Insecurity

Star City

December 4 21:02 PST

"Long time, no see, Roy." I said as he and I met on the roof of a corner store near Ollie's coordinates. He had been out on patrol with Artemis tonight, but had obviously called Roy and myself to meet with him afterwards.

"I was about to say the same thing." Roy replied, slinging his bow over his shoulder, "You look like you've been doing some intense workouts. Missions got you working hard?"

"Not exactly. We can talk about it later. Maybe over breakfast?"

He chuckled lightly, "Sounds good to me, as long as you're buying."

"Deal." I smiled underneath my mask as, together, we walked into the alley where Ollie was bidding goodbye to Artemis. Once she was gone, Ollie addressed us.

"Been watching long?"

"Long enough to see she's improving." Roy answered, his expression becoming a bit strained, "What'd you wanna talk about?"

Ollie opened his mouth to speak, but Roy's police radio went off.

"All units, armed robbery in progress. Two suspects. Corner of Greene and Larkin."

GA looked between the two of us, "For old time's sake?"

Bank robbers are almost laughable sometimes. Only one of them carried a gun, while the other grabbed the cash. It was way too easy. So, I sat back and watched Roy and Ollie pin the pair to the wall. Once they were taken care of, Ollie turned to the both of us.

"All right, now I can finally tell you two why I called." Ollie stood and set his bow on his shoulder, "The League had its annual meeting on Thanksgiving this year. We had... a lot to discuss. Especially about you two. So Batman asked me to tell you guys that you both made the cut."

My breath hitched in my throat, "Made the cut for what exactly?"

"By the end of the year, both of you will be in the Justice League."

I screamed internally. To the public eye, Roy and I would be the youngest members in League history.

"There's no way Dinah was okay with this."

"Oh God, no." Ollie laughed, "Wonder Woman nominated you. But the results for both of your nominations were incredible. 14 to 2 for the Super Cat and 13 to 3 for Red Arrow. The League respects you. Both of you."

I couldn't believe it. This was actually happening. Ollie looked to Roy.

"Now will you set a good example and join the Team?"

Mount Justice

December 5, 17:04 EST

Ollie and I had managed to convince Roy to join the Team. But he and I both agreed to withhold the reason why, as well as my own nomination to the League. At least, until we felt the time was right.

"Recognized: Artemis, B zero eight."

"Artemis! Just in time!" GA smiled at his protégé. Everyone who surrounded Roy stepped away to face Artemis, exposing him, "Look who finally decided to join the Team."

Wally swung his arm around Roy's neck, a dopey grin on his face, "Finally!"

Artemis scowled, "Sure, Team's needed a real archer."

Ooh, she was not happy. But Roy joining the Team wasn't the cause, that much I could tell. Something else was going on.

"Okay, people, listen up!" Ollie called, trying to ease the tension, "The Dynamic Duo's on a case in Gotham, but Batman gave me a heads up."

He went to work typing away on the holo-computer and pulled up a security photo of our favorite baddy.

"Sportsmaster was spotted coming through Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport."

"In full costume?" Zatanna asked, "Nervy."

"In street clothes." GA clarified, "Facial recognition software picked up the ID. Find out what he's up to."

"All of us?" Connor asked, "Seems like overkill for a shadow job."

He had a point, there were eight of us without the Boy Wonder. It was a bit much.

"Perhaps a small squad." Red Tornado suggested, "Miss Martian's camouflage abilities seem ideal."

"Thought the sidekicks, sorry, ex-sidekicks, could suit up on this. Wildcat, Aqualad, Kid Flash, Red Arrow." The boys celebrated quietly.

"Good." Connor said, "Stakeouts make me crazy."

"We could use the night off." M'gann smiled.

"I want in." Artemis said, her face stern, "With M'gann and Robin out, no one's logged more hours piloting the Bioship."

"Artemis, are you sure?" GA asked, wary of her involvement in the case.

"Absolutely."

"Then by all means, take my spot." I pulled my mask off, "I have plenty of non-hero work that I have to do. If you need me, I can run ops from here."

"If you're okay with that, Cat, then it's fine with me." Ollie nodded.

So, once the crew flew off, I set myself up in the mission room. I had a comm in my ear, tuned to an encrypted channel, a holo-map tracking everyone on my right hand side, and an unfinished U.S. History paper on the desk in front of me. I was supposed to be writing a three-page report on the attack on Pearl Harbor, but my mind kept drifting to the League. Wonder Woman, the Wonder Woman, had nominated me for membership in the League. Growing up, I idolized her. She was my favorite hero (don't tell Oliver) as a kid.

"No offense, guys, but even my boredom is bored." Zatanna's voice snapped me out of my daze.

"Maybe the night off wasn't the best idea."

"Hey, Kara!" Connor called out to me. I swiveled around dramatically in my chair, "Got any good stakeouts for us?"

"Sorry, I'm busy refereeing Red Arrow and company. But when RT comes down from his apartment, you can ask him. He might have something." I shrugged, before turning back to my report.

"Red Arrow to Cave. We've arrived at the drop-point. Target has been identified, heading North."

I glanced over at the holo-map, pressing my finger to the comm in my ear, "Pursue. But maintain discreet distance. Especially you, Artemis. Sportsmaster has a knack for spotting Martian camouflage in motion."

"Copy."

My line went dead as the squad went into radio silence. I went back to work on my report. It took me another half hour to crank out a solid page and a half, and now that I had my motor running I would be done before the squad came back.

"Wildcat," The metallic voice of Red Tornado echoed off the walls of the Cave, "I would like to inform you that I will be heading to the Watchtower for monitor duty."

"Okay, thanks for letting me know." I said, not looking up from my work.

"You are welcome. And congratulations on your recent nomination."

"Thank you, RT." I replied as he headed to the zeta tubes.

"Aqualad to Cave. We've planted tracers on Sportsmaster and Chesire. Track them."

I turned over to the holo-map, "Okay, looks like Cheshire is heading north, but Sportsmaster is heading south. They'll most likely rendezvous at a predetermined location."

"Thanks, Whiskers." Roy replied before shutting off the comms again.

I worked for several hours, hearing nothing from the squad. When they finally returned, they looked like something had gone seriously wrong. Connor, M'gann and Zatanna appeared not far behind them.

"What the hell happened?" I asked, rushing toward them as they entered the mission room, "I haven't heard from you guys in hours!"

Kaldur set his hands on my shoulders and sighed, "We failed. Though the Injustice League is in custody, their allies still scheme. And we know nothing of their plans."

"Gee, I wonder why?" Roy spat, glaring pointedly at Artemis.

"Hey!" She snapped, "Who found out that Sportsmaster was working for Brain, Klarion and Ivo?"

"Yeah, great intel." He replied, sarcastically, "Except Ivo has been in Belle Reve the whole time! And the guards just checked; it's the real Ivo, not a robot!"

"You know, I'm getting kind of tired of you dumping on her!" Wally stepped in, cutting Roy off from Artemis.

The older archer held up a tracer for Wally to see. The speedster shrugged.

"Her tracer, so? Cheshire ditched it."

"No, Artemis ditched that," He pointed to the tracer that Kaldur had pulled from his backpack, "To send us on a wild goose chase. She put this one on Cheshire."

Wally was visibly shocked, "Artemis?"

He turned to face her, his shock turning to anger and accusation, "Are you that freaked out by Arrow joining the Team that you had to take the bad guys on solo? Please tell me I'm wrong."

She opened her mouth, tried to find the words to defend herself, but none came. She closed her mouth and her eyes fell to the floor.

"Well, nice going. What you proved is that you're insecure and selfish." Wally scowled, tossing one of Cheshire's sais at her feet, "Keep the sai."

He ripped the tracer out of Roy's hand and held it up, "This is the proper souvenir for the mission."

The speedster walked away, heading toward the zeta tubes in silence. Roy turned his attention back to his fellow archer.

"So how will you betray us next time?"

"That's enough!" I stepped in front of Roy, placing a hand on his chest and shoving him back, he stumbled a few steps, not expecting me to be strong enough to move him, "You all made mistakes. Get over yourself, or the League will rescind both our nominations."

I stopped as soon as I realized what I had said. Everyone fell silent.

"Nominations?" Connor asked.

"For membership into the Justice League." Roy explained, his scowl growing ever more prominent, "Wildcat and I were both voted in as new members. It was supposed to be kept quiet."

"They would have figured it out sooner or later, Roy." I snapped, "I mean, come on."

"Who else is joining the League?" Zatanna asked me.

"Classified. We don't even know who else was elected in." I replied, my throat suddenly dry, "But after we're officially sworn in, both of us will be leaving the Team."

"Okay, so when were you planning on telling us this?" Artemis snarled. My gaze locked itself onto the ground, unable to meet the condescending glares that bore into me from all directions.

"When the time was right. Not when you were all at each other's throats." I replied simply, steeling myself and raising my head with a sudden surge of confidence. I had no reason to feel ashamed by this. If anything, I should be ridiculously proud of it.

"Go home. All of you. And get some sleep." I demanded, before swiping my history paper of the desk and heading for the nearest zeta tube.