dear_mun | Spoilers for s2ep10 in the comments.

Well I would say that things couldn't get much worse but we both know that's not true.

Yeah. We both do.

Feel free to join M'gann when she rips into me. And... keep an eye out for the news.

I think I've already said enough about this whole deal. You should be worried about her telling any of the others.

[Because Wally isn't sure how you'd salvage that.]

... But at least you were able to rescue Bart and everybody else.

Edited 2012-10-14 13:14 (UTC)

At least there was that. Though we don't know how badly off Kaldur is.

Maybe they'll pull me off leadership. Maybe altogether off the team. Batgirl should be good to go. But... I think if she was going to tell them, she would have, already.

I just hope he remembers everything if he's physically fine after that.

[He runs a hand through his hair and sighs.]

You know we're in this together, right? I lied to them too.

Yeah, me too. Otherwise, we get them out as soon as she makes the call.

*whether he's on the team or not, if Artemis makes that call, he'll get her out. At the cost of going in her place, if he has to.*

There's a slight difference. They haven't been putting their lives in your hands, mission after mission, for months. Plus, there's enough evidence that you weren't exactly happy with any of it. So you don't have to be.

*looks down. Yes, he'll take all the responsibility, if he can. It's his fault. Which... doesn't mean that his heart didn't warm up when Wally said those words.*

But... thanks.

Dude, we all let M'gann and everyone else think that Kaldur killed Artemis. It wasn't just you.

And just because I'm not exactly thrilled with what's going on doesn't mean I'm any less guilty.

But I'm the one who should've seen what she does and stopped her. It might have made a difference.

Wally, I... I'm sorry. I should have listened.

Something like this was bound to happen. He killed Artemis, Dick. We had to know that people would be gunning for him even more after that. If it wasn't M'gann, it would have been one of the others eventually.

[Maybe they wouldn't have gone to the extent M'gann did, but this was an obvious possibility.]

Don't you think it's too late to be apologizing? There's no turning back now.

He wouldn't have been as defenseless, with anyone else, and I know he knows how to... not pull his punches but not go overboard, either.

*and that? Dick just. Sighs and looks down.*

Still doesn't mean something couldn't have happened.

[He rubs the back of his neck and sighs. This thing is just one big mess.]

Nothing is ever going to be the same, is it?

No, just...

*deep sigh in return, and looking down.*

No. If we are very, very lucky and do things very, very right, it might end up as good, or better. But never the same.

I was talking about us. All of us. I don't see how things could get better. I mean, M'gann blasted Kaldur because we let her think that he killed Artemis. Conner could have died when the cave blew up, and is going to blame himself for what M'gann did.

You guys keep saying you knew the risks, but what about everyone else? We're not just messing with our lives, Dick. We're dragging everyone down with us.

[Sigh] ...and who knows what Artemis will want after this is all over.

I think Artemis will want peace and a break from it all even more than before. *firm. Steady. This part, he's relatively positive about.*

*The rest...*

If... if M'gann can undo the damage, if she learns from it and Kaldur forgives her... *deep breath.*

I don't know, Wally. There are too many ifs, but if I have to believe in the possibility - and the avoidability - of the future Bart comes from, I have to believe that it can turn out better than 'all right,' too. Or I'll just...

*he'll just stop. And he can't afford that.*

Going through stuff like this has a habit of changing people, you know. [Is she even still going to want to be with him after everything?]

And I know this isn't what you wanted, and I know that I'm not helping things. I just hate the thought of them blaming themselves for something the four of us did.

[While he doesn't condone M'gann's actions, he's not going to blame her either. Who knows what he would have wanted to do if he was in her situation.]

I know, Wally. But she believed it wasn't going to make a difference in how she felt about you, and I'll... trust her on that?

*Looks down, and nods.*

You are helping, though. So long as you're here and even when you're yelling at me... I'd probably botch things even worse, without the one other person who knows, this side of the enemy lines. One of two, now. Either way, I'd rather hear what you have to say than-- than know that I've screwed things up enough that even you would give up on me.

[This particular Nightwing is infuriated at what happened. Regardless of what is done, M'gann had no right to do that to Kaldur. Nobody has that right.]

Dammit... If I were you, I'd suggest that M'gann be put under League supervision until she can get her anger issues under control. At this rate, she's going to hurt herself and others far more than she'll actually help.

Stop. Please.

What she did was my fault. Both because it was Conner and not me who talked to her about doing it at all, and because I kept a secret from her and she thought she had reasons to lash out at him.

She didn't mean to harm a friend. It was my responsibility, as a leader of the team, to provide her with correct information. I did not.

That does not absolve her of doing it to anyone in the first place. But the responsibility for Kaldur is mine. Not hers.

You did what you had to do. Her mission was to locate and free hostages, and get out. With The Reach going public and seen as 'the good guys,' they could easily spin this into an anti-martian incident. What happens when they go public with their version of what happened? People will go on a witch hunt, and make M'gann and J'onn their targets.

[He really is just worried about M'gann, even if the whole Reach and UN press conference has him seeing red.]

I did what I thought I had to do. And so did she. I'd have given them one less thing to hold on to, if I'd... done better.

*deep breath.*

Maybe they will, maybe they won't get enough evidence. I don't... they can do way too much. Not enough information on what they'll choose to.

*oh, he's worried. For M'gann, for Kaldur, for the rest of the team, for Artemis, for Wally, for the entire world, for the part of the league who still haven't come back... he's worried sick and scared, but when was that ever permissible?*

We... we got everyone back, and that's a start, right?

Definitely a start. Good work.

Thanks. But the others definitely deserve a lot of the credit.

[Maybe kind of hard on himself for getting KO'd]

For unknown terrain, unknown enemy forces, and uncertain situation? Everybody did fine.

*except maybe M'gann. God, he hopes that one is fixable.*

We should probably all take up training with Blue Beetle, though. Considering.

Yeah that was... definitely a surprise. Too bad I wasn't awake for it.

Hey. Whatever play they're going for, with going public?

No way is this going to be the last chance to go up against that.

I know. I just... never mind.

Hey, you can talk to me, all right?

It's just... how can we fight them when they've endeared themselves to the public like that?

That's how the team was supposed to work from the start, remember? Stealth, undercover, doing the work quietly where it wasn't possible for the League to intervene directly.

And... maybe we can work out a way to discredit them.

Maybe. That would involve finding more bases and infiltrating them. The media's not just going to take our word for it, especially with what the Godfrey guy says about it.

She... *thumb over shoulder* thinks he's an alien and has been for a while.

You know... considering everything, that wouldn't actually surprise me.

Maybe if we can expose him, it can get easier.

But we'll have to make sure either that he's alone or that we get all of them.

We have to make sure he's one of them first.

Of course. Exposing wouldn't work without facts.

This is a tall order.

We should get started.

That's what we do, right?

And, absolutely. Think anyone would volunteer going back through his shows to pinpoint when he became so... anti-League?

Research? I can handle that.

Oh, of that, I have no doubt.

*slight liptwitch. Not like they've both been trained by the Batman or anything.*

Spoilers for s2ep10 in the comments.

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