BELLE REVE

JUNE 14TH 2011 04:14 EST

The lights above cast the room into a mustard yellow light, and the room smelled vaguely of old plastic. The cool metal of the stainless-steel chair felt cold beneath Honeybee, able to be felt through her dark black mission leggings. She shivered once, but she didn't know if it was because of the overactive air conditioner churning or the company she now found herself in that made her shiver.

Honeybee stared at Ivo, who was unusually calm. Almost at peace. Which was surprising, given they had woken him from dead sleep for interrogation. Ivo yawned once mildly, arms cuffed to the tables and legs to the floor. In Honeybee's ear was a comn link, an addition due to M'gann's absence from this mission. Well, not completely absence. Before Batman dropped her and Wally off at Belle Reve, he told them that the rest of the Team would be on stand-by in Vlavata, ready at a moment's notice to go where ever it was that their investigation lead them. That was why they had a second comn link in her other ear, deadly silent until she touched it and manufactured by Batman himself for cross continental communication. It was still technically a prototype, but it worked hopefully none the less.

"Waller has taken me to the cell," Kid Flash said in her ear. "Starting my investigation now. See what you can get out of Ivo."

Amanda Waller had been rather unceremoniously reinstated as the warden of Belle Reve following the revelation that Warden Strange had been running the prison has a merry-go-round for convicts, letting them out to commit crimes and then return to allow them an alibi. Waller's rather hard approach to criminals while a little extreme was effective, Honeybee had to admit. And the dark-skinned woman was none too happy that someone had disappeared on her watch, and so she was for once welcoming the League and the Team's interference in her prison.

"Okay," Honeybee answered into the silence of the room. Ivo looked up, eyebrow raised and mouth twitched to the side curiously.

"I assume you're talking to whoever it is that came with you and not me?" Ivo asked, and Honeybee frowned. She swiped her hair out of her face (it was getting long again, but at this time she had no plans to cut it) and glowered at Ivo.

"For once, Ivo, you're right," Honeybee returned. Ivo grimaced back at her.

"That's Professor Ivo, dear," Ivo corrected. Honeybee raised her own brow and crossed her ankles beneath the table.

"Last I checked, Ivo," Honeybee said, "you no longer have a classroom nor a teaching position. So, you're not really a professor, are you now?" It was a little confrontational, she knew that, and it would not be useful to the interrogation. But her frustration and anger at Ivo was a little over-powering, a little too strong, and the human side of her was beating out the more logical vigilante within her. She wanted to bite out all the things she wanted to say to him, all the years of pain he had put her through, but she couldn't without giving away her identity. So this was the best she could do.

Ivo laughed once under his breath. "Not a morning person, are you? You seem to be in a bad mood."

"Having to be here dealing with you instead of snuggled up asleep? Yeah, that tends to put me in a bit of a sour way."

Ivo seemed to take this in stride, frowning at her. "Well, the feeling is mutual, my dear."

Honeybee leaned her elbows down on the table, resting her head in her hands.

"Any chance you want to put an early end to this meeting?" Honeybee suggested. "You can tell me why Vertigo was using your alias?"

Ivo smiled wickedly and his eyes shone with mischief, like this was all some big game to him. Honeybee returned his smile with down-turned lips, clearly not amused with her father.

"A little optimistic, are we?" Ivo mused. Ivo snickered at his daughter, and he folded his hands the best he could with his cuffs, fingers slotted neatly together. "Reminds me of my daughter – she always had a flair for the optimistic."

Honeybee froze. Of all the things Honeybee suspected would happen, this was not one of them. Ivo indirectly bringing her up, being the one to talk about this part of his life. She had thought that Ivo would have put Betty and Mom behind him, never to be talked about again. Neatly put away in the past and not allowed to be taken out of the box he put them in.

"You have a daughter?" Honeybee hesitated, feigning surprise as much as she could. Ivo raised a brow.

"Is it that surprising?" Ivo asked. Honeybee knew from an outsider's perspective it would be. Ivo seemed to not have a care in the world for anyone except himself. How could he have become less-involved long enough to have a family? To have a daughter that he would speak fondly of? The only reason that Honeybee didn't find it surprising was because she was in fact said daughter.

"That anyone would want to have kids with you?" Honeybee sarcastically shot at him. "Yeah, that is mighty surprising." Ivo grimaced again, clearly insulted, and she could not find herself having enough compassion to be upset that she insulted him.

"I'll have you know I was quite the looker back in the day," Ivo insisted, and Honeybee did not stop the laugh that bubbled up from her throat. She was there – Ivo looked almost exactly the same, save a few wrinkles and gray hairs.

"Yeah, and I'm the Queen of Sheba," Honeybee said. Ivo wrinkled his forehead in contemplation, confused, but then it straightened out like he realized something. Whatever it was he realized, he was in no mood to share, as he kept his gaze straightforward and silent.

"This daughter of yours, does she visit you?" Honeybee asked. Ivo shook his head, and Honeybee felt her stomach clench as she slowly concocted a plan. "Maybe if you tell me what's your and Vertigo's plan is, I could convince her to come and…..talk."

Ivo seemed to consider this for a moment, but then laughed again. "I doubt dear Elizabeth could be persuaded by the likes of you."

Honeybee just barely managed to bite back the correction. 'Betty'. Betty hadn't been Elizabeth in years. Her father was the only one who insisted on calling her that, so Elizabeth had been replaced with Betty when Ivo left. Elizabeth existed only in Ivo's head, in every other person's head, she was Betty. And Betty was what she preferred anyway. Betty was much stronger than Elizabeth ever was. Elizabeth was a child, a little girl who begged for the protection of her parents and needed a nightlight to ward off the monsters. Betty fought monsters on the daily and didn't need anyone's protection. Betty was not a child and hadn't been for a while.

"All I've been able to find is Ivo's journal," Kid Flash announced into the comn link. "It's rather….lax on details. It seems to be written in some kind of…code of some kind. See what you can find out."

"So…. your journal?" Honeybee started. Both of Ivo's brows raised, and Honeybee knew they had finally hit something. It might not have been a perfect lead, but it was something they could use. "It seems to be written in code. Mind telling me what that's about?"

"To keep you people from delving into my personal business," Ivo answered. "Is a man not allowed some privacy, my dear?"

Honeybee cringed at the continued use of the affectionate name, even though she knew that it was not truly meant. Merely a pattern of his speech, nothing else. But she had for years been cut off completely from her father, for years craved for him to turn from evil and be a real father. A craving she had long since given up, but one that still reared it's head just a little bit when Ivo called her dear. Couldn't he stop that? Couldn't he be just a little less…..less Ivo? For once in his life?

"When he potentially plans a child's assassination, no, he's not," Honeybee said. Ivo at last seemed surprised, and he stared at her with a look of disbelief, brow furrowed and eyes wide.

"A child's assassination?" Ivo checked, and Honeybee nodded. Ivo laughed and shook his head, throwing his head back like this was the funniest joke he had ever heard. "Getting a little ahead of ourselves, are we?"

Well, what else could it be, that was what Honeybee wanted to ask. Vertigo had been single-mindedly on this mission for years, why else would he be headed to Vlavata? Why else would be escape? But Honeybee couldn't ask that, she couldn't seem like she didn't know what was going on. That was the first rule of interrogation, always make it seem like you have all the cards. Don't give away what you don't know, and you'll learn what it was you need.

"Count Vertigo's only goal is to be king of Vlavata," Honeybee said instead. Ivo shrugged and leaned back as far as he could with his restraints.

"That's his main goal," Ivo conceded. "But I would never lend an alias to someone wanting to kill a child. Give me some credit, I am a father after all."

A pretty bad one, Honeybee added mentally. One that left their child behind for a selfish need to feel young, a selfish need to do things for his own good rather than be a real father. But Honeybee supposed maybe there was a kernel of goodness left in him. Just enough to keep him trying to kill a child. But she couldn't assume anything – she had to go on the knowledge that Ivo would do anything to achieve his goals. For his own good.

"Then why did you give him your alias then?" Honeybee tried, and Ivo raised a brow.

"Who said I gave him anything?" Ivo retorted, and Honeybee felt her heart skip a beat.

"He stole it from you," Honeybee surmised, and Ivo nodded once, eyes shining wickedly and with mischief. Honeybee's stomach bubbled with anger and frustration.

That meant Ivo had no idea what was going on. Ivo was just another pawn in Vertigo's game, an unwilling one just like the rest of them. Ivo wasn't working with or for Vertigo, he had his identity stolen in a mad attempt to keep them from following Vertigo's trail. But that also meant that Ivo had been messing with Honeybee for the past conversation. Instead of revealing that off the bat, he had decided to keep Honeybee talking. To talk of nonsense when she should be helping Kid Flash look for clues in the cell, or with the Team on the ground in Vlavata.

"We're done here," Honeybee said, standing up. The chair skidded across the linoleum floor, creating a soft squeak that grated on Honeybee's nerves. Honeybee bit her lip and turned around to leave, but was stopped by Ivo calling out to her from the chair.

"You like bees, hmm?" Ivo called. "My daughter always liked them too. As did her mother."

Honeybee froze and turned to face him. His face was for once soft, pure concentration and lips turned downward lightly. Honeybee felt it in her core, what this meant. What his comment meant, what his expression meant.

He knew.

Ivo knew who she was. Ivo knew his daughter was Honeybee, had known it all this time. The whole time she had sat across from him, last year when she battled his robot. He knew. He knew his daughter was coming after him, that his daughter was one of the many enemies that he had created in his mad attempt for eternal life and personal glory. And he didn't care.

Honeybee swallowed thickly and glared at him, unable to come up with anything to say. What was there to say? What could she say? There was nothing. Just disappointment and anger, more frustration to be added to the piles and piles of emotion that Honeybee had to sort through when it came to Ivo.

"We're done," she hissed. Done here. Done forever. No more would Honeybee allow herself to be played by her father. Someone else could interrogate. Someone else could try and figure him out. She's done.

Honeybee pressed the button to let the guards know that they were finished and she wanted to be let out. There was a flash of red light above the door and the door unlocked loudly, and then the steel door opened with a crank. A guard with a gun appeared to usher her out, and she stepped through, not bothering with a look over her shoulder.

"Nice speaking to you, dear."

No. She would not look.

BELLE REVE

JUNE 14TH 2011 05:32 EST

Honeybee stepped into the cell, tears barely managing to stay hidden behind her mask. She had to keep them hidden, she couldn't let Kid Flash know what dealing with Ivo had done to her. What her father knew, what her father had said. All he needed to know was that Ivo wasn't involved, that this was nothing more than a wild goose chase that Vertigo had concocted to keep them occupied. Wally didn't need to know that her father knew she was Honeybee, that he was her father at all.

"Are you done with Ivo?" Kid Flash asked, pulling her out of her thoughts. Honeybee straightened up, sucking in a deep breath and willing the tears to return to her and to not spill like they wanted to.

"Ivo's a dead end," Honeybee managed, weaker than she would have liked. Kid Flash turned to her, journal still in hand, bright yellow and red making him stick out like a sore thumb against the stone white walls of the jail. "He doesn't know what's going on."

Kid Flash stared at her for a long moment, taking in her form with critical green eyes, and Honeybee tried to keep herself from cracking under his look. He seemed to catch onto her hood, as he furrowed his brow and stepped towards her, hand outreached carefully.

"Honeybee, are you—"

"I'm fine," Honeybee insisted, not even letting him finish. Kid Flash ingested this quietly and then shook his head. He closed the journal in his hands and set it gently onto the bottom bunk of the cell. He took another tentative step towards her. Honeybee met this by turning to the side, away from him and reaching for the journal on the bed. "Vertigo stole the alias from Ivo. Ivo is just as clueless as we are."

Her voice was shaking. She couldn't deny that, and she couldn't hide it. Ivo was affecting her more than she was willing to let on, even more than she willing to admit to herself. And Wally – kind, loyal Wally – was catching on and she knew that he was not going to let it go. They might not be the best of friends, but they were friends none the less, and he never was one to let his friends remain in pain. It just wasn't who he was.

"Have you found anything els—'

"What did he say?" Kid Flash asked. He gripped her elbow, making her turn to face him. His face was set into an angry stone, emerald eyes as hard as ice and lips thinned out into a straight line. "What did he say to make you like this?"

Honeybee's eyes once again pooled with tears, and they collected into ready to fall in lines beneath her mask.

"Nothing," Honeybee said softly, unconvincingly. "It doesn't matter anyway, the mission –"

"Forgot the mission!" Kid Flash hissed to her, gripping her tighter. "You're hurting, and we can't help anyone if we don't make sure you're okay first."

That was the difference between Kid Flash and the other original sidekicks. The rest put the mission first. The mission always comes first, even to Honeybee. Honeybee would be asked to sit out and get her head back in the game if it was Kaldur or Robin in front of her. But it was not Kaldur or Robin, it was Wally. And Wally was different, Wally always put the person first. Never let their emotions be forgotten, thought with his heart rather than his head. Wally would want to make sure that she was okay before they continued.

The tears finally crashed into waves, falling from beneath her mask. It was the straw that broke the camel's back, this conversation with Wally. The secret felt unbearable, felt like a weight bearing down on her chest and she finally couldn't carry it anymore. It was cutting off her breath, and she had to breathe before it suffocated her. She hiccupped and shut her eyes, not able to look at him as the words began to slither up her throat.

"Ivo's my father," she whispered, still in her self-imposed darkness. "And he knows. He knows who I am."

Kid Flash let go of her, and she cringed back, finally opening her eyes. Kid Flash looked at her in shock, concern forgotten by his surprise. He raised a hand to his mouth, cupping it as he eyed her up and down. She took in a hard breath and looked down at her feet. Just as she expected, Kid Flash was horrified that she came from such a monster. Too angry to speak to her, angry that she kept this secret for so long.

"Honeybee…." Kid Flash stepped forward and took her hand in his. Honeybee blinked and returned her gaze to him, to see that he was now staring at her with wide, sympathetic eyes. Honeybee hadn't expected that and was shocked into her own silence. "I'm so sorry. If I had known—I would have never let you go in there."

"It wasn't up to you," Honeybee said. "It was the mission. And the mission comes first."

Kid Flash sighed and squeezed her hands comfortingly.

"I just—who else knows? Robin? SB?" Kid Flash asked. Honeybee shook her head.

"No one. Well, Bats, and the new Waspia, my aunt," Honeybee told him. Wally took in this information and then let go of her hands, clenching his fists at his side. Honeybee took a step back and crossed her arms behind her back, her tears gone and the last of them falling in fragile lines down her red cheeks.

"I'm sorry." Kid Flash shook his head and smiled at her softly.

"Don't be sorry," Kid Flash said. "You didn't – It's-…" He sighed. "Just don't be sorry, okay?"

Honeybee nodded once, all she could manage, and she wiped at her tears. She straightened her back and turned to him, lips thinned out into a serious expression. The weight was gone. Well, not gone, but lessened. Like it was manageable, now that she wasn't the only one who was carrying it.

But they still had the mission. A child was at stake. She couldn't linger on this forever. They couldn't.

"Have you managed to find anything else out?" Honeybee asked, voice flipping from soft to hard. Kid Flash seemed to understand that this conversation was over, at least for now. Kid Flash shook his head and put his hands on his hips, looking around the bare cell. The cell was empty, even by normal prison standards. No personal artifacts, no posters or books to keep them from going insane from boredom. The only book in the whole six by six room was the journal, and the beds were almost too straight and put together. The pillows were flat and the blankets green and nearly tucked into the sides.

There was nothing here. The mission was a bust, at least from this end. There was simply nothing else they could do from here. It was up to the rest of the Team on the other side of the world.

"Honeybee to Aqualad. Vertigo cleared out his cell – there's simply nothing here. I-We're sorry. We don't have anything."

"It's alright. We all knew it was a long-shot."

MOUNT JUSTICE

JUNE 14TH 2011 16:57 EST

The whole mission ended up being an exercise in futility. After coming up with nothing at Belle Reve, the Team checked two known hide-outs of Vertigo in Vlavata and in Markovia and they ended up finding nothing. Vertigo was simply in the wind, and there was nothing that the League or the Team could do to locate him. Not right now. They would need him to peep out of his hiding hole if they wanted to get a lead, and only Heaven knew how long that would be.

The mission debriefing was understandably a dour affair because of this, Batman's disappointment palpable. His mouth was downturned, and he left with little fanfare, telling them all to hit the showers and that he would call them for the next mission in due time. It put all of them in sour moods. Honeybee, already in sour mood from Ivo, was pushed even deeper into one.

They all knew there would be mission failures. It was just a part of life, you could not succeed every time, it was just not possible. But living those failures and knowing they would come were two different things. It made them all feel useless, like they had wasted time they could have spent helping someone else.

The Team started to disperse, and Honeybee sighed, shutting her eyes.

"Wait."

She had made the decision on her way back to the Cave. It might be a stupid one, it might make her whole world implode in on itself. But this felt like a risk worth taking. They had accepted everyone else. Maybe they would accept her too.

The Team stopped from where they were leaving, and Honeybee watched all of their confused faces with a small frown and a loaded look in her eyes. Kid Flash seemed to catch on, and he raced from his girlfriend's side to Honeybee and grabbed her hand. Honeybee watched the others for a long moment, each one of their stares feeling like it was peeking into her very soul.

Robin, Zatanna, and Rocket stood the farthest away, each of them sharing a confused expression that they did not try to hide. Kaldur had a much more reserved look, looking at her calmly and with an air of gentle politeness. Artemis had her arms crossed, her narrowed eyes bearing into her. M'gann smiled at her, not expecting the bombshell that would soon escape from Honeybee's lips. Conner kept his expression neutral, clearly ready to be over and done with this briefing, but a bit of curiosity peeking at the edges of his crystal eyes.

Kid Flash squeezed her hand and leaned down to whisper to her.

"You don't have to tell them. I'll keep your secret."

No. She had to. No matter if Wally kept the secret, now that it was out she felt the others had a right to know. They had proven themselves over and over again willing to fight and die for her, and here she was keeping the secret of who she was from them. They only had bits and pieces of her, not the whole her. Not the her that she was fully. And they deserved that from her. They had earned it long ago.

"I have to tell you guys something," Honeybee announced. Kid Flash did not let go of her hand, and she relished the touch of her friend as she stared at the rest. She swallowed thickly. "Something I should- Something important."

Conner raised a brow, like she knew he would, and she smiled at him. Conner stepped forward with crossed arms, edges of curiosity replaced with concern.

"Are you alright HB?" Conner asked. Honeybee nodded once softly and sighed greatly, and met each one of her friend's gaze with a sturdy and confident look.

"All of you, you—you're my family," Honeybee started. "And I love you, each of you, in your own. I've been hiding who I am from you, and you all deserve to know what I've kept hidden from you."

Kaldur stepped forward at this, and he put a hand on her shoulder. He opened his mouth to say something, but Honeybee raised her hand to silence him.

"Please, let me finish, or I'll never get this out." She shut her eyes, willing the last of her confidence to the forefront, and then she reached for her mask. She pulled it off quickly and then opened her eyes, revealing to them for the first time her chocolate-colored eyes. "My name, my real name is Elizabeth, but my friends call me Betty."

Rocket gasped, and Zatanna's eyes widened to pin balls. Conner and Robin were less surprised, having seen her in civilian mode before, but seemed still concerned she had demasked in front of the others. Artemis uncrossed her arms and stepped up next to M'gann, who's smile was replaced by a small 'o' shape. Kaldur let go of her shoulder and stepped back, looking down at her in shock.

Kaldur was the first to snap back to normal, shock turning into a good-natured smile as his eyes crinkled with mirth.

"Thank you for sharing your name with us, Betty," Kaldur said. The name felt foreign from his mouth, a word she never expected to hear out of Kaldur. But it also felt right, like it was only natural that her friend knows who she was. Her friend knew who she is really, who she was beneath the mask. Who it was that they thought beside on a daily basis. "I know this must not have been an easy decision for you."

"I think Elizabeth is a pretty name," M'gann piped up, and Betty laughed under her breath.

But she wasn't done.

"I, uh, also have something else to tell you," Betty continued. She sighed again, and Kid Flash squeezed her hand tightly, holding her up right with his support. This was the thing she was most worried, the thing that she knew would make or break her in their eyes. She took a steadying breath and looked between them all, feeling more vulnerable than she had felt in a long time.

"My father – my father is Professor Ivo."

The Team exploded with emotion.

"What?"

"You're kidding."

"Isn't he like ancient?"

The last comment, from Zatanna, caused Betty to laugh. Yes, her father was rather old, she would have to admit. Much older than most fathers of teenagers were. But her mother swore that it had been real, the short love affair they had had, and that he had been a different person then. Honeybee wasn't one to judge it, having known a different side of Ivo than the one he showed the rest of the world.

"Yeah, he is," Honeybee grinned. Zatanna returned her laugh, and Betty knew that Zatanna was still with her. That she didn't judge her. "But my mom, the first Waspia, swears he was a nice guy once upon a time."

"Ivo was nice once?" Robin asked. Robin shook his head with a chortle. "Yeah, and I'm a flying pig."

M'gann giggled and levitated towards Betty, smiling wide and wrapping Betty in a warm, kind hug. Conner smiled at her, and Rocket too didn't seem upset. Not even Kaldur seemed to be bothered by this revelation. Betty blinked and looked amongst her team, confused.

"Yo-you're not mad that I kept this from you?" Betty said. Robin rolled his sunglass clad eyes and put his arms akimbo.

"You're not your father," Artemis interjected. "Out of anyone, I understand that the most."

"This kind of secret is one you felt you had to keep," Kaldur counseled. "And we do not begrudge you for keeping it. You told us when you were ready. That is all we can ask of you."

Betty shut her eyes. They weren't angry. This was more than she had hoped for – a Team that understood. A Team that still loved her, still wanted to fight beside her. Still wanted to be her friend. Betty smiled. That's all she wanted. For her friends to still love her. For them to be angry with her.

"Thank you."

"Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop: But a good word maketh it glad." – Proverbs 12:25

And we're back to our regularly scheduled angst! And normal length chapters too!

Review Replies:

MsRosePetal: Wally is amazing! I always knew that Wally was going to be the one to know first, so I was excited to finally write that scene! I hope you enjoy my interpretation of Wally, as I don't get to write for him often in this fic. I hope to add a couple more Wally and Betty moments pre-season 2, before we have to say a tragic goodbye to our favorite speedster. Thank you for leaving a review and have a blessed day!

Coco Baldwin: Thank you so much! I'm glad you liked this story so far. I hope you enjoy what comes next too! And you read it one day? I feel so honored. Thank you for leaving a review and have a blessed day!

Questions, comments, or concerns, let me know! Have a blessed day!

-PrincessChess