He relaxed.
“Were you really in administrative support the whole time?”
“I’m in administrative support now.”
He nodded.
“What were you before?”
Emma glanced toward Briggs.
Briggs busied himself checking the mat.
She looked back at the private.
“Somewhere else.”
The private smiled.
“That’s all I’m getting?”
“That’s all you need.”
He nodded slowly.
“Fair enough.”
He started walking away.
Then he turned back.
“Sergeant?”
“Yes?”
“You really weren’t nervous?”
Emma considered the question.
“I was.”
The private blinked.
“You were?”
“Of course.”
He looked confused.
“You didn’t look nervous.”
“Looking calm and feeling nothing aren’t the same thing.”
He absorbed that.
Emma continued.
“You learn to function while your body is giving you other information.”
The private nodded.
“That sounds difficult.”
“It can be.”
He glanced toward Jake.
“Was he making it worse?”
“Yes.”
The answer came without bitterness.
The private looked surprised again.
Emma added another sentence.
“But he stopped.”
That mattered.
The private nodded once.
“Thank you, Sergeant.”
He left.
Briggs walked over.
“You always collect students after fights?”
Emma looked at him.
“That wasn’t a fight.”
“You know what I mean.”
“It was training.”
Briggs studied her.
“You still correct people exactly the same way.”
Emma looked toward Jake.
He was sitting on a bench, drinking water.
“Some things should stay accurate.”
Briggs nodded.
“You handled that better than I expected.”
Emma raised an eyebrow.
“You were worried?”
“I told Turner I was worried about both of you.”
“That was diplomatic.”
“It was true.”
She looked at him.
“Why me?”
Briggs’s expression changed.
“Because I remembered how you used to train.”
Emma’s face tightened slightly.
“That was a long time ago.”
“Not that long.”
“Long enough.”
Briggs looked toward the mat.
“You could’ve ended that humiliation fast.”
Emma said nothing.
“You didn’t.”
“He needed to understand it.”
“He does now.”
Emma looked toward Jake again.
“I hope so.”
Briggs folded his arms.
“You know everybody is going to ask questions.”
“They always do.”
“You could tell them.”
“I could.”
“But you won’t.”
“Probably not.”
Briggs smiled.
“Still stubborn.”
“Still private.”
He nodded.
“That too.”
Jake approached before Briggs could say more.
He carried two water bottles.
He offered one to Emma.
She looked at it.
“Peace offering?”
“Hydration.”
Emma took it.
“That sounds safer.”
Jake laughed.
Briggs stepped away.
“I’m checking equipment.”
Jake watched him leave.
“He really knew you before today?”
Emma unscrewed the bottle cap.
“Not personally.”
“But he knew your background.”
“Enough of it.”
Jake nodded.
“That explains his face.”
Emma took a drink.
“What was wrong with his face?”
“He looked like a guy watching somebody step onto thin ice.”
Emma almost smiled.
“You thought he was worried about me.”
“I did.”
“And now?”
Jake looked toward the mat.
“I think he was worried I’d keep talking.”
“That was probably part of it.”
Jake leaned against the wall.
“So I really mistook your assignment for your ability.”
Emma looked at him.
“Yes.”
He nodded.
“That’s the whole thing.”
“The whole thing?”
“The reason everybody got it wrong.”
Emma looked around the gym.
“Not everybody.”
Jake followed her gaze toward Briggs.
“Right.”
He exhaled.
“Briggs knew.”
“He recognized enough.”
Jake rubbed his forehead.
“And you knew he recognized it.”
“Yes.”
“That’s why you kept stopping him from saying anything.”
Emma nodded.
“I didn’t want my past doing the work for me.”
Jake looked at her.
“That’s insane.”
“Why?”
“Because you could’ve ended the whole thing with one sentence.”
Emma capped the water bottle.
“Would you have learned anything?”
Jake opened his mouth.
He stopped.
Then he shook his head.