in the bruise on his arm, the black eye that wasn't actually Chibs' doing but may as well have been.

For all of Chibs' worries the questioning was, when it came, almost alarmingly perfunctory.

Did you see anything? No. Did you hear anything? No. So you didn't hear him fall? I said no, didn't I? He was in the stall next to yours and you didn't hear a thing? Wasn't paying attention. Besides, Officer, I just had an ear infection. You can check my file.

That was good enough for Kohn, apparently. Chibs sure as fuck hoped that they would push a little harder if someone had attacked him,but he didn’t fool himself. Not even a half hour and Kohn was putting Chibs back in handcuffs to return him to the cafeteria. Hell, he wasn't even going to miss breakfast.

Chibs didn't appreciate the way Kohn tried to chat with him like they were best buds as Chibs was escorted, but he kept his mouth shut. There was no one else in the hallways and Chibs knew better than to push his luck with the quick tempered guard - Kohn had once put a deaf inmate in the hospital for 'ignoring an order.' The guy was a fucking psychopath. If Chibs had met him on the street Kohn wouldn't have had much of an advantage, but the same wasn't true on the inside. 

"If you need help next time Telford, let me know."

"What?" Chibs had no idea what the fuck Kohn was talking about, couldn't imagine asking Kohn for help even if Chibs was burning to death and Kohn had the only water for fifty miles.

"You know. It's my job to make sure everyone behaves. I'd be happy to assist." Kohn cocked his head to the side, looking almost gleeful as he gripped the nightstick in his belt. "Just a thought."

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

Unfortunately, Chibs had a pretty clear picture of what Kohn was implying. A cold, nasty thing curled in his stomach when Kohn shot him a conspiratorial just-us-guys wink and it took everything Chibs had not to shudder in revulsion.

---

Juice was there when Chibs went back to the cell at lunch time.

"I swear I didn't say anything."

"I know."

It was the longest conversation they would have for a week.

---

The bruise on Juice's eye faded each day, going from purple to an ugly, healing yellow, but Chibs had seen the mementos of his attack still darkening on Juice's skin. A long sleeve shirt hid the marks when they were put and about - hand shaped bruise on Juice's forearm that was perfect match for Chibs' grip, the blood-black bloom of tissue damage where Chibs had elbowed him - but Chibs saw it all anyways when the kid changed clothes. He couldn't miss the how the lad's back was a mess, how stiff he was and how he held himself stiff and careful when he moved to avoid aggravating the injuries.

To say that things were tense in the days that followed Juice's return would have been a massive understatement.

It wasn't that Juice tried to avoid him. The opposite, in fact. Juice stuck by his side constantly whenever their schedules aligned - meals and yard time and whatever evening free time that wasn't taken up by the NA meetings Juice was required to attend. But the kid couldn't look at him except out of the corner of his eye, wouldn't speak unless spoken to. For the most part Juice was a silent shadow that trailed behind him, kept his head down and acted like he was just waiting until Chibs decided to flip out on him again.

It was driving Chibs bugfuck.

Part of Chibs knew that he should have tried to reassure that lad that everything was okay between them. But to be perfectly fucking honest, Chibs wasn't sure that it was. Chibs didn't want to talk to Juice, didn't want to see that constant anxious presence in Chibs' peripheral vision. There was no way to avoid him for most of the day - if Chibs was blatant about snubbing Juice, Tully or someone else might start to get ideas.

It was a constant reminder to Chibs of how he had fucked up, and the worst part was that Chibs wasn't sure if he felt bad because he was sorry for kicking the crap out of him or if he was angry at Juice for putting him in that position.  Chibs knew that his temper wasn't helping, but even so he sometimes couldn't control the clench of his jaw or keep the storm clouds of anger from rolling across his face. The twitch mostly disappeared after a couple of days, but he didn't miss the way Juice would brace himself and turn away whenever Chibs furrowed his brow or curled his hand into a fist.

He had seen other guys who had been bitched out, broken, act like Juice had been since the shower incident. But Chibs had never wanted that type of thing. Moreover, he didn't trust it.

It didn’t help that every night since he had come back from the infirmary, after the lights were out and Chibs had laid down, Juice would stand off to the side of the bunk near Chibs' feet and lurk silently. It was weird. Chibs had never had to deal with strange shit like that with Reynolds. Juice would just stand there in his t-shirt and shorts, hunched in on himself with his arms crossed over his chest. He never said anything, just looked at Chibs from the shadows with his face tight and unreadable. Chibs would stare back at him until the lad caved and retreated up to his bunk - Chibs wasn't sure what the fuck was going on, but he sure as shit didn't like it.

Because what would Chibs have done if someone treated him the way he had treated Juice? He would have gotten revenge. He would have fucking murdered them. He would have waited very, very patiently, and when the time came he would have slit their throat without mercy. As the days marched onward Chibs found himself becoming more and more suspicious of Juice's behavior, which compounded with the fact that he hadn't been sleeping well, which led to him being more on edge and paranoid because he was staying awake longer because he was paranoid because -

The pattern couldn't hold.

A week later (and a half? maybe? his sense of time was seriously fucked) Chibs had been worn thin enough by his concern and constant vigilance that he took his worries to Jax. It wasn't until he was half way through explaining everything out loud that Chibs realized how insane it all sounded, but if he hadn't the look Jax gave him would've hammered that point home.

"Thought you were looking a little wild around the eyes." Jax leaned back against one of the industrial driers, crossed his arms "If it makes you feel any better, you hid your crazy pretty well."

"Not funny, Jackie-boy"

"Not trying to be, Chibby. But you do realize it's nuts to think Juice is going to shank you in your sleep. Right?"

"That's how I'd do it if I were him. And I told you how he's always hovering after lights out."

"Cause he's waiting for you to fuck him." Jax said bluntly and Chibs felt his brow furrow. Well. That did make a bit more sense.

"What would you know about it?" Chibs' response was knee-jerk automatic, a result of a his many years of friendship with Tig instead of any real disagreement with what Jax had said.

"More than you, apparently." Jax just smirked and continued. "That kid ain't like you and me, man. He never killed anyone before. I don't think he's magically got the balls for it just because you roughed him up a bit."

---

Chibs knew true exhaustion from his time in the army - it was the point where letting his focus lapsed for more than a second caused everything to go bright and smeary around the edges, when his mental acuity collapsed and his eyes started to shiver back and forth and turned everything into a whirligig ride. He hadn’t reached that level, yet, but as he dragged himself through the rest of the day Chibs had admit that he had definitely reached the tired-as-fuck stage of the process.

Jax was right. He had to be. Because Chibs was going to pass the fuck out as soon as the lights went off - if the kid wanted to kill him in his sleep then so be it. It was nothing he didn't deserved.

The hard bunk felt like the softest fucking cloud in the universe as he collapsed on it and buried himself face down against the flat pillow. Chibs started to drift off right away, sailing off into unconsciousness, but before he could actually fall asleep he felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up. Someone was watching him.

When Chibs twisted his head around and cracked an eye open Juice was there at the foot of the bunk again. Right on time. The lad was only wearing a t-shirt and boxers, and Chibs could see the darker blur of the bruise on Juice's forearm as he twisted his hands together. Nervous, but at least Chibs no longer thought the lad was nervous about choosing the best way to kill him.

Chibs closed his eyes and let his head drop back to the pillow for a moment before he dredged enough effort into his tired body to roll on his side so his back pressed the wall. The sense of deja vu snuck up Chibs' spine when he patted the vacant area next to him and felt Juice lay down on the very edge of the bed, not touching. God damn it. The only thing worse than having Juice lurk and stare at him from the edge of the the bunk would be to have him lurk and stare while he laid in Chibs' own bed.

"Fuckin' kid. Just c'mere." Chibs mumbled as he reached out, eyes still closed, to wrap his arm around Juice and pull him close.

The lad hurried to scoot closer, pressed up warm against Chibs with his head tucked under Chibs' chin and a hesitant hand pressed against his chest. Chibs just slung his arm across Juice's waist and gave a content grumble against the short hairs that had grown in on his scalp. Having tensed at the first contact, Juice trembled slightly and then went limp against him.

Chibs savored the sensation as his fingers traced under the hem of Juice's shirt, back and forth and across the surprisingly soft skin as Chibs let him mind drift off, down to where he could finally get a good night's sleep. His mind was free associating, random flashes of thoughts as it powered down, but it kept returning to how good and warm he felt with Juice there. Such basic human contact had an element of comfort to it that was undeniable - the feeling of another body against his own was all that Chibs wanted just then. He would show the lad that he didn't need to worry about Chibs hurting him again.

Just as he finally fell asleep, Juice shifted against him and murmured something. Chibs cracked an eye open, but all he could see was darkness and the curve of the lad's skull.

"What?"

"Don't be mad anymore. Please. You can -" Juice's voice was tight and choked off and all Chibs could think to say was

"Okay."

And it was okay. Chibs didn't want to be mad. But he also didn't want to talk. All he wanted just then was to hold this skittish kid against him, to be warm and safe and asleep. He started to drift again, but it still seemed like Juice wasn't quite on on the same page.

Chibs didn't wake up as fully the next time Juice nudged him, smoothed his hand down Chibs' chest. Chibs thought that he was dreaming at first when he heard the lad ask "Do you want to fuck me?"

"Aye." Chibs replied without opening his eyes, pulled Juice a little tighter against him.

If he would have been awake enough to think about it, Chibs would have realized that it had not been a rhetorical question. As it was, he hardly had enough energy to say words, much less process them. He figured that maybe the kid was fishing for compliments or something; of course Chibs wanted to fuck him. Eventually. But at that moment all he wanted to do was go back to sleep.

Juice moved away, started to get up from the bunk, and a small frightened sound startled out of him when Chibs reached out in the darkness and pulled him back. Chibs manhandled the kid around in the process so his back was pressed against Chibs' chest and he could spoon up against him, burrow his face into Juice's shoulder and melt into sleep. Chibs wasn't fully conscious of what he was doing - at that point he just wanted to make sure that he didn't lose the extra warmth that Juice provided. That body heat was so, so much better than the thin prison blankets.  

Juice shivered and froze, went completely still as Chibs tightened his arm around him, pressed an open mouthed kiss above the collar of his shirt.

"Ssshhhhh." Chibs soothed against the nape of the lad's neck as he pressed his face there, took deep steady breaths. Juice smelled like soap, mostly, but underneath that was a muskier, more personal scent. Juice didn't relax one bit, but Chibs didn't notice - he was already asleep.

Chapter Text

Fiona had accused him more than once of being a sleep groper, said that if he couldn't even keep his hands to himself when he was unconscious then he would sleep on the floor. Chibs claimed that no one could blame him, after all, had she seen her tits? Fi'd had to kick him to the couch when she was heavily pregnant, though, as she'd been too sore and sensitive to sleep through his inadvertent caressing. After Fiona had given birth neither of them had slept much but he had been so -

Chibs didn't dream about his family anymore. He didn't want to think about that when he was awake, much less when when he was asleep and watching everything replay in full color. How they had -. No. Full stop. Whenever his treacherous mind tried to remind him of that past life, Chibs would push it down and away so fast that he hardly ever even remembered the dream upon waking.

This time was no exception. All that he knew when he swam up into semi-consciousness was that he had been dreaming about touching someone. It was dark on the block, and the familiar noises oriented him - the steady bandsaw buzz of someone snoring, a muffled conversation among night owls that he couldn't make out the words of - and from how tired he was Chibs guessed he hadn't been asleep for more than a couple of hours.

He hadn't woken up by much, so it didn't seem odd to him that the remnants of his dream were still overlying reality, that he could all but feel the soft skin under his fingers and the tight body pressed against his and - wait. That hadn’t been a dream. Chibs' brain finally kicked into gear enough for him to remember Juice and he settled, retreating back into the warm liminal zone between sleep and waking. Chibs' left arm was dead and tingling where it was folded under his head, but his right hand had snuck beneath the lad's shirt of its own volition, and Chibs realized then that he was still lightly stroking his fingertips across Juice's rib cage. The lad’s heart was pounding frantically, breathing ragged, and without really thinking about it Chibs let his hand drift further. Let his thumb brush across one of Juice’s tight nipples, then the other, as Chibs felt him up. Gentle, just playing with his tits a little bit, just because the lad felt so good to touch.

Juice pressed back against Chibs, muffled a hot little noise as his body trembled under the caresses. Chibs snugged up tighter against him enjoying the friction - he was half hard already just from grinding up against the lad, but his tired mind encouraged him to take it easy and not push his luck. It was plenty good enough just to get to enjoy having the solid warmth of Juice's body against his. Chibs realized he was starting to drift back to sleep and worried at the lad's neck with his teeth, just to see what type of noise he could get. He wasn't disappointed.

"You really like it don't you?" Chibs muttered into the curve of the lad's shoulder blade. It was only supposed to be sleepy sex talk, so Chibs was surprised when Juice went rigid in his grasp, the catch of breath that sounded more scared than aroused.

"Yes." Juice choked out the word. Chibs couldn't see the lad's face but his voice sounded dark, ashamed as he curled forward and in on himself.

"Hey, shhh, it's alright." Was it though? Chibs didn't know if he was helping or just making things worse. Fuck it, he didn't even know what this guy's problem was in the first place and he wasn't firing on enough cylinders to, worry about figuring it out now. "Come back here."

Chibs tangled their feet together and used the hand that was still on Juice's chest to encourage the lad to uncurl, to stretch out so that Chibs could press the lengths of their bodies together once again. Tired of the pins and needles, he stretched his left arm out and hooked it under the lad's neck and across his collarbone, holding him close. Much better. He started to doze again when Juice settled hesitantly into his arms, and Chibs' head was foggy and blasted by sleep when his right hand slid slowly down, traced across that firm stomach until to his fingers brushed under the elastic of Juice's boxers.

It was only a small touch, but it was like Juice had been struck by lightning. The lad jack knifed against him with a rough whimper and Chibs held him tight, nuzzled sleepily against Juice's neck while he settled down and wondered vaguely if he was going to have to cover the lad's mouth to keep him quiet. As willing as the guards were to turn a blind eye, fraternization between inmates was technically against the rules. Mostly Chibs didn't want to have to answer any more questions in the chow line. What he did want to do was -

"Shhh."

Chibs reached lower, wrapped his fingers around Juice's dick and (fuck) the kid was wet with it, his cock already slick with precome as Chibs squeezed him from base to tip. Chibs had hardly touched him and the boy was so eager for it. Juice shuddered, breathing rough and unsteady as his hips stuttered forward and back like he wasn’t sure that the motion would be tolerated.

"You're a fuckin' mess."

God damn it, that had sounded way hotter in his head - Chibs knew it was the wrong thing to say as the words were leaving his mouth, but his brain was still hazy and he couldn't stop himself. Sure enough, Juice froze against him.

"I'm sorry." Juice said, voice small as he turned to hide his face against the pillow.

"No, hey. Not like that." Chibs let his thumb rub slow circles over the head of Juice's cock, playing with the head as he spread that silky wetness. The way Juice shivered and gasped at the attention made him feel hot and tight in his gut. "I like it too, yeah?"

(Chibs had spent most of his life in the military or behind bars, but he was no fucking monk. Sure, he was usually balls deep when he gave a guy a reach-around but. Whatever. He'd never felt the need to shout it from the rooftops or anything but it hadn’t ever bothered him either - he loved tits and pussy like nothing else, but he definitely didn't think there was anything wrong with enjoying a bit of the same.)

Chibs didn't bother to pull Juice's boxers down, let his knuckles brush against the damp cotton as he screwed his hand slowly up and down the hard length of Juice's cock, wishing that he could eat those quiet noises that Juice was hiding against the pillow. It was all sort of weirdly secondary school wasn't it? All the quiet fooling around and fondling when the darker part of Chibs' mind knew that Juice would let himself be flipped over and fucked rough if Chibs had wanted it that way.

Thinking about screwing him like that made Chibs rut harder against the lad's tight ass. Juice didn't seem like he was going to last long at all, it felt like he was coming apart with the way that his body tensed and shook all over as Chibs touched him. He pushed his knee between Juice's, hooked it up and back to spread his legs wider and cup his balls. They were heavy and tight against Juice's body and Chibs rolled them in his hand, played with them a bit just to see how the lad liked it.

"Oh. Oh, don't, I can't-" Juice's whisper caught and broke when Chibs wrapped his hand back around the base of his cock, and Chibs finally pressed the first two fingers of his free hand into the lad's mouth to shut him up.

Juice’s mouth was just as hot and wet as Chibs remembered, and Juice sucked desperately on the fingers. The swollen head of his cock slipped through Chibs' tight grip as Chibs jerked him one, two, three more times, and that was all it took for Juice to fall apart. The lad made a pitiful little sound that was mostly muffled as his hips snapped forward and he came in spurts into Chibs' tight grip.

Chibs scraped his teeth gently against the tight skin of Juice's neck as he stroked him through it. He only stopped when the lad flinched away from the touch and rolled over to face him. It was the first time that Chibs had been able to see anything other than the back of his head, and it was obvious even in the grey darkness that Juice was a wreck. His eyes were wide and wet and nearly black when when he looked at Chibs, pupils blown, and the lad's mouth was shiny and swollen where he must have bit his lips to try and keep quiet.

The fingers he had stuffed in the lad's mouth slipped free, smoothed across those sinful lips and down, left a shiny trail of saliva across Juice's chin, and Juice surged forward and kissed him.

Chapter Text

Chibs hadn’t been expecting a kiss. More apologies, maybe, since that seemed to be Juice’s default setting. Always saying he was sorry, like his very existence was an inconvenience for Chibs instead of one of the most interesting (although, yeah, sometimes frustrating) things that had happened to Chibs in years. Chibs was shocked at the touch of Juice's mouth against his own, and that surprise was disconcerting in it’s own way. Being able to predict people and power shifts was one of the things that had kept Chibs alive for years. Then here was this young lad coming out of nowhere and catching him off guard.

Chibs froze at the soft, needy press of Juice's mouth, and Juice kept trying for another second while Chibs laid there, shocked and unresponsive. Then the boy pulled back. Chibs had never closed his eyes, so he saw clear as day the stricken, terrified look that crossed Juice’s face as he shrank back, the way the lad brought his arms up to protect himself but didn't make any real move to escape.

Not that he could have, if Chibs had taken after him in the small confines of the cell. It wasn’t a large room. There was nowhere to hide. The lad wouldn't have stood a chance if Chibs had been the type of man to fly off the handle at such things. Then again, Chibs had shown his true colors the week before - he couldn’t blame Juice for how he cringed away when Chibs reached out to touch his arm. Chibs wanted to do was travel back in time and to not make an ass of himself and also to gut whoever had been the first to put so much fear into this sweet kid, but all he could do was pat the lad's arm lamely.

"It's alright Juice. Just -"

His free hand had settled on the lad’s forearm, protective, and Chibs moved forward and closed the space that Juice had put between them. Kissed the boy and sucked in the sharp, shaky gasp that escaped between his lips.

At first Chibs thought that the kissing was nothing more a ploy on Juice’s part. It was an intimate thing, closer even than fucking for some guys, and Chibs naturally assumed that the lad was just trying to get his hooks in a little deeper. Trying to make Chibs go soft over him. He didn’t blamed Juice for it - it was nice, even if it was manipulative. Not a bad plan, really, even though it wasn't going to work. (It wasn’t).

But it seemed like that analytical part of Chibs’ brain had missed the mark again. Juice didn’t put on a show with the kissing, didn’t seem to be trying to do anything other than lick into Chibs’ mouth and touch his chest and press as close as he could. The boy just seemed desperate for touch rather than manipulative - as far as making out went, it was almost heartbreakingly sweet. Awkward at first, sure. Their teeth clacked together and the angle was bad with Chibs’ right hand still sticky with come and trapped in the boy’s boxers, the bad angld tweaking his elbow. Juice didn’t really seem to know what to do with himself, but it was those small moments of hesitancy and awkwardness that made it all the sweeter for Chibs.

Finally, Juice pulled away with a deep, shuddering breath that seemed to travel through his entire body. Chibs watched, his own brain already pretty much blown from the kissing, as Juice pushed himself up on his elbow and looked down between them, removed Chibs' hand from where it was still trapped in his shorts and brought it up to his mouth so that he could lick his come off of Chibs' fingers.

Chibs' dick was hard enough to pound nails and he couldn't help but groan when Juice's tongue darted out against his skin. He was breathing hard, entranced with watching the lad's mouth as he remembered how good it had looked stretched out around his cock. If he could get the lad to lie on his back then Chibs could straddle his chest and fuck into that hot mouth and make him gag on it a little bit and fuck, yeah, Juice would let him, he was sure of it. Chibs was just about to nudge Juice down and have him put that mouth to better use when things shifted - while Chibs had been staring at his mouth and fantasizing, Juice had finished cleaning his come off of Chibs' hand and moved on to just suck on Chibs' index and middle fingers, wet and intense.

Juice curled his hand lightly around where Chibs' other three fingers had folded in to the palm. It was an oddly sweet move, somehow tender, and Chibs felt the hook of it snag in his gut, felt the electrical current sizzle down his spine. Juice's face was tight and nervous again when his eyes flicked up to gauge Chibs' expression, his tongue licking between the fingers in his mouth like it was a question. Then Juice pulled Chibs' fingers from his mouth and took a ragged breath as he guided them down his body, the saliva on them leaving a shiny trail that traced over his ribs and back across the curve of his hip.

"Do you want-"

"Yes." Chibs cut him off and was surprised by his own voice, deep and coarse, by how evident the lust was in his tone.

(Chibs wasn't an idiot. He had known where this was going ever since the lad had so earnestly started to get his fingers wet. Still, his first instinct had been to tell Juice that he didn't have to do this and kick the lad back to his own bunk. But that was a lie, wasn't it? That was free-Chibs trying to tell inmate-Chibs how to handle his business, which meant free-Chibs had overstepped his bounds. Because Juice did have to do this. They both did, really, since it took two to tango. Chibs had agreed to protect Juice almost two weeks ago now, but all he had done so far was get sucked off and knock Juice into the infirmary. Not exactly fulfilling the contract.

Chibs didn't think the other inmates felt uncertain the claim he had staked on the younger man. If there was one thing he had learned in the past week it was that there was nothing better than a public display of violence to assure one’s personal property rights among these dumb motherfuckers. But maybe Juice doubted it. Chibs didn't know what the lad had been subjected to before in return for protection, but getting felt up a bit probably didn't even scratch the surface. Chibs not fucking him could mean Juice somehow hadn’t lived up to expectations, wasn't earning the protection he had been promised. It could mean that Chibs planned to trade him.)

Juice swallowed hard when he glanced at Chibs. He looked like he was fighting with his words for about a second before it all poured out of him at once. "I got some stuff. When I was in the infirmary."

"Stuff?"

Juice nodded (like that somehow answered the question), and Chibs couldn't quite tell in the low light but he thought that the lad looked relieved. Then Juice tried to pull away, and his face went scared, his eyes wide and uncertain again when Chibs held him fast with the hand that was still on his chin.

"What're you on about?" Chibs wasn't ever going to win any prizes for eloquence at one a.m.. God damn Juice for expecting him to be able to function properly with two hours of sleep and no blood in his brain.

"I just need a second that's all. Please, I'll get wet for you and you'll. Fuck me." Juice's voice caught a little and his cheeks went dark as he blushed under Chibs scrutiny. "It'll be good, I promise."

Things clicked into place. Chibs might have been slow on the draw sometimes, but he wasn't stupid. The stuff Juice was talking about, that he had gotten in the infirmary, had the lad stolen it? Chibs doubted that. It seemed much more likely that it been pressed into his hand by a grim-faced but well intentioned Dr. Knowles. Chibs rankled at the mental image but forced himself to stay calm. It wouldn't do to spook the kid now, not again.

There was a noise, then, far away. The ringing buzz and familiar mechanical rattle of the barred door being rolled open at the head of the block. Chibs had no way of knowing which guards would be on patrol, he hadn’t been paying attention to their schedules recently, but he could very vividly remember Kohn’s conspiratorial wink. Remembered how Kohn had chatted with him like they were a couple of best friends whose hobbies included beating the tar out of the people they fucked. Remembered how Juice had curled up so sweet against him, how Chibs had promised to keep the kid as safe as possible.

Juice must not have heard the gate opening but he certainly saw something in Chibs’ expression, something that spooked the lad something fierce if the sudden flash of fear that crossed his features was anything to go by.

"I know I made you mad and I don't deserve it-” Juice stuttered, backtracking verbally even as he pressed closer to Chibs. Chibs sat up and back, gripped the lad's forearm. Chibs noticed distantly that his hand had clamped down right over the same space that he had bruised so bad in the showers. A favorite spot, apparently.

Juice trembled under his hand and Chibs couldn't hold back his frustrated sigh. "Lad, stop. No. Just...just shut up and let me -" listen, Chibs meant to say, but he trailed off. There it was again, the faint sound of the buzzer that echoed down from the entrance of the block as the metal clanking of the door slid shut behind the guard. Heavy boot soles slapping on tile.

"Go back to your bunk."

"I'm sorry, please, don't be mad I swear I'll do better. Whatever you want, Chibs, please."

"Shut. Up. Jesus fuckin' -" Chibs hissed at him, less than gentle about it as he pushed the lad away. "Christ, do you want it that fucking bad?"

Juice looked away then, his face flushed and embarrassed as he stuttered. "I haven't..."

"Lad. Unless you want the guard doing rounds to join us you'll get back to your own goddamn bed." Chibs was barely listening to the harsh words as they tore out of his mouth. He didn't notice when Juice flinched and braced himself as if waiting to be struck - all that Chibs could focus on was the sound of heavy footfalls that were moving down the block, pausing in front of each cell before coming closer.

"I'll fuck you later. Just get out of here, go get yourself ready, alright?" Chibs forced himself to take a deep breath, pushing Juice gently but firmly out of his bunk.

*****Sound of record scratching*****

So basically I had the rest of this written and it didn't save on my computer and. Fuck. I'm not going to struggle with this anymore,I'm having a lot of health issues and I don't really have the interest or the motivation to keep going here.

((On that note, I don't know if I am actually done forever with this 'verse. I have a Juice-centric one shot I want to write about how fucked up the poor guy was after he finally got out of prison in NY.))

In case you are wondering what I had planned, though....

In the short term, like, the rest of this chapter: Chibs feels like shit a little bit for being so mean to Juice  ("do you want it that fucking bad?", what an asshole am I right?) and he half expects Juice not to come back, but after the guards pass by Juice sneaks back into Chibs' bed and they fuck. I had something written along the lines of - ' It didn’t take much talking to get  Juice flipped over on his hands and knees - Chibs would have preferred to put the boy on his back so he could look at him, or to lay back himself and have Juice ride him, but. The lad could hide his face this way, not have to worry about performing or pretending for Chibs. It would be easier.'

So Chibs is basically just trying to get it over with but he still takes his time and makes sure he doesn't hurt Juice. No reason to make things worse than they already have to be.  Chibs expects Juice to be brittle and angry about the sex the next morning, but instead Juice is still in his bed and seems pretty okay with it/in a better mood than he had been. Status quo finally established, Juice gets more and more comfortable. Everybody is less on edge and Chibs finally gets a good night's sleep. Before my computer got fucked I had outlined a bunch of little snapshots covering a couple of month's worth of time where Chibs gets to know Juice better, like...

Happy makes Juice spot for him when he lifts weights in the yard. Chibs notes how few personal possessions Juice has, and how Juice meticulously arranged what little he had. Tig teasing Chibs about how Venus and Juice have been talking and it sounds like the fucking kid has a crush whenever Chibs comes up. Chibs standing guard in the showers so Juice can shave and eyeballing Juice. More fucking. Juice being a loud-mouth asshole to a guard, and Chibs, shocked, has to slap him across the back of the head to shut him up because God damn does that kid hate cops. Chibs getting called in to the infirmary for a check-up aka Tara very pointedly asking him what he is doing to Juice and Chibs asking Tara if she really thinks that Juice would be better off with anyone else.

I don't really know where I was going with this in the long-er term. I wrote in a shit load of possible plot/conflict-starters for myself - Lin/the Chinese, Tully, Kohn - but like I said I have kind of just lost interest. None of them really lend themselves to happy endings in my head either. FYI, I was probably going to end up writing the obvious Tully-track, which would have basically been 1. Club needs something important from the AB, 2. Tully's terms of agreement involve him getting regular access to Juice, 3. Chibs not wanting to share (and Juice obviously being opposed) but not having a choice, 4. Nothing is good and everything hurts.