Lady Jaye didn't have the luxury of being able to return to her room to stew. She had to finish the paperwork from the last mission, which was likely to take the rest of the day. And after that, she had one more task to take care of.

Rising from the chair, she stretched and rolled her shoulders. She checked the clock. Still fairly early. He should still be up.

She made her way to the men's quarters, knocking softly on the door of the person she needed to talk to. He opened it immediately, and motioned her to enter.

She sat on his couch, declining his offer of refreshment. She took a deep breath. "Snake Eyes, I need your help."

He nodded for her to continue. "According to Beach Head, I'm not enough of a bad ass. He says my fighting skills suck, and he plans on keeping me in PT until I prove to him that I can hold my own against the other Joes."

Sitting on the other end of the couch, he signed, "You want me to train you?"

Lady Jaye gave him a pleading look. "If you can spare some extra time. The problem is, there's already a betting pool going around about how long it will take for Beach Head to give up, and…" she looked down. "And if he knows you're helping me, he'll think he was right all along."

Snake Eyes nodded, making the sign for 'secret.' He stood up and pulled her to her feet.

"You want to start now?" she asked, looking at the clock.

He shrugged.

"Yeah, why not?" she agreed with a sigh. She was exhausted, all of her muscles ached, and she had to be up early for her next punishment PT session. But she had asked for his help.

They went to the gym, which was inevitably barren at this hour. No one worked out when they could be sleeping. Snake Eyes started the session by checking her stance and working her through a series of punches and kicks, gauging her abilities and style. After that he had her repeat them again and again, making small changes to her balance and the placement of her feet. They kept it up for over an hour, and she finally had to call it quits. Her arms and shoulders now hurt as much as her legs had from the six mile run.

"Thanks, Snake Eyes," she told him, wiping the sweat from her face. "Same place and time tomorrow?"

He nodded, and they left, each returning to their own quarters. Lady Jaye undressed and showered, not even bothering with the lights as she toweled off and flopped into bed.

"Oof! Hey, watch the elbow!" Flint sat up, rubbing his chest.

Lady Jaye jumped up, startled, then saw who it was. She laughed. "Sorry. I didn't see you. How did you get in?"

Flint grabbed her around the waist and pulled her close. "I have keys to everyone's room. I came here to wait for you, but when you didn't show up…" He nuzzled her bare shoulder, moving his hands down her unclothed form. "Mmmm…are you sure you didn't know I was here?"

She gasped as his lips traveled up her neck. "You have keys to everyone's room? Really?"

He chuckled. "In my office. Never know when I might need 'em." He gripped her hip, and she let out a sharp breath.

"Ouch. Bruise," she told him, moving his hand back to her waist. She kissed him, feeling some of the fatigue wash away.

"So… what took so long?" He asked, moving his arms around her back and massaging her sore muscles. His mouth continued to travel up and down her neck, making it hard for her to answer coherently.

"Mmmmm… that feels nice. I—oh!—had paperwork to do, then I went to—" she gasped—"work out for a little while."

Flint paused long enough to look in her eyes. They were weary, but held that special expression that they acquired whenever she looked at him. He loved to see it there, loved knowing he put it there. "You didn't take Beach Head too seriously, I hope? You know I was only teasing—"

She nipped his shoulder playfully. "I know. I was just still mad at him."

"But you went to work out…?"

"Can't hurt. Well, physically, yes—but you know what I mean." She moved her mouth over his skin, enjoying the feel of the muscles jumping in response under her lips.

"You can fight just fine—" he started.

She interrupted him with a kiss. "Don't want to talk about it right now…" she whispered. He obligingly changed the subject, murmuring softly in her ear, watching as a slow smile spread across her face.

The next morning's PT started off with a two mile run in full gear. Beach Head had also readied some weighted backpacks for them to wear. He had refused to alter them for each team members' size, and so while Leatherneck was carrying less than a third of his weight, Lady Jaye's pack was more than half her own. She gritted her teeth and jogged along, feeling the pressure in her knees almost from the start. By the time they had finished the first mile, she thought she was going to collapse. She kept running, though, feeling her leg muscles shake with the strain.

Although it took her longer, she did finish, if barely. She loosened the straps and dropped the pack, rubbing her sore muscles and trying to ignore Beach Head's rant about her time.

They moved to the obstacle course next; the wall wasn't too bad because she could use her arms, but she slowed nearly to a walk in between the other obstacles. Her legs gave out for a moment while she was slogging through the very cold, thigh-deep, muddy water, and she fell to her knees. She rose soaking and covered in slimy mud and trudged on.

The others looked on as she neared the end. They knew better than to help; Beach Head would simply make them start over again. Of course, he did anyway. Two more times, in fact.

It wasn't just Lady Jaye who was wiped at the end of that; all six of them looked much the worse for wear. Beach Head marched them all to the gym, not even letting them dry off before beginning combat practice.

Alpine was paired with Gung-Ho this time, Leatherneck fought Shipwreck, and Ace squared off against Lady Jaye.

"No weapons today, kiddies," Beach Head hollered. "Three rounds of fifteen minutes each. Today the losers aren't allowed to shower until after dinner."

Alpine opened his mouth to protest, saw the look on the drill sergeant's face, and changed his mind. The man did not understand the meaning of "fair," anyway.

Lady Jaye and Ace threw half-hearted punches and kicks at each other, and she noticed that even in her fatigued state, her blocks were more solid and her kicks had more force behind them because of her practice the night before. It wouldn't satisfy Beach Head, not by a long shot, but she was glad nonetheless.

"So, what are you in here for, anyway?" Ace asked her as they battled. "I mean, the rest of us were caught trying to sneak off base—what did you do to deserve this?"

She gave him a wry smile. "I'd rather not say." She blocked a kick and brought her own leg up in a roundhouse.

Ace ducked out of the way and threw a punch, which she mostly deflected. She was glad the pilot was as tired as he was; there wasn't a lot of strength behind the blows. "Oh, come on, you can't sidestep that easily," he protested.

"Yes, I can," she responded, managing to land a blow of her own.

"Get caught with Flint?" Ace asked as he threw another punch.

Startled, she didn't get the next block up in time, and staggered back as his fist connected solidy with her ribs. She bent over a moment to catch her breath. He can't possibly know… she thought. He's just fishing.

Ace grinned down at her. "Sorry. Did I hit a sore spot?"

Glaring up at him, she replied, "I did not get caught with Flint. And I don't like what you're implying."

He laughed as they resumed sparring. "Whatever. I've seen you two together a lot lately. It's natural to assume…"

Lady Jaye brought her foot up to his stomach, and he caught it, holding her. "I spend a lot of time with Beach Head, too—you don't think I'm seeing him romantically, do you?"

Still holding her foot, he waggled his eyebrows suggestively and replied, "Only if you're into S and M. But I think you're into W and O."

She wrenched her foot free and stepped up to try a throw. He ducked to the side and grabbed her from behind in a bear hug. "Admit it and I'll let you go," he told her.

"Not a chance," she growled, pulling against him.

"Come on. Say it." He loosed a hand to tickle her ribcage. "Say it."

She tried to elbow him, but her arms were pinned too tight. "Fine," she gasped. "Beach Head and I are having a torrid love affair, and the only reason I'm staying in PT is so that we can make out on the obstacle course."

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY!" Ace and Lady Jaye sprang apart as Beach Head's voice thundered from just behind them.

Face flaming bright red, Lady Jaye turned around to stare at the drill sergeant. Ace was doubled up, trying to suppress his mirth—unsuccessfully.

Shipwreck had actually fallen to the mat laughing like a madman; Alpine's shoulders were shaking, and Gung-Ho was slapping his thigh. Leatherneck was looking from Lady Jaye to Beach Head. He leaned down toward Shipwreck and asked, "Really? Talk about the odd couple."

"I was being sarcastic!" Lady Jaye yelled.

Beach Head stood, arms crossed, eyes mere slits as he stared at her. She noticed that what she could see of his face was as red as hers. She swallowed and looked at the floor.

Seconds passed, Shipwreck's wheezing the only sound to be heard in the room. Beach Head began to tap his foot, which was always a bad sign. His voice was low when he finally spoke. "I think twice more through the obstacle course might cool your ardour." When the others started laughing harder, he amended, "Make that three."

Shipwreck now looked like he was having an apoplexy. Leatherneck bent down to smack him on the back. Lady Jaye bit her lip to keep from saying anything that would only make the situation worse.

Beach Head continued to stare at her, telling the others they could leave early. He didn't forget to announce the winners and losers, of course—it would be several long hours before Shipwreck and Alpine would be able to wash the mud from themselves.

As they left, catcalling and laughing, Shipwreck called, "Have fun on the obstacle course, you two! Don't do anything I wouldn't do!"

Lady Jaye continued to stand staring at her feet. Beach Head hadn't moved a muscle yet.

"Your blocks looked better today," he finally said.

She looked up, startled. "Uh, thanks."

"NOW MOVE YOUR BUTT TO THE OBSTACLE COURSE!" he screamed.

She winced, but started jogging back outside. He ran alongside her, keeping up a tirade of abuse, or as he would say, "motivation." It was no worse than usual, and she tuned most of it out. They reached the beginning of the course, and she trudged into place before the first challenge. At least she couldn't get any dirtier.

The runs were torturous, but she clenched her teeth and slogged through. They were easily her worst times yet, not that it came as a surprise. She had a continuous muscle spasm in her left calf and even her shoulders felt locked in place after the climbing, crawling, and swinging the course entailed. Fortunately her ears had become so plugged with mud after the first run that she could no longer hear Beach Head at all.

It was finally over, and the drill sergeant let her leave, reminding her she wasn't allowed to shower until after dinner. She fumed her way back to her room to at least change before lunch. She stood staring at her tub for a moment before giving in and starting the hot water running. After all, Beach Head had said nothing about a bath. Of course, she knew what he had meant, but she didn't care. What else could he do? She rinsed most of the mud from her hair in the sink, put on some music, and settled in for a long soak.