Words cannot describe how terrible I feel for not updating this. Somehow people were still adding this story to their alerts and it was you people that encouraged me to keep going, that and the new season. It's making me so nervous.

Okay, since it has been so long, this story is going to end up quite different from what it was originally going to be. I believe it's improved but that's for you to decide so this chapter is more or less going to be awkward because the first part was actually written a long time ago but I did not want to get rid of it. It's extra long too. Hope you like that.

So, if you're still reading. Thank you.

Chapter Seven: Betrayals of Trust

Katherine could not remember how long she had been in the shower, ice cold water beating down on her bare back, somehow still evoking a little pain from her scars. It was not the smell she was trying to get rid of for that had actually disappeared quite quickly. No, it was her thoughts that occupied her, taking time and twisting it so she had no idea what it was, numbing her senses so she could not notice how she shivered under the streaming water.

She kept thinking over the decision she had made earlier. It was nothing really, at least in comparison to what the Sons did normally, but to her family she may as well have shot someone. All her life, she had made decisions that had complicated things, that would threaten to tear her apart in the future. Far too often she had felt the harsh consequences of these decisions and yet here she was, making the same mistake again. How many times did she have to hurt, how many others would have to share her pain before she stopped?

Someone had knocked on the door. That was what woke her up. She had quickly shut off the shower and dressed, remembering that she was taking up the only bathroom in the building and there were several individuals in the next room, though none were visible when she headed back to her room. They must have wanted to give her some privacy, or avoid talking to her. There had definitely been some awkward silences with her. Katherine had not minded. It was understandable. She was not exactly someone they would have normally talked to and now she had been forced upon them. They did not need to try to make her feel welcome. She knew she was just extra weight.

She felt so confined in her room, restless. The only thing available for entertainment was sleep and that was certainly not on her to do list. Katherine was afraid of what she would see tonight. There were so many possible things that she could see, none that she would ever wish to encounter. Some time sleep would take her and she would have to face them but not tonight. Tonight she was in control.

Grabbing her phone that sat on the night stand, Katherine opened it up and stared at it. There were a million things she wished to do. Call her brother. God only knew how he was freaking out right now. Him, and maybe Juice if he had run into the guy. No doubt he thought they had something to do with a near dead Mayan in his house. No, she would not call. There were too many questions that she was going to have to answer. Finding out that his sister was running around with members from two biker gangs was, to put lightly, not going to sit well with him.

Maybe she could find a way to check up on Angel. No, that would not do much good either. She knew how he was, unless he had died in the last couple hours which seemed completely possible. Right now, she really did not want to know, not when the only people for comfort were a bunch of emotionally awkward bikers.

Opening her phone, she began to type a message and sent it. She was quite surprised that she had reception out here, wherever here was. Her phone was silent for some time but eventually the screen lit up and a familiar buzzing feeling moved her hand. The letters on the screen blinked 'Juice.' She opened it slowly:

He's fine.

She stared at it for a very long time, understanding what those two words meant. Juice did not get anyone to watch over Angel. He was doing it himself; he was watching over his enemy for her. She was not certain about what kind of repercussions that could inflict upon him or the club but she was sure that none of it could be good. If she knew anything about the Sons, things like this would never be taken lightly. It only furthered the theory that had she had been playing around with for some time: Juice did care for her, at a level that was beyond any of the others.

Scary thing was, she could not deny that she felt the same.

It did not make any sense. They had not seen or heard from one another in six years and before that they were not exactly the closest of friends, at least before prom. If anything, they should have felt like complete strangers toward one another, not the exact opposite. This was a problem and she knew it, had been a problem for some time now. She fell too hard too fast. That was how Angel ended up in the hospital. That was how she had done a lot of things she regretted. She could not do it anymore. It was just too dangerous.

Katherine returned to staring at the message for a good few minutes, clicking the keypad every time it started to go dark. It was certainly a strange response to: you doing alright? Not only was Juice watching him, he seemed to be quite mad at himself for doing it. She began to type back.

I meant you, idiot.

It was appropriately harsh. Hopefully he found humor in the text, however slight it was.

Buzz.

Oh. Yeah, me too.

She managed a faint smile, picturing Juice stuttering in his ever awkward way. It may have been the quality she loved most about him. His exterior was a hard biker, willing to do anything under the sun for his club but inside, he was an antisocial techie that did not exactly have the greatest set of skills when it came to women. It made him so much more human to her.

Sighing, Katherine went over to the bed and collapsed on it, flipping over eventually so she could stare at the ceiling. So many thoughts were running through her mind, including one wondering how often the boys used those guns that were just a foot underneath her.

Katherine tried not to look him in the eye. The top of her skull was burning under his gaze. The room was pulsating with his anger; she thought she could actually hear the beat of it. She really should not be ashamed of what she had done in the past. After all she was an adult and was allowed to choose who she wanted to be with. But being raised in a family as morally conscious as hers, Katherine always felt that guilt of doing something she knew was wrong. She felt the weight of her family's judgment, a great burden if there ever was one.

"You want to run that by me again?"

"You heard what I said, David." She was beginning to wish they had never brought her back, then she would not have had to answer his questions. He practically interrogated her and now any concern he had for her well being when she first returned seemed to have been washed away.

Hale was silent a moment but his breathing was heavy. Clearly he was trying to calm himself. He had a better chance of turning into the Hulk.

Her brother had been waiting for her the moment they entered the Teller-Morrow parking lot. Out of the kindness of their hearts, or their excessive curiosity, the Sons let the two have their private talk in the shop's office. If she peered out the windows, Katherine could not see anyone but she had a feeling someone was out there. Hell, maybe they had the room bugged. That seemed like something up Juice's alley.

"What…why would…Katherine, you willingly brought a Mayan to Charming."

"I know," she replied softly, watching her toes on the floor as they scrunched up underneath her feet. She felt like a child again being reprimanded by her parents. Well, at least one of them had to get it right.

"Do you know? Really? Because someone who hangs out with the Sons as much as you do would know that they aren't exactly on friendly terms with the Mayans. You could have caused a war in Charming!"

"I know, David! I know!" Katherine shouted, standing up to look her brother in the eye. Hales had short fuses and no amount of guilt could put out the fire. "Hindsight is 20/20, I get it, alright? But I had to know, I just had to."

"Had to know what?" Again with the questions. She was so sick of having to answer to people.

"I had to know if the Mayans really did it."

"Of course they did, Katherine. It's on the tape."

"Angel said otherwise."

"Angel Cancel is one of them!" Hale grabbed her arms and shook her slightly, as though it could get some sense into her head. "Why would you believe him? Because you-" He stopped, unable to bring himself to say it.

"Because I what, David? Say it." All she received was silence. "Because I dated him. That's right, your sister dated the biker but he wasn't a Mayan then David! He was just another guy that liked motorcycles!"

"A guy doesn't join a group like that unless he has interest in what they're doing."

Katherine's eyes narrowed. "You really going to do this, David? Why don't you judge me based on who I am instead of who I've been out with?"

There was another long pause. Hale appeared to be in thought. She did not like how long it took him to respond.

"I don't know who you are anymore, Kat."

Something shattered within. She soon came to realize that it was her faith in her big brother. He was the only one she could talk to. He was not Jacob; he did not see dollar signs. But now she was not sure what he was. Seems they both had their doubts.

Biting her lip to keep from crying, because she was so tired of being that person, Katherine wriggled out of her brother's grip. She stormed out of the office, walking past the crowd that was still gathered just outside the clubhouse. She tried very hard to ignore the 'didn't see that coming' comment that came from Tig but could not. It was not how things were supposed to happen. Maybe that was why she was so angry at him.

Or maybe it was because he was right.

After changing into some new clothes and taking a ridiculously slow walk to the hospital, Katherine finally found the room that Angel was staying in. Sure enough Juice was there, lurking in the hallways, trying not to be so obvious. The thing was a Son could never blend in to a hospital no matter how hard he tried, unless he was actually the patient.

Rolling up the sleeves on her jean jacket, Katherine slowly made her way toward him. He had settled down in a chair and was flipping through a tech magazine at a rate that suggested he had been through it several times already. It seemed that he did not notice her approach. Either that or he was just not in the mood to talk to her. She could believe that; she had been betraying everyone's confidence after all.

"I'm sorry," she blurted out as she stopped right in front of him. Juice looked up from his magazine, actually appearing surprised to see her. "All I've done so far is just create a bigger mess. I don't think and I'm selfish and I put a lot of people in danger and I'm sorry. I know how much you don't want to be here and I just forced it on you and I just…I…"

"Whoa, hang on Kat," Juice said, standing and grabbing her wrists, ceasing her rambling. "It's alright. I want to be here."

Katherine sighed. "Juice, I hear you're good at poker but don't expect me to believe that sack of lies."

Juice nodded. "Fine, but you didn't force me. It's my choice, my consequence."

"But it shouldn't be. You're right. He's a Mayan, you're a Son. The two of you don't mix. You can…you can leave if you want."

The grip on her wrists became firmer. It did not hurt but only seemed to be there to reassure her. "If you don't want me to, I'll stay."

Katherine looked into his brown eyes, clearly seeing the truth residing in them. She hated that he was so willing to, but at the same time she loved it. How was it he was so wrapped around her finger? And why was she leaning in closer?

"I can see the two of you, ya know," a weak voice, clearly Angel's, called from the room behind them. Both Juice and Katherine took a step back from one another, making the gap between them rather large. They smiled awkwardly at each other before Katherine ducked inside the room. Juice rubbed his face with his hand, shaking his head. What was he doing?

Angel Cancel was hardly recognizable. He was hooked up to all sorts of machines, had various bandages placed all over and small cuts and bruises too minor to be covered. All in all, he was a mess but that did not seem to break his spirit very much.

"That hurts, Kat. Here I am dying and you're out there flirting with the enemy."

Katherine sat in the chair beside his bed. "You're not dying and I wasn't flirting either."

Angel shook his head. "Say what you want, I know what I saw."

"You know, I didn't have to visit you," she replied, pretending to get up. Angel's arm whipped out so fast to grab her, it was like it had been there the entire time. She saw him wince in pain as he did so. "I'm sorry. If for one second I thought this would happen-"

"Don't apologize, Kat," Angel said, cutting her off. "It didn't really matter if I came or not. I'm a dead man anyway."

"What?"

Angel sighed. "Look, things have been hectic. Someone's trying to oust us from our territory. There's dissension in the club and I pissed a lot of guys off."

Something began to dawn on Katherine. "So, the shooting…"

"Had nothing to do with Charming, though I'm thinking the guys were hoping to pin it on the Sons. Get rid of their troubles, get the feds off their backs."

Katherine sat back in the chair, thinking over everything that had happened so far. She was silent for a good ten minutes but Angel did nothing to get her attention. He simply watched her disappear into another world. It was as though she began to shrink as she slowly discovered the gravity of it all, how she had stumbled onto something much larger than she could have anticipated. She had stepped right into the middle of a war.

"What happens now?" she asked, her voice hardly audible.

"Nothing," Angel replied, a seriousness in his voice she had not heard in some time. "You leave this hospital and never come back…and you take that Son with you."

Life seemed to come back to her. "What? No! They'll kill you!"

"Exactly."

"Look, Angel, if you think for one second that I'm going to leave you to your fate, you've got another thing coming."

She was about to leave, not exactly sure what she was going to do. Telling her brother to have someone watch him was not much of an option at the moment but before she could make up her mind, Angel grabbed her arm again. This time with strength she did not think he had at the moment. If she struggled, she might be able to break free but of course she was not going to do that to him.

"Listen to me, Kat." He spoke with authority, as though he was talking to someone in his club rather than his ex. "You got out, okay? Don't you dare get back into this or you're going to find yourself in this hospital a lot more often." He glanced to the doorway a moment. "I see the way you two act together. It's gonna end the same way, Kat. Just know that."

Angel let Katherine go, watching her as she moved to the doorway. She did not really want to leave but she had no idea what else to do. If she stayed, more people would die. So this was what it is like to be stuck between a rock and a hard place.

"You know you're not a fucking martyr, Angel."

"Never planned to be," he said with a wink. That was the final thing that pushed her out the door. She walked down the hallway with a purpose she had never known, doing all she could not to look back or she would never leave. She could hear Juice following behind her.

"Kat, what's going-"

"We're leaving, Juice."

"What do you mean? What happened in there?"

"Like you weren't listening. Just go, okay?"

Later that night, after many hours of pointless wandering, Katherine returned to her brother's house. They had cleaned the damage up quickly. In fact, if one was not looking for something, it looked as though nothing had happened there. When he opened the door, Katherine threw her arms around him and just stayed there. They spoke nothing of the day's events; they might never move on if they did.

Two days later, Angel Cancel was dead. Details surrounding his passing were not released.

Katherine did not tell anyone where she was going that day. It was a little surprising that Hale even let her out of his sights but there was not much he could do. He was needed at work and Charming was not exactly bursting at the seams with police officers. He could always hope that she would not do anything but deep down he felt that something else was coming.

Borrowing the neighbor's car again, Katherine drove herself out to Oakland where a funeral was being held. She watched from a distance under the shade of a tree. An older woman was crying over the coffin while a young man stood over her with a hand on her shoulder. His brother and mother. There was also a young woman there watching with a distant look on her face. She wondered if Angel possibly had another girl and then began to wonder how close they had become, how similar the two of them were.

Soon, Katherine became aware of a figure standing next to her. She did not turn to them. It was obvious to her who it was.

"Come to spit on his grave too?"

"Angel was a good man. I've come to pay my respects," Alvarez said, stepping forward into the sunlight.

Katherine turned to him, steel in her eyes. "He doesn't need your respect. You had him killed."

Alvarez grabbed her shoulder quickly, squeezing it so hard it was guaranteed to leave a bruise. He pulled her close enough that she could feel his breath and get a good look into his cold gaze. "You had better watch your words, Katherine. You're no longer in friendly territory. The Mayans don't welcome you with open arms anymore."

Katherine looked him up and down for some kind of bluff but she knew she would find none. Alvarez was the toughest President out there. Of that she had no doubt.

"We hear you're cozying up to the Sons now. Looks like your true colors are finally showing," said another Mayan who stepped up from behind them.

Katherine stole a sideways glance at him. It was the VP. She never did like the man. "No one asked for your idiotic input."

"What did you say?" The VP asked, stepping forward with murder in his eyes. Alvarez put his hand up, getting the man to back down but she could feel his fingers digging further into her collarbone. She bit her tongue to hide the pain.

"That mouth of yours always got you into trouble. Step out of line again and I'll silence it."

Katherine snorted, not looking afraid for one moment. "I dare you to try. You've got the feds all over you after what happened to me. I can testify that you had nothing to do with it but if you kill me…I hope you enjoy watching them tear your club apart. And then the Sons can have what's left."

Alvarez gave her a hard stare for a long time. He seemed to be considering just offing her right then and there. She had been a pain in his ass for a very long time but instead he let her go and called his men off, waiting until it was just the two of them again. He leaned in close. She did not even flinch.

"Tell me, Katherine," he whispered. "When the Sons find out how deep you were with us, what's to keep them from finishing the job?"

I like reviews. If you would oblige me, that would be nice. I may not update too quickly. I am actually deployed right now so things are a little busy but I'm going to try to get back on track with this story. Thanks for reading!