Welcome to chapter two! Just so you know, I made Jinja's current last name Kay, but that's not her birth name. Anyway, please enjoy!

OoOoOo

She was so close, so close. Just a few more yards and she would finally be free. The corners of her mouth turn up as she made it to the edge of the property. Just a little closer... She could see the gate and felt her stomach jump - in a delightful way. She ran faster harder, ignoring the harsh wind slapping against her face or thorns from the various plants around scratching at her bare legs. It would all be worth it when she escaped.

She was finally at the fence. It wasn't too high, just low enough for her to climb. Her heart was practically bursting from her chest as she made contact with the metal barrier separating her from her freedom, she screeched in pain. Her hands felt like it would burn off. Of course, she realized as she felt herself begin to black out. The fence is electric. How could she have been so stupid?

"Tsk, tsk, foolish girl," purred a voice. "You didn't think it would be that easy to escape us, did you?" The last thing she saw was his smirking face. One day I'll wipe that goddamn smirk off his face, she thought as unconsciousness took over her.


Jinja's eyes snapped open as she lurched out of bed, letting out an ear-piecing screech. She felt her heart beating hard against her chest as she panted heavily. She looked around her surroundings and noticed she wasn't even in her quarters, she was in the STORM infirmary, an IV inserted into her arms. Why the hell am I here? she thought. What happened-? And that's when she felt it. The pain in her lower abdomen.

Everything came flooding back to her all at once. The club, falling on the floor, and... "Chase," she spoke aloud, her voice coming out raspy from not using it. It dawned on her that he must have called in STORM when they were at the club so they could bring her here and get her treatment.

She heard a sigh of relief and turned to see said teenager in a chair next to her bed. "Jin," he said, moving closer to her bed, smiling brightly while taking her hand in his right one. Though she could tell that her screams must have just woke him up. "You're okay."

Jinja tried to match his smile, but it came out more as a grimace. "Chase, what happened?" she asked.

"You passed out at the club," he told her. Chase suddenly looked apprehensive, as if he was afraid that he would say something wrong and risk upsetting her. "I called in an emergency and they brought you here. They also examined you..."

She felt her heart race again. If they examined her, they must know about every injury she'd sustained over the years. And since her family was... 'unavailable,' at the moment, the doctors would most definitely tell Chase and the rest of her friends what exactly was wrong with her. "A-And?"

Chase sighed, running his left hand through his hand while still holding hers. "Jinja, you had at least three broken bones that never healed right and multiple bruises all over your body," he told her.

Jinja feigned surprise, desperate to hold onto all the lies she had built up over the years. "Really? Wow, I knew our job was dangerous, but-"

Chase gave her a look, making her stop immediately. "Crag, Jinja, just stop."

Jinja winced at his tone. It wasn't harsh, more like a mix of disappointed and exasperated. "I'm sorry," she muttered, lowering her head.

Chase looked at her in confusion. "Why are you apologizing?" he asked.

She felt tears well up in her eyes, only adding to her embarrassment. "I-I've been lying to you guys for years," she revealed. "E-ever since I met you and Bren." It just wasn't fair.

He looked at her, though he wasn't angry or even hurt. "It's okay," he said softly. And for some reason, she believed him. "The guys have been in and out of here too, just so you know." He looked a little sheepish, a light blush dusting his face. "I never left your side."

"How long have I been out?"

Chase shrugged. "About a week," he answered.

Jinja's eyes went wide. "You been sitting here for a week?" She turned her attention to the uncomfortable looking chair. "In that?" She felt her heart flutter at the thought of him opting to sit in that chair instead of his comfortable bed just to watch over her. Get a hold of yourself, she mentally scolded herself.

He shrugged again. "It's not so bad," he lied. "It was worth it."

Jinja smiled at him, but it twisted into a frown. "Do the others know?" she asked.

Chase shook his head. "Only about your broken rib," he answered. "They don't know about... everything else."

Jinja sighed in relief. She could deal with the other three later. For now, she could focus on explaining things to the boy in front of her. "I'm guessing you must have questions, huh?" Stupid question, of course he did.

Chase nodded quickly. "Yeah... Jin, how did you get hurt so bad?" he asked. "I know we get hurt sometimes, but the rest of us don't have bruises like that. The doctor said they're really old too... Older than when we were looking for my dad."

Jinja's eyes shifted nervously, not bothering to comment on the fact that he saw her . "Well, you know how I said I lied to you and Bren when we first met?" At his nod, she continued, "Well, part of what I told you was true. I did run away. But just not from the group home."

"Then where?"

Jinja sighed. "My parents. I lied when I said they died when I was a baby."

Chase's eyes went wide. "What? Why?" Realization suddenly flashed in his sea green orbs. "They hurt you?" Why anyone want to hurt Jinja was beyond him, but her own parents of all people? He almost couldn't believe it. He knew neither of his own parents would never lay a finger on him, so the idea that someone else's would was unfathomable.

Jinja nodded, her own eyes avoiding everywhere but him. "Yeah. See, they weren't the most... mentally stable people. But they had a lot of money, so they could get away with it." She chuckled humorlessly. "I don't think anyone even knew I existed. And if they did, they were either too afraid of my parents or they just didn't care."

Chase quickly swallowed the lump that was forming in his throat. He wouldn't let her see him cry when she wasn't even shedding a tear. He had nothing to cry over, this happened to her. He couldn't even begin to imagine how she felt. "W-When did it start?"

Jinja was quiet for a moment before sighing heavily. "The earliest I can remember is when I was six, but it could have been earlier I guess," she replied.

She had this kind of emptiness in her eyes that scared him. And the nonchalant way she was going about explaining it terrified him. Chase could hardly bring himself to talk. "How did you escape?" he asked in what he hoped was a clear voice.

Jinja gave him a grin and he felt his heart get lighter, if only by a little bit. "I did what I always do," she told him proudly, the girl he had known for seven years shining through this girl he found he barely knew. "I outsmarted them."

Chase managed to grin back at her. "I figured as much," he commented.

Her grin fell. "I really am sorry," she told him, sincerity dripping from her lips. She felt guilty not only for lying to him for years, but for worrying him and everyone else.

"Why didn't you tell us?" he asked her. "I'm not mad, you have every right to keep that to yourself. But... do you not trust m- us?" He cursed himself for that little slip-up.

Jinja shook her head furiously. "No!" she nearly shouted, making him jump slightly. "I do trust you guys, I just-" She inhaled sharply. "I didn't want you all to think any less of me. You know, as weak or a victim."

Chase took her into his arms, hugging her gently as to not cause her more pain. "Oh, Jin, you know that would never happen," he insisted. "You're the toughest person I've ever met."

Jinja smiled at him. "Well, thanks Chase."

Chase smiled back at her before remembering something. "Oh, crag. I was supposed to get the doctor when you woke up." He meant to, but they had just been talking so long that it just slipped his mind.

Jinja giggled; some things just never changed. "Well, maybe you should go get her now," she suggested.

Chase rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Yeah, I'll do that." He shuffled out the door, slightly apprehensive about leaving her side after what had just been side. He knew, however, that her health came before anything else, so he set off to find the doctor. Jinja shook her head after him. He's a goofball.

As he left, she began to contemplate her decision to tell him the truth. Was it the right choice? She wasn't sure. But she did know that she felt a little better getting it off her chest. Maybe everything would be alright. Maybe now, she could begin to heal.

Foolish child, you know that will never happen, his voice sounded in her head. She clenched her teeth; no matter how many years she'd been free of them, they always had a their grip on her. Nothing's changed. You'll always belong to us.

We'll see, thought Jinja, her eyes narrowing in determination.

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"Well, Miss Kay, you seem to be well enough to go back to your room," the doctor told her after half an hour of physical tests. Even though three of her bones never healed properly, there wasn't anything more the doctors could do about that. Her injury had been from a broken rib she'd sustained years ago. She'd fractured it by dancing so much. "Just try not to overexert yourself for at least a week."

Chase nudged her good side. "That means no missions, Jin," he teased her.

Jinja glared at him. "Oh, shut up, Suno." He only snickered at her in response.

"There is one more thing, Miss Kay," said the doctor, amused at the bickering she was seeing between the two teenagers. "There's a couple waiting outside to see you, they claim to be your parents."

Jinja tensed, looking at Chase with panic written all over her face. Don't let them take me, her eyes begged him. She hated asking for help, but what else could she do? She couldn't take them on her own and Chase was the only one who knew.

Never, Chase's eyes promised. He'd be damned if he let those monsters lay another finger on her. If they so much as touched a strand of hair on her head... He took her hand in his and caressed her knuckles, hoping his action came off as reassuring.

"Send them away," Jinja insisted calmly and he was proud at how well she managed to keep a straight face. "I don't want to see them."

The doctor studied her for a moment before nodding. "Very well, Miss Kay," she agreed.

Jinja blinked. "Really?" She hadn't expected that to work. She had expected some bullshit about how they were her only relatives and had legal access to her or some crap like that.

The doctor nodded. She wasn't an idiot, she knew signs of abuse when she saw them. "Of course. You are eighteen, a legal adult and a STORM elite. If you don't want your parents here, we will send them away."

Jinja sighed in relief. "Thank you."

The doctor smiled. "No problem, sweetheart. Let me go handle that problem now." She gave the girl a very reassuring pat on the shoulder before walking out of the room.

"See?" spoke Chase, sitting beside her once again. "I told you, they'll never touch you again." Jinja smiled and was about to say something when...

"THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS!" shouted a deep, threatening voice that made Jinja go completely white in the face. "SHE'S OUR DAUGHTER!"

"Father..." whispered Jinja, something passing through her eyes that Chase barely recognized.

They heard the doctor sigh. "Sir, that may be, but she is a legal adult and in the care of STORM," she tried to reason. "As she has chosen not to see you, you are being asked to leave the facility."

"Jinja is just confused, Doctor," a cool, silky voice claimed. Chase wasn't sure how to describe it, but it sounded like a strange, yet very terrifying, mix of Medea and Charlemagne (minus the accent and irritating high pitch, of course). "Once she sees us, she'll calm down."

But the doctor wasn't buying it. "I sincerely doubt that, Mrs. Faustus," she replied, clearly growing irritated. "Now, I'm going to have to ask you to leave or I'll have to call our soldiers on you to escort you out."

Jinja didn't get to hear anymore because the door was shut. "Chase!" she protested.

Chase didn't seem fazed as he sat back down in his seat. "You don't need to listen to that," he retorted.

Jinja sighed, knowing he was probably right. "Fine," she conceded. She felt her eyes droop again, no doubt thanks to the pain killers they were still pumping into her system.

Chase noticed this. "You can go to sleep, Jin," he assured her. "I told you, I won't let them touch you. Even if I have to sic Lock on 'em."

Jinja smiled softly and leaned back, feeling sleep overtake her. "Night, Chase," she mumbled.

She was almost positive she felt something warm and soft brush against her forehead. "Goodnight, Jin."

OoOoOo

Uh-oh, Jinja's parents are here. What will happen? And before you ask, yes, this ChasexJinja. I loved them as a kid and I still love them! Not that I have a problem with JinjaXDax or BeyalXJinja because I think they're adorable too! I even like JinjaXAlpha (Jinja's very shippable ^_^). Anyway, please review!