Disclaimer. I checked, still don't own or profit from anything.

:}

The community center was in a bad part of town, but the police presence made it very safe. No banger wanted to start trouble where upwards of fifty off duty police officers might be hanging out. It was probably one of the safest places in the neighborhood.

The other thing that made it safe was simple utility. Even gangs recognize the necessity of neutral ground. The center was a place where they could go and have fun, often playing in organized sports or taking classes. It was simple enough to declare it shared, and leave it that way. If pressed, everyone would point out the center was police territory, but usually they just left it as no ones. Even the tagging crews kept away, so the center looked fairly clean compared to the near by buildings.

This was where Trina and Jade found themselves after school. Neither was willing to be seen in the others car, so they both drove. Trina got there first. She'd been there more regularly, often helping out with the Police Athletic League as part of her required community service for graduation. Her father had helped set that up, and so Trina was know in the center. She had also used it as an excuse to have Stan train her, since he was often here, even on the days when his classes were not being taught.

Jade had been here, once or twice, but not in over three years. Wyatt had taken her back when the program started, back when Stan had first started teaching at the center. She was supposed to see kids who had it worse than she did. Mostly, her grandfather wanted to show her that she could give back to the community with the skills she had been taught. Jade didn't come back after the program was up and running.

Together, the two entered the building and made their way towards the staff area. Jade had a key, but they didn't need it. Trina was able to get someone to open the staff only door with a quick word and a smile. Jade was shocked at how easily they passed this supposed barrier, meant to keep the kids out of the adult world of the staff and trainers. She was also seeing a very different Trina.

"They know me," Trina said, as if that was all she needed to say.

In the back they found several cramped offices. One was reserved for the dojo. In it were they stored the files and any supplies unique to the needs of a MMA trainer.

"When the dojo first started here, we only got a filing cabinet in a shared office." Jade said.

"Yea, but then the PAL decided that offices were more convenient. Sometimes the instructors need to talk with their students while the training spaces are otherwise occupied." Trina stated. The rivalry was starting, but at the same time Jade noted how Trina knew about the PAL.

Jade used her key to open the office, and the two found places to sit. Jade immediately snagged the office chair behind the desk, so Trina took the loveseat. Once they were seated, there was a moment before Jade got up to open the filing cabinet and look over the files. Neither wanted to be the one to move, but Jade had a job to do, so decided to move first. She rummaged through the files quickly, then pulled out a thumb drive.

"We can't take that" Trina said, so quickly it felt like she was waiting to say it.

"Why not?" Jade looked wazzed. Trina was being difficult, and she wasn't happy about it..

"Because, unlike the what's kept at the dojo's, there's private information stored on that drive." Trina said. Jade digested that statement for several second.

"But how are we supposed to lug out the names and training notes for all the students if we can't take the files?" Jade asked.

"I'll get someone to make a copy of the pertinent information on another drive." Trina said, smirking. She'd brought a second drive just for that purpose. Jade sighed, the started reading files while Trina went and used her familiarity with the people to get the files edited and transferred.

Trina was having fun. Jade was a damn good fighter, and probably knew her stuff when it came to the MMA part of the assignment, but the girl was clueless when it came to people. She relied on fear to motivate people, while being totally unfamiliar with the concept of working with people who didn't know what they were doing. Trina suspected one of the reasons some people got cast in some of Sikowitz's plays was so Jade could see how he motivated and inspired his cast. The man was crazy, but he knew how to motivate by example.

'I'm going to have to teach her how to work with these kids. I NEED her to succeed so she can help me get my black belt. Also, I think dad would be upset if she killed off her entire class. Yes, I'm definitely going to have to teach her some people skills.' Trina pondered what she was going to need to do as she saw some of the guys she knew entering the center. She waved, and they acknowledged her with a quick nod. It was funny how those boys had to act cool, even when it wasn't going to get them anything.

That brought up her other problem. While the center, along with the PAL, was for anyone who could use it, most of the kids who used the center were teens, and a lot more boys than girls. Jade was about seventeen, making her just a year or two older than most of the boys she'd be dealing with. A few were going to be her age or even 18, especially in the MMA classes. Trina was ready for them to hit on her, they did it all the time when she helped out in the gym. 'She's going to kill someone.' Trina thought again. Acting macho wasn't the way to Jade's heart. As she waited for the secretary to finish editing and transferring the documents, she started making a list of who she knew from the center that it would be okay for Jade to annihilate.

Jade was looking through the files and getting frustrated. The classes were well attended, often twenty students per class, but they weren't showing much progress. The belts for her family style went white, yellow, blue, green, purple, brown, then black. The style had decided on four stages, or degrees, per belt. The Up through brown, degrees were represented by one to four black stripes on each end of the belt. Once you got to the black belts, where the ten degree's were represented with red stripes. Her grandfather, and any tenth degree belt, could wear a red belt instead. Students could test once every three months to advance until brown. Almost no one passed every test, and while it looked like someone could make it to brown in under five years years, it usually took eight or more. Sometimes, a student would skip a degree of a belt, but no one skipped belts. Jade knew all of this by heart. The second degree black belt test included written questions about the belting system. Jade knew that the lowest belts were the easiest to obtain, and a good student could still make blue in two to three years.

That was the problem. Most of the students were white or yellow belts. They weren't getting it. Yes, it was hard, but after three years she really expected a few blue's in the program. Jade read file after file, seeing Stan praise them for their dedication and hard work, yet their skills just didn't seem to match. Finally, Trina returned.

"We've got a lot of work ahead of us." Jade said, sounding annoyed.

"Really? Why?" Trina hadn't read the files yet, so she had no idea what Jade was talking about.

"They're not advancing. I thought we'd have some advanced students by now, but we don't have a single blue." Jade said.

"Contrary to what you might think, even the classes at the regular dojo's don't always advance that fast. People drop out, start over, need to unlearn stuff. It's not that easy, even with the best of classes. And this, this is a different world, Jade. These are poor people, often with other responcibilities. They can't always make it to class regularly. And sometimes, even when they can, they don't have what they need to pick everything up. They don't always have enough to eat, or can focus their minds on the task at hand. Their lives get in the way." Trina told Jade.

"And that's just half of it. Some of the students don't test. They take the classes but never officially join the PAL. You might have some really talented students who just never got the belt to represent their skills. Jade, we need to read everything about these kids, and go from there." Trina told her. The Latina was not surprised Jade didn't understand. As far as she knew, Jade came from money. 'Please understand. I can't have you killing anyone I like.' Trina silently pleaded.

Jade looked at the Latina, not sue if she should believe her. 'Adam never let me quit, so I guess I don't know what it's like for them.' she finally thought. "Okay, lets get out of here. You can tell me all about it while I soak in your hot tub." Jade really wanted that soak right now.

:}

First, I made a correction on the belting system. I found an on line source for a semi-official MMA organization and let that inspire me. Now it takes two years, sometimes less, to advance though the browns.

Trina has no idea about Jade's family dynamics. Jade seems to come from money, with no proof ever given in the show. I just used that assumption.

Read, review, enjoy. Not necessarily in that order.

Tori's not a fighter, but she has a lot of other things going for her. Her strengths are her talents and how well she gets along with EVERYBODY.

Lost of notes today.