A/N: Sorry guys. So, so, sorry for the late update. Life has been getting to me (that and I did write two one-shots sooo I've been preoccupied). Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter and that it clarifies what Kaldur meant by 'mole' in the last chapter. If it doesn't PM me or Ask on Tumblr. Also, three chapters left! Should be done in two weeks!
Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Do I own Young Justice? Nashi (That's 'no' in Japanese).
Day 3: The Mole
Zatanna was meandering through the convention entrance the next morning, adjusting the gloves of her costume as she walked, when a hand grabbed hers and pulled her to the side.
"Dick?" Zatanna screeched, staring down at the boy who was gripping her arm.
He didn't answer, instead opting to survey the surrounding area like he was on a stake out. Zatanna glanced around the room but saw no one. It was barely seven in the morning. Nobody had arrived yet.
"Who are you looking for?" she whispered.
"Shhh!" Dick hissed, "You'll blow our cover."
"Our- What?"
"Shhhhh!"
"Listen, Dick. We don't have time for this. Doesn't the panel start in like an hour? We need to-"
"The panel? The panel? Who cares about the panel!" Dick said, throwing his arms up in the air.
Zatanna took the opportunity to put both hands on her hips and use every centimeter she had over Dick to stare down at him belligerently.
"Did you, Richard Grayson, really just say that?" she inquired, her eyes narrowing dangerously.
"No. Yes. Maybe." Dick stammered, twisting his fingers together as she stared at him.
"Okay, we need to get you some coffee stat. You are obviously having a meltdown," Zatanna said, reaching to drag him towards the cafeteria.
He pulled away, sighing robustly as she watched him. She'd never seen him so worked up. He was normally so nonchalant in even the direst circumstances.
"No, Zatanna, the thing is… I need your help," Dick said. He seemed calmer, his hands had stopped fidgeting and not for the first time Zatanna found she was unable to tear her eyes away from his pale blue irises.
She vaguely recalled something Babs had said yesterday, something about Barbara lending Dick to her.
To hell with that, Zatanna thought, I'm keeping him.
"Di-"
"Zatanna!"
Zatanna turned around to see the doors of the convention slamming closed behind a very angry father.
"Crap," Zatanna said.
"Crap is right, young lady," the man said, approaching her.
"Dick, you've met my dad. Dick, Giovanni Zatara. Dad, Dick," Zatanna said amicably as her dad waltzed over and grabbed her arm.
"It is nice meeting you again Dick, but I'm afraid my daughter has some explaining to do," Zatara said, attempting to drag Zatanna toward the front doors.
"Um, dad. Let's not leave. Walk. Just walk around with me and I'll explain. Okay?" Zatanna promised.
Zatara sighed, taking a second to run his free hand over his thinning black hair.
"Fine. Fine. Walk," he agreed.
As they began to walk away Dick raised a hand, a single 'but' almost tumbling from his lips before Zatanna turned around and winked at him.
"I'll catch up," she whispered to Dick, before saying to herself, "…if my dad doesn't ground me for life."
"Not a single visit. Not a text. I didn't know you were in town until I turned on the news this morning: Young Justice cast visits Wayne Convention! Is that the right way for a father to communicate with his only daughter?" Zatara said as Zatanna lead him toward a booth in the dealer's room.
"Um, no?" Zatanna croaked, "Look, dad, I'm sorry. I've been busy and-"
"What is this yow-e?" Zatara demanded as he raised a thin paper manga to his daughter's face. "Do you read this- this- literature?"
Zatanna almost laughed at the way 'literature' sounded foul when her father used it to describe manga. Instead she just smiled and snatched the volume from her father's shaking hand.
"It's yaoi, dad, or slash, and it's pretty good. My favorites are the BirdFlash comics," Zatanna said.
Zatara only narrowed his eyes at her and moved to another booth.
Zatanna sighed; she had a feeling that she was getting an early start to an incredibly long day.
"How are your legs?"
"Fine."
"What about your arms, are they-"
"Fine."
"Does your head hurt? I can-"
"I'm fine, Wally," Artemis said, pushing his hands away from her arm in frustration.
She strolled ahead of him and shoved the doors to the convention open before Wally could ask about any other appendages that may need attending to.
She felt fine; a little woozy maybe, from the meds; a little angry that her 'teammates' had decided to leave her, with Wally no less, while they picked Kaldur up from the airport; a little pissed that Roy had brought Oliver home before she could see him, but those feelings shouldn't be taken out on Wally.
She sighed, stepping inside the convention.
"Last day," she murmured, rubbing the bandages on her arm.
"What?" Wally said, coming to stand beside her.
He still looked like he'd rather carry her or better yet: outfit her in full body armor to keep her from being injured again. But he was doing his best to stand beside her without attacking every passerby that so much as brushed up against her hair.
"Nothing. Um, sorry- You know? I didn't mean to snap at you," she said.
"Yeah? Go on," Wally said cheekily, "What else are you sorry for?"
"Get over yourself."
Wally stared down at her, offended.
"Now you have another apology in order, Art-"
Wally probably would've ended that sentence with something snarky that would've provoked Artemis in to smacking him but as it was Dick chose that precise moment to launch himself at the pair from the crowd and drag them in to the shadows of the stairway.
"What the-"
"Dick?" Artemis asked, "What are you doing?"
"Where are the others?" Dick demanded.
"Getting Kaldur, why?" Wally said dubiously.
"I need your help," Dick said, looking both of them up and down, his eyes stopping on Artemis, "What are you wearing?"
"Sweats," Artemis said, looking down at the comfy clothes Zatanna had so graciously bought her last night, "I just got out the hospital, remember? And they cut up my uniform in the ER."
"That thing? I have it," Wally announced, pulling a scrap of green fabric out of the cupboard on his uniform.
"Wha- Wally, why did you keep that?" Artemis demanded. Watching incredulously as her boyf- ex-boyfriend stretched the green archer's mask over his own yellow cowl.
"Souvenir," he said with a signature grin.
"Stop it you two," Dick snapped, "Okay. We can fix this. Artemis, I have a spare costume upstairs. It's not your Artemis costume but it'll do. We're going undercover."
"What are you-" Artemis stuttered, "Undercover? New costumes? I just got out of the hospital!"
"I'm sorry, Artemis, but there's no time to recuperate. There's a mole on the team," Dick said making eye contact with each of them.
"A mole? Like the little rodent things that burrow under-" Wally cried in protest when Artemis dug her elbow in to his side.
"Idiot. He obviously means a spy," Artemis said.
"Yes. A spy. I've had Kaldur in Hollywood the last few days doing some undercover work on a movie company that has been beginning to produce a movie eerily similar to Young Justice. He confirmed yesterday that there is someone on our team leaking information to this production company. It's the only explanation on how they would make a script practically identical to ours!" Dick said, waving his arms in the air for emphasis.
"Um, what's it called? The other movie, I mean," Wally asked hesitantly.
"Young Injustice," Robin whined.
"Wow, that's pretty creepy," Artemis said sarcastically, "So, who're our options for the spy? Do you think it's Flash Boy here? Or how about that dog Superboy has in his trailer? Wolf, isn't it?"
Dick narrowed his eyes at Artemis suspiciously, "I don't know. But you have a pretty sketchy past yourself. How do I know that you aren't the mole?"
"Don't look at me," she said, throwing her hands in front of herself, "I've spent the entire convention trying to avoid Kid Idiot. I seriously doubt I'd have found the time to be mole-y."
"That and she's too stupid to be the mole. Not to mention she's about as sneaky as a brick of dynamite," Wally said, "How about Kaldur? I mean, he is the one who gave you the information, dude."
Dick shook his head vaguely as if he had thought about this before.
"Kaldur's too loyal and honest. It's either Megan or Conner."
"What's either Megan or Conner?"
Artemis, Robin and Wally looked over at Megan so fast that their heads practically spun off their necks.
Megan was wearing her Miss Martian costume, her hands clasped in front of her innocently as she stared at them. Kaldur stood beside her, his hand extended as if he wished to say something but the words were lost in his throat as Megan's eyes welled with tears.
"Are you guys kicking me off the team? I-I'm sorry. I never meant to be a bad teammate. I'll do better. I swear!" she cried.
Artemis reached forward to console the girl and shot a look back at Dick who was shaking his head resolutely.
"It's not her," Dick admitted, "But that means-"
"Megan. We're not kicking you off the team," Artemis said.
"You're not?" Megan said, looking up at Artemis with wide watery eyes.
"No, but we need to know something. Where's Conner?" Artemis asked.
"H-He," Megan managed to hiccup before she started crying again.
"I am afraid Superboy had a- miscommunication with his father before we entered the convention," Kaldur said helpfully as Megan continued to sob in to Artemis' sweatshirt, "He went in the building ahead of us. He said he would be walking around."
"It's Conner," Wally said, his admittance forcing everyone to turn to him. "It has to be."
"What's Conner?" Megan asked, clinging to Artemis.
As Artemis explained to the girl what was happening, the boys used Dick's computer and found Conner in the cafeteria.
As the team made their way to meet up with 'the mole' Megan continued to sob in to Artemis' clothes.
"Megan, it's okay. I'm sure- I'm sure Conner didn't mean it," Artemis assured the girl.
"You don't understand," Megan whimpered, "Conner just- He isn't capable of understanding what it means to be a spy. He could never do something like that."
"We'll see," Artemis whispered.
Five minutes later the team crashed in to the cafeteria. It was still early but there were a couple dozen people sprawled across the plastic tables and chairs, watching as the team marched across the room to stand directly in front of Conner who was in the middle of conversing with an older woman wearing a long dark trench coat.
"Hi gu-" Conner began to say but Wally cut him off by jumping to the front of the team and practically shouting, "We know what you're up to Superboy."
"What am I- up to?" Conner asked in bewilderment as Wally poked a finger in to his chest.
"I think you know exactly what we're talking about, mister. You're the mole. You've been giving out secrets to the enemy!"
Conner scrunched up his face, glanced worriedly at Megan before looking back at Wally.
"I really don't know what you're talking about, Wally," Conner admitted. "The only people I've talked to the past few days are Megan and Ivy."
"Ivy?" Dick asked curiously.
"Yeah, Ivy, my friend, she's right-" Conner looked at the spot beside him but found it empty, "She was right here."
"There!" Kaldur said, pointing across the room at a running figure before sprinting after her.
"Ivy as in Poison Ivy?" Wally asked doubtfully as he watched Kaldur drag the screaming trench coat women towards the team.
"No, Ivy as in Pamela Isley. She's a famous movie producer in Hollywood," Dick said, pointing at the woman as Kaldur finally managed to drag her, kicking and screaming, in front of the team.
"How do you know-" Artemis began to ask but Pamela Isley cut her off with a withering look.
"So, Boy Wonder, you've figured it out?" Pamela sneered. She was wearing a costume, her skin tight green spandex and pale skin drawing far too much attention from Wally than Artemis would've liked, "I've got your stupid friend here giving me secrets right under Daddy Bats little nose. You must be so- what's that word you use? Distraught."
"Stupid?" Conner said, cracking his knuckles. Megan rushed forward, holding him back even though she was half his size, "You said you were my friend. You- you listened to me when my dad-"
"Whatever, Superboy, I was using you," Pamela said, fidgeting under Kaldur's hold, "You gonna bring me to justice or not, fish boy?"
Kaldur didn't say anything. Instead he tightened his grip on her and proceeded to lead her towards Bruce's office, a tight, angry look on his face.
Artemis watched Kaldur leave with a strange sense of foreboding. She turned to see Superboy pushing Megan's arms away from him, despite her protests, before he stalked in to the crowd. His glower was darker than usual.
"Poor Superboy," Artemis murmured, glancing at Megan who looked close to tears, "Poor Megan."
"I have a feeling that unless we do something Conner and his father are never going to see eye to eye. And Megan will probably never stop crying," Wally admitted, reaching to throw an arm around Artemis' shoulders before remembering that she was injured.
"Artemis, I need you to go change now," Dick announced.
"What?" she yelled, turning to the boy, "Megan is crying! Superboy is on a rampage and Kaldur is all alone dealing with a psychotic Hollywood producer! And you want me to go change in to my cosplay?"
"Yes," Dick said, looking up at her as if she were stupid, "It's not your costume per se, but it's close. Go change, now. You'll need the disguise. I have a plan."
"What kind of a plan?" Wally asked, watching as Megan wandered shakily to a table and sat down, resting her head in her hands.
"The kind that'll help more than one person. If we're lucky and we time this thing right we may just be able to help Superboy, Superman, Megan, Zatanna and a few others," Dick said, ticking the people off on his fingers.
"A few others?" Artemis said.
"Yes, a few," Dick said, "now hop to it."
"Hop?" Artemis sighed, "Fine. Whatever. Let's get this thing over with."
She looked up at Wally who was staring at the bandages still encircling her head warily.
"You sure you're up to this?" he whispered.
"I'm fine," she assured him, "now if we want to help the others we should probably get going."
"Right," Wally flushed, "I'm right behind you."
So, what do you guys think the plan is?
Please Review :3
