fandomtownies | Atlas Gym, Tuesday morning 8/26

Amber came in to find Murdock at the punching bag and she was content to simply watch until he was done. Or until he noticed her; whichever came first.

It took him several minutes to realize she was there, going as he was after the bag with an intensity that was possibly almost scary.

He stopped as soon as he spotted her and gave a faint smile. "Hey. Amber." Also, a bit out of breath.

It was a little scary and she wondered the reason for it, not at all thinking it had anything to do with her. After all, that was a few days ago and she was over it. For the most part at least.

"Hi, Murdock." Pause. "You alright?"

"Yah. I'm alright." He seemed to brush off whatever was bothering him and gave her another slight smile.

"How you doin' this mornin'?" he asked as he grabbed a towel and wiped some sweat off his brow.

"You sure?" she asked, hedging slightly towards there being something wrong and he could tell her.

Amber shrugged. "Am doin' good. Been alone since I saw you last. Think I might go home for the weekend."

He forced himself to relax and gave her a small, but real smile this time. "Yah, it's okay."

There was something to be said for all that military training.

"That sounds like a great idea," he smiled. "A nice little break before the semester starts up." He was concerned however, over the 'been alone' part. He figured she'd at least chat with one of her friends about it. It wasn't good to keep things bottled up all the time.

Like he should talk, really.

"Mhm," she said. Amber could careless about going home, but she wasn't in a good mood this morning and Cal was avoiding her. It was beginning to piss her off.

"Can I try that," she asked, indicating the punching bag.

"Go right ahead," he waved absently at it. This might work out better than he'd intended. It'd give him a chance to see what form (if any) Amber had for fighting.

And maybe it'd help clear her of some things.

He moved off to the side, out of her way, but close enough by he could see everything easily.

Dropping her duffle bag, she stepped over to the punching bag and made fists with her hands. Grinding down on her jaw, she reared back with her right arm and let her fist fly forward. Hard. "OW! Goddammit!"

He cringed at that. "Yah," he drawled. "It's like that. Here..." He came up behind her, "First off, relax a bit and don't make such a tight fist. You don't want to be hurtin' yourself when you hit," your opponent, "somethin'."

"The other thing you wanna do," and he moved her left arm, bending it at the elbow, "keep your other up in front of you in case you need to block. Not that the bag is gonna fight back, but it's a good habit t'get into."

"Now..." he guided her right arm carefully and slowly until she connected with the bag, no pressure though. "You want to keep your aim steady on the same spot. Start off slow, just aiming it and let yourself build up." He backed off again, giving her space to work.

Amber listened, let him position her; moving in the right way while he showed her how to do it. Her hand was totally going to be a mess after this lesson but what the hell. She needed to beat the shit out of that bag.

She glanced over at him, determination in her eyes, then looked back at the bag and hit it, just like he showed her. Still hurt but at least she did it right this time. And Amber just kept hitting it, alternating with her left hand.

He knew what she was doing but said nothing. There were times when a person just had to get things out of their system. So he let her be. He was however, keeping a close eye out, making sure she didn't mess herself up too much.

The only thing she was messing up were her hands. But she didn't care. Next time she would wear gloves. She started shifting her body, dancing back and forth in front of the punching bag, working up a sweat as she hit it over and over and over again.

"Alright, Amber. I think that's good." He offered her a bottle of water. "You don't want t'mess your hands up. Knowin' when to stop is always the hardest part." He held his own hand up, which was slighty reddend, smirking just a little, "Even for the more expeirenced folk."

She accepted it with a nod, gratefully, and took a good swallow. "Thanks," she said, trying to catch her breath. "This is... harder than one would think."

"Yah, it is. But it gets easier the more you do it." Which had its own pros and cons right there. "But you did pretty good. Movin' around is a good thing, too. Harder to hit a movin' target."

Edging a little closer, he casually snuck a peek at her hands to see how much (if any) damage was there. "I think we aught to get ya some gloves. Not them big heavy things, the ones that keep your skin from chafing." And shearing off if one goes too far.

He gave her a careful look, "So...you feel better now?"

"Yah, I imagine trying to beat the crap out of someone would be more difficult," she mused thoughtfully.

Amber showed him her hands. Skin hadn't been broken but her knuckled were definitely red and chafed. "Next time. I think I'm done with punching for the day."

She looked up at him and her eyes were honest and clear when she answered. "I feel good. What happened the other day was a lesson learned even though it did satiate my curiosity to a degree."

He had to grin at that. "Just a bit harder, yah." He carefully looked over her hands and nodded. "I think you're done for the day too. Here," he dug through his own bag for a few seconds and handed a small tube of salve to her, "try this. It'll help."

"Good. I've been thinkin' about that too," he took a seat on the floor and patted a spot next to him. "I know you don't want me to say nothin', and I haven't," he assured her quickly, "but I think it should be reported." He let out a bit of a sigh and shook his head a bit. "I don't like the idea of it possibly happenin' to somebody else."

"Thank you," she said and began to put some on, but she moved over and sat down beside him, rubbing in the salve while he spoke.

And... oh, god. No... no no no. Amber could never get anyone in trouble. People would hate her.

"Murdock, I... no. I can't do that. He didn't do anything that I didn't ask for. I was willin', remember? He stopped when I asked him too and... I couldn't get him in trouble. I just couldn't."

"I know what you're gettin' at, really I do. But what if..." he cast a glance at her, dropping his voice a bit, "next time he don't stop."

"It's a pretty wild accusation to lay on anyone, and it could be that he wouldn't again, but..." he shook his head, "I just can't help but wonder 'what if'. He may be an alright guy," though he didn't fully believe that, "but I think he what he did was wrong and he should be held accountable for that."

"If you don't want to say nothin'...I could. I don't have to give anybody your name, I can claim confidence, but..." he shook his head again, "Amber, I can't just let this guy slide off. It's not in my nature."

"I don't believe that. I believe that he's decent enough because he did stop. Please, he would know, if you told, and Murdock, you can't do that to me. Please..." she said, reaching out to grab his forearm. "Don't you understand what that could do to me? Everyone would know! I listened to the podcast; everyone who listened to the news that night, knew I was with him. Please, you can't. You have to just forget about it."

It was painful to have her pleading like that. He dropped his head and closed his eyes, nodded. "Alright. I won't." He looked back up at her, "Because you asked me to. I still don't like it, but..." he paused and chewed his lip a bit, "I'll do for it you."

So much for having things done through offical channels.

He patted her hand. "I won't say nothin'. I promise."

And he'd have to figure out some other way to see that ol' Chuck got the message.

"Thank you oh my god," she said, emotionally relieved. "Trust me, please. I know it's hard because you saw me like you did, and I'm sorry for that. I wish you hadn't. But you know I got myself in trouble, Murdock. I did. The more I think about it the more I know it to be true. I wanted certain... things and just wasn't willin' to go all the way. It happens all the time to girls, right?"

She took a deep breath. "I trust you, okay? I do... and, if you see Cal anywhere, not that he would care, but just don't mention it to him, okay?"

It had been hard to see her like that, hear that story, but then again...he'd also seen much worse in his time. He gave her a soft smile and patted her shoulder. "I'm not sorry I found you. I'm glad I did. Gave me a chance to look after ya, and I wouldn't change that part."

"And you're right," he nodded, "unfortunately it does happen. All too often. I wish it wouldn't, but if wishes were fishes..." he chuckled a little.

Cal? He blinked a little. What did Cal have anything to do with... Oh. Right. The one she really liked. "I promised I wouldn't say nothin' and I mean that. I won't tell..." though it was pulling him apart. And that trust... he could almost hate that right at this minute. But still. "Everything...will work out. Somehow."

She smiled a little. "No, you're right, I wouldn't change that either. It was you who helped be back and I'll be grateful forever."

Amber watched him carefully, stared up into his eyes. She really didn't want to talk about Cal. He'd been avoiding her and she would seriously think about punching that damn bag again...

"I've nearly forgotten it already," she said, trying to sound positive.

Edited 2008-08-27 00:37 (UTC)

"I'll always be around to help you, whenever and however I can. And that's a promise too," he grinned lightly.

"Well that's good, movin' on an' all." Too bad he couldn't do the same just yet. And whatever was going on between her and Cal...

"Things do have a way of workin' themselves out, Amber. All things. They really do. And if you ever need to talk about anythin', you know you can."

"Thank you, Murdock. I mean that, thanks for everything."

She looked down. She hadn't really gotten over things. They were still too jumbled up and she was fickle in her thinking. Amber was tired of it.

"Yah, I know they do. And I know," she smiled a bit. "I know I can."

"You're welcome, darlin'," he said softly and smiled at her. "Go on, I think you're done for the day," he patted her arm. "I...got a few things to take care of here before I head out."

No, he didn't. But it'd give him some time to try to sort out his own fickle thoughts.

She smiled and leaned over to hug him. "You're so good to me," she said softly and then stood to go.

The hug was greatly appreciated and he returned it briefly. "I try," he grinned slightly.

He remained on the floor, smiling a little, watching her head out.

Amber grabbed her bag and with one last wave, and smile, she headed out.

Atlas Gym, Tuesday morning 8/26

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NFB please!

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