Cira dodged around the flailing arms of the training robot to reach the switch on the back. She had been practicing hand to hand combat with the dummy on and off for a few hours; alternating between that and various strength training exercises, and she was exhausted. The robot went limp as she cut the power and she pushed it back into the room where it and eleven more dummies made their home. When she turned around, Saren had materialized behind her.

Even though he rarely stayed to watch her training, Saren always seemed to know when she had finished whatever task he had assigned her. He would appear out of thin air, give her the next set of exercises, and then disappear again. Cira had gotten used to it, but it still annoyed her that he wasn't helping much. Just some tips would be nice.

Cira wiped her hand across her forehead, brushing aside the few blonde strands that had come loose with all her twirling and dodging around the dummy. She was tired but it was only 2000; she had an hour of training left and Saren was going to make sure she used it to the fullest.

"I will run you through various scenarios applying the skills you've worked on today. You will attempt to reach a specific location, retrieve your objective, and return to your starting point. Understood?"

"Got it. Is there a time limit?"

"No."

"Really? Don't think I can handle it?"

He scoffed. "I know you can't." Cira rolled her eyes as he entered the control room and began setting things up. She grabbed a pair of the glasses and took her place in the center of the floor. Only an hour left.

"Come on. Did you really not see that coming? You're the one who didn't set a time limit."

Cira bent forward, bracing her arms on her knees. In sixty minutes she had gone through only one scenario. As a result of taking her time… she failed miserably; getting caught, stabbed, beaten, thrown in a cell and left to bleed out. If the simulated death hadn't been so peaceful, she didn't think she would've been able to keep doing this.

"I failed to realize that you would consider wasting time just to annoy me."

"Saren, after all this time you really don't know much about me. You know you could have pulled me out early. Might've even had time for another scenario."

He just scowled at her. "There is no 'getting pulled out early in real life. You finish the mission no matter the cost. If you don't want experience a slow or painful death, you move quickly and kill anyone who gets in your way."

"Well my mission was to irritate you so… I think I did a pretty good job."

"Remind me to congratulate you."

"I will."

He snarled but kept anymore comments to himself, choosing instead to take his anger out on a training robot. Cira made her way toward the door narrowly avoiding a collision with a couple of Turians coming into the room. She stepped around them, muttering a quick pardon before recognizing one of them.

"Nihlus! Didn't expect to see you here."

He starred at her for a moment before the memory came back to him.

"Cira? I think your presence here is a little more questionable."

"Yeah, I guess so. Saren's my teacher. Well he's supposed to be my teacher."

Nihlus laughed. "I know what you mean. I pretty much had to teach everything to myself and learn what I could whenever he did demonstrations."

"Wait, you got demonstrations? All I get is a growl and a list of exercises followed by a bunch of ridiculous virtual scenarios."

"Sounds like I got the royal treatment. How long have you been here?"

"A little over three months. According to my 'teacher' I haven't improved much."

The ridges where his eyebrows would be scrunched together in a look that Cira could only interpret as confusion. Though she still wasn't great at deciphering Turian facial expressions.

"I watched you fight in that last scenario. Seems to me that you've got a pretty good foundation. Better than most of the recruits I get."

It was Cira's turn to look confused. "I got caught. I spent 10 minutes in a cell lying in my own blood."

"Yeah but Saren had you up against some impossible odds. If that were a regular, real life mission, I think you'd do just fine."

"Just fine isn't enough for Saren. It's not enough for me either. I need to get into the spectres."

"Well, if you want some friendly advice, pissing off Saren isn't going to get you a recommendation. But neither is kissing his ass so what do I know?"

She considered that for a moment. He had a point but messing with Saren was just so much fun.

"You're right Nihlus. I mean, I am taking this whole thing seriously, it's just… he's so…"

"I get it. You have to lighten the mood somehow. But you shouldn't slack in your training just to toy with him. You're doing great so far and it would be a shame if you didn't make it into the spectres because you couldn't resist a bit of fun."

"Thanks Nihlus. Maybe you should be my teacher. I'd actually learn something then."

"Maybe you don't even need a teacher. All of those moves you used in the scenario? You taught those to yourself right?"

"Yeah. I don't need mister big bad Spectre to supervise me. I'd be just fine on my own."

They both were laughing now, thoroughly enjoying the joking. Cira was glad Nihlus was here and she wouldn't be stuck with Saren all the time anymore. Suddenly she felt the slightest tickly on the back of her neck. Nihlus felt it too and both of then jumped out of the way as Saren's fist swung through the spot where Cira's head had been.

The miss didn't faze him. He turned to face the now completely alert young woman and took a fighting stance.

"Umm, Saren…are you ok?"

"I simply wished to ascertain the reason you would assume you are better off without a teacher."

Cira backed away from him. "You know we were just kidding right?"

"Oh I know, but one could easily make the mistake of believing that you were serious. It seems I've been far to gentle with you during your time here, so assuming I have made such a mistake, allow me to 'demonstrate' how much you have left to learn."

An omni-tool couldn't save her this time. The big Turian lunged at her, throwing three quick punches. Cira tried to keep out of his way but the last punch hit her in the gut. She doubled over and her face was promptly introduced to Saren's knee. She was knocked backward, landing heavily against the wall and almost collapsing. Cira steadied herself as Saren advanced. She knew that there was a slim chance that she would actually beat him in a fight, but she had always wanted a chance to try to kick his scrawny pessimistic Turian ass; might as well give it all she had.

She dodged his next few attacks easily enough. Dodging was something she had gotten really good at over the last few months. But being able to go on the offensive was important as well so whenever she got an opening, she tried to land blow. The waist was a weak point for an unarmored Turian and Saren towered over her so she focused all her attacks on that area but Saren was even better at avoiding an enemy than she was and very few of her kicks made contact. The two continued exchanging blows for a while, with Cira landing a few hits and Saren landing a lot. She was going to have some serious bruises from this.

Cira was already tired from a long day of training and the initial adrenaline rush from Saren's attack had started to fade. Her movements slowed and Saren took the opportunity to grab her and pin her against the wall. He pressed his body against hers, completely restricting her movement then he pulled his arm back, winding up for one last punch. As his fist came forward, Nihlus stepped in, grabbing Saren's arm and holding him back.

"That's enough Saren. I think she gets the point."

The older Turian could barely contain the instinct to lash out against his former student and he had to take a moment to calm himself. When he was sure Saren wouldn't try to hit Cira again, Nihlus released him and stepped back, watching carefully in case he was needed again.

Saren turned his attention back to the woman he had pinned against him. She was looking at him with an expression that was almost expectant, like she was just waiting for him to try and hit her again. Why had he started fighting her in the first place? He hadn't wanted to fight her, he had wanted to…to what? His mind flashed back to his dream; the one he'd had when Cira had been on his ship. He still wasn't sure what to make of it and for the past few months, he had tried to keep it out of his thoughts. He had tried to ignore the subtle hints his body had been giving him. He had tried to ignore his feelings for her. No, he had no feelings for her. There was no reason for him to see her as anything other than a student.

She was still watching him with that intense gaze. It almost made him uncomfortable; him, Saren the council's best Spectre. Her eyes hadn't changed color though; they weren't gold or that piercing blue…

"Saren?"

He glared down at her, wondering what she wanted before he realized that while he had been lost in his thoughts, he had pressed closer to her and had been lightly rubbing a knee against her groin. He backed away from her, disgusted at his lack of control. Cira eyed him curiously as did Nihlus, though his look was more amused. He ignored his former student and addressed his current one.

"I was going easy on you yet you still couldn't beat me. You think that you're working hard but these last three months have been a waste. If you want a chance to be a Spectre I suggest you train even harder for the remainder of your time here."

With that, he stormed off wanting to shut himself up in his room and forget about what had just happened. For a moment, Nihlus and Cira just stared after him saying nothing, but after a minute, Nihlus turned to the human.

"Wanna hang out? This station has restaurants and this really great bar."

Cira was only partly listening to him. Saren's reaction had surprised her. She had been expecting him to be angry about the joking but not so…violent. And when he had her against the wall…

"I'm only 19 Nihlus; the human drinking age is still 21. I should go after him…"

"Just leave him alone for now. I learned the hard way that there is a point when he will try to kill you if you keep messing with him."

"He's already tried to kill me. Besides, I'd really like to know what his problem is…"

With that, Cira ran off in the direction of the apartments. Nihlus sighed and shook his head before heading to the bar.

A few minutes later, Cira stood silently outside Saren's door. She had no plan of action for facing him; she never did. So why was she so nervous now? She must have been standing there longer than she realized because Saren called out to her from inside.

"Are you coming in, or are you content to just stand there all night."

Cira hesitated a moment more before pushing the door open and stepping in. Saren was seated at his desk busying himself with cleaning his rifle. When he didn't acknowledge her entrance, Cira approached him slowly.

"Saren, what happened back there? Nihlus and I; we were just joking around and you… What made you so angry?"

He snorted, pushing his chair back so he could stand up but Cira moved closer until she was standing right in front of him.

"It's none of your concern."

She didn't resist as he pushed her aside and stood, but she didn't back down.

"You started attacking me; that makes it my concern. Why? You claim that it was to prove a point but I don't believe that. When you had me pinned, something…changed. You changed. I can't explain it."

He whirled on her, pushing her back until she once again found herself between him and a wall. She was tired of getting pinned but now wasn't the time to protest that. Saren got right in her face, keeping his voice low and menacing.

"There's nothing to explain. I simply wished to demonstrate how little you've learned in your time here. If you wish to spend your time entertaining some fantasy about my motives, leave me out of it."

He took a deep breath and collected himself before stepping back and returning to his rifle.

"If there is nothing else you wish to discuss then leave me alone."

This time Cira did as she was told. She hadn't gotten her answer, but like Nihlus had said, there was a point when even she had to stop bothering him. She left Saren to his work and went to her own room, then proceeding to throw herself on the bed in frustration.

"Why is he so…ugh!"

For ten minutes she just laid there staring at the ceiling, not sure what to do. Finally she sat up and reactivated her omni-tool.

You have pinged Nihlus K.

Nihlus K. What's up?

Cira R. I changed my mind. Still want to hang out?

Nihlus K. Sure. I'll pick you up in five minutes; give you a tour of the entire station. I'm sure Saren only showed you the training areas.

Cira R. Yeah that sounds great. I'll see you in five.

Nihlus shut his omni-tool off. He had almost reached the bar but he would pick hanging out with Cira over drinking himself into oblivion any day. Besides, in his opinion Cira was an attractive young woman and the more time he spent with her, the more time he would have to flirt and work his magic. He wasn't sure if Cira felt the same way about Saren as he did about her but he intended to find out.