Disclaimer: I own nothing. The full versions of this and all my fics(there are over 10 total)can be found by following the website link under my profile or going to Adultfanfiction .net author ID Shanastay.

Side-note: for those who don't know there are 3 types of competitive bows- recurve (Olympic archery), compound (funky looking bow with 3 strings), and traditional (think Native American bows)

Chapter 1: Janessa

She had a plan…

Who am I kidding? I always have a plan. Things never seem to work out anyway. Not for me.

It had been years since the Air Force Academy, longer still since the events of her early teens. Yet still the specters of the past deign to haunt me.

The strong-willed, independent redhead's early years had been relatively untroubled, at least so much as Janessa could remember. She had been told that she had been rather severely abused up to the time she was four, but she had no recollection of any of that, nor was she wasting any effort trying to bring up those memories. Whether what she was told was a lie or she simply had a mental block on that part of her life, she had let that go.

Adolescence wasn't nearly as smooth sailing. Self-sufficient before, her stubborn streak began emerging in earnest. She had a bad attitude, knew it and didn't care. She was light-years smarter than her peers and thusly ostracized as a freak. She played things off like it all was nothing to her, but in all too increasing moments she had to admit it hurt. It hurt a LOT. It was one thing to say you didn't care, that it didn't matter, but to really mean it… that was another thing entirely.

She was a social creature, craving attention and affection that no one seemed willing to give her. No one, that is, except her father and her grandmother. She was adopted and her mother could care less if she lived or died. The only concern the cold-hearted woman showed the vibrant little redhead was what she deemed absolutely necessary to remain in her husband's good graces. Janessa had taken note early on of who it was at all her gymnastics meets, who it was out swimming in the pool with her, who it was who clearly wanted her around.

Daddy's girl didn't begin to cover it. She lived and breathed to please the man, and in the end she still wasn't sure if she had succeeded. It wasn't until the domineering man had died that she finally, truly began to live her own life. Up until that time everything she had done had been to try to live up to Aloysius Collier's lofty expectations of her. As it was he had been bitterly disappointed by her not long before his passing. That what happened had not been her fault was immaterial.

The elderly, sick man had been holding on to life with only one goal in mind, to commission his favorite daughter in the United States Air Force. That dream taken from him, he had no reason really to hang to life. And for that her mother blamed her. It was Janessa's fault her father had died away from home while visiting her. At least that's what Agnes would have her believe. The bitter, old woman had resented the redhead's presence in their lives and now did a poor job of hiding it.

But back on track. Where were we? Ah yes, adolescence. It was a rocky but productive time, fraught with clashes with mother, only exacerbated by her early development. By 13 she looked like she was 23, with all the curves and none of the experience of that age. Little more than a year later she had her innocence forcibly taken from her in a violent event that she suffered through in silence, forced to cope entirely alone. Such was her introduction into adulthood.

Janessa managed to survive being left for dead and even live somewhat normally through high school. She channeled her energies into her Honors classes and the swim team, excelling with a single-minded determination, driven on by her supportive yet demanding father. It was he who really chose her college for her. If she had had an inkling of what was ahead of her she never would have gone to USAFA. Ever defiant, she let her nay-sayers push her in a direction she wasn't equipped for. And so she went to the Academy… for all the wrong reasons… and lived to regret it.

She managed to survive what happened and all the aftermath and still come out somewhat "normal." Normal meaning she could function within the confines of society but that she was by no means anything like the average woman. Through all the trials and hardships, she had persevered and even thrived, building a new life for herself.

Fast forward to the present…

Janessa was giddy with excitement. She was the only female archer to get invited to ESPN's newest extreme event, Ultimate 3-D Archery Challenge. She couldn't help jumping up from her packing to do a little "happy dance."

Now I'll finally get a chance to show everyone why I'm number 1 with traditional!

Jan thought ahead to the coming days. The competition was to be held in the mountains opposite the USAF Academy.

Jan shivered. USAFA. Haven't been back there for a while.

It was kind of odd that the event was being held in the same woods she went through SERE training in.

This will either help me or hurt me. The fact that I know these woods could give me the edge I need to win, if only Ii can let go what happened the last time...

Jan sighed, her happy mood banished with the rise of fear and doubt. "It's not the same, need to remember that," she murmured to herself, "and this time I'm not alone." Jan took her bow from where it was leaning against the wall next to her bed. She caressed the wood and fiberglass limbs lovingly, "You'll be there to protect me, won't you baby?"
Jan had to grin at her own behavior. If people only knew how she had gotten so good in so short a time they'd give her stranger looks than when they had found out she had named her bow "Legolas."

People just roll their eyes when they find out I named my bow after a LOTR character. I'm such a freak. She smiled to herself.

Jan finished packing, grabbed her bow case and headed out to the airport. During the flight she thought about the competition ahead of her. This one would be unlike any other. The course would be stretched over 30 miles of hard terrain and 3 days. It wasn't just archery involved. The competitors would go in with just what they could carry. They'd be given course headings and general descriptions of target locations, but they'd have to find the targets themselves. There would be no trail to follow. They'd also be shooting broad head arrows, not the usual target arrows.

This should be interesting. I'll have an advantage over the others since I know the terrain and my SERE training will definitely come in handy.

The order the competitors would go in would be decided by their times in a 2-mile run. Each competitor would start 30 minutes behind their predecessor. Scoring was based on speed, accuracy and stealth.

They're gonna have hidden remote mini-cams everywhere, I just know it!

The stealth part would be determined by how many times you were caught by the aggressor teams roving the woods. Getting caught also meant being delayed 20 minutes. You were allotted 15 hours sleep time (5 hours each day). You were required to use them. Jan rolled her eyes at that.

Yeah, I'm gonna stop and sleep... Don't forget about those mini-cams. They'll be checking on us to make sure we use the hours I bet. WTF?

Jan sat in her seat, eyes closed, centering herself. The only sign indicating she was awake were the restless fingers of her right hand playing with the small pile of silk lying in her lap.

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