"You . . . are a dick!"

Jax rolled his eyes as he pressed the bag of ice to his throbbing eye while another sat on his halfway broken hand. Velvet was pacing up and down in front of him, her hand pressed to her forehead and an anxious look to her beautiful eyes. Jax grimaced as she started yelling at him again, making his quickly growing migraine even worse.

"No, no! I rethink myself! You are a stupid dick!"

"Look, I realize that what I did was stupid, but –"

"Jax, you misunderstand my anger!" Velvet told him pleadingly. "I wanted to tell Half-Sack in my own time, in my own way! This could have gone a lot smoother, ya know? Instead, your fucking pride had to get in the way and ruin it!" Jax gazed at her.

"Velvet, I love you more than my own life, but can you please stop this soap opera drama for just a few seconds?" He asked her and she gazed at him in surprised disbelief. "Whether you cared to realize it or not, he was the one who started it!" Jax shook his head then. "I didn't tell him shit until he started beating up on me! I wasn't gonna do anything, I was going to leave him alone until you told him, and then at which time I would have been watching you like a hawk in case he tried anything weird. He was the one who lunged at me and started something that he had no idea how he was gonna end it!"

Velvet sighed and nodded wearily as she put a shaky hand to her head. "I know, I know; you don't have to remind me! I was just . . . terrified that something would happen to one of you!" She smiled a small, weak smile then as she cleared the distance between them. "Especially you . . ." She gently hugged him to her as her fingers ran through his blonde hair and as he gingerly wrapped an arm around her waist, careful of his broken fingers. "I'm so glad your relatively safe! I saw the murder in Half-Sack's eyes and I was terrified that he would draw a knife or a gun and kill you!" Jax chuckled as he buried his face in her stomach, into the stomach where his child grew stronger with every breath that his mother took, and he inhaled Velvet's heavenly perfume that seemed to lace everything that she owned.

"When he lunged at you . . . I realized what I said and I felt like I was going to vomit," He told her, his voice muffled from being buried in her shirt. "I was terrified that no one would stop him and that he would kill you or hurt you or something!" Velvet smiled and laughed a little.

"Thank God for da, right?" Jax nodded.

"Baby, you have no idea how badly I am thanking God for keeping Chibs in the Clubhouse today!" They both laughed then as he took his face out of her shirt and gazed up at her.

"How bad will it be?" She asked him, and Jax shrugged.

"Normally, it'd be really bad, but speaking that everyone just witnessed a homicidal Half-Sack, I think they'll be pretty lenient on us." Velvet opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted by a quiet knock on the door to Jax's room. The door opened soon after that, and Gemma poked her head in. She smiled a small smile at the couple.

"How you guys doin'?" She asked, and they both nodded as Gemma walked in, close the door and crossed the room to Jax, where she gently took his hand and examined the black and blue fingers. She grimaced. "These will have to be binded. It'll be painful, I won't lie to you. We'll get it done when Tara gets back." Jax's eyes shot onto his mother's.

"Tara? You mean she's coming here?" Gemma nodded like the subject needed no discussion.

"Of course. We needed a doctor to look over you and Half-Sack, and we're not taking you guys to the hospital. That'd be too many unneeded questions." Jax glanced at Velvet, the girl that he had left Tara for. Needless to say, she wouldn't exactly be hospitable to the woman that was pregnant with her ex. Husband's child.

Gemma smiled slyly. "Don't worry, guys . . . if she tries anything, I'll feed her to the dogs! She ain't messin' with my kids and grandkid." Jax and Velvet grinned and laughed as Gemma gazed at Velvet.

"By the way, Clay and Happy want to talk to you in Chapel." She told her and Velvet nodded.

"Okay. I'm on my way." She hugged and kissed Jax before she turned and left the room. Gemma smiled.

"She's a catch, Jax . . . don't you dare lose her." Jax smiled a small smile in return.

"Don't worry mom . . . I don't plan on it."

Velvet knocked on the door to Chapel and Clay and Happy turned their heads up to gaze at her. They both smiled kindly as Clay stood and moved around the table to her, where he hugged her. "How you doin' sweetpea?" He asked her, and Velvet nodded as they broke apart. Clay led her to the table, where he gestured to the seat on his immediate right, Happy sitting across from her on Clay's immediate left.

"I'm doing good. Shaken, but coping." Clay nodded.

"Good, that's good. We need to talk to you about something." Velvet nodded, shrugging.

"Shoot."

"We need to know everything about the Russians." Happy told her, and Velvet furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

"The Russians? Why?" Clay shrugged.

"Let's just say it had something to do with our revenge for you." Velvet shook her head.

"On second though, don't tell, I don't wanna know! What do you need to know?" She asked them, and Happy began the interview.

"How many men guard Alexandre on a regular basis?"

"About five on a regular day, eight on a holiday in which he's at a public appearance. They're equipped with very heavy firepower and all wear kevlar vests, including Alexandre. His car is armored." Happy nodded.

"Is he guarded when he's sleeping?" Velvet nodded.

"Not as closely though. Two or three men are normally stationed outside him and my mother's bedroom, and five mounted men patrol the outside gardens of his estate. All, again, carry heavy firepower and wear kevlar vests. There is actually a rumor circulating around the Russians that Alexandre and my mother wear kevlar vests to bed too, but I'm not entirely sure about that rumor. It might just have been a rumor made to circulate around the ranks to curb coup d'etats and assassination attempts, I don't know."

"Anything else?"

"Their ranks are thin now. About twenty men in all at this time. The rest they used to have, have joined other mobs like the Italian Mafia and the Romanian/Albanian Mafia. Still, they make up in the guns, that they do not in men. They have extensive gun running trades and are said to dabble in Prostitution with the Romanians and Albanians. They have a deal with the Cripps and Bloods in LA that entails the gangs guns in payment of land. Their territory is extensive and so is their allies. The Cripps and Bloods are small fish, but their ties with the Romanian and Albanian Mafia as well as the Italian Mafia, run deep, through many generations. The Russians, the Italians and the Romanians and Albanians have always had deep ties, and this time is no different. They aren't as weak as you think they are. If you guys are planning something, you better know what Pecking Order your disturbing, and if your ready to handle the Apocalypse that will surely ensue."