Reborn ↣ Simon "Ghost" Riley

chapter six - close .

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Ella stood and watched as Soap and Ghost sparred. The two danced over mats placed in a section of the gym. She wasn't unaccustomed to this type of combat, it was mandatory to cover back in basic training, but it had been a long time since she had seen it performed to such skill. Both men were roughly the same size, with Ghost being only a few inches taller. Fists flew as they sparred, cycling between trained techniques, each trying to get the advantage over the other.

Price had started her off with practicing techniques against punching bags, but that soon proved to be insufficient. Considering that women weren't that easy to come by on base, Gaz offered to help her rebuild her skills. At the start, he simply let her practice techniques on him and didn't retaliate or touch her, much to her dismay. She was embarrassed that her coworkers felt the need to walk on eggshells like they had been thus far. If she wanted to continue working in this field, she would have to move on and be comfortable, at least in training situations such as this one.

So when Gaz and Price were sent off on a mission to France, she found herself merely spectating the rest of her task force. That was until she was approached by another Sergeant she had seen once or twice on base before.

"Hey, are you waiting to spar with one of them or do you need a partner? My buddy is away on leave, so..." He trailed off. Not much taller than her, she sized him up before responding. He was American, probably around 2 inches taller and more muscular, but not to the same extent as Soap or Ghost.

She reassured herself before responding, "Sure. I'm Ella, by the way."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Ben." Their introduction was curt as they made their way over to the next set of mats dedicated for sparring.

Both of them got into position, with Ella squaring her legs but keeping her weight towards the balls of her feet. Ben was quick to lunge forward. He attempted to wrap an arm around the back of her head and use that point to push her to the ground. She followed through with that motion. Her supple muscles had full control as she guided her body into a forward roll. Quickly, her arms reached out to grab Ben and bring him forward with her, causing him to stumble. She took advantage of his lack of control and spun around. Her leg reached out from under her, attempting to hook around his knee bring him to the mat.

She wasn't strong enough to bring him down fully. He used the opportunity to turn her leg that was around his knee, bringing her to her stomach. She knew she had lost even before he set his knee on her back, stopping her from getting up. He held it there for a moment before standing up, signifying that he had won. He offered her a hand and she took it.

"You're fast, that's good. But remember to keep in mind the strength of your opponent versus yourself. Take advantage in other ways." A familiar Scottish voice chimed in. Her head swiveled to the other mats, and she realised that Ghost and Soap had stopped sparring to watch them. Soap stood, stretching out his arms as he regarded them, and Ghost stood as per usual with his arms crossed over his chest.

She paid no mind to them before reassuming her stance, and once matched by Ben, she decided to strike first. A kick that was meant to send him reeling hardly made him stumble, giving him an easy avenue to grab her leg and push her onto the mat, an elbow on her chest keeping her down. Again the pressure was held for just a moment before she released. The two stood back up.

"Lass, what did I just say?" Soap called again from the sideline. The embarrassment that would have been bubbling inside of her was muted by a cold, quiet stillness that washed over her. Again, she assumed position, and again, she was floored quickly. This process repeated itself, along with remarks and critiques given from Soap, again and again. Ghost said nothing, standing and watching in silence. The last spar had found herself narrowly caught by Ben's elbow, knocking her off balance and allowing her to be floored once again.