O11. "Do you think your anger is genetic or environmental?"
[sO1e13 , alpha male]
Ella isn't sure where things went wrong.
With all of her training, she should've been able to see Red Tornado's traitorous trajectory from miles away. Instead, everything descended into chaos. All because she failed to see what was right in front of her.
Tornado being an android is no exception, she should've been prepared. Maybe if she was, her teammates wouldn't have nearly died. She wouldn't have nearly been fried to bits. Maybe Mara wouldn't be in the corner arguing with her mother.
She wonders what her mother would've done. Talia al Ghul. Always one step ahead.
Green Arrow places a bowl of pretzels on the table, snapping Ella from her thoughts. She stares at the food, her stomach churning in disgust. Pure sodium and carbs. Plus, she can't just burn off the fat and calories like Mara can. Unlike the demigoddess, she actually has to work for her strength.
"Thanks, but no thanks," Wally sulks.
Robin hops to his feet. "Yeah, what we want are answers about Red Tornado and his siblings!" he demands.
"Exactly!"
"I doubt they know anything," Ella chimes in, accidentally sounding more malicious than she meant to.
"She's right," Arrow sighs. "As of now, we're just as clueless as the rest of you but we're working on it."
Shushes fall upon the young heroes once again. Ella's attention shifts to her mentor and foster father as he talks to Aqualad. The conversation appears to be pretty serious and Ella wants to take a closer look when Superboy apparently gets the same idea.
The clone rushes forward, red filling the tips of his ears. "You knew?!" he roars, his palm against Kaldur's chest refraining any movement. "That android and his maniac family nearly killed M'gann!"
By now, the others have started to gather around. Ella runs and grabs Conner's arm but he angrily shoves her away like she's only a fly buzzing in his ear. That's when Mara flies forward and rips him away. Unfortunately, he can't fight her strength as she shoves him away with a confused look.
"Conner, what are you doing?" M'gann gasps, soaring over and stopping in front of the clone. He looks over her shoulder and glares at their leader.
"Kaldur knew we had a traitor among us and said nothing!"
Oh, Ella thinks, sighing in relief. Is that all?
The others don't agree with her mindset as they come closer with looks of malice and betrayal. They start to tear him apart with their words as he can only stand there and take it, probably feeling extremely guilty.
Ella doesn't say anything. She watches everyone closely. Something is out of order. Someone.
The daughter of Ares says nothing. Her behavior may not seem odd to the others but it catches Ella's attention. Out of all people, she thought that Mara would be the most upset considering anger runs in her bloodline, but all she does is stand there while fiddling with her gloves.
She almost seems nervous, like she's also hiding something.
Although Ella wants to get to the bottom of Mara's worry, she knows that there are currently bigger matters at hand. She has to prioritize.
"Enough." Batman's sharp tone pierces the room. "With Red Tornado missing, the Team will now be overseen by rotating supervisors. Captain Marvel has volunteered to take the first shift."
Shazam steps forward with his hands on his hips. He looks proud. "I'm really looking forward to hanging with you guys."
"In the meantime, the League will handle Red Tornado. I have another mission for this team."
Ella scoffs. Of course she's aware that Shazam is secretly a ten-year-old whose powers were gifted to him by a wizard. Her mentor is Batman, her mother is Talia al Ghul and her grandfather is Ra's al Ghul. Of course she knows. Yet that's not what bothers her.
Batman notices her displacement and narrows his eyes at her. "Do you have a problem with this?"
At first, Ella was planning on remaining silent, but she can't possibly ignore the Batglare. She has to refrain from rolling her eyes. "We don't need a babysitter, Batman," she says, glaring at him with equal malice. "Tornado screwed us over which means we should be the ones going after him."
Superboy nods in agreement.
"Red Tornado is a League member which means he is the League's responsibility," Batman retaliates.
"He almost killed us," Ella growls. "Where I was raised, that calls for retaliation."
Batman stares at her. His eyes turn to slits. "If you refuse to listen to me, then you can go back to them."
His words echo through the room.
No one says anything, so Ella's jaw clenches tightly as she has to fight back any retorts. She's too angry to even listen to what the mission is even about. Nonetheless, she remains levelheaded and manages to make it onto the Bio-Ship without starting another argument.
.
.
.
"Switch to stealth and we'll review mission parameters," Aqualad commands. Since Ella's Batgirl gear is already equipped for stealth, she doesn't have to do anything. Same as Mara with her black suit with red and blue accents. She still has yet to say anything, which Ella takes note of.
"Parameters?" Kid Flash scoffs, his bright yellow and red colors swapping for a much darker gray. "We don't need no stinkin' parameters."
He's very obviously still upset about Aqualad withholding the mole information. Robin, too, as he steps forward with a scowl. "It's recon, we know what to do!" he barks.
"Kid, Robin―"
"The three of us started this team because the Justice League was keeping secrets from us!" Robin barks.
"Or did you forget about that like you forgot to tell us about the mole?" Kid Flash remarks.
Aqualad's eyes turn to slits but he doesn't say anything.
Robin turns to Wonder Girl. "Come on. Let's get out of here."
Mara winces but nonetheless follows their lead as they disappear through a thicket of bushes and trees.
Miss Martian has a falling out with Superboy and he pounces off into the sky. Green Lantern goes after him and Miss Martian and Artemis also go their separate ways.
Aqualad stares at the last remaining teammate, almost like he's expecting her to also storm off. Instead, she crosses her arms and gestures to a dirt path up ahead. "Come on, let's get going. No use staying here."
As they continue on, Ella grows so engrossed in listening to the chirp of the birds and the swaying of the wind that she almost forgets that Aqualad is still following behind her. "Batgirl . . ." he murmurs. She shares a brief glance with him but doesn't stop walking. "Since you still remain, I must ask―how do you feel about this?"
"The mole?" Ella asks, an eyebrow raised as she uses her katana to slice through thick vines. "I get it. You did what you had to do."
She swears she hears Kaldur sigh in relief.
"I mean, imagine the consequences if say, there is a mole on the Team? They'd use our weaknesses against us. Probably fry you and M'gann to death while you sleep."
Sadly, Aqualad nods. "If only the others could be as understanding as you are. I did what I did to protect them."
Ella gives a lopsided grin. "They'll come around. Don't you remember being that age? Just constantly wanting to shift blame and be mad at the universe?"
"I'm afraid I was not granted the privilege," Aqualad says, his eyes narrowed. "My studies down in Atlantis were very important to me. I could not slip up, not falter."
Ella's lips press into a thin line. "I get it. I never had the luxury to act my age. I see the same happening with Mara." She shakes her head, smiling. "I've never seen her happier than when she's with the Team. It makes everything I've had to endure worth it."
Aqualad grins. "I am sure that she is grateful for you, but you also must continue your own fight. How are things with you?"
"Hm?"
"It cannot be easy―being completely cut off from your family. Evil or not, I could not imagine."
Suddenly, Ella's mouth dries and it feels like her throat is closing. She leans down in the mud and stares down at imaginary footprints hoping that Aqualad will catch the hint and leave her alone.
Does she miss her mother, faults and all? Of course she does. Despite having different stances, it's not so easy to just move on from her own flesh and blood.
No words are required for Aqualad to know the answer. He crouches down besides Ella. "Have you considered talking to Mara about it? Your situations are rather similar."
Ella shakes her head, coming to an abrupt stand and dusting her hands off. "No, she's got enough going on."
"Hm," Aqualad murmurs. "Batman, perhaps?"
"Yeah, right," Ella scoffs. "Have you met the dude? He lives in a cave. Plus, you heard what he said earlier."
"I am sure he did not mean it," Aqualad says. She doesn't believe him but says nothing as he places a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "And he is rather understanding of Mara's upbringing."
Ella grins slightly. "Yeah, he is . . ."
.
.
.
"Hey, wait up!"
"Go away!" Superboy purposefully releases a branch and it goes smacking backwards towards the Green Lantern. Frustrated, she spits out some leaves but nonetheless follows on the clone's heel. She lands in front of him with an annoyed glare.
"What's it gonna take for you to listen to me? Do I have to break out in song? Cause I totally will."
Conner's eyes angrily scan Bennie. His lip twists into a scowl as he storms past her. "Just leave me alone."
Still, Bennie flies after him, green illuminating the dark nooks and crevices. "Do you think your anger is genetic or environmental?"
Conner finally stops. "What?"
Bennie floats circles around him in a criss-cross stance. "I mean, Superman's like this cool and level-headed dude and you're, well . . . the opposite. You also only have half of his powers. You're kinda . . . undercooked."
Superboy huffs and crosses his arms. "What's your point? Who cares why I am the way that I am?"
The Lantern hangs upside down in the air, a string of green spiderwebs holding her up. "Well, I do. The Team does. M'gann does. And you should, too," she says with a shrug.
"Whatever," Conner grumbles, his fists tightly clenched.
Bennie sucks in her cheeks and watches as the Kryptonian saunters off. "Alright, enough," she exhales. "I can only tread on thin water for so long. I'm not Jesus."
She extends her ring finger and a bubble of energy folds around her and Conner, trapping them together. The clone angrily punches the forcefield. It ripples but doesn't crumble.
"No use, Krypto-clone," Bennie says. "My willpower is stronger than your anger." She forms a large claw and uses it to make Conner turn and face her. "Alright, spill the beans. You're obviously not mad about the whole mole thing, so what is it?"
Conner's lips press into a thin line.
Faking a yawn, Bennie forms a bed and plops down on it. "Fine. Wake me up when you've changed your mind."
The Lantern tucks her hands behind her head. After another exaggerated yawn, she shuts her eyes. Conner stares at her and then looks back to the forcefield. He sighs and his fists slowly unclench.
"It's M'gann . . ." he murmurs, leaning against the bubble with crossed arms and a pout. "She doesn't understand that I only want to protect her."
Bennie peeks open an eye. "Are you trying to protect her or are you trying to control her?"
Silence.
Bennie sits up. "Can I tell you a secret?"
"You're gonna tell me anyway."
Bennie boops Conner's nose with a grin. "Correctomundo! One brownie point for you!" she exclaims, doing jazz hands. The clone smacks her hand away with a scowl to which she ignores.
"My first mission as Green Lantern didn't go so well. Long story short, I broke a lot of bones. My dad was furious. I'd never seen him like that before. At some point, he became so desperate that he gave me an ultimatum―the ring or he ships me away to some random boarding school." She chuckles, flicking her wrist. "He didn't mean it and I knew that, but we clashed a lot after that. Point is, he was fighting so hard to protect me that it only ended up hurting me."
Conner's eyes sadly downcast. Bennie pats his back. "It's alright, Krypto-clone. You're still only a couple months old so you have that as an excuse."
Superboy shoves her hand off with an eye roll but a small chuckle rolls past his lips. "You're so annoying."
"I'm gonna take that as a compliment."
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.
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When the mission is all said and done, the young heroes gather around the Bio-Ship. Wally keeps asking Bennie to check for lice in his hair after he put on Guerilla Gorilla's beret and Artemis teased him for it. When the laughter dies down, Robin focuses his attention on Aqualad.
"Look, I need to know; why did you keep the mole intel a secret?"
Everyone gathers around, curious to what he'll say. After explaining that he got a tip from Sportsmaster and had to act as a leader, Robin admits to it making sense.
"I am still prepared to step down."
"What?!" Bennie gasps, her eyeballs nearly popping from her sockets. "No way, sushi!"
Ella rolls her eyes at Bennie and smiles at Kaldur. "No one can lead this team as well as you can."
"All in favor of keeping Aqualad as leader?" Wally asks. Luckily, the decision is unanimous as hands go flying in the air.
Noticing an odd one out, Aqualad's gaze lands on the demigoddess. She stares off into the distance, barely even intertwined into the group conversation. "Mara?"
Immediately, her gaze broadens. She puts two thumbs in the air with a sheepish grin.
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