After a hard mission, he'd found her one afternoon swinging pathetically at one of the punching bags in their gym. Adorned simply in yoga pants and a black tank top, she looked different than the eccentric colorful women he knew.
"Oh, just stop," he said. She knew better. You never start looking for a fight when you're angry. It puts you at a disadvantage. You need to be strong and calm to win a fight.
"Fine." Lilly backed up and high kicked the bag in anger. Sweat poured down the back of her neck, creating a line of moisture between her shoulder blades. "You show me how to do it, then."
So Donald taught her how to defend herself, how to throw a punch and how to use her size and speed to her advantage. He taught her how to build up her muscles, ones that before were used to climb could now be used to smash and disarm. He taught her how to fight dirty and warned her that sometimes she needed to run instead of fight. She laughed, talked about how a street kid knew how to get her hands dirty and how running was second nature to her.
"And if you have someone twice your size coming after you?" He took a step forward and put his hand around her neck and squeezed lightly. "Men like me could snap your neck in moments."
She responded by putting her hands on his wrist, "Not you," she said.
Donald shook his head at her. "You don't know that."
She shrugged. "You wouldn't hurt me," she said confidently. "You could have left me in those cages, but you didn't. Afterwards, you could have sold me to someone else, but you didn't. You let me take your gun and run." Lilly looked at his hand, still around her neck and then into his eyes. "No, Donald, I know you won't hurt me."
"I could." He caught her eyes. "And you don't know that I wouldn't, not for sure." She lifted her chin up stubbornly and he didn't know why he needed to make her understand. "Haven't you learned by now not to trust anyone," he implored as he took his hand from her throat.
Without waiting a moment, Lilly kicked his legs and twisted him around. She threw him to the ground. "If I didn't trust you, I would have told Beca about you on the first day. Do not take my trust for being naïve," she paused, hovering above him, "And do not take my friendship for weakness."