Today was supposed to be a really hard day. Not just because of guns, not because of preparing everything for the transportation, but because today the club needed to vote up or against the partnership with the Cartel. Jax knew that Piney, Bobby and Juice are totally against it. Kozik, as a former junky, would probably support them. He was sure about Tig, was sure about his own vote. But not about his feelings about all of this, though it didn't matter, because nobody gave a shit about his personal thoughts, especially Clay. And he also needed to have a conversation with Op and try to convince him about all of this. Yeah, very long and very hard fucking day. But Jax decided to spend at least a little part of it with his little monster, so he brought him to the club, where for the past day the most of the debris has been removed. They were alone, not counting a few prospects and Chucky, hanging somewhere around. Abel liked this place, and Jax was happy about that. After all, the club is gonna be his one day. Being captured by his thoughts, he missed the moment when Ellie appeared.

"Didn't expect to see you this soon," He said, raising his head and smiling widely to Ellie.

"Thea has a court hearing today, so she left early and gave me a quick ride," She explained, coming closer and sitting down next to him, smiling at a little boy in his hands, who was playing with his car.

"Hey, Abel, say hello to daddy's new friend, Ellie," She raised her eyebrows, being a bit surprised, but couldn't help herself, looking at blond-haired boy with Jax's eyes and smile. This was the first time she met his son, and from this moment he completely captivated her heart.

It felt like hours passed them by. At first Abel was a little bit ashamed, but soon he overpassed that and played with Ellie like if he always knew her. Jax was amazed with how quickly they found a common ground and became friends, and with how lovely and beautiful Ellie was, laughing at every Abel's joke and resisting him in his games.

"What?" She asked, giggling, when she noticed the way Jax was looking at her.

"Nothing, just trying to keep this picture in my mind," He said. But this happiness couldn't last forever and was broken by appearance of Clay and others. He knew that he had to go now, so he gave Abel to Ellie, placing a kiss on son's head before it. "Can you stay with him till Gemma will come, please?"

"Sure, I'll keep an eye on him. Be careful, Jax," She said, blushing as he hugged her and gave a little kiss on a cheek. It seemed like the skin was burning there.

"Always, babe," He said and waved goodbye. After he left, Abel seemed to be completely immersed in the game, and he wasn't embarrassed not even for a bit by the fact that he was left alone with Ellie. They began to draw, and by the time Gemma finally showed up, Teller Jr. already painted himself and Ellie dirt, and this fact seemed to bring him a pure delight. They both were laughing when the old lady approached, and under her look Ellie's smile faded considerably. Noticing that, the boy turned around and saw his grandmother.

"Granny, look what we have drawn with Ellie!" He almost shouted in excitement.

"Wow, that's definitely a masterpiece!" Gemma stood behind him, putting her hands on his shoulders. "And who's Ellie?"

"Daddy said she is his new friend," He smiled, looking at Ellie. Unfortunately, the love of a grandson didn't automatically mean the favor of his grandmother.

"Right, daddy, as usual, has a lot of friends," She clicked her tongue.

"I guess, we don't know each other personally, but just as Abel said, I'm Ellie," She stood up, extending her hand. A few seconds was enough to understand that the woman wasn't about to shake it, so she continued a bit uncertainly, "Jax asked me to sit with him till you'll come."

"Well, I came," Teller's whole appearance was showing her displeasure. She looked down, at the boy, and tried to erase a paint stain, "Just look at you, sweetheart! C'mon, see Chucky over there? Quickly, run to him and say that granny asked him to clean you up!"

With a loud sigh, Abel did what he was told to, but before he did, he said goodbyes to Ellie, which seemed to annoy Gemma.

"See ya, sweetie!" The girl replied, not hiding a wide smile as he was running across the yard, making a sound of working engine. When she turned back to his granny, she tried her best not to let that smile disappear, because she wasn't about to let this woman to put pressure on her. "He's a wonderful kid."

"He definitely is," Gemma answered without any sign of a smile in respond. "The question is, why are you able to judge?"

"Excuse me?"

"Jax wouldn't introduce the first comer to his son."

"Then, maybe, I'm not the first comer?" Ellie crossed her arms. She didn't notice the moment when she passed from the attempts to be nice to the position of defence.

"Then who the hell are you?" She leaned a bit closer across the table. "What are you doing here, honey?"

"Do you have any problems with me being here? I haven't caused any troubles to anyone yet."

"Yet," Gemma chuckled. "My problem is that my son seems to put the eye on you. And the last thing he need is a new whore by his side."

"First of all, I didn't give you any reason to call me a whore," Ellie felt the touch of a strong irritation. She stood up slowly, not taking her eyes from Gemma. "Second of all, Jax also seems to be a big boy, so, I guess, he can decide by himself whether he need someone beside him, or not."

"You didn't have to give me some reasons, I can recognize a whore if I see one. So either Jax is a big boy, or he is not, I'm afraid I won't let it happen."

"Well, I'm glad that you're okay with you confidence," She replied with a smile, being ready to leave. "Hope it won't break on reality." And with this words, she went straight to the clubhouse, ignoring Gemma's look that followed her right to the doors.

By the time the atmosphere at Teller-Morrow grew tense, Jax and Clay finally got to the storage, where Tig, Bobby, Op and Juice with other prospects were busy with preparing the boxes for the guns transporting according to the Irish drawings. Clay was completely satisfied with the results.

"Where's Chibs, by the way?" Asked Jax as he noticed that scotty got lost somewhere. After a moment Telford appeared, looking like shit and breathing heavy because of pain.

"Jesus, are you alright, man?"

"Stupid mexican food," He moaned, lying on one of the prepared boxes. "Juicy-boy, you gotta save me," And Juice was totally ready to save him with his magical green tea, the effects of which he immediately started to share with everyone, but Tig stopped him from enumerating the charming details of this treatment.

"You gonna be done with the boxes here, then enjoy your enemas," said Clay and then called Bobby to come to Wahewa with him. The tension between them began to annoy Morrow, so he was about to try to convince him about Cartel once more. Before leaving, Bobby gave Tig a meaningful look, but Trager was already pissed off. He was tired of being Clay's little puppet, and moreover, he didn't understand why his friend now seemed not to need him anymore.

At the same time, sheriff Roosevelt and mr. Potter, new pain in the ass, Assistant Attorney whose got Sons as one of his objects, were discussing their new plan. Somehow they found out that the SAMCRO is now connected with the Galinda Cartel, and that could gave them an opportunity to catch them both at the same time. The only problem was that they needed a rat in their ranks to fix the arms trade and then put Sons under the Rico. Potter took a case from his table and passed it to Roosevelt.

"So, here's a plan B. We take one of them and we make him work for as," He pointed at the photo on the wall. "Juan Carlos Ortiz, more known as Juice. You need to arrest him."

"And then what? How this would help us anyway?" Roosevelt seemed to be not very enthusiastic about all of this. Despite his confrontation with the club, all this conspirative shit didn't bring him any joy at all, though he didn't have much choice.

"He's gonna be our little rat," Smirked Potter, opening the case and pointing on the photo in it. "Just tell him that you know about his wonderful family tree and that you'll be in touch in case he would like to discuss something," He was about to play a great puppet show, without having any doubts that it'll work. And thought he didn't know it yet, everything was already coming to the point where his plan will succeed.

Meanwhile in Wahewa, Miles called Jax with some bad news. The rest of the SAMCRO, who wasn't at the storage, were solving the problem with the transportation of guns, and it seemed like someone decided to transport them already. By stealing it. "Fuck, is there always must be some shit with those guns?! Okay, we're on our way".

"Something's wrong?"

"Kozik screwed up. You stay here, Tig, finish with the boxes while we're fixing the problem," But Tig was done with that shit.

"If there's a problem, then I'm going, VP" And that's how Jax understood that there were no reasons to argue with him. He nodded and turned to Juice before leaving:

"Take care of him."

"Absolutely."

As they left, Ortiz helped Chibs to stand up, "C'mon, man, let's save you already."

And Telford wasn't the only one who wanted to be saved. It was hard to admit that, but despite the resistance, which Ellie showed when talking to Gemma, this brief meeting literally knocked the ground from under her feet. She had met that kind of woman, she had met them a lot, but now she just wasn't ready for this passive (or, maybe, not even passive) agressive shit. Standing in the bathroom and trying to clean her cheek from paint, she felt as her eyes were burning and she hated that condition when she was about to start to cry, but couldn't let herself do that. Anyway, after a few seconds of attempts to pretend that nothing happened, she just sat on the edge of the bathtub and hid her face in her hands, trying to breath deeply. Probably, everything that happened to her in last few days just finally cought her in the moment of helplessness. It seemed like the eternity passed by till she was able to went out of the room and leave in hurry, without any wish to stay at the club while there was nobody else, but Gemma. That's how she found a little weakness, one of the many. While she was heading to the gate, she heard Abel calling her, but she just turned around and waved him with a smile, thinking to herself, "Why such a nice child has such a bitchy granny."

Having nowhere to go, as well as Thea was, probably, still in the court, Ellie decided to hike. The risk to get lost again was pretty high, but in that moment it didn't bother her much, so she just went aimlessly, trying to throw away Gemma's words. I didn't work vert well, actually, untill she saw no one else,but Juice and Chibs on the other side of a street. She was about to cross it, but just before she did, the police car drove past. Everything happened pretty fast and until she could get to them, one of the officers have already put handcuffs on Ortiz.

"Is this some kind of joke?!" She heard his voice that sounded absolutely perplexed.

"Is that feel like a joke?" The officer responded, pushing him to the car.

"Chibs!" Ellie finally approached Telford, who was now alone, as well as a police car with Juice has already left. "What happened?"

"Hey, what are you doing here, lass?" He was obviously confused.

"I was walking and just saw you. Why did they take him?" She watched the car until it disappeared around the corner.

"I wish I knew," Chibs's voice was full of anxiety. He ran his hand through his hair, clearly puzzling over how to proceed. "Whatever… Are you coming to the club?"

"No, actually, I left it recently," Ellie looked away. "I was there with Abel, but then…" She broke.

"Oh, you can not continue, I guess I know what's the problem," He grinned. "Everything's okay?"

"Yeah," Ellie waved. "Just don't want to be there now. Thea should be home soon, I guess I need to tell her about Juice."

"Right," He clicked his tongue. "But tell her not to worry, that's not a big deal, for real."

"Why I don't have any doubts?" She grinned, letting Chibs squeeze her shoulder.

When they parted, she went to Thea's house and Telford headed to the club. The darkness was about to fall soon. This was a constant, a simple in it's pure way truth that this town knew. But despite all of that hell, everyone was trying to live in this very moment while they still can. When you first put on the cut, you realize that one day you will end badly, taken by the road, law or a stray bullet, and if you're not ready to accept that, that you're not ready to wear it. But on the other hand, you also start to see things clearer, to understand everything you couldn't understand before. You're finally revealing the truth, you find your home, your peace, your family. Once you bacome a Son, you're always will be one. And once you choose to be with a Son, you accept the shit that will fall on your shoulders one day. And Ellie, who was hurrying home, couldn't yet understand all that boiling feeling inside of her, couldn't admit that, but she was already related with the club, and so was Thea. They choose their way, and very soon there will be consequences.

Ellie opened the door with the key that Thea gave her this morning and called her, but walls answered with the silence of an empty house. She put her key on the table and went to the kitchen to take a beer.

At the same time, two officers brought Juice to the police station and sent him to Roosevelt. More than being pissed off, he was scared, knowing that things like this are bad for someone who's still on a conditional release. After a moment of pointless story about Roosevelt and his father, he finally started the pressure.

"Do you ever see your father?"

"No," Juice answered fast, smile quickly fading away. A shadow of unemotional smile touched sheriff's lips.

"I can arrange that," He took Juice's case from his table, the one that Potter gave him before, and opened it in front of him. "Michael Howard Cole, that's your daddy, Juan Carlos. But by your silence I assume that you already know it."

"I know who he is, but I never met him," the tattoo under his mohawk began to burn. Yes, he never met him and he never wanted to. And sometimes he even believed in that lie he created for himself.

"I'm not sure if you can see that by the picture, but he is black. Like… african-black."

"Yeah, I picked that up," After those words Juice realized what was this all about, and he felt a wave of hate to the sheriff with all his heart. As well as to his father too. He hated this situation and his own helplessness, and he wanted it to end.

"Now, let's imagine what club is gonna do to you when they'll find out that you're black… Guess, they'll rip your patch off? Make you reduce your tattooes, and then, if you'll be lucky enough, you'll walk out alive. And you will be nothing, like you never existed in the SAMCRO."

"You don't know a shit about my club," Juice said harshly.

"Yeah, you're right. I don't know a shit about it, but I know about him," He pointed at the case and smiled victoriously, "Everything." Then he took out the weed, for which Juice was allegedly arrested, and threw it to him. His main task was done, "Enjoy your day."

"So what happens now?" Roosevelt looked at him with widest smile, like Juice was nothing, but a piece of shit which he can treat the way he like.

"We go back to our families. I'll stay in touch, brother," He grinned. Juice swallowed hard and then hastened to get out of that place. He didn't feel this way for a very long time, and now the shiver came back, the thoughts started to become louder than they should be. He hoped that Roosevelt was wrong, he wanted to believe that, but what if he wasn't? The club was everything to him, and almost for the first time that he've been a part of it, he felt like he can actually loose it.

By the time Juice came back to the clubhouse, pushing away all that awful thoughts, Jax already solved the problem with the guns. It took a time and patience, but now they all were about to deal with something worse than that. Returning with the guys to the club, where everyone was gathering for the vote, he was at least sure that he got one more voice in support. Kozik felt guilty about his mistake, so he decided to atone it with his vote. Actually, Jax didn't know if he was satisfied with that. Despite he knew what his own vote is gonna be, deep inside he wanted everything to end with refusal, and if only the amount of those who are against will be bigger… But then he always returned to that reasons that have formed his own decision about that. Safety of the club and those who were close to it. Jesus, he hoped so much that choosing the smallest evil will means this safety.

"Alright, let's finish with this shit," said Clay instead of greetings, when they finally parked their bikes and the rest of the Sons were already at the table. Everyone could feel clearly that the tense was growing stronger with every single minute. This vote was about to decide the fate of the club for at least the nearest future.

"So," uttered Morrow, not looking anyone straight in the eyes. "Today's vote is about running drugs for the Galinda Cartel," After a short pause he started first, "Yay."

One by one the votes where given and it was obvious how hard for everyone was both to say up and against. And both of the opposite votes sounded like a death sentence. By the time it was Jax's turn to say his word, Chibs, Piney, Hap, Bobby and Juice already said 'no', making the amounts of votes equal.

It was up to Teller how everything was going to end. And with a heavy heart, he said, "Yay."

"Six up, five against. We're accepting the offer." And the sound of President's hammer was like the sound of the funeral bell. Everyone left in a total silence, someone was calming down their last doubts, someone - choking their anger. There was no point of saying something out loud, everything was decided. That's how it worked in the club, and if you weren't ready to accept the fact that sometimes you had to act against your own will, then, again, you weren't ready to be one of the Sons. But humility they all expirienced in their own way. While one of them stayed at the clubhouse, occupying the bar, others sat on their bikes and went on a ride to clean their head.

One of those who choose Harley instead of Jim Beam was Juice, whose ride wasn't too long, though. He, probably, realized where he was going only when he got there. He saw the light in the window of Thea's house with some kind of relief. When he knocked, he didn't know for sure what he's gonna say to her. He just needed her by his side right now, or he will definitely fall apart, 'cause there was too many shit for one day. And he knew that despite everything that happened, she will take care of him just like she always did. When Thea opened the door, she was absolute mess with her tousled hair and worried look.

"Thanks God, Juan," She rushed to him, pulling Juice into a hug. He never liked his actual name for many reasons, but somehow in Thea's lips it always sounded different, more kindly, so he could almost felt himself special. "I worried so much. Ellie saw how they took you. Chibs told her that it wasn't a big deal, but how would he know?! They should've told me earlier, I could've come there, talk to them and…" Juice put his hand on her cheek, trying to smile encouragingly.

"It's okay, T, nothing to worry about," He said, petting her hair. Both of them understood clearly that nothing was okay, but she knew that sooner or later he will share his problems with her. At that moment the only thing that mattered was that Juice was at home, and he was safe. "Just uh…club-shit, you know," he shook his head, without knowing how to explain all of that happened, "I'm sorry, T, but can I stay with you tonight, please? I just… don't wanna go home," Thea nodded silently, taking him by the hand and getting into the house. The same moment Ellie went out, saying 'hi and bye' on her go. She understood immediately that her presence wasn't quite needed, so leaving was an obvious thing to do. Withal, Jax, probably, was already at the club, so she thought it would be right to see him.

"Wait for me inside," Martinez gave Juice a little smile and quickly came to Ellie. "Thank you," She said quietly, hugging her. "Here, take my car, it's getting dark, so you shouldn't walk alone," She gave her the key, and before Ellie could refuse, she smiled and walked back to the house, where Juice was still looking around and slightly smiling at some old photos. A few moments later she brought two bottles of beer and gave one to him. "So, you gonna tell me what happened?" Thea said as they sat on the couch. Juice made a sip and looked her directly in the eyes, as if weighing whether to speak clearly.

"We stuck deep in shit, Thea," He finally uttered. After all, despite her attempts to separate herself from the club, she was related to it. "Drugs is not what we do, but Clay wanted it and now we're in. Like, completely, we totally are in a partnership with the Cartel. These people are dangerous, and I don't really wanna do that, but do we have a choice?" Of course they didn't. So now he just needed to accept that fact and find a way to make things work. "Anyway, there's no sense to talk about that. What's done is done," He made another sip and then laid down on her lap. She started to trace the contours of one of his tattoo with her fingers.

"You can handle that shit, Juan. Even with this crap on your head," Juice smiled tiredly.

"One of us had to keep that punk-traditions, T," He said, resting his hand on Thea's. She continued to talk about some pointless stuff just to make him forget for a moment about his problems, and very soon Ortiz fell asleep to the sound of her voice, being too damn tired of today's mess.

And while Thea was comforting Juice after his bad day, Ellie got to the club, where everything seemed to be too quiet. It wasn't the silence of the late evening that reigned in the yard, it was the silence full of something unspoken and nondescript. She parked near the garage, feeling a bit weird being at the wheel again, and was about to enter the clubhouse, when she heard her name that sounded from somewhere above.

"On the roof." It was Jax. He really was sitting on the roof, hidden in the gathering darkness. Only the light of his cigarette gave him away. "There is a ladder, climb up."

Without making him to ask twice, she climbed and finally was able to see him more clearly. She came closer, "Hi."

"Hi. I thought it was Martinez first," He smiled. "Smoke?"

"Thanks," She pulled a cigarette out of a pack that he offered, waiting for him to ignite the lighter. When he lit it up, she sat next to him. "Thea just gave me her car. She's with Juice and… uhm… Well, she's with Juice. And you? Are you hiding here?"

"I wish," Jax grinned. "I just like this place, don't know why, actually." His facial features, slightly snatched by the light of the lanterns in the distance, despite a light smile was giving away all the fatigue. She was about to ask whether everything was okay, but then she suddenly realized that this question sounded too often these days. And the answer always wasn't quite honest, so what's the point? Much better would be to distract him from his troubles, whatever they were.

"It's pretty calming," She smiled, making another inhalation. "I bet you come here oftentimes."

"You got me," A queit laugh. "Guess, I'm seeking for a head clean of thoughts. And yes, I'm seeking for it oftentimes. And how about you, El? How's your head?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, what do you think about all of this. Couple of days, but some shit has already happened. Do you regret that you sat on my bike?"

"Kidding? Best decision I've ever made," She was laughing, but it wasn't clear if she was joking. "Actually, I really like being here. And I'd like to stay. Bobby said that, maybe, I could be useful at the garage and at the clu."

"Sure!" Genuine enthusiasm sounded in his voice. "We can even made it quite official, like, an assistant or something. Just have to find proper papers, but I'll ask Gemma to do that."

"Oh," Inadvertently left her lips.

"What?"

"I'm afraid she won't be glad about that."

"Right, you already met her?" Jax shook his head with a smirk on his lips. He wasn't surprised at all.

"Aha, today. Seems she don't like me much. That's why… that's why I left, leaving Abel with her. Sorry," She looked down.

"Don't be, really. It's not about you, it's more about Gemma. She is a wildcat, actually," He chuckled.

"I got that clearly," Ellie let herself to laugh about it a bit, though that meeting still left a bad feeling inside.

"I'll talk to her," Teller moved a little closer, hugging her shoulders covered with goosebumps from the coolness of the night. Or for some other reason, who would know? He said huskily, "Everything will be okay."

And for some reason, on a subconscious level, she believed him. Even though she understood that this words wasn't said just for her calmness, but for his own too.