Chapter 17 just one of the boys

Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer- this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute which, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods.

Thanks to BanSidhe for betaing.

Leah had got into work early; anything to get out of the house and away from the oh so sweet smelling problem that was Jacob Black.

She was on the firing range; she needed the practice. She was emptying the gun into a target with a certain sense of satisfaction.

She observed Charlie come in and watch her. She saw him wince as she took off her earmuffs and pulled the target in for inspection. The shots were in a neat cluster but predominantly in what would have been the groin of the paper assailant.

"Angry with someone Leah?"

"Men!" she snorted and looked pleased by her accuracy.

"Pretty accurate, but we usually prefer a faster take down if you have to use your weapon," advised Charlie. "Heart and head will stop them sooner." He clapped her on the shoulder in a friendly gesture. "Coffee's on and then you are on fingerprint counter duty. A couple of people have made appointments for today. It is all written down in the appointment book."

"Sure thing, Sheriff."

The counter duty was easy. When she wasn't trying to pick a fight with people she could be polite. Her mother taught her manners after all. It was much easier for her if people didn't know her and her 'reputation'. The uniform actually worked as superb camouflage. People saw the uniform first; it was a new discovery for her. And another thing to like about her new job.

Later in the locker room she got some ribbing from the other deputies. One in particular was just a fool. He had the old 'women can't do anything' attitude. 'Police work is a man's job' etcetera. This had been going on for days and she was tired of him. She was also itching for a fight, but he didn't know that. He had chosen a very bad day to pick a fight with Leah Clearwater.

His surname was Rogers and he had, naturally inherited the unfortunate nickname of 'Buck' for obvious reasons.

She decided to call his bluff.

"Okay Buck," she stated. "Why don't we settle this the old fashioned way?"

He looked suspicious, as if he wasn't sure what she meant. "What do you mean?" he asked.

She clarified with a head nod towards the exercise mats. "Wanna strap the gloves on and go a few rounds?"

He looked gleeful. Now that was a worry; if the highlight of his day was beating up a woman. That just didn't bear thinking about. Maybe she could do all of womankind a favour here and teach him a lesson.

"You think you can stand against me, Clearwater?"

"I will give it the old college try," she stated innocently.

There were some murmurs from the other deputies; most expressing concern for her. A few noises of encouragement and some other noises sounding oddly like chickens for Buck. She ignored them. She noticed one guy sneak out the back; probably to get Charlie.

She held her hands up. "Just need some help with the gloves?" She had never fought with gloves on before, but it couldn't be hard; guys could do it.

Buck leered at her. "Sure thing little girl; let's go a round and see how well you bruise."

Ugh, now that was just creepy. One guy had started to lace her gloves on tightly. "Oh before we start, is there a safe word?" Before he got a chance to answer her, she saw Charlie come in the back.

"Leah?" he asked. That one word held a lot; are you sure about this? Is this what you want? I can rescue you if you want. She also thought there might be an element of 'I know you are pissed off with a man, but don't take it out on Buck' too. She ignored all of that.

"I'm just proving to Buck here, that I can do this 'man's' job." Damn it was hard to put inverted commas around a word with boxing gloves on.

When Charlie realized she was not going to back out of this he said one more word, "Headgear."

The others helped the combatants strap on a head protector.

She moved backwards towards the mats and did a little jog in place; lifting and lowering her shoulders and swinging her arms. She sized up her opponent. He was big, but that didn't impress her. Compared to the pack boys, he wasn't that big. He was probably just a touch shy of six feet. She knew already he wasn't that smart, but she had a feeling that he had fought before… maybe a lot. She had kept her ears open in her first few days and although nobody really gossiped about other cops, she already knew he used a little too much force in some of his arrests. It was spooky how often his arrests banged their head on the top of the vehicle door frame; just spooky. Resisting arrest, sure, sure.

She rotated her head, loosening up her shoulders without taking her eyes off him.

His gloves were on now and he hammered them together making a resounding smack noise. He leered at her again. Ugh.

She risked a glance at Charlie and he looked vaguely concerned. She tried to give him a little smile to reassure him.

One of the guys counted them down and it was on. She danced around Buck a little and let him make contact a couple of times. She took note of which guys winced for her. She put all her effort into judging his reach and speed, the hits were nothing to her.

She supposed that she was being unfair, but she needed this for a lot of reasons. But mostly because if she didn't deal with this now, in a way they understood, then they would never accept her as one of them. It was just the way things were; she understood that from the pack. It may not be right, and it may not be fair, but it was just how things were. She had never been the weakest in the pack and she was dammed if she was going to start playing the mute female now. Not today.

She got in a hard left, low on his ribs and danced back. She circled around him, blocked a couple of punches from him and then snuck in a right, straight into the top of his shoulder. That would make him hurt the next time he made contact with that arm; it would vibrate up through that spot. He was warier now and hung back a little.

The gym was hot and he had started to sweat a little too. She kept him moving with sharp little jabs. Her greater speed meant she easily blocked anything he tried to throw at her. The watching men were eerily silent as if they weren't quite sure who to barrack for. They did emit a noise when she got him clean in the gut and knocked the wind out him. She took some steps back and waited for him to recover. He was starting to get pissed now and it made him sloppy. She could have finished him while he was recovering and he seemed to take her restraint as an insult.

He took a step towards her and she took one in the gut. Unfortunately for him, he had come close to her and she whipped in with an uppercut that caught him under the chin and laid him out cold. His body had hidden the speed of her arm movement from most of the watchers and her judgment of distance was so precise that she had squeezed it between their bodies without touching his chest.

There was silence for a beat.

"Sorry," she shrugged, "we never did arrange that safe word."

FF_2154210_ - 30/11/2010 11:58:00 PM