Well show him the ropes and destroy his hopes

Posted on Thu May 18th, 2023 @ 3:16pm by Ensign Amanda Turell & Lieutenant JG Rafe Hunnicutt
Edited on on Thu May 18th, 2023 @ 3:27pm

2,974 words; about a 15 minute read

Mission: The devil wears tripolymer
Location: Gynmasium

Rafe Hunnicutt rolled his shoulders for a moment, in the shorts and tee shirt, his hands wrapped up to protect them. He did not wear boxing gloves, but they lay by the bottle of water he and towel he had brought with him. He moved light on his feet before he hit the bag, breathing with it. It was always a good warm up for him to be honest and he didn't even feel bad that he had taken the space to hang a proper bag up either.

Similarly dressed Amanda stepped into the gym heading for one of the weight machines, only a couple of weeks ago she had been given the green light to go back to full duty after getting shot and since then she had worked hard on getting back up to her pre injury level of fitness. "Hey" she said to the only other person in the gym as she passed.

"Hey," Rafe said back, recognising her as the Security officer he often gave a nod or a smile to when their paths crossed. But he had never actually talked to her beyond that. "You alright?" he asked, because that was what people did say at times. To mixed responses, of course, and it did leave him wide open to people who did have things to say.

"Not bad, feels good to be getting back in the gym." Amanda replied as she got to her machine of choice and began to set it up to her liking

"Oh, I think this gym has done more for me than all my counselling sessions," Rafe said and hit the bag again, grinning. "I'd argue the equipment listens better too."

Amanda laughed. "Yeah and they don't talk back either, don't tell you you need another month before you're ready."

"Oh, you had one of those sessions?" he whistled and turned to look at her. "I had that once. Actually, I lie. I had a 'I think I need to get my Chief' ones once. In all fairness, I was so bored I pretended I was my own twin. Quickly learned my lesson on that. And also, that a counsellor reads your personnel file properly before a session."

"Haven't had a full on session like that," Amanda said as she lifted the weights to a rested position. "But I know they had the computer monitor me in case I tried to do too much too soon." She inhaled before pushing the weights up holding them there for a moment fighting off a tremble in her arm before bringing them back down. "Told them it wasn't the first time I've been shot, I know what I can take."

"Oh...physical recovery, ouch," Rafe nodded and watched her, taking her in for a moment. "So, a security officer who hasn't been able to spread her wings...or throw her punches in a while?" he ventured a guess, but with an easy smile and raise eyebrows. "I think I got something that can help that, if you're interested."

"I could be," Amanda replied. "Don't know how good I'd be with two busted wings."

"So...we start with you throwing the punches you can throw. And don't overdo it," he said before he stopped, suddenly realising something. "I'm Rafe, by the way. Rafe Hunnicutt. I don't know your name."

Amanda turned slightly regreting it almost immediately as she nearly dropped the weights causing a stab of pain up both her arms. "So you're the engineer Debbie told me about, the one who can't hold a conversation for moore than a minute without cracking a joke."

"No..." he watched her, smiling easily as he hadn't spotted her discomfort. "That's my evil twin brother," he added the joke, to prove the point.

Putting the weights down Amanda chuckled slightly, "I hope you're better at telling jokes than he is." She told him. "I'm Amanda."

"Good to meet you, Amanda," Rafe said before he suddenly did a pretend frown. "Hey, did she say I told bad jokes? Now that's just rude...I prefer a condescending giggle, or an eye roll to...that."

Amanda slowly got up and headed over towards Rafe. "Maybe they're not her style, you'll have to try a few different ones and see what she likes. I'm not a practical joker kind of person."

"Neither is she and the practical jokes are off the table with her," Rafe said and watched her before he met her eyes. "Want your hands wrapped up?" he asked, raising a hand to show how he had bound them. "I find it useful so I don't damage anything too important."

"Sure," Amanda replied. "Has been a while since I punched anything. I'm the ships 'shoot them before they get anywhere near us' security officer."

"Oh, that makes sense," Rafe said quickly, taking the tape. "I always did it as an outlet. And to get away from my Mums, be in my own space and all that. And I suppose I had a lot of anger to punch into a bag..." he stopped and gave her an easy smile. "Want me to do it, or happy to do it yourself? And I'll put on the punch mitts, might be more fun that just hitting a bag."

"Go ahead, will be easier." Amanda said and held out her hands for him. "Well it is certainly good for taking out some frustration in a... relatively safe way and of course good exercise."

He grinned, giving a nod as he started to strap her hands up. "And like most people, I get frustrated. Had such a temper back when I started, you wouldn't believe it. All that suppressed rage needed an output. I got good. Not...Security officer good. I know that. But good for an amateur." He finished and pulled back, taking the punch mitts and putting them on, smacking them together and offering his hands up. "In your own time."

"Let me get a couple stretches in first, if I'm not careful I can dislocate my arm real easy." Amanda said before breaking into a series.

"Ouch," Rafe made a face at that, because it had happened to him once and he wasn't going to have that happen again. "Yes, stretch and loosen up because...I am not qualified to pop it back in."

"I learned how to put it back in by myself, works most of the time." Amanda carried on stretching as she spoke. "My sister messed up my shoulder when I was younger and it never healed right. Ever since I can dislocate it a lot more easily."

"Ah...siblings," Rafe chuckled at that, because it made sense to him. "I am an only child, so never had that to worry about. Just emotional baggage of getting evacuated to Earth."

Finishing one last arm stretch Amanda gave the rest of her body a quick flex before getting into a fighting stance. "Evacuated.... what happened, if you want to tell me that is."

"The Federation gave some planets to the Cardassians," he said and held up his hands for her to punch into. "Including my home, Volan III. So they sent us to Earth. And found the most miserable, coldest place with accents to thick it took me six months to understand what the other kids were saying."

Amanda started off simple, a series of jabs with both hands to get a feel for the wrapping and the pads resistance. "During the Cardassian border wars?"

"Yeah," he said, but he was smiling as she swung. Even just testing it out he could tell she was good at this. "What can I say, I'm old."

"Was a little before my time but I read up on that conflict, the federation made a lot of mistakes there, got a lot killed who shouldn't have and didn't finish the job properly." She threw another series of tags ending each flurry with a right hook. "Dad fought in it on the USS Ajax."

He met her eyes at the last words, swallowing. It was awkward to ask for the next bit, but he felt he had to. "Did he get out of it okay?"

Amanda nodded. "A few new scars to show Mum but he got out of that war pretty good. Older sister was at AR-558 during the dominion war though, she wasn't so lucky."

"I'm sorry," he said, frowning slightly before he took a deeper breath. "I suppose everyone got touched somehow by it. Regardless of where we're from." He focused on what she was doing, curious. "You always end on a right hook?"

"Not always, depends how that arm is feeling. Has good days and bad days." Amanda did another series of punches ending with a left hook this time. "I learned to get more or less as good with my left too."

"You got great form," Rafe said, smiling again as he pushed back a little bit on her last hit, to give her a little resistance. Not much, he wasn't sure what she was expecting. It was more to remind her she was hitting something alive. "Want me to move a bit, or happy like this?"

"Surprise me." Amanda replied.

He nodded, smiling as he started to move. Slowly, his feet easily placed to follow a pattern. When she next did her hits, he leant into it, before on the last he dodged and then swiped his arm out over her...the idea was for her to duck.

Amanda ducked under the relatively lazy right sided swipe and came back up with an uppercut telegraphing it just enough Rafe could intercept it with a pad.

Rafe smiled as he used his left mitt to block, taking a step back to create some distance. "Oh, you're good," he said, a deep chuckle escaping him. "I'd love to go a few rounds with you in the ring one day, see what I can learn from you."

Taking a step back too Amanda lowered her hands. "I wouldn't be in security if I wasn't good Rafe, though as I said I prefer to shoot them before they get anywhere near me." She laughed slightly at his suggestion of a little contest. "I'll take you on if you want to, might need another few weeks though, I only got the green light for full duty recently don't want to overdo it too soon."

"I can wait," he said, giving her a small nod of acceptance at her words. "I'm just an amateur though. Let's just say that I was better with an interphasic coil spanner than a phaser."

'typical engineer' Amanda thought "Can help you with that easy enough too, spend more time on the range and holodeck scenario's than any one else on the ship."

He looked at her and then made a face, but it was with a decent dose of humour. "Would you believe me if I said I don't like the idea of hurting someone? Outside of a sport, that is."

"Would you believe me if I said that?" Amanda countered. "I just happen to be very good at hurting people if people need hurting or the diplomatic situation goes out the window."

"No, I believe it," he said as he chuckled, shaking his head. "Or else you wouldn't be wearing the uniform. Or so I like to think. People who like the idea of hurting others outside of, like you said, hurting people who need hurting...well, they shouldn't be allowed anywhere near a phaser." He held his hands up for her to resume and suddenly grinned. "Also, my aim was barely good enough to get me through the Academy. I'm sure I could improve, but I'd rather work on the nacelles."

"You should still practice," Amanda said before shaking out her arms and readying to punch again "If the chief catches word that some of the crew aren't very well trained in how to use a phaser you'll get ordered to enter Lt Samsons parlour."

"Ha, I wish him luck in tracking me down long enough to give that order," Rafe said, but with a cheeky smile. He was all talk, no real bite when it came to that. "Besides, I passed my last recertification, I'll pass my next one."

"Oh we have ways of tracking people down." Amanda said making her voice sound as shifty as possible before starting to punch at Rafe again, she moved around more than the first time changing her angle of approach regularly.

He moved with it, smiling as he held the hands up for her to punch into. "I bet you do..." he said, his voice suddenly low. "Worse fates than being tracked down by Security, I guess."

"Being tracked down by the counsellor." Amanda quickly replied.

"I'm not scared of them," he admitted, meeting her eyes. "But then again, I'm just an engineer. Not in any position over people that makes anyone worry about the little things I get up to. Speaking of getting up to...you wouldn't happen to have some transparent aluminium you don't need...? I got a strict 'do not take from anything nailed down' policy."

"I'm a destroyer not a builder Rafe, I wouldn't know if we have any." Amanda replied after a few moments wondering what he'd need it for and why he was asking her for it rather than looking through a cargo bay manifest.

"Shame..." he said with a small smile, shrugging. He did a swipe at her, from the left this time, a little faster, and he was moving as well. He was reaching that point where he could feel his heart beat, a nice and pleasant sensation that reminded him that he was alive. "I'll find something else to use then. Between the two of us...I am building a distillery. Eventually. Now, I know what you're going to say...why tell a Security officer that? But technically, there's no rules about it in Starfleet. Yet. As long as it passes a safety inspection."

"You better hope that Lt Volsung or Lt Baka don't catch word of you making one." Amanda leant back out of reach of Rafe's swipe before shifting her weight back forward and swinging in with a right hook.

Rafe laughed at that, using the mitt to block her. But she had a solid right hook and he approved at that. "They might like the end result on shoreleave, you know...not that I'd bribe a member of Starfleet with anything."

"Of course you wouldn't, I'd have to throw your ass in the brig if you tried." Amanda threw a powerful left cross at the pad, a sudden jolt of pain made her grimace and she dropped her hands shaking some feeling into it.

Rafe frowned at her reaction, the physical one of pain of course, before he shook his head. "Easy, I don't want to have to take you to sickbay and be told off for always bringing trouble..." he said, the frown easing as he smiled to try and keep the mood light.

"A trouble maker are you?" Amanda asked as she rubbed her hands.

"Not intentionally," Rafe said as he removed the mitts, watching her. "I just happen to be around when people get hurt. More a jinx perhaps."

"I knew a guy like that, everyone around him would get hurt but he'd always get away scot free." Amanda said, she kept flexing her fingers as much as she could with the wrappings. "Till he fell off the upper level of engineering and cracked his skull open."

"Oh, don't worry," he said with a small chuckle, giving a quick shake of his head. "I've had my share of licks from my bad luck. Not from negligence though, not yet."

"And lets hope you never do." Amanda quickly remarked, she headed over to grab her water bottle.

"Nah, wouldn't let it go that far. I take care of this lady," he said, winking before he stretched. "If you want to, we can do this again. Build your strength again?"

"Why not," Amanda said then took a swig of water. "Give me a minute and I'll be good."

"I can give you more," Rafe said and rolled his shoulders, turning towards the bag for a moment. "And maybe this can be something we can do now and again. I spend too much time exercising, it'll be good to do it with someone else."

"I'd like that," Amanda said after a few moments. "I usually exhaust most of my training buddies long before I get tired. Will be nice to see of someone can keep up when I'm not at my best."

"Oh..oh, so you're saying I won't keep up with you when you're back to full strength?" Rafe asked, but with a cheeky grin. "Now that sounds like a challenge. I have to invest in your speedy recovery, to prove you wrong."

"I'd like to see you try." Amanda replied with a grin of her own. She took another swig of water and began some more arm stretches.

He chuckled, nodding before he sighed as he rolled his shoulders. "I should get going," he said, with genuine regret at that. He had enjoyed spending time working out, and Amanda's humour and quick punches. "See you around then...training buddy?"

"See you around." Amanda told Rafe.

Rafe nodded, smiling as he took his towel and put it over his shoulder before he took his water bottle. He gave her a last wave before he walked out, at a leisurely pace.

After Rafe left and the doors closed Amanda slumped to the floor and let out an almost primal scream of pain as her arm throbbed in agony that she had barely managed to disguise.


OFF:

Ensign Amanda Turell
Security officer [pnpc Taliserra]

LTjg Rafe Hunnicutt
Engineer

 

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