Author's Note: Yay! A Speedy/Raven story! This couple definitely needs more love. They balance each other nicely, don't they? Speedy's pretty arrogant and troublesome so he needs someone like Raven to put him in his place.

COMBAT TRAINING

I threw the cape aside. The long fabric was getting in my way too often. Alone in the gym, I approached the training post again and continued the series of jabs and kicks. I could be with the rest of the team right now, but with the Titans East staying behind for a few days after our battle with the Brotherhood of Evil, there was just too many people to deal with. I was never much of a people person. Besides, I haven't been training as much recently, and Robin said I needed to work on my hand-to-hand combat. I spent the next fifteen minutes like this. Besides the sound of my hand connecting with the padded post, the room was eerily silent. Once, I struck the post the wrong way, resulting in a throbbing pain to my left hand. In frustration, I gave the post an angry kick which only caused me even more pain.

"Your form needs a little work."

I whipped around at the voice, meeting a pair of masked eyes that stood in contrast to the flaming red hair. How long had he been standing there? Speedy's mouth twisted into a smirk after noticing the confusion on my face. But I immediately regained my composure and answered coolly,

"Thanks. I'll consider that."

I turned back to the post and resumed my training, but I could still see out of the corners of my eyes that Speedy was still there, observing me, studying me. And it annoyed me…a lot.

"Look, I know you don't know me that well, but I'd rather you not be here right now."

"Why not?"

"Because…" The best answer I could come up with was a meaningless glare. Stupid, arrogant bastard. All I wanted to do right now was use him as my training post, but I restrained myself. It would put me through a lot of heat if I were to attack a fellow Titan. And yet, he was still just standing there. The least he could do was move. Something, anything. Attack me. Give me a reason to wipe that stupid grin off his face.

"Hey, I just wanted to see if I could help," he simply stated as if it were a valid excuse to keep watch over me like some insane stalker. I crossed my arms rather childishly and turned away with a pout.

"I don't need your help."

"Well it seems to me like you do."

I decided not to dignify the comment with a response. I had hoped that he would take the silent gesture as a hint to leave me alone, but we all know this is Speedy I'm talking about.

"Hand-to-hand combat is simple. You're just making it complicated for yourself."

"Huh?" I neither longed for nor cared for his assistance, but I was still rather interested by what he had to say.

"You're over thinking it. You just got to react. Let your body do the work for you."

I scoffed.

"Like I'm taking advice from you. You're specialized in long-distance fighting."

It was meant to come off as an insult, but then why did Speedy seem even more amused? He gave a light chuckle, and the lightness of his tone just further irritated me.

"Then you obviously don't know me at all. Do we need reminding who won the last time we fought?"

I gritted my teeth to the extent that I was surprised he couldn't hear it. It's not like I wanted to go back to such horrifying memories. However, I felt the need to speak up in defense.

"But if I remember correctly, the circumstances hardly called for a fair fight. Brother Blood had you brainwashed, and I didn't want to hurt you while you had no idea what you were doing. Besides, his copy-cat Cyborgs intervened before we could finish our match."

No longer wanting to take part in this pointless quarrel, I tried to continue what I had originally come up here to do. However, it was the clatter of arrows as they dispersed across the floor that caught my attention. I looked down at the quiver that had been carelessly tossed aside. Was it just me, or was the smirk on his face even larger than it was before?

"Well then," he said, now slipping off his gloves, "if that's the case, why don't we pick up where we left off? A match. Just you and me. No powers. No arrows."

I was taken aback. A challenge from Speedy was not exactly what I had expected to come out of this dispute. Still, it was hard to resist such a satisfying opportunity to kick the cheeky little red-head's ass.

"Tell you what, Raven. If I can't beat you in three tries, I'll leave you alone and won't bother you for the remainder of our stay."

"And if you can?"

"Heh, we'll get to that later."

I raised my fists and got into fighting stance. After kicking aside some of the arrows, Speedy did the same. For a minute, both of us just circled the floor, eagerly awaiting the first strike. I was about to cave into the silence, but it was Speedy who broke the stand still. He launched a fist at me, which I dodged with quick agility, but not quick enough to avoid the kick that connected with my stomach. I was sent backwards, but regained my balance rather clumsily in time to keep from falling to the ground.

"One," he counted. "Man, so close on the first try."

I prepared myself again for the second attempt. This time, it was me who made the attack. I spun around and used the momentum to send a high kick towards his face, but he gripped my ankle at the last second, easily throwing me to the ground.

"Two."

I got up and brushed some of the dirt from the mat off my clothes. "It's not over yet."

This was really irritating. Of all people, it had to be this guy to prove me wrong. No, I couldn't let that happen. I had to fight back. I had to beat him.

"You seemed surprised, Raven. What? Did you think I could know people like the Green Arrow and the Black Canary and not learn a few tricks?"

I narrowed my eyes. Man, I really wish I could use my powers on this guy.

"That's a pretty cheeky comment for someone who hasn't won yet."

He responded with a light chuckle. Oh we'll see who's laughing now. He came back at me with a few punches and kicks, one of which came this close to my face. I sidestepped it, narrowly avoiding it by about a few centimeters, and grabbed his wrist. In one abrupt movement, I pulled him closer and pressed our lips together. Yes, I know. It was completely out of character, but all's fair in love and war, right? It's not my fault that sometimes a lip lock is more effective than a head lock. I could imagine Speedy's surprise. Too distracted by the kiss, I used this moment to knock him down, successfully pinning him to the ground.

"Three," I said. "You lose."

I grabbed my cape and made my way towards the door, only to be stopped by Speedy's delayed reaction.

"Hey! What was that?"

With a grin, I spun around on my heels and did my little crafty remark.

"I was trying to let my body do the work for me, remember? How am I supposed to control what it does?"

And with that, I continued my dramatic exit out of the training room, leaving a dumbstruck Speedy behind.