Chapter Text
Paranoia had often saved him during his undercover mission. Now it threatened to shake the foundation of the team he’d helped build. He often wondered why Batman still prefered to work alone, and now he knew. Two years after ending his undercover mission and he was still jumping at shadows. One couldn’t order teammates to investigate every hunch. It was both dangerous and a waste of resources. It also seemed to annoy them.
He’d only needed to see the looks on the younger team member’s faces after a few dead end leads to learn that continuing would only weaken his role as commander. If he worked alone he could satisfy this urge to check for danger where there was none without feeling he was sneaking around. But there was no reason to assume he was right this time. He should watch, wait, and definitely not talk about his ideas in Roy’s living room. Like he was right now.
In recent months he and Roy had settled into a routine.Generally Roy would come to Kaldur’s condo and they would chat, maybe watch a movie. It didn’t matter really, because after all that had happened they needed to get to know each other again. But even after a baby and a wife. A real wife now that Jade is house bound, Kaldur thought with amusement. He still felt as if he fit with Roy more so than with any of their peers, Artemis being the exception.
This time they had gone to Roy’s place. Jade was nowhere to be found, thank the tides. Kaldur tolerated her presence know that he understood how much she meant to Artemis. It was on thing to disapprove of a significant other, a sibling? Well, family couldn’t be chosen, so if Jade were going to play nice he would as well. But since she was not present his tongue felt a bit looser. Or perhaps he was unconsciously hoping that Roy, having gone through enough be paranoid as well, would be a good sounding board. And unlike him Roy now had what could pass as a stable home life. He’d understand but would also know the best way to explain away Kaldur’s delusions. Kaldur was sure that it would be just what he needed.
“You should go,” Roy said.
“I...what?” Kaldur stared at Roy dumbly. Unless this were some new form of surface sarcasm Roy sounded serious.
“You should go,” Roy repeated. “There’s no way Bee’s just cruising to the caribbean, even if the destination’s Dinosaur Island. And if she did want to go so badly wouldn't she use a private jet or ship? She probably has her own fleet.”
“Yes, I thought so as well but.” Hearing what he was thinking aloud made it sound all the more plausible. Which was problematic to say the least. “ Is this idea not insane? What could she possibly have to gain?”
“Has the league said anything?” Roy asked.
“No..but.”
“Are you gonna ask the league to look into this?”
“Of course not! Its-”
“Then you should go...well we should go.” Roy opened his laptop and typed in his password. “Probably not a good idea to go after her alone because of her pheromone powers.”
“When did this become a we thing?”
“Just now… shit the boats almost booked. There are only the cheapest and most expensive rooms left. Trust me, you don’t want one of the cheap ones, we’d end up in a box with bunk beds and no window.”
Kaldur rubbed his temples” You truly believe that I have reason to worry? This isn’t an excuse to go galavanting off on some quarter life crisis motivated- ”
Roy exhaled sharply, cutting Kaldur off. “We’ve been through this, I’m not having a… No, you’re not turning this on me.” He pointed at Kaldur. “You came to me with this remember? You know I’d tell you if you were crazy but Jade...Oh God don’t make that face.”
Kaldur forced himself to make a neutral expression he hadn’t even realized that he’d made a face at all.
“Jade..” Roy began again, “Said she’d heard rumors about Dinosaur Island’s government reaching out to mercenaries.”
“And she isn’t interested in the job?”
“She doesn't do that anymore, you know that.”
“Fine,” Kaldur let the matter drop, he had bigger issues at the moment, like figuring out how to stop Roy from talking him into something crazy.
Roy looked at him like he was waiting for an argument, once it was clear that Kaldur wasn’t going to continue he went back to his laptop. “So are we doing this?”
He shouldn’t say yes now. There was too much to coordinate before going on a sudden trip. He couldn’t suddenly pass off his duties to someone else at such late notice, they only had a week until departure. And things were rocky with him and Raquel, again. It wouldn’t help to convince her that he wasn’t falling into old habits if he spirted off on a mission like this.
“Kal. Really. You’re overthinking again.” Roy gestured to Kaldur’s face. “Your eyebrows do this squinty thing when you over think. Just stop it. If nothing pans out then we’ll just have to make the best of it. But someone should keep tabs on Bee when she’s on this side of the ocean. You at least agree with that right?”
He couldn’t believe that he was doing this. “Right.” Kaldur nodded. “You are right. We’ll sort out the details after.”
“So you’re booking one room?” Jade asked. The skepticism clear in her tone.
Kaldur had pretty good hearing compared to humans, it was somewhat necessary to survive underwater. Still, certain humans had an annoying habit of being able to sneak up on him. He’d simply adjusted to such things with Dick and his clan. Jade, he’d never get used to it from Jade. She’d been a threat for too long. And she’d managed to hide weapons in her “work” clothes. Who knew what weapons or poisons she kept on her person around her own house. Kaldur watched as Roy and Jade began to...discuss, argue? He never knew what to call their conversations, it always seemed like an exchange between two predators. As always it was safer to stay out of it or they’d turn on him.