An Act of Chivalry (Sander Sides)

Chapter Nineteen

I was out of breath, leaning on my knees as I watched Thomas and Roman brawl it out. We had been training since two in the morning and we had yet to square Thomas once. I heard a bang, and before I knew it, a very helpless Roman came flying my way. He hit me directly and we both tumbled to the floor.

"It's eleven o'clock." Thomas reminded, not breaking his stance or focus. "Neither of you are leaving until you win. it's one vs two, I know you two can do better than that." He challenged, a smirk evident on his face.

Roman jumped to his feet and offered me a hand. I took it, getting to my feet and pulling out a gun. It wasn't real, and only shot pellets. It worked and fired exactly like my pistol but couldn't hurt a fly. It only tags people with a hint of color, letting them know I hit them. This is why Thomas wore goggles.

With my gun in hand, I sunk into the floor, keeping under Roman as he advanced and blending with his shadow.

Roman was armed with a staff since it was less deadly and the hero twirled it around his torso before jabbing it in Thomas's direction. I watched Thomas block the attack with the palm of his hand, then repeating that with every failing attempt Roman made. It never seemed to matter how fast we moved, Thomas was always faster.

To my advantage, the prince was a distraction for me. While the two quarreled, I reached out of the ground and latched onto Thomas's ankle. I definitely scared him, distracting him just long enough for Roman to get the advantage. The mentor tripped on me and fell to the ground, Roman was quick to pin him afterward.

I took this as a win, rising from the ground but with my eyes closed and laying on the ground. I was exhausted.

"Well hey there." Thomas joked at Roman, who was awkwardly pinning Thomas to the floor. Roman burst into laughter, rolling off our friend as he did so. While Roman continued to die of laughter, Thomas got to his feet and brushed himself off.

"Come on Virge." Thomas rolled his eyes, offering me a hand. I groaned in response, "I'm too tired. Legs...have died." "But I had the chiefs fetch you both your favorite ice cream and everything." 

My head shot up and I swirled to my feet. "Well, well, well," I started, "Look at that, my legs are good as new. Guess I'll go to the kitchen-goodbye!" With that, I was running off to the kitchen floor.

I didn't notice Roman following behind until we got there. I rolled my eyes to the situation and facepalmed. "God damn it, Thomas." I laughed.

-----

"God damn it." I sighed as the training room door shut behind them. A part of me was glad to let them win. If I had to fight for one more hour, I would've lost it. I wiped my forehead with the back of my hand, then fixing my hair. With an evident frown, I sat on a bench nearby.

I missed Logan and Patton, everything was so quiet without them. I could hear steps approaching from the side. I internally groaned, cursing myself for silently breaking down in the training room. I was a mentor, people didn't need to see me whining on the sidelines. A weight pressed down on both sides of the bench and the air in front of me shifted. Three people, probably officers were waiting for me.

"Thomas, is that you?" A familiar voice chimed. I pulled my hands away from my face, wiping away tears as I did so. Joan was crouched in front of me, Terrance sat on the left, and Talyn sat on the right. 

"Oh sorry guys," I cleared my throat and shakily got to my feet. Joan stopped me and both Terrance and Talyn pulled me back into my seat.

"Don't start with us Thomas, we may work with you, but we've known you inside and out since high school. What's wrong?" Terrance wrapped an arm around me both to keep me in place and to act as comfort. "It's really nothing I...I-I'm not allowed to miss them, they're an acquaintance and that's it. I still miss them, I-their, my family. Logan and Patton are gone, and I worry how the rest will function without them...How I'll function without them."

"But they'll come back." Talyn started. "You'll get them back."

I nodded, "Yeah...Thank guys I really needed to hear that." I got to my feet once more and pulled Joan into a hug, the other two followed quickly after.

"Holy cow!" Terrance jumped the moment we broke the large hug. "Boy, when was the last time you've eaten."

 "Not too long a-" 

"I mean a meal Thomas, not an apple!"

I pondered a moment, "Two-no, three days ago- Hey!" Joan had grabbed me by the arm and started dragging me out the door. "Don't "hey" me, you've got a first class ticket to have lunch with us. Followed by some movies."

I rolled my eyes, "Guys I'm fine, I gotta get back to work-" 

"Nope, I highly doubt you've been eating, sleeping, and generally taking care of yourself. Theirs no getting past us now Mr. Workaholic! You're going to rest and you're going to like it!"

"I love you guys."