Deeks' Training

Lesson learned.

He stretched as he woke early on a Saturday morning, it was close to 7am and the sunlight coming through the window highlighted the colors in the hair of the beautiful brunette lying next to him the sun's rays caressing her skin and glancing off the ring on her left hand.

He smiled remembering how he had proposed to her last night and she had said yes.

After a year of being together, they were ready to take the next step and make their life together permanent.

He got up to make himself a coffee, slipping silently out of the rumpled sheets, but not waking the sleeping beauty beside him. He figured he had enough time for her to sleep in for a bit while he made her coffee and looked to see if there was anything he could make her for breakfast before they headed to the gym.

For the past few months he had been giving her lessons in self defense. She had been surprised when she found out exactly how extensive his level of martial arts training was and gladly accepted his offer to teach her.

He took a sip of his coffee, leaning against the counter watching Los Angeles come to life through his window.

It seemed funny to him, thinking about it all now how it started and how far he had come.

It had started that fateful morning when his father's insults had flipped over the edge and he had turned violent beating his eight year old son and terrifying him to the point that he had run to his room, snuck out the window unable to listen to his mother's screams and ran down the road to his friend Ray's house.

It had been his birthday and his mother had made him a nice cake with 8 small candles on it. She had saved for months for the ingredients and was delighted with the smile on her son's face.

They both jumped as Gordon slammed the front door storming into the house.

He was angry and Martin had no idea what had made his father mad. Martin put his hands over his ears as Gordon yelled at his wife and he whimpered as he backhanded her. Martin got up and ran towards his father grabbing his hand as he pulled it back for another hit on his mother.

Without a word Gordon turned and snarled at his son, he grabbed him by the hair and threw him into a wall. His attention taken from his mother, Martin closed his eyes and curled into a ball as his father started screaming obscenities at him and hit him until his world went fuzzy. The second his father's back was turned and he walked back into the kitchen for a beer, Martin scooted off down the hallway.

In his room he sobbed as the pain in his small body cried out for relief. He didn't know what his momma or him had done to upset his daddy. All he could think about was that it was his birthday, if he wasn't there or hadn't had a birthday maybe his daddy wouldn't have been mad.

There and then he made the decision, Ray was older than him and Ray knew everything. Ray would know what to do.

Finally arriving at Ray's house Martin baulked at the sound of his father talking to Ray's father on the phone.

He stood in the shadows of the backyard until he noticed Ray's bedroom light come on and his window open.

He waited as a pair of long legs reached through the window and Ray shimmied down the drainpipe and landed with a soft plop on the grass next him.

"I heard man, you ok?" Ray asked.

Martin shook his head, "I'm scared Ray, I couldn't help momma."

"You wanna be able to protect yourself and her?" Ray asked.

Martin nodded, "Can you help me Ray?" he asked.

Ray nodded wisely and patted Martin's shoulder noticing the wince as he did so.