Sam crept into the common room and sat heavily on the sofa, sighing with every movement. This week of training had been really hard and what Ellie hadn't done to them, Steele had topped it off. He bit back a pained whine as he sank back on the couch and stretched out his legs. Every muscle in his body seemed to hurt. He even felt muscles in places he never thought he had any. How could a few victory-crazy people demand so much from them because of a stupid competition?

He decided with a malicious grin that when they returned he would incorporate Ellie and Steele's training program into his own program.

"What makes you so happy? I want some of it too," Penny asked him as she fell into the armchair next to him, put her legs on the table and let her head fall heavily against the backrest.

"I was just wondering what the three of them would say if these exercises would be part of our training program from now on."

"Sam, that sucks," Penny replied, now serious as she looked up at him before a grin spread across her face. "I like that," she added, letting her head fall back again. "I still have never realized how much muscle I actually have in my body. Now I can feel every single one of them."

"I feel the same way. It's good that we have two days off ahead of us."

"You won't have days off until the competition is over. I've drawn up a training plan that you'll strictly follow every day on the weekend." Steele now came to them and handed them both a piece of paper, which they examined carefully.

"15 miles of jogging, 50 laps at the outdoor pool and 30 miles of cycling?"

"Sir, with all due respect, this will take us all day!"

"You shouldn't go for a walk, you should exercise. I'll keep an eye out for you." He turned away and left the common room when Ellie and Arnold came in to see them. They heard pots clattering from the kitchen, which probably meant that Elvis wanted to start cooking.

"We won't even win a flowerpot if we get there and can't move because of sore muscles."

"Practice makes perfect, Sam. The more you train, the more your muscles get used to the strain."

"I'll just be glad when this is all over, Ellie. I never wanted to take part in this competition."

"I agree with Sam."

"Why are you so grumpy? This is your chance."

"For what? To make fools of us? There are a lot of young firefighters involved who train for this all year long and you think we could catch up in two weeks?!"

"Is that your problem, Sam? That you feel too old?" Ellie asked in such an understanding tone that Sam looked up at her in shock.

"Huh?" was all he could think of, while Penny could barely contain herself from laughing.

"You're in great shape, Sam, your age doesn't matter. You can do it. You just have to believe in yourself," Arnold objected seriously, Ellie patted him on the shoulders understandingly and Penny couldn't take it anymore and laughed heartily.

"You don't have all your cups in the closet anymore. I'm not 60."

"Well, but you're almost past your prime and that applies to you too, Penny," Ellie now turned to her and her laughter suddenly died down. "You should really think about your family planning. Your clocks are ticking."

"My watch works perfectly Ellie and I can promise you that I would manage a whole bunch of children." Sam looked at her in surprise, wondering exactly how many children she had in mind for the bunch. "We're only a few years older than you. Don't act like we're part of the old group in our late twenties. Otherwise Boyce certainly wouldn't have chosen us."

"Well, if you sit around here and moan like decrepit pensioners, that won't affect your victory."

"Being part of the game is everything, Ellie," Penny muttered, who had put her head back in annoyance and closed her eyes.

"Exactly, let's rest a little longer and fortify ourselves with one of Elvis' delicious dishes and then we can tear up trees again."

"I hope you like vegetarian casserole with soy sauce? Steele has given strict orders that there will only be light food for you," objected Elvis, who now approached them.

"You know what, Sam? I'm really starting to look forward to our trip to Germany," Penny objected sullenly.

"Why now? Because of the casserole?"

"We can recover from our slave drivers for a week and thoroughly enjoy German cuisine every day. Apple strudel, potato pancakes, cheese spaetzle..."

"Schnitzel, bratwurst, sauerkraut..." he added with a smile. They had both already informed each other and exchanged information about the destination of their trip.

"Oh, yes. I read about it. Roast pork with dumplings, Kaiserschmarrn, Black Forest cake and bacon cake. You definitely have to bring me recipes. Please, please, please," Elvis cheered.

"Of course, Elvis. Once we've tried everything, we'll know what's particularly good and we'll take care of it," replied Sam and grinned at Penny. He, too, suddenly looked a little more excited about their departure in a week.

"You should win a competition there and not eat yourself fat," demanded Ellie, shocked.

"We have to stay strong, Ellie," Penny objected.

"And we train off the calories during the competition."

"I see a lot of darkness when you approach things like that."

"Ellie, you know as well as I do that we are both the last ones who won't get the best out of each other. How about you just trust us a little and let us do the training ourselves. We know the tasks and we will prepare accordingly. But your program is over-acidifying our muscles and the worst that can happen is that next week we'll both be lying flat with muscle strains and won't be able to compete in any way. We're welcome to consult Helen on how to do that healthy, because we've had sore muscles for almost a week and it's not getting better. Do you want that?"

"Steele would kill you! All of you. After all, he gave you the responsibility. Can you handle it if it backfires?" Sam now objected with a grin, while Ellie turned pale and looked at Arnold for help.

"I don't think I want to have that responsibility, Ellie." Elvis gulped visibly. "Steele can get mad as hell."

"Penny and Sam usually carry the responsibility on their own. Maybe we should leave it to them themselves," Arnold now objected.

"But you really train, don't you overdo it with the eating there before the competitions and don't rat us out to Steele?" Ellie now objected skeptically, who was visibly unsettled.

"Deal!" Sam and Penny said at the same time and grinned happily at each other. They had already won this competition.

"So Elvis, show me what else you cook besides vegetarian casserole," Sam now objected as he stood up and put an arm around Elvis' shoulders to go into the kitchen with him.

To be continued...