Veronica was quite pleased with herself for the quick answer. She moved a little bit to be able to see better. She really didn't want to miss anything this was her wish come true and she wasn't about to waste it on not doing her absolute best the first day and forward.

No one had seemed to notice her at breakfast even with her unusual height and outfit. Maybe now they'll sit with her and she'll get to met some people. She smiled when everyone still seemed to be staring when agent Gilder start speaking again. She could tell they were all wondering why they hadn't seen her at breakfast.

She crossed her ars leaning against the wall her curly redish brown hair flowing over her shoulders. She wondered who she'd be paired with for the exams. She didn't care but couldn't help but wonder.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Britney took in a deep breath. This was going to be harder then she would've thought. With all these people here she wouldn't stand out except the fact she had her red hair to make her stand out of the crowd but would she stand out in the class?

She was starting to think it was a mistake to think she could do this sort of thing. She hated the idea she'd disappoint anyone. She let out a deep breath and shook her head she wouldn't fail, she was better then most at computers and adequate at fighting.

She looked up at agent Gilder as she started to continued speaking. Britney straightened out confident she'd do well.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jules nodded as most of them turned to her after the first few words. "Now then, Mister Velac, would you come up her please?" She said her voice sounding almost sweet but menacing at the same time.

She was still a bit agitated with him for sizing her up on her own turf. She couldn't think of a better way to let out some of the steam then having him be the volunteer for the defense part of today's tests.

[Oh my goodness April has been relentless. I mean, who gets sick twice in one month? What kind of luck is that? D: May needs to be far gentler on me, that's for sure x.X]


Sy turned back again to steal another look. He didn't think he saw her this morning in the cafeteria.. and he didn't see her in the halls at all either- both when they were filing in and again on his.... side trip. Well, there was a lot to pay attention to!, he finally decided. It's easy to miss a person when there's lots of people to see.

Maybe- he thought, twisting back to face Agent Gilder and the mats- he could hang out with her later. Oh, maybe he could hang out with her and Britney! He did love making new friends... as long as she passed anyways.

Speaking of friends, he was acutely aware that his older friend from breakfast was getting called up for something now. He couldn't deny he was a little jealous, though. He missed a question and a chance to be called on for an activity now! He was sure he'd get other turns, though so for now he watched and waited with a great deal of interest.

~*~

"Yes ma'am." Watson gave a polite nod in response to being called up, moving to stand across from her on the mats.

He wasn't trying to be a kiss-ass with his address- nor was he being a smartass by choosing that over referring to her as her full name and title. It was simply a reflexive answer that he gave to those in a position of authority. Yes ma'am, yes sir... usually, that was the form of address he gave to authorities as it tended to appease them the best. You weren't trying to curry favor and be their "buddy" in order to reduce punishment but you weren't calling them a pig either (and they hated being called pigs). It was a happy medium.

And when you had fallen under authorities' displeasure, happy- or at the very least, ambivalence- was what you aimed for.

Wats was not surprised to be called up either- this was not the first time he'd annoyed some member of the law. He knew that what would come next was undoubtedly some attempt to make an example out of him, some action to blow off steam. He also knew that the best thing you could do here was simply allow whatever they wanted to do- usually after they'd had their fun, they'd strut off smugly and relax the attention on him for a bit (whereas reflexively cold-cocking the person in charge would only bring about trouble, if not expulsion).

He stood at the mats quietly, averting his gaze in a respectful manner- even if being in a situation like this made him want to look over his "opponent" more than usual (and oh it did, what with his wariness of the authorities, but that was what got him here to begin with). He stood with his hands folded loosely behind his back, trying not to appear as he was looking down his nose at her- hard to do when you were over six feet, granted- and waited for further instruction... or whatever else would come.

[Oh no! I hope so! Getting sick is awful!]

Jules stood up straighter trying to attain her full height even though it was still smaller then most. She looked at the group then back at Watson. She took a wooden gun out from one of her holsters and held it out to him. "Mister Watson will be our demonstrator for today's drills." She announced to the group at large.

She wasn't trying to lord over him, she just felt the need to put him in his place. That sounded a bit contradictory to her as she thought more about it, but she didn't care.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Victoria felt bad for the guy. He had obviously ticked off agent Gilder earlier. She leaned forward leaning on her right leg. She uncrossed her arms and put them behind her holding on wrist in one hand.

She still felt like an oddball for some reason. All the other woman were shorter then she was and she was even taller then some of the men. She felt like sighing but held her tongue and paid attention. She still felt some eyes on her but refused to let them distract her. She wanted this more then anything.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Britney didn't really feel bad for Watson. True he had helped her with her clumzy self earlier but he talked about agent Gilder behind her back.

She didn't dislike the man but he should have been more respectful to agent Gilder. She was having a hard month from what she understood.

And he wasn't expecting a long haul anyways. He could always tell the difference between someone that was going to make one event into a thing and drag it out as long as they could... and those that were just momentarily annoyed and would move on once they could vent it out of their system. He wasn't sure if it was body language, phrasing or what but he just got this feeling and rarely was it wrong.

So he was not entirely surprised with the interest here... but he wasn't entirely worried.

At least she doesn't have the bulldog posture or resting-******-face like Big Richie, he mused to himself. Ah yes, sometimes- even 30 years later- you had that one juvie officer you remembered vividly that was the embodiment of all the 'red flags'. He rubbed the back of his neck as he waited. Once, there was a scar there that had most likely faded away with time. A scar from where that old bulldog had shoved him down against the edge of one of the lunch tables... there had been a fair amount of blood, hadn't there? Oh, but he was such a little ****** growing up that he'd likely deserved it in part...

He glanced down, giving another polite nod and taking the replica gun once Agent Gilder had started speaking. Showtime, then.


~*~


Silas continued to watch, half wishing he'd grabbed a small notepad or something. He wasn't great at retaining information at times... it was like it flowed in through one ear and then back out the other. At least he did better with hands-on and physical demonstrations... books were a much worse pain. Sometimes, he found himself reading the same paragraph four times before the information actually sunk in...

Maybe, though, since this was so important, he'd be bound to retain it!

He quirked his head side to side, waiting for further information but trying to study what he could in the meantime. Aw man, the other guy looked like he knew how to hold a gun good and everything... how many other people here could do that too? Sy had never really held or used a gun before! Maybe, though, if he could just watch and copy the others... if he could B.S. his way through this part... then he could get to the computer part and show them how good he really was!


~*~


Watson, having grown up in a police family, knew a thing or two about gun safety. Even when handling a replica, he instinctively held it safely. Never point the barrel at anyone, even if safety was on, even if you thought it was unloaded and- specifically to his family- even if it was a toy (his father had not wanted them building bad habits at all).

How he held it was likely irrelevant to the exercise, granted, but this was all something that happened subconsciously as he waited.

Agent Gilder nodded to him her arms behind her back. She stood up straight her whole body aligned. She turned to the group. "Okay now everyone, can someone tell me how one, who is faced with a larger opponent, should deal with them?" She asked looking around,

She saw that Victoria's hand went straight up but waited for someone else to answer. It only seemed fair to her. She looked around some more and the second hand that was raised was Britney's. "Yes miss Logan?" She said pointing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Britney cleared her throat. "A good choice would be to use the heel of your palm and thrust upward at the nose." She said as she looked strait at agent Glider. She felt the other's were looking at her but ignored them.

She watched as agent Gilder said. "That's correct and it should look something like this." She said turning quickly and thrusting her hand heel up onto Watson's nose. She cringed a little as his nose turned purple right away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Veronica stiffened. Yup definitely need to stay on the agent's good side. She looked over at the girl who had answered the question, then back to the man on stage.

Silas was hesitant to raise his hand for most questions, chiefly because he wasn't sure he'd get them right. And unlike school- where you got laughed at, at worst- it actually mattered here to do things right.

Granted, he was fairly sure his answers would have been acceptable if he had to have answered. As far as he was concerned, the best way to fight someone bigger was to either a) sweep the leg (thank you, cobra kai), b) kick them in their shins or c) nail them in the funbag (which hurt to even think about but it was an option, albeit an dirty one). His favorite way to deal, however, was to elude and flee since Nan always taught him that violence wasn't the answer but... that wasn't the question here.

But he guessed punching someone in the face was also a tactic, though. Just seemed like the face would be kind of boney and hard. But... well, he guessed the nose was kind of squishy, experimentally tapping his own. That was how to fought sharks too, wasn't it..? So he was learning how to handle two kinds of attackers, really.

He gave a slight yelp at the sudden speed and snap of the blow, clamping his hands over his mouth to muffle it somewhat. It was just... who did that? It was just incorporated into conversation, like a gesticulation gone wrong! Even if she wasn't a robot... that was kind of scary. He scooted back a bit more, trying to hide behind some taller classmates now- one of which happened to be the new arrival.


~*~


There was a lot of things Watson technically could have done, given the advance notice he had of what would happen. Sweep, takedown... hell, even a basic block to deflect (first thing you learned in martial arts, though these days he was more tai chi than tae kwan do). He could have brought the wood gun up- which would have made a fine bludgeon too- or even just stepped back out of reach. Hand-to-hand fighting was his preferred style, after all. He grew up in a house full of guns and he full well knew how to use them but... he never had. It just seemed dishonorable to threaten or use a gun in any of his wild-child pursuits. It even extended to self-defense in later years. His thought was that if he was going to go toe-to-toe with someone, he might as well use his own strength and his own god-given weapons.

Yes, there was a lot he could technically have done given the circumstances... but nothing he could realistically have done.

Life was a giant game of risk management and right now, the lowest risk was to take the hit. Pick and choose your battles, all things will pass in time, etcetera etcetera. So he did a good job at suppressing his urge to do... well, anything, the only evidence of his struggle being a brief twitch of his muscles and a quick, look of decisive assessment.

His square stance keeping him upright and stable and aside from rocking slightly with the kinetic force of the blow, Wats made no movement- not even to wipe away the trickle of blood that was leaking from his quick-swelling nose. His position was locked as it was before; a blank hard-eyed look on his face. This was no stare-down, though, no matter how it might look... it was simply him looking beyond everything, his mind temporarily zoned out as a form of inner focus.

Yes, that about affirms it. Getting hit in the face still hurts about as much as it used to. Less than getting shot or tased, though, he mulled.

Victoria couldn't help but snort a little of a laugh, which she quickly covered with her gloved fingers, as the smaller man got behind her. He was obviously a little nervous about how agent Gilder had punched the other man, what was his name? Oh yes, Verlac.

She had recalled seeing him sitting with the boy, who was behind her now, at breakfast. She understood, now, why he might want to hide in the back. If he was friends with the man he might be in trouble too. Maybe they made a wisecrack at her at breakfast.

She looked forward again and realized the girl who answered before was also sitting at the table with the two. She was the only girl in the room with firey red hair. She wondered why she didn't seem too phased by the hit as most of the others were.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jules looked out on the group. "Now how about a few answers from the guys? How do you disarm a opponent that has you at gun point?" She asked looking over the crowd. She noticed a few of them shift to be closer to the back then the front.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Britney looked around and saw that all the guys she could see were wary of raising their hands. She didn't see Silas though he had moved away from the spot he had been in. She wondered if he would answer or not. She knew an answer that was a bit less painful then her previous one.

[Sorry minds fried!]

[Pfft, it's fine man. Some days I got the drive to pump out a few (overly long) posts and other days if I can manage a short thing I'm doing good haha. You're fine!]


Silas peered out from around Victoria as Agent Gilder spoke, this time requesting an answer from one of the guys. Aw, why this question? He could have easily answered the other two with some competence but... he wasn't really sure about this one. He never had guns come up as an issue like... ever. So he never really learned to defend against them- it was one of those things you distanced yourself from, saying 'it'll never happen to me'.

He also suspected context had a lot to do with the answer- how close the person was, what they were waving around... Or maybe it didn't and it was all the same basic answer? He thought hard on it, trying to recall the brief self-defense lessons he had back in gym class (part of an attempt to make gym more 'interesting' to the students). It had been disappointingly lame, their teacher telling them that the best defense was to run off and call the cops, if possible, and to give into whatever their attacker wanted if escape was not viable. Granted, he wasn't wrong- it was better to be the bigger person and walk away (or run, if the person was a real bad guy) but that was not the kind of answer that wouldn't help here.

"Uh, Agent Gilder? I-if I may answer your question with a question? What's the context of the attack? Like, okay.... are they behind you, in front of you... do they have an assault rifle or a handgun? 'Cuz you'd think that makes a difference in specific tactics, you know?"

Mostly, he was buying time as he scrambled to remember... well, anything. But in his defense, he did believe context mattered. A revolver and an AK-47 were two very different guns and based on what someone was pointing at you, you'd probably react a little differently. Not that he'd ever been held up or threatened with any sort of weapon...

But maybe he was over-thinking things and trying to turn it into a trick question when it was really supposed to be straightforward and general. His brain was very good at going on tangent and over-analyzing to the point of missing the... well, point of things. It was a 'can't see the forest for the trees' sort of dilemma, really.

He tried hard to think back on what he saw on TV, at the very least (art was inspired by real life, after all). They always did that thing where they slapped the gun aside, whipped off to the side really quick and then either whomped the bad dude upside the head or broke their elbow or did some fancy judo joint-lock. But that didn't seem plausible for real life unless you'd trained for like 100 hours at karate or something... which he hadn't. Man, he was so going to get his butt kicked during training!


~*~


The blood was stopping already, drying slowly to Wats' face. At least he'd worn a dark-colored shirt today so the stain the blood left would be negligible. Granted even if he had been wearing a lighter shirt... well, he'd gotten into more than one fight as a youth. He had gotten pretty good at lifting stains from shirts and pants and damn near anything made of fabric.

He still stayed posed at the ready, opening his mouth slightly to breathe a little easier as he waited (since his swollen nasal cavities were doing no good right now). Gun deflection techniques, eh? That was their next step? It was a logical progression for the demo. Given the lack of John McClanes and Snake Plisskens in the group, though... it was something that'd take a fair amount of training to work up to. Most of the time, trying to disarm someone resulted in getting shot or beat up in the real world. Ronnie had used him to help train back when he was starting in the academy, and practicing disarms were part of it. But even Ron, with his training and fitness, had still managed to get hit 9 times out of 10 when they practiced with water guns (and later paintball guns to up the ante). With time, he improved his ratio some and at least managed to move so that when he did get 'shot', he got hit in a less fatal area... but it took some practice.

In the end, the department usually had them tase people instead of wrestling a gun out of their hand anyways so it was mostly moot. Still, he supposed it was better to know it if a last-ditch scenario came up.

Jules couldn't help but be a little surprised. "Well, Mister Ford, I'm glad you brought that up." She backed up further onto the mat. "The technique you will be learning will basically work in almost any situation."

She waved Watson over. "As an example if Mister Verlac was facing me pointing the gun at me." She nodded at him to signal that he was to do so. "I do not move. If he was assigned to kill and only kill I would be well dead before I even thought not to move. However, luckily for you guys, they usually don't have kill orders."

She almost burst out laughing when she heard a loud sigh emit from someone in the crowd. "They're usually here to kidnap and force into service. Which means they will normally get closer to you after they have the drop on you." She nodded at Watson again and raised her hands to make sure they know exactly what to do.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Britney heard Silas answer the question from some where in the back. She smiled a little. His good answer made agent Gilder in a better mood.

Maybe she'll be easier on Watson now... The thought relieved her. She still thought that Watson was in the wrong place earlier but he should have to be beaten around like he was.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Veronica smiled and leaned over a bit to Silas when she was sure that agent Gilder wasn't watching. "Good job. you made her happy... well as happy as she could be." She added smiling. She leaned back on her foot letting on arm hang down to her side while putting her other hand on her hip.

She actually was pretty good at disarming the bad guys already but she could learn a new way to do it which might be fun or cool. Or both. Man she really loved it here. It was her dream to be a spy and she might actually get to! Like how cool is that!

[And Veronica's sucks....]

[Bah, you're doing fine, really! :3 ]


It had worked? It had worked! Inwardly, Silas grinned widely- his stalling had actual merit to it and instead of earning rebuke, it earned praise. It was a good question, though, wasn't it? Sometimes, Sy managed to do well even if he was just blundering about blindly through some task or situation.

Even a stopped clock is right twice a day! Even a blind pig finds an acorn once in awhile! he thought to himself, perhaps with more cheer than the idiom was meant to evoke.

He tried to stay (his own special brand of) serious on the outside, though. He liked to think his question earned back the favor he'd lost at breakfast after his awkward and somewhat disastrous "store brand" analogy... so he wanted to do all he could to preserve that favor and maybe even add to it. He straightened up and put on an interest look of observation as the head lady moved to demonstrate the basic tactic they'd use to disarm if needed.

Also on the bright side? Apparently, they weren't super likely to be killed, just kidnapped. That still sucked and was still dangerous but... you know, at least death wasn't the first-line option for their fate! Today seemed to be looking up!

He turned to Veronica as she addressed him, allow a small smile to breech his facade. "Thanks! I try not to mess up all he time." he joked in a quiet voice. "Oh, I'm Silas, by the way... but you can call me Sy!"


~*~


Watson noticed the slight change in their head agent's body language. The question that the young lad had posed seemed to catch her somewhat off-guard, it seemed... but in a good way, this time. Which was a positive thing- he had seemed to land on her bad side (or at least, not her good side) earlier today too. Wats also liked to think that her shift in tone and posture meant some of the steam that had been building had been appropriately vented. Now she could more fully devote her focus to their lesson and they could all learn a little better and maybe- just maybe- he wouldn't get punched in the face again. He was starting to get too old to get all duffed up over and over...

At the cue she gave, he moved into position, firm and responsible grip on the toy-gun. He suspected that most garden variety thugs might not know the best way to hold a gun (and at the very worst, they may even try to hold it sideways like some damn fool) but force of habit kept him from holding the gun recklessly and incorrectly. His hands just... didn't want to do it. He could hear his father's lectures in his heads and his fingers seemed to mold and lock into position on their own accord.

At least in some aspects, he was well-trained as a youth.

Still, he at least kept his grip less tight and his posture less than ideal- the point of the exercise was to demonstrate disarms, not simulate an actual struggle or fight, after all.