"Okay guy you go to the gym while we get ready. Just whatever happens do not interrupt the fight." Johnny said as Shawn headed for the locker rooms.
"Hey Frank how's it going?" Shawn said cheerfully.
"Going good. You Spence?" Frank said back. Shawn pulled his jacket and was wearing an LAPD t-shirt.
"Could be better Frank. As soon as we catch Rick I'm going to be okay again." Shawn said and they grew silent. After a minute or so Shawn spoke up.
"Oh Frank don't fight dirty okay?" Shawn said with a grin.
"What, me?! Fight dirty, never!" Frank said sarcastically and smiled at Shawn. Even though Shawn was smiling Frank could se how affected he was because of Rick. The smile didn't reach his eyes.
"Hey Spence it's going to be okay. We'll get this sick son of a bitch." Franks said. Shawn was quiet. He wasn't sure he could live past this even when they catch Rick.
"Frank I don't think I can take this anymore. It's my fault Nick died in the first place." Shawn said clearly upset and was blaming himself.
"No Spence it's not your fault. Blame Rick not yourself. You couldn't do anything, you were dying too. Did you kill Nick? No. Did you tell Rick to take him? No. so when will you stop blaming yourself for something that's clearly somebody else's fault?" Frank said and Shawn just put his sneakers on and was quiet.
"No matter how much I try I can't stop blaming me. My cover was blown in the first place. Nick wasn't supposed to die." Shawn said quietly. He was sad that Nick died. If he could take back time he would find a way for Nick to live, even if it mean he would die.
"Hey you guys ready? Common everyone wants to se you fight Spence." Johnny said.
"Yeah we're coming." Shawn said.
"You okay Spence? You seem down again." Johnny said and entered the locker room.
"I'm fine, okay? Just drop it." Shawn said while locking up his locker.
"Fine Spence just don't let the others see you down. They're already really worried about you." Johnny said.
"Okay thanks Johnny." Shawn said and they went to the gym.
Frank and Shawn took their positions on the mat and Johnny stood between them. They used to ignore him and start on their own count. And things always got to messy when they did that, so Johnny decided he was standing between them before every start.
"So Spence ready to get you ass kicked?" Frank teased him.
"Frank I prefer my ass not kicked but I can't say for sure that I won't kick your ass. Oh and another thing don't play dirty and choke me again, got it?" Shawn said. Henry's eye widen at that.
"Shawn he choked you?" Henry asked not believing his ears.
"Yeah dad. Frank here likes to fight dirty." Shawn yelled back.
"What kind of twisted hand to hand is this?" Lassiter said annoyed.
"Lassie it's complicated. We fight with no rules." Shawn said. Now he was getting annoyed, he needed to fight to calm his nerves.
"Can we get this started already?" Frank read Shawn's mind.
"Yeah you can. On the count of three you two start. After 15 minutes I end things. Unless it becomes too intense, then I will end things early. Got it?" Johnny said and everyone looked at him worriedly. How intense can it get for him to end things early. This fight with no rules was a bad idea.
They took their position and Johnny moved back and motioned them to start. Shawn was the first to kick Franks in the gut. He doubled over gasping for breath, then hi kicked Shawn in the leg so he would fall down. He sat on top of Shawn and started to hit him in the ribs repeatedly. Shawn wiggled his way out of Franks hold. He pushed himself of the mat and hit Frank right under his ear. Frank felt dizzy but stayed up. Then there were a lot of hits, to the face, ribs, gut, legs every where. After five minutes they were both out of breath. They stopped to take a few breaths and then continued but Frank hit Shawn and broke his nose. Blood was streaming on his shirt.
"Dude I said no dirty fighting!" Shawn yelled frustrated. Frank would always brake his nose. Unbelievable how he never fights fair.
"And I didn't say I would fight fair either." Frank said with a smirk.
Shawn lost it. He tackled Frank to the floor and hit him hard in the face. Frank pushed him of and spit out a tooth. He ran Shawn into a wall and started chocking him. Shawn heard Henry yell but Lassiter held him back. Heck every one was yelling. His vision started to blur so he propped his legs against Franks stomach and pushed him off.
Shawn fell to the floor gasping for breath. It seemed like his throat was closed shut.
"Wow Spence you okay? I didn't mean to choke you like that I just lost my temper. Sorry." Frank said. He really was sorry. He didn't know why he choked Shawn like that. He lost it just like Shawn did too.
"Spence common don't breathe like a gaping fish, deep breaths. In and out, common follow my breathing." Johnny said. Shawn managed to slow his breathing.
"Shawn are you okay?" Henry asked worried.
"Y..Yeah I'm f..fine." Shawn said with a slight tremble in his voice.
"Sorry again Spence." Frank added.
"It's o..okay Frank…you lost it a..and so did I." Shawn said still a little out of breath.
"So Johnny how long was it?" Frank asked.
"You guys lasted 10 minutes. Not bad, last time you ended at 5 minutes with an ambulance ride. So I think it's very good this time, don't you?" Johnny said with a smirk.
"Ambulance ride?!" Every one yelled at the same time. Shawn managed to laugh.
"Yeah with the lights and everything. Cool huh?" Shawn said. He was grinning.
"Cool?! You think that was cool? I can't believe you Shawn. How none of us never suspected you were ever hurt? No scars or anything." Henry said angry and worried.
"Yeah Shawn you should have told us." Jules said and all of them agreed. Shawn let out a sigh.
"This is why I didn't tell you guys. You worry too much." Shawn said. But Johnny was the one to react first this time.
"You are an idiot Spence. Want to know why? After you almost died you didn't tell them. Fine, your choice. But now you say they worry too much, how would you feel if someone you love hid something like this from you?"
"I don't know. Look I'm sorry I didn't tell you. But I couldn't, because I was trying to forget what happened. And Johnny them knowing would make things worse. So I think that's a pretty good reason why I didn't tell no one." Shawn said and left the gym. Lassiter saw him go toward the range again.
