It didn't take long for the Young Justice team to get used to having Charlie around, barking, quacking, and challenging potted plants by attacking them with his razor blades. The teenagers would simply pick up the remains of the plants, patting Charlie and telling him that he was doing a great job.

Today they had a training session with Canary to see how their teamwork was coming along now that Superboy could train like normal again. They were all excited for it, especially when Superboy let it slip that Core was helping him a bit to fight better. The super had been making progress by leaps and bounds, no pun intended, and it was amazing to watch.

Core, himself, would take advantage of the training rooms when the team wasn't using it, flipping around on the obstacle courses and climbing walls. He was quick and took daring leaps, nearly giving the teens heart attacks when he jumped down from the top of the rope hanging from the ceiling, landing in a roll before standing straight. Superboy had berated him for that one, telling him to give him some warning so he could catch him if anything went wrong. Core looked shocked that he had even offered.

The teens helped Superboy work on his control when Core wasn't able to, tossing various fruits at him at random times with only a warning of "heads up!" Needless to say, Green Arrow was shocked when a banana hit the super on the head but wasn't able to dwell on it when Charlie caught sight of him. Fruit was stocked in the pantry to the point of overflowing but it didn't really matter when a lot of it went to waste after they went splat against the wall when Superboy dodged.

At one point, Core had to go into hiding for a bit when the League decided to do another sweep of the mountain for him. Batman knew he was around, always had, but had decided not to tell his team where he was. One of the reasons for that was because he wouldn't be able to tell you where in the mountain the man was, he moved around too much to properly track him. This time, Core had to hide out in Wally's room for a while because Canary suspected that he might have been hiding out with Superboy. It was difficult for Superboy to explain the blanket nest in his closet but he managed, stating that it was laundry he was too lazy to put away but was going to get around to at some point.

Finally, it was time for the teens' team training and they were beyond excited. With all the bonding they did, they felt as if they were closer than ever and it would only be a positive for their fighting. They knew Core was watching from the vents, so if there was anything that they needed to work on that Canary didn't catch he would be able to tell them.

Superboy and Robin were set in the front as their close range fighters while Wally and M'Gann were in the middle. Artemis and Kaldur were in the back, the blonde taking out as many robots as possible while Kaldur used his water to provide cover and attack from afar. Though the battle was over in a quick enough time thanks to their impeccable teamwork against forty robots, no records were broken for the fastest time. Still, they had fun as they made themselves protein shakes, all of them laughing over the fact that there were no bananas despite having gotten a lot because Robin kept using them as makeshift batarangs.

Core joined them at some point, diving for the blueberries in Wally's hands when the speedster grabbed them, taking them both to the ground as he tackled him. The man told them how proud he was, that their teamwork was really improving, though Superboy had to work a bit on his temper in regards to orders, Robin had to tell the team when he decided to sneak off, and Wally had to be less reckless just because he had super speed. M'Gann needed to work on her confidence in herself, seeing as she seemed to hesitate for too long in a battle, and Artemis had to practice shooting her arrows faster and in greater quantity. Core, however, was focused a lot on Kaldur, who seemed a bit tense under the man's stare even if he couldn't see his eyes.

"You wish to help me with my abilities?" Kaldur wondered as he set down his half-finished protein shake on the counter.

"Yeah." Core shrugged, stuffing a handful of blueberries in his mouth. When he finished chewing, he continued. "It'll be fun. I can teach you cool techniques and shit."

The teen was a bit hesitant. "Not to be rude but I don't believe you would be able to assist me in regards to controlling water. The only one who really could would be Aquaman."

He waved him off dismissively. "I have my ways. Trust me, it'll be fine. You don't have to worry about anything."

Somehow, that sentence only made Kaldur worry more.

Robin took the time to grab Core's hand, dragging the man to the living room where they were setting up some movie. If he caught the man's momentary look of discomfort, the corner of his lips turning down, he didn't mention it. "Come on, you have to watch this with us. Hurry up, guys, I'm going to start it without you!"

"Shouldn't you all shower?" Core tried to scoot away from the young hero but found himself blocked when Wally flopped down on the couch next to him. "You all stink."

"Aw, come on, Brook! Don't be like that," Wally whined, trying to get comfortable from where he was almost half draped on the man. "We're tired."

The man turned to him slowly, seemingly caught off guard. "What did you just call me?"

The speedster shrugged. "Brook. You know, like a creek? I don't know, I learned about it in school. Why, is it bad?"

Artemis chose that moment to join the conversation. "Why would you call him something like a creek? Wouldn't you want to call him something that has to do with his goggles or his weird vent fetish?"

"It's not a fetish!"

Wally turned to the blonde, putting a hand on Core's shoulder in a small attempt at possibly calming him down. "I mean, usually? It's just… He smells like the beach? I'm not trying to be weird, it's true! Also…" He looked at Core, who seemed like a deer caught in headlights despite the fact that they couldn't see his eyes. "I saw you by the pool the other day. You know you're allowed to swim in it, right?"

Core was silent for a moment before he stood up, gently shrugging off the hand on him. "You should all shower, you're assaulting my nose."

"Core, are you okay?" Kaldur asked as the man went to walk past him. "If we said something that upset you-"

"No, no. You… You guys didn't, I'm just being silly. I'm going to take Charlie to the League's headquarters. I was serious about you all showering, though. You guys stink."

With that, Core snatched up the barking Roomba and jumped in the vents, seeming to disappear in one quick movement.

There was a moment of silence before Artemis spoke. "It's definitely a fetish."