Slade had recruited people from just about every background imaginable.
Ex-military.
Police.
Private security.
Athletes.
People with skills that made absolutely no sense until he saw them in the field.
But he hadn’t expected to discover that one of his female recruits had once been an Olympic medal-winning gymnast.
He found out by accident.
The team had been in the gym after training when one of the other recruits mentioned it casually.
“Boss, you know she used to be an Olympic gymnast?”
Slade looked up.
“What?”
The recruit shrugged.
“Yeah. Won a medal.”
Slade slowly turned toward the far side of the gym.
She was stretching quietly, completely uninterested in the conversation happening behind her.
Slade stared.
Then looked back at the recruit.
“You’re telling me she competed at the Olympics?”
“Apparently.”
“And won?”
“That’s what I heard.”
Slade’s expression changed.
He’d watched her train before.
She was flexible.
Fast.
Exceptionally coordinated.
But he’d assumed that was simply part of her athletic ability.
Now he started paying attention.
The way she moved between equipment.
The effortless balance.
The ridiculous control over her body.
The way she could change direction without losing momentum.
Slade folded his arms.
“How the hell did I not know this?”
The recruit laughed.
“Probably because she doesn’t talk about it.”
That sounded about right.
Slade watched as she casually moved into a handstand.
Held it.
Then transitioned out of it with almost insulting ease.
One of the men stared.
“Okay.”
Another shook his head.
“That’s not normal.”
Slade’s mouth twitched.
“No.”
He watched her continue training.
There was no showboating.
No attempt to impress anyone.
She simply moved like someone whose body had been trained for years to obey her without hesitation.
Slade suddenly understood several things.
Why she had exceptional balance.
Why she could recover from awkward landings so quickly.
Why she could squeeze through spaces other recruits struggled with.
Why her flexibility was borderline ridiculous.
She hadn’t simply been athletic.
She’d been an Olympian.
And apparently, his team had just discovered that their quiet female recruit had once stood on the world’s biggest gymnastics stage and walked away with a medal.
One of the recruits looked at Slade.
“So… does this mean she gets special treatment?”
Slade didn’t even look at him.
“No.”
A pause.
“She gets harder training.”
The man’s face fell.
“Boss—”
Slade walked toward the training floor.
“If she’s good enough to medal at the Olympics…”
He glanced toward her.
“…I’m curious what else she can do.”
The team immediately realized something unfortunate.
They hadn’t just discovered their teammate’s secret.
They had accidentally given Slade a new reason to make her demonstrate every single skill she had.