I don't own Young Justice (it wouldn't be cancelled if I did, goddamnit).
WOW SO MANTA ACTUALLY SEEMS LIKE A GREAT DAD ASIDE FROM THE WHOLE SUPERVILLAIN THING? He's gonna be so devastated when he finds out that Kaldur is a double agent and just wow that hurts to think about...
David should've known that it was too good to be true. "Should've, could've, would've"s, yes, but had known the truth, it would have spared him his current heartbreak.
It hurts even more the second time around of having your son ripped away from you.
The first time Kaldur had been torn from his embrace, it had been when Sha'lain'a was still pregnant. Shortly after discovering her pregnancy, she had decided that a criminal organization was no place to raise her child safely, so she had left. David thinks that it would've been less painful if she hadn't told him of their child prior to her betrayal, but Sha'lain'a was every bit the strong Atlantian woman who knew just how to take down her enemies with the least resistance.
She had looked him straight in the eyes that day; a firm frown on her golden face (how wrong it had been, to see the downturn of her lips mar that beautiful face so normally filled with smiles and laughter) as she spoke the fateful words that had forever changed his life. "I am leaving, David," she had said (and that is how he had known she was serious, because his beloved Sha'lain'a never called him David), "I am leaving, and you can't stop me. I am…with child," she had hesitated, "And you and I are both well-aware that this environment is unsuitable for raising a child."
He remembers the scene so clearly, how he had stumbled back in shock at the news, how his cold armor had clanged against the steel walls of his chamber. He remembers how he had tentatively raised a still-gloved hand to her stomach, and how she had flinched away before he could even make contact.
"You can leave with me," she had said, "Or you can stay. But if you stay, you are choosing not to be a part of our child's life." He had hated her for making him choose. A stable life, or an unborn infant and the love of his life? His hesitation, however, had cost him – the fact that he even considered a life of crime over their child cemented his beloved's mind. Her spine had straightened and the determination that had made him fall so hopelessly in love with her blazed fiercely in her eyes, and she had simply turned around and left. How could one as young as she be so strong and wise?
Oh, how David wishes that he had never seen her again after that. It was if the Fates were aligned against him, though, when not even a year later one of his operatives betrayed him to go and live with Sha'lain'a, where the two traitors happily (and so very in love – had she ever truly had feelings for him in the first place?) raised his son.
Kaldur'ahm was the boy's name. A strapping young lad, he was; firm, disciplined, and completely oblivious to his true father. David watched his son from the distance, feeling as if his heart was being ripped to pieces every time he saw the young man. At the time, David had thought that he wouldn't even care that his son was on the opposing side, if only he knew who his true father was. If only he got to speak to his son once, to tell him how much he loved him and how proud of him he was, and how he wished that Sha'lain'a hadn't forcefully cut him out of the young man's life.
But now, standing before his son, he realizes how very wrong and foolish he was.
Kaldur'ahm (or Kaldur, as David has come to know that he prefers) stands before him with "Tigress" and the Martian witch by his side. He no longer wears the strong armor of his Manta suit – instead, he is back in the skintight red and black Aqualad outfit. The young woman that he had been lead to believe was his son's paramour has removed the charm she had always worn around her neck, revealing herself to be none other than Sportsmaster's supposedly dead daughter, and the Martian girl is no longer wearing her inhibitor collar.
"Father," Kaldur says, as if this moment is paining him just as much as it pains David, "I apologize for the deception." He pauses; looking down for a moment, then regains his confidence. When he looks up again, he has the same look of steel and determination in his eyes that Sha'lain'a had in hers just before she left, and suddenly David knows exactly where this is going. "I am your son, but I am also a citizen of this earth. What you stand for intends to destroy our very planet, and I cannot stand for it." God, how he wishes he could blame the Martian for this – claim that she put those horrible seeds of integrity and a conscience in his son's mind when she repaired her damage, but Artemis Crock's presence proves him wrong. This has been a long time coming.
Ironically, he doesn't think that his son's betrayal is what hurts him the most. Rather, the fact that Kaldur was never even his in the first place is what is so painful.
"As long as you side with the Light and the Reach, as long as you are against King Orin…" Kaldur continues, "I cannot remain loyal to you, Father. I hope you understand this."
David bows his head, allowing the words to sink in and rip his heart to pieces. He takes in a deep breath, then lets it out and looks up again.
"You have ten minutes before I raise the alarms," he says, surprising even himself. "Godspeed, my beloved son."
The three youths before him seem startled that he is letting them go so quickly, but how could he ever willingly oppose his son? In a battle of the wills, Sha'lain'a had always beaten him – always – and Kaldur'ahm is every bit his mother's son. The trio departs quickly, and David finds himself collapsing to his knees. He's just lost his son for the second time in his life, and he didn't even fight it. No one had warned him that doing the right thing would be so painful.
(He only hopes he won't live to lose his son a third time.)
A/N: INVASION IS GIVING ME ALL THESE KALDUR FEELS
like before i thought he was awesome and all
but never in my life have i wanted a kaldur of my own that i do now during invasion
big brother, boyfriend, husband - i don't care i just want a kaldur of my own