Anything You Can Do

From the sidelines, Army could hear Suzy saying something. Sounded chipper, like she was cheering him on. Bring her usual bubbly, somewhat irritating self.

Whatever she was saying it was just background noise. Likewise, even if there had been an actual crowd instead of Suzy, Carmen, and a handful of mice that needed exterminating, he wouldn't have paid much attention to them. His mind was on two things: the anaconda constricting around his waist and the violet eyes glaring holes into him.

Confident eyes. Enjoying this. She probably thought she had him, and she’d be right. She did. But he had her, too. Or he was about to.

Instead of pulling away - which was just not happening - he wrapped his arms around her body, locked his hands at her back, and proceeded to pull her in, hugging her tight. His chest expanded, muscles tightened and bulged, exerting maximum pressure. It was a crushing, punishing force, not unlike the kind she was giving on him. She had the advantage here, since she'd already worked his ribs over to a good degree, but he was determined to catch up with his best bearhug. If he was going down, he'd drag her along the way as far as he could.

Just to drive the point home, Army brought their foreheads together and pressed hard, daring her to do the same. He was in too much pain to really talk at the moment, but he was pretty sure his locked gaze and the wild smirk would communicate clearly enough.

Despite her best efforts, Army was able to hoist her into the air but Alicia just kept up the pressure, hoping he wasn’t going for another slam or – if he was – she’d have enough warning to drop her hold and turn it on him.

Otherwise, she’d got him right where she wanted him and the British amazon believed that right up until the point where Army’s arms wrapped around her torso. For all the punching power and lifting power she knew he had in his upper body, the redhead hadn’t realised how devastating a bear hug from the boxer could be and she had to bite back a pained scream of her own.

Her ribs weren’t going to be the issue – she was pretty sure she could make him tap before that bit of the hold really started to bite. She’d got a head start and she’d bet on her scissors over his bearhug any day. Absolutely. Ok, he’d gotten a shot or two in at the beginning of the match, but that had been four, nearly five minutes back. Easy. The problem was her spine. Having been spinebustered, suplexed and his weight jammed into it for the headlock (plus the near Boston Crab), Alicia’s back wasn’t in the best of shape.

And with his fists pressed right into the small of her spine, pressing against her like he meant to literally break her in two, it really wasn’t a surprise that she could feel the agony bubbling up after only a few seconds.

But that didn’t mean she was going to give up. Hell no. If anything, she tightened her own hold, digging down into her reserves, relocking her ankles and shifting her grip for maximum effect. Army was a big, solid guy, hard with muscle, and it wasn’t so easy to scissor him as a smaller guy or a woman. And his arms-

Alicia winced as another jolt ran up her spine.

Yeah, he definitely knew what he was doing.

Ok, so did she. Gritting her teeth, still smirking with the utter confidence that she’d be the winner of their little battle, Alicia pressed right back against his forehead and kept her gaze locked with his.

Come on, Army, come on. You know you want to…

Alicia was a tough one, Army would give her that. Maybe not the toughest woman he’d ever faced, but considering he’d taken on one woman who was his own size and another who was considerably bigger, that wasn’t discounting her. She was easily in the top three.

She was definitely capable of taking what she dished out. Army had thought that, maybe, she’d be a sort of glass cannon, that she’d honed her legs to the point where she’d neglected toughening up the rest of her body.

Not the case. She was solid all over. He pumped the bearhug hard, wrenched her spine with rising pressure. It was hurting her, could tell that easily, but it wasn’t quite enough. He tried not to let that deter him. Strong as she was, she was still human, and humans had breaking points.. Maybe if he had more time, if he could bang her up against the turnbuckles a bit, or-

”Time!”

Carmen held up the buzzing phone, making sure she had both of their attention. Fives minutes. Gone.

Army flicked his gaze over to Carmen for a hot second, before bringing it back to Alicia. He hadn’t broke the hold just yet - not because he wanted to go against his sister in her own gym, but because his body was still in the zone. Things were getting good, he was making some headway, he was enjoying it. And now he had to slam on the breaks.

With a disappointed and pained sigh, he released the bearhug and fell back, hoping she did the same with her scissors. The second she did, he was going to lay there and rub them for a good while. A little massage, and to make sure nothing inside required a trip to the emergency room.

Alicia was a tough one, Army would give her that. Maybe not the toughest woman he’d ever faced, but considering he’d taken on one woman who was his own size and another who was considerably bigger, that wasn’t discounting her. She was easily in the top three.

She was definitely capable of taking what she dished out. Army had thought that, maybe, she’d be a sort of glass cannon, that she’d honed her legs to the point where she’d neglected toughening up the rest of her body.

Not the case. She was solid all over. He pumped the bearhug hard, wrenched her spine with rising pressure. It was hurting her, could tell that easily, but it wasn’t quite enough. He tried not to let that deter him. Strong as she was, she was still human, and humans had breaking points.. Maybe if he had more time, if he could bang her up against the turnbuckles a bit, or-

”Time!”

Carmen held up the buzzing phone, making sure she had both of their attention. Fives minutes. Gone.

Army flicked his gaze over to Carmen for a hot second, before bringing it back to Alicia. He hadn’t broke the hold just yet - not because he wanted to go against his sister in her own gym, but because his body was still in the zone. Things were getting good, he was making some headway, he was enjoying it. And now he had to slam on the breaks.

With a disappointed and pained sigh, he released the bearhug and fell back, hoping she did the same with her scissors. The second she did, he was going to lay there and rub them for a good while. A little massage, and to make sure nothing inside required a trip to the emergency room.

Alicia was usually the one doing the squeezing in these sorts of situations, not the one getting squeezed. She’d been on the receiving end, more than once, particularly back in the days when she’d been honing her scissors. Again, usually, it’d been scissors but she’d been hugged before. Not by pros but by some guys with some pretty serious upper body musculature.

None of them had made the hold hurt anywhere near as much as Army did. Ok, he’d battered her back previously. But still, he knew how to work it, knew where to hurt her, knew what he needed to do much more than anyone else she’d faced. Her jaw was tight with the effort needed to keep smiling, keep the groans of pain behind her clenched teeth, particularly when he jerked her around, yanking at her spine in a way that just made it all worse.

The pain had sweat beading on her forehead, threatening to drip into her eyes. But she matched his stare for every last moment.

But she returned the favour in spades, refusing to relent a fraction on her own hold. She’d had him in the bodyscissors longer than he’d had the hug on, his ribs had been battered to hell and back – all she had to do was hold on, keep the pressure up and he’d have to tap.

If not, maybe she could go for his ears or try for a front sleeper, force him to defend on more than one front-

At that point, Carmen called time.

Well. Damn it.

Unlike Army, she didn’t look over. Didn’t look away. But she couldn’t deny she was disappointed. Sure as she was she’d be the one to win this standoff, it was worse to not know. Would she be making him tap or would she have to tap herself?

Part of her rebelled at not taking this match to its conclusion. But – reluctantly, oh so reluctantly – as she felt his arms loosen and come away, she did the same. Her ankles came apart, and she let herself drop to her feet, then Alicia slumped to one knee. Her shoulders rose and fell with her deep, pained breathing, her ribs and back definitely thankful for the cessation of the bear hug not to mention being back on firm ground. But her eyes didn’t leave Army, where he lay rubbing his ribs.

They had unfinished business.

Army chewed on his lip and cursed the face that a minute only had a measly sixty seconds. Goddamn it, he had Alicia. So close. So damn close…

He slammed his fist against the mat, not even bothering to hide the frustration, and he sat up with a low groan. The first thing he saw after he came up was those purple eyes again, staring back at him with very much the same look he had. Probably the same thoughts. Probably thought he was right on the verge of tapping out, maybe even taking a nap.

Well, she was wrong. He wanted to prove her wrong, too.

They stared at each other for another moment, perhaps longer. He wasn’t really sure how long their gazes had been locked when Carmen finally spoke up and broke the deadlock.

”Good stuff.” She spared a quick glance back at Suzy, as her pupil made her way to the lockerroom with a loud huff. She’d get over all of this and her wounded pride would heal. Eventually. ”Very good - it’ll be good to have a kickboxer of your level, here.”

Carmen leveled her gaze, looking between the two of them. The tension was stil there, the same kinetic energy from the fight, lingering in the air. ”Are you two okay?”

Army gazed at Alicia for a few more seconds, before he closed his eyes and ran his fingers through his hair. ”Yeah,” He idly ran his fingers over a tender rib, checking to see how bad the damage was. Army swore, he could still feel her thighs around him. ”Yeah, we’re good.

He said it a tone that pretty refuted the statement all by itself.

At Carmen’s comment about how it’d be good to have her around, Alicia finally broke off her staring match with Army to turn her gaze to his sister. She’d long since stopped paying much attention to the Latina she’d fought the first time around, whose name she still didn’t know, and the other woman storming out really didn’t seem to trouble her at all. She barely noticed.

”Thanks,” She offered as a reply, giving Carmen a slightly pained smile.

Her mind was still very much on the fight more than anything else, but that didn’t mean she didn’t appreciate the praise – even if she was still busily ruing some of her choices.

As to whether she was ok? Her ribs ached when she breathed, her back felt like Army had nearly cracked something and her body was battered and aching more or less from top to toe.

”I’m fine,” Alicia winced as she stood, the motion reminding her spine of the grinding hold it had just been put through, ”Ok, a bit sore, but nothing a good shower won’t fix.”

That, plus a good night’s sleep and a few painkillers to deal with the inevitable stiff neck but she’d be fine tomorrow. And next time, she’d be ready for some of Army’s tricks. A stretch followed, then the big redhead made her way to the ropes to slip out, only pausing to shoot him another glance. They’d got unfinished business and, while Alicia certainly wanted that match with Carmen as badly as she wanted anything, the idea of not finishing with Army was already gnawing at her.

Finishing with Army, finishing Army. Same difference, as far as she was concerned. But it looked like she was just going to have to be patient.

Carmen nodded to Alicia as she made her way out, giving the redhead a quick pat on the back as she passed. ”Feel free to use the locker room if you want to wash up.”

Carmen thumbed to the back, before her gaze shot to the entrance, where a couple of girls were making their way in. Schoolgirls, by their outfits. Walk-ins. ”Anyway, just leave your number with Army and I’ll catch up with you for a little one-on-one training.” She gave Alicia a final look over, as if she had some thoughts running about in her head. She could keep them contained, though. For now. ”Looking forward to it.”

With the slightest smirk, she turned around and made her way to the new girls, going to do a little business. Army, for his part, was still in the ring, doing something he didn't make a habit of doing too much: Thinking.

He sat there, indian-style, idly running a hand over his ribs and chewing his lips as he watched Alicia walk off. It wasn’t the first time he’d gone up against a woman who could hang with him, but it was the first instance where he’d been cut off before he could follow through. There was this gnawing little feeling, like reading a book with half the pages torn out. If they’d just had one more minute, a little more time.

He knew they’d fight again, especially if she was hanging around the gym. But Army wasn’t exactly known for his patience. So.

”Hey, Red, come back a sec.” He called to Alicia as he stood up, moved over to the side of the ring, and leaned over the ropes with his arms dangling. He kept his voice high enough for her to hear, but over the rain slamming on the roof, Carmen wouldn’t be able to pick them up. ”You doing anything tonight?”

Washing up. It sounded like a very good idea, to save the least – Alicia would definitely be taking Carmen up on that offer. It wasn’t ideal; she didn’t have a change of clothes, but she still wouldn’t mind washing the sweat and ring dust off, not to mention it gave her an excuse for having two nice hot showers today.

”Me too,” She called after the departing boxer, her eyes lingering for a moment on first Carmen then the new arrivals, before she shook her head. She was certainly not up to taking on Carmen right now, and the girls would almost certainly be a disappointment.

As it was, she decided with a stretch of her arms, she’d take that shower, go back to her apartment and try to get some work done.

That was if she could focus past wondering what it’d be like to spar with Carmen and how long it was going to be before she got to find that out for herself. That’d be one phone call she’d be looking forward to.

The redhead had just started towards the back, half-wondering if the princess would be stupid enough to try for some out-of-hours retribution under her trainer’s roof, when she heard the call. For a moment, Alicia just paused, then she sighed and turned back to eye Army with her hands on her wide hips.

”Please tell me you’re not asking me out.”

Because, if he was, the answer was ‘no chance’, also ‘no way’ and ‘he wished’.

That one got a little chuckle out of Army. ”Pfft, no.” He cut the laugh off when he realized it might be just a little insulting. It wasn’t like Alicia was unattractive or anything. Far from it. Maybe a little too intense for his tastes, but fine. His relationship status at the moment was best described as ‘complicated’, and he didn’t have any interest in making it more ‘complicated’.

”No, I mean-” He stole a quick glance at Carmen, making sure she was properly distracted. She was. Army leaned back and grabbed the ropes, swinging back on his heels as he tried to mull the best way to come out with it.

”You’re good. You’re really, really good. But.” He dropped down and grabbed the bottom rope, giving it a harder tug to slide his way out. ”I think I can beat you clean. And I don’t want to wait to find out. So, how about you come back, say, 10:00. After hours. I’ll stay to clean up after Carmen leaves, keep the door open and wait for you. Then we can go as long as we want, as hard as we want, until one of us can’t go anymore. No bells, no ref, no clock, just you and me.”

He walked over to his with his arms akimbo, mirroring her pose with his frame, getting close enough that he had to tilt his head ever-so-slightly to meet her eyes. His look was still wild, lingering energy from before that was just waiting to find an outlet. ”You in?”