Revelations [Rewritten Version of 'The Big Secret']

Chapter 9

While the rest of the team were making rounds around the mansion. Aqualad was on guard duty right now. He stood against the locked balcony in Dick's room while said boy was reading a book. They were in that position ever since Kaldur started his shift half an hour ago.

The team decided that each one of them will take shifts and stay with Dick for at least an hour before switching with someone else. The others would either make rounds or sleep if it was night or if they were on night duty. They managed to convince Alfred to lift the third rule but only for guard shifts. Aqualad was on shift right now since he didn't decide to go around his room and unwind being the type of person who took his missions seriously.

Dick sneaked a glance away from his book and saw that the leader was just staring out the glass door. Though it was locked and bulletproof, the Atlantean has been standing there the whole time, refusing to even acknowledge the red velvet sofa beside him. The thirteen-year-old understood that the super was just being cautious but after glancing and seeing the position they were in, decided that the super was taking his job a bit too seriously.

The younger's sigh caught the attention of the Atlantean and said hero turned to glance what was wrong. Dick temporarily closed his book, remembering what page he was in.

"You know you can sit down and watch some television right?" the thirteen-year-old said.

"It is my job to watch over you until the League finds the culprit who tried to take your life," the leader said formally.

Dick just chuckled, unaffected by the words of the other. "Well seeing that all the windows of this place are bulletproof and that there are also guards roaming around this place and CCTV cameras watching twenty-four-seven. You guys were just sent here for safety measures since no one knows who my assailant was, for all we know is that they could be a person who could shapeshift through walls."

"And that is why we cannot put our guard down," Kaldur said, using the sayings of the boy to give a reason for his actions of being too on edge. "We are not sure what we are up against and for the safety of you and the other occupants of this building, it is our job to take our mission seriously especially since lives are at stake."

Dick nodded, understanding the reason on the rigidness of the team leader but he still refused to back down. "I understand your reasoning but isn't it wise to also be grounded and level headed? You don't have to stand there all rigid and serious, it's okay to joke around sometimes."

If Wally were here, the redhead would be saying that he would be such a hypocrite at times.

The Atlantean took into consideration what Dick just said and moved from his place by the balcony to sit on the black couch beside the bookshelf. Although some books caught his eye, he just sat down, still cautious but not as stiff as earlier.

Dick chuckled at this and since he wanted Aqualad to not be on edge, he decided to pause his reading and quickly ripped out a piece of paper from his notepad on his nightstand and place it in the page he was at. He settled with having a conversation with his leader will fix the tense atmosphere.

"So," he began. "What's it like to be part of a team of superheroes?"

He wanted to cringe at that, among all the question he could think of why that? It makes him sound like a nosy spoiled brat. Oh well, act the part he was assigned to– the thirteen-year-old ward of a billionaire who is helpless and defenseless and needs protecting. He has to play this role from start to end.

"Well, as a team leader, it could be stressful for a handful of times so it is even more stressful for me since the lives of not only my team but also the lives of innocent citizens are in danger," Aqualad confessed. Although he wasn't team leader, Dick understood what Aqualad was saying. The constant dependency of having a plan and to make the right choices was a heavy burden especially for someone their age. "Though it may be rough, I serve my King until my last breath and fight until the end with my teammates."

Dick wanted to say that he felt the same but he couldn't risk outing his identity like that so instead, he just nodded like he understood everything but only to a certain level. Just because he wasn't Robin right now, Dick Grayson also felt a similar weight on his shoulders.

"I somehow understand you," he admitted. "The constant eyes that watch and follow you despite not knowing everything. The need to act as if nothing was wrong and everything was grand and dandy when its the complete opposite. I understand to some extent."

Aqualad nodded, he couldn't imagine always being the center of attention by just being connected to someone rich and powerful.

After that, the two of them just started to talk with one another until it a knock from the door made them pause in their conversation.

"Come in," Dick said aloud.

Without wasting another second, Wally came in holding a tray of food.

"Hey, babe," the redhead said with a smile on his face. "I brought you dinner, I somehow managed to convince Alfred to let me bring up your food."

"Let me guess, you used the "my boyfriend is sick, please let me take care of him"?" Dick asked with a smug smile on his face. He knew the answer when Wally blushed a dark shade of red.

Aqualad, who was still on the couch, watched the whole thing, a bit amused at how his

teammate was acting despite him flirting with girls all the time. Finally realizing what position he was in, he let out a cough to remind the two that he was still here.

Wally turned to face him and blushed even harder when he realized that not only his teammate but his leader was there and just saw the whole thing.

"A-Aqualad!" the speedster yelped. "I- uh... Alfred said dinner will be ready in five minutes! Yeah! He told me to call everyone down, I already ate early and will be taking guard duty right now! Yeah! That's it!"

Aqualad smiled a bit at the redhead but Dick just outright laughed. Shacking his head in amusement, the Atlantean stood up and left the room. When the door promptly shut closed, Wally quickly placed the tray of food on the nightstand and threw himself on the side of the bed, covering his face completely while his boyfriend was laughing his head off, finding his embarrassment highly amusing.

"You do know that you should have expected someone from the team to be here right? You guys did decide to do shifts," Dick snickered. Oh, how whipped he was for this boy.

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AN:

Wow! Another update in one month?! Yes! Not 100% sure if I'll have two updates per month but I definitely plan one update a month! And I just wanna say that if any of you like BTS, I started a new fanfic about them and its an AU! If you guys are interested you can find it on my Wattpad or my Ao3 account! Bye!