The group quickly left the medical bay, herding Jim along with them, stopping in a repaired side room to talk. Superman and Captain Marvel settled near the door to watch, letting Batman and Canary handle this.

"Have a seat, Jim," Canary offered, gesturing to a chair.

Jim shook his head. "I'll stand, thanks."

"Jim," Canary crossed her arms, "you are exhausted. You fought for I don't know how long, and you're definitely injured. Now, sit."

Jim didn't move. "Just bruised," he muttered.

Superman raised an eyebrow. "After the hit you took, you're 'just bruised'? I don't think so."

Jim snorted. "The armor can take a hit like that."

"Enough beating around the bush," Superboy growled taking a step forward. "Who were they and what did they want?"

"Sit down, Superboy," Jim said, once again gesturing to the chair. "You're looking a bit pale. I doubt you've fully recovered from the kryptonite."

"I'm fine."

"Suit yourself, but if you fall down, don't blame me."

"Just answer the damn question."

"They were soldiers of the Krubera, led by Queen Usurna. They wanted to kill me."

"How did they know you would be here?" Batman growled.

"I don't know."

"I'm not buying that anymore. You've lied to us too many times. Who did you tell about the Cave?"

"Only people I trust. I know my allies," Jim said. "Even the ones that weren't my allies in the beginning have my complete trust. They threw their lot in with me. They don't benefit from my death and would have much easier ways of getting rid of me if they somehow came to the conclusion that they needed to. No one else heard a word."

"Clearly someone found out," Superboy replied.

Jim rolled his eyes. "Obviously, but that doesn't mean I know who or how. The only- Oh."

"What?" Canary jumped in, trying to defuse some of the tension. "What is it?"

"There's literally only one person who could have. I should have known better."

"Let me guess," Superboy drawled. "Dave Steele."

Jim nodded lips pressed into a thin line. "Yeah. He'll be long gone by now."

"Dave Steele?" Batman asked.

"He runs a small magic shop in town. Mostly cheap junk, but there's some real stuff in there, too. Jim's done business with him," Superboy answered, keeping his eyes on Jim.

"So, you told him?"

Jim shook his head. "I never told him anything, but I was with the Team when I first met him. His type has a habit of knowing things they shouldn't. Wouldn't surprise me in the least if he already knew the Cave was in use even before then, he just didn't know I was there."

"What do you mean by knowing things they shouldn't?" Superman asked from his place by the door.

"They came prepared to take on the Team and, most likely, the League if they had to. And I can promise you right now, that was far from the last of their kryptonite."

Superman went pale. "How much do they have?"

Jim shrugged. "I'd have to ask around, but I know they have a lot."

"Why?"

Jim turned his attention back to Batman. "Precaution. You never know what you're going to need or who you're going to go up against, and going against the Justice League was… highly probable. At the time."

"Let's bring this back a bit," Canary interrupted again. "The details are all well and good, but I want to know about the bigger picture. Where do you fit in all of this?"

"What should we be calling you?" Batman added on.

Jim frowned at him. "Um, call me Jim?"

"He means your codename," Superboy said. "Your designation. What do people call you when you wear the armor?"

"Oh," Jim said, laughing slightly. "Still just Jim. I don't have any codenames or anything like that. A few titles, but no codenames. No secret identity."

The room fell silent. The heroes that relied so heavily on secret identities to keep themselves and their families safe, to maintain some semblance of normalcy, didn't know what to think. It didn't make any sense. Here they were hiding behind masks and this kid they'd never heard of didn't even have a pseudonym.

"Let's try something a bit simpler," Canary said, breaking the silence. "Superman had a point when he said you never answered him about killing the Krubera. That's a pretty big deal."

Jim's head bowed slowly a soft sigh leaving his nose. "There aren't a ton of options for me. I had no way to contain them or transport them to trial or a holding cell or prison or wherever afterwards. They came prepared, as I said. I couldn't simply run and hide and leave you to your fates, even if there was someplace I could go when I was trapped in a building they were tearing apart. The options were kill or be killed, and I don't want to die. Not yet."

"You shouldn't have to be thinking about that."

Jim looked up at Canary, a small, sad smile tugging at his lips. "Maybe so. But that doesn't change the reality." He shrugged. "I've come to terms with it."

"Why didn't you talk to us?" Batman asked, voice softening.

Jim looked surprised for a moment before answering. "Two reasons," he said. "The big one is that it wasn't mine to say. Yeah, I'm involved, and I'm important, but I'd be one of the least affected by you finding out. The other part is that it's literally in the job description. Keep the secret and keep the worlds separate. I can't do that by running my mouth."

There was another long bout of silence as the heroes processed what Jim had said before Batman sighed again. "You can go home," he said as Jim grinned a million-watt smile, "but you will come back next week to explain in full."

Jim nodded. "That's fair. They might decide there are somethings they still don't want you to know, but I'll just refuse to answer if that's that case. Oh, and keep this off record, will you?"

"And why should we do that?"

"Your security systems have been shown to be… not that great. Things would be beyond just screwed if the wrong people found out."

"Get more specific," Superboy growled.

"The older they are, and the more contact they had with the magical community at the right time, the more likely it is that they already know some things. I'd be a walking dead man if someone like Klarion found out about me and those I protect. So, as I said; keep this off the record."

Batman nodded. "We will."

Jim smiled back and left the room, making his way towards the Zeta Tubes. As he walked, he allowed the armor to fade from his body, leaving only his casual clothes. He glanced around at the repaired walls. He almost couldn't tell they had been damaged, but there were still cracks and holes from time to time, likely places Doctor Fate hadn't gotten to just yet. When he stepped into the mission room, Fate was there, waiting for him.

Jim hesitated at the edge of the room, unsure of what to do. He knew it was customary to kneel in the presence of a wizard, and Fate was well beyond just a wizard, but at the same time he was in a Justice League base, and he wasn't sure he'd even be able to get back up if he knelt right now.

"At ease, Trollhunter," Fate spoke. "You do not need to kneel to me. I have long since grown used to the new customs of this time."

Jim sighed in relief and took a few more steps in. "I suppose you were waiting for me."

"Indeed. You can trust them, Hunter. They will not betray you."

"That's not what I'm worried about and you know it. I know they aren't going to betray me. Not intentionally. They're good people. But more people knowing means a greater chance of mistakes, and the longer I'm around them, the more likely I'll be drawn into their problems. Which will increase the odds of someone I'm really worried about noticing. But you knew all that. You are a Lord of Order after all."

"That is all true. I merely sought to offer you some comfort. My host has made me more aware of how… difficult it is for young heroes. And how difficult it is for their mentors. I imagine your position would be worse, seeing as you didn't properly get to choose."

Jim paused, and let that sink in. "Thanks," he said, starting forward again. Dear god everything hurt so much. At least he could still walk.

"I will be sending the bodies to your training ground. I will also make sure Batman follows his word and does not put the new information in their database."

Jim paused again, looking over his shoulder at the gold clothed sorcerer. "I- Thanks. Just… thanks. I- I should go home and get some rest now. I'll probably be sore for a couple weeks." Jim gave an awkward laugh. Fate only nodded and left to continue his work repairing the Cave.

Jim shook his head slightly, reminding himself that if he just got home, he could collapse on his nice soft bed and not move until someone came to wake him up. Hopefully that wouldn't happen for a few days at least. Jim stepped into the Zeta Tube, letting the bright light surround him and break him into a million itty bitty pieces to be shot across the country and put together on the other side.

The week Jim had to get the council to see sense and give him almost full reign with what he could and couldn't say almost hadn't been enough. Eventually, Blinky managed to convince them by pointing out that while Jim had made mistakes in the past, he had always fixed them, and that Jim knew the Justice League better than anyone by now. Changelings might now more in terms of sheer volume, but that was all tactical information. Jim actually knew them. Even then, there were a few things he couldn't say. Things about Trollmarket and other settlement were completely off limits for the council and Trollmarket's peace of mind.

So, here Jim was a week later, still sore but definitely better than the week before, sitting in the Cave's kitchen with the Team and most of their mentors sitting around him. Wally, surprisingly enough, wasn't in a wheelchair. Something about super speed coming with super healing. The others were all sitting around in varying amounts of bandages (and Robin actually was in a wheel chair) and Gar was… greener than the last time Jim had seen him. Jim wasn't going to ask about that.

"So, where should I start?" Jim asked.

The conversation took several hours with a lot of back tracking when Jim tried to skip over things or simply forgot to say something as they jumped from topic to topic as Jim tried to answer all of the questions as they were asking and failed to clarify what he thought of as a small detail, but they considered a highly concerning statement. In particular, none of them liked the idea of Jim having to kill people and often tried to bring it up again to argue against it until Jim snapped at them. They dropped it rather quickly after that.

Finally, questions were done, and Batman only had one question left. "Everything seems to be in order. You have things under control and there is no reason for the Justice League to interfere. So, what happens next?"

Jim frowned at him.

"Will you cut ties? Or do you want to stay in contact with the Team and the League?" Robin clarified.

"Oh." Jim shrugged. "I definitely can't actually work with you, but you guys are still friends. I'd rather keep visiting, if that's alright with you guys. I doubt any of my enemies are going to strike here again, seeing how this one played out."

Batman nodded, and everyone began to disperse quicker than Jim had expected. Most of the League members left after a quick goodbye to their protégé, and Jim slipped out of the room for a moment to just breath and relax now that the hard part was done.

"Jim?"

Jim twitched, and his muscles tensed. Breath in… and out. He turned to face Canary, heart still racing. A strained smile left his teeth slightly bared rather than the gentle grin he'd been hoping for. "Canary, what's up?"

Canary leaned against the wall opposite Jim. "A few things were on my mind, from back when Claire was possessed." Jim nodded for her to continue. "The portal that opened to send you the ingredients for that cure you made, Zatara saw something like it when he was working on a case around the time Claire disappeared."

Jim's lips pressed into a thin line. "The Dallas case. I overheard you two talking about it when he first brought Zatanna to visit," he explained when he saw her surprised look. "Yeah, it's related. Claire stole a powerful magical artifact from one of our enemies a while ago. The Skathe Hrün, also known as the Shadow Staff. It has a number of abilities, but the only one we really use is its ability to open portals anywhere Claire has an emotional anchor. Usually that means she either knows the place well or there's someone there she cares about." Jim sighed. "It's also a rather dark artefact and using it has had consequences, but it's not anything Claire regrets. Specifically, it corrupted her soul. Dr. Fate fixed and put protections and barriers in place to keep it from happening again. That answer your question?"

Canary nodded. "One more thing."

"Go on."

Canary hesitated, thinking over her words carefully. "It is… highly unlikely that you haven't been affected by what you've been through, and I don't doubt that you lied about a wide variety of things while talking to me both to hide your secrets and to hide how much you were hurting. Just… I want you to know my door is always open. If you need to talk, or if you want to set up formal sessions with me, it doesn't matter. I just want to make sure you're okay."

Jim nodded. "Yeah, I- I probably do need therapy if I'm being honest. I've managed to cope so far, but…" Jim shrugged again. "Let me think about it."

Canary nodded and gave him a soft smile. "That's all I ask."

Well, that's a wrap.

I hope you guys enjoyed the ride, and I hope the ending met your expectations. If you want to chat you can leave a comment, PM me, or send me an ask on tumblr (url= nerdofspades).

Thank you for all of your love and support during this very long journey,

NoS