No pun intended, I guess.

@skyesthxlimit

Lincoln nearly jumped out of his own skin (and believe him, he knew a guy that could do it, so it wasn’t a figure of speech) when someone broke the silence around him. The woman alarmed him so much--what with the get-up and the sudden appearance--that his palms crackled with electric nerves. He raised his hands, knowing from what he read that if this became a fight, he wouldn’t win.

     “I’d like to see you try.” Masha half-challenged with a smile– a real smile that lit up her face. “Together.” She repeated, allowing the word to wash over her for even after all they had been through, a part of Masha had almost expected him to want to leave, to take back his life in this new place. If she was honest, at a time, there was a part of her that had planned the same. Except, somehow, along the way Masha had stopped seeing herself as a lone-wolf, and Lincoln and her as a ‘we’. She didn’t want to see this world alone, didn’t want to be alone anymore. Taking his hand she steps forward to lead the way out of the wooded area, them coming upon an active street which was clearly part of a much larger city. With a clear view now, large buildings could be seen in the near-distance; buildings that Masha had never seen before. 

Lincoln felt the awe dissipate slowly as he realized wherever they were (according to the paper, Metropolis) wasn’t so different from his own world. Skyscrapers, sports teams, and super aliens. Did they get out of the frying pan and into another fire? He hoped not.

     A smirk crosses Masha’s features almost instantly, as the wind around them picked up, a stream of leaves rising into the air and crashing into his face. “So be it then.” And the laugh can almost be heard in her voice. There’s something suddenly lighter to her, less tense, and yet still controlled like the operative she had been trained to be. “Part of me feels like the first thing we should do is create identities on this Earth but– I think…” There’s a pause as she bites her lip slightly. “… maybe we could just explore a little first.”

Lincoln paused and turned around completely to face Masha, a small frown poking out his bottom lip as a spark popped from his fingers. “Keep that up and you’ll have static cling on your clothes for the rest of your life.” He warned, half-joking. 

     “слабоумный.” Masha mutters, playfully calling him an idiot in Russian as she hits him lightly in the arm. “On me? Why not you?” She jests before her attention falls back onto the paper. She analyzes it more closely, opening it and closing it as she views the pages. “Some things are closer to my Earth than yours– there’s a few companies with the same names, but it’s still different. I think, this is a new dimension entirely. Not mine, and not yours.” If that was true, they really did have freedom to do anything they wanted with their lives moving forward, except, now that they had reached this goal, Masha wasn’t quite sure what that would mean for her. Did she have a purpose anymore?

If possible, Masha’s smirk grows later at his agreement. Really, it wasn’t a fair fight but that was why they were training wasn’t it? To get him at least parially close to her level? 

There’s a moment that everything suddenly seems to move in slow motion. The ticking of an old clock on the wall that reminded her entirely too much of the one in her bomb course classroom back in Russia.. the distant sounds of cars honking outside in rush hour traffic.. his face as it paused, him leading down to speak to her. So close.. Damn him, he’d be the death of her at this rate. “No, you’re not.” 

Lincoln grunts when Masha pins him down once more. He thought about tapping out right about now since this was a rather no-win situation, but he chose not to do anything. He maintained his smug grin and enjoyed the view instead. 

There had been a time that Masha had been an optimistic girl. A girl who trusted, who wanted to see the light in every person, who allowed herself to hope and trust that all would be well. That girl, however, had been killed at the tender age of seventeen. That girl had been forced to survive, in some cases brainwashed and beaten into believing in one mission. No longer did she trust that all would be well, but, if there was one person that dared her to want to believe it could, it was Lincoln. 

Lincoln felt rather victorious when he knocked the spy flat. He half-expected to be on his back already before he could even blink, but Masha seemed to have no such luck right now. He stared right back at her, waiting for a response, but when nothing came from her, he felt frozen on the spot despite neither of their powers having anything to do with the like. Her pout made him smirk even longer, his forehead wrinkling as he silently gestured for her move to be made. Leaning in, he stopped a few inches short of her face, the grin now full-blown on his face.

“Don’t think about it like that. Even a doctor can learn self-defense and combat. Or do you think that military doctors don’t go through basic training?” Masha questioned, as she made a move toward him but then stepped back again. She was testing his reflexes. 

“Fair enough, but I’m not a soldier.” He said, leaning back when she lunged in his direction.

For someone untrained– at least by her standards– he had good form, ducking her advance. However, a look of confusion creases her features when he doesn’t attack back. “Thinking like that will get you know where. Come on, come at me. Try to hit me.” Masha seems to command. Yes, this wouldn’t be without hurt but, she also wouldn’t be as hard on him Russia had been on her. “It’s going to take time. Rome wasn’t built in a day. It’s also going to hurt, but everything worth anything does a bit.”

Lincoln tried to think back to when he and his brothers would fight--how he’d react in those situations. He only resorted to violence as a last resort, but still, with how Masha was, he kept his arms up to protect himself.

Oh them being close wasn’t unwelcome in as much as it made her brain suddenly go blank and her heart pound inside her chest. She needed to focus, teaching him even basic combat was important. Their powers were great– when controlled– but who was to say that someone wouldn’t find a way around them? They were fugitives now. Still, she couldn’t help the sudden feeling of loss when they pulled away from each other. 

Lincoln took a deep breath, shaking off the uneasiness that their previous position put him in. He watched her now, nodding as he silently agreed not to use his powers. Just as he was about to say something, he saw the punch coming. He ducked to the side, dipping the way a boxer might. He didn’t lunge back at her, though. Instead, he kept himself light on his feet as he moved around the training room.

“Tisktisk..” Masha said, leaning her mouth toward his ear and whispering. “..no breaking the rules.” A slight pause as she pulls back her head a little. “Besides, I’m too cute to fry.” Except, a moment later, as Masha seems to become aware of the position they are in, the air in the room seems to suddenly create a breeze that knocks something off the wall with a thud. 

There’s a slight gasp as Masha feels herself suddenly falling, landing harshly on the mat only to be pinned to it a moment later. Her lips part momentarily her biting her lower one. She’s impressed yet her face returns to normal once again. 

“Powers are great but one can’t rely only on them.” Masha begins, moving around the little gym area that’d managed to find. “You are useful, more than just useful…” She conceded with a look that lasted a moment longer than it needed to. “…but..”