Mrsmirrorreed

Hoshi tried to jump over the incoming strike, but yelped as she was caught around the waist and hurled backward, landing flat on her back with a force that drove all the air from her chest. Her assailant crouched beside her, concern radiating from his grey eyes.

“Are you alright, Ensign?” he asked, when she didn’t move to get up.

She nodded, fluttering her hand over her torso to indicate that she was trying to catch her breath.

“Here, sit up,” he instructed, holding out his hand for her to grip. “It’s easier to breathe that way.” He tugged her to a seated position, and Hoshi found oxygen entering her lungs with less of a struggle.

“Thank you, sir,” she wheezed, starting to breathe a little easier. “That was a little uncomfortable.”

“I should say so,” agreed the tactical officer, resting his wrists on his knees as he crouched. “Not much fun to be had without a good supply of air.” He waited until she was breathing normally before straightening, once again holding out his hand. “Ready to go again?”

Hoshi grabbed his hand and tugged against his sudden immovable strength, helping her pop to her feet with minimal effort. “Ready when you are, sir,” she said, releasing his hand and moving to the centre of the mat.

Malcolm nodded, following her and stopping to face her a few steps away. She was crouching slightly, balancing on the balls of her feet, hands open and ready to grab.

By contrast, he was relaxed, hands hanging at his side, walking lightly on the balls of his feet and ready for a swift burst of movement, but otherwise seeming in no way perturbed by the fact that she was ready to rush him.

And rush him she did; feinting to the left before darting in from the right, she reached out to grip his left arm with both hands, push her foot between his legs to hook behind an ankle and pull … and suddenly she was yanked off her feet and sent over his hip, flying through the air to land ignominiously on her back once more.

At least this time her lungs retained enough breath for her to simply pant as she wrinkled her nose at him from her supine position. “Seems I’ll never get past your defences,” she smiled, and Lieutenant Reed chuckled.

“Not many can, aside from Esk,” he agreed, “or at least not when it comes to outright sparring and wrestling, I suppose.” His hand was already outstretched to help her up. “But you never know, maybe if we tried some martial arts now, you’d get it right.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” Hoshi jumped to her feet with his aid. “I haven’t had a good sparring session for a while now. And please,” she said, giving him her best side-eye, “I know you won’t hit at full strength, since we’re only sparring; but don’t pull your punches just because I’m a woman. I hate that.”

The lieutenant’s lips curved, but his expression was serious. “I do have to be careful, though, Ensign,” he said gently. “I could seriously hurt you if I hit you at my full strength. I'm a lot stronger than most people realise.” Then the seriousness was replaced by a faint wink. “Besides, it wouldn’t look very good if I sent you back onto the bridge with a shiner, as the Yanks put it. Captain Archer wouldn’t be too impressed at having a first contact situation with an injured officer in sight of the viewscreen.”

“You never know, it might not be me with a black eye,” she teased, swallowing a laugh as he raised an eyebrow and sent a frankly skeptical look in her direction.

They squared off in the middle of the mat, bowing to each other. Hoshi brought up her left fist as a block, right fist back and ready to strike. Malcolm’s hands lifted to waist height, palms open and facing the ground, right arm slightly behind, as his left side was turned toward her and his weight went onto his back foot.

She watched his eyes run over her, noting the position of her feet and hands, lingering on how her hips and shoulders were placed, a very faint nod tilting his head as his eyes met hers. She did the same in turn, eyes narrowing slightly as she looked at his hands and feet, and returned her eyes to his face, assessing, waiting for the right moment …

… and as his hands lowered a fraction, she moved, flowing forward, right arm flashing out to strike at his face, blocked by a swiftly-rising left arm that turned and tried to grip hers, presumably to pull her off-balance. But her left arm was there, switching from block to strike, and his right arm had to become engaged as she twisted to stay out of his grip, feet moving swiftly to step between his, her left stopping just beside his right foot.

He blocked; she parried; and the movement of their fists and arms continued almost too swiftly for an onlooker to gauge what was happening. If anything, it almost seemed like a slap fight, as Malcolm’s torso twisted and turned, his arms flashing to block as his open hands hit down, out, and across to keep her fists away from him.

He wasn’t striking at her, Hoshi realised; only keeping her blows from hitting him. The realisation spurred her on to strike even faster, but his speed increased to compensate, and still she hadn’t landed a blow.

Her foot was still beside his, but as they were engaged with their upper bodies for now, she hadn’t considered moving it. Now she moved closer into his personal space, bent her knee and hooked her leg around his ankle, and tugged, one hand twisting to grab at his upper arm, the other grasping his wrist as she pushed.

His weight was on the other leg, she realised, as he allowed his foot to be pulled forward, taking her off-balance; his arms shot forward, breaking her grip and rolling around her own forearms faster than she’d thought possible, grabbing her under her upper arms as the foot he had in the air twisted around hers, hooked behind her ankle in turn, and yanked.

Down she went, and he followed, to reduce tension on her arms, releasing just as she hit the mat. He ended up straddling her, keeping his weight on his knees in case she couldn’t breathe again.

“Dammit!” Hoshi swore, flat on her back once more. “So close!”

The lieutenant’s grey eyes twinkled as he outright laughed at her. “You keep telling yourself that, Ensign,” he teased, rolling off her and bouncing to his feet, hand outstretched once more.

As he tugged, Hoshi followed him up - then kept going, her full body-weight behind her, taking him off-balance. Once again she swept his leg, and this time he went backwards before he could recover.

With a cry of triumph Hoshi pushed at his shoulder and tugged at his ankle, and down he went, crashing to the mat under her weight. Panting, she straddled him, a grin stretching her mouth wide.

“I did it!” she crowed, leaning over him, hands on either side of his head.

Malcolm grinned up at her, hands on her hips, and suddenly he looked like nothing so much as a mischievous boy, his eyes sparkling with good humour. “Well done,” he praised, “catching me off guard that way. I wasn’t expecting that.”

“A wise person once told me, I’m smaller than most people, so do whatever it takes - cheat, if necessary.” She raised her eyebrows and then winked as he huffed out a laugh.

“Using my own words against me. I’m glad you’ve been paying attention to what I say and not just what I do.”

She straightened, still sitting on him, and pumped her fists in the air in triumph. “And I’m glad you remembered your promise to let me win at least once a session.”

His fingers tightened on her hips as she moved, and for a moment their eyes met, a breathless second of awareness flashing as grey stared into brown. And then it was past, and she rolled off him, taking her weight onto her right knee, before jumping to her feet and offering him her hand to help him up.

He took it, and tugged against her as he rose, so that she leaned backward to provide better support; then his shoulder was in her waist, and his arm behind her back, and before she could blink she was on the ground again and he was sitting on her.

“You weren’t expecting that, either,” he teased, leaning forward. “One of the first rules of combat, Ensign; expect the unexpected.”

Hoshi rolled her eyes and grinned in defeat. “You’ve got me there, sir,” she agreed, and watched his smile turn pleased before he rolled to one side.

“Truce?” He was on his feet now, and crouching to help her up, taking his centre of gravity lower just in case she decided to retaliate.

“Truce,” she agreed, coming to her feet. “Besides, I’m starving. Join me for dinner?”

“Absolutely. I could murder a steak.”

Hoshi laughed. “Just don’t do it in front of T’Pol!” She gave him a friendly shoulder-bump as they headed off to the showers and changing rooms.

“And a movie later? We still haven’t finished Gunpowder Milkshake.” His eyebrows waggled in an attempt to persuade her.

“Sure. Maybe I can get some fighting tips from the ladies.”

“Anything’s possible, Ensign.”

“That’s Hoshi to you, Malcolm,” she said lightly as she went through the door. “We’re off-duty.”

“Indeed we are. Then I’ll be sure to offer you a wee drappie while we’re watching. A good movie with a good friend requires a good whisky.”