Annie's sweat smelled different. Auggie was trying to concentrate on their sparring session, but there was something distinctly different about Annie today, and he was having a hard time concentrating. He had accidentally hit her in the head once already, though she should have known to duck.
Annie, herself, was having a hard time concentrating on her bob and weave technique when Auggie's shirt was clinging so nicely to his body. She tried to come up with an excuse to press against him, and missed his arm coming toward her head.
"This isn't working, is it?" Auggie asked.
"I'm sorry, I'm just having a hard time focusing." Annie replied.
"Me too. Did you change shampoo or something?"
"I showered at your house this morning, remember?"
"Oh," Auggie replied. "So, less hand-to hand today, maybe we should work with the heavy bag?"
"That sounds like a good idea."
In the end, the two operatives completed a workout, but nothing like the training sessions they were used to. That evening at Allen's, Auggie suggested a new idea.
"You know the Agency has trainers that you can use. They probably would be a good idea to consult even if you weren't constantly trying to jump me in the gym."
"I haven't tried to jump you! I've just been distracted."
"Distracted by wanting to jump me. But that's ok. Maybe you should check them out, at least to supplement the training you're getting from the blind guy."
Annie sipped her beer and thought about working with anybody other than Auggie. "That doesn't sound like fun at all."
"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger." Auggie stated with a grin. "And really, when fight training seems 'fun,' we are probably on the wrong track."
"What about you? Would you come work with them, too?"
"No."
"Why not? You need practice, too."
"I'm fine with the heavy bag." Auggie replied.
"When is the last time you had a fight lesson?" Annie asked.
"You, my dear, are the field operative. You need your fight lessons. I'm the guy back at the desk."
"The guy back at the desk that's gotten in a few fights the past few years. Some of them were even on an official mission."
"And I handled myself just fine."
"Are you saying I haven't?"
"I'm saying you need the training more than I do."
"It's not limited." Annie replied.
Auggie sighed. "Okay. We both try the Agency fight trainer. I haven't met the new guy, but the past three haven't wanted to go anywhere near the blind computer geek."
Annie smiled. "If he gives you any trouble, we'll attack him in the locker room. I'll get him into close quarters, and you finish him off."
"That probably won't help, but I like the way you think."
...
Auggie walked into the gym with an open mind. He had no problem scheduling a session with the new trainer.
"You must be August." A male voice announced.
"That would be me," Auggie replied, reaching his hand out to shake. "You can call me Auggie."
"Nice to meet you Auggie. I'm Leroy. I've been excited about this since you signed up."
"Really?" Auggie replied.
"Yeah man. I love a good challenge, and the little that I know about you tells me that you will be fun to teach."
Auggie looked confused. "Are you sure you read the right file?"
"You may not be in the field, but I can tell just by looking at you that you don't spend all day behind that computer. Tell me what you usually do in the gym, and what you want to be doing."
Auggie explained his normal workouts, both alone, with his brother, and with Annie. "And I guess I'm just here to... Honestly man, I don't know why I'm here. I push to go in the field, and it seems like keeping my fight skills up is a good idea."
"I'm absolutely with you on that, man. You don't need a reason. The Agency keeps me here for everybody, and I am happy to work with anybody that wants to learn. Let's see what you got."
After about twenty minutes of going through an assessment of Auggie's skills and capabilities, Leroy led Auggie to the mat and stood across from him.
"Here's what I'm thinking. You're good, man. Really good. But you've been limited in your range and intensity. I think where we need to begin is getting you moving more. Moving for real."
Auggie grinned. "Sounds good to me, where do we begin?."
"Get on all fours on the mat."
...
Two days later, Annie stopped by Auggie's desk when it was time to leave. "Are you ready to go?" She asked.
"Yep. Just powering down." He lifted one of the headphones to hear that the system was powered off, and swapped to his normal cane. Then he very slowly got up.
"That looks painful." Annie commented.
"I haven't been this sore since my Army days." Auggie replied with a genuine smile. "It's wonderful."
Annie smiled back, loving that Auggie had gotten along with the new fight instructor so well. "I happen to find the pain to be painful."
"See, I had been going too easy on you. He told me so."
"What?" Annie replied.
"We have plans for you, grasshopper."
"He was supposed to be helping you!" Annie replied.
"And he did. He's good. He gave me some exercises we can work on together."
"I feel like I should get to talk to him about you, if you get to talk to him about me."
"You aren't my handler." Auggie said matter-of-factly.
"I handle you enough." Annie replied as she ran her free hand over the hand he had on her elbow.
Auggie grinned. "An ice pack and some Ibuprofen, and I should be able to show you some of our practice exercises tonight." His tone told her that he wasn't talking about returning to the gym.
"Does it involve hand-to-hand tactics?"
"My hands are involved." Auggie replied, with a wink.