Another Journey Begins

Tara stared at her reflection in the full-length mirror in awe. She and Justin had been working for a few months on her endurance exercises and they were paying off. Her frail, thin frame had become lithe but muscular, lean and strong. She was now able to bench press her body weight and Justin assured her that she would only gain more strength as she continued. Sven had taught her how to eat to maximize her body\'s performance and minimize fat. She ate a low fat, mostly low carb but high energy diet that consisted of steamed or broiled chicken or fish and vegetables. She ate egg whites for breakfast and rice at lunch once a day unless Justin proclaimed a heavy workout. Then, Sven made her eat a serving of cereal with her egg whites in the morning. And they made sure she ate something every two hours.

Sven had begun to teach her to use her senses more effectively, as well. He told her that eating a bland diet minimized bodily smells that most people wouldn\'t normally detect. It sounded disgusting to her, but who was she to argue with an experienced mercenary? They didn\'t know that she suspected what they\'d once done for a living, but how could she not? They knew way too much about fighting and remaining covert to have been anything else. Thankfully, she thought, they\'d apparently given up that kind of work, for now anyway. They never left her alone at the ranch, so she knew they weren\'t handling any \"jobs\".

\"You have gained much strength, small one,\" Justin acknowledged as he moved to stand behind her. \"Do you now see why we are so strict with your eating schedule?\"

She nodded and took the hand weights he passed to her. She began her arm curls and made sure she held her stance correctly. While he always seemed tolerant of her before she\'d asked him to train her, Justin was less so now, pointing out any error he saw to keep her from injuring herself. She wanted to make him proud so he didn\'t regret her training.

\"Six more sets of those before you go in to eat lunch.\"

\"It\'s one o\'clock already?\" she asked.

\"Ten to,\" he replied. \"See how time flies now that you are out of the house for a while?\"

\"I\'m not far though,\" she gave him a small smile. \"In my neighborhood, this would be considered the garage.\"

\"I have no use for garages,\" he shrugged.

Tara worked her weights for the allotted sets then began to stretch out just as Justin taught her. He said that if she forgot to stretch her muscles wouldn\'t constrict correctly and she could injure herself. That wouldn\'t do at all, she decided. Sven was teaching her some yoga positions, which were helping her to become more flexible. She finished stretching and followed Justin back into the house for lunch.

Sighing, she took her filled plate from Sven and set about polishing off the steamed sole and mixed greens. She wished the fight training would go faster, but Justin refused to teach her anything more than the basics until he was satisfied that she was strong enough to handle it. It annoyed her that he controlled the pace, but he was her teacher so she had to listen to him.

She thought about Ben as she ate, something she did with frequency. It didn\'t hurt as much to think of him now in the daylight, as she could remember the good times they shared before the nightmare that took him from her. But during the night, her dreams couldn\'t seem to veer away from the hell she experienced in losing him. Unless it was to relive the hell she experienced at the hands of her rapist. Too many unpleasant memories to contend with.

But in daylight, Tara remembered the man she loved. The man who loved her, as well. He had spoken of taking her to other countries so she could see the world, as he put it. Funny. Before him, she\'d never considered leaving Massachusetts, and now here she was in Montana. Ironic that losing him prompted her travels. He\'d wanted to take her to Brazil with him, to see Carnevale, as he did once when he was a child. She was sad that the trip was never to be. At least not with him. A lone tear slid down her cheek as she ate her meal in silence.

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Sven watched Tara in silence knowing she was reliving unpleasant thoughts of her past. He and Justin hated to see her like this. Neither acknowledged the tear on her cheek as they ate, not wanting to make her withdraw back into herself. The only time she never showed signs of sadness was when she trained. And she trained rigorously, throwing herself into it as if her very sanity depended on it. Well, it did, he supposed. She was at least able to concentrate on something else.

Justin was watching the small bald woman as well and Sven didn\'t need ESP to know what he was thinking. The dark haired man worried she would lose herself completely in the training and become like they were. But Sven instinctively knew Tara didn\'t have it in her to become a mercenary. While she would give herself a new identity, it wouldn\'t stray that far from her own morals. She still had them, too. That was what he and Justin had lacked when they still worked. But she helped them regain them, and they would help her back to the real world.

He only wondered exactly what façade Tara would dream up for herself. He wasn\'t frightened, though. She may not want to be, but she would always be Tara inside.