"I can't believe what he just said!" Nick was still in denial.

"Which part?" I asked laughing, sharing the same feelings.

A heartless killer like him - can he fall for someone?
Impossible, right?

"That he fell for her without even exchanging a single word! What if she's mute? What if she's blind and he was mistaken all this time?"
We all laughed at that valid point that sounded more real than Killer's love story.

"Ah come on! Stop underestimating him!" Ren defended her biggest enemy.

"He is a smart lad. Girls literally drool for him. You know that, Nick, don't you?"
He just nodded quietly with that amusing smile still on.

"I need to find her out and ask her myself! I don't trust my brother's skills of impressing a woman." Nick said.

If Killer was here, either he would have killed Nick, or he would himself have died in shame.

"Are you crazy? Didn't you hear that chapter is closed!"
Ren stopped him, or tried to.

"With dad, not with me." he winked

"But aren't you going for that mission tomorrow?"
I said suddenly remembering that he had to go.

"Yes Jane, Ofcourse I'll do it after I come back. Ren! Till then you collect all the Intel." Nick said excited.

"No way, Nick. He'll rip my head off. I won't even step that way."
Ren said surrendering.

"Jane -" suddenly he turned towards me "-you can talk freely with dad! Why don't you -"
"Thanks but no thanks. Nick, I gave your brother a nick name for some reason, remember?"

Disappointed with both our replies, he went quiet. "Fine, I'll do all the work." he said promising himself.

"You are not going to leave him, are you?" I asked amused.
"Why would I? She's the first woman he ever talked about! I have to get to the depth- where is she now? What went wrong?"

"What if Willy doesn't want to continue?"
Ren asked.

"He is overconfident about his feelings. He doesn't know he's in a trap from which he's not coming out easily. He might say it's over because of all his stupid reasons, but I will not let it get over too easily. Finally I have got some serious job."
He let out a devilish laughter.

"But first, this mission. I'll go pack the remaining stuff and get back to you girls."
He got up and left.

"What is going to happen to him, Ren?"
She turned pale "Colonel James has challenged Colonel Ops to bring out his worst on Nick."

"What?! Why would he do that?"
Is this crazy?

"Some old rivalry. I just hope Nick comes back healthy."
Yeah, I hope so too.

"How is Doctor Bones doing?"
Ren asked me in the middle of our breakfast and I choked.

"Since when you started speaking in Nick's language?"
She laughed in response then went quiet, waiting for mine.

"He... is fine. He calls once everyday, have a casual talk, asks about my day etc etc.."

"Did he talk to Colonel after that?"
I wish I could ask him.

"I don't know, Ren. I don't feel like asking him. What if he didn't - in that case he'll think I'm expecting him to call him. And what if he did, but doesn't want to talk about it? So, I'm waiting for him to speak about it himself."

She nodded and rest of our breakfast was finished silently.
Patting on my back with sympathy, she got up and left.

I was about to get up but was pushed back down by two hands on my shoulders. Reacting the way Killer taught me, I brought my hands near my neck and slipped the other guy's hands off me. Losing his balance, his face fell on my head and I caught it just in time.
I was about to get him into a choke when I saw that face.

"Eth!"
Instead of twisting his neck, I hugged him tight.

"Don't.. strangulate me.." he said out of breath.

"Oh sorry!" I let him loose and stood up. He coughed and then started laughing.

I laughed too and hugged him again. This time not so tightly.
I could feel him still laughing.

"I went for forty days and Fletcher turned you into a pro wrestler?"
I hit him on his shoulder at that.

"Ow! Easy there girl!"
Stupid boy.

"How was your leave?" I stepped aside and let him sit down.
"Great. I travelled a lot, partied a lot, and slept a lot!" he said excited.

"Awesome!"
Oh this guy makes me feel so light.

"When are the others coming?"
"In next three days. Our term starts from Monday. Hey Jane! Fletcher is back to normal? Will he be training us again?" he asked sounding worried.

"I hate to break the bad news, but Nick will be out for a few days. And based on what I've heard, Killer won't be going anywhere out of this academy for sometime. So.. you are all alone with him.."
"No way! This can't happen!"
Okay, that's an over reaction.
Or may be not, he is genuinely scared.

Before I could calm him down, a familiar voice came from behind us.
"No way!"
"Sir!" Eth got up and stood in attention.

"You couldn't have stayed back for just one more day?!" Nick cried sarcastically. "I have to go tomorrow. But thanks to you, I'll have to give up my sleep tonight."

Haha!
Term End Trials!

"I.. I am sorry sir.. I didn't know..."
Aw, poor Ethan.

"Have your breakfast."
Nick laughed and allowed him to get loose.
Then turning towards me he said "I'll leave early morning tomorrow. So if I don't meet you before going, please pray for me - and please don't curse me like the football match!"

I giggled "Sorry Nick. That curse came down heavily on you. I promise I'll never do that again with you."

He smiled a little then turned to Eth again. "You! If I get screwed before leaving, I'm gonna kill you after I come back." and left.

"As if I can save him from anything that Colonel Rambo decides." Ethan said still horrified.
"He's just teasing you."

"I know. But being our instructor for over three years now, I can't stop taking each of his words seriously."
He thought for a moment then continued.

"Did they buy a new vacuum cleaner for our blocks?"
I almost spat the water in my mouth.
"The bathrooms sparkle like they were built yesterday! What happened there?"

"Killer cleaned them."
"What?! All of them?!" he stood up again.
Clearly it's a day full of surprises for him.

"Yes Ethan. Your other instructor went through hell and back recently. He had a three day ordeal where he was under Nick for ten hours and then under Uncle James for 14 hours. Man they nearly killed him."
I said rushing through the memories of those three days.

Ethan couldn't speak a word this time.
"Sit down!"
I pulled him down.

"What all was he made to do?"
"Mostly kept hungry and awake. He said he was scared of Nick more than Uncle."

"Wow!"
"Wow?"

"I mean yeah! That's what we all talk about. Everyone thinks Fletcher is the most dangerous person there is, after Colonel ofcourse. But even he can be intimidated by Coach Carter! I knew I chose the right team!"

"You guys have teams?"
"I mean.. there are always discussions about who is the hidden devil and I always voted for Coach. Everyone else thinks it's Fletcher."

"You are a smart boy. Nick really did scare the shit out of Killer. Even today he can't stand that tone of Nick's."
Remembering today's incident I laughed and Ethan looked at me confused.

"Ah nothing. You go and rest."
"Rest? That's over. It's time to meet the big man. I have to report to your Killer and then the commander. Perks of being SC, you know."
That was sarcastic and I totally got it.

Laughing and hitting his shoulder once again, I left mess.

Finally the cadets will be back and there will be life in Nick's absence.

************************************

"Hello, uncle."
"Hello Jane. I heard Wills taught you defense techniques. Is that true?"

Oh boy.
"Ye..yes uncle. A few basics. I mean.. I think they are good enough to come handy if ever I'm cornered."
"You would mind sparring?"

"Excuse me?"
Is he serious? Sparring?
"Yeah. Let's see how useful your trainer's lessons are."

"But against whom?"
"Let's keep that a guess and come prepared. See you tonight at 2100 at Gym."

"But- hello! Hello!"
Is it here? The evaluation?
Killer had said once before that uncle will check my progress one day.
While I'm sure I'm gonna lose badly against anyone who I'm sparring, I'm not so sure about Killer's state after that, and my own state after that. Uncle will surely dig him deep into the ground.

But I didn't have anything to lose.
I'll just go and defend myself.
I had almost an hour to prepare myself. I did light jogging, a few sets of Pushups and crunches and lastly skipping to get my heart pumping.
I picked up Ren along, just to provide me emotional support.

Upon reaching gym, my eyes blew wide. Ethan was doing Pushups in front of Uncle, while Killer stood on the other side of mat.

If this is the team division, then I don't want to be here.
Killer waved his hand and called us there. My feet were resisting.

I went and stood in front of him. He wrapped bandages on my palms gently but firmly. He would steal looks of my face in between.
"You are scared." he stated.
"And you are not?" I asked.

"I don't care about him. Nor should you. He is a tough lad, he can take a few good hits."
"What assures that he won't hit me back?"

"He will. That's where you have to use everything I taught you all these days. Use your hands, feet and most importantly, the stuff between both your ears."
My brain. Dumbass.

"Always keep your eyes on him. Keep all four of his limbs in your eyesight but never take your eyes off his. You'll know what he'll do next before he even does it if you carefully look into his eyes. Okay?"
I nodded slightly.

"I won't overload you with instructions or tips. You have good reflexes, let them work today."
"What if I -"

"Don't doubt yourself. But just for the sake of answering, if you lose, nothing will happen to you. And you need not worry about me. Just give that ass hole some good punches."
He said the last part in a very low tone bringing a chuckle from me.

Uncle and Eth stopped in their discussion and look at me for that laugh.
"There. You see? His confidence is half gone. You only have to hit the half left. And Jane! He is not your friend on the mat. Am I clear?"
Killer is back!

"Yes sir. No friends. Just defence. And attack when the enemy is open."
I summarised what all he said.
He looked at me proudly then shouted "She's ready!"

"No warmup?"
Uncle asked surprised.

"Nope. She is ready." he repeated.
I can't believe he had so much confidence in me!

"Alright then. Take positions."

************************************

Ethan is back! WOW!
And they are fighting already? What?

Who do you want to win?
And why? 😉

Whoever gets more votes, will be the winner in next chapter 😅