Smoky Mountains

Year 2011

December 30th

Jason is 11

Cass is 9

Tim is 8

Stephanie is 7

Robin is 13

Batgirl is 14

Batman is 30

Yep, Robin was definitely done for. He'd done nothing when he sensed a trap. How did Batman decide when to trigger traps or not? At least Robin knew how to listen to whatever evil rant a villain gave and wait for the right moment to disrupt it.

"This is the endgame. Ordered from above, and executed by their master strategist, moi."

And of course, Kaldur knew just the right time too. "Miss Martian, is everyone linked?"

"Yes."

"Go."

Mammoth, Shimmer and the mercenaries jumped into the fray. Zatanna cast a spell. Suddenly they were in a blizzard. Maybe not the smartest move, considering the mercenaries were all in white, and it would be a lot harder to fight properly.

Higher, he needed to get higher. Robin managed to get balanced on one of the wing tips where it was sticking up front the ground. A better vantage point even with the snow. Then he could see where he was needed.

"Superboy, the pylons."

"Working on it."

Weird, Superboy didn't just go for it, charging in like he usually did. He ducked behind another piece of the wreckage. On the far side, Artemis and Jade were racing toward each other. Robin doubted they would actually hurt each other seriously.

The issue was the apocalyptic weapons. Rocket and Miss Martian seemed to be able to get the ones at the higher vantage points. Kid Flash and Aqualad held the floor. But M'gann wasn't used to having to look after another person in the sky. There was a flash of red as Rocket tumbled onto the top of the plane's body and then into the ground.

That was his cue. From there it was just seconds of thought and instinct. Leap, roundhouse. Aqualad had Rocket covered. Miss Martian had both their backs. More red, growls above him. Mammoth. Heavy stomps, a crash, Superboy. Shield weakened, one pylon down.

And then both the heavy hitters were flying toward each other, across the crevice. "SB, you're flying!"

Even though he'd noticed some kind of power up and that the clone was acting weird, that part was a surprise. Mammoth was flown upwards and hurled into the shield.

Focus. Get higher.

It was hard to focus when the clone was acting like a tank, like Superman under someone else's control, or when he'd been infected with something. When Mammoth had crashed, Superboy plowed after him, full force with laser eyes, and then pummeling the giant into a wall.

There was another flash, this time white and green, as the ledge above weakened and avalanched. Artemis and Jade were on the ground, one had saved the other? He couldn't tell which.

Didn't matter. He was up top now. Smoke, snow, sleet and a few coughs got Shimmer distracted enough to be taken out with a bola. Shadows and smoke were where Batman trained him, but being Robin meant making it into a performance. Flashes of red and yellow as she was tied up and he came forward to knock her out.

Now it was Nygma's turn. Before he could move, Zatanna had Riddler in a straitjacket. The dude was obviously off his meds again. Bel Reve, not Arkham, sure. But only when he had enough control of that OCD.

"Hey, Ed. Ready to get back to Gotham?" Robin couldn't help but let the grin leak into his voice as he sat the man up. The snow stopped and he saw Zatanna and Rocket standing a few feet above him. "Hey! Think you can help clear the rest of this up?"

Another hour, and the ambush team was secured to be taken into custody. Meta containment units had come for Shimmer and Mammoth, and the feds had taken the mercenaries and Nygma.

"What about Cheshire, Jade, whoever she is?" Wally asked over the link as they helped load the prisoners into containment vehicles. He looked suspiciously at Artemis. "Did she get away? Again?"

"Because Connor caused an avalanche!"

"Stop yelling. Can we stop this whole mind thing? I'm getting a headache," Rocket's voice complained. She shook her head. "Weird."

"Enough. We have retrieved the case, and captured several villains. I would say today has been a success. I wish you could all consider it the same," Kaldur's voice was laced with a sigh. "M'gann. Prepare the bioship for the flight back to the mountain."

"Bet you League is already waiting for us."

"Waiting? They're already tracking us down. Second, they realize we disappeared without knowing where we are. I'm not risking Batman going—"

"We get it!" He really did not need the team hearing the term 'Daddy-Bats' right now.

The ride back was silent. Only Rocket spoke once the entire time, looking awkward and uncomfortable with the entire situation. Everyone else seemed to be thinking, after all, there was a lot to think about. Supey's new powers, Jade and Artemis, Wally's denial, M'gann's whole over the top deal… all of it. And they'd all seemed to have realized what he did now, after the actual ambush had happened.

No one addressed a word of it though. Instead, just staying somber and silent as they came out to face Canary and Tornado in the hangar.

"Mission room, now."

They all dragged their feet as they walked. The others parted for him almost unconsciously as he moved to the front of their lineup. There was no telling how his mentor would react to all of this. Overprotectivness usually meant when the man didn't know Robin was gone turned into a fight. There was also the control issues. So he was relieved when Batman immediately focused in on him and waited for all of them for a second without showing any major reaction besides checking his ward was unharmed.

"Tell me if this sounds familiar. You hacked League systems, disobeyed protocol, and endangered your lives." As soon as he opened his mouth, Robin had to hold back a grin. The exasperated sigh leaking into his voice was something he'd heard many times before. Like that time, he and Roy pranked Luthor at the gala where they'd met in civies. But it wasn't bad, more like B resigning himself to actually feeling pride, if that made sense.

He could feel the others stiffen behind him. Probably thinking this would go the same way as it had the first night of their team, at Cadmus.

"And your initiative resulted in the capture of three escaped felons proving Warden Strange runs Belle Reve as a cover for criminal activity. Well done." His mouth twitched at the end, confirming he'd actually spoken those last words. A full-on smile. The team, shifted, moving around as they processed that statement. M'gann's mouth was open in shock, but he was more focused on Zatanna's twinkling eyes, sharing a look for the smallest second before their attention was called to the front again.

It showed how much they'd grown in the past six months that no one asked for any more praise, or acknowledgment for their actions. They understood a praise from Batman was rarer than finding a kryptonian. No one demanded to come to the watchtower for the Induction party or protested having the case taken away after all their work.

Instead, the team looked at each other. Even a few weeks ago, they'd be hugging, cheering and celebrating such a success. Not now though, they just waited for the adults to leave. There were more important things at hand. As soon as the Zeta beam finished, Robin turned toward Aqualad. "You realize we were set up?"

"Yes. Cheshire and Riddler were tipped and ready for us." Smart, Kaldur was surveying them all for reactions. Of course, none of them were good.

"Not the mole thing again." Artemis's complaint just made Wally glare harder. M'gann and Connor were looking at each other contemplatively. Zatanna did what he and Kaldur did, observe. And of course, Rocket was clueless.

"Mole thing? Again?"

Maybe their recap on the bioship hadn't been so great after all. At least that ruled out one person besides himself as the mole. Kid Flash looked at Artemis again then explained. "We had intel that there was a traitor on the team."

Connor stormed forward. "Namely, Artemis, M'gann or me."

And it was true they were the most likely. Connor might not even know he was the mole. He'd almost completely ruled out Artemis at this point. The two aliens were the wildcards.

Kaldur immediately moved to intervene before there was more fighting amongst them, placing a comforting hand on Connor's shoulder. "It is more complicated than that." Connor shoved the hand away, and glared at Kaldur, turning to storm off. "But your recent behavior does concern me."

That was an understatement. They needed to find out if this was just anger and abandonment issues, or mind control and orders from Cadmus. Connor hadn't acted like this in months, since at least the end of September. So what changed since then?

"Your attack on Mammoth nearly got Artemis killed."

At least Robin wasn't the one bringing the situation under the microscope. That was one thing he always hated to do, accuse others and make them upset with him, especially if he could be wrong. Kaldur was doing good, he'd make everyone reveal their secrets and then this would all be done.

They all flinched as Connor keeled over suddenly, holding his head. Super-hearing probably. He'd seen it happen to Superman, pitches only the kryptonians could hear, or Clark would suddenly fly off hearing an explosion about a mile away. He wasn't the only one watching Superboy suspiciously. The entire team was. Kaldur stepped forward. "Superboy?"

"There's something I need to do." Robin frowned. Okay, so Superboy definitely knew something was up with his behavior too. Not mind control then. And from the way he was looking, it seemed a lot worse than his usual anger and daddy issues. He looked almost regretful. The clone wasn't meeting their eyes as he spoke. "Something I need to tell you."

This was it then. Time for the secrets to come rolling.

"Last month, on Thanksgiving, I went back to Cadmus and found a few things out," Connor finally looked up. Robin instinctively reached toward his belt, where he kept things that could debilitate even a kryptonian. Just in case he'd been wrong and being aware of the whole mind control and Cadmus changed Connor's allegiances.

"When I was cloned, only half the DNA was Superman's. The other half was human. That's why I don't have, will never have full kryptonian powers."

Robin felt himself relax as Connor explained. It definitely explained the anger, finding that out could worsen the issues with being like Superman Connor already had. It did bring up even more questions, like how he got his new powers. The clone obviously still had more to say, judging from how he was shifting around.

"You sure? 'Cause you sure seemed to have them today," humor in his voice, it always made the situation less tense, something he'd learned helped a lot with the strained confrontations he'd seen over the years as a hero. It was his job as Robin, while Batman usually handled affairs more seriously, giving a smile and instilling faith in others usually made them open up better.

It worked of course, Connor pulled up his sleeve, revealing a red patch and looking at them for their judgement as he explained. "I've been using these. Shields. They suppress my human DNA. I get the flight, the heat vision, but I think I also get angry." His entire demeanor yelled an apology and sense of regret. He was shifting on his feet, not meeting anyone's eyes and rubbing both his arms. "Well, angrier. I'm sorry."

So maybe it wasn't all daddy issues. Robin's fingers twitched, wanting to inspect the 'shield' himself to see what it was. Some form of kryptonite and chemicals? He could feel Aqualad tense near him as well, ready to accuse Connor of being the mole.

"Where did you get those?"

He doubted Connor was the mole. His entire apologetic speech didn't seem to be an act, and it was unlikely confessing would throw off suspicion. He still was under scrutinization though, because those patches definitely weren't good.

Connor looked down again. "From my human father, Lex Luthor."

"Lex Luthor… is your dad?"

Okay, so he definitely wasn't expecting that. Not good. Connor was designed as a weapon, and Lex seemed to be attempting to ingratiate his lost prize into fighting alongside him by acting like a good father. "He's summoned me to Santa Prisca."

Connor's confession reminded him a lot of Stephanie's though. The clone obviously wasn't happy with either of his dad's behavior. Was it bad that he wanted to laugh at the karma all these villain fathers were getting from their children?

There was movement to his right. Artemis, more daddy issues. Finally, he was done with all the drama that came with hiding her secret for so long and so unnecessarily.

"Ahh, listen. Superboy's not the only one suffering from bad DNA."He wanted to clap and smile proudly as she walked to the mission room's computer and pulled up her family's profiles. That took serious bravery, and strength. "My mother is Huntress, an ex-con. The rest of my family aren't even ex. My dad's Sportsmaster. And he's sending my sister, Cheshire to fly me to Santa Prisca, too."

Not suprising. She was like Cass in that respect, eternally angry at her father for trying to mold her into his weapon. It seemed Wally was realizing that too, looking at Robin, then back at Artemis. Now it was getting good.

"That's why—"

"Yeah. I was so desperate to make sure none of you found out."

"I knew."

Artemis was practically gaping at him. He couldn't wait until he got to reveal the rest of his secrets, pictures from school included.

Thank god the mask hid the number of eye rolls he'd made today, because he was starting to feel like Jason. How were they surprised, he was Batman's apprentice, he was supposed to know everything! "Hey, I'm a detective. But it never mattered. You aren't your family. Their actions shouldn't effect our judgement of you. If anything, you've found a new family. You're one of us."

He crossed his arms, relieved as she gave a soft smile when he finished his speech. Wally had already zoomed across the room, to stand beside her, putting a hand on her shoulder and sharing a soft look. Gross.

He wanted to whack the speedster again, for not apologizing and being so stupid when asking a threatening rhetorical question. "So, uh, who's next?"

Robin could potetniallyy step forward now, reveal his own family, the fact he had a sister who had a background possibly worse than Artemis's and his best friend's family was fostering another girl even more similar. He could talk about knowing everything about the League, and all of them.

But, they still hadn't found the mole. So that only left one. It was time to see if M'gann was brave enough to come forward and tell everyone the truth about whatever it was she was hiding before it caused more issues.

Luckily, she did step up, or speak up, even if it was barely above a whisper. The entire team wore identical looks of shock. Wally even stepped back and threw his hands up. "I swear I was kidding."

They should be more careful, M'gann was likely the most dangerous one here, and her sweetness and excitement didn't mean that was any less true. At least she was confessing now, he'd been trying to figure her out for ages.

"Queen Bee's been blackmailing me. She wants me in Santa Prisca, too."

This should be interesting.

"Blackmailing, how?"

"She knows my true martian form."

The girl's voice was heavy. She seemed to be having even more of an issue than Artemis. Okay, seriously, what was she hiding? He'd had a feeling since Bialya, but what was it? "Bald M'gann? Who cares if—"

"No."

Another heavy sigh. So humor and deflection hadn't worked. The girl uncrossed her arm, and immediately he recognized she was shifting, transforming into something big.

It wasn't what he had expected, at all. He knew she had image issues, she was unused to Earth, but there was more. He knew it! Batman had hinted something after they had talked about the Bialya mission. Robin should have looked into that further.

Now he was seeing everything he'd been missing. White, ripped skin and exposed muscles, absolutely no hair. A monster with clars, sharp teeth and pinched eyes. It kind of looked like J'onn's true form, the one he never used because his more extraterrestrial appearance startled people. M'gann's was even worse. The entire room was filled with gasping, the team stepping back to make room for the beast.

She kind of looked like a pterodactyl, flaps under the exposed muscles on her arm, bones and scales, ridges along the center of her body. The difference was, she talked. Not through her mouth. The mind link. "I realized you would never accept me, if you saw what I really am."

"M'gann, did we truly seem so shallow?"

Kaldur had just as much of a point as she did. The team might not care now, but at first they might have. And the rest of the world would certainly talk. It made sense M'gann adopted the form of a popular tv persona, what she envisioned her self as.

"I couldn't take a chance. Being a white martian among the green on Mars, I endured constant rejection. I couldn't face that from—" The martian was hugging herself close, trying to give herself comfort. It wasn't hard to imagine what she was feeling. It was racism, again. He'd been put in Juvie for almost three months because of people's prejudices. He saw the looks their family got every time they went out. The blue eyed, black haired boys, even if one was slightly darker and romani, and the Asian girl. It was a plague that was apparently universal.

They all definitely needed more sessions with Canary, not just about their own issues. Learning how to handle racism, abusive situations, and other social issues were going to become a priority.

He typed that down, as Superboy walked over to hold M'gann's hand. He couldn't hear their conversation, probably a private mind link, but Connor would give her what she needed. Beside him, Artemis was still standing suspiciously close to Wally. Rocket had stuck close to Kaldur since her introduction this morning, and he was used to the two aliens acting lovey dovey.

Maybe he could make a move with Zatanna when this was over. She seemed open to it, sticking by him and laughing at his jokes or exchanging snarky comments. This wasn't the time, though. "Sorry to interrupt this beautiful moment, but unless anyone else has secrets to reveal, I think we should make a plan."

"You mean like your identity?" Artemis asked cocking her hip and resting her hand against it. "Or is someone else still hiding something. You seem to know all the secrets. Detective, right?"

Robin sighed. "C'mon Artemis. You know I want to tell you my name. I want to tell you everything I've been hiding from you. But I can't, it puts too much at risk. So I can't give everything away unless you want to get Batman angry. These secrets aren't just mine. I can't say anything. Yet."

"Nothing, Rob? I can't believe you're still doing this. I thought we were over it."

"Artemis's secret wasn't mine to tell," Robin shot back at him. "You can't blame me for how you acted towards her."

"Seriously, though. What else are you hiding?"

He laughed, something that crackled in his throat almost cruel and mirthless. "I'm not going to deny it. I have secrets from the team. I don't know what you want, Wally!"

"To tell us these secrets before it tears us apart!"

Robin swirled around to glare at his best friend. "Like my secret identity? Because you already know that. You know about my past, you know everything about me dude. I haven't hidden a single of my own secrets from you."

"Enough. Robin does not need to sharehis identity or anything else that is not pertinent to the team." Aqualad stepped in between the two and gave them both an icy look. "You know more than you have led us to believe, what else can you tell us?"

Robin tapped at his wrist computer. He couldn't believe this was happening. Did Batman ever have this many issues with the League and them trusting him? He was supposed to know everything. "I'm just doing my job. I'm a detective, the team analyst and strategist. That means knowing everything about the team to make sure we can do our job. We all have secrets, and I've had suspicions about all of them. I never really thought any of you were the mole though. Not willingly, or on purpose. Someone just could have said too much at the wrong place and time. Like when Wally spent to much time with the Rogues and we had the Captain Cold incident."

"Hey!"

The entire team looked back and forth between them. "It's my job, guys. I don't like it, but I have to be suspicious of everyone. There's times where I couldn't even trust Batman. Wally, can tell you that."

"Yeah," the redhead said rubbing the back of his head. "That wasn't good."

"And I couldn't have been the only one who realized Connor was acting weird. I thought it could be latent Cadmus programming, some type of mind control. We should definitely have that checked out as soon as possible. And I knew M'gann had image issues from the mission in Qurac, but I had a feeling she wasn't saying everything either. You probably wouldn't have been so ashamed of just being bald. And I've seen your uncle's form plenty of times before."

"You have?"

"Yeah. So, yeah. That's what I knew. I didn't have all the details, and if I did know anything that could help the team, I'd tell you right away. You just need to trust me, right?"

Artemis stepped forward. "Fine. I get it, I just want to know how long you knew about me."

A few more taps of his wrist computer. Footage of Artemis's patrols taken from the CCTV cameras in Gotham played on the screen. She took a step back and paled. "You saw that?"

"It's my city too."

"Wait, you're from Gotham!" Wally asked looking back at forth again between Artemis and Robin. "Dude!"

"Not my secret. You were never discreet. We'd been monitoring you the entire time. Saving us from Amazo just made us act on it. Not the best way to stay under the League's radar."

"That was you?" Wally looked at her in surprise then turned back at Robin. "You knew it wasn't Roy?"

"Detective work, bro. When has Roy ever used a green arrow by choice? And the fletching and make of the shaft were totally different."

"That is not really new information," Aqualad said with a hint of amusement. "And I am glad it led Artemis to join our team."

She smiled thankfully at Kaldur then turned, narrow eyed at Robin. "I just can't believe you knew the entire time."

Robin just shrugged. "One of my jobs for Batman is to keep an eye on other vigilantes that have emerged in Gotham. It's a seedbed for them."

He saw both Artemis's and Wally's eyes widen, and he cursed under his breath. He might've given away one of his greatest secrets. Of course, Wally already knew about his siblings, but Artemis didn't. He'd just confirmed the rumors she must've been hearing for ages, the ones about the existence of Batgirl, Red Hood, Black Bat and any others.

"Do you still operate in Gotham?" Kaldur asked as he watched the footage closely.

Artemis shook her head. "Not anymore, part of the deal was only working with the team or with Ollie in Star."

"You still go to Gotham Academy though, I'm sure you know the League set that up by now."

"Dude!" Wally yelped.

"You little…" Artemis started.

There was another cackle as Robin raised his hands in surrender. "Really Artemis, you have to learn to school your reactions. Don't be too pissed, but you weren't really discreet. About anything."

Wally's knuckles turned white as he grabbed her shoulder to stop her from marching forward. Aqualad, still amused, put an arm out to bar Robin from doing anymore. "That is enough. Now we most focus on the mission, and find out what is happening on Santa Prisca."