The smell of chlorine filled the air inside the natatorium at Rainbow's base in Herefordshire, England. The gloomy sky outside the high windows had long since darkened and the overhead lights hummed with electricity. The only other noise came from the pool where Meghan "Valkyrie" Castellano was finishing her workout. Her Olympic dreams may have been shattered years ago when her arm was broken, but even that hadn't kept her out of the water for long. She loved the way her muscles thrummed with strength when pushed to their limits. After she finished her last lap, she stood up in the water and pulled her goggles off. The large clock on the wall read that it was nearly 10:00pm. She felt herself shiver while imagining what the English autumn weather was like outside and felt a sudden need for a hot shower.

Rivulets of fiery water traced the elaborate tattoos that wrapped around Meghan's arms. She turned off the faucet and grabbed her towels, but stayed basking in the steam for a little longer. She dried herself off with one towel and wrapped it around herself before heading back to the lockers. As she ruffled her hair dry with the second towel, she walked around the corner and bumped into somebody. Confused, she pulled the towel down from her face and saw that she'd run into Taina "Caveira" Pereira, one of Rainbow's newest additions. Judging by her clothes and the frazzled condition of her thick, brown braid, she had just come in from a workout as well.

"Sorry about that," Meghan said. "I didn't hear anyone else moving around in here."

"No one hears me unless I want them to," Taina said flatly, staring into her locker as she moved things around. Meghan was surprised by how little of an accent she had and how husky her voice was. It wasn't like the male voices she'd been surrounded by her entire military career, but it was something that she looked forward to having around. She began drying her hair again.

"There are certainly some people here that could learn a lesson from you then," Meghan said with a grin hidden beneath the fabric. "Any member of Rainbow that carries a shield sounds like a freight train when they move."

When she lowered the towel, Taina had vanished but her locker was open and her shower kit was gone. Meghan whistled softly, impressed.

"Damn. She wasn't joking," she muttered to herself. She got dressed in her NAVY sweats and made her way to the racks, ready to fall asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow.

"Glad she's on our side."

Author's Note

Sorry for this being so short; this was something that I did to practice writing on a time crunch. This was only really meant to introduce Valkyrie and Caveira and get a brief idea of their character. I'm getting help with a few ideas to flesh out their relationship later, which I'm really looking forward to. Thanks to toffee_bit for all the inspiration!

-Fluff