chapter fourteen.
( two-way street. )

     "Here." Wally, with a haunted look in his eyes, slides a glass of water toward Yue as he takes a seat at the table beside her.

Yue lifts her gaze from the wooden surface, a sad smile tugging at her lips as she meets his gaze. "Thanks," she whispers, then raises the glass to her lips. The cool water against her chapped lips brings only an ounce of relief to her worn body.

Placing the glass back on the table, she raises a hand to rest against her neck. Red Tornado attacked them. Their den-mother, a League hero whom they all trusted, attacked them.

She couldn't stop replaying the events in her mind.

"Oh!" Wally throws her cape over her shoulders, his expression softening slightly as he clips it into place. Just as her smile didn't reach her eyes, neither did his– for the first time since meeting the boy, she doubted there was anything that could cure his foul mood. "I found this near the hangar."

She can't bring herself to speak again, only nodding her head in response before her eyes flick back to the half-full glass of water in her hands. If she closes her eyes long enough, she can still feel herself sinking into those dark depths; it was like she never left the water at all.

Frowning, she chugs down the rest of the water. The burning feeling in her lungs only persists, refusing to leave her alone no matter how hard she willed it.

Green Arrow approaches the table, his gaze unusually soft as he places a bowl of pretzels on the table. Wally lifts his hand from Yue's shoulder to push the bowl away from himself, "Thanks, but no thanks."

"What we want are answers," Dick says from across the table, "About Red Tornado and his siblings."

The League heroes had returned to the Cave just in time to save them all the previous night. The team weren't permitted to go home yet, having spent the entire day in one-on-one interviews with their mentors to recount the events.

"Exactly!" Wally chimes in; Green Arrow reaches to take the bowl, only for him to snatch it from his grasp with a sheepish smile. He shoves a handful into his mouth, then glances toward Yue. "You want some?"

She's silent for a moment, then parts her lips to speak; across the room, Conner's voice beats her to it as he shouts, "You knew?!" The boy charges toward Kaldur, his eyes narrowing at their leader as he grabs a fistful of his shirt and pushes him against the wall. "That android and his maniac family nearly killed M'gann!"

A frown tugs at Yue's lips and she moves to her feet, cautiously keeping her gaze on both Conner and Kaldur as she waits for an explanation. Conner had come far from the boy with anger issues that he was when they met, there had to be a reason for this outburst.

"Conner, what are you doing?" M'gann flies toward the boys, stepping between them and gently guiding the clone away from Kaldur. The rest of the team follows shortly behind her, a mutual confusion shared between every member.

"Kaldur knew we had a traitor among us and said nothing!" Conner reveals angrily.

Dick's gaze flicks to Kaldur, "You knew?"

"And didn't tell us?" Wally crosses his arms over his chest, his frown deepening when Kaldur averts his gaze from the team.

"Kaldur, how could you keep this from us?" Betrayal flickers in Yue's eyes as she stares over at their leader– a boy she considered a friend – in shock. A conflicted feeling settles in her gut as she realises; while she trusted him with her life, he didn't even trust her enough to keep her in the loop.

Kaldur sighs, "I sought to protect the team from-"

"Protect us from what?" Artemis aggressively cuts him off. "Knowledge that might've saved our lives?"

"Enough." Batman orders. He stands off to the side of the team, his masked eyes narrowing down at each of them. The stoic glare is enough to have Conner backing away from Kaldur. "With Red Tornado missing, the team will now be overseen by rotating supervisors." He informs them, then gestures to the man standing at his side, "Captain Marvel has offered to take the first shift."

Captain Marvel takes a step forward, an overwhelmingly bright smile tugging at his lips. Yue couldn't tell if he was genuinely unaware of the tension brewing between the team, or was just like that normally. "I'm really looking forward to hanging with you guys."

Yue crosses her arms and averts her gaze, unable to stare optimism in the face when the weight of their leader's betrayal hangs from her shoulders like dead-weight. Was she that bad of a hero – of a friend – that Kaldur couldn't consider telling her about the traitor?

She almost drowned. She almost died. Would Kaldur change his approach if he had a second chance, or would he still put them all at risk?

Conner's eyes narrow at the boy, "After I dismantle Red Tornado, you and I are gonna-"

"Red Tornado is a member of the Justice League, which makes him a League priority. You will leave him to us." Batman informs the team. He doesn't back down, doesn't shudder or even look away, as five different glares burn into his skin. "I have another assignment for this team."

With a swift click of a button, a screen appears behind the Dark Knight. A familiar newspaper sits in the centre of the screen, Gorilla Trades Bananas for Bullets, the same paper Bruce had been reading early yesterday morning.

The title has Yue rolling her eyes.

"Gotham mayor attacked by gorillas?" Wally reads the subtitle aloud in a sassy tone.

Conner's brows furrow. "Was this the only thing he could find to distract us?" He asks through the mind-link.

"Batman, please." Dick pleads as he takes a step forward. "Tell me you're not sending us on this joke of a wild ape chase."

Their mentor stares down at him. "I never joke about the mission."

"You never joke at all," Yue grumbles under her breath. She averts her gaze away from him when his eyes narrow in her direction.

"I've checked the sources. I've studied the patterns." He explains, "Mayor Hill's encounter is only the latest in a series of incidents." He turns to face the team's leader. "Aqualad, you and your team will depart for India and check this out."

M'gann and Conner are the first to depart for the Bioship, the two teens sharing a silent look with one another. Yue stands frozen in spot, her vision blurring the longer she stares at the holo-screen. When a hand wraps around hers, she fights the urge to pull away– her mind flashes to the Reds, fear coursing through her veins while her mind tells her they're back to finish the job. It's only when her eyes fall onto Wally that her shoulders relax, and her gaze softens.

A small smile graces his face, and his hand softly squeezes her own. "Come on," he whispers. "The team's waiting for us." As he and Yue pass by their leader, he lets out a loud scoff. "Your team." He murmurs, staring directly at Kaldur.

They re-enter the hangar, then slow to a stop on the landing-pad. Yue, with her hand still wrapped around Wally's, is pulled to a stop by the boy as his eyes land on Captain Marvel. The League hero eagerly follows behind the team, a bright grin still on his face.

"You're coming with?" Dick questions with a raised brow.

"Sure," Captain Marvel says, as though the boy in front of him was offering. "We'll have a blast."

Yue's brows furrow beneath her mask as she takes in the man's odd choice of wording while he boards the Bioship. She overlooked his use of "hang-out" but now there was "we'll have a blast", she was beginning to think Captain Marvel only took this gig as an excuse to escape the boring League meetings that came with being a hero on their roster.

"Translation," Dick begins, his eyes narrowing at the Leaguer's back. "He blames us for the Red fiasco. Doesn't trust us."

Kaldur, with the poorest of timing, approaches the trio as soon as Dick stops speaking. Wally glances over at him, then sneers, "It's a big club."

The Bioship arrives in Northern India after a few hours. The weight of Kaldur's betrayal hangs heavily in the air, creating a silence throughout the whole flight over. When they arrive in the predetermined drop-zone, Robin and Artemis are the first to drop down and provide a quick sweep of the site.

"All clear." Robin calls out as he and Artemis regroup with the team. One by one, they each exit the landed Bioship and gather in the clearing below.

"Switch to stealth." Aqualad is the last to exit the Bioship, his red suit bleeding black as he follows his own orders. "And we'll review mission parameters."

Kid Flash, from where he stands beside Flamebird and Robin, crosses his arms over his own stealth suit. "Parameters?" He raises a brow. "We don't need no stinkin' parameters."

Robin nods his head, quick to agree with the speedster. "It's recon. We know what to do."

Having known the boys for as long as she has, Flamebird knows they're just as hurt by Aqualad's actions as she is. Kaldur had proved, with only one secret, that he didn't trust them as much as they thought he did.

It felt like they were repeating the Fourth of July and Cadmus all over again; The League didn't trust them with the secret of the Watchtower back then, now Aqualad didn't trust them enough to inform them of a traitor in their midst.

"Kid, Robin," Aqualad pleads, then takes a small step forward.

Robin's eyes narrowed into a glare. "The four of us started this team because the League was keeping secrets from us!" He snaps.

"Or did you forget that like you forgot to tell us about the mole?" Kid lowers his goggles over his eyes, but not before sending a harsh glare Aqualad's way. When Robin turns to disappear into the forest, Kid Flash slows to turn and face Flamebird. "You coming?"

She stands there with a frown on her face, her eyes flickering from Kid to Aqualad. They could talk about things after the mission, she decides as she turns her back to him; right now, they all just needed to take some time to cool off.

"Yeah," she tells the speedster. "I'm right behind you."

The trio spend the next twenty minutes making space between them and the rest of the team as they trek through the large North Indian forest. Robin leads the group from the front, a permanent smile etched across his lips as he complains, "I can't believe Aqualad withheld information about a mole on our team."

"Right!" Kid agrees. "I mean, we almost died!" His eyes flicker back to Flamebird, "You almost died. How are you not angry about this?"

"Of course I'm angry. We made this team because the League kept one too many secrets from us." She answers with a heavy sigh. "I just don't think a mission is the best place to decide whether Kaldur keeps his role as leader or not."

Kid Flash stares over his shoulder at her, his brows raised; despite the anger and sense of betrayal burning his bones, he didn't think about the aftermath of the mission quite like she had. "Do you want him to? Stay the leader, I mean."

Flamebird finds herself shrugging her shoulders. "Honestly? I'm not sure." She lifts her gaze to meet his. "He was- is a good leader. But after yesterday..."

Robin stops in his tracks, crossing his arms over his chest as he looks between his two friends. "We should vote," he decides. "Just like we did on Santa Prisca."

"As long as the two of you don't start arguing again." She rolls her eyes as she thinks back to the mission on Santa Prisca. Until Aqualad stepped forward, Kid Flash and Robin were sticking to their own agendas without any consideration for the rest of them. She didn't want to go back to that.

"Hey, we didn't-" Kid is cut off by a loud screech echoing through the air. A freakishly large bird swoops down at them and, with razor sharp talons, swipes at the three heroes. Flamebird throws herself to the ground, her eyes widening and her arms covering her head as the three vultures swoop down again.

"I thought vultures only ate dead meat!" Robin shouts as he, Kid and Flamebird rise to their feet and take off running deeper into the forest.

"Yeah! These are some very proactive scavengers," Kid Flash comments, once more ducking to avoid the talons of the birds. Flamebird twists her body around, then throws two explosive birderangs up at the vultures– the explosion blows one vulture out of the night sky, while the other two chase after the teen heroes.

"Proactive and supersized!" Robin observes with a glance over his shoulder. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"

Kid nods his head. "Kobra-Venom?"

"How did Kobra-Venom get all the way out here?" She asks with furrowed brows. "What do Sportsmaster and Kobra gain from experimenting on wild animals?" A feeling of dread settles over her. Their past missions, ever since Cadmus, are starting to connect. Something big is going to happen, she just knows it.

The second of the vultures swoops down and the heroes dodge in opposite directions; Robin runs left, with a vulture hot on his tail, while Flamebird and Kid head to the right. The vulture occasionally drops down to swipe its talons at them.

"This thing just isn't getting bored of us!" Flamebird shouts. "Aren't they supposed to get tired of chasing?!"

The vulture dives down, flying between the duo. "Split up!" Kid Flash calls out to her as he's forced further to the left by the large vulture. With a nod from Flamebird, they both take off running away from each other.

Dry leaves crunch under the weight of her boots with every step she takes further into the forest, the bird above her head continues to screech aggressively. The vulture is still in pursuit, seemingly focused on her rather than the speedster that left.

With a few more steps, Flamebird spins around on her heel and throws another birderang up at the vulture. Somehow learning from the mistakes of the others, it dodges the small explosive weapon and begins its descent.

While she drops to the ground and braces her arms out in front of herself, Kid Flash circles back around to her location. At a speed faster than the normal eye can see, he dashes up the side of a tree and barrels toward the vulture, knocking it from the sky.

Flamebird lowers her arms, her eyes widening as she watches Kid use the vines to safely lower himself back to the ground. He runs toward her with a bright grin on his face, then stretches his hand down in her direction. Her eyes flicker from his hand to his face. "You came back," she whispers, almost in disbelief.

"I'll always come running back to you," he says softly once she takes his hand.

Standing up with his help, she finds herself thankful for the moonlight that hides her pink cheeks from his gaze. "That was- that was cheesy even for you," she murmurs playfully, then awkwardly clears her throat. "We should go find Rob. He might need our help..."

When she drops his hand and turns away, she's oblivious to the way his smile falls.

They regroup with Robin only minutes later, then together, head toward a small nearby cliff overlooking the forest below. The Boy Wonder sits at the edge, his binoculars held tightly in his hands as he looks around for any sign of other animals changed by the effects of Kobra-Venom.

Flamebird stands behind the two boys, pinching the bridge of her nose as she feels her mind begin to splinter. "Link established." Miss Martian's voice fills her head, along with the confusion of her other teammates.

"Should he really be giving us orders?" She can hear Artemis question the Martian. "And should you really be following them?"

"Listen, please," Aqualad pleads.

"Uh," Flamebird speaks up, then rolls her eyes, "We kinda have bigger problems than you being upset we didn't stick to a plan."

"Aqualad's voice in my head..." Kid Flash thinks with a harshness she had never heard from him before. "I've so missed that."

"Hey, Kaldur!" Robin's brows pinch together in frustration. "KF, Flamebird and I were attacked by giant vultures. 'Course, since you think we're moles, you probably think we attacked ourselves."

Artemis scoffs, "If he did, he wouldn't tell you."

"No, 'cause he'll just go behind your back and tell your mentor instead." Flamebird comments angrily, crossing her arms over her chest as she leans against the tree behind her. Batman already had so little trust in them– he didn't want them on this team at first, then barely gave them missions or chances to prove themselves.

Aqualad, whether he intended to or not, gave him all the proof he needed that this team just wasn't meant to be.

"Superboy." Miss Martian calls out to the silent clone. "Are you online or just pouting?"

"Busy." Superboy grumbles. "Call back later."

Kid Flash's eyes flicker between Robin and Flamebird. "What gets me is how nonchalant he is about not telling us."

"He should be chalant," Robin agrees with a nod of his head. "Way chalant. Extremely chalant."

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

M'gann sighs, "Or if Superboy doesn't trust us to take care of ourselves?"

"Did he really think you or I could have been the mole?" Kid Flash frowns as he meets Robin's gaze. " Did he think Birdy could? "

"We've been friends for years!" Flamebird chimes in with a heavy sigh. She had met Kaldur around the same time she met Wally, he was like a big brother to her. He taught her about Atlantean culture, he listened whenever she needed to complain about Dick or vent about her feelings for Wally, he said she was a good person– a true hero.

Her heart drops to her stomach as she thinks. He didn't trust her, he never trusted her. She was a bad hero. It was the only explanation. He kept the information secret because he thought she was a bad hero.

She was never going to be The Batman. She couldn't even keep her team from falling apart.

"Trust is a two-way street, and you know they'd hate it if we kept secrets from them!" Robin's voice slices through her own thoughts. Her gaze flicks up off the ground and over to the boy.

"Not that we'd do that!" Artemis is quick to reply.

Followed by Miss Martian, "Never."

"Enough." Aqualad orders firmly. His tone silences any other voice in the mind-link, while Flamebird and Kid share a look of confusion; neither could remember the last time they had heard Aqualad use that tone. "Captain Marvel has been captured and we must act as a team to save him."

"Under your leadership?" Kid Flash scoffs, "I don't think-"

"This is not up for debate." Aqualad cuts him off. "You all chose me to lead. When the mission is over, if you wish to select a new leader, I will happily step down. But until that time, I am in command here."

Under Aqualad's command, the team meets in the tree-line outside a small, well-hidden, factory. There was no doubt about it, this was where the Kobra-Venom enhanced animals were coming from– and where Captain Marvel was taken.

Flamebird lowers the binoculars she used to observe the building and its forcefield, then glances at Kid Flash, who pulls his goggles down over his face for a better look.

"I'll fly over." Miss Martian suggests, though as she takes a step forward, Kid's hand shoots out to grab her wrist.

"Negatory." He tells her as he lifts his goggles. "The field extends like a dome over the whole compound."

"Pylons are insulated but one good shock could cause a momentary gap." Robin informs the team. Artemis peeks out of the long-grass, then reaches for one of the arrows in her quiver.

"I see a target." She states as she pulls back the string of her bow.

"Then be ready to hit it." Aqualad orders. "Be ready, all of you." Running out of the tree-line, he dashes straight for the pylons. The markings on his arms glow brightly as he presses his hands against the dome; electricity flows from the markings into the forcefield as he rips a hole through the dome.

"Now!" Kid shouts through the mind-link. Artemis closes one eye as she aims her bow, then releases the arrow. It flies straight through the hole in the dome and strikes the pylons control-panel, switching off the compound's protective barrier.

Flamebird steps out from her hiding spot and runs toward the fallen barrier, only to stop in her tracks as her dark eyes fall onto a shadowy figure atop the building. "Is that a–?"

The monkey howls loudly into the night, then, as more of them surround the team, leaps off the building and onto Flamebird. Its teeth dig into the kevlar of her suit, almost tearing straight through the material. Miss Martian telekinetically throws the monkey away from her teammate. "Vultures weren't enough, now we have to fight monkeys?!" Flamebird shouts, her eyes flickering from the monkey to the teeth-marks in her suit.

Raising her leg, she delivers a kick to the next monkey that lunges at her from the ground. She turns around, then quickly pulls a taser from her utility-belt; she fires it at the monkey in front of her, preventing it from leaping onto Artemis' back.

"Remove their collars!" Aqualad shouts to the team. He tears the metal collar off the monkey in his hand, crushing it in his strong grip before the monkey scurries back into the forest.

Robin scoffs, pinned beneath two monkeys. "Sounds easy when he says it."

A gust of wind brushes past Flamebird, and she watches Kid come to a stop at her side. He plucks the collar off the monkey clinging to her arm, "Yoink!" He exclaims before running forward again.

"Watch out!" She throws a birderang in the speedsters direction. He steps to the side and the small weapon digs into the metal collar of the monkey behind him, breaking the collar in half.

The doors of the compound slide open and a Gorilla in a red beret steps outside with a large machine gun in its paws. Flamebird, still holding onto one of the monkeys, freezes where she stands. "Oh you have got to be kidding me," she murmurs under her breath, unable to tear her gaze away from the confusing sight.

She had seen the unexplainable in Gotham; a monster of clay, an immortal man revived by a pit of green in the ground, a killer crocodile-man that swims in the sewers. Somehow, a Gorilla in a beret confused her more than the rest.

The Gorilla reaches behind it to grab something out of the air, Miss Martian is quick to reveal herself as the Gorilla tosses her into the dirt and aims its machine gun at her. Kid Flash's eyes widen as he charges forward. "Get your stinking paws off her you damn dirty ape!" He shouts, then lunges at the beast. The Gorilla puffs out its chest, sending the boy bouncing backward.

"Miss M, get out of there!" Flamebird calls out as she throws her birderangs at the Gorilla. Each weapon creates an explosion, and together, they're strong enough to blast the Gorilla back through the wall of the compound.

The team stalks forward, entering the building through the hole created by the Gorilla. The dust settles and reveals Captain Marvel, tied and bound to a surgical table in the centre of the room. Kid Flash's eyes scan over the room, and he gasps, "It's The Brain!"

Flamebird's lips part in surprise. She heard stories about the super-genius and criminal mastermind from Kid countless times, but for some reason she never expected a literal brain to be the culprit. Though, in hindsight, it made the beret-wearing Gorilla less crazy.

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

Kid Flash waves his hand dismissively. "Not a brain, The Brain!" He corrects the archer.

"In the flesh." The Brain rolls forward in his machine. "So to speak." It turns toward the Gorilla, "Mallah." The Gorilla taps a button and four identical pylons rise from the ground to surround the team. One by one, the heroes fall.

"Superboy, Miss Martian." Aqualad calls out through the mind-link. "Now."

Miss Martian's eyes glow as she reaches her hand out, telekinetically stealing the controls from the Gorilla and switching off the pylons that keep the heroes pinned to the ground. Superboy, who had been absent from the battle outside, breaks through the wall behind them with his new companion– a large white wolf – and knocks Mallah forward.

As the six heroes rise to their feet, Kid Flash speeds forward into the Gorilla. The impact causes the Gorilla to tumble, before Robin swings in and kicks it in the face; Miss Martian follows behind, lifting the Gorilla from the floor and slamming it back against the tiles beneath their feet.

The Gorilla scrambles back to its feet, then with the machine gun it had hurried to pick up, begins to fire in Miss Martian's direction. While the Martian dodges the attack, Superboy lunges forward to wrestle the weapon from its hand.

Flamebird stands behind the ape, aiming her birderangs at the Gorilla's backpacks. The two small bird-shaped weapons slice through the material holding the ammo-filled backpack up, causing it to fall onto the ground alongside the gun.

The heroes rush to surround The Brain and its Gorilla partner. The beast roars ferociously as it looks around at the teens, only for The Brain to spin around and face it. "No, Mallah," The Brain tells it. "This will not be our Waterloo."

The Brain's machine opens outward, and Kid Flash's eyes widen behind his goggles. "Get down!" He shouts. Flamebird can feel his body collide against hers as the lights switch off, filling the room with a sudden darkness. By the time they flicker on again, the speedster scrambles off her with a sheepish look. "Wait," he says as he looks around the room. "That big weapon thing was a light switch?"

Flamebird sighs as she pushes herself back to her feet. "This mission keeps on getting weirder, I swear."

The walk back to the bio-ship was silent. The tension from the cave had only returned full-force without a mission to distract them from Kaldur's betrayal. She comes to a stop a few feet from the bioship, her eyes staring up at the sky above.

A small smile tugs at her lips as she reaches out to grab Wally's hand, carefully pulling the boy to a stop as he glances at her with furrowed brows. "What is it?"

"It's sunrise." Her left hand, the one not holding Wally's, points up at the sky. It was dark when they arrived in the jungle, now the sky was full of pink and orange hues as the sun rose in the distance.

Wally's emerald eyes flicker from the sky, back to her, as a grin tugs at his lips. "It's beautiful," he murmurs, gently squeezing her hand as he watches her. His cheeks heat up when she meets his gaze, silence washing over the two of them as they stare at each other with softened looks.

"Oh!" Yue's eyes light up as she remembers something; Wally is quick to let go of her hand, his cheeks burning in embarrassment from being caught staring. It's only when she turns back to him with a red beret in her hands that he allows himself to relax. "That gorilla left this behind. Souvenir?"

"Souvenir." His grin brightens as he takes the beret and places it atop his head. "How do I look? Cool, right?"

"Totally," she laughs. Her heart still aches in her chest, the thought of being a bad hero weighing heavily on her shoulders; but when she stares over at Wally, she can feel her worries begin to disappear for just a moment; Kaldur may not think she's a good hero but she can feel it in her bones that Wally does.

His opinion was the only one that mattered to her.

"Dude." Artemis crosses her arms, a teasing grin tugging at her lips as she glances at Wally. "Gorilla lice." Those two words are all Wally needs to hear to quickly knock the beret off his head, running his hand through his hair in fear Artemis was right.

Dick and Kaldur stand in front of the bioship, while the former faces out toward the team, the latter has his back turned to them. "Look, I need to know," Dick starts. "Why did you keep the mole intel a secret?"

Kaldur's eyes flicker from the boy back to the team as they move to surround him, then he sighs. "The source of the tip was Sportsmaster," he informs them, now that they're ready to listen.

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

"I do not." Kaldur answers with a shake of his head. "It seemed possible, even likely, that he was attempting to divide the team with false information."

"And given how this mission went, he nearly succeeded." Dick pinches the bridge of his nose, before he glances at their leader, "But you had to consider it might be true."

"Yes." He states. "As a leader, I did. In which case, I did not wish to alert the traitor."

Dick sighs. "Hate to say it, but... makes sense."

"I am still prepared to step down." Kaldur turns to face the rest of the team.

"All in favour of keeping Aqualad as leader?" Wally asks, then raises his hand, causing the rest of the team to follow his actions.

Yue had known it back on Santa Prisca, and though she had let her anger and doubt cloud her judgement, she knows it now too. Kaldur is a good leader, a better hero than the rest of them.

They were right to choose him to lead.