Sara stood beside an obstacle course, three huge floodlights casting an eerie kind brightness over the course. Her arms were crossed over her chest as she watched Quin climb over the huge rope net at the near end of the course. She'd been trying for almost ten minutes now. Sara wondered if maybe she should let her come down, but decided to make her finish. Quin had run over ten miles, done close to 100 pushups and almost as many sit ups, and she'd been through the hundred yard obstacle course at least ten times, all in the past three hours. The obstacle course was fairly grueling in and of itself, but with all the rest of Quin's punishment piled on top of that, it was excruciating.

Sara was proud of the recruit though. Not once in the hours since Sara had separated her from the rest of the recruits had Quin said a word expect for "yes, sir" when necessary. Sara had pushed her hard, really hard. And even after the full day of training, Quin pushed through it. Sara couldn't help but be thoroughly impressed. Sara never would have been able to do on her first what she had made Quin do.

Sara wasn't even sure why she pushed Quin so hard. She knew the recruit had been staring at her. Blatantly really. Yes, it bothered her that Quin had been caught not paying attention to Gowans again. And it bothered her that the recruit was very obviously checking her out. But what had bothered Sara even more was that she had appreciated it. She liked that the attractive recruit was staring at her.

She couldn't help but admit that Quin was an attractive woman. Her strong jaw, her sparkling eyes, the curls that just barely poked out from under her cap. And that hint of a smirk from the morning had caught Sara's eye. She couldn't help but think that Quin's face was probably even more beautiful when she was really smiling.

Stop, Clement! Sara mentally kicked herself. You can't be thinking like this! Especially about a recruit that you've barely even met! But the thoughts were at the edge of her mind all day long. That's why she even came by to check on the new recruits before they went to the mess hall for dinner. She wanted to see if Quin was behaving herself. Little did she know she would catch Quin staring straight at her the whole time.

Sara focused her eyes on Quin, who was trudging slowly toward her. She had finally made it over the net, and Sara could tell she was absolutely beat. She had lost the spring in her step a long time ago, and she was really looking worn thin now. Sara didn't move or say anything until Quin stopped and stood at attention a few feet in front of her.

"At ease, Quin," she said quietly. Quin relaxed visibly, and Sara could see the muscles in her arms and legs twitching from exhaustion. Sara was quite for a few moments, and Quin didn't meet her eyes. She just stared blankly ahead.

"I'm proud of you, Quin," Sara said. "I honestly did not expect you to last this long."

"Thank you, sir," Quin said.

"Do you know why I made you do all that?" Sara asked. She wanted to know what Quin thought was the reason behind the punishment she'd received.

"No, sir." Sara squinted her eyes at Quin. Either she knew and was refusing to admit to it, or she really didn't know.

"Because you were very obviously not listening to anything that Lieutenant Gowans was saying earlier. And that's the second time today you were ignoring him today. I thought you would have learned your lesson the first time."

"I'm sorry, sir. It won't happen again." From the sound of her voice and the quivering of her body, Sara was sure that it wouldn't.

"You are dismissed, Quin," Sara said, her voice taking on a softer tone. "Go to the mess and get some food. Tell them I sent you and that they're to give you as much as you want to eat. Then get to your bunk. You'll be expected to join the rest of the recruits for drills in the morning."

Quin saluted and walked away. Sara headed back to her own office as well. She knew she should get to bed, but she had to do something first.

Once she was at her desk, Sara dug through the personnel files for the recruits. She pulled out Quin's once she found it.

"Tegan," she muttered to herself, reading Quin's first name. She like the way it sounded on her tongue. Maybe a little too much.