Please tell me what you think and enjoy :D

L.L.A.P

~Laces

Conner wished that he could help Athena more with her training. He knew that he couldn't do it for her, but whenever she grunted in pain or frustration when doing something, Conner wanted to just tell her she could stop and get her away from the training room.

However, Athena was very big about training. She wanted to be a hero one day, and even though she didn't know when or what name she would go by, she knew that she needed to get her powers under control.

"Are you alright?" Conner inquired with worry as Athena held slabs of cement over her head. Her arms shook slightly, but she was clearly focused.

"Y-yes." she nodded. "Can you add another slab?" she questioned, looking over at the pile of cement slabs.

"Okay, remember, tell me if it gets too heavy." Conner said with some worry in his voice. He didn't want her to get in over her head and injure herself.

She nodded mutely and Conner added another slab of cement over the girl.

Her arms shook but she continued to hold the slabs. She was breathing heavily, but she was pushing herself as muh as she could.

Conner wanted to cheer her on and try to push her to do as best as she could, but he knew not to pressure her. If she got too pressured she'd get scared and break down. It had happened once before and Conner didn't want a repeat.

He remembered pushing her, telling her that she could keep holding a basketball in the air, even when she said she couldn't. And then the girl broke down. She zoned out as if she was no longer there, and she shook in fear. There was no tears, only a look of horror.

Conner believed that it reminded Athena when she was at Cadmus, and would get yelled at whenever she said she couldn't do something.

Athena wasn't good with being yelled at.

"C-Conner." Athena shuttered as she started to sink to her knees, buckling at the weight of the cement.

Conner quickly grabbed the cement slabs and hauled them off of Athena's hands.

The girl sighed in relief and swung her arms finaly giving them a rest after about thirty minutes of the weight lifting. She was relieved to have her arms free, however, she had a frown on her fac.

Conner gave her an encouraging smile.

"That was great, Athena. twenty seven slabs. Five more than last week." He grinned, but Athena kept the frown on her face.

"I was so close to Thirty." she sighed and Conner placed a hand on her shoulder.

"You're getting better each day. You'll get to thirty soon." Conner smiled, and Athena's frown melted away.

"So, what next?" Athena inquired.

"Next we're going to work on your super hearing." He informed, and Athena winced slightly, remembering the last time they practice her super hearing.

She remembered all the pain and how she was having trouble focusing.

"Don't worry. It'll be okay." Conner said in a comforting voice. "The more you practice, the better you get at it." The clone then showed Athena a CD player with headphones.

"After this training session, I'll give you these and you can focus on Elvis and relax." He informed.

"Okay." Athena sighed.

"Alright, now, Gar is watching television in the living room. Try to focus on the television and just the television. Drown out any other sounds."

Athena took in a deep breath and opened her ears, listening for the television. She found it, and quickly tried to hone in on the device, and nothing else.

"I can hear the television." Athena whispered. "He's watching Tom and Jerry." She informed, and felt accomplished that she was able to concentrate on the television and not anyone else.

"That's great." Conner smiled. "Now, can you hear Gar's breath? Or heartbeat."

Athena took in a deep breath, and tried to listen for the sound of Gar's breath. However, just when she thought she found it, her concentration snapped for a moment, and that's all it took.

Athena grunted in pain and covered her ears.

"Focus, Athena." Conner said quickly, holding the girl tightly. "Just focus on my voice right now, okay. Focus on my voice."

Conner rubbed Athena's back as he continued talking, giving the girl something to focus on.

"I-I'm okay now." Athena whispered, and shook her head. "I really don't like super hearing."

"It'll be okay. You did better than last time. You can only improve." Conner informed gently, and Athena nodded, but still frowned.

Conner handed Athena the CD player and headphones.

"Relax and listen to music. Then we can go out for ice cream, okay?"

Athena smiled slightly, accepting the headphones gratefully, and she sat down on one of the comfortable chairs.

"Thank you for training me." Athena whispered, and Conner grinned. He kissed the top of her head, then sat in a chair next to her.

"No problem."