As per my sleep schedule, I woke up around 5 in the morning.
Cursing Killer for spoiling even my Sundays, I check my phone.

There was no message from Martins. I thought whether to call him and wake him up this early on Sunday.
Wishing to just hear his voice, I called him.

Before first ring could finish, he picked up the call.
"He- hey! I was.. going to.. call you..! Mornin!"
He was breathless.

"Are you okay?"
"Yeah... I'm at.. gym.."

"Oh. You scared me there. Good Morning. Carry on with your workout.. Bye.."
"Bye Jane.. See you.. soon... Babe"

See you soon?
He sounded happy. Is he...?
But didn't uncle..

Never mind.
I don't want to keep hopes till things start moving.

I got up, changed and came out to take a walk.

Before I could go far, I heard Uncle's voice. He was screwing someone at 5.30. Poor whoever.

Suddenly it clicked me- Killer was supposed to be up all night. Hoping that it's not him, I silently walked towards the football field.

It was him - a mess, running across the field doing modified suicides.
Uncle would wait for him with a pretty set, at one end without giving him any break.

But what caught my eye was Uncle doing his own workout.
I've heard people saying how much he loves to roger others by just Pushups.

He didn't go easy on himself either.
I saw him doing many types of pushups with hardly any break.

He would match his sets with Killer's suicides and change his own when he completes one.
After almost an hour of non stop suicides and workouts, Killer was shaking and breathless.

He failed to get up from his last burpee of the morning, earning a few curses from Uncle who had changed to crunches.

After a few minutes of getting oral training, he was allowed to go and take a quick nap before reporting back to his office at 1000 hours.
Poor man, it would be a nap indeed.

I expected Uncle to go back too, but I was surprised to see him continue.
He took out a stop watch and did his workouts in sets according to the watch this time.
It took me some time to realise that he was trying to do sets of sixty in one minute.

How can a man finish 60 crunches or 60 burpees or 60 pullups ups in just one minute?

He did six types of crunches in back to back sets followed by a minute's break. I was funny to see him grunting and caressing his fried abs.

Next were pull ups and by the end I was afraid he might fall off in that momentum.
His loud breaths confirmed that he was struggling to keep the pace.

His timer made the 'ding' sound before he could finish 60 and he let out an annoying squeak. He kept pulling up and did ten extra.
So that was his way of punishing himself for crossing the time limit.

Dropping back down and giving himself another thirty second break, he started with burpees, leg raises, and flutter kicks.

If my ears were good at their only job of counting the dings, his plank lasted nothing less than 4 minutes!

At his age, if I were to do a plank after everything he did, I wouldn't last even 40 seconds. Four minutes are just too much!

It was great to see him pushing himself - the man who cruelly pushes everyone else here at KMA. But there was one thing I noticed.
He reacted like a normal man. He would grunt, make sounds of disappointment, mutter curses under his breath instead of keeping a poker face and hiding the fact that he was struggling and getting tired.

He wasn't behaving like a superhero who doesn't feel pain or exhaustion.
Instead he looked like just a normal person working himself out of his limits.

He was in the middle of his knuckle Pushups when his phone rang.
Stopping mid way, he got up and answered it.

'What is it, Flynn?'
.

'Can it wait for an hour? I was finally going to gym after three days!'
.

'60 in 60. Though I sucked at pullups and plank.'
Ah the disappointment.
.

'But-'

Did Flynn just interrupt him? Oh man!
He was nodding quietly like a child being scolded.

'Fine. I'll do three. And thanks for gifting me one less hour of sleep.'
He mumbled.
.

'When else do you think I will get time for Gym?'
I can't believe Uncle was actually arguing with Flynn!
.

'Fine sir, I'll have a 6 hour sleep. Now can I continue?'
That's pure sarcasm.
.

'See you in twenty.'

He completed his set of knuckle Pushups and kept the stopwatch back into his pocket.

And then, he climbed the pole again to complete three sets of thirty pullups each, without timing - I think, except if he was doing the mental counts and timing stuff.

Getting down, wiping the sweat off his forehead, he bent down, and did a handstand.
Before I believe my eyes, he started doing handstand Pushups.

I stood there surprised while he did thirty pushups gracefully and slowly, never falling or losing balance.

Slowly he lowered his legs and stayed flat on ground breathing for a few minutes.

I've never seen anyone doing handstand Pushups ever before, just heard about it being very difficult.
I wonder if Nick and Killer can do it too.

Meanwhile, he got up and walked away.

This was the first time I saw him working on himself. No doubt he expects everyone to be fit when he doesn't cut himself any slack.

I saw just a part of his routine, since his gym plans were ruined by Flynn.
This, combined with his age, seems too impressive to be real.
I wonder how much of a badass he must have been during his Cadet or instructor days.
And how cruel must have been his trainer to get him where he is today.

I feel bad that he's all alone. I mean, he has his sons, that's right. But still, a life partner would have been a blessing.
He's such a hot old man to live alone.

Goodness Jane! What's gotten into you!

************

"You kicked some ass, we heard."
That was Oliver.

"You heard wrong. Someone kicked my ass instead."
I replied laughing and hugging those stupid boys in turns.

"I don't get a hug?" Ethan complained when I skipped him in the end.

"You got punches. You want more?"
I said and pulled him in a headlock.

"Told you she kicked mine."
Eth said with his hand raised in surrender.

Poor boy.
They'll roast him.
I tried to save him. He can't complain I didn't.

"So? How was the break? What did you guys do?"

"So much fun!"
"I met my girl after an year! It was much needed."
"Went for that family trip to France they were planning for months."
"Stayed at home and enjoyed peace."

"What did you do? What all happened in our absence?"
Ah you might not want to hear the answer.

Taking a small hesitant laugh I replied.
"Nothing great. Nick left a few days after you guys went. Major Wills went back to his full-time training with Uncle. Leaving Captain Renee behind, we all went to meet Uncle's old student from KMA, Nick joined us there, and we came back. Your Fletcher had a three day ordeal under Uncle and Nick. Lastly, yesterday I had a sparring session with your brother here. That's it."

I summarised, skipping the minor but important details.

"Fletcher had an ordeal? What did he do for that?"
"Mm.. Wasn't good at his re-training I suppose."
'To prove that he's a jerk and that Uncle loves both of them equally' would be a stupid answer.

"Strange. But hey! If he went through an ordeal, that means he's fit as a horse! Will he be coming to our training sessions?"
"Break the bad news, SC." I told Ethan and everyone turned to him.

"Guys, Coach is going on a mission and for a few days, we'll have to survive under Fletcher morning to night."
"You can't be serious!"
"He'll kill us!"
"Shit man. Why did we come back."
"It's our last term. He won't show any mercy!"

"Mercy was never an option. I met Rambo and he's told me to expect worst now. If he gets an Input that any of us is not fit to go to the battlefield, he'll extend his tenure here for another term. So even if it was Coach, times would have been hard. We just have to give our best and clear the finals and pass out."

"Damn it."
"Fletcher... is a bad omen."

"Specially when he has been screwed for throughout night, right before the cadets join back." I added.
"What?"
"Why?"

"He was up all night marching - as a punishment for not training us at a level Rambo expects."
"That hammer just got red hot."
"Great."

"And don't be surprised if you find me getting screwed along with you guys."

"But why?"
"Apparently in the fight yesterday, I didn't perform well and I need improvement too. So..."

"That's worse."
"Yeah man. She'll do a straight fifty and we'll get hundred because she could do it and we couldn't."

I laughed at their concern.
"Atleast you can direct your anger at someone if I'm there."

"Shut up guys! She's a friend and in as deep shit as we are. We've got to stick together."
"Yeah. All we can do is try."

"And for that, you need energy."
Flynn appeared and the boys' faces lit up. This man is something.

"Hey Flynn. How have you been?"
"Never better!"

"You always say that!"
Flynn only laughed louder.

"Who's hungry?"
There he enters the mommy role.

"We are!"
"Then start hogging!"

I kept little food in my plate and sat at one corner, leaving the boys to fill their tummies before they start burning each calorie.

We chatted over breakfast. I came to know that these people have a different world altogether, outside KMA.
It must have been a big sacrifice to leave all of it behind and sign for something dangerously unknown.

They left to submit their documents and I sat at the table for a little longer.

"What's wrong?"
"Flynn..."

"Yes, lady?"
"Are all of them this crazy?"

He laughed loudly, louder than before.
"I can call you wise from today."

I looked at him with a smile.
"Because I cracked the code today?"

"Yes, miss. We only let the crazy ones enter here. Boys with brains of their own are rejected. We need people who think about themselves in the end, not beginning."

"We?"
Suddenly Flynn's face went like he's seen a ghost. He took a moment to compose himself and continued "I mean the army. We're all a part of this army, right?"

"Yeah.. One can say..."
I said feeling strange.

"So, Nick left?"
I asked with my heart getting heavier.

"Yes. Early morning."
Flynn said clearing the table.

My frown must have bothered him because he stopped and came and kneeled on the floor next to me.

"You don't have to worry, miss. He'll be fine."
"But uncle has challenged that other guy, right?"

"Your uncle has trained your friend, too, right? You think someone else can trouble him after what he's been through with Colonel?"
This brought a smile to my lips.

Feeling convinced, he got up and got back to his job.
"You never call me by my name, Flynn. Why?"

He smiled and said "I've been taught to address ladies with respect. Calling them by just their name is not one of them."

"Wow! Never noticed this at any other station Dad was posted at. Is it only at KMA?"
"No. That is taught in my family. Or was."

His face goes dull for a moment and he goes back to smiling.

"Which family do you belong to, Flynn?"

"You might not have heard the name. We're from a very small state. Just for your knowledge, I come from a royal family."
He said smiling, pulling a spoon out of my hand while I looked at him with my eyes open wide, frozen.

"You're from a royal family?"
I repeated, not being able to believe the words.

And suddenly it hit me - I know something about everyone here - except him.
And this knowledge about him hit me like a hailstorm.

"You doubt, milady?"
He said bending a little and laughing.

Even if he never had told me that, it would totally make sense, because his habits and behaviour are on top notch - be it a cadet, or Uncle - he's been respectful to everyone. And he gets that in return without loss.

Oh man.
One sentence from him has my brain cells working out.

"What else?" I blurt out.
"What do you mean, what else?"
He asked amused.

"What else will you tell me about yourself? I want to hear more about you."
I say with excitement clearly dripping from my voice.

"Nothing."
Uncle said from the entrance with a serious look on his face.
The threat in his tone was such that I felt like I committed some crime.

"Colonel, it's okay..."
Flynn tried to hint him something, I could feel it.
Like he wanted to say 'Don't worry, things are under control here.'

Uncle scanned my face for a few seconds then turned towards Flynn and nodded.

Flynn left to grab something from the kitchen and I focused on uncle.
He came and sat across me.
"I'm sorry I freaked you out." he said apologetically.

"That's okay. But... why?"
"He has had rough past. And I don't want anyone to hurt him by talking about it... " His voice was commanding and he sounded so protective of Flynn.
"Do you talk to him about it?"
I asked.

"Including myself." he completed his statement, looking into my eyes with his dark black ones.

Oh.
That's something serious.
Flynn's past, no matter how interesting it sounds, is out of bonds for me. Uncle made it very clear, without saying it.
Roger.

.

Remind me to ask Nick about it.
I won't be able to sleep otherwise.

************************************

Here we are!
Back to KMA!
Who am I kidding? We've always been at KMA.

Is anyone here bored of this place? Definitely not me, because I just love it. In case anyone wants an outpass, fill in the application, send across and wait for interview with the Commander 😉
Let me know.

************************************

Also, who do you want to know about, next?
Nick?
Or Philip Martins?
More comments steer the update 😉.