Aqualad in December 2010

Red Arrow was coerced into joining the Team by Green Arrow. After Artemis arrived, Green Arrow assigned Aqualad, Red Arrow, Kid Flash, and Artemis a mission to track Sportsmaster, who was spotted at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. While on the Bio-Ship, Aqualad was informed by Red Arrow of his real reason for joining the team: to find out who the mole was.

Per Red Arrow's orders, Aqualad quietly pursued Sportsmaster as he headed north by boat. He did not engage, unlike the others. When Sportsmaster retreated back to his base, he dropped bombs in the water to stop Aqualad from following him. Aqualad and Kid Flash decided to follow the tracer Artemis had secretly placed on a passing train. They soon caught up with the tracker, but discovered it was not placed on Cheshire, as Artemis had claimed.

Red Arrow later radioed his location to Aqualad after he discovered the actual hideout location of Sportsmaster and Cheshire. Aqualad did not make it in time to help, but Kid Flash did.

Aqualad bluntly announced their failure to the rest of the Team to find out what the villains were planning. Red Arrow placed all blame on Artemis, his reason being that she deliberately sent Aqualad and Kid Flash on a wild goose chase after planting a tracker on a passing train. Both Red Arrow and Kid Flash were livid. Aqualad stopped the situation from growing any worse and ordered everyone to get some sleep while he would report to Batman.

The Team watched the press conference about the induction of five new League members, specifically Red Arrow. Robin received a message on his gear, which prompted the Team to leave.

Robin had located Cheshire in Asheville, with the case from New Orleans. They traced Cheshire's plane in the Bio-Ship. When they approached the jet, they discovered it had crashed. While investigating the crash, Cheshire appeared, unharmed. With her appearance, the Team was surrounded by Shadows, Mammoth, Shimmer and the Riddler, who revealed it was all a plan to ambush the Team. The Team split up to fight against the adversaries and, after an intense battle, defeated the Shadows, captured Riddler, Shimmer and Mammoth, and procured the case Cheshire was seen carrying.

At the Cave, Batman congratulated the Team for their expedition and took the case with him to the Watchtower to investigate. The Team then discussed how the villains knew they were coming, which tacitly brought up the sensitive subject of a mole. Rocket was confused, and had to be explained to by Kid Flash. Superboy begrudgingly admitted that the suspicions were on him, Artemis, and Miss Martian, to which Aqualad felt was more complicated than that.

Following that discussion, Superboy, Artemis, and Miss Martian each revealed the secrets they kept from the Team. Superboy revealed half his DNA was from Lex Luthor and that he was receiving Shields from him; Artemis revealed she was from a family of villains; Miss Martian revealed she was a White Martian and that Queen Bee was blackmailing her. They were all ordered to go to Santa Prisca.

Aqualad, Kid Flash, Robin, Zatanna, and Rocket waited patiently until Artemis called for backup after she, Superboy, and Miss Martian turned on their handlers. Aqualad and Rocket turned the tide by stealing some of the Apokoliptan technology, which allowed them to trap Sportsmaster and Blockbuster. Lex Luthor and Queen Bee escaped.

While at the Cave, Batman revealed to the Team that Red Arrow was the mole, and that he was cloned by Cadmus shortly after he became Green Arrow's sidekick. Aqualad could not believe it, and decided they had to search for the cloned Roy. After Batman left, Red Tornado attempted to place a piece of Starro-tech on Aqualad, but powered down. Zatanna sensed a modicum of mystic force from both Red Tornado and Batman. Aqualad split the Team up, leaving Robin, Kid Flash, Rocket, and Zatanna behind to try and bring Red Tornado back online while he and the others searched for Red Arrow.

After searching through the computer logs, they knew Red Arrow was in the capital. Aqualad knew how to find his friend; he had equipment caches in many major cities. He found Red Arrow, and after gaining his trust, took him along.

The Team was able to enter the satellite after Red Tornado shut down the security. They quickly took down several Leaguers with cure-tech, but Artemis and Kid Flash had struck opposition in Flash, Aquaman and Green Arrow. Aqualad defeated them by opening an airlock, and then closing it so they were slammed against the wall. With their opponents unconscious and tagged with the cure, they headed to the central hall.