Sweat ran down Dex's skin as he ran on the treadmill, the leather swiftly moving under his feet. A trainer stood by, his eyes going between the machine and a device in his hand, wires going from it to the young man's chest.
"76," the trainer stated as Dex kept running. The numbers proceeded to increase, "81…89…"
Dex glanced over at the man, black dots appearing in his vision. The trainer's eyebrows shot up when he monitored the device, and he immediately shut the machine down. Dex gripped the sidebars the moment he felt his ankle hit his foot.
"What the hell?!" the young man swore, "Why'd you turn it off?!"
"94," the trainer showed the device off, "You're working way too hard."
"I was doing just fine."
"You have a heart condition, Heller. You don't need to add any stress from exercise."
"Isn't this supposed to be regimented? Am I not in a separate training group from everyone else?"
"You are, but edging up to 100 is not going to work."
"I'm fine," Dex stepped off of the treadmill, taking a seat on a nearby bench. The trainer moved closer to him, "I'm trying to get in shape."
"You're already in shape-"
"With my heart, I mean."
"Look," the trainer sighed, "I'm not sure how exactly your heart issue developed, but you have it, and trying to force it to heal will only do the opposite."
"I'm not forcing anything. I'm just exercising."
"You're pushing your limits-"
"I'm trying to live my life-"
"Heller," the trainer gripped his arm tightly, "listen to me. I know what I'm talking about. I've been at this for years, and you are not the first student to act like you can ignore your problems and live a 'normal' life here. You cannot put that stress on your body with your current situation."
"And you cannot put your hands on a student like that."
Both Dex and the trainer looked outward, staring up at Brennan. The man donned a firm expression, eyes cold as he cut through the employee.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, sir," the director approached the man, "but assaulting a student directly breaks the employee code of conduct, does it not?"
"I…" the trainer stuttered, "I wasn't assaulting him-"
"But you have your hand on him," Brennan pointed to the young man, "and we don't tolerate that here."
"I was just trying to explain to him that he shouldn't stress himself out-"
"He's in the regimented training program, sir. Doesn't that mean the exercise he gets here conforms to his health condition?"
"It does but-"
"And here you are, lecturing him. If he really did have a problem, wouldn't it be your job to adjust?"
"I stopped him-"
"You shouldn't have let him stress his body in the first place-"
"Director-"
"Don't argue with me, especially if you'd like to keep your position," Brennan's glare intensified, "Now do us both a favor and take your leave. Thank you."
The trainer glanced between the director and Dex, letting out a huff before marching off. Brennan sat down next to the young man, examining the gripped area on his upper arm.
"I apologize for that, young man," the director replied, his Australian accent thick, "I'll make sure you're assigned a new trainer."
"I…" Dex blinked, "I, uh, appreciate that, thank you."
"Of course," the elder man slowly ran a finger up and down the reddened skin. Dex's breath hitched in his throat as a response, "Such a shame he put his hands on you in such an unprofessional manner."
"Yeah…um…" Dex ducked his head down, gently squirming in his spot. Brennan smirked at the sight, putting on a firm mask and pulling back when the young man looked his way again.
"How are you adjusting to the academy, young man?"
"Fine, I think. My heart isn't bothering me so I'll take that as a win."
"Your heart, yes. I'm sorry that your grandfather put you through that hell."
"How do you know what happened to me?"
"Word travels fast in the international sphere, and the Cassadines are quite well-known. Plus, your uncle and I have a history."
"You and Uncle Valentin? You guys were partners?"
"We were, actually. He didn't tell you?"
"No, um, I mean, we didn't talk a lot about his days as an agent."
"Really," Brennan raised both of his eyebrows, "I should say that I'm not too surprised, though. My role as the director is quite new."
"Yeah…yeah," the young man nodded, "If I may, sir?"
"You may."
"Why are you sitting here with me?"
"I find you…interesting, young man," Brennan smirked, and Dex's eyes widened with surprise in response, "You're the child of a Cassadine and a renowned assassin-"
"You know my dad?"
"I don't know him personally, but I've certainly heard the name 'Wallace Heller' once or twice in my heyday," the elder man leaned a bit closer, "You come from two extraordinary people, and to see you here, it's remarkable. We're blessed that you will get to develop and show off what your parents gifted you with."
"We'll see," Dex gave the man a toothless smile. Brennan mirrored it perfectly before getting to his feet. He eyed the young man one last time before exiting the gym, and the young man let out a heavy breath, relaxing the tension in his arms and shoulders.
You're fine, he thought to himself, fixating on the ceiling lights, you're going to be fine. You know your limits better than anyone; don't lose sight of that.
"What's it like?"
The question came out of nowhere, pulling Emma out of her reading material. She looked to her right, taking in the young woman with bouncy, dirty blonde curls. They sat next to one another in the library, surrounded by full bookshelves and papers scattered on the wide square table.
"I'm sorry?" Emma stuttered, "Are you talking to me?"
"Yes. I hope you don't mind."
"I guess not…"
"Your name is Emma, right?"
"It is. And you are?"
"Don't worry about that. Did you hear my question?"
"What was it?"
"Which was what?"
"What's it like?"
"...What's my book like?" Emma held up the object, "It's about molecular dissection. Is that something you'd like?"
"Uh, no," the blonde curls swayed as she shook her head, "not at all."
"Then what are you asking me?"
"What it's like to be here."
"To be at the academy? It's great. I'm sure you feel the same way."
"I do…but that's not what I'm asking you."
"Okay, then what are you asking me?"
"Really?" the girl frowned, "I'd like to think a Scorpio would be smart enough to figure things out."
Emma blinked, her head devoid of any thoughts. She took a breath before responding, "...What does that have to do with anything?"
"Seriously?" the student snorted, "You really don't think that's related to why you're here?"
"If it's following in my family's footsteps, yes," Emma huffed, crossing her arms, "but I know that's not what you mean. Why do you care?"
"I'm concerned that some people are here because they had an in instead of earning it, that's all."
"Yeah? I'm not one of those people."
"Your grandpa is a legend in the bureau. You had a leg up."
"I got in on my own merit."
"Oh please," the young woman scoffed, "Merit or not, you have the name. That's all they saw and cared about."
"Why are you being so dismissive?" Emma raised an eyebrow, "And who even are you, anyway?"
"Someone who knows nepotism when she sees it," the student replied as a young man joined them, pulling a chair out to sit across from Emma.
"Oh, uh," he stopped himself, which prompted their attention, "I hope you don't mind that I sit here."
"Be my guest," Emma responded.
"Thanks," he beamed, glancing between the women, "Was I interrupting something or…?"
"You're interrupting nothing," she smiled.
"Oh, okay, cool," he nodded rapidly, "I'm sorry, I just…I thought I'd be bothering you if I sat down here."
"Why'd you think that?"
"Well, I mean, you're kind of royalty," Emma flinched at his comment, "You're a Scorpio and a Devane. That's…That's pretty cool."
"Double nepo baby," the girl shook her head, "Why am I not surprised?"
"I know you mean well, but I'm still my own person."
"No, no, I know. I'm just, like, in awe a little bit. It's really cool that your grandparents were big-time WSB agents and you're following in their footsteps."
"Of course she is. They gave her the stepping stones," the girl rolled her eyes.
"I did the same trials as you, I took the same tests as you," Emma shot her a dirty look, "Nothing I accomplished in getting accepted had to do with my family."
"Why are you getting so defensive?"
"You're the one jumping on my back about my grandparents. I don't have the right to defend myself?"
"The least you could do is acknowledge the privileges you have in who you're related to."
"I do acknowledge it," Emma nodded, "If not for my grandparents, I likely wouldn't even apply for the academy. I might not even want to be an agent-"
"That wasn't so hard-"
"But me getting accepted doesn't relate to them. I had the scores and abilities the school wanted, and that's why I'm here."
"Uh huh," the student rolled her eyes again, "People will totally know you as Emma Drake," she turned to the young man across the way, "Is that how you know her?"
"Uh…" he glanced between the two women, "I…I guess not-"
"See?"
"You're a little too hung up on my family. That's weird."
"I'm just pointing out the facts!"
"And I'm pointing out how little my family matters. I got in on my own. I didn't need help, and even if I did, I wouldn't ask for it."
"I'm sorry," the young man frowned, "I just wanted to sit here and study. I didn't mean to bother you-"
"You are not the one bothering me," Emma answered, then turning towards the young woman.
"This isn't over," she scoffed, collecting her belongings before walking off, intentionally bumping into Emma's chair. She passed by Dex, who appeared around the corner. He watched as the young man across from Emma got to his feet, grabbing his books and leaving her behind.
"Yikes," Dex remarked, approaching the young woman, "what happened here?"
"This girl kept nitpicking that I'm a nepo baby," Emma replied, rolling her eyes.
"And the guy?"
"He felt bad about sitting across from me and moved somewhere else."
"Oh," Dex looked around, "Can I…?"
"Are you going to obsess over my grandparents too?"
"Oh, please," Dex sat down, "I have an uncle who graduated from here. You're not that special."
"...Shut up," a smirk formed on Emma's face, stifling a giggle as she responded to him. She looked him over, noting the thin layer of sweat, "Did you just come from the gym?"
"Yeah. It was…an experience."
"What happened?"
Dex froze for a moment, biting his bottom lip as he mulled his words over, "My assigned trainer…just wasn't a good fit for me."
"You have an assigned trainer?"
"I have some health issues," Dex ducked his head down, "I try not to bring attention to it…and my trainer didn't like that."
"So…what, you guys fought?"
"Sort of. It didn't go very far, though. Director Brennan stepped in and shut it down."
"Really," Emma frowned, "Was he called in?"
"No. He just…showed up."
"Why?"
Dex paused for a beat, the images of Brennan next to him, singing his praises, plaguing his mind, "I don't know. As grateful as I am that he intervened, I know that I shouldn't get super comfortable with him, and hopefully I can avoid him coming to my rescue in the future."
"Hopefully," Emma nodded before she returned to her textbook. Dex pulled out his own materials to work on, and the pair sat in tense silence. While Dex's mind jumped between the work and the so-called rescue, Emma glanced at him in pensive concern, unsure of what to make of the incident and silently praying that, when all is said and done, the young man sitting across from her will be proven correct.