"I… okay." Angela moved onto the mat, her movements cautious.
"Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart," Dawn instructed. "Good. Now bend your knees slightly. You want to be balanced but ready to move."
Jude watched as Angela adjusted her stance, noting how she seemed to shrink in on herself despite Dawn's encouraging tone. He'd seen this before—people who'd lived with fear for so long that the idea of fighting back felt foreign, almost wrong.
"Perfect," Dawn said. "Now, Angela, I want you to practice a simple palm strike. Target is here." She gestured to the center of the padded target she held in front of her. "Using the heel of your palm, drive up and through."
Angela hesitated, her hand barely making contact when she attempted the strike.
“Harder," Dawn encouraged. "Remember, this person is trying to hurt you."
Angela tried again, with slightly more force, but Jude could see her holding back.
"May I?" he asked, stepping closer.
Handing him the target, Dawn stepped aside as Jude approached Angela, keeping his movements slow and deliberate.
"I know this feels unnatural," he said, his voice low enough that only she could hear. "But think about Kiara. If someone was threatening her, what would you do?"
Something flashed in Angela's blue-green eyes—a protective instinct that Jude had been counting on.
"I'd do whatever it took," she said quietly.
"That's the mindset. This isn't about aggression. It's about protection. Yours and those you care about."
He positioned himself in front of her, holding up the padded target. "Try again. This time, think about creating distance between a threat and someone you love."
Angela took a deep breath, adjusted her stance as Dawn had shown her, and struck the pad with the heel of her palm. The impact was solid enough to mildly jar Jude.
"Good," he said, approval in his voice. "Much better."
A small smile tugged at Angela's lips, and Jude felt something shift in his chest—pride, but also something warmer he didn't want to focus on right then.
He gestured for her to try again, and then again. Each time her confidence inched up.
"Now it’s Kiara's turn," Dawn called after a few minutes, gesturing for Kiara to join them on the mat.
Unlike her sister, Kiara approached with barely contained enthusiasm. "I've been waiting for this my whole life," she said, bouncing lightly on her toes.
"Glad to hear it," Dawn said with a laugh.
Jude gave the padded target back to Dawn, then stepped out of their way.
As Jude watched Kiara throw herself into the training with enthusiasm, he couldn't help but notice the stark contrast between the sisters. Where Angela approached with caution, Kiara seemed to have been waiting for permission to fight back her entire life.
"Whoa, easy there," Dawn laughed as Kiara's palm strike nearly knocked her off balance. "Save some for the actual attackers."
After a few more strikes, Dawn motioned for Annie and Angela to join them. "Let me show you both a technique that works particularly well for women. This is about using your opponent's weight against them."
For the next little while, Jude observed from a few feet away, arms crossed over his chest. Though Annie was participating in the training, she was definitely not her usual self. During the moments when Dawn was explaining things to Angela and Kiara, she was distracted, often pulling out her phone.
Jude was concerned, but he didn’t know what to do to help her. He wondered whether he should have a conversation with Duncan about it.
But was that his place? Her aloofness obviously wasn’t a security concern, but he really did view her more as a younger sister than just part of the job.
Annie wasn’t the only one he was struggling to maintain a professional relationship with.
His gaze kept drifting to Angela and noticing the way she bit her lower lip in concentration. How her eyes widened when Annie demonstrated a particularly effective move. How at times she seemed to be talking to herself. Perhaps psyching herself up.
