iii. BOOT CAMP

At 6 AM you should be doing one of two great things: either sleeping or eating a snack.

But Ace and the experienced criminals, on the other hand, wanted to exercise at 6 AM. Exercising on its own was hard enough. Why would you make it more difficult by doing it at 6AM?

Everyone was already at the training facility by the time I got there. Chase was lifting weights, Skye was running on the treadmill, and Xavier was throwing knives that never missed.

I hate these athletic people.

Ace took out his earbuds once he saw me. "You're five minutes late."

"Seriously?" I scowl. "It's 6AM and I should be sleeping."

"It's actually 6:05. Now give me fifteen push-ups."

I groan loud enough to get the attention of all the other team members. On my sixth push-up, I felt like I couldn't get back up.

"Just leave me here," I say while laying on the mat. "I've accepted my fate."

Ace stubbornly pulls me to my feet. A pair of gloves are handed (thrown) at me. "Put these on and try to punch the punching bag."

The bag barely moves when I punch it. When Ace demonstrates, the chains make a rattling sound loud enough to be heard throughout the entire gym.

"Adjust your footing," he says. Ace places his hands on my waist and adjusts my position slightly.

After thirty minutes of guided punching, Ace takes me into the boxing ring to teach me the basics of hand to hand combat.

"Alright, now I want you to come at me with all you've got," Ace says.

"A chance to hit you? Sign me right up."

"You really put the 'lady' in 'ladylike'."

"You really put the 'ass' in 'asshole'."

All our banter has attracted a crowd. Chase, Skye, and Xavier all look at us with amusement.

"I didn't realize there would be in-house entertainment," Skye teases.

"Hold on," I say. "Did someone make...popcorn?"

Chase grins. He's holding a giant bowl of buttery obesity-in-a-dish. "We wanna see some action."

These people were ready to be entertained when I got beat up.

"Don't worry Octavia," Ace smiles. "I won't hurt you too badly. I don't want PETA to call."

"That's it. You're going to regret this."

Facts fly through my mind as my eyes narrow in his direction. Ace Blackwell, 6'2, trained CIA field agent, kidnapper, asshole. My stance shifts as we circle one another. He was experienced enough that it was unlikely I could even land one hit. Guess I'm going into this blind.

My first jab was to his left side, one he effortlessly doges. Again and again, I'm unable to land a solid hit on him. This is harder than rainbow road in mario kart.

Suddenly, he lets me believe I've almost hit him, then he spins around and pushes me on the mat. I groan on the floor.

"That's enough for today," Ace smirks. "We'll train again at this time tomorrow."

~

Over the next couple of days I train every day with Ace, Chase, Skye, and Xavier. Banana Bread teaches me the basics of hand to hand combat. He's actually a decent teacher when he's not annoying the shit out of me.

Chase trains me in how to use guns and helps me work on my aim. Skye disciplines me in how to break into places. I always thought breaking an entering would be easier compared to physical combat, but I was wrong. Skye was silent and graceful. I was anything but.

I've knocked out a total of three lamps during our sessions.

Xavier instructs me on using knives in combat. He also tells me stories about his assignments as an assassin. Apparently one time, he killed three people with one bullet. I told him that was impossible. He said he'll do it to me to prove a point.

I stopped challenging him after that.

~

"Maybe it's time for me to teach you guys a bit about hacking," I offer between mouthfuls of takeout.

All of us are lounging on the couch while Top Chef plays in the background. Ace goes to wash his hands. "Oh please Cupcake, you're just suggesting that to get out of training."

I frown. He read me like a book. Every inch of my body ached from the strenuous exercise experienced in the last couple of days. I desperately needed a break in my repertoire.

"No," I protest. "I just want to torture you like you do to me every day at 6AM."

"Sounds lame."

"Sounds like you're not up for the challenge." I stand in front of the TV to block Top Chef, and everyone yells at me to move.

"I challenge each of you to a test in cryptography. First one to break the code wins."

"What's the prize?" Skye asks.

"Um... Whoever wins gets the upstairs shower to themself for the next week."

With that the TV was shut off. The entire team's expressions turned serious. You see, this penthouse was absolutely extravagant. But it's achilles heel was that there are only two showers to share between five people. Every day brought a new struggle to claim that territory first.

"You're all going to lose. That shower is mine," Xavier snarls.

Chase rolls his eyes. "You couldn't tell binary code from morse code."

Xavier chucks a pillow at Chase, hitting Ace in the process. Pretty soon the three men are circling one another with looks of vengeance in their eyes. Testosterone practically overflows in the air.

"Chill out," Skye says while stepping between them. "Stop thinking with that small thing in your pants and start thinking with your brain."

About ten minutes later I've created three messages using a playfair cipher then a hill cipher. They got progressively more and more difficult, until the last one was similar to the Pentagon's firewalls. Each of the tables in the briefing room are set up with scrap paper, a pencil, and the code.

I walk around the room with a timer. "On your marks, get ready, go!"

"What the fuck does this word search have to do with coding?" Xavier seethes after only ten seconds of effort.

We all mutually ignore him. Skye seems to have gotten the hang of it. She was able to piece together the first section in two minutes. Chase, on the other hand, was seriously struggling. The sentence he strings together is incoherent to the point it resembles the words of a toddler.

I walk by Ace's desk. He's sitting in a relaxed position with his legs stretched out. His pencil is on the table and his code is folded together. He hands a piece of paper to me.

"I'm done Cupcake," he smirks.

My lips draw into a thin line. "Why is your ego so big? It's like you're overcompensating for something."

"I assure you. I am not overcompensating for anything. Maybe I'll even prove it to you once that shower is mine," he winks.

I scrunch my face in disgust. But on the sheet of paper, he had the right code. 'Look like the flower but be the serpent under it--Shakespeare'

"How...how did you get the message so quickly?" I sputter. Barely seven minutes had passed. My personal record was only fifteen seconds less.

"That was child's play. You're too predictable."

"Screw this," groans Xavier.

Skye buries her hands in her hair. "I think I'm going to stick with breaking and entering."

Chase rips his code and throws it in the air. "Dude, I'm going to murder you."

That night I waited until everyone fell asleep to go interrogate Ace. How was it possible that he managed to decipher the code so quickly? The speed he completed it at was on par with, well, me: someone who was able to steal information from the Pentagon.

I found him in his room reading. He was, once again, shirtless. I really need to plan our encounters better.

"I can't say I'm surprised to see you," he says without looking up from his book.

A pitifully distraught sigh escapes my lips. "How did you do it? There's no way even an agent should have been able to crack my code so quickly."

Ace meets my eyes. "The truth is I've had extensive experience in coding."

"Even still... The methods I used were similar to the preliminary firewalls of the Pentagon."

Ace smiles at me. "I know. I was the one who designed those firewalls."

Wait. What?

Octavia: "Vote if you think Xavier's an  i c o n"