The motel was the standard example of last-minute cheap living, unfortunately.
Kaldur made sure his weapons were still concealed, out of an awkward force of habit, and turned to Renegade. He was standing on the sidewalk, eyes trained on the skies. No mask, no armour. His face against the pale blue afternoon sky and clouds seemed right, as opposed to the gears and steel of the sub. Mount Justice was in the distance, and Kaldur ached at how close he was. He hadn't gotten this close in almost a year.
"are you coming?" Kaldur called over to his mission buddy.
Renegade didn't move his gaze, a small smile played on his lips.
"my sister made me a promise," he said, "she's sending someone over."
"this mission is strictly the two of us, no assassins."
Renegade chuckled, "I never said the someone was an assassin."
Kaldur frowned.
Renegade tensed and his head flicked around to settle his gaze on a different building, Kaldur followed, too late to see what he was watching. Renegade held an arm out and a bird settled on it. Kaldur thought he saw him grab something from the claws of the bird and tuck it away, but he must have been imagining it.
Kaldur stared at it.
"it's..." he blinked, "an owl?"
"a spotted owl," renegade said, scratching under the birds ear tufts, "her name's Isabel."
Kaldur looked between Richard and the bird. The two together looked... somehow right. It suddenly seemed like the past weeks Richard had been missing something without Kaldur noticing, and now that something was returned.
"you can't bring that in the motel."
"I don't intend to," Richard said, "she'll stay on guard, no one's sneaking up on us with her around."
"you put that much trust in a bird?"
Richard levelled an unamused stare on Kaldur.
"It is a necessary question to ask."
"this is my mission partner," Richard said, "I trust her with my life."
"oh, so you're insane?"
Richard laughed, knuckle trailing along the chest feathers of the owl.
"she's proven herself to me. You don't wanna trust her, then don't."
Kaldur couldn't fight the slight smile that broke through. Richard whistled lowly then nodded towards a tree by the window of the motel room they'd booked. Isabel fluttered off and landed in the branches, cooed, hopped along the branch, cooed again and then glided to the next tree, repeated the process, then rose into the sky in circles around the building.
Richard walked by Kaldur, striding up to the room, a rusting bronze number nailed to the front. He slipped the key he'd got from the front desk into the lock and the door opened with a slight creak. Kaldur followed him in, taking in the furniture as the lights flickered into existence.
There was one window, next to the door. The room was only about 12 foot square, and a small part was cut out for an ensuite- just a sink, toilet and shower crammed side by side- in the far left corner. In the negative space of the cut out was a bench, a kettle and microwave on top with three mugs, a cup of sugar sachets and tea bags. A bar fridge underneath the bench and a small TV hung above. A cabinet was against the far wall, likely with extra blankets, pillows, other things. A chair was pushed into the corner of the right wall, under the window next to the door. A wooden bedside table was slowly crumbling, a lamp on top.
Richard stared at the queen-size bed.
The bed. Bed singular.
"I'll take the floor," Richard volunteered, before Kaldur had quite registered it.
Kaldur looked between Richard, the bed and the window.
"We'll take watch schedules," Kaldur offered, "one sleeps, one takes the chair."
Richard turned to Kaldur with a raised eyebrow, shrugged, closed the door.
"how long will it take you to do the..." Kaldur searched for the words as Richard pulled out his computer from his bag and settled it on the bench, "tech stuff?"
"couple of minutes, tops. After that it'll only need checks every couple of hours to make sure it's running smooth. I'll set an alarm in case someone tries to boot me."
Kaldur nodded, "I think we saw enough on the way here, traffic seems low."
"mmm," Richard leaned over the bench as he got to work setting things up, "It'll still be worth heading out every now and then on a stroll to make sure of that, but it seems there aren't too many around."
"and you're sure our information is reliable, that the leaguers are absent?"
"yes," Richard nodded, "completely."
Kaldur nodded and sat on the bed. He could feel the springs, creaking beneath him, and the mattress was stiff, but he wasn't there for comfort.
"I don't see the point in this," Richard said, Kaldur could hear the frown in his voice, "it won't matter too much when we storm the mountain-"
"I'd prefer to be aware of what we're up against, especially seeing as we can't take a large team." Kaldur answered easily, "moreover, if Superboy is around he will pose a significant threat."
"he may be unavoidable, he lives in the mountain."
Kaldur turned a narrow-eyed stare on Richard's back, "how do you know that?"
Richard shrugged, Kaldur had to be imagining the tension in his shoulders, "just figured. He's a clone and all, no family to bunk in with, unless Superman warmed up to him."
"how did-"
"focusing, talk later," Richard said, fingers starting to fly across the keyboard.
Kaldur allowed himself the bemused eye roll and raised eyebrow- only because Richard had his back turned- and put his attention on the window. Isabel was sitting on the branch again, fluffing up her chest feathers. She spotted Kaldur watching her and stared.
No, she wasn't staring. She was a bird, her brain was the size of a walnut. she wasn't intelligent enough to register Kaldur's acknowledgement.
Nevertheless, her eyes were filled with intelligence that Kaldur excused as not real. Owls were only smart regal birds in myths, in real life they were just as derp-y and simple as any other animal.
Isabel cocked her head. Kaldur glared at her.
He stood and paced the room. When he looked back at the window Isabel had disappeared.
Richard groaned, leaned back from his computer and ran his hand through his hair, "come on," he muttered under his breath.
"what?"
"not you," he grumbled, "stupid server has been updated, I made a mistake cause I thought it would be the same as-" he sighed in annoyance, "never mind, it'll just take me a couple more seconds, I've got this."
"what are you doing?"
"hacking the JLA's system, duh," he huffed, "but some bright spark has gone and updated it. about time, but still."
"you've done it before?"
"plenty of times." Kaldur could hear a smirk in his voice as he leaned over to look at the screen. Several windows were open with lines of code or pieces of software, Kaldur had no idea what he was looking at, "I learned how to hack by getting through this system."
Kaldur frowned at him, "interesting."
Richard shrugged, "whoever did this is good."
"can you still get through?"
Richard chuckled, "oh, you bet, it'll just take longer. But whoever tied these knots has never gone up against my software."
"how much longer are we talking?"
"well, usually I'd have finished about ten minutes ago, now, on the other hand," Richard smirked, "it took me this much longer."
Kaldur didn't know what the sign was that he'd succeeded. There were still windows of code and things he didn't understand, but Richard's tone suggested success.
"now what do you do?"
"download the necessary files and get through the cameras. Nothing too hard. Then we just leave it running to get all our information about who's coming and going through the mountain."
Kaldur nodded, "I'll take first watch."
Richard stood from the computer, levelling his gaze on Kaldur, "you're sure?"
"yes, you didn't sleep last night."
"what part of insomniac don't you understand?" Richard snorted.
Kaldur sat himself in the chair by the window, keeping his gaze from Richard's face. Eventually, the man sighed and sat on the bed, reclining and lying down, getting comfortable. He either fell asleep or had merely perfected the appearance in his many nights attempting to reach it.
Kaldur watched the light leech from the room. The afternoon sun waned, pulled closer to the horizon incessantly by the inevitable turn of the earth. Kaldur liked to imagine it the way the old stories depicted it, a sun god hurtling through the skies in a chariot, so far up above the sea. Only the faintest bit of Helios' power managed to get its grips in Atlantis, but even that small bit was beautiful. Magic had an incandescent glow but the sun itself was warm and everlasting. Magic could die out, Atlantis could crumble, the sea could take the earth or boil to nothing but salted air but the sun would always remain.
And yet it was dragged from the sky, the blue turned orange and pink and white, the clouds changed to illuminated puffs. The sun had been shackled down and pulled away, clawing and gripping at the land before it, scrabbling for purchase, reaching for hope, but all it got was the slowly darkening land it once illuminated, growing ever colder as it was pulled further away. The last rays of warmth were blood-soaked and red, spewing from the wound of the sun's capture, pouring out as a last and final reminder of the glory that was once the mid-day sun. and it will do it all again tomorrow, shoved back into the sky that it once loved, and yes it will be happy to be back until it remembers what awaits it in the end. An endless cycle. A grandiose and bright and sparkling entrance to the world, gold-tinted and blinded to the future. A dark and gaping abyss that it will be wrenched into, crying and screaming.
Eventually the only orange light left in the sky was that of the street lights, a band of it breaking through the blinds and cascading over Kaldur's face, a golden mask over his eyes. A mockery of what once hung in the air.
Kaldur stood and walked into the bathroom, he sat on the floor of the shower. Breathing deep.
He hadn't turned the light on when he'd closed the door and was now stuck in the swathed cloak of darkness that was left. It was cold. He was alone.
It had been cold for a while now. He'd been cold for a while now.
He leant his head against the wall behind him, focusing on his breathing. Ever since he'd started this fool's mission he'd been prone to moments like these. Once everything was too quiet for too long the mind had a tendency to create noise where there was none. The shrill ring of nothing had become the warning bell for his darkest thoughts.
Kaldur breathed out and reached for his magic. His tattoos glowed, warm against his skin, and he let the light fill the room. Watching it with sad eyes. He barely did magic for non-combat reasons anymore, he wondered if he still knew how.
He rubbed a hand down his face, fingers trailing against his cheeks. He whispered words into the air and blew a warm breath into his palm, it lit up in blue, dancing lights. The twirling glow threaded itself between his fingers and he watched it with a watery gaze.
He missed Atlantis. He missed his home. He missed his friends.
He missed his life.
Would his king even welcome him back when this was over? All he had done in the past year... it was treason. He was a spy, a double agent, sure, but it was treason against his king. The king he'd sworn his loyalty to. The king who'd stared at him at Malina island with pain and heartache, begging Kaldur to blame him and not the rest of the league. To blame him and only him. his king had truly thought that all of Kaldur's suffering had been his fault.
Had he gone home to Atlantis, to his wife and child, and told them of his supposed mistake? Had he cried and screamed and wished he could run to Kaldur and beg him back? had he prayed to the gods for an answer? Kaldur did not know, he guessed he likely never would. He expected that when this was over he and his king would never be the same again.
And his team, his friends, his own family of his making, not the one that was pushed onto him by fate and blood alone. What would they think? Would they take him back or turn their backs?
Kaldur would be worried if not for the fact that he knew he deserved only to be scorned. It was not his king's fault, not Artemis' fault or Wally's or Batgirl's. this was all on him.
As he let go of the magic he sighed, dropping his hand. The glow removed itself from the room and left him in the crushing dark.
He stood, took a breath, composed himself and opened the door. He sat in the chair by the window again.
The computer beeped, barely audible, but Richard sat from the bed without hindrance and walked over.
"that's my alarm, three hours," he explained, "I'll check the computer and we'll switch."
Kaldur nodded mutely, looking at the street light outside.
"you okay?"
Kaldur blinked and looked at Richard.
"fine."
"no, you're not."
"are you questioning me?"
Kaldur wanted Richard to yell or glare or lose some form of his endless composure. The man was ridiculously annoying in his ability to school his features to fit the situation and rise to any emotion he needed.
He wanted Richard to snap at him, all he got was an empty stare that held some vague impression of... pity? No.
Worry.
Why was it that Richard could only ever be cold when Kaldur didn't want him to be. Why was he always kind when Kaldur needed him to be an enemy. Richard was an enigma, and Artemis' words about him were always dancing in the front of Kaldur's mind.
"I'm pointing out a lie," he said at last, "what's wrong?"
"I'm fine."
"I used to say that a lot," Richard said, "it was like my catchphrase, 'I'm fine'." He chuckled, "god, that was always such an easy lie. Two syllables, hard to stuff up, and so blankly nothing. 'I'm fine', can mean anything really."
Kaldur looked at him with the blankest expression he could muster. He fell short, once more. Consistently he found he could not express what he wanted to with Richard around. his face could not lie. His eyes were still filled with the self-pity he'd drenched himself in not long ago. Why was it so hard to lie to this man he did not know- should not know?
And yet every time he looked at Richard's face it became that much more familiar, it became that much more... right in a sense. As if Kaldur was always supposed to be side by side with this man.
"tell me what's wrong."
"why?" Kaldur managed a scowl, that was good, that was him getting the acting back, he could do this, "you misunderstand your position."
"I understand it perfectly."
"you are not my friend."
"no," Richard said, with surety. But Kaldur could hear a small piece of sadness and dejection in there. Richard seemed to realise it, too, because for a moment he looked angry at himself, "no, I'm not."
For a moment Kaldur thought he heard the silent, non-existent utterance of 'anymore', but it was wind moving, furniture creaking, his mind making up noises again. Artemis' teasing sprung back into mind. The way she'd suggested everything without saying anything. She was too observant, she could see what Kaldur was feeling before he himself could determine what it was. He only wished she'd have told him, it would make his self-governed journey to figure it out that much easier.
"you know what I am, though? I'm a brother," he allowed the smallest of smiles that disappeared as soon as it appeared, "I've got a sister whom I regularly find sitting on the bathroom floor with a needle in her arm and a monster in her mind. My brother-"
He faltered, changed his wording.
"he's angry, all the time, he can't help it. no one treats him like anything but a bomb about to go off. Thalia's kid has become my little brother, he's only five and already finds things difficult. They're people I care for and look after, they need me there. I've got my own shit, Damian is probably the most emotionally stable person there, but he can't do anything, it's up to me."
He walked up to Kaldur, slumped in the chair, he kneeled down to stare him in the eyes. Kaldur remembered the bright brilliant golden eyes that had stared at him, ringed with green, when he'd lost control in a sparring match. He preferred the blue, and the shadows with the slight bit of orange illuminating the air seemed to give them a depth. Yet, imagining those terrifying irises didn't seem entirely horrific anymore. Kaldur wasn't sure what he thought of them.
For a moment he expected some kind of heartfelt pep talk or a supportive word. That's not what he got.
"but I'm fucking stuck here, with you, instead of alongside people who need me there, where I'd rather be," he said, a scowl trying to break out, "so, if you're gonna start moping and getting distracted, tell me now so I don't let you get yourself killed, cause it's my neck on the line, too, asshat, I don't have time for your stifled emotional maturity."
Kaldur blinked. That had not been what he was expecting.
"so, get over yourself or air your grievances, pick one, move on, sound good?"
Kaldur opened his mouth to speak but couldn't decide on any words to use. Richard raised his eyebrows to emphasise his point as the silence stretched.
"okay."
He nodded and stood straight, then walked to his computer.
"I was thinking of Atlantis."
Richard went still. He was leaned over his computer and thanks to the fact that he'd taken off his jacket his shoulder blades and muscles were pronounced through his shirt. Kaldur could picture his hair falling in front of his eyes.
"were you now?"
Kaldur nodded, well aware that Richard couldn't see it.
"It's beautiful," he said, voice hollow.
"I can imagine."
Kaldur thought that maybe he'd laugh if the conversation was under different circumstance. For now he just huffed a breath through his nose with a smile.
"you can't," he said.
Richard shrugged, "maybe not, but I'll never get a chance to see it."
Kaldur blinked, staring at Richard leaned over his computer. His fingers weren't moving across the keyboard, his hands were still against the desk. It was possible he was merely staring at something on the screen, but Kaldur could see the tension in his shoulders. He didn't want to look at Kaldur for some reason. Perhaps Kaldur was reminding him too much of the family he missed.
"You could," Kaldur said.
Richard's head tilted, then focused back on the screen. He started moving the mouse and typing things, likely opening and closing tabs absentmindedly.
"sure."
"magic can allow anyone into Atlantis."
"uh-huh."
He didn't seem overly interested, like he didn't have a personal want to see Atlantis. The reaction was based more in the fact that Kaldur was offering the visit.
Kaldur looked out the window, trying to find Isabel. He thought that maybe he caught a shadow in the sky, but otherwise he found nothing.
"are you gonna catch some sleep?"
Kaldur blinked, zoned back in.
"of course."
He stood and lay down on the bed, hoping that he'd gain some form of sleep. The nothingness of unconsciousness was something he could really do with.
Dick stared at the box in his hand. He'd asked Alex to send it along with Isabel. He told her not to look at what was inside, just where it was. He wouldn't be surprised if she'd opened it anyway.
He didn't know why he wanted to see it. heck, he didn't know why he'd kept it for so many years.
He opened it to make sure it was still there. it was. A small little oval of sunstone on a silver chain.
Isabel swooped onto the windowsill and fluttered her wings about, Dick startled. How had he lapsed in his attention? He had to stay focused. He slid the box back in his jacket and opened the glass to let Isabel in.
Kaldur must have barely been asleep because he woke almost immediately, the slide of the window as good an alarm as any.
Isabel sat on the bed, pacing along and staring.
"what's going on?" Kaldur said as he stood.
"she's agitated," Dick said.
"someone's coming?" Kaldur reached for his water bearers, sitting on the bedside table, "can you see anyone out the window?"
Dick looked between Isabel and the street outside. He already had all his gear on him, seeing as he was on watch, so instead he checked the computer was fine and turned to Kaldur, glancing between him and Isabel.
"no, I don't think we're in danger."
Kaldur frowned.
"Something's wrong, though, she's found something we need to see."
Kaldur followed Dick out of the door, they locked it behind them and Isabel flung herself into the sky, rocketing through the air as if there were no time to waste. Dick chased after her, Kaldur followed, wondering exactly when he'd decided to trust a friggin' bird.
They turned down a few streets, wandering into the back alley behind a tall building. A party raved on the top floor, Dick could hear it from the ground. He and Kaldur hid down a ways from the back door of the building, peeking from behind the walls of another structure. There were construction scaffolds set up to their right and fire escapes, as well as several architectural features that would make the walls easy to scale. The street lights only gave a small bit of lighting to the location, otherwise it was just the half-moon that illuminated the scene. A couple of cars were parked in the small space between all the buildings, clearly belonging to the business that was holding the party.
Dick took it all in quickly, eyes landing on the scuffle occurring in the area behind the building, which he could recognise as the Whitchester club. Isabel sat atop the back door, on a small outcropping, and stared at the soon-to-be fight.
"what's going on?" Kaldur asked, voice low.
"mugging?" Dick said, eyes narrowing as he continued to watch. A group of five people were backing against the club's wall, clutching bags and attempting to negotiate with a small group of armed people who were leering at them. "no, those are mobsters, Black mask's men. And..."
He trailed, trying to get a look at the faces of the people being attacked. Why would black mask's goons be going after some Randoms out the back of a club?
"this isn't our business, we have a mission," Kaldur said, "let's get back."
Dick didn't turn away, instead he made notes of the weapons he could see. Four guns, all pistols. One man wielded a knife and he saw one of the gunmen had another peeking out from under his pants cuff.
"Renegade," Kaldur hissed, tugging at the elbow of his jacket, "Let's go, that's an order."
Dick raised an eyebrow, not looking back at Kaldur, "chill, boss, it's not like this'll take long."
"what?"
"you come up behind them while I sneak around, the buildings will be easy to climb, I can come round to the victims. You distract and try to get some info, then we take them down, quick. Confiscate their weapons, with magic, I'm expecting that's something you can do?"
"yes," Kaldur said before he could stop himself, then corrected, "Renegade, we need to go."
"you take as many weapons as you can, I'll get the rest, clear?"
Kaldur blinked. What the hell was Richard doing? Helping these random people could jeopardize their mission.
"Renegade-"
Dick wasn't listening, he'd turned back to the confrontation at the sound of one of the people yelping. One of black mask's men had grabbed their bag and wrenched it away, tripping them up and letting them fall to the floor.
"I recognise them," Dick said, finally managing to discern the features, "these are those rich kids, from famous millionaire families, that made the case two months ago against their parents."
"what?"
"their families were working with mobs and they ratted them out," Dick said, pretending the only reason he recognised them was because he saw it on the news. In actuality, he had gone to school with these people. He'd sat next to one in his advanced science class, "Black Mask must have been the gang involved, this is their revenge."
He turned to Kaldur, "decision, now, my plan or do you have a better one?"
Kaldur fumbled for words, trying to think of how to keep his cover, eventually he settled for, "yours'll work."
Dick nodded then turned to the wall and scaled it, quickly disappearing in the shadows. He watched as Kaldur crept closer to the corner to get a look at the slowly building confrontation. Dick made his way higher up so the mobsters wouldn't see him, then jumped to the scaffolding nearby and used it to come round to face the fight from a new angle, creeping up behind the victims.
Kaldur stepped out just as one of the mobsters grew tired of the conversation, leaving behind their attempts at persuading their targets into an easy surrender and instead brandishing their gun much more dramatically.
"hey!" Kaldur called out, drawing attention to him, "put the guns down, leave them alone."
This, of course, only caused the mobsters to begin laughing.
Dick caught Kaldur's eyeroll as he discreetly pulled out his water bearers.
"what are you gonna do, punk?" one of the men spat, stepping forward, "you wanna tussle? Wanna try for some good ol' fisticuffs?"
The mobsters laughed as their friend grinned and hopped between his feet with his fists raised, like a fighter warming himself up.
"aw, he's playing hero, adorable," one called out.
"look at that, little kiddies, your knight in shining armour is here," one said, and latched on to an arm, pulling the unfortunate person connected to it into a sloppy headlock, letting his gun sit comfortably against the temple of the blonde's head.
"run along, little wannabe, before you get hurt to," one said, voice a conniving hiss, "we ain't being paid for your head."
"then I'll make it worth your time," Kaldur said, and his tattoos glowed under his jacket as he manipulated the water of the street. It rose up behind him in small droplets like a beaded wave. Each turned into long slices of water, needles of liquid sharpening to a deadly point.
The mobsters jaws went slack. The one holding the blonde accidentally allowed his catch to squirm free as he stared.
"uh, okay, dude, we don't want no trouble, we ain't paid enough to deal with freaks."
Dick could see Kaldur's grin.
"too bad."
As the wave of water collapsed downwards towards the mobsters Dick jumped and landed on one of their shoulders. The guy whom he'd noticed to most likely be the leader in all the conversation. Dick quickly landed a solid hit to his head as he went down, making sure he was out of the picture, but they'd still be able to grab him to interrogate him afterwards if they wanted to.
The rest of the mobsters ran, but soon found their weapons taken from them as their hands were attacked with needles of ice.
"fuck this!" one shrieked and bolted.
The blonde and the rest of his friends backed up against the wall. One tried the back door but it wouldn't budge.
"no, fuck you!" a mobster yelled as their comrades ran away. He grabbed his knife from under his pant leg and lurched for Kaldur, "and fuck you!"
Dick caught them midway through the hit and knocked them out with three quick moves. Kaldur took on another at the same time.
"retreat!"
Dick turned to see the rest of the mobsters run. All but one, who used the chance to grab one of their targets, jamming a knife under their neck as they held them and backed away.
"not another step!" the mobster warned.
"run," Kaldur ordered the remaining would-be victims, "now."
The mobster was still dragging the body of his quarry away, tears beginning to drop down their cheeks.
"but Jimmy-"
"I'll handle it, go!" Dick ordered. Kaldur's head snapped to him, but before he could give an order Dick had already set himself into motion.
He disappeared into the shadows, giving a shrill whistle. Isabel swooped the mobster, who was still backing away. He shrieked and his back hit the scaffolding. He let go of Jimmy, the boy tried to run, but instead was grabbed by the hair. The man jumped up the scaffolding and dragged Jimmy with him.
Kaldur watched, thinking about what he should do in this situation. This was straying too far into heroics for him to be comfortable with his cover. However, Richard was the one who'd instigated it all...
But what if it was a test?
Nevertheless, Dick wasn't thinking about it. he followed silently as the mobster kept his eyes on Kaldur and his gun on Jimmy. He slowly climbed up to the top of the scaffolding.
The gunman hadn't realised his mistake.
"get in there!" he ordered, elbowing a window and breaking the glass. He scowled and pushed Jimmy towards it then re-aimed his gun on the trembling boy, "go! Black Mask doesn't take failure!"
As Jimmy stared desperately at the window and the mobster and the drop, Dick slid a throwing knife from is jacket. He let it fly, it collided with the mobster's hand and the gun clattered to the floor as blood began to spray from his fingers.
Dick ran from the shadows, throwing another knife that embedded itself in the mobster's thigh. Isabel swooped and the man ducked this time, but he winced right into Dick's clutches. Three hits and the mobster was down-
But he grabbed at Jimmy once more, attempting to use him as a human shield. No matter, Dick batted him away and landed a solid punch to the mobster's jaw, but-
Jimmy went tumbling, right over the edge of the scaffolding.
Dick didn't think, he just jumped. And he was falling, falling, falling...
And his hand grabbed Jimmy's ankle, the other caught the pole of the scaffolding and he twisted to swing Jimmy safely onto the steel platform, only a couple levels below where they had been before.
The mobster would have landed with a thump on the ground, having lost balance and fallen himself, but Kaldur caught him with a pool of water, then quickly knocked him out.
"you good?" Dick asked, helping Jimmy stand.
"uh..." he fumbled over words, "no."
"good," Dick smiled as he patted Jimmy's chest, "means you've still got your wits. You need a hand getting down?"
"yes please."
Kaldur met them at the base of the scaffolding.
"your friends ran down that way, I told them to call the police."
"thanks," Jimmy nodded, looking between the both of them, "are you guys heroes?"
"no," they both answered, with completely different tones.
"well, thank you anyway."
Dick gave him a smile and pat on the shoulder, "go find you buddies."
Jimmy nodded, then frowned as he looked closer at Dick's unmasked face, "do I know you?"
Dick frowned, trying to keep up the act, "nope."
"your face is familiar... maybe we knew each other in school?"
"definitely not, I just have one of those faces, why don't you head off?" Dick said quickly, then pushed him lightly in the direction his friends had gone, "see ya'!"
Dick turned and started walking away without pause, not allowing Jimmy to strike up further conversation. Kaldur faltered, glancing between the knocked out mobsters and Dick's retreating form.
"are we going to further this?"
"hm? No." Dick looked over his shoulder, "we have a mission, remember?"