Working It Out: Part 1

Posted on Thu Jan 31st, 2019 @ 6:24pm by Mackenzie Bergman & Commander Jacob Bannerman
Edited on on Thu Jan 31st, 2019 @ 7:04pm

Mission: The First Step...
Location: Campus Gym
Timeline: 2388/08/27 0600 (August 27 2388 6:00am)

Jacob Bannerman started the day like he usually did.

With a nightmare.

It didn't matter that he'd drunk himself into oblivion last night at the bar, he still woke up at exactly the same time with exactly the same roar of pain from exactly the same dream.

It was always about a particularly traumatic torture session that he had endured after being captured by Nausican pirates when he still worked for 31. It had lasted for days and he always woke at the same point. They had just inserted two pain sticks into his abdomen and just as they were activated...he woke in a bath of sweat and a yell of agony.

The only comfort that Jake had was he had never broken. Never given away the secrets of his beloved Federation. Sure some 31 agents were corrupt but every mission Jake had been involved in had been to protect the people from the dangers of the universe that they didn't even know were out there. His love of a free way of life was the reason why when he had been forced into hiding, he had taken the job of a teacher. He owed the cadets a promise to ensure that they were properly trained so that they could survive in a galaxy filled with more threat and danger than they could ever know.

And this was why he found himself in the gym long before his agreed 6am workout with Mack. It was the only way other than flying that he could rid himself of the memory of torture and function for the day.

And so he stood there facing his fourth opponent of the morning. Always one with a flair for the dramatic, he had chosen Japanese Ninjas as his enemy and he bowed before surging forward with grace and confidence. Punch. Kick. Strike. Strike. Jump. Sweep. Kick. And with that, his sparring partner went flying off the practice mat, dematerialising as it sailed past the range of the holo-emitters.

"Computer again. And this time make it challenging." Jake barked, wiping a lock of dark hair from his forehead, his body glistening with sweat.

This time a ninja brandishing a samurai sword appeared before him.

Jake grinned. "Ooooo hardball. Computer you sexy beast you know just how to please a man."

"Command unrecognised." the monotone voice replied.

"Never mind." Jake shook his head and grinned, "Begin."

A chirrup of acknowledgement followed before the ninja bowed and launched himself at Jake.

Quick as lightening, Jake launched into the air, swinging around a full 360 degrees and with one kick expertly made contact with the ninja's sword wielding hands, the force causing his opponent to drop the sword which went clattering over the floor and out of the way just as Jake landed and went rolling sideways before righting himself in preparation to defend the next attack.

Why did I even agree to do this? Mack asked herself as she moved toward the gym. Because... you like to push his buttons, just like he likes to push yours. Like him, her night had been an incredibly long one, but she'd managed to force herself to fall asleep about four or so hours before she was set to meet up with him here. She had a feeling it was going to be a long day, and this was only the beginning.

When she got to the gym, she walked inside, moving over to a spot to put her things down and quietly assessing him. If she wasn't before, now she was wondering what... exactly... she'd getting herself in to. He looked like a madman, and as scary as that thought might have been for her, she wasn't going to back down. He wanted her to meet him, and she'd agreed. She never went back on her word. "Alright, Commander Bannerman..." She quipped, recalling his comments from the evening before. "I'm here as I said I would be."

Still standing on the outer edges of where he was, Mackenzie started stretching. The workout gear she was wearing, a black sports bra and a pair of matching black shorts, fit her like a second skin and didn't do much to hide anything from the imagination. A pair of white sneakers dawned her feet, and her hair was pulled back in a ponytail to complete the look. For a woman in her line of work, she was definitely toned without being overly muscled for someone her size. It was clear she liked to take care of herself.

"Just a sec." Jake grunted as the ninja wrestled him to the ground, "Just....getting...something...off...my..." one final knee up and shove and the opponent went sailing over Jake's head and crashed outside the mat then disappeared "Chest." Jake finally breathed, laying right where he was, his bare chest heaving up and down from the effort.

Finally, Mackenzie moved over to where he was laying on the ground and looked down at him with a grin. "Already starting without me, I see."

"Well you know, just thought I'd get warmed up." Jake took several steadying breaths. It was clear from the state of him that he'd been working full stretch and for longer than a few minutes. Groaning as he rolled onto his side, he stood up and faced her, his eyes raking wolfishly over her body as he said "To be honest, I'm surprised you turned up." He grinned as he placed his hands on his hips, his black sweat pants hanging low on him.

"Well, Commander... you'll soon come to learn that I'll never back away from a challenge." Red stated matter-of-factly. She kept her gaze locked on his face, forcing herself to keep from checking him out like he was blatantly doing to her. "If you'd rather, I can sit on the sidelines and watch you continue to do batter with the computers simulated opponents, but where would the fun in that be?"

"Indeed." Jake replied, his expression unreadable as he stood there watching her as he caught his breath. Finally after a long pause he suggested "So how about we start with what you know."

"I've never actually sparred with anyone before, so I can assure you, I don't know much." She said, placing her hands on her hips. "This is pretty new to me, but despite that, I'm well aware you aren't going to take it easy on me. And don't forget... you said you'd be a gentleman and let me get a free shot for gratitude."

"I did say that didn't I?" Jake grinned at her as he rubbed his chin, thinking about how to get her started. "Well as you've never sparred with anyone before, why don't we start with the basics? Teach you how to defend yourself in case of attack? Or is that too basic?" he asked, becoming serious as they got down to business.

"I do know basic self defense. I took some classes a few years back. One can never be too prepared for the big and nasty when you're my size." Mack pointed out. "We could start this with you letting me get that free shot..."

Jake chuckled and said "Okay...one free shot and then I defend myself." He moved to the centre of the mat and stood there, bracing his body for whatever she opted to do and hoped beyond hope that it didn't involve kicking him in the nuts.

Mackenzie grinned like a cat that just ate the proverbial canary as she moved with him, coming to stand directly in front of him. Of course, the thought to kick him square between the legs did cross her mind, but it was also a cheap shot. No... she had to make this one count. Who knew when she'd have the chance to do it again? She found herself sizing him up. Go for a shot to the gut? Nah... it would likely be expected. Maybe a kick to the solar plexus? She was little, but it didn't take much force to cause serious injury to someone. Mack didn't want to kill the man. He provided her with amusement.

Oh... what to do? She asked herself. Then suddenly, it dawned on her. Moving up to him, she reached out with her hands to grab hold of his nipples... he was shirtless and clearly asking for it in her opinion... then, twisted. Granted, it wasn't hard enough to take them off, but definitely enough to smart. Quickly, though, Mack sprang backward in preparation for retaliation.

"Ow!" Jake roared and jerked away from her his eyes narrowing as he said "What did you do that for? Have you no honour woman?" he wrapped his arms around his chest to cover his nipples lest she have another go.

"You're seriously going to stand there and ask me if I have any honor?" Red demanded, keeping her eyes locked firmly on his. He'd met his match with her, because she showed no signs of backing down. "Where was your honor when you kissed me yesterday?"

Jake rolled his eyes and said "Seriously? This is all about that kiss? And you're still holding it against me? Yesterday was yesterday, today's today and kicking someone's ass doesn't involve twisting their nipples...it's sadistic!"

Mackenzie looked at him in sheer disbelief. "Oh, come on! I know you've had worse done to you than a woman twisting your nipples. It isn't going to be the end of your world." She remained where she was standing, her hands going back to her hips. "It isn't all about the kiss, either. You seriously can't stand there and be offended by something like... that!"

Unaware of what she'd done, Mack's words hit Jake full force. Yes he had definitely had worse things done to him than twisted nipples, in fact he had dreamed about them barely two hours ago. Forcing back the remnants of the night terror her words had triggered he cleared his throat and ignored what she had said. "So how about you show me how you'd defend yourself to attack?" he suggested before adding "And I mean real fighting, not bloody torture techniques."

"Next time, I'll kick you in the nuts, then. I'm sure that's what you were expecting anyway." She said, falling back into a defensive stance. Lifting a hand, Mack made a gesture that clearly stated 'bring it' with her fingers. This was going to be tough. He was over a foot taller than she was, and clearly outweighed her by... if she had to guess... eighty pounds or so. Knowing that, though, she wasn't going to back down. It was clear he wanted to hurt her, and maybe she deserved it, but she definitely wasn't going to back down.

Watching her for a moment, Jake knew that he had to hold back. Truth was he could kill her with one kick but holding back didn't mean that he had to go easy on her. Lunging in towards her, he waited for her to block before sweeping his leg behind hers and sending her crashing to the mat in one swift movement.

Mack went down like a ton of bricks, giving an 'oof' when she landed. She knew she was eventually going to go down, but she hadn't expected it to be so soon. Her blue eyes turned up to him as he stood over her. "If you preferred me on my back, then why didn't you just ask me?" Reaching out, she grabbed his closest leg and yanked it from underneath him, hoping it would send him to the ground, too.

Not expecting her to be so feisty and do what she did, Jake lost his balance and fell forward twisting awkwardly as he found himself falling right towards her. In trying not to land on her and hurt her, he landed in a heap by her side, letting out a grunt of pain.

Mack looked over at him as she pushed herself to a sitting position and cocked her head to the side. She was going to be sore later, and she had a feeling he might be, too. "Um... Jake... please tell me you didn't break something?" She was showing concern. Red did have a heart!

"I'm fine...I'll be fine." Jake replied, ignoring the searing pain in the right side of his chest. He had landed on his arm with full force and he was pretty sure he might have damaged a rib. "Just give me a second and I'll be good to go." he raised his head to look at her and flashed her a pained smile as he tried not to wince.

Mackenzie rose to her feet and moved over to him, crouching down. "Why don't we put this off until another time? I did get my free shot, and you got to knock me on my ass, which I know you wanted." She extended a hand in his direction. Red was showing something to him that he probably didn't get much of... compassion.

Whilst willing to take her hand, Jake wasn't about to just give up. He never had and he never would. That was what had gotten him through his years of espionage. "Seriously, I'll be fine. Probably just got the wind knocked out of me is all." he made light of it, unaware of the deep, purplish bruise that was already appearing on the side of his chest.

"Don't be so macho. You're already starting to bruise. There's going to be plenty of time for you to kick my ass. I'm not going anywhere." She said, helping him to his feet. "You need to get that looked at before you start your first class. Or, at the very least, put some ice on it."

"I have field medic kit back in my quarters." Jake grunted as he took a deep breath then grinned at her, "Maybe you could help me out with it." You couldn't keep Bannerman down for long that was for sure.

"Okay..." Mack began. "I'll help you get back to your place. There will be no funny business."

"I'm not in the business of being funny." Jake quipped as he headed over to a bench and picked up his towel, painfully looping it over his shoulders.

"No, I guess you aren't." She said, moving over to grab her bag. "Let's get you taken care of so we can go back to being snarky toward one another. You seem to be a lot less tense when you're like that."

"I'm not snarky." Jake retorted, "I'm cheeky." he grinned at her, his eyes twinkling as he teased and realised just how much he enjoyed being around her and seeing how she reacted to his comments.

Mack eyed him, but then she smiled. It seemed nipple twisting and knocking him off his feet did wonders for him, because she actually found herself relaxing a bit. "Cheeky is a better word for you."

"And don't forget sexy." he added as he headed for the door with a confidence of a man who absolutely knew it too.

"Annnnd, he's back." Red stated, following behind him. He wasn't kidding, though. He was absolutely gorgeous. "Even injured, you're... cheeky." And at the mention of the word, she tried very hard not to look at his backside. Hell... she was almost at eye level with it.

"He never went away." Jake replied, turning to look at her with a smile as he caught her checking him out. "Come on let's go...this hurts like a bitch." he added, wrapping an arm around himself to clutch his chest in an attempt to ease the pain.

Mackenzie looked up as quickly as she could, but knew she was busted. "You'll feel better soon, but you have a nasty bruise already. You should try not to push yourself so much." She braced herself for what she felt was going to be a 'mind your damn business' quip.

"I have to push myself." Jake replied, a look of pain crossing his features as he waited for her to catch up as he thought about why he was so driven. 'It's the only way to control the PTSD' he added silently to himself as he momentarily closed his eyes.

"Why do you have to push yourself?" Of course, he kind of walked himself right into that question. "You're well within your rights to tell me it's not my business, go to hell, or any other number of things."

"Let's just say that it helps to keep the monsters under the bed away." Jake replied cryptically, his free hand briefly touching one of the abdominal scars from his 'Nausican adventure' failing to suppress the memory that flashed briefly into his mind causing a visible shudder to run through him.

The fact that he was touching one of his scars didn't go unnoticed to the petite woman walking with him. There was a story there, but she wasn't going to pry it out of him... yet. Oh, it was definitely going to happen, but it seemed like he needed time. "Hey... do you need another purple nurple to make you feel better?" She asked, getting her fingers prepped to get in for the nipple kill a second time, though... Mack really wasn't going to do it.

"The only time you get to touch my nipples again young lady is when we're playing with chocolate sauce." Jake grinned down at her and chuckled before doubling over in pain as the laugh jarred his chest.

"Okay, okay... I need to stop trying to get you to laugh." Red said. "You need someone around that's going to keep you from beating yourself to a bloody pulp. I'd shackle you to your bed, but I have no doubt security would come searching for you."

"You're into that kind of thing huh?" Jake couldn't help himself as they walked back over the compound to the apartment block which housed his quarters.

"I'm as fiery as the hair on my head, Commander." She replied. "But... I have no plans on hopping into bed with you and proving it, so you're just going to have to take my word on that." Mack didn't have solid proof that he was a ladies man, but she was pretty certain he was. He hadn't denied any of her implications regarding that fact the evening before when he'd popped up at the salon. "I'm like that one old Earth movie from so many years ago... Highlander. There can only be one."

"Wow." Jake stopped in his tracks and turned to face her, "Is that another challenge?"

"Is what a challenge?"

"You're telling me you're one of a kind." Jake shrugged, "And that's supposed to make me leave you alone? Sounds like it's a challenge for me to give it my best shot if you ask me." he winked at her before walking off again, oh so grateful that his quarters were down the end of this one last corridor.

Mack continued walking as well. "Do you think you have what it takes? I mean... honestly. If you want a shot, you're going to have to behave yourself, and I'm sure I don't have to spell that out." She probably saw just a touch more of him in their short time together during their super brief sparring session than a lot of people did.

"So what are you saying? If I can prove that I'm able to keep my pants on then you might consider a date?" Jake asked, placing the terms out on the table, "And if so, how long a period of time are we talking?" he stopped by his apartment door and entered his code, standing aside so that she could enter first.


Mackenzie Bergman
Owner: White Lotus Salon and Spa
Magellan Station

Commander Jacob Bannerman
Chief Flight Instructor
Magellan Campus