Avoiding Past And Future

(106) 1A Insecurity-Intermediate

December 6th

"My apologies for the short notice, Batman." Kaldur started with an apology, but it carried very little meaning to the Dark Knight. Given how their mission went, it felt only right to hold a private debrief with the hero. The team didn't take the information Roy revealed all too great, so he had asked the man to attend as well. If it was for the sole reason he wouldn't need to confront Batman alone, the Atlantean would never admit.

Batman remained silent, body language fully hidden under the heavy draped cape. What little they could feel from the man was enough to know he was already rather unamused. He had given the authority over the mission to Green Arrow for a reason, that being so he could spend more time with his boys. Now the archer in question was absent due to a severe conflict of interest and he was called away from his boys and their planned family movie night.

Oh the joys of being one of the few capable heroes on standby at all hours of the day.

Still, he knew Kaldur despised having to call upon the hero if it wasn't something a simple written report could handle. With Roy still hanging around after just finishing their first mission with him as an official team member, well, Batman knew better than to expect things to have gone smoothly. He knew Roy had ulterior motives for finally joining the team, motives he did not bother to conceal in the slightest.

"I take it the mission did not go as hoped?" Red Tornado questioned the two young heroes. His presence was requested as well, but not by Batman. As the resident den mother, however, there wasn't much to oppose his attendance.

Kaldur sighed, gaze falling to the corner of the room. "It...did not."

"What he means is that we are no further in finding the mole than we were before this." Roy sighed, arms crossing over his chest as he glared at Batman. "Artemis gloriously failed her test, and this time you can't blame it on a lack of impartialism. Kid and Kal both saw her mess with the trackers and lead them on a wild goose chase so she could solo the rogues." Bold words didn't go ignored as the red head dared a momentary glaring match with Batman.

"Perhaps," Red Tornado broke the bubbling tension, "but are we certain this test measured her likelihood of being a traitor, or simply her wish to keep her family relations a secret?" The android counted a bit too smoothly for Roy's liking. "From your own investigation, neither did Miss Martian and the Superboy, yet you do not push their suspicion as much as Artemis. Do they remain a suspect as well, or do you plan on reinvestigating them now that you joined the team?"

A valid question to ask, certainly one Roy didn't seem too entertained about. "They're not off the chopping block yet." The archer huffed, much to Kaldur's disappointment. This whole thing with Roy was starting to just be a recipe for disaster. One he had hoped would be shelved when his old friend joined the team, voluntarily submitting to Kaldur as leader despite their age and seniority gap.

Of course, this couldn't be a discussion about the ever so elusive mole without Roy throwing a whole gas station's worth of gasoline onto the fire. "I already have my hands full enough with Robin and Phantom since nobody else bothered to." And just like that, the room felt like it was personally trying to choke out Kaldur as he questioned where Roy found the audacity to accuse Batman's own children to the hero's face.

"They are not up for discussion in this topic, Arrow." The Gothamite warned, tone dropping a few octaves as his glare felt like it was giving off a mild heat ray with how it was making Kaldur sweat even though it was not directed at him.

"And why is that?" Unfortunately, Oliver's parenting style truly was shining through his eldest. "Just because you vouch for them?" One would think the logical answer was yes, but logic had vacated the room about 5 minutes prior. "How is that supposed to mean anything when the League already openly investigated this and failed to find a resolving answer?"