by Sara Schoen
“Knowing him, he got tired of waiting for you to come around.” Sandstorm and Renegade fell in behind Raider. Sandstorm lightly tapped him on the back, but Raider crumpled as if he had taken a bullet. He’s still in awful shape. Sandstorm offered to help Raider off the ground, but Raider shoved him away.
I shook my head in disapproval. He needed to get back to bed or he’d just prolong his healing process. While Sandstorm needed to take it easy on him. Raider was still injured, just because Sandstorm had mostly healed, didn’t mean everyone else was back to their usual selves. “What’s up, Sandstorm?”
“I’m just here to say good-bye. We’re off to Washington to find any agents left behind. We’ll try to gather information on what happened to Fire Fox and the others who are missing as well.” He gestured between himself and Renegade. “We’re meeting Spit Fire downstairs in a few minutes and just wanted to see you before we went.” There was an odd edging in his voice. I couldn’t quite read it, but I knew he wasn’t telling me the whole truth. There was something more to his mission, but he couldn’t say with all these people here. “Take it easy on the recruits while I’m gone. Remember that you used to be one too.”
I nodded, a soft smile on the corners of my lips. “I’ll do my best, but I give no promises.”
He shrugged and stepped back to let Renegade take his spot. I hugged him wordlessly and he gave me just the right amount of pressure to relax me. “It’s all going to be okay.” His hot breath tickled my ear as he leaned down to talk to me. “I know you’re worried, but there’s no reason to be. It’s all going to work out.” He stroked my hair when I hugged him tighter to me. He knew I feared being replaced. This recruit was both a godsend and a threat. What would happen once she was trained? What would we do with two thieves? There was no purpose, one would always be sat out for missions. What if it was me?
Renegade pulled out of the hug too soon for my liking. “I’ll keep you updated when possible.” He gave me a quick kiss on the forehead, causing the female recruits to ‘aw’ and the males to groan. I blushed, even as he pulled me back for another hug. “Maybe you’ll like the recruit. Just keep an open mind and be sure to stay safe until we figure out who’s behind this mess we’re in, okay?”
“I’ll do my best. Just come back in one piece, okay?”
He laughed lightly. “I’ll do my best.” He mimicked my tone and underlying message perfectly. We’d try, but there were no promises other than we’d see each other again. He pulled away after a few moments of holding me and then turned to leave with Sandstorm, who waved at me as he left.
“That was so cute!” a female recruit chimed. The two girls giggled together momentarily before I broke it off.
“Yeah, yeah, it’s cute. Don’t get used to it, it’s not usual in this line of work.” Both girls straightened up slightly and their faces fell into an emotionless blank slate. I let that set in for a moment so they could take in the severity in my voice before I continued. “Amber, you’re out of mass training today, come with me.” I gestured for her to follow me and didn’t bother turning around until we were out of the training room.
Amber had blonde hair, one brown eye and one blue eye, which sparkled in the bright light, and a smile that kind of scared me. She seemed very pleased to be with me. I didn’t know it was possible for someone to be this happy after being torn away from their previous life and tossed into this one. I mean, they had a choice, but agents were picked because they had nothing left to lose. They were ready to abandon everything for a new chance. I wonder what brought her in... What’s her life have to be like to end up here?
“Hey, there you are!” I turned in the direction of Rum’s voice. She was still in the hospital, but now could walk around in limited amounts. She was using the wall for support, but could manage strides in short bursts. She’d be back up in no time. At least I hope so. “I’m glad to see you have your own recruit now. I can get you out of my hair now, which is great since I was running out of things to teach you anyway.”
I smiled at her, trying to encourage her to keep moving and talking. She had a hard time coming to terms with the severity of her injuries. She was only recently transferred back to CIRA and still had a long way to go according to the nurses. “That’s not true, you would have come up with something.” I open my mouth to say more, but I couldn’t talk about past missions front of the recruit. I’d either terrify her or have her asking more questions than I was comfortable with answering.
Rum forced a smile, but the pain echoed in her eyes. “Come back to talk to me when you’re free. I think you owe this one a tour around the building. At least then she can’t get lost like you did.” She laughed at her own joke as she limped away. She didn’t make it far before she tossed a glance over her shoulder at us. “Who’s training these guys anyway? We’re a little short staffed for new recruits.”
“Demon should begin mass training and then giving them to people as they become available.” I didn’t mention that I didn’t like Demon teaching the new recruits after I ran into him trying to get to Mark. I didn’t want to give anything away, but I couldn’t help but wonder if he’d somehow use them to get to Mark. I still didn’t understand what he was doing and we hadn’t talked about it since. We both just ignored it.
“What about Sandstorm? All of his experience would be good to pass onto the new recruits. They might actually learn something.” She smiled wider, flinching at the pain. “Not to say anything bad on Demon, but experience talks and Sandstorm is full of it.”
“Yeah, but his people skills leave something to be desired. Besides, he, Spit Fire, and Renegade, just left to look for other agents who are still missing. I’m not sure when they will be back.”
She nodded, her face falling and the pain in her eyes being replaced with sorrow. “I’m very sorry about Fire Fox by the way. I wish he could be around to see you and Sandstorm. I’m sure Spit Fire’s team will find him though.” She glanced between me and Amber before smiling again. “I’ll leave you alone with your new shadow now. You have a lot to teach this young lady and let me be the first to tell you that it’s not an easy job, but you’ll do great in it.” She waved curtly and moved down the hall with a new-found strength.
I shook my head. She’s as bad as Raider. If they aren’t careful, they’ll just hurt themselves again. “Come on, Amber. I have a lot to show you. Unfortunately, you have to learn pretty fast too.”
“That’s okay, I’m a quick learner according to the guy who brought us here.” Demon, I mentally corrected. I tried not to let my thoughts of being replaced take over. I was training the next generation. I was helping CIRA even if I die in a mission. With Amber, I’d be able to make the difference I wanted to. Not only for those that she’d grow to help, but also in her life. I’m still getting replaced, but maybe some good can come out of it.
Chapter 7
Six a.m. wasn’t that different from four a.m., I still hated it and I despised Demon for sticking me with the morning training. What’s he up to anyway? Why can’t he train them? This is supposed to be his job and I train Amber in the afternoon. I groaned as the smell of chlorine suddenly invaded the air. It permeated through the walls of the nearby pool and enveloped me in the clean, sweet, tangy smell. It helped relax me, even though I was still pissed with Demon for making me late. The recruits had been waiting for almost ten minutes. It wasn’t bad, but I didn’t like to keep anyone waiting for me.
“Where is she?” Aaron asked in an annoyed tone as I rounded the corner. “I’m sick of waiting for her.” I wished we were swimming today so I could push him into the pool. That would be one way to announce my presence. Too bad for me, today was fight training and without Raider able to teach, it fell to me.
I had been with them when they did pool training as well. Come to think of it, I think I’m taking most of the responsibility for these guys. I even had to partner with Amber when one recruit quit early. I wonder what happened to him. I’d have to ask Sharp Shooter later...
“Hey guys, sorry I’m late. Demon didn’t tell me I was running training for you until ten minutes ago. Sorry to keep you waiting.” They each turned to me, annoyed expressions on their faces except for Amber who was still too excited to be here. “It’s fighting training today. I hope you’re all excited!” I gave them an overly enthusiastic grin while I held up my hands in a boxer’s stance. My hands and wrists were wrapped with protective tape, along with my feet and ankles. Everyone glanced around, suddenly nervous while they awaited instruction. They probably thought I was messing around, but it really helped to make sure I didn’t injure myself further.
I waited for someone to say something, but they all remained quiet and stared at me. It was uncomfortably awkward. “You’ll be fighting each other and me today. I don’t care how you win, but I want to see the win. No cheap tricks, no forfeiting, and no continuation after the opponent is down. There is no overall strategy that will help you all the time, so I need to make sure you can adapt depending on the situation because no fight is fair. Amber, you and Aaron are up first.” I glanced over to Amber, who for the first time showed an emotion other than happiness. She seemed scared. Aaron was larger than her, and she easily weighed less than him so I felt confident this would be a learning experience for them both.
They took their spots in the center of the padded floor. Aaron took a wide fighters stance while Amber jumped up and down to loosen up. When I called for the match to begin, Aaron immediately sprang forward. Amber took two quick hits to her side, but managed to dodge under Aaron’s last punches. She disappeared from Aaron’s sight for a moment, causing him to spin around in search of her.
His mistake. That’s just what she wanted.
He received a direct hit to the gut and instantly dropped to the ground. Amber thought it was over, but Aaron wasn’t done yet. He grabbed her ankles and pulling them out from under her. She crashed face first onto the mat and gave Aaron enough time to get on top of her and pin her.
“Let her go, Aaron. The fight is over.” He followed without hesitation, getting off her and taking his spot on the mat again.
“Amber, come here. Jay, you’re in. If you don’t fix your hesitation issues like you had in the pool then this will be over quickly. Show me some improvement. I know Camo tried to help you, show me you learned something from her.” He nodded and walked onto the mat, trading places with Amber. “What was that, Amber?” I asked after calling Jay and Aaron’s fight to start.
“I thought we were done. He was on the ground,” she huffed out in uneven breaths. “You said no continuation after they were on the ground.”
“Remember, I also said fights in the real world aren’t fair. I don’t make these fair. I gave you the first fight because you needed a humility lesson as did Aaron. You did a good job of showing him that size and strength don’t matter in a fight, but you needed to learn you can’t win them all. You brag during training about how good you are and how you are the best around.” I leaned inches from her face. “I’m sick of hearing it, as are the rest of the recruits. You lost this fight. Learn from it because there’s always someone who’s better than you out there. You need to be prepared for it.”
She nodded before putting her head down and falling silent. I turned to watch Aaron and Jay. Jay was still hesitant, but not as much as before. Camo may have to help him again. I can’t send him into the field knowing he’s afraid to fight. Aaron managed to get the upper hand again and pinned Jay to the ground. Jay put up a struggle to gain the upper hand, but failed. Aaron’s experience in wrestling was giving him an advantage. Aaron raised his hands in celebration and asked for a volunteer. Clearly, he hadn’t gotten his humility yet. I smiled cruelly. I can fix that.
“Watch and learn.” I walked over and lifted Jay off the mat, pushing him back towards the other recruits. I mimicked Aaron’s stance and nodded when it was time to start. Once again, Aaron leapt towards me. I took two quick steps forward then used the momentum to slide under Aaron’s punches. I grabbed his arm with one hand and his wrist with the other then pushed my back into his chest. With everything in me, I flung him over me and onto the mat. I pulled out my knife, earning a shocked gasp from the small crowd of recruits, and kneeled over his chest. I put the knife straight to his throat and let it sink in. “Do you give up, Aaron?”
His answer was pushing me off and attempting to steal my knife. I rolled to get away from him, but he jumped on me sending me crashing to the ground. He took my knife from my grasp and mimicked my motion of placing the knife to the throat. “The real question is, do you give up?” I could see the pleasure in his eyes from thinking he had beaten the teacher, but he missed one important thing when it came to keeping me unable to fight.
My legs were still free.
Aaron’s cocky grin was quickly wiped away by the knee he took to the groin. He fell to my side and I pinned him without a problem, ending the fight. I stood up, wiping my hands off, and walked back toward the recruits.
“You cheated! That was a cheap trick!” Aaron yelled from the ground. His hands perched directly over his crotch as if that would help the pain. It wasn’t nice, but it got the point across.
“No, I used my advantages. No fight is fair, remember that. Outside of this building, you should be willing to do everything to win. Because out there, winning means survival. If you don’t understand that then you may want to reconsider joining.” I waited for Aaron to reply. He loved to have the last word and had a lot of the same annoying mannerisms Raider had when I first joined it. I tried not to let that force me to make a judgement on him. Tried being the operative word. “Shawn, Erik, you’re up. If I see any more pitiful fighting you’ll all fight me!” I momentarily held my side as I spoke, but let it fall. They didn’t need to know I was injured.
The threat got each recruit working in high gear. I watched and worked to improve them as best as I could. They fixed what I told them to almost immediately. I wanted to think no one wanted to fight me after watching Aaron lose, but mostly I think the guys were just afraid to be kneed in the groin. They didn’t know even without ‘cheating’ I have fought a guy twice my size and weight and won. Though, I didn’t complain that they didn’t want to fight me. My body was screaming in pain and I knew I shouldn’t go again, but I couldn’t help it when it came to preparing them. I wanted them to know what was out there so they could make their choice with as much as I could give them.
I called an end to their training for an early lunch break as the pain became unbearable. Amber, my ever-present shadow, stayed behind talking my ear off. Couldn’t she see I wanted to be left alone? I kneeled to the ground, hoping it would ease the pain, but instead it got worse. A searing pain radiated through my body and locked me in place. This is what I get for pushing my limits.
“Do you need me to get someone, Night Stripe? You don’t look so good.”
I cleared my throat, biting back a rude response. I knew she asked because she cared, but I didn’t need to be babied. Especially by a recruit. “I’m okay, Amber. Thank you for asking. Though, do yourself a favor and don’t say that any of the other agents. None of us are in fighting shape right now. We’re just pushing past because we’re the only ones capable and there’s work to be done.” I glanced up to see her tilt her head to the side like a dog. Did she think all I did was walk around this building? “Someone has to be around to train you guys and be here in case the team in Washington needs us. That’s what it takes to be an agent here. You see where you’re needed and you go without question, even if it’s unbearable.” I tried to stand, but a sharp, stabbing pain jabbed into my side. Immediately, I fell back into a kneeling position, but that brought a new flash of pain to my leg.
“Night Stripe!”
I held my hand up to prevent her from asking if I was okay again. “Please go find Camo. Tell her I need help and to make it fast.” My teeth were clenched together to fight the pain, causing my words came out more as a growl.
Amber took off, but she didn’t make i
t far. Her footsteps stopped short of the door. I wanted to turn around to see why she stopped, but I couldn’t force my body to turn. I didn’t want to deal with the pain just to satiate my curiosity. “Don’t bother. I’ll take Night Stripe up to the hospital wing. You join the other recruits for lunch and I’ll pick up your training after you’re all done.” Demon’s heavy footsteps approached me. Even if I didn’t notice the weight change in the footsteps to know it was him, the low husky chuckle would have given it away. “Why am I not surprised you got hurt during fight training?”
“Because you practically set me up to fail.” The venom in my tone was more apparent than I had meant it to me. Had he given me this job so I wouldn’t be able to stop him next time he tried to see Mark? Was it an attempt to weaken me?
“Don’t say that,” he teased as he kneeled and wrapped my arm around his shoulders. “If you continue acting like a bitch then I’ll take you to a different nurse. One who will keep you off your feet for a few days or you can go to Rose and she’ll keep it off the record.”
I mumbled a quick “Fine” as he helped me get back to my feet. The pain was still evident and pulsed through me with each subtle movement. Did I reopen a wound? What happened? Demon slowed his pace to match mine and helped me walk out of the room. Amber seemed hesitant to leave, but once she saw I was in…someone else’s hands, she left. I would have said good hands, but I wasn’t so sure anymore...
A heaviness hung in the air around us. I wasn’t sure if he felt it too, but it felt like a noose around my neck. The secrets between us would slowly choke me to death, but I wouldn’t bring it up first. We walked in silence for a while before he broke the tension between us. “You should really take it easy. You’ll only make it worse for yourself if you keep this up.”
“I have to or the team falls apart. We can’t really risk that right now.” I stumbled slightly as we walked, but Demon held me tightly and kept me up straight.
