Do you Even Lift?

[Cheryl Harrison]

{desc=Cheryl, Collie}It was two in the morning, and the Helicarrier's gym was all but deserted. Neither bothered Cheryl in the least. Using the gym at stupid hours meant she had her first choice of equipment. In this instance, it was a punching bag that she was pretending was Collie's stupid face. She'd been in the gym for a few hours already, and she was almost done being mad at the agent for the stunt he'd pulled a few days ago. He could have gotten them both killed. He had caused enough of a stir that the Director had needed to show up in person, and that was never a good thing. And although beating the crap out of an innocent punching bag was making her feel a little better, reflecting on what had happened was pretty much doing the opposite.


She'd get over it soon enough, though. Collie was a good agent, and Cheryl didn't want anyone to see just how pissed off she was. He was still a protocol-breaking asshole, but at least there hadn't been much lasting harm from his screw-up. The target had been apprehended, Fury had stopped panicking, and her injuries were...healing. She was still pretty sore, but nothing was damaged enough that SHIELD's doctors could yell at her for spending a few days in the gym. They might use their disapproving faces, but she'd be fine. Besides, she did need to spend as much time as she could here. She'd never had a chance to release any of the energy she'd created on that last mission, which meant she was still running hot. This was the easiest way to get rid of it that didn't make people back away nervously.

Cheryl backed away from the bag, breathing heavily but not feeling any other signs of fatigue. She still had a ways to go to burn off this extra energy, unfortunately. No matter how many times she used her powers, having pent-up energy always felt strange. Uncomfortable. Maybe she'd take a break and hit the treadmills; they tended to be good for wearing her out. Cheryl grabbed her water bottle and took a few swigs from it, leaning up against a wall for a quick breather. Even if her powers kept her from getting fatigued, dehydration was still a distinct possibility.

[Agent Collie]

It was late, Collie was just fresh off another day of being confined to the ship. He hadn't really spoken since he and Fury had gotten into an argument about him borrowing a Tank and nearly killing them both. Well, technically, Fury nearly killed them both, but he didn't see it that way. Jack took the punishment quietly, doing as he was told in the hopes that each day would pass as quickly as the last and he'd been finished his three weeks of boat duty. He was already starting to feel cramped and despite wanting to do nothing but sleep, he knew he wouldn't be able to.

Collie took to the flight deck at first. Cheryl usually used the gym when no-one else was there and Jack wasn't sure he wanted to run into her just yet. Instead, he did a few laps of the deck, but was forced off when the pilots needed to use it. Looks like he'd have to use the gym after all.

Despite the late hour, or early, there were still a few agents milling around. Collie grabbed a bottle of water from one of the fridges and walked over to the mats where two guys were boxing. He watched for a few minutes until one of them won and then set himself down by the free weights. From his position, he could clearly see Cheryl. That had been a possibility, but now he felt terrible. Shaking his head lightly, Collie found some 44 weights and racked a bar.

[Cheryl Harrison]

A new arrival to the gym caught Cheryl’s attention, and her grip on the water bottle tightened when she saw who it was. Collie. He wasn’t approaching her, though, and she stared at the opposite wall intently as he watched a boxing match. She figured she should probably go ask him how he was doing, considering he hadn’t made it out of that mission completely unscathed either, and he’d been on desk duty since they got back. But she was also pretty sure that she’d start yelling if he said anything she didn’t agree with, and she didn’t want to cause a scene in the middle of the gym. Or give him more bruises. Well…maybe. No. Bad idea. Someone would probably insist on anger management classes and then everyone would start tiptoeing around her again.

But he didn’t really deserve any abuse, as tempting as it was. It had been an accident. Kind of. As Collie turned away from the boxers, Cheryl took a few steps toward him. Wait, no. Talking to him was s till a bad idea. He’d made the Director worry. But she’d already started heading over, and it would look stupid if she just turned around now. Oh hey, weights. Yeah. She loved weights. So much better than the treadmills. Wordlessly, Cheryl began racking a bar as far away from Collie as possible. She spared a glance over at his weights, and smiled to herself. She could do 44s when stretching. She’d double his to start, and work her way up. She wasn’t exactly sure what his max was, but it was probably lower than hers. If nothing else, outlifting him might be almost as satisfying as punching him again.

[Agent Collie]

Collie wasn't oblivious to Cher's movements. At least half of the walls around the weights had mirrors on them. He pointedly look down though, as she continued over and he started warming up with deadlifts. As he came out of his second set, his eyes flicked over to her briefly, mostly noting how much she was starting on. 88. Not bad, she looked like she'd been in here a while so his first thought wasn't to jump into competition mode. Collie finished a third set of 15 and racked another two 44s, now that he was warm, he wouldn't mind pushing something heavier. Besides, the heavier the load, the less likely the both of them were going to talk to each other, those were the rules of gym.

Before he started a set of rows, Collie grabbed a 40, a 30 and a 25lb dumbbell for an intensity changing circuit. He stopped for a moment before lifting the bar. Should he say something to Cheryl? Invite her to use the dumbbells? He shook it off, grabbed the bar and started following the exercise Cheryl was doing. If nothing else, a bit of friendly competition could go a long way to actually saying something to each other that wouldn't end with Cheryl crying and Collie throwing one of the dumbbells into the nearest mirror.

[Cheryl Harrison]

Cheryl caught a brief glance from Collie as she set up her weights, but thankfully he didn’t say anything to her. That was good. She still wasn’t sure if she wanted to talk to him. Or what she’d even say. Starting in on some curls, she watched Collie doing deadlifts out of the corner of her eye. He was in good shape, even for a SHIELD agent. And he had a very nice…dammit, she was supposed to be mad at him. This was not helping. She turned slightly so she didn’t have a direct view of him. He’d broken protocol. Still mad. Not staring at his ass. Maybe she should say something to him…

Not yet. Maybe after she’d managed to tire herself out. She could wait a few days. The sound of weights being moved gave her an excuse to look over again, and she found him adding another pair of 44s onto his bar. Oh no. She wasn’t letting him match her. As he grabbed some dumbbells, Cheryl worked on adding two more plates onto her bar. 132. Not quite her maximum, but she was definitely feeling the weight now. Thankfully, she was playing with cheat codes. Collie would wear himself out eventually; she wouldn’t. She could probably add a pair of smaller plates and still keep lifting it all day. Cheryl took another gulp from her water bottle before sitting down to start in on some military presses. She glanced over to Collie briefly, avoiding eye contact. Yeah. See if he copied her now.

[Agent Collie]

Collie's mouth twitched as he held back a smile. While he'd collected his dumbbells, Cheryl had added some more weight plates to her bar. Not bad, not bad at all. She had turned away, but was looking back as he added his extra plates. Collie finished his first set quickly and moved onto the dumbbells. Cheryl had added some extra plates to her bar while Collie had gone for the dumbbells and he finally took notice, ducking his head into his chest to hide a broad smile. He didn't want to offend her, and the easiest way to that at a gym was to laugh at how much someone else was lifting. Besides, 280 was still a lot for a girl to handle and she was lifting it well.

When Collie finished his squats, he went back for another set of deadlifts while Cher moved to a seat and started presses. He stood up for a moment and leaned against the rack as he looked at her. He was going to offer a spot, but she was handling it just fine by herself. He pushed off and picked up his bar again, head slightly turned so he could see Cheryl in his peripheral. He'd pick up his weight on his last set to see if she could really match him. She was 17, he was 22. Collie had been a marine and a SEAL, neither of which tolerated anyone who couldn't at least lift a car a few inches off the ground. He would max out at about 360-380. He'd like to see Cher lift the same.

[Cheryl Harrison]

Cheryl stared at the floor in concentration until she’d finished a few sets, but glanced back over to Collie as she took a quick breather. He was smiling. What? Was he laughing at her? He hadn’t even matched her weight yet, let alone passed it. She flushed slightly, bringing her bar to chest level and looking away. Yeah, he was an asshole. Not worth apologizing to him. Not even worth staying over here, probably; he’d just keep mocking her silently. Carefully Cheryl set down her bar, and gave a quick glance around the gym. Even if he was forcing her to leave the weights, she wasn’t abandoning the gym entirely. She’d just be twitching in her room, if she left now. The punching bags were still deserted, as were most of the cardio machines. Punching bags were a little more tempting, but she had a feeling she’d probably break one right about now. Treadmills it was.

Not bothering to put away her bar—she’d come back for it later, when the gym was less occupied—Cheryl sulked over to the treadmills. She liked the treadmills. They’d improve her mood more than the punching bags would, anyway. Besides, there was no way in hell Collie was beating her here; she could maintain a dead sprint longer than he could jog. She picked out her favorite treadmill, starting out at a light, easy run. Cheryl focused on a point in space in front of her, concentrating on her form and breathing. Absently she wiped away some moisture from her cheek. Funny how she was sweating already.

[Agent Collie]

Oh, no, what? Had he done something wrong? Well, grinning probably wouldn't have gone over well without the context behind it, and they apparently weren't talking. Now he felt twice as bad. Cheryl set her bar down and looked around the gym as Collie finished off his second round on the circuit. She decided to head over to the treadmills and, strategically looking at her through one of the TV's, he saw her wipe her face. Cheryl hadn't been sweating that much when she was lifting, so the only other thing was that she was crying. Admittedly, Collie usually fled as discreetly as possible when a girl started to cry, but he owed her for being such an asshole.

Pushing the dumbbells into a neat line next to the weight rack, Collie picked up his waterbottle and stepped onto the treadmill next to her. If she had been one of his friends back in high school, he probably would have turned off her treadmill and just hugged her until she stopped crying. At least that way the sounds were muffled. Jack turned on his treadmill and quickly matched her pace. He wasn't going for a competition here; Cheryl would definitely beat him. "Hey." He may as well say something, and now seemed like a good time as any. Jack could probably work in an extensive apology if she decided to respond... or even glare at him.

[Cheryl Harrison]

As the treadmill got up to speed, Cheryl let herself relax a little and fall into a rhythm. She could never stay upset for long when she was running. It was probably just runner’s high, or maybe the chance to have some private time to think. Either way, it always made her feel a little less ineffectual. At least it was early; she’d have four or five hours before Cliff woke up and went looking for her. Hopefully that would be plenty of time to cool down. Otherwise Cliff would worry, and she’d have to convince him that everything was fine, and he’d probably still report it to Fury, and that would mean Fury would probably send someone to talk to her. The last thing she needed was more questions about that last mission.

The sound of a treadmill starting up next to her made Cheryl grit her teeth, but she kept herself from looking over. As if outlifting her wasn’t enough, Jerkass was following her now. Cheryl punched the speed up a little, to make sure she stayed ahead of him. At least it was harder for him to beat her, here. Just in case he hadn’t gotten enough of it already. Collie was trying to talk to her now, but she didn’t really trust herself to respond. Cheryl swallowed hard, tilting her head away from his view. He didn’t need to know that he’d gotten to her. But not acknowledging him at all was just as bad, wasn’t it? She should say something. “Hey,” she replied, voice cracking. Dammit. Now he’d know something was wrong.

[Agent Collie]

Yeah, as soon as he was at the same comfortable pace, Cheryl increased her speed. Collie remained at the same steady pace though. He could run for hours at this speed, but if Cheryl was just going to increase every time he matched her, well... he'd be better off going back to the weights. She didn't respond to his greeting at first, just looked away. When she finally did speak, he could hear the tension in her voice and definitely heard it breaking. It made him feel terrible and he wanted to stop his treadmill and pick her up in a hug. For now, he stayed on his treadmill. It was probably better to just give her a little space in case she decided that punching him would be fun.

"I just... uhh." He couldn't think of what he wanted to say, or how to word it. He knew that 'sorry' would have to come out, but he also knew he would pretty much need to grovel at the same time. Working both of those aspects together was hard. "I wanted... are you doing okay?" There, that was satisfactory enough for now. He would accept if she told him to shut up. He'd like it if they could talk civil until he apologized profusely. If she teared up, sniffled or started to cry though, he wouldn't bother turning off the machine before he hugged her. That was a universal sign of apology, wasn't it?

[Cheryl Harrison]

Much to her surprise, Collie didn’t try increasing his speed again after she did. That was…something, at least, although beating him repeatedly still sounded like it would be gratifying. And then Collie started talking, and the urge disappeared entirely. Was that really what he…? The uncertainty in his voice was obvious, too. No sign that he was mocking her over weights. Had he been trying to talk to her earlier? If so, then she’d been the one ignoring him, and now she felt like an asshole for thinking that he was one, and he obviously knew she was crying now, and she didn’t want him to see it because he’d think she was even more of a weakling and she just wanted to be as far away from everyone as possible.

“Yeah. I’m fine.” No she wasn’t. Not at all, and there was no way Collie would buy it. She had a feeling that he’d keep following her until they had this conversation, too. She didn’t want to keep switching to different sections of the gym. Cheryl glanced over to Collie finally, meeting his eyes and then immediately looking away. The corners of her mouth tugged down, and she had to fight to keep her breathing from hitching. Wait, shit. Her vision was blurring too. Cheryl blinked furiously to try to clear it, to no effect. Blindly, she reached out and punched the stop on her treadmill. As the treadmill began to slow down, Cheryl kept her eyes trained firmly on the track beneath her feet, trying to keep herself from breaking down entirely.

[Agent Collie]

Collie knew that he could have left it at that. Most men, when not in a relationship with the girl, didn't have to dig further behind the sentiment. Collie was an older brother though, and Cher was still only 17. She finally looked at him and Collie definitely knew he couldn't just keep running and not say anything. "I'm really-" He caught the last word in the back of his throat. At the same time, Cher hit the emergency stop button and was keeping her head down. Nooo, this wouldn't do. This wouldn't do at all.

Without stopping his own machine, Jack stepped onto the skirt of hers and at least waited until it had stopped completely before wrapping her up in a hug. "I'm sorry." Wow, there. That was it. Hopefully he could word around that from now on, but the main concept was out there. "It's okay, Sammy's here." It was too late to retract that statement as Jack realized he'd used the name his brother called him when he was upset. Hmm, maybe that would make her more accepting of his hug. Jack would at least try not to stroke her hair.

[Cheryl Harrison]

Cheryl knew she’d fucked this up big time. She’d been angry at Collie for something that wasn’t his fault, and then for something that was his fault but apparently wasn’t intentional, and now she was showing her feelings in public. Collie would tell Fury, and Fury would think that she wasn’t fit for duty, and then he’d make her go back to Tank Kindergarten. She was aware of Collie stepping over to her treadmill, and she hunched her shoulders as she slowed to a walk, and then stopped. Looked like she wasn’t getting out of talking to him. She was hardly expecting Collie wrapped his arms around her. Cheryl stiffened at the contact. What was he—?

Oh. Hugging. And apparently apologizing. Yeah, she definitely hadn’t been expecting that. Cheryl shook her head, still not looking up at him. “Don’t.” It wasn’t really his fault. She was the one being an idiot about this. “I was just—I—“ she broke off, voice catching. But Collie was trying to reassure her, and she turned to face him fully, burying her face in his chest and hugging him back fiercely. She didn’t deserve this in the least, but he was still willing to put up with her. Any semblance of composure she’d been maintaining was lost. She cried silently into his shirt for a long moment, slowly relaxing into his hug as the tears slowed. Finally Cheryl pulled her head up and looked up at him. “—I’m sorry.”

[Agent Collie]

Collie almost laughed. Telling him not to apologize? It wasn't going to happen. Firstly because he had been an asshole and taken her on a dangerous mission. That had been his fault, and he was sorry in hindsight. Secondly, because when girls cried, it was always a good idea to apologize just in case he'd done something else he shouldn't have. It was also a good idea to apologize at least once every two weeks, or whenever a girl sighed. Best to get in early.

It was weird, when Cheryl turned into his chest and hugged him back, Collie wondered if this was what having a sister would be like. Probably with a lot more of he and John interrogating any potential suitors. It sounded like a lot of work. He wasn't sure if he wanted a younger sister. Maybe he could just unofficially and secretly adopt Cheryl as a younger sister. He probably wouldn't have to much anyway since Cliff was her Tank protector and everything. If someone decided to break her little heart, he would deal with them.

Eventually, Cheryl stopped crying and looked up at him. "Well, now we're both sorry." He said in what he thought was a reassuring voice. "Although, I don't know what you have to be sorry about, I was the one that dragged you into a barely explained situation with a known mutant killer." He was pretty sure the only reason he hadn't been fired was because everyone was okay and Fury had been the one to approach him about joining SHIELD and must have known that something like this was going to happen eventually. He'd probably do it again, to be honest, just not with Cheryl.

[Cheryl Harrison]

Collie's first reply managed to get Cheryl to smile a little. Okay, yeah, they'd both been stupid. As he continued, though, she blinked up at him in surprise. What? The situation hadn't been the problem; the fact that he'd accidentally some paperwork had been the problem. She would have been fine with the mission itself if it hadn't made the Director so upset. And yeah, that had been a dick move and all, but she only made the situation worse. But that did bring up something else. “I still panicked,” she admitted, “I wasn't prepared for having my powers shut down, and I was stupid, and maybe it would have been fine if I hadn't been flailing around in the water.” Collie had been in exactly the same situation she was—hell, he never had powers—and he was fine. Her combat abilities were still superior to hers.

“And I should have double-checked that I had permission to go with you,” she continued, more hesitant now. She loosened her grip on him a little, but didn't let go. She wouldn't blame him for pulling away, but she hoped he wouldn't. The hugging was nice. “I knew—it seemed odd, and I didn't bother asking anyone else about it.” Yeah, it was at least her fault as much as his. “And I blamed you for it, and I've been so mad at you, and you've had to deal with Fury's wrath too. And—I'm sorry.” There. That pretty much covered everything she could think of—wait! One more thing. “Also I was thinking of some really unpleasant names to call you.” Okay. Now it was everything.