Jake charged.
Briggs took one step forward.
Emma shifted aside.
Jake turned.
His balance broke for a fraction of a second.
Emma placed one palm against his upper arm.
She redirected him.
Nothing more.
Jake stumbled two steps.
The gym went completely silent.
Emma lowered her hand.
Jake turned around.
His face was no longer amused.
“You shoved me.”
“I redirected you.”
“You think that’s clever?”
“I think it kept you standing.”
Jake looked toward the soldiers.
Nobody smiled.
That absence changed something inside him.
For years, rooms had responded when he pushed.
Trainees straightened.
Junior soldiers became quiet.
Peers laughed when he wanted laughter.
He had built authority through volume.
Emma was showing everyone how little volume mattered inside the square.
Jake pointed toward her.
“You’re enjoying this.”
Emma’s voice stayed level.
“No.”
“Don’t lie.”
“I’m not.”
“You wanted an audience.”
“You brought one.”
A corporal near the water station looked down.
Jake noticed.
His anger became more controlled.
That made Briggs more nervous.
Emma watched Briggs touch the whistle again.
She remembered his earlier glance.
He knew something.
He had known before they started.
The realization did not surprise her.
It only confirmed what she suspected.
Jake moved closer.
“You want to embarrass me?”
Emma shook her head.
“No.”
“Then stop dancing around.”
“I’m not responsible for how this looks.”
“You walked onto my mat.”
“You made it public.”
Jake stared at her.
Emma held his gaze now.
For the first time, he looked away first.
Someone near the cage wall breathed out slowly.
Jake heard that too.
He turned toward Briggs.
“You seeing this?”
Briggs answered carefully.
“I’m watching.”
“Then say something.”
Briggs’s expression tightened.
“What do you want me to say?”
Jake laughed.
“That she’s avoiding engagement.”
Briggs paused.
Emma saw the hesitation.
Jake saw it too.
“Well?”
Briggs looked at Emma.
Then at Jake.
“She’s controlling distance.”
Jake’s face froze.
The words were technically neutral.
Everyone heard what they meant.
Jake was being managed.
Jake pointed a glove at Briggs.
“That your expert opinion?”
Briggs did not respond.
Jake turned back toward Emma.
“You hear that?”
Emma nodded.
“I did.”
“You proud?”
“No.”
That answer seemed to bother him.
He wanted arrogance.
He wanted something he could punish.
Emma gave him nothing.
Jake lifted his fists again.
“Come forward.”
Emma remained where she stood.
“Why?”
“Because this is combatives.”
“Then make me.”
A sharp sound came from someone near the benches.
It might have been a laugh.
Jake’s eyes moved toward the sound.
Emma watched his left heel.
It rose.
He stepped.
She moved.
His right glove cut across the space where her head had been.
His left followed.
Emma blocked lightly and pivoted.
Jake turned.
She changed angle again.
His breathing became louder.
His frustration became visible.
Emma remained silent.
Jake hated that silence now.
“Say something.”
Emma kept moving.
“About what?”
“You’ve been running your mouth all morning.”
“No.”
Jake swung again.
Emma slipped outside.
“You have.”
“You’ve been talking.”
Jake missed again.
Emma answered.
“I’ve been responding.”
He stopped.
She stopped with him.
The distinction settled over the room.
Jake lowered one glove.
“You think you’re better than me.”
Emma shook her head.
“That isn’t why I came here.”
“Then tell everybody why.”
Emma looked at the soldiers.
Some appeared uncomfortable.
Others looked ashamed.
Several had laughed at her.
Now they were watching Jake lose control over a challenge he created.
Emma looked back at him.
“You wanted me to step up.”
Jake said nothing.
“I stepped up.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“It’s the only one you need.”
Jake took another breath.
Emma noticed the shallow inhale.
He noticed her noticing.
He changed his stance.
For the first time, he tried to hide information.
Emma almost smiled.
Not because she had won anything.
Because he had finally started learning.
Jake saw the faint change.
“There.”
Emma’s expression returned to neutral.
“What?”
“You’re smiling.”
“Barely.”
“You think this is funny.”
“No.”
“Then what?”
“You adjusted.”
Jake frowned.
Emma nodded toward his feet.
“You finally stopped floating your heel.”
Several soldiers looked down at Jake’s feet.
He immediately flattened both soles.
The reaction exposed him more completely than the habit had.
A private near the benches covered a grin.
Jake saw him.
“Something funny?”
The private straightened.
“No, Staff Sergeant.”
Emma looked at Jake.
“Leave him out of it.”
Jake turned sharply.
“Excuse me?”
“He didn’t challenge you.”
Jake took a step toward her.
“You giving me orders?”
“No.”
“Sounds like it.”
“It sounds like I’m telling you where the problem is.”
“And where’s that?”
Emma pointed between them.
“Here.”
Jake stared at her.
His breathing slowed.
Not because he had calmed down.
Because anger had become focused.
Briggs stepped closer to the boundary.
“Turner.”