Ok, so we've got some team bonding in this chapter, and another mission. Remember, the italics mean it's being said in the mind link. I hope you like it, either way, please, please, please review.
Mallory leaned back on the sofa, nursing a bruised arm, black eye, and general all over achiness.
"You'll be fine in a little while. I always am," Wally told her, bringing her an ice pack. She took it and adjusted it on her cheek. The spot where Conner had hit her a few days ago was still painful, and the bruise had turned yellow and green.
"Yeah, thanks, but I don't have speed healing like you do."
He laughed. The rest of the team was still training, but Black Canary had put Mallory out because of her injuries and fatigue. She was trying so hard to catch up to the team, but she just wasn't there. In the few days she'd been on the team, everyone had tried to help her, but it was clear that it would take time, and she wasn't sure she had the patience for that.
Wally sat on the couch by her feet and turned on the tv. Out of everyone on the team, Mallory liked him the best. They'd become good friends in the short time they'd known each other. He was different than the others in that he was fun and a bit of a clown.
Robin threw Megan to the ground and the two walked over to the couch to wait for the others to finish their fights. Robin plopped down beside Wally and snatched a handful of pretzels out of the speedsters bowl. Wally angled the bowl away from the boy wonder.
Megan perched on the arm of the couch by Mallory and looked at the bruise on her face.
"I remember my first few weeks. I was horrible at fighting. Well, I still am."
Mallory tilted her head up so she could see Megan's face.
"Thanks, but I wasn't even sparing with one of the good fighters," she said, not looking away from her green friend.
"Hey!" Wally said, punching her leg. Robin cackled and took Wally's distraction as an opportunity to grab more pretzels.
"At least he doesn't take it easy with you," Megan said, looking pointedly at the boys.
Wally looked up, and Robin snuck a few pretzels without the speedster noticing. Mallory almost laughed, realizing he was making a game of how many pretzels he could get.
A loud grunt followed by a thud brought everyone's attention to the training floor. Superboy had thrown Kalder and now Artemis was fighting Conner solo.
Since there was an uneven number of people on the team, Black Canary had started pitting two against one to help with teammate fights. Conner stopped using super strength and he and Artemis spared as Kalder made his way over to the couch.
The team turned back to the TV and suddenly Wally yelled, "Hey!"
Mallory looked at his empty bowl and burst out laughing, the action sending shooting pains across her face and her side where the bruise from the lightning strike was still tender, but she didn't care.
Robin was nowhere to be seen, but his cackles echoed through the room. Wally ran to the kitchen and was back in a second with his bowl refilled. Robin leapt down from the rafters and made for the sofa.
"Nope," Wally said, a playful glare on his face. He pulled Mallory over by the ankle, and she said down the sofa.
"Hey, don't drag me into this," she complained playfully, but she got into a sitting position and crossed her legs, one hand still holding the ice pack. Robin sat on the other side of her.
Artemis jumpkicked at Conner's chest and landed her target. He took a step back and she crouched and spun kicked, knocking him off his feet.
"All right, the last one standing is Artemis," Black Canary announced. She saw the team comfortable on the couch and changed her plans. "We'll pick up with this tomorrow," she said, and zetaed away.
Artemis and Conner joined the team by the sofa. The TV was playing Megamind, and no one objected. Artemis came from the back of the sofa and slid into the space between Wally and the arm, the spot that wasn't occupied. Mallory idly reached for a pretzel.
"Hey, I put you there so I could eat in peace," the speedster complained, his usual grin on his face.
Mallory shrugged. "My services come at a price," she said simply, returning the smile. Wally grumbled a little, but he didn't stop her from taking one every now and then.
About halfway through the movie, Wally detected a crunching sound and looked over to see Robin with a handful of pretzels.
"Dude, seriously? How?" Wally asked. His friend smiled under his sunglasses and didn't answer, or even turn away from the screen. Mallory reached into the bowl, but Wally stopped her hand.
"You're not doing your job, so payment is cut off," he said.
Robin offered her one from his stack. "I'll get more," he assured her with a grin.
"Dude, your arms aren't even long enough to reach. How are you doing that?" Wally asked, half serious.
"Oh, come on Wally. Bats never tell their secrets," Artemis put in.
Wally sped ate the rest of his pretzels and put the empty bowl on the coffee table.
At the end of the movie, the team turned to Robin when they heard crunching. He had a handful of pretzels.
"Dude, seriously? You had pretzels in your utility belt?" Wally asked, figuring it out before anyone else. Robin couldn't contain his grin, but he still didn't say anything.
Mallory leaned back contentedly. This was so much better than being at the school.
Mallory woke up to the feeling of falling. She bolted upright to find herself on the floor next to the sofa. Wally was looking down at her apologetically.
"Sorry, but we have a mission," he said.
Mallory nodded and got to her feet groggily. She followed him to what looked like a conference room and they sat down at a long table. The rest of the team was there. Batman stood at the end of the table, a holographic screen pulled up with a map of Kaznia on it. Mallory cocked her head to the side, studying the map.
"The Kaznian Regent has been working to restore trade with the US after it broke off relations with the country a few years ago," Batman said.
"I thought the Regent stopped the fake peace attempts after Corben tried to steal the Lexcorp battle suit back in the day," Mallory interrupted.
"The Regent recently put in a claim that Corben wasn't in connection with him when he did that. And since Corben has never tried to reconnect with Kaznia since he became Metallo, other countries are starting to believe him. The president could have to start relations back up if he gets out voted at the World Leaders Convention. I'm sending you in to gather intel that will link either John Corben's theft or metallo to the country or the Regent personally. If that fails, the US will either have to open up to Kaznia or go to war with them."
"When do we leave?" Aqualad asked.
"Tonight. Oh, and one more thing. If you are caught, it will not look good for the US, so keep a low profile."
Aqualad nodded and the team filed out. When they got to the training room, Mallory turned to the zeta tube. "I'll be right back," she said, "I just need to grab something." She didn't wait for an answer. She zetaed to her neighborhood and ran home. She ran in her house and found her parents out on the patio.
"Oh, Mallory, good, you're home. How about s'mores tonight?" Darrin asked. He was arranging the kindling in the newly finished fire pit.
"Oh I'm sorry, I can't stay," Mallory said. She snapped her fingers, lighting her thumb, and lit the kindling.
"Thanks," Darrin said.
"Why can't you stay?" Elaine asked.
"I have a mission. In Kaznia."
Her parents dropped what they were doing and gave her their full attention.
"Really, Mallory? Of all the places to go, why there?"
Mallory chuckled at her mother's question. "If you want to put out a fire you wouldn't look for it in the ocean, would you?" she countered with a smile. Her mom didn't return it, so she cleared her throat and moved on.
"It's fine, guys. It's strictly recon. Grab intel and go. In and out. I'll be fine."
She checked the time and took a step backward.
"I really have to go. I just came home to tell you guys that I probably won't be home tonight, and to grab something from my room."
Elaine and Darren exchanged your glance, then Darren nodded his consent.
"Be careful, sweetie. We love you," Elaine said.
"I will, I promise. I love you too," Mallory replied, then dashed to her room. She went straight to her closet and pulled out her costume and a black beanie. If she was going to have to hide in the shadows, she would need something to cover her hair. She hurried back to the zeta tube and arrived in the main room in full costume. Everyone else was in their stealth gear, so she hit the button on her belt and changed from orange and black to black and red.
"Is everyone ready?" Aqualad asked. Everyone nodded in turn and the team hurried to the hanger to board the bioship.
"We're almost to the Kaznian border," Miss Martian announced.
"So, what exactly is the plan here?" Superboy asked, voicing what everyone was thinking. Aqualad and Robin exchange a glance.
"Miss Martian and Robin will go to the regents office. Megan will give him cover while he looks. Artemis will be in the building watching the hall to give them advanced notice. The rest of us are on perimeter."
"And if something goes wrong?" Artemis asked.
"We get out," Robin said simply. No one said anything else.
Mallory started tucking her hair into the beanie, absent-mindedly looking out the window. She'd never been outside the US, and it seemed strange that she was going to Kaznia on her first foreign trip.
The bioship stopped and Inferno looked up. The teens strapped onto the hooks from the ceiling and were lowered just outside the perimeter of the Regents mansion.
"All right, Miss martian, link us up," Aqualad ordered. Miss Martian put a hand to her head, her eyes glowing white, then dropped it to her side.
"Is everyone online?" she asked through the link. A chorus of yeses followed the question.
"All right Robin, Artemis, Miss Martian, go on in. Use extreme caution, there is no telling what kind of security measures the Regent could have installed," Aqualad instructed.
Robin grinned. "Please," he said as he and the girls walked off, "I've been breaking and entering since I was born." They disappeared into the darkness and Aqualad turned to the remaining team.
"We need to set up a perimeter, watch who enters and exits, and provide backup should they need it," he said. "There is only one way for people to get in or out without going over the wall." Aqualad continued. "Inferno, Kid Flash, you watch the drive. Superboy and I will patrol the wall."
Mallory and Wally watched Calder and Connor disappear, then turned to position themselves by the gate.
"Should one of us be on the other side?" Mallory asked.
Wally looked around. "I can see fine from here."
"KF, get on the other side," Robin's voice suddenly said.
"You don't even know what we're talking about," Wally countered, but he sped to the other side anyway. Mallory could just barely see his face from where she was sitting in a bush.
"I'm literally reading your mind right now. I know." Robin replied.
"Stay focused, both of you," Aqualad interrupted.
"All right, we're in," Robin said.
"In the building? Wow that was fast," Mallory said.
"No, in the region's office," Robin corrected, and Mallory could almost hear his smug look over the link.
"There are very few guards along the wall," Aqualad mentioned, his voice suspicious.
"Is the Regent here?" Artemis asked.
"No, he's at the world leaders meeting," Robin said.
"Then maybe that's why. He probably brought the guards with him," Superboy said.
Mallory shifted her position, trying to get more comfortable. She hated stakeouts. She simply didn't have the patience for them.
"Heads up, you have a guard on his way to the office," Artemis announced.
"All right, Megan, tell me when he gets to the door," Robin said.
"How much do you have?" Kid Flash asked.
"The download is barely halfway done, and I'm still going through the paper stuff," Robin replied.
"Are you just downloading everything?" Wally asked.
"Yeah, we can go through it at the cave." Robin replied distractedly.
"Robin, he's at the door. But I don't think he's coming in," Megan said.
"All right. Tell me when he's gone," Robin said.
"Guys, I hear a car coming," Superboy announced.
Mallory stopped to attention, her eyes trained on the road leading up to the mansion. The estate was built to be easily defended, so the end of the wall marked downhill terrain. She could see the car in the far distance.
"I think you've got some time. I'll tell you when it gets to the gate. We need to be thinking about leaving soon," she said.
"The download has 25% more, and I have a few more drawers to go through." Robin replied.
"Everyone remain calm," Aqualad ordered, his calm voice practically echoing in their heads.
"Yeah, guys, stay whelmed. If worse comes to worse, you all go wait in the bioship and I'll finish up here," Robin said.
Mallory couldn't help but smile. He had a point, he didn't really need them to get the information. She checked the progress of the cars. She could tell that there were three now. They would be at the gate in a few more minutes.
"Hey, guys," Robin said. His voice sounded strange. "I just found something."
"Well, what is it?" Wally asked after a minute.
"It's an email from Lex Luther. It says that they are still having some sort of disagreement about the price of that battlesuit Corben stole."
"But that was years ago. You would think that they would have worked something out by now," Mallory remarked, keeping an eye trained on the cars.
"There's more. It says that if Lex doesn't get payment, he will seek retaliation," Robin said.
"What can he do? I mean, it's not like he can sue the Regent for not paying him for the suit. It was an act of treason just setting up communications with him," Artemis pointed out.
The cars pulled up to the gate and stopped.
"Something feels wrong," Megan said.
"I know. This doesn't make any sense. The deal went down a decade ago, and Lex is just now getting around to dealing with it?" Robin replied thoughtfully.
"No, with the link. Something feels very wrong," Miss Martian said, a sense of urgency in her voice.
Mallory looked at the cars. Someone was coming to the gate to let them in. There was a hooded figure in the passenger seat of one of the cars.
"KF, do you see that guy in the second car? He isn't wearing a uniform like the others are. I can't see him very well from here. Can you?" A second later Mallory felt his alarm shoot through the link.
"Miss Martian, shut the link down!" he shouted through the link.
"What's going on?" Artemis asked, panic in her tone.
"Shut the link down! It's Simon!"
The link went dead instantly. Mallory sat completely still, her heart pumping, feeling very alone without the constant chatter in her head. The hooded figure looked around.
Wally was suddenly beside her. She opened her mouth to whisper something, but he put his hand over her mouth and shook his head, his usually lighthearted face dead serious. The figure looked over at them. Mallory didn't dare breathe. She didn't know who this guy was, but she had felt her teammates' alarm at the mention of his name.
His face was white, and he looked sort of frail and sickly to her. Then he made eye contact with them. He pulled his hood off his head and she paled. There was no skin over his head. It looked like a glass case showing off the man's brain.
"We need to go now," Wally murmured in her ear. He grabbed her arm and started running. She stumbled after him until they were out of the brush, then he simply scooped her up and started running top speed around the wall.
"We need to find the rest of the team," he said. She nodded and kept her eyes shut against the wind. The thrill of going at the speed of sound was unmatched, but she wished she had goggles or something.
They came across Superboy first. Wally planted his feet and skidded to a stop.
"Simon's here. We need to get everyone to the bioship. Now," he said, not bothering to put Inferno down.
"I'll get Aqualad. You go get the rest of the team," Superboy said.
Wally nodded and started running again. He got his speed up, then ran over the wall and straight into the mansion. They came across Artemis and Wally stopped and put Inferno down.
We need to get Robin and Miss Martian and go," Mallory said.
Artemis led the way to the Regent's office. When she opened the door, she was lifted into the air and thrown against the wall. Inferno jumped into the room, fireball in hand, and came face-to-face with Miss Martian. They both sighed in relief and Megan let Artemis down while Mallory extinguished her fire.
They filed into the office and Robin looked up from his work. His algorithms were running on one computer screen, and on another a download bar showed that the file transfer was almost done. He was standing over an open drawer of a file cabinet.
"I'm almost done," he assured them.
"Dude, we need to go. Simon's here, and he knows we're here," Wally told him.
"Then help me go through these files. I've taken dozens of pictures of incriminating documents that say he's doing every kind of under the table deal, stealing from the country, killing enemies, but the only thing I've found linking him to Luthor was that email, and it doesn't specifically say that they're talking about the battle suit. We still need to go through all of his computer files, though."
Kid Flash started speed searching for any paper files connecting the Regent to the battle suit. When he finished, he said, "This guy is a whole nother level of corrupt."
"Did you find anything?" Artemis asked.
"No, nothing we can use. I guess we'd better hope he had something on the computer."
Artemis suddenly held up her hand, halting the conversation. Robin moved silently to the computer. The download was complete, so he pulled his flash drive out and put it in his utility belt. Mallory listened. She could hear what Artemis was worried about. Footsteps. They came directly to the other side of the door. The doorknob turned slowly and deliberately.
"Come out, come out, wherever you are," a calm voice said eerily.
Robin motioned to the window. Miss Martian started to call the bioship, then stopped. She couldn't use her psychic powers without risking Simon entering her brain.
Mallory leaned in close to Megan's ear.
"If I carried one, could you carry the other two?" she asked. She knew she couldn't carry more than one of her teammates. Miss Martian nodded.
Mallory tapped Artemis on the shoulder and grabbed her arms, wrapping them around her neck. Artemis tightened her grip and Mallory leapt out the window. She flew, but the initial amount of fire was off because she hadn't figured on Artemis' weight. She corrected the problem and looked over her shoulder. Miss Martian was levitating the boys. They flew up to where the bioship was floating and went in through a hole in the floor.
"I'll go get Superboy and Aqualad." Megan said, and she flew back down.
"This is wrong," Robin said, falling into his seat. "Simon works with Queen Bee. Kaznia isn't in relations with Bialya, so was he here to try to help the Regent, or hurt him?"
"Luther could have sent Simon to the Regent to get him to pay him the money," Artemis suggested.
Robin raked a hand through his hair. "We'd better hope it's that simple. We don't need any more world powers working with the Light."
Mallory kept quiet. The only person she knew that they were talking about was Luther, and she didn't know about him being on the Light, or even with the Light was.
The hole in the floor opened and the rest of the team flew in.
"We need to get back to the cave and go through these computer files," Robin said. Miss Martian took her place and they started for home.
Batman was waiting for them at the cave.
"You're late," he said, his face unreadable. Mallory stifled a sigh as she followed Artemis to the kitchen table and plopped down, resting her head in her hand.
"We came across some unforeseen complications,"Aqualad explained. Robin joined Aqualad and Batman to talk about the mission. They were near enough to the table that Mallory could hear what they were saying.
"Simon was there." Robin said.
Batman's face remained unchanged, which got under Mallory's skin. Did the man have no emotions? She pity Robin for having to work with him.
"Did you get the information you were looking for?" Batman asked.
"I found a print out of an email with Lex Luthor talking about a transaction that never went through. It didn't say it, but it's talking about the battle suit. I didn't get a chance to look through the computer files." Robin pulled the flash drive out of his belt and held it out to his mentor.
"We can go through this faster in Gotham," Batman said, and he and Robin went wordlessly to the zeta tube.
"Did I miss the part where Batman reacted to the fact that Simon was at the Regent of Kaznia's mansion?" Mallory asked.
Kalder sighed. "No, he did not give one."
"Who is Simon anyway?" Mallory asked, leaning back in her chair.
Kid Flash straddled the chair across from her. "He's a psychic that works with Queen Bee of Bialya. He wiped our memories once through our mind link, made us forget six months. He also was behind the whole Qurac/Bialya merger thing. Every time we've gone up against him we've barely managed to come out on top."
Mallory nodded it slowly. She remembered the story of Qurac wanting to give itself to Bialya. It had been all over the news a few months ago.
"So why was he in Kaznia if he works for Bialya?" she asked.
"No, he doesn't work for Bialya. He works with Queen Bee. There's a difference," Artemis put in from her place a few chairs away. Connor and Megan sat down at the table now to join in the conversation.
"I don't understand," Mallory admitted.
"Queen Bee is a member of the Light, a criminal organization that has been behind everything we've fought since we got Conner out of the pod at Cadmus. She can control men from a short distance, which is why her army is completely made of men and how she managed to get so powerful. If Simon was there to help Lex, then it means that the Light is looking out for each other's personal interests instead of focusing only on their big plan. That would be bad enough, but the Regent wasn't there, and the whole world knew that. So that could mean that Kaznia is working with the Light, and that they could have known that we were coming," Wally explained.
"So it looks like we're back to the mole thing,"Artemis said dryly, rolling her eyes.
Mallory tilted her head, not sure if she should ask.
"Red Arrow thought that there was a mole on our team," Aqualad explained. "He thought it was either Artemis, Megan, or me. Then Red Tornado turned on us, and we thought he was the mole, but turns out he wasn't," Connor put in.
Mallory sat back, eyeing the members of her team. She'd only know them a short time, but she trusted them with her life, and she found it hard to believe that they would betray the team.
"Why did he think that?" she asked.
"Sportsmaster made a comment that could have meant he had a tip from the inside."
Mallory let the tension out of her shoulders.
"Is that all? You had me worried for a second. It just sounds like a criminal trying to throw his opponent off balance. If he really had a mole, I think he would have kept it quiet and not said anything to give it away. If there really was a mole, then the enemy wouldn't want to risk losing their source of information." She remembered all of the things Volcana had said during their fight, trying to get inside her head. And it had worked.
Aqualad nodded. "That is what I thought as well. But I had to consider that Sportsmaster could be telling the truth." He shared a glance with the rest of the team that told Mallory there had been trouble over the theory.
"So should we do anything else? I mean, we didn't really succeed in the mission if we didn't bring back anything the League can use," Mallory said.
"Robin and Batman will come up with something," Conner said boredly. He got up and started walking towards his room. As he left, he muttered, "They always do."