Trust is Earned, Not Given

Once back at the Chapel, everyone but a handful of cops and three government agents had gone home for the night. Doug had brought their bags from the safe house along with Tom's Mustang. After Hanson had changed into a clean pair of jeans and a navy blue t-shirt, Ninja changed to a different pair of cargo pants and buttoned her camo flannel. A button-up will be easiest...

"Hey Doc, I thought you were leaving." Ninja greeted as she bounced down the stairs. He smiled at her, holding a jar in his hands, "I was waiting on you. Here, there's enough for you and Officer Hanson. Twice …" "A day for a week, I know. But I don't need it." Ninja rolled her hazel eyes, taking the small clay jar from him. Grabbing Ninja's side, causing her to grimace and shy away from his touch, the knowledgeable doctor smirked, "Uh-huh. If you're going to be stubborn like usual, then at least use it for a couple of days. Please." "Fine, but only because you said please. Safe travels." She said, hugging her friend. "You're the one who needs to stay safe. I don't want to have to come back here and patch up you or your new team anytime soon." The Cherokee man tried to look stern but the ever-present laughter in his eyes ruined it. "No promises." Ninja chuckled; turning to Richter, "You heading back to Langley?"

The older, semi-retired spy nodded, "Yeah, my flight leaves in an hour." "Are you sure you can't hang out?" She pleaded, not wanting to tell her story without her handler there. Pulling the little spy into an embrace, Richter whispered, "You've told it plenty of times, I'm sure you know what to say." "I don't know if I'm strong enough …" she mumbled into his shoulder. "You're the strongest woman I know, kid." Richter stated, holding her face between his large hands before placing them on her shoulders and gently turning her around, "And you won't be alone." Ninja watched Richter and Doc leave the odd little station before turning to face her new team. And her past.

Leaning against the table, Ninja sighed, "I assume that Richter filled y'all in about the program?" After Fuller and Ioki nodded, Ninja exhaled to hopefully calm her nerves, "Each team was supposed to complete five missions before they aged out at 18. Unfortunately, the program became 'obsolete', and funds were rerouted elsewhere, but there was enough money left to send one person on one last mission. Anyone want to guess who they volunteered?"

"But why you?" Doug wondered. "Any number of reasons, really. Me being the youngest was one of them." Ninja shrugged before continuing to tell her story. "I was paired with a team of six made up of the best Marines, Rangers, and SEALs. We were to rescue the son of a Saudi prince, Jamal Wakeem. But Hadar must have found out somehow because we came under fire not even five yards into the compound. Pretty soon the only people left to carry-out the mission were me, Doc, and a Marine named Jake Worley. Suddenly …

*** Worley fell to the ground clutching his right leg. 'Doc! Worley's been hit!' I bellowed over the gunfire as I dragged our wounded teammate to cover.

'Cover me!' Doc yelled back. I gave him a curt nod before popping up to see over our shield and fired one bullet at a time from my automatic rifle. Each one a kill-shot, because I was running out of ammo.

'What do ya think Doc?' Worley asked, he knew that we can't complete the mission and get him out too. 'I know what you're thinking Worley, and we ain't leaving you.' I snap as my gun clicked empty.

Finished applying the bandage, Doc asserted, 'If we die without finishing the mission then everybody will have died in vain. Go, Worley and me will hold out as long as possible.' I toss a grenade toward most of the gunfire.

'Good luck.' Worley said, handing me his sidearm before I disappeared.

"When I had reached my goal, I was out of ammo and my knife was slick with blood. There were two men guarding the door. I punched one in the face and grabbed the other's gun to pull him close enough for me to slash his throat, before breaking the first one's neck. Busting in the door, I saw Hadar in the middle of the room holding a knife to Jamal's throat.

"As soon as I looked into Jamal's eyes, silently pleading for help, I knew I'd hesitated too long. Before I could even twitch, I was surrounded by a dozen men armed with automatic guns trained on me. They began shouting in Arabic, I knew they wanted me to do something but I couldn't understand what they were saying.

Then Hadar yelled at his men and they fell silent. 'Drop your weapon, child, or the boy's blood will be on your hands.' Hadar threatened, pressing the blade tight against Jamal's neck. I let the knife slip from my hand because I didn't want to see a young life cut short when I could prevent it... ***

"I guess they hit me over the back of the head, because the next thing I knew, I was in a room similar to what Smith had me and Hanson in." She shrugged, rubbing the back of her neck, "They tortured me the entire month they had me." "What'd they do to you?" Ioki wondered quietly as he absorbed her tale.

Slowly unbuttoning her flannel, Ninja listed, "Everything Smith did to me and more, but their favorite thing to do was whip me with belts." Once the last button was free, Ninja turned so her back was facing the officers and their captain as she removed the only thing hiding her scars from prying eyes.

Ninja gripped the edge of the table hard enough to hurt when she heard five sharp intakes of air, all slightly different, at the sight of the white marks that crisscrossed her back. Tom noticed one scar that wrapped around her ribcage and reached out, ghosting his fingers over it.

Gasping at the unexpected touch, Ninja placed her hand over his and pressed it flat against her skin, saying, "Try and trace it." "I can't … they all blend together." Tom faltered. "I know." Ninja whispered sadly, releasing his hand to put her jacket back on as she added, "I got that long one that runs from my left shoulder to my right hip on my fourth mission, but don't ask about it." "Why not?" Judy asked gently, concern evident in her voice. "It's not my story to tell." Was her simple reply.

The atmosphere had become somber so Doug decided to change the subject, "Hey, what's in that jar?" Picking it up, Ninja answered, "It's Doc's magic Cherokee lotion. Now he'll say 'It's not magic.' but it does speed up healing on minor injuries. Take your shirt off, Hanson."

"What? Why?" Tom stammered, a little shocked by her forwardness. "The sooner we get this stuff on you the better off you'll be. But I have to warn ya, it might make you act weird. And you might feel like your blood is on fire, all I ask of you is that you keep your clothes on." Ninja stated, helping Tom with his shirt before undoing the bandages.

Within a minute of Ninja's hands leaving his back after applying the salve, Tom began pouring sweat and panting, "What's … happening?" "It's working. Trust me, after tonight it won't have such an effect again." Ninja soothed, placing a hand on his flushed face.

Suddenly Tom pinned Ninja to a pole, crashing his lips into her's, it took every last ounce of self-control Hanson had left to keep his hands on the pole behind her. "Hanson!" Judy shouted. Ninja knew what Doc's lotion was doing to Tom and she admired his self-control as well as his sculpted abs and chest, knowing that her touch will help quench the fire burning through him. "Hanson!" Fuller bellowed, finally getting Tom's attention.

Dark chocolate eyes, darkened more by desire, stared at Ninja as Tom slowly backed away, panting as he apologized, "I'm sorry... I don't know what came over me." Smiling at the boyish-looking cop, Ninja said, "Looks like the initial effects are starting to wear off. But I've never seen anybody with as much self-control as you." "I said that to you last Wednesday." Tom grinned as she rewrapped his wounds. "So that's where I heard it. And here I thought I was being original." Ninja smirked before turning to Fuller, "I would like to continue working with your program; if you'll have me."

Beaming at the young, battle-worn spy, Fuller extended his hand, "We would love to have you. Welcome to Jumpstreet, Ninja." "Thanks, Captain. And my real name is Katherine Bale." She said, accepting the hand, the help, and finally trusting Jumpstreet's finest; even though she still has many more secrets. Ninja knows that they will try and eventually succeed in wiggling some secrets out of her, but most she will take to her grave.

Strolling out of the darkened Chapel and heading to the parking lot, Fuller said, "I'll see you guys on Monday." "You're giving us the rest of the week off, Coach?" Doug questioned, slightly surprised that the straight-laced captain would give them that much time off. "Yes, Penhall, I am. Good night." Fuller chuckled as he got into his car.

"You going home to Dorothy, Doug?" Tom inquired as he leaned against his Mustang, arms holding Ninja close. Doug shook his head, "No more coming back for her. Me and Dorothy are through." Reluctantly releasing Ninja so they could both drive home, Tom fished his keys out, "You want a ride, Penhall?" "Nah, Judy's giving me a lift and she's going to make sure that no one does anything stupid," Doug replied as he started walking toward Judy's car.

"See ya Monday, Doug." Tom grinned before calling over to Ninja at her Mustang, "You know how to get to my apartment?" "Yeah. See ya there." She replied before the lot emptied for the night.

Thanks for sticking with me! Hope you enjoyed my first written story(even if it's the forth one posted). I may revisit Jumpstreet and Ninja or I may not, just depends on if a story idea hits me. Tune in next time to NinjaCat263!