Dakota Quinn meets a young boy in a similar situation to her own.
All the two have is each other, a stray dog, and the smallest amount of money possible. How will they manage?
[Book 1 of 3]
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Dakota stands opposite Sam trying to figure out her plan of attack. She decides to start simple and throws a punch towards his face, which he catches without effort and raises his eyebrow at her.
"You're going to have to do better than that, Buttercup." He teases, she glares at him and kicks out at his feet, which he jumps backwards out of the way, dodging easily. "Really, Kota?"
"I'm new at this, okay!" She groans, bringing her foot up to try kicking him in the chest, but he dodges again.
"Thought you took Karate." He reminds her with a grin.
"I did, doesn't mean I was any good." She shrugs. Dakota tries punching again, but Sam catches her hand, now having both her hands.
Sam crosses Dakota's arms over each other and spins around, bringing them over his head and causing the blonde to fall to the floor. He turns back and grins down at her. "Lesson number one; don't let your opponent keep hold of you. They will use it against you."
"Okay, help me up." Dakota groans, holding her hand up. Sam rolls his eyes and takes her hand, she tries to pull him down but Sam is stronger and pulls her up to stand. "Oh, come on! That works for everyone!"
"Yeah, well that's in the movies, Kota. This is real life." Sam remarks, smirking at the blonde in amusement. "And it was very predictable. Try to be unpredictable, catch your enemy by surprise."
"Right." Dakota nods as she kicks out at the boy, but he catches her foot and twists it, making her fall back to the ground.
"You need technique." Sam tells her as he pulls her back to her feet. "But have multiple, so you're not always using the same one. Right now, you're just hitting and kicking out at me. It's simple to dodge or block. You don't want that."
Dakota nods, and next thing she knows Sam is punching out at her. The blonde's eyes widen as she ducks under the punch. The second she stands back up, Sam is kicking out at her legs, knocking them out from under her and she falls to the floor on her back, groaning.
"This isn't fair." She sighs. "You have a lifetime of training, I have a few Karate lessons. You're easily going to beat me."
"You have one advantage though, Kota." Sam chuckles as he helps her up once again.
"Oh, yeah? And what would that be?" She asks with a raised eyebrow.
"Seeing as I know how to fight and you don't, I know it is likely that I would hurt you if I tried my best. So therefore, I can't do my best, in fear of hurting you." He explains with a shrug. Dakota sucks in a short shocked breath.
"Oh." She murmurs. Sam nods and shrugs a shoulder.
"I have the strength to really hurt you, Kota." He sighs. "I don't want to hurt you."
"Do your best, Sammy." She pleads. "Like you said, monsters aren't going to care. They're gonna see a shot and take it, hurting me is a bonus."
Sam sighs and nods, and the two spend the next few hours sparring, Dakota slowly getting better and better.
The runaways throw punches and kicks, and suddenly Sam catches Dakota's arm and pulls her to him, her back to his chest, one hand holding her forearm while his other arm is around her neck gently.
"Dead." He grins. Dakota groans in frustration.
"I'm never going to be good enough." She sighs, barely noticing Sam still has her in his grip.
"Stop it, Kota." He growls softly. "You're doing well, getting a lot better. You're holding up against me for a while now, in the beginning you were on the floor in seconds."
"But it's not enough, Sam." She states. "How am I gonna beat a monster, when I can't even beat a human?"
Dakota locks eyes with Sam and the two stare at one another for a while, Sam still holding Dakota to his chest. Their faces are inches apart and Dakota can feel Sam's warm breath on her face, smell his minty breath.
She can feel her heart pounding against her chest, can feel his heart racing against her back. The warm sun shines onto her face heating her up and she blinks a few times, unable to look away from the boy who's arms she is in.
Dakota's breath catches in her throat as she stares into Sam's eyes, seeing the specks of blue and green in his hazel orbs. She gulps inaudibly and blinks a few times before suddenly pulling away.
"Well, that was, uh, that was great, Dakota." Sam states, brushing himself down awkwardly, completely avoiding the blonde girls gaze. "You're really getting there. I'm sure you will be an expert in days!"
"Uh, thanks." She smiles, also avoiding her companion's gaze, feeling awkward. "Should we maybe get lunch?"
"Yeah, yeah. Definitely." Sam nods, grabbing his flannel from a log where he had carelessly thrown it when it got too hot for it, leaving him in a t shirt. Dakota also grabs her jacket from the same log at the same time and their hands touch briefly before they both pull away instantly and awkwardly.
"Do you, uh, do you want me to go and get lunch and you head back?" Dakota asks, thinking it might be best for them to have some time apart to gather back any normality they had lost in their intimate moment.
"Yeah. Or you could head back and I can grab lunch. You decide." Sam nods, still avoiding eye contact.
"I'll get lunch, Sam." Dakota smiles. "You got us breakfast. What do you want?"
"Uh, I'll have whatever you're having." Sam shrugs, Dakota nods slightly as she pulls her jacket on. Sam reaches into his boot and pulls out a small blade, holding it out to her. "Take this, just in case."
Dakota smiles and takes the knife, placing it in the inside pocket of her jacket. "Thanks." She smiles gratefully. She thinks for a moment and then nods to herself and smiles at Sam again. "For everything."
"You're welcome." He smiles back, looking down sheepishly. "Be careful, Kota." She nods and the two head off in different directions, Dakota towards town to get food, and Sam back towards the place they call home.
