by Newbiel
"Sir, you really think that we can make it work?" He asked sceptically.
"You see how far they had progress in barely two weeks." Nathaniel answers simply.
"Yes, it's very impressive. They are indeed extremely talented but they are nowhere near ready for what is coming." He said with a hint of worry in his voice.
"You are right Scott but you know as well as I do that we don't have a choice in this matter. We have sixteen days left to wipe them into shape and force as much knowledge into them as we possibly can."
"We could postpone the operation until they are ready." He suggested.
"I can hear that even you are not okay with what you are suggesting. Go back with them and lecture them while they are doing push up. They will not become delta's in a month's training but I want them close enough that they could hold their own against one."
"Alright. What are you going to do about the one tied to a tree right now? Her attempt would have succeeded against everyone but you. She slipped right past me and I didn't even hear or seen her, it's really impressive."
"Yes, it seems that the CIA trained her well in sneaking, not really surprising there. This is one of the reasons she's tied to a tree right now and not on her way back home. Don't worry, I'm going to deal with her. In the meantime, I have work and you do too Scott." Nathaniel said, giving him a pointed look.
"Yes, sir." Scott nodded understanding the order, walking back to the others.
Chapter 181: :
Na-Yung woke up feeling dizzy and with a huge headache. Her head was so painful in fact that she had trouble opening her eyes. This was when she remembered how she ended up here, seemingly tied up around what feels like a large tree.
"Oh good, you are awake. Take your time and open your eyes slowly and your headache is going to pass. I didn't hit you that hard anyway." A voice said offhandedly echoing painfully inside her head.
Considering the pain that she was experiencing right now, Na-Yung was about to object when she remembered that she was already in hot water as it is. Doing what she was told, she started to open her eyes slowly. Luckily, the light was not that bright thanks to the tree who was shielding her from the sun. Once, she could see again, she found him quite easily. He was sitting, his back on a tree looking at diverse files on the ground in front of him. Na-Yung could see some pictures that look like they came from a satellite in orbit.
That was one of the things that she liked the most about him. He never had any down time. It seems that every minute of every day he was planning to do something, increasing his already huge knowledge about every topic, training his body or teaching them what he knew.
"What do you have to say for yourself, Na-Yung? And I'm warning you, if you try to play coy with me or if I smell any bullshit, I'm going to hit you again and you are going to wake up in your bed in New York." Nathaniel threatened, lifting his eyes from the files that he was looking at long enough to convey that he was dead serious about this.
"I don't really know myself…" She starts to say when a knife lodges itself in the tree where she was tied too, inches away from her face. Na-Yung could see some of her hair falling to the ground, cleanly cut. She couldn't hold a shudder as she was sure that he did not even look up before throwing his knife. He could have killed her if he had missed.
"Last chance." He warned.
"Okay! I wanted to see if I could take you down! I wanted to prove to you and to the others that I was here because I'm as talented as them and even more, not because we are friends!" She shouted.
"Now, we are getting somewhere. Did anyone make a comment about the fact that you have no business being here?" He asked.
"No. Not out loud anyway but I noticed some looks while we were practicing."
"I see. And you thought that going rogue on them and screwing them in an exercise was a sure thing to get them to accept you?" He lifted an eyebrow at her.
"I… euh, I mean when you say it like that, it seem stupid." She grumbled, doing what she could to stop an embarrassed blush to come to her cheek.
"It is stupid but I supposed I have some blame to take. I'm working you to the ground every day without even giving you more than five hours of sleep at night. I was expecting someone doing something stupid at some point but I did not think it will be coming from you first." He shook his head.
Seeing that she was about to defend herself, Nathaniel raised his hand to stop her in her tracks before continuing.
"You know how press for time we are already and you made us lose two hours of that precious time. They would not have succeeded in that exercise even without you going rogue on them but you made them fail harder. Truthfully, the only reason that we are talking is because you almost succeed in your endeavor. Even Scott was impressed by you."
"So… This mean I can stay?" She asked, hesitantly.
"Yes. You can stay with us." He nodded at her before picking up the files around him and starting to walk away.
"Nath! Where are you going? You need to untie me!" She shouted at him.
"And why would I need to do that? You already have everything you need to get out of these ropes." Nathaniel said, nodding to the knife he had thrown near her head earlier. "You want to show me that you are more talented than they are? It's time to prove it. I advise you to find a way out of these ropes before nightfall in about three hours as it would become quite cold, not mentioning wild animals wandering in theses woods. Scott said he spotted a bear two days ago. I will not come back for you, you are on your own. If I don't see you next morning, I will assume that you are dead or on your way back home. Good luck Na-Yung." He said, leaving a dumbstruck Na-Yung still processing his word behind.
******
The next morning, Nathaniel walks inside the bungalow that Jon uses as an infirmary. Nathaniel had taken the precaution to refurbish it quite well before they started their training as the nearest hospital was quite far away from where they were. It was common sense as the training was harsh and the risk of injury was not only possible but likely. The principal evidence being the black haired girl still sleeping on the medical bed.
"So, Doc, how is your patient?" Nathaniel asked, his eyes not leaving the girl on the bed.
"When you brought her back last night, she had hypothermia and she had lost a lot of blood. She had numerous cuts on her left forearm and left hand but nothing that could warrant stitches. She's going to be okay, like you can see, she's resting now. In three or four days she should be better and resume training." He answers professionally.
"That is good news. Unfortunately, she doesn't have three days. Wake her up now, training is going to start in thirty minutes." Nathaniel ordered calmly.
"What!? No! She needs rest!" Jon shouted in protest. "What the hell happened to her to end up like that in the process?" He asked, eyeing him suspiciously.
Nathaniel had never left after issuing the challenge to Na-Yung. He had simply hidden a little away and watched what she was going to do. He could be considered cold to have her put through that but he did it for her, to make her stronger. They will all need to become stronger for what was going to come their way. That's why he stayed the night with her and picked her up when she fell unconscious because of the cold and the loss of blood a mile shy of the camp. In Nathaniel's book, she had succeeded.
"Training exercise, believe me or not but she did that to herself on her own. You know what, since it is the patient's call, just wake her up and ask her about it. If she wants to take the days of rest, I will let her but if she wants to come trained with the rest of us, you will let her. Deal?"
"What kind of a deal is this? Only god knows how fierce and competitive that girl is, especially with you! There is no way she's going to sit even one day out." He shouted frustratingly.
"Still, wake her up Doc, this is an order. I will keep an eye on her and if anything comes up, I will order her to go back to bed. This is the best I can do."
Jon just grumbles unintelligently but still moves to wake her up.
New York. 01/02/2013. 10:50.
Na-Yung was walking in the street of New York, her bags in hands, in the direction of her home. The plane had just landed from their month training in Montana an hour ago and because of traffic jams, she was forced to leave the cab and walk the few blocks that were still separating her from home. Nathaniel had graciously offered to escort her home as she was carrying more bags than she had hands. He had given them the weekend off to rest before the joint training exercise started next monday.
While he was busy talking about university and law in general, she could not help but give him some looks from time to time. She has been amazed to see his transformation. He had swapped back from the ruthless and almost cruel training instructor the moment they had taken off and reverted back to the genius, funny and playful self that he was when they met for the first time. She could not find which one of those two personalities was the real one or maybe he was a mix of those two but if that was the case, it could lead to a huge number of questions and interrogations that she already had about him.
Still, as a training instructor he was even better than the ones that she had at the CIA. Rather than trying to force general knowledge and skills into them, he took into consideration who the person was and in what area she was gifted and then was building on that. Lina for example, took into consideration the fact that she was amazing in terms of sight and turned her into a sniper and put emphasis on teaching her a self defense type of hand combat that relies on using the other person's power against them.
On her, he keeps building on her Hapkido training and mixing it with other types of fighting styles, increasing her versatility and making her less predictable in combat. On Hans, he trained him on Tae kwon do as he had the habit of using his legs more than his hand, probably something to do with the fact that he was an engineer and had learned to take special care of his hands. On and on, he turns each of them into a different kind of soldier with their specialty and their setback. At the end of the training, she could win against every one but not every time.
She lost more than she won against Scott who also had his own style and was in a tie of sorts against Camilla. She even lost a couple of times against Lina, Lucie and Jon who managed to surprise her with an unexpected attack. Only Hans never managed to beat her but in his defense, he was the one who progressed the most in a month. Even if he was not on her level yet, he was competitive and had a will to learn that was impressive. That something that she noticed early in their training. They had each their own willingness to improve themselves and had a huge will to learn, even the older like Scott and Jon were eager to prove themselves against the rest of the younglings.
The only exception was Nathaniel of course. He was the youngest of the team and took upon himself to teach them everything, Scott helping sometimes when he was busy teaching something specific to someone. He seems to have known about the competitive streak of everyone on the team because he uses himself as a driving force for the entire group. Running faster and longer than everyone to force them to do the same forgetting their own limit in the hope of coming on top. He never even once yell at them to force them into an exercise. That was Lucie who realized what he was doing but it was too late by then. He had outsmarted and outmaneuver them fair and square and he earned their respect for it.
Finally inside her building, the two made their way to the elevator and she pressed her floor on it after swiping her pass on the reader.
"So, what are you going to do this weekend?" Nathaniel asked, curiously.
"Honestly? Sleep! Sleep and maybe go to the spa for some massages. I feel like every fiber of my body is injured right now." She answered with a laugh.
"Which is probably true." He laughed back.
"And you?" She asked.
"Me? Just going to pass times with my family I guess, if something doesn't pop up at the last second. Still, I miss a good hot shower and my own bed for a change." He said. The training facility was quite rough on the edge and had not been modernized for at least thirty years. They had a bed a little softer than the ground but not better than that and a shower with hot water some of the time. The door of the elevator opens at this moment.
"Don't tell me about it! I think I'm going to sleep for the next two days on…" Na-Yung started to say until her voice cut off mid sentence looking in front of her with a surprised expression on her face.
"What's going on?" Nathaniel asked, looking at the two korean who were manning her front door. He had already spotted them the second the doors open and had one of his knives on hand if something was not right.
"These two mens are not our security detail, they are my grandfather's." She said, troubled.
"I didn't know that your grandfather was the kind to pay a surprised visit." He said, keeping his voice neutral. He had some reservations about the men after everything that happened but he was not going to say it in front of her as it was her family business, not his.
"He isn't, if he's here, that means he wants something." She answers cooly.
"You want me to leave?" He asked, not wanting to intrude.
"No, I still need you to help me carry my bags in my room. Until then, your mine to use Nath." She said playfully but he could see that her heart was not into it, he still answers.
"Yes, Ma'am."
Walking to the front door, Na-Yung was surprised when she was stopped by one of the men guarding it.
"You can enter but the foreigner cannot. It's your grandfather's order" The man added quickly in Korean seeing the displeased look on her face.
"We are in the US, we are the foreigners here. Move away, now." She answers coldly.
Seeing that she was dead serious, the man nodded before getting out of her way. He knew he did not have the power or the authority to stop her.
"Is everything alright?" Nathaniel asked, acting like he did not understand their conversation as it was in Korean.
"Yeah. My grandfather is still trying to control my life and the people in it but it's over now. He lost that right and my respect for him when he chose to stay on the sidelines and watch us get murdered." She said coldly before pushing the door open.
Entering the penthouse and walking in the living room, Na-Yung did not have to walk for long before seeing her grandfather sitting at the head of the table, her father on the right and her mother standing to the side, taking care of not gathering attention and not disturbing them. Seeing that, Na-Yung had to bite the inside of her cheek to stop herself from speaking out. Her grandfather was very old school and her mother had been educated the same way but still, that kind of behavior was not okay. In the past, that kind of thing never bothered her but the more time that she spent with Nathaniel, the more she became aware of things like inequalities or biases. Without realizing it, she was starting to incorporate Nathaniel's moral code and making it her own.
Seeing his granddaughter entering the living room, the dignified old man's mouth turned upward for a second before vanishing when seeing that she was followed by some american kid. Until he realized that he knew that kid from some surveillance picture taken by his people. Even if he had chosen to let his sons to their own device concerning the company and who will inherit it ultimately, he kept a close eye on his granddaughter from far away. Even if he hid it, he always had a soft spot for her. She was brilliant and pretty which would be a nice asset to find a good marriage to make the family and the company prosper even more.
"Daughter, pay your respect to your grandfather." Her father said, getting to his feet.
"I would with pleasure if I were to still have one." She answers coldly, making her parents jump in surprise and shock. "Hello Mom and Dad, I missed you." She said, kissing them on the cheek.
"You dare!?" Her grandfather yelled, furious, slamming his hands on the table.
"Hello, Mister and Miss Kim." Nathaniel salutes, making a half bow in front of each of them. Taking his cue from Na-Yung and completely disregarding her grandfather
like he wasn't even here.
Exchanging a look with his wife, In-Su did not know what to do anymore. He wanted to berate his daughter for her unrespectful behavior but with a guest in their home, it was not possible at the moment. The worth that after he greeted them with a bow like that and with everything Nathaniel did for them and for Na-Yung, if they were to bow back, it would even more infuriate his father. He knew why his daughter was mad at her grandfather and god knew that he shared some of her anger but he was taught since his youth that respecting his elder was the most important thing. That's why he chose to not return the bow and support his father.
"Why is he here? I gave specified instruction to my mens outside to prevent him from entering." The grandfather questioned in Korean, frowning in Nathaniel's direction who was busy putting the bags that he was carrying near the couch.
"Is here because I invite him in! This is not your home so stop acting like it is!" Na-Yung said defiantly.
"Silence child!" He yelled once again. "Remember that without me and all the sacrifice I make in my life, your father wouldn't be able to afford something like this! Don't forget it ungrateful girl!"
"And yet, now that my uncle is in jail, you are here to ask us to move back to Korea for the sake of the company and more importantly our image. I see the fact that your first son hired an assassin did not do well for our family and company standing in Korea." Na-Yung shout back, she was not stupid. If he was here, there was a reason for it and he was not the type to have feelings or remorse for that matter.
Her grandfather was about to retort when he noticed the young american passing near him and walking in the direction of his two bodyguards.
"What is he doing?" He asked but nobody answered him as they were too curious to see what he was going to do to speak.
Walking near the two of them, Nathaniel made a show of turning around the two bodyguards. They were massive to say the least. A little shy of seven foot tall and three hundred pound each, they were very intimidating and it was one of the reasons that Na-Yung's grandfather picked them for his security detail. Compared to them, Nathaniel looked tiny and thin and yet he did not look particularly affected by their presence. Stopping in front of the bigger one, Nathaniel raised his hand and tapped lightly on his forehead which did not faze the bodyguard.