I immediately thrust a solid kick towards Beau's stomach, but he quickly catches my heel just before it makes contact.

"Quite the predicament you've gotten yourself into." he grins, as I try to jerk my foot from his hold. With a swift jerk he twists my foot, causing my ankle to wobble beneath me until it can't support my weight.

I quickly use the force of Beau turning my right foot and twist in the air, straightening my other leg to swing a kick at his cheek.

Beau's head snaps to the side as my foot makes contact with a sickening fwip, his hands immediately dropping my foot.

"Ah!" he grunts, clutching his cheek as my back slams against the mat. I gasp, the wind knocked from my lungs, as Beau twists toward me while rubbing his jaw. "Nice shot."

I attempt to give him a thumbs-up as I wince from the pain in my chest. "Thanks," I rasp, as struggle to rise. "Though not the best follow-through on my part," I grin, pressing a hand to my stomach as Beau steps forward to help me to my feet.

"Perhaps," Beau laughs, his eyes moving to the weapons wall behind us as he still clutches my hand. He suddenly looks back at me with an evil smirk. "We've been doing hand-to-hand combat quite a bit during our sessions, what do you say we try out some weapons instead?"

I gently withdraw my hand from his as I turn to look at the weapons wall behind me, my eyes landing on the pair of nun-chucks.

"You got yourself a deal," I grin back, reaching for the nun-chucks as Beau walks to the other side of the wall. As my hand tightens around the chains of the nun-chucks, I look over to see Beau pick up the throwing knife set I had used the very first time we sparred together.

"Interesting choice," I muse, as Beau straps the knife slings around his thick biceps instead of his legs. He glances over at me just in time to see me deftly whip the ends of my nun-chucks up to cross over my chest and swiftly curve the chain around my arms,. "But throwing knives won't do well against these bad boys,"

Beau grins as he begins to slide the knives into the sling on his right arm. "Oh, we'll see. You may be skilled at throwing knives, but so am I."

"Hmph," I huff, as Beau finishes sliding his knives into place and strides to the other side of the mat. I circle the chains of the nun-chucks in each of my hands. "We'll see just how good you are."

Beau grins as he lowers his head, a dark glint of determination in his jade eyes as he stares me down. I also lower my head as I glare up at Beau from my eyelashes, crossing my wrists as I grip the nun chunks tightly in my hands.

"Go!" I yell suddenly, Beau's hands quickly crossing over his chest to grab the first two knives strapped to his biceps. There's barely a second for me to react as he flings the pair of knives straight at me.

I quickly swipe a foot behind me as I slash my nun-chucks outwards knock both of the knives out of the air and to the floor.

Beau presses his lips together as his hands reach back up to the slings on his arms. "Impressive, but can you handle four knives at a time?" he asks, as he grabs and flings four more knives at me with intense speed.

I suck in a breath as I whip my nun-chucks side to side to knock each of the blades out of the air, hitting all but one. The final one hurtles straight towards my head, forcing me to jump to the side.

The knife whistles past me and buries itself into the wooden panel of the wall behind me, as I quickly turn back to Beau. "Well," he says, lifting his hands up to his cheeks in a defensive position. "I suppose now it's your turn."

"Indeed," I grin, before sprinting towards him with my nun-chucks gliding through the air behind me. I whip one of the chucks forward towards Beau's face, which he quickly blocks with his forearm.

The other chain wraps around his wrist, tightening until I can yank his arm forward. He jerks towards me as I quickly whip the other chain of the nun-chuck around his left wrist and yank it forward, crossing his wrists and pulling them past my sides until Beau is forced to stumble towards me panting.

His forearms brush my hips, before I suddenly wrench the chains around his wrists down, causing him to bend at the waist and into my waiting knee.

Beau keels over when my knee makes contact with his stomach, gasping as drops to his knees. I grin and tighten the chains around his wrists, yanking them up until he is forced to look up at me.

"How's it feel to be the short one?" I pant as I tower over him.

Beau's jade eyes peer up at me as a bead of sweat trails down his forehead. Suddenly, his eyes narrow and he wraps his fingers around the chains that circle his wrists.

"Not bad, actually," Beau smirks, before he yanks the chains down to his sides, causing me to lurch forward with a gasp.

Our noses brush as his pale eyes dart back and forth between mine. I feel his warm breath on my lips, as I take in the state of his messy sand-colored curls, and the sheen of sweat on his lightly tanned skin.

I can't help but lick my lips, Beau's eyes flicking down to the movement. My heart lurches when he leans forward slightly, his eyes glued to my lips. Our noses brush together again just as the doors behind Beau slam open, causing me to drop the nun-chucks in my hand and quickly step back.

I feel my face pale when a familiar man steps forward and crosses his arms, his eyes darting to where Beau still sits on his knees.

"What the hell are you two doing?" Burris snaps, as Harks walks in behind him, freezing as he watches Beau rise to his feet and turns with the chains of the nun-chucks still wrapped around his wrists.

"We were training, Sir," Beau says annoyedly, as Harks raises an interested eyebrow.

Burris glares at Beau, before turning to Superior Harks with an even deadlier glare. "This isn't how you've been letting them spend their training time... is it?"

Harks' brows draw together as his eyes dart between Beau and I, but when he turns back to Burris he merely shrugs. "I see no problem. They were merely training, and Agent Medley was able to incapacitate Agent Allard. What's so wrong about that?"

Burris opens his mouth to respond, but quickly snaps it shut as I lean over to tug the chains lose from Beau's wrists. Beau gives me a thankful nod as I straighten and place my hands behind my back, giving Burris a challenging glare.

Are you really going to let your personal feelings override your sense of professionalism?

"Superior Burris," I say, taking a step forward as I cross my arms. "I was not expecting to see you here, in Paris."

Burris lifts an eyebrow, noticing my attempt to redirect the conversation, but decides not to further pursue it. "Well, when I heard the update on the Serpent Circle's hit list, and that the Echis Viper himself would be showing his slimy face to the Louvre Ball, I couldn't resist flying over to give my fellow superior a hand," Burris says, turning to gesture to Harks who narrows his eyes.

"We don't need your help," Harks mutters, but Burris turns back to me, ignoring him.

"Also, I wanted to come to oversee my own agent's progress in training, how's it coming along?" Burris asks, his crystal blue eyes crinkling slightly as he looks at me with veiled concern.

I rub a hand down the side of my arm with a sigh. "It's coming along well, I'm... doing better," I say, glancing over to Beau, who gives me an encouraging nod.

Burris frowns when he sees the look, but inclines his head to the side as his bright eyes seem to soften. "Well, I'm glad to hear that. How about you show me what you've got so far?"

I nod, taking a step back as Beau turns to face me. Burris and Harks both circle around to either side of the mat, standing opposite of each other as they glance between Beau and I. We both step into our fighting stances, Beau's pale eyes burning into mine as his fingers curl into fists.

My chest heaves slightly, a sudden pulse of anxiousness weighing down my gut. What if I fail again... or embarrass myself in front of Burris? I hesitantly glance over to my superior, relaxing slightly when he gives me a supportive nod.

You'll be fine, his bright blue eyes seem to say.

I swallow audibly as I give him what I hope is a confident nod back, before turning towards Beau again. He tilts his head to the side to give me a gentle smile, as I lower my chin and flex my fingers.

Harks clears his throat beside us loudly, "Are you both ready?"

Beau and I nod, never breaking contact as Harks raises his hand. "Good, now fight!" he yells, slashing his hand down.

Beau and I immediately begin to circle each other. Usually, I would be the one to make the first move, but this time I decide to wait for Beau to. After a few seconds, his eyebrows lower slightly with the realization that I'm not going to make the first move this time.

I take in a shaky breath to calm myself, the air seeming to grow thicker around us as Beau's right-hand jerks slightly. He's preparing to attack, I think to myself, just before Beau launches at me with a wide swing.

I drop to the floor just before his fist can make contact, and quickly swipe my leg out to knock his foot out from under him. Beau slams to the floor with a wince as I leap towards him to grab his wrists.

Just as my fingers curl around his wrists he quickly pulls his legs back and then slams them into my stomach, sending me flying backward.

I growl as my back hits the mat, my lungs tightening from the impact, but I force myself to jerk to my feet just as Beau rushes at me again. He stops and swings his foot out to deliver a swift roundhouse kick, which I quickly lean back from.

As he turns with the momentum, I deliver my own kick to his lower back, reaching for his wrists again as he jerks forward. I try to twist them behind his back in time, but Beau is already prepared as his fingers latch onto my hands.

He swiftly untwists my grip as he spins on his heel, his pointer fingers digging into the skin of my palms as he slams his foot into my ankles, causing them to crumple beneath me.

He drops to my side with a grunt and fights for my hands, but I'm able to twist them out of his grip and hammer him straight in the jaw with my fist. As his face swings to the side, I grab one of his wrists and twist it out behind him until his face slams into the floor.

He moans in agony as I grab for his other wrist and successfully pin them behind his back.

When I'm sure that he won't be able to escape the position, I glance up at Burris and Harks for approval. Burris' lip tilts up slightly as Harks takes a step forward and clasps his hands in front of him, an impressed look on his face.

"Not bad Medley, but your combat skills aren't what you need to prove to me-" Harks turns to Burris and raises an eyebrow. "How about you, Mr. Burris?"

"What more do you need to see?" I snap, letting go of Beau's wrists and rising to my feet.

"Well, Agent Allard here seems to... unnerve you when in close contact. I would simply like to see if that has been resolved." Harks frowns, as Burris steps up beside him.

"And how am I supposed to demonstrate that?" I ask, crossing my arms as Beau rises to his feet beside me.

Harks' lip quirks up slightly as he glances over to Burris. "The ball is coming up, isn't it? How about you two dance?"