JENSEN CARTER
Sounds of metal hitting metal and thuds of fast-moving feet against treadmills, filled the air as gym-goers push themselves to the limit. Grunts and heavy breaths escaped them as they worked out. At one machine, a man arches his back straining against the bench - His muscles burning as he struggled to push the bar above him. "Yes!" His friend beside him cheered as he was finally able to lock his arms. Helping him return the bar to the bench press rests, he high-fived his friend before going to retrieve more weights. Downstairs the main floor, the sounds of gloves hitting leather and the quick shuffling of feet sound throughout the room. With numerous punching bags and a boxing ring, the floor was dedicated to the more combat-related sports.
"No, no. If you continue to aim like that you're going to sprain your wrist," Jensen says to the teenager before him. "When you're punching straight on the bag, you have to hit flush with the knuckles. Have to land palm down, knuckles going into the bag like this," He says stepping to the bag to demonstrate. Jensen punches the bag before him slowly, making sure the boy sees how his hands hit the bag. He does this two more times before doing it at full speed.
"Now, try again," He says to the teenager. The boy steps up to the bag, positioning himself for the punch. Taking his time he imitates what Jensen had shown him, throwing three punches before stopping to look at his trainer. "Good correction! That was good," Jensen compliments him. The boy perks up happily at the praise before trying to play it cool. "Thanks! So, how long until we hop into the ring?" He asks excitedly.
"We still got a couple of techniques to cover before we reach the ring, Danny," Jensen replies with a chuckle. "But don't worry. You're making quick progress. We'll be there in no time." Danny nods, happy with Jensen's response. He goes back to punching the bag, Jensen watching him closely. He was impressed by how quickly Danny was learning and how well he took instruction.
"Danny," A female voice calls out. Turning behind them, Jensen sees Danny's mother walking to him, holding her yoga mat underneath her arms.
"Hey there Mr. Carter," She greets as she reaches him, Jensen replying with a "Hello Samantha".
"Danny, your session is up. Come on, I have a lot of things to do today," She says to her teenage son, placing a hand on top of his head.
"What? No! It feels like we just got started!" The boy whines. "Can we turn it into a double session? Please, mom?" He begs.
"Nope, go grab your things," She replies to him with a slight push. The boy sighs loudly, stomping off.
"He isn't much trouble, right? He listens to you and all that?" She says to Jensen once Danny was out of earshot.
"Are you kidding me? He listens to me more than my older trainees," Jensen replies making Samantha let out a relieved sigh. "That's so good to hear!" She pauses a minute, visibly hesitating before speaking again, "Has he ever mentioned his father to you?" She asks softly.
"No, why?" Jensen replies looking at her curiously.
"It's just that...Well, you see he died a few weeks back. And, Danny hasn't dealt with it. It hit the family hard and he began acting out at school and at home. Therapy did nothing but make him angrier - But I've been seeing a change in his behavior. He's better, I can tell," Samantha explains.
"Oh. I'm sorry to hear about your husband. But Danny hasn't brought it up, we've just been training. You know, boxing is a great way to release tension and aggression. I've had many people tell me how it helped them work through their thoughts and stresses. Calm them, help them reevaluate things in their life." Jensen says to her, Danny walking up to them just as he finished his sentence.
Samantha nods thoughtfully, mumbling a soft "yeah". Looking down at her son, she smiles, "Have everything?" She asks him.
"Yeah. Are you setting up the next session for me?" He asks eagerly.
"You should look into a membership," Jensen buts in talking to Samantha. "With you doing yoga and him down here in boxing, a membership would do you good."
"You know what, I'll do that. Thanks for everything. Say goodbye Daniel."
"Bye Mr. Carter, see you next session," Danny says to Jensen before he and his mother walk away.
"Hey, Jens!" Dalton calls out to him from across the room. "What's up?" Jensen asks going up to his friend. "You're free right?" He asks to which Jensen nods in response. "Good, 'cause there's this meathead up on the main level trying to lift more than he can handle. Keep an eye on him for me would ya?"
"No problem," Jensen replies slapping Dalton on the shoulder.
No sooner had he taken up position near the man did he have to step in and assist. The struggling man refused to lessen the weights, getting annoyed when Jensen placed himself as his spotter. When he fumbled for the third time, Jensen decided that enough was enough - Not letting him continue unless he lessened the amount of weight. The man relented, agreeing to change the weight but gets greatly offended by the weight Jensen suggested. Walking away angrily, Jensen watches as he heads over to the pull-up bars and proceeds to struggle there as well.
With a shake of his head, Jensen places the weights back onto the rack and calls out to one of the workers who were wiping down another bench. He gestured for them to wipe that one as well, receiving a nod in return.
Saying goodbye to his trainee, Jensen heads over to Dalton's office. "I'm heading off for lunch. You want anything?" He says, poking his head through the door.
"Nah, I'm good. Thanks," Dalton replies waving his hand at him. Jensen nods and exits the gym. Getting in his car, he heads off, making his way to Oak Crest Medical. Jensen parks his car and enters the building. Nodding a hello to the head nurse, he walks on through. He takes in the state of the hospital as he passes, noting how quickly they were getting the damages from the explosions fixed.
"You're awake!" He calls out with a smile as he enters the room. Walking straight to the bed he embraces Yara in a hug. "When I came by last night the doctors said they weren't sure when you'd wake. I'm so glad you're alright, you had me worried for a minute!" He says to her as they hold each other.
"I woke this morning actually. You were here last night? Did Clay call you?" Yara says to him as they let one another go.
"No. I haven't spoken to Clayton...since. I found out through Vanessa. She was trying to get some updates on your condition," Jensen explains. "I can't believe all that went down. She filled me in on everything. And what she did to you! What was she thinking?! And she bit a hunter!"
"Yeah, it's a mess!" Yara says with a sigh, leaning back in her bed. "We're still wrapping our heads around it."
"When are you getting out of here?" Jensen asks.
"Tomorrow. They just want to run a few more tests and make sure the poison is out of my system completely. It could have been today but they're a bit on edge - It seems to be a stronger strain of the plant or something like that. And it did put me in a small coma, so...," Yara tells him. He goes to speak but a voice interrupts him.
"Jensen?" Clayton says in a surprised tone, standing at the door.
Jensen lets out a soft sigh. Last night, he'd been lucky enough to visit Yara while Clayton was out of the room. He thought he'd be able to do the same today.
"Clayton," He responds, not turning to look at him. Yara giving him a weird look. Before anyone could say anything further, Jensen's phone goes off with a chime. He checks it quickly before putting it back into his pocket. "I've got to head out now. I'm glad you're okay, Yara," He says to her.
"Where are you running off to?" Yara asks him.
"I've got a job now. One that I'm sticking with," He says to her, laughing at her expression.
"I'll check in on you later," He says turning to leave the room. He heads to the door, stopping a little way in front of Clayton who stood in the doorway. The two of them eye each other for a couple of seconds before Clayton moves to the side, allowing Jensen to pass.
"Nice of you to stop by," Clayton says to him as he passes. Looking at him, Jensen gives him a quick nod before heading out.
~
NAOMI REID
Turning off her toaster oven, Naomi grabs two plates from the overhead cabinet. "It's ready!" She shouts out as she begins to plate the food. Taking out a heaping spoon of her shrimp Alfredo pasta, she places it on the plate - Adding two slices of toasted garlic bread on the side.
"Kai, come on," She calls out once more. Her brother enters the kitchen, walking over to her. "Mm, looks good," He comments as he grabs the two plates and heads to the dining table. Naomi grabs their drinks from the fridge and follows behind him. Reaching the table, she finds her brother already stuffing his face greedily.
"Oh, we haven't hung out like this in a long time. I've missed your cooking so much!" He exclaims through forkfuls of food.
"Nice to know the love's still there bro," Naomi comments with a chuckle, rolling her eyes. "So...," Naomi begins, "How's your week been?" She asks looking at her brother.
"Naomi, we see each other every day for hours. You know how my week has been," Kai comments.
"I mean yeah, but that's just the work part," Naomi says in return with a huff. "I'm not exactly caught up on your home life like I used to be!"
Kai shakes his head at her, "Come on, Nai. No games. Let's just address it," He says to her softly. Naomi puts her fork down gently with a sigh, staring off at her plate. "She's been by the house a total of four times looking for you. And she's staying around longer each visit. Pretty soon she's going to stay at the station and wait it out. She's not going to give up until she sees you," Kai says to Naomi watching her expression change.
"She found out I'm your brother today. Gerald mentioned it when she was asking around for you. She's on my tail now."
"What makes her think she can do that?!" Naomi shouts out. "Just because we came across each other doesn't mean she could start pushing her way into my life! It's been years! She left me! Kai, she has a family of her own. She has a daughter! She's friggin' pregnant! Her life is good, you should have seen where she lives!" Kai sits silently, allowing Naomi to rant.
"She gave me up completely! She wanted nothing to do with me. Now she won't leave me alone?! How does that work?"
Naomi pauses for a moment breathing heavily, "I love mom and dad," She says to him referring to their parents. "I've loved them since the day they agreed to take us together even though we weren't siblings. I did not miss this woman. I've wondered about her from time to time, yeah. But I did not miss her. I didn't want her in my life. She gave up her full parental rights and I now I'm old enough to understand that she just did not want one thing to do with me. She doesn't get to just waltz in and disrupt everything!"
The two of them sit quietly for a while before Kai speaks up. "So, what are you going to do?" He asks her.
"I'm going to tell her to stay away from me. That I don't want to see her, hear her out, anything like that!" Naomi responds strongly.
"Are you going to mention this to mom and dad?" Kai asks curiously.
"No. There's nothing to mention. I'm not letting her in my life."
The two of them finish their food before moving over to Naomi's couch. Putting on the TV, Naomi snuggles up underneath her blanket while clicking on a horror movie. Midway through, Naomi glances at Kai before turning back to the movie. "Hey, you believe in the supernatural?" She asks casually, keeping her eyes on the show.
Kai turns to look at her before answering, "Supernatural like ghosts, witches, demons that kind of stuff?" He asks.
"More like mythology. Werewolves, Lycans. More those things," Naomi responds in an even tone as if it were a simple, mindless conversation.
"You're asking if I think werewolves are real?" Kai asks.
"I mean among other things, but yeah. Do you think that kind of thing exits? People who could turn into wolf-like creatures or be super strong," Naomi says, trailing off toward the end.
"Uhm, I have never given it thought. But if I were to seriously think about it, I'd say it's a bit far-fetched," Kai answers. "How would that even work?"
Naomi hums in response as Kai goes to speak again. "Do you?"
Naomi doesn't answer right away, acting as if she were deliberating her answer. "Yeah, I think I can get by the idea of werewolves being a thing. It does sound crazy when you say it out loud but hey," She says, ending her sentence with a shrug.
Kai shifts slightly in his seat, Naomi noticing that the bandage on his arm was becoming loose. "Let me fix that for you," She says pointing to it before getting up off the couch. Heading into the bathroom, she grabs one of her smaller first aid kits.
"Calls have been getting crazier by the minute!" Kai says as she gets to work on him. It's like there's something in the water, making everyone lose their damn minds."
"You have no idea," Naomi mumbles softly.
~
YARA ROSEWOOD
Putting the last of her things into her purse, Yara slides off the hospital bed. They'd kept her an extra night for observations and testing despite her protests. Finally getting the all-clear to leave, she was more than ready to get out of there. "Ready?" Clayton asks her as he enters the room.
"Yeah, let's leave before they find more tests to run," Yara replies grabbing her purse and heading for the door. As they get into Clayton's truck, his phone begins to ring. She watches as he checks the caller ID before declining the call.
"Who was it?" Yara asks curiously as they pull off from the hospital.
"Vanessa," Clayton answers her to which she responds with a small oh followed by a sigh.
"That's probably the tenth time she's called within the hour," He comments.
"What's going to happen now? Between you and her?" Yara asks aloud. "I'm not even one hundred percent sure where I stand with her. It's like she did get me out of there but she was the reason I was there in the first place."
"One last-minute epiphany doesn't exonerate her from all she's done," Clayton says angrily as he drives.
As Yara goes to speak, Clayton's phone begins to ring again. Yara reaches over and grabs it, "It's her," She says reading the caller ID.
"Decline it," Clayton says to her.
"You know, laying in the hospital, I had time to think over events and wonder," Yara begins. "When sje bit bit that hunter... I wonder if it was one hundred percent to save me or if part of her still wanted to carry on with her revolution business. Because why just a bite? She could have killed both of them."
"Seeing that she was willing to kidnap and drug you because of this stupid revolution, I'd say the latter," Clayton replies. "Enough about Vanessa."
"Okay. You want to talk about you and Jensen then?" Yara asks sweetly watching Clayton sigh heavily and run his hand over his face.
"I'd rather not," He answers just as his phone begins to ring again.
"Speak of the devil! It's Jensen! Did you two make up since?" Yara says watching the phone.
"No, we haven't," Clayton says surprised. "Answer it."
Accepting the call, Yara puts it on speakerphone. "Hey, Jensen! What's up?" She answers.
"Listen! Vanessa is in trouble. She said it's Marshall and the Lycans she got involved with! From that whole revolution business. They have her and she needs help. I need to know where the gym is! That's where they have her!" Jensen says in a rush.
"What!" Yara and Clayton shout out simultaneously. "Shit!" Clayton hisses.
"Uh, It's on the corner of Freeland Avenue and Saltore Street," Yara tells him.
"Okay, I'm on my way to her," Jensen answers.
"Wait, wait, Jensen!" Clayton shouts out before he could hang up the phone. "You'd be outnumbered. Wait for me I can be there in ten."
"There is no time to wait, she sounded bad. I have to get to her now. I have a friend with me, I'm fine. We can handle it." With that the call ends, leaving Yara and Clayton to look at each other in confusion.
"Do you know who he's talking about?" She asks him.
"No."