{JKthegreat and Lexie} Dear Soldier

[AviouslyPTX]

I smiled softly and kissed his shoulder before returning the brief kiss and allowing him to get up. After he got out of the shower, I jumped in and decided to work out while he trained. I got out and dried off before dressing in a pair of gym shorts and a sports bra. I found my sneakers and slipped them on before putting my hair up ands brushing my teeth. I went to the kitchen and grabbed a Gatorade to replace lost electrolytes from the alcohol and downed half of it before going into the living room. "Ready when you are."

 

[JKthegreat]

((I was thinking that the trainer that they meet could be some old, really famous fighter that Connor recognizes when he sees him. Thoughts?))


I grabbed the keys to her car and as I was about to throw them to Ashton, I remembered that she was still pretty hungover. "Actually, I'll drive" I said, smirking as we walked quickly out of her front door "I have no idea where this place is, but you can just direct me as we go." I opened her car door for her, and got into the driver's seat.

 

[AviouslyPTX]

((Hmm....I like it ^^ and this could possibly be my last reply for awhile bit I'm not 100% sure))


I went to reach for my keys when Conner grabbed them and walked out. "Makes sense..." I whispered to myself before heading outside behind him. I climbed into the passenger seat and closed my door before taking another sip of my drink. "Well you're going to pull out and go right. It's almost a straight shot."

 

[JKthegreat]

((Chilled ))


I pulled out and followed her directions as closely as I could until we got to a fairly small, good-looking gym. From the car, I could see a ring and some good looking equipment through the window of the gym and I started to get excited. I got out and took Ashton by the hand, leading her into the gym. As I walked in, I immediately noticed a mid fifties looking man, and I froze completely. "Is that...is that the trainer you were talking about" I managed to say "Because if so, that's Royce Gracie, winner of three UFC World Championships, the 1993 Fighter of the Year and a current member of the UFC Hall of Fame. He has been training people for twenty five years, and thousands of fighters have tried to get him to teach them, but he only ever takes them on as an apprentice if he believes they could be future champions. He has trained three people in twenty five years." I gulped at my pending failure.

 

[AviouslyPTX]

((I stand corrected))


I smiled slightly when we pulled up to the gym and got out with a small smirk. When Conner took my hand, I laughed lightly and followed him inside, almost running into him when be froze. Looking over at the man then up at Conner, I raised an eyebrow slightly and made him face me. "I know who he is. Royce, this is Conner. The one I told you about," I said with a wide smile and pushed him closer to the Brazillian before looking back at Conner. "You'll do fine. Just don't take anything he says personally. It's just to better you," I said before kissing him gently. "Good luck," I added with a laugh before walking over to Royce and giving him a hug. "Go easy on him...please," I said before smiling at Conner and heading off towards the treadmill.

 

[JKthegreat]

I couldn't help but gape a little as I forced myself to have the courage to go and introduce myself to him. "R...Mr Gracie...Its" I stuttered reaching out to shake his hand "Its an absolute honor to meet you. You were an idle of mine when I was growing up. I'm Connor Mcauley" He smirked a little and gave out a hearty laugh "Relax, kid, I'm not gonna eat you. And please don't call me 'Mr Gracie', it makes me sound so old. Roy is actually fine. Now, I'm sure you've heard the legend about me only training two people in twenty five years." I nodded, almost sighing with relief as he said 'legend', meaning it wasn't true. "Well its true" he said, almost causing me to double over "I have only trained two youngsters in my twenty five years of teaching. And those two are both champions in their respective weight divisions. Now, no offence, but looking at you, I'm not so sure you're that good. You're well built and lean, yes, but do you have the technical ability? Lets find out."


He ushered me into the ring, as I strapped on my gloves, and he started putting on his own. "What are you doing?" I asked, my eyes growing wide. "Listen, kid, the only way that I'll know if you're good enough to train is if you fight me yourself. Now throw your shirt to the side and lets get started. I got somewhere I gotta be later." We both discarded our shirts and set ourselves in our respective stances. Roy was lean and muscular, despite his age, and I knew for a fact that he was the best technical fighter of all time. This could be rough. "Fight!" he shouted, and the match-up began. The only advantage I had on him at the time was that I had watched countless numbers of his fights, and I knew his style. He never dived in, always remained level-headed and used the opponents advantages against him. The only way to beat someone that didn't dive was to dive in yourself, and to draw him out. Act weak. As he shouted, I went in for a punch, which was, and was meant to be, sloppy and miss calculated. He dodged easily and delivered a crunching blow to my ribs. He chuckled a bit. The plan was working.


After multiple instances of me taking random shots at him and him just easily landing blows on me, I stood up, making myself look as shaky and clumsy as I could, going in for another wild swing at his head. This time, he swept me off my feet and pinned me down easily. "Why did you even come here kid" he asked, still chuckling as he put me into a painful armlock "You have no idea what you're doing." There it was. Exactly what I had been waiting for. I had made myself look so bad, that he had made a mistake when he had put me in the hold. He had been too cocky. With lightning speed and reflexes, I kicked out with my one foot with an incredible force, catching his lower back and hearing the slight crack of a bone and causing him to freeze up. With that split second I had bought myself, I had broken his lock, delivered some unbelievably powerful and fast punches to loosen his hold on me and used the position he had put me in to put him in an inescapable choke hold that you could only administer through a counter. The look of absolute disbelief in his eyes was priceless. I was putting so much power into the choke that, even if he could have broken the hold, he wouldn't have the time. He tapped the mat loudly three times in surrender and I released him. He coughed and spluttered as I stood up and had an obvious look of satisfaction pass over me. After he had regained himself, he stood up and smiled as he reached out a hand to shake mine. "Never saw that one coming, my friend. An extremely effective technique to make yourself look so weak, and one that I never thought of" he said, shaking my hand firmly "You are definitely someone I could work with. I'll train you." I couldn't help but leap up and pump the air, as unsophisticated as it was, and smile over at Ashton.


((Sorry its so long xD ))

 

[AviouslyPTX]

I spent my time running on the treadmill, occasionally looking over to watch Conner and Roy. I smiled slightly as I listened and nearly fell when Royce said he would train him. "That's great!" I called over before stopping the treadmill and running over to the ring. I hopped onto the apron and gave Conner a quick kiss before jumping down. "I'll be over at the punching bag," I said before heading over, taping up my hands before starting to punch and jab at the bag.

 

[JKthegreat]

I felt so proud of myself as I turned back to talk to Roy after Ashton congratulated me. "Look, I'm not saying I'm gonna definitely be your trainer for the whole time." he said sternly, and my heart sank a little "But I'm saying that according to that specific fight, I'll definitely train you. If you don't impress me, listen to me, you're always late or you just plain lose interest in this that's it for me. Understood?" I nodded vigorously as he spoke. "Good. Now this is gonna be the hardest three weeks of your life, my friend, I'm not gonna sugar coat that." he said plainly "But if you can get through these three weeks with me, then you definitely got the stuff of champions. You ready." I nodded and he chuckled a bit. "Okay then, lets get started" he said, and then he punched me as hard as he could in the side of my face. I only just managed to stay on my feet as I stumbled backwards.

 

[AviouslyPTX]

I kept punching harder and harder until I felt like I had hit it hard enough. When I finished, sweat was pouring down my face and I was panting heavily. I moved over to the weight bench and added fifty pounds of weights before laying down and lifting it up, deciding I would ask for a spotter when I felt necessary.

 

[JKthegreat]

"What fuck was that for" I exclaimed, as I straightened and readied myself for another fight. "Lesson Number 1" he shouted, practically into my ear "Never. EVER. Let your guard down. Not with anyone, not even your trainer. Especially not your trainer." He smirked and winked at me as he began to circle me. "I told you this wasn't gonna be easy" he said, chuckling a little to himself "You gotta be prepared for that. If you can make it through just today, I'll be impressed enough that I might think you can do it."


((Time skip - That afternoon))


The rest of that day was hell, I was there until about five o'clock in the afternoon and every single muscle in my body ached. My eye had swollen just a little bit, but it was noticeable, and there was a large bruise on my ribs. "Alright" Roy shouted, as I managed to dodge his last random incoming attack "That's all for today. I want to see you here at 6:00 a.m sharp tomorrow morning. If you're so much as thirty seconds late, I'll make that eye swell up completely. And...uh...good work today kid." I nodded my thanks as I managed to straighten and walk normally enough out of the gym. I had lost track of where Ashton was, and wasn't even sure if she was still in the gym. Just in case, I phoned her and heard the other line open after a few rings. "Hey" I mumbled, my lip also starting to swell a bit "My training's done for the day. Where are you?"

 

[AviouslyPTX]

For the rest of the day, I worked out to the point that my body hurt, especially my legs. At around five, I heard my phone ring and answered it when I realized it was Conner. "Hey...I'm headed over there now," I said before hanging up. I got off the leg machine and slowly walked over to him. I leaned up and kissed his cheek gently, seeing how beaten up he was. I walked over to Royce and hugged him gently. "Thanks for doing this dad," I said as I let go and kissed his cheek. "See you tomorrow," I added before grabbing Conner's shirt and helping him out of the building and into the passenger seat of the car. I got in the driver's side and started the car, immediately heading home.

 

[JKthegreat]

When she said "dad" my eyes widened as I looked from her to Royce. He simply grinned at me and said "Well of course I don't beat them all up that bad. That was just warning for what will happen if you hurt my little girl." He winked at me and smirked, but his eyes were deadly serious and I could almost have swallowed my tongue. It took me a couple minutes on the drive home before I could actually ask. "Hes your DAD!" I exclaimed, looking at her with a look of disbelief "Okay, okay. Two things. One, how come he never came up? And two, why the hell did you not tell me that I was going to be doing fighting training with a three time world champion that just so happened to be my girlfriend's dad!"

 

[AviouslyPTX]

I instantly flinched though a small smile appeared on my face. "Not biological. I don't have a Latin bone in my body. My mom married him a few years back," I explained as I glanced over at him. "My biological dad is completely out of the picture and has been since I was five," I added as we pulled up into the parking lot. "Don't worry," I said as I leaned over and kissed his cheek. "Come on. You need to relax and rest," I said as I got out and walked with him inside and up to the apartment.

 

[JKthegreat]

I was still dazed from the day I had just had, but the pain in every single part of my body forced me just to leave it alone. We went in to the apartment and I went to the nearest bedroom, which happened to be Ashton's, but I didn't really care at that stage, and crashed down on the bed groaning. "Hes gonna kill me" I said as I struggled to roll over onto my back "Like hes going to physically kill me if I so much as make you frown."

 

[AviouslyPTX]

I silently followed and went into the bathroom, emerging with a warm washcloth. I laid it on his forehead before walking out and grabbing a couple ice packs. I returned and laid one on his eye and lip then one on his ribs. "Don't worry. He's just trying to scare you. Just be yourself and I won't frown," I said as I leaned down and kissed his cheek.

 

[JKthegreat]

I was about to nod, when I realized that would probably hurt, so I settled for a thumbs up. "Thanks" I said, the the ice packs already starting to make me feel better "But I still can't believe your dad is Royce Gracie. He was literally my idol when I was a kid. I still remember his UFC 4 final match up. One of the most hyped up fights in history, and Royce knocked him out within ten seconds. One of the most incredible things I have ever seen."

 

[AviouslyPTX]

"I have to say I'm a proud stepdaughter," I said softly as I sat down on the edge of the bed beside him. "Now relax and rest. You need it. We can talk about this another time. I'm gonna go cook dinner. I'll bring it to you when I'm done," I told him before kissing his head and walking out, heading straight for fhe kithen. I fixed some steaks and a salad before fixing two plates and returning to my room, handing one to him.

 

[JKthegreat]

I smiled as she brought me the food, and I removed all of the ice packs and the wash cloth so I could sit up against her backboard and eat. I finished the food pretty quickly and set the plate aside as I rested my head against the backboard. "Thanks" I said, realizing that I had yet to thank her for taking me to see her dad and looking back at her "For...you know...introducing me to your dad. Being supportive over this fighting thing. Thanks... for everything really. I would never have been able to even think about writing that letter to UFC if it hadn't been for you."

 

[AviouslyPTX]

I ate quietly as I let my thoughts wander and soon I was finished. I looked at him as he thanked me and smiled softly as I moved closer to him. "Don't thank me. I'm gonna support you no matter what," I said quietly as I leaned down and kissed him gently. "Get some rest. Gotta be up early in the morning because with him, if you're on time, you're late. A way to really get on his good side with this kind of stuff is to be there an hour early because he's always there half an hour early."

 

[JKthegreat]

I nodded, and kissed her again, before realizing that I still stank. A lot. "I should probably go have a very painful shower before I go to sleep" I said, grinning a little "Otherwise I don't think you're really gonna be able to sleep." I got up as quickly as I could, which was pretty slowly, and went to have a shower, only throwing on a pair of boxers afterwards to sleep in. I went back to Ashton's bed and settled in, waiting for her to come and join me.

 

[AviouslyPTX]

I rolled my eyes at him and got up, taking the dishes to the sink. I cleaned the kitchen as he showered and when he got out, I hopped in, making sure to wash my hair hair thoroughly. When j got out, I threw on a tank top and a pair of shorts before going back to my room and blow drying my hair since I never went to bed with it wet. I crawled into the bed beside Conner and laid my head on his shoulder as gently as possible.

 

[JKthegreat]

Though it was a little painful to try and sleep, the ice packs had numbed the pain a lot and I wrapped my arm around Ashton, pulling her closer to me as I closed my eyes. An hour early, you say I were the last thoughts I had as I began to doze off.


((Time Skip - Morning))


The next morning, I didn't need to set an alarm. A year in the a charity program for the army gave you the unique ability of having an internal clock. You could pretty much tell yourself when to wake up. So at 3:00 a.m, I snuck out of bed, put on my training gear, wrote a quick note for Ashton saying I had gone to start my training, and started running towards the gym. The pain of the previous day was still there and the gym was pretty far away, but I didn't care. I got to the gym by 3:30 and no one was there, but Ashton had shown me she had a spare key, so I used it to unlock the gym and got to work on the punching bag immediately.

 

[AviouslyPTX]

I woke up around five the next morning and yawned softly, reaching over though when I didn't come into contact with skin, I bolted up. I was panicking until I saw the note and read it, a small sigh escaping my lips. I stretched a bit and got up, dressing in a simple pair of yoga pants and a tank top. Once I brushed my hair and put it up, I grabbed my phone and keys, feeding Luna before driving towards the gym.


When I arrived, it was amost 5:30 and my dad wasn't there yet. I walked in and snuck up on Conner, giggling as I brushed my fingers across his skin. "You knoe, waking up to a note isn't the same as waking up to you," I said teasingly as I kissed his shoulder.

 

[JKthegreat]

I had kept my guard up the entire time that I was training, like Roy had said. so I wasn't surprised at all when I felt a touch on my back, but I immediately knew it clearly wasn't Roy. I felt Ashton kiss my shoulder gently, and a smile came to my face as I turned to face her. "Waking up and having to leave without you wasn't so easy either" I said. smiling as I took her by the hips and pulled her in "Morning." I kissed her softly, but for long, as I held her close to me.

 

[AviouslyPTX]

I smiled softly at his words and giggled softly before kissing him back. I only pulled back when I heard a distinct cough and blushed as I turned around. "Hey dad..." I said quietly as I giggled a bit and crossed my arms. "Either of you hurt each other too bad and I will never forgive you. Get along," I said and kissed my dad's cheek before heading towards the bench to watch.