Location: Mount Justice

Date: Sep 23rd

Time: 06:34

The team and the two younger Easts were sitting around a table in one of the few rooms in the mountain that had not been impacted by the android attack. Members of the League were flying all around the mountain making repairs, but Emmy and her team were shoved into the old meeting chamber and told to stay put. Everyone else had changed into their civilian clothes, but Emmy was in her uniform sans the mask. She needed her ring active so it could repair her ruined ribs.

She had been rushed to the infirmary last night, and the charred skin had been cut away. There had been yelling and IV bags and talks of skin grafts while Emmy wordlessly went into shock. Evidently, that was a common symptom of a severe burn. Hal had shoved his way through the crowd and made Emmy activate her ring. She had gone to sleep while the cocoon of green light circled her body and lifted her above the infirmary bed. She woke up a few hours ago when Hal prompted her to depower for a second so he could check the wound's healing progress.

The ribs were no longer exposed, but the skin was still blistering and raw. She would probably have to have her ring activated nonstop for two days to fix the skin and muscle and there would be a scar. Emmy didn't really care about that. Her body was already littered with slightly raised, white scars. They weren't very noticeable given her pale skin, but she was morbidly excited to see how this injury healed. She had never had a burn before other than tiny ones from the oven that went away in a day or two, and this was a deep one. She wondered if the skin would permanently ripple and shine in a deep red color, or if there would be a jagged line of white scar surrounding the edges of where the burn had been. There was no telling how thoroughly her ring would be able to heal her, so she was interested in seeing the final result. The ring was meant to heal you from wounds you got while powered up, healing after the fact was less effective. If she had her uniform on, she could have walked through the fire without a single problem, but naturally she had let herself think she was safe in the mountain and had all the time in the world to charge her ring since they didn't have an official mission yet. Emmy felt like a complete moron. She kept having charging problems. This would be the last time. She would start charging it whenever she got to 20 percent now.

She looked at her team sitting around the table. They were all angry and dejected and slumped over except for Emmy. She had to sit perfectly straight or else she could feel the fibers in her suit mending her wound and it was incredibly unsettling. Wally was to her left, his armpits against the table ledge and his chin on his crossed forearms. Artemis was on her right, chin digging into her right palm as her elbow rested on the table. Hunter and Sage were sitting on the table next to Artemis and staring at Emmy. She winced when she realized that they must have seen her in the infirmary, and that they were all going to miss school today. Connor was standing by Green Arrow with crossed arms, a deep frown on his face, and worried eyes glued to Megan. Megs was across from Artemis, leaning against the back of her chair and looking at Rob who was sitting to the Martian's left with furrowed brow. Kaldur was standing with Batman on the far side of the room. Green Arrow set a bowl of pretzels on the table.

"Thanks, but no thanks," Wally spit at the archer who backed away immediately.

"Yeah, what we want are answers about Red Tornado and his siblings." Robin glared through his sunglasses.

"Exactly," Wally snapped as he sat up straight. Green Arrow started to turn away, but the speedster grabbed the pretzels, muttering, "Leave the bowl."

"I would like to know how the League was unaware that our 'den mother' was trying to kill us," Emmy's voice was ice despite the inferno in her narrowed eyes as she talked to Artemis's mentor. "There are two civilian children living here. I want to know who's responsible."

"I wouldn't call us civilians," Sage muttered. Emmy sent her a 'not now' look. The younger girl clamped her mouth shut.

Connor bounded across the room with a roar. "You knew?!" The Kryptonian lifted Kaldur up by his shirt. The team stood up from the table in confusion. "That android and his family almost killed M'gann!"

Emmy frowned at Connor's outburst. What did Kaldur know?

"Connor, what are you doing?" Megs asked as she flew to the clone.

"Kaldur knew we had a traitor among us and said nothing!" the clone snarled at the Atlantean shoved against the wall before letting go.

"You knew?" Robin asked with obvious betrayal.

"And you didn't tell us?" Wally stepped behind Rob rapidly.

"I sought to protect the Team from-" Kaldur was looking at Connor as he spoke but Emmy's anger cut him off.

"The team? What about Sage and Hunter?!" She slammed her hands on the table in front of her. "They don't have a way to protect themselves from-" Emmy moved to accost their leader but her side spasmed and she fell over with a groan. Artemis caught her as Wally rushed to grab the lantern. Artemis sent a death glare at Wally until he dropped Emmy's arm. The archer turned the scowl on their team leader.

"Protect us from what? Knowledge that might have saved our lives?" The archer channeled all of her anger into her voice so she wouldn't crush the lantern in her arms. "Emmy could have died saving your lying ass!"

Connor turned to M'gann somberly, "You almost died." The Martian looked away from him uncomfortably and moved to help Artemis get Emmy back in a chair. Wally had just opened his mouth again when Batman cut them off.

"Enough," the Bat demanded. He narrowed his eyes at the clone, and Connor dropped his hold on Kaldur. "With Red Tornado missing the Team will now be overseen by rotation supervisors. Captain Marvel has volunteered to take the first shift."

"I don't think we need anymore of your supervisors," Emmy spit out while clutching her ribs.

"This is not up for debate." The Dark Knight silenced the group, but Emmy's jaw was still twitching.

A giant man in a red and gold suit with a white cape on one shoulder flew to the group. He had bright blue eyes, slick black hair, and was even taller than Batman. "I'm really looking forward to hanging with you guys," Captain Marvel smiled at the teens.

Emmy, Wally, Artemis, M'gann, and Robin shared a sour look while Connor continued to glare at Kaldur.

Connor lowered his voice into a threat, "After I dismantle Red Tornado, you and I are gonna-"

Batman interrupted the clone, "Red Tornado is a member of the Justice League. That makes him a League responsibility. You will leave him to us."

Emmy snarled, "You're pulling rank on us when we were the ones who got attacked? He came for a Lantern how about I make it a 'Corps responsibility'?" She stood up too quickly and had to lean on a worried Wally. She hissed quietly. Batman didn't even acknowledge her as he pulled up an article on a holoscreen.

"I have another assignment for this team."

The group looked at the newspaper headline: Gorilla Trades Bananas for Bullets.

"Gotham Mayor attacked by Guerilla Gorilla?" Wally read skeptically.

"Was this the only thing he could find to distract us?" Conner complained through the team's mental link.

"Maybe we'll get assigned to feed ducks at a park next," Emmy bitterly added to the telepathic conversation.

"Batman, please!" Robin pleaded. "Tell me you're not sending us on this joke of a wild ape chase."

"I never joke about the mission." Batman narrowed his eye at Robin with imperceptible disappointment. "I've checked the sources. I've studied the patterns. Mayor Hills' encounter is only the latest in a series of incidents," the Bat turned to the Atlantean, "Aqualad, you and your team will depart for India and check this out."

The kids hugged Emmy, and she signed that they were going to be helping Hal fix the mountain today. That seemed to please them, and they ran to the male lantern when he flew into the room. Aqualad nodded at Batman as the rest of the Team walked to the Bioship's resting place.

Wally looked at Kaldur out of the corner of his eye as he passed. "Your team," he scoffed.

Emmy walked directly to the team leader. He met her eyes.

"Will you be fit to join us?" Kaldur asked.

Emmy snorted harshly at the concern. "You told Red Tornado that there might be a mole didn't you."

Kaldur's eyes widened slightly and that was all the confirmation Emmy needed. "How did you…?"

"You wouldn't have just kept it to yourself," Emmy crossed her arms and frowned. "I would have thought you'd talk to Batman about it though. You know, someone you knew wouldn't be the mole."

Kaldur held her eyes resolutely. "I did not want to tip my hand, but I did think that a League member needed to be aware of the situation. Red Tornado suggested that Batman wanted us to fix team problems ourselves which I now know was-"

"You didn't think telling Tornado was 'tipping your hand'?" Emmy raised her voice. "Why would he be the one that you-" Emmy cut herself off with wide eyes. Red Tornado was the den mother. Out of the team, only three members lived in the mountain. Only one of those three had a criminal record. Kaldur's face became uncomfortable for the first time as Emmy's face flashed with pain before she schooled it into a blank mask.

"I did not think that there was a mole," Kaldur looked at her, half determined and half apologetic, "but I did have to consider the possibility that-"

Emmy flew away with letting him finish his sentence. She raced to the hangar and saw Sphere rolling underneath Captain Marvel.

"You're coming with?" Robin asked the League member with a frown.

"Sure!" The tall man smiled brilliantly. "We'll have a blast!"

"Translation: he blames us for Red Fiasco," Robin muttered to Wally as Emmy landed next to them.

"At least Marvel doesn't think you're the mole," she frowned at Kaldur as he entered the hangar.

The last time they were in this hangar she was asking him if he was okay, and now she felt like he'd stabbed her in the back. She had been honest about her illegal fighting since she got here. She had not done anything to indicate that she would betray her team, and even if she had, her children lived in the mountain. How could Kaldur even partially suspect her of anything that would harm them?

Wally raised his eyebrows, "Why would Kaldur think you were the mole?"

Emmy's frown turned into a startled blink as she looked at the redhead. "The-I was-" She cocked her head to the left. "Ex-criminal, remember?"

"Yeah, keyword being ex," Wally frowned at Kaldur, and Emmy was astonished to realize he was doing it on her behalf.

Robin was still glaring at Captain Marvel. "He doesn't trust us. Any of us."

"It's a big club," Wally sneered at the Atlantean as their leader got closer to the ship. Artemis appeared from nowhere, gently dragging Emmy into the Bioship while glaring at the boys.

"Hey, Moon Goddess," Emmy started quietly. Rob and Wally were on their way up the ramp as well, so the two blondes wouldn't have privacy for much longer. "Not that I'm complaining, but, uh, you've seemed awfully…protective since I got burned?"

The archer and lantern took seats next to each other in the ship.

"I heard what you said," Artemis confessed in a whisper. Emmy furrowed her brow in confusion, so the archer continued. "Rob and I watched the security footage before the explosions. Kaldur was asking if I could be trusted, and you stood up for me without any hesitation." Artemis looked Emmy in the eye with a small smile. "You've been on my side since the day I got here. It's like Meg said on my first mission, we're basically sisters now."

Emmy sent a weak smile to the archer as Artemis turned her chair around to look out the window. Guilt churned her stomach roughly. Artemis had no idea just how 'sisterly' they actually were. She couldn't tell the archer the truth though. Not yet. Emmy would tell Artemis the full truth after their father was arrested or dead. Not before then.

Location: Northern India

Date: Sep 23rd

Time: 21:36

Megan landed the camouflaged Bioship while the rest of the team swept the perimeter.

"All clear," Robin stated.

"Switch to Stealth and we'll review mission parameters," Aqualad switched his uniform to stealth mode. Artemis and Emmy traded unimpressed looks.

"Parameters?" Kid tapped his suit into stealth mode. "We don't need no stinkin' parameters."

Emmy snorted a little at the reference. Wally flashed her a grin before he went back to glaring at Kaldur.

"It's recon. We know what to do," Robin deadpanned as he and Kid went into the jungle.

"Kid, Robin," Kaldur tried to plead with them.

Robin whirled around to face the Atlantean. "The three of us started this team because the Justice League was keeping secrets from us," Robin barked.

"Or did you forget that like you forgot to tell us about the mole?" Kid asked his sarcastically, putting his goggles on and disappearing with Robin.

Emmy crossed her arms. She wasn't interested in listening to Kaldur at the moment either. Connor and M'gann were arguing telepathically off to the side.

"I just…want to protect you," Connor said out loud, confused about Megan's annoyance.

"Like Aqualad protected us?" Artemis poked her bow into Connor's chest. "I'm not sure if your protection or patronizing is good for our health." Supey glared at Artemis while Emmy chimed in.

"Yeah, not sure if you remember, but you were trapped in grey goop while Artemis was single-handedly knocking out the bots," Emmy curved an unimpressed eyebrow at the clone. "You might want to focus on protecting yourself."

Megs nodded at Emmy's sentiment and the girls disappeared into the jungle. Meg flew while Artemis and Emmy walked on the ground. The energy she would have used to fly was going to her ribcage and breathing was getting easier. Her ring had been active for over 24 hours with a recharge before they headed to India, so she was feeling mostly normal.

"Can you believe them?" Emmy called through the telepathic link Meg had set up for the three girls. "Artemis saved all of our asses, and Kaldur was just as dehydrated as Meg was but somehow, we're the ones who need protecting?"

"He's treating me like I'm a child!" Megan complained. "You can be concerned about someone without trying to control their life."

"Exactly!" Artemis carped. "What did Emmy do? She got burned to the bone getting her ring charged and then tore apart one of the androids. What did the boys do? Wait in their traps for us to save them!"

"Except for Robin," Emmy wiggled her brows at Artemis. "Get a little mouth-to-mouth action?"

Artemis punched Emmy's left arm.

"Excuse you. I am still healing," Emmy stuck her tongue out as she rubbed the forming bruise.

They traveled in silence for a moment.

"I think Kaldur thought that I was the mole," Emmy blurted mentally. The other girls looked at her in shock. The mental link had transferred Emmy's feelings of hurt and shame before she could stop them. She was scared that they might subconsciously agree with the statement, but she needed to hear what they thought.

"We don't," Megan stated firmly. "That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard."

Artemis added to the mental conversation, "Of course not. We trust you. And a hell of a lot more than we trust Kaldur."

They could feel Emmy relax. They moved through the jungle silently, passing a moonlit river. A waterfall was sparkling and crashing. Megs flew ahead of the two blondes. A massive, drooling mouth shot out of the water at the Martians back. Megan fell onto her back with a yelp, keeping the alligator off of her with her hands and feet. Emmy threw a cage around its head and yanked it into a tree. Megan scrambled to her feet and dove into the water where Artemis had just fallen. Emmy ran to the water looking for her teammates, the initial mammoth alligator was unconscious on a bush.

The other alligator was biting the strap on Artemis's quiver and spinning her around. Emmy dove into the water to swim after her friends. A third alligator was jumping at Megan's back and Emmy tackled it to the bottom of the river. It was twisting violently, slamming its tail into the lantern as she kept its snapping teeth away from her face. The gigantic animal was wearing a thick metal collar around its neck, like the other two. In an instant, Emmy fell into a dry circle of land in the middle of the river. She gasped for air and trapped the monster in a cage. Megan's eyes were glowing, and she had given herself extra arms. Four spirals of water were blocking the second alligator from reaching the girls. The lantern threw the third beast into the water trap and turned to her teammates.

Artemis was coughing up water, "Okay, nearly drowning two nights in a row is way less fun than it sounds."

"I guess being wet isn't always fun," Emmy smirked as Megan returned to having two arms. Artemis rolled her eyes at the lantern. Emmy threw a structure under their feet and got the three of them back into the jungle. They were all breathing a little heavily and staring at the river.

"The gorillas aren't the only ones being affected," Megan frowned and widened the psychic link to Aqualad.

"Aqualad, can you hear me?"

"Yes, Miss Martian. Report." Emmy narrowed her eyes at hearing the Atlantean's voice in her head again.

"Emmy, Artemis, and I were attacked by animals wearing inhibitor collars like those used on convicts at Belle Reve Prison."

"They were alligators," Emmy added as the girls sat on the edge of the water. "Not sure if that makes a difference."

Artemis was shaking the water out of her quiver, and Megan was looking at the archer in concern. Emmy stood up abruptly. The three alligators were heading toward the girls again.

"Miss Martian, I need a telepathic link up with the entire Team. Now," Aqualad ordered. Emmy threw the alligators back down the river and arched an eyebrow at the drastic change in Aqualad's tone. He sounded demanding and any hint of uncertainty and guilt was gone.

"Link established." Megan held two fingers to her head. Emmy felt the team enter the telepathic link.

"Should he really still be giving us orders, and should you really be following them?" Artemis asked Megan.

"Excellent question, Artemis. Say, where have your loyalties been lately?" Emmy asked sardonically.

Artemis snorted into the link.

"Listen, please…" Kaldur started again.

"Oh good, Aqualad's voice in my head," Wally's eyeroll came through the link, "I've so missed that."

"Hey, Kaldur!" Robin's voice was deceptively perky. "KF and I were attacked by giant vultures. 'Course, since we're moles, you probably think we attacked ourselves."

"If he did, he wouldn't tell you," Artemis quipped while she sat on a log and snapped her quiver back into place.

"He would tell Red Tornado though!" Emmy snapped. "Ironic that the only one he talked to about the mole was the fucking mole."

"Yeah, great call, Kal," Wally cackled harshly.

"Superboy, are you online, or just pouting?" Megan asked bluntly. Emmy huffed in amusement at the Martian's sass.

"Busy. Call back later," Supey grunted mentally before cutting himself from the link.

"What gets me is how nonchalant he is about not telling us," Kid carped.

"He should be chalant. Way chalant. Extremely chalant!" Robin agreed instantly.

"How are we supposed to be a team if he doesn't trust us with his secrets?" Artemis asked.

"How are we supposed to be a team if he doesn't trust us at all?" Emmy griped.

"Or if Conner doesn't expect us to take care of ourselves?" M'gann added.

"Did he really think you or I could've been the mole?" Kid question was aimed at Robin, but he made sure they all heard it.

"We've known each other for years!" Robin yelled.

"Hey, all four of us 'newbies' have busted our ass for this team. What does time have to do with it?" Emmy snapped.

"Trust is a two-way street!" Artemis snarled, catching Robin's dig toward the newer heroes as soon as Emmy did.

"And you'd know they'd hate it if we kept secrets from them!" M'gann snapped.

"Not that we'd ever do that. Never." Artemis protested.

Emmy raised an eyebrow at the girls. She knew that all three of them were keeping secrets to some degree, but what Kaldur did was different. Emmy didn't want them to know about her past, but her past wasn't putting any of her teammates in immediate danger.

"Not about something that endangered all of us!" Emmy added.

"Enough!" Kaldur's patience snapped and he yelled at the team. "Captain Marvel has been captured, and we must act as a team to save him!"

"Heh. Under your leadership?" Kid deadpanned. "I don't think s-"

"This is not up for debate!" Emmy shared a look with the girls around her. They hadn't heard Kaldur snap like that before, and it was a direct quote of Batman. "You all chose me to lead," he continued through the link. "If you wish to select a new leader, I will happily step down. But until that time, I am in command here."

Emmy huffed. He was right. They needed to be unified to get the mission done. "Fine, but don't think we'll forget about your offer."

The girls made their way to meet the rest of the team quickly. They were circling the building holding Captain Marvel. Robin was climbing up a hill to see into the building. Kid was using the infrared setting on his goggles. Emmy and Megan were flying above a tree. Artemis and Aqualad were descending down the hill toward the shack. Superboy was still missing.

"We'll fly over?" Megan offered through the link.

"Negatory," Kid objected. "The shield extends like a dome over the whole compound."

"Pylons are insulated, but one good shock could cause a momentary gap," Robin explained.

"I see a target," Artemis called, looking at a prominent red button on one of the building's walls.

"Then be ready to hit it. Be ready, all of you," Aqualad called. Emmy and M'gann nodded at each other and prepared to fly into the frenzy once the shield dropped.

Aqualad was shocking the nearest pylon. A gap in the dome appeared and Kid called for Artemis to shoot, "Now!"

The archer sent an arrow into the button. The shield wilted away, and the team dropped into the building's formerly protected yard. A collared howler monkey screeched, and alarms blared as an army of enhanced monkeys attacked the teens. Emmy called a mallet and started slamming it into every monkey within a ten-foot radius.

"Remove the collars!" Kaldur called out loud.

"Sound easy when he says it!" Robin grumbled as he fought off the two monkeys on top of him.

Artemis shot them off of him after she kicked one off of herself. Emmy tore off the collar of the one closet to her. The split collar sparked for a moment, but then the monkey stopped screaming and ran away into the trees. Emmy flew around ripping collars off the animals closest to her teammates. A giant black gorilla in a red beret and green harness exited the building. He had a machine gun with him.

"What the fuck is that?" Emmy called in surprise.

"Mallah," Robin growled out.

Megan was in camo mode trying to sneak into the building past the gorilla. He started to reach for the Martian, so Emmy raced forward and tackled the gorilla into the building.

"Go, Meg!" Emmy called as she tried to keep the gorilla down with some structures. He shot his machine gun. Emmy jumped to steal the gun to keep it away from the team and he threw her back out the door. The lantern groaned from her spot on the ground. Okay, maybe she should have thought that through more.

"Get your paws off her, you damn dirty ape," Kid growled out. He ran at the gorilla, but he bounced off the beast and landed on Emmy.

"Ow," Emmy groaned with a laugh. "Wow, throwback to Cadmus."

Wally zipped off of her and pulled her up with a cackle. "I promise not to call you cute and blame you for things going wrong this time," he grinned down at her.

Emmy laughed as they raced back into the fray. "Hey, don't feel pressured to change yourself for me."

The team was tag teaming an attack on the sentient gorilla and removing the collars from the few monkeys still raging.

"Ah, this whole thing is your fault then," Kid winked at her and catapulted himself into the gorilla knocking the animal into the air a bit. Emmy made giant hands and punched Mallah into Megan's waiting telekinetic assault.

"Yes," she rolled her eyes at the speedster. "That is the part I wanted you to keep."

"I aim to please," the speedster grinned as they followed the team into the building.

Meg had thrown Mallah through the wall. They landed in a small room as the dust settled. Captain Marvel was strapped to a board.

"It's The Brain!" Kid yelled. There was a large pink brain inside a robotic exoskeleton. Emmy raised a disgusted eyebrow.

"Ugh, I can see that it's a brain," Artemis scoffed in repugnance.

"Not a brain. The Brain," Kid snapped at her.

"In the flesh, so to speak," The Brain confirmed before turning to the dazed gorilla. "Mallah."

"That is so gross," Emmy offered, and Artemis sniffed in agreement.

The gorilla pressed a button and electrical pylons sprouted from the floor. They knocked the team to the ground.

"Miss Martian, Superboy, now!" Kaldur ordered.

Megan stole the remote from Mallah's hands, turning off the pylons as Superboy crashed through the opposite wall into the building. There was a massive, snarling white wolf next to him that immediately knocked Mallah off his feet. The gorilla stood up, but Kid kicked him in the back. The speedster dodged the gunfire while Robin flipped over his head. Megan levitated the gorilla and let him drop to the floor. He stood up roaring and Emmy threw a block around him, unamused by Mallah's rage.

"I'll let the cage drop when he uses up all his ammo and you can get him," Emmy turned to Artemis who nodded with a smirk.

The team was flipping around the building avoiding animals and going after The Brain.

"I have a question!" Emmy called over the chaos as The Brain shot lasers at her team. "Is it murder if I break his exoskeleton?"

Kid picked Artemis up and zipped her across the room to avoid a laser beam. He plopped her down and turned to Emmy who was repairing the bullet cracks in the barrier around the gorilla.

"I…am unclear on that actually," he replied. The gun stopped shooting bullets, and Emmy dissipated her structure so Artemis could shoot smoke and foam arrows at the gorilla.

Kaldur ripped the collar off Captain Marvel who in turn freed a tiger. The gorilla broke free of the net and coughed out the smoke. He tried to leave, but the wolf and Superboy were blocking one exit and the rest of the team was blocking the other. Mallah roared.

"Try again. I hate monkeys," Connor snarled while cracking his knuckles.

"No Mallah, this will not be our Waterloo," The Brain called. Emmy frowned and trapped the Gorilla and screaming brain in separate structures.

"Miss M, knock them out!" Emmy yelled. The Martian's eyes glowed white and both beings collapsed to the floor.

Kaldur, Rob, and Artemis moved to bind the unconscious enemy while Megan and Connor made sure Captain Marvel was okay.

Emmy turned to Wally in confusion, "What is Waterloo?"

The speedster snorted. "Are you serious? It was a battle in Belgium that marked the end of Napoleon's rule."

Emmy furrowed her eyebrows, "The ice cream?"

"That's Neapolitan," Wally snickered at her before he became serious and started doing dramatic hand gestures. "Wait, do you not know who Napoleon is? Napoleon Bonaparte. You know, famous French leader and historical figure."

"I'm in American History," Emmy crossed her arms defensively.

"Oh man," Wally laughed. "This makes me feel so better about the calculus thing."

"Hey! I technically have a fifth-grade education, and I'm still ahead of you in some classes. What's your excuse?" Emmy quipped with a smirk.

"When did America declare independence?" The speedster leaned in her face with a taunting grin.

Emmy huffed and looked away, "I'm not dignifying that with a response."

"So, you don't know."

She looked at his smug face out of the corner of her eye. "What's the indefinite integral of 6x^2? Oh, that's right, you're still learning derivatives."

"It was July 4th, 1776," Wally countered in amusement.

"It's 2x^3 plus a constant," Emmy smirked at him.

"Ladies, ladies, you're both smart," Robin called as he hacked something in The Brain's exoskeleton. "Now would you quit flirting and help us clear the scene!"

The sky was turning into a warm pink and orange by the time the team finished disassembling the weapon The Brain had in the building and got all the parts and evidence into the Bioship. All they had to do now was get the two captured and still unconscious enemies onto the ship and they were good to go back to the mountain.

"What are you grinning about?" Artemis asked Kid.

Wally had stolen Mallah's red beret and threw it onto his head, "One word: souvenir."

"Two words: gorilla lice," Artemis taunted back easily.

"Huh?" Kid processed her words and tore the beret from his head, holding it as far away from him as he could with a shriek. "Aw, man!"

Emmy snorted at the exchange and high fived the archer. Kaldur removed the collar from what appeared to be the last monkey and smiled slightly as it ran away. Emmy felt some sadness return as she watched the oldest member of their team. Was she mad at him because of his wariness to trust her, or was she mad because if she were in his position, she would have done the same thing? Emmy had been suspicious of Artemis when the archer first arrived because of her relationship to Sportsmaster, and that was an incredibly hypocritical stance. Emmy didn't know how close Artemis had been with the hockey loving bastard, so she was wary without being unwelcoming until she decided the archer could be trust. The lantern sighed. Kaldur had done the same thing to her. He was polite and kind, but clearly didn't completely trust her. He had an entire team to protect, and she had been known to push the boundaries of morality and legality. He did the right thing.

"That's the last of the collars?" Captain Marvel asked the tiger. It growled in agreement. Emmy quirked an eyebrow, evidently talking to animals was one of his powers.

"I can count on you to keep the other animals out of trouble?" Marvel inquired.

Another confirming growl.

"Good. I'll be back for a visit. I promise," the man petted the tiger and watched it retreat into the jungle. "I think I'll call him Mr. Tawny!" Marvel beamed at the animal as it ran past Megs, Connor, and the white wolf.

"I can't believe Batman is having him watch us," Emmy grumbled. The man seemed incredibly immature.

"Neither can I," Rob muttered to the lantern.

"The rest of the pack is gone." Conner told the wolf while rubbing its head. "What are you still doing here?"

"I think he wants to stay with you," Megs smiled.

"Can I keep him?" Conner asked his girlfriend with a bright and excited smile.

Wally laughed and zipped toward the Kryptonian. "First the sphere, now this beast? Dude, you sure make a habit of collecting strays."

"Maybe because he's such a stray himself," Megan smiled at Connor sweetly and Emmy could tell that they had started a telepathic conversation.

Emmy nudged Wally with her elbow, "You better step up your game. You keep getting out-souvenired."

"I do not. Name one time," Wally put his hands on his hips.

Emmy started counting off things on her fingers, "Supey gets a wolf, you get a red beret. Supey gets a mechanical sphere, you forget to get a souvenir."

"Hey, you got me the glass that counts as my souvenir," Wally argued.

"Technically it's my souvenir," Emmy countered with a smirk.

"Hate to break it to you, Sweetheart, but you gave it to me so now it's mine and it totally counts," Kid responded condescendingly.

"Well, Honeycomb, a piece of glass still gets beat by a robot," Emmy argued.

"Honeycomb?" Wally arched an eyebrow.

Emmy shrugged. "I couldn't think of another patronizing pet name."

"Sweetheart is not patronizing," the speedster argued.

"You literally used it patronizingly two seconds ago," Emmy put her hands on her hips.

"Well," the speedster blushed a little. "It's not inherently patroni-you know, what never mind." He turned to Megan and Connor. "He's gonna need a name. What about Krypto?

The wolf growled at the same time Connor said, "Pass."

"Besides, isn't that taken?" Megs asked. The group started moving to the ship, M'gann bringing the villains with them. Robin was already on the ramp, waiting for the approaching Kaldur.

"Look, I need to know. Why did you keep the mole intel secret?" Robin asked bluntly.

The team perked up at the question and turned to face the Atlantean as he stated, "The source of the tip was Sportsmaster."

"What?! You can't trust him!" Artemis snapped immediately.

Emmy winced. Wally patted her back twice, and she covered her emotions. He must have thought she was having a bullet flashback. She was actually embarrassed that she had been so mopey about Kaldur's implied distrust when he probably didn't even believe Sportsmaster in the first place. Emmy certainly didn't. It did concern her that her father might be aware of the members of the team though. She would start using the larger version of her mask that covered more of her face.

"I do not. It seemed possible, even likely, that he was attempting to divide the team with false information," Kaldur replied calmly.

"And given how the mission went, he almost succeeded," Robin realized in slight shame. "But you had to consider it might be true."

"Yes, as leader, I did. In which case, I did not wish to alert the traitor," Kaldur looked at Emmy and she shifted in discomfort. "Regardless, I did not truly think that anyone on this team was a mole."

"I hate to say it, but it makes sense," Robin threw a lopsided grin to the leader.

"I am still prepared to step down," Kaldur assured.

Wally raised his hand. "All in favor of keeping Aqualad as leader?"

M'gann, Conner, Artemis, and Emmy raised their hands. Kaldur looked to Robin and saw the young gymnast was raising his hand too. The Atlantean nodded his head at the team with a slight grin.

"Guess it's unanimous," Captain Marvel smiled before shaking hands with Kaldur before flying above the ground. "See you tomorrow."

"You're not coming back with us?" Kaldur asked.

"Nah, gotta fly," Marvel flew off.

The wolf nuzzled his head into Connor's hands as the team went up the ramp.

"So, what are you gonna call him?" M'gann inquired.

"What's wrong with Wolf?" Conner asked.

"Generic, but acceptable," Wally called from next to Emmy in the ship.

"I named my dog 'Wolf'," Emmy grinned at Connor.

"When did you have a dog?" Wally asked.

"Before the fire," Emmy grimaced. She probably should have kept that to herself. Her father had killed Wolf as a horrible punishment for Sage crying too loudly during the night. Emmy shoved down the intense hatred and focused on the good memories. She smiled a little. "He was really sweet. He was the only being I've ever met who loved peanut butter more than I do."

Wally threw her a sympathetic smile, probably assuming that Wolf died during the fire, and distracted her. "I had two frogs when I was 9. I thought I walked in on them wrestling once, and boy did it scar me when I realized what they were actually doing."

The team laughed. Artemis launched into a story about her cat sneaking into her backpack during third grade and causing all sorts of chaos in her classroom.

Location: Mount Justice

Date: Sep 24th

Time: 16:23

The team had turned the two captives over to an almost impressed Batman and split up for showers and their respective homes. They had been awake for over 24 hours, and they were all tired. The League had done a good job repairing the mountain in the team's absence, everything except the hangar looked normal again. The hangar still had some scaffolding by the wall that the water had come through but was otherwise fixed. Evidently, Sage and Hunter had stayed up really late putting the finishing touches on the library, so they were still asleep. Emmy was exhausted and ready to join them, but she needed to make a stop first. She leaned against the doorway of Wally's souvenir room as he fluffed the beret to get in the exact position he wanted.

"Excellent eye for interior decoration," Emmy smirked when Wally jumped and turned to her.

"Why do you always sneak up on me when I'm in here?" The speedster pouted slightly. Emmy chuckled before looking at the shelves.

"So, uh, I wanted to ask you something," Emmy cleared her throat. "Earlier before the mission, you didn't think I was the mole," she forced herself to meet the green eyes. "Why not?"

Red eyebrows arched in surprise. "Did you think I was the mole?" He asked instead of answering her question.

Emmy snorted. Wally was a lot of things, but he didn't have a treacherous bone in his body. "Of course not."

He smiled a little at her answer, "Ditto. You get hurt doing stupid stuff to protect the rest of us way too often to be a mole."

Emmy laughed at that.

"How's the side by the way?" Wally's eyes shifted to her ribcage with concern. "I haven't seen ribs stick out like that before."

Emmy had momentarily forgotten about her injury. She powered down into the baggy grey t-shirt and black shorts she threw on after her shower. She lifted the shirt and looked at her side. The skin where the burn had been was a shiny light pink, but that was the only discernable difference.

"Huh," Emmy smiled up at the speedster as she dropped her shirt. "At least it wasn't on the side with my tattoo."

"That is so not funny," Wally rolled his eyes, frustrated. "It was scary when you went into shock."

Emmy blinked at him and he stumbled over his words a little. "You know, uh, for the whole team and your uh, kids and stuff."

"Right," Emmy said slowly. She started to leave when something else came to mind. "Oh, and thanks, by the way."

Wally tilted his head in confusion. "For what?"

Emmy waved her hand dismissively, "For the whole annoying me out of my alleged panic attack thing."

Recognition flashed across Wally's face. In all the drama of the past few days, he had completely forgotten about her accidental confession. He smiled brightly, "No problem!"

Emmy nodded at him and started walking to her room. A breeze hit her back and a low voice tickled the hair behind her left ear, "Just tell me what the dream was about, and we'll call it even."

Emmy snarled at the boy in her personal space and pushed him away from her. Wally stumbled back a few steps, but his cocky grin remained. Emmy stomped away, but Wally just zipped in front of her. She crashed into his chest and he wrapped his arms around her to keep them both from falling. She was far too aware of his warm hands on her lower back. He grinned down at her once they stabilized and Emmy groaned in exasperation.

"There was no dream, Ronald," her glare did nothing to faze him.

"Are you sure?" Wally cooed. "That's not what you said two days ago."

"I was-" Emmy frowned, "momentarily distressed."

"Mhmm, so you either had a panic attack or a sexy dream about me," Wally leaned even closer to her tauntingly, "Which one was it, Emerald? Or did you have both?"

Emmy scowled at him. There was no answer that ended well for her and her ego.

"Come on, Emmy," Wally tightened his hold around her. "Was it after our make-up fight?"

His voice deepened and Emmy swallowed while avoiding eye contact. He grinned and whispered, "Did it involve my toned arms pinning you to the mat and finishing what we started before Rob got there? I don't blame you, ya know. Lots of ladies want a piece of the Wall-man."

Emmy glowered at him, but her pink cheeks made the speedster laugh. She was going to wipe that stupid smirk off his face. Emmy twisted out of his grasp and pushed his chest against the wall with his left arm behind his back.

"Is this the position I had you in?" Wally's grin was wicked, and Emmy's jaw twitched.

"No, actually," she spun him around until she was the one against the wall. She repressed a smirk when he finally stopped looking smug and started looking alarmed. Emmy jumped onto him, her hands on his shoulders and her legs wrapping around his waist. His breath hitched as he looked up at her, and she let herself smirk that time. Not so cocky now, West.

"This was the position we were in. Only I was pressed against the cold shower tiles while the warm water hit your back," She bit her lip slowly. Wally followed the motion with hooded eyes, taking the extra step forward to press her against the wall.

"I know you said your kisses were magic, but it was the vibrating fingers that really made me a 'true believer'," Emmy murmured huskily. Wally's exhaled sharply, eyes darting between her eyes and mouth. She leaned forward, playing with his hair. "And the dream was the night before we sparred," she ran her hands around the back of his neck, tilting his head up abruptly so she could whisper in his ear. His hands gripped her thighs roughly. "So, you can imagine how hard it was to have your bare skin rubbing against me when all I could think about was-"

"For the love of God, again?! Are you guys exhibitionists or something?" Robin's scandalized voice interrupted Emmy and she bolted out of the speedster's arms.

"I was-He started-We weren't even- forget it, I'm going to bed," Emmy walked down the hall cursing at herself. What the hell was that, East? She went way too far. Wally just made her crazy sometimes, and she wanted to beat him at his own game. She was too tired to deal with this. She should have just said she had a panic attack and gone to sleep.

Wally pulled himself together and yelled after her, "Sweet dreams!"

"Fuck you, West," she called over her shoulder lightly.

"That's what the sweet dreams are for, East," he smirked as she flipped him the bird while rounding a corner.

The redhead whirled around to glare at the other bird, "Dude!"

"Don't 'Dude' me," Rob waved his hands around, "We're in a public hallway! There are security cameras!"

Wally blushed and returned to fix the beret on the shelf. He had to joke about Emmy's dream or else his hormones would take over and he might do something incredibly stupid. That girl was far too stubborn for her own good. She couldn't just admit to having the dream and leave; she always had to one up him. The Helmet of Fate glistened comically to his left.

"Shut up, Kent!"

-Glad you're enjoying the story so far, KirikaAndo. That is super sweet, httpstress. I appreciate it! I hope the dangerous weather ended well for everyone.

Until Next Time,

TheDarkAbyss