It was difficult for Deja to see her father in such a bad state but she did it. It was hard for her to let go of Geo but she did it, kinda. It was even hard for her to leave the mansion but she did it. With all these obstacles in her way, she wondered where she got all this determination and strength from. As the nightmares stopped, she felt herself become more empowered. No more hiding behind covers or being scared to sleep, not this dreamer. She was more ready to get in the game than anyone here. It was time for this dream to become a reality.

The punching bag began to feel rapid punches hit it, a girls hands wrapped around with this tape like stuff. She started to hit it harder after each turn, her adrenaline pumping, frustration being taken out. It was such a release to get everything out in the blue, you'd be surprised how much anger people hold inside. She finally stopped the bag as took deep breathes. Her eyes turned to the guy who was training her, and she gave him a smile.

"So..tell me, is there anything I should know that happened while I was gone, Xmen related, Order related.....Shawn related?"

Deja turned to face him and she'd hope he would fill her in on these things. I mean Sam and Shawn were roommates or head of security together? Doesn't that usually mean talk about girls, etc. Deja looked at the bag once more before kicking it with her right leg. She was so confused right now.

"Okay, while you think..what's next?"

The girl in the tanktop ans sweat pants was ready to continue on.

(OOC: I am Assuming this thread is Pre-Brawl post seeing as I am still not sure exactly how the brawl is going to end)
IC:
It had been a few days after Kasumi’s birthday and shortly after the party Deja had approached him and asked for some training, seeing as her mutation was more of a passive mutation Sam nodded and smiled having no hesitation in his voice when he said “Absolutely” she was after all a member of the old X-Team and truth be told he wanted to ask her if she wanted to become a fully active member again something that he was sure the other higher-ups on the team wanted to know. The number of missions that had been coming in have begun to increase and the fact that he had to send a portion of the team at a time on the mission meant less missions could be taken at a time, not to mention after one mission the team would become fatigued.

So here he was watching Deja take out her emotions on the punching bag, something that was merely a warm up. He himself never was a fan of a punching bag, opponents and partners never remained stationary and the thought that you would solely punch and kick in an actual fight was somewhat comical to him. He had been in enough fights to know exactly what they consisted of and it was one of the reasons he enjoyed teaching this subject, it was something he was familiar with and had a lot of experience with.

"So..tell me, is there anything I should know that happened while I was gone, Xmen related, Order related.....Shawn related?"

Narrowing his eyes on her as she smiled and breathed heavily in his direction Sam’s lip twitched slightly and he said, “I was actually meaning to ask you about that,” Sam admitted figuring that they would be training a bit more before they would stat a conversation. He paused trying to choose his words carefully, she was after all technically an X-Man, and he wanted her to agree to what he was about to propose to, he could order her seeing as he was technically her superior but that was something he would have hated to do, respect was earned not given with a new position.

"Okay, while you think..what's next?"

Sam frowned slightly and said, “Keep you leg loose till the moment of impact, just like a punch, keep your movements flowing and less rigid. Also bend your base leg more; otherwise you’ll develop knee problems in the future.” after he gave her advice he continued to watch her strike the stationary target only to hear the chains it was dangling on creak in between every kick the woman produced.

“To be honest we don’t have a lot of information at the moment with the order, they have been relatively calm, and regarding the matters with the X-men, Shawn and I have both been promoted.” Sam didn’t really say much else about Shawn then that, he figured if it was super important for her to know about Shawn she would ask more direct questions other than general questions that could be answered with a round about answer like the one he had just given her.

Clearing his throat slightly Sam asked the woman as he continued to vent on the punching bag “Listen seeing as there were some promotions with the X-Men and more and more missions were being dished out, I was wondering if you were planning on getting more active with the team?” Sam again waited for her response as he prepared a few reasons why she should help the team out if she wasn’t planning on it.

Deja listened to the unclear tone of his voice. Something was really bugging him and in return, bugging her. She listened to his advice as she loosened her leg before making it stiff at the blow. Her eyes were focused on her task at hand as she was dedicated and when deja was dedicated, she didn't quit.

As he spoke about the order, himself and Shawn, she smiled. That was so great they were promoted! They really without a doubt deserved it. Like all the hard work they do around this place really payed off. If it wasn't for them, who would make sure this place was in tip-top shape?

"Congrats! You really deserve it and I'm sure you'll be great, both of you."

Deja turned back to the punching bag as she started to lay down fists and kicks repeatedly at it. Getting her mind focused wasn't really hard when you have something to motivate you but, a punching bag was a lot different than a mutant..that's for sure. Her mind would be taken off this bag as Sam said something which made her raise an eyebrow and hold the bag still.


“Listen seeing as there were some promotions with the X-Men and more and more missions were being dished out, I was wondering if you were planning on getting more active with the team?”


It was true..Deja was apart of the team but wasn't really doing any missions yet. The thought of doing things like missions sounded fun and adventurous but also nerve wracking. How was she to answer this question right now on the spot. Bitting her lip, she faced him. Computers she was an expert at, her powers she was okay, but missions was something completely different. Apart of her wanted to say yes but then there was a dought surfacing in her mind on whether she was good enough.

"I do but--at the same time, are you sure I'm the girl you want to be asking this?"

Watching Deja actions and response carefully to his questions Sam spotted the lip biting and a hunch to what she was about to say, he could for that moment read Deja’s face like a book, after all it was similar to what several of the other members had looked like when he asked them the similar question. Frankly he didn’t know why they all discredited themselves, they were after all on the original team and he had every intention of putting them where they felt the most comfortable. As she spoke his thoughts were confirmed, the look she had on her face had said it all.

"I do but--at the same time, are you sure I'm the girl you want to be asking this?"

Smiling and nodding his head he spoke staring at the woman with a look of seriousness despite his smile.“You don’t give yourself enough credit, you're a good person, someone that can help us ensue peace by bridging the gap from mutant and human, the ideal X-Man, your modest and kind, your not consumed by your own mutation, frankly I think your perfect for the team.” with a completely serious face Sam looked up to the God room of the danger room and called out for several dummies. The punching bag she was working on before faded away as four human figures appeared before them.

Walking towards the four figures that appeared in the Danger Room Sam smiled and said, “Any one, mutant or man can muscle there way around, but that isn’t in my opinion a way to try and achieve a harmonious peace between both human and mutant,” with a swift jab to one of the figures temples Sam struck one of the human looking holograms and instantly he fell, “Any one can kill, I know you don’t have a physical mutation but there are some things we can’t solve by throwing our weight around, Deja your different from most on the team, which is why I think you’d help us out greatly if you decided to join the team once again.”

Shrugging slightly Sam smiled and said, “But you don’t have to give me your answer now, the reason we are here today is self defense training, I want you to try your best from getting pinned from the holo-men, okay?” looking to the holographic men that were now quite physical Sam said, “The best advice I can give to you is keep your body loose and fluid, you become rigid and you’ll end up on the ground, you’ll have four minutes to try your best, if you get knocked over we can work out how to avoid it from happening again.”

Almost on cue the three holographic men walked towards Deja with hands outstretched trying to knock her down in the process, all she had to do is avoid, dodge and flow, if she could do that without a problem then they would begin with the next lesson for the day.

“You don’t give yourself enough credit, you're a good person, someone that can help us ensue peace by bridging the gap from mutant and human, the ideal X-Man, your modest and kind, your not consumed by your own mutation, frankly I think your perfect for the team.”

Deja let out a soft smile as she looked up at him. She did think that he was right, she was all those things but there was so much going through her head at every moment, especially with her dad..it was mind blowing.

Just as soon as she turned to the punching bag, it disappeared and four mechanical like objects appeared. She had seen these before so was well aware of what to do. They had like levels, some were easy, other were difficult. Deja never strayed to far from dangerous situations, so this would be almost a breathe of fresh air. As he continued to speak, he struck one knocking it down. Deja, folding her arms just watched, listen and took it all in.

“Any one can kill, I know you don’t have a physical mutation but there are some things we can’t solve by throwing our weight around, Deja your different from most on the team, which is why I think you’d help us out greatly if you decided to join the team once again.”

Thats true, anyone can knock down something but how many people can understand the human mind, well try to. Everything Sam was saying was such a huge confident booster and the effects were all inside Deja's body. It was like that boost of confidence, that boost of control, almost like when your so close to the finish line and you get that burst of energy. Deja was feeling it, and she felt all warm inside.

As he told her don't give him her answer now, she nodded. It was strange how much Sam had really seem to be okay. He had come very far since that horrible dream and dealing with himself. He wasn't his worse enemy and that was good to know.

“The best advice I can give to you is keep your body loose and fluid, you become rigid and you’ll end up on the ground, you’ll have four minutes to try your best, if you get knocked over we can work out how to avoid it from happening again.”

As the holo men started walking over to Deja she quickly began to anticipate, her legs bent down in a similar fashion of a crunch. As one came closer and grabbed at her she moved back. Another came to her left and she moved to her right. they were getting closer. She quickly dodge rolled out of harm's way as she blew a strand of her from her eyes.

"Thank goodness for that military dream." She said that calmly to herself.

Walking behind one of them she side kicked it in the back, sending it forward. As it fell down, the other two holo men began to come abit faster at her. As she continued, dodging..one grabbed her by the shirt as she quickly knee'd it in the gut before placing her elbow into the back of it's neck. The pain from her arm was sore, as that thing was hard headed, literally.

The last dummy began to chase after her, Deja used basic ducking, and turning. As a arm moved toward her head, she bridged back before coming back up. Keeping her hands, fisted up she started to jab at it, before moving her foot to it's gut, she continued to do this. In her mind she was thinking about her life and that made her angry.

Watching Deja twist and turn tuck and roll, bat and swat he wondered where she learned how to fight like this. She was doing a phenomenal job the motions the movements the footwork, everything was done so well. Every once and a while when she struck Sam noticed a wince on her face signifying that the limb she attacked with was in pain after the strike and almost every time Sam could tell why, she knew how to strike the problem was where she was striking, an elbow to the back of the head may hurt the opponent more than your self but there is no reason for you to be hurt in the first place, it was always a better idea to use a soft target to hit a hard one.

Watching as she attacked the last holo-attacker as the other have fallen Sam was impressed with not only her guard but her power in her kicks which soon brought the last dummy down to the ground. Noticing the expression on her face however Sam’s eyebrows frowned slightly. Stepping forward he raised his arms and said, ”That’s enough for now Deja, there are a few things I want to ask you.”

Walking closer to Deja so he didn’t have to yell Sam watched as the holographic dummies vanished into the danger room as he continued to watch Deja’s expression, ”The first thing I want to say is you did a great job, there are only a few things I want to tell you that you can improve on, first and for most, I love strikes but if they hurt me in the process I don’t see a point to doing them, the idea of getting trained in self defense is to make sure your body doesn’t get hurt correct?” it was a rhetorical question but he still looked for conformation before he demonstrated the elbow to the back of the neck/head she had preformed before on one of the dummies, ”If you can’t hit the neck with the elbow don’t aim for it, elbows and knees are great tools to strike with but if you miss the target or come in from a wrong angle you could end up hurting yourself in the process.

Standing up straight and turning back to Deja he raised his hand up and did a palm trust in the air and said, ”Don’t be afraid to use your palms either, if you hit it in the nose there is an almost definite possibility they will go down for the count. as he finished giving her his lecture he looked at her and asked calmly, ”Last but not least, is every thing alright? Towards the end of the training you seemed almost angry at the dummies…