CHAPTER 24-Assessments
The lecture on not becoming sniper fodder came the next day and they all wondered how Heero knew that Riley had mentioned that exact topic on the roof. Heero hid a smirk. He'd sent Duo and Trowa to trail them and the rooftop surveillance cameras had picked up everything. He was actually impressed with how well the team was forming. It had taken much longer for the five original pilots to get along at all, but then, they had trained separately and had each been ordered to kill anyone that saw them.
Jocelyn had decided that she didn't want to be an official member of the team, but she no longer fought against going to training that was designed to keep her alive. She learned how to use a weapon and basic self-defense techniques, but didn't bother learning anything more advanced. She would occasionally watch the others spar, but mostly, she spent her time tanning by the pool.
The next month flew by with advanced training in martial arts, weaponry and the beginning of mobile suit maintenance. With only a scar remaining as evidence she'd been attacked by Taylor, Sally had finally given Riley a clean bill of health and she quickly caught up to the level the boys were at. But Wufei could see that there were times she was holding back, as if she didn't want to be too far ahead of the boys. He wanted to see what she really knew, but it was proving harder to pin down than he thought it would. She aced every written exam and quickly learned everything she was taught regarding weaponry. Wufei even switched one of her tests to an advanced Preventer agent exam on the sly and she passed it with flying colors. And she was the undisputed, if unofficial, leader of the new group.
The only area he couldn't assess her in was combat. The piloting analysis that had been sent by the scientists the day before their arrival showed that she had passed the game more efficiently and quickly than the four boys. But when she was sparring with any of the four, he could tell she was giving up easy points to the younger boys and with Zach, it was like she was afraid to beat him. Wufei was getting frustrated with her because he could tell that she knew more than she was letting on.
That was why he had decided to do an assessment. He couldn't just do one on her, or she would know he was up to something. So instead, he announced that he would be assessing each one individually so he could see where the weaknesses were that needed to be addressed. In order to ease their apprehension of the assessment, he informed them that while they were not being assessed, they would be allowed to be in the entertainment center, which boasted a pool table, a wall-sized television, and video games. It also ensured that only the other pilots would be watching, which he thought might encourage Riley to stop holding back.
He decided to start with Angelo and work through the order of their arrival, making Riley last. That way, he could spend all the time he needed to in order to make her show what she was truly capable of. And there was that nagging thing that Heero had said when she first arrived about how someone had a reason for wanting her dead. In his opinion, her father's research was not a valid reason. There had to be something more to it and he wanted to know what it was.
Angelo's testing was as Wufei expected. He needed to work on his attack stance and improve his speed a little, but overall, he was at an acceptable level. Alex needed to improve his defenses. He tended to leave too many openings. Braxton surprised Wufei. He was fast and attacked with precision. Wufei made a mental note to teach him more advanced techniques. Zach's assessment was as expected and he was also ready for more advanced training.
Riley had been dreading the assessment from the first mention of it. She had been content to be on the same level as the boys, but Wufei wasn't buying it. When it came time for her turn, she immediately begged to be let off.
"Why?"
"Because I really don't want to do this."
"That is not a valid reason and it isn't up for debate. We need to see where your strengths and weaknesses lie so we can address them."
"You don't know what you're asking," she said quietly.
"Then explain it to me."
When she didn't answer, he narrowed his eyes. "Since this discussion is over, let's begin."
He began his attack slowly, gaining speed and intensity as time went by. Riley refused to attack, but deflected or dodged his every move. He was starting to get annoyed. She was still holding back.
"You need to attack, Riley. I won't know what you can do if all you do is dodge!"
"I don't want to," she insisted, dodging yet again.
"Attack me, dammit!"
"No!"
Deciding that he'd had enough, he grabbed her by her shirt and pinned her against the wall, her feet six inches off the ground. The other pilots had been watching the assessments and Duo was about to intervene when Heero stopped him.
"He won't hurt her."
"But—"
"Duo, he knows what he's doing."
Meanwhile, Wufei had been staring Riley down. "Why aren't you fighting back?"
"I told you, I don't want to."
"And I told you it is necessary for your survival."
"Can't you just take my word that I can defend myself?" He ignored the pleading look in her eyes.
"We cannot take that risk. You need to fight back."
She shut her eyes and he felt her go limp before she replied wearily, "Fine, but don't say I didn't try to warn you."
She looked into his eyes with a resigned expression and surprised him as she quickly brought her arms up under his, breaking his hold on her and pushed his chest forcing him away, dropping to a crouch as he let her go. He went flying backwards with the force of her push and barely managed to regain his balance several feet away from her. The other pilots were just as surprised as he was.
From her crouch she said grimly, "You want me to fight back? Be careful what you wish for," and lunged towards him. He was hard pressed to deflect her attack. She switched from one martial art form to another with astonishing ease. Kicks and jabs found their target more often than he cared to admit. He found her style oddly familiar.
He managed to grab her leg once as she kicked at him, but she was expecting it and quickly twisted her body, dropping her hands to the ground and whipped her other leg around to kick him in the face. He staggered backwards at the force. The pilots watching couldn't believe it. Her moves were so quick and so fluid, it was like watching liquid lightning.
In an attempt to turn the tide, he took a chance and tried to strike back. She dodged and used his momentum to throw him into the wall. She spun quickly, stopping her elbow strike half an inch from his spine. Everyone in the room was in shock. No one had ever managed to best Wufei in hand to hand combat, at least not that they'd ever seen.
In the silence, Riley lowered her arm and stepped back. She looked at the ground and her shoulders slumped as she made a noise of disgust and retreated to the women's locker room, knowing that they wouldn't follow her inside. She knew that they would wait for her to come out, so she quickly slipped out the window. She was annoyed with herself. She'd made a promise and then broken it. She was sure that their reaction would be the same as all the rest.
She made her way up the back stairs to the empty apartment and let herself in. Once in her room, she collapsed on the bed in tears.
"Holy shit," Duo muttered under his breath as she disappeared into the locker room.
"Where did that come from?" Trowa asked. "I've never seen her do any of that against the boys."
Wufei turned slowly away from the wall, still breathing heavily from the exertion of blocking her attacks. "I knew she was holding out on us."
"The question is why was she holding back?" Heero pointed out, looking at Duo. "Has she mentioned anything to you?"
Duo shook his head. "No."
"She started to, once," Quatre said. "Just before Taylor shot at her, she threw Duo into the pool and he asked her where she learned to do that. Taylor interrupted before she could tell him."
Wufei had walked over and he smirked at Duo. "She threw you into the pool? I can't imagine why you didn't tell us that."
Duo shut his eyes and stuck his nose in the air. "Actually it quite slipped my mind."
"The issue now," Heero said, trying to stop their bickering, "is to find out where she learned that and why she was so unwilling to show us. We could have been teaching her other things instead of wasting time on things she already knows."
Quatre was thinking. "She seemed really upset about the whole thing. I don't think it's going to be something that she'll talk about willingly. We may have to corner her."
"And hope she doesn't beat the hell out of us," Duo added.
Trowa glared at him. "It's probably that type of attitude that makes her want to keep it a secret."
Duo ducked his head. "I was kidding, sheesh."
"Well, you might want to rein it in for a while. She's obviously not going to see it as funny right now," Heero admonished.
Duo didn't like it when they ganged up on him. Instead of responding to Heero's lecture, he said, "You realize she probably slipped out and is already upstairs, right?"
"What makes you say that?"
"What's in a locker room to keep her in there this long?"
"She knows we wouldn't follow her in," Quatre pointed out.
"Maybe, but we'd go in there if we thought there was a problem, so she would have hurried to get out here by now."
"If you're right, we should give her a little time to herself anyway. It will be easier to get her to talk to us if she isn't completely upset."
The other pilots knew Quatre was right. They decided to have Rashid get the boys set up in the boxing ring to keep them occupied while the pilots dealt with this new development. Once that was done, they made their way upstairs, a little uncertain of what they would actually be able to get her to divulge.