Last time: This Lt. Cadman getting stuck in Rodney's brain business (in chapter 23) is probably the worst few days of Zelenka's career on Atlantis. And Anna's here for every last humiliating bit of it. Perfect.

Chapter 26. What Are We Doing Here?

Anna swung her legs off the balcony over the stairs, her tablet lying next to her. Off. She hadn't started any of her most recent assignments. She hadn't done anything today at all. Radek had skipped out on dinner last night and breakfast this morning. She heard the door open when he came and left last night, but didn't bother saying hello.

She didn't blame him. Not really. Yes, he should have done what he thought was right instead of giving way to Sheppard, who knew even less than he did about the Wraith dart. He didn't offer any decent explanation about what happened to Doctor McKay, either. All he got for his trouble was a public castigation. Anna didn't know whether to share his embarrassment because the blame was unjust, or to hoard her own embarrassment that he didn't have the self-respect to stand up for himself. And she was indivisibly tied to that.

He didn't listen to himself and he didn't listen to her, either. Maybe he deserved a majority of the blame, after all. Maybe he shouldn't have been on Atlantis in the first place. Maybe...

"Anna." She turned at the sound of Teyla's voice.

Anna forced a smile for her, but she honestly didn't know what to think of Teyla yet. Her people were, like Doctor Beckett had said, lovely. She was a leader among them with many friends and she had a position of respect here. She just didn't interact with the science team a lot.

It was no wonder, wasn't it? The science team didn't exactly command respect. Not even among themselves.

"Hello, Teyla."

"Are you waiting for someone, or…?" Teyla sat down next to her, leaning on one of the wires. She looked around below them.

"No," Anna answered.

"This is a lovely spot," she said. She sounded surprised.

This was the best view Anna had found off a balcony thus far, not counting the one in the control room. It had a nice view of the 'gate, the windows. This one was far above the mess hall, a sort of maintenance catwalk. It had a view of the ocean and all the people coming in and out. Radek had showed it to her when they first arrived.

"What are you doing up here?" Anna turned her eyes from the two botanists below to Teyla.

"I saw you from down there." Teyla pointed toward the corner, to Ronon's usual table. He was sitting there now, kicked back and looking up at them. When Teyla pointed, he waved. Teyla waved back. "I mean, we saw you."

"Ah." Anna nodded and rested her chin on the wire. "I'm not bothering anyone." It was why she was up here. She was in the way everywhere else.

"Ronon and I were going to the gym to spar," Teyla said. "We were wondering if you would like to join us?"

Her? "Spar?" Anna almost laughed.

"You looked bored," she explained.

"Well, I am," Anna admitted. She sighed.

Teyla smiled. "You do not have to participate if you do not wish, but Ronon is an accomplished fighter and I have taught many Athosian children—and Colonel Sheppard—the basics of self-defense."

Anna grinned. "Just the basics?"

Teyla laughed. "He wasn't ready for anything else."

"Okay." Anna picked up her tablet and stood. Teyla stood beside her. "I guess it couldn't really be a waste of time."

#

Ronon halted in front of her. He was much taller, broader, and in every way more intimidating than she was. Much more intimidating than when he sat in the mess hall over a mountain of food. She really doubted her ability to defend herself against anything significant when he leaned over and looked her in the eye with his dark ones.

Momentarily mystified, she almost ignored whatever he was going to say.

"You know how many pounds of pressure it takes to crush a larynx?"

So much for not paying attention.

Her hand went to her throat almost involuntarily. She shook her head, not that she would ever want to know. But she guessed if it was a choice between being physically assaulted and crushing someone's larynx, she'd better choose the latter.

"Twelve."

"Oh." Twelve pounds didn't sound like a lot. On the other hand, she hoped her larynx was stronger than that.

"Do you know how many pounds of pressure even someone like you can put into a punch?"

Even someone like you. What did that mean? She was slight, yes. She was the daughter of a scientist and she was certainly more likely to be seen hunched over a tablet than pounding a punching bag. "You mean someone that couldn't lift her own weight?" she asked.

He was right. She was a weakling…

"Fifty."

Teyla looked amused from the sidelines. Anna had just watched them almost kill each other. Ronon stopped just short of that. Anna didn't doubt that he could have killed Teyla—for all her ability—if he'd wanted to. Apparently he'd been killing with nothing but that fancy gun and his bare hands for something like seven years. That was really something.

Ronon paced before her like a military commander. And, for a split second, Anna almost forgot that she was "some scientist's daughter," as Ronon had called her. "Don't underestimate an enemy's strengths," he said. "But don't underestimate an enemy's weaknesses, either. Everything can be killed."

"Ronon." Teyla raised her eyebrows in a warning fashion.

He glanced back at her. "Did you wanna say something?"

Teyla sighed and stood. "What he's trying to say, Anna, is that everyone has the ability to defend themselves with a little bit of training."

"Even someone like me," Anna finished.

"No…" Teyla sounded thoughtful, smiled. "No, like all of us."

Anna looked up at Ronon. He pursed his lips. "That's not what I was trying to say, but it sounds good," he said. Then he looked at Anna more directly. "You're pretty young and small. I doubt you're going to be starting many fights."

"Have you met Doctor McKay?" she asked.

Teyla grinned at Ronon, who also smiled. Nevertheless, Ronon waved that away. "Just in case your first fight isn't with McKay, we'll start with defense."

Teyla nodded her approval and faced Ronon.

"Your attacker will most likely be bigger than you," Teyla said, gesturing to Ronon. He was a good head and shoulder above Teyla, too. "But that doesn't mean that you can't stand your ground."

"Or not," Ronon put in. He took a step forward into Teyla's space.

Teyla feinted back and to one side. "Giving ground doesn't necessarily mean you're losing."

"The point is to get out in one piece." Ronon pulled his two sticks from his belt—Teyla had called them bantos—flipped them in the air once, and then handed one to Teyla. "We're going to attack you—slowly. Your job is to not get hit."

Anna nodded. She figured if they put a stick in her hands, she wouldn't know how to use it. She'd trip on it even if she wasn't on the ground. To see Anna at her school's spring dance, no one would ever guess her mother was an avid dancer…

Still couldn't guess that. She almost got hit in the face by Ronon's stick twice, but he had excellent control.

"Get used to using your feet," Ronon said. He jumped around like a boxer.

"But," Teyla put in, "you don't have to use such big movements." She slinked to one side on her toes like a cat. "You're small. That's not a disadvantage." Ronon gave Teyla another attack, this one about ten times faster, and Teyla got out of the way and to Ronon's back easily.

Ronon twirled and swung his stick, but Teyla feinted back before ducking back in. Her arm was in perfect position to take a good crack at Ronon's ribs.

Almost as quickly as before, Ronon spun and backed up at the same time, lashing out with a wicked haymaker, stick in hand. This time, Teyla took the attack head on, crashing right into his arm. She swept back Ronon's shoulder, ducked under his arm, and watched him recover before she could do anything else.

Anna backed up to watch Ronon and Teyla continue their dance of not-quite-killing-each-other. "I don't know if I'll ever get this. I'm better at watching." Anna shook her head apologetically.

Ronon stopped, and Teyla almost hit him in the ribs with her stick. She stopped, of course, a centimeter away from him.

"Anna, how did you become so good at math and science?" Teyla asked.

Anna sighed. Math and science were a bit different. She was born with a brain that took to figures easily. She was also born with the equivalent of two left feet. She always had, even her mother said so. She probably would have loved if Anna enjoyed dancing as much as she did, but it was no good. Excellent vision, pattern recognition, a good ear, and more than passable hand-eye coordination.

Two left feet. Some people could duplicate motion. Anna was not one of those people.

She was pretty good at figuring out what people wanted to hear, though. She sighed. "Practice."

"This is no different," Teyla said. "But, of course, you aren't required to learn."

Ronon didn't look like he agreed with that sentiment at all. He shook his head as he put his stick under his arm. "Sitting back and watching doesn't cut it," he said to her.

Anna looked at Teyla. That was something that most people on Atlantis seemed to have in common. Even Radek. They did things. Sometimes they did it wrong. Sometimes there was no right answer. Sometimes they had two left feet. But at least they acted.

Still, Teyla smiled at Ronon. "This is true," she said. She turned to Anna. "Perhaps we were going too fast. We'll go back to the set."

Ronon shrugged.

Anna got the feeling that he didn't quite respect "her type." The scientist-type. The type whose version of "doing" involved more thinking. The type that was Radek Zelenka's daughter. She set her jaw and nodded. She had to try, at least.

Maybe even if someone called her Fumbles McStupid Junior in front of everyone.

She stepped back onto the floor where they practiced and worked through the motions that Teyla had shown her. A block above the head, then to the side. What she called a "wing block." Low. It looked beautiful when Teyla and Ronon did it.

Anna supposed she looked more like a stumbling cow.

Anna wasn't sure how long they practiced, but Teyla and Ronon took turns practicing the blocking set with her. She felt herself becoming better and better, faster and more fluid. Her arms were tired and her legs felt like Jell-o, but Teyla and Ronon didn't even look tired. Anna decided, for some reason, she wouldn't stop until they did.

Suddenly, Ronon put one of the attacks out of order. Instead of panicking and getting almost hit with Ronon's stick, she moved to block him.

He stopped, backing up a step. He lowered his stick. Teyla looked just as surprised as Anna felt. He just grinned. "Better."

Anna gasped for breath. For some reason, she was more scared now than when Ronon offered a different attack that she wasn't expecting. And she'd blocked it…

She dropped her stick and sat on the floor. Not the best idea, since she wasn't sure if she'd be able to get back up now… "Why did you do that?"

"Not everything has to fit in," Ronon said. He looked at her seriously, probably recalling their conversation from earlier. They had nothing in common… Nothing except the fact that they were nothing like Atlantis. Nothing like the people around them. They were unexpected.

Teyla nodded and sat on the floor next to Anna, tapping her shoulder with her own. "But that doesn't mean it does not belong."

A/N: Happy Thanksgiving to all all you USA readers! Hope it was a good one and stay safe out there today.

Next time: Dang, you're cute. Too bad you gotta die someday.