Right Place At The Right Time

Right Place At The Right Time

A/N: A little more of Sarah’s past comes to light in this chapter, along with a few things she’s capable of that Natalie wasn’t expecting. There’s also a little time spent learning, a little time spent having fun, and the beginning of what I think will become an important friendship.

And Sarah may have a birthday coming up that someone actually plans to remember.

Enjoy the chapter, and as always, thanks for reading and the reviews.

Chapter 18

Bonding

Natalie watched Sarah sitting on the couch, reading her fourth textbook. She couldn’t hide her amazement at how quickly Sarah could read and absorb the information. When Natalie had first sat down with her and started going through some of the material, she had expected to spend most of the time helping Sarah understand it. Instead, she quickly discovered that Sarah was already more advanced than she was in several areas of the college-level material.

At this point, Natalie was beginning to feel as though Sarah was teaching her instead of the other way around.

Sarah finished another section, closed the book and tossed it onto the growing pile beside the couch. She turned toward Natalie with a look of mild annoyance.

“Do they not teach anything more difficult in university? My mother taught me most of this stuff when I was growing up. I don’t believe I’m more advanced than anybody else, but still.”

Natalie smiled. “I’ll be honest with you, Sarah. You’re going through some of the most advanced university material the FBI could obtain for you. At your age and with your level of formal education, this material should be giving you quite a difficult time. Instead, I sit here and watch you go through it and absorb almost everything you read. Even the exams that came with the material, you seemed to ace every one of them.”

Sarah glanced toward the books. “My mother was pretty intense about my education when I was growing up. She used to be a high school teacher before she got involved in my father’s business, and she never stopped thinking like one. Every time she said she was going to the post office, I knew she was going to come home with another box of books. She’d call me over, expecting me to be excited, but all I saw was another stack of things to study and more time to be alone.”

A faint smile crossed Sarah’s face. “It did give me something to do, though. I was able to study material far beyond what I would have been getting in school. By the time I was fifteen, I was already working through university-level subjects. Eventually, my mother admitted she was having trouble finding anything new that she could teach me herself.”

She shrugged and picked up one of the textbooks, turning through several pages before settling on a section she had apparently read before.

“When I finally started school, she could see how bored I was. That’s when she started getting me involved in other activities. She wanted me to have a life outside of books.”

Sarah glanced down at the textbook again. “Sometimes she would help me, but most of the time I was on my own. I could get so caught up in something that I’d look up and realize I’d been studying for ten or twelve hours.”

She gave Natalie an apologetic look.

“I’m really sorry I made you get all this stuff for me.”

Natalie shook her head. “Don’t apologize. But now I’m curious. Why didn’t anyone recognize your potential in high school? Why didn’t you take advanced courses?”

Sarah’s expression changed slightly.

“It was always drilled into my head that I had to act differently around other people. I couldn’t let them see how advanced I was, so I had to pretend I was struggling just like everyone else. It was something my parents taught me. Always find a way to blend in. Never make yourself stand out.”

Natalie listened quietly.

“Because of that, I always made sure I stayed at or below everyone else’s education level. The only reason I wanted to go to high school was to get my diploma and meet people.”

Sarah gave a small, humorless laugh.

“That didn’t work out very well. I was nothing more than a punching bag, someone people could make fun of and ridicule. But I did what I was supposed to do. I blended in and took it.”

She paused, looking down at the book in her lap.

“That was one of the reasons my parents pushed me into martial arts. My mother thought it would give my brain a chance to rest and let me direct some of that energy into something physical.”

Natalie’s eyebrows lifted.

“Are you telling me you have martial arts training and you never mentioned it?”

Sarah shrugged.

“Yeah. I’ve been studying for a couple of years now. I really enjoy it, but I never really get to use it.”

“Sometimes that’s the best use you can get out of martial arts,” Natalie said. “Knowing you have the ability and never needing to use it is better than finding yourself in a situation where you have to.”

“Yeah, that’s what my dad says. I always thought it was a waste of time. The only time I ever really got to use it was when some boy was being a jerk to me.”

Natalie smiled. “Well, it makes you a better person.”

Sarah blew out a raspberry.

“Yeah, right. A better person.”

She looked around the safe house.

“You know where I’m sitting right now, Natalie? I’m sitting in a safe house because of things I’ve done that supposedly made me a better person. Yeah, I feel real special.”

“Don’t beat yourself up over it, Sarah. I don’t know what kind of life you’ve had, but I’m getting the feeling it wasn’t exactly all gummy bears and My Little Pony.”

Sarah looked at her.

“Yeah. My life definitely didn’t revolve around that.”

The sadness in Sarah’s eyes made Natalie realize she had touched something deeper than she intended. Sarah seemed to withdraw into herself, remembering pieces of a life she rarely allowed herself to think about.

Natalie decided it was time to change the subject.

“So, those martial arts books the FBI furnished for you. Are you learning anything from them?”

Sarah looked toward the stack of books.

“Oh, absolutely. You never stop learning. Most of it is just different styles, different ways of reading your opponent, different ways to strike and defend yourself, and different ways to get through someone’s defenses while protecting your own. But most of it is really just refreshing my memory.”

She leaned back against the couch.

“It’s been over a month since I’ve been at my dojo, and I really miss it. I miss practicing the techniques with other people. I even miss my sensei. He was the best.”

Natalie smiled. She had been curious about Sarah’s training ever since she mentioned it. There was something in the way Sarah talked about martial arts that suggested it was more than simply learning how to fight. She understood movement, timing and the importance of reading an opponent before making a move. Natalie wanted to see just how much of that training Sarah had retained.

“Well, why don’t you put those books aside, go put on some clothes you don’t mind getting dirty, and come outside with me? We can spar for a while.”

Sarah looked at her.

“You promise you’ll take it easy on me?”

Natalie laughed. “I promise I’ll take it easy on you, Sarah.”

Sarah smiled.

“I promise I’ll take it easy on you too.”

They both disappeared into their separate rooms to change. A few minutes later, they met outside wearing shorts and sports bras, both barefoot as they made their way into the backyard.

Natalie informed the agents monitoring the safe house that they would be outside. Unfortunately, the surveillance cameras didn’t cover the backyard, so they would be on their own visually, although the audio system was still active. Once everything was approved, the two women began warming up.

They started with basic techniques, slowly working through their movements and getting their muscles accustomed to the activity. Natalie was trying to get her own muscle memory back in order. She hadn’t been sparring or working out nearly as much as she would have liked.

After several minutes, Natalie suggested they move into some light sparring.

At first, they kept it easy, concentrating more on movement and timing than power. Gradually, however, they began increasing the pace until they were working at roughly fifty percent. They traded kicks and strikes, blocking most of them and testing each other’s defenses.

Then Natalie managed to get inside Sarah’s guard and landed a clean strike.

Sarah immediately acknowledged it.

“Nice.”

Natalie smiled.

“Thank you.”

Sarah adjusted her stance.

“That’ll be the last time you hit me with any meaning.”

Natalie raised an eyebrow.

“Oh?”

“Let’s make it interesting. Twenty-point match. Every clean contact is one point. First person to twenty wins.”

Natalie studied Sarah for a moment.

“Sarah, I’ve been watching your technique. I’m afraid that wouldn’t be fair to you. I think I might be a little more advanced than you are, and I don’t want to take advantage of you.”

Sarah simply looked at her with a small smile.

“Okay. We’ll see.”

Natalie smiled back.

“Okay, Sarah. You’ve been warned.”

Sarah settled into her stance.

“Yes, I’ve been warned.”

They began circling each other.

Natalie threw the first couple of blows, but nothing landed. Sarah blocked each one without any difficulty. Several times Natalie threw a punch that came straight toward Sarah, only for Sarah to sidestep it at the last moment. Each time, Sarah followed with a quick, controlled strike to the side of Natalie’s head before immediately moving away.

Point.

Sarah backed off right away, her feet continuing to move lightly beneath her.

Natalie watched her carefully. She was seeing a completely different kind of fighter than the woman she had faced when they first started. Sarah wasn’t simply reacting to her attacks anymore. She was reading them, anticipating where the next strike was coming from and already moving before Natalie could adjust.

After several more exchanges, Natalie began to realize Sarah wasn’t simply faster than she was. Sarah was watching everything. She was reading Natalie’s movements, waiting for her to commit and then moving into the opening before Natalie had time to recover. More importantly, Sarah wasn’t using everything she had. She was controlling the pace, testing Natalie while keeping herself just below the level where the sparring could become dangerous.

Natalie found herself smiling despite the growing frustration. She had expected Sarah to know how to fight. She hadn’t expected her to be this good.

Eight minutes later, the final score was Sarah twenty, Natalie eight.

Natalie was bent over, gasping for air, with her hands resting on her knees. Sarah, meanwhile, was still lightly dancing on her feet as though she had barely broken a sweat.

Sarah finally looked at her with a grin.

“Let’s just write that off as chance, luck, and the fact that you’re so much older than I am.”

She laughed at her own jab.

Natalie wasn’t amused.

“I’m not that old, Sarah, but the way I feel right now makes me wonder if maybe I am.”

Sarah finally stopped moving and walked over to her sparring partner. Natalie slowly straightened, putting her hands on her waist as she pushed out her chest and took a deep breath, trying to calm her racing heart.

“I think we should call it a day and shower up. I’m hungry, and it’s getting late.”

“Okay. I want to go through the FBI training manuals. Maybe we can talk about them during dinner or afterward.”

“I’d like that. Let’s go before I kick your ass again.”

“In your dreams,” Sarah said with a grin.

Natalie gave her a friendly shove against the back of her shoulder to get her moving.

For some reason, Sarah felt an unusual closeness with this FBI agent. It was a feeling she had never really experienced with anyone outside of her parents. It wasn’t the same closeness she felt with Chuck, not by any means. What she felt for Chuck was something entirely different, something she still hadn’t figured out how to understand. This was different. Simpler, perhaps. A connection that felt like friendship.

The thought surprised her.

Friend.

Sarah hadn’t used that word for herself in a very long time. She wasn’t sure exactly when Natalie had crossed that line, but somewhere between the books, the laughter and the sparring, something had changed.

Even though Natalie might have been considerably older than her, Sarah found herself thinking that she might have finally found a friend.

Natalie watched Sarah walk ahead of her and realized that somewhere along the way, she had stopped thinking of her as an assignment. Sarah was still an asset, and Natalie understood the responsibility that came with protecting her, but the word no longer felt adequate. There was something personal there now, something she hadn’t expected when she had been assigned to watch over her.

She couldn’t explain it, but if anything happened to this girl, Natalie knew she would put her own life on the line to keep her safe.

Something had changed between them that afternoon.

A bond had been created between the two women, one they would eventually learn would last for many years to come.

After dinner, they sat down together and started going through the FBI training material. Some of it felt like a refresher course for Natalie. Other parts were things she had learned so long ago that they had become second nature. Yet as she read through the material again, she began realizing how much of the original meaning she had allowed to slip away over the years. Procedures that had once demanded precision had gradually become habits, and habits could become sloppy if you stopped questioning them.

Natalie found herself looking at the material differently now. She needed to sharpen her skills and refresh the knowledge she had allowed to become routine.

Sarah, meanwhile, moved through the material at an entirely different pace.

She read a section, asked questions, answered them correctly and occasionally challenged something written in the textbook. More than once, she made a point that was better than the explanation provided in the material.

As the evening progressed, however, Sarah’s pace began to slow. She yawned several times, fighting to keep her eyes open.

Natalie finally noticed.

“We don’t have to learn all of this in one day, Sarah.”

“I know, I know.” Sarah rubbed her eyes and looked back at the book. “I just don’t know how long I’ll be with you or the FBI. And I kind of like doing this kind of stuff with you.”

Natalie smiled warmly.

“Thank you, Sarah. That means a lot to me. I’ve always wanted to be a trainer at Quantico. I just never felt like I was academically qualified enough to be a trainer or supervisor.”

Sarah looked at her.

“Well, if the FBI decides they want me to join them, I’d be honored to have you as my teacher.”

“Okay, Sarah, let’s not jump the gun. We don’t know what’s going to happen yet. I have no idea what Assistant Director Graham has planned for you, or even if they’re interested in having you join the FBI. Let’s concentrate on what we’re dealing with right now before we start walking down that road. Fair enough?”

“Fair enough,” Sarah said as she closed the textbook.

She stood and stretched.

“I’m going to head off to bed, do a little more reading and then try to crash.”

Natalie looked up at her.

“Hey, Sarah. Did I hear correctly that you have a birthday coming up soon?”

“Yeah. Something’s coming up soon.” Sarah shrugged. “But I don’t really pay attention to my birthdays anymore. They’ve always just been another day to me. Birthdays, holidays, anything like that. When you’re always moving around with your parents, they just become another Tuesday.”

Natalie’s expression softened.

“I’m sorry to hear that, Sarah. If I’m still with you on your birthday, we’re going to do something special. You have my word. So, when exactly is it?”

“October eleventh.”

“I’ll remember that.”

Sarah gave her a small smile.

“Thanks, Natalie. Good night.”

As she turned toward her room, Sarah found herself thinking about what Natalie had said. She couldn’t remember the last time someone had promised to do something special for her birthday simply because they wanted to.

“Good night, Sarah. And if you need anything, don’t hesitate to come and get me. And I mean anything, Sarah.”

Sarah smiled at her.

Then she grabbed her laptop and a textbook on infiltration techniques and extraction methods. She closed the door to her room, sat down on her bed and opened the laptop.

Despite how tired she was, Sarah wasn’t finished studying yet. She started reading again.