Power Cores Align

“Hey, Shorty?” Evan asked as they continued to watch the couple below them. “Did you guys ever find Wren’s power core? I heard you were having a hard time locating it.”

“They have not.”

“What?” Michael frowned.

“They do not even have an idea where it is located. It does not show up in any of the scans.”

“How strange,” he commented dryly. “Does she have an idea where it is?” he asked. How she could not feel her own power core was odd.

“Yup,” Shorty replied. “When I asked her about it, she just nodded and went back to training. I think she knows where it is. In fact, I am sure she knows where it is.”

“Why do you say that?”

“She has been adjusting it.”

“How do you adjust your power core? It is not a possibility,” Eric commented.

“I do not know.” Shorty could not explain it himself, but the evidence was there.

“What I do know is there are days when she has tremendous power but cannot control it. Other days, her power is greatly diminished, but she has perfect control.”

“If she is not controlling the power core, you explain the differences to me.”

“Ummm, interesting.” Eric looked down to where the two were still fighting, Talon still hollering out directions, and Wren calmly making her corrections, no emotion showing on her face.

“Today?”

“Less power but more control.”

“Hmmmm.”

They continued to watch, fascinated by the dynamic of the two below.

***

“Enough, Shorty,” Talon barked out after another two hours of continual fighting.

Shorty shut off the program and leaned back in his chair, stretching as he let out a sigh. “They are machines.”

Talon turned to Wren.

She was breathing hard, blood oozing from the numerous cuts on her body, while he looked like he had merely been out jogging for the last two hours.

Wren hated the man at this moment.

“Why did you not snap back at me?” Talon asked.

He had been trying to push her buttons the entire session. He had hoped she would release the anger and frustration through the fighting and come at him.

Instead, she had turned calm. It was not a normal response.

He thought about it for less than a second. She was not a normal person.

Wren looked at him. “Were you trying to get me to snap back?”

Talon shrugged. “I figured you would have sooner or later. I expected that you would have cracked under the language I was using,” he retaliated.

He wanted her to fight back. He wanted to see the fire burn in her eyes and her come at him for putting her through all this emotional bullshit.

He deserved much more than that, but it would help alleviate some of the guilt he was feeling for being such an ass to her.

Wren returned his shrug with one of her own. “You are the better fighter. I need to make sure I do not hinder you in a fight, and the only way I will be able to do that is if I listen to what you say and make the proper adjustments…” She allowed her weapons to return to her wrists.

“…you are not the same as your clone,” she replied, muttering to herself so he would not hear her.

“Do not put them away.” Talon took a stance in front of her. “Come, we will continue with your training.”

Wren was too tired and mentally drained to even question his command.

She drew her weapons as Talon attacked her without warning.

He started with the basics and kept going until she could no longer keep up with him.

***

The others watched from upstairs, enthralled at the battle below them.

They had been good working as a pair, but against each other… It was something to behold.

Evan let out a low whistle. “And we are sure she was a complete novice when she came?”

Michael nodded at his statement. “She knew nothing.”

“Damn,” Carrie finally commented. “She just might pass Talon one day.”

***

“Stop!” Wren finally begged. “I do not know how to counter that!”

Talon stopped, stood up and away from where he had pinned her to the ground with his last attack.

“Stand, I will teach it to you now.”

Another hour went by as Talon taught her more and more.

He showed her where her weaknesses were and what to do to correct them. Unlike in the fight with the Beings, she found him to be a very patient teacher as long as she focused and listened to his words.

However, when she did make a mistake, he was quick to degrade her.

Finally, he let her go, feeling she had learned enough for the day.

“Lunchtime and then studies for you, I believe,” he said, turning and starting to leave the room when Wren stopped him with a light touch on his arm.

Talon froze, afraid to even breathe.

She was touching him…of her own free will and had even initiated the contact.

He was about to die, wasn’t he?

“Thank you for training with me.” Wren took a deep breath.

She wasn’t done yet. “I have something to say to you.”

Talon turned to face her, her hand dropping from his shoulder.

Wren looked him square in the eyes, well aware of the fact that she could not intimidate him, but she would speak her mind to him regardless of how much he frightened her or what consequences came after.

She refused to bow down to another’s mistreatment of her ever again.

“You are very, very good at what you do. You can be very patient when you choose to be, but to degrade someone for their mistakes and make them feel inferior to you is not acceptable. Others may allow this behavior, but I will not allow you to continue using them on ME.”

She was on a roll now.

The pent-up rage and frustration quickly bubbled to the surface and overflowed as she continued.

~There it is. Good. Let it out.~ Talon planted his feet, ready to take on the brunt of her anger.

“If you wish to correct me, that is fine,” Wren continued, “but you will not treat me like an imbecile that needs their ass wiped. If you do, I will stick my blade through your dick and slice it completely off. Have a nice day, dumbass.”

***

Talon stood there, frozen, not knowing how to react to her little speech.

No one had ever spoken to him like that.

At least, no one had ever survived after speaking to him like that, let alone looked him square in the eyes as they said it.

Not that he did not deserve her speech.

He did and more.

He was impressed—no, not impressed, ecstatic—to realize there really was a person on the planet that he could not intimidate.

She was the first person who showed no fear of him.

That was her attraction.

From their first meeting, she had been unaffected by his attitude and not afraid to be alone with him.

Everyone else had backed off and feared him in the beginning.

~Just maybe…~ He shook his head. No, it would do no good for him to go down that road.

Just because she was not afraid to stand up to him did not mean she was not afraid of him, or that there was any more to read about the situation.

~But still…~ He could feel a very small ray of hope start to rise in his body, no matter how hard he tried to stamp it out.

***

“You have a good partner there, do not mess it up,” Michael commented when Talon stepped out of the room.

~Shit. They are all here.~ He knew he was about to get flayed.

“I know.”

“I cannot believe she did not slap you across the face for the way you treat her,” Eric mused. “Though I must say she did tell you off pretty good.”

He met Talon’s golden eyes with his cornflower blue ones.

“She’s a lovely woman, inside and out, but when she gets riled up, she becomes quite beautiful.”

Talon bristled at his words, unable to identify why they put him on edge.

“What do you think, Michael?” Carrie asked.

“I think we just saw the real Wren, and she is a force to be reckoned with. She will do you proud if you let her,” he commented to Talon.

Talon nodded, not quite believing he was having this conversation with them or what he was about to admit out loud.

“I do believe she shall.”

The two men exchanged a glance while Lily and Carrie just stared at him in shock.

Talon rarely talked to anyone, and they wondered if Wren had hit a nerve.

“So, Talon, what are your plans for the rest of the day? We took the day off?” Evan asked him, breaking up the tension that filled the air.

If Talon was willing to speak, maybe he would be willing to grant Evan’s wish.

Talon looked at him in surprise.

“I, I do not know,” he mumbled, looking away.

“Will you spar with me after lunch? I want to learn the move you taught Wren earlier,” Evan said eagerly, pushing down the fear of rejection to cling to the hope that Talon would say yes.

“Would you mind teaching me as well?” Eric added.

Michael agreed, adding, “It would be a good move to learn, and you are by far a much better fighter than we are. What do you say? We would love to have a bit of help from you if you are willing.”

Talon stared at the three men in front of him. He had not realized he might have something that he could teach them.

He thought about it for a few seconds.

“All right,” he said, nodding once.

“Yes!” Evan jumped up and headed toward the door. “Come on, let’s eat. I cannot wait…”

“He has been wanting to train with you for two years now. You just made his year,” Michael said.

They stopped when they realized Talon had yet to move from his spot.

“Well? Come on.”

“Uh…” Talon muttered.

Michael stepped up behind him and pushed him forward.

“You do not have to eat with us, but at least get some food in your system before we start. We are not going to go easy on you now that you have agreed. So…let’s go eat.”

Talon allowed them to drag him toward the house. Maybe he could be a part of their family yet.