"I wish I had music," Penny murmured now as she sat on a rock near the starting line while Sam massaged her shoulders. Alex had said she needed to relax, but Sam would do a damn thing and let someone else lay a hand on Penny if he could do it - even a good friend wouldn't take that away from him.

"Why?"

"I always listen to music when I jog. It relaxes me, distracts me. Somehow it makes everything easier," she answered him as Sam found a spot that made her knees weak. "Oh Sam, that's wonderful!"

"I think he'd rather hear that when you're alone," replied Franziska, who was sitting next to her, grinning and Penny slapped her hand gently but warningly on her shoulder.

"Maybe I can do something for you," Sam said quietly in her ear and she had the feeling that she would completely melt. She certainly wouldn't be able to defeat this Madi like that.

"When we're alone?" she asked him now, turning her face so that their noses touched, much to both of their surprise.

"Um, I meant the music," he replied sheepishly as he became aware of the glances their friends were suddenly turning towards them and backed away a little. "I brought something from home," he then reached into his bag to pull out two headsets and microphones. He handed a headset to Penny while he clipped the microphone into the collar of her uniform jacket so it couldn't be seen.

"Is that allowed?" Penny turned to the other three, who shrugged their shoulders.

"It doesn't say anywhere that it's forbidden," Alex replied calmly.

"So we're both always connected and if you need help, I'll know."

"Oh, that's so sweet of you, Sam," Franziska objected dreamily.

"Uh, yes. I..." Penny and Madi's call saved him from having to answer again and he quickly attached his microphone to his collar and stuck the headset in his ear as he followed Penny to the start, where she grabbed the breathing mask. As she tightened the straps, he put her helmet on her head and fastened the strap. "I would wish you good luck, but I know you can do it easily," he said with a smile and was happy to see that a smile appeared on her face as well.

"Well, have you thawed out again?" Madi greeted her with a grin as she walked past them.

"You better make sure you stay cool. I'm about to light a fire under your ass," Penny grumbled and the two women glared at each other when Sam laughed briefly.

"That's the right attitude. You can do it, Pen. Stay calm and focused!"

She nodded with a smile, took a deep breath and walked behind the line to start, while Sam stood at the barrier next to it.

The signal sounded and immediately Penny picked up the first coupler to hook it up, then the second, grabbing both nozzles and slinging them over her shoulder as Alex had advised. She covered almost half of the route without any problems until she noticed that the longer the route became, the harder the hoses were to pull. She braced herself against it with all her strength and started briefly when a whistling sound was heard in her ear.

"Sorry, I made a mistake with the volume!" Sam interjected and she took a look next to her where he was walking along the fence - always at her level, the cell phone in his pocket, right next to the microphone, which is now Run, Run, Run by OneRepublic playing in her ear - how fitting the refrain was.

She was surprised to see that she was only 2 meters away from the end point, pushed herself forward again with all her strength and put down the nozzles. She grabbed the first hose coupling and began rolling it in her hand, placed the beginning on the floor and rolled up the hose in record time, tossed it to the side, pressed once to flatten it and put it in the box before she dedicated herself to the second one in exactly the same way. With a smile she noticed that her opponent wasn't quite as fast as she was when she then stood on the running boards, grabbed the hammer and hit the weight. It moved slowly and when she was halfway there and slowly felt a tugging in her arms, it at least comforted her a little when Madeleine next to her wasn't making any better progress. It hurt like hell in her shoulders, she thought inwardly, groaning, as she heard the bell and turned off the hammer.

She ran towards the tunnel, grabbing the canister with both hands when she noticed Sam playing a new song and she couldn't help but wonder if Sam was a secret OneRepublic fan as Love Runs Out started playing, but it had the right beat to encourage her, so she didn't want to complain. She quickly got through the tunnel, put the canister down and grabbed the dummy on the table in the rescue handle and pulled. She puffed out her cheeks for a moment as it fell off the table and she felt his full weight, but giving up wasn't an option, especially when she saw Madeleine catching up. So she literally went goose-stepping backwards.

"On three you take a big step, Pen!" What was that supposed to mean? "One, two, THREE!" And she did. As she glanced back over the dummy's shoulder, she saw Madeleine's friend pulling a handbag from the track that Penny would surely have tripped over if Sam hadn't helped her. She reached the line and put down the dummy, ran to the climbing wall and quickly took off the breathing tank. She jumped and grabbed the rope with one hand and the edge of the wall with the other and pulled herself up.

"Great jump, Pen!" At least her legs were still fit, unlike her arms, which were starting to really hurt.

Once on the other side, she ran to the ladders and laid them on the wall as Sam played the next song. Sanctuary by Welshly Arms. She wondered why he didn't even finish a song and if he was trying to tell her something when she grabbed the two canisters. Weights on her arms again! She ran up the two flights of stairs, set down the canisters, and grabbed the line to pull the hose pack up. The spectators certainly didn't see how she was struggling by now, her movements were so fluid, but her shoulders were burning and her arms seemed to be tearing up with pain. It was horrible. Where was Madi anyway?!

She put down the hose package, grabbed the canisters and ran back down the stairs. Halfway through she met her competitor and couldn't help but grin. Stop! Malicious joy often comes before the fall, so she curbs her thoughts and puts the canisters down again when she reach the bottom. Finally the dragging was over, she thought as she ran to the last station and put the breathing mask back on that a steward had given her. She strapped on the mask, took a breath and started running. The stairs scared her the least. She was well trained and ran up the steps at a steady pace. She conquered floor after floor, but after the tenth she noticed how it started to sting in her thighs - climbing stairs was simply different than walking straight ahead. Her heart was racing with exertion and her adrenaline was so high that for a moment she thought she was going to pass out when she heard Sam talking muffledly to someone over the headset, but she couldn't make out what it was.

"Sam?"

"It's okay, I found something to get you going." And just a moment later, the summer song that they had sung all the time in the winter, almost driving Sam crazy, played. She held back her laughter and kept running. Distracted by the music and the memories it brought back, she suddenly realized with astonishment that she had now reached the roof and ran to the other side, where the harness was ready.

Penny strapped the belt on, fastened the rope inside with a practiced grip, grasped it with one hand in front of her body and the other behind her. She backed up to the edge and stood there for a moment, taking a deep breath and flashing a grin at Madeleine as she climbed the last step and their eyes met.

Then she pushed herself away.

"PENNY!" she heard Sam fearfully through her headset and she was sorry for scaring him so much, but she had to concentrate on what she was doing here. She didn't descend according to the usual procedure, but let the rope slip through her hands and raced halfway down the route in a split second, slowing down by tensioning her hands on the rope in order to push off again with her legs, at any time to ensure a safe distance from the wall. She also covered the second half just as quickly and only slowed down in the last two meters until she felt solid ground under her feet again.

She immediately unbuckled herself, took off her belt, then her breathing apparatus and ran to the nozzle, disconnected it and a loud alarm sounded.

She took off the helmet, unable to bear it anymore because it felt like it was restricting her. She took a quick look back and was pleased to see that Madi was still halfway down the descent down the house. The next moment she found herself in the middle of two stewards who were about to support her as she started moving alone and not only received recognition from the stewards. Her legs felt weak, every muscle strained  from overuse, but she certainly wouldn't let herself be carried off the court if Madi could see it. Still, she was more than happy when they released her through the fence, where Sam and the others were already waiting for her. Sam immediately hugged her, full of euphoria about her achievement. She sank heavily against him and felt him tighten his grip. She just couldn't take it anymore. She had already trained so much and hard in her life, tested her limits and even exceeded them once or twice. But this had been one of the hardest experiences she had ever had. With the last of her strength she put her arms around Sam and perceived, as if through a fog, that Alex, Tom and Franziska were cheering around her, patting her on the shoulder and praising her. She didn't care. She was just glad it was over as her pulse slowly slowed, her heart calmed and her breathing returned to normal. In the meantime, she enjoyed being close to Sam and greedily inhaled his scent, which made her weak in a different way.

"Holy sparks, Pen. Never do that again! Your descent was magnificent, you even knocked the jury off their chairs with it, but it looked dangerous and scared the hell out of me. You couldn't look as quickly as you came down", Sam now objected and Penny heard the concern and also the relief that everything had gone well in his voice.

"It's also a method that only experienced climbers should use. Steele would kill me if I did that more often."

"He's the least likely to notice," Sam replied, now perplexed, and Penny removed one hand from his waist and held it up to show him what she meant - the palm of her glove was almost completely worn where the rope had rubbed over it. They were just trash.

"But you can explain that to him. He won't be happy about having to order new ones again after Elvis said he'd wash the last order and let it shrink," Sam said with a smile and Penny put her head back on his shoulder with a smile . Grateful that he held her and gave her the opportunity to quietly regain strength.

"When he sees the video, he'll be so impressed that he won't care about the stupid gloves," Tom said with a grin.

"What video?" Penny started, looking from Sam to Tom and back again.

"I recorded everything, you were so fantastic, Penny!" he cheered enthusiastically and Penny tried in vain to hide her face in shame against Sam's chest.

"Should I take you into our room?" he then whispered to her quietly and she could do nothing but nod before she felt him wanting to take her in his arms, as he had done the evening before after she had been freed from the cooling chamber.

"Sam, I'll manage. You don't have to carry me," she replied reassuringly. "But I would be very grateful for a strong arm.

"You'll always get everything you need from me, you know that, Pen." He smiled so lovingly that it warmed her heart and she had the feeling that his words were not just said for that reason, but that he really meant them as he pulled away from her a little and they walked arm in arm back to their Hotel room.

To be continued...