Last chapter before the team comes in! And I really want a review, so if I don't get one I might kill off Torch. So review to save her life!
"What!?" Jen asked, staring at her.
"I'm going to visit my parents. It's their, uh, anniversary. That's why they called yesterday," she repeated to her friend, stuffing some jeans into a duffle bag.
Mallory hated lying to her friend, but she couldn't exactly tell Jen that Batman had told her to go to Central City to become part of a young superhero team.
"Mallory, you've gone back to your house once in the three years I've known you, and it was a long ordeal that you stressed out over. What's really going on? It's not like you to be so spontaneous," Jen said. Mallory closed the duffle and pulled out a rolling suitcase.
"It's nothing. I just miss them and I think I finally have enough control over my powers to go visit them at the house." Jen watched Mallory closely. "Well, what's the hurry?" "I told you, their anniversary is coming up," Mallory replied. She let some of her excitement bubble to the surface as she zipped the suitcase shut. "I can't wait to get going," she admitted. She started walking around her room, looking for things she'd forgotten.
"But you hate flying," Jen commented, stacking the duffle on the suitcase and wheeling them to the door. "I hate planes," Mallory corrected distractedly. She turned to see Jen looking at her strangely. "That's what I said," Jen said. "Oh, right, um, I went on a hot air balloon once, it was fun," Mallory said, her heart quickening. Jen nodded, but she didn't look convinced.
"I think I have everything I'll need," Mallory said quickly, trying to distract her friend from her comment.
"I have to go train," Jen told her, looking at the time. The friends shared a quick hug. "I'll be back soon," Mallory told Jen. "You'd better," Jen replied with a smile. Jen walked her to the end of the hall, then the girls went in opposite directions. Mallory left the building to get in the car that would take her to the airport, and Jen went down the dim hallway towards the training rooms.
Mallory stood outside her parents house, staring at the familiar porch, the cheery plants positioned so they would have the maximum amount of sun. She looked at the yard. The grass had regrown, but she remembered the day of her 5th birthday party so well. The first time she'd started a fire.
It had been terrifying, but the looks on her parents faces had been far worse than being consumed by the flames. The fear, uncertainty, terror, as they watched the flames leap out of her hands and burn all around her. She looked away.
"It's fine," she murmured to herself.
She struggled up the porch steps and tried the door. It was open. She walked in quietly. It looked more or less like it had the last time she'd visited. She put her phone and wallet on a table by the door and wheeled her bags off the main hall.
"Mom? Dad?" she called. She heard Elaine squeal from the kitchen and smiled as her parents rushed to meet her. They crushed her in hugs and petted her hair until she was sure it must be flat for once. "Oh, I'm so glad you finally decided to come home," Elaine said finally.
Mallory felt herself being led down the hall and followed her parents into the kitchen. There was a cake on the cooling rack, and icing waiting to decorate it.
"I wanted to have it ready for you when you got here, but you're early," Elaine said, almost like she was apologizing. Mallory smiled, but there was a nagging at the back of her mind. She needed to tell them why she was here. She looked between the faces of her mom and dad, the happiness overflowing. She couldn't take away from it.
"It looks good. I can't wait to try it," she said, pushing the guilt aside. She'd tell them later, after she settled in and things calmed down.
"Well, dear, why don't you go start to unpack. I'll start dinner and then come up and help you," Elaine said. Mallory nodded and started to go, but she turned back and hugged her parents in turn. "I missed you guys," she told them, fighting tears. Elaine smiled and Darrin ruffled her hair. "We miss you every day," he told her.
She got her bags and went upstairs. She pushed her door open with her foot and set her bags in front of the closet. She smiled and walked around the room. She'd been at the school for 10 years, and on her rare visits to the house she hadn't felt the need to redecorate, so the room reflected her personality when she was younger.
The walls were a pale yellow, the desk decorated with little figures of animals. A swing chair hung in the corner, a small white bookshelf held her favorite childhood books, along with an assortment of books that her parents had bought while she was at school for her to read when she came to visit. Her bed used to have a lace canopy over it, but she'd taken it down on her first visit home, terrified that she would catch it on fire while she was sleeping.
She ran a finger over the framed picture of her and her parents the day they'd signed the adoption papers. She stared at the beaming three year old sadly. That girl had no idea what was ahead of her. She was just a kid, realizing for the first time that someone wanted her. Mallory felt the tears prick behind her eyes, even as her insides heated. It wasn't fair. That little girl should have had a normal, happy childhood with the people who loved her.
She felt a hand on her shoulder and jumped. She turned to see her mom, sympathy in her eyes. Mallory looked away and blinked until the tears were gone.
"I wish you could have stayed with us," Elaine said softly. Mallory gave her a sad smile.
"Yeah, me too."
They started unpacking silently. Around the middle of the first bag, Elaine started some small talk, asking about school and friends and telling her things that had happened since her last visit. Mallory talked with her mom, enjoying the chance to have time just the two of them. When they finished, Elaine walked over to the door. "I need to finish dinner," she said regretfully.
"I'll come down in a little bit to help. I'm just going to change," Mallory told her. Elaine nodded and shut the door behind her. Mallory locked the door and pulled off her clothes, revealing her costume underneath. She peeled it off and put it in a box at the top of the closet and put on a pair of shorts and a T-shirt. She walked downstairs and saw Elaine pulling a roast out of the oven.
"Mom, you want me to do anything?" she asked.
Elaine set the pan on the stove and closed the oven. "No, dear, I think everything's ready. Would you go get your dad? I think he's on the patio."
Mallory went to the back door and peered out the window. Her dad was kneeling down next to a fire pit. She walked over and said, "Hey, I didn't know you were putting in a fire pit." Darrin looked up and chuckled. "Seems kind of pointless to put a match shelf on it with you here," he said, getting to his feet. Mallory laughed and snapped her fingers, lighting her thumb. "It does seem like a waste, doesn't it?" she said, putting out the fire. "Oh, mom sent me to tell you that dinner's ready."
They walked in together. It felt so good to feel like her life had some semblance of normal to it. Of course, it was only an illusion, but it was a nice feeling. They ate dinner, then went into the living room. While they watched TV and made small talk, Mallory planned what she was going to say. When it turned 9, she turned the TV off and sat so she was facing her parents.
"I need to talk to you about something," she started tentatively. Her parents looked at her expectantly and she could feel her nerve leaving her.
"I'm a superhero," she blurted, then cringed. That was not how she'd wanted to tell them.
"What are you talking about, dear?" Elaine asked.
"Ok, so you remember when you came to visit me and we went to that cafe in Metropolis? And you asked if I was the vigilante the news people were talking about?" she asked her dad. He nodded slowly. "Well, I was. Am. I'm a vigilante that works with Superman in Metropolis."
Her parents shocked looks might have been comical if so much wasn't riding on the outcome of this conversation.
"I-I don't understand," Elaine stuttered, but Darrin half smiled and said, "So, it was you. And you know Superman?"
Mallory chuckled. "Yep. He gave me a name. Torch."
"How long have you been doing this?" Elaine asked, her head spinning.
Mallory let out a huff. "Oh, I think about five years now," she said, watching her parents' reactions.
"Mallory, I don't like the sound of this, and I don't like the fact that you kept it from us for so long," Elaine said. Mallory glanced at Darrin, wondering why he wasn't more upset about it, before saying, "I know, and I'm sorry. I guess I was just afraid that you would want me to give it up. It comes so naturally to me, and it has really helped me get a hold of my powers. After a while, I guess I kind of forgot that I hadn't told you, and then it just felt like I'd been doing it for so long, what was the harm in you not knowing."
It sounded bad, and she could see that neither of her parents liked answer.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you before. I'm telling you now because, well, first it's long since time that you knew, and second, well, really this is the main reason, I've been recruited to join a team of young heroes, the sidekicks. The only one I know is on the team is Robin, but I know there are more sidekicks, so maybe Speedy and Kid Flash and Aqualad."
"Who recruited you?" Darrin asked. He didn't like the idea of his daughter being on a team of all boys.
"Well, I think Batman, but Superman was with him, so he probably put my name in, or however they decided to pick me."
Darrin didn't like that, either. The nut from Gotham City looking up his daughter, making a special trip to Metropolis to tell her to be on a team that as far as he knew was all boys. And he was sure that those boys were different from normal kids, with all that they had surely seen on the streets. Of course, Mallory could have seen some of the same things for all he knew.
He studied his daughter. She looked more at peace than he'd ever seen her. This hero thing must really mean a lot to her. And it gave her the confidence to think that she could come home without hurting anyone.
"Well, when do they want you?" Darrin asked after a moment.
"In the next few days," she said calmly. Her parents stared at her.
"How long have you known?" Elaine asked.
"Since night before last," she told them. Darrin sighed. "Have you told us everything?" he asked.
She thought for a minute. "I think so. If anything else comes to me I'll tell you."
"All right. Why don't you go, uh, clean up the kitchen and let us talk this over?" Elaine said. Mallory nodded and dutifully left the room. A few seconds later they heard the water running in the kitchen and turned to each other, keeping their voices low.
When she came back twenty minutes later, Elaine said, "So, you have a costume?" Mallory nodded eagerly. "I want to see it. I don't want you running around in anything skimpy like those other women heroes do. Honestly, I don't see how they manage to fight when noth-"
"Other women heroes?" Mallory interrupted, looking between her parents.
Darrin smiled. "You have our permission. But." Mallory looked at him expectantly. "But, you should consider this as more of a trial run. If anything happens, you quit. If anyone‒ disrespects you, you quit and they'll have me to deal with. I don't care what powers they have, no one is going to mistreat my baby girl."
Mallory beamed. "I love you," she squealed, slinging an arm over each parent.
"I want to see your costume," Elaine said again, and Mallory dashed upstairs and was back in less than a minute.
Elaine nodded her approval. The costume was sturdy. It was orange, with black boots that came to just below her knees and a black belt around her waist with a triangle on it. At the top, black trimmed the neckline, which was a high V, and the sleeves, which cut off at her shoulder like a tank top, leaving her arms bare, revealing toned muscles. Black gloves that went up to her wrist covered her hands, completing the look.
"Batman said I should wear a mask," Mallory mentioned.
"I think I'd feel better if you did," Darrin told her. "And not to be picky, but your hair is‒unique. Shouldn't you do something about that?"
She twisted a lock of fire-red hair around her finger. "I'll talk to Batman," she assured him after trying to come up with a solution. He nodded.
Mallory was about to go back upstairs when she turned. "Oh, I forgot to tell you something," she said. Her parents looked at her suspiciously. "What is it?" Elaine asked. "If the team thing works out, I'll be staying here permanently."
She watched her parents faces light up before going upstairs to change. She pulled out the communicator and pressed the button. She heard a click that meant someone was on the other side.
"Where do you need me to go?" she asked.
"Superman will pick you up tomorrow and bring you to the cave. Wear your costume under civics," Batman told her, then the connection cut off. Mallory set the comm on her bedside table and laid out her clothes for the next day, excitement building in her, so much that she felt like she might explode.
She put on her old training clothes and opened her window. Cool night air spilled over her into her room, and she dived into the night and soared straight up, letting her excitement fuel her fire.