Roy sees Zatanna and Megan out of the corner of his eye, as he strolls with Danette through the fair grounds. The two younger girls succeeding at their attempt to get Dick and Wally to compete at the games.
The frustration he started the day with is still brewing just under the surface.
Why didn't she put the tracker in Glenn's bag?
The reports of this place having Intergang activity was more than enough for an observation mission to be called. But Roy's annoyance with his team continues to grow.
"You're still upset." Danette stops in the middle of the dirt road and tilts her head to one side.
"Of course I am!" His nostrils flare with each word. "We have no idea what the Shadows are sending Glenn after and Artemis refuses to do her job."
Doesn't help that Dick has given up on fixing the ship. All we got out of it is a bunch of shiny toys that we can't even use.
"She's not the only one uncomfortable with spying on a friend," The gynoid disguised so well she thinks herself a human retorts. Thankfully with no judgment in her voice, just the cold facts.
Nodding at the woman, Roy knows she's right. "Promise not to tell the others?"
"You are team leader. I would not betray your trust like that." Her response is immediate and that just reminds Roy of another one of his frustrations."
His growled response comes almost as fast as her own. "I thought I was finally being taken seriously by the League. But you and Captain Marvel are still babysitting us."
It's not that he blames the woman sixty years out of her own time.
It's just hard to overlook who is really in charge.
"You do know why the League raised the minimum age, don't you?" Danette frowns at the only person her own 'age' among Young Justice. "It's so the world governments don't cause trouble for us."
"I know that intellectually..." Sighs the archer as he spots Kaldur keeping watch from a nearby roof.
"But you still feel like your efforts are thought of as lesser?" Understanding fills her face. "That is one thing I am still adjusting to. Not being forced into the role of secretary like I was with the Justice Society and actually being your left hand woman."
Now confused, Roy has no problem letting Danette know that fact. "Don't you mean Captain Marvel?"
"William is only ten. He needs your guidance as much as anyone in Young Justice." Firebrand leads him past a smirking Raquelle and Artemis who refuses to make eye contact. "You are the one we all look to and that is why the League wants you to remain in your role. They think you are doing such an excellent job, it would be nearly impossible to replace you at this time."
"Really?" The anger stops churning for the first time today and he looks at her with hope filled eyes.
She feels a strange sensation in her chest, but none og her system diagnostics come back with anything amiss. "I'm still learning what it means to be a human now that I know the truth. Adapting to the changes that feel so sudden, would not have been so easy without you and Greta living at the Silo."
"Oh..." Trailing off awkwardly, it seems like Roy understands more about the situation.
After telling him that he's supposed to be answering these kinds of questions, Danette feels no shame in asking her first one. "Why does my face get warmer when you smile? And does that have anything to do with my mouth stops producing enough saliva."
Roy is saved from answering, when Kaldur hisses through the mental link. <Plastique is here and heading towards the fun house. She has six friends with her, all armed.>
<Remember this is just observation. We aren't starting a fight with this many civilians around.> After sighing with relief, Roy fills in the his partner. "Kaldur spotted her, let's move."
They get on the ferris wheel and tip the operator enough to leave them at the top longer than normal. Danette spots the second group first and points them out, getting a grateful nod from Roy.
<Looks like the supplier is here. Greta and M'gann, you're up.>
Greta may not be able to 'hear' the psychic link, but she can follow the now camouflaged Martian into the house of mirrors. The mental image M'gann sends through the link, is all Kaldur needs to identify the man.
<That's Black Manta.> The Atlantean teen is just as confused about why he's so far from the sea though. <Why is he meeting with Plastique, here?>
<Something about keeping up the deception and arming the freaks,> Answers M'gann as she floats nearly invisible to the human eye. <Overthrowing a king and getting revenge for his stolen son I think. Or maybe he's the one who was stolen as a child.>
<Have they mentioned any names?> Intent on stopping on of his people's greatest foes, Kaldur'ahm is desperate for more information. <A target of any kind?>
She doesn't answer right away, very careful to only observe the surface thoughts on display. <The sharks are going to do the work for them. I'm not sure what that means though.>
<I do.> Kaldur shares his own memory of one of the shark-men of the Antarctic sea. <Tensions between our territory has been growing more stained as the temperatures of the waters rise. Food shortages are becoming an ever more common grievance with the decline of their krill population.>
<Blow up enough important places and make it look like it was an attack from the capital...> Wally's mind fills in the rest faster than even his mental words could have. The idea of a city seeking revenge and the oceans turning red enters the minds of his teammates.
<I must warn my people!> Kaldur's panic is well earned and no one begrudges him for it.
Deciding it's time to stop being petty, Artemis thinks something that finally settles Roy's nerves. <Just because I wasn't going to tag one of my friends for you, doesn't mean I feel the same way about my sister. I know she needs to be watched.>
