The Justice League gathered around the tape recorder, listening to the rescued boy's explanation in rapt attention. Batman made sure to record his conversation with the boy known as Renegade, and called in a meeting with the other League members to discuss what to do with this evidence. Matching looks of horror and anger adorned the gathered faces as they heard about Renegade's main purpose in his previous 'home.' By the end of the recording, they were beyond furious.
"How dare they do that to a child?!" Wonder Woman cried.
"Sick bast-"
"Language," The Flash muttered, elbowing Green Arrow in the ribs. "I don't like that we were clueless about this for so long. How long was that boy stuck in there?"
"Too long," Batman answered immediately. "Him and I both agree that he is around thirteen years old. The fact that he doesn't remember much about his life before Cadmus is concerning. That alone tells us that he was in captivity for years; otherwise he would be able to have a basic understanding of his life."
Looks of unease were thrown at each other as another moment passed. Eventually, Superman spoke up, "Did the DNA search give us any answers?"
"No."
Black Canary nodded. "It was a long shot anyways."
Green Arrow watched the dark knight carefully. "There's something that you haven't told us."
Batman narrowed his eyes. "And what's that?"
"Are you keeping him, or no?"
The sound of a chair scraping against the floor made several members wince, and Batman was soon standing on his feet with a hard glare being directed at his teammate. "Renegade isn't a pet."
"I didn't mean-"
"I won't be keeping him, because it's not my right to do so. He's a person, not an object." He took in a deep breath to steady himself after his rant. The surrounding members of the JLA were confused about the man's reaction. They only saw him get that defensive over a few people, and only one of them wasn't dead.
"I didn't want it to sound like that!" GA defended. "I just want to know if you're still serious about getting yourself a sidekick."
Everyone who hasn't heard about the man's sudden urge to take on a protege stared in shock. "You're not serious, are you?" Superman spoke slowly. Carefully. "You hate people."
"Do not question me, Clark." The members shifted uneasily in their seats. The use of civilian names meant that they were treading in dangerous waters. Push another button, and someone would have a batarang being shoved down their throats.
"R-right. So, you're going to take him in? Let some stranger come into your house, learn your identity, and train with you?"
"You're still questioning me." Batman said lowly, gaining a few wide eyed stares. "I'm telling you this once, and once only. I want a protege and Renegade is the perfect candidate. I am going to train with him a couple of times to make sure that he has the potential. After that, I'll talk to him about staying with me. The end."
Martian Manhunter cleared his throat. "I understand why you are all confused, but there's an explanation for Batman's sudden desire to become a mentor."
"J'onn." Batman growled warningly.
Aquaman stood, smiling apologetically at the dark knight before waving his hand to produce a holo-computer. "I'm sure you all remember the incident concerning one Richard Grayson?" The image of a boy with raven hair and blue eyes appeared on the screen.
That got everyone's attention. If they weren't all uneasy before, they definitely were now. One of the big no-no's with Batman was discussing that particular child.
One of the Green Lanterns shifted in his seat. "We are aware of the situation..."
How could anyone forget? While Batman was in his civvies, he attended one of the Haley's Circus showings. The details on why he was even there was still a mystery to a lot of them, but what happened there was no secret. The performances started off as normal- clowns made corny jokes while doing stupid things, animals performed extraordinary tricks, some guy swallowed a flaming sword...
And then there was the Flying Graysons, the only trapeze artists in the world that could perform a quadruple flip. They did all of their tricks without the safety of a net, something that didn't fail to awe anyone. The most extraordinary thing was their youngest one, a young boy named Richard. He was only eight!
They were amazing, but not amazing enough to escape death when their ropes snapped...
The only one who survived the apparent accident was the boy, since his parents decided that he was far too young to be performing the grande finale. That poor boy was forced to watch his entire family fall to their deaths, but he stayed strong and told the police that he was sure that the snapping rope was no accident.
The police didn't believe him, but Batman did. He ended up talking to the police to try and see if there was any possibility of letting Richard stay with him instead of being sent to an orphanage. It didn't take much convincing, but he was told that his background needed to be checked and that social services would need to scope out his house before anything was allowed. After two days of waiting, he was allowed to adopt Richard as his ward.
However, when he got there, there was no boy to adopt.
All traces of Grayson were gone. The police scoured the entire city for him, Bruce Wayne traveled everywhere in search for him, Batman used every device in his possession to locate him...but he was never found. After a week of no results, the entire League was forced into the case. None of them ever saw Batman look so desperate. Even though they usually only involved themselves in much higher cases, they couldn't stand seeing that man torture himself over this missing boy.
So, they helped look for him. Superman spent a lot of his free time flying around, using his enhanced hearing to try to locate him. Aquaman traveled the seas, sneaking onto any boat that looked suspicious. Even the Green Lanterns were forced to keep an eye out in space. Batman would often say that there was a possibility that aliens were involved. No one had the heart to argue with him; they saw how badly this case was affecting him.
This kept up until a full year passed. It was then that the police finally declared that Richard was deceased, and the whole thing was filed as a cold case. To say that Batman was unhappy was an understatement. The man was livid after the news was passed on to him. Of course, he was only angrier when the League told him that they were giving up on the case as well.
Another year had passed, with Batman searching the Earth with just as much ferocity as before. It wasn't uncommon for someone to find the man passed out in strange places just because he refused to sleep normally. Agent A once came up to the Tower and had to scream at the man just to get him to eat something, saying how eating only once every couple of days was not going to help him find Richard any sooner. With the man's thinness, shakiness, and crazed eyes, they knew that they had to do something. And so they nominated Black Canary to talk some sense into him. The woman was able to trick Batman into coming into her office for a forced therapy session.
No one was ever told what went down that night.
It was after that encounter that Batman finally calmed down. He stopped putting criminals into full body casts, didn't go on patrol so late, and started to eat regularly. The League was more than a little relieved, but they noticed a few changes in his attitude. One of them was the touchinsss that he acquired. Say one wrong thing, and you could find yourself being hit by the Batmobile. The worst thing you could talk about was the Grayson kid.
Which of course brings us back to the present.
Superman avoided looking at the dark knight. "How does this have anything to do with Grayson?"
Aquaman fiddled with the screen a bit, still a little hesitant. "Let me show you something." A few buttons were pressed, and an older version of the child was shown. "This is what Richard would look like today."
Black Canary narrowed her eyes. "That looks like-"
The Flash took over for the Atlantian. "Now, for those who are not that familiar with Renegade, watch." With a few taps of a button, an image of the masked boy appeared next to Grayson.
Superman seemed to choke on the air itself. "Wait. Is that...?"
Batman finally stood, receiving everyone's attention. "There is the possibility that Renegade is Richard Grayson." He said coldly. "However, we will not be able to tell for sure until he gets his full memory back."
Green Arrow nodded slowly. "Okay. Well, uh, didn't you say that taking his mask off should help us figure out his identity too? I mean, if he has blue eyes, he has to be Grayson!"
"It's not that easy. Cadmus has tampered with Renegade's DNA. His eye color could have been changed as a result of it. In fact, his many similarities to Richard Grayson could be because of the DNA changes as well. It was no secret that the League was involved in Grayson's search. Cadmus might have grabbed a kid off of the streets to make him resemble Richard in order to plant a spy in our midst.
"Even though Martian Manhunter has checked to make sure that there is no ill will in Renegade's thoughts, he has sensed doubt in his mind. Both Renegade and myself are concerned that Cadmus might have planted some hidden programming in the chip in his mind that will force him to turn on us. J'onn has agreed to do a full mental scan on Renegade to make sure that we will not have to worry about that."
Superman spoke again, "And if he is a danger?"
"Then we will figure something out, won't we?" Black Canary smiled briefly. "We aren't going to just abandon this child for something that isn't his fault."
Batman nodded in response to Canary's statement. "As for when we do the brain scan, that has yet to be certain."
"What do you mean?" Flash frowned. "Shouldn't you do that right away?"
Manhunter shook his head. "No. Putting myself into his mind so soon will have a negative effect on his mental health."
Before anyone could ask another question, Batman spoke again. "Renegade is having problems with his memory loss. It's not that he can't remember anything, it's obvious that his memories are surfacing, but he is not letting himself remember. His subconscious is making him feel pain whenever he tries to think about his past, and he is quick to drop the subject.
"That isn't all. Renegade has claimed that his mask has been on his face for so long that his skin has started to grow around it, making it too painful to remove. While I don't think he is lying, J'onn and I believe that he is using that mask to hide himself from his own identity. If he sees his entire face, it might make him remember more. I offered to help him get it off but he refused. That alone makes me believe this theory even more."
"That's...so messed up." GA muttered.
"Have there been any signs of withdrawal?"
Red Tornado finally spoke. "Renegade has been seen scratching at his arms by his fellow teammates. I myself have heard him screaming from what I know to be a nightmare on the first two nights after his arrival. He is now silent during the night, though I am unsure if that is due to a lack of nightmare or a lack of sleep in general."
"Canary, I need you to talk to him."
"I was just about to suggest that." The woman smiled a little. "You know, the last appointment I had with him, he refused to talk about himself. He just went on and on about the stuff you gave him, Batman."
A few people blinked at this information while Batman simply looked uncomfortable. "Should I have not done that?"
"It was a good thing you did, actually. It looks to me as though he likes the attention. Watch what you say to him, though. He's in a delicate state of mind, and he latched onto the idea of you being his fatherly figure."
Silence.
"Wow. Batman being a dad? I didn't think I'd live to see the day." Green Arrow snickered.
"I will be...careful." Batman said slowly. "But, Renegade is not what we came here to discuss. The FBI are going to want to know why we were involved with a seemingly harmless organization..."
xXx (Five Days Later) xXx
"We're approaching Santa Prisca." M'gann announced to her teammates. Renegade sat up a little in his seat, trying to give himself an auror of authority, remembering the discussion they had when they were at the Mountain.
"De Isle SantaPrisca, this island is the primary source of an illegal neo-steroid, a strength enhancing drug under the street name-"
"Venom, right?" Renegade cut in.
Batman looked at the boy sharply, and the boy looked away, silently cursing himself for the slip up. Thankfully, Batman didn't question how he got this information and continued, "Yes. Infrared heat signatures indicate they're still operating a full capacity, but supply lines have been cut off. That's where this team comes in; this is a convert recon mission only. Observe and report. If the Justice League needs to intervene, it will. The plan requires two drop-zones." Batman brought up a holographic map of the land, and Renegade memorized the coordinates indicated.
"So who's in charge?" He asked, looking at Batman directly. The leadership of the League seemed to fall between both Batman and Superman, and Renegade hoped that becoming leader of this team would give him Batman's respect. Out of all of the heroes, he needed that man's approval the most. Why? He had no idea.
Batman and Red Tornado shared a look. Renegade frowned as Batman glanced at Aqualad for a moment before finally speaking, "Work that out amongst yourselves."
Why did he look at Aqualad? Was he not up to the vigilante's standards? A low growl almost managed to escape from his throat, but he squashed it out and turned away to stare out the window. He could definitely be leader, especially during this mission! Even though he didn't have as much experience as Aqualad and Kid Flash in the hero business, he definitely had the most knowledge on how the criminal mind worked. Being stuck with Cadmus for years, plus being trained by a group of assassins, gave him an upper hand against the others. On top of that, he had personal experiences with drugs. This mission was almost begging him to lead it!
"Drop-zone A." M'gann said, snapping the boy out of his thoughts. A quick glance at Kaldur revealed that he was switching his suit to the stealth mode that Batman had installed. Renegade scowled bitterly, but ignored his feeling of resentment. Batman was not his father; he was not allowed to feel jealous when the man gave his teammates things.
"Ready." Aqualad announced as he prepared to be dropped off.
"Putting Bio-ship in camouflage mode." Miss M declared in response as Aqualad fell into the waters below. Renegade bit back a sarcastic comment reluctantly. A good leader never lashed out when they weren't in a particularly good mood. They would keep it to themselves and remain calm in order to have a successful mission.
He really wanted to snap at Kaldur and throw a fit, though.
"Heat and sensors are now patched. Data's now in a continuous loop. Move in." Aqualad said over their comlink, the commanding tone to his voice making Renegade bristle.
"Drop-zone B." M'gann said as the ship hovered over the land. The others let the chairs remove the straps from their torsos and stood. Cable lines fell from the ceiling, and Renegade clipped one to his belt, Wally doing the same.
"How cool is this?" KF asked as he activated his own camouflage mode. Renegade glanced away, not even listening to M'gann's reply. His sour mood seemed to worsen as this mission continued.
"Hey Supey, you gonna try the new stealth tech or what?" Kid turned to look at Superboy, who folded his arms over his chest.
"No capes, no tights. No offense." Superboy replied, making Renegade smirk. The cape, he could definitely do. A cape along with a mask was sure to make anyone feel like a real hero. However, tights were definitely unnecessary. The Kevlar suit that Batman provided him was did not include tights, thankfully.
Wait, he wore tights before, didn't he? Renegade scrunched his eyebrows together as he focused on that thought. Back when he was in the circus...
'The Flying-!'
SNAP!
CRUNCH!
The feeling of someone smashing his head against concrete returned, and he barely held back a cry of pain. The other teens' conversation drifted into the background as he closed his eyes tightly. Pressure built up in the back of his skull as he continued to grip onto the fading memory. What was flying? Why was that so important? What was that snapping noise that he heard?
Renegade was thrown out of his thoughts when he was lowered to the ground by the cord, along with the others. Instincts kicked in and he quickly jumped to the side just as Superboy threw himself onto the ground, creating a small crater in his wake. "I knew I didn't need a line." The clone said smugly.
"Well creating a seismic event doesn't really help with the covert." Renegade narrowed his eyes. He should've been paying attention to what his teammates were doing instead of going down memory road. He didn't even need to remember anything. Thinking about the past would do him no good in the present.
Miss Martian shook her head at the two of them. "Aqualad, drop B is go." She said over the comm as Renegade and Kid Flash unhooked the attached cords from themselves.
"Head for the factory. I'll track your GPS and rendezvous ASAP." Aqualad responded.
"Got it." Renegade mumbled as he brought up a holographic map of the island, highlighting the location of the factory as well as the safest route to get there by. His teammates nodded at him and proceeded to travel through the tropical environment, not being interrupted for a good fifteen minutes.
Superboy suddenly paused. "Did you hear that?" He asked, making the others stop. Renegade quickly activated switched his eyesight to 'infrared mode.' Using his Cadmus gifted abilities usually made the boy slightly nervous, but he was too busy trying to prove himself worthy of leadership to be bothered.
Without a second glance back, Renegade slipped past the trees and used the shadows as a cover. As he got farther away from his teammates, he heard Wally address him, only to complain about his disappearance soon after. Renegade couldn't help but laugh at his friend's annoyance, the sound seeming eerie even to his own ears. Yes, it was official: that creepy cackle was staying.
The boy crept to the edge of the jungle and jumped into a high tree branch for a better view. Two different units were approaching each other, wearing different uniforms. Either the two groups were in the same organization and confused about where to patrol, or they were different groups that were about to fight it out. Renegade was hoping for the latter. While he was in Cadmus, he found that if two scientists were busy arguing, no one would notice if he snuck out to grab something to eat. If these two patrols fought, they would be too distracted to notice the team.
Renegade was about to turn away and tell his teammates about his plan, but remained where he was when he saw Kid Flash run straight into the battlefield. "Now that, kids, is a perfect example on what not to do when you're trying to stay hidden." Renegade muttered under his breath.
The boy remained in his perch and watched as the other members of the team finally arrived on the scene. The teenagers quickly came to Wally's aid, launching their own attacks at the gathered men. Renegade tensed his muscles and silently jumped to another tree's branch, this one much closer to the fight, and jumped off to take down two of the armed men. "What is wrong with you guys, remember convert? Why didn't you follow my lead, vanish into the jungle?"
"That's what you were doing? Way to fill us in! We're not mind readers, you know." It was at that precise moment that the invisible Miss Martian used her telekinesis to throw a couple of men into a tree. "Well, most of us aren't."
Renegade turned to look at the last enemy standing, but Aqualad took him out before he could even think about attacking. Wally gave a small victory cheer before grabbing a couple of men by the back of their collars and pulled them towards the Atlantian, M'gann and Superboy doing the same. The masked boy paused for a moment before reluctantly copying their actions. In a few minutes, they had both squads of men securely tied up to trees.
Renegade did a mental scan on a few of the men. "I recognize the uniform. These guys are part of the Cult of the Kobra."
"I'm certain Batman would have mentioned it if he knew a dangerous extremist was running Santa Prisca's Venom operation." Aqualad pointed out. The other boy saw a silent question being directed towards him in the Atlantian's eyes. The 'how do you know this?' wasn't hidden. Everyone else probably noticed the look as well.
Renegade tapped his head pointedly, trying to convey to them that it was the mental chip that was giving him this information. He certainly didn't care about telling them that he could bring up information on a group of criminals. Since Cadmus wasn't exactly good, no one would question why their databases had some information on Kobra, especially since there are drugs involved. It was only the information on the League that would make them wary, and that was something that no one knew.
"Agreed and since there's clearly no love between the culprits and those goons, I'm betting Kobra came in and tossed them out. That's why normal supply lines have been cut off." The muscular man with a black and white mask growled lowly. 'Bane,' his databases told him. 'Criminal- mainly works in Gotham. Santa Prisca is his birthplace. Uses drugs to acquire super strength.'
"We get it, Kobra wanted super cultists, mystery solved. Radio Bats and we'll be home in time for-" Wally began, but was cut off by Renegade.
"These cultists aren't on Venom, Kobra is hoarding this stuff. We don't leave, not until I know why."
"Until you know why?" KF asked in disbelief.
"This team needs a leader." Renegade said, straightening his stance to make himself look taller.
"And it's you?" Kid spoke in a condescending tone as he pointed at the other. Renegade hid his surprise; he didn't think anyone besides Kaldur would argue against his leadership. "Dude, you're a thirteen year old kid who ducked out on us without a word."
"And your mature fifteen?" Renegade could barely contain his anger. He was a lot more mature than most of the team, especially Wally. "You blew our cover the first chance you got!"
"You don't even have powers!" Kid shouted in return. No powers? What do you call his ability to find information on anyone he sees? What about being able to connect his mind to any technology to shut it down? Was that not enough for them?
"Batman doesn't have any powers!"
"You're not Batman!" Wally argued. Renegade felt somewhat offended by this statement and was going to say something but couldn't, because Kid wasn't done yet. "You're just a kid we rescued from Cadmus!"
Ouch.
The other teenagers in the area's eyes widened at these words, and Superboy growled lowly at the implication. Wally gave the clone an apologetic look before turning away. Renegade blinked in disbelief; Kid felt bad about offending Superboy, but not him? That was it then. He should've known that he was only accepted into this team because they felt bad. Superboy actually proved himself useful to everyone with his super strength. Renegade, however, had nothing.
"You're right, that's exactly what I am." Renegade said coldly.
"Renegade..." M'gann sounded concerned.
"Such clever niños, but you only know half the story." Bane said suddenly, a spark of amusement in his eyes. He obviously enjoyed watching the teens argue. It didn't matter, though. After this mission, Renegade would be out of everyone's hair once and for all. Although he still had a burning desire to be leader, he was willing to get into the Justice League and earn Batman's respect that way. "Let me show you the rest, get you into the factory, reveal my secret entrance."
"There is a secret entrance, but he's also hiding something." M'gann warned as she crouched down in front of the man, eyes glowing white.
"Ah-ah-ah chica, Bane is not that easy." The criminal smirked. That certainly was suspicious. No one offers to help others while hiding most of his motives. Bane was obviously hiding something.
"He's mentally reviewing football scores in español. This could take awhile." The Martian frowned in disappointment.
"It's not that complicated. The enemy of my enemy is my friend." The man grinned, eyes glinting.
xXx
The fight itself was unimportant in the grand scheme of things, in Renegade's opinion. True to his word, Bane led them through a secret passageway that brought them inside the factory. Renegade took the first moment he could to ditch the others, not wanting to be around them for a long time. After hacking into a computer and gaining the needed information on Venom-Blockbuster hybrid, the boy reluctantly joined his teammates in the battle, even going toe to toe with Kobra for a while.
Soon afterwards, he was called into a retreat. He was beyond caring at this point- he wanted to go home. Where home was now that he was leaving the team, he wasn't sure. He just needed to be alone. Renegade re-entered the secret passageway along with the others, not even flinching as Superboy attacked the support beams. The tunnel soon collapsed, throwing everyone into darkness.
"This was supposed to be my first mission as leader." Renegade muttered as Aqualad lit up a red glow stick, creating an eerie lighting.
"You are the most experienced when it comes to this type of thing, but you lack the social skills that are necessary in teamwork. A leader cannot vanish and expect others to play a part in some unknown plan."
Renegade didn't reply. It was not his responsibility to hold everyone's hands and guide them step by step through their missions. That was what a babysitter was for. However, the comment on lacking the required social skills bugged him a little. He would love to see Kaldur go five years in solitary confinement with nothing but drugs and scientists to accompany him.
"I think Kaldur should be leader." Miss M said suddenly, smiling at the Atlantian.
"What? What about me!" Wally whined.
"I agree with M'gann. Kaldur is the best choice." Superboy folded his arms over his chest.
Kaldur had the audacity to look surprised. "If you believe that is best, I will accept the role."
Wally scoffed. "Whatever. Now that that's over with, let's get out of here."
As everyone was leaving, Kaldur suddenly stopped Renegade. "I know you were born to be leader, but until you are ready, I will take your place. The moment you are able to claim the title, I will step down." And before Renegade could say anything, the Atlantian left.
The boy blinked a few times, confused. Why would Kaldur offer to do that? Didn't he want to be leader just as much as he did? Renegade found himself feeling guilty as he recognized that Aqualad was being kind to him, when he did nothing but envy him the entire night.
There was no way that he could leave now, not with someone expecting him to lead the team in the future.
The boy smiled a little as he caught up to the others just a little away from the exit. There, he was greeted by the sight of Bane, who was a lot more muscular than usual. He must have injected himself with Venom at one point. The man smirked at the gathered teens and waved a trigger around. "Halt, niños. I'm feeling...explosive." Renegade glanced up and saw many bombs stuck on the ceiling. Deactivating them one by one with his powers would take too long.
"You betrayed us. Why?" Aqualad questioned.
"I want my factory back." The man answered, while Aqualad mentally told Kid Flash to grab the trigger. "So I forced you into a situation where you would either take down my enemies or die trying. If the latter, the League will certainly have come to avenge their sidekicks, and when the smoke cleared, Santa Prisca would be mine once more. Blowing the tunnel with you inside should have the same effect." Bane's eyes flashed. "Though I'm sure little traitor here would be worth more to me alive, I'm already on the Light's bad side. Looks as though I'll have to kill you after all."
Renegade narrowed his eyes slightly, knowing that his name literally meant traitor. However, no one else seemed to have made the connection. They probably thought that Bane meant they actually had a traitor in their midst.
Kid Flash quickly ran forward and snatched the device out of the man's hand. "With what, this trigger thingy?" He taunted, twiddling with it in his hands. Bane moved to throw an angry punch at the speedster, but Miss M used her powers to levitate him into the air.
"Finally, drop him." Superboy ordered, cracking his knuckles. M'gann smiled and released her hold on the criminal. Superboy swung his fist at the man's face, knocking him out instantly.
"Okay, here's the plan." Kaldur began.
xXx
Renegade's mission was simple- distract Kobra while the rest of the team destroyed the Venom-Blockbuster mix. The boy quickly threw a grappling line at Kobra's second in command, tying them up. Renegade stopped a few feet away from the pale man, trying to formulate a way to take him down. From the information in his database, Kobra's physical strength was not something to joke about. This man could even be on par with Batman. Kobra was definitely out of his league, but he would be damned if he didn't try.
"I know you don't like getting your hands dirty..."
There wasn't even a flicker of surprise on that face. Renegade was hoping to catch him off guard by showing off the knowledge he had on him. Apparently, that wasn't an option anymore. "True, but sometimes even a God must stoop to conquer." The man calmly stated as he removed his cloak, watching the boy carefully. Renegade wasted no time and launched a series of attacks that were all easily blocked. "What's the matter boy?"
Renegade grit his teeth in response. "I'm just getting started." He threw another punch at the man, which was once again blocked. Kobra then attempted to throw his own punch at the boy, but he was quick to dodge it, somersaulting to the side. He stood again and kicked at his opponent, but his leg was caught. Renegade grunted as he was suddenly thrown backwards, coming into contact with the dusty ground as the sound of an explosion was heard.
Renegade launched himself back into the fight, dodging a knee strike that was aimed at his head. Kobra seemed to grow frustrated. "I'm surrounded by mosquitoes!"
"You seem to be struggling with these mosquitoes." Renegade taunted as he stepped backwards to rejoin his teammates.
Kobra's eyes searched the wreckage surrounding him, realizing that he has lost the fight. "Another time then." He said, stepping back to let the shadows absorb him. Renegade tried to pursue him, but let out a small huff of irritation when he noticed that there was no sign of the man.
The boy shook his head slightly as he looked turned around, watching the flames tear away the factory with a small smirk. Since he wasn't leading this mission, this obviously couldn't be blamed on him. "We picked the right guy to lead." Renegade said with a level of cheeriness as he walked past Aqualad. "Automatically making you the right person to explain this to Batman.
He cackled as he walked ahead of the others, not missing it when Kaldur winced. Maybe it was a good thing that he wasn't leader. That meant that he still had time to be an annoying trouble maker.
That thought made him smirk.
xXx
AN: There you go- chapter three!
I received a couple of requests, and I will work on putting them in the next couple of chapters.
Note: I'm still taking suggestions. Since there's a couple of days between each episode, i can add whatever I want. All you need to do is ask. :)
Note #2: RENEGADE IS NOT THE MOLE. I REPEAT: RENEGADE IS NOT THE MOLE. Thank you. :)