22 Chapter 21

-[Star City]-

-[Dante]-

"I hear you had an…altercation with Roy. Do you want to talk about it?" Dinah asked Dante.

A day had passed since the mission and Batman had no doubt informed Dinah of what happened. They were currently having dinner when Dinah decided to bring it up.

"It's nothing serious. I just don't see the reason he should get special treatment." He answered, playing it off.

At her confused look, he continued. "I heard about what happened in the hall of Justice. He threw a tantrum and stomped out like a petulant child. Ever since then, he has shown no ounce of respect for the team and yet they feel like they owe him the world and try to please him. Like his opinion is the most important thing in the room."

"They?" She asked for clarification.

"Green Arrow, Wally, Robin to some extent…It ticks me off." He said as he took a bite out of his food.

"It's rare for you to get this upset but I sort off get what you mean. But you also have to see it from their perspective as well." Dinah said, getting a dry look in return.

She laughed. "Wally, Robin, Roy and Kaldur, they've been friends for three years. They bonded. Of course they were upset when Roy left but that doesn't mean they aren't friends anymore."

"Aren't you supposed to be on my side?" He asked jokingly, pointing the spoon at her.

"I am." She answered before adding. "Sometimes."

"Traitor." The amused look she gave him didn't diminish as he stared at her in faux astonishment.

"So, how are things with you and…?" he trailed off, not exactly knowing how to finish the question.

The sigh Dinah let out, spoke of how it was going. "We've talked. We didn't break up but things are just a bit…strained."

"I'm sorry, for all the trouble I caused." He apologized, genuinely sorry.

How could he not be sorry? Though he didn't exactly have a favorable opinion of Green Arrow and his rather…incompetent…former protégé, he didn't like seeing Dinah sad.

"Hey, it's not your fault." She said.

"It kinda feels like it is." He countered but the woman didn't budge.

"Well it's not." She argued. "I'm the one who made the decision so the blame lies with me."

They sat in solemn silence for a moment before she let out a sigh. "Everything will be okay. I promise."

As Dante took a deep breath and opened his mouth to speak, his eyes suddenly widened as a high frequency sonic scream fired from his mouth.

He was only barely able to turn his face away, just barely missing Dinah as the contents of the table were blown away along with the table itself, smashing into the wall.

Quickly covering his mouth, he turned to Dinah who had her hands on her ears with a shocked look on her face.

"Well that's new." She muttered, still in shock.

'What the hell?' He thought with his hand still over his mouth.

Dinah immediately walked to him, placing her hand on his shoulders. "Calm down. Take slow breaths and focus on anything other than…that."

Following her instructions, he forcibly calmed himself. It was too sudden. He had honestly given up on inheriting her 'Canary Cry' after it didn't manifest for so long.

He could still feel it trying to let loose even with his mouth shut, though the urge had reduced considerably.

"Come on. Let's get you somewhere where there isn't a risk of the roof falling on our heads." Dinah said, Dante agreeing as he got out of his seat.

-[Kaldur]-

He was currently in an abandoned apartment building in Washington. After Speedy went solo, he installed equipment caches in major cities whenever possible. This was one of such places.

Turning the knob on the door to one of the rooms, he found it locked. Stepping back for a moment, he proceeded to kick the door open.

Inside, he found Red Arrow facing him with an Arrow drawn only to relax when he saw who it was.

"Kaldur? What are you doing here?" Roy asked as Kaldur walked in.

"I'm merely here to talk." The atlantean said politely, causing Roy to arch an eyebrow.

"Okay…so what do you want to talk about?" Roy asked in confusion.

He could have contacted him through the cave's computer system or through other means but this was something he had to know in person.

"Dante." Kaldur started, getting a noticeable frown from the archer.

"What about him?" The irritation in his tone was obvious and clear.

"I have been made aware that you attacked him without provocation. I simply want to hear your side of it?" Kaldur asked.

Though logically, Dante had no reason to lie, Kaldur was someone who disliked unnecessary conflict. He wanted to hear what Roy had to say before coming to a conclusion.

There was a brief widening of Roy's eyes. "Oh, so he went crying to you for help. What a loser."

It was as good as an admittance. He didn't even make an effort to cover it up.

"So it is true." Kaldur confirmed as Roy didn't say anything else. "Why? Why would you do that?"

"You said he was strong. I wanted to see how capable he was for myself." Roy said casually.

"And firing an explosive arrow was the best way to do that?" Kaldur questioned with a frown, getting an unrepentant shrug from the archer.

"Not the best but it was the quickest way. I have to say, I wasn't impressed. If anything, I can take him." Roy said.

"That is not the issue here. You cannot simply decide to attack a fellow hero to satisfy your own curiosity." Kaldur chided.

"Whatever. Still don't get what Batman was thinking making a newbie like him the leader. He's a liability. Who knows what Cadmus programmed into their clone." Roy said in an accusing manner, causing Kaldur's frown to deepen.

"I am aware that you dislike him but I ask that you refrain from speaking about my team leader in such a manner." He said in a stern tone, slightly surprising Roy.

"I also ask that you make amends with him. Seeing as how you attacked first, Dante reacting in such a manner is understandable." He added, leaving out the part of him being unwelcome to join the team until further notice as well as the fact that with Dante's skill set, their altercation could have ended worse.

As someone who had witnessed Dante in action, he was aware that had Dante been a more violent person, Roy would be severely injured for a while. He had watched his leader turn a robot like Mistee Twister into a flat piece of scrap metal, the robot that he along with Robin, Kid Flash, Superboy and Miss Martian had trouble dealing with.

"Yeah right. I'm not apologizing to that brat." Roy denied, Dante's words from before obviously still angering him. "Who does he think he is? Calling me incompetent…"

Seeing that Roy wasn't budging, Kaldur could only shake his head with a frown. "I see. That is unfortunate."

With that, he turned to leave the room, aware of Roy's eyes on him. 'Roy, what happened to you?'