"I am fine," Kaldur insisted, his last words before collapsing to his knees on the zeta-tube floor.

Amidst exclamations of surprise and alarm from the rest of the squad, Robin crouched and reached out to steady the Atlantean, whose face was ashen, green-grey eyes unfocused.

"Fine," echoed Robin. "Yeah, clearly. What's up, AL?"

As he spoke, he looked up over his sunglasses at the others and gave a little flick of his head.

"Give them some space," Artemis murmured, picking up on the gesture; Raquel, Conner and M'gann obediently backed off, forming a worried half-ring around their leaders. The six of them had just gotten back from a plainclothes mission to scout out a trio of InterGang recruiters in Central Park. It had gone off remarkably well, by their standards, at least until now.

"It is nothing," Kaldur insisted, clearly making an effort to pretend as though nothing were happening as Robin propped him up against the metal wall of the zeta transporter. "I am merely a little...dizzy."

Frowning, Robin reached up to press the back of his hand to the older boy's forehead, then drew it back almost immediately.

"Kal, you're burning up," he said. "Even by human standards. Temperature of a hundred, a hundred and one, I'd guess. How long has this been going on?"

Kaldur sighed, letting his head fall back against the wall, chest rising and falling shallowly.

"Since yesterday evening," he mumbled sheepishly, closing his eyes.

"Kaldur!" M'gann exclaimed. They'd been out in the heat all day, too...

"Why didn't you say anything?" asked Conner, folding his arms over his chest. "Zatanna or Kid Flash could have stepped in for you. We could have managed."

"Both are due to take their college entrance exams tomorrow," Kaldur replied meekly. "I did not wish to distract them."

"Oh yes, because this isn't distracting at all," cut in a new voice – Zatanna, textbook in hand, had apparently come to investigate the commotion. She craned her neck to get a good look at the situation, then wrinkled her nose. "Should I get a doctor?"

"No," said Kaldur quickly, eyes snapping open. "I will be fine. I – I just require rest."

"You got something against doctors?" Raquel asked confusedly, looking down at her teammate. "No offense, but you look like you could use one, boo."

"I will be fine," Kaldur repeated.

The others exchanged skeptical glances.

"Okay, but you're not going home like this," said Robin. Kaldur opened his mouth to protest, but the acrobat continued: "If you get worse, or you decide to you need some medication, you're going to need someone there. It's not a big deal. Just stay here, in the Cave. Conner and M'gann and Zee can look after you."

"Um," said M'gann hesitantly. "Actually, we're supposed to go over to meet Mal and Karen for a group project. It's due tomorrow."

Kaldur set his palms on the ground.

"I will be fine," he insisted once more, struggling to his feet, limbs visibly shaking. "It is nothing I have not experienced before. I do not require a fuss."

"Oh for Christ's sake," said Artemis, rolling her eyes. "If he's going to be this much of an ass about it, I'll stay."

Robin straightened out, looking to her.

"You sure?" he asked, still keeping Kaldur in the corner of his eye like he expected him to fall over again. "I'd do it too, but I'm supposed to go on patrol with Bats tonight. Friday nights in Gotham...well, you know."

"It's fine," Artemis assured him, turning to Kaldur. "I didn't have plans anyway. Come on, Fearless Leader, let's get you in a bed somewhere."

"There is no need for - "

"I'm fussing," Artemis interrupted bluntly, slipping an arm beneath his shoulders (not that the height difference would have given her the option of going over them – he had a good five inches on her, but she was strong). "Come on, lean on me, you big proud dolt. You'd better not be contagious."

Reluctantly, Kaldur let his teammate lead him out of the zeta tubes, one arm wrapped around her shoulders as she helped hold him up.

"You know, I didn't really think of him as a stubborn type, but jeez," Raquel remarked as the rest of them watched the two go.

"Yeah," said Robin, slipping his hands into his pockets. "He gets weird about stuff like this. I knew something was off when he assigned us both to the same target today, but there was no way he was going to admit it mid-mission."

"I think he likes to pretend we don't notice he's human," said Zatanna; Conner and M'gann made noises of agreement. "Guess I'll go make some soup."

With a soft sigh, she shut her textbook and tucked it under her arm, then headed off after Artemis and Kaldur.

"You think we should tell you-know-who?" Conner asked M'gann in a low voice.

"Who?" asked Raquel.

"You-know," said Robin helpfully. "Nah, I'll do it. I need to get my Wii back from him anyway. Except it occurs to me somebody needs to do the write-up for this mission."

"I can do that," Raquel offered. "Seeing as AL's sick and all. I mean, how annoying could it be?"

Robin laughed.

"Spoken like someone who's never had to do a mission write-up," he said. "But sure. Thanks. Just ask the Cave mainframe to pull up the form, and text me any questions. I'll see you all later – good work, Team."

And with a flash of light, he was gone.

"Social studies?" Conner asked M'gann.

"Social studies," she agreed. "See you later, Raquel!"

Alone in the control room, Raquel gave their retreating backs a suspicious look, then remarked to no one in particular,

"I can never tell what's a euphemism with those two."

"How's he doing?" Zatanna asked, looking up as Artemis entered the Cave kitchen.

"Out like a light," the archer replied, sniffing the air. "Barely got him in bed. It smells amazing in here, Zee. What are you making?"

"Mulligatawny soup," said Zatanna. "Dad's recipe."

She smiled softly to show Artemis it wasn't meant to be a sad description, then murmured something under her breath and flicked a finger– the knife before her leapt into the air and began to chop up the apple waiting beneath it.

"I'll probably wake him up when it's ready," said Artemis, pulling herself up onto the countertop. From her perch there, it was easy to steal an apple slice from under the dancing blade. "We need to make him eat something. He said he hasn't since yesterday. 'No appetite.'"

"I thought Canary did that self-care workshop last month exactly so we could avoid stuff like this," said Zatanna, frowning.

"Kaldur gives advice, he doesn't listen to it," said Artemis, mouth full of apple.

"Too true."

Artemis watched Zee for a moment as the other girl lifted up the lid of the pot to give it a gentle stir and then returned to supervising the ghostly knife. Domesticity – that was a thing her dad had never taught her.

"How's studying for the SAT?" she asked at last. "You gonna pass?"

"You don't 'pass' the SAT," said Zatanna. "It's not that kind of test. But yes, it'll be fine. I'm only really studying because I had this super awkward run-in with Superman the other day where he made me promise to."

"Superman made you promise to study for the SAT," Artemis repeated dubiously.

"I know," Zatanna said, rolling her eyes as she opened the spice cabinet. "Two years later and I'm pretty sure the whole League still feels bad for letting Fate take over my dad, so I get twenty-one parents. Twenty-one totally overinvolved parents."

"There are worse things," said Artemis.

"I know," sighed Zee, rooting through the jars and tins and bottles. "I'm not really complaining. But come talk to me the next time Wonder Woman offers to give you 'the talk.'"

"Oh my god, that happened?"

"That happened."

"Please tell me you took her up on it."

"Absolutely not," said Zatanna, turning around with ground ginger, curry powder and cayenne pepper in hand. "I told her I had some books, and that I knew enough for now, thank you very much."

Artemis grinned.

"Did you tell her you were already an expert on female anatomy?"

"Artemis," said Zatanna, fixing the other girl with a look, "Don't think that I won't enchant your mouth shut just because I like kissing it."

Artemis laughed, her grin widening.

"You love me," she accused.

"I do," Zee agreed, taking the top off the pot and setting it aside. "Despite your remarkable ability to push my buttons – no, don't even think about waggling your eyebrows at me, you know what I meant. Go check on the rice. I should add it soon so it soaks up the flavor. Do you know if Kaldur likes spicy food?"

"I think he does," said Artemis, swallowing her laughter to slide off the countertop and head for the rice cooker. "He ate Ollie's chili last Fourth of July, anyway, though he could have just been being polite, or maybe trying to win a bet with Red Arrogant. Machine says four minutes left."

"Close enough," said Zee. "Bring it here?"

Artemis obeyed, unplugging the thing and carrying it over to her girlfriend, who gestured for her to set it down on the counter. Soon its contents were in the pot, thickening out the orange-brown broth, which smelled of onions and potatoes and carrots and curry, the aroma filling the Cave kitchen. Artemis's stomach gave a little rumble – maybe she was overdue for some dinner, too.

"There," said Zatanna. "I'll just throw in the apple and let it simmer for a while, and we should be good to go."

"You didn't have to make him soup, you know," said Artemis, hopping up to resume her seat on the edge of the counter. "We could definitely have force-fed him out of a can."

"I know," said Zee, shrugging. "But...I guess it's kind of nice to get to take care of him for a change."

Artemis let out a thoughtful little 'hmm' at that.

"Yeah," she agreed after a moment. "You remember when M'gann and Conner both got chicken pox last Christmas? I'm pretty sure he skipped the Atlantean Royal Ball to stay here and look after them. And Garth and Tula were talking about that thing for months beforehand."

"That may have been why he skipped it," Zatanna pointed out.

"Okay, that's more than fair."

Zatanna set aside the cutting board, murmuring a spell to get the dish-washing process underway, then looked around to see if there was any other tidying up to do, which there wasn't.

"Well," she said, looking back up at Artemis and brushing a loose strand of long, black hair from her face. "It's Friday, and since I imagine you've got better things to do than keep me company while I memorize a few more grammar rules I already knew..."

"Zee, I'm not going to ditch you with the job I volunteered to do," said Artemis.

"I'm pretty sure I can handle a sleeping Atlantean and some eighth-grade math," said Zatanna. "Seriously, it's fine. You should go have fun."

Artemis had just opened her mouth to respond when the Cave computer sounded a low beep and announced,

"Recognized: Red Arrow, B-06."

Zatanna blanched.

"On second thought, please stay here."

"Oh, relax," Artemis laughed, pulling an arm around the other girl's shoulders and planting a kiss on top of her head, an easy feat from her spot on the countertop. "I'm not going anywhere, but seriously, he's probably just here to see Kaldur."

"Yeah, and probably to yell at us for letting him get like this," Zatanna muttered, leaning her head against her girlfriend's arm.

"Nah," said Artemis. "I doubt it. Roy may be way uptight and crankier than an oldschool car window, but I'm ninety percent sure that deep, deep beneath the douchebag act, he's actually a nice guy."

"I'm a what, now?"

"An asshole," Artemis replied seamlessly, looking up to see the other archer walking into the kitchen, his motorcycle helmet beneath his arm, keys dangling from his hand. "No uniform today, Red – you going soft?"

"Don't call me Red," said Roy. "It's bad enough that your sister does."

"She sends her love, by the way," said Artemis, rubbing Zee's shoulder lightly.

Roy rolled his eyes.

"I'm sure she does. Where's Kaldur?"

"Asleep," said Artemis.

"Down the hall," Zatanna contributed. "But yes, also asleep. We were going to wake him up when the soup was ready."

Roy eyed the pot dubiously.

"How long does it take to heat up a can of soup?"

"Not everyone lives out of cans, Red."

"Blondie, I swear to god if you call me that again..."

"Do you want something to drink?" Zatanna cut in pointedly, giving Artemis a look. "We've got juice, milk, soda, water...?"

"I don't imagine you keep any beer in the Junior Justice League fridge," said Roy, plopping down in a chair at the kitchen table.

"Well, none of us are of age, so, no," Zatanna pointed out, tactfully leaving off the and neither are you.

"They'll let you dodge bullets, but they won't let you have a beer," Roy mused, setting his helmet in front of him and his keys beside it. "Whatever. I'm good, thanks. And to answer your question, I wasn't going on patrol tonight – I promised Ollie I'd take a night off. I was supposed to be meeting Kaldur for drinks over in Star, but Robin informs me that's a nonstarter, so here I am."

"This is what you'd wear to a date?" Artemis asked skeptically, eyes flicking up and down his outfit – worn, ripped jeans and a t-shirt, basically, with the usual motorcycle jacket thrown on top.

"I didn't say it was a date" Roy snapped.

"So you're saying you and Kaldur aren't dating," said Artemis.

"None of your damn business, blondie."

Zatanna opted for that moment to escape from Artemis's arms and go to check on the soup, which had begun to bubble lazily.

"Oh, come on, it's not like anyone doesn't know already," said Artemis. "I mean, why are you here?"

"Because Robin informs me he fucking collapsed in a hallway, so I figured I'd give the courtesy of a check-in. And because I haven't seen him in a week and a half and whatever else he might be – and I'm not saying it's anything – he's my best friend, and I'm entitled to be a little concerned when he's apparently sick to the point of almost admitting it."

"He admitted it to me," said Artemis smugly.

"Oh?"

"Yeah," she said. "When I was putting him to bed. He said it's like the Atlantean version of the flu, that he gets it every year around this time like clockwork."

"But he hasn't been to Atlantis in weeks," said Zee, confused.

"He went home on Tuesday," said Roy, shaking his head and sighing. "Said his mom needed help with the shop or something."

"His mom has a shop?"

"Yeah," said Roy, leaning his chair back onto two legs and putting his feet up on the table. "Sells jewelry she makes herself, sea glass and metalwork mostly."

"Well," said Artemis. "The more you know."

"Ask him to show you some sometime," said Roy. "It's some pretty shit."

"Spoken like a true romantic," said Artemis, rolling her eyes.

Roy didn't dignify that with a response, just drummed his fingers against the tabletop as his eyes flicked over the stovetop, then down the hallway. After a moment of silence he let his chair drop back to the ground and stood up.

"I'm going to go check on him," he announced.

"You're going to be bored," Artemis warned his retreating back. "He was snoring before I got out the door. Probably still super asleep."

Roy paid her no heed, disappearing down the hallway; Zee, meanwhile, gave her a questioning look.

"Aqualad snores?"

"I don't know," said Artemis, shrugging. "Probably. I mean, he wasn't actually just now – I lied – but I bet he does. Really I was just hoping that Roy would contradict me so I could ask him how he knows if Kaldur snores or not if they're not sleeping together."

"Because obviously, the only way to know if someone snores is to have sex with them."

"Zatanna, I need to know if you snore," said Artemis seriously.

"At least buy me dinner first."

"I got you soup."

"..."

Roy tapped his knuckles gently against the doorframe before him, settled back to wait a moment, then turned the handle and pushed the door open a crack. The room beyond was dim, lights humming as they hovered just barely on, but between them and the thin slant of light from the hallway he could make out Kaldur's silhouette propped up on a few pillows on the bed. Silently, the archer slipped into the room and shut the door, leaning back against it to give his eyes a second to adjust to the darkness.

When he could see again, he advanced across the room, booted feet pressing noiselessly into the carpet, then lowered himself ever so gradually onto the edge of the bed. By the time he'd twisted himself around to get a better look at the Atlantean, he'd blown it – Kaldur's eyes were open, their familiar green-grey glinting in the low light.

"Sorry," Roy muttered. "It's just me."

"Hello," said Kaldur softly, his voice a little raspy.

"Go back to sleep," Roy urged, leaning over to pull the sheet up around the other man, but Kaldur caught his wrist.

"Warm," he mumbled, and indeed, the hand encircling Roy's arm was much hotter than it ought to have been. Roy frowned, reaching to press his other palm to his friend's forehead.

"Robin wasn't kidding, huh?" he said, removing it a moment later.

"I am sorry," Kaldur said, eyes drooping shut again. "I meant to contact you, but..."

As he trailed off, Roy shook his head.

"Not what I meant," he said. "It's fine. Wasn't really feeling the bar scene tonight anyway."

Kaldur made a small sound beneath his breath, eyes still closed. It was strange to see him like this, sprawled limply over the top of the bed; usually his posture was tense and upright even when he was theoretically relaxed. It was like he'd sprung a leak and all his usual quiet energy had drained out, leaving him like a big Atlantean rag doll.

"Zatanna's making soup," said Roy softly, trying to gauge if the other man had fallen back asleep – if so, he didn't want to disturb him, but... "Smelled really good. Spicy, how you like it."

Kaldur smiled weakly in response, the gesture barely visible in the darkness.

"Have you uncovered any new leads in your search?" he asked after a moment, eyes still shut.

"No," said Roy, trying not to sound as disappointed and frustrated as he felt. His hunt for his genetic source, now entering its second year, hadn't turned up anything new in over a month, and he had begun to wonder if the grown-ups were right, that he was chasing ghosts. But before he could sink back into that thought, Kaldur's too-warm hand found his own and closed around it, tugging him away from his anxiety with a gentle squeeze.

"I am sorry," said the Atlantean softly. "I have not come to help you as much as I promised."

"Don't," said Roy, looking down at the hand in his own and brushing his thumb across the top of it. "You've got the team and your parents and the royal shitsack to worry about. You don't need my baggage on top of that. It's not your problem."

Kaldur gave a weak, spluttering laugh, eyes cracking open.

"Prince Arthur is not a – a royal – "

But he couldn't repeat the word, it seemed.

"All babies are shitsacks," said Roy. "Noble birth or not."

"You are ridiculous," Kaldur murmured.

"Says the guy who tried to lead a mission with a high fever."

"Tried?" Kaldur repeated, a touch of indignation in his tone. "We accomplished every objective without detection, I would hardly call that – "

"Shhh," said Roy, laughing as he lifted Kaldur's hand to his lips to kiss his knuckles gently. "I'm sure it was a masterpiece of strategy and execution, Kal, I'm just giving you shit."

"Because you are a shitsack," Kaldur muttered, settling back against the cushions.

Roy's surprised laugh was cut off by a knock at the door, which immediately after opened – there stood Artemis and Zatanna, silhouetted in the doorway, the pot of soup between them. Immediately, he felt a panicked urge to let go of Kaldur's hand, to protect the privacy the younger man valued so much, but as he began to pull away, the Atlantean's hand actually curled more tightly around his in a silent signal. Head jerking sideways, Roy caught Kaldur's eye in swift and silent question, and got a tiny nod in response – it's okay.

"Hey," Roy greeted, leaving his hand where it was turning back to face the new arrivals. "How'd it come out?"

"I see what you did there, Harper," said Artemis. "It came out fine. Lights coming on in three, two, one..."

Roy threw up his free hand to shade his eyes against the sudden brightness; Kaldur merely closed his, face scrunching slightly in discomfort as the girls crossed the room to his bedside.

"Trivet," said Zatanna, holding out her hand; Artemis passed it over, and soon the pot was settled on the metal bedside table. "How're you feeling, Kaldur?"

"Fine," said Kaldur, attempting a smile and ignoring the eye-rolling he'd just elicited from both Artemis and Roy. "And your studies? How is the test coming along?"

"I'll pass," said Zatanna, her lips curling into a knowing smile as her eyes meeting Artemis's for a split second. "Think you're up for some soup?"

Kaldur hesitated, but at a stern look from both the archers in the room, he relented.

"It was kind of you to make it," he said as Artemis passed Zee the first of the bowls they'd brought, along with a ladle. "I hope it was not too much trouble."

"Soup is easy," said Zatanna, removing the pot's lid. "Artemis is trouble."

"I'm also easy," Artemis remarked. "But that's neither here nor there. Be right back."

Kaldur chuckled, shaking his head as she disappeared out the door once more. For a moment there was silence as he and Roy watched Zatanna carefully ladle out the first bowl, which she then proceeded to pass to him.

"Tell me if you don't like it," she said. "I can reseason it a little."

"I am sure it will be fine."

"Like you claim to be," grumbled Roy. "All the damn time."

Zatanna, tactfully ignoring Roy's mutterings, produced a spoon from inside her cardigan pocket and whispered a quick spell to render it spotless. As she handed it over, Artemis reappeared in the doorway, a pitcher of a water in one hand and four cups clutched precariously in the other. Roy immediately stood to help, but by the time he'd done so she was already most of the way to the bed so he just awkwardly resumed his seat with a muttered "never mind."

For the next half hour, there were many things: soup, discussions of the rumors that the team would be expanding soon, snide remarks aplenty, and a general sense of camaraderie between the four. Kaldur stayed mostly silent, letting his more energetic friends do the talking, or as was often the case with Roy and Artemis, the bickering. It wasn't often that the four of them spent time together without the rest of the team, but it did feel strangely right, even if he was too tired to be much of an active participant. By the time the pot was empty and he'd obeyed Artemis in drinking down his fourth glass of water ("fluids, Fearless Leader, no backtalk"), he was fading once again, eyes drooping shut at every other remark the others made.

"Okay," said Zatanna, when Kaldur had yet again drifted off halfway through trying to answer a question. "We should probably let him rest, now that he's got some food and water in him."

"Probably," Artemis agreed, looking over at her team leader. Kaldur's eyes fluttered half-open once more as he seemed to register that people were talking about him. "If I go away, you won't do something stupid like try to get up in the dead of the night to do the dishes, right?"

"Rehtag gnihtyreve ni eht top," Zatanna murmured – all their dishes arced over into the empty soup pot, stacking themselves neatly by type. "There. No dishes to do, anyway."

"I can stay," said Roy. "You two go to bed."

"There is no need for..." Kaldur murmured, but trailed off midsentence.

All three of them looked at him, then at each other, sharing a moment of silent exasperation.

"Go to bed," Roy finally repeated to Artemis and Zatanna, who rose from the chairs they'd pulled up to Kaldur's bedside, the former picking up the empty pot and bracing it against her hip.

"Good night, Kaldur," said Zatanna, bending over to place a tiny kiss on the Atlantean's forehead. "Get better soon."

Artemis bit back a smile.

"Or we'll beat you up," she added helpfully. "'Night. Comm me if this asshole gets on your nerves, all right?""

As the door clicked shut behind them, Roy looked to Kaldur once more.

"It's cool if I stay, right?" he asked, touching the younger man's arm gently after a moment to make sure he'd heard. "Kaldur?"

"I am not likely...to be of much interest to you," Kaldur replied sleepily.

Roy paused.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I do not think I am up for much besides sleep, my friend."

Frowning, Roy tried to find an alternate way to interpret that, but came up empty-handed. Did Kaldur honestly just think he was there for sex? And if so...was that what he wanted? It wasn't something they'd really talked about, but...well, shit.

"Of course not," Roy said at last, trying to sound neither offended nor uncomfortable. "I just...I just meant I'd stay and sleep here, with you. Is that a problem?"

"No," said Kaldur, shaking his head a tiny bit. "I merely...I did not wish to waste your time."

Roy spluttered for a second.

"Christ, Kaldur, you think I came here all the way from Star just in the hope that your sick ass would put out tonight?"

Kaldur didn't respond, but his eyes weren't quite shut – he was still awake, if only just barely. Roy shrugged off his jacket, tossed it to the floor then reached over to flick the bedside light switch. In the fresh darkness, he crawled over to the head of the bed, pulling the sheets and blankets gently out from beneath Kaldur's warm, heavy body, then settled down on his side beside the Atlantean and pulled them up over himself.

"It's a good thing you're pretty," he muttered.

"Why is that?" asked Kaldur hoarsely, head falling to the side to look at the archer.

"Because you're an idiot."

"I see."

"Go to sleep, idiot," said Roy, masking his affection with an attempt at gruffness. His hand sought Kaldur's in the darkness and folded around it protectively. "Someday we should have a conversation like reasonable adults. But right now, you're going to go to sleep, and I'm going to go to sleep, and I'm going to stay here until you get better, if you'll let me."

"Mmm."

"Exactly. Good night."

Within moments, Kaldur was out again, chest rising and falling at a slow, steady rate, lips just barely parted. Roy watched the side of his face for a while longer, contemplating what went through that thick Atlantean skull, wondering if he'd ever have a prayer of figuring it out. Sometimes he wasn't sure he would. But sometimes he was happy just to be along for the ride, however stubborn and reckless and frustrating that ride could be.

Finally, feeling the tug of sleep behind his own eyes, he leaned forward, brushed his lips over Kaldur's bare shoulder in a ghost of a kiss, and settled back against the pillows.

Right here, right now, they were fine. Everything else would have to wait 'til tomorrow.