March 9th

Katrina

The starting bell rang and the crowd roared it's approval and the two fighters in the ring sprang at each other. Tommy came out swinging, forcing Griffin against the chain-link fence almost immediately, raining punches onto the man's ribs and face. Vaguely Katrina recognized her own voice amongst the baying of the crowd around her.

Suddenly the fighters were down on the mat, Griffin on top using Tommy's old technique- the ground and pound. Katina counted five times the man's fist made bone-crunching contact with Tommy's face and chest before Tommy rolled them over and had Griffin in a hold. The roar of the crowd increased as the two men thrashed on the mat and Katrina could see blood running freely down Tommy's cheek, her stomach clenched, roiling.

The wrestling hold didn't last and all of a sudden the fighters were breaking apart, springing up to their feet. Tommy was shaking his head as though trying to get water out of his ears. The fighters reengaged, arms grappling, Tommy finding purchase on Griffin's neck and forcing his head down, swinging a knee up to connect with his face. The sound of bones crunching made Katrina's stomach clench and the two men sprang apart.

Having both drawn blood the boxers seemed to find some equilibrium, circling each other, both looking for an opening.

Just as they both prepared to leap at each other again the bell rang to signal the end of the round.

Katrina watched Tommy retreat to his side of the ring, Frank dashing over to give him water and wipe the blood off his face. The two men exchanged words, heads bowed together; Frank straightened up and slapped Tommy on the back as he jumped to his feet, hopping from one foot to the other and cricking his neck.

The next round was, even more fiercely contested. Forrest Griffin managed to get Tommy up against the fence early in the round, getting in several punches before Tommy twisted away taking the taller man down to the mat, arms locked around his neck. Katrina could see Griffin's face, bright red, slowly turn purple as his oxygen was cut off, his eyes glazing over.

Then he twisted, gasping and staggered to his feet, kicking out at Tommy as he scrambled up. The two fighters circled like sharks; there was blood in the water now. The huge digital clock on the wall counted down the seconds until then end of the round in red illuminated numbers.

Katrina watched the resolve harden in Tommy's eyes; this fight wasn't going to a third bout. He rounded on Griffin, hitting him with a right hook. Griffin hit back but Tommy was ready for him, dodging and countering with his left. The muscles in his back tensed and flexed as he rained a barrage of punches down on his opponent.

Without realizing it Katrina was on her feet with the rest of the crowd, hands pressed to her mouth. The sounds of bone hitting bone jolted her again as the two men in the ring went on trading punches as though in a bar brawl. Both trainers were on the sidelines bellowing words of encouragement and behind them the final ten seconds of the round were ticking to a close.

Caught on the nose by one of Tommy's right hooks, Forrest Griffin staggered and Tommy, seeing his chance, pounced, dragging the taller man to the ground. Tommy seized onto Griffin's arm, twisting it as he dug one knee into his spine; Katrina could hear the bones grinding and Griffin's short howl of agony before he tapped.

It was over, punch-drunk with relief Katrina watched, dazed as the referee pushed the fighters apart and Frank Campanna vaulted over the fence and into the ring swiftly followed by Brendan. Tommy's arm was lifted high in victory, chest heaving and skin running with sweat and blood as he embraced his brother and trainer. Katrina found she could breathe again, gasping and dragging her shaking hands through her hair.

She couldn't take her eyes off him, pride swelling in her chest as Tommy shook hands with the referee and a long-faced Forrest Griffin, even exchanging seemingly civil words.

The crowd around her turned, and she with it as the group of men made their way down the tunnel and out through the double doors at the end of the hall, the last strains of the Marine's Hymn echoing after them.

After a moment's hesitation she gathered her self up and slid out of her seat and into the crush. Weaving around the mass of people going the opposite way she elbowed her way to the doors going down the to locker rooms and used the pass Tommy had given her to get past the curious security guard.

On the other side of the double doors she could hear the heavy thud of music and see people spilling out of Tommy's room, some in suits, others clearly fighters and even a fair number of scantily-clad groupies. The locker room was packed with people all intent on congratulating Tommy and Frank so Katrina waited, hovering at the door. A group of incoming reporters brushed by her, pushing her more fully into the locker room and Tommy spotted her, catching her eye and waving. He looked pretty good Katrina noticed, despite the rapidly developing black eye. She skirted around the edge of the crowd towards him and Tommy reached out to take her hand. He curled around her protectively, kissing her cheek with split lips.

"Oh Tommy no!" she squirmed away, wiping her face but he just grinned at her and pulled her into a sweaty hug.

"I won." He said, as though he could hardly believe it.

"I'm so proud of you."

Tommy smiled and leaned in for a kiss, he hesitated for a moment, frowning, then straightened up and spat a tooth out into his palm.

"Seriously Tommy?"

He shrugged, turning to his trainer Frank to get the medic to come back and Katrina saw him grimace as he swallowed the blood filing his mouth. He squeezed her hand quickly as the medic arrived to take a look at his mouth, tipping his head back and pressing the tooth back into place. As Tommy was occupied Katrina took the chance to cast about the room. When she did so she realized that a good percentage of the people were staring back at her, a few people had their phones raised and she realized that people were probably photographing her and Tommy together. She blushed, looking at her feet.

"Hey," Brendan popped up at her shoulder beaming.

"He did well didn't he?" she smiled up at him, pleased to see a friendly face.

"He did amazing, half the people in here are sponsors and scouts." He squeezed her shoulder briefly before moving off to talk to one of the men in suits hanging around the edges of the room. Katrina was just about to go and see how Tommy, still spitting blood, was doing, when a woman in a well-tailored blue suit blocked her path.

"Hello!" the woman introduced herself cheerily as Sharron and stuck out a hand for Katrina to shake. Before she knew what was going on a beaming Sharron was peppering her with questions.

"How long have you known Tommy Conlan?" she asked, taking an iPhone from her jacket pocket to record.

"Errm," Katrina glanced helplessly over at Brendan and Tommy, both of whom were otherwise engaged. "A few months…"

"And can you give us any juicy details about him, the man's a mystery and my readers love an insider's perspective."

Katrina frowned at her; the woman's smile didn't quite reach her eyes, which were rather cold and calculating. "Sorry no, I've got nothing to say…"

She backed away, wrapping her denim jacket more firmly around her for protection as she went to check on Tommy.

He smiled as she approached, front tooth missing now and as Katrina sat down next to him she could feel the collective weight of the reporter's eyes following her. Tommy followed her gaze and grimaced, motioning to have Frank come over.

"Do you think we could get some of these people outta here?" he asked

"Of course man, it's your show"

Slowly the room around them emptied, reporters and hangers on returning to the main hall to watch the next fight. People kept coming up to Tommy to congratulate him and Katrina was impressed at how he was handling all the attention, calm and polite.

Finally, after the last sponsorship reps were persuaded to leave and Brendan dragged Frank under the pretense of watching the next fight, they were alone.

"How's the tooth?" she asked. Tommy grimaced, spitting it out.

"I can afford to pay for a fake one now."

Katrina shook her head boys she thought in exasperation, when will they learn.

Silence stretched between them, outside was the muffled roar of the crowd and the shrill bell as one round of a fight ended. Tommy shivered, Katrina could see the sweat rapidly cooling on his skin.

"Cold?"

"Yeah." She got up and fetched the black hoodie he wore so much from a nearby table, when she turned back he standing. Tommy reached for her and Katrina stepped easily into his embrace.

"You did so amazing out there-"

"Thanks, I saw you, when I was in the cage…"

"Really?"

"Yeah it was… it was nice, you cheering for me" he smiled down at her, the look in his grey eyes was doing something funny to her heart, surely it wasn't meant to beat that fast.

She rose up on her toes and kissed him, feeling the space behind his lips left by his front tooth. His hands wound around her waist, gently squeezing. Katrina sighed contentedly, breaking the kiss with a smile. "I'll always be cheering for you." She whispered into the space between them and felt, rather than heard Tommy chuckle, his laughter vibrating from his chest into hers.

"thanks."

"I mean it." She said with a further smile, dropping a quick kiss onto his collarbone, the highest point on his body she could reach on her tip-toes without him bending down.

Tommy took her face between his hands, she could feel the calluses left from months in the weight room, graze against her cheeks. Tommy seemed to be searching her face, as though looking for something.

"What?" Katrina asked, blushing under his scrutiny.

Tommy didn't answer for a moment, looking down, then to her.

"I love you." He whispered, letting go of her all of a sudden and stepping away. The cold air rolled in, replacing the place where their bodies had touched. She reached out for him, grabbing his hand, holding tight. It took a surprising amount of her strength to pull him back, he wouldn't look at her as she wrapped one arm around his back, not letting go of his hand.

"I love you too Tommy Conlon."

Still kissing when Frank and Brendan returned to the room, banging the door loudly on their way in, the two of them sprang apart like guilty teenagers at the sound of their knowing laughter.

A/N We're back! Time to get this show on the road xx