So, I forgot to mention that Captain Cold's family are mine, they don't really exist in the comics as far as I know. Also, when I was writing Captain Cold and Heatwave, I had the Arrowverse versions in mind, not the Captain Cold in the YJ series. Anyway, hope you like this chapter. Please review. I would love it if a new person would review this chapter.
It was three days before Elaine and Darren let Mallory go back to the cave after the kidnapping. Even though Mallory had assured them that she could have escaped at any time and was never really in danger, they hadn't budged on their decision. It had actually been a nice vacation from reality, pretending to be normal for a few days. Now, though, Mallory was ready to get to the cave.
She was in her civvies and practically running to the phone booth. She had just gotten there when a familiar voice yelled, "Hey, Mal, wait!" She turned to see Wally walking over.
"What are you doing here?" she asked. She'd never seen him at this zeta tube, and she'd never really heard of Flash or Kid Flash in this part of Central City.
"I should be asking you that. This is my city, yours is Metropolis."
Well, he had a point.
"I'm visiting relatives for the week," she said, not a lie.
He nodded and she went into the phone booth, shutting her eyes against the light. When she opened them again, she could see that something was wrong. The team was standing around a holographic screen. At that time of the day they should have been training. "Recognized, Kid Flash, b03," the computer announced behind her.
Robin turned to her. "Have you seen this?" he asked grimly.
"Seen what? What's going on?" Mallory asked, her stomach starting to tie up in knots.
Robin made room for her in the circle and she took her place hesitantly, her eyes trained on the holographic screen. It was a press conference. Lex Luthor was at a podium.
"She calls herself inferno," he said with contempt. Mallory's heart quickened.
"She broke into my office and held me there. When I called for backup, she took them all out. She killed four men in front of me. I count myself lucky that she didn't kill me too."
"Mr. Luthor! Why do you think she kept you alive?" A reporter yelled at him.
"I don't know. I would assume to spread the word, or perhaps because she didn't think I would have the courage to tell anyone about it. But I will not keep this city in the dark, even if it means putting my own life in the line."
Cheers erupted from the crowd. Mallory clenched her fists, feeling a fire rise up in her, her burning anger just barely controllable. She didn't notice the concerned glances Megan and Wally sent her way.
"Excuse me, Mr. Luthor," a female voice called over the ovation. Lex's features didn't change, but something in his eyes did. "Yes, Ms. Lane?" he asked.
Lois Lane stepped closer to the podium. "Do you have any proof of any of this?" She smiled a little and added, "After all, you tried to warn the public about Superman when he first showed up, and look how that turned out."
The smile that Lex gave her didn't match the blazing hatred in his eyes.
"Of course, Ms. Lane. I wouldn't have called this press conference if I didn't have proof."
He clicked a button on some sort of remote and a huge screen came on behind him. It showed footage of Inferno taking out two of the guards, the other two lying on the ground in the background. It showed her taking them out much easier than she actually had. It showed Mercy stepping it, and Inferno aiming fireballs at her and Lex as she moved towards the window.
The sound had been cut from the video, but when she got the the window, it came on and showed her saying, "Oh, and Lex? It's Inferno." Then she jumped out the window and the camera showed her flying off.
Robin turned off the feed and Mallory was painfully aware of their stares. She couldn't do this right now. She gritted her teeth, her skin itching painfully, begging to hit something, begging to burn something. She longed to go to Metropolis and take her anger out on Luthor, but that wasn't an option.
Finally, Robin said, "Well, Mallory?"
The team waited for her answer. She took a calming breath, but it didn't work.
"I didn't kill anyone," she ground out through clenched teeth.
"Why were you in Luthor's office?" Wally asked.
Mallory sighed. "It was just a routine patrol. I saw a mugging and went down to stop it. I got hit in the back of the head and woke up in Luthor's office. Turned out the whole mugging was just a trap. Luthor offered to put me on his payroll. When I turned him down, he told his goons to kill me. I took them out, but they were alive when I left. I didn't kill anyone."
She looked at her teammates' grim faces, for some reason lingering on Wally's and Robin's.
"The video didn't show anything until after I'd burn through the ropes," she added.
"When was this?" Kalder asked.
"Two nights ago, after we got back from Central," she said.
"Is that why you haven't been here the last few days?" Artemis asked. Mallory nodded. Robin pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Well, you're wanted now. We need to figure out a way to clean you. We'll have to go to the Lexcorp building and recover the footage from before you got out of the ropes," he said, already planning how to do it.
"Wait, there's more," Mallory said. Again all eyes were on her. "Luthor knows I'm on the team. He has pictures of me with you on the missions I've been on, and he was asking me why we were in Kaznia. He'll be expecting you to try to clear my name."
"Perfect," Artemis grumbled.
"Recognized, Superman, 01, Batman, 02," the computer announced. Mallory's heart lept to her throat, and for a moment she considered running. But she stood her ground and watched the adult heroes stalk over to her. She'd never seen Batman's eyes so narrow.
"Start talking," he ordered, his voice deadly. Mallory fought the urge to gulp. She didn't trust herself right now with her skin on fire.
"Look at the security footage. I'm not going through it again."
Even Robin looked shocked that she'd talked like that to Batman. He glared at her, and she glared back. This was not the day to test her.
"Mallory," Superman said, but Mallory turned on her heel and headed for her training room. It was fireproof, and she needed to let some anger out.
Clark stood behind Batman, watching the security footage of Mallory's explanation. Wally had gone after her, and Clark found himself grateful that the task of calming her down hadn't fallen to him.
"Can't you hack Luthor's system?" Superman asked. Batman sighed. "I could, but that wouldn't help anything. We'd just have a legal battle with Lex. What we need is his confession with no sinister attachment. That way we could get him to retract his statement."
"What she needs," Clark said thoughtfully, "is some good publicity."
Batman nodded. "Do you think you could convince her to do the story?" he asked.
Superman smiled. "I think between the two of us we can convince her."
Bruce smiled under his cowl and Clark knew he'd be seeing Batman in Metropolis that night.
Mallory found a punching bag hung up from her last workout and started punching, her fists leaving sizable dents in the bag. Her skin felt like it would melt off if it got any hotter. She was furious with herself for walking into the trap, for giving Luthor exactly what he needed to destroy her. And there was nothing she could do about it.
She hit the bag again and her fist melted through the nylon cover. Sand started pouring out of the hole. Mallory stared, transfixed, as the sand piled up on the floor.
"Wow, that was intense."
"Not now, Wally," she said, keeping her back to him. She really didn't trust herself right now.
"You know we're here for you, right?" he asked gently. She heard his soft footsteps coming closer.
"We're going to find a way to fix this," he continued.
"No. I don't want you to go down with me," she said. "My two weeks are almost over anyway. I'll just go back to the school and give up Inferno." Even as she said it, she realized that she couldn't give it up. The hero life wasn't something you could just give up. She was five years in, and it was too much a part of her to just walk away.
"You do remember that you have the dynamic duo on your side, right?" Wally asked. She could picture his smile, but she still didn't turn to face him.
"I can't let them get involved. As it is, Lex can't prove that I'm involved with League without incriminating himself. I'm not going to let that change."
Wally walked around her so he could see her face. "You're part of the team. We're not just going to abandon you." The sincerity and his voice nearly broke her, but she stood strong.
"I'm not anymore," she said.
"What do you mean?" he asked, but she could tell by his tone that he knew.
Mallory watched the last grains of sand fall from the bag.
"I'm not on the team. Not anymore."