Nora looked up as Charlie strolled back into the compound. "Hey, Charlie," she called.
The blonde girl smiled. "Hey, Nora. Have you seen Danny around? I've been looking for him but he doesn't seem to be anywhere."
Nora caught the worried look in Charlie's eyes. "Don't worry. I saw him wander off with Miles not too long ago."
The two went in search of the missing male Mathesons. They had just found Danny not two months ago and Charlie was still leery about letting her brother out of her sight. Currently they were bunking down in an old boxing facility with a bunch of people Miles knew from his days in the Marines. Despite being pretty scary looking and just as good as Miles with weapons, they were all very nice and accommodating. Two girls sewing clothes pointed them to the old ring where Danny and Miles had apparently wandered off to.
They found Miles leaning back in a rickety wooden chair watching Danny and one of the Marines fight. Miles looked thoroughly unimpressed. "Come on, Daniel, swing harder!" he yelled.
"What is going on here?" Nora demanded.
Miles glanced back at them. "Don't tell me you've been with the misguided rebels so long you don't recognize training anymore."
"Danny's training?" Charlie repeated. "For what?"
"Did you miss the part where the entire militia is hunting for us?" Miles turned his attention back to the fighters. "Get that left arm up or he's going to beat you! Swing already!"
"He looks like he's moving a little weird."
"That's because he's having a mild asthma attack."
Nora and Charlie weren't sure how to react to that statement at first. "And he's still fighting?" Nora demanded.
"Don't worry; I've got his inhaler right here." Miles rummaged in his pocket and held up a rescue inhaler. His focus was still the fighters in the ring.
"Then why aren't you giving it to him?" Charlie snapped.
"Because," Miles said as though talking to a very small child, "he doesn't get the medicine until he lands a decent hit. And that hasn't happened yet."
"Miles," Nora began with forced patience, "please tell me you're joking."
"Nope. He can use the inhaler once he manages to land a good hit." Miles scowled at the display before him and got to his feet. "Seriously, Daniel? Hit him already! Did you hear what he said about your sister?!"
"Miles you can't do this," Charlie insisted. "Make the fight end, he can't breathe."
"If he couldn't breathe, he'd be on the ground. He's fine, Charlie. It's only a mild attack." Miles rolled his eyes. "Jackson just knock him out already. Put him out of his misery."
"Miles stop this," Nora demanded. "The boy has been through enough."
Miles finally turned to them. "I'm trying to get the kid to be able to fight the militia. That means he needs to learn to fight through an attack. Because I promise you, they won't stop so someone can hand him an inhaler without being shot."
"That's no excuse," Charlie growled.
Miles turned back to the fighters. Danny seemed to seize up for a moment before managing to clock Jackson in the jaw hard enough to bruise. Miles whistled sharply and the fighters broke apart. He slipped the inhaler to Danny through the ropes. "Two puffs, hold it, breathe out," he ordered. Danny nodded quickly as he took the medicine.
"Not bad, kid," Jackson smiled as he slipped out of the ring.
"Hey, where are you going?" Danny demanded. He sunk to the floor after grabbing the inhaler but tried to get up now. It wasn't working well. His legs felt like they wanted to drop off. "I can go again."
"No you can't," Miles stated firmly. "You're going to rest and get some food. Allison will keep an eye on you."
"But I'm still good to go," Danny maintained. "Seriously, Miles, I can do this."
Miles leaned against the ropes so he was eye to eye with Danny. "Go get food," he repeated. "After lunch, it's sword training. With me."
Danny nodded and took another puff on his inhaler. Miles turned back to Jackson. "Don't push the kid too hard," Jackson advised. "He's good in the ring."
"Of course he is," Miles replied. "He's a Matheson. Thanks for your help."
"Any time."
Miles strolled off to get food of his own while Jackson and Danny gathered their strength back. "I can't believe he did that," Charlie sighed.
"Miles always was more than a little insane," Nora replied.
They couldn't talk more because Danny was jogging over to them with a grin a mile wide on his face. "Did you see that big sister?" he asked. "That last punch I landed? And against a full Marine too."
"Danny, are you okay?" Charlie frowned, studying him closely.
"Sure, fine. Why?"
"Because you were fighting while pushing through an asthma attack," Nora supplied.
"It was nothing," Danny replied waving it off. Allison, a pretty nineteen year old, whose mother had been in the Marines a year behind Miles, came up with a bottle of water for Danny. "Thanks," he smiled.
"You were awesome out there," Allison told him. "You looked almost like Miles at the end there."
Danny glowed at that statement. "I'm going to be just as good as him soon. You watch."
"I don't doubt it. Finish up quick though. Miles will have my head on a pike if you haven't eaten before he's ready to start."
Danny nodded and Allison moved nearer to the boxing ring. "Guess I better get going, don't want to tick off uncle Miles," he rasped. He could breathe again but his lungs were still trying to catch up to all the activity.
"I don't think you should train with him any more," Charlie said. "It's not healthy."
"It's fine, Charlie."
"It's not fine when the man makes you put your health in danger," Nora replied, siding with Charlie.
"Well, I'm a legal adult now, and I say I'm training with Uncle Miles," Danny declared. He turned on his heel and headed over to Allison. The two could be overheard discussing Danny's latest bout in glowing detail as they headed for food.
"I wouldn't worry about your brother too much with Miles around," Jackson told the women.
"Did you see what he just made Danny do?" Charlie gestured.
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean he didn't have complete control of the situation."
"Miles made the kid fight when he couldn't breathe," Nora reminded the fighter. "How is that having a situation under control?"
"Because when Danny was actually having a serious attack, Miles practically flew to the boy's side. I have never seen that man move faster. And when it was over, Miles nearly declared a halt to the whole thing. Danny insisted we keep going. Miles had sharp eyes on him at all times."
"Really?" Charlie asked.
"Really," Jackson confirmed. "Miles must really care about you two. He's usually not so interested in people's safety."
With that the former Marine headed off, leaving Charlie with a lot to think about.
A/N: This came about from a conversation between me and Iron America about how Danny wouldn't like Nora for reasons and Miles would refuse to play peacemaker. In fact Danny would be so ticked he'd attack Nora while having an asthma attack and Miles would sit back with the inhaler and laugh. Since I couldn't use Nora, I used Marines.