Ok, we're getting close. The team will come in in a few more chapters, and then we will start getting into the real story.
"Clark!"
Bruce snapped his fingers in front of Clark's face, bringing him back to the present.
"Sorry, I have a problem that I need to fix," Clark apologized. It had been three days since Torch had told him about her powers, and he hadn't seen her since, or figured out what to say to her when he did see her.
"Sorry, Clark, but it'll have to wait. We need to focus on the team right now. I need them to investigate the new Lexcorps weapons base, but it's too heavily guarded. They're going to need a distraction, a big one. No one on the team will be able to create a distraction of the size that they will need without being recognized and starting a legal battle with Lex."
Clark cocked his head to the side. "I might have just the answer," he said slowly, turning the idea over in his mind.
"Well, what is it?" Bruce asked after a moment of silence.
"You remember me telling you about that girl helping me in Metropolis? The one I call Torch?"
"Mallory Alita Desdemona Johnson. Yes, I remember."
"You know who she is?" Clark asked, surprised despite the fact that Batman pretty much knew everything.
"I looked her up the first time you mentioned her," Bruce said, his voice bored. "I assumed you knew too, considering who her fath-"
"No, I didn't," Clark interrupted, "but that's not what's important. Her powers would be perfect for what the team will need. It will just look like an accident, and she can make sure that the fire doesn't get put out until the team is done investigating. And if she does get caught, she can get herself out of the situation easily, and no one knows her, so it wouldn't cause tensions between the league and the public."
Bruce nodded slowly, thinking it over. "I want to see her in action," he said finally.
"Well, I don't see her every day. Can't you just hack into something and find footage on a streetcam or something?"
"I already have," Bruce said with a slight smile. "I want to see her in person. I'll give you a tracer and tail you until you find this Torch."
There was something else on Bruce's mind. "What?" Clark asked. Bruce sighed. "This girl, what is she to you?" he asked. Clark's eyes narrowed with suspicion and he didn't answer. "You've worked with her for 5 years. Is she you're protege? Sidekick?"
"I don't know, Clark admitted.
"Well, whatever she is, Conner isn't going to like it. You've been pushing him away for months while you've been working with this kid, and here you go out of your way to help her. He's your- "
"He's NOT my son!" Clark interrupted angrily. "I need to go. Give me the tracer."
Bruce sighed and handed him a tracer discreetly, making sure no one in the cafe was looking. "I'll see you tonight," Clark said, and stormed out of the restaurant. Bruce smiled a little and muttered, "I'll see you first."
Mallory sighed at her desk, struggling through Algebra 3. Her school put an exaggerated importance on academics, so when she wasn't supposed to be training or sleeping, she was in classes or studying.
"What's wrong?" Jen, her best friend, asked.
"I'm tired I guess. And I still need to train after this," she answered. Jen smiled sympathetically. She didn't envy Mallory. Her pyrokinesis controlled her life, the way she had to train every free second.
"I train a little later," Jen mentioned, turning back to her work. Jen's ability was limited telekinesis and telepathy. It took a lot to make her powers work, so most of the time she was just a normal person.
"You want to come to my room and watch a movie tonight?" Jen asked absently as she copied an equation off the board.
"I can't tonight. Maybe tomorrow," Mallory replied. She was going to Metropolis tonight, but she couldn't tell her friend that. Jen nodded, and Mallory turned back to her work.
She grinned as the wind blew her hair out of her face. Nothing could compare to flying.
She flew around her usual spots, but they seemed deserted.
"Well, duh," she muttered to herself. She was like a lighthouse, warning any criminals in the area of her presence. She landed in a park, careful not to catch any plants on fire, and started walking. It took half an hour to find any action, and less time to take care of it. If things kept going like this, the city would run out of criminals.
She wandered out of the park and decided to go to the restaurant that she'd gone to with her parents. On her way there, she saw a figure kicking a lump at the opening of an alley. She looked closer and saw that the lump was a man, and the figure standing over him was pulling out a gun.
"No!" Mallory yelled, running over.
The mugger looked up, and the split second hesitation was all she needed. She sent a thin rod of fire at the side of the gun, heating the metal. The mugger dropped it and took a step back. Mallory trapped him in a ring of fire and walked over to the victim. She flamed her body and face so she could keep a little secrecy.
"Are you all right, sir?" she asked. The man shakily got to his feet.
"I'll live," he mumbled, holding his ribs. He started searching his pockets, and promptly pulled out his phone. "I'll call the police," he offered.
"No!" the word escaped her before she could stop it. Of course he should call the police, he was hurt, he'd just been attacked by a man who was currently trapped in fire, of course he should call. But she'd never dealt with the cops before as a hero, or whatever she was. The news called her a vigilante, and didn't seem to trust her.
"Are you hurt?" she asked, keeping her voice level. The man cursed under his breath.
"Never mind, just, wait for a few minutes to call, all right?"
She didn't wait for the answer. She flew straight up. She kept the fire on the ground going, and with her other hand she made a fiery S in the sky. He'd have to see it and come. He'd know that she needed him. She stayed in the sky, maintaining the two fires.
Superman came a moment later and they hovered over the building to talk.
"That's new," Superman mentioned, indicating the flaming S. Mallory closed her fist and it disappeared.
"Well, Batman gets a bat signal, I figured it would work the same with you," she said with a smile.
"Well?" he asked, and she laughed. "Yeah, I forgot. I caught a mugger. I think the victim needs medical attention. I didn't want to be caught up with the police and the reporters."
Superman nodded and promptly descended. Mallory put out the fire on the ground and landed on a roof, watching as Superman dealt with the victim and then flew the two men off. She was about to jump over the side when a shadow fell over her. She whirled around, fireball at the ready. The light from the fire revealed an emblem of a bat on the chest of a grey costume.
Mallory gasped and her blood ran cold as she looked further up. The cowl with the pointy ears loomed over her intimidatingly.
"Batman?"
It came out as a question, even though there was no question as to who this was. He indulged her with a nod, however, and she closed her fist.
"What- why are you in Metropolis?" Mallory asked, trying to slow her heartbeat but she couldn't.
'I sound stupid' Mallory thought, her asking The Batman what he was doing in a different city as if he was doing something wrong.
"I came to meet you," he said simply.
She gaped, mouth open, for a full minute. Superman flew down beside Batman. "You should have waited for me," he said, voice low but Mallory heard.
"She was about to leave," Batman replied in his bored monotone.
Mallory's eyes darted between the two heroes. "What's going on?" she asked, feeling brave to say anything in front of Batman. The men seemed to be deciding who should tell her, and finally Batman decided that he was elected.
"There is a team of young heroes that run covert missions. We're here to talk to you about joining that team."
"What , like Robin?" she asked sarcastically, then blanched when she saw that she was right. "Wait, you want me to be on a team with Robin, the guy I've seen take down three guys at a time without any powers?" Superman nodded slightly. "When?" she asked.
Batman eyed her. "You'll need a superhero persona, a costume. I can help with that. Come with me." He started walking to the edge of the roof. Mallory stared after him, not at all sure that she should follow the man dressed as a bat into the night. She looked up to see Superman watching her, looking slightly amused.
"Go on, Torch. He's not as crazy as he looks."
She smiled a little. If Superman vouched for him, then surely he was all right. She hurried to the edge of the roof and jumped, following Batman as he swung across the city with his grappling hook.
He brought her to an unmarked building. They went in through a skylight and Batman showed her a computer.
"It's a fabricator. What are your powers, exactly?" Batman asked. "Fire," she said simply.
Batman turned to the screen and started typing some things. Finally, he got out of the chair. "You design your costume and press this button. It will be made over here, and you can take it with you," he said. "It will be fire proof and bullet proof, so it won't burn up when you use your powers. Here, this is a communicator. It's a line from me. I'll contact you when we need you."
He turned and walked to the skylight, pulling out his grappling gun.
"Oh, and one more thing."
Mallory turned to face him.
"You should get out of that school. It's a dead giveaway. Go home to your parents. That will be a better cover."
With that he was gone and she stood, staring after him in shock. He knew who she was. Which more than likely meant that Superman did too.
She shook it off and went to the computer. She designed her costume and made it, then flew back to the school, excitement rising in her as she clutched the bundle to her chest. She stashed it in her closet under a pile of shirts she'd been going through, then climbed into bed and fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.
Clark found Batman on the roof of the Daily Planet waiting for him. He flew over and landed in front of him.
"Well?" he asked expectantly.
Batman nodded and said, "She's good for having taught herself. It's a good thing the school gave her those training clothes."
Superman waited, sensing there was more.
"She has to have a story to tell the team. They don't know her, have never heard of her, and she doesn't have a mentor in the league."
Clark resisted the urge to disagree with him. It would only complicate matters if he offered to be her mentor. Besides, mentors usually had similar abilities to their proteges.
"Who do we know that has her abilities?" Superman asked.
"Just Fire, and she isn't a member of the league, so we would have to admit her before Torch could join the team to make the story believable, which we can't do before the team's mission," Batman mused. He sighed heavily. He'd need to get back to Gotham soon and run a patrol.
"Couldn't we just say that she-" Clark's voice trailed off and he realized that Batman was right. The team stood on rather delicate ground when it came right down to it. Kid heroes themselves weren't uncommon, but solo kid heroes were pretty much non existent. They all had a mentor.
"Maybe we could just bring her in and hope for the best," Clark said tiredly. It was getting late, but they needed to finish talking over the details of putting Torch on the team. The mission was only a few days away and the girl would have a lot to do in the meantime.
"What's her city?" Batman asked after a moment.
"What?"
"What city is she from? Is she going to be from Metropolis? Because that wouldn't be hard to put you and her together, especially with the publicity she's been getting lately."
Clark shook his head. "The news makes it sound like Volcana turned over a new leaf. Torch is fine. We could just tell the team the truth. She was never really on her own, so it wouldn't send the wrong message."
Batman nodded slowly. That would be the simplest short term solution, but he worried about what Superboy would do when he found out that Superman had a sidekick.
"I guess we'll tell them the truth," Batman conceded. He hadn't slept in three days and he didn't have the energy to come up with a better solution. He pressed a button on his utility belt and his plane leveled off next to the building.
"I'll contact her tomorrow about figuring out the details," Bruce called over his shoulder as he climbed into his plane. The top slid shut and he flew off towards Gotham.