She shifted to her left, and sent him to the floor with a kick. She stood only a few steps away as she watched him jump back up to his feet. Eddie smiled, and nodded. The Guardians watched off to the side as their students moved about, sparring in their own coordinated spaces and areas.

Olena and Eddie had been partnered since they hadn't spared in a while, and Stan wished to see who could best the other. The two of them hadn't sparred together in a long time, but Olena could easily adjust her fighting style. Her father and her brothers had taught her expect the unexpected, which meant to be able to adjust to the situation. And she couldn't remember the last time she'd sparred with Eddie Castile.

"Gotta be quicker than that, Castile," Stan said. "A Strigoi won't wait for you to get up. They'll fight dirty: strike you when you're down. They don't show mercy, and niether should you, Wilder." Olena nodded. She went at him again, and to be honest, she enjoyed it. She'd loved wrestling and play fighting with her brothers when she was a kid. It was a way for her to get her anger out, like right now. Her fist connected with his jaw, but it didn't faze him. The two of them went at it, fists and feet hitting their marks or being blocked at the last second and countered. Eddie was bigger than she was, but she was faster, able to move in a smaller space. She used her size to an advantage, but it didn't always work out that way.

Eddie had gotten in a few hits to the face, one to the leg, and a kick to the back. Olena took a fist to the face, but Eddie mainly went for her legs. He'd found that she was light on her feet, but he hesitated a few times before hitting her.

It wasn't like the marks on her body weren't visible. They were the only signs remaining that she'd been attacked inher dorm room, that and the look in her bright eyes. Like she was being haunted... Or hunted. At times, during the seemingly-forever round that probably only lasted ten minutes, Eddie could still see the faces on the Guardians and the students just a few weeks ago. Her clothes were in shreds, barely covering her body, but there were no jokes to be made. There was too much blood, and she was too pale... too dead-looking.

And the way she looked around sometimes when she didn't notice him looking? Like she was afraid that something or someone was going to come after her again.

But he had to shake the thoughts away. As much as he hated to, this was a training sessions, and the Guardians needed to know that Olena was still able to hold her ground, which she had been doing pretty well so far.

"Come on, Lena!" Rose called out from the sidelines. "Take him down!" Neither of them had noticed the others standing aside to watch the two of them. It was just him and Olena, fighting, or sparring, whichever one you wanted to call it. The look onher face was determined, but the haunting look was still there.

He really didn't want to hit her harder than he had to. What if she wasn't ready to fight again? What if she was still a little broken from those few weeks ago? What then? The questions ran through Eddie's mind, but he couldn't help but think them. He knew he shouldn't though...

Her foot missed his nose, but just barely. Maybe by a few centimeters. Or milimeters, depending on where you were looking at the moment. His hand flew out, catching her foot. She looked surprised and paused for a second. I guess I wasn't supposed to do that, he thought, smiling. She used the momentum and gravity of his hand to launch herself off the floor, and her other foot caught him in the chest. It sent him back a few inches, nearly out of the small box of red tape one of the Guardians had set down on the mat.

This was to simulate the close-quarters fighting they might have to endure in the real world, when fighting Strigoi.

"Good, Castile!" Alto was pacing slowly back and forth, monitoring them. "That was good Wilder, using your other foot. Nice." The guy hardly gave compliments, and even when he did, they were subtle. So as not to go to anyone's head, Eddie supposed.

Olena looked at Eddie, and he was smiling. He gave her a slight nod before moving toward her again. She couldn't help but smile back at him. It had been a while since she used that move, but she was glad to know that kicking him in the face wasn't the only way to get him to ket go of her. She'd had to kick Jasha when he hadn't let go.

She'd gotten angry at him for telling Papa she'd snuck out to go with some friends to a nightclub, and Jasha was a total jerk, having told their father while she was out. Konstantine had already known of course. And when she'd gotten home, she was grounded, given another lecture on safety from the Varinskis, and all the hoopla that came with that talk. And then Jasha had to rub it in her face about her not being able to go to the party the Saturday after that.

He'd gotten on her nerves so much, her foot nearly got him in the jaw, but to both their surprises, he'd caught it. And they'd been arguing in front of Rurik and Firebird. The four of them were silent, but Olena had been too angry to pass up the oppurtunity: she used his momentum the way she'd used Eddie, and her little foot broke his nose.

Olena smiled at the memory, and her heart ached for home. She would be leaving soon anyways, so it didn't matter. She shook her head to see Eddie's fists, and she smacked his hand away. He turned, his elbow hitting her shoulder when he came out of the spin, and she hooked her foot on his calf.

Her hand caught his throat, and she had him on his back in a flat second.

She heard someone whoop beyond the blood pounding in her ears. What happened next was too unexpected. Somehow, she'd left herself open, vulnerabe. As soon as Eddie hit the mat, hit knee jabbed her side. She so off-kilter for that split second that he was able to get in another hit and kneed her side again. She lost her hold on his neck.

Olena felt a wave of bile come up, but she pushed it back down again. Her brow furrowed as her vision began to blur around the edges. She rolled away from Eddie, but not before sending a hard kick into his gut. He grunted, but she had quickly moved out of his reach, and tried to stand.

The bile rose and she forced it back down again. She covered her mouth, as if she could stop in and dry-heaved. Even though her bones had healed, she kknew something was half-way to being broken, like a rib or something.

"Hey, Lena...?" she heard Eddie say. "Are you okay?" he sounded apprehensive, and he looked at her warily.

"What is it, Wilder?" Stan stood before her, blue eyes searching. He blanched. "Please. Don't throw up in here."

"Great advice," she told him, holding her stomach. Hey, if that's what she was going to do, might as well milk it for what it was worth. She nearly let it out, staring straight at Stan. He went pale and wide eyed, and backed up at least two feet. She suddenly had a bucket in her hand, and when she bile rose, she didn't swallow it back down.

"Whoa, you don't look so good..." Mason put in. Eddie gave him a look. Guardian Belikov furrowed his brow.

"Maybe we shouldn't have let you practice at all for another day or two." His voice was deep, and stern. If she thought about it long enough, he might have sounded concerned...

"Hey, I'm really s-" Olena groaned and blew more chunks into the bucket. She clutched her stomach and was on her knees. Someone made another disgusted sound, and Meredith handed her a towel.

"I guess I ruined the party..." She tried to joke as best she could. It obviously hadn't worked.

"Nah, you didn't ruin it. You killed it. I bet good money on you, Wilder."

"Two dollars, Mason?" Rose looked at him like he couldn't have possibly gotten anything out of it. Ashford simply shook his red hair, and smiled apologetically. Eddie looked sheepish.

"I'm really sorry..."

"I figured you were holding back, but..." Olena shook her head and sighed, happy to have finally gotten the vomit out of her system. Alberta, still standing- and not looking slighty digusted by the smell, sound, and visiual aids of Olena puking ina bucket- handed her a water bottle.

"Just go change. You're done for the day." Guardians Alto and Beliov nodded their agreement. Meredith helped her up, and held her steady when she swayed. Olena didn't prepare for being dizzy when she stood, but Meredith, possibly the best roomate in the whole world- even if she was a quiet and slightly condescending person when you talked to her- led her to the bathroom.

Olena sighed as she opened her locker, and grabbed her clothes. Before getting dressed, she leaned against the cold metal, and sighing in relief. It felt nice against her forehead and skin.

"So," Meredith leaned on the lockers across from hers, and slightly to the left. "Dizzy spells, mood swings, mega-long showers that shouldn't be mega-long and take up the hot water but they are..." Olena looked at her, then put her back to her as she got undressed and put on her pants. "And morning sickness, with the name that apparently has no concept of time," she listened as Meredith shifted.

Olena's heart pounded, hoping what Meredith was about to say wasn't in tune with the thoughts and worries she was thinking.

"Olena, you're pregnant, aren't you?"