South Brooklyn, NYC, USA.

Ben's P.O.V.

“Sure.” As the two groups were not in conflict anymore, Ben let the shield hang slightly on his right side, while Marco had lowered his rifle earlier, making the discussion a lot friendlier. Pondering for a second Ben proposed. “Why don't you take Kate, Marco, and that piece of trash with you while I spar with Cross here?”

“Wait! You knew our names?” “Hey, John guy, if you knew my name, why ain't you say so before?” Their reactions drew a small chuckle from the towering man wearing SWAT gear. “Did you really think that just because you're wearing those masks, we couldn't find out?” Shaking his head, he continued. “Lesson number one for you rookies. Hope for the best, but always expect the worst. In your case, you were stupidly caught by a camera while you put those masks on. And you still thought no one knew.”

As the two looked embarrassed at their blunder and were about to take off their balaclava, the silver-eyed man stopped them with a hand gesture. “Don't take them off. Even if some people know your identity, it's not a reason to share it with the rest. Also, my code name is Grey Knight, so you can stop calling me John. Not that it's my real name, anyway.”

Unlike Cross and Kate, Marco seemed surprised at the 'confession'. “John guy *Cough* I mean Grey Knight guy.” “Drop the 'guy'.” “Don't wanna. Anyway, what's your real name?” Feeling a headache coming at the thought of having to deal with that manchild, he nonetheless convinced himself that Marco only needed proper guidance... Guidance with Ben's fist thrown repeatedly toward his face.

Not letting any of his plan for training the brown-haired man transpired on his face, he responded. “Not a chance. Anyway, Marco, you'll be on protective detail for Kate, while the two of you will follow Widow here. Cross you'll stay with me. I need to talk to you about the plan.”

Nodding his head at his command, the green-eyed man said. “Yes, sir!” While the other four people started walking back toward the shore, leaving the two men sporting Greek gods' body types together. As soon as they were left alone, Ben set his shield down against the railings and started to explain.

“Alright, kid. Here's the plan. We'll spar lightly together and try to bait the sniper if there's one. That means we'll most likely get shot at least once. So protect your vitals at all times. I heard you've got some shell-like power?” Shaking his head, the other man replied. “They're actually scales. Similar to snakes.”

Smiling at his response, the silver-eyed man claimed. “Even better! That way it won't hinder your movements. How's the protection?” Pondering for a second, the other man answered. “I'm not entirely sure of my limit, but it should block Medium Caliber bullets. At least until a certain point. But I don't think I could do the same with High Caliber ones.”

Crossing his arms, Ben replied in a thoughtful voice. “Interesting... It should be sufficient for this situation. I'll continue with my plan then. Once we get shot at, we need to jump from the dock into the water and start to swim toward the East side's shore.” “Why the East side?” “The highest buildings are on that side, so the sniper will most likely be somewhere around.”

“Any more questions?” Nodding, the other man said. “A last one. Isn't the fact that we're here as bait something obvious? Why would the sniper take the risk to go through with his assassination attempt then?” Chuckling at his naive words, Ben replied. “Second lesson for you. In life, there are situations where, even if you know it's a trap, you can't avoid walking into it. It all depends on how alluring the bait you're using is.”

Looking enlightened, the green-eyed man stated. “Because you're here in the open, the sniper may not get another chance like that ever again. So he's got to take the shot.” Nodding, Ben exclaimed in satisfaction. “Exactly. Now, let's start with exchanging some moves. I'll explain along.”

As soon as his words fell, the former Green Beret took a classic unarmed fighting stance with his body slightly bent forward, his palms facing Cross and his forearms protecting his head and torso. His body's left side was also slightly turned toward the right instead of facing directly the other man, which ended up with him having both his left leg and left arm 'located' a bit more forward than the right leg and arm.

Even after several years without training, the former Special Forces Captain did not forget anything. His entire body, from his brain, muscles, nerves, and organs were molded into a being capable of incredible physical and mental feat. And that was when he was still a Peak human. With his current physique, he could easily beat his former self in unarmed combat without even putting much effort.

Unlike Ben, Cross seemed a bit confused about what he was supposed to do, prompting Ben to explain a few basics of unarmed combat, without going into too much detail since it was not really the time nor the place. The green-eyed man then took his own fighting stance, more or less trying to imitate his new boss. The result was full of flaws, but the silver-eyed man could not really blame someone who never had any formal training for making beginner mistakes.

Not wasting too much thought on this, he instructed the other man. “Start attacking. I'll stay on the defensive for a while.” He could see that the other man seemed a bit out of his depths, but he understood that only time and practice could change that. His train of thought was suddenly broken as a fist flew toward his face.

Without even having to think, the silver-eyed man tilted his head to the left, advanced half a step, and pushed his palm against the other man's right arm, while at the same time tightening his right fist and punching Cross in the face, with enough strength to make the other man fall on the ground back first.

Once done, Ben's body instantly returned to his previous fighting pose, ready to face any other attack. He did note the dizzy look on the other man's face, but he chose to stay silent and ready. 'As my instructor always said. 'Everything can be used as a lesson.' Let it be one for him.' He thought, amused, despite not showing any inner thoughts on his face.

After almost ten seconds, Cross looked like he completely recovered and was even able to stand up without staggering. Ben waited for his reaction and was not disappointed when he saw him move back to his previous fighting pose, despite the silver-eyed man not telling him anything. 'A talent, indeed.' He thought while a small smile surfaced on his face, hidden by his own balaclava.

Noticing the question in the green-eyed man's mind through his facial expression, and the fact that he would have asked the same one if he were in his shoes, Ben asked. “You seem confused.” “I am. You said you'd only defend and...” He did not finish his sentence but anyone could guess the rest.

“But I punched you, correct?” Cross nodded his head slightly but kept silent, waiting for an explanation. “This is your third lesson. In real life, if your opponent tells you to trust him, then he's either a moron or he's lying. In both cases, you should use everything you've got to get rid of them and expect them to do the same.”

“I... understand.” Shaking his head slightly, Ben retorted. “You don't sound convinced. And I get that. You've always lived as a normal civilian where the worst that could happen was someone robbing you or you losing your job. But from what I observed, you got a taste of the real world with what happened to Kate.”

His words made the other man's body tense up, but the silver-eyed man did not stop explaining since it could determine whether the kid or the one depending on him would get hurt or killed. “Let me put it like that. In the world you'll be evolving in, the people against you will use anything to get to you. They'll hurt people close to you, sometimes just for fun, use pretty much any weakness you've got, and even use your kindness and trust against you. We're not living in a dream, son, we're fighting against monsters from nightmares.”

Pausing for a moment to let his words sink in, he started examining the other man's reactions to his statements. 'In any case, he'll probably understand fully after getting hurt a few times.' He thought gloomily as some sad memories surfaced in his mind.

After pondering for a moment, Cross asked hesitantly. “When you mention being prepared for anything and them using my trust against me, does that mean I should prepare myself for the betrayal from the people I trust?” Sighing at the question he did not have a true answer for, Ben replied.

“Trust is a complicated thing... You'll have to find your own answer. In my case, I choose the people I trust very carefully, and if they betray me... Fuck, I don't know. I guess, I'll just have to consider myself having poor judgment and deal with it as it happens.” He could spot the perplexity racing through Cross' mind through his eyes, which prompted him to say.

“In any case, you won't find your answer right away. It takes time and mistakes, either yours or others, to discover it. And as your captain, I'll be there to help you deal with the problems while you're looking for it, so instead of wasting time thinking, it's better to go back to sparring. After all, we need to act as good baits or we won't get shot at.”

His words drew a chuckle from the cool-headed young man whose body looked a lot more relaxed than previously. “Attack again. This time, don't telegraph your punches. I could see it coming from a mile away.” Nodding his head, the other man began moving toward Ben while keeping his guard up.

Cross then suddenly threw a few quick left jabs, which Ben easily deflected with his left palm, as the power behind the punch was 'weak'. Of course, the weak in this case would break a normal human's hand with each hit. However, the silver-eyed man did not feel any pain.

After a few unsuccessful tries, Cross started to become impatient and attempted a punch with a similar name, a cross [A/N: A straight 'power' punch from his right fist in this case], which despite looking much better than first, was still painfully obvious to the former Green Beret. Noting the imbalance in his stance due to the wrong positioning of his torso, Ben threw a low kick aimed at the green-eyed man's left knee side.

When the top of his foot hit its target, the other had his leg fold which made him fall on the ground, while his body was twisted like a Pretzel by his unsuccessful attempt at punching his new Captain. Shaking his head imperceptibly, the silver-eyed man thought with amusement. 'That falling position always cracks me up.'

After a few seconds, Cross stood up despite receiving that bone-breaking kick. “Again.” And thus the two started to immerse themselves in sparring, with Ben pointing out the other man's mistakes by both hitting Cross' weaknesses and telling him what he did wrong. That 'light sparring' would kill any normal human after one or two hits, but Cross did not seem to be hurt that much, as after each hit, he only took a few seconds to shake off the pain and stand up to ask for more.

Around a dozen minutes later, while the two were focused on the training, something abruptly happened that made alarm bells ring in Ben's mind. The speedboat that the three new team members were supposed to take exploded, throwing the two men into the air toward the shore.

'Fuck! That was the distraction!' He cursed inwardly as he tried his best to move his body to avoid getting shot in his vitals.