from then on, Butch would come home from his time with Wyoming, and Jen would come home from her time with York and they would meet for a meal (from their mini fridge) before sleep.
York would only personal teach her for 4 hours max, he would then leave her to study on her own, allowing her time for meals and breaks. She would get back to the room at around 6pm if not earlier.
Wyoming was a little different. They trained in hand to hand combat, weapons proficiency (which meant both shooting AND getting shot at), on top of physical cardio and weight training. He only drank protein shakes in his 5 minute meal breaks, and never got home much before 10pm.
"I swear he's trying to kill me." Butch took off his armor. His voice was not his usual happy tone. His positive energy gave out after day 9.
"Wyoming just wants to bring out the best in you." Jen said, still perky as ever. "Take your shirt off, let me give you a massage."
She massaged his aching back and shoulders, as he leaned in to her touch. He was also covered in bruises. She tried to avoid the bruises but even if she was hurting him he would never say anything.
"I always try to see the good in people" she said kissing his shoulder. She wrapped her arms around him and just held him close. "My life's mottos is-'everyone is worthy of trust, compassion, love'. Put your trust in him, your life will be better for it."
"You always know just what to say, darlin." he kissed her. Even without touching her, he could feel her smile. Her heart was just pure, beautiful love.
If one or both of their mentors were off ship, then the couple would be assigned to on-board guard shifts or combat training units. The worst was when one of them was randomly assigned to night shift.
"I swear, darlin, the only time I get to see you is in this bed." Florida took off his armor, stripping down to his boxers before crawling in to bed with Jen. For nights like this Jen slept in the nude, a little treat for him to come home to.
He loved exploring his hands all over her body; the softness of her skin, her sexy curves.
"I missed you, baby." she said opening her eyes to the feeling of his hands between her legs.
"You have to be up in 2 hours, just let me have my fun." he said kissing her neck down her collarbone.
"You feel pretty 'up' right now," she said running her fingers through his hair. "I just get some coffee when I start my shift."
"Do you want me?" he asked with a smile.
"baby, I need you." She pulled him close and they made deep passionate love.
She made him so happy. All he had to do was channel her energy, her love, her strength- and he could survive anything.
Until the day it all came to abrupt end.
California trained herself on virtual locks, like the ones that encrypted the ship's vital systems and data. It was usually fine as long as she put everything back the way she found it.
But someone else was doing more than that. A week before the final events, York took her aside and explained the situation.
"Look, kid I know it wasn't you." York told her, in his usual casual tone. He was a friend to all, and nothing would ever change that- not even the Director accusing both York and California of sabotaging the servers. "But someone is piggy-backing on the codes you have been working on, and copying data to external devices."He didn't explicitly say it was her job to find the guilty party, but it was implied. If she didn't find the real thief, the punishment would be swift and severe- most likely prison or at least exile from the ship. She would never see Agent Florida again- that was not something she was willing to risk.
"I believe in you, you can figure this out." In hindsight he shouldn't have phrased it like that. But there was allot of things Agent York regretted saying or not saying.
She staked out the control room, tracking all network traffic, in hopes that whoever was stealing data wasn't entirely finished yet.
She got a few clues; mysterious downloads that only seemed to happen around midnight. The individual tried to cover their tracks by making it appear as if the servers were running basic malware checks, but anyone who knew the servers like California could see past such a low level hack.
She told Florida about her plan. Something didn't feel right to him. What would she even do if she found the person?
"let me go with you," he said as they laid in bed together. He had his arms around her, savoring the feeling of her warmth. He kissed her forehead, in his mind he was begging her not to go.
"That would attract too much attention." she started get out of bed. It was 11:30, if she was to try to catch the person she would need to get there before them and find a place to hide.
"We're all family here. There's probably a logical explanation. I'll get the facts and clear my name." She said, getting dressed. She would wear just a t-shirt and sweat pants, she felt there was no need to put on her armor.
"Could you at least take your weapon?" Florida sat up in bed. He felt sick to his stomach.
"it won't come to that." there was no one on this ship she would want to hurt. She cupped his face in her hands and kissed him goodbye. "Don't worry about me, try to get some sleep." She said as she left.
He wasn't stupid but he wanted to respect her wishes. He waited until exactly midnight, put on his armor and headed to the server room. Little did he know he would be too late.