Setting: Rainbow base sparring ring, 0800 hours.
Elzbieta 'Ela' Bosak was training in hand-to-hand combat with her only confidant within team Rainbow, Meghan 'Valkyrie' Castellano, both women clad in standard training uniforms consisting of a white t-shirt, blue shorts and running shoes customized to bear each person's emblem.
The SEAL threw several punches and Ela dodged them all almost effortlessly, but her counter strikes left something to be desired. They were fast but weak while Valkyrie was the opposite, her blows heavy but slow.
The sparring continued for ten minutes until the two were breathless, bruised and unsteady. The two leaned on opposite corners of the boxing ring, struggling for breath.
"So, are we gonna' call it a tie?" Valkyrie inquired.
Ela chuckled back. "Again. But I promise you this, Meghan; I will kick your ass someday!"
The two laughed at the other and hugged it out in the centre of the arena before heading to the locker room to shower and change. Meanwhile, a hidden figure dressed in the GROM uniform sighed and shook her head.
"Ela. Why do you trust a stranger more than family?"
Valkyrie and Ela exited the locker room chatting happily with the Polish woman dressed in sweatpants, a turquoise green t-shirt and runners while Valkyrie sported a pair of blue jeans, black tank top, brown hoodie and sneakers.
"So, while the Canadians and Mexicans are on mission, what have you got planned for the next couple days Lizzy?" Valkyrie asked her friend.
Ela smiled and gave the SEAL a light punch on her shoulder at the nickname. "Probably training, gaming, reading and more training. You?"
Valkyrie made to reply when another voice cut her off.
"You should relax some time, Elzbieta." Zofia, Ela's sister declared as she slowly walked out of the shadows towards her sister.
Ela's eyes narrowed, and she bore a frown. "It's Ela. And I don't need someone else telling me what I should do." The younger daughter turned her back and began walking away. "Least of all you." She muttered, just loud enough for Zofia to hear. "C'mon, Meg, let's get going."
The Seal stayed quiet and gave Zofia an apologetic look before breaking into a slow jog towards Ela.
Zofia merely nodded and hung her head. How long can you hate me for, Elzbieta? She thought.
"Trouble?" A voice inquired.
The older sister turned behind her to see one Olivier Flament, better known as Lion dressed in casual GIGN clothes consisting of a dark blue t-shirt and denim jeans with his symbol over his heart and a cross around his neck approach.
The large Polish woman just shook her head and massaged her forehead with a hand.
"Come, let's get some coffee and talk."
"I just don't get it." She lamented. "I do everything I possibly can to get her to trust me and nothing works."
"Family is a… delicate matter." Lion admitted. "Alexis has no idea who I am and I doubt his mother will tell him about me. Your sister turns to the ones she fights with for support rather than her own blood relatives. Neither of us can really do anything about the way they feel about us, no matter what we do, Zofia." He declared with a shrug as they walked down the hall toward the mess hall.
"Yeah, but…"
"I've been in your sister's shoes and I have to tell you, she's more likely to shoot you than talk with you."
Zofia sighed once again as she took a paper cup and filled it with black coffee as Lion grabbed a breakfast sandwich.
"What are we going to do, Lion?" Zofia muttered.
The Frenchman shrugged and took a bite of his sandwich. "love them even if they don't reciprocate."
Zofia nodded back and chatted with Lion until he departed to train with Montagne. Alone with her thoughts, her mind wandered to the past. After their father's suicide was when the rift between the two began to expand. The relationship between the sisters was already strained growing up but when Zofia decided to get married and build a family, that was the final shove from Ela.
She refused to even come to the wedding. Zofia thought.
Meanwhile, in Rainbow's library…
Ela browsed the sci-fi section of the area while Valkyrie was on the opposite side of the shelf perusing fantasy novels.
"Meg?"
"Hmm?"
"Ever read The Hunger Games?"
"Finished Catching Fire, working on Mockingjay. Why?"
"Thinking about picking it up." She came back, looking at the SEAL between the shelving units. "Something on your mind?"
Valkyrie smirked and shook her head. "No, nothing important." Ela gave her friend a doubtful look before Meghan caved. "Okay, I'm just thinking if maybe you were too harsh on your sister. All she did was tell you to take it easy."
Ela laughed a deadpan chuckle. "Ever since our father died and even before then, she was never there for me. When I still lived in Poland, not once did she ask how my day was or offer help with homework. When I moved to Berlin, she never called, visited or wrote. After…" She took a deep breath before continuing. "After the incident in our family, Zofia still refused to acknowledge my existence. Only when I was accepted into GROM and she met her husband did she finally start reaching out to me, not the first twenty-eight years of my life. She ignored me then, I'm just returning the favor."
Valkyrie let out a huff. "Is that really the best way to interact with her though? Turn down any advice and snap at her?"
Ela crossed her arms and leaned on the shelf. "Meghan, you know me, I will never forget or forgive. The fact that it took her almost three decades to realize who is important in her life is almost a monument to stupidity. I can't forget all those years I spent by myself. Only when I was accepted into this team did I find people who I can really trust."
"But, are you sure that there's no way can reconnect with her? You can't stay mad at her forever." Valkyrie replied.
"Not until she acknowledges her mistake of neglecting me." Ela said.
"I can wait forever." The Bosak sisters declared simultaneously.