ONE WEEK LATER

Elsa could say she honestly she had a friend. She could hardly believe it herself. In all her years at school and SEAL training, she never had someone who she could say was just a friend. Not a teammate; a friend. In the week following the celebratory dinner, Elsa and Anna spent nearly all their free time together. When Elsa wasn't at physical therapy or training to re-qualify, she was with Anna.

"Wow, when you said this place was in the middle of nowhere, you weren't kidding," Anna stated as Elsa drove them down an old dirt road.

"Well, most people don't want to live close to a shooting range," Elsa replied indifferently.

"I still don't see we couldn't just go to a movie or something," Anna said as she laid back in the passenger seat.

"Oh, no," Elsa laughed, "You made a deal. I lived up to my half of it. This is all on you now." Anna replied with a groan. Elsa could only chuckle. "We did what you wanted to yesterday. Today is my choice."

"But I chose something fun," Anna defended.

"I beg to differ, Anna," Elsa countered, "watching Twilight does not count as 'fun' in my book."

"What?" Anna shot up in surprise. "Then why did you watch it?"

"Because I made a deal and I'm a woman of my word," Elsa countered.

"Ok, I agree that they aren't the best movies, but they're at least entertaining." Elsa smirked.

"It wasn't entertaining, it was creepy," Elsa answered.

"Creepy?" Anna asked, still surprised, "How so?"

"Isn't that Edward guy supposed to be over a hundred years old or something?" Elsa began to explain. "First of all, why a hundred-year-old dude would want to still be in high school raises some serious questions. Second of all…"

"Oh, shut up!" Anna interjected, "It's a love story! You need to learn to lighten up a little, Elsa." Anna acted as if she were upset.

"Second of all," Elsa continued, "No one thinks it's at all weird the hundred-year-old guy is dating a teenager. I'm telling you, it's really creepy."

"Fine," Anna settled, "You have your opinions; I have mine." As she spoke, Elsa pulled the car into the parking lot of the empty outdoor gun range. She opened the back seat door and retrieved her rifle.

"Today," she said as lead Anna to a shooting bench, "We're gonna do something that's a little more mentally stimulating."

"How is pulling the trigger on a gun mentally stimulating?" Elsa spun around and locked eyes with Anna.

"You obviously have never tried to hit a long-range target," she replied.

"I've never tried to hit any target before, Elsa," Anna answered, "I've never shot a gun before."

"And we will change that today," Elsa stated as she unzipped the gun bag, "Plus, I need some more practice on this thing before I re-qualify." She deployed the bipod on her Remington 700 rifle and sat down on the bench behind it. She opened the bolt and verified that the weapon was empty. Anna sat down next to her.

"Ok, Anna, before we start, there are five rules you need to follow," Elsa began in a more serious tone. "First, always treat the gun as if it's loaded, even if you've checked it yourself," she added, gesturing toward the open bolt on the rifle. "Next, always keep the gun pointed in a safe direction. In this case, that's downrange. Third, keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot. Forth, know the target and what's behind it. This gun could put a bullet through a car and it would still travel a good distance on the other side. Fifth, never point a weapon at something you aren't willing to destroy." Satisfied with her safety spiel, Elsa placed the earmuffs she had brought with her over her ears and grabbed a pair of binoculars from their pouch on the outside of the gun case. She handed them to Anna, who was also putting a pair of earmuffs on as well.

"Here, take these. You'll be my spotter," Elsa said. Anna took the binoculars from Elsa's grasp.

"Ok, so what do I do?" Anna asked as she looked at the device in her hand.

"See that tree at the other end of the range?" Elsa asked. Anna nodded. "Ok, I'm gonna be shooting for that knot in the trunk, can you see it?" Anna looked through the binoculars and nodded again. "All you have to do is tell me how close I am."

"Sounds easy enough," Anna replied as she rested her elbows on the shooting table as she continued to look through the binoculars. Elsa settled down into the all-too-comfortable shooting stance, looking down the scope.

The moment she was in position, Elsa instinctively slowed her breathing. All the old muscle memory and instinct flooded back into her body at the familiar touch of the rifle. She had used this range to practice before, so she knew that the tree was exactly 648 yards away from the shooting table. As she kept her eye on the scope, she grabbed a single .308 round from the box of ammunition she had brought with her and placed it in the weapon before closing the bolt.

She then started to line the knot in the tree with the crosshairs in her scope. The scope on her weapon had a high magnification, so she could clearly make out every detail of the target, even at that range. She could see every crack in the bark; every twitch of fear in his eyes.

Elsa froze, her finger resting against the trigger, waiting for the impulse to fire. But she no longer saw the tree. All she saw in her sight was the face of that sixteen-year-old kid staring back at her, neither willing to fire. Any moment he would start yelling, Elsa knew. He would start yelling to his friends to hunt Elsa down. She would have to shoot, she knew, but her finger wouldn't move. She couldn't do it again.

"Elsa. Hey Elsa." A nudge to her arm snapped Elsa from her trance. She looked over at a concerned Anna. "Hey, you alright? You've been staring down that scope for the last five minutes and haven't moved a muscle. Elsa quickly glanced back down the scope and just saw the tree trunk. There was no boy; he was a figment of her imagination. Elsa let the breath she didn't realize she was holding escape before she replied.

"We need to talk a bit before we start shooting."

Author's Note: Ok, so I've kinda hit writer's block. I know where I want the story to go (Elsa will return to the SEALs and participate in another mission) but I'm totally stuck on what should happen in the meantime. The last thing I want is for this story to get boring. So, if you have any ideas, you can leave them as a review or PM me. Maybe some help can shake this writer's block. Anyway, review and let me know what you thought of this chapter!

P.S. Whoo! 100 followers two chapters ago and now 100 reviews! Thanks to all!