Here have Chapter Two because why not? Hope you enjoy!
Imra returned the next day with two guards at her side. They dwarfed her in height with large guns in their arms. Their faces were still as they looked at her. Gayle arched an eyebrow.
"Now, now… that is hardly necessary," she smiled as the door slid open. "You are well aware that it was you who asked me to help you, not the reverse."
Imra shrugged as they started to walk. "Let's just say that not everyone is to happy to have you walking around free. This is merely a start until you prove yourself."
Gayle scoffed. "This is a wonderful start to trying to work with me. Have you good guys any idea about a word called trust?"
Imra chuckled. "This part wasn't my idea. I tried to talk them out of it."
Gayle eyed the two guards beside her. "And you did such a wonderful job." She felt something warm in her chest when Imra laughed.
Gayle walked with them until they emerged in the DEO's main room. Oh, wonderful, the Dream Team was already assembled. J'onn paced around, instructing his team. Supergirl stood by her sister, talking quiet until they noticed she'd entered the room.
"Psi," Supergirl greeted. "Glad to see you're cooperating."
Gayle rolled her eyes. "Please. I mentioned before, Reign will come after me when she defeats the D.E.O."
"Very encouraging," J'onn said, joining them. "Now, taking into account Psi's power, we're going to need to rework our plan. Winn, I need you to scan the city again for signs of the Worldkillers. They'll be making their move soon so we need to know the moment they surface."
The others started talking and adding their ideas. Gayle was rather disinterested. The only thing she wanted to find out was when she could get the psychic damper off her damn head. Then she could really get to work.
"Imra, you can handle Psi's training," J'onn nodded. "We'll meet back in a couple of hours and see if we've made any progress. Supergirl, a truck needs you on Route 28."
Gayle arched an eyebrow at Imra. Imra just smiled back.
"Do the boys in black need to accompany us?" she said.
Imra shrugged and looked up at them. "I can handle things from here. She won't try anything." Imra looked at her. "Right?"
Gayle gave her a coy smile.
After a minute or two, they were walking away from the main room, unaccompanied. Gayle felt a lot better already. Though, it did leave her alone with Imra, someone she wasn't sure if she wanted to be alone with. It was confusing.
Imra tossed her a bundle of clothes from a rack. "Get changed, we start in five minutes."
Gayle caught them. "Excuse me?"
Imra had already started walking away but she turned around to flash a smile at her. "Training. You know, like physical combat? The room's just down the corridor. Five minutes." She waved. "Don't be late."
Gayle's eyes narrowed. When they'd said training, she hadn't thought actual fighting. Surely they knew that wasn't really her style.
Gayle lifted the leggings and arched an eyebrow. She quickly changed and made her way down the corridor. She pushed open the door and strode into the room confidently. But stopped when she saw Imra already stretching on the floor.
Imra had stripped her jacket off to reveal powerful shoulders and well-muscled biceps. Her black tank top clung to her torso, showing off just how fit she was. Like all workout clothes, her legging were also skin tight. It also didn't help that she was stretching down her leg with her back to her. So she got quite the eyeful.
Gayle averted her gaze and cleared her throat. Imra raised her head and broke into a smile. She straightened up and checked her watch.
"Almost exactly five minutes," she smiled. "I'm impressed." She patted the dummy beside her. "Get up here. We'll start with your proper form."
Gayle walked closer. "I still don't get why we're going this. Shouldn't we start by taking this off?" She indicated to the damper on her head. "Then I can really show you what I can do."
Imra squared up to her, standing to her full height. Her eyeline was just the same as hers. Something burst free in her chest and the smile Imra gave her didn't help.
"Sorry, Gayle," she said sincerely. "This is all we can do for now."
Gayle snorted. "Of course, what did I expect?" She rolled her shoulders back. "Okay. Instruct me then."
Imra smiled. "Turn around."
Gayle held her gaze. She turned on her heel to face the training dummy.
"Slip into your fighting stance," Imra ordered.
Gayle's jaw tightened. She was not going to admit that she wasn't sure what that meant. "Imra. I don't think you understand, I don't fight. Not like this anyway."
"Well, now you do," Imra grinned. "Fighting stance?
Gayle tried to recall the last time she'd seen a fight. She slid her leg back and curled her hands into fists.
"Good," Imra encouraged. "But position your hands differently. The nearest hand to the dummy should be loose and ready while the other should be guarding your stomach, in case of attack."
"Like this?" Gayle tried but Imra obviously wasn't happy with it.
"No, no more like this-" Gayle just couldn't get it. Her hands were all over the place but nowhere they were supposed to be. She sighed in frustration.
"Here. Do it like this."
Suddenly there was a warm presence at her back and Imra's arms wrapped around hers. A hand settled around each wrist and Imra guided her hands into the right position.
"Imra-" Gayle tried but then she felt warm breath against her ear. Gayle was not into this. At all. All she needed was to get out of the stupid headdress so she could take the world by storm.
"Just relax," Imra instructed. "Let your body stay loose and natural. Okay, I'm going to guide your hands now. One, two, three." Imra moved her hands forward in a quick strike and then again.
The feeling of her body against her back was making Gayle hot all over. "Im- Imra! I… I just- stop!" Gayle wrenched herself free of her arms. Her heart was beating frantically in her chest against her will.
Imra took a couple steps back. "Whoa, I'm sorry. Psi- Gayle, I was just trying to-"
Gayle stopped her with a look. "It's fine. I just… I just-" She didn't know how to continue her sentence. She wasn't even sure why she'd stopped her. She shook her head. "It wasn't working."
Imra ran a hand through her hair. "Okay. Okay, I get it." A blush stained her cheeks. "We can try something else."
Gayle nodded, trying to look as neutral as possible.
"Okay, okay," Imra smiled, stepping back. "Here, try with me instead of the dummy."
Gayle stared at her. That was the exact opposite to fixing her problems. It was bad enough when she was touching her. Imra was stunningly beautiful, super smart and totally Gayle's type. Which she wasn't supposed to be thinking about.
"Gayle. Gayle!"
Gayle snapped out of it. Her mask had come down and she quickly schooled her face into one of confidence. "Right. What am I supposed to do?"
Imra's face flooded with relief. "Try hit me, I'll correct you as we go."
Gayle kept her face neutral. Imra had accompanied them to Fort Rozz but she'd never seen her fight. She threw a punch but Imra caught her wrist. "Kept your elbows tucked closer to your body," the woman advised. "Angling your fist wrong can hurt your wrist if it lands wrong."
Gayle punched with the other hand but she caught that one as well. "Better. But now I have both your hands. What are you going to do?" Imra's smile was amused.
Gayle hooked her foot around Imra's ankle. And yanked her off her feet. Imra's eyes widened and she slipped backwards. Unfortunately, she was still gripping her wrists. And pulled her with her.
They tumbled forward, rolling onto the training mat. She landed right on Imra, straddling her hips. Their faces were inches apart, the only thing keeping her up were her arms; her hands pinned Imra's wrists to the ground. Imra chuckled, chest heaving up and down.
"Nice move," she smirked. "Now what?"
Gayle felt a hot blush shoot down her spine. The pure suggestion in that statement made her curl internally.
Did Imra have any idea the effect she had on people? Or the effect she had on her?
"I.."
Suddenly there was a pressure on her thighs and Gayle was suddenly in the air. She hit the ground with a thud, a dull pain spreading down her leg. It wouldn't last.
"Too slow," Imra laughed from outside her line of sight. "If I was Reign, your skull would be dust by now."
Gayle forced herself to sit up. "If you were Reign, I'd have drawn out your worst nightmare by now." She'd done it once. She'd do it again.
"Okay, again," Imra said.
Gayle got to her feet, wincing at the dull ache spreading up her leg. Imra… wasn't human. Or wasn't as human as her anyway. Chances were she hadn't even tried to throw her hard.
She curled her hands into fists and lunged again. She threw all her weight into that punch but it just glanced off her shoulder. Imra was swift, moving forward to catch her around the waist.
Gayle hit the wall, breath forced out of her.
"Still too slow," Imra teased, cocking her hip to the side.
She was fed up. Her eyes narrowed.
"What's the point in this?!" she yelled. "I don't fight. When will that get through that pretty head of yours?" She took a step forward. "If you really want me to help you, take this damn thing off my head!"
Imra took a step back, mouth opening slightly. "Okay… okay… I'll admit this wasn't the best idea."
"You are a master of deduction.
"This wasn't about training. It was supposed to be a trust exercise."
"I trust that you won't hurt me but the same can't be said for your comrades," Gayle said coldly. "Supergirl would have all the Fun in the world beating me down if I take a step out of line."
"She'd never," Imra said immediately. "Look…. Sorry."
Gayle took a step forward and cupped her cheek. Imra froze, eyes trained on her. It was just the two of them, alone, together. The air hummed with electricity.
"If you want me to trust you, to trust the D.E.O, you need to trust me," she breathed. "You know what I'm asking."
Imra nodded soundlessly. She knew. "Okay," she breathed. "We need to talk to Supergirl but okay. I'll trust you."
Gayle's smile was genuine. "Good. Thank you." She dropped her hand. "That makes me feel…" Confused. "Satisfied."
Imra nodded. And Gayle followed her out of the training room.
Fun fact: I considered calling this 'The Life of Psi' in reference to 'The Life of Pi' because that was a good movie. But I figured that didn't make too much sense so here we are!
