Under the surface (Brody)

Brody wasn't looking forward to this very much, if he was going to be perfectly honest with himself.

It wasn't as if he was improvising any of this, on the contrary; he had done everything he was about to expose Dunham to before, and even in a more controlled environment than he himself had been taught in. It was all a matter of whether this was going to make his recruit's fear better, or worse.

He had been up half the night poring over every shred of information Svetlanov had been able to dig up for him; without a need-to-know, he wasn't able to get everything, but Brody had played the card as being Dunham's instructor and needing to know more about what he was dealing with to get a bigger picture. From what he could tell, some psychopath by the name Jins Revenue had attacked a girl named Kyanite Ruze (he'd doubled back and checked his sources; this was the same Miss Ruze he had spoken to in an interrogation he'd conducted before this assignment) and several others at the Career Training Center who had intervened trying to help. A call had been placed to a different Academy recruit, Vy Pryce, who had taken several other recruits with her including Dunham. Long story short, at some point in the altercation, Jins had procured a knife, wrangled Dunham into the pool and had stabbed him in the chest; his survival could mostly be credited to the quick thinking of a recruit Orca. He wasn't allowed to access Dunham's medical records, but from what Brody already knew of first aid, the only way Dunham would have survived such a wound was if someone had managed to quickly seal it.

That explained a lot.

With that in mind, Brody had showed up to the pool early, carrying his own uniform and armor; as much as he hated to relive certain parts of this training, hopefully if he demonstrated to Dunham that it could be done, there wouldn't be a need to save his potentially drowning recruit... too much.

His swimming gear consisted merely of his issued PT shorts and an undershirt; why the shirt was required, he didn't really understand, since all of their undershirts were white and preserved exactly no modesty when they were wet. He supposed it was because some higher-up figured that a bare-chested instructor saving their drowning recruit was too 'intimate', as if anyone was going to refuse being rescued because they were embarrassed by whatever state of dress or undress their savior was in.

Dunham doesn't look like he's slept too much more than Brody, though he knew recruits didn't have the luxury of (caffeinated) coffee like he did; his uniform is spot-on, though, and for a moment Brody almost felt bad that it was going to be heavily water-logged with chlorine.

He froze when Dunham referred to him as 'Corporal O'Rourke'. The recruit realized his mistake almost immediately, but not before it was already out of his mouth.

"Really, Dunham?" He deadpanned, "Ten 4-count pushups. Go."

This really wasn't how he wanted to start the day. But just because he actually expressed giving half of a shit about his recruit didn't mean that they were friends, or that formalities were going to be dropped; it seemed, though, that more than the pushups Dunham seemed more hurt that he'd disappointed Brody. With any luck, it would hardwire the professionalism into him.

It didn't last long, but Brody didn't miss that look of 'really?' as Dunham got on his face and started pumping out his pushups; he very nearly rolled his eyes.

"I said I would make sure you were taken care of, Dunham. I didn't say I was going to go easy on you." He reminded him, "Academy isn't over yet."

Dunham gets back to his feet, and Brody noted that he had apparently forgotten the memo about bringing his swimming gear; it wasn't that important at this point, but if Dunham wasn't a strong swimmer to begin with he was going to have a much harder time in pants than shorts. Maybe next time he'd remember that attention to detail, especially in orders, was often for his own benefit.

"I did. But we're putting it off for something more important." Brody didn't mention that he had read into the case Dunham had mentioned. "But first we're going to go through some water training to build your water confidence. Being in the Academy, you should already know the basics of swimming, but I'm going to make you drown-proof. As I said before, there is nothing in this evolution you will be doing, that I haven't already done myself."

It doesn't appear to have comforted Dunham much, if at all. Brody didn't blame him, but unless the kid wanted to sit and talk to a counselor for who-knows how long and potentially be dropped from the Academy if he was deemed to be too 'damaged', head-on was the only way to overcome whatever specific fear he had of water.

"Look. There isn't a training manual for combat while in the water. What I can teach you is self defense, water confidence and heightened situational awareness. I told you it wasn't going to be fun, but you're going to have to trust me."

It didn't take training as an interrogator to know immediately that Dunham was petrified at the prospect of water training. He knew the incident was only about a month old, give or take, and in any other scenario he might have concluded that Dunham needed more time or some kind of counseling before dragging him back into the water. But this was the Academy, he only had 2 weeks to play catch-up and 20 years to dwell on what happened to him. Brody had chosen to start this particular training first thing in the morning for a reason; nobody was going to try and use this pool for many hours. This training wasn't an exercise in focus or to humiliate.

The waver in Dunham's voice is very audible. As obvious as it is that he's very scared, Brody wasn't about to let that sad little plea to do something, anything else divert his attention.

"What then, Dunham? You're just gonna let this Jins piece of shit rule you for months, years, maybe the rest of your life because he made you afraid of the water?" He demanded, never raising his voice above a normal speaking tone, "We're doing the water training. Whether it's at your pace or mine is up to you. Go get your shorts if you have to, but you're getting in the water."

He considers dismissing Dunham to go retrieve his gear, but pauses a moment.

"You can either face this thing head-on, or I'll refer you to a counselor. I can go at whatever pace you need to get over it, but a counselor won't be so patient; if they believe for any reason that you can't be 'fixed' in a time frame they like, they will drop you and you'll still be afraid."

What many recruits failed to realize that not everyone who dropped out wasn't fit enough or didn't adapt; there were some who were at some point of training, found psychologically unfit for duty. It was terribly unfair and unfortunate to Dunham, who'd had this happen to him while he was still going through the Academy, but Brody wasn't about to let obvious talent go to waste.

Dunham couldn't have looked any less comforted as he left to get his swimming gear; it had struck a chord with him, accusing him of letting this piece of shit called Jins rule his life by making him afraid of the water. But that didn't seem to ease his fear much... He looked like he was going to be sick. While he waited for Dunham to come back, Brody almost thought for those moments that he might very well have to send his recruit to counseling; if he did, this entire stint as a trainer would all be for naught. The counselors were good at what they did, but they were also overworked and would cut recruits left and right to make their jobs easier.

But Dunham came back, and --albeit very reluctantly-- said he was ready.

"Go change and rinse off. When you get back, I want you to get in the pool, neck deep. However long it takes you to do so."

And he was entirely serious; if it took all day for Dunham to work up the courage to get into the water, progress was progress. It would be far slower than Brody would have liked, but he did promise to take care of him, and that included making sure he wouldn't be re-traumatized. While Dunham was changing, Brody took his chance to warm up, diving smoothly into the water and leisurely swimming a couple of laps to warm up; it had been a while, so his form wasn't as graceful as it used to be, but by the time his recruit came back it was as if he'd never left District 4 at all.

Dunham still didn't look any less unhappy when he came back, properly dressed and soaked.

"Get in. I have literally all day."

Brody had seen the scar before, when he and Dunham had sparred their first day together and he'd accidentally managed to punch his recruit right where his old wound was; he didn't much remember it since he'd been the smallest bit preoccupied making sure he hadn't killed the kid. Even with his arms tightly crossed, it was still very visible under the definition of his chest muscles (considering he'd been out of commision for several weeks, Dunham was still in very good shape). His poker face was good, but the size and newness of it made Brody raise his eyebrows a bit; the file said Dunham had been stabbed with a knife, not a goddamned sword.


Though he continued swimming back and forth to keep his muscles warm and his core temperature up, Brody kept an eye on Dunham; he didn't know the extent of the psychological trauma, but if Dunham panicked or had a flashback or something, he'd be there in an instant to make sure he didn't hurt himself.

"I do." He replied nonchalantly, switching to a leisurely backstroke to watch as Dunham sat on the edge of the pool. "I don't think you're gonna need it though."

He stood up when Dunham slid into the water; not very deep, only about to his waist, but he was actually in the pool. He didn't seem very thrilled about it --he was still pale-- but at least he didn't look ready to pass out like he had when Brody had announced their plan for the day.

"Move around some, loosen up." He said, rolling his shoulders and high-stepping in the water, "The key to the first exercise is being able to hold a relaxed position."

He waded into deeper water, stopping when it reached his chest and waiting for Dunham to follow.

If this had been any exercise but this one, Brody might have made Dunham swim laps for giving him lip; but considering it seemed to take all of his mental strength to release the tension in his shoulders and lower his fists, he let it fly. Even though his discomfort was extremely visible from Brody's perspective, he didn't honestly have the experience to imagine what it was like to be that afraid of something as mundane as water.

Something echoed down the hall and through the door, making Dunham whip towards the door looking very much like a deer in headlights. Did he expect someone to burst through the door and attack him perhaps?

"To be in the water is one thing...an exercise a whole different one. You'd better get started before we get any spectators." He said, almost gritting it through his teeth.

"Hold that thought."

He didn't hear Dunham's comment.

Brody pulled himself up on the ledge of the pool, shivering against the now-transparent undershirt plastered to his skin as he jogged towards the partially ajar door to the swimming hall; thankfully it was one of the few halls that had a lock to the door, so students couldn't sneak in and do anything stupid like drown themselves or throw their buddies into the water. The only other way into the hall was through the locker rooms, but only the specific swimming instructors had keys for those doors; they wouldn't be in until almost noon. He jogged back, but hesitated to jump in. Probably best not to splash the kid while he was still petrified to just be standing in the completely still water.

He let himself back down into the water through the ladder at the closer, deeper end, swimming back towards Dunham until he was shoulder-deep. Brody was a couple of inches shorter than Dunham, but for this exercise it wouldn't make much of a difference.

Yeah, surprise to nobody the white shirt was completely useless; Brody still hadn't quite figured out the Academy commanding officer's logic when he'd insisted that instructors wear their undershirts to swimming training. It wasn't doing modesty any favors, and now Brody's tattoos were clearly visible (which he was starting to suspect might have inspired this completely ineffective rule). Somehow he doubted the CO had ever had to train someone in the pool.

He didn't pay any mind to Dunham's thanks; more than likely he was probably expecting some kind of spectator (or, most probably, an intruder) to show up unannounced. Most of the evolutions at the Academy had some level of awkwardness to them, since very few recruits had previous experience with everything they taught, but it was generally subdued by the fact that their division-mates were generally just as new to this training as they were. One-on-one, it became less of a training exercise and more of a spectacle to stop and watch; rumors had a tendency to fly around the Academy (since there was little else to do in their free time while they were stuck on base), and Brody really wasn't in the mood to see what talk might do to his recruit's resolve to get past this phobia of the water.

Slowly but surely, Dunham continued wading out into the deeper water, eventually starting to tread and submerging his face for a moment but not without scanning the hall every few minutes. He still didn't look happy to be doing this, of course, but at least he wasn't panicking. Not yet, anyway...

"You good?" He asked tentatively.

Dunham wasn't losing his mind with fear, so he took this as the best time to try and introduce the first part of the exercise.

"First part of drown proofing is the easiest, it's called the prone float." Brody started, "I wouldn't be able to explain the science behind it, but basically you're slightly more buoyant than water when your lungs are inflated. If you find yourself unable to swim to shore or watercraft, this will keep you from tiring out and drowning."

He paddled himself back a few feet to demonstrate.

"You can keep your eyes open or closed for this. You're going to float in a relaxed, vertical posture; your head and shoulders will float to the surface. When you need to breathe, using minimal energy you can kick or paddle your head up out of the water to exhale --through the mouth-- and inhale --through the nose-- and resume the float. Most people need to do this 5 to 10 times a minute." He looked at Dunham pointedly. "Remember the most important point of this exercise, is to remain calm. You may bob under momentarily when you come down from taking a breath, but you will come back up."

Brody demonstrated, taking a large breath and turning face down into the water. He could hold his breath for a long time, but for the sake of not making his student think he had drowned himself, came back up after a few seconds, taking another breath and resuming the float. He did this a few more times for a minute before coming back up to tread water and watch Dunham.

"Whenever you're ready."