Disclaimer: Last I checked, DC owned young justice. Let me check my records again... *looks* nope! still don't own it myself. But if by chance I am right, I'm so rubbing it in! Written 12-5-11

FYI: I came up with this long ago! The, 'who's the mole' answer. I did it by a process of elimination and if I was writing a story and wanted to really jerk people's chains hard. This is all aftermath stuff. Robin kinda explains my logic. Read to know.

Get Back Up

The room could only be seen as misery. Not a soul within was whole. The lights were at their minimal level partly because they didn't want to see each other, and partly to hide their own thoughts on their faces. They knew what their conditions were. After all, they saw it happen to each other just last week.

Two weeks ago they were a team. A family. Friends. Just two weeks. The week that followed gave them no hint of what was to come. They had a mission at the end of that week, and during that mission their lives changed forever.

There was a mole. A very clever one. One who played a long game with each of them. The mole played its part perfectly for years. And that was what made the betrayal so painful.

Looking around anyone could see the mole's handy work.

During their last fight, Wally's knee was nearly blasted off. He had several other cuts and bruises, plus internal bleeding, but the knee had been the real blow. During the fight he had to go faster than ever before, and somehow that triggered a rapid healing factor in his powers. He had to have an immediate knee replacement without anything to dull the pain. His metabolism wouldn't let them take affect. Out of all of them, he was the closest to recovered. He quietly smoldered on the couch.

M'gann suffered from lacerations from their betrayer's weapons. The cuts weren't healing quickly, but that was expected since she only had Earth medicine to work with. The real blow for her was to her heart. She trusted this person so much with her life, and she was the first to go down. Quietly, depressed and not feeling up for anything, she worked on autopilot making a meal for everyone.

Conner's arm was in a cast, his eyes down towards the floor. He was the strongest of them, supposedly invulnerable, but somehow even without kryptonite the mole was able to take him down. Remnants of bruises and cuts from their foe's weapons were scattered on his body, but he ignored them all. Being the boy of steel, he should have been able to defeat this person, but all the good times played in his mind while they fought. He could hardly throw a punch at him.

Artemis busied her self best she could in her chair, despite all her wounds. Her shoulder was tightly wrapped to keep it back in place. Her favored wrist and ankle were also strapped tight. She was lucky in a way. These minor wounds helped her only get a black eye and have her knocked out. Still, everything smarted and she bitterly worked on her arrows, hoping to use them soon.

Last they knew, Robin was still in a coma. Batman took him away as soon as he was stabilized. He was the first leaguer on the scene too. The look of pure horror on his face when he arrived to save them was one they'd never forget. The usually stoic man ran to his beaten bird's side with a speed making anyone jealous. From what they could tell back then and what Black Canary told them when they woke up the following day, Robin was in the worse condition. Concussion, three broken ribs, internal injuries all throughout his body, his collarbone cracked, several joints out of place, and the same lacerations the rest of the team received.

Robin just wouldn't stop fighting Kaldur until he couldn't fight anymore.

Kaldur, their leader, Aqualad, their friend. Their traitor.

Robin called in the league the minute Kaldur turned on them. His brief message was cut off of course, but Robin calling for help was the same as declaring war on a small country. No one could really believe it, and that was why they were beaten so badly. Somehow Robin recovered first from the shock, maybe he had guessed what could happen before and was more prepared. Or maybe something had already happened like this to him. They might never know. While they were trying to both fight and deal emotionally with the betrayal, the team dropped like flies.

Robin held his own for a long time. Longer than any of the others at least. His agility, fighting style and weapons gave him enough of an edge to actually wound Kaldur too. Their former friend now would have a series of scars across his chest, plus a bad acid burn down one arm and leg. But none of that hindered him from nearly killing Robin.

They still weren't sure what saved them all. The league hadn't made it there yet and there was no ride arriving for Kaldur. The vague hope of him still thinking of them as his friends seemed laughable right then. They only remember how he tossed Robin to the side, then coldly looked down on them all. "Quit his life of yours young heroes. Or the next time we meet, you won't be so lucky."

Thinking now, they figured a little more out. The reason they were only lightly hurt in comparison to Robin was because he was a hero through and through. He always thought of them first, and did everything he could, even sacrificing himself, just to keep them all safe. Recent drills and coaching proved he was learning how to be a good leader too. He was still a kid compared to them, but he was maturing fast. He would never change sides and would never stand on the sidelines. That's who he was.

But the rest of them…

Artemis hid her option to join the bad guys easily, mostly because she wanted nothing more to do with her dad. Conner left Cadmus to make his own life, to choose his own path, but the path he could easily have taken was to be a weapon for them, whomever they were. M'gann could have stayed on Mars or just mingled among humans easily enough, she didn't have to follow her uncle's footsteps. Wally's family would have been fine with him just living a normal life, and his uncle would fully support him retiring. They weren't Robin. They could all leave at any time.

Yet there they were, hiding in the cave some of them called home, trying to think of what to do now, what happened, and what was really real those past eight months. The missions, their dangers, their hopes, their lives, their friendships. What was real? What was faked? What was scripted for them? Was Kaldur ever their friend?

"I still can't get why he did it all."

The group looked at Wally as he spoke, starting at the ground. "Why did he pretend to be our friend? Why work so hard for something so good and great, then throw it away to hurt everyone and everything you ever cared for? It doesn't make sense."

"Maybe," M'gann started, a vain hope in her voice, "maybe it was an act! Maybe something's being held over his head and he's trying to save us!"

"Get back to reality M'gann." Artemis cleaned an arrow, glaring at every speck of dust on it as if it were Kaldur's face. "If he really was trying to protect us, why did he nearly kill Robin? Why did he try to kill us?"

"He had to make it look real." M'gann was still trying to gain hope from nothing. "There were cameras around, or a psychic, or—"

"Would you grow up?" The blond jumped to her feet infuriated. "There isn't another option! He betrayed us! Tried to kill us! He'd probably kill his own mother if she was with us! You heard him! He said to quit or he'd kill us all next time!"

"But Kaldur—" M'gann started, but Conner cut her off numbly

"He was going to kill Robin right then and there. There was no mercy in his eyes." Everyone flinched, knowing it was true. "Robin was his only real threat compared to us. He might already be—"

"He'll pull through," Wally interjected, snapping his face around. "If there's anything I know about Robin, it's that he's a stubborn survivor. We will see him again. It'll be a bit but we will see him."

Everyone fell silent again. There were two elephants in the room: Kaldur's betrayal and Robin's condition. Neither were easy to bring up.

Then M'gann brought in a third one. "Then, what about us? What's going to happen to us? To the team?"

They looked at each other again. Was it even team anymore? They practically lost two members, their leader and the second in command. Could they even trust each other? Artemis kept secrets, Conner was a liability due to his creation (they found a sleeper program in his head about a month back), and M'gann held back information from time to time. The only one left to lead them, if they stayed a team, was Wally, and he hardly could meet that challenge. He couldn't even rally their spirits, especially since his were so far down.

"I don't know," he admitted slowly. "What are we going to do?"

"We get back up and try again."

Everyone jerked their heads around to the voice as he turned on the light. There in the doorway, the only one in uniform, stood Robin, a determined smirk on his face. He stood his ground, but had one hand on the doorframe for extra support. They could see the bandages bulging under his uniform and all the bruises from the week before. Frankly, he looked like he could topple over at any moment but would never let that happen.

"ROBIN!"

Everyone leapt to their feet to greet him, but he held out a hand, wincing slightly. "Still not 100% guys, so hold off on the hugs for now. A seat would be nice though."

"What happened?" "What are you doing here?" "Is Batman with you?" "When did you wake up?" Everyone's questions at the same time made Robin wince again as he tried to get to the couch to sit in his favorite place.

"One at a time guys, and not so loud. Still have a concussion." He managed to sit down and the others quickly followed suit, Conner on the coffee table, Artemis in her chair, and Wally and M'gann on either side of Robin, ready to support him. He leaned back in his seat and gave a heavy sigh. Coming there to them wore him out.

"To answer your questions, I kinda snuck out of the cave to check on you guys, make sure everyone else was okay. Batman said you were, but I had to be sure. They say after I woke up, he took off to help the rest of the league save Atlantis. Kaldur didn't just betray us you know. He betrayed his king, his country, and his friends there.

"In a way it was a good thing we didn't become full league members that day, eh Wally? If we had," Robin gave his best friend a knowing smirk, "then the whole league would probably be in danger too, putting everyone on Earth on alert. We're gonna have to talk to Roy about this later. Surprised he's not here."

"But what are you doing here? You're still—" M'gann's concern brought a smile to Robin's lips.

"I'm good enough to move around a little, and I swore to them I'd take it easy. Benched for at least a month. No field work for me. Just really," the concern on his face took away from his smile, "I had to make sure everyone was okay. The way he took you all down was…"

They lapsed into silence, Robin controlling his breathing more than anything. He tried again. "I've already lost a lot of people in my life. I don't want to lose anyone else. We're a team, friends, family. We… we can't just fall apart because of him. Because one of us is taken down. Because of one mission. We've been hurt badly, but we can take the dis out of this. We just need to get back up."

Artemis slightly huffed to the side, trying to conceal the pain on her face. "Easy for you to say. This is your life. This was most of ours first time with a team or partnership. How can we even hope to win now? He took us all down so quickly, I just can't see us—"

"Every time we fall, we have to pick ourselves back up and keep going. Never let our fears and pasts take control of our hopes and futures." Robin looked straight into her eyes as he spoke, emphasizing every word. "That's what my dad would say."

"Your dad's Batman," Conner started. "Of course he'd say something like—"

"Batman's not my dad." They all stared at him in disbelief. This whole time they were certain they were father and son. It was in the way they acted around each other and the stories he told. Robin always had a special way of speaking when Batman was there or involved. How could they not be related?

"But we're kinda like that, I guess." Robin stared at his feet, bighting back something. "My parents died a long time ago. Batman took me in and I found the bat-cave on my own. I became Robin on my own. Batman made me his partner so I wouldn't get killed. It wasn't easy, but it was worth it. Still is."

Everyone stared at Robin, trying to grasp what he told them best they could. Robin never shared his origin story with them. Even now it was vague, but it was enough.

He stopped for a moment to let his story sink in. "There's a lot you don't know about me, but that's because you never asked. We didn't ask Kaldur about his past, just how he met Aquaman. Maybe a little about his powers. But that was all. Everything else was kept secret. Batman says we all have the right to a secret identity, mostly because he doesn't want to be a hypocrite about not sharing his with most the league. The only reason I wear this mask now is to keep his secret, our secret, so no one will be hurt because of it."

He looked up to them all, no emotion on his face. "We all keep secrets, some to protect others, and others because we're scared for ourselves. Some of them will hurt us, while others will guard each other. Other than mine and Batman's identities, my life's an open book. Ask anything. I'll tell you everything I can."

"Why are you saying this?" M'gann started, slightly confused and a little scared.

"Yeah, what are you aiming at?" Wally was only baffled. Why the heart to heart?

"We need to trust each other, with anything." Robin looked at Wally squarely. "Once Batman gives the 'OK', I'm ripping off this mask. I hate not telling the truth to you guys. As a team, we have to trust each other completely. As friends, we really don't want to keep secrets like this."

"But Kaldur—" M'gann started but Robin cut her off.

"No matter what casual conversation we had, he never talked about his childhood, about his family or about his personal life in general. We only knew his life as Aqualad. Who in the end really was Kaldur?"

"He had a girlfriend," M'gann started once more, "and a best friend. He went to a school with them for a while."

"And before that?" Robin pressed, trying to make his point. "What about his family? His likes, dislikes? His habits? How he got certain scars, why he used certain techniques? Why is he black when all the other Atlantians I've seen are white or look more like fish?"

They looked around to each other, realizing they didn't know a think about Kaldur. Really, who was he? Why did they make him their leader?

Well the answer to that was obvious. He was the oldest and seemingly most level headed. They were a young team, they needed someone like that. So they picked him. And it seemed at every other turn, Kaldur would either say he should resign or would rein them under his leadership. He was a hard person to pin down.

"All I'm saying," Robin continued, getting his breathing under control again, "is we can't keep dangerous secrets from each other. At the worst possible time they're going to come spilling out, so we need to—"

"My dad's Sportsmaster." "I'm a white martian!"

The boys jerked and stared at the two girls, both petrified at what they spewed out at the same time. Robin visibly winced but no one said a thing more. Wally stared at Artemis bewildered while Conner blinked in wonder at M'gann. The girls looked at each other, both knowing they were going to need to explain their stories, but neither knew who should go first.

"Wait, Sportsmaster?" Wally ended up choosing by asking first.

Artemis took in a deep breath. "Yeah. He's my dad. Green Arrow isn't my uncle. No relation, at all."

"And you're… with us…" The speedster still didn't quite get it.

"After what he did to my mom, me, our whole family, of course I am!" Anger started to take control of her face as she explained. "Dad wanted a family of assassins, the best. Since I was a kid he made me learn to fight, to steal, even tried to make me kill. Every time I did something he didn't like, he…"

She bit back the pain of her memories, took a breath and continued. "I picked up the bow after hearing dad complain about Green Arrow. I guess it was my idea of rebelling, but he taught me how to shoot anyway. Then he…" she took another breath. "My first kill was supposed to be you Robin."

Robin blinked, unconsciously backing into his seat as she continued.

"Dad had me track you when you were alone, then told me to shoot an arrow like GA's. It was supposed to be the perfect frame up, turn two prominent members of the league against each other. I couldn't do it. I wouldn't."

She bit back her horror of what happened. "He didn't like that. I ended up shooting his leg and running off. I ran to Star City and found Green Arrow, told him everything. I begged for help. And he did. Sportsmaster's identity is in the league database and I was freed from him.

"Green Arrow even found my mom." Artemis looked at the ground, remembering that day. "Dad… he did something to her. Tricked her in a way. I thought she was in jail the whole time and I stayed with Dad waiting for her to return. She wasn't. He had her taken away somewhere. He crippled her. We're living together in Gotham now, one of our old apartments."

She took another breath before continuing. "After everything Green Arrow did for me, I wanted to repay him somehow. I wanted to do something for the league. They gave me my life back, now I wanted to repay them. That's what I was doing when you guys were fighting AMAZO last summer. Right after that, Green Arrow asked me if I wanted to become one of the team. I thought of it as a way to repay them, to get back at my dad, and… to make up for all the bad things my family's done."

No one said a word. Robin had guessed only a fraction of the truth, but the rest floored them. No wonder Batman and GA had taken so much consideration with the girl. Robin owed his life to her. M'gann and Conner didn't know what to think, and it was very evident on their faces. Wally merely gaped at her. Sportsmaster was the JSA's problem most of the time, but they fought him once. Their first real mission.

"Your dad is Sportsmaster?"

Artemis took in a deep breath before answering him. "Yeah. And Cheshire's my older sister."

"YOUR SISTER?" Wally was nearly on his feet and Robin had jerked forward again. He winced and gripped his head before talking anymore. "So that night with the nano-bots—"

"I was scared!" Artemis's pleading face was all she could do to defend her actions. "It was my first mission and if she told you anything—"

"I get it. I get it." Robin continued to grip his head. It was beginning to pound.

"Well I don't! You really let her get away!" Wally jerked violently looking at her and then to the rest of the team. "That lady tried to kill us!"

"Wally, if at the beginning you knew any of this, would you have given Artemis a chance?" Robin looked over to his friend, exhaustion creeping back into his face. Wally stopped a moment, then realized the truth. "Exactly. We'd think she was just like them instead of like us. How many times has she saved our hides?"

"More than I can count," Conner started, and M'gann nodded in support.

Wally gave a bitter pout then sat back down. "You still let her go."

"I'm sorry," Artemis started. "Next time I won't."

"And next time she won't have anything to threaten you with either." Robin gave a short encouraging smile, then looked at M'gann. "Now what was that about being a white martian?"

M'gann gulped. She was still afraid to tell them, so she decided to show them. Slowly her skin turned white, revealing her true form as she tried to explain. "On Mars, there're two kinds of Martians, Green and White. The greens are most common and dominate the social structure. Whites though…" Pain crossed M'gann's face as she continued slowly. "We're pretty much second class citizens. We aren't slaves, but we may as well be. There have been so many wars…"

It was getting hard for her to talk, so everyone just looked at her. She looked like the M'gann they all knew and loved, just white instead of green. Chalk white. A little creepy but not if they knew she was an alien to begin with.

"So you're white. What of it?" Robin gave a 'so what' attitude to prove it didn't matter on Earth. "You're still you. And to keep up that illusion for so long, you're really talented."

"Amazingly talented," Conner added, still watching M'gann.

"Are you still J'onn's niece?" Wally took a quick glance at Artemis, still not sure where to go with her revelations.

M'gann looked away, not wanting to say it. Instead she changed back to her green color. "I wish I were. I wish I were a green, naturally."

Robin kept his hand on his head, choosing not to say anything about white Marians. He heard J'onn talking to Batman about them before, years ago. M'gann wasn't anything like them, at least nothing like what he heard about them. She was far too nice.

"Well if you want to be technical," Robin imputed instead, "everyone on Earth's related somehow. So let's say 'niece', 'nephew' and 'cousin' are all codes for 'we may as well be family, because I think of you that way'. I mean, Wally and Flash aren't blood relatives right?"

Wally laughed a little. "Yeah. He married my aunt. Still thought he was cool. And you said Batman's practically your dad."

"Pretty close. Artemis' dad sucks, so she decided to get herself a cool 'uncle'. And life sucked on Mars so you got a great 'uncle' and moved to Earth. That's what I'm getting, right?" Both Artemis and M'gann looked at the older heroes and gave appreciative smiles.

"Pretty much it."

"Exactly."

The boys grinned at each other, then they all looked at silent Conner. He gave them all a bewildered look. "Don't look at me. I can't have any secrets. I've been with you guys ever since I left Cadmus. And you found that sleeper program in me a while ago."

"And that's easily suppressed until we can get it removed," Wally confirmed. "And I'm an open book. Ask me anything."

Robin gave Conner a knowing look, smirking slightly. "Oh? And what about that secret of yours you've had since Bel Reve?"

He looked over to M'gann and instantly the two of them blushed. Artemis rolled her eyes. She already came to grips with this. Wally was the only one left in the dark. "Secret? What secret?"

"You really should say it," Robin pestered, now just teasing them. "It'd be kinder to everyone."

"Say… what?" Conner continued to play stupid, but M'gann put her eyes to her lap, trying to suddenly become invisible.

"Hey, why you becoming invisible?"

"Oh for the love of…" Artemis had enough. "Wally, they're dating! Have been for months!"

"Say what?" Wally blinked in surprise. The concept was having a hard time reaching his brain. Maybe it was all the other information he'd just learned that made it difficult to compute.

"We're… involved…" M'gann started, and for some reason Robin leaned back in his chair, huffing out a short laugh.

"No, you two are dating, high school sweet hearts. Batman and Catwoman are involved. Superman and Lois Lane are crushing on each other, but really need to admit it. And your aunt and uncle are deeply in love." He ended his sarcastic explanation looking over to Wally. This won a quick smirk from Artemis and confused glances from the aliens.

Wally still just stared at them in shock. Slowly things were clicking in his head. It was almost amusing to watch it play out on his face. Finally it donned on him and he threw his hands into the air in frustration. "Oh for the love of— Why didn't you just tell me?"

M'gann shied away. "I didn't want you to be angry or leave the team because of us."

"We really didn't know how to tell anyone," Conner joined in. "It's not like we've had relationships before. And it had nothing to do with the missions."

"But you could have just told me!" Embarrassed desperation took over Wally's face. It was hard for Robin not to laugh at him. "Gah, I feel like such an idiot!" He fell back into his seat, gripping the front of his face.

"This whole time you were… I can't believe I… why didn't I…" Slowly the speedster took a breath to collect his thoughts and emotions. Robin really had a hard time not laughing at him, and Artemis was covering her mouth. Finally he uncovered his face. "You should have just told me. I'm not the kind of guy who'd leave his friends because two of them decided to hook up. Everyone here means too much to me to just leave.

"Next time you're holding out on me like this, just say it." The alien couple stared in disbelief as he honestly gave his consent. "I'll be fine with it after a while."

"Thanks Wally." Conner smiled for the first time since Kaldur's betrayal while M'gann put her hand on his knee.

In his seat, Robin watched his team, smiling slightly. When he entered the room, they looked ready to break apart. Now they looked like they would stick together through thick and thin. They just needed a push in the right direction.

Now was the hard part.

"Looks like all our unpleasant secrets are in the open." The team looked at Robin, who had to bring up something gloomy again. "Next time we get in a fight, there's nothing holding us back from helping each other, from taking down the bad guys. Everyone but one that is."

Everyone's eyes narrowed. Kaldur.

"What do you think he's going to do with all the information he's got on us?" M'gann tried to hide the fear in her voice, but her eyes spoke her concerns. She wasn't ready to fight him again.

"Very little right now." Robin leaned forward, propping his elbows on his knees and supporting his chin in his hands. "If we know him as well as we think we do, he'll move slowly. First thing he's done is betray Atlantis. Right now there's a battle on the ocean floor, and over half the league is trying to end it quickly. Kaldur's using his information on Atlantis and King Orin, probably the original reason he became a spy. He had to get every bit of information he could, gain Aquaman's trust. Maybe he was supposed to kill him at one point. We won't know for some time."

"Think they'll succeed?" Wally asked quickly. "Think the bad guys are gonna take Atlantis?"

"It's a full on war Wal. It'll be a while before it ends. The League is just trying to make it end faster." Robin looked around the others slowly. "More than likely, he'll give as much information on different members of the League as he can, but he'll hold back on us. We're more… personal. He'll try to take us on his own, but it'll be some time before he recovers."

There was a hint of a smile going across everyone's lips. Kaldur wouldn't recover very quickly without the League's techniques or toys. "Like I said, it was a good thing we didn't join the League that day. All he can give is info on Red Tornado, Black Canary, Captain Marvel, Zatara, Martian Manhunter, and Batman, and even then most of what he knows is public knowledge. Where the League is concerned, he's got nothing.

"But us, he might be able to ruin us." Everyone seemed to take a deep breath, knowing it was possible. Kaldur knew them all rather well, even if for the most part they shared very little with him. Robin continued. "He knows at least half of our identities, and through us some of our mentors."

"Crap." They looked at Conner when he realized this. "He was right there when I picked my name! And M'ganns too!"

"Should have been more careful with our secret IDs, shouldn't we." Wally never really hid his identity, and he bragged about his uncle.

"Yeah, we should have." Artemis never gave out her last name, but she didn't have a great hero name either. It was just her name.

"And that's where he's going to hit us." Robin firm look brought them all to attention. "He's going to come after us individually, as civilians or on our home turfs. He'll try to catch us alone, and may even try to convince us he's still our friend. He'll probably start with Artemis, considering your dad."

Artemis stopped, blinking at the idea. "You think he'll try to turn me?"

"Might. He might try to turn all of us."

Wally gave a short laugh and everyone had to agree. "Rob, there's no way in any world he'd turn you to the dark side."

"Oh if we meet again, it'll be a fight to the death." Robin gave them a small dark smirk at the thought. He didn't say who would be fighting, but it was likely Batman wouldn't let Robin go off alone for at least six months because of this. "And I think him trying to talk you or Zatanna or Roy into joining is ridiculous. None of us could go evil. Quit maybe, but turn, never."

"So that leaves us?" M'gann looked a little hurt from the implications of their comments. It sounded like they believed she or Conner or Artemis could turn.

Robin nodded. "He'll try for each of you when you're on your own. All three of you are new to this, and each of you have a way to turn if you wanted to. There's no way you would of course, but there's enough of a possibility that he'll try. And when he fails," the other three brightened slightly as he talked, "he'll try to destroy you."

"So what's the plan?" They looked at Artemis and her confident stare at Robin. Then they looked at their impromptu leader.

"No one goes alone." He obviously gave this a lot of thought. "Artemis, you need to stay with friends or allies as much as possible. It'd be a good idea to move too. I can help you and your mom find a new place. We make it difficult to corner you and he can't act if there're civilians everywhere. And the higher profile the civilian, the better. They're always being watched."

Robin thought of Barbara or Bette over at their school. Either of them would be good. Artemis seemed to understand his thoughts, so he looked over to Conner and M'gann. "As for you two, something similar. We're going to have to leave the cave for a while anyway, so it's best of you try living with your mentors or another member of the League."

Both of them jolted. That would mean leaving their school, their teams, the lives they built there. Robin continued anyway. "If we can't get that to happen, then it's best you two hang around each other and in public places as much as possible. When Kaldur comes though, you two have to stop him."

"What?" "How?" they objected together. No one quite knew what Robin was thinking, but it was obvious he put a lot of thought into this. Maybe this was even his big plan.

It was. "To protect all of us, to protect the league, you two are going to stop him. Conner, you have to find a way to keep him down, hold him still. Means a lot of training, but it'll be well worth it. M'gann, with your psychic powers you managed to revive our memories last year. I want you to do the opposite to Kaldur."

"What?" No one could quite believe what Robin was saying. M'gann asked him, in order to clarify, "You want me to… to erase his memories?"

"Or deeply suppress them." Robin nodded, his stare boring into her. "He knows too much. How can any of us expect a peaceful life if he's always there, ready with our identities to take us all down? How can we fight him if he keeps bringing up everything we've done and told him about all this time? He'll use psychological war-fair on us. He'll use everything he knows about us to take us down. It's his most powerful weapon. We have to take that away from him."

"So she just needs to erase his memories of us?" Artemis tried to make him clarify and was rewarded with an answer.

"Everything social, everything personal. Take away names, fun times, faces, stories we told him, all of that. Anything to do with our missions he can keep. Those are out in the open. Trying to make him forget that would make him want to find a way to reverse it. Make the location of the cave foggy. He'll have to remember a meeting location, but if he can't name it or be certain where it is, it'll be unreliable. Maybe mix in a few memories from Mars places. That'll throw him for a loop.

"Can you do that?" Everyone looked over to M'gann who stared numbly at them. She honestly wasn't sure if she could, but she was a stronger psychic than J'onn. If he could do it, then so could she.

She gave them a slow nod. "I'll have to talk to my uncle about it, but I'm sure I can try."

Robin nodded, smiling slightly. "Good. The main mission is to take that out of him. I'm certain the Atlantians will do everything in their power to correct their mistake, and he had nothing on the League securities. Small details we know are probably reported by now. Once you've got his mind taken care of, call in the league. None of us can take him on our own."

"You got that right."

They call looked to the doorway again and saw Red Arrow folding his arms while leaning on the doorframe. He wasn't very happy, but it wasn't towards them. Kaldur's betrayal hurt him too.

"How long have you been standing there?" Conner asked in surprise. He didn't even hear him come in. Didn't hear Robin either.

Roy shrugged. "Long enough. Good plan. Call me in if you see him. I want a few cracks at the fishboy." He looked over the other, twisting his face into a scowl. "Who wrecked fishboy's room? I wanted to do that."

Conner gave a weak smile, raising his good hand. Wally elaborated. "Conner was the first, then Aquaman and Batman when they were looking for clues. I think Black Canary gave it a yell too. You staying to talk?"

"Please, I'm no heart to heart person." Roy got off the doorframe and approached them. "I just want to be certain where everyone's loyalties lie."

Roy looked down to Robin as he leaned back into the sofa. There was a twinge on the archer's face as he saw the damage Kaldur did to the first child hero. Robin lived up to his reputation, that was all there was to it. Batman would be proud if he wasn't in such a horrid condition.

He switched his gaze to the others, assessing what happened to them in moments. Even looking at the beating Artemis took, he could tell where her heart was in this. She gave him a wary glare, but said nothing. Robin and Wally answered for them all.

"We're together, 'til the end." "We're for justice, no matter what."

They looked at the two, every one of them, and smiled, nodding. Roy was satisfied. He gave them all a quick nod before turning to go. "Good. I'm headed back to Star City. All of you should go to your mentor's place and start patrol. While they're underwater, we should be taking care of their jobs."

"But Flash said—" Wally started but Roy cut him off with a smirk.

"And just when did we listen to them when they were away?"

Robin gave a short chuckle, remembering clearly times they ran off on their own missions. Wally blinked for a moment, then grinned at memories. The others gave short smirks to each other as Roy left them. The speedster looked around at everyone. "So, we're still a team?"

Robin nodded firmly. "Whether the League wants it or not, we're a team. We're family."

Conner's face perked from something else as Robin continued to talk. He looked beyond them to the door, not really listening. "Right now we're kinda benched. As soon as we're all able, everyone goes on patrol. Everyone got a cell phone right? Let's exchange numbers and update each other on our situations. We can meet on occasion, but it'll have to be in civies and in public places if we want to keep the League out."

"So you think we're going to be separated because of this?" M'gann wondered out loud.

Robin shrugged, wincing and regretting the movement immediately after. "Not sure. Batman and I haven't really talked since I woke up. Down in Atlantis. He's the one who convinced the rest of the League to support us."

"Bet it was an ultimatum," Artemis whispered.

"Probably was," Robin agreed.

"Uh guys?" Conner started, still looking out the doorway.

But was ignored due to how soft his voice was at the moment. Robin continued. "I'll work on Batman. Knowing him, he'll bench us all for this. Might not let the team continue either. If I can get him to rethink this, he might let us go out again, give us missions and all that. He'll probably change something or do something different to make sure this never happens again. Wally, you work on your uncle. He's the next best support in this. We have to make it clear they can't stop us or they won't help us."

Wally smirked. "Isn't that how we got to be their partners?"

"Guys…" Conner tried again.

"Duh. Works every time."

"What is it Conner?" M'gann seemed to be the only one paying him any attention.

Suddenly a rushing wind blasted through the doorway, stopping just a foot to the side of the couch. They turned with a jolt, and quite a few winces, to see a stressed out Superman standing before them. His gaze was intently on Robin.

"What in all the world were you thinking!"

"I was trying to tell you, the Zeta Tube was activated again. It said he was here." Conner and everyone looked a little nervously at the man of steel, flabbergasted at how frustrated he looked. Most days he looked serious, carefree or just plain friendly. Around the kids he tried to be more responsible. Around certain other Leaguers, he had every expression in the world. Right then he was irked, and a little desperate.

"Do you have any idea what Batman will say when he hears about this?"

"Nice to see you too Superman…" Robin settled back into his seat, looking a little guilty. For a moment, the whole group had forgotten he'd snuck out of the house.

"You're lucky Alfred called me and not him! You're in no condition to be out of the house!"

"Whoa, Supe's worried," Wally muttered, finally seeing the other rumored relationship Robin had with the League. Superman was pretty distant to Conner, despite everything they'd gone through of late, but was very much like an uncle to Robin.

"I promised I wouldn't strain myself." Robin gave a slight pout, going deeper into his seat. "See? I've been sitting still and everything."

"Doesn't matter! Batman's going to throw a fit when he hears about this."

"Does he ever not throw fits about Robin here?" Artemis whispered, beginning to see what having overprotective parents was like at last. Poor kid.

"You're going home. Right now." Superman's firm tone made everyone freeze. If Robin left right then, would any of them see him again? And could any of them stop the man of steel?

Apparently Robin could. Stubbornly he folded his arms, giving the kryptonian a scowl. "No."

"Don't start that with me young man—" Superman started. He must have expected this.

"I'm not going anywhere of my own free will until you promise to take Conner home with you."

Everyone's jaws dropped in disbelief, and none farther than the kryptonians in the room. It was identical, even to the "What?" they asked at the same time.

Robin tried not to laugh. "You try to force me to go home and I'll struggle. Struggling worsens my injuries, might even reopen some wounds. Batman finds out, you eat kryptonite. The only way I won't fight you is if you promise to take Conner home with you."

"Robin, I can't just—" Superman was at a loss for words, gaping at the youngest member in the room. Conner blinked, looking first at Robin then to Superman, hope coming into his eyes.

"If not to Metropolis, then to your parents." Robin kept his gaze firm as he elaborated. Everyone else exchanged looks. His parents? "The mountain isn't safe anymore right? M'gann has a place with her uncle. Conner doesn't. They both need to move out. So, where should he go live? Metropolis, or Kansas?"

"Kansas?" Wally asked quickly, but no one explained it.

Superman and Robin continued their staring contest with everyone watching. M'gann gave Conner her hand, giving it a quick squeeze for comfort. Artemis watched the exchange slightly amused by the genius behind it. Wally tried hard to not smile at Robin's little trap. And Conner, well he actually looked hopefully at the man, the same way he looked at him when they met all those months ago outside of Cadmus.

Slowly Superman closed his eyes and swallowed something. He took a breath before speaking, more to Conner than to Robin. "Are you certain that sleeper program won't activate?"

Conner nodded emphatically. Superman gave a long sigh before nodding slowly. "Guess it's about time then. Alright. I promise I'll take him with me and we'll figure this out. Maybe Ma and Pa will like him."

"They liked you."

This won a quick smirk from Superman. "Alright, alright. I'll do it. I'll take him home. That alright by you?"

He looked over to Conner whose eyes had gotten wide with relief and joy. He nodded emphatically. Superman nodded. "Alright then. Pack your things. Once Robin's safely back to his home, I'll come back and take you to mine."

"Really?" Conner looked up at Superman like a little child having found out there was magic in Christmas. Superman nodded, giving him a small unsure smile. Conner's face split into a broad grin before he leapt up out of his seat excitedly. Without any warning, Superboy hugged Superman, smiling from ear to ear.

Everyone watched in amazement as the two finally started down the right path to being family. Robin untangled his arms as a smile grew on his face. In just half an hour, the group solidified itself as a team, and a boy was able to attach himself to a father. A plan was made, morales were boosted, and the darkness that surrounded them since the betrayal had lightened. They had a path to follow. It was a shame Kaldur would never be apart of it again.

A/N: note the lack of "END" at the bottom here. There's more follow up! Mostly from individual members of the team then a new set up where they really do get back up. Not sure how large the chapters will be, but things have to be done before, you could say, the next season starts. Read a vague rumor saying Kaldur wasn't going to be in the next season much. Rumor only so take a large grain of salt with it.

As for my reasoning on why Kaldur has to be the mole: KF and Robin have long histories, automatic outs. Superboy in the comics was always a good kid who had a sleeper program that made his life a wreck for a while (guilt). M'gann (originally didn't do research on her) was J'onn's niece, so what did she gain being a mole? After research, realized she wasn't the type to betray friends before betraying herself. Artemis was just too obvious to be the traitor, a clear red herring to me. Research made me start doubting this theory, but watching the series only solidified my thoughts. I first thought she was a mesh of several female archers so I wasn't worried over her at all. It's the writer in me I guess. Kaldur was the one without a history and didn't make that much sense to me. Did research lately and found out the only reason he's in the comics (briefly I might add), was for this TV series. And even then, it looks like the history for the kid's changed. So conclusion: kaldur playing a long game or Superboy not having a clue he's doing it. Yes, I came up with this theory long before 'Secrets'. I am batman('s clone/longtime admirer/daughter). *rolls eyes*

Wanted to do a scene where people asked why Kaldur even mentioned there being a mole at all (because Roy was there when Sportsmaster stupidly said it and Red Tornado was a great scapegoat) but I couldn't find a place to put it. Oh well.

I'm gonna try to keep it chronologically, but realize I'm working now on three series, plus have another one on hold. I haven't forgotten about anything, just wanted to get what I've got out.

Oh, I know this is a lot of PS's here, but I have to know who can spot all the references I put in here! They're vague, but so good!