A/N: I do not own SoA or any of the characters. I do own those that you may not recognize.

Chapter 1 – What was I thinking?

Staring at the garage, parked inside my car and drumming my fingers against the steering wheel, all that can be heard is tap, tap, tap….I can do this, I keep telling myself. It's not that hard. Just get out of the car Gia and ask if he's here. If he's not, then I guess I will have to figure things out on my own. I knew I should have called him before I came down, I just knew it. Feeling a slight almost butterfly wings brush from inside, as though my baby was telling me it was okay to do this. Taking a deep breath, I stepped outside my car, shut the door and made my way up to the garage.

Looking around and seeing several of the cuts that were the norm, I made my way further up the path when I was stopped by a young man in his mid twenties.

"Hi, ma'am. Can I help you with something?" asked the young man politely.

"Actually I hope that you can. I am looking for someone and I am not sure if he is here or not. His name is JC…sorry Jean Carlos Ortiz."

"Oh you're looking for Juice. Hold on a sec, he's here. I'll go grab him. What's your name so I can tell him who's here?"

"Tell him Lil G is here." I answered and smiled sweetly. Watching the young man head back towards what looked like the clubhouse, I could feel the stares from the other men there, wondering who I was and what I was doing here. Once again the flutter from inside was reassuring to me, even if I still felt sick to my stomach with dread.

"Gia?! Is it really you?!" I heard the voice in front of me exclaim. Shock filtered through my system at the sight of JC standing there in front of me. Between the fear of being followed, plus sitting in a car all night and part of this morning and finally seeing JC, it hit me all at once and I began a slow spiral down to the ground.

Juice caught Gia just as she was about to hit the ground. Not knowing what happened and why, he immediately picked her up in his arms and brought her inside to the clubhouse. He was followed closely by Chibs and Half-Sack. Chibs having some medical knowledge quickly brought smelling salts over, while Half-Sack fetched a cold compress and gently placed it on her forehead.

Gia stirred at the foul smell under her nose. She didn't know what happened or how she got into the room, but it was nice and cool in here and she was being taken care of care. Lifting her eyes up, she sees a pair of melted chocolate brown eyes staring down at her in concern. Feeling JC's hand caressing her hair, she leans into it as beast she could.

"Baby girl, do you think you can sit up a bit? Try and take a bit of water" he asks softly. Nodding her head ever so gently, she struggles to get to a sitting position, but strong arms are there to help ease her up. Half-Sack hands her a glass of water.

"Thank you JC." Gia says quietly, sipping the water.

"What happened? Why did you faint and what are you doing here?"

"Easy brother, let her get her bearings first and then maybe we can get answers" says Chibs. The girl is easy on the eyes and if he wasn't mistaken, she had several tattoos as well.

"Sorry" Juice mumbles all the while still looking at Gia.

"I know I should have called first and asked if it was okay if I came out here, but I, umm……"

"G, whatever is going on, I told you before I will always help you in anyway I can. You know that. So what gives?"

"I ran into a bit of a problem back home and had no where else I can turn to. I know I should have called the second I realized what was happening but I thought I was a big enough girl to handle it on my own without having to have you come in and rescue me. I guess I was wrong and I need you to rescue me." Gia's lips began to tremble and unshed tears stung her eyes.

Juice looked at her and then turned his head to look back at Chibs and Prospect. Nodding his head towards them, they left the room leaving Gia and Juice alone to talk. Chibs knew that Juice would come and tell them what was going on. The young lass' eyes were filled with shadows and he could guess at the cause.

"They're gone. So now tell me what is going on. I can't help you unless youtell me." Juice said in that quiet way of his.

"Where do I begin?" she says. Grabbing his hand, she places it gently on her stomach "This is the reason why I ran. My baby. I didn't wanna be around that violence anymore. So I took off. He found me, brought me back home and beat me. I tried to protect my baby as best I could. When he was finished, I curled up into a ball, praying.

JC, I honestly thought that I would die that night. I heard the door close as he left the house and I struggled to get up and out. I knew I was hurt, but I didn't realize how bad I truly was. I got several of my bags out of the closet and started throwing clothes into them. I also grabbed all of the baby things that I had hidden in the closet. I hadn't told him yet I was pregnant. Not like it would have really changed anything. I just need a place to stay and hide out for a while." Gia finished.

"WOW! This is what we are going to do." Gia gave him a look and was about to open her mouth and say something, but Juice stopped her cold with "It's not just you anymore. You came to me for help and I am going to help you. You and that baby." His hand still on her belly, rubbing in soothing motions. "Right now though, I am taking you to my room here and you are going to sleep. No arguments. Half-Sack will get your things from the car and then we'll stash it somewhere. I will talk to the rest of the guys and let them know I am going to have company for a while. Okay?"

Nodding her head, she let Juice help her up off the couch and guide her down the hall to his room. Opening the door, Juice lets her go first and she realizes that there is one bed. Not like she never slept in the same bed as him, but she didn't want to put her friend out.

"JC, I can find another place to stay, really. I don't want you to give up your bed." She looked around some more and noticed several pictures on the mirror. Heading over to the dresser and mirror she noticed the one pic that was guaranteed to make her cry. It was a picture of JC and herself about 6 years ago. How things have changed in that time.

Feeling hands on her shoulders, Juice placed his head next to hers and kissed her on her temple. Turning her gently towards the bed, he whispered in her ear "Rest now sweetie I'll keep you safe."

She slipped out of her jeans,, kept the shirt on and slid in between the covers, turned on her side and let her eyes drift close, knowing that she was finally safe.