"You see that new guard?" Tig looked over at me and smiled. I shook my head and pushed out another rep. Luckily I didn't need a spotter, because Tig really sucked at it. I moved on from bench presses to free weights as Tig kept talking.

"Fine as hell." Tig finished with a nod. I hadn't been listening at all so his comment through me off a little.

"What? Changing teams three weeks in?" I smirked at him as he narrowed his eyes. We weren't even a month in to our fourteen-month sentence and Tig was dying for some companionship.

"No man, he's talking about the new guard. She's transferring to our unit this week." Juice said with a laugh as Tig grumbled something about not being that desperate. I raised my brow at Juice, wondering how the village idiot knew so much.

"Probably looks like a fucking ape." I said with a shrug. The only female guards I'd ever seen in Washington or California looked like they could be men. Half of them looked manlier than Juice.

"Whatever man. She'll probably be at chow, you'll see." Tig was looking across the yard at a group of white guys staring over at the three of us. I threw the barbell down and climbed off the bench, staring right back at them.

"Clay said he's working on a deal with Alvarez. Jax is going to be in the infirmary for at least another month. I feel like we've got targets on our backs." Juice said as he turned to face Tig and I. I couldn't help feel the same way, even if I wasn't as worried about it.

The Russians got a hold of Jax right after we got in and cut him up pretty bad. I'd tried to tell him to watch his back, but the kid was so focused on calling his old lady he wouldn't listen. Our numbers weren't great coming in. Now we were one down with Jax in the infirmary, so a deal was the best bet to get out alive.

"Watch your back. Don't go anywhere alone." I growled as Juice started fidgeting with a belt loop nervously. He was green when it came to hard time. If it was that obvious to me, it would be obvious to everyone else. Juice nodded and headed over to the bleachers Clay and Bobby were sitting at.

"Seriously though, Hap, I swear she's fine as hell. Better than anything at the clubhouse." Tig said with a serious nod. I laughed and shook my head.

"Doubt that, brother." I shook my head and clapped his shoulder as we went to join the others. I kept an eye on the Russians that were watching us closely. If they were watching us, I knew I'd have to watch them closer.

The five of us sat on the bleachers and talked about Clay's latest conversation with Alvarez for a while. There wasn't much being said about details, but hopefully the deal would be done within the week. I didn't say much about the deal. I figured if I wasn't an officer, I wasn't going to overstep. I knew my job and was perfectly happy there.

"Chow time, ladies. Let's move." A guard yelled across the yard. We stayed on the bleachers until the Russians passed. The safest place to be was behind them, even though Tig was dying to get to the dining hall. I rolled my eyes and stopped listening as he started telling Bobby and Clay about the new chick guard.

We made our way in to the dining hall and grabbed trays off the line before heading over to what was becoming our regular table. I looked down at the food and snarled at the different colors of mush. It sure as hell wasn't my Ma's cooking. Hell, it couldn't even pass for my own cooking. I pushed the food around with my fork and tried to remember how many soups I had left in the cell.

"I'll be damned." Bobby said with a laugh. I looked up from my tray and raised my brow at him, wondering what was so damn wonderful about chow. He was looking across the dining hall at what had to be the guard Tig was talking about.

Tig hadn't been lying after all. Even from across the room, she was by far the best-looking guard I'd ever seen. She was smiling and talking to another guard. Her hair was almost as bright as her smile. I'd never tell the guys, but I could tell she wasn't a fake blonde. It was hard to tell much else from the uniform she was in, but what I could make out I liked, a lot.

"Fuck." The word slipped out of my mouth as a growl. Juice snickered and I glared at him. He raised his hands in surrender as I turned the fork over between my fingers. When I looked back up, she was gone.

"Told you she was fine as hell." Tig said with a laugh as I tossed the fork down on the metal tray with a clang. I didn't say anything. Instead, I just nodded and wondered what she looked like out of that damn uniform.

"So, what you have to remember is these inmates are not your friend. They may try to wiggle their way on to your good side, but they're all in here for a reason. What unit are you going in to after orientation?" Jason Wright, the correctional officer I was shadowing for the day, asked with a smile as he offered me a stick of gum.

"They've got me assigned to George Unit." I said with a smile before popping the gum in my mouth. Wright's eyes widened as he looked around the dining hall for any sign of trouble. I had already been warned about the unit from the officer I shadowed yesterday. She was a beast of a woman and she said even she wouldn't work George.

"I don't know what the captain was thinking throwing you in there. You know that's high security, right?" Wright was looking at me again. His eyes lingered on my chest too long, so I turned my eyes to the crowded dining hall.

"I was top of my class in both academics and self defense. Captain said he needed somebody, so I volunteered. I'll be fine." I told him. I knew I sounded arrogant, but I was tired of everyone looking at me like I was weak. Something told me it had a lot to do with looking young and being blonde. I spun the ring on my fourth finger with my thumb absentmindedly.

"So, what's the husband think about you being a CO?" Wright asked with a trace of a laugh. I shrugged and kept looking out over the tables.

"We aren't married, just engaged." I said simply to shut the conversation down. I'd only met Wright two days ago and I wasn't about to share personal details with him.

"You know George has mainly gangs and psychos, right?" Wright was back on the subject of doubting me. I looked at him and nodded.

"Yeah, I got the briefing. Gangs are all through this prison, at least I don't have to guess who's who." I said with a laugh as I recalled the files I'd gone over that morning with the captain. He'd made sure I had access to the files so I could keep them separated as much as possible.

"Alright then, smart girl. How about a quiz?" Wright asked as we headed out of the dining hall and down towards what would be my new unit. I shrugged carelessly. I knew my stuff, but I didn't appreciate the constant doubt.

"Clover tattoo, who has it?" Wright asked as he called for the George outer hallway door. I rolled my eyes at him.

"AB." I said curtly as the door buzzed open. Wright nodded with a smile as he followed me through the door. Once I called for the unit door, he looked over at me again.

"That one was easy. How about some more local gangs. Reaper tattoo?" He asked with a cocky smile. I rolled my eyes and flung the door open.

"Sons of Anarchy, but I don't know if that counts as a gang. By definition they are still a motorcycle club. They may not be innocent but until I hear about their initiations involving gang banging and beat downs, I'm not labeling them a gang." I said with a shrug. I headed over to the post officer and got a run down of the day so far.

"Nothing much going on, really. You've got some white tension going on, but nothing's popped off yet. Recreation went smoothly so they'll be out in the dayroom until count. Rounds every thirty to make sure everything's still clear." The officer said with a bored expression. Of all the officers I'd met yet, Leon Brown was the only one who didn't give me shit about taking George Unit. It was probably because he was retiring and didn't care, but I appreciated it all the same.

"Well kid, I've got PTO for the rest of the day, so I'm out. You good to hang out with Brown?" Wright said as he laid a hand on the back of my shoulder. I narrowed my eyes a little at his touch but nodded all the same.

"She'll be fine." Brown said as he stood up from his chair. Wright shrugged and gave me an overly sweet smile as he called for the door on the radio. As soon as he was on the other side of the heavy metal door, I let out an involuntary sigh of relief.

"You and me both Katrina." Brown said with a laugh as he rolled another chair over for me. I winced a little as he butchered my name.

"It's Katerina, actually. I don't really want them knowing that though." I said, nodding out towards the thirty or so inmates milling around the dayroom. I noticed several of them staring.

"Sorry about that, Recker. I'm getting so close to that retirement I'm forgetting protocol I guess." Brown said with a warm smile. His smile didn't piss me off like Wright's did. I shrugged and leaned back in the chair, happy to rest my back after pulling it during last night's gym time.

"Mind if I ask you something?" Brown asked. I raised my brow. "Wright keeps calling you kid. How old are you? Sorry, I know most women hate that question."

"It's fine. I'd rather you ask than call me a kid. I just turned twenty-nine last month." I said with a little laugh. I guess my distaste for being called a kid was more obvious than I realized. Brown nodded with his same warm smile.

"No offense, but you're still a kid to me. I'm old though. What do you say to making a round with me? Might as well start getting to know these knuckle heads now." He stood up and looked over at me. I nodded and tried to get up as gracefully as possible, despite my smarting back.

We walked around the cells first, making sure no one needed help or had injured themselves in the last thirty minutes. Once we found everything in the cells clear, we started going around the tables in the dayroom to make sure there weren't any shenanigans as Brown put it.

"Morrow, how's that boy of yours doing?" Brown asked a tall, gray headed man sitting on a table top with four other men. Morrow shook his head and hitched a shoulder.

"He'd be better if the hospital here wasn't shit. Thanks for asking. You the new guard?" He asked, looking from Brown to me. I nodded and reached my hand out. They may be inmates, but I would respect them until I had a reason not to.

"Recker, nice to meet you." I said with a smile as he shook my hand after recovering from a little shock. He nodded and smiled back. I didn't like his smile much more than Wrights, but at least it was to be expected from an inmate.

"Clay Morrow. We'll try not to give you to much trouble." He said with a laugh. The curly haired man with bright eyes next to him laughed.

"Yeah, we try not to have to much fun on vacation." He said sarcastically. I held back a laugh. Being polite and laughing at a joke were two different things completely. I gave him a half grin and nodded before Brown and I headed back around the dayroom. We met a few more men before heading back to the desk.

"Think you've got a few admirers already." Brown said with a laugh as I entered a record of our round into the log on the computer. I finished typing before I looked over at him.

"What are you talking about?" I said as I scanned the dayroom. I immediately picked up on what he was referring to. Several inmates glanced over at me a little longer than they should have, but none of them stared like the tall, dark bald guy sitting with Morrow and the jokester.

"If you want my opinion, I'd want to stay on his good side anyway. Unlike a lot of guards, I don't look up charges for my own sanity. Happy Lowman is the one guy in this unit that gives me chills. Lucky for me, he's going to be your problem soon." Brown said with a laugh as he set his radio on the desk and opened a bag of chips.

"I know he's a Son, but is he really that bad?" I asked, ripping my eyes away from him with some effort. Brown shrugged a little as he finished crunching loudly on his chips.

"Nah, he won't give you any trouble. Never has me, anyways. I just mean he's a scary looking dude, that's all." Brown gave me a reassuring smile before offering me some chips. I shook my head and did a quick visual check, noticing happily that Lowman wasn't staring anymore.

As always, I don't own any part of SOA, only my own characters. This is something I've been working on in the background for a while. Let me know if you all would be interested in reading more!