The Fight Club (Askeladd & Katy)

It really was just one of those days and for Grace Sullivan they were becoming a common occurence. She sat in the car and took a deep breath. She had just about been able to pull into the curb when the engine died and seemingly no amount of trying was going to persuade it to reignite for her. She had reached inside her bag for her cell phone to find that it was dead. Broken or no battery... it didn't matter. There was no cab a phone call away. She looked around outside, already knowing that this was not exactly one of the best neighbourhoods to brake down in. The street lamps were just coming on and the clouds were building, looking like they were getting ready for a downpour. Of course they were, Grace thought to herself. She guessed she couldn't be more than a block or so away from a sub-way station, but the blocks that she was going to have to walk were not like those downtown.

She had been in the city about 3 months and was still finding her feet a little. At 26 years old, a graduate in Journalism, shehad worked for a small time paper in her home town. The had then been a town disaster - a fire at one of the plants - which had caused nearly a dozen deaths and there had been a worry that a noxious cloud of gas was at risk of being released. Her two weeks of daily reports had gotten her noticed by one of the national papers and so here she was. A no-one at a big paper in the big city. She had made a few friends at work but nothing serious at the moment.

She had bought the car shortly after arriving in the city. It was old, it had been all she could afford and now it had done what she had been expecting it to do for a while. Having just dropped off a colleague who had pretty much invited himself into her car to get the lift home, she now found herself on her own with walking her only option. She picked up her purse and climbed out of the car. She was 5'7, with an athletic build. A slim waist, curvaceous rear and a 36d bust. Her shoulder length red hair was tied back in a pony tail with a simple silver clasp. The crisp white shirt she had left the apartment in this morning was a little more creased now. And the grey mid-thigh length skirt was not much better. She had not bothered with a jacket this morning - something she was now regretting. Her black heels clicked on the concrete as she tried to walk quickly without drawing particular attention to herself. Had she expected to be out of the office researching or talking to potential witnesses she would have been in flat shoes and pants, but she had spent the day in the office and had had a briefing with the editor first thing... hence the heels and the skirt. Now she was cursing her luck yet again.

The night was a thing that scared little children, something that was suppose to be scary to those who feared the dark, most never realized that there truly were scary things in the dark, some of the most terrible people would come out in the dark including a small group that was walking together down the side of the road right now. Three in number at the moment all buzzed from a bit of drinking their bodies covered in tattoos and their clothes baggy and ragged, the perfect example of hood rats as they could be called, the kind of people that would do something without caring who they harmed in the process. And right now the hooted and hollered when they were a few feet behind the young redhead walking along the road in her heels, "hey baby!", "oh look at dat ass!", they whistled as well as the entire group sped up to catch up to her now. Soon enough she would be surrounded in a mini triangle with them all eying her body lustfully, the one behind her reached forward to smack her ass hard "oh man she does have a booty!" he said to the others who laughed at their friend's comment. "Mmm I think we should play with her some, all dressed up like a prude but with the body of a slut she is just asking for it" the largest of the group said.

Now even through the night brings out some of the worst things it also has it's good things, the good thing tonight was Eric storming who was walking about twenty yards behind all of them. At six feet tall exactly Eric was an imposing figure especially because right now he was in a hoody masking his features in the darkness, he heard the hooting and hollering of the men ahead of him but he thought nothing of it for now. As he walked closer he could hear them saying something about a woman, his dark blue eyes squinted in the darkness trying to pick out her form, he could see her right in the middle of the three men. Under the hoody was a lean toned body, not one that was cut down to the bare basics but one that was muscled with a bit of fat still there, he continued to walk forward slowly wondering if this was going to be a problem because he honestly did not to deal with this if it was going to escalate further. A pair of running shorts covered his long legs and he pushed his wrapped hands into his hoody pockets, they were wrapped because he had a fight tonight and he did not want to worry about getting hurt beforehand which made this all the more annoying.

Grace wasnt quite sure where the guys behind her came from; she didn't really know exactly when she had picked them up as a tail. But the first 'hey baby' was enough to make her quicken her step and she felt her heart beat thump a little harder. Initially she wasn't entirely sure that the comments were directed at her. Perhaps there was someone else, someone they knew. The rule was that you didn't stop; you didn't look behind; you didnt take any notice. Just keep walking. But then any question that the lewd comments were directed elsewhere was answered in the negative when Grace suddenly became aware of someone immediately in front of her. It was almost as if he had come from nowhere to block her path. She looked at him for a moment, wide-eyed, and then looked away, stepping to her right to move around him. He stepped to his left. She looked up again. She swallowed hard and turned intending to walk back towards her car, only to be faced with another man. She stpped to her right; he stepped to his left. She turned again and looked at the guy who had first stepped in front of her. She assumed that he was in charge but she had no idea really. She took another breath and drew herself up tall. She lifted her head and pushed her chin out a little almost as a sign of defiance; she tried desperately to hide the fear she was feeling in her gut.

She was about to say something when she felt the sharp slap on her rear which became a growing sting. What came out of her mouth was a squeal instead. She turned quickly to see the man who had done it, glaring angrily, heard what he said and the laughter it produced. and as she turned she stepped back not realizing how close she now was to the man who had stepped in front of her first... the man who was now stood close enough behind her that he could smell her perfume. They were cocky and arrogant. And then the third guy's suggestion made her blood run cold. She stared at him; perhaps he was in charge; he was definitely big enough. She stared at him... glaring... chin lifted, clenching and unclenching her teeth, again trying not to show the fear she had.

"I'm.... I'm not looking for any trouble. Please. Get out of my way. Now." She held both hands out at about shoulder height, open, palms directed towards the bigger man. This day was just going from bad to worse to dire.

The three hood rats were starting to circle around her slowly, each of them eying whatever piece of her body that seemed most appealing at the time, the way she squealed when they smacked her ass made them all grin evilly at her. She was like the tiny lamb trapped in the middle of the pack of wolves who were salivating over her, she didn't want to show fear but it was far too late for that, they might not be the sharpest tools in the shed but they were predators and they knew how to see a fearful person and she was definitely one, they whistled slowly building up in sound. "Must be our lucky day three of us and this girl got three holes already for the using" the big one said while ignoring the words of the hot piece of ass in front of him, "get her" the biggest one said and right away the man behind her wrapped his spindly arms around her and pulled her close to him quickly. He pulled her close and the second one went for her legs grabbing them at her feet to stop her from kicking at any of them, at this point the big guy just watched with a sadistic happy look in his eyes while he watched his boys wrangle in their new toy.

Eric was barely twenty yards from the group of them now and he could see the scene unfold, he clenched his fists inside of his hoody pockets and walked forward quickly. "That's enough" he spoke up loudly, his voice was hard and powerful though not all that deep, the three men all snapped their heads towards him in an instant wondering who the hell thought it was okay ti interrupt their fun. Eric stood about five feet from the group now and he stared at them from under the hood of his hoody, "let her go and get the hell out of here" he said in a harsh tone. Soon they would laugh loudly still not letting going of her, and the big guy answered "shut your mouth little bitch and walk the hell on" he said with a fist pointing towards Eric. Now Eric sighed as he knew this would involve a fight and he pulled his clenched fists out of his pocket, as he did a small beige card slipped out his pockets and fell to the ground, Eric was standing his ground as he brought his fists up in an offensive stand distracting the three men from the woman now. They pushed her to the side and began to approach Eric slowly in a group thinking it would be an easier beat down, but Eric was calm and his eyes were cold as he looked at the gaps in their defense, he grinned a bit now as he got within range of hitting.

Grace glared at the biggest thug and he just looked back at her, not moving out of her way, not moving an inch. She looked at the other one, to her right; she turned her head and cast a quick look behind her. She suddenly realized how close to him she was and she nearly stepped away but then realized that that would take her closer to the big man. They were closing in on her.As she looked at each one she felt their eyes burning into her body... her legs and her ass and her tits. All three of them grinning. Lust in their eyes, their whistles getting louder. Grace didnt know where she needed to look. She didnt know where the first attack was going to come from.

When the apparent leader spoke the picture he created in Grace's head was enough to make her blood run cold. The idea of the three of them, all violating her... Her mind drifted a little and it took time for her brain to recognize the next thing he had said and by the time she did it was too late. There was already a vice like grip around her from behind, pinning her arms to her side, squeezing her. As she felt the second man down at her ankles, she squealed and squirmed and tried to kick. Her shoes quickly feel off and the mans hands gripped tighter, pulled, trying to straight her legs out. And then everything one froze.

THere was another voice. Something unexpected for all of them. THe three men all looked towards its source and Grace froze, held for a moment in mid air by two men. She stared at the man a few feet away. Was he crazy? He was going to get himself killed or at the very least serious hurt. It was going to be three against one. Even she knew that her efforts would be minimal. But despite all of that there was a sense of relief that someone had been prepared to do something. Someone had been ready to not simply walk on by. And then her feet were dropped and the man who held them turned away from her to face the stranger. And the man who had hold of her, let go but did so only after turning to his left, pulling her with him so that when he let go she had some momentum which kept her moving just enough to unbalance her. She finished up sitting on her rear in the middle of the pavement. Watching in horror at what was about to unfold... because of her.

What happened next could only be described as pure violence, what took only thirty seconds in reality seemed to take several minutes for Eric, as he focused on the three men in front of him things seemed to slow down, his clenched fists began to slowly wag back and forth as he relaxed his entire body. To those who watched him it might seem like his entire body began to sway slowly, the sounds of the night were drowned out as the only sound he heard was that of the men in front of him now, the faint sound of their shoes as they dragged them over the pavement and the sound of their heavy breathing. His eyes seemed to focus directly on the center of their bodies so he could anticipate where they would move to, for a few seconds no one moved and then without a signal from anyone it happened the fight sparked violently. And to the surprise of all three of the men it was the lone man who started the fight by dashing forward, he tightened his fists and then he chose the spindly armed man to go after to first.

The first sound to split the night air was the dull sound of the man's face being hit by a right straight that snapped his head viciously to the side, the spindly armed thug fell to his knee's in an instant and then without hesitation Eric brought his knee up right under his chin. There was a sickening smashing sound not as the man's teeth smashed together shattering in many places, the man fell back screaming wildly while clutching at his mouth. The next move came as a spin from Eric towards the biggest man who was the closest to him now, the man brought his arm up to punch a punch he thought Eric would throw, but instead he felt his arm grabbed and his body dragged towards Eric. Then he felt his nose smashed as he ran right into the fist of Eric who then twisted the arm and then wrenched it upwards causing his shoulder to dislocate it easily, then came the last man who managed to actually swing his fist in a wide arc at Eric but he found nothing but air as Eric ducked under.

Then came a left hook on the chin then a right hook on the chin and to finish him off Eric brought an uppercut smashing into the chin right on the button as they say, the man fell back completely knocked out and Eric sighed heavily as his body slowly relaxed. His fists were a bit swore even through the bandages that were wrapped around his hands, he walked away from the men who were on the ground in pain or unconscious, he walked right towards the woman and smiled from under the hood "are you okay miss?" he asked in a powerful but gentle tone.

Sat on the cold pavement, her legs splayed in front of her, leaning back on her hand looking for all the world as if she were relaxing there, Grace was transfixed. She was accustomed to violence. She had never been anywhere to see any one injure any one else... not ever... not even a fight at high school. Of course she had seen violent action movies, but she had enough about her to know that they were movies - and there was a difference between the movies and real life. She didn't even like boxing particularly. It wasn't that she objected to it; she didn't. She just didn't see what the fuss was about and why the devotees saw it as a noble art which supposedly taught wonderful life skills like discipline and anger management. It was a sport and as long as people did it voluntarily she didn't care. She would be more concerned if it were made illegal; of course it would simply continue 'underground' without the rules and the medical attention on hand.

But what unfolded in front of her was not boxing. It was much closer to the scripted violence on TV but she could barely keep up with what was happening; it was as if her brain wasn't really taking it all it. And then it was over and there was a man standing in front of her, looking down. She looked up meeting his gaze. Stunned, it took her a moment or two to comprehend his question. And then slowly, tentatively, she nodded. And then it was as if she was snapped back into the present. She pushed herself up.

"Yeah... yes..." she smiled tentatively, brushing the dirt from the pavement off of her skirt. Then she looked at him properly.

"I... I dont know what to say. Thank you just doesnt seem enough... Are you... are you hurt?" She reached out at little to his bandaged hands, seeing blood on the fabric, and not really thinking that it almost certainly wasn't his.

Once Eric learned that the young woman was okay he pulled his hood from his head slowly revealing his facial features, unlike his tall broad figure his face was young seemingly in his early twenties maybe twenty four at most, his hair was a dark brown that hung straight down but it was unkempt which was not surprising as he had just been moving about wildly. He smiled as she brushed her skirt off, his smile brilliant and charming at the same time, "I am very glad to hear that you are okay miss" he said in a powerful and gentle tone. When she stuttered out something that seemed like a shaky thank you at best he laughed softly which was actually even more gentle than his voice, he brought his bandaged hands up for them both to see. "I am okay miss, my hands are a little swore but I did kind of smash my fists into some hard things" he said in a playful tone as he looked back at the three men on the ground still, "I have to go miss, you should probably get out of here before they recover" he said in a quick tone as he saw the time on one of the men's watches. He turned away and gave her another charming gentle smile, "you stay safe miss" he said before jogging off down the street into the darkness of the night.

Grace found herself staring at the man. He was much younger than she had expected. She wasnt sure why her expectations had been that her saviour would be someone older. Perhaps it was that the man displayed a calmness and a control that typically showed itself in someone with a much older - and therefore wiser - head on his shoulders. Maybe it was the strength that his displayed. Maybe it was the fact that he called her 'Miss'. Whatever it was, she was surprised at his youthfulness.

As he mentioned having hit his fists onto something hard, she followed his gaze and looked from one of the prone looking gang members to another. Maybe for the first time, the reality of what she would have been facing had this guy not come along when he did really hit her. Suddenly she felt a wave of nausea hit her but she managed to keep herself together enough such that there was nothing obvious indicate to the young man that she wasn't alright. And then she became aware that he was already saying goodbye. Had already said it; told her to get out of her sooner rather than later. He was already walking away from her.

"Wait... hang on... please... I dont' know..." He didnt stop walking. He didn't turn around. His hood was back up over his head; his hands were back in his pockets and he was disappearing into the night. She took a step to follow him and then realized that she was still shoeless. She tiptoed over to where her shoes lay; where they had fallen. She righted one, slipped her foot into it, limped over to the other, righted it, went to put her foot in it only for it to fall on its side again. She cursed silently and looked up in the distance of the disappearing man. She righted the shoe again and slipped her foot inside and then turned to follow. But he had gone. There was no one on the street in front of her. She looked across to the opposite side of the road. No-one.

Suddenly, there was a groan from near her feet. She looked down and saw one of the men starting to stir, but she also so something else. A small beige card that looked too clean to have been lying on the concrete for that long. She bent down again and picked up the card. 'Club Hel'. It wasn't somewhere she had ever heard of before. She had no idea what it was or where it was. She look back up the empty street in the direction of where he had gone. Maybe she could... just to thank him properly.... maybe... assuming she could find out where the place was. She heard another groan and this time she decided that she had probably take the guy's advice and get out of the area before these men came too - although she doubted they would be hurting anyone any time soon.

Eric jogged his way down several blocks, his body was covered in a light sheen of sweat he could feel his hoody sticking to his body thanks to the sweaty and the humidity of the air around him, he slowly stopped jogging as he came to the street where the club was located. It was hard to miss the club as it had a line nearly had a block long line of people waiting to try and get into the club, music blared and people spoke loudly trying to entertain themselves in the line as they had to wait. Eric walked right up to the main door and one of the new bouncers held up his hand to stop him, Eric pulled back his hood to show who he was and the bouncer put his hand down and apologized right away, he was not just a fighter in the club but he actually owned the club. Eric paid no mind to the apologizing bouncer as he was just doing his job,people in the line were yelling as Eric walked right into the main doors without waiting or paying but he let the bouncers deal with that.

Well things were just heating up in one of the coolest clubs in town, a new club compared to some being open for only about six months but it was gaining reputation every night it was open. The club was actually three floors tall, the third floor was for dinner with special soundproofing material in the floor so you could eat normally without the sounds of music. The second floor was more of the usual club being an area with dancing, a bar, and a resting area to mingle in.The first floor now that is where the fun would start, the music there was almost always loud and fresh stuff that would draw anyone into dancing, the first floor was all about dancing. Sure there was a bar and a table or two but almost all of the first floor was a giant dance floor, lights would blink or move around to make it more interesting as the DJ had his hands full switching tracks. Here things could get down and dirty quite easily, there were people of all kinds, ranging from the hardcore ravers to the ghetto hoochies that hung around their thug men, but they all had one thing in common and that was to come here and party. Eric was not a great dancer but he could do enough to make a woman want him, it was not until twelve at night that the dance floor would be cleared and the ring would be put up for people to watch the fights and bet on them of course.

Grace got home an hour later. Finally. Home wasn't much but it was as much as she needed. A cosy stylish two bedroom apartment in a reasonable part of town. She tossed her keys in the bowl on her kitchen table and she made the call for the garage to pick up her car - assuming that there was still a car left in one piece. She took a shower, warmed some soup, and settled down in front of the TV news. Her mind wasn't exactly focused on it though. Her thoughts were with what might have been and with the young man who saved her. Suddenly she sat up and fetched the card from her pocket. She picked up the phone book and went back to the couch. Checking the name again she looked in the book.

"Club Hel. Club Hel. Hel. Hel." she spoke to herself as she looked through the pages. Nothing. She closed the book and put it to one side. Then another idea. She picked up her iPad and searched on line; on her own paper's archive. It took about 10 minutes for her to find it. A new club. A hot ticket. a place to be seen. Great restaurant. If dance was your thing this was the place to be. A fight club. She stopped. Read it again. That maybe explained a lot in terms of the earlier events. It was a strange combination though. Food. Dance. A ring fight? She sat and thought for a moment. She looked at the clock. It was barely 7.30. She could be dressed be there in an hour maybe.

She got up and went through to the bedroom and changed into a smart 'little black dress'. Black heels. Simple. Smart. Stylish. She stepped outside and called for a cab, arriving at the club shortly after 8.15. The queue was long evidencing the paper's report of its popularity. It took her another two hours to get to the front of the queue and it was almost 10.30 before she stepped inside the club. After that she barely knew what she was doing... All she had was the hope of bumping into him. But the place was packed. She made her way to a bar and bought a vodka cocktail and then started her people watching from a discrete corner.

Eric headed towards the back and in the very back was a training room, he would not waste his energy out there instead he laid down on a small cot, he laid there for nearly an hour just staring up at the ceiling in the darkness as he wanted to just relax, he wanted to just save up all his energy for the fight. The guy that was fighting Eric was from the underground ring fights not the open circuit, they wanted to challenge Eric because supposedly people had been saying that he was invincible and now everyone thought that Eric himself was saying that. As a result this fight had been scheduled right away so he could just fight and end this, he honestly didn't want to fight tonight but he did not have a choice, his reputation would be ruined if he decided not to fight now and that would hurt the clubs revenue. The club was the only thing Eric really had so anything that might hurt it was trying to hurt him and that called for self defense which is what he was going to do in that ring tonight he was going to defend what was his.

The time rolled by slowly and ten minutes before twelve the dance floor was cleared off and a large cage was set up with mats under it so everyone could see it, the lights went out except for in the cage, a single man stood in there in what seemed to be in a referee's outfit and holding a mic. "Ladies and gentlemen tonight at club HEL we have a special treat, a fight to the death between two legendary street fighters" the voice boomed through the club, "the challenger tonight is a man known as the grim reaper of the streets who has only been beaten twice and they say that was against ten times the number both times". He pointed to the left corner and out came a man who was six two and near two hundred and thirty pounds "his name is Diego the reaper Juneze!!!!!" the man threw his arms up and people roared wildly as they wanted to see the fight happen already.

"Now it is my supreme pleasure to introduce the master of chaos the man who is considered to be invincible on the streets the man who has never been defeated! when all odds were against him he still prevailed the one! the only! Eric the invincible Storming!!!!!!!!!" the man drew out the introduction and there he came out from the right in blue shorts and a pair of gloves slowly walking towards the ring. He smacked his hands together and then the crowd erupted with even bigger cheers than they had for the challenger as Eric was basically their champion.

Grace was beginning to think this had been a monumental waste of an evening. She had spent most of the last 75 minutes standing at the far end of a bar, partially tucked away in the corner. Not tucked away enough to not get noticed. Three men had approached her in one way or another and offered her a drink and or asked her to dance. She had politely declined them all and fortunately none of them had seemed inclined to push it. There was a very strange clientele in the club; nothing which could particularly identify the club as being associated with one particular style or a particular demographic. True there was no-one particularly old here; young forties trying to pass themselves off as mid-thirties was probably the upper end. But most of the socio-economic groups seemed to be represented; quite a lot of the local gangs. But for the odd silent stand off though, everyone seemed to stay in their corners. It was as if they were all there for some higher purpose and because of that they tolerated each others presence. But of all the faces she saw, no-one even came close to looking like the guy who had come to her rescue earlier.

As she finished her third vodka tonic, she turned and placed her empty glass onto the bar. She took a deep breath and tried to decide whether it was going to be worth coming back another night. Maybe the card had belonged to someone else. And even if it was his, he might have been here once; that didn't mean he was going to ever come back. Just as she was berating herself for being so stupid to assume that she could just walk in her and find the guy, she realized that there were more people around; something was being done on the dance floor... Grace found herself struggling to comprehend and then the voice came over the speakers. She looked around, clearly confused compared to apparently everyone else in the place. And then she heard it! The announcer really did say 'a fight to the death'. This really couldnt be happening. She looked around, open mouthed, but seemingly she was the only one in the room who thought so. She heard the name... she heard 6'2'' and 200 and something pounds. And the reaction was a loud cheer of support which rang around the room. And then a second man was introduced, but there was no height or weight. Just an 'undefeated tag' followed by an even louder roar. Clearly this was the crowd's favorite. Grace leaned her head first one way and then the other trying to get a site of both men.

And then suddenly she felt like she had been punched. There he was. The man who had come to her rescue. Eric. About to take part in a fight to the death. She started to push her way through the crowd, making her way almost inch by inch towards the newly erected cage. This really couldn't be happening.

The club was being drowned in sound as the two men stared at each other from across the ring, Eric was a good six feet tall himself but only weighed in at about one hundred and ninety pounds. As everyone could see there was a significant amount of muscle on his body but he was not cut like those body building types, he was lean but powerful the kind of person whose muscles could only be seen through tight clothing or with no clothes on like now. His skin was a light tan from the time he spent outside training for things like this, his face showed no real emotion as he was not angry or happy with the fight he simply wanted it to be done after all and then he could relax a bit he thought to himself. He opened his mouth to reveal a dark blue mouthpiece to the referee who was checking both the men for the proper equipment like gloves bandages and mouthpieces, other than that they were good and they were sent to opposite sides of the ring to stare at one another once again.

Unlike Eric the challenger Diego was fuming with blood lust and he showed it by glaring at Eric with such intensity that if looks could kill he would have been accused of genocide. He wanted to prove that he was the baddest man on the streets and if he beat Eric here he would do just that, with his size and weight Diego was overconfident in his win happening, he did not believe the rumors that Eric was able to take down men bigger than even him with one or two blows. Diego was the kind of person that needed to be shown what could be done for him to truly believe it, after all you tell children fire is hot but until they stick their hands in it they never believe it, but after they get burned they soon learn to respect it. The referee now hushed the crowd of violence lusting fiends by raising his hands and pushing them down, "Tonight is a special night, until there is a knockout, or a death the fight will continue, the rules of course as always being legitimate and clean, no eye gouging, no crotch shots, no hair pulling, but other than that anything goes!".

"Now let's get ready for a bloody fight of death!" he yelled into the microphone before throwing his hands down to signal the start of the fight, almost instantly Diego came charging out swinging violently at Eric's head, Eric's hands came up locking together like a shield almost to take the blows that sent him back against the cage, the crowd seemed to lose their voice now as their champion had been knocked away so easily by the challenger who was coming forward with more of those vicious blows.

Grace managed to get to the front of the crowd, such that she was just to the left of one of the corner posts with each of the men situated on either side - one to the far right corner from where she was, one to the far left. None of this made any sense. This kind of thing didn't happen surely. Couldn't happen. And what on earth was the point of checking that each competitor had mouth sheilds and 'regulation' gloves. They were about to beat the crap out of each other until one of them killed the other. It didn't make sense. In the handful of articles she had read earlier, none of them had mentioned fights to the death. A fight club yes. Fights to the death no! Somewhere deep down she knew that really there was a story here. She knew that she should have her notebook out. But instead she was stood in shock. Struggling to comprehend.

What made it worse was that this didn't look like a fair fight. Her man looked significantly outclassed. 'My man'? From what dark corner of her mind had that come from? She had barely said a handful of words to him; and he had barely said much more. Admittedly he had almost certainly saved her dignity if not her life. But 'my man'. She mentally shook herself back to focus on the present. The man ... Diego... he was bigger, looked stronger, looked angry and certainly he looked a lot less in control of his emotions. Was he really going to follow the rules? She almost laughed out loud at the idea that it was perfectly within the rules to kill someone but at no times should you pull their hair! This was ridiculous. But clearly everyone was loving every minute of it. As the referee indicated that battle should commence, a loud cheer wet up and Grace felt the crowd swell a little behind her so that she was pushed up against the wall of the cage, looking up. When the first assault came though and despite the fact that he seemed to deflect it, the crowd quietened some. This was clearly not what they had expected despite the apparent physical superiority of the opponent. She reached up her hands and slipping her fingers through the mesh of the cage, she hung onto the sides, transfixed by what was happening.

"Please dont get hurt'" She whispered to herself. "Come on." She wasn't even really that conscious of what she was saying.

Everyone in the club could not see it the only one that truly understood what was happening was Eric himself, the way he had thrown his arms up like that had been more than just to hide behind. Every time that Diego threw a punch he hit a solid guard that would suddenly loosen as Eric turned with the blow, he would not even feel it in his rage as he just kept hammering away at the guard of his opponent wildly. Eric took every blow to his arms with the minimal damage thanks to his slipping guard, while to everyone else it looked like he was being pummeled into the cage he was really just calmly resting himself and waiting for the right moment to strike his opponent. Eric did not care to put on a show for everyone to see, he wasn't going to trade blows with this man, he was going to end him in an instant so there would never be a chance that this man would challenge him again. He was watching every single punch that came, he was watching the sweat that started to form over his opponent's body as he threw more punches than he was used to. The sound of his heavy breathing reached Eric's ears and he noticed that the punches were coming in with less force, the man was tired already and he had done little to nothing to Eric.

Yet Diego continued to pound away at the guard with his wild punches over and over, he had never experienced a fight where someone could take so many punches from him so he knew nothing about breathing in and out with the punches. The fool continued to punch while holding his breath and soon he was breathing heavily trying to get what little energy he could back, his swings were getting wider and coming in with less and less force. Soon his whole mouth was wide open as he tried to get some of his breath back, he figured he was fine slowing down his punches seeing as Eric had done nothing but turtle up and block the punches so he assumed he was safe as could be as he backed up a bit.

Now was the time to strike Eric thought to himself calmly, soon a wide swing came and when everyone expected it to just hit the guard again Eric moved under it and then forward. What came next happened so quickly that Diego never had time to react, first a left hook came in sharp and compact to smash into his chin sending his head snapping sideways. Then a sharp right hook came in right behind cracking his jaw just a bit, but Eric was not done with his opponent stunned Eric weaved back and forth throwing left hooks and right hooks into his jaw repeatedly the crack finally becoming a full shattered jaw. The result was a spray of blood from Diego's mouth each time he was hit which was at least fifteen to twenty times, then Eric's right arm drew back and he slammed a vicious right straight into his face sending the man sprawling onto the mat unconscious.

Grace couldnt do anything except stand and watch. Whilst the rest of the crowd cheered and whinced and gasped with each punch and defence, she stood in silence, her fingers laced through the wire of the cage, her heart pounding. For a long time it looked as if Eric was getting his ass kicked. He took blow after blow after blow. He was entirely on the defensive. But as inexperienced as she was with watching any form of fighting or boxing or combative sport, gradually it became apparent that the opponent was tiring... but he was also becoming arrogant and lazy. Grace suddenly realized she was holding her breath; waiting. One of two things was going to happen. Either Eric was going to crumple and go down under the constant onslaught or... or he was going to come out of the corner and take advantage of his opponent's cockiness. Silently she prayed that it would be the latter. She gripped the cage wall a little tighter, the wire digging into her flesh unnoticed.

And then it happened. She watched as Eric stepped out and attacked. Punch after punch. Left then right then left again. Over and over again. Periodically as the man's head twisted in response to each heavy blow, the lighting would pick up the spray of sweat and saliva and eventually blood which came off the man with each impact. The volume of the crowd rose to deafening levels, but Grace wasn't really listening to it. Now she wanted Eric to stop. Deigo wasn't going to come back at him... not now. There was no need to... and then Diego hit the floor and a crescendo of noise filled the huge room. Grace watched as the man went down. He was unconscious before he hit the floor and when he hit, he bounced. And then her gaze drifted up to Eric.

Eric still showed now sign of emotion as he was announced the victor and still undefeated in the world of fighting, why should he care about one victory among many after all he would just have another fight in a few days. He pulled his hand away from the referee and said that everyone got a free drink because he won the fight tonight, that of course got a loud cheer from the crowd as everyone enjoyed a free drink. Then he started to walk away with his thoughts elsewhere, his hands to his sides as he walked down the middle of the people who gave him a pat on the shoulder or a slap on the back while saying he was great or how he was amazing, but they were only saying that because he won the fight. If he had lost and been walking down the middle he would have more likely been booed and jeered at for being too weak to be undefeated, that was just the way people were though Eric thought to himself, one second you are on top of the world and the next you are at the bottom, especially this world.

With not a mark on him Eric looked like he was walking towards the ring rather than from it, his body was barely covered in sweat as he walked away. Now the bouncers came in quickly and started to take the ring apart so the people could return to their dancing, the lights went back to being multicolored and the music started up again. Eric stopped at the door to the back and then looked around the club, the majority of the people now ignored him and went back to dancing or mingling with one another, he did not mind that at all seeing as these people were the life blood of his club. When asked what they should do with Diego he merely told them to throw him into the back of a car and drop him off at the hospital no words no going in just leave him there. He didn't care for the man called Diego but he was not some heartless douche who would just have him tossed into the back alley after they fought, he was glad there not a big line pressing against the bouncers tonight, he waved and smiled at those who stayed behind to look but he bored with this already.

Grace watched him. He didn't look particularly happy to have won she thought to herself. The noise ebbed and swelled, particularly when Eric announced that everyone was to get a free drink. She felt herself at risk of being caught up in the mass of bodies which started to shift away, but suddenly instead of being at the front of everything, almost pressed against the cage, she was at the back. Furthest away from the bar. But the thought of another drink didn't cross her mind. As Eric left the ring, she let go of the cage framework but her eyes followed him as he headed towards a closed off 'private' door. She walked slowly towards it, not really with any intention. It was almost as if she were simply drawn in that direction. She was walking against the crowd, most of whom seemed to be more concerned now with their next drink on the house.

She wasn't really sure what she was doing. She wasn't particularly thinking anything. She was glad Eric had won of course. She was glad he hadn't been hurt. And she didn't think any more or less of him because of what had just happened in the ring. Who the hell was she to judge, particularly after he had done what he had to save her neck. But the more she saw of the man, the more attracted she was to him. The more interested she was in him. And she was confused that he didn't exactly seem to be all that happy in his work. At times, his look towards the crowd and his 'supporters' was almost contemptuous. But as she looked at him disappearing down the line, she watched from the corner of what was now reconverted back into the dancefloor. She watched and the hint of a smile played around her mouth.

Eric did not want people to think he disliked them but he did dislike the fact that most of these people would turn on him in an instant if he lost, as long as he won he was their champion but the second he lost a fight it would be oh that Eric guy yea he was cool for a little while. So he did not really care if they dislike him as long as they understood that he did not expect loyalty from them, the only people in this club that he expected loyalty from was his staff most of which had been through all of this with him since the beginning. Almost everyone in his staff was a friend that had needed help at one time, and Eric had offered it so he knew he could rely on any of them now.

As his eyes scanned the crowd one last time he had to do a double take, he wasn't sure but there was a woman that looked very familiar in the crowd he thought to himself. Eric stepped forward and tapped the head bouncer on the shoulder gently and then pointed at the young woman "send her into the room" was all he said before turning and heading into the back room slowly while wondering if it was simply his imagination that made him think she was here. Either way the Bouncer was making his way towards Grace easily cutting through the crown with his burly form, he stopped next to her and then pointed towards the door Eric had just walked through "the boss would like to see you" he said calmly.

She saw the exchange between Eric and the bouncer, saw Eric point, saw them both look. Instinctively, she looked around, looking to see whether there was something else more significant that they could be talking about. When she looked back towards the doorway, a man Grace presumed to be some kind of bodyguard or bouncer or henchman was heading in her direction. She visibly stiffened and drew herself up to her full 5'7''... 5'10'' in her heels and took a deep breath. She didn't take her eyes off the big man who was approaching her. She figured that the more she stared him down the less likely her nervousness would show through.

He had to bend down a little and even then he was talking quite loudly to make himself heard. She looked at him and then towards the doorway through which Eric had now disappeared and then back up. She felt his hand move onto her shoulder and the application of pressure. It was guiding her in the direction her wanted her to take. At that moment at least it wasn't forceful. She did wonder what would happen if she refused, but truth of course was that she didn't want to refuse. But that didn't mean she wasn't a little nervous at the thought. The man now asking to see her had just proved himself to be a killer but if he was going to hurt her, surely he wouldn't have come to her rescue earlier. Unless of course he was pissed that she had tracked him down... She took another deep breath and nodded a little and then started to walk with the big man. Others in the club suddenly seemed to move aside and her walk towards the doorway was surprising easy.

On the other side, it was quiet. It was surprising just how much of the noise in the club was shut out by what looked like an ordinary door. As the two of them walked down the corridor, the man now in front, his shoes squeaked a little whilst her heels clicked and echoed some.

"Where are we going?" She asked. The man merely looked back over his shoulder and smiled but he said nothing. At the end of the corridor, he stopped and opened a door, stood aside and invited her to enter. She stopped in front of the open door way and peered inside. There was a short corridor and then the room opened out in such a way that it was impossible to see anything really other than the short corridor. She looked back up at the man in black. He waved his hand in a silent invitiation, but he said nothing. She stepped slowly inside.

Eric did not wait for her instead he opened the door to the back room where he had been just before the fight, when he turned the lights on it revealed a full on gym, punching bags, weights, speed bags, even a boxing ring in the middle it was like seeing something out of the movies where the guy has a personal gym set up to train. Eric walked over to a bench and sat down while giving Grace a little smile now, he held out his hands which were wrapped tightly in the gloves and bandages underneath "would you mind helping me get these off they are a little hard to get off after you put them on" he said in a playful tone, his body might not have been sweating but his hands were so it was hard to pull the gloves off while wearing them. He was sitting on one of the benches calmly as he looked towards her with that charming smile of his, he wondered what she was doing here and how she had even managed to find him so quickly. But that could wait for a little while at the very least he thought to himself, but he did sincerely enjoy the outfit she was wearing at the moment as it showed off all of her body without actually showing it off.

(Bah shortness sorry.)

As the room opened up, Grace was a little surprised to say the least. She couldn't see a lot of it as most of it was in darkness but she saw enought to know that it wasn't exactly what she was expecting. Truth be told, she didn't really know what she was expecting; some quiet office maybe; the business end of the club but from what she could see, this was no office. As the main lights came on, she span around. And her eyes widened. A full gym was definitely not what she was expecting. The place was almost cavernous compared to what she was expecting. But her attention was not really on her surroundings any more. She watched as Eric walked in; watched him sit down on the bench which ran parallel to one side of the boxing ring. He most definitely did not look like he had just been involved in a fight of any kind, let alone a fight to the death. He did look very good though she thought. She heard his question but it didn't seem to register for a moment. And then she seemed to jump a little, suddenly snapping out of her thoughts and into the present. A slight smile appeared on her mouth and she nodded a little.

"I think I can probably do that." She walked towards where he was sitting on the bench, slipping her purse under the bottom rope of the ring and onto the canvas floor. She couldn't help but see the blood that smeared the widest part of the gloves, but fortunately she had never been particularly squeamish. Her fingers went immediately to the laces at the bottom of the left glove, methodically undoing it and then she held the glove whilst he slipped his hand from it. She kept her focus on the gloves, on the task at hand, not looking him in the eye at all, but feeling him watching her as she worked. She repeated the process with the right glove. As soon as that was done, he kept his right hand up so that she would remove the bandages. First the right and then she repeated the process on the left.

"Do they hurt?" She had never really taken enough notice of boxing to know the extent of the protection that the gloves offered. It was the first thing she had said to him and only then did she lift her eyes to look at him.

(Dont worry - We can't keep up long posts for ever... and its about what's appropriate for this point in the story)

When Grace came closer Eric was able to get a full look at her in that little black dress, he could not help but look over every inch of her body slowly enjoying what he was seeing. He did notice that she was a little out of it and he assumed that was simply because she was very nervous around him, he wasn't sure if it was because she had seen the violence that unfolded because of his hands or if she was nervous because of the way he looked. Either way he would not pry quite yet instead he watched her as she undid the gloves on his hands now, she even pulled the bandages from around his hands even though he had not asked her to he could feel the coolness of the air caressing his slick hands now and he enjoyed it happily. When she was done he flexed his hands experimentally to see if there was any bruising or swelling but his hands seemed to be okay besides a little soreness that came with punching people as hard as you could.

He looked into her eyes calmly with a smile on his lips now "well they seem fine for now, a little sore but hey gotta take some pain to give some pain I like to say" his tone so casual with such things. "I was planning on asking this later but it has really been making me wonder quite a bit, how did you find me so fast?" he asked in a genuinely curious tone now, he hadn't given her a name or even the place he worked yet she showed up here the same night he saved her, there was no way that was coincidence he thought to himself calmly. "Also miss I hope you don't think it too rude of me to say but you look fabulous in that dress" he said in a smooth alluring tone, he was confident that she would not mind but it was always better to add a little something so she knew he wasn't just trying to get into her pants, well dress in this case he thought jokingly.

Grace smiled and nodded as he told her that his hands felt fine.

"Good. I.. I'm glad... I mean I... I would hate to see you hurt... I mean... never mind." She felt her cheeks flush as she suddenly seemed to have become jibbering idiot. If he noticed however, he was polite enough not to say anything and just proceeded to ask her how she had found him. She smiled and then turned and walked back to where she had left her purse. She opened it and rumaged inside before closing it back up and leaving it just where it was on the canvas of the ring and walking back to him. She handed him the small beige ticket.

"You erm... you dropped this ... earlier... on the street... when you were helping me out." She shrugged a little. "I did a little research, followed a hunch and decided to drop by here on the off chance... and here you are." She looked around for a moment. "Gotta say, this isnt exactly what I was expecting... and... it's Grace. My name is Grace... and I dont mind."