"Put on these," Zane tossed leather fingerless gloves to Shane. "This will help protect Your skin, so dont worry about cracks or bruises."

"What are you saying, dumbass," Gavin smacks his head. "Dont scare him!"

"I'm not scaring him," Zane turns to Shane. "Am I scaring you?"

"No, should I be scared?"

"No, you'll be fine," He looks to Gill whos glaring at him. "He'll be fine! I'm not gonna kill him," Zane rolls his eyes and steps to an empty mat, he waves Shane over. The first thing he did was help Shane with stretching, "When they attack you, how does it mainly start?"

"I'm backed in a corner, then they start punching me."

Zane nods and takes his hand, he kicks the mat over to the wall and they step onto it. Zane gently places Shane against the wall, his arms blocking him in.

"They're the type to throw pity punches, I bet they pull back like this?" He takes a step back and pulls his fist back to his shoulder. When Shane nods and swallows Zane dropped his fist. "Okay," He sighs.

He doesn't want to scare the boy, and he knows that if he taps something too close to home, the boy will panic. Meaning, he'd have to tiptoe into the workout as he does with the others.

"I'm not ever going to hit you, so don't worry. I'm just trying to get a feel of how you fit against them. If I push you into it, and they make a different move, then you get hurt... I won't forgive myself."

"I know you won't, but I can't help it. I know you won't hurt me, but you look like them."

Zane swallows and turns to his brother. He raised his brows and his eyes dart to Shane. His brother shrugs, but steps over.

"Do I remind you of them?"

"No," He shook his head.

"Then let me teach you," Chance gives a smile, then turns to Zane. "You need to prepare for this fight anyways."

Zane swallowed but agreed. He watched for the first 5 minutes as Chance talked him through the first self-defense step. Zane is used to this. A lot of the kids from the city didn't trust him at first because of his appearance. Zane looked like a criminal, he looked like someone who hurt people for a living. Because he was. He used to be, and it was easy for the city kids to figure that out. But the difference is Zane was dragged into it, and he had to fight his way out of it. It took the kids long enough to warm up to him to spar with him, it was rare anyone spared with him, they were all too scared. Paige was a first after she trusted him enough she jumped at the opportunity to work for Gavin. He knew Shane had to warm up to the idea that Zane is not Jason or Ein. Zane was Zane, he wasn't Z anymore. He wanted to prove that to Shane by helping him.

Zane looks at Gill, he points at her and motions her over. She steps up to him and he hands her the boxing pads. She didn't question anything and put them on.

"You also have a trainer, right?"

"I do," She nods and slips off her shoes before stepping into the ring. "Did Shane tell you?"

"Yeah. So, you've done this before?"

"A million times. I could do it in my sleep," She grins, Zane laughs and slides between the rope.

"You're not binding, are you?" he asks curiously, what surprised him is her eyes went wide. "Sorry, sorry. I didn't mean to..."

"No one knows, so zip it," She whispered to him. He nods. "Thank you, and I am but I'll be fine, I do it all the time."

"That's not healthy," He whispered back.

"Do I look like I give a shit?"

Zane offers a sad smile, then gets into position. She mocks him, taking a step back and pivoting her foot. He worried about her straining her ribs so he went lightly against her. All that did was piss her off. She slapped away his hand that was coming at the pad, then she steps forward and took off the pad. She pointed her finger at him with a small glare.

"Do not go easy on me. You don't know me, so don't fucking go easy on me. You may have a hero complex, but you aren't a fucking hero to me."

Zane smiles and nods, "What do you go by?" He mouthed.

She frowns, "I dont know."

"Alright, tell me when you figure it out. I'm pretty damn good at helping with this stuff, I have some friends you can talk to if you want."

Gill finally gives him a weak smile and nods, then puts back on the pad.

"Don't fucking go easy on me now."

Zane nods and gets back into position. He throws harder hits, and Gill grins and nods at him. They spar together for a while, Zane working on knockout combos. Then he stops, he turns to Gavin whos working with Paige.

"What are you trying to do?" Gill asks and takes off the pads.

"I want to put the last KO to work. For real though. I know it's a little weak, but I need to see if it can stop Jay."

Gill swallows then sighs, "Do you have extra gloves?"

Zane grins and nods, and he knows that it's okay for him to practice with his new friend. When Gill had on wraps and gloves, she positions herself in front of him. Zane starts slow and works his way up to the knockout.

"Are you ready?" Zane asks.

"Yup, don't hold back."

Right Jab, Left cross, Right jab, left cross, Right Jab, left cross, his lead (right) hook. 1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2, 3, a knock-out combo. Gill goes down, she's glad she had padding to protect her skin from cracking and bleeding. Zane takes off his gloves and helps her sit up. Sammy comes running into the ring, sitting next to her partner.

"I'm alright," Gill takes off the padding, she looks up at Zane. "That was amazing."

Zane frowns and kneels, apologetically patting her shoulder.

"Thank you Gill," Zane offers a sad smile. "I'm sorry Sammy."

Sammy frowned at Zane, and Gill turns to Sammy to kiss her forehead.

"I promise I'm okay, dont worry. Don't be mad at him, I said yes. I'm alright."

"You fucking dumbass," Sammy pokes at gills chest. "Dont fucking do that again."

Gill smiles and stands, she pulls her girlfriend up and they exit the ring. Gill hugged Sammy, she knew Sammy would worry but she did it anyways which is why Samantha was mad. Zane leaves the ring and helps Gill take off the gloves while she hugs her girlfriend. Gill excused them as they stepped outside, Zane turns his attention to his boyfriend and brother. Shane is struggling while getting out of the wall.

"You don't have to hit him," Zane walks over. "Find an opening and use it."

Shane looks over and then looks back to Chance whos blocking his way. Zane stands behind chance and points to the left then to the right. Shane swallows and acts as if he's going to try and run left, chance leans to the left to block him, but then Shane quickly runs to the right. He hops over Chance's leg and crashed into Zane's arms.

"See, there you go. You know, the best you can do right now is run away to find me or Chance while you get some muscle on you. Don't worry about actually fighting, the best way to start is to learn to escape."

"What if I can't get away, what do I do?"

Zane looks at Chance, and Chance nods. Zane nods back and looks at Shane.

"In a fair fight, you'd be punished for this, but when it comes to self-defense, rules fly out the window. Use the cheap shot. If you really can't get away, always go for the balls. A simple getaway," Shane winced imagining himself using the 'cheap shot', Zane laughed lightly. "We know it's not ideal, but half the time it works, and if it doesn't take them to the ground you can at least push them away easier. But I know that you'll be okay."

Shane wanted to believe him, but he was also so tired from just 20 minutes of trying to get his way out of a cage, and he wasn't even hit or pushed around. He knew he couldn't manage in a fight where he was getting hit. But, Shane trusts Zane's words when he said he would protect Shane.

"You'll be alright," Zane grabs his boyfriend's hand. "You probably are tired, huh?"

"A little," the small Emo smiles and leans into his boyfriend's side.

"How about we stop by your aunts, get you a change of clothes, then you come to mine. You can shower and have dinner with us and I can finally give you those drum lessons," Zane winks, making Shane laughs gently.

"Sure, I'd love to."

Together they walk behind the half wall, Zane puts away his wraps and gloves, slips on his shirt, and grabs his thing. Shane gives Zane the leather gloves and picks up his bag. Sammy and Gill walk back in, hand in hand, smiling. Shane smiles and grabs his keys.

"Sammy, can you drive my truck back to my aunts? I'll be walking with Zane."

Zane grins, then wraps his arms around Shane's waist from behind him. Zane places a kiss on Shane's cheek. He was happy Shane remembered that Zane can't handle cars, he was happy Shane decided to stay with him instead of driving. Even when Shane was tired in the legs, he wanted to accompany Zane.

Sammy nods with a smile and takes the keys. The 5 bid each other goodbye and start their separate ways. Paige stayed to clean with Gavin. Chance, Zane, and Shane headed toward the brothers' home. Gill and Sammy going back to school. 15 minutes into the walk, Chance leaves to meet a friend at the nearby neighborhood shopping center. Leaving Zane and Shane in comfortable silence, holding hands on the way to Shane's house.