MAINTAINING FOCUS
February 2006

Ronon walked down the corridor toward his quarters. He was covered in sweat and dirt, and he longed for a shower.

Blessed be the Earth people for being sticklers for hygiene.

He passed a door that was slightly ajar and paused in his steps. Brows furrowing, he stepped to it and peered through the crack.

The language girl—Brady—stood in the middle of the tiny office. She had pushed the cluttered desk to the wall and stood in the center of the room with her arms raised over her head. She slowly kicked one leg forward, bringing her arms down. Planting her foot, she pivoted to the side, gently bringing her arms around and pushing her palms away from her.

Ronon flipped the switch that opened the door the rest of the way, assuming that the thin white cords that ran from her ears to the small blue square on her lapel obscured her hearing. She continued her slow, enchanting dance and he leaned against the door.

She pushed her leg, dragging her toes in a circle and pivoting around slowly.

"SHIT!"

Ronon smiled as the girl flinched and thumped a hand to her chest.

"Sorry," he said, though his tone was totally unapologetic.

"What are you doing skulking around here?" Brady demanded as she removed her earbuds.

"Just on my way to my quarters and saw your door open. What were you doing there?" he asked, moving his finger in a circle.

"Harnessing my chi," Brady said, tossing her music player onto the desk.

"What?"

"It's an Earth thing. My Tai Chi instructor said it would allow me to focus my attention and finish things."

"Does it work?" Ronon asked, crossing his arms.

"I dunno. I only went to one class," Brady said with a smile.

Ronon strode forward lazily, fingering through books and papers.

"Did you need something else?" Brady asked, taking a stack of papers from him.

"No," Ronon said, looking at her. He stepped closer, watching her face.

Her jaw clenched defiantly as he purposely invaded her space. He barely restrained a chuckle as her brown eyes narrowed and she turned her face up to him, standing her ground as if a hurricane could not move her.

Ronon turned to the desk, hiding his smile from her as he picked up a book and thumbed through it.

"Would you stop that?" she demanded, snatching the book away. "You're jacking up my system."

"System?" he repeated disbelievingly. "How can you find anything on that desk?"

"I know exactly where everything is. I know what I've read, what I've translated, and what I'm still working on because there are too many components to go through without going completely insane."

"Ah. You're stuck on something, aren't you?"

"I'm not stuck," Brady said. "I just...I have a lot of energy that I need to burn so I can focus."

Ronon's eyebrow flicked up and he gave her a crooked grin. "I've got just the thing."

Shower forgotten, he turned and walked from the office. When Brady didn't immediately follow, he stuck his head back in the door and waved her on.

"This isn't going to involve nakedness of any kind, right?"

"I guess that just depends on what you like," he replied, opening the door.

"Oh," Brady said as she recognized the layout for a training room.

Ronon tossed her a pair of sticks and walked to the center of the mat.

"So essentially you want me to stop doing my valuable work and instead...hit you with these sticks?"

"It'll help you focus better than that slow stuff you were doing."

She twirled a stick and watched him uncertainly.

"I thought you said you knew how to fight," Ronon goaded.

"I do know how to fight," she replied. "I just have never been good at fake fighting."

"So don't fake it," he said, taking a stance. "Gimme your best shot."

Brady sighed and crossed her sticks. Lunging forward, she swung at Ronon's thigh. He blocked it effortlessly.

"That's your best?"

Brady shrugged. "I can't fight believably if there's no threat."

Ronon straightened, the corners of his mouth curving in a way that had Brady swallowing nervously.

Me and my big mouth, she thought.

She watched as he moved off the mat and drew a long staff from the mount on the wall. He walked back to the middle of the floor and twirled the staff, first over his head and then on either side of his body, switching hands smoothly.

He began to circle her—the predator and his prey.

"Consider yourself threatened," he said, baring his teeth as he continued to circle her. "If I move in for a strike, I will strike hard. You will feel pain."

"Um...I think I'm focused enough. I really should get back to work. It's been fun and all, but—"

He lunged and swung his staff at her torso, so she crossed her sticks and blocked it, pushing his staff away with a grunt. Again and again he attacked, but she blocked each one. So it went until she was sweaty and panting.

She moved on the mat rotating in time with him, step for step. She skipped forward and swung at his chest with her right hand, striking at his thigh with her left at the same time. He blocked the chest shot with his hand but his staff was too slow to block at his thigh, so she got in the hit.

He went down to one knee and she knocked him to his back.

"Ready to call it a day?" Brady asked, kneeling over him with a grin.

Ronon smiled and gripped her ankles, pulling her feet out from under her. She landed with a grunt as he rolled her back and pinned her hands in one of his. He barred her throat between his forearm and the floor. She kicked and struggled beneath him, but he just pressed harder on her throat.

"Now we can call it a day," he growled with a wicked grin.

Brady laughed and closed her eyes as her body went lax, all fight gone from her. She lowered her feet to the floor with her knees still bent, no longer trying to kick Ronon away from her. She lay on the floor, taking deep breaths as she let her heart rate slow.

She heard the doors slide open and opened her eyes as Ronon rolled off her. Major Lorne stood in the doorway looking embarrassed.

"Sorry. Didn't know this room was being...used," he said, swiping the door closed again.

Brady laughed again and Ronon held his hand down to her to help her to her feet.

"Dear Lord," she groaned good-naturedly, rubbing her lower back. "So tell the truth. Were you holding back a lot?"

"Off and on. You would have actually taken me down there at the end if you hadn't been so hellbent on talking."

"It's a curse," she said, grinning.

Ronon felt his lips quirk in response before clearing his throat and returning the weapons to their proper places.

"You should work on keeping your mouth shut. You'll live longer that way," he said.

"I'll try to work on that," she replied, opening the doors. "I better get back to the office. Later, Ronon."