Training Together

Priscilla sat down at her corner and started drinking her apple juice while watching the interesting training session. The soldiers knew how to put on a show while training. Especially since the team had eight women it made things a bit more interesting.

Her eyes had unconsciously rested on Richard as he practiced his punches on the Punch Thrower. She noted how he clenched his fist till his arm bulged and threw the punch. She nodded silently.

He then moved on to continue with the punching then he found a sparring partner. They exchanged a few punches but none hit Richard. He flexibly turned behind his sparring partner and threw her over his head by grabbing at her neck and pulling her back.

"Watch your feet, you need more stamina." He said and helped her up.

They went at it again. This time though, Richard went in for the punch but she blocked it with both arms leaving an opening for Richard to exploit with his left fist but the moment he threw the punch at her stomach she threw his hand away and blocked again while trying a jump kick.

Richard grabbed her legs causing her body to slam to the ground. He let go of her legs and helped her up.

….

After another two hours they ended the training session for the day. Pauline slung her back over her shoulder and approached Priscilla. She smiled at her and Priscilla nodded, "nice work today."

"Intense," Pauline stretched her shoulder. "I'm beet."

"Can I ask you something?"

"It depends." Pauline turned to look at her squarely.

"Has Richard ever taken off his shirt to train?"

Pauline paused and looked at her with a pensive look. She shrugged a bit and pointed at the far end of the room where Richard was packing his bag, "trust me, you wouldn't want to see him naked. Monsters are hidden under his skin!"

She added the last part in a whisper. Priscilla threw her a questioning glance, "oh?"

Pauline chuckled a bit. "You totally didn't buy that but no. ever since he came back three months ago; I've never seen him take off his shirt. It has something to do with his captivity during the last mission."

"I see."

"I gotta go now doc, I might need some pain killers so be sure to attend to me later."

"Of course." Priscilla smiled but she was thinking of something else.

Soon Richard approached her with his bag fully packed. "Everyone's leaving."

She nodded with a smile. "But you haven't left yet."

Richard nodded thoughtfully. He noticed that she smiled a lot today. "You seem happy?"

"A little bored actually." She stood up from the chair and stood facing him now.

Richard smiled warmly. It was rare for him to smile like this and she was certain that she'd only seen him smiling like that only four times in the past week.

"Maybe we could train then?" he offered gesturing at the training equipment and the Punch Thrower.

She shook her head. "The training is over."

"True but that was until you told me you were bored," he said with a look of seriousness. "Plus, you're a member of my team now and regardless of whether you're a doctor or a soldier you need to have some fighting skills just in case we get assigned a duty that might get dangerous."

That was not surprising. She thought about it for a few seconds and nodded, "okay. Let's do some basics."

"Let's start with some warm ups then you can pull those shiny balls along the room…" Richard listed out the equipment but only mentioned the basic ones. Those were the first one soldiers had to master before moving on to the Punch Thrower.

She frowned a bit. "Hey I'm not that sloppy so don't be gentle on me!"

"Is that so? We can start with the balls if you like."

"Better." She walked towards the balls. They were as large as a person's head and had chains attached to them. They had many of those things here but she was going to try pulling two first. She felt it would be easy to do such things after all she had trained with K9 in the past and she wasn't a total newbie when it came to these things.

She also learnt some basic combat techniques at K9 and it had helped her as a form of self-defence. She grabbed the chains and bent her body backwards while making her stand firm. She pulled back with all her might but only a creak echoed through the room.

After three full minutes of pulling at the balls she only managed to move them over six inches. They were extremely heavy! "I give up," she raised her arms with ragged breaths and sweat dripping down her face. "These things are heavy!"

"Don't beat yourself up; you did better than most cadets."

Priscilla gave Richard a scrutinizing look. She knew that he was mocking her but she ignored the comment. "Let's do something better suited to my level."

"No need," Richard walked towards her. "Let's pull this together. I'll help you pull it till it becomes a bit easier."

"That's possible?"

"Let's try." Richard held her wrist and moved his hands slightly over hers. His hands were warm and strong. She felt her heart skip a beat but she took deep breaths and waited for the instructions.

"Now exert all your strength." Richard instructed.

She pulled but this time the balls seemed less heavy. Another three minutes later they had pulled the balls half way across the room. Richard let go of her hands and urged her to continue pulling. She nodded and did so. This time she managed to pull through a few metres before falling to the floor with heavy breaths.

"It worked!" she pumped her fist tiredly and struggled up from the floor. Richard helped her to her feet.

"What's next?"

"You're up for more?" Richard raised a surprised eyebrow. Most people would give up after dragging that thing a few metres through the room yet she still had the strength to continue.

"Of course, this thing is interesting."

Seeing the genuine interest in her eyes Richard decided to give in. "Let's do some push ups first."