Note: Chapter is a little shorter than normal, sorry. It just felt like a good spot to stop and head to the next chapter.

Chapter 8 It's a SING Thing

Barney's

Tool followed Ava back into the building. He had his hands in his pockets and a toothpick in the corner of his mouth.

"So you wanna work on some self defense stances while they're gone? Might keep your mind offa things?"

Ava turned to him appreciatively, "Yes, please. I was worried I'd run out of things to do by zipping through all the repairs in Candyland."

Tool chuckled as he threw an arm around her shoulders, "Well get into that gear Luna helped you get and I'll meet you in that back room. It's a fairly good sized gym. He's even got mats in there for when the team gets rowdy and wants to wrestle or spar."

She nodded and bounced out from under his arm before heading to the stairs. He chuckled at her enthusiasm. For someone in recovery, she still seemed to move fast. Not even five minutes later she was bouncing back down the stairs. Tool motioned his head towards the gym. She nodded and walked ahead of him into the room.

She looked around and noticed how right Tool had been. A bench with a large amount of weights currently on it with the weight rack next to it were off to one side. A treadmill, one of those bicycles that kept you in one place, pull up bars, and hand weights were off on another side. A couple reinforced punching bags were in another corner. There was more stuff Ava couldn't immediately identify. There was plenty of room near the walls to use it as a large jogging track. Something Ava was fond of was jogging and running. She looked forward to starting up again. The room looked to be sixty feet squared. She quickly calculated that it would take twenty-two laps to run a mile.

Tool motioned to the large area in the center of the room with mats lined up along the floor. She stepped on top of it with her socked feet before looking to Tool.

"First thing I think you need to know is that your hair," he said motioning to her ponytail, "Can always be used against you at that length. Someone might try to grab it no matter how you have it styled. It's usually a shock tactic. If they can distract you with a little pain, they've most likely already won if you aren't somewhat prepared. They usually come from behind or from the sides. Bit hard to grab your hair from the front if it's not there."

Ava nodded with a serious expression on her face.

"So what kind of defense do you know already?" he asked rubbing his hands together.

"I know to SING," she said.

Tool raised a brow, "Sing?"

"S I N G," she said, "Solar plexus, instep, nose, groin. Best for when you are attacked from behind."

"SING," he said nodding thoughtfully, "That's a new one."

"I take it none of you have seen Ms. Congeniality with Sandra Bullock?"

"Is that a chick flick?" he frowned.

"Yes."

"Then no," Tool paused, "Well now, never know what Lee and Toll get up to with their women. So not sure about them. Everyone else a resounding no."

"Not even Dixie?" Ava teased.

"She's more of a mystery movie gal from what I know."

"Good to know," Ava said nodding.

"Well then I'll have you show me what you mean."

"You'd have to come at me from behind," she said tilting her head.

Tool nodded, "Alright just remember I'm old."

She laughed, "You don't happen to have any padding to reinforce the strike areas do you?"

He looked at her with narrowed eyes, "I suppose since you mentioned groin I'm gonna have to scrounge something up."

Ava tried hard not to laugh as Tool sauntered over to a door halfway down one side of the room. A large storage closet looked to have tape for hand wraps, padding, boxing gloves, and more stashed inside. Tool came out wearing a belt that had a pad similar to the mat material dropping down from the front.

"Luna stocked up on padding and such after she dropped you off. Said it was an afterthought. I think she wants us to get kicked in the nuts personally."

Ava snickered as he took a place behind her.

"So how you want me to attack you?"

"Just not the hair. Try to grab me or something," she said as he nodded.

He came up and wrapped his arms around her and tried to pull her backwards and lift her up. She swung her weight down causing him to loosen his hold a bit. She elbowed him in the solar plexus, stepped on his instep, whacked him in the nose with the heel of her hand, and then kneed him in the groin. Thankfully his boots stopped most of the pain from the instep and the padding stopped the pain meant for the groin, but the solar plexus and nose caused him to groan loudly and hold one hand on both.

"Okay," he muttered through his hand, "I'm gonna need some ice for the nose. That's gonna bruise."

"Sorry," she said sheepishly as she ducked her head.

"No," he said shaking his head, "I needed to know what you can do. Now I do."

He paused a moment and smirked, "I think we need to have you do that to Lee when he gets back. Catch him by surprise for your first lesson. I'll make sure the guys are around."

"I don't want to embarrass anyone."

"Then how about we take a volunteer at the time?" he said still smirking.

Ava rolled her eyes, "You just want to see me drop an Expendable by kneeing him in the groin."

Tool smiled so wide his teeth showed, "Damn straight."

"Why did you mention Lee first?"

"No reason," he said smirking, "I'll be right back with some ice."

She nodded wincing at how red his nose looked. She was sure it would be a pretty dark bruise soon. At least the maneuver worked.

Tool soon returned and helped her with her stances. He explained a few defensive ones, but wanted to make sure she knew what a few offensive ones felt like as well.

"How's the healing going?"

"Slow," she huffed, "Faster than when I was on the road, but it feels slow. I think I'll start jogging again now that I know I can jog in here. It's away from street cameras, prying eyes, and bad weather."

Tool chuckled, shook his head, and crossed his arms, "Well I think I'm gonna go take advantage of Barney's huge tv in the other room if you care to join me. There's a couple sports games on."

"Actually I think I'll go grab my running shoes and come back down here. I'm already dressed and I could use a good run."
Tool nodded and headed out to the main room to occupy the couch while Ava headed upstairs to unpack her new running shoes. Once they were laced, she bounced back down the stairs and into the gym.

She liked running and jogging. It helped her to sort out her thoughts and let the troubles of the world melt away. Every time she passed the entrance door, she added to the count in her head. When she finally felt out of breath and pleasantly sore she stopped at the doorway and leaned on it. She huffed and puffed as she tallied the numbers in her head. One and a half miles was nowhere near her five mile average, but it was to be expected with her injuries still healing.

She toed off her shoes as she walked back onto the mat. She slowly moved her arms and legs as she closed her eyes. Tai Chi was something she'd learned for a cool down from her runs.

When she finished her moves and opened her eyes, she was facing away from the entrance door. Tool clapped his hands startling her and causing her to spin towards him fast.

"I didn't know you knew any of that."

"Knew what?"

"Those moves you just did," he said pointing at the mat, "Speed them up and you can use them as an attack."

"But Tai Chi is just for cooling down or slow exercising."

"Oh it can be a lot more if you let it," he said crossing his arms with the biggest smirk she'd seen yet.

Just what had she gotten herself into she wondered as she smiled gently.

Tool returned to his game and Ava headed upstairs for a nice long soak in the tub. Thankfully she'd bought bubble bath soap. She grinned with renewed energy as she threw in a capful of milk and honey scented deliciousness. She cleaned herself quickly and then allowed herself to soak. She knew she'd be a little sore tomorrow, but perhaps doing her morning jogs again would help to get back into shape.

Once she was good and pruny, she drained the tub, dried off, and changed for bed. Her simple cotton shorts stopped mid thigh and the the matching cotton tank top showed a decent amount of cleavage. She smiled in the mirror as she noticed more bruises had faded and she actually looked somewhat normal. She never considered herself a great beauty. Her mother had always taught her that it was her heart that counted. She appreciated the silkiness of her hair and considered it her one vanity, but she knew she wasn't ugly either. If her ex had been interested in her then she had to have something guys liked.

She found her thoughts drifting to Lee as she pulled back the covers on her bed. When she sat down she wondered if he found her attractive at all. Not that it mattered with him being taken, but she still worried about his opinion of her. If nothing else she hoped he'd be a good friend. She smiled at that thought and crawled into bed the rest of the way before closing her eyes and drifting off.