Summary: YJ S1 Ep 13 from Dick's POV. We're getting there.
Disclaimer: I don't own DC
The various team members were all conversing following the attack, but Connor noticed that Kaldur was off with Batman instead of here with the others. Dick had put this off as just the typical debriefing, but Connor suddenly got up and lunged at Kal, grabbing him by his suit.
"YOU KNEW?!" Holy anger issues, Batman! What the hell is going on?
"Connor! What's going on?"
"Kaldur knew we had a traitor among us and said nothing!" Wait, what? He knew?!
"You knew?! And didn't tell us?" Wally and Connor seemed beyond pissed at Kal, but the others were all over the place. Megan seemed uncomfortable with the tension, and Dick and Arty were still trying to make sense of things. Kal knew? Why didn't he tell us? Dick wanted to be mad, but he had just finished talking with Arty about his own secret, and he knew it was hypocritical to judge Kaldur. But he still wanted to hear his reasoning. From a glance at Artemis, he could tell she felt the exact same way as him.
"Enough." Dick and the others looked to Bruce, who was glaring HARD at Connor and Wally. Dick slightly smirked as the receivers of the Batglare stepped back a bit. Even a Kryptonian isn't immune. Guess that's one thing I got over them. Bruce put a hand on Kal's shoulder as he started to speak.
"Whatever reason Kaldur had for hiding this information from you, he is your leader. You are to treat him as such. Now, is there going to be an issue with that?" Nobody spoke. "Good. I thought so. On to other matters, Tornado is a member of the Justice League, so you WILL leave him to us. I have another assignment for this team." Bruce pulled up a file on Guerrilla Gorilla having committed several high-profile attacks. You're kidding, right? The League goes hunting for RT and we're left on animal patrol? Dick semi-glared at Bruce, who ignored him. "We have pinpointed his location to the Tasmanian Jungle, so you will be departing immediately. Captain Marvel will be assisting you." ASSISTING us? Since when do we need a babysitter? Dick looked at Captain Marvel, especially...him. From Project Knightmare, Dick knew Billy's true identity and age, so needless to say, he was not excited to be babysat by someone 5 years younger than him.
-Is this the only thing he could find to keep us occupied?- Kinda gotta agree with SB here on that one.
The team prepared to depart, but before they could, Dick walked up to Kaldur. "Hey, uh, I gotta know. Why did you keep the mole thing from us. Even me and Wally. You didn't really think WE coulda been the moles, did you?"
"Of course not." Kaldur sighed before continuing. "The source of the tip was Sportsmaster. He mentioned something about an inside agent the last time Roy and I faced him, and I was afraid that it was merely a trick meant to create tension within the group. However, after the incident earlier, it would appear to be more than that." Dick nodded. Yeah, the logic adds up. Besides, I can't exactly be mad at him for keeping secrets.
"I get it, man. But, uh, good luck explaining to SB and KF. I think those two meatheads are gonna be your real issue." Kaldur slightly smiled at that. Knowing he had at least Robin, one of the 3 he was closest to on the surface, on his side was comforting.
The flight to the jungle was tense. Captain Marvel chose to be in the hangar for reasons he didn't disclose, and nobody in the main deck was speaking. Megan seemed to be sympathetic to Kal, as she kept looking over to him with sadness. Dick noticed that Wally and Connor were avoiding any and all conversation, while he and Arty just sat there awkwardly. Geez, riding with Bats is less weird! At least WE talk!
Once the ship landed, the team and Shazam exited and turned to Kaldur. "Our first plan of action should be to-"
"It's recon, we know the drill." Wally started to walk off, and Dick gave Kal an apologetic look before chasing after him.
"Ya might be actin' a bit too harsh to Kal."
"You kidding?! He lied to us, US, about a possible traitor on the team!" Good point, I guess.
"Well, yeah, but I lie to everyone on a daily basis, and nobody has an issue with that."
"That's...different. You lie cuz Bats told you to. Plus, your lies don't put us in danger."
"I mean, Kal did what he thought was right. Imagine if we knew there was a mole. We wouldn't be able to trust each other! The team would fall apart."
"Yeah...but...why didn't he at least tell us two? We've known each other for years!"
"If he told us and not the others, that would just make things worse, cuz the people who didn't know would think they were some kinda B-team. Look I don't exactly love what Kal did either, but ya gotta think about it from his point of view." Dick had no issue with Kaldur keeping a secret because he did it himself on a daily basis. Working with Batman teaches one to accept secrets as a necessity. Heck, he lied about so much on a daily basis! His identity, his scars, Project Knightmare, his past, et cetera. Before Wally could retort, they heard a screeching sound and looked up to see massive vultures coming at them. Holy shit! Are those…Dick leapt out of the way and tried to radio back for help, but got no response. Dammit, no signal! Must be a jammer nearby! Dick started to run from the oversized bird, performing successive flips to get out of the way. He tossed an explosive birdarang to scare a few away, before looking to Wally. "Definitely Kobra Venom! We gotta get rid of them!" Wally immediately knew what he was thinking and spun his arms at superspeed, creating a wind funnel to blast the rest of the creatures away. Dick felt the familiar ping of the mind-link and reached out to the others.
-Hey Kal, me and KF just got attacked by giant vultures! Probably on Kobra Venom judging by the size-
-Course, since we're moles, you probably think we attacked ourselves!- Ouch. Harsh.
-Listen, please! We must regroup and come up with a new-
-How do you expect us to trust you when you won't even give us the basic info?!- Dick scowled as he continued to hear Connor and Wally rag on Kaldur as he and Arty stayed silent. He also heard Megan diss Connor about something, but chose to ignore it.
-ENOUGH! Captain Marvel has been captured, and we must act as a TEAM to save him-
-Under YOUR leadership? I don't think so-
-This is NOT up for debate. You all chose me to lead because you thought I could make the tough decisions. If, by the end of this mission, you feel like you can no longer follow me, I will happily step down. But until then, I AM in command here- Damn. Bats would be impressed, Kal!
Dick and the others, apart from Superboy, met up at Aqualad's coordinates to find a strange laboratory with security sensors everywhere. Dick hacked into the systems and guided Artemis to sentry turrets that she took out with her arrows. They made their way into the base to see Shazam strapped to a table with Guerrilla Gorilla standing over him, and next to him was-
"It's the Brain!"
"Uh, yeah. I can see that, Baywatch."
"No, no. It's THE Brain! Ya know, sentient brain with telepathy?" As if on cue, the Brain shut the whole team down with a mind-blast, even Megan. They all collapsed to their knees, writhing in pain, until the wall suddenly burst open to reveal Superboy standing there with his clothes ripped up and a massive white wolf standing next to him. Dick saw Megan blush at the sight of Connor and smirked before noticing the wolf. Wow. First Krypto the Superdog, then Ace the Bat-Hound, then Streaky the Supercat, now this guy? Who's next, a Green Lantern squirrel?
Connor and his wolf made the distraction Dick needed to free Shazam. The moment he was freed, he used his powers to incapacitate Guerrilla Gorilla in less than a second. Damn. Sometimes ya forget that the 8 year old kid can take down the likes of Superman. Meanwhile, Megan had managed to lock the Brain in a psychic fight while Artemis and Kid Flash had taken him down. The team stood over their enemies, tying them up and recovering from their wounds.
The clean-up went quicker than expected, with Captain Marvel congratulating and thanking the team before flying off. Heh. Guess he's got his curfew. Dick and the rest of the team turned to Kal, who started to speak.
"Now, about the mole. I understand that by withholding this information, I broke your trust, but you must understand, I had to keep this from you."
"Why?" Kal turned to Dick, who nodded. He then looked back to answer Artemis's question.
"The source of the tip was Sportsmaster."
"What?! You can't trust HIM!"
"I don't, which is why I took the tip as an attempt to create tension within the group. I did not want us to be torn apart over a possible rumor. But, after Tornado's seeming betrayal, it appears that he was telling the truth after all. I am sorry if this betrayed your trust."
The team looked to each other before Wally turned back. "I hate to say it, but it makes sense."
"I am willing to step down as leader if you-" Dick was having none of that. He made the best possible choice.
"All in favor of keeping him?" The whole team raised their hands, and Kaldur looked to Robin, smiling before turning back to the others. Megan then looked to Connor, admiring his wolf.
"You gonna keep him?"
"I was thinking I could call him Wolf." Wow. Blown away by your creativity, SB. And I thought Batman was a genius.
"You really got a problem with strays. First Sphere, now Wolf."
"Maybe that's because he's such a stray himself."
"Heh. I guess." Dick smirked as he remembered how Clark was the exact same with his own dog. Guess they're not so different after all.
Sorry for no upload for the past few days, but like I said, I had some personal stuff going on. I'm back to my regular schedule now of 1 upload a day minimum, but again, sorry about the small break. This chapter was way less than ideal in terms of quality, sorry you had to come back from a break from the book to read this. Anyways, I think the next few chapters will be better, cuz this one was just a drag to write. I referred to Billy as both Shazam and Captain Marvel cuz I feel like they are interchangeable for him. I prefer to call him Shazam cuz that's more unique now than Captain Marvel, but both work for him. Next chapter is a Wally/Dick fluff and after that is ep 14 of S1 then ep 15. Next chapter up soon, and will hopefully be way better than this crap.