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"Again."
Ethan can see Lindsey's eye twitch at the command. They've been running through these drills for hours, now, and he knows she must be tired.
He also knows that if they've been running through them for hours and she's still slipping up from time to time, he must be doing something wrong. There must be something that he's missing, some flaw in her technique that he needs to find – or else someone else will, out in the field, where it actually matters.
Despite her frustration, she says nothing. She just sinks into a defensive stance, raising her tonfa and bracing them against her arms.
They go again. Their tonfa clash, rhythmic, one blow after another after another until–
"Shit!"
Lindsey takes a glancing blow to her arm and staggers backwards, and Ethan pulls himself backwards before his next attack can connect.
For a moment the two of them stand in silence, panting, while Lindsey grits her teeth and moves her arm, assessing the damage. Ethan leaves her to it. Gauging her own injuries will be an important skill to have and hone.
"You almost had it," Ethan says after a while. "I think if we try–"
"Ethan, enough."
Ethan stops mid-stride.
"What's going on? You're exhausted. I'm exhausted. I'm not going to get any better like this. You're the one who taught me that in the first place!"
It's that reminder that finally makes Ethan falter, because he did teach her that, and he taught it for a reason. Lindsey should be better than him.
"I'm sorry," he says softly, swallowing down his doubts, "I just want you to be safe. The more you can learn in here, the better a chance you stand out there."
They've spoken about his past before, in broad strokes, at least. She probably understands where he's coming from, even if he hadn't been able to give her any names and details. She knows the stakes of what she's doing, and knows that he can't help but worry on her behalf anyway.
Agents with more training than her have died in the line of duty regardless.
"I understand, Ethan," Lindsey says, and smiles. "But hey, it's going to be okay. I feel like I'm almost ready."
'Almost'. That's a vague enough thing for Ethan to be working with. 'Almost' can buy him a little more time. He needs to give her the best chance he can, or she'll be joining a long line of people whose deaths are on his hands.