Tarin Brooks was on his back, he was breathing heavily and the comfortable weight of his wife was settled on his hips with her legs on either side. She was breathing heavy too, a fact that Tarin was incredibly proud of, in retrospect. It wasn’t easy to tire Lee out. The funny thing about all of this was, they were both completely dressed. In fact, there was nothing remotely sexual about the situation, which was something that usually would have had Tarin all in a tizzy. Right now, though, he was concentrating on exactly what his next move was going to be.

After Colombia, and the fight at the Pharmaceutical company, Tarin and Lee had decided that it was long past time for them to be something more than passive combatants. Especially with Lee’s powers, her extra speed and strength were almost a waste in dangerous situations because she’d never really been taught how to use them. Tarin would have never shaken a stick at his wife’s abilities, especially not after watching her manhandle a practical legion of ponytail’s men, but the karate lessons they’d been taking for the last month were definitely starting to help. Tarin, especially was starting to feel as if he wouldn’t be quite the liability he always seemed to end up being when him and Lee got into sticky situations. Besides, with people like Jacen running around out there, it never hurt to be able to defend oneself with their own to hands.

Lee was much stronger, and much faster, but when they were working on his skills, she always tried to tone it down a little. Otherwise, it simply wasn’t fair, more often than not, though, they ended up like this. With Lee at a definite advantage. Tarin didn’t hold it against Lee, not one tiny bit, he was proud of his wife for her skills in what they were learning. Besides, the extra muscle tone her body was starting to take on was fricken hot, and for a moment he reveled in the way her legs felt clamped on either side of his hips. They’d come back to that later, though, now, it was time to move.

Tarin was learning too, and he threw his weight to one side, managing to off-balance Lee, just a little bit. That was his chance. As Lee came up off his hips, Tarin turned his body and sat up, pushing her as hard as he could to the side and scrambling away at the same time. She’d probably be back on him in no time, but at least she wasn’t holding him down anymore.

Tarin had to smile as he opened the distance between himself and Lee, just a little bit more, “Bet you thought you had me.” He challenged, feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart as he looked across the sparring mat at his wife. “I was just toying with you, though…and thinking about how we might have to practice that again later, when we’re at home.” Bonus points if he could make her blush in the middle of the fight, when he was the inferior in strength and speed, Tarin Brooks had no problem using the other weapons in his arsenal…even if they would probably only ever work on his wife.

Lee was looking down at Tarin. Like so often during the training sessions like this, Lee had managed to get Tarin down to the mat, the definite advantage to her. Even with her holding back a bit while they trained because Lee knew that the contact they had gave her a lot of extra strength and speed.

But even with the holding back, Lee still frequently managed to get Tarin down, and this time was straddling him, her legs helping to hold him down. Despite the energy , and the added advantage that she had, Lee was still breathing slightly heavily as she looked down at Tarin; her husband was definitely able to give her a damn good work out.

And then Lee felt Tarin moving; but not soon enough that she was able to brace against it, to be able to react to it before she felt herself being pushed to the side. Before she knew it, Lee was being pushed to the side, and Tarin was scrambling away from her; she didn't even need to see him to know that, she could feel the distance growing through the siphoning.

Even as he was taking another step back, Lee heard Tarin start to speak. She climbed back to her feet as well, just in time to hear him comment about how he thought they needed to practise that again at home later. Lee couldn't help it, a slight flush crossed her cheeks, turning them a touch redder than they had already been from the exertion.

"Of course I had you," Lee replied before she'd even had a chance to force the blush down. "I let you up. How else can we keep sparring? So, what's the plan now?" She asked as she took a slow step to the side. Well, Tarin did always claim that everything he did with her was all part of some elaborate plan.

He’d managed to get away and Tarin grinned at Lee, a slightly more feral grin than he’d usually use towards Lee. He’d gotten away from her all on his own, he’d been able to tell by the look on her face as he’d scrambled backwards. It made all the difference in the world. There had been times when Lee had let him up so that they could keep sparring and she was doing a good job playing the mental game right back at him.

“Made you blush.” He said quietly, taking two steps in the opposite direction as Lee did, she was fast, he needed more space between them so that he’d have time to react. Tarin found her eyes and held them, smile growing again, “You’re thinking about it, aren’t you? Maybe you’ll even be breathing heavy again.” Maybe it would set her off, maybe it wouldn’t. Maybe she’d even like the idea. It was difficult to tell, but for now Tarin knew that he was buying himself time while playing a slightly dangerous game.

Some couples wouldn’t have been able to handle time like this, the strain on the relationship and the competition would have proven too much. Not Tarin and Lee, though. They both relished the competition, and after the first few very sore weeks, Tarin had began to relish the exercise as well. It felt good to push his body to limits that it wasn’t used to. There was no doubt that his smaller frame would never be suited to purely physical combat, but with time he was learning to use what he had to his great advantage. Despite the fact that he was short, his frame was sturdy and the throws and holds he’d been picking up worked distinctly to his advantage against much larger foes. Lee, on the other hand, Tarin was never sure he’d be able to best.

They were staring each other down now, circling on the mat, one of them had to make a move. “Come and get me. Since you’re so sure you had me down before, it shouldn’t be too difficult.” Tarin had always found that it was easier to defend than attack, at least when he was sparring with Lee. “Unless you’re too tired. Unless you think I’ve got you this time sweetheart.”

“Made you blush.”

Damn it. Lee took another couple slow steps in the circle the two of them were making around the mat as she tried to force her blush down.

But that wasn't the end of it, as they slowly circled each other, Tarin found her eyes, held them, stared at her, and started talking again. Asking her if she was thinking about it, if she were thinking about her being on top of him again later, at home. Well, yeah, if she hadn't been thinking about it before, she definitely was now.

Even if now wasn't the time to think of something like that. Enjoyable as it would be later on, Lee needed to focus on what they were doing now, and that was the sparring, since Tarin could decide to come in for an attack at any moment.

Or, not. Of course not, Tarin was trying to bait her into attacking him first. Not overly surprising, during their sparring he did seem to do better defending her attacks than attacking her straight out, but still.

And then Lee straightened up slightly as she heard Tarin speak again. "Tired?" She asked, shocked. "You're kidding, right?"

Even before she was finished speaking, Lee was moving, crossing the mat toward her husband. She wasn't moving nearly as fast as she now knew she was capable of, that definitely wouldn't be fair, but Lee did wonder whether Tarin would be able to react quickly enough.

Across the mat she went, pulling back her arm as she got closer to Tarin as if she were going to launch a blow. Before she swung, though, she dropped down to the mat, her leg shooting out, in an attempt to knock her husband from his feet. He did say he wanted her to get him down again, since she'd managed it before, right?

Tarin still grinned at Lee, even as the expression on her face got even more intense. It was funny, whenever she tried not to blush, the pink on her cheeks simply got that much darker. He also saw the slight darkening of her eyes when he planted his little mental pictures. That’s when the plan that had been so well laid started to fall to pieces. Lee wasn’t supposed to actually think about it! She was supposed to be mad at him for bringing something like that up, especially in the middle of a dojo when they were supposed to be sparring.

The fact that Lee was thinking about exactly what they might be doing when they got home made Tarin decide that it was exactly what they were going to do when they got home. That thought was so distracting in and of itself, that he nearly forgot his name, let alone what he was supposed to be doing on the mat.

Lee straightened up, actually straightened up in the middle of the mat as she almost mocked him for suggesting that she might be tired. The thought really was kind of ludicrous, considering the fact that they’d been in pretty close contact for at least the last hour and a half while they worked. Lee would be pretty much as full of energy as she ever was. Still, it was suppose to illicit some sort of reaction more intense than simply…

Suddenly Tarin was on his back again. This time, Lee was not on top of him. She’d moved so damn fast, then swung. Tarin had managed to dodge what he now realized wasn’t even a real attempt at a blow, and succeeded in giving Lee the perfect opening at his legs. She was on her feet now, looking down at him and Tarin couldn’t help but grin as he shook his head and slowly sat up. Nothing was hurt but his pride, and that was only scraped a little, not even bruised.

“I almost had you for a minute, admit it.” He said, drawing his knees up a little and resting his forearms on them as he caught his breath.

”You lasted a whole 30 seconds longer than you usually do.” came the voice of the man who’d been giving them self-defense lessons for almost a month now. John Sanders had been in the military for his share of years and his bulky frame and short cropped salt & pepper hair suggested that he knew his way around a fight. He offered Tarin a hand, that the medium gratefully took. Sanders had been far more reasonably priced than most of the other instructors in the area, and he was the only one who hadn’t thought it silly that a pair of mutants wanted self-defense lessons.

Still, Tarin grinned at the quip and shook his head, “My own plan backfired on me.” He admitted sagely moving over to give Lee their customary post-spar hug. It helped keep things light, and signaled that the fight was really over. That rule had been established when Tarin had asked for a hand up early on and pulled Lee to the mat instead of accepting the help.

”Well you should know better than to use sex imagery as a psychological weapon against anyone other than another man. Get lost in your own images?”

Tarin simply nodded, then shrugged his shoulders, “Like I’ve said a hundred times…getting whipped by Lee is more fun than most things I’ll do this week.”

John laughed and nodded, then turned to Lee, ”And that was very good Lee. Even if he didn’t realize it, Tarin adjusted his whole center of gravity when you threw that pulled punch up high. You’re getting quicker and quicker all the time.” The man turned back to Tarin, ”Believe it or not, you’re getting better too, when you guys were going hand to hand in the beginning, you actually kept up with Lee for a little while. I think you might be able to fight your way out of a paper bag these days.”

“Thanks” Tarin said, lips pursed slightly together. It was a running joke of sorts, Tarin’s lack of fighting ability when they’d first started the lessons. “Are we going again?”

Lee simply raised an eyebrow at her husband on the mat when he wanted her to admit that he'd almost had her that time. She didn't have a chance to reply, though, since their instructor as walking over, speaking to them.

But as John was helping Tarin back to his feet, Tarin was saying how his plan had backfired. Even John knew that it wasn't the best plan, but Lee shook her head at the two men. "We've been together for how long now?" Lee asked Tarin as she hugged Tarin back. "And you still haven't learned that lesson?"

And then John turned and complimented her, saying that she was getting quicker and quicker all the time. Lee just gave the man a slightly tight lipped smile. Speed was never something she was worried about here. In fact, most of the time she held back so as to not go too fast. But Lee did feel proud about John's compliment about how she'd knocked Tarin down this time.

In a way, though, Lee was happier about the fact that John seemed to think that Tarin was getting better. Of course he wouldn't be able to keep up with her, she got more energy while Tarin tired out. But if John thought that he was getting better...

That was a very good thing, for both of them.

But then Tarin asked her if they were going to go again. It didn't really matter all that much to her, sure, she was sore, but she was feeling so much better now than she had when they had first started these lessons. The real question was whether Tarin was up to going again.

Lee shrugged. "I can," Lee said with a nod. "How are you feeling?"

Tarin shrugged when Lee pointed out the fact that he should have known better than to try what he’d tried. “Well, I couldn’t just stand there.” He said with a small grin, “and as nice as the view was when you had me on my back…I figured I stood a better chance on my feet, no matter what I was saying.”
It was the truth, Tarin wouldn’t have stood a chance if he’d have stayed on his feet…and just like John had pointed out, he’d lasted longer this time than most of the time. John wasn’t saying anything else at this point, and Lee said that she thought she could go again if he could.

Tarin took a deep breath and looked around the dojo, trying to gage just how tied he was and if he really thought that he could go again. Pushing things too hard, especially when he was sparring with Lee only left Tarin useless for the rest of the night and most of the next day. To be honest, though, their last match had been relatively easy compared to some that they’d had. Tarin had learned that when Lee had him down it was pointless to struggle if she was expecting it. The element of surprise simply had to be on his side for him to have a chance.

Surprise. Lee had said she was ready, hadn’t she?

John was still close by, and Tarin knew he’d have to be careful not to hurt the man when he did exactly what he was going to do. “I think I’m good.” He said, and then he was moving.

Into Lee Tarin went, he knew he was playing dirty, but it was his only chance. Besides, there hadn’t been a single bad guy they’d come up against that had played fair, and Lee needed to be ready for those situations as she was for the ones when she actually faced a person.

Wrapping his leg behind Lee’s was easy, as was shoving her backwards. As strong as Lee was, she wasn’t very big at all, and Tarin knew that his stockier frame and momentum would probably be enough to send her backwards. Once she was down, Tarin didn’t have a clue what he was going to do…that would have to come on the fly.

Tarin said that he was able to go again, so Lee started to get ready, thinking about what her plan would be for this sparring match. More often than not, at least when the two of them were sparring together, Tarin took on a more defencive role, blocking her attacks more than coming straight after her and giving her the chance to block him.

Because of that, Lee was definitely not expecting Tarin to come charging at her, and before Lee could even attempt to dodge or block her husband's attack, Lee found herself on her back, her breath knocked out of her.

Lee's mind was racing, though, trying to figure out what she was supposed to do next. Get Tarin off her, that was the first step, Lee realized as she wheezed, trying to get her breath back.

Lee went down. Lee actually went down. Tarin was so surprised, he almost didn’t follow her down. It was slightly disconcerting to hear her gasp for breath, he’d obviously knocked the wind from her, but he steeled himself as he dropped. If one of the jerks they ended up running into managed to knock her down like this she’d need to know how to deal.

It was the first time that Tarin could remember actually getting the drop on Lee, even when he played dirty. Maybe these lessons really were starting to pay off. It was a heartening thought after everything they’d gone through and how useless Tarin had felt when they’d gotten in fights.

Lee went down, and Tarin dropped with her, moving quickly behind her to wrap his arms around her head, applying gentle pressure on her throat. That was as far as he could go, though, Tarin absolutely couldn’t bring himself to apply any more pressure. Teaching was one thing, going for the win at that level, was simply too much. There was no need, surely Lee would yield.

“Say uncle.” He whispered in her ear as he leaned close, “You know I got you this time, even if I fought dirty.”

A second passed, Tarin was still on her, but at least breathing was getting easier. And with the easier breathing, Lee started to move, trying to get Tarin off of her. Surprisingly, he seemed to move very easily, and before she knew it, Tarin was no longer actually on her, which made breathing so much easier.

At least it was easier until Lee felt an arm around her throat. Lee had definitely not expected this. Her eyes widened as she felt the gentle pressure across her throat. It didn't really cut off her air like having the wind knocked out of her had, but there was the definite threat there.

Automatically, Lee's hands went up to Tarin's arm around her neck, her fingers prying between her skin and Tarin's arm. She didn't pull away, though.

This was a tough situation. In a real fight, Lee knew exactly what she would be doing: pulling the arm away from her neck, breaking it if necessary to do it, all the while siphoning as much as she could.

But this was Tarin, and while they did go rather hard core when sparring, she wasn't going to actually hurt him.

And then Lee heard Tarin's voice whisper in her ear. Lee's eyes closed. Tarin was right, of course. In this case, he had won.

With a slight sigh through the tightness in her throat, Lee let her hands drop from Tarin's arm. "Uncle," she said quietly.

Tarin could feel Lee’s fingers digging slightly into his arm as he kept it tensed around her neck. Lee wasn’t exerting as much force as she usually would have, Tarin had a feeling he would be minus an arm if she were. Then again, he wasn’t squeezing as hard as he could have been either…they’d just never know if he could have completed the sleeper hold.

Lee sighed, and Tarin loosed his hold a little before she even spoke. The sound from his wife had been a little to ragged for his comfort level and he’d been ready to let her go no matter what her response was. It was in Tarin’s favor, though, and he was so shocked that he unwrapped his arms and sat back on the mats. “Thanks.” He said, leaning forward to kiss her on the cheek.

Tarin looked up and into the scowling face of the man who’d been training him and Lee. ”That was really dirty Tarin.” the man said, and Tarin shook his head as he climbed to his feet, halfway avoiding eye contact. “Actually…that’s probably the most realistic fighting situation I’ve put her in since we started training.”

John scowled some more and Tarin continued to avoid eye contact, and looked at Lee instead, “You shouldn’t go so easy on me either. It doesn’t hurt you to know how to toss me around. If there’s one thing we know for sure, it’s that.”

John looked confused and Tarin cast him a slightly apologetic look, they’d filled him in on the bare essentials…but the man still wasn’t aware of just how important it was that they learn how to defend themselves. John definitely didn’t know about the Kabal.

“Sorry Lee.” Tarin said finally, “That was dirty…really dirty. You're not too mad, are you?”

Almost as soon as she had spoken, Lee felt Tarin's arm loosening, moving away from her throat. Now free, Lee shifted herself a bit away from Tarin, only for him to lean toward her for a quick kiss on her cheek.

As Tarin pulled away again, Lee started to get to her feet, just as she heard the two men there starting to talk. She couldn't help but agree with both of them; it had been a very dirty trick that Tarin had pulled on her, but at the same time it was probably the closest to the kinds of fights she'd found herself in thus far.

And then Lee saw Tarin looking at her, and telling her that she shouldn't be going easy on him. Well, she hadn't been going extremely easy on him, he hadn't exactly been winning until just now. But despite what Tarin tried to say, tried to make her agree to, Lee was not going to go all out when facing him, not when they were simply training. She didn't want to hurt him, and if she had really fought his hold just now, she would have hurt him.

But was she mad? Lee shook her head. "Not too much," she told him, then turned her eyes to John. "Got any suggestions for how I could have gotten out of that?" She asked. Sure, most of the time it would be no problem for her, as long as she wasn't concerned with hurting the person holding her. But, she hadn't been able to do that in Florida, Jacen being too close had made sure of that.

At least Lee wasn’t mad. That would have made the situation even more unbearable. It was bad enough already with John staring him down like he’d stolen the silverware. Apparently Texas wasn’t the only place where chivalry was alive and kicking. Tarin didn’t know that the rules extended to the mat in a gym…but apparently he was wrong. There was no way to make John understand than to tell them an far more than he needed to know, though, so Tarin was just going to have to deal with the slightly nasty looks he was getting from the man.

Again…at least Lee wasn’t mad. At least she said she wasn’t, and Tarin couldn’t think of a time when Lee had hidden the fact that she was upset with him. It just wasn’t her, so if she said she wasn’t very upset, then she wasn’t very upset. Tarin also thought that what she was upset about was probably the fact that he’d beaten her, rather than how. A thought that was confirmed when his wife asked John what she could have done differently.

The big man looked surprised that she wanted to know, and Tarin tilted his head slightly, maybe a little truth would lend itself here. “Lee can’t always use her powers. We’ve ran into someone before who could make them a non-issue. It’s good for us to know exactly what we have to work with.”

John considered that for a moment, then launched into an explanation to Lee all about pressure points and ways that she could twist her body that would either break the hold or off balance the attacker enough that he wouldn’t be able to maintain it. Then he said it was time to try them out.

Tarin actually laughed, “Well, I guess the punishment fits the crime.” He said, then looked at Lee and shrugged, “Ready?” he said with a smile.

"Plus," Lee added on to Tarin's explanation that she wasn't always able to use her powers. "The whole reason for me doing this is so that I learn how to fight. Skill to go with my abilities." Because Lee knew, from their time in Columbia, that simply speed and strength weren't enough. Not all the time. The skill and knowledge might not always be enough, either, but it had to help, right?

At least John didn't ask for anything else, and after a couple moments, he started into explanations about what she could have done differently, what she could do next time it happened.

And then it was time to try it out. Lee turned to Tarin and nodded when he asked if she was ready. "Of course I am," she replied. "And don't go so easy on me this time. How will I know this'll really work if you don't actually try?"

Tarin hesitated, frowning at Lee as she spoke. Even though he’d played a little dirty, Tarin had balked when it came to the actual crux of the matter. He couldn’t , wouldn’t hurt Lee and when she told him not to go easy on her this time he started to protest. Then the protest died a quick death on his lips. He had hurt Lee, more than once. Chances were he’d try to hurt her again if a merge happened…Tarin corrected himself when a merge happened. It was easier to do these things when Tarin thought about Lee, battered and bruised in a warehouse after he’d nearly killed her, even easier when he thought about what it must have been like for her when she’d found him at the apartment and he’d choked her. There were more memories, and each one pulled Tarin more and more into the mind frame he needed to do what Lee was asking of him.

Nobody was saying anything and Tarin realized that as he stood his hands had clenched into tight fists. He looked up and over at John, then over at Lee, “Alright.” He said, then moved fast, sweeping Lee’s legs again and catching her on her way down, arms already wrapping around her neck as she fell. It was amazing how easy it was to squeeze just that little bit more when Tarin thought about how this could be a real situation, how Lee could actually be trying to pry these arms from around her neck at some point.

It worked, but it also made Tarin a little sick, even as they moved towards the ground he internally cheered for Lee to absolutely flatten him to actually hurt him. Because honestly, if they ended up in this situation Tarin hoped with every fiber of his being that Lee wouldn’t even think twice. This was good practice.