Disclaimer: They're not mine in any way shape or form. because if they were, I would've aired the new episodes already! DX

No Time Like the Right Now

Back from his daily swim in the ocean, Kaldur gasped quietly as he broke the surface of the Mount Justice pool. Wiping the water from his eyes he blinked as he noticed the blonde sitting by the edge of the pool, her holding her knees towards her chest, staring into the water. His normally hyper-alert teammate looked very lost in thought.

"Artemis?" he called softly as he smoothly waded towards her. She snapped her head up, her face creasing into a frown when she saw him, "Is everything all right?"

The archer opened her mouth only to close it again, her brows furrowing together as she looked away. This worried him, as he'd never seen her at a loss for words. Lightly placing a wet hand on her forearm in concern, he was surprised when she immediately jumped to her feet.

Startled silver eyes met spooked obsidian ones and he finally noticed she was in a dark green bikini.

"You are going swimming?" he asked using the question as an excuse to look her up and down. Sure it wasn't exactly noble of him, but he was a male and he couldn't help but appreciate a nice female form wearing only scraps of cloth. Even if this particular female just so happened to be his new mysterious teammate.

"Wh-where did you come from? What, can you just materialize out of water now? " she demanded, her voice annoyed.

"No I cannot. The bottom of the pool is connected to the ocean for easy access to all Atlantean League members," he responded, his voice even and steady, as though he might scare her away.

"Oh," again, Artemis did that fish-like motion of opening and closing her mouth. She glared down at the water while tightening her knuckles. Though her face was annoyed, her body language suggested she was... frightened.

"Something is wrong," he stated and her eyes darted to him. A look of vulnerability flashed so quickly through her eyes that he almost thought he had not seen it. It wasn't right, Artemis was the tough one of the group, anything that would make her feel vulnerable would not be accepted.

"Let me help," he said hearing a hard edge to his voice. Again the flash of vulnerability raced through her eyes and he had enough. He hoisted himself out of the pool, readying himself to destroy whatever it was that made her feel this way. He wouldn't say this out loud, but she was a part of his team, and he protected what was his with a ferocity rivaling the eels on his arms.

"Urgh! Warn a girl would ya?" she asked sounding annoyed, but she shifted her weight quickly, stepping away from the puddle he created. Confused, he called the puddle to his hand and watched Artemis eye it angrily as she stepped away.

"You... are you scared of water?" he asked perplexed beyond imagination. How could anyone not like water?

"No!" she snapped indignantly, swiping the water orb away from her while mumbling something under her breath.

"I am sorry... I did not hear that," Kaldur said calmly and without inflection, so she wouldn't mistake it as him teasing her.

"I said I can't swim okay!" Artemis burst angrily while crossing her arms tightly under her chest though it looked like she was holding herself. She pursed her lips but glanced at him with that nervouse look on her face and there was no mistaking it this time. He pushed the water away from his teammate and back into the pool. How had he not seen this in her before?

Suddenly glimpses of her stepping away from him in battle under the pretense of giving him space flashed in his mind. Honorable Kaldur felt a pain in his chest; here he was wanting to destroy the thing that made her scared and all this time, it was him.

The archer mistook his silence and self-condemnation as disgust for her and scoffed angrily, holding herself more tightly. He couldn't help but... notice that she was wearing a very small bikini top, and the way her arms... displayed her chest.

Redirecting his eyes he asked, "Would you like to learn..?"

"Of course I would. What if we have an under water mission, or I get thrown into a lake or–"

"I will teach you. Come," Though the order came out calmly, it was in stark contrast to what he was feeling inside. What if she got thrown into a lake and he wasn't able to get to her in time? Was she to drown because he didn't foresee this sooner?

"What? You mean right now?" Artemis asked a bit of panic in her tone. He stopped at the stairs that lead to the shallow end while smiling encouragingly.

"You are dressed for it. And what is that saying...? No time like the right now?" he asked knowing it was wrong, but he felt it was necessary to show he wasn't perfect.

"It's 'No time like the present,' but there's also the saying 'no time like tomorrow!' So how about we do that instead?"

"I see..." he stated sadly as he looked away, "You do not think me an adequate teacher. Shall I ask Wally or Robin to help you instead?"

"No, to both things. I'm sure you'll be a great teacher, but..." She glanced at the water warily and he couldn't help but chuckle softly.

"I promise, it will be painless."

"Said the water-breathing Atlantean who can't drown," she said finally showing what her fear really was.

"I will protect you," he said with so much conviction that it sounded like a vow.

"I don't need you to protect me, I need to not drown," she said sounding more like her old self again as she put her hands on her hips.

"You need to learn to swim," he curbed the demand by smiling. Artemis stared into his eyes as if to test his will. Whatever she saw in there made her chuckle. Taking a deep breath, she walked up to him and he held out a hand to her. After a moment's hesitancy, she took it and he led her down the steps until she stopped with the water at her thighs. Even when he tugged she didn't budge, forcing him to look back at her.

"Weren't you born in the water? How are you going to teach me to swim? It's instinct for you!" she exclaimed getting more and more panicked as she continued.

He blinked and admitted to himself that he hadn't thought that far ahead. It was true that it was like trying to explain how to breath to an air breather... Letting his uncertainty show on his face made her laugh with a hysterical edge to it as she tried to pull her hand out of his.

"Trust me," he said refusing to let her go.

Okay so this wasn't so bad...

Artemis was floating on her stomach and concentrated very hard on keeping her face out of the water. She'd already accidentally taken a giant gulp of water and she did not want to do that again.

The archer knew Kaldur had the patience of a god, but she thought for sure she would've broken that by now. It took them close to an hour to get her to lift her feet off the ground, and twice that to get her to let go of the edge. She was surprised that none of her teammates had shown up to watch her make a spectacle of herself.

Kaldur was currently hovering by her stomach so she knew he was around, and she felt his hands around her as he walked her around the shallow end. Artemis always liked baths, and that helped her. The pool was just a giant salty bath. That's all.

Checking to see how deep she was and fully expecting to see a low single digit number on the side of the pool, she glanced over to confirm it, only to realize she was much deeper than she wanted to be. She immediatly froze, which, she realized, was not really a smart thing to do as she immediately felt herself sink into Aqualad's arm.

"12 fee-eek!" she yelled in full panic mode. That was more than twice her height! She clung to Kaldur like a cat, claws out and everything. She heard him grunt surprised at her reaction and felt herself slowly sink. Panicking more because of it, she climbed her leader like a totem poll and when she got to the end of him, she futilely reached for the ceiling as she sunk to her death.

Before her head became fully submerged, she felt Kaldur tightly hold her bridal style and felt the sudden rush of water surround her as he swam them up and out of the pool. Swinging her legs out of his arm, she exhaled as her feet touched solid ground.

Kaldur was stroking her back to calm her and she held him tightly, needing to feel his solid warmth and the ground below her. He saved her.

Artemis looked up about to say what she thought, but stopped when her leader started laughing. She almost died, and he was laughing! Angry now, she punched her leader and sat firmly on the ground bringing him with her as he was still holding her. He crouched in front of her and used her shoulders lean on as he laughed.

"Stop laughing! This is all your fault!" she said childishly as she held her heart like it would fall out otherwise. She was on dry ground now, and she wasn't about to do that again any time soon, so why wouldn't it slow down? !

Aqualad said nothing but continued laughing a deep belly rumbling laugh that vibrated into her. He was basically hugging her and he was only wearing his swim trunks so she could feel his muscles ripple as he laughed. Okay... so maybe she knew why her heart was beating a mile a minute, but...

"I almost died!" She frowned angrily and punched him again though her statement only caused him to laugh harder. She crossed her arms under her chest and pouted indignantly, as he sat back, finally letting her go.

"Are you done?" she asked angrily, though she realized that she had never heard him laugh this way before. He barely laughed as it was and that thought made her sad. Suddenly she wished she let him laugh longer. It was a nice sound.

"I am sorry," he stated wiping the tears in his eyes, then started to chuckle as he asked, "did you actually claw for the ceiling?"

"I was scared, okay? !" she yelled stomping a foot and he burst out laughing again. She frowned at her childish behaviour but couldn't stop the smile reaching her lips. Suddenly the whole situation replayed itself and she saw how ridiculous she acted.

Okay, so it was kind of funny.

But she still almost died.

AN: this was finished because of the kaldur and artemis challenge. so like it? hate it? i want to hear it! please review!