Indoor Track

Description: An indoor track encircling the main athletic training facilities within the VWAT base. It is of regulation length at 400 m around and is painted a dull green with white lane borders.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The adjustment to her new lease on life had been anything but easy. Over three thousand years. She'd missed over three thousand years of human progression since her fall at Troy. Nations had risen and fallen, species were wiped out, the advent of the modern world was mind blowing. Her time here had been dedicated to trying to bridge that gap, the ultimate cram session to catch up on all that she had missed. Despite her appetite for reading, she had barely scratched the surface of this new world's history, let alone amassed an understanding of the technology. There was no way she could move through the outside world yet. However, at the very least she had been able to establish a working grasp of the language used in these parts. English, a horribly vexing, confusing tongue but little by little it was becoming more comfortable.

In between her study sessions, she invariably came to this large chamber dedicated to the perfection of one's body. Despite all the scientific advances, exercise was still exercise. And so she continued her daily run around this strangely smooth track. Clad in what she had been told was a "weight vest" that fondly reminded her of her old armor, she had kept up a blistering pace since her arrival and could not help but notice that she was once again alone, ignored or avoided by the many soldiers stationed here.

Roy hated working on his endurance, it was so bland, so boring. One did nothing but a repetitive exercise for long periods of time for it. At least with martial arts or benching you had some fun or got it over with right away. But endurance, no, there was no quick way to build up ones ability to last longer. Now that Roy mulled this over in his head, he supposed that made sense.

Dropping his bag off near the track he looked up to see a new face. She was running pretty fast on that track, too fast for the standard soldier, especially in a weighted vest. Roy didn't know many people besides himself that put so much work in to his physicality.

There was Sue, the prisoner, he'd heard she knew some "fancy moves" which he assumed to be martial arts and wanted to check her out actually. Then there was the new...what had people called them? Douche bags? Ya thats what it is. Something about a night, and a 9. Roy didn't care. Little to cheesy for his taste, like something from a comic book.

So then who was this girl? Roy assumed that she would have to be from Night9 but he wasn't entirely sure about that. He had caught glimpses of them before now and the only female had been that creepy Keira. Roy remembered that cold calloused smile, he didn't like it. Why she bothered to put it on he didn't know. He'd much rather she show no emotion, than show that emotion meant nothing to her.

This woman didn't seem anything like that nor look like her. The more Roy watched this breakneck speed the less and less he desired to run himself. But ah well, better with company than nothing at all he figured.

Roy ran barefoot today, dressed in his white Gi, adorned only with the stitching of an American flag on it, no belt with him. He normally didn't wear that for strength training, just pure martial arts practices. The pants and the shirt he found tremendously flexible however, and when he hit the bags after this he would be able to go nuts.

Roy started his pace slowly picking up speed little by little until this mystery runner came by him, and at that he point he set his pace to match her own. He wasn't sure how long he could last but he'd be willing to give it a shot to try and finish his run with her.

Looking at her he said.

"My names Roy, I don't think I've seen you around here before. Whats your name?"

Working up a healthy sweat on her run, the revived Greek was at least thankful that she had plenty to keep herself mentally occupied while running these laps. It allowed her that much more time to mull over the various ins and outs of today's society. The leader of this group, Steeler, had asked her to educate herself as much as possible before being allowed into the outside world on assignments. He was a cold man, but seemed reliable. That much she could respect and despite the horrible device he'd forced around her neck, she was mildly grateful for the assistance he'd provided so far in her adjustment.

Her review was cut short by a white blur in the corner of her vision. Another man had arrived on the track clad all in white. A priest of some sort perhaps? Ignoring him for the moment, she continued her run until he finally raised his pace to run along side her and attempted to strike up a conversation. It was a bit difficult to understand him entirely based on the rate at which she was speaking but the listening devices she had been given to speed along her education had pushed her far enough along to manage.

"The others do not speak to me. Why do you?" she asked, regarding him from the corner of her eye without dropping her pace.

Hmm. She definitely wasn't from around here. That accent...he had never heard it before. Her English was most likely sub par, and he made not of that. He would be sure to speak as simply as he could. The question itself though confused him. Why weren't the others talking to her? Was she apart of that group of Night 9 soldiers after-all? Was she maybe another foreign exchange war machine like that young lady from Japan?

Roy chastised himself mentally as he thought these things up. she was wearing one of those prisoner collars. She might still be one of these things certainly, but he would try to think simpler thoughts for now. It was more likely that she was just a convict that had been brought in. Roy wasn't going to treat her like this was true until he found out, but he doubted he would change how he treated her that much anyway. He got along with most everyone here.

Responding friendly enough, but not overly strong he said to her.

"I do not know why they do not speak to you. But I speak to you because I see no reason not to. Does this trouble you?"

Roy might have said more to her, but he made sure to speak very simply, slowly, and not overwhelm her. Though he avoided speaking to her like she was an idiot, like some people unintentionally did when confronted with a language barrier.

She could feel his eyes on her as they ran. What was he looking for? He had the air of someone who could understand much from very little. The last person she'd known with that look had been a good man and a good king for the people of Ithaca but he had looked only for weakness that he could exploit. She would need to be on guard with this one. Now that he had slowed down his speech a bit, he was far easier to understand, simplifying her task immensely. Turning her head a bit to properly look him in the face as they ran, she nodded in recognition.

"No. Thank you. I am Ac-Megali," she said, mentally cursing herself for nearly giving this man her true name. She had told the people who brought her to this place of her identity so the secret was out for some but she had been advised to keep it as contained as she could. It had actually been a great source of pride to her that so many in the modern world knew her name. Much less so that the cause of her death was equally as well known.

Roy felt his muscles loosening up as he got used to this run. Perhaps he would not maintain this pace for too horribly long but for now it was quite comfortable. Roy smiled a little as she started to respond to him positively.

He didn't let his confusion register on his face as she mispronounced her name. He wasn't sure what the Ac was for but it was likely just a slip of the tongue, a swallowed bug, who knew, any number of odd things. Nothing to really press.

Roy said the name Megali to himself, to help him remember it. Then he asked her another question in the same manner as the last. Hoping he wasn't pushing any boundaries.

"You don't have to answer this if you don't want. But I am wondering how you came here? And why you are here. I mean, I know why we are here. But I was thinking maybe you had a special reason for joining this place? "

He was looking much more comfortable running now. She had to give him credit, he appeared to be in better shape than she had originally assumed. He was also asking more questions now. Truth be told, it was a welcome change to meet someone willing to speak with her at all, let alone someone who displayed an honest interest in learning about her. Unfortunately for him, she did not have many answers to give.

"I always do what I wish," she said, raising her chin just a bit in bravado. However, it was short lived as her reality was put into perspective once more and her face grew slightly tight at the thought of the collar around her neck. "I was brought here. I have no place to go." From the corner of her eye, she examined his manner of dress again. It bore the flag of this country but it did not match the style of clothing worn by the others. Did it have to do with his profession? Or perhaps his class? "Your clothing is different from the others. Are you a priest or royalty?" she asked, pointing at his shirt.

Roy smiled as he heard her tone of pride in her answers. They weren't that specific but they gave him good insight in to her personality. Thats all he wanted. But then she went to explain in somber tones how she was more or less forced her, by others or by chance it didn't seem to matter.

He might have commented on this sad turn of events. It felt to him almost like watching a once proud lion, who was king of the jungle, resign itself to captivity and confinement. He did not enjoy that.

But his thoughts were turned as she asked him about his clothing. Just how far out was she to mistake his simple Gi for holy or royal garments? Speaking of that, Royalty? Maybe she was from Europe? Like one of those small countries you never hear about with their own monarchy still? That would explain the accent and the questions. Roy didn't bother asking about her background. He knew he probably wouldn't get much from that. But he responded to her merely matter of factly, not letting her know of his confusion.

"No. I am not. I am a soldier, like yourself. I have a uniform like the rest. But These clothes are a uniform of my fighting style. From a far off land. It teaches one how to fight with their hands, and their feet. Though these clothes are old we wear them for tradition purposes."

Roy responded like he had been, easy for her to understand and very polite about it. Some might suspect her to have "lived under a rock" and find her lack of knowledge on these things odd. But Roy guessed there was more to it than that. Even if their wasn't, no sense in being rude to her now was there.

They had been running for a while now but Achilles found that breath for speech still came easily. It was time to increase her pace a bit. As the man spoke, recognition flashed in her eyes as he described his garments as another uniform. She had intended to comment that it was a poor uniform without any protection before he added that it was for unarmed combat, a subject she was quite familiar with. The relatively loose fit of it still seemed strange to her though. Wasn't he worried about being grabbed so easily? She ran in silence for a bit, mulling over what to say next before deciding to stick with what appeared to be their best source of common ground.

"I am glad. I have not seen many who respect it here," she exclaimed before taking a closer look at his running posture. He did not appear to enjoy it as much as she did. "Are you able to keep up with me? I do not mind running slower," she added almost as an afterthought. This was the closest she'd had to a real conversation since arriving. The least she could do was try and accommodate him a bit.

-------> Limbo

Claire walked into the large room that housed Fort Belvoir's running track. Contrary to what one might think this room was seldom used by anyone considering most of the personnel on base preferred to either use the treadmills in the gym rather than run around in circles on a track. Her body was still aching from her recent mission gone south and the events that had unfolded were still fresh in her mind. She pinched the bridge of her nose sighing softly as she remembered how both of her escorts had been killed during the incident and how her final one had ended up being the very enemy that she'd been so worried about.

She shook her head to clear her head of those troubling thoughts it was useless to dwell on things she couldn't change and she wasn't going to let herself get dragged down by thoughts on what she could have done to make it better. She noticed two others in the room swiftly running around the long circle that composed the track. She watched for a few moments they both were moving way faster than she was used to seeing people move especially considering one of them appeared to be wearing what looked to be a considerably heavy weight vest. She shrugged her shoulders stripping off the top of her BDU's and folding it before placing it on a nearby bench. Beneath her BDU top she wore and olive drab tank top and a black sports bra.

In her lower extremities she was still wearing her BDU pants and a pair of tan combat boots. She had proper workout clothing in her room but considering in the field she'd have to run around in what she was wearing already she'd opted out of changing. Once the two already running had made another pass she started her own laps beginning with a light jog before progressing into a run of moderate speed not wishing to tire herself too quickly.

Roy smiled as she commented on being glad about his respect for martial arts. Perhaps she herself was an expert in hand to hand combat. He hoped so, and he hoped to spar her if given the chance.

That would be interesting indeed, he didn't think that he would have an easy time winning though. Just by the way she carried herself on this track, with that weighted vest, he could tell she was not one to be taken lightly.

But as she commented on his running he grinned a little more sheepishly, slightly embarrassed. He responded to her.

"No no. I am, at least for a little while don't worry. I just hate running. It bores me. But I need to do it for my fitness. It's nice to have a partner who pushes me to run faster than I would on my own. You don't need to slow down at all.

Roy saw Claire enter the facility. There was something strange in her movements. Something a little rigid, she was sore or stiff. Like she'd just woken up after a hard workout. Or maybe get bruised up a bit. He might have to ask her about that later, but for now he would content himself with a wave and a head nod. He turned his head once more back to Megali saying to her.

"The woman that just entered here is Claire. She is very nice. I'm sure she would be willing to talk with you too. Even if most te others don't. She is one of our doctors around here. Helps us with our wounds on the battle field."

The woman nodded in response to Roy's reassurance. If he was willing to put up with the strain of running then she saw no reason to ignore his consent at this point. Raising her pace again, she noticed another runner enter the track to be quickly introduced by Roy. Taking advantage of her momentary lead over the soldier, she muttered their names to herself under her breath to both ingrain them in her memory and grow more accustomed to the pronunciation. If by that point Roy had failed to catch up to her, an outcome she very much doubted considering his performance so far, the Greek woman would glance back at him over her shoulder.

"I would like that but I do not think I will have need of her," she explained. Her mother's gift had ensured that Achilles never required the assistance of healers or doctors in her original lifetime and she very much doubted that fact would change along with the times. "Tell me of your style. How do you fight?" she asked, honestly curious about how unarmed combat had changed over the years. The advent of guns was mind boggling but surely hand-to-hand combat had remained recognizable.

Claire continued slowly gaining speed with each pass she made around the track. She could see the two in front of her talking as they ran. She recognized one of them as Roy a soldier who she'd come to know in her time serving at for Belvoir. The other person however she didn't recognize as easily. She could see an obedience collar around the woman's neck so she assumed that she was a convict like all the other's she had seen milling about Fort Belvoir. The question was why was Roy talking to her she knew that Roy was a friendly person but she'd thought that even he would be smart enough to socialize with them.

As she quickened her pace she slowly began to catch up with the two in front of her though it wasn't an easy task considering the speed they were both going at. How they managed to keep themselves at such peak physical condition was beyond her. Claire was in good shape but even she wasn't at the level of physical fitness the two ahead of her seemed to be. As she quickened her pace she finally caught up to the two in front of her albeit a bit more out of breath than the two beside her. "H-Hey Roy." Claire said panting a bit from the small burst of speed she'd forced out of herself to catch up with the two.

Roy wondered why Megali wouldn't be in need of a doctor. Sure she was good, but it didn't really matter how good you were at this point. When you fight stuff like vampires and were wolves your bound to get hurt.

She asked him about his fighting style and Roy's eyes lit up. He loved to talk about martial arts. He would take it easy for her sake though. He didn't want to over do it.

"My style is named Goju Ryu. (Go-jhoo Roo). It's an American style but based off a style from a distant land. I am sure you might have guessed from the name. The function of this style is in short, to kill. Goju Ryu is meant to be as basic and practical a fighting form as can be created. It isn't allowed in sport like competition or tournaments because of this. It involves a lot of striking, a lot of kicking, a few bars here and there, many escapes, and especially body conditioning."

Roy held up his well calloused hand as he mentioned the last part. He had spent years pounding on walls, and even bricks to strengthen the skin, the bone, and build calcium deposits. As such his fist, especially the knuckles on it, were rock solid.

As he did this Claire joined them, somewhat out of breath. Roy wasn't sure if his partner would slow down to accommodate Claire, but he would let her make the first move her. Roy smiled at her again and responded to her.

"Hey Claire, this is Megali. She's new here."

Truth be told, the revived woman was a bit confused by Roy's description of his style but she was thankful for the elaboration nonetheless. The name had sounded odd compared to most of the words she had learned in English but it could have easily been chalked up to her incomplete vocabulary. Evidently though, this had been a good conversation topic judging by the renewed spark in Roy's eye.

"I do not understand. Are not all styles to kill? And what are...bars?" she asked, not quite catching the meaning of Roy's words. It was at that point that the new runner caught up with them, visibly out of breath from the short burst of speed she'd used to do so. Roy had said she was a healer of sorts so it made sense that her skills would be in other fields. Noticing Claire's shortness of breath, Achilles slowed her pace to something a bit more comfortable and nodded to the woman. "I am happy to meet you."

Roy looked sadly at her for a moment, he knew she would take this information pretty rough when he told her, but she had a right to know. Roy matched his pace to hers as she slowed down to accommodate for Claire which he was fine with. This would give him a little time to catch his breath and let his limbs rest anyway. Not that he needed it entirely, but it would help him last longer.

He went on to explain to her.

"Well, unfortunately, a lot of fighting styles have become, less about killing, and more about competition. They have lost a lot of their practical value. Goju Ryu focuses, on doing what you can to destroy the other opponent, eliminating all unnecessary movement and keeping things as simple as possible. It is a merciless style. If one was in a position to strike their opponents face, it would not teach them go for the jaw or the temple, it would teach them to take one of their eyes, or their throat. Other styles, a lot of them, like I said are used for sports, so they would teach them to strike were their opponent could recover in the same situation. There is more to it than that, but I have kept things simple, and given you an example. A bar, is a hold. In short. I mean to say if you were to throw a punch and I were to catch your arm, and from there place it in a position where it would hurt you, and you could not get out. That is a bar, I'm sure if you've ever wrestled you will understand what I'm saying."

Roy made sure to point to himself for the anatomy he described to her, he wasn't sure if she had memorized the many different names for the parts of the human body yet. So he attempted to make things easier on her. Roy hoped indeed that she wouldn't take this news to hard, and in the midst of this hope he almost forgot to wonder about how she didn't know this. Almost.

As it was he began to formulate the opinion that she had been nearly raised a warrior, that would describe her crazy physical abilities and her being in this organization, and if she was privately trained all of her life, then of course she'd assume all other styles were to be just as effective. Perhaps he was still wrong though; ah well, it didn't matter. He was sure in time he would find out more or less the truth behind her.

As Roy thought these things he awaited her response patiently, knowing it might take a bit for that to sink in. Once more he tried to describe things as simply as possible for her, and tried to make himself as easily understood as he could.

It was surprising just how much this man had opened up since their change in conversation topics. He clearly had a great deal of passion for his martial arts. However, his news that many styles of fighting had become domesticated and useless was a depressing revelation. She had already been told that warfare itself had changed since her time. The advent of firearms and other advanced technology meant that she would never again see massive armies clashing against one another, only small groups performing the most surgical of strikes. She shuddered to think of what had become of her own style of combat, if it even survived at all.

As Roy continued on to his example, Achilles laughed despite herself. His intent to merely give an example was clear enough but due to her own enormous pride she could not help but chuckle at the thought of this man, or any for that matter, besting her in such a way.

"Indeed I have. I would have you demonstrate your style. It appears I still have much to learn of modern fighting."

Roy smiled at her and said to her in response.

"I'd be very glad too. B-, I mean, that would great. I am sure you've noticed that I'm quite passionate about it. Maybe you would be willing to show me some of how you fight to? You can never know to much of this kind of thing, especially with jobs like ours. "

Roy was glad that they shared this common ground. He had liked her well enough before hand, seeing no reason not to. But it always helped having something in common with someone you were getting to know them. Which Roy intended to do quite a bit of. She seemed perfectly nice, and Roy couldn't understand why the others avoided her. He was sure she felt a little out of place, and determined to help her out with that. Plus, she was interesting...

This is not to say that was the only reason why Roy would talk to her, far from it. But he could not help but be curious about her. There was something that he couldn't put his finger on about her...he couldn't tell what it was but just, the way she spoke of the world.

Like how she mentioned, modern fighting. Was her style, not modern fighting? What did she consider modern even? She was so young herself he was probably older, and he considered his style pretty ancient. He had almost slipped actually, and asked her about that. But he had caught himself, and asked something else instead. It seemed to him that if he brought it up it would only shut her off to conversation. She wasn't keen on talking about very personal things it seemed, at least not yet. That was normal with strangers obviously, but she had such reverence for combat, such disappointment in it's domestication. He was sure such a question was quite personal for her; he was willing to wait for her to open that up herself rather than push it on her. He would be patient. He wondered what Claire thought of this though? Maybe he would ask her when they were off the tracks if she knew anything about Megali.

As a strange after thought Roy himself almost wishing he was outside right know, he didn't know why, but it was fall, there was probably a nice breeze, it would be great to just breathe in that cool air as he ran this track. He didn't need it by any means of course, but Roy figured he might enjoy it. Ah well, he said to himself. Maybe I'll go out later tonight, take a walk.

She gave him another long look, her eyes travelling up and down his frame as if giving him a final inspection. Finally, she gave an oddly serious nod and turned her head forward once more. They had been running at a brisk pace for sometime now, and Achilles found herself lightly coated in a comfortable sweat. She'd finally managed to warm up.

"Very well. I shall teach you how to fight until your name is recorded within my legend," she said matter-of-factly. At face value, the statement would likely come across as arrogant to the point of being insulting. However, there was a strange sincerity in her voice free of any underlying scorn or dismissive nature. From her point of view, it was an honest to goodness compliment.

Roy....liked the sound of that. He felt almost as if she was promising him a lot of pain, for a glorious payoff. He didn't see how though, he had been training for so many years, and even at his young age he knew that he was an expert. At least compared to most, Roy would be quite happy however, even excited, if she knew more than him, could teach him things he never thought of before.

Some people might think it's beneath them to learn from one younger than themselves but he couldn't help but strangely ok with being taught by anyone when it came to martial arts. It was just so much joy to do and learn and grow in discipline of ones self, everything else seemed insignificant.

Roy almost laughed as he caught himself thinking this. She spoke with such confidence, that even though all odds pointed against her being truly that good Roy found that he would be very surprised if this was true. At least things should be pretty fun, regardless of how they turn out Roy thought.

Roy glanced over at Megali to see a little sweat on her. He checked his own perspiration. About the same, but she had been running longer, and weighted down. Nonetheless Roy was dead set on keeping up with her, even if it killed him. This woman was going to push him to the ends of what is humanely possible, he had no doubt about that. Why not let her? He had nothing to loose, this was his passion anyways.

As Roy started thinking about this he had a sudden sense of satisfaction, like he knew where he was supposed to be at this moment, which was here, on this track. He could think of nothing more fruitful for him than in finding someone that not only could push him to such a degree, but him want to be pushed. Strange, Roy hardly knew her, but already she seemed to have made an impact on him. He couldn't tell if that was the prospect of becoming even greater with martial arts, if was just her and who she was, or both put together. But at his moment, that didn't really matter. Which ever way it was it wouldn't change what he felt should and needed to do.

Thank Megali. I'll be honored to train with you, I look forward to seeing what you can do.

Roy responded equally as serious to her, hoping that he wasn't going to be let down after all of the hope he had built up.

It had taken a little while, but she had finally begun to recognize the way in which this man looked at her. She had seen the same look on countless battlefields but the memory that burned the brightest was the last look backward she had taken before touching the beach of Troy. Her Myrmidon had looked at her in the same way as arrows rained down upon them. It was a look of trust and respect. It was a look reserved for one's comrades. Sadly, this man was the only one she had met since her revival to carry that look. That gesture alone said much about the personality of the man running alongside her. Such openness was a truly rare trait in her era and regardless of how civilization might have changed, she knew enough to appreciate it was likely just as rare today.

"I have had my fill of running. May attempt to follow me if you wish."

With her warm up completed, it was time to finish up her run. As they passed the entrance to the track, Achilles' stance took on a dynamic shift. Without breaking her fluidity of motion, the Greek woman dropped into a sprinter's stance and darted forward in a full tilt. The jogging pace from before was quickly abandoned in favor of an all out sprint for the final lap. With her chest nearly parallel to the ground and adrenaline surging through her body, she all but flew around the track.

Roy listened to her, and saw her think for but a moment. Not knowing what to expect from her. But as he heard her talk, he had an inkling, which, as her stance shifted, proved to be correct.

Roy, just a beat behind responded expertly well to her own shift in stance and pace, she sprinted full bore across the track, and Roy without barely a thought followed her as fast as his legs would cary him. There was a certain edge, a certain something she had over him for just a moment as her adrenaline kicked in, and he took a moment to shift from his relaxed state, in to one himself. Spurred on by his desire to keep up with her at all costs, he was willing to run until his legs gave out and his breath burned like fire if it had to.

These thoughts soon left him, as did all others but the constant stream, of run and breath, run and breath, faster, faster, and faster still. Roy doubted he could beat her, but he would die before he would be beaten himself. It was time to prove his own worth to her, and his own skill.

She rounded the corners with an almost practices ease and quickly became aware of Roy running after her. It was not appropriate to say that she heard him, the wind whipping by her ears prevented that, rather she felt him behind her. It was an instinctual awareness, an unconscious recognition of his intent to catch her. If anything, it only motivated her to press on even faster. She had long believed that potential was derived not from merely inborn traits, but the height of the bars one wished to overcome. If she was to be a measuring point for this man then she would ensure as great a gap as possible to encourage him to climb that much farther.

Rounding the final corner, Achilles increased the gap while nearing the track's exit serving as their finish line. Her goal was right there, almost within reach but it was not yet enough. She could do more, she could be more. Her weight shifted once more and the woman became unto an arrow as she neared the finish line, bursting across the border with a final push before skidding to a halt.

Her run completed, she straightened her posture once more, raising her face to the sky to take a deep breath. Fresh oxygen filled her lungs and renewed her vigor almost immediately as she stood with her hands upon her hips for Roy to join her.

Roy thought for just a moment as he closed the space between them that he might catch her, that he might finish it side by side to her. But that was not to be, she dug even deeper in to herself, and try as Roy might though he could do that himself, he couldn't quite catch her. He sent his legs back and forth as fast as they might carry him, and forwent all thoughts towards his lungs, which burst into moderate panting by this point, they would soon start to burn.

Roy saw her step by step getting a little bit farther away from him with each one, and gave out a shout, the most basic, powerful thing he had been taught when he was young. The Kia it had been, you used it to finish off your moves, to release all the rest of your energy in your best move yet, to put everything you had in to it. Roy did not shout Kia, but he roared as he dove for victory, roared and drew energy from the very roots of his core, the very roots of all the discipline he had over his body. It was enough. To shorten the distance.

But when someone was just plain faster than you, there was really little you could do, and as Roy gained a little ground, it wasn't long before that became insignificant, and she had crossed the finish line, and beaten him. Roy let his run slow down fairly quickly, and slowly jogged to her, breathing deeply through his nose. He looked up at her when he got close with a smile and let out a light laugh.

Sure he had been beaten, but that was great. It had been a while, a very long while since he had had some fun like that. Though he had lost, he had pushed himself to his limits today, and that had felt good. Very good indeed.

"That was impressive Megali; very impressive. Though I can say I'm sad to have been bested, that was well worth the effort put in. Thank you. It's been a while since I'd had to push myself like that."

She watched him as he finished his run, smirking a bit as he slowed his pace after crossing the finish line.  Despite the rush or wind, she had heard his shout near the end and recognized it for what it was; a final roar of effort to try and snatch victory.  Nodding her acknowledgement, she reached back and ran her fingers through her hair.  With another inhale her breathing was once more casual while Roy spoke to her.  He was in surprisingly good spirits following his loss.  She could only wonder what it took to upset this man.  

"You accept defeat with grace.  Do you wish to continue with training?" she asked, reaching up to undo the zipper of her vest and finally shrug out of the training garment.  Achilles let the heavy article of clothing fall to the ground where it impacted with a resounding clang before rubbing a small kink out of her shoulder.  Clad in only a sleeveless black top with matching slacks and boots, Achilles took a brief moment to adjust to the sudden spring in her step.  Though she had been introduced to the other pieces of training equipment available in the base's gym, she had not yet tried out all of them.  Even from the track, a few pieces in particular caught her eye and she was eager to continue her exercises now that the running was completed.