Scene 3 - Relaxation: Part I

"Is it wise for you to enter the pool?" The Atlantean asked as the team was winding down at the pool after a day of tough training.

"Relax man; if she wants to take a dip, I'm sure she'll be fine." A blur sped by and landed an arm on Kaldur's shoulder.

Brianna chuckled, "Wally's right. I may have fire based powers but I'm not going to melt and disintegrate in water. I'm still human after all." She sat down at the edge of the pool before sliding down into the cool water.

Everyone followed suit as they immersed themselves into the pool, sighing as their aches and pains slowly went away. "Black Canary has been training us rather intensely lately," Robin said as the rest nodded in agreement. Much to the amusement of his teammates, he still kept his identity a secret by wearing a pair of dark goggles.

"Are you ever going to take your stylish eyewear off?" Wally mused as he swam around.

The Boy Wonder shook his head, "No way! I look cool in these." He then splashed some water just as Kid Flash surfaced.

"Hey!"

A creepy laughter emanated from the youngest prankster as he swam away from an annoyed Wally.

Ignoring the childish banter, Superboy stared into the water in deep thought. "Why is she training us so hard lately?"

Kaldur shrugged and attempted to reason. "I suppose that since we have learned the basics, we're progressing to a higher level of learning." Conner just kept quiet as he contemplated on his team leader's answer.

Tired of Robin's play, Wally swam up to the team leader. "Hey Kaldur, care for a race?"

Brianna raised her eyebrows, "Are you sure you want to take on someone who was born and bred in the ocean?"

Artemis waved her hand dismissively, "Oh, just let him. If the fastest boy on land wants to challenge an Atlantean, he's probably going to cheat."

Wally frowned. "I will not! I'll prove it to you." He beckoned Kaldur and swam to the starting point.

The blonde boy looked a little uneasy. "Brianna is right, Wally. You will be at a disadvantage."

The redhead shook his head defiantly, "It's just exercise."

Kaldur'ahm sighed and got into position. Megan counted down and both boys took off with Kaldur sailing ahead through the water gracefully. It soon became apparent that Wally was going to lose and at the half-way mark, he kicked his legs quickly at the surface of the water which helped him speed up significantly. Still, Kaldur reached the finish line a while before him and he stared at the speedster, shaking his head.

"Aw Wally, you said you won't cheat," Megan pouted and crossed her arms as Wally grinned sheepishly.

"I guess I have a competitive streak."

Kaldur patted the speedster's back. "I hope you maintain your integrity elsewhere, my friend."

"I guess no one will ever beat Kaldur at swimming," Brianna said matter-of-factly and the Atlantean turned towards her.

"You won't know till you swim against me."

She raised an eyebrow and everyone followed suit. "You were discouraging Wally before and now you're egging me on?"

Kaldur hammed and hawed briefly before he spoke, "Just take it as training. You never know when you are going to fight underwater."

The brunette looked on in disbelief and shrugged. Once more, Megan counted down and the two teens began swimming. As usual, Kaldur took the lead but for some strange reason, Brianna was catching up. Soon, both were neck-in-neck and it seemed no one was ahead of the other. At the last few metres, Brianna surged forward and touched the wall first. She won and the girls squealed with delight. "Whoo-hoo! Go Brianna!" The Martian cheered, splashing water everywhere.

Brianna smiled, extending a hand towards a shocked Kaldur as he grasped it, "How did you swim so fast?"

The girl smiled cheekily. "You said to take it like training, didn't you? I assumed that I was fighting underwater so I used my flight powers."

"Well… you make a good point," Aqualad conceded as he accepted his defeat.

The team roared with laughter in the background at their leader's defeat. "Brianna, you're a genius!" Robin called out and all Brianna could do was smile, "I guess you need more training, Kaldur."

Aqualad rubbed his head with embarrassment. After all, he was not used to swimming in pools.

Author's Note: Shippy is shippy. =P

I see no one has reviewed so far. Is my writing that horrible? =(