Disclaimer: Any Janet Evanovich materials recognized are used for entertainment purposes only.

A/N: Sorry if this seems rapid, but we have to get through Stephanie's year of training.


Stephanie

"What did you do wrong, dulce?" Javi asked me after I had been healed.

"What did I do wrong?" I screamed, pacing back and forth in front of him and Aric. "Me? That guy stabbed me, repeatedly!" I was majorly pissed. I was beyond pissed. I was livid! "It hurt!"

Javi sighed and looked to Aric for help.

"Stephanie, how will you learn how fight when injured if you never get stabbed or beaten or harmed in any way? There won't be healers in a real battle. You need to know how to keep yourself awake, how to defend against any attack and how to get past any pain to survive." I knew what he was saying made sense, but I was still angry.

"So, what did you do wrong?" Javi asked again.

"For starters, I didn't hit that big asshole hard enough!" I'd had it in the back of my mind that I didn't want to hurt someone who was a member of the team.

Javi nodded. "True. You need to know that none of your attackers are real people you can harm, dulce. They are simulations, so you can do anything and everything you want. Unload your arsenal, fight dirty. It won't hurt anyone."

I relaxed and opened up my mind to listen. "But you still made some big mistakes," he said.

I nodded. "I still submitted to my emotions. I let them come in before I assessed my opponent," I sighed. Turning off my emotions wasn't something I, Stephanie Plum, did.

"Yes, emotion can get you killed. No matter what happens, you must neutralize the situation first and then you can experience your emotions," Aric said. "We're all human, Stephanie. Even those of us who are conditioned have emotions, but many of us have learned to turn them off when it counts. It takes practice. You're doing well."

Javi's eyes flicked to Aric sharply and then back to me. "I think you should go ahead and do your evening workout and then shower and get ready for dinner, dulce."

I nodded and left them standing in the fortitude room.

That night when I went to sleep, I was flooded by memories. Truro over me, inside me, ripping my flesh with his harshness, and using objects to mutilate me. Beating me. And then suddenly he was Carlos, loving me, caressing me where Truro had tried to destroy me. I saw his eyes how they changed with his passion, how they darkened when he was inside me. And then I saw the big scary dude standing over me with my blood dripping from a knife and as I watched, his face morphed into Wulf's. "I'm coming to get you, Ms. Plum. You're needed and I won't have my plans ruined."

I felt hands on my arms and started to scream only to realize that I was screaming. "Stephanie!" I forced my eyes open and saw pale aqua eyes staring into mine.

"Aric?"

"We're going to have to work on you getting to shut your mind down when you sleep," he said, releasing me and standing up from where he had been seated on the edge of my bed.

Javi came through my door. "Everything okay?"

Aric looked at him. "She was dreaming about Wulf."

"How-how did you know?" I asked.

He turned his face back to me. "You were screaming his name." He walked over to the corner of my room and grabbed the armchair and brought it over next to my bed. "Lie down and sleep. I'll sit here and guard you. Just for tonight so you feel safe enough to let go."

Javi got the same look in his eyes he'd had in the fortitude room and they had more unspoken communication, then he nodded to me and left.

I woke to my alarm the next morning and Aric stood. "Today we're going to work on your thoughts. See you after your run."

I went to the gym to run and realized that running five miles today was a lot easier than running five miles had been two weeks ago. After my run, I showered and dressed in my standard sports bra and shorts combination and headed out to the center. My trainers were waiting for me and I stepped in front of them like normal.

Aric pointed to the mind door. I sighed and walked over. I looked up at him before opening it. "You have to learn how to close off your mind, Stephanie," he said. I nodded and walked through, sure I wasn't ready for this portion of the training, whatever it was.

***

A month, and then another, floated by. Soon, I had been in training for six months. My hair had grown until it was a few inches long. I mostly kept it washed and finished it with some gel and a few pins to keep it off my forehead. It was getting long enough that it was in the way now, but still far too short to put back into a ponytail.

There was a time in my life when I would have been appalled at having short hair, but I found that having short curly hair was even more of a nightmare than I remembered. It fell into my eyes when I was fighting and had become a nuisance to me. Once, during a stealth op training exercise, I had gotten it caught in some undergrowth I'd had to crawl through and my target found me and kicked me to smithereens. That had been a bitch.

I was finding, more and more, that my language was changing, my attitude was changing, and I was more aware of my surroundings. I no longer thought about dessert or pizza. Well, maybe I thought about them once in a while, but they weren't a main goal for me any longer. I was becoming a fighter, a survivalist.

Somehow, I'd morphed into a woman who got up at four am so she could run ten miles in the morning instead of five. My body had changed. It had become a statue of hard muscle and female curves. I was glad to see that my breasts hadn't changed as much as I feared they would. I had been afraid I'd be left with nipples only. If anything they were firmer, and now I had abs and muscle definition. And I could kick a two hundred pound man back a significant distance with my leg, not quite across the room.

My transformation had been slow. This morning, I'd finished my running early and had a little time before breakfast. I was sitting in the chair in my room staring at the ceiling and remembering six months ago when my training had really begun. When they'd taken away my favorite things to eat and all the beverages I'd loved. When sugar had gone off the menu.

I'd been in a rage after about a day and a half. During a techniques training class, I'd focused in my abilities, and would have put Javi into a hospital with my roundhouse kick and subsequent rage attack, if Aric hadn't pulled me off. As it was, the medic had to spend some time calming Javi down before he could treat him. I thought I was going to be on the stretcher next.

He had burst out laughing after a while and said, "Dulce, I think we found the secret weapon."

I'd apologized, but after my sugar withdrawal was gone and I was able to just settle into my new routine, I noticed that my mind was clearer and I didn't have so many highs or lows. And I was pissed that Ranger was right about the blood sugar thing.

Ranger. I didn't allow myself to think about him much. It brought pain. I still loved him, but I didn't know what life would be like when I was finished with training. I had a two year contract to fulfill. Truthfully, I knew there would never be another man for me, but I also didn't know if committing to him would work. Or if he would even still love the me I had become.

Gone was Miss Insecurity. Gone was Miss Screwup. I was becoming stealthy, I was aware of my surroundings, and I didn't miss much. I still made rookie mistakes, but the mistakes didn't make me feel like a failure anymore. I saw them as an opportunity to become a little more badass, or bad mistress. Eat your heart out Jeanne Ellen. The real Catwoman had arrived. I looked down at my slightly smaller B cups. Okay, there were some ways she would always beat me, but never in a fight. Hmm, unless she was unmentionable, too.

"No, dulce, she isn't." Javi's voice broke through my thoughts and startled me.

I sighed. "So much for being aware of my surroundings."

"I don't play fair. I popped in," he said, smiling.

"I should still notice that."

"Your brain was working hard," he said simply.

I nodded. "You can pop, but Carlos can't?"

"He can. Every unmentionable can pop if they work at it hard enough. I think sometimes my nephew is still trying to be, uh, mentionable. Sometimes he's afraid of what he can really do, but if he wanted to, he could do a lot more." He sat on the edge of my bed, facing me across the room.

I looked at him. He looked so much like Carlos and, yet, nothing like him. It wasn't like having him around at all. Suddenly, I really missed Carlos. I swallowed against the emotion that had filled my throat and looked away and I knew what he'd been doing. "I feel as if maybe you weren't talking about Carlos anymore, Javi."

He smiled and leaned forward to put his elbows on his knees. "We need someone who can anticipate the enemy's moves, Stephanie. We're fighting an enemy we can't comprehend. There have been over fifty unmentionables killed in the past six months. We don't know who is behind it, but we know Wulf is involved. We also know Wulf isn't the main player."

I nodded. "I don't see how I can just expedite my process, though, Javi. I'm trying."

"I think, dulce, that you have experienced a lot of what your powers are, but you hold yourself back because the magnitude of what you can do scares you. Today, I'm going to ask you to let that go. It's a big day today. You have to let it go." He stood and walked over to me with his hand out. I placed my hand in his and he pulled me to my feet.

"Let's see if we can take our graduada and turn her into a formada today. You have a test to pass and then you're at the next rank. I'm very proud of you. And my nephew would be astounded at your progress, dulce." He smiled. (graduate, formed – ranks in Capoeira)

"I like Capoeira. It suits me," I said. "It is difficult, but it's easy to learn, I feel like my body just flows into it."

He nodded. "It does. You are as graceful as a dancer when you are fighting, Estefanía."

"Hey, is there anyone around who can cut hair? I need my hair shorter. It's a distraction I don't need right now." I said pointing to my mass of curls falling over my face.

"My nephew would send me to an early grave for encouraging you to cut your hair. I know he loved it long…" He looked at me. I narrowed my eyes. It wasn't a game and it wasn't about what Carlos wanted anymore and we both realized that. "But, I can make it happen."

I nodded and went to breakfast. I loaded up on turkey bacon, two eggs, a tomato and a slice of whole wheat toast. I drank two bottles of water and then Javi put his hand on my arm and popped me out of my prison. We showed up in a little house somewhere in the crack of time, in the human world or the unmentionable world, I didn't know.

A kind woman walked into the living room where we were standing. She saw Javi and walked over to pat his cheek lovingly. "Brother, who have you brought?"

"Her name is Stephanie Plum, hermana. She needs her hair cut short. Can you do it for me?" He asked. (sister)

Her eyes flashed surprise when he mentioned my name, but she nodded. "Yes, please bring her to the kitchen."

After checking the length I wanted, she cut my hair and I was surprised at the pile on the floor when she was done. I have thick hair and, even though I'd lost minimal length, it was still a massive amount of hair on the floor. I felt my hair. It was now only a couple of inches long all around, just what I'd asked for.

I smiled at her. "Thank you, I really appreciate this."

"It was my pleasure, Stephanie," she said. "Anything else I can get you or that you need?"

I thought about it for a moment. "No, I can ask Javi to get me some product for my hair."

"Oh, wait a moment!" She left the room in a hurry and returned a few moments later with a tube of Brocato Curl Interrupted. "This works really well, it will soften your curls and keep them from getting frizzy. I think you'll like it. When you want more, just tell Javi to tell me and I'll pick some up for you. I have enough left to last me until I can get to my sylist for some more. I bought this yesterday, so it's new."

"Thanks," I said. "This will be great."

I smiled at her and thanked her then Javi nodded to me and grabbed my air. "Time to see what you can do, dulce."

We popped back to the training center and I went to my bathroom to fix my hair. Since it had dried, I wet it from the sink and toweled it off before squeezing a dollop of the thick cream into my hand. I thought of the woman who had given it to me and felt ashamed that I'd forgotten my Burg manners and hadn't thanked her properly or asked her name.

With a sigh, I worked the sticky substance through my hair and then fingered out my curls. When I was done, the springy tendrils clung loosely to my head and looked classy and fun at the same time. Hmm, I actually liked it. The cut gave me a falsely sweet disposition and no one would guess that I was a deadly woman. Deadly is exactly what I am now.

I met with the men and thought I saw appreciation flare in their eyes when they saw me. Hmm, they like it, too.

Javi was smiling. "Oh, yes, dulce. We like it."

Damn. The lack of sex and Carlos was getting to me. I felt the heat all the way to my toes when he looked at me that way. Ugh. Six more months. I can do this.

We went to the technique room and Aric set the dials on the panel. The Roda appeared and I stepped into the ring. The music started and I felt the beat in my soul. A large man stepped into the ring with me and I set my mind on him, just the way they had taught me. I found that my abilities came from my will. There was no voodoo, no special hand motion. I just had to set my mind to it and when I did, the magic happened.

The AI and I danced and I watched as he began spinning kicks at me and swinging punches. I dodged, spun, flipped, and landed several blows before he fell with a thud to the ground. Now two men stepped into the ring with me. I glanced at Javi.

"This is where it gets harder, dulce. You must learn how to defend against multiple enemies. Use your mind to help you," he called.

I stood, forgetting the music and the beat for a moment. I focused on the two opponents and then I had a realization. I felt like I was in control of them when I used my mind to fight them. So I settled into my rhythm and a few short minutes later, they were on the ground. I fought three, then four men. I fought five and then six. When I had landed eight men on the mat, Aric stepped into the ring.

I froze and stood looking at him. "You expect me to fight you?" I asked.

"You won't kill me. We have a medic. Besides, it might just be you that needs medical treatment." He laid down the gauntlet and I knew I would run it.

I watched him move and then I focused in. I decided to try the control tactic again. I watched as his eyes filled with surprise as I caused him to fumble and then miss his attack. Then I went in for the attack, throwing spinning kicks and full body thrusts at him, pummeling him. I finished by jumping and spinning in the air, not even needing to use my hands for balance, my feet hitting his chest with full force. I watched as he flew across the room and landed with a thud at Javi's feet.

I stopped and held my hand up to the musicians. The room was silent, the medic was bend over Aric.

I looked at Javi and he had a worried expression on his face. Aric wasn't moving and the medic was working feverishly to heal his internal injuries. I held my breath. What have I done?