Aqualad (Young Justice) x reader | Princess of Vlatava

(y/n) POV

"Miss Martian, I need a telepathic link-up with the entire team, now," Aqualad said.

"Link established," Miss Martian responded.

"Okay, that's a little weird," I muttered, hearing her voice in my head.

"You will get used to it," Aqualad said. "I promise. Right now, we need to find Captain Marvel. He should have returned by now."

I nodded and followed after him.

"Should you really still be giving us orders?" Artemis questioned as we walked. "And should you really be following them?"

"Listen, please," Aqualad tried to say.

"Oh, good," Kid Flash said. "Aqualad's voice in my head. I've so missed that."

"Hey, Kaldur," Robin called. "KF and I were attacked by giant vultures. 'Course, since we're moles, you probably think we attacked ourselves."

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

"Superboy, are you online or just pouting?" Miss Martian asked.

"Busy," he replied. "Call back later."

As the conversation continued, Aqualad and I stepped into a small clearing. I stared when I saw giant metal pillars positioned in a circle.

"What gets me is how nonchalant he is about not telling us," KF said.

"He should be chalant," Robin replied. "Way chalant. Extremely chalant."

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

"Aqualad, look," I said, kneeling on the ground. He walked over to me and looked over my shoulder. "Tracks. Looks like Captain Marvel was dragged away."

"Or if Conner doesn't trust us to take care of ourselves?"

"Did he really think you or I could have been the mole?"

"We've known each other for years!"

"Trust is a two-way street.

"And you know they'd hate it if we kept secrets from them."

"Not that we'd do that."

"Never."

"Enough," Aqualad finally said. He suddenly ripped one of the metal energy pillars out of the ground. "Captain Marvel has been captured, and we must act as a team to save him."

"Under your leadership?" Kid Flash scoffed. "I don't think-"

"This is not up for debate," Aqualad stated in a stern tone. "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 then, I am in command here."

He threw down the energy pillar and looked at me. I smiled at him.

"Well handled," I commented.

He nodded ever so slightly before we began to follow the tracks. After a little while, Aqualad glanced at me.

"(h/n), I have a question to ask you," he said. I nodded, silently telling him to continue. "Your wings. I noticed you had them earlier during the fight, but now they are gone. There is no trace of them."

"I am able to retract my wings whenever I need to. It allows me to appear to normal. Though, when I do have to use my wings, my clothes tend to suffer." I turned slightly so he could see the tears in my back. "Luckily, I have a lot of uniforms, so it's never really a problem." I paused for a moment before looking at my new leader. "By the way, I don't blame you for keeping the mole thing a secret."

"You were not even there," he countered. "That is understandable."

"But the fact that your team does not understand why you kept it a secret is not. They should trust you, and trust that you had a good reason. I might not know all the facts, but I trust you had a very good reason for doing what you did."

Aqualad smiled slightly at me.

"I appreciate that, (h/n)," he said.

"(y/n). My real name is (y/n). If we're going to be on the same team, I think I should have some trust in my leader."

The Atlantean's smile grew more at my words and he nodded to me.