Scene 17 - Annoyance
Brianna did not want to leave her room but today was a special day where the League officially welcomed their newest members and their ex-teammate, Red Arrow, was chosen for Justice League membership. It had been quite an achievement for the sidekicks and the Team came along to the Hall of Justice to show their support for the archer. So right now, the brunette was all bundled up and stood next to her boyfriend as they watched the proceedings on the TV screen.
"You know, I was the one who convinced Icon to become a hero in the first place? I should be outside celebrating with him, not hidden away in here!" The newest team member said irritably as she swung her arms about.
Softly, Kaldur'ahm responded, "Welcome to our World."
There was a short period of silence before the girl smiled, "Well, I suppose there's an upside too."
There was something unnerving about Raquel's tone of voice but Brianna brushed it aside when Roy came up on screen and was given his official ID card. The trio of boys began to praise Roy for making it to the top. The new member interrupted the moment by giving a passionate declaration about looking up to the boys as her idols and she kept staring at Aqualad with admiration. Brianna was a little confused but thought no further when they were interrupted by Robin's personal computer.
"Are we going on a mission?" The new girl asked and The Boy Wonder smirked, "Batman hands out missions. Let's just call this a minission."
"That was one of the best runs I've ever done! I can't believe it really is like this." Raquel couldn't help but gush about the team and everyone smiled appreciatively. Kaldur'ahm extended his hand, "Welcome to the Team."
Entranced, the girl returned the handshake and asked, "Do you mind giving me a tour of the cave, please?"
"Of course." The Atlantean gave a friendly smile and separated his hands from hers before showing Rocket around.
From that moment on, Brianna could not shake off the feeling of how the newcomer was interacting with her boyfriend. She disliked the feeling of paranoia and… the green eyed monster.
Everyone sighed and groaned from their aches and soreness as they stumbled through the Zeta tube back to Mount Justice. It was a close call for them and they should have thanked their lucky stars that all of them made it out alive. Brianna dropped to her knees and panted while Artemis just sat on the floor. Wally plopped down beside the blonde archer and held her close while Kaldur immediately rushed to his girlfriend, "Are you alright?"
The brunette nodded and inhaled deeply before responding, "I need to catch my breath."
Miss Martian returned with a tray of water and her human teammates accepted the drinks eagerly. "Please don't tell me you want to de-brief now. We need to rest," Kid Flash pleaded and the Atlantean looked around at his friends who were exhausted.
"Alright, we'll do that tomorrow after everyone is refreshed."
"Whew. Thanks, team leader." Raquel responded appreciatively while Brianna frowned at her comment.
"I'm just going to crash here for the night in the guest lounge," Robin said tiredly before shuffling off to the lounge while the rest who did not reside in the cave followed suit.
Before she could even stand up, Kaldur slid his arms under Brianna's body and carried her bridal style to her room. "Aren't you tired?" The pyro asked before he replied, "I'm fine."
The blonde laid her on the bed and covered her with a blanket. "Get some sleep. I'll see you tomorrow." In a romantic gesture, he leaned down to kiss her good night which set off fireworks in her mind.
"See ya…" The brunette yawned before she drifted off to sleep.
It was still a little early the next morning but Brianna woke up feeling fully energized and she headed to the kitchen for some cereal. A familiar figure that she had been avoiding all this while came into view. "Mornin' Brianna! Looks like you slept well. You're so lucky to have such a caring boyfriend to bring you to bed."
The brunette raised an eyebrow and replied politely. "Thanks. Maybe you can get your own boyfriend and experience that one day."
Raquel chuckled, "Perhaps. Kaldur'ahm has raised the bar a little too high though."
The pyro had enough and turned away before Raquel could see the annoyance on her face.
"You didn't have to snap at her, Brianna." Kaldur'ahm said slowly with his arms crossed. They were alone in her room and his girlfriend stood up defensively, "Why do you keep standing up for her?! She keeps flirting with you! For a team leader, you don't seem to notice that. I've been tolerating it for a couple of weeks now and this is too much."
He took a step forward and tried to hold her by her shoulders but she stepped away from his hold. The Atlantean sighed before saying, "I have noticed her flirting but ignored them. I have never returned her feelings."
Brianna glared at him, "You should say something. Girls might mistake silence as acknowledgement! Ignorance isn't bliss, Kaldur. Things can go out of hand when they're left unsaid. I believe you know that. I wouldn't have known how you felt about me until you said it."
It looked like she was about to burst into tears and Aqualad took a few steps forward and embraced her lovingly. "I am sorry. I never meant to hurt you. I thought that if I did not return her affections, she would just give up and leave me alone. Please, forgive me. I will make it right."
His kind words and gentle hold managed to calm her angry heart and she returned his hug, burying her face into his chest. His fingers slid down to her chin and Kaldur'ahm titled it up to stare into her beautiful brown eyes. Wiping away stray tears from her cheek, he leaned down to kiss her, proving his feelings and affections for Brianna. She kissed him passionately with all her love and when they pulled away, she was blushing and Kaldur thought that she looked very cute.
"I will see you in a bit while I get this settled."
Raquel was a little nervous and excited at the same time. It was a rare moment to be alone with him considering that he was always with Brianna. What a lucky girl even though she acted harsh towards her. She had a feeling that Kaldur'ahm was going to talk to her about his girlfriend's behaviour. Right now, they were just standing in silence and it seemed that he was filtering his thoughts to search for the right words. After a few quiet moments, he finally spoke.
"I will get to the point, Raquel. Please stop flirting with me. It is causing Brianna a lot of distress and that hurts the team dynamics. We are family and I don't want a dispute to break our bonds that we took so long to form."
That was unexpected. "Oh… You never really said anything about it so I thought… you didn't mind my feelings." Rocket replied nervously and looked to the side. She really did have a crush on the Atlantean and having him call her out on it was very embarrassing.
"That was a mistake on my part. I thought you would just lose interest if I didn't respond but it looks like Brianna was right, ignorance isn't bliss. I am truly sorry about this. I am with Brianna and… I love her. She… I will not let her go until I die. I am sure you would meet a guy who would treasure you one day."
The girl with the inertia belt was feeling very guilty right now. She knew he was taken and yet she threw herself at him without realizing how Brianna would feel. This had to stop. "I know. I'm sorry about that. It's just that your personality is very… nice." Raquel finished lamely and knew it was a horrible excuse.
"My friends are nice. I'm sure you can be part of their circle too."
Looks like he finally said the "let's just be friends" line and the superheroine sighed sadly but accepted the truth. "I'm sorry for all that has happened. Let me go and apologize to Brianna."
Before she could take a step, Batman called them for an emergency briefing.
There was a fire at a nearby chemical factory and most of the Leaguers were currently away, leaving Batman, Wonder Woman, and the Hawks to tend to the situation. The Caped Crusader needed all the help he could get and roped in the Team. Aqualad surveyed the damage and immediately instructed, "The League is pulling any civilians from the rubble and I think we should attempt to limit the spread of the fire. Miss Martian and Superboy, remove as much debris as you can into the water. Kid Flash and Zatanna, make a wide trench around the scene. The rest of you with me, we'll fill up the trench with water."
The teenagers did everything perfectly but the fire was still raging that the firemen were having difficulty putting it out. There was a small explosion inside and Ember could hear the fire fighters talking about evacuating the scene as it was too dangerous to continue with the volatile chemicals inside threatening to blow up any time.
"Aqualad, I think I should go in to attempt to contain the fire with my powers." The brunette asked the Atlantean and he shook his head, "What?! I know your abilities, you can't control external sources of fire."
Ember persisted, "I have shot fire at a candle flame before and it goes in the direction I want it to. I've done it a few times, it's hard to explain. Please, I have to do something!"
She pleaded with him and deep in his heart, Kaldur'ahm did not want to put his girlfriend in danger but right now, they were heroes on a mission and anything they could do to save lives, they would do it. He agonized over his decision and finally, he made a choice. "Alright, but take Rocket with you. Her shields should be able to protect you both from the flames."
Ember raised an eyebrow at his suggestion, a little surprised that she had to interact with the girl she disliked at the moment. Looking away, she said, "Fine. Rocket, come with me." Without glancing back, she took off with the other girl flying behind her. Be careful, the both of you. Kaldur's thought pierced through their telepathic link and she did not respond.
"We need to remove all chemicals that have been untouched by the fire. Then, we start looking for its source." Brianna said from inside the safety of the kinetic shield and both girls got to work.
After a while of gathering up the barrels, Raquel spoke. "I know this is a bad time but I want to apologize for my behaviour. I should not have flirted with Kaldur."
There was silence as the pyro concentrated on clearing the last batch of chemicals. "Focus on the task at hand, Rocket."
The other teen refused to back down, "We're doing fine. Please, accept my apology. It was foolish of me to have a crush on him. I don't want to break up the team, I give you my word."
"Look, I appreciate your honesty and apology but we can talk about that later. I have a plan." Ember interrupted irritably and tested her powers. "Catch the flames in a shield as it comes to you." She flew out of the shield and directed her powers at the fire in a path towards Raquel. The fire appeared to be travelling in the direction she willed it to go and the flames were collected in the shield.
Right now, the area that was previously on fire was now scorched earth, free of any flames. "Excellent, dump the fire into the lake and we'll repeat this as many times as we can till it's extinguished."
They made significant progress as the flames slowly dwindled and the firemen could do their job to extinguish any residual flames along the perimeter. Leaving the rescue team, Ember and Rocket flew deeper into the factory to look for the heart of the fire. There was a big pool of chemicals lying at the back of the compound where the fire kept raging. Without a word, both girls worked in harmony to get rid of the inferno. It was getting rather taxing due to a lack of oxygen which was continuously replenished by Raquel making a new shield periodically.
Ember failed to notice another fire growing from the remnants of the chemical pool and Rocket yelled, "LOOK OUT!" She hurled herself and the shield towards the brunette pyro, protecting her ex-crush's girlfriend with all her might as a small explosion went off.
BRIANNA! Are you alright?! Please respond! Kaldur'ahm's voice was in their heads again and both girls panted from the inside of the shield and thanked their lucky stars once more. We're fine. Brianna responded shakily and tried to catch her breath.
"Out of the way, ladies." A booming voice from a helicopter overhead sounded and they flew off before the helitanker dropped massive amounts of fire retardant on top of the fire.
Both of them made their way back to the team and en route, Ember said, "Thank you for saving me back there. I accept your apology and I'm sorry for snapping at you. Truce?"
"Truce." Raquel replied and shook the brunette's hand. The girls returned safely and Kaldur'ahm immediately enveloped Brianna in a hug. "Don't risk your life like that again. I almost lost you…"
Blushing, his girlfriend looked up at him and grinned, "I made it back to you, didn't I?"
"I forgave Raquel."
Kaldur looked at Brianna in surprise and smiled, "I am glad." She scooted close into his embrace and whispered, "I'm sorry for being mad at you earlier during the fire. It was irresponsible of me to do so." He squeezed her a little tighter in response, accepting the apology silently.
Continuing the romantic moment, he pulled away slightly and looked into her eyes before declaring, "I love you, Brianna." The brunette responded by kissing him fervently and replied, "I love you too, Kaldur."
Author's Note: I finally introduced Raquel so we've completed the Season 1 arc. From here onwards, I'll be writing things that happen in the 5 year gap between Seasons 1 & 2. I have nothing against Rocket, by the way. She did show interest for Kaldur in the show so I wrote it in here to give the couple a bit of conflict. After all, relationships aren't always a bed of roses. Things work out in the end anyway. *smiles*
To Eszra: ^_^
To piggythelaw: I'm glad you liked the idea for the pearls! You're welcome. =)