Veronica smiled a little sideways at him. She found it funny that he was talking to her now. No one really talked to her-unless they wanted something-because she look like a force to be wreck-end (Sorry can't think of the spelling ~Bmr) with.

She turned her face to him slightly and lipped the word. 'Later' to him. He seemed nice and everything but she wasn't willing to risk getting in trouble over talking to him. Maybe, if luck would have it, they'd be partners for the next portion of the class.

She sort of wanted to be his partner, but would like it better to be mister Verlac's. Maybe she could help him out a little to where his bruises wouldn't effect his out come.

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

Jules looked at the class. "To disarm, you duck grabbing the top of the gun on your way down." She did so then followed up by spinning to where her back faced Watson. She elbowed him just enough to get him to stumble back. "Which you follow with a elbow to the stomach to force them back. You should end up with the gun."

She rolled her bad shoulder. Maybe she shouldn't have elbowed him with that arm. Oh well. Maybe she'll let these guys off easy and just skip to the physical tests.

She decided for the middle road. "Do any of you have an area in mind that you're not quite sure of?" She asked holding the gun as she crossed her wrists behind her back.

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

Britney couldn't help but smile when she turned out to have the right idea of disarming in her mind.

(Gah! Library computer is almost timed out! Oh well this is good ENOUGH for Britney...)

[Haha, no worries. Also ugh, I picked up another night shift for a coworker and I am very quickly remembering why I only do two night shifts a week as opposed to three... waaaay too tiring! x.X ]


Silas was used to getting shushed, shooed, ignored or otherwise given the "be quiet" look. When you were as chatty a boy as he was (and excitable to boot), you tended to get those responses often. He supposed that since they were "in class" right now, he ought to be quiet anyways. He ought to be paying attention. He'd have to learn these skills and be able to perform them well if he ever hoped to make the cut. Also, he was sure that they were needed for surviving in the field and not getting kidnapped by the bad guys.

So he quieted down, making the universal gesture for zipping one's lips. He could always talk to her later anyways! Well, provided he didn't fail out. But he was going to be positive here- thinking negatively was setting yourself up for failure. He'd take the optimistic route today. He would succeed! He would do good! And even if he didn't, even if he failed... well, it's like he established before- he had nothing really to lose.

When Agent Gilder addressed them after the demo... he had little to say. Mostly because he wasn't even sure where to start. He knew nothing about combat (or almost nothing anyways) so... pretty much everything was something he wasn't sure of. He had a feeling that saying that, though, would not gain him any points. In fact, he was fairly certain it would lose him almost all that he'd managed to gather.


~*~


Watson let himself be manipulated easily during the demonstration. At least getting elbowed didn't hurt as bad as getting nailed in the face. Though to be fair- even that hadn't hurt too much. It wasn't pleasant but it was livable. Heck, even ignoring his wild childhood... growing up in a large family meant sibling rivalry, which meant fights, which meant taking a few lumps here and there. This was nothing new, anyways.

At least on the bright side, these techniques may actually have merit to them if their foes were not the "shoot first, question later" type. All the fancy grapple moves and twists did no good if your opponent was quicker on the draw (and they almost always were) and determined to reduce you to a chalk outline. He supposed there was a silver lining here, then... they wouldn't be killed outright, just forced into servitude and possibly tortured in the process. Still, that at least left an opening to escape or be rescued so... there was that.

At her question he remained silent, drawing back into the same at-ease position he'd been in before. There was a lot he wasn't sure of and some he was. The biggest thing for him was simply re-learning and improving the things he'd picked up in youth from his brothers... that would come in time, though. Hopefully, a short amount of time. Dawdlers didn't make the cut, after all, and he knew his age would likely work somewhat against him as it was...

Jules nodded at everyone. "Very well then, I start telling you who your partners are for the exam." She said as she started saying two sets of names at a time.

She was determined to pair off Watson and Silas last. They were actually suppose to be partners but decided that she'd split them up with the two member's of the second to last group.

She couldn't help smile at the few groups who just stood around after she said enough names to fill up the equipment. She almost laughed when a few of the first teams she had called where looking around for someone to hand them some official paper to write their results on.

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

Victoria had to bite her tongue to keep from laughing. A small, quiet snort still escaped. She hadn't seen anyone 'zip' their lips for a long time. She just thought it looked so funny now. And as it goes, everything is funnier when you're not aloud to laugh.

She blushed a little seeing a few of the people around her looking at her. But thanks to her redish-brown hair it wasn't too noticeable. She didn't mind being embarrassed but hated it when other's knew she had been embarrassed.

She was getting slightly excited as there were fewer and fewer other people for her to be paired with that weren't Verlac or Silas. It looked like she might get her wish.

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

Britney heard a small snort of a laugh behind her and couldn't stop herself quickly enough from looking back. She couldn't hep but feel a little relaxed when she saw that it had been the miss Hector. she wasn't perfect which was a relief to Britney. She didn't like the thought of training with someone who was perfect.

She was getting a little worried though. There were less and less people beside the other woman for her to be paired up with. She might not be exactly perfect but she'd probably make anyone paired with her look bad. Even if it wasn't on purpose.

Silas waited eagerly as pairs were assigned, starting to wriggle around a little, shifting from foot to foot. He looked- and felt- not unlike an eager puppy who was trying very hard to stay because the reward looked very tasty and appealing but was just so excited that it was hard to stay put.

As he watched others steadily paired off, he couldn't help but be reminded of high school and being picked last for sports. Okay, so maybe he wasn't great at this sort of physical stuff but... he wasn't the worst either! He sighed as teams snagged the equipment and just sort of hung out waiting. Aw man, no fair- they were totally puppy-guarding the best stuff! But it was okay, he just had to be patient. Surely, there'd be enough time allotted for all teams to train, even if it meant taking turns and waiting.

He glanced around at the remaining trainees, wondering who he'd end up with. Any of them would be good. He'd love to meet new people but part of him wanted to be partnered with one of his friends from earlier today. Britney was fun and he wouldn't mind talking to her (or... really, at her in his case... not that he noticed) more and learning more about her. She was nice to him, too! And mister Verlac seemed really neat- he was quiet and patient, like a dad-type. But also really tough- he hadn't even flinched when he got nailed in the face! Si would have crumpled instantly, he knew that much. But he was also curious about the new girl. She also seemed fun and cool to boot... and he always loved to expand his circle of friends!

Even the other recruits he didn't know or meet... he was sure they were all neat in their own way. He couldn't really lose ether way, as far as he was concerned. He'd learn something today, no matter what- and that was the important part! Learn- and do your best!


~*~


Watson he shifted back to assimilate with the group once dismissed, watching the partner assignments match up one by one. Machines and training areas filled up too, one by one. He wouldn't get first pick- but that didn't bother him too much. He was eager to get started, sure, but he had gained a fair amount of patient in his years.

He fully planned on having to wait, anyways. While he deduced Agent Gilder was not the type to hold a long-term grudge over minor brushes (and indeed already seemed more at ease), he figured that he'd still end up being paired off last today.

Que sera sera... whatever will be, will be... he mulled to himself, a faint smirk quirking his lips as he waited.

Jules finished with the other sixteen trainees and looked at Watson, Silas, Britney and Veronica. She thought for a moment. "And the last two pairs are, Mister Ford and Miss Logan, and, Mister Verlac and Miss Hector." She said as she started walking for the door.

She was sure half of them wouldn't know what to do, and with a quick look around she confirmed her thoughts. She sighed hoping that they'd wise up. She opened the doors and left.

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

Veronica was quite pleased with how it ended up. She walked over to where Mr. Verlac stood. "Hi, I'm Veronica." She said holding her hand out to him for him to shake.

She looked at his face and saw that his nose was still swollen. She hoped it didn't hurt too much, even if he was ignoring the pain. She knew how hard it was to do your best at anything if you had to use part of your concentration to ignore pain.

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

Britney sighed and just stood there looking around at all the equipment to see what she'd have to do.

She was less then happy that Silas was her partner but wouldn't complain or show it. She moved to get in line for one of the machines as she waited for the talkative man to come over and start his mouth running.

In a way, Silas was somewhat let down he couldn't make friendly with the new girl. But... that was quickly overshadowed by happiness for working with his new friend. He made a small eeeeee noise in his throat and turned to look at his partner, scrambling up close to her now.

"Heeeeey, we get to work together! Isn't that great?" he said happily. "Let's go get down to business! I'm not sure what we're doing but we'll figure it out, right? Let's get our train on!"

He laughed, bouncing around and air-boxing. They had to show what they were made of, right? Prove their worth! Be one of the few that passed! Or at least try to.


~*~


Watson extended a hand, giving a small smile. He would have been relatively happy to have been paired with anyone, provided they possessed drive and focus to train. It looked like this new young lady had just that too- or at least she seemed intelligent and driven enough.

"Watson Verlac. Watson, Wats, V... call me as you will. I only regret you have to stare at this for the next however many hours..." he said, gesturing to his bruised and swollen face with his free hand.

And to be fair, his face did hurt a fair amount. But he'd had worse. He could tough it out here. Plus, if you couldn't even take a bop to the face... well, you had no place in a job field like this.

"Are you ready to get working?" he asked, pausing to scan the room and make a mental note of what equipment was present.

Veronica shook his hand professionally. She was glad she did get to be partnered with him. He seemed like he knew what he was doing during the demonstration.

"Don't worry about it. I've seen worse." She said to his sort of apology. It wasn't needed at all. She had truthfully seen a lot worse.

She looked around the room. "Well, we're going to have to wait for the equipment to open up..." She looked back at him. "Hummm... Do you think we could practice that disarming move a bit?"

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

Britney sighed as she got bombarded by Silas. She looked away from him a little irritated. She noticed that everyone else was staring at them disapprovingly. She tilted her head down and rubbed her eyelids. "Can't you be quiet for two minutes?" She asked her voice a tad bitter.

She hoped he would take the hint. She hated getting attention at all, but didn't mind it so much as long as it wasn't the bad kind. She wished that she would have been paired with anyone else.

It wasn't that Silas was a bad guy or anything like that. He was just... Well loud and she preferred quiet. She wondered why they had been paired together at all, they probably had nothing in common at all. She sighed again knowing that was probably why they had been paired, as practice with dealing with people who aren't like you.

Watson gave a laugh at her remark. Well, he supposed that wasn't so uncommon, though- not if you were considering a career in law enforcement. Hell, your average civilian these days had likely seen much worse on television and probably even in real life. The old-dog part of him wanted to mull on how violent the world had become these days but the realist in him knew that was utter bull. The world had always been rough, tumble and violent but with the expansion of media and the advent of internet, it was easier to put on display than it was before. It was easier to shove the truth in people's faces, easier to showcase the less flattering aspects of humanity.

Life, society, humanity... it had always been violent. It was just harder to hide that nowadays.

At her question on training, he gave a nod. It was a good, productive place to start, the disarms. Especially given the work it took to perfect (or come close to perfecting) the technique. "That sounds like a good idea and given I still have this--" He twirled the gun around dextrously, stopping it upright easily after a few revolutions. "--so we may as well make use of it. Disarming with any sort of skill takes work... but then again, so do most skills."

It was a universal constant, really.


~*~


Clueless as ever (or perhaps desensitized to the 'annoyed' tone he usually caught), Silas didn't seem to notice her frustration. "Well... I could, I guess..." he said, the trailed-off implication of 'but I probably won't' hanging in the air.

He didn't mean to be annoying, honest! He was just so full of energy all the time! It was like his motor had no idle, it was either 'go' or 'stop' and the latter really only occurred at bedtime. Maybe he'd be better once he got working out and blew off a lot of the excitement and energy that was coming to a rolling boil inside of him. Exercise seemed to be one of the few things that took him down a few pegs, really.

"So!" he said, moving on already. Not quite quiet for two minutes... more like 30 seconds. But it was something? "You thing there's a time limit on the equipment? Or do we have to work out how to take turns on our own? Cuz as much as I believe in the spirit of community and talking it out, I don't like some of the looks we're getting- I dunno if they're gonna be willing to share..."

Britney groaned letting her forehead fall to her hand with an audible slapping noise. She left it there trying to ignore him.

She failed in epic proportions in doing so. She moved her hand rubbing her eye lids again. "I believe it's more of a do what you can then move to the next thing deal. She did say we had until noon to do this and there are only twenty of us." She said quietly, knowing that the others were eyeing them again.

She was almost to the point of knocking the boy out. "Is there any magic way of getting you to stop talking?" She asked frustration taking over.

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

Veronica looked at the man amazed that he still had it. "Maybe that was a test to see what we'd do." She said planting herself firmly on the mat.

She got ready waiting for him to point the gun at her. "My dad taught me what I know excepted he refused to teach me anything about the guns." She said smiling to the man. "And believe me, he wouldn't let me stop something until I knew it."

Sy nodded as she put forth her idea on what to do. Well, that made sense. Had to practice on everything, right? Sure, some people said 'jack of all trades, master of none' but her believed being well-rounded was more important than hyper-focusing on just one thing. There was a world of talents out there- why not try and dabble in a few?

"Uh, I guess if you cut my tongue out?" he joked, starting in on some warm-up stretches. "But that's not magic, I guess, huh?"

He continued to stretch and get ready for working out in proper. He had learned in school that it was better to take some time to do warm-ups rather than dive right in. He'd forgotten the science behind it, but her knew that the main point as that it helped you perform better and it helped reduce muscle injury.

"Well, I guess we can warm-up until we get a machine, right?" he said, continuing his routine.


~*~


Watson chuckled and gave a nod. "Maybe so. I doubt she failed to notice- she seems very observant. Most in her role are, though." It was sort of their job and all.

He moved into position again, holding the gun out. He figured for the first few rounds, he'd let her get used to the motion of it before he added slightly more realistic resistance in. That sounded fair enough- one should always start with a warm-up after all, whether you were working out, playing an instrument, or what have you.

"Well, if you have questions, I wouldn't mind sharing what I know on firearms. I come from a large family, most of which went into law enforcement... so use of firearms- and how to properly handle and maintain them- was a large part of my knowledge growing up." he offered. One way or another, he supposed they'd be taught how to use guns anyways but he still felt inclined to offer. Nothing wrong with having a head-start on things, after all.