Tarin nodded when Lee said she was fine and that the fight had gone on a lot longer than was normal for a sparring match. ”You’re well matched today. Gonna be sore later.” Tarin added, squeezing Lee’s hand back when she reached out and grabbed his.

But then, Lee’s whole demeanor changed as she looked over his shoulder and addressed her brother and sister…though Rachel was just kind of leaning against the wall with a pensive look on her face.

That explained it.

Lee had finally hit the point where she was done trying to explain herself.

Robert listened as Lee “explained” all of her reasons in a less than diplomatic fashion and shook his head.

”So get a coach, a trainer, go to classes or something. Doing this is dangerous. You don’t know how that…that…thing is going to react. What if it gets angry?”

Tarin sighed. It was a fair concern, and one that both he and Lee had pondered. ”Then he goes away like that.” he said, snapping his fingers. ”But it doesn’t work like that anyway. Tony isn’t…programmed to get mad. He’s programmed to fight.”

Robert just looked at Tarin and Tarin sighed again. ”Look, maybe I haven’t been very clear. I’m really good at what I do. This is what Lee wants to do so this is what we do.”

Rachel sighed loudly from back by the wall, ”Please just give it a rest Robert. Clearly Lee is going to do what she wants to do, and she’s good, just like she said. Watch or leave…”

Robert looked over his shoulder at Rachel, then back at Tarin and Lee. Then he stopped talking and went to stand next to Rachel.

”Progress?” Tarin said.

”Just means I’ll need a massage later,” Lee replied softly with a wink.

And Robert thought that this was more dangerous than training with an inexperienced living fighter or that just ‘taking a class’ would solve her issues with getting a challenge.

And while Tarin explained that this was safe, because he was skilled with his own powers, it wasn’t going to completely quiet Robert’s complaints. Even if Rachel did tell him, again, to shut up.

”You mean the trainers at my gym who will give me tips on technique, but won’t train me because what I’ve worked on ‘will never happen in a fight’. But those exact situations have happened to me. Or the classes that won’t allow me in because I have no ‘prior training’?

“And honestly,” Lee continued, looking at Tarin for a moment. ”This probably is the safest option because like Tarin said, he can end things in the blink of an eye. With a living opponent, they would have to realize they need to stop or back off, and then react to that. Much more time for something to actually go wrong.”

Lee mentioned a massage later and Tarin had to grin, it was really the least he could do…

Lee didn’t want to leave things at Tarin’s explanation though, she wanted to Rober to really get why she didn’t feel like she could go to a teacher or classes or a coach. Tarin wondered for a moment why she hadn’t ever gone to the Mansion, but kept the question to himself for another time.

Again, Tarin couldn’t help but thing, anyone who knew anything about Lee should have known that she would have looked into anything and everything to accomplish what she’d wanted to get done. When it hadn’t panned out, that’s when she’d decided to do it herself.

Lee looked back at him and boy did it give him the warm fuzzies when she said that working on this with him was probably the safest way to do things. Hearing safe and his powers in the same sentence wasn’t something Tarin was used to, but Lee really believed it.

Tarin was sure that he could control the situation too, and that it was better, for all the reasons Lee explained and then some.

”Alright. Point made. It’s apparently not any of my business anyway.” he said, accepting but clearly a bit peevish.

Tarin grinned at Lee again, ”Gonna go another round?” Tarin asked, ”If so, try not to get hit so much.” he added with a teasing grin before making his way back over and out of the way to give Lee a chance to decide what she wanted to do.

Robert didn’t like what she was doing, that was not a surprise. He also did not seem to like the fact that she had already thought through (or proven) how his ‘safer’ ideas weren’t workable for her. And the fact that it wasn't his business in the first place seemed to annoy him as well.

”You know what, Robert?” Lee said after a couple moments. ”I will actually think about your opinions, and take them under consideration. On one condition. You last three minutes in the ring with me. What do you say?”

Lee was practically certain that Robert would decline. Even though she knew that Robert had somewhat prided himself on his fighting in hockey when it happened, she also knew that even his worst fight had been nothing compared to just the punches that had been thrown in her previous match.

Still, Lee raised her eyebrow, waiting for Robert to answer.

But Tarin wanted to know if she wanted another match. ”Yeah, I’ve still got more than enough energy for another round this time,” she told him, smiling when she saw his grin. Then he continued, and Lee rolled her eyes slightly. ”Oh yeah? Great tip, Tarin,” she said, her tone sarcastic but playful. ”Do you want to show me how?”

Oh God. Was Robert actually going to accept Lee’s proposal? Was Robert actually stupid enough to consider doing it? Tarin knew that if Lee’s brother did it, Lee would not only wipe the floor with him, but she wouldn’t hold back the slightest bit. It was almost maniacally funny.

The look on Robert’s face was fantastic too.

”I said I got the point.” Robert finally said and Tarin had to deal with that little bit of disappointment. Some things just weren’t meant to be.

Then Lee turned on him and Tarin laughed. ”Just a suggestion from the peanut gallery. I didn’t know if you’d thought about it and wanted to try it out today.”

Lee wanted a round two though and Tarin stowed his grin to get down to serious power business again.

Tony winked back into existence exactly where he’d been standing before and Tarin settled back against the wall. It was better than last time as far as he was concerned, the very beginnings of a headache starting to creep their way in, but as Lee had pointed out, they’d already been at this longer than the last time.

”Is this hard for you too?”

Tarin jumped slightly at Rachel’s voice when she asked. He didn’t look at her owing to the whole weird eyes thing, but he shook his head.

”This? No, not really. He’s just one and he’s not very strong.”

Meanwhile, Tony was ready to go again, and this time he wasn’t going to rush in. Moving to the middle of the ring, the spirit held out his gloves.

In a way, Lee was disappointed when Robert declined to fight. She'd known that was going to be his answer, but there was still a part of her that had been hoping for the chance to actually show him what she was capable of.

Tarin then teased her back and Lee’s smile widened as she shrugged. ”Maybe I’ll try it. We’ll see how things go.”

So Lee took another sip of water before making her way back to the ring as Tony popped back into existence. It didn’t take long for them to be ready, and then they tapped gloves.

But Tony didn’t rush forward as he normally did. Lee took a slow step to the side, followed by another as she watched the spirit. He was waiting for her to go, to make the first move?

Normally while sparring, Lee took the more defensive stance to start, though in real situations such as merges or in Columbia, she had been the aggressor. She could do this.

It just might not be as effective here as there would be no surprise from her size or speed.

Still, Lee took one more slow step sideways, looking like she was going to continue circling Tony before she rushed forward with a quick left-right-left aimed at Tony’s midsection.

Despite the fact that they were absolutely joking, Tarin hoped that Lee would manage to dodge more hits than she took. When it came down to it, Tarin really hated to see Lee hurt, and while she was faster and stronger…as far as Tarin knew, her body wasn’t any more resilient than it normally was and Tony was big.

”And you can talk to him when the rest of us can’t see him?”

”Yep.” Tarin said.

”All the time?” Rachel continued.

”All the time.” Tarin confirmed.

”So, are there more?” Rachel asked quietly and Tarin debated how to answer the question. Yes, there absolutely were more. There were spirits pretty much everywhere in a city the size of New York. Most people were much happier not knowing that though.

”Right here? No. Within about 30 feet of anywhere I am? No. Anywhere else?” Tarin shrugged, ”A vast majority of them don’t even know who or where they are. The ones who do aren’t anything to worry about for you.”

Rachel nodded, but didn’t really look convinced. Why would she be? She knew about merges. ”They’re getting ready to start again…” Tarin said as a way to end the conversation for now.

Patience hadn’t ever really been Tony’s virtue in the ring. He’d been an aggressive fighter and that probably had something to do with why he’d never broken into the more elite ranks. If being dead was good for anything, it was good for teaching patience and Tony watched as the woman stepped sideways, keeping his guard up and waiting for her to make her move.

When she did, striking for his midsection, Tony took the hits with his elbows and forearms, waiting for the opening that the strikes would leave and then leveling a hard right at her face. He’d been told not to pull punches and he didn’t.

Tony blocked all three punches with his elbows and forearms. And Lee was particularly glad for her gloves covering her knuckles when her right hand hit Tony’s elbow; even through the padding it hurt a bit.

Unfortunately since he was dead, the block didn’t hurt Tony.

Almost as soon as he had blocked her second left, Tony was striking, his right fist shooting out toward her face.

Quickly, Lee took a slight step backwards with her rear foot as she leaned back, just barely dodging the punch. Tony’s fist was so close to hitting her that she could feel wind as it passed.

As she straightened up, Lee brought her right hand up as well, aimed for Tony’s head.

”But they are for you?” Rachel said, and Tarin sighed.

”Not really.” he said, glancing over at Robert, who didn’t seem to be paying attention, ”Except for extreme circumstances.”

That seemed to satisfy Rachel’s sudden curiosity for the time being, just in time for Tony to take a hell of a swing, right at Lee’s face. Rachel gasped again as Lee barely dodged the fist flying at her face and Tarin let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was suddenly holding.

”That was too close.” he muttered.

Tony couldn’t help but think that the punch should have landed. The woman had moved just a little too fast to get out of the way. It didn’t matter though because he pressed his advantage even as she swung at him again. Tony sidestepped, moving with his rear leg and then his back leg to dodge the punch, his knee coming up behind Lee’s as his arm barred across her chest to try and take her down again.

Lee was in the middle of her punch and Tony was sidestepping, moving faster into his Dodge than Lee thought he would be able to move.

Next thing Lee knew, Tony was behind her his arm across her chest. And she was going over his hip.

Lee's right arm was still extended from the punch she had thrown, her upper body rotated towards Tony. Pulling her arm in as her feet left the ground, Lee tried to wrap her arm around Tony's neck to at least pull him down with her.

Because it was a more uncontrolled toss, Tony expected the woman to grab or flail. The last time they’d fought she’d shown that she was tough, but hadn’t had much formal training.

Lee’s arm wrapped around Tony’s neck and he followed her down to the mat, head in her stomach, arms trying to get a grip on her legs and pin her down. Control the situation, stay in contact, don’t let the opponent break control. These were basics and he had the size advantage even if she was much stronger and faster than she had any right to be.


—

Things were moving fast now and after that punch, Lee tried to counter and Tarin winced again as the rather large dead man in the ring unceremoniously tossed Lee over his hip and followed her to the ground.

”You’re really just going to watch this?” Robert said, ”That punch would have broke her jaw.”

”But it didn’t…just watch.” Robert was exaggerating anyway. Probably. Maybe. Something similar had happened the last time they’d done this and Lee had come out on top, literally and figuratively. Maybe she would this time too.

Lee’s arm did manage to catch Tony’s neck enough that the momentum he created throwing her over his hip brought him down as well. With his head landing on her stomach. At least there hadn’t been a lot of space between them as they fell, so the breath was only partially knocked out of her.

Lee had lost control of Tony’s head, and as he moved, trying to grab her legs, Lee’s only thought was that she couldn’t let him get her in a lock. Most of the ways Lee had of escaping almost any kind of lock was by inflicting pain until they let go at least enough for her to squirm out.

That wouldn’t work with Tony.

So Lee brought her knee up hard, to hit whatever part of Tony’s body it came into contact with. She then used that same foot to push off against him and scoot back out of his reach.

The rest of the match went similarly, with dodges, blocks, throws and sweeps, but no more direct hits on either side. Finally somewhere between 10-15 minutes later, Lee raised her hand to stop the match after she landed awkwardly. It hadn’t really hurt, at least not any more than falling to the floor any other time would, but the wind had been knocked out of her and she was having a hell of a time catching her breath.

This round was going on for a while too, Tarin couldn’t help but think. There was also a lot of contact on both sides. No hard hits or anything like that, but there were plenty of throws and counters and it just kept going.

Was Lee still trying to burn off energy, or was she just trying to prove a point to her brother and sister?

Rachel had stopped asking questions and was just watching the sparring match as it continued to progress. At some point she’d stopped covering her mouth and gasping and was just watching in sometimes wide eyed silence.

Robert had gotten quiet at this point too, no more criticisms or jibes.

Lee went down again and something just looked awkward about the way she landed. Tarin was moving before she had even put her hand up, and by the time she had called things, Tony was winking out of existence again and Tarin was right there as Lee worked to catch her breath.

”Anything hurt?” he asked, hands reaching out and hovering, not wanting to make anything worse, ”Breath knocked out of you? Gotta relax, make everything sloooowwww down…”

Lee was pushing herself up into at least a slightly upright position so she could keep an eye on Tony, and she could feel Tarin already moving toward her by the time she’d raised her hand to end the match.

As Tarin reached her, Lee saw Tony disappear, and she closed her eyes as she continued to gasp almost desperately for air. Tarin was asking her questions. She couldn’t breath, how was she supposed to answer? She just shook her head no, she wasn’t hurt. Yes, the breath was knocked out of her.

When he told her that she needed to relax, Lee finally opened her eyes to look at him. Trying to relax. But it was hard to relax when it felt like her lungs wouldn’t let her breathe any oxygen in.

Was this what Tarin felt like when he was starting to panic because he was feeling claustrophobic?

As she sat there looking at Tarin, trying to slow her attempts at breathing down, Lee felt others approaching. Probably Rachel and Robert, but Lee didn’t take her eyes off Tarin look.

No she wasn’t hurt, but yes she’d had the breath knocked out of her.

Lee was still struggling to catch her breath and when she opened her eyes and looked at him Tarin looked back steadily.

”Gonna sound weird, but you need to sit up and pull your knees up, hug them tight.” he said, reaching behind Lee to help sit her up so she could do what he said.

”That’s going to make your muscles stop spasming so you can breathe easier. Keep trying to take slow breaths, I know it’s hard, but it’ll ease up in a minute.” he said, hand on Lee’s back running up and down like she’d done for him before when he’d been panicking or having a nightmare.

Tarin was focused on Lee and couldn’t see or feel Rachel and Robert approaching. Tony was hovering off somewhere to the side, just standing there as he had the rest of the time when he wasn’t needed.

”Is she okay?” Rachel said.

”Of course she’s not okay, look at her…should I get help?” Robert said.

”She’s fine.” Tarin said, keeping his eyes on Lee’s, ”She said she’s fine, just got the breath knocked out of her.”