*THIS CHAPTER IS NOT FINISHED*

Dan pressed a hand to his bandaged shoulder and tried not to wince too noticeably. Right now, it was only a dull pain, but he knew it would get much worse if he strained himself too hard. He'd only just been allowed back to his regular classes, and he knew the nurse would not take it lightly if he showed up to her office for the third time this month.

"You okay?" PJ asked, dropping his defensive stance when he saw Dan wasn't moving to attack him. He'd been reluctant to agree to this sparring match in the first place, and Dan hoped he wouldn't quit so easily; he kind of needed this.

"I'm fine," he said as convincingly as possible. "Let's go again."

"Dan--"

"I said I'm fine." He rolled his shoulders loosely and raised his hands, clenched into fists. "Again."

PJ rolled his eyes but took up the same stance. "You're gonna overwork yourself some day."

Dan ignored him and lashed out, striking his chest with the palm of his hand. PJ barely stumbled, and immediately caught his wrist and twisted it backwards behind him. He was being careful, trying not to hurt Dan anymore than he already was, and it was annoying. "Asshole," Dan muttered as he easily pulled out of the hold. "You're not even trying."

"Can you blame me?" PJ easily sidestepped the kick that Dan aimed at his ribs, but grabbed his ankle and pulled until Dan fell onto his back, completely knocking the wind from his lungs. "It's not even a fair fight."

"Fuck you," Dan growled. PJ was a condescending dick when he wanted to be, and it irritated him. He stood up again and didn't pause before attacking, ignoring the sharp twinge in his shoulder when he reached out to punch PJ on the face. Or, he tried to, but PJ smirked and blocked him.

"Let's just go inside, it's freezing out here anyway." He wasn't even breaking a sweat, watching Dan put all his strength into his useless attack moves. He deflected them all, with no problem, still wearing his degrading smile.

The rest of the open field they were in was empty, eerily quiet in the brisk February air. It was early, only a few minutes past sunrise, and Dan could feel exhaustion settling into his bones and the heavy circles under his eyes, but his adrenaline rush was forcing him to move. He'd spent two fucking weeks in that bed, barely allowed to use the bathroom by himself, and he just wanted to let all of that pent up frustration out, even if he maxed himself out in the process.

He stepped back and shook his arms out, breathing deeply and trying to calm down because his growing frustration was only making his moves rash and predictable. He was better than this, he knew that.

PJ seemed to finally​ drop his offense act and rushed towards Dan, twisting his arm behind him again and kicking his legs out from under him so that they both fell to the ground. Dan grunted, struggling to get out of the hold, but his shoulder throbbed painfully and he gave up.

"Get off of me," he growled, ignoring the small spike of embarrassment at having his face pushed into the dirt. PJ laughed but didn't let up.

"Only if you say I'm better than you," he teased.

"Go fuck yourself."

PJ leaned back, and as soon as his grip went slack, Dan surged up and flipped him onto his back, straddling his thighs as he pinned him down. He smirked. "See?" He said smugly. "Even injured I can still kick your ass."

"Oh, I totally won," PJ argued. "I was going to let you go anyway, I didn't want to humiliate you too much."

"Shove it up your fu--"

"Boys!" A new voice interrupted their bickering, and they quickly jerked away from each other and stood. Dan winced at the glare Miss Connors was shifting between them. "It's almost five in the morning. I was under the impression you two were apart of the Night Class, correct?"

There was a group of students, presumably the Day Class, trailing a few meters behind her and watching the two of them get chewed out with varying degrees of mirth.

Connors was tall and thin, but you could very clearly see the muscles that emphasized her strength. That, along with her severe eyes and the thick soled combat boots she always wore, was enough to make her the most intimidating trainers on campus. Dan was secretly glad he'd never been put in one of her classes.

"Yes, ma'am." PJ had dropped his sarcastic attitude for a much more reserved one. "We lost track of time. It won't happen again."

"I would hope not," she said. "If you wouldn't mind, I would like to start my class. You're dismissed."

They didn't waste any time in departing, and Dan stared down at his shoes as he walked past the other class who were pointing and whispering.

"Looking good, Liguori," one of the older students shouted as they passed, and PJ whipped around to glare at him.

"Shut the fuck up, Chris."

Dan had to grab his arm and pull him away, because he knew if he didn't, his friend would end up in even more trouble than it was worth.

It was true that they weren't even supposed to be outside right now; Night classes ended at three a.m., and it was a very strictly enforced rule that the two classes were separated. They were taught different skills for very different situations, and if someone got mixed up about it, it would completely mess up the whole cycle the school had going. And he knew it was very likely they would be caught, but his restless mind and body had overrode his common sense.

PJ dragged a hand through his damp hair and grimaced. "I hope your dad doesn't find out about this."

The words made his stomach tighten uneasily, and he tried not to let his discomfort show as they entered the building and made their way through the silent halls, their footsteps echoing loudly against the floors.

Everyone was either asleep or in training or classes already, so it was just them wandering the place. Their dorm rooms were in the basement, and the stairs that led down to them were all the way in the back of the huge school building, so it took them a few minutes to reach them. By then, Dan was dragging his feet, more than ready to dive into his warm bed for twelve hours.