I feel like with my new hobby this chapter was just bound to happen. Also you know how I love playing with cliches.

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"Keep your guard up."

The warning came one second before the padded fist did. Carter jerked her hand up but was a second too late. The boxing mitt hit her in the cheek and she crumpled to the mat. The thrum of quick footsteps doing moves and counter moves vibrated along her spine as she lay there, mixing well with the heavy bass music that played through the speakers. Captain leaned into her view, grinning.

"What did I tell you about your guard?" he said.

Carter smacked her gloves against the mat, though she knew the frustration was aimed only at herself. Captain had repeatedly told her to keep her guard up. But trying to keep that point in her mind while also remembering to not look down, check his kicks, parry his blows, slip his hook, and always, always stay in fighting stance, Carter easily dropped her guard.

Only this was the first time she'd paid for it. The other times Captain had merely given the reminder, none of them had some with the repercussions of dropping her guard. With a slightly throbbing face, she understood why it was key.

The difference between throwing punches at a stasis bag and sparring with another human being wasn't at all similar. For one, a bag never hit back. Second, if she dropped her guard with the bag, it never took the opening to hit her.

She was pretty sure she preferred the bag.

Captain knelt beside Carter and she pushed herself into a sitting position. He narrowed his eyes and removed one of his mitts.

"Sarge," he said gently touching her cheek which made Carter wince. "I'm getting ice."

"I'm fine."

"You will be," he said, standing and tossing his second mitt down next to her.

Sighing, Carter tugged off her gloves and set them aside. Her wraps were soaked with sweat, which was equal to the rest of her. From the corner she'd claimed with Captain, Carter surveyed the rest of the boxing gym. A few of the men sparring with each other, Carter recognized as her father's colleagues; it was a common place for Secret Service agents to train. Though there were guys only a few years older than Carter, sparring, their movements were quick and fluid.

At the far side of the mat, Carter spotted a woman working on the bag. Every punch was sharp like a stab from a knife rather than a hit from a battering ram like most of the men dealt. Carter watched her, in awe of her precision and effortlessness.

So focused on Wonder Woman, Carter didn't notice as one of the guys who'd been sparring approached her. When he was nearly in front of her, Carter registered his presence and started in surprise.

He smiled at her, sweat dotting his forehead and dripping down the side of his face. Though only a few years older than her, that still put him at eighteen or nineteen to her fifteen years. Though Carter rarely felt intimidated by people close to her age, something about this guy with his wrapped hands and defined muscles had her feeling flustered and out of her element.

"Hey," he said. "I saw you go down. Are you okay? You're new to the gym, right? I haven't seen you here before."

"Uh..." Carter mentally cringed. When did she ever find herself lost for words? Words were her weapons. She cleared her throat and worked to calm her speeding heartbeat. "Yeah, I started coming a week ago."

The guy smiled again, something welcoming and slightly flirtatious. "I'm Roman."

He held out his hand but hesitated. "Oh you probably don't want to shake that, it's really sweaty."

"Mine is too," Carter said, holding out her hand. "I'm Carter."

Roman clasped her hand and shook it once then let it go.

"It's nice to meet you, Carter. I hope to see you here more. Who knows maybe one day we will-"

A piercing whistle cut Roman off and he looked around. Captain strode forward, a bag of ice in his hand. Roman instantly took a step away from Carter and Carter sighed, knowing what was about to come.

"I wasn't," Roman started.

"I don't care," Captain said, coming to stand before Carter like a human shield.

"I never meant any disrespect-"

"Leave."

"I'm sorry."

"Now."

Roman raised his hands and backed away. Carter leaned to the side to make eye contact with Roman. She shrugged like this was normal and Roman nodded but kept retreating. Carter expected that to be the end of it, but instead, Captain whistled sharply again, gaining the attention of most of the mat's occupants. Captain sidestepped, motioning to Carter.

"This is my daughter," Captain said, eyeing the younger guys. "She is off limits. You talk to her, I break your face. Is that understood?"

Carter rested her chin in her hand, sighing in exasperation. It seemed she was unlikely to ever meet a single guy, ever. But after all she had seen of relationships and the inevitable end to them, she didn't mind too much.

A round of 'yes, sir' echoed throughout the group on the mat and Captain took one second longer to eye each young man as if he were memorizing their faces for later. Carter had no doubt her father would have each guy's background history by the end of the night if he wanted it.

With a nod, Captain put his back to the startled and confused faces. He squatted next to Carter holding out the bag of ice.

"Nice," Carter said. "I imagine I won't be able to get a date until I'm thirty-five."

"Sounds good to me," Captain said.

Carter pressed the ice to her cheek and made a face. But despite the cold, the throbbing in her face eased.

"You get a minute then we're getting back to it," Captain said.

"But I got hit in the face, doesn't that mean I'm done for the day?"

"No. You get hit, you get back up."

Carter didn't reply, savoring her one-minute respite.

"Steve," Wonder Woman said, walking over. "You're as blunt as ever and always as threatening."

Captain rose and stretched out his hand to the woman. "Lacy, good to see you. I wanted to make sure I was completely understood."

Lacy laughed. "I think you were quite clear."

Captain grinned then motioned to Carter. "Lacy, this is my daughter, Carter. Carter this is Lacy, she works detail for the First Lady and her husband has been my sparring partner for many years."

Lacy shook Carter's hand, her hand small but her grip saying she could easily snap a man's wrist if she felt like it. Carter knew right then that she wanted to have that kind of strength.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Carter, your father talks about you a lot," Lacy said.

"Yeah, it's cause I'm kind of the best thing in his life and he doesn't really have a life."

Captain swiped at Carter's head and she ducked, the momentum making it easy to kick out at his leg. He caught her ankle and she let out a yelp of surprise. Lacy chuckled warmly.

"With such a handful," she said. "I can only imagine why he doesn't have time for a life."

"She really takes all my attention," Captain said, easily countering Carter's attempts to escape his grasp.

Someone called out to Lacy and she waved at them.

"I got to go," she said. "My sparring partner is here."

Captain released Carter and her leg hit the mat with a thud.

"A pleasure meeting you, Carter," Lacy said. "Steve."

"Lacy."

Carter righted herself and pressed, the now melting, bag of ice to her cheek again. Across the way, she saw as Lacy slipped her gloves on, tapped one glove with her partner and the two circled each other. For a minute, Carter sat entranced with Lacy. Though a full head shorter than her sparring partner, the difference didn't seem to be a disadvantage. Instead, she used her speed and size to slip punches that came faster than Carter thought anyone could avoid. Lacy struck like a viper, quick and deadly before gliding out of her opponent's reach.

"Ready to get back to it?" Captain asked Carter.

Unblinking, Carter twisted her head to look up at Captain, as if her eyes didn't want to close and lose the image of Lacy dancing in and out of attacks.

Captain smiled down at her. "Sarge?"

Carter tossed aside the ice bag and hopped to her feet. She raised her fists, ready to emulate Lacy as much as she possibly could.

"Gloves," Captain said, barely holding back a laugh.

Carter hurriedly tugged them on. Captain slipped on his boxing mitts and held them up.

"Now," he said. "Jab, straight, hook, round kick. And remember-"

"I know," Carter said, brow scrunched in concentration. "Keep my guard up."

******

Carter rolled over in bed and gritted her teeth at the pain that flared in her calf. Gripping the edge of her pillow, she tried to find sleep again, despite the constant throbbing. A soft tap came on her door before a sliver of light broke into her room. Carter squeezed her eyes shut, not wanting to deal with the day. The light dimmed as she heard Captain approach her bed.

"Sarge," he said. "Time to wake up."

"I can't move," Carter murmured into her pillow.

Captain chuckled softly. "I didn't know I raised such a weakling."

Slowly, Carter lifted her head to glare at her father. "I hate you."

"Fifteen years, that took longer than expected to hear."

"A mistake that I will make up for by repeating it ad nauseam."

"Okay, as long as you're up."

Captain flipped the blankets off Carter and she kicked out at him as he walked away. But the action brought about a sharp pain and she gritted her teeth against making a noise. Captain glanced back at her and smirked.

"Hate like I've never felt before," she ground out.

With a flippant wave over his head, Captain headed into the living room. Carter took in a few deep breaths, gearing up to move again. But even the deep breaths did nothing to keep her legs from hurting. Instead of sitting up, she lay stretched out on her bed, staring up at the ceiling wondering how long she had until Captain returned and forced her up. She weighed which was better, getting up herself or letting herself be pulled off her bed. One held strength while the other humiliation. But with how much her legs ached she felt willing to bear the humiliation just so she didn't have to move for another minute.

"Sarge," Captain said from her doorway.

Closing her eyes at her weakness, Carter lifted her hand. She heard Captain laugh as he grasped her hand and tugged her up and off her bed. Carter whimpered when her weight settled into her legs.

"That's it," she said. "Take them. Just cut them off, I don't want them anymore. Better yet, let me die here, it's better than living."

"Dying is easy, living is harder."

"Hamilton? Really?"

"It's classic. Now get ready."

Captain walked away and Carter held herself back from asking him to help her. Nothing would be more embarrassing then having her father walk the two feet to her closet to get her clothes. Still, Carter stared at the closet as if her uniform would magically jump into her arms. The thought of crawling did cross her mind but knew she wouldn't be able to live that down.

Gritting her teeth, she forced herself to move. To make herself feel better, she constantly cursed Captain in her mind. Though a very strong and logical side of her argued that she'd choose to train for two hours straight the day before and it was actually her fault.

That logical side of her brain was also treated to a string of strong curses as to what it could do with its logic.

Carter clenched her fists and took one long deep breath.

"It is just pain, you've lived through worse," she said to herself.

The image of her mother retreating out the door, the red glow of the taxi lights fading into the cold dark night silenced the litany of curses in Carter's head.

Her throat tightened and she hurried to the closet the pain returning with a vengeance. She happily accepted the harsh distraction, though she no longer cursed Captain.

How could she when he was still there?

He hadn't left her.

"That was faster than I expected," Captain said when Carter appeared in the living her. "I thought I was going to have to carry you to the car when... Sarge?"

Carter didn't know what memories he could decipher on her face but she scowled at him, hiding her pain behind humor.

"You're lucky I can even walk," Carter said. "Some people might wonder why I'm limping and point fingers at you."

Though Captain smiled at her softly, from the tilt of his head and the way the smile wasn't in his eyes, she knew he was trying to see past the humorous facade.

"Let's go, old man," Carter said, putting her back to him. She didn't want to talk about it. "We're going to be late."

"Don't you want breakfast?" Captain asked.

"Nope."

The tangled knot in her stomach made the thought of breakfast impossible. As she buckled her seatbelt, Captain reached across the console with a power bar.

"You're training, that means you need to fuel yourself."

He handed her a bag that Carter knew held a lunch packed by Maggie. Carter nodded as she accepted both gifts. As they drove off, Captain sent a look at Carter and she looked back, giving him an unbothered closed-lip smile then turned up the volume on the speakers. She didn't care what was playing, some political podcast Captain listened to it seemed, but as long it meant she didn't need to say anything.

At the school steps, before the car even came to a full stop, Carter unbuckled and opened her door. She climbed out and grabbed the door to close it when Captain stopped her. Swallowing hard against her emotions, she turned back. He held out her lunch to her.

"I love you, Sarge," he said.

The knot in Carter's stomach loosed a little bit. "I love you too, Captain."

"Remember," he started and Carter felt a smile coming, already knowing the ending. "I'll always find you."

"That's a promise," she said softly, the words acting as a balm to her heart.

"And a threat."

She grabbed the lunch and closed the door. Though each day she forced herself not to watch him drive off, today she kept her eyes on the car as it drove towards the school gates. As Carter started to turn away, the car right at the gates, she paused as Captain stuck his arm out the window and waved.

"Please be safe," she whispered.

With a sigh, Carter headed up the stairs, trying not to wince at each step, her legs aching. By the time she made it to her locker and put her lunch inside, she wanted to catch a metro back home and never leave her bed. But she knew if Captain found out she'd succumbed to the pain, he'd never let her live it down.

"Owens."

A second reason, possibly the strongest of all, for Carter to leave school approached her. As Mason slid into view, Carter wondered which of her new-found skills she could use against him and get away with it. Most likely none of them, they'd all leave a mark, but it was satisfying to think about throwing a jab at his face and watching him crumble. Especially, when he started talking.

"Owens, I've decided that you shouldn't feel inferior to me," Mason said, leaning against the locker beside hers. "Since it's fact, you should accept it and stop feeling bad about..."

Carter frowned at Mason when he cut off mid-insult, it was a strange enough occurrence for her to worry whether he was having an aneurysm.

Mason stepped closer his face serious. "Who did this to you?"

The question threw Carter until she realized besides her legs, her face had also taken a beating the day before. Her bruised cheek had stopped throbbing after enough ice that she'd completely forgotten about it. But it seemed it was very noticeable.

"Owens," Mason said, his voice tight with emotion. "Who did this to you?"

Carter felt herself speechless for the first time in front of Mason, truly concerned that he'd totally lost his mind. Mason reached his hand up as if to touch her cheek but she reflexively smacked it away. Mason didn't even seem to notice.

"How dare they?" he said, angrily. He clenched his fist. "How dare they punch you when I wasn't there to see it."

Carter almost laughed with relief, so Mason wasn't having a mental break-down, that was reassuring.

"I should have been there," Mason said. "I should have evidence of this. Please tell me something got a video of this?"

Mason's dramatic tone was completely gone and Carter shook her head at him.

"Of course, you'd want a video of me being punched to make you happy."

Mason leaned back, taking Carter in with a critical and amusing look. "Wait, Owens, did you think I was worried about you?"

"I would never. I only worried you had a brain tumor."

Mason put his hand to his heart. "Aw, you worried."

"Only that I would have waste time alerting someone about you dropping dead."

"Don't worry, I'm going to be around to torture you for a long long time."

Carter took out her phone and pulled up a search. Mason bent forward to see what she was typing.

"Are you seriously searching 'how to implant a brain tumor into someone'?"

"It's worth a shot," Carter said.

Mason snatched Carter's phone from her hand. In reaction, Carter gave him an upper-cut to the stomach, easily retrieving her phone as Mason gasped for air. So maybe there was one move that wouldn't leave a mark. Well, not one that anyone could see.

"I got hit in the face," Carter said to Mason. "But you never asked what I did to them in return."

The truth was nothing, she never once even came close to touching Captain but Mason didn't know that.

"Owens," Mason wheezed out.

Wearing a smug smile, Carter leaned in. "What was that? I couldn't hear you over you trying to recover your dignity."

"I'm going to kill," Mason managed to get out.

Carter playfully patted his cheek. "Good luck with that."

Finding the pain in her legs didn't bother her as much, Carter headed off to class. It was clear to her, no amount of pain was going to make her stop training. Not when the results felt so good.

******

Carter pulled open the door to the gym, the clatter of voices, grunts of pain, and bass-heavy music feeling familiar to her despite only having been there a week. Even the smell of it, cleaning solution, and sweat triggered an eager feeling inside her. The atmosphere was filled with the determination of people taking hits but continuing to fight.

Though Carter didn't know anyone there, she felt safe in this place.

Hugging the edge of the mat, Carter found an empty corner and plopped down. She unzipped her bag and pulled out her wraps. Thanks to hours spent hitting her punching bag, she could wrap her hands without even looking down. Instead, she gazed around the occupants, hoping to spot Lacy.

She found Roman first and sent him a friendly wave. He hesitated then sent her a small wave back. When he quickly dropped his hand and looked away, Carter knew there was no chance she'd date. Not when Captain was the one training her there.

As she moved to wrapping her second hand, Carter spotted Lacy. She lifted her hand to wave but paused, arm held awkwardly in the air. Lacy was laughing with a young girl who was a few years younger than Carter. Despite how intimidating the woman felt to Carter, she watched as Lacy gently brushed down the flyaway hairs on the girl's head. It was impossible not to know that this girl was Lacy's daughter.

The ache in Carter's chest she'd smothered since the morning returned like a kick to the stomach.

Carter dropped her hand and lowered her gaze, concentrating on her wraps as she finished.

"You decided to come back. I'm proud. The way you whined this morning made me think I'd raised a quitter," Captain said, setting his bag next to hers.

"No," Carter lifting her head. "You didn't raise a quitter."

He raised her to be strong and to keep going no matter how much pain there might be. Her mother was the one who quit.

"Good. Now two minutes of jump rope and a hundred crunches."

Carter pushed herself to her feet and dug her jump rope out of her bag. She stumbled through the two minutes, trying to imitate the fancy footwork she'd seen other fighters doing but with poorer results.

Through it all, despite how much she struggled not to look, she found her gaze wandering over to Lacy and her daughter. From what she could see Lacy perfectly balanced toughness with love. Which to Carter meant all love. She pushed her daughter to stretch but wasn't harsh.

"A hundred crunches, let's go," Captain said.

Carter tossed her jump rope onto her bag and dropped to the mat.

"Lacy brought her daughter," Captain said. He looked at Carter. "Do you want me to introduce you? You two could spar. She's younger but knows how to handle herself."

Carter tensed. "No, I'm fine working with you."

It didn't matter how much skill the girl had, Carter didn't feel like working with someone who could casually use the phrase 'my mom taught it to me...".

Carter looked away from focusing on her knees to glance up at Captain. He was studying her and this time she didn't have any defense against his scrutiny. She knew he could see everything written on her face.

When he smiled warmly, Carter felt her chest release a fraction.

"You don't want to leave your old man yet, I'm okay with that," he said.

He stretched out his hand to her and she let him pull her up.

"I'm never leaving you," she said. "You said I can't date until I'm thirty-five, remember?"

"I thought it was forty."

Carter punched his arm. "Nope, thirty-five and I'm out."

Captain swung at Carter's head and she jerked her arm up, blocking his hit.

"Aw, she learns," Captain said.

"I do. What are you going to teach me now, old man?"

Captain smiled at her. "Everything. Are you ready?"

Carter smiled at him, blocking out the image of her mother, Lacy, and daughter and focusing fully on the one person she could let her guard down with and knew she'd never be hurt.

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*Hugs you so tight that you struggle to breathe*

Hello Noodle! It's been too long!

(And if you're someone who hasn't been experiencing my absence then you can ignore my death-strangle hug)

It's been awhile, so what did you think? 🗯️💭💬

We got both Captain and Sarge along with Mason and Carter interactions so I think this was a win!

So if you've read my other updates, you now know I do kickboxing (muay thai iykyk) and naturally now that my knowledge of the subject of fighting has expanded beyond describing what I watched in action films, this chapter needed to be written.

A couple of things:

1. Lacy is not a version of me, instead she's this amazing woman that goes to my gym and oh my gosh!!! She's so cool! She has a little bit of Carter vibes honestly, tough as nails but has a good heart.

2. Roman is one of the guys I know at the guy. Amazing fighter and get for sparring. Since I'm so new he doesn't attempt any hits but let's me try to hit him. Haha I never get close, he's too good.

3. There was a tiktok or something about it's always a classic trope for the enemy (in the enemes-to-lovers trope) to see that the girl is hurt and ask 'who did this' and I just thought it would be so hilarious to make Mason say it. But since it's Mason it can't actually be because he cares. So it was classic Mason!

I hope you enjoyed it! I hope it made your day just a little brighter! I love you!

Vite, cimmet, fillow!