Alpha Male

I sat with my parents a little way from the team, discussing the events of the last few weeks. My long white hair was still slightly damp from the hot shower I just took in order to warm myself. All in all I felt a lot better than I had when I was first pulled out of that monstrous contraption. As I was taking the shower, I tried to piece together how exactly the Reds came to know exactly how to immobilize all of us so easily. At first, I believed it was simply Oz feeding other villains information in order to better capture me, which would make sense considering the convenient side quest most of our enemies have been doing to get me alone. But now that Red Tornado betrayed us, I don't feel as confident that it was Oz's doing. If Oz had somehow infiltrated the League, I am certain his methods would not have left out Clay, or the fire experiment, as he wouldn't trust anyone outside his own experiments to get the job done. In fact why bother with making androids when he has 2 certified elemental experiments under his thumb? Even though I hate to admit it, the possibility of the Red Tornado is the sole culprit in this particular instance; it appears to be the only logical hypothesis. Hawkgirl took my temperature once more, sliding the thermometer out from under my tongue while Green Lantern peaked over her shoulder with a smile.

"98.6. Thank goodness for your expedited healing. How do you feel?" My father asked.

"Truthfully, I'm trying to wrap my head around the situation. If I were in there just a few minutes longer, I likely would have died." I said looking between the two. My father placed his hand on my cheek and kissed my forehead gently. My mother came to my side and wrapped her arm around my shoulders.

"You've been through a lot. No one would blame you for wanting to take a few days to yourself." My mother said quietly to me. I turned my head to my mother, shocked at what she said. My confusion and frustration quickly turned into anger. Did they think I was so fragile that I might need to take a break from this? My team needs me, we all almost died from Red Tornado's betrayal. I couldn't possible go hiding away just because of this.

"I've nearly died of hypothermia being thrown into an industrial sized, mega freezer after having both my teammates and my own weakness exploited by someone who I looked up to and respected. What I want is to turn Red Tornado and his siblings into my own personal 3D printer." I said rudely moving away from my parent's touch. My mother looked at me hurt by my sudden actions, and I couldn't help but to soften my gaze. I didn't mean to snap at her, but at times the two of them could be smothering with how overprotective they were. Even now, with them seeing how quickly I can recover from situations that would ordinarily kill someone in minutes they still treated me like a child in need of protection.

"You knew?" Connor's voice raged throughout the cave. I quickly turned my head and saw Connor taking Kaldur up by his shirt. Without a second thought, I rushed over to help M'gann pry Connor away. My heart raced with anticipation when I saw the look in Connor's eyes to see nothing but pure animalistic rage. What was going on? With a quick pull, I moved Connor behind my arm matching his intimidating glare with my own. He pushed himself slightly against my arm, but I held my ground.

"Have you lost your mind?!" I asked, already over all the events from the last day. Connor deepened his glare, but I knew that he knew I would not back down. I held his gaze, almost demanding an answer.

"That android and his maniac family nearly killed M'gann AND you." He responded as if to plead his case with me. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at the statement, finding the reminder of all of our lives being threatened unnecessary and a little offensive. That was hardly an excuse to blame Kaldur or attack him for what had transpired.

"Conner, what are you doing?" M'gann asked worriedly. The rest of the team followed in suit, and I could see some League members glancing over as well. Conner's eyes softened, looking to M'gann as a better voice of reason. He eased up off of my arm slightly, trying to give a better explanation.

"Kaldur knew we had a traitor among us and said nothing." The boy of steel accused, causing us all to freeze in shock. His words slowly hit us all like bricks, comprehension dawning on us as the words echoed back in our minds. Kaldur knew we had a traitor? That couldn't possibly be the case. Kaldur wouldn't keep that from me. I'm his girlfriend, his co-leader, he trusts me. I turned to the boy, of whom I considered my partner and best friend to see his face in a stone-cold expression. My eyes widened as the realization set in that he did in fact keep the information from me. My heart broke as I slowly dropped my arm and turned fully towards Aqualad, suddenly understanding the situation. He did know. Kaldur may not have known it was Red Tornado, but he did now that there was a mole involved with the team and decided not to tell me even though I'm also the leader of this team. Even though I'm his girlfriend, and his best friend.

"You knew?" Robin asked in disbelief The tension in the air had become more and more thick by the minute as everyone began to turn on Kaldur for not informing all of us about the mole sooner.

"And didn't tell us?" Kid followed in after. I watched, hoping and praying for some sort of explanation to prove my thoughts wrong. To give me reason to think that he was in fact innocent of the accusations. I prayed for any sign whatsoever that this wasn't the case, because if this was then that would mean that his trust in me and the respect he had for me as his comrade was all surface level. Based on his facial expressions, and even demeanor, I could tell what Conner said was the truth.

"I sought to protect the team from-" All hope that I had been wrong, however, was quickly squashed, leaving me feeling as though I was living on autopilot.

"Protect us from what? Knowledge that might have saved our lives?" My eyes met with Kaldur's and for a second his defensive air softened. A pleading look came across his eyes, as if asking me to understand where he's coming from, but my heart only broke more as I turned my head away from him. He lied to me. Kaldur knew about a possible mole and chose not to tell me about it as his girlfriend and partner. It all added up, the suspicious questioning about our loyalties, and the secret talk with Red Tornado, and Batman. Kaldur told me that he trusted me, that he believed I was good, and that he put his faith in me as a leader, as his co-leader, but then purposely kept information from me. Why would he do that if he trusts me? Did he not think I could be trusted to handle the information or was this his way of saying that I was a suspected mole.

"Enough." Batman yelled, turning all of our attention towards him, before he continued. " With Red Tornado missing, the team will now be overseen by rotating supervisors. Captain Marvel has volunteered to take the first shift." My eyes studied the powerful hero as he walked up and gave us a smile and wave. Something about him was a little odd. His childlike sense of joy was like a bright light, as if he wanted to change the mood in the room, but the execution was at the wrong time.

"I'm really looking forward to hanging with you guys." I raised a brow, before turning back to the two boys. Conner was glaring hard at Aqualad who was holding his ground despite having the world against him.

"After I dismantle Red Tornado, you and I are gonna…" Conner was promptly stopped, being cut off by Batman.

"Red Tornado is a member of the Justice League. That makes him a League responsibility. You will leave him to us. I have another assignment for this team." Projections of news clippings related to a gorilla, with the headline Gotham Mayor attacked by Guerilla Gorilla. A literal ape chase, after a near death experience and finding out that our teammate withheld information from us? What part of any of that sounds like a good idea? The feeling finally started to come back to my body, my mind settling from the shock of the situation. My breathing started to come back naturally to me, as opposed to the forced effort of trying to breathe normally.

"Gotham Mayor attacked by Guerilla Gorilla?" Robin asked in shock. Admittedly, the whole thing does seem a bit odd as far as a mission we would go on. Batman, however, does not typically take to tasking us to go on meaningless missions. Taking a deep breath, I tried to get my mind set into mission mode.

"Was this the only thing he could find to distract us?" Superboy said into our mental link, Before I could protest, Robin stepped up irritably, yet pleadingly.

"Batman, please, tell me you're not sending us on this joke of a wild ape chase." The stoic Dark Knight showed no hint of laughter as he stared us, mainly Robin, down.

"I never joke about the mission. I've checked the sources. I've studied the patterns. Mayor Hill's encounter is only the latest in a series of incidents. Aqualad, Archangel, you and your team will depart for India and check this out." Team. Right now it doesn't seem to be much of a team. With that we all walked towards the hanger that had just previously been the site of a major betrayal for us. I moved towards the couch first, where my parents were to grab my weapon, before giving them a small, reassuring smile. My father and mother looked at each other for a moment, before nodding to me.

"I'm sorry for snapping, we will talk more when I get back." I said turning away. Much to my surprise, Kaldur had practically stayed back, looking at me as if asking for a moment. Did I want to talk to him? More than anything. Did I think a chat between the two of us would be productive? Saying yes, would almost be comical. I wanted to yell, to cry and understand why he wouldn't share that information and burden with me. I wanted to know why he didn't trust me, but I don't think that's a conversation we could have right before a mission. My heart felt as if someone had grabbed a hold of it, squeezing it tightly from just his gaze alone, yet the expression I wore was nothing short of a mix of anger and apathy. So instead of falling into his arms or even pulling him with me as I wanted to do, I walked past him with my head held high not even sparing him a glance. There was nothing more he could say to me at this moment, that could change the fact that he had lied anyway. For now, all I could do was focus on the mission and ignore the hurt expression on his face.

The ride to our coordinates was very tense, to put it lightly. Everyone either glared at Aqualad, or stewed in their own anger. While I was still extremely hurt and angry at him myself, I took the time to think about the situation at hand. Why would Aqualad hide this information? He is typically so honest and thorough. Levelheaded and thoughtful. He must have had a reason for hiding it. Was he suspicious that one of us could truly be the mole? As objectively as I could, I thought of the possibility that it could be true. We are a new team, all with ties to the Justice League, however, that should not mean anyone should be counted out as a mole. Superboy and Miss. Martian are under constant watch, being that they live in the cave with, or previously with, Red Tornado. Miss. Martian could be contacting them outside the cave telepathically, but considering how close she is with her uncle, and the range of her telepathic ability, it is neither likely or unlikely to be the case. Artemis, Kid Flash and Robin all have less supervision making it easier for them to be the mole. Kid Flash and Robin, however, have familiar ties to the founding members of the League, and have been doing this for so long that there would be no reason for them to slip up or reveal their hand if they hadn't already. Artemis is more private with her life, but Green Arrow seems to trust her with his life. In all honesty, I am the most likely to be the suspect, especially considering the fact that Aqualad knows of my origins.

I thought back to before the attack at the cave. Kaldur was inquiring a lot about everyone's loyalties, which I found odd. Knowing that now, it's clear he was trying to discover the traitor on his own. The thought about how he hid that information from me crept back into the forefront of my mind much to my dismay. He did not tell the team, nor did he tell Batman prior to today from the sound of it, like I had assumed he had done. Is it possible that he originally suspected me, and wanted to protect me from the suspicion? Or was our whole relationship simply a ploy to discover if I was the traitor? Granted, all that would be assuming that he truly suspected me, which objectively would be foolish to not consider should he be taking the threat seriously.

My mind then shifted to a different thought entirely. I have to weigh the pros and cons of informing the team of the presence of a traitor. If Aqualad had told the team, I am certain that the team would have fallen apart much quicker than it is now. Although I love and trust my teammates with all my heart, it is entirely possible that everyone would have been pointing fingers at each other. Suspicion will rise and we would fail any mission due to that lack of trust. In addition to that, if there was a traitor, telling the team would have only alerted them. The pros of which is that it is entirely possible that alerting the traitor could have also forced them to reveal themselves by slipping up. Albeit, who would have suspected Red Tornado to be the traitor in the end.

Either way the cons certainly outweigh the pros, though that did not ease my mind. It still hurts me that Aqualad did not trust me with this information in the first place. Whether the reasoning was because he wanted to protect the team from itself, or to protect me from the team, the one thing that I can not get over is why he didn't tell me. Did he truly think that I was in need of protection, or was it that he did not trust me as a leader? Was I truly foolish for believing that he actually thought I was not loyal to the Justice League? Was he just covertly scoping out if I was the traitor? I bit my lip and pushed my hair back.

"You seem stressed." I jumped at the voice beside me, before turning to see Captain Marvel staring up at me. The abnormally large man had been laying his head down on the space in front of him, watching me as I stayed in my own mind. The way he stared up at me curiously, reminded me of a baby kitten, making me even more curious about the hero. I glanced over at Aqualad for a second finishing up my thoughts before giving Captain Marvel a smile.

"My apologies. I am simply trying to wrap my head around everything." I said lightly. He gave me a small smile back, picking his head up into the palm of his hand.

"Something tells me that you aren't exactly talking about the mission." I took in a deep breath, trying to calm my racing heart from the anxiety of thinking of it all.

"You would be correct, however, as a leader my main focus now is how I intend to get my team through today's mission. Not that the position amounts to much to some people." I said, sliding a dirty look towards Aqualad, who merely gave me the same hurt expression he had given me before. Our eyes never made contact, but I could feel the unease between the two of us.

With that the rest of the ride was silent. Once we had gotten to our location, Miss. Martian opened the hatch in order to allow me to fly out and scope the area as discreetly as possible, but not before having Miss. Martian established a mental link with me just in case. I stayed closer to the clouds in order to stay as hidden as possible. The feeling of fresh air provided me with relief from the tense, stuffy, atmosphere I had been trapped in. The feeling of the air sliding against my feathers was almost therapeutic, easing the anxiety that settled in my bones. If I could have, I would have stayed up here forever just to avoid going back, but my own responsibilities forced me back down to the ground before I knew it. On my flight, I found a large building that possibly held our objective. Aside from that, we were mainly surrounded by the forest. Finding my recon to be sufficient, I made it back to where the bioship was supposed to be, just to be unpleasantly surprised to find everyone had left. I let out an irritable groan before walking off angrily, my own powers coming to life around me as I stomped off into the wooded area.

'Miss. Martian, where is everyone?' I asked,

'Well, we all separated…' She replied sheepishly,

'I gathered as much. What did Aqualad decide as far as mission perimeters?' I could hear Artemis scoff, giving me indication that she was also in the link.

'As if we'd trust his leadership. He betrayed all of our trust!' I pulled out the metal cylinder, changing it into a machete, before cutting down a thick bunch of bristles. A deep groan escaped my lips at Artemis' statement as I connected the dots on the situation. The team must have neglected to allow Aqualad the chance to establish anything before storming off, meaning we have no rendezvous point, no back up coms, and no actual plan.

'Don't tell me everyone just left without actually establishing any sort of plan. Did he at least manage to convince you all to establish a secondary form of communication?' The two remained silent confirming my suspicion. I can not say I blame the team for their frustrations, but to not have any communication established between the team, is foolish at the very least. I understand their anger with Aqualad, but he and I still lead this team. The least they could have done was listen to him OR wait for me. Instead, they chose to embark on their own without a secondary form of communication being established, and although part of the blame could lie with me understanding the situation and leaving anyways, Aqualad should have taken charge. A loud crackle of lightning illuminated from the sky, and I realized just how worked up I had gotten. I took a few deep breaths as I climbed over a fallen tree and pushed back a few vines.

'Listen, I know we're all frustrated with Aqualad right now, but this is a mission, and he is still our leader. This is not the time or the place to be petty.' A downhill slope with deep brush lay before me, with no signs of tracks of anyone having been down this way. For all I know, the rest of the team could have gone the opposite direction. Still, I trekked on, trying to calm myself before bringing us all together.

'Did you not know about the mole too?' Miss. Martian asked, causing me to flinch at the innocent question. The way she asked made me believe she had been wondering for a while now. It's only natural she would, considering Aqualad and I should have shared information like that as the team leads. The bitterness I felt from the lack of trust as a leader and a partner felt like poison. Even now, being forced to admit it and witness the lack of respect felt like a slap in the face.

'Unfortunately, the information wasn't disclosed to me.' It felt shameful to say, almost like I was throwing Aqualad under the bus. In a stupid attempt of misguided chivalry, or patronage, Aqualad had given me plausible deniability at the cost of being a unified front as leaders, and it shows.

'Then you should feel just as mad as the rest of us! You're practically his girlfriend not to mention his CO-LEADER and he doesn't trust you either!' Artemis says, essentially speaking on what I have been thinking these last few hours. My head began to pound against my skull as I leaned against a large boulder. Everything was beginning to get to me. Aqualad, the team, my own thoughts, they were all just building up inside of me. I was nearly to the point of taking it all out on Artemis and Miss. Martian, wanting to tell them to stop the idle gossip, and focus on the mission at hand. Why can we not all allow ourselves to be distracted by the sake of completing our mission to avoid the thoughts of betrayal? But I knew it wasn't feasible to expect anyone else to handle the situation the same way I was, or at least the way I was trying to. After all I was wired to think and feel a certain way, including not having any personal feelings for the sake of a mission. It was a blessing and a curse all at once, being created to be so fixated on a single task, at the cost of disregarding my feelings. One thing was apparent, I needed to control my emotions, before I blew all of our cover, because the way that random lightning continued to strike was a dead giveaway that something wasn't right.

'Miss. Martian, I need to be linked up with everyone. It's time to get this mission back on-.' Suddenly, the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. I turned my head to the right to see a VERY large anaconda stalking towards me. My heart raced as I froze from the site. Why God? Why does it have to be a snake of all things?The anaconda wasn't simply above average in size, it was clear that someone had tampered with its DNA. Its head was every bit of 7 feet tall, and its body was long, like the Basilisk in Harry Potter.

'Belay that. Give me one moment.' It reared back to strike, and I immediately took flight into the air. It struck the boulder I was leaning on with incredible speed, breaking it in two. I trembled slightly as it hissed and turned back towards me. Out of all the animals I could have been faced with, it just had to be faced with a snake! The only animal I truly feared. It reared back again, preparing to attack and I noticed a large collar around its neck. Then I realized his gaze seemed a bit off, not at all like a natural one in nature. Is that what our enemies were planning? Using genetically mutated animals as slaves? Although I truly hate snakes, I cannot allow this to come to pass. I looked behind the terrifying creature seeing two trees, close enough together for the snake to get its head stuck in. The anaconda made its move, and I flew to the side to avoid it before it quickly recovered and tried to chase me. I allowed it to get close enough to where it could nearly catch me, an action that truly took every ounce of courage I had, before diving between the two trees. I rolled into the ground as I heard it squeeze between them, and when I looked up, the snake was near feet away from catching me. He could no longer move any further and I let out a shaky breath of relief.

"Archangel, look out!" In mere seconds, I was rolling around with someone across the dirty forest floor. I turned my head the moment we stopped and saw a large, thick tree branch where I was standing. Instead of falling on me, it landed on top of the anaconda's head, knocking him out cold. Silently thanking god that my adventure with the nightmarish animal had come to a close, letting out a small breath and relaxing slightly from the near death experience. A deep groan brought me back from the brief relaxation I felt from not being snake food or crushed by a branch, and I realized that I was still laying on the person who had saved my life. Instant embarrassment and regret filled me when I locked eyes with my unfortunate savior, Aqualad. Had this been any other day, I would have enjoyed the moment between us, but given our current situation, I was less than happy to have him near me. Rolling my eyes, I pushed him away from me and walked over to inspect the collar.

"You're welcome." Aqualad said sarcastically. I let out a sigh before gripping two sides of the collar and ripping it off, mostly intact.

"Thank you, Aqualad." I said with an equal amount of sarcasm. Before promptly walking away with the collar in hand. I examined the collar and came to the realization that they were the same ones used in Belle Reve, only slightly modified. Compare that with the fact that the anaconda was increasingly more direct in its attacks, and at least 7 times larger than its normal size, I would say that Kobra Venom was used.

'Archangel, Aqualad.' Miss Martian finally spoke via our comms. The two of us looked at each other for a brief second as if having a mini discussion about what to do. Internally, I wanted to go ahead, tell Aqualad to standby for now, and take charge, but the situation between our teammates' lack of respect needs to be addressed before someone gets hurt. I can't be the one to take charge here, it has to be Kaldur so that the team knows that such actions will not be tolerated in the future and Kaldur knows not to disrespect his own co-chair.

"There is a building likely to be occupied by our enemies south of here. I suggest radio communication be kept to a minimum. Although, I highly doubt you would respect my decision." Aqualad stared at me slightly surprised by my words before speaking with Miss. Martian.

"Miss Martian, I need a telepathic link-up with the entire team. Now." A few seconds later, I could feel the mental link being established. Aqualad and I continued to walk through the jungle.

'Link established.' Miss. Martian stated

'Should he be giving us orders? And should you really be following them?' Artemis announced, As a leader I should step in, but it seems you all would rather just take to anger and freelance through a mission before hearing from me, I thought bitterly to myself.

'Uh Archangel, we can hear you.' Artemis said

'I thought what I thought.' I responded, jumping over a large boulder. Once I did, I noticed 4 pillars in an open area. They were clearly man made, like a technology similar to that of a fishnet in the ocean. The larger tracts resembled that of an elephant, typically not aggressive until spooked, but I would need to really inspect the pillars in order to know all this for sure.

'Listen, please.' Aqualad pleaded in the link.

'Oh, good. Aqualad's voice in my head. I've so missed that.' I rolled my eyes at the neglect of acknowledgment before crossing my arms and leaning against the tree. If Aqualad would just take control of the situation perhaps they may listen to reason. At this point, I am beginning to think, they believe I knew about the situation, as everyone was so busy speaking on the mole, that no one was actually in a capacity to listen and follow commands.

'Hey, Kaldur, KF and I were attacked by giant vultures. Course, since we're moles, you probably think we attacked ourselves?' Robin said sarcastically

'If he did, he wouldn't tell you.' Artemis said

'Superboy, are you online, or just pouting?' Miss. Martian asked the silent kryptonian

'Busy. Call back later.' Was his response. Aqualad began to look frustrated and looked at me with pleading eyes. I raised a brow, not understanding what exactly he expected me to do. The team clearly isn't going to be more open if I just ask them to, otherwise I would have done it. This is something Aqualad needs to do on his own. So I gave him a shrug.

"By all means, take control of the situation that you willingly made by yourself, for yourself." I said verbally, finally giving into the petty behavior that the rest of the team was exhibiting. Aqualad flinched at my words before turning away. A part of me did feel bad for leaving him to deal with this on his own, but then again, that seemed to have been an unfortunate side effect of his plan to exclude me from very important information.

'What gets me is how nonchalant he is about not telling us.' Kid said spitefully,

'He should be chalant. Way chalant. Extremely chalant.' Robin agrees

'How can we be a team if he doesn't trust us with his secrets?'

'Or if Conner doesn't trust us to take care of ourselves?'

'Or if he doesn't trust his own co-leader with issues involving the team.' I said mentally as I inspected the pillars and the ground around it. It looked like elephants had stampeded across here, and with the large machines here I'm assuming that the missing Captain Marvel was here and likely detained.

'Did he really think you or I could have been the mole?' Kid Flash questioned

'We've known each other for years!' Robin said

'Trust is a two-way street.' Artemis stated plainly.

'They'd hate it if we kept secrets.' piped justly

'Not that we'd do that.' Artemis said almost too quickly

'Never.' Miss. Martian stated equally as firmly. A loud noise erupted behind me, causing me to jump and spin around. An angry Aqualad had broken one of the pillars that I was inspecting.

'Enough! Captain Marvel has been captured, and we must act as a team to save him.' Aqualad said, confirming my earlier thoughts.

'Heh. Under your leadership? I don't think so.' Kid tried to protest sarcastically, but Aqualad quickly shut that down.

'This is not up for debate. You all chose me to lead. When the mission is over, I will happily step down, but until that time, I am in command here.' I looked at Aqualad with wide eyes. I had never seen him so frustrated, and authoritative. My face heated up, as he let out a husky breath. I am unashamed to admit the entire scene was quite attractive, even though I was upset with him. Clearing my throat, I took to the mental link.

'I am sending coordinates to the area near the compound we will be infiltrating. Stay alert and watch for any sign of the enemy.' All agreed to my orders, as I sent the coordinates to a hidden area outside the compound as I had stated. It wasn't far from Aqualad and myself, so I took the time to allow Aqualad to regain his composure. He looked as if he was clearly about to direct his anger towards me, and I don't blame him. It's not easy having anyone gang up on you like that, and suddenly I felt guilty for letting him deal with it on his own. I realize that I have every right to feel the way that I do, but it's as much my job to maintain a united front as much as it's his. Just because I'm angry and upset that he didn't do such, doesn't mean I should have let him out to dry. I fully expected him to turn towards me with a hateful, stern expression, to tell me off for not helping to maintain the team, but instead he looked at me with softened eyes full of understanding.

"Do you really believe I do not trust you?" I didn't speak, instead crossing my arms and laying my eyes on the ground. The hurt I was feeling was likely evident on my face. Aqualad moved towards me gently, as if he were afraid he would scare me off, but I let him come close to me.

"Archangel, please." Taking a deep breath once more, I looked up into Aqualads eyes. All the anxiety and hurt I've felt throughout the day was now evident on my face, along with the exhaustion from having to hide it all.

"Obviously. Did you only want to date me to find out if I were the mole? I feel like such a fool for believing that someone would feel the way you said you did about me." I felt Aqualad hand take mine and make me stop. He pulled me closer to him, making me turn to face him.

"Of course not! Archangel, what I said to you was true, my feelings for you are real and genuine. I meant every word, and I trust you with my life." I pulled my hand away from his and crossed my arms. Not believing a word he said.

"So, you didn't think that I could be the traitor?" I challenged knowing full well he did. Anyone would given the situation. Aqualad frowned, obviously holding back from coming closer to me for my own comfort.

"The thought did cross my mind, but no longer than a second." He admitted, maintaining direct eye contact.

"Did you not tell me because you feared others might suspect me?" I asked

"I did not tell you because I did not want to burden you with the information." I threw up my hands in frustration. Of course, just like my parents he also feels the need to protect me. Everyone is always trying to spare my feelings, or "lighten my load" It makes me feel like no one believes in me or trusts me to be strong enough to do things on my own. I feel coddled, like a child, when I'm more than capable of handling anything that comes my way.

"So, you thought I couldn't handle it? Are you serious? Aqualad, I am not some child in need of protection! I am a leader in this team just as much as you are! Telling me should have been the first thing you did!" I yelled back furiously. Aqualad stopped and looked at me in surprise. Instantly, I regretted yelling at him as a hurt look appeared in his eyes. I have never yelled at him before, I had never yelled at anyone before, except for my enemies, but at that moment I felt so angry. Angry for constantly being treated like a child in need of protection, tired of being smothered by the overbearing behavior, and sick of feeling betrayed. Even though I was done with all of it, the look in his eyes brought down the reality of the harshness I was exhibiting. This is not healthy; I should not have yelled at him like that.

"I'm sorry," My voice came out shakily and small for a second, slightly shaken by my own behavior. "L-let's just focus on the mission for now." With that being said, He left me to my own thoughts, and I to his, without anything truly having been resolved. I knew all I truly needed to know, as it felt. Aqualad only trusted me to an extent that of a child, and that fact hurt more than I cared to admit.

Staying in the shadows, we observed the compound from a safe distance. I crouched next to Kid Flash and Robin, both of which had already started to analyze the force field created by the pylons. It's safe to assume that there will likely be a barrage of genetically mutated animals ready to storm the moment we tear the force field down. Our opponent will likely be more than just one person. If nothing else, the fact that such a number of animals have been captured and mutated alone is evident enough but given Batman's intelligence it is likely a gorilla villain, but it is anyone's guess which one.

'I'll fly over.' Miss. Martian stated

'Negatory, the field is stamped like a dome over the whole compound.' Kid replied

'Pylons are insulated, but one good shock could cause a momentary gap.' Robin looked at me and shook my head. Given the distance between us and a control panel, and the inaccuracy of my lightning powers, it's not likely I would make the shot. At least not as accurately as Artemis might, should she have a clear shot.

'I believe Artemis may be best equipped for this task. There is a control panel on the wall there.' I stated, looking back at Artemis who was loading an arrow.

'I see a target.' Artemis replied, eyes locked on the control panel in front of her.

'Then be ready to hit it.' I stood and walked to the dome. Being that my body is equipped to withstand large amounts of electricity, it was easy for me to create an opening for Artemis to hit the target. Aqualad stood by me, ready to defend me while I was vulnerable.

'Be ready, all of you.' Within seconds, I had grabbed onto the electricity filled force field. The electricity traveled across my entire body, waking up every fiber of my being, filling me with the energy to fight an army. Artemis shot and hit the target perfectly causing the force field to drop, leaving nothing but little sparks of electricity popping around me. The rest of the team followed in beside us, and almost instantly a cry of what I thought to be a monkey cried out followed by the sound of an alarm. I grabbed my weapon and transformed it into two hook swords. Monkeys swarmed us from all angles, each of us had our hands full. At first, a monkey came towards me, but Aqualad quickly knocked them away from me only to have them snarl and turn their full attention towards him. Another two then knocked me over full force before I was even able to process the fact that these huge primates were all over my team. My confusion only lasted for a second, as I quickly rolled onto the ground and used the momentum to throw the first monkey over into a tree. The second growled, slamming his fist onto the ground before running at me.

"Remove the collars!" I heard Aqualad yell, reminding me of our earlier discovery. As the monkey ran towards me, I took my hook swords up and prepared to execute my plan. The monkey was only a few feet away from me before I leaped up, using the sword to hook onto the collar, and sent electrocuted through the sword to short circuit the collar system, but not hurt the monkey too much. In a swift motion, I twisted in the air making sure the monkey landed hard enough to knock him unconscious, which was greatly successful. I looked to my right to see Kid Flash fighting Mallah of all gorilla villains. I supposed that answers that question. Kid got knocked backwards onto his butt from a powerful swing from Mallah, making my blood boil. I ran towards the gorilla, with my fist reared back, before slamming it into his abdomen, releasing all the electricity that I had obtained from the force field earlier. Mallah flew back into the building, knocking down the wall that had been there.

"Go!" Aqualad ordered, all of us ran into the building ready to fight for Captain Marvels freedom to see him strapped to a table, with a tiger standing near him, and a brain in a glorified jar, The Brain, who is usually found to be working with Monsieur Mallah. I assumed Captain Marvel couldn't move for some reason, as he took no effort to look up and see who was here or what had happened.

"It's The Brain!" Kid Flash announced.

"Uh, I can see it's a brain." Artemis sassed unknowingly

"Not a brain, The brain." Kid Flash sassed back

"In the flesh, so to speak. Mallah." His thick French accent screamed nothing but arrogance despite being in a light tone. It wasn't until then that I realized the pylons, similar to that of which Aqualad and I found in the forest. I could see sparks firing and suddenly we all fell under a paralysis bringing us flat to the floor.

'Miss. Martian, Superboy, now!' Right on cue, Miss. Martian used her telepathy to pull the controller out of The Brain's mechanical hand, and right in front of her face. A second later, the lack of ability to move was gone and we all stood up as Superboy came crashing through another wall with…. a large white wolf? His shirt was torn to shreds and I could see the large scratches on his arms and shoulders. I am sure a story is to be told later. The wolf jumped on the gorilla with enough force to bring him down to his knee, and the rest of the team didn't let up with just that. We sprang into action like a well-oiled machine, the rest of the team taking on Monsieur Mallah, and Aqualad and I going for Captain Marvel. The Brain seemingly had other plans and I could see him extending his guns. I didn't waste time changing my weapon into a shield, round and at least 4 feet in diameter, it had a light blue accent on the white plating, with a gold tree in the center. Without hesitation, I swiftly slid in front of Aqualad deflecting the red energy-like blast. Aqualad stopped and looked at me and I smiled back to him.

"Go, I can handle this!" Not a moment later, The Brain threw another energy blast my way. Effortlessly, I changed the shield into a sharp-edged boomerang and threw it at him as he shot out another two energy blasts. Skillfully, I rolled out of the way and caught the boomerang. I raised my hand and shot out a strong burst of electricity at him, knocking him back towards Monsieur Mallah as the rest of the team and Captain Marvel surrounded him. Mallah saw that we had them surrounded and let out a strong yell, to which Superboy stepped up threateningly with the large wolf.

"Try it. I hate monkeys." Mallah stepped up only to be verbally held back by The Brain.

"No, Mallah, this will not be our Waterloo. Au revoir, mes amis." The Brain began to activate some sort of device with his own body, glowing red as a mechanical noise echoed in the building.

"Get down!" I kneeled and prepared my boomerang for an attack. The anticipation made the seconds feel like hours, only to have the lights briefly turn off before turning right back on. The Brain and Mallah were both gone leaving nothing but Mallah's beret. I lowered my boomerang and stood up feeling both gullible and stupid.

"Wait, that big weapon thing was a light switch?" Kid Flash stated voicing all of our opinions.

We decided to free all of the animals, as it was the right thing to do, and head back to the Bioship after gathering all the in-depth details pertaining to what happened here. The technology itself was impressive, objective and the biological product used to mutate the animals confirmed my suspicions of Kobra Venom being used. Batman would probably be both satisfied and concerned with the connection of yet another villain in the recent missions.

All in all, the mission was a success despite the friction in the team. I stood next to Artemis letting out a long sigh, glad that we succeeded despite it and the mood between the team seemed to be lighter, but absolutely exhausted. I looked over to Aqualad who was helping free the last of the animals with guilt. I shouldn't have yelled at him. Kaldur's always given me the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps my frustration with him was only due to my own insecurities. I mean, he always tells me that he trusts me, and how highly he thinks of me. Besides that, Kaldur has always had my best interest at heart, but at the same time he let that get in the way of my role as a team leader.

"You good?" Artemis' voice brought me back to the world, as my thoughts seemingly regained its logic. Does Artemis feel as though she overreacted with Aqualad as well? After everything we went through, I would think that maybe we should hear him out.

"I was just thinking about everything. Do you think we all overreacted?" I asked her simply Artemis stopped for a second before looking back to Aqualad. Her eyes soften and I believe she may have come to the same conclusion as myself.

"I think we may have jumped the gun, but I don't think that's what you're talking about." I looked over to Aqualad sadly before my eyes hit the ground. I already rationalized why he wouldn't tell us, but I suppose my reaction wasn't based on the thought that he didn't trust me but that he would treat me like the child that my mother and father treat me. "Protecting me" from every little inconvenience, and not treating me like a member of the team but a person who isn't ready for any responsibility.

"Listen, you're not wrong for feeling how you feel. I mean we all felt upset by it, but maybe uh... maybe you two should communicate about that. You can't expect him to know how you feel just because you're feeling it. Besides, even Aqualad's not immune to boy stupidity." Artemis said awkwardly, placing her hand on my shoulder. We both giggled as I took in what she said, even though she may not know exactly what I was talking about, it was still pretty true. Aqualad, Hawkgirl, and Green Lantern really don't know that I'm upset about them treating me this way, perhaps I should try to communicate that better. I turned to Artemis with a quick smile.

"I suppose you're right. Thanks Artemis." I said walking with her back to the Bioship.

"Look, I need to know, why did you keep the mole intel a secret?" Robin said as the two of us walked up. The rest of the team followed in suit, all watching Aqualad expectedly for an answer. Aqualad sighed before speaking up.

"The source of the tip was Sportsmaster." He admitted. Artemis visibly stiffened before speaking up.

"What? You can't trust him!"

"I do not. It seemed possible, even likely, that he was attempting to divide the team with false information." Aqualad explained thoroughly

"And given how this mission went, he nearly succeeded." Robin said, taking in Aqualad's words.

"But you had to consider it might be true." I said stepping up

"Yes. As leader, I did. In which case, I did not wish to alert the traitor, or cause suspicion amongst any of us." He responded, the rest of the team seemed to start realizing that the reasoning behind why he didn't tell us may have been justified. My thoughts on the situation seemed to be correct so I wasn't too surprised, but the rest of the team seemed to have a better understanding.

"Hate to say it but Makes sense." Kid said, voicing everyones thoughts.

"I am still prepared to step down." Aqualad said I gave him a look, before turning to our teammates. Even though I was mad at him, I never blamed him for making the choice he did. It was a clear and concise decision, that none of us would have made, that's why he's the perfect fit for team leader.

"All in favor of keeping Aqualad as co-leader?" I said to everyone, in which they all raised their hands with small smiles. I gave my own to him, and it seemed like an unspoken agreement between the two of us was made that we were both ok, but still needed to talk. Captain Marvel placed a hand on Aqualad's shoulder and smiled

"Guess it's unanimous." He turned quickly running off as if preparing to leave. "See you tomorrow!" We all watched him confused as he sort of prepped himself to fly off, strangely happy considering the events of today.

"You're not coming back with us?" I asked confused, and in a childlike manner he replied,

"Nope, gotta fly." Then flew off into the sky leaving me very confused. Captain Marvel is very strange indeed, great man, but almost childish. Very curious indeed. The others began to walk into the Bioship, talking about the wolf and what his name would be, and I stayed by Kaldur's side lingering for just a moment. We looked at each other and I couldn't help but feel slightly ashamed of my actions.

"I-"

"I-" we both started at the same time. Our eyes met again, but this time I did my best to give him as much reassurance as I could, to let him know that we're ok. I took his hand in mine, really subtly and gave his hand a quick squeeze.

"We'll talk when we get back, ok?" I said with a smile, he gave me a quick one back and squeezed my hand as well.

"Yes. That would be best."

The ride back was a lot less tense than the ride there. The team all continued to talk about Wolf and the strange occurrences on the mission. I even made mention of my discernment for snakes which Wally and Robin found amusing. It only felt like minutes to get back to the cave and once we did, we all hit the showers. Aqualad much to my delight was waiting for me, making my stomach twist with knots. I really messed up today, letting my anger get the best of me, but all I could do is hope he could forgive me. We left the cave and walked out to the beach where we could get just a little bit of privacy. The sun was beginning to come up and the wind gave us a subtly but chilly breeze. Aqualad took a seat in the sand but not before laying a towel down for me to sit on. A small blush trickled onto my cheeks and all I could do was give him a small appreciative smile.

"Always the gentleman." I muttered as I sat down next to him. The two of us sat silently watching the sun, both of us unsure of where exactly to start. It felt as if there was so much to unpack from today, but Aqualad started.

"Rose, I trust you with my life, as my partner and my friend, but as your significant other I cannot help but to want to ease as much burden on you as I can. I know things have been stressful for you lately, so I had hoped to 'lighten your load' as they say, until the time was right, but you are correct. It was never my intention to disrespect you or your abilities as a leader. I should have told you, and because I did not, I ended up hurting you, for that I offer you my most sincere apologies." My eyes softened as I looked into his own. My heart broke from the guilt I felt, and I turned to him instantly. My guilt clawed at my heart and in that moment all I wanted to do was melt into Aqualads arms. This entire time I knew logically that his behavior and his excuse made complete sense, but this petty emotional side of me just felt so hurt that he didn't tell me so that I could share this burden that I likely hurt him as well. I slowly wrapped my arms around his middle and laid my head on his chest. We carefully laid down in the sand as I heard his heartbeat steadily, nearly matching my own. My anger and confusion seemed to wash away as he held me for a moment, and it was the first moment all day that I truly felt at peace.

"No, Kaldur, it's me who should apologize. When you told me how you felt about me, I felt so trusted, and respected. It felt like you saw me as a capable, and intelligent person who can make my own decisions, not someone to be watched. I felt like it was all a lie when the truth came out, without even hearing your side of the story. I shouldn't have let my insecurities prevent me from trusting your word. And I certainly shouldn't have yelled at you like I did. That was way out of line. I am so sorry." I said burying my face in his chest. He wrapped his arms around me tighter.

"You were in your right to be upset. You may be my girlfriend, but we are also co-leaders in the team. In placing that first, I disrespected your role in the team." I sat up, looking Kaldur directly in the eyes with as much sincerity as I could.

"Not as much as I disrespected your position today. I mean I yelled at you, I let the team essentially tear into you, and all you were trying to do was explain yourself. That's not how I want us to communicate." I said, placing a hand on his chest. "I want us to be able to talk about anything with each other like we've been doing, and for us to share each other's burdens, not just as your girlfriend but as your co-leader. We're partners, with or without the mask. " Aqualad sat up, weaving his fingers between my own. My heart skipped a beat as he placed his forehead on my own, and a hand on my cheek.

"I agree, I give you my word to be honest and open with you from now on." I smiled and kissed his cheek gently.

"And I give you my word that I'll control my temper and to listen to you." Kaldur gave me a smile as he placed a gentle kiss on my lips. We sat there for another 30 minutes talking and holding each other, before he walked me back home to be greeted by a very irritated father. I could tell Kaldur was a little nervous, especially given how intimidating my father was behaving. Thankfully he left me alone to head off to sleep after that, with me having promised to talk to them about everything later.

ANNNNNNND We are back! Hello my fellow humans! After some life ups and downs, I have finally regained my passion for writing! Thanks to all who have stayed with the story, but I am finally ready to finish Rose's story! See you all soon!