Smile and Pretend
"Are you well, Little John?" Aqualass asked him in a brief team-up with Aquaman, Green Arrow and the Flash. "You look very pale."
"I'm fine, babe." He smirked at her, hiding his discomfort. "Just a bit chilly and all. Say, do want to get something afterwards?"
She tilted her head at that, "I suppose, if that is-"
"Guys, I hate to interrupt the love fest here." Velocity said to them, "But we've got other problems."
"Dude, that was not cool." Lil John hissed after Aqualass went to check if the coast was clear.
"Well, if someone would just fess up-"
"I told you why!"
"It's a stupid reason!"
"Listen, you don't-"
It was at that time that Aqualass returned but hesitated to say anything for a moment, "There are no signs of anything suspicious."
"That's suspicious." Velocity said as he frowned a little at her, "We better find Flash and the others. They might need help."
"I concur." She nodded and jogged behind them. Though she wondered exactly what was wrong with Lil' John.
It was hard to pretend like this- at least for him. The Flash is right there and he can't say anything. He remembered, quite vividly, his uncle's laughter and his aunt's smile. Her cooking was to utterly die for. Their home was always warm and inviting and he-
He wanted to go and see them, just for a little while, but he knows better. He knows he can't open that door again. Not to mention, where he lived now wasn't that bad. It wasn't terrible. Ollie was actually a great 'dad' and Black Canary-Dinah- , she made a good 'mom'.
Not that he'd ever say that out loud, but he loved living with them.
Which, just made the decision to not say anything both good and terrible at the same time. He recalled what Dick had told him- how they still try to find leads on their offtime.
Maybe- Maybe one day he'll be able to tell them.
It just so happened that it wouldn't be today.