Title: Let's Get Down To It
Author:
raisintorteRating: PG-13
Warnings: Fighting; Spoilers through Reunion.
Word count: 921
Summary: Sam never thought she would be the newbie again, but here she was proving herself all over again.
A/N: Thanks to
wojelah for giving it a read though, and
smittywing for letting me spam. From the prompt: Ronon/Sam: make it your own - teach me your ways.
"Colonel." Ronon nodded to Carter as she walked into the gym.
"Ronon. Fancy meeting you here." She smiled brightly at him.
"I'm here every morning." He must have sounded harsher than he intended because Sam's smile slipped a bit. He walked away from her and over to the punching bag. She followed him, talking as she walked. He didn't want to deal with her yet - outside of going back for her, he wasn't ready to deal with what happened with Elizabeth and talking to Carter made Elizabeth's absence painfully obvious.
"You don't really like me, do you?" Apparently she wasn't going to beat around the bush.
"Don't know you." Ronon grunted and started punching the bag.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Carter move off to the side and watch him punch the bag for a minute or so before she spoke. "Fair enough. Want to?"
"What?" Ronon stopped punching and looked up at her.
"Get to know me." Her eyes met his and she smiled.
"Not really. Wanna fight?" He didn't smile back. He knew she wasn't here to replace Elizabeth, Elizabeth wasn't replaceable and Carter had had nothing to do with what happened. He just wasn't ready to welcome her with open arms.
"Sure." Carter grinned, issuing a challenge with her eyes. Ronon didn't actually expect her to say yes, so he stared at her dumbly for a second.
He didn't have time to formulate any sort of response before Carter walked onto the mat and stood there, clearly waiting for him to make the first move. Ronon wasn't sure exactly how to play this, but he wasn't going to treat her differently than any other solider. He stepped onto the mat, but instead of stopping across from her and posturing (like the marines liked to), he kept walking and kicked her legs out from under her before she had a chance to react. He watched the shock cross her face as she went down, butt-first.
***
Sam felt her butt hit the floor and wasn't even sure what happened. One second, she was trying to make friends with Ronon and the next, he was knocking her legs out from under her. He was looking at her as if he expected her to get up and run.
Well, that wasn't her style. He didn't know that though - she'd just have to show him. She pushed herself up and started circling. She probably couldn't take him down, but she could put up a good fight.
Ronon advanced on her and she watched his arms, looking for the little movements that would telegraph his next move. When he swung with his left arm, she ducked down and punched him in the gut, which was rather like punching a brick wall. He was quick and grabbed her arm before she pull it back, twisting her around and pulling it up behind her back. She grunted in pain, but didn't cry out. She had a feeling that if she cried uncle, he would stop, but she wasn't ready to give up yet.
She took a page out of the self defense handbook and slammed her foot down on his instep. She didn't think she hurt him, but whatever she did was enough for him to loosen his grip and her to pull free.
The circled and swung and twirled and twisted and kicked and punched until he had her on the floor, knee in her back, forearm pressing her head to the ground. She didn't have the energy to move, let alone push him off her and start all over again.
"Uncle." Sam muffled into the floor, panting.
"What?" Ronon relaxed his stance a little, enough for her to turn her head, but he still held her down.
"Uncle. You win." At those words, Ronon pulled away. She used her last reserves to flip herself onto her back. She laid there for a moment, staring up at the training room ceiling, trying to summon the energy to push herself up. She had almost gotten her elbows in position when she felt Ronon's hands on her upper arms, hauling her to her feet. He must have realized she wasn't so steady because he held onto her for a few seconds, letting her get her bearings.
"Good fight. First time I fought Lorne I took him out in two minutes." Sam looked over at the clock - though it had seemed like hours, only ten minutes had passed since they started fighting.
"I think I took Lorne out in two minutes the first time we fought." Sam smiled at Ronon and swept a hand though her hair, which had come undone during the fight. "Would you like to grab breakfast?"
"Thanks, but I'm meeting Sheppard for a run. You want to come?" Ronon eyes sparkled a little; he clearly knew she was tired, but he was issuing another challenge, like the fight had been.
"Sure." She might be tired, but the one thing she had learned over her years with the program was that she could do just about anything, no matter how tired she felt. She had hazed a few newbies in her days - she never thought she would be the newbie again, but here she was proving herself all over again.
She pulled her hair up and followed Ronon out of the training room. She was making progress - and if she was a little sore and a little tired at the end of it all, well, she was fine with that.