Chapter 35: Alpha Male
Mount Justice
September 23, 06:33 EDT
"How much longer do you think they'll keep us here?" Sara asks.
"At this rate, I wouldn't be surprised if we stay here all week." I answer.
Twenty-four hours ago, Mount Justice was breached by two androids. Both designed in the same model as Red Tornado. Robin, Artemis, and White Canary were the only ones who these Reds hadn't captured right away. Aqualad, Superboy, Kid Flash, Miss Martian and I were held hostage by them. Robin, Artemis and Canary were able to disable both Reds before they could do any more harm to us. We thought it was over.
After our in-home incursion, Red Tornado returned to the Cave to assess the situation and our well-being. But after seeing his 'siblings', Red Tornado sucked all the air out of the room. We all blacked out within seconds. Red Tornado turned on us. Turned on the League.
After everyone woke up, we found the League assisting us. Making sure we were all okay. Hal asked me at least three times if I was okay. The League decided to keep us at Mount Justice overnight. Questioning us on everything that happened last night and what will know about Tornado and his siblings.
Part of me still can't believe it. I know Tornado is a robot and doesn't really show emotion or care for anyone. But I never would've pegged him for a traitor. He may be emotionless so to speak, but he's been a loyal member of the Justice League for years. And the Justice Society of America before that. I know the facts are saying 'Red Tornado is the enemy', but something inside me just feels that isn't true.
Anyways, the League moved us to the Cave's Mission Center for questioning and keeping an eye on us. We've been sitting here all night, anxious to get out of here and for answers on Tornado. I was able to grab my Lantern and charge my ring. It was seriously low on juice after my attempted escape.
The others are just as worn out and anxious as I am. Robin seems to be more impatient than any of us. Wally bored out of his skull. M'gann seems to be doing better, considering she was entrapped in a prison made of fire. Conner, standing up, looks irritated and angry. No surprise there. Artemis and Sara are worn out more so, especially since they rescued all of us from danger. Kaldur is on the other side of the room, conversing with Batman about last night no doubt.
Sara, however, seems to be taking an interest in their conversation for some reason. She's probably just worried if Batman is upset any about last night's break-in. I wouldn't think he would be. But he is Batman after all.
Green Arrow and Black Canary stand at the other end of the table, where Robin and Wally sit. I can imagine she wouldn't want to leave Sara's side after last night. Hal's busy helping the other Leaguers rebuild and restore the main generator.
Green Arrow places a bowl of pretzels on the table. Trying to keep us from going too hungry now.
"Thanks, but no thanks", Wally says.
"Yeah, what we want are answers about Red Tornado and his siblings." Robin demands the archer.
"Exactly!" Green Arrow picks up the snack bowl for a brief second. Wally reaches out for the bowl. "Leave the bowl." He starts to munch on some pretzels. Oh Wally…
I look to Sara sitting in front of me. Her attention is still pointed to Kaldur and Batman. I reach my hand out to hers. "Hey." My voice and touch finally break through to her. "You holding up okay?"
"Yeah, I'm good. I just need a night's sleep and a round with Grandpa Grant. Maybe now I can beat him."
"I'm sure you can, champ." We both end up laughing a bit. Nice to know we can breathe a bit after everything. "Listen, I meant to tell you after you shorted out the Reds. But thank you." I look to Artemis now. "To both of you." I turn back to Sara. "If you two hadn't acted as fast as you did, I don't think any of us would be here."
Sara squeezes her hand while still holding my own. She looks at me with such sincerity. "Thank you for saying that, Kyle. But Artemis deserves all the credit." She looks to Artemis now. "It was her arrow that made the EMP emitter go off."
"And I couldn't pull off that shot without your help keeping those Reds busy", she tells her. "It was a team effort."
"Damn right it was", I add in.
"All for one."
"And all for—"
"You knew!?" Conner's sudden outburst interrupts Sara and has everyone looking to him. Who, for some reason, is grabbing onto Kaldur against the wall. What the hell? "That android and his maniac family nearly killed M'gann!"
"Conner, what are you doing?" M'gann asks as she flies over to him. We all rush over to them, wondering what is going on.
"Kaldur knew we had a traitor among us and said nothing!" What?
"You knew?" Robin asks.
"And didn't tell us?" Wally says.
"I sought to protect the Team from—"
"Protect us from what? Knowledge that might have saved our lives?" Artemis adds in.
"You almost died!" Connner says to M'gann.
Sara walks over to Conner and Kaldur. She places her hands on both men. Pushing Conner away from Kaldur. "Conner, back off. Kaldur did what he thought was right."
"Wait", I join in finally. "You knew?"
Sara looks to us all. To me specifically. "Yes."
"And you couldn't have mentioned this when we almost died how many times last night?" Artemis asks.
"I didn't think—"
"Enough." Batman says, putting an end to our little debacle. Conner backs away from Kaldur and Sara. We all walk towards Batman, Green Arrow and Black Canary. "With Red Tornado 'missing', the Team will now be overseen by rotating supervisors." Batman turns his head right, looking to Captain Marvel, who just entered the room and the group. "Captain Marvel has volunteered to take the first shift."
Captain Marvel stands by Batman's side. Posing the ever-famous Superman 'hands on hips' pose. "I'm really looking forward to hanging with you guys." Hanging with us? I don't know a whole lot about Marvel himself. Just that he's basically a mystical version of Superman. Super-strength, super-speed, flight. A bonus to him is his lightning abilities. This should be interesting.
Conner and Kaldur face each other. "After I dismantle Red Tornado, you and I are gonna—"
"Red Tornado is a member of the Justice League." Batman says interrupting Conner's threat. "That makes him a League responsibility. You will leave him to us." I guess that's the end of that.
"I have another assignment for this team." Batman brings up a holographic image of a newspaper from the Daily Planet. The title reads "Gorilla Trades Bananas for Bullets". A quick glance of this reads of a gorilla… shooting at civilians in India. The hologram flips over to another newspaper from Gotham Gazette.
"'Gotham Mayor Attacked by Guerilla Gorilla'?" Wally questions.
"You wanna send us on a mission now? After what happened here last night?" I ask the Dark Knight.
"Batman, please! Tell me you're not sending us on this joke of a wild ape chase." Robin questions his mentor.
"I never joke about the mission." Batman's response shuts Robin down. "I've checked the sources. I've studied the patterns. Mayor Hill's encounter is only the latest in a series of incidents. Aqualad, you and your team will depart for India and check this out."
The others make their way to the hangar to ready the Bioship. As they walk past Kaldur, I notice their looks of hurt and distrust. Wally turns to Kaldur for a brief second. "'Your team.'" Leaving him with that and his thoughts. I look to Kaldur, his expression reads as confused and lost in what to do. His head must be spinning. I can't imagine what he's going through.
I place a hand on his left shoulder. Kaldur looks to me. "Give them time. They're—We're hurt. But we'll get past this. Nothing we haven't been through before." Kaldur doesn't say a word. But he does give me a smile of somewhat reassurance. To be honest, I'm not sure if that was meant for Kaldur or myself more…
"Kyle…" I look ahead and see Sara. Waiting at the end of the room. To talk to me probably. I'm not sure I'm ready to talk just yet…
I start walking towards her. But I don't say anything. I just keep walking. I keep walking until I pass her. I do say one thing as I pass her by. "Later." I leave her with just that and her thoughts. When I saw her face, her expression read as not so much hurt. More like… more like disheartened. And this hurts me just as much.
Northern India
September 23, 21:31 IST
The flight to our India has been a long one sure. But what's made it longer is the awkward silence in the Bioship. For almost the entire trip. Oliver could cut the tension in here with one of his arrows.
After our debrief, as well as Kaldur's secret about a mole in the Cave, we immediately left for India. M'gann flew the ship without a word. Not even a 'Hello, Megan'. Artemis, Kid Flash, and Robin didn't say a word either. Superboy was especially more silent than he's ever been. He did huff and breathe through his nose a lot. Probably imagining what he'll do to Kaldur. And me possibly.
Oddly enough, Captain Marvel joined us on this mission. My mind immediately thought he's here because he and the League aren't trusting with us too much right now. But I don't read that from him for some reason. Even with the flight being quiet, he seems… excited. Happy to be tagging along with us. I even catch him looking out the window, looking down to the ocean if a dolphin jumps out the water. A guy who can fly as fast as Superman gets excited about… dolphins? Leaguers are weird.
As for Kyle, he decided to fly on his own. Above the ship and in the clouds for no one to see him. Probably easier for him to be flying in the sky than be in the same room with me. God, what he must think of me. What they all must think of me.
When I joined this team, I knew I was going to have to prove myself to all of them. Even with Kyle vouching for me and the others taking me in, I knew I would need to earn their trust. It seemed like I had. Lately more so. I guess a home invasion can make you bond with those you're with at the moment.
But all it takes is one mistake. One moment of secrecy. And all that I've built with them is gone. I just hope it's gone completely.
And Kaldur, our leader… He's gotta be feeling worse than I ever could. He's been our leader, and for Robin, Wally and Kyle, their friend for a long time. I know we both didn't want to keep this from them all, we felt we had to. But the fact we did. It just hurts. Sucks too.
Out of everyone here, I'm most worried about Kyle. Tailing him and his friends across another country probably wasn't a good start to anything, especially since I never met any of them. But talking with Kyle that first night, I felt I could be honest with him. I could by myself with him. And for some reason, I felt that he could trust me with anything he wanted me to. With his life. With his issues. With him. And he knew he could trust me completely, even though he doesn't know my story completely. And now this happens. He couldn't even look at me when we left the Cave. He chose to fly and not be in the same room with me. And here I thought I was ready to maybe take the next step with him… If I lose Kyle in any way, I don't know what I'll do…
Clearing my thoughts for after the mission, M'gann alerts us we're nearing our drop site in India. I hope I'm up for this tonight. And I'm not talking about my mind space. I'm still a bit weary from our home invasion with the Red siblings. Snap out of it, Lance. You can't slip up. Not tonight.
The Bioship begins to lower towards the ground. Artemis, Robin and I walk to the ship's center. Three zip-lines drop before us. We each take one without a word. Silent treatment still, awesome. Least there won't be a lot of chatter over comms.
We drop to the ground. Artemis pulls out her bow and an arrow. Robin, a batarang. And me, my bo staffs. We survey the surrounding area as the ship makes contact. As far as I can see, no one is in line of sight. The three of us return to the others, with Kyle landing now as well. Please just, just look at me Kyle…
"All clear", Robin says.
"Switch to stealth", Aqualad says as we gather around him and Marvel, "and we'll review mission parameters."
"Parameters? We don't need no stinkin' parameters." Kid Flash says.
"It's recon. We know what to do." Robin adds.
"Kid, Robin…"
"The four of us started this team because the Justice League was keeping secrets from us", Robin says reminding Aqualad.
"Or did you forget that like you forgot to tell us about the mole?" Kid adds on angrily. Both teammates run off into the jungle. Aqualad just looks out to the jungle, deep in thought.
"Come on. I'll keep you safe", Superboy tells Miss Martian as he grabs her arm. She, however, pulls her arm away from begrudgingly crosses her arms. "I just wanna protect you."
"Like Aqualad protected us?" Artemis interjects, pointing her bow to Superboy's chest. "I'm not sure your protection or your patronizing is good for our health." Both her and Miss Martian walk in another direction into the jungle.
Superboy looks to Aqualad now. "Why didn't you stop them? You're supposed to be in charge." Before he can get an answer from his leader, Superboy leaps into the jungle on his own. Leaving only me, Aqualad, Captain Marvel and Kyle.
"Did I miss the part where you actually said what the plan was?" Captain Marvel asks Aqualad. He looks back to him and sighs sadly. Everyone just bailed on him like that. This is already starting off worse than us being captured by androids.
Kyle walks up to Aqualad. He raises both his hands, his left open and his right clenched. His ring glows dimly. In his left hand appears an ear bud. He hands it to his friend. "Miss Martian forgot to link our minds before she left. At least you'll be in contact with us while we do recon. Let us know if anything happens or when you figure out the plan." Us?
"Thank you, Kyle."
"Like I said before, we're all hurt. I'm just better at bottling it up until afterwards apparently. We'll talk about this post-mission." Kyle places his hand on Aqualad's shoulder. "But you will always be my friend, Kaldur. Nothing will change that." Kaldur has no words, not from what I can see. He does nod in response. Probably wanting to say more than he can right now.
Kyle turns towards me then. "White Canary, with me. And try to keep up." He then turns to a separate direction and walks into the jungle. At least he's talking to me. That's a start.