fandomhigh | Infantry Tactics [Wednesday Second Period]

This week Max was not distracted. And he was going to pretend that last week had never happened. For many, many, many reasons.

The far-too-familiar pile of gear was waiting as everyone arrived, but before anyone could grab anything, Max began speaking. "Today we're doing things a bit different. This being your final examination, you're going to execute a mission as a team. And, as with many missions of this sort, I'm going to be providing you with the parameters before you decide what to take." This also meant they'd be skipping the run today, but that was okay. Max was sure they'd get a workout without it.

Max made a small gesture and a patch of ground writhed and reshaped itself into a model of the surrounding terrain. The main features were a tall, rocky set of cliffs with an equally rocky beach below them. "We are here," he indicated a spot that was some distance from the top of the cliff. "Scouts indicate that the enemy is going to attempt to land troops here," he indicated a spot on the beach. "Your objective is to keep them from doing so by whatever means necessary. Or, failing that, to keep those troops from making it off the beach. If you can at least keep them bottled up for a few hours, reinforcements are on their way to secure this area."

"Since you are all such good students I'm sure you don't have any questions about this assignment. Which is good because for the purposes of this exercise I am not here." He stepped off to the side and waved at the pile of gear.

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Well, since Max was being so obliging, Anakin would definitely hit him again, aiming for what would end up being a truly spectacular black eye.

"Probably not."

Max wouldn't even heal it. It'd make him feel better to know he'd taken a few hits.

"So." Max was really bad at this. If Anakin hadn't forced the issue he had been planning to simply avoid the issue, and Raven, forever.

"Moron," Anakin told him. Helpfully. "Was it absolutely necessary to open your mouth and say something?"

"I know," Max growled. "And I could go back and do it again, I'd break both of my legs that morning." That was about as close as he was likely to come to admitting that he regretted the whole thing.

"But the damage is done. And I suspect that it's beyond salvaging."

"Or just invest in some duct tape," Anakin replied. "She thought her powers had gone on the fritz again."

"That would be bad enough on its own. But given our history..." Well, AU history. "What happened was a huge betrayal of trust."

"Explain it to me," Anakin demanded. "I need to know if there is anything I can do to fix her from my end."

"I'm not sure I can, actually." Max scowled to himself. "Aphrodite told me that it was some sort of love spell gone wrong. I wasn't me. I acted foolishly," more foolishly than usual.

"Do you want details of the encounter?" That was about all he could offer.

"She told me that you only talked," Anakin said a little warily. "If that's not true, I'm going to do more than hit you."

"Oh, I only talked, fortunately. If anything related to the incident can be considered fortunate. But I was... insistent that I loved her. Ignored her confusion." He shook his head.

He knew it was a betrayal.

Anakin glared. "Fantastic."

"Yeah. My thought exactly."

The worst part was that Max couldn't think of a way to fix things.

"Wait for her to make the first move, if she ever does," Anakin decided finally.

"It might be best if she doesn't, but... yes. That was what I intended."

Well, actually, he'd intended to just avoid her forever, but that was sort of the same thing.

"Good," Anakin said a little grimly. "The students here are screwed up enough. As teachers, we shouldn't be trying to add to it."

Unless it was in an educational way, of course. Or if Anakin didn't like them.

"Agreed."

He paused.

"If you think of anything I can do, or tell you, let me know. She was making admirable progress, and I'm not sure how far back I've set her."

"I'll think about it," Anakin replied. He didn't sound like he would be thinking all that hard.

Infantry Tactics [Wednesday Second Period]

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