Forever Fighting | ✔️ | [previously Espionage: double-cross]

Chapter 45

James lay on the ground, groaning for the sixth time since they had reached the park

"If I knew it was gonna be this easy for you to get me onto the ground, I would not have suggested sparring, at all," James said through groans as he winced at the pain he felt, well, everywhere.

"It's okay, I'm sure one day you'll be able to beat me." Alex replied, laughing at his figure on the floor.

There was a hard glint in his eye, disappearing as quickly as it appeared. 

"What?" Alex knew instantly something was wrong.

James didn't reply. He was too busy lying in the grass, nursing his bruised abdomen, more attentively than he had been before. Alex sat down on the grass next to him, as if to help him but decided against it. Human contact, still something she very much liked to avoid. 

"Jesus, I think you dislocated my finger!" Agent Calister held up his pinky finger which was bent at an angle.

"You'll get over it." Then she turned her head, looked off into the distance and pointed, "Oh my gosh! There's a baby bird riding on a baby dear!" She sounded so sincere James looked to where she was pointing (as did everyone else in a fifteen metre radius) while Alex grabbed his outstretched pinky and with a sharp movement, that seemed thoroughly painful, snapped it back into position.

"Was that completely necessary!" His hand recoiled and he began rocking it with the other, voice strained.

"Chill, it wasn't even an important finger." She began laughing again, something she found herself doing a lot more when with James. It was hard not to laugh at his grumbling.

"You know what?" Then he aimed a punch with his uninjured hand at Alex's face. He was fast, but she was faster. 

She caught his hand mid punch and twisted his entire arm around without the smallest bit of effort, using his momentum against him. She had lost count of the number of times she had to do this. 

She smirked and mouthed 'Inertia', laughing at his inability to understand simple physics.

Unable to use his other hand, James was left at her mercy, wincing in pain and letting out a stream of "No no no, stop stop, crap crap." until Alex begrudgingly let go.

"Wanna try that again?"

"No." He stopped and Alex took that as his surrender. She relaxed at started playing with the grass, not even looking up when James started talking again. "Would this work?"

James started moving but Alex wasn't ready this time.

She froze while her brain tried to work out what he had just said leaving her unable to prevent her arm from being  grabbed. As a result she did a full on pirouette on the grass (which was hard seen as she was sitting down) and was pushed flat onto her back, winded by hard ground. 

As she lay staring at the beautifully blue sky, her picturesque view was blacked out by the face of Agent Calister, with a rather annoying smirk plastered on it. He was leaning over her, his arms straight against the ground, holding him pretty high above her and Alex stuck in place.

"Always be ready, Ally." His teasing tone made her frown. "All it took was a fek injury, I'm not even that good at acting." He looked at her thoughtfully while he wiggled his pinky finger, "You should probably work on that!" 

He hadn't finished, Alex knew that. 

It was predictable, but while he was boasting, he was distracted and that was what she needed. "You really thought I'd be stopped by a dislocated finger? That pain in normal considering the amount of fingers I've broken in traini- woah!" He let out a shout as Alex, seizing her opportunity, pushed up against him, sending him on to the side so he was staring up at the blue and she was lying on top of him.