I added the beginning of The Fix episode to this one because it made more sense to me that they would do the mind reading in the barn along with the questions. Anyway, hope you like it, please review!
The next day, Lexcorp announced their partnership with the Reach and opened the farm to the public via tours. At the League meeting, Mallory waited until everything else had been discussed and the new issue had been brought up to present the plans for the base in Smallville. She explained what they had planned and what she suspected about them using the drinks for something else.
Canary looked at her when she finished. "Inferno, where did you find this information?" she asked, her voice concerned.
Mallory glanced at Dick, who shot her an 'I-told-you-so' look. "Do you ever question where Batman gets his information?" she asked dismissively.
"Uh, actually, yeah, if it seems more than his usual amount of sketchy," Plastic Man said.
Mallory shook her head. "Well I didn't hang anyone over a building if that's what you're thinking," she said, and the others stopped questioning her as she continued, "I'm planning on investigating the base tonight, I wanted you to see what's going on though."
Nate looked at her. "No," he said.
Mallory tilted her head. "No what?" she asked.
"We do need to investigate this base, but the team will do it, not you," he said calmly.
Mallory's eyes widened in disbelief. "Why? This is my turf, and it's my information."
"The League can't do anything to draw any kind of negative attention to itself, and I think you can agree that you and Luthor aren't a very subtle combination."
Mallory sighed and slumped in her seat. "I'm about ready to quit the League and go back to the team if I'm going to keep getting blocked like this," she muttered.
"It wouldn't matter," Nate said. "You're associated with the Justice League now. You still wouldn't be able to do anything without the League getting the backlash from your actions. Even sending the team is dangerous now that the public knows about them." He turned to Dick and added, "Which reminds me, maybe you should send some less public members, Vigilante, Arsenal, Impulse, those sort."
Nightwing nodded. "All right. I wasn't going to send Arsenal in the field this soon, but this should be a quiet mission for him to work his way in."
"All right, if that's the last thing for the day, the meeting is adjourned."
Mallory took longer to get up than the others, still mad about being blocked from investigating the base. Conner walked over to her from where he had been standing.
"Tough luck," he said sympathetically.
She stood up, crossing her arms. "It's not fair," she muttered. "I joined the League so I could do more, not sit on the sidelines and wait for something to happen."
"Yeah," he agreed. "I guess some of the team will go to a tour tomorrow. They'll probably go on the last one of the day so they can hide and wait for the place to close."
Mallory rolled her eyes. "Yeah, great. Like that's an original plan," she said.
Conner smiled a little. "Yeah. You know, the base isn't that far from the farm. I'll bet Ma and Pa have already been on the tour at least once."
Mallory suddenly understood what he was saying, and her face broke into a grin. "You know," she said, "it's been a long time since I've been out there to see them. I think I'll go pay the folks a visit. I have some free time tomorrow afternoon."
Conner nodded. "I thought you might," he said, and they went to the zeta tubes to go to their respective temporary homes.
The next day, Mallory went to Smallville as soon as she got out of her last class. She zetaed as close as she could get and took the bus the rest of the way, gritting her teeth at all of the ruts that were still in the road. She hitched a ride on one of their neighbor's pickups and jumped off a mile away from the house. When the car was out of sight, she flamed up and flew the rest of the way, landing on her sand pile out of old habit.
She knocked lightly on the screen down and walked in, announcing who it was and making her way to the living room. Martha came out of the room and broke into a smile when she saw the girl.
"Well, Mallory, what are you doing here? Oh, it doesn't matter, come on in and sit down. Do you want something? I made some pie last night, I can go get you a slice."
Mallory laughed at the rapid fire questions and shook her head. "No, thanks, Ma. Is Pa here? I thought I'd come see you since I had some free time."
Martha eyed her suspiciously. "Sure you did," she said, but she went to the back door and called Jonathan in from the barn. The older man came reluctantly at first, but he doubled his pace when he saw Mallory standing behind his wife in the doorway.
"Well, what brings you out here, as if I don't know," he asked as he greeted her.
Mallory rolled her eyes, smiling. "Is it really that obvious?" she asked as they went back inside and sat in the living room.
"Well, come on now, the Lexcorp farm opens and less than a week later you're here to visit us? You know I don't believe in coincidence," Jonathan said.
Mallory chuckled. "Ok, fine. The League isn't letting Inferno investigate the farm, so I thought Mallory could look into it. Sorry, I should have told you."
The couple shook their heads. "We're just glad to see you, dear. We don't care what the reason is."
Mallory smiled and leaned on the counter. "So, do you want to come take the tour with me?"
Martha hesitated. "I don't know, I don't agree with it being here, so I wasn't going to go."
"Aww, come on. I don't agree with it either, that's the whole point. Look around here, sabotage there, it'll be fun."
Jonathan chuckled. "Well, I'll admit, I am a little curious. I'll go with you."
Mallory grinned and looked at his wife. "You sure you don't want to come?" she asked.
"No, I think I'll just stay here. I don't like the thought of going into some hive of Reach people."
Mallory chuckled and gave the woman a hug. "It's ok, I'll come spend the evening with you after." She looked at Jonathan. "You ready to go?"
He nodded. "Just let me get my glasses," he said.
They were at Lexcorp Farms a half an hour later. Mallory bought them two tickets for the tour, and they went to the waiting area. She recognized the boys immediately, but not all of them had seen her in civies with black hair. The squad was made up of Jaime, Bart, OG Roy, Peter, and Tim. They were looking around, trying to blend in, then Peter spotted Mallory and his eyes widened a little, then narrowed. He and Tim walked over.
"What are you doing here?" her brother asked.
Mallory shrugged, feigning innocence. "Just spending some time with my honorary grandpa. There isn't much else to do in Smallville, believe me."
"I thought the League told you to stay away from here," Tim said.
Mallory shook her head. "No, they told Inferno that she couldn't investigate, and she's not, but that doesn't mean I can't take a look inside. Now go on back to your mission, you don't want people to think we know each other."
The boys sighed, but they did as she said. The tour guide rode in on a tram and stepped out.
"Well, Let's get going! We have so much to see today," she said in a voice that immediately got under Mallory's skin. She and Jonathan loaded onto the front of the tram, and when everyone was on, the tour guide started the tram and talked as they went. "Please remain seated at all times while the tram is in motion, thank you."
They drove into a building with a tinted glass ceiling, and the tram came to a halt. Everyone started to get off and look around at the rows and rows of plants growing. There were tubes running along them that had a pink liquid inside, feeding in to the plants as they grew. There were also Reach people working with the plants, mixing up the liquid, and picking ripe fruits and vegetables. The group came back together, and the tour guide started her speech.
"We've just entered one of our farm's hydroponics domes, where Lexcorp and the Reach are growing the food of the future."
Jonathan crossed his arms and threw an accusing look at the woman. "This could put the rest of the Smallville's farmers out of business," he said.
The woman grinned and wagged a finger at him. "No, no, not at all! The Reach plans to share their techniques with the entire agricultural community." She turned and started walking towards a table with some food on it.
Mallory looked at Jonathan and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I'm sure that's why they're here," she said sarcastically, loud enough for the woman to hear her. The tour guide glared at her over her shoulder, but other than that she ignored her.
"Please, everyone, enjoy your choice of these new vitamin-rich, Reach enhanced produce."
"Genetically enhanced?" Tim asked.
"There's been no tinkering with genes, rest assured. The Reach have ways of drawing out the organism's full potential."
The group started going to the table, and the other guests sampled the produce. Mallory and Jonathan didn't touch it, but she noticed the boys putting samples in bags to analyze later. Tim walked over to the woman and pointed to the pink liquid flowing to the plants.
"What's in those tubes?" he asked. Mallory looked at her, waiting for her gem of an answer.
"Just water, nutrients, and a little Reach slash Leaxcorp love!" she said.
"That love wouldn't include steroids or stimulants would it?" Mallory asked.
"Oh, no, of course not! The Reach don't need to resort to those methods. Now, if you'll all follow me, our next stop is the pluot orchard. That's right! Pluots, in April!"
Peter edged a little closer to Mallory. "What's a pluot?" he asked under his breath.
"A mix between a plum and an apricot. Kind of tastes like a plum without the bitter skin."
"Thanks," he said, and he followed the others on the team as they went to the bathroom. She followed the rest of the group to the orchard, where there were trees getting the same pink liquid fed to them.
There was a tub unattended in here while the Reach attendants plucked the fruit from the trees, and Mallory couldn't help herself. She slipped her foot out of her sandal, and touched a toe to the ground, sending a wave of heat through the ground to the tub, She had her foot back in her shoe before anyone noticed, and the liquid started to bubble over and turn a rusty brown color, ruining a whole tube of liquid being fed to a shelf of plants. The attendants rushed over, and covered the pot to seal in the pink fumes that were coming out of it.
"Um, should we be concerned about that?" one of the guests asked.
The tour guide shook her head. "Not at all! There is nothing harmful to humans, animals, or plants in those mixtures. Our next stop is the packing and shipping plant, where you'll see the Reach's unique way of making sure the food doesn't spoil on its way around the world!"
The rest of the tour, Mallory was looking around the base, feeling useless when she could be finding ways to bring the Reach down, or burning the place to the ground.
Mallory kept her word, and when the tour was over and she and Jonathan got back to the farm, she settled in to spend the rest of the evening and night with the older couple. She felt bad that she hadn't been visiting them more, but they talked her out of her guilt, reminding her that there had been a lot on her plate since Clark and the others left. It was after midnight when Mallory's phone buzzed on the table. When she checked the caller ID, it was Conner.
"Hey, what's up?" she asked.
"Are you still at the farm?" he asked.
"Yeah, why? You coming out?" she asked.
"Yeah, but I'm not coming alone. Alpha ran into some complications, and they made a friend. We need a safe place to ask this guy some questions, so I suggested the barn."
"Ok, I'll let the folks know. How close are you?" she asked.
"We're here," he said.
Mallory looked at Clark's parents. "Uh, this might be a little late notice, but Conner's here, and he brought Alpha squad and a questionable individual, and he's putting them in the barn."
Jonathan chuckled. "Is that the only way I'll ever get to see you kids?" He pushed himself to his feet and looked at Martha. "You stay in the house, we don't know what the situation is."
She agreed readily, and he and Mallory went out to the barn, slipping in right as Conner and Nightwing were ushering a…green…beetle to the middle of the barn.
Dick noticed them first and walked over. He smiled a little when he saw Mallory. "Why am I not surprised?" he asked.
Mallory shrugged and returned the smile. "Oh, I don't know, personal experience maybe?"
He chuckled, then grew serious as he looked at Jonathan. "Thanks for the use of your barn, Mr. Kent. Until we check out this Green Beetle, we can't afford to bring him to out HQ. We've lost too many of those already."
Jonathan smiled. "Well, he's not the oddest thing we've had in this barn. And I'll take any excuse to see one of my kids, and tonight I got to see two of them," he said, putting a hand on each of their shoulders. Conner and Mallory smiled, then looked back at the issue at hand.
"So…what's the story there?" Mallory asked.
"We don't know exactly, that's why he's here. Black Beetle showed up and was fighting the squad, and this guy showed up and helped Blue take him out."
"They were able to defeat Black Beetle?" Mallory asked, remembering how outmatched the entire team had been the last time they came into contact with him.
Dick nodded. "Yeah. Come on, let's hear what he has to say."
They walked over, and Dick looked around, then asked, "Ok, so who are you?"
"My name is B'aars O'ohm, and obviously, I am of Mars."
"Obviously," Tim said, "but it's the beetle thing that's got us wondering. How are you connected to the Reach?"
Green Beetle looked at Blue. "I imagine my story is not dissimilar to yours. On Mars, I am what you would call an archaeologist. Two of your Earth years ago, I stumbled upon a scarab which attached itself to my person."
"Yeah, that last part sounds familiar," Jaime said.
Green Beetle nodded and continued, "from the scarab I learned of the Reach and their plan for the galaxy. Millenia ago, they sent out one scarab to every planet supporting primitive life. The scarab bonds with, and takes control of, its native host, giving the Reach an advanced operative for their inevitable invasion."
"But my scarab malfunctioned, and didn't take full control," Jaime said. "That's why the Reach wants to reboot it by killing me."
"So, did your scarab malfunction too?" Arsenal asked, his tone showing that he didn't trust the Martian. But then, he didn't seem to trust anyone.
"No," Green Beetle said, not seeming to recognize the distrust, "but it was not prepared for the Martian physiology, which allowed me to take control of the scarab instead of the other way around."
"Still, it doesn't explain how you wound up here," Dick said, crossing his arms, and Mallory added, "or why your scarab knew about the Reach's plan, but Blue's didn't."
Green Beetle looked at Jaime. "I do not have an answer for that, perhaps it has something to do with why your scarab malfunctioned, but as for why I am here, for decades, the one you call Martian Manhunter has sent communications from your world to ours. Television signals." He smiled and added, "they are quite entertaining."
Peter grinned and leaned closer to the other team members, whispering loudly, "all Martians love television."
"Indeed," Green said, the smile dropping quickly. "But when it became clear that the Reach were on Earth, I believed my assistance would be required."
"The Justice League will need to confirm your story," Nightwing said, and Tim added, "but for now, thanks."
The beetle bowed slightly, and Nightwing and Robin walked away from the group. Mallory and Conner rejoined Jonathan at the back of the barn, Vigilante not far behind them.
"So, did everything work out?" Clark's dad asked.
Mallory and Conner exchanged a glance, and he shrugged. "More or less. We still need to confirm his story."
"So, how are you going to do that?" Jonathan asked.
"We called Miss M on our way here, she should be here any minute, and she'll look into his mind to see if he's lying," Peter explained, resting his hand on one of his holsters.
"When did you call her?" Mallory asked, surprised the Martian wasn't already there.
Peter shrugged. "Nightwing called her to meet us right after we told him about everything. I thought she would beat us here."
They waited a few minutes before Megan finally walked into the barn with Lagaan at her side, her eyes shifting from Conner to Mallory to Nightwing to the new beetle.
"Hey, Miss M. Thanks for coming. We just need you to look into his mind and make sure he's telling the truth. We would have brought him somewhere else, but…"
Megan nodded and they all stood in a semicircle around Green, waiting for Megan to do her thing. She looked at the Martian nervously.
"I'm not very comfortable with this," she said hesitantly. Mallory tilted her head and looked at Conner, but he wouldn't look back. "Delving into your mind, it…it's an intrusion."
"You have my permission," Green said reassuringly.
Mallory couldn't figure out what was wrong with her friend, and she realized that this wasn't the first time she had refused to use her psychic powers. She'd almost let Conner be killed in their fight with Despero because she refused to brain blast him. She tried to think of something that had triggered anything, but she couldn't think of when her friend had started moving away from her powers.
"We must be able to trust each other," Green continued, ending his sentence with a large, creepy grin that almost felt Joker-like. Megan cringed. "Does my smile displease?" Green asked, still grinning.
'Just a little,' Mallory thought.
"Is this not how humans convey friendship and put each other at ease?"
Conner moved beside Mallory, and she and Dick looked at him. "There has to be another way," he said quietly. Mallory tilted her head, wondering why he was against Megan using her powers.
"Look, I'm not sure what the Martian etiquette is here, but Green Beetle is right. We need to trust each other, which means we need to confirm he is who he says he is. Miss M is our only real option."
Lagaan walked over to Megan and put his hands on her shoulders. "Go for it, Angelfish. Reading this guy will be a piece of crabcake."
"Please, proceed with the mind link," Green said.
Megan sighed, and her eyes glowed white. They were clearly having a psychic conversation for a moment, then Megan turned back to the others and announced, "Green Beetle is on our side."
"Now, let's get to business. What do you know about the additive that the Reach is putting in the plants?" Nightwing asked.
"They are growth hormones and supplements, they are not what you need to be concerned about. What you should be asking is what they are doing with the product. They are making drinks with them, they have the Reach's additive in them which contains microscopic quantities of two chemicals: one is a dopamine polymerase, and the other is an adrenaline inhibitor. Taken over generations, they will slowly addict the entire population to Reach and make the people of Earth placid. Literally incapable of revolt."
"That matches up with the plans in the file perfectly," Mallory said, leaving out the last part that had hinted at a diluent to neutralize the additive.
"Ah, I see. Still I am…tested," Green said.
Nightwing sighed. "Look, we're sorry, but–"
"No, it is wise. As they say on your world, 'all cards must be off the table'."
"On! On the table!" Jaime blurted, then he looked to the side and muttered, "Uh, I mean, never mind. Ignore me."
"On the table. Yes, that does make more sense," Green said thoughtfully. "So here is my final card on the table. My scarab informs me that the additive also contains a mitochondrial marker which works as a metagene tracer, allowing the Reach to identify and isolate potential superpowered individuals."
Dick and Mallory looked at each other, their eyes widening. "Making it easier to harvest and weaponize the metagene," Mallory said.
"The file didn't reveal that. Thank you," Nightwing added.
"Can't we go public with this?" Jaime asked.
"I'll pass it on to Captain Atom, but the Leaguers' credibility is at record low right now. We'll probably have to bide our time." He looked around at the team. "Good work everyone. Meeting adjourned."
The team started going to the bioship, Green Beetle with them, but Mallory and Conner hung back to spend the night with the Kents, and Dick stayed with them to talk.
Peter looked between Mallory, Conner, and Dick. "Can I stay?" he asked.
They all shook their heads. "Sorry, buddy," Dick said with a smile, and Conner added, "school night."
Mallory smiled at her friends, appreciating that they also took responsibility with the younger boys. After all, Peter had been around them for more than half his life, he saw them all as older siblings, not just Mallory. She winced, thinking about all the people who would be drinking those additives, putting themselves on the Reach's radar without even realizing it. They had already given powers to five kids, and that was proving to be a problem. How would the world handle everyone having powers? Was it even possible?