Bodyguard training

Based on a random idea I suddenly had and set just before episode 7249, this is a one-shot based around Aaron preparing for his job as Paul's bodyguard.

Although Aaron had been confident when he was talking to Nate and Daniel about his new job, as he was reading an e-mail from Paul he grew increasingly anxious. The e-mail from the Mayor set out all of Aaron's responsibilities starting the next day and he was unnerved by the reality of what the job would entail. As well as the fact that he, Daniel and Nate had exposed Paul's schemes to the public and was slightly fearful that he might find out somehow, Aaron wasn't sure if he could handle the pressure of the job itself. Thinking back to the night that he was attacked a couple of months earlier and cringing at how easily he was taken down made Aaron question whether he was really the right person for the job. He stood up and closed his laptop, realising that he had some grovelling to do. After putting his dinner plate in the sink, Aaron decided to head over to number 28 for some help.

xxx

As Aaron waited for the door to be opened, he hoped that Nate wouldn't gloat about being right when he had tried to convince him not to take this new job. Things had been slightly tense between them after Nate warned him against being Paul's bodyguard but realised that he wasn't going to change Aaron's mind, though now Aaron was standing outside his house, ready to beg.

When the door finally opened, Nate was confused to find Aaron standing outside, looking uncharacteristically sheepish.

"I wasn't expecting to see you again today" Nate noted after a pause, "I thought you'd be too busy getting ready for tomorrow"

Aaron sighed, "That's kind of why I'm here" he replied, "Can I come in?"

Nate hesitated before nodding slowly and stepping aside for Aaron to enter the vacant living room, "You might have been right before" Aaron murmured

Nate looked intrigued, "'Might have'?" he repeated as he closed the door behind him

Aaron rolled his eyes, "Ok, you were right before" he murmured, "I'm getting a bit worried about my new job"

"So quit" Nate retorted simply

Aaron shook his head, "No way!" he exclaimed, "One, Paul will get suspicious if I quit before I've even started and he can't find out what we did. And two, I need the money"

Nate nodded in understanding before asking, "So what's the problem?"

"The problem is that I have no training in combat" Aaron replied, "In fact, the last fight I was in I managed to get thrown to the floor with little effort, and you had to rescue me!"

Nate shrugged, "Yeah but that guy threw alcohol in your face and caught you off-guard" he pointed out

"That's the point" Aaron argued, "I'll have to deal with stuff like that every day and… I don't think I'm ready for it"

"So what do you want to do about it if you're not going to quit?" Nate asked, confused about where this conversation was heading

Aaron blinked at him, surprised that Nate hadn't caught on to what he was suggesting, "Well I was hoping that my lovely, handsome, military-trained boyfriend might teach me some things to help me" he replied hopefully

Nate held back a grin, "Wow, you really can be charming sometimes" he muttered, "Shame it's not part of a bodyguard's job description"

Aaron snorted, "Yeah, otherwise I'd be perfect for it" he joked before looking more serious, "I know you refused to help me a couple of months ago because of your PTSD, but I'd really appreciate it if you could do this for me"

Nate considered this, "Well the PTSD isn't getting to me as much now, so it's not
such a problem anymore" he admitted before shaking his head, "But you're starting tomorrow, there isn't enough time to teach you everything"

Aaron shook his head, "No, I don't need to know everything, at least not right now" he assured him, "Just a few tips and helpful moves to get me off on the right foot"

Nate looked doubtful, "I still don't think it'll work"

"I'm a pretty fast learner and a good student-" Aaron began

Nate scoffed, "Somehow I don't believe that"

Aaron pulled a face at him, "Fine, but you're a good teacher" he replied more seriously

Nate looked confused, "Why would you say that?"

"Because over the last few months you've taught me stuff without even realising it" Aaron replied awkwardly

Nate folded his arms, intrigued by Aaron's words, "Like what?" he questioned

"For one thing, to be more open-minded to other people's beliefs, even if I don't agree with them myself" he began, "Secondly, not to make judgements about people straight away because there's usually more to them than meets the eye. And to always be there for people in their time of need, even if you're not that close"

Nate was genuinely moved by Aaron's response and smiled at him fondly before taking a step closer and kissing him tenderly. However, he suddenly pulled away, "So this is your 'time of need', is it?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Aaron retorted before teasing, "You wouldn't turn your boyfriend down when he needs you, would you Nate?"

Nate held his gaze for a few moments before sighing, "You're lucky you're so hard to resist"

Aaron smirked, "I know" he replied conceitedly and Nate couldn't help but chuckle before kissing him again.

xxx

After a couple of hours of Nate teaching Aaron some basic moves, Aaron decided to make some notes whilst Nate was having a bathroom break. Ironically, just as Aaron was writing about the fact that he needed to be constantly aware of what was going on in his surroundings, he was pulled off of his chair and into a headlock by Nate, who was testing him. Aaron's gut instinct was to kick his leg backwards, but he was suddenly reminded of the incident where he accidentally kicked Nate between the legs when he was teaching him Tai Chi a couple of months earlier, so he froze. Nate let go of him once he realised that Aaron wasn't responding to his grip and was confused.

"You know, if this was real then you would be in serious trouble" Nate warned him, "What happened to everything we've just been through?"

Aaron sighed, "Well I was about to kick behind me but then I remembered doing that to you and injuring you not so long ago" he admitted

Nate chuckled, "You don't have to worry about that now, it's all healed" he assured him, "Once I'd put ice on it, I was fine"

Aaron shrugged, "I just don't want to hurt you, that's all" he murmured

"Well I appreciate that" Nate replied softly, "And don't take this the wrong way, but I don't really think you're that capable of actually hurting me"

Aaron scoffed, "Thanks" he retorted sarcastically

Nate rolled his eyes, "I told you not to take it the wrong way" he muttered, "Like you said, I was trained in the army so I've become kind of…"

"Invincible?" Aaron interjected

"Well I was going to say 'resilient'" Nate retorted, "But I actually prefer 'invincible'"

Aaron chuckled, "That makes you sound like some kind of superhero" he joked, "So maybe me calling you 'Captain Killjoy' wasn't far off"

Nate scowled playfully and moved to kick Aaron as another test. Fortunately, Aaron was paying attention and managed to block it before throwing a punch towards his cheek, which Nate was able to duck out of the way of. Aaron took advantage of Nate's bent posture to knee him lightly in the ribs, causing Nate to fall backwards onto the floor, where Aaron could easily pin him down.

"How was that?" Aaron panted to his boyfriend underneath him as he held his shoulders to the floor

Nate nodded, "Better" he replied before looking mock-sinister, "But don't ever call me 'Captain Killjoy' again"

Aaron mulled this over, "How about 'Eyebrow Man'?" he suggested

Nate pulled a face before hooking one of his hands over one of Aaron's wrists and grabbing the back of Aaron's arm with his other hand. Aaron wasn't prepared as he felt Nate trapping one of his feet and pushing his hips up, which resulted in Aaron being pulled sideways. In the next moment, Aaron realised that they had switched positions, with Aaron now being pinned to the floor and a smug Nate on top of him.

Noticing Aaron's bewildered expression, Nate grinned, "Remember to always be one step ahead" he reminded him.

"I'll bear that in mind, 'Solider Boy'" Aaron smirked

Nate rolled his eyes, "You're never going to come up with a decent superhero name for me, Ant Man" he retorted

Aaron looked offended, "Is that some kind of dig about my height?"

"So what if it is?" Nate questioned teasingly, "What are you going to do about it, shorty?"

Aaron narrowed his eyes at Nate before copying his actions from before and swapping positions again. They held each other's gazes intently for a few moments before Aaron dipped his head down to kiss Nate passionately. The whole situation felt slightly like their first kiss, and they were both so caught up in the moment that they didn't notice anyone entering until Susan let out a gasp.

"I'll come back again later" she muttered as she turned around

Nate and Aaron quickly scrambled to their feet, "No, it's ok" Aaron assured her breathlessly, "We were just doing some combat training"

Susan looked surprised, "Oh, is that what we're calling it now?"

Aaron and Nate laughed in embarrassment, "No, he literally means 'combat training'" Nate interjected, "I'm helping him prep for his new job tomorrow, but we got a bit… carried away"

Susan nodded, "You certainly did" she chuckled before glancing at Aaron, "Yes, Nate told me that Paul hired you as his bodyguard, it sounds exciting"

Aaron nodded, "Yeah, I reckon it will be" he replied before nudging Nate, "And thanks to this guy, I definitely feel more prepared"

Susan smiled, "That's good" she remarked as she moved towards the kitchen area, "Do you want to stay for dinner?"

Aaron shook his head, "No thanks, I've already eaten"

"Actually, I've already prepared something" Nate announced as he noticed Susan lethargically slinging her bag onto a chair, "It's in the fridge, so you can just heat it up if you want"

Susan grinned, "Oh thanks" she responded as she opened the fridge, "I wasn't really in the mood to cook tonight anyway" she turned around and pointed towards Nate, "He's a keeper"

Aaron nodded, "I know" he replied happily before kissing Nate's cheek, "And thanks for all of this"

Nate glanced away, "I'm still not thrilled about this job, you know" he murmured

"Yeah, I know" Aaron replied quietly, "But you still helped me with the preparation even though you're not on board with it, which just shows how amazing you are"

"Well I really care about you" Nate began gently before quickly adding, "And I don't want you to get beaten to a pulp"

"How romantic" Aaron muttered before grinning and closing the distance between them, "Though speaking of romance, how about we go and do some non-literal 'combat training'?"

Nate chuckled as he caught onto Aaron suggestion but stepped away, "As tempting as that offer is, I'm gonna have to say 'no'"

Aaron looked annoyed, "Why?"

"Well you have a new job that you've got to be up early for" Nate pointed out, "You need as much rest as you can get, and to let all the stuff we went over earlier sink in"

Aaron sighed, "And now we're back to 'Captain Killjoy' again"

Nate shook his head, "You love it really"

Aaron wasn't sure how to respond to that. Was Nate implying that he loved him, or was he just being facetious? Aaron knew that he had strong feelings for Nate, but it was still quite early in their relationship and he didn't want to mention 'love' prematurely. Aaron stood silently for a few moments before deciding that nothing he could say would help the situation, so he just shrugged and muttered his goodbye's as casually as he could before making his escape. Nate watched after him in confusion: he had been joking around before, but the look on Aaron's face suggested that his words had a deeper impact on him. Shutting the door slowly, Nate wasn't sure what his joke had done but hoped that it hadn't made things too difficult and that they could just carry on as normal the next time that they saw each other again.

Thanks for reading! This probably seemed an odd gap to fill, but I thought that there was unexplored territory with the bodyguard storyline and wanted to write a one-shot about it.

In response to the comment by 'aphass' on the previous chapter: I really like your ideas, but because of where and when they are set, I'm not sure whether to include them in this story or 'New York, New York', but you'll hopefully see them in one of the stories eventually!

Anyway, if anyone has any ideas for one-shots, then please let me know. In the meantime, reviews are always welcome!