-Based on a request by Equine_Legande675 -

-TW: Kaldur nearly has a panic attack-

"Careful, man, you're getting grey hairs." Wally teased. It was an ongoing joke at that point; the implication being that Kaldur's white-blond hair must have been the result of the pressure he had to deal with. "What's with the jacket, it's like a million degrees?"

"I felt like wearing it." Kaldur continued his fast, clumsy typing.

"Alright-- hey, I'm gonna go catch up with Robin and Artemis. Want anything from the gas station?" Kaldur shook his head. "Alright, seeya."

Kaldur had stress hives again.

It wasn't uncommon for him to get rashes from various allergies to surface flora and fauna alike, but this was different; it would disappear occasionally, only to flare up every couple months with a vengeance with no physical trigger. At first he wouldn't notice it, he was very busy these days, and his skin tone would hide most of the redness. Then, as if overnight, a rash of violent red bumps would have spread up the backs of his arms, sometimes even up his chest and neck.

He didn't want to worry the team with it. He enough things to do today. He was writing an appeal to the justice league regarding the possibility of upping the team's private property damage fund. They'd had to use all of their monthly budget to pay for some property they'd accidentally destroyed, and now M'gann and Conner didn't have grocery money. If he couldn't get them more funding his friends would have nothing to eat for the rest of the months. 

There was a bang as a door nearby slammed. Kaldur shot up out of his seat. His heart stuttered, beating so fast he could hear the blood rushing in his ears. He panted silently, trying to calm himself. Still, he was now alert and had frozen on instinct. He tried to sit down, eyes still locked on the corridor.

Conner stormed into view, M'gann behind him. "It was an accident, he said so himself."

"He hit me with a car!"

Kaldur watched the two of them, steadily standing back up again. 

"but it's not like he meant to!" M'gann caught sight of her team leader. "Hi, Kaldur."

Kaldur clutched his forehead. "Who hit who with a car?"

"This guy at the intersection ran a red and hit Conner." M'gann replied. "But it was an accident, that's what he said."

"You got--" Kaldur glanced his friend up and down, assessing the damage. "Did anybody see you?"

"Uh, yeah, a couple kids from school and some of the other cars."

"They tried to call the police and ambulances, so we left." Conner said, he seemed fine other than some road burn rips that skidded up the side of his shirt. "I'm okay, his car wasn't so much."

Kaldur sat down, reeling. How on earth were they going to play this off-- there'd been witnesses-- and heavens know that Conner wasn't a good enough actor to fake an injury at school. His heart was rising to dangerous speeds again, and for a second he actually worried he was going into cardiac arrest, though he later realized this was a silly and overconcerned assumption.

"Are you okay, Kaldur?" M'gann asked cautiously. "You look all pale."

Kaldur fought to nod, hoping it looked convincing. He knew he wasn't convincing them, and he felt guilty seeing the expression of worry on his friend's face. How could he lead the team when he couldn't even keep his own problems out of the picture long enough to solve a basic conflict.

"I'm alright." He panted.

"You look sick," Conner said. "Are you sick again?"

Kaldur began rocking back and forth to sooth himself, but quickly stopped. He'd been trained out of fidgeting when he was very young, he didn't want to get in the way. "I'm not sick." He said, now almost lightheaded. Right now his friends were staring at him, and he couldn't help feeling like a prey animal locked between two sets of jaws. 

That's ridiculous, he told himself, they're my friends. Still, he couldn't quite calm himself.

"Do you need a cup of water?" M'gann asked.

"No." Kaldur closed his eyes. "No, please, just give me a moment alone." 

The other two stepped back, surprised by his tone. The fled the room, Kaldur listening as their footsteps pattered away. 

Kaldur sighed, sinking his head into his hands, shame writhing and fermenting in his stomach. The computer's monitor had turned off by now, he reached over, blindly hitting the keyboard to revive it. With another sigh heaved, he looked up at the screen. All that pleading and justifying would be pointless if the league found out Conner survived a car crash; it might have happened in off hours, but Kaldur knew it was his fault. He was supposed to prevent these things.

"He said to leave him alone." Conner's voice echoed down the hall. He never did understand volume control.

"I know, but..." There was a knock on the door frame. He didn't need to turn to know who it was, and frankly, it felt safer to keep his eyes on the computer right now. "Kaldur?" M'gann called softly. "We brought you something to drink."

He finally looked over to see M'gann cautiously approaching with a full cup of water in one hand, and something orange in the other. The thought that he had scared them entrenched Kaldur in even more shame. "I'm sorry." He forced out. "I'm just... I'm sorry."

"We brought some of my emergency pills." Conner said. "Do you need them?"

Kaldur began shaking his head, but hesitated. "Actually... just one please."

M'gann shook one of the tiny blue pills into his palm. "We'll be in the living room," she promised, "but we'll leave you alone now."

About a quarter of an hour later, Kaldur staggered into the living room, half-awake. "Are these pills supposed to be so strong?"

"You'll find out when they prescribe you some."

He flopped onto the couch between his friends. "Where are the others?"

"Still walking back from the corner store." M'gann replied. "How are you feeling?"

"Tired." Kaldur said, which was an understatement. He leaned back in the sofa. "About earlier..."

"Yeah?"

He sighed heavily. "I'm sorry I snapped at you," he said. "I wasn't angry, I was just... I was just overwhelmed." He admitted. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry." M'gann said, she could feel the jittery aura which even know came off her friend. "It wasn't your fault."

"Still, I must do better."

"You're doing enough, Kaldur." They insisted. "Here, sit and watch TV for a bit, then you can go back to whatever you were doing with a clear head."

Dick and Wally were laughing when they noticed how quiet the place felt.

"What is it?" Artemis asked.

Dick crept towards the couple heads poking out above the couch back. Leaning between the sofa and the (still blaring) TV, he saw Conner and Kaldur , leaning against each other, M'gann lying across their laps. All three seemed to be dead asleep.