That first week of boot camp was a blur to Tegan after the first two days. She did drills every morning and night, had training in the afternoons. This was the easy week. The week of learning how to stand and march, how to tell someone's rank, how to hold a gun. Everything blended together, but by the time Saturday night rolled around, she felt like she had really started to get the hang of things. She wasn't out of step with the marches anymore. She had memorized the layout of the base, and she recognized most of the officers.
Tegan barely saw Sara the whole week. Sara was only occasionally at the evening debriefings, and she never ran with the recruits in the morning. Tegan was beginning to wonder if Sara's appearance the first two days were out of the norm, and that she wasn't expected to be involved with the recruits.
It wasn't until Sunday morning, during Lieutenant Gowans' explanation of the next week, that Sara finally showed up again. Tegan felt her heart flutter a bit when she saw the captain, but she refused to let her nerves show.
Gowans said that for the next week, the recruits would be doing unarmed combat training, or Ground Combat Training. They would also be working on team building exercises and first aid training. Tegan thought that Sara was merely going to be observing, but she was wrong.
"Now," Gowans shouted. "Captain Clement will explain the event planned for the end of this week." He turned and saluted Sara, then stepped back.
Sara began pacing in front of the recruits. "Alright, recruits," she said. Tegan was surprised by how her voice was quiet, and yet it was captivating enough to keep the recruits' attention. "As Lieutenant Gowans said, you're going to be work on Ground Combat Training. You would do well to pay close attention to everything you learn, because at the end of the week there will be a combat competition."
A murmur ran through the ranks. Tegan smirk silently, sure that she'd be able to beat anyone she had to fight.
"Here's how it will work," Sara continued. "Throughout your training, the officers will be watching you, looking for the best fighters. The top man and the top woman will be chosen at the end of training. On Saturday afternoon, in place of your second training session, the man will be fighting against Lieutenant Gowans. Gowans has been training recruits for years, and he has never yet been beaten." Another murmur rippled through, this time mostly from the guys, each one determined to be the first to beat him.
"The woman who is chosen will be fighting me." Everyone was silent at that. Tegan's jaw almost dropped. Her mind was reeling. She knew she had two choices. She either had to make sure she was bad and wouldn't get chosen, or she'd have to physically fight Sara. Thought of fighting Sara, rolling around and grabbing at her…. It was enough to make Tegan feel a little hot under the collar. It was already hard enough to keep her mind from going places it shouldn't when it came to her superior, but taking Sara on in hand to hand combat…. Tegan had to focus. She knew she had to be her very best and that it would likely end in grappling with Sara. But she didn't have to think about that right now. She knew she would definitely be thinking about it later, though.
Sara watched Tegan out of the corner of her eye. She had seen her face drop when Sara said she would be fighting one of the women. She saw the way her eyes widened and her face turned a bit red.
Sara didn't want to have to fight Tegan, but she couldn't break the tradition just because she was attracted to one of the recruits. Sara wasn't even sure Tegan would be chosen, but she knew it was likely. She also knew there was no way she could avoid it.