M O U N T J U S T I C E
September 23, 06:34 EDT

For almost as long as she could remember, Rhysalin Queen had hated to lie. She didn't know when the concept had first stuck with her, but she knew that it had been even before she had been adopted by Oliver, and before her biological parents died.

It was a bit hypocritical once she thought about it. The girl that hated to lie was currently lying to her friends about whether or not there was a mole, a traitor, within their ranks.

Well, it wasn't like she was intentionally lying to Robin and the others, they had just never conceived the notion that there might be a mole among them, and Silverbird had never told them.

She had wanted to, oh how she'd wanted to, but Kaldur had said it would be better, if there really was a mole, to not tip he or she off by alerting the others.

Reese called bullshit on that.

As such, it wasn't exactly looking like hiding the mole intel from the rest of the team was entirely viable anymore. Red Tornado, their friend, their "den mother", so to speak, had seemed to be the mole.

Reese's lower legs had been burned, badly, by who she could only describe as Tornado's sister, another "Red Android", only this one could control fire.

Her wounds had been treated and bandaged, but the second-degree burns that crisscrossed Reese's calves and ankles would still take a good two to three weeks to fully heal, and it was unlikely Oliver would let her do anything even remotely hero-like during that time.

"Hey," Silverbird blinked her eyes open to find Robin, who was sitting next to her, staring down at her worriedly. "You okay? Your burns aren't hurting again, are they?"

Of course, her burns hurt. How would you feel if, while you were climbing through vents, a robot suddenly shot a stream of red-orange flame right at you, and you were able to feel it burning through your skin?

"Yeah," she whispered softly, and Dick's eyes narrowed. "But, I'll be okay," Two weeks of bed rest if Ollie had anything to say about it, but yeah, she'd be okay.

Robin still looked skeptical, but Reese only reached over, placing her hand over his.

"I'm fine, Boy Wonder," she told him. "Really,"

At that moment, almost as if he had planned it, Green Arrow walked up, setting a bowl of pretzels in between the two birds and making them separate.

Wally, who was sitting across from them, and to Silverbird's shock, just pushed the bowl away from him, rather than eating it all at once.

"Thanks," KF began. "But no thanks,"

"Yeah," Robin agreed. "What we want are answers. About Red Tornado and his siblings,"

"Exactly," Wally retorted, but when Oliver went to take the bowl of pretzels away, the redhead latched his hand onto it. "Leave the bowl,"

As he began to munch on the salty snacks, Reese rolled her eyes. That boy was like a human garbage disposal.

Then, Reese turned her head to the side, where she was able to see Aqualad talking to Batman, and she sighed. She had wanted to tell Bruce about the mole with Kaldur, but Aqualad had said that he wanted to bear this burden alone, saying that Reese needn't feel worse than she already did by lying to her friends.

But, even though she wasn't briefing Batman with Aqualad, it didn't mean that she wasn't able to listen in on them.

"During the Taipei mission with Red Arrow--" Kaldur was saying, which Reese found odd. He didn't even mention her being in Taiwan with him and Roy. "Sportsmaster revealed the possibility of a mole within the Team. In light of last night's attack, Tornado would appear to be the traitor. Though whether he betrayed us willingly, or was preprogrammed to is still--"

"You knew?" Conner's sudden rage-filled shout made Reese whip around in her spot in time to see Superboy slam Aqualad into the cave's wall, holding tightly onto the front of Kaldur's uniform. "That android and his maniac family nearly killed Reese and M'gann!"

"Conner!" M'gann cried as she flew towards him. "What are you doing?"

"Kaldur knew we had a traitor among us and said nothing!" his shout alerted Robin, Kid Flash, and Artemis, and the others stood up from their spots, understandably shocked.

"You knew?" Robin asked.

"And you didn't tell us?" KF added while Silverbird sent a worried glance towards Kaldur. She knew this was going to blow up in their faces when everybody else found out about it. She knew.

Kaldur, to his credit, took the confrontations in stride, not looking away from Conner for a minute as he spoke again.

"I sought to protect the team from--" he began to speak, but this time, Artemis was the one who interrupted the Atlantean.

"From what?" she asked. "Knowledge that might've saved our lives?"

"You two almost died!" Conner exclaimed again, turning to look at Reese and M'gann, the former of whom looked remarkably like a deer trapped in a pair of headlights.

Before she was able to say anything though, Batman cut in. "Enough," Bruce said firmly, narrowing his eyes at Conner and prompting the genomorph to let go of Aqualad's uniform.

As the Team walked towards where Batman, Green Arrow, and Black Canary were standing, Silverbird wrapped her arms around herself, hating that this was the result of her and Kaldur's deception.

"With Red Tornado...missing," Batman began. "The Team will now be overseen by rotating supervisors. Captain Marvel has volunteered to take the first shift,"

Captain Marvel, who was dressed in some sort of red super-suit with a white cape, and a large lightning decal across his chest, walked forward next, looking remarkably giddy.

"I'm really looking forward to hanging with you guys," the man said, and Reese tilted her head to the side as if she were an inquisitive cat who just found a red laser dot moving around on the floor.

She had never interacted with Captain Marvel before, not really, but she obviously knew about him, from what Robin had told her and her own investigating. He seemed alright, all things considering.

But, it seemed the rest of the team didn't share Reese's sentiments, considering they all looked around at each other before Conner once again turned towards Kaldur.

"Once I dismantle Red Tornado," Superboy began. "You and I are gonna--"

"Red Tornado is a member of the Justice League," Batman interrupted Conner's rant, walking forward and cutting off Superboy's confrontation with Aqualad. "That makes him a League responsibility. You will leave him to us,"

As much as Silverbird respected the Dark Knight, and trust me, she did, even though Bruce could use a few lessons in the 'having emotions' category, that didn't mean that sometimes, or most of the time if Reese was being completely honest, she didn't think that Batman was wrong in benching them from looking for Red Tornado.

Not that she'd ever say that to his face, of course.

"I have another assignment for this team," Batman continued, waving a hand and causing a holo-screen to appear behind Green Arrow and Black Canary.

On it, there was a news article from the Gotham Truth Rag, and it showcased a battered and bruised Hamilton Hill, the mayor of Gotham.

" 'Gotham Mayor attacked by Guerrilla Gorilla' ?" Wally asked, reading the headline of the article.

"If he hadn't been poaching," Reese muttered under her breath. "We'd be doing something better with our time," Like finding Red Tornado, for starters. But, Reese didn't say that.

'Was this the only thing he could find to distract us?' Conner asked over the mental link, and despite the fact that this whole situation was kinda her fault, Reese had to agree with him.

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

"I never joke about the mission," Batman responded, and Reese grimaced from where she had been standing beside Artemis. Pissing off the Batman...bad idea, Dick.

Robin, it seemed, thought the same thing, because he backed down, and after a moment, Batman continued his briefing.

"I've checked the sources," Bruce added. "I've studied the pattern. Mayor Hill's encounter is only the latest in a series of incidents. Aqualad, you and your team will depart for India and check this out,"

Kaldur gave a single nod, but as the others began to walk towards the Bioship, Wally shoulder-checked the Atlantean, scowling at him.

"Hmph," the redhead scoffed. "Your team,"

Reese went to follow her friends but was stopped by both Green Arrow and Batman standing in front of her, blocking the twelve-year-old's way.

"Silverbird," Bruce began. "Because of your injuries, it would be best if you stay behind, and let the rest of the team handle this mission,"

"What?" Reese asked, genuinely shocked. Batman was benching her? "Why? I can still walk,"

"It doesn't matter whether or not you can still walk, baby bird," Dinah cut in, walking around. "What matters is that you were severely injured, and can barely walk. Going on a mission where a gorilla could potentially harm, or even kill, all of you is far too dangerous to be taken lightly,"

"I know that," Silverbird grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest. "Doesn't mean I can't still take care of myself,"

Past Bruce, Dinah, and Ollie, Reese saw Dick standing behind them, and the Boy Wonder gave the brunette a look that plainly said 'what's going on?'.

In response, Reese only shook her head at him, before Batman, Black Canary, and Green Arrow exchanged a series of looks.

Surprisingly, Bruce was the one who caved in first.

"Fine," Batman said firmly, and Reese found herself grinning. "But, unless it is an emergency, you will stay on the Bioship, and run everything through Captain Marvel,"

"Deal," Silverbird stuck her hand out to shake on it before she remembered that it was Batman, and he didn't exactly do that.

Her hand dropped back down to her side just as quickly, but if Reese was being honest with herself, she could almost see a smile on the Dark Knight's face. Almost.

Bruce and Oliver stepped aside, but as Reese went to walk between them, Ollie reached out and set a hand on his adoptive daughter's shoulder, stopping her again.

From where he was standing near the entrance to the hangar, Silverbird saw Robin looking a bit peeved, and Reese knew that Dick was getting impatient at what was taking her so long.

Frankly, so was she. As such, Silverbird sighed, closing her eyes for a moment before she opened them again and turned around to face the Emerald Archer.

"Be careful," Green Arrow said softly. "Alright?" Suddenly, Reese felt immensely guilty, for more than one reason. What was she doing? Going off to India so soon after she'd almost died?

But, Silverbird also had to make sure that no one killed Aqualad while on the mission. She didn't think they would, but she also couldn't be too sure. Superboy had been pretty mad earlier.

"Always," she answered Oliver, before walking over and joining Robin at the entrance to the hangar.

"What was that about?" Dick whispered, and Reese sighed.

"He didn't want me coming with," she answered simply. "Because of my burns, I mean. But, I promised to stay on the Bioship and run everything through Captain Marvel, so here I am,"

"He's coming with?" Robin echoed as the two of them, plus Wally, reached the Bioship, just as Captain Marvel landed outside the door.

Reese shrugged, but Captain Marvel gave a smile. "Sure," the man exclaimed. "We'll have a blast,"

As the other hero flew into the martian ship, Silverbird tilted her head to the side. She didn't know what it was, but there was something...off about Captain Marvel. Maybe it was just his overexuberance.

"Translation," Dick began once Marvel had entered the Bioship, glancing over his shoulder at Reese and Wally. "He blames us for Red Fiasco. He doesn't trust us,"

Aqualad, who had just walked up behind the trio, was suddenly met with twin glares from Robin and Kid Flash.

"It's a big club," Wally scoffed, before he and Dick entered the Bioship themselves, leaving Reese standing with Kaldur outside.

The brunette sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. After a moment, a thought ran through Reese's head, and she glanced at Aqualad.

"Earlier," she began. "When you were telling Batman about the mole, why didn't you say I was with you and Red Arrow? I was there, and I know about the mole,"

Kaldur stared at her for a moment before he sighed. "You were right to believe that this would end badly if we were not to tell the team beforehand. I realized as much before I told Batman, and decided that I should be the one to bear this burden. You did not deserve the backlash of an act that I should've seen coming,"

"Kaldur," Reese began, in shock. "While I...admire that, we're in this together. I deserve just as much ridicule for not telling the team about the mole as you do. I wanted to tell them, I should have told them, but I didn't. We're both in the wrong here,"

Aqualad still looked apprehensive, but he eventually sighed, giving a small nod of agreement, before the two of them walked up the ramp to enter the Bioship.

As she sat down in her usual spot in front of Dick, Silverbird noticed Robin's face, looking a bit pissed off. Reese figured that could've been because of how mad he was about Kaldur, but she also had a feeling it might be something else.

She wasn't entirely sure on that aspect though and opted to instead just sit down, ignoring the way that Robin's eyes suddenly, and metaphorically, started to burn holes through the side's of Kaldur's head.

N O R T H E R N I N D I A
September 23, 21:36 IST

Aside from the fact that it took a good fourteen hours to get from Happy Harbor to the northern jungles of the Indian subcontinent, and despite the Bioship's atmosphere being a bit frosty, things were going...okay.

But, Reese knew that she wasn't really one to talk since she was part of the reason the team's interactions over the past several hours had been awkward and deathly silent.

As the Bioship hovered over the jungle floor, Artemis and Robin used their rappelling lines to land on the ground, doing a quick perimeter search to make sure no one was watching them.

"All clear," Robin spoke as Silverbird, Kid Flash, Aqualad, Superboy, and Captain Marvel walked out of the Bioship once M'gann had landed it.

Sure, Reese was supposed to stay on the Bioship, per Batman's orders, but what Bruce didn't know wouldn't hurt him, right?

"Switch to stealth," Kaldur began, tapping his belt buckle and turning his suit black and gray. "And we'll review mission parameters,"

Because her suit was already made to be stealthy, Reese stood still, as Wally, once again, began a rant about something or another.

"Parameters?" KF echoed, though he as well tapped the lightning bolt symbol on his chest, prompting the stealth tech in his own suit to activate. "We don't need no stinkin' parameters,"

"It's recon," Robin added, scowling at Aqualad. "We know what to do,"

Then, before she was able to stop him, Dick had grabbed onto Reese's hand, beginning to drag her after him and Wally as Kaldur stepped forward again.

Frankly, this whole ordeal was beginning to give Reese a headache.

"Kid, Robin," the Atlantean began, only for Dick and Wally to round on him, anger radiating off the two of them in waves.

"Aqualad," Dick began. "The four of us started this team because the Justice League was keeping secrets from us,"

"Or did you forget that?" Wally asked, crossing his arms over his chest. "Like you forgot to tell us about the mole?"

"Okay, enough!" Silverbird shouted, the sheer volume of her voice causing birds to squawk and fly out of nearby trees, while Robin and Kid Flash, the entire team for that matter, plus Captain Marvel, stared at her in shock.

"Pretty bird, what are you doing?" Dick asked, looking a bit shocked, as Reese practically yanked her hand out of his and backed up a bit, standing closer to Aqualad.

"Kaldur's right," the brunette archer said quietly, and Robin's face completely drained of color. "Yes, he made a mistake not telling you about the mole, but so did I,"

"Silverbird--" Aqualad went to say something, presumably to try and stop the brunette from digging herself into her own hole, but Robin cut him off before Kaldur was able to finish.

"So did--You knew?" Dick practically exploded, and for a moment, even Wally was surprised. Not even Kid Flash had seen Robin this angry before.

"Of course, I knew, Robin!" Silverbird exclaimed. "I was there. I was in Taipei with Aqualad and Red Arrow,"

"Why didn't you tell me?" Robin asked, and Reese threw a hand out to the side, gesturing to the general surroundings around them.

"Because I knew something like this might happen!" she yelled back, struggling to keep her voice under control. "I wanted to tell you, but I didn't want to put you in danger,"

"Danger?" Robin echoed, scoffing as he crossed his arms. "Yeah right. Who's the one who almost died yesterday because she thought it wouldn't be a good idea to tell her friends, to tell me what was going on?"

"Robin," Kaldur cut in again, this time walking forward until he stood between the Boy Wonder and Silver Archer. "You cannot blame Silverbird for this. She has said she wanted to tell you. I was the one who convinced her not to,"

"And you--" Next, Dick rounded on Aqualad, pointing his index finger in the Atlantean's face. "Who are you to tell her what to do? You're supposed to be our leader, our friend--"

"Exactly," Reese interrupted, causing both Robin and Kaldur to glance over at her. "Aqualad is our leader. Which is why you have to trust him. Trust that he--we did this for a reason,"

But, Dick only gave her a look that Reese could only interpret as betrayed.

"I don't even trust you right now," he hissed, and that, Reese admitted, was what made her stop.

Sure, she had known this was going to end badly, and she had told Kaldur multiple times over the past couple of weeks that they should tell the rest of the team, but up until now, aside from the obvious, Reese hadn't really thought of the consequences.

With that, Robin stalked off into the jungle, Kid Flash hot on his heels, leaving a stricken Silverbird behind with Aqualad, Captain Marvel, Superboy, Miss Martian, and Artemis.

"Come on," Conner snapped, grabbing onto M'gann's arm. "I'll protect you," But, M'gann ripped her arm from his grasp, and from what Reese was able to tell, the two of them had a mini psychic conversation, before Superboy spoke again. "I--I just wanna protect you,"

"Like Aqualad and Silverbird protected us?" Artemis asked, walking forward until she stood between Superboy and Miss M. "I'm not sure your protection or your patronizing is good for our health,"

As Artemis and M'gann walked a different path from the one Robin and Kid Flash had just taken, Superboy then turned his anger towards Kaldur.

"Why didn't you stop them?" Conner asked. "You're supposed to be in charge!"

"I am--" Aqualad went to apologize, but Superboy just held up a hand, stopping Kaldur's words before the genomorph super-jumped away.

Then, Kaldur, Reese and Captain Marvel really were left alone. Silverbird plopped herself down on an empty fallen tree trunk and put her head in her hands.

She knew this was going to end badly. And now, because of something she did, or rather, hadn't done, Reese had potentially just ruined one of the most important relationships in her life.

Dick was going to hate her, he already did hate her. God, she was such a screw-up. What Gods had she pissed off so much that this was what her life was like now?

As the brunette was having a mini-mental breakdown, Captain Marvel turned towards Aqualad, looking a bit confused.

"Uh, did I miss the part where you actually said what the plan was?"

At Marvel's words, Kaldur realized that no, he had not, at any point after the Bioship had landed in India, actually told the rest of the team what their plan was.

Great.

As she began to follow Aqualad and Captain Marvel through the jungle, Silverbird suddenly heard what sounded like a growl coming from the bushes that were behind the tree trunk she had been sitting on a few seconds before.

But, when Reese spun around to peer through the bushes, she wasn't able to see anything out of the ordinary, so she figured it was probably just some animal.

As such, the fight that she and Robin had just gotten into was still plaguing Silverbird's mind, so when Aqualad finally stopped in a clearing, she almost ran into him.

Captain Marvel crouched down close to the ground and ran his fingers over a group of hurried animal prints, that looked reminiscent of a human's, but obviously weren't.

Gorilla.

"Guess this is where Mayor Hill's...monkey business went down," the other hero spoke, before straightening up again. "So, at least we can prove his story, right?"

But, Kaldur didn't seem to hear Captain Marvel's question, because the Atlantean only walked forward, oblivious.

"Kaldur?" Silverbird spoke up, and her older friend sighed heavily before he turned around.

"My apologies, friends," he answered. "But, I am...plagued by doubts. Silverbird, you were right when saying we should not have withheld--"

Suddenly, there was a loud booming sound, and the entire ground shook for a moment. Reese couldn't help but compare it to the few earthquakes she had experienced in her lifetime, only this was smaller, less strong.

The trees around the three began to rustle and shake as Silverbird slowly drew her bow, knocking an arrow and holding it at the ready.

Reese didn't know what she had been expecting, but it definitely wasn't to see a massive and obviously mutated elephant erupt from the treeline, thundering towards her, Aqualad, and Captain Marvel with only one single goal in mind.

Squishing them.

Quickly, before they were able to get squished, Captain Marvel flew into the air and slammed into the elephant, bringing with it a shockwave that blew everything back a bit.

But, the elephant only used its trunk to pluck Captain Marvel off its forehead and throw him through the trees, cracking tree trunks as he went.

Then, as if that wasn't bad enough, another elephant appeared on the other side of the clearing, effectively cornering Silverbird and Aqualad on either side.

As the elephants began to thunder towards them, Reese and Kaldur split, with Silverbird going left, and Aqualad going right.

But, Reese suddenly felt one of the elephant's trunks slam into her back, throwing her through the bushes and making her land heavily in the same clearing where Captain Marvel had ended up, and Kaldur followed not soon after.

So much for not getting injured again. Silverbird was pretty sure some, if not most, of her ribs were at least cracked.

"Ow," she muttered, rolling over onto her stomach before bracing herself onto her hands and knees. Meanwhile, Captain Marvel flew into the throat of one of the elephants, throwing the creature back, just as the other one swiped him away again.

But, as the elephant's head was tilted up in the air, Silverbird noticed something rather familiar locked around the animal's neck.

An inhibitor collar, like the ones that Amanda Waller and Hugo Strange used at Belle Reve.

These animals weren't rampaging on purpose, or of their own free will. They were being controlled. And, by the way these elephants were mutated, it was likely they were on Kobra Venom as well.

Exchanging a glance with Aqualad, who gave her a single nod, Silverbird shot an arrow towards one of the elephant's inhibitor collar, while Kaldur used his water-bearers as a way to distract the beast.

Once Reese had a good enough grip on the arrow's line, and her boots were digging into the soft jungle dirt, Silverbird turned towards Aqualad.

"Now, Kaldur!" she shouted, and the Atlantean jumped up, yanking the collar off with his water-bearers and making the giant contraption crash to the ground just shy of where Reese was standing, prompting the younger girl to squeak and duck down to avoid any flying debris.

But, as soon as the inhibitor collar was off of its neck, the elephant's eyes seemed to clear, and the creature turned around peacefully and made its way back into the jungle, leaving Aqualad and Silverbird alone, which Reese was immensely grateful for.

"Remove the collar!" Kaldur shouted towards where Captain Marvel was going up against the other Kobra Venom-enhanced pachyderm, and the Justice Leaguer gave a thumbs-up in response before punching the collar itself, making it fall to the ground, where the elephant crushed it beneath its own foot.

As the two elephants walked back into the jungle, Captain Marvel joined Aqualad and Silverbird where the two were standing on a small cliff.

"Pretty sweet," Marvel began. "How you figured out the problem was the collar,"

"But the collars indicate intelligence behind this attack," Kaldur explained, glancing over towards Captain Marvel. "The rest of the team may also be at risk," Then, Aqualad tapped his commlink. "Team, report status,"

But, all he got was static, and a high-pitched screech that prompted Reese to toss her own commlink out, because ow that hurt.

"Talk about a jammed communication," Silverbird muttered, holding her commlink in her hand and rubbing her ear as Aqualad sighed.

"Miss Martian also failed to establish a telepathic link before we split up," Kaldur added, but Captain Marvel shook his head.

"Actually," the other hero clarified. "You let everyone split up before communications were set,"

"He's got a point, Aqualad," Reese said quietly, but Kaldur only began to quietly seethe.

"They would not listen!" he exclaimed, throwing an arm out to the side.

"I guess," Captain Marvel said simply. "But, back in the cave, Batman stopped everyone from arguing with one word,"

"Because Batman--" Kaldur shot back. "--is Batman,"

"Hey," Captain Marvel added quietly. "You don't have to tell me. When I first joined the League, all he did was boss me around, and it's hard not to take it personally. But," Marvel continued. "I never disobeyed an order, and that's probably what kept me alive,"

"Batman takes command," Aqualad thought out loud. "He has to, for the good of the League," Kaldur then turned to Captain Marvel. "Thank you for helping me understand,"

"Hey, Wisdom of Solomon," Captain Marvel tapped one finger against the side of his head. There were a few moments of silence, before Kaldur turned away, holding one side of his head.

"Yes, Miss Martian," he said, and Reese assumed M'gann and contacted Aqualad through a telepathic link. "Report,"

As Kaldur mentally conversed with the Team's resident telepath, Silverbird noticed that Captain Marvel wasn't exactly paying attention either.

"Cool!" the other hero suddenly exclaimed, gaining the attention of Aqualad as well. "A tiger! I'll be right back!" Captain Marvel shouted over his shoulder and was gone before Reese or Kaldur could stop him.

"Marvel, wait!" Silverbird cried, but it was too late, and Reese let out a groan of frustration. Some hero Captain Marvel was, flaking out just like a kid who saw something shiny in a sandbox.

"Hey," Kaldur muttered. "Speed of Mercury,"

Despite it all, and the fact that she and Robin still weren't talking to each other, Reese found herself laughing at the fact that yes, Aqualad did know sarcasm.

"Don't worry," Silverbird wheezed out from in between her giggles. "I'll get him," Then, Reese ran through the bushes in the same direction that Captain Marvel had flown off.

Surprisingly, he and the tiger he was chasing actually weren't that far away, but when Silverbird finally caught up him, she found Captain Marvel and the tiger facing off against one another in some sort of weird stand-off.

The tiger was growling, but Captain Marvel did his best to try and calm the big cat down.

"Hey there, mister," Marvel crooned, holding a hand out as he still hovered above the ground. "Wouldn't you like good ol' Cap to take that nasty collar off you, huh?"

Carefully, Silverbird moved forward with Captain Marvel, closer towards the tiger, while also maintaining a safe enough distance.

Finally, Captain Marvel landed on the ground, just as Reese was able to see sparks arc off the sides of the tiger's inhibitor collar, causing it to growl in pain again.

Then, with a mechanical sounding hiss, four identical pylons appeared in a square around Silverbird and Captain Marvel.

Some sort of gravitational magnetic field appeared between the four small towers, and Reese and Marvel were both dragged to the ground.

No matter how hard she tried, Silverbird wasn't able to pull herself to even a crouching position, because of the strange forcefield.

But, that wasn't the strangest part. Behind the tiger, just past the treeline, Reese saw a gorilla, easily seven feet tall, with a red beret on top of his head and--was that a minigun?

The gorilla pounded on his chest with two fists, roaring in such a way that it made Silverbird's head pound.

Then, everything went black.

➳➳➳

Around the time that Reese, Kaldur, and Captain Marvel had been going up against the Kobra Venom-enhanced elephants, Robin was mentally kicking himself as he moved through the jungle with KId Flash.

He knew that Reese had been acting off for the last couple of weeks, but he just thought it was something to do with Oliver.

It hadn't even crossed Dick's mind that there might be a mole within the team, that Reese might know about it, and that she hadn't told him about it, because why would it?

They told each other everything, except for you know, the little tidbit about him being in love with her, but what Dick wasn't able to wrap his head around was the fact that Kaldur knew about the mole before he did.

Kaldur of all people, knew before he did. Yeah, Aqualad was their leader, and he sorta deserved to know what went on within the team behind the scenes, but seriously?

As far as Robin knew, aside from the Taipei mission, and the missions the team went on as a whole, Silverbird hadn't interacted with the Atlantean all that much.

Even when the team was on missions together, Reese was most often partnered with him rather than with Kaldur.

So, what had happened to make the two of them so close that Reese told Kaldur about the mole before she told Dick?

Like a toddler throwing a tantrum when he didn't get his way, Robin kicked at a stone that was laying in some leaves, and the rock flew up in the air, eventually knocking into the back of Wally's head, who was walking in front of him.

"Ow!" the redhead exclaimed, rubbing the nape of his neck as he spun around to glare at the Boy Wonder. "Dude! What was that for?"

"Sorry," Dick muttered.

"You're not just mad about Aqualad," Kid Flash began, quirking an eyebrow. "Are you?"

"No," Robin huffed angrily, crossing his arms, finally stopping at the edge of a cliff face. "I'm not,"

When Wally didn't move, Dick began to explain, waving his arms around as if they were the rotors of a helicopter.

"I just don't understand why she'd tell Kaldur of all people before telling me. I mean, are they so close now that she just tells him every little thing that happens in her life? And--"

"Woah," Wally interrupted the Boy Wonder's rant by clamping both hands down on Robin's shoulders, and making Dick freeze from where he had begun to pace. "Okay, first of all, you need to calm down. Look," KF continued, holding up his hands in a gesture of surrender. "I'm as mad about the mole thing about you are, but come on, you and Reese are solid. I doubt Aqualad would be able to change that,"

Before Robin was able to say anything in response to that, there was the sound of flapping wings, and avian squawking, before a whole flock of evil-looking vultures descended on Robin and Kid Flash, prompting the boys to run for it.

"I though vultures only ate dead meat?" Dick exclaimed, throwing a birdarang towards the birds.

While Wally easily could've gotten away from the vultures that were currently chasing him, he instead chose to run at the speed of a normal human, just so he and Dick would be able to keep an eye on each other.

"Yeah!" KF called over his shoulder in response to Robin's question. "These are some very pro-active scavengers!" Pro-active in the sense that the vultures weren't even being scavengers right now, but regular birds of prey.

"Pro-active and supersized!" Robin added, ducking down to avoid the reach of one of the vultures' talons. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Kobra Venom?" Wally asked, before nodding. "Yeah,"

Then, the vultures dive-bombed the ground, prompting the two friends to separate from each other.

Dick scurried across fallen tree trunks, dodging left and right the sharp and jagged beak that was connected to the vulture chasing him.

Using the acrobatic skills he had grown up honing, using, and developing, Dick practically flew through the viny tree branches and ended up even tangling the vulture between them.

Finally, once all the enhanced birds were down for the count, Robin and Kid Flash returned to their spot at the cliff, when suddenly, Dick felt something make a sort of 'ding-ing' noise in his utility belt, and the Boy Wonder reached into one of the pockets, pulling out the golden arrowhead that Reese had given him.

For some reason, the small object, which was about two inches long and could fit in the palm of Dick's hand, was glowing a subtle gold and giving off the same 'ding' sound from earlier at regular intervals.

"I hate magic," Wally muttered, but Robin ignored him.

The arrowhead had never done this before, so what did it mean? For some reason, Dick felt a feeling of dread pooling in the pit of his stomach, but before he could say anything about it, Robin heard M'gann's voice inside his head.

'Link established,'

'Should he really still be giving us orders?' Artemis asked, sounding a bit condescending, and Dick in no way blamed her. 'And should you really be following them?'

'Listen,' Kaldur began, sounding, for lack of a better word, freaked out, which should have sent off alarm bells inside Dick's head right away, but the Boy Wonder was too pissed off at the Atlantean right now to care. 'Please,'

'Oh, good,' Wally muttered sarcastically, as Robin continued to study the arrowhead in his hand. 'Aqualad's voice in my head. I've so missed that,'

There weren't any new notes in the arrowhead, Dick had already checked, so it wasn't like this was some sort of ringtone, but the artifact was still glowing, and the 'ding' was getting louder.

"Would you make that thing stop?" Wally asked out loud, and Dick sent his friend a glare.

"Don't you think I'd do that if I knew why it was making noise?" the Boy Wonder retorted, before speaking to the psychic link.

'Hey, Kaldur,' he began. 'KF and I were attacked by giant vultures. Of course, since we're moles you and Reese probably think we attacked ourselves,'

Okay, Dick had to admit, that was a low blow, but up until this point, Reese hadn't said anything. And, in a way, he was surprised she still didn't.

'If they did,' Artemis added instead. 'They wouldn't tell you,'

'Superboy,' M'gann continued. 'Are you online or just pouting?'

'Busy,' Conner answered simply. 'Call back later,'

'What gets me is how nonchalant he and Reese are about not telling us,' Wally continued, and as much as Dick was mad at Kaldur, he was worried about Reese more.

Something was wrong.

Sure, when she got overly emotional Reese sorta curled up in on herself like an armadillo, building up walls to protect herself from the world outside.

But, that didn't mean she never contributed to a conversation. She was still there. She was just...quieter.

This time though, amidst the sounds of the other's arguing with each other over the mental link, Robin couldn't hear Silverbird's voice at all.

'Hey, Rob,' Kid Flash interrupted Dick's thoughts. 'You still with us?'

'What?' Dick asked, before realizing what Wally had asked. 'Oh yeah. Chalant, he should be chalant,'

'Did he and Reese really think you or I could be the mole?' Wally asked though Robin didn't look up from his arrowhead. 'I mean, the four of us have known each other for years,'

'Something's wrong,' Dick suddenly realized, cutting off Wally's rant and quieting everyone else's various arguments.

That is until Wally narrowed his eyes again. 'Well duh,' the speedster answered. 'Our oh-so-strong leader and your pretty bird didn't trust us with the information that one of us is most likely a mole, and--'

'Enough, Wally!' Robin exclaimed suddenly. 'Aqualad, where's Reese?' As mad as he was with Kaldur, Dick was getting fed up with Wally's whining more, so he cut him off, causing the speedster to stare at him in shock.

Over the mental link, the Atlantean sighed. 'It would seem,' Kaldur began. 'That Silverbird and Captain Marvel have been captured. And we must act as a team to rescue them,'

'Under your leadership? KF scoffed. 'I don't think so--' The next thing Wally knew, Robin had grabbed the front of his uniform and the front half of the speedster's body was hanging over the edge of the cliff.

"What'd she ever do to you?" Dick scowled, mask lenses narrowed. "Reese made a mistake, so what? We're not just going to leave her behind,"

"Dude!" Kid Flash cried out again. "Are you planning on murdering me?"

"Right now?" Robin asked as his eyes narrowed even. "I'm thinking about it," Wally's face paled, but frankly, the speedster didn't need to worry about anything.

Dick was lying. He wasn't actually going to kill Wally, he didn't think he'd be able to anyway, but the redhead, despite being one of his best friends, got on the Boy Wonder's nerves more often than not.

'Kaldur's our leader,' Robin said over the mental link again, yanking Kid Flash backward so he was on solid ground. 'After the mission is over, if he wishes to step down, then he can. But right now, he is the one in charge. And all of you could do well to remember that,'

➳➳➳

The first thing that Reese noticed when her eyes blinked open was that she was tied down, or rather, her hands and feet were locked in metal bands like the ones that doctors used at hospitals.

An inhibitor collar was around her neck, and Reese figured that was why nothing was covering her mouth since the collar's main purpose was to inhibit superpowers.

She was, from what she could tell, lying on a metal table parallel to the ground and was inside some kind of building, surrounded by a whole bunch of medical equipment.

Somewhere within the room, she was able to hear growling, and Reese figured it was from the same gorilla that had grabbed her and Captain Marvel earlier, or from the tiger that had gotten the two of them into this mess.

Glancing around, Silverbird saw that the other hero was in much the same predicament as she was, only he had a thinner metal band crossing his forehead, along with several monitors hooked up to him as well.

Then, Reese heard a voice, which also possessed a thick French accent.

"Le brain enhancements on this...tigre already pays dividends, no? For he has brought us two prizes most glorious,"

As many villains as she had faced off against in her three years as Silverbird, Reese could only think of one who had an accent such as this.

That also explained the "intelligence", Aqualad had said earlier, about the one who had been smart enough to use the Kobra Venom on the jungle animals.

The Brain.

"Capitaine Merveille et le petit canari," For a moment, Reese's eyes glowed silver, but not because she didn't already know French, because she did, but her eyes always did that when hearing a foreign language, and her brain instantly translated the words into Captain Marvel and the little canary.

"Why can't we move?" Captain Marvel asked, noticing that Silverbird was in the same predicament he was...sort of.

"It is obvious mais non?" the Brain continued. "Your collars are set to prohibit le mouvement from the neck down. I have allowed the two of you to retain the power of speech as your reactions may be instructive to le procedure,"

"The procedure?" Silverbird echoed, speaking up for the first time since she had regained consciousness. "What procedure?"

"I have often wondered," the Brain began to explain. "The effect of le Capitaine's powers on the cerebral cortex. I long to see the Wisdom of Solomon up close,"

"Wait," Captain Marvel cut in suddenly. "If you're only worried about my powers, why is Silverbird here?"

Though she still wasn't able to actually see The Brain, Reese knew he was there, and her throat ran dry as the villain spoke his next words.

"Dommage collatéral," the Brain said simply. Collateral damage. "Monsieur Mallah, prepare for surgery,"

Mallah, the gorilla with the beret, stepped out of the shadows, now oddly dressed in a surgeon's scrubs, with a surgical mask over his face.

Even though she couldn't, Reese tried her best to move her hands or feet, to try something in order to get free, but it was no use.

Then, almost as if he received some sort of signal from the Brain, Mallah raised a hand from where he was standing at the end of the table and clamped his massive hand down around Silverbird's ankle, squeezing down on the burn on her ankle.

Reese, though she wasn't able to move any part of her body from the neck down, was still able to feel things, and she could sure as hell feel that.

So. she screamed.

➳➳➳

The rest of the Team was running through the forest towards the compound when Robin fell. And, considering the Boy Wonder was an acrobat, that was saying something.

But, whatever his previous profession was before becoming Batman's protege, Dick still did have a good sense of balance, so that was why everyone was surprised when he tumbled to the ground.

"They're hurting her," Robin whispered as Kid Flash skidded to a stop beside him. Dick didn't know what it was, he didn't know how he knew, but he just did.

"She's screaming," Superboy added, and Robin sucked in a strangled breath before he struggled to his feet again and began to run towards the compound.

Or at least, he tried to, but Wally suddenly jumped on his back, making Dick fall to the ground again on his stomach and knocking the wind out of the Boy Wonder with a soft 'oomph'.

"If you go in guns blazing now," Kid Flash hissed from where he was still sitting on Robin's back. "You're gonna get Reese killed,"

"Get off me," Dick huffed, shooting up to his feet so fast and swinging an arm out that Wally needed to lean backward, and ended up landing on his back on the ground before Robin turned around to face him. "Well, what do you think we should do, KF?"

Instead, M'gann, who was currently camouflaged, spoke up through the mental link.

'I'll fly over,' she began, but, as much as he wanted to rescue Reese (and Captain Marvel) as soon as possible, Dick had to admit that he had to play this smart, however much he hated it.

'Negatory,' Kid Flash answered, looking through his infrared goggles. 'The field extends like a dome over the whole compound,'

'Pylons are insulated,' Robin added, after pulling up his holo-computer and looking at the statistics. 'But, one good shock could cause a momentary gap,'

'I see a target,' Artemis spoke up.

'Then be ready to hit it,' Aqualad told her. 'Be ready, all of you.'

Then, Kaldur ran forward into the open, using his eel tattoos to divert the electricity from the compound's forcefield. As such, a small hole appeared in the forcefield, and as soon as Wally gave the signal, Artemis shot her arrow through, the projectile hitting the small button and therefore shutting down the forcefield as a whole.

Aqualad waved his hand, and the Team began to move in, but as Robin stood up from he had been concealed in the bushes, Dick noticed that, on top of the compound, a rhesus monkey with an inhibitor collar around its neck was sitting on an outcropping, watching them.

Before Robin was able to warn the others, the monkey let out a sharp and echoing cry, and even more rhesus monkeys appeared from behind the first one, all wearing inhibitor collars, and all on a set course to attack the Team.

Inside the compound, Reese noticed the security feed of the Team fighting the monkeys, and as much as she wanted to smile, she was in too much pain to attempt it.

Monsieur Mallah hadn't broken her ankle, though he very well could have but, what the gorilla had done was aggravate her burns even more.

Per the Brain's orders, Mallah had unwrapped the bandages protecting Silverbird's left ankle and grabbed the exact spot where the worst of her burns were.

Now, Reese's injuries were exposed to the elements and felt a lot similar to when she, Robin, and Artemis had almost drowned the day before.

Pins and needles, everywhere.

"Go, Mallah," the Brain told the belligerent ape, a robotic arm hovering a scalpel above Captain Marvel's forehead. "Deal with these intruders. I can handle le Capitaine's brain extraction myself,"

With that, Mallah growled, ripping off the surgical mask he was still wearing and heading outside, where Aqualad ripped off one of the collars of a rhesus monkey, turning the creature back into its normal self.

"Remove their collars!" Kaldur shouted over his shoulder, and Robin grumbled from where he was going up against two monkeys.

"Sounds easy when he says it," Dick muttered, still a bit peeved from earlier before both monkeys' collars were suddenly on the ground after Artemis had shot an arrow through them.

Then, returning the favor as he noticed two other rhesus monkeys land behind Artemis, Robin threw two birdarangs towards the blonde, hitting both collars and freeing the monkeys.

Just then, Mallah exited the compound itself but was ultimately overpowered by both Miss Martian and Kid Flash.

As soon as he saw the massive hole in the wall, Dick scrambled to his feet, sprinting across the clearing the compound sat in and skidding to a stop just inside the opening, only to see a pink and blobby brain in a robotic cylindrical body.

The Brain, he realized. Well, that made everything make a lot more sense.

Past the Brain, Robin saw what looked like some sort of pseudo-operating room, where he saw Captain Marvel and Silverbird strapped to metal tables, Reese's left ankle looking very worse for wear.

"It's the Brain!" Wally exclaimed, and Artemis rolled her eyes.

"Uh, I can see it's a brain," the blonde retorted, but the speedster waved a hand around dismissively.

"Not a brain," KF told her. "The Brain,"

"In the flesh," the Brain spoke up, rolling forward as Mallah got to his feet. "Mallah,"

Then, the gorilla held up some sort of device in his massive ape-y fist, pressed a button, and four pylons, much like the ones used to capture Captain Marvel and Silverbird earlier, appeared in front of Robin and the other's, prompting the gravitational forcefield to appear and bring the five of them to the ground.

But, Kaldur had a plan.

'Miss Martian, Superboy,' Aqualad began. 'Now!'

Then, with her telekinesis, M'gann took the remote from Mallah before the gorilla even knew what was going on, and pressed a button, turning off the pylons.

Suddenly, the opposite wall exploded, revealing Superboy on the other side, along with a massive white wolf.

In the ensuing chaos, Robin went with Aqualad to free Reese and Captain Marvel, with Kaldur ripping off the two's inhibitor collars as soon as he was close enough.

"I'm sorry," Reese whispered as Dick helped her off the table, one of Silverbird's arms slung over his shoulder, but Robin quickly shushed her.

"Hey, it's okay," he said softly. "Come on, let's just get you out of here," Then, careful not to let Reese's left foot touch the ground, the two, plus Captain Marvel, Aqualad, and a tiger, turned around, only to find themselves faced with Monsieur Mallah.

Mallah roared, but Superboy and the white wolf confronted him, Conner hitting his fist against his palm.

"Try it," Conner said, sneering. "I hate monkeys,"

Surprisingly, it was the Brain that kept Mallah from attacking Superboy and his new friend.

"No, Mallah," the supervillain said simply, seeming almost despondent. "This will not be our Waterloo," then, panels all over the Brain's robotic body opened up, revealing an elaborate system of some sort of weapon. "Au revoir, mes amis,"

"Get down!" Wally shouted, and everyone crouched down as...the lights went out.

When they came back on, the Brain and Monsieur Mallah were gone, but no one was injured, or at least, in Reese's case, injured worse.

"Wait," KF began. "That big weapon was...a light switch?"

"Whelming," Reese muttered, and despite it all, Dick found himself laughing.

"Yeah," he said softly, just glad that Reese was okay. "Whelming,"

➳➳➳

Eventually, everyone made their way back to the Bioship, and Reese sat herself down on the entrance ramp as Dick quickly went inside to grab some new gauze and afterburn cream.

As she waited for Robin to return, Silverbird glanced up towards the path the Team had just come down to see Wally and Artemis making their way towards the Bioship, and KF was looking remarkably giddy, something Artemis picked up on.

"What are you grinning about?" she asked, and Wally held up Monsieur Mallah's beret, which he had swiped from the now-destroyed compound.

"One word," the speedster said simply, putting the beret on his head. "Souvenir,"

"Two words," Artemis retorted. "Gorilla lice,"

Reese snickered as Wally quickly yanked the beret off his head, holding it away from himself as if it was contaminated with some sort of radioactive waste.

At that moment, Dick returned, the gauze and cream in his hands, and he raised an eyebrow behind his mask, wondering why Reese was laughing so much.

"What's so funny?" the Boy Wonder asked, crouching down in front of the brunette and slowly removing her boot.

"Wally may have lice from an ape now," she answered, before narrowing her eyes thoughtfully. "I could've wrapped my foot myself, you know?"

"I know," Robin said simply. "But...just let me do this, alright?" Reese gave a small nod before she sat back, and carefully, Dick began to wrap up her foot again, applying the afterburn cream as he did so.

Over Dick's shoulder Reese saw Aqualad and Captain Marvel, and the two were removing the inhibitor collars off the rhesus monkeys that had attacked the Team earlier.

After the last monkey was freed, Captain Marvel turned to his tiger friend.

"That's the last of the collars?" he asked, and the tiger growled in what Silverbird could only assume was agreement. "And I can count on you to keep the other animals out of trouble?" the tiger growled again, and Captain Marvel ran his hand over the big cat's head. "Good," the heroes said simply. "I'll be back for a visit. Promise,"

With one last roar of farewell, the tiger bounded away into the trees, and Captain Marvel waved after him.

"I think I'll call him Mister Tawney," Captain Marvel said simply, and Reese tilted her head to the side as Dick finished bandaging her foot, helping the girl stand again. Captain Marvel was an odd little duck, that was for sure.

Aqualad went to walk up the ramp into the Bioship, and as he passed the two of them, Robin sighed.

"Look," the Boy Wonder began sharply. "I need to know. Why'd you two keep the mole intel a secret?"

As the rest of the Team, plus Captain Marvel, and the white wolf, whom Conner was apparently bringing home with him, gathered around, Kaldur and Reese exchanged a glance.

"Sportsmaster," Reese said after a few moments, and a gasp elicited from Artemis. "He was the one who told us,"

"You can't trust him!" Artemis cried out.

"We do not," Aqualad retorted coolly. "It seemed possible, even likely, that he was attempting to divide the Team with false information,"

"And given how this mission went--" Robin began. "He almost succeeded. But, you two had to consider that it might be true,"

"Yes," Kaldur answered simply. "As leader, I did. In which case I did not wish to alert the traitor. And I implored Silverbird to do the same,"

"That's the real reason I didn't tell you," Reese whispered, and Dick sighed again.

"Hate to say it," he began, wincing when Reese elbowed his ribcage. "But, it makes sense,"

"I am still prepared to step down," Kaldur began, and Reese's head snapped up.

"Whoa, wait," she said, waving her free hand around. "Step down?" Reese whipped her head around to stare at Dick and the others. "What did you guys say to him?"

Then, Wally shot his hand up in the air. "Robin dangled me over a cliff!" he exclaimed, and this time, everyone snapped their heads to look at the Boy Wonder, who was glaring at the speedster so hard lasers were practically beaming out of his eyes.

"Wally!" Robin shouted, but KF only shrugged.

"What?" he asked, his face the perfect expression of innocence. "It happened, didn't it?"

Silverbird had officially decided that today had broken her Weird-O-Meter, i.e. the amount of strangeness she could handle in twenty-four hours.

"Okay, now that that's out of the way," Reese began again, before raising her own hand up in the air. "All in favor of keeping Aqualad as leader?"

Everyone raised their hands, even Robin, after Silverbird had elbowed him again. Then, Captain Marvel walked forward.

"Guess it's unanimous," he said simply, setting a hand on Kaldur's shoulder. The two exchanged a handshake, before Captain Marvel began to walk away again, saluting them as he did so. "See you tomorrow,"

"You're not coming back with us?" Kaldur asked, and Captain Marvel shook his head.

"Nah," he answered simply. "Gotta fly," With that, he took off into the air. As the Team began to make their way into the Bioship, with Wally, M'gann, and Conner debating the wolf's new name, Reese turned to Dick.

"You dangled Wally over a cliff?" she asked, and Robin sighed.

"It wasn't that bad," he claimed, his face flushing the same color as the front of his suit, and Reese snickered as she bumped against him. "And plus, I wasn't dangling him. I was holding onto his emblem, it's fine,"

"I'm just messing with you, Boy Wonder," she retorted. "Sometimes you're as stiff as Batman,"

"Please don't ever say that again," Dick sighed, and this time, Reese only smiled. It'd take a while, she knew, but things were finally getting back to normal.

-----

Guess who just got the Young Justice tie-in comics? This girl right here! So, expect some one-shots in BOY WONDER & PRETTY BIRD that are based on those!

Dick's an overreacting, overthinking, and overprotective bean and we love him. We are also stanning the Birdflash bromance in this house. Yes, Robin hung Kid Flash over a cliff, but he's okay, obviously.

I know a lot of you are wondering what I'm going to do with Humanity, which is the episode where Zatanna first comes in, and trust me, I have a plan for that. I actually really like Zatanna, and I did ship Chalant when I was watching the show, so it might be less jealousy, more fluff, especially after all the angst I'm putting Disalyn through right now.

Next Up: Revelation

~Matia~