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Mallory scanned the streets below, looking for signs of trouble.
"So, how have things been going with the team?" Superman asked. He had invited her to patrol with him, which had been great, but she wished he wasn't so intent on talking. It had been four days since she and Robin had the talk, and neither of them had been to the cave in those four days. Mallory had dived into school work, and went to Metropolis when there wasn't anything else to do.
"Fine," she replied. She flew lower to get a better look at a suspicious person standing by an alley. Clark didn't seem to notice.
"Why haven't you been to the cave lately?" he asked, adjusting his flight pattern to match hers. Mallory landed on the roof of a building opposite the suspect, and Superman followed her.
"Busy. What's that bulge in his coat?" she asked.
Superman squinted a little. "Looks like intergang's back. It's some sort of alien tech."
Mallory grinned. "You want to tell him or just pick him up and we can get what we need?" she asked eagerly. Clark didn't share her enthusiasm. "I'll handle this. Stay here."
He flew down and grabbed the guy by the arms and flew him so high up that they were just specs to mallory. She watched Superman drop him and fly along as he fell. He hadn't been falling long when Superman called him and flew him safely to a police station, then returned to Mallory.
"They have a warehouse by the docks that they are keeping their tech in," he said.
"Man, criminals are stupid. Don't they know that Superman doesn't kill?"
"Hey, don't knock it. If they knew that we'd have to do everything the hard way."
They took off to the docks, but Superman still seemed distracted. "The team has seemed off lately. Black Canary told me that you and Robin haven't been showing up for training. You know training is mandatory, Torch. Especially for you."
Mallory stopped and hovered where she was. "Why especially for me? You don't trust that I can keep my powers under control?" she asked bitterly.
Superman's face softened. "It has nothing to do with your powers, you should know that. You're still getting used to hand-to-hand combat. You can't just skip training. It doesn't take long to get rusty."
Mallory sighed. Of course, she knew what he meant. The whole inhibitor collar thing was getting in her head. "Sorry, I didn't mean to snap," she said quietly. They continued flying to the docks.
"What's wrong, Torch? You haven't been yourself the last few days."
"Look, there's the warehouse," she said, avoiding the question. She didn't want to lie to him, and she also didn't want to go through the whole situation. It was team business, and she didn't want him to try and step in and make things right. That would only complicate things further.
She landed lightly on the roof of a low building, the nearest one that was made of concrete, and started to survey the setup. "The place looks deserted," she observed.
"Well, it is broad daylight. Manheimer prefers to work from the shadows," Superman said. He did a scan of the building with his x-ray vision. "I don't see anyone," he said, "and all of the crates seem to be lined with lead."
Inferno cracked her knuckles. "Guess we're going in blind," she said.
"I wish you didn't sound so happy about it," Superman admitted. Mallory laughed. "I'm with Superman. We'll be fine. So, you want to crash through the roof or walk in the front door?"
"Let's do the door. It could be a harmless warehouse."
"Yeah, a harmless warehouse full of lead line boxes. That sounds about right."
"Be careful, Torch. You don't want to set the whole warehouse district on fire." He waited for her nod before scooping her up and flying her down to the front door of the warehouse. Inferno pushed the door open in a quick move, her instincts on high alert. Superman walked in ahead of her and she kept close behind, eyeing the shadows wearily. She made a small flame in her hand to give them a little light, holding it over Superman's shoulder. They walked the length of the warehouse cautiously.
"I guess it's deserted."
Mallory barely had time to let out a huff of relief and disappointment before every crate in the place opened and armed men jumped out. Mallory's heart leapt to her throat and she backed up so she was a little behind Superman. A familiar face stepped forward with a lady with a long red ponytail.
"Well, if it isn't Ugly Manheim," Mallory said. Ugly grinned. "Well glad you remembered me. I heard you had a pleasant stay on Apokolipse."
Superman looked at her, startled. "Apokolipse?! Torch, why didn't you tell me?"
Mallory glared at him. "Really? You think this is the time?"
"Cut the chatter," the lady said, "just kill them. " Ugly grinned and nodded. Mallory held up a hand, preparing to burn their way out of the warehouse, but Superman slowly lowered her hand, shaking his head slightly. The weapons started to power up, and Inferno looked at her mentor nervously. Then she blinked, and she was outside. A minute later, Superman had everyone out of their weapons and sitting hogtied on the docks.
"I told you not to use fire on the docks," Superman said, crossing his arms. Mallory looked at the scene with disappointment. "No, you said to be careful. I would have been. You could have at least left me one to beat up." He tried to hide it, but Mallory saw the smile before he turned away.
They called the S.C.U (special crimes unit) and waited to be sure that the weapons didn't fall into the wrong hands, then flew off.
"That was boring," Mallory complained. "That was good. The public got to see you without seeing something burning to the ground behind you," Superman pointed out. "But I didn't get to do anything. It's like stealing publicity from you." Clark chuckled. "You can have it. I get too much of it as it is."
Mallory sighed. "Well, if you aren't going to let me burn anything, I might as well go home," she said. "Oh, don't be so sensitive, Torch. We'll find something for you. Oh, what were we talking about before the warehouse?" "I don't remember," Mallory lied, turning her face away from him and pretending to look for trouble.
Superman stopped, and Mallory did the same a few feet ahead of him.
"What?" she asked in an exasperated tone. Clark seemed to rethink what he was going to say. Instead of more questions, he said, "you can tell me anything. I'm here when you need me, Torch."
Inferno smiled a little. "Are you ever going to stop calling me that?" she asked. Superman returned your smile. "Nope," he replied. Mallory chuckled quietly. She'd been so wrapped up with the team, she'd forgotten that Superman was her partner, mentor.
The moment was broken by a flaming figure clumsily flying between them. Superman jumped back in surprise.
"Someone you know?" he asked. Mallory raised an eyebrow. "What, am I supposed to know every pyrokinetic in the world?" she asked. The figure corrected his flight pattern and yelled, "Hey, inferno!" Mallory glanced at her mentor. "Although," she said sheepishly.
Hotspot, dressed in his black and red costume, joined them. He was staring at Superman in disbelief.
"Hotspot, this is Superman. Superman, Hotspot," Inferno offered, steadying Isaiah as he figured out his hovering.
Superman tilted his head slightly. "So, this is the young man I heard about." Mallory looked at him. "Wait, you heard about - oh, never mind. Man, someone needs to do something about Flash."
Superman laughed. "That's not a good attitude to show to your elders and betters."
Mallory shook her head. She could have kept up the banter, but she didn't want to put Flash down too much in front of Isaiah. Besides, he should have a certain fear and respect for Superman, and watching them joke about a Leaguer might tarnish that underlying fear.
"What are you doing here?" Inferno asked, turning to face Isaiah.
"You never called, and I saw you fly by," he replied.
Inferno winced. Don still hadn't gotten back to her, and she wasn't really in the emotional place to be coaching someone else on their anger.
"Sorry, there's been a lot going on lately."
Hotspot gave her an easy smile. "No worries, babe. I could think of a few ways to make time."
Superman cleared his throat. "What's going on?" the Leaguer asked. Mallory suddenly wondered if Clark would approve of her coaching Isiah when she was so unstable herself.
"I offered to help him get a handle on his powers," she replied. Superman's face was unreadable. He just nodded and said, "We need to finish patrolling."
Inferno nodded and turned and turned back to Isiah. "Yeah, I guess I've got to go. I'll call you soon. Don't lose your comm." Isiah barely had time to nod before she was gone, chasing after Superman.
"What's the hurry?" Inferno asked.
"You have to get back to the cave in half an hour for training, and I want to patrol one more time before I go back to the office. So, where were you planning on coaching him?"
They turned towards the business district, scanning allies and corners.
"I asked my old instructor if I could use the training room at the school for paranormals. I haven't gotten an answer yet."
Superman nodded. "Why not use your training room at the cave?" he asked.
That surprised Mallory. She wouldn't have thought that he would suggest bringing an outsider to the cave. "I guess I could. But I don't think Batman would approve."
Superman shrugged. "Probably not, but I don't think it would hurt anything to zeta him there. If he doesn't go outside the cave, he'll never know where it is. Besides, if he's anywhere near as powerful as you, it's in the interest of public safety that you make sure he can fully control his powers."
They landed on the top of the Daily Planet building. "I have to go back to work. My lunch hour's about over. And you need to get to the cave for mandatory training," Clark told her.
"All right. So, just to be clear, you did say I could bring Hotspot to the cave to train him, right?"
"Yes," Clark replied. Mallory grinned.
"Good. So when Batman comes for me, I'll tell him to take it up with you." She dived off the building before Clark could object.
"Mallory!" Megan yelled as soon as the zeta tube announced her arrival. The green teen had her in a hug before her vision had even cleared.
"Hey, sorry I haven't been around a lot lately," Mallory apologized, seeing the rest of the team, except Robin, not far behind Megan. They must have been waiting for Black Canary.
"Try not at all," Conner muttered. Mallory winced.
"I guess I have been neglecting the team. Did I miss any missions?" she asked.
"No, we would have called you if there was a mission," Artemis called from the couch in the living area.
"Where's Robin?" Mallory asked as she and the rest of the team went to the sofa.
"There was a breakout at Arkham a few days ago. He and Bats have been working overtime trying to get everyone back in their cells," Wally replied, watching her for her reaction. Mallory just nodded. Good, so he wasn't avoiding the cave because of her.
The only sound now was the static of the TV. Mallory sighed. "So, uh, I haven't heard back from Don about using my old training room, so I thought I could just use the one I have here at the cave."
Aqualad looked up from examining his water bearers. "I am not sure that it is wise to bring him to our base of operations. While we have determined that he is not a direct threat to us, he could still have an ulterior motive for allowing us to capture him, and even if he does not, he could still unknowingly give away the location."
Mallory shrugged. "If I zeta him here from Metrop[olis, he wouldn't know where he is. And as long as he stays in the cave, I don't really see how he would find out. Besides, it was Superman's idea." Conner looked up at the mention of Superman.
"Recognized, Black Canary, 13." Mallory half turned to see the Leaguer appear.
"Well, good to see you are taking advantage of free time," Black Canary mentioned. "I would have hoped I'd find you training."
The team obediently got up and headed for the training room.
"Mallory, wait," Canary called. Mallory watched her teammates continue down the hall before backtracking to stand in front of the hero. "What?" she asked.
"You do know that training is mandatory, right?" Canary asked, her tone as soothing as ever.
"Yeah," Mallory replied.
"Well, then, do you want to tell me why you haven't been here?"
Mallory sighed impatiently. "Doesn't sound like Robin's been here the last few days, either," she mumbled, because she didn't have an excuse.
Black Canary's face hardened. "Really? There is a crime wave in Gotham, and even with that I can guarantee you that Robin is still training, even if it's not here. You need to take responsibility for your actions, or in this case, lack of actions." Her face softened a little and she put a hand on Mallory's shoulder. "If there's something going on, you can tell me. You don't have to go through it alone."
Mallory stepped away from Canary's touch. "Ok, thanks, I guess, but I'm fine," she said, and hurried to the training room.
The team was already sparing, and to her surprise Zatanna and Zatara were standing by the sidelines. Mallory walked over to her friend. "Z! It's been a while," she said.
Zatanna grinned. "My dad thought it would do me some good to come watch a training session," she said.
"Well, I don't have a partner. You want to spar?" Mallory asked.
Zatara cleared his throat quickly. "I don't think that's such a good idea," he said.
"Dad," Zatanna said, exasperated. Zatara clearly wasn't comfortable with his daughter sparing with her, and Mallory couldn't help but think it was about her powers.
She put on her best reassuring smile and said, "Don't worry, sir. I promise I won't burn her to a crisp."
Zatara was so shocked at her statement that he didn't have the words to object as Mallory led Zatanna into the arena. She held up her hands to block Zatanna's first attack.
"How've you been?" Mallory asked. Zatanna spun kicked and Mallory ducked out of the way and threw a punch, keeping slow because she didn't know how much experience the magician had with hand-to-hand combat. Zatanna blocked the punch and threw one of her own.
"Oh, good enough. It took a while to convince my dad to let me visit, so there's that."
Mallory laughed. "Well, you haven't missed much. I bet if your dad knew how much sitting around we do, he wouldn't mind you visiting so much. Might even let you join the team."
Zatanna started a full attack, and Mallory found herself barely able to block the blows before the next one would come. She got off balance, and Zatanna took advantage of it and knocked her legs out from under her. Mallory landed on her back, the little red status report glaring at her out of the corner of her eye. Zatanna grinned and offered her a hand up.
"Go again?" she asked.
Mallory grinned and took the offered hand.
"And this time, don't take it easy on me."
Mallory's grin widened. "As you wish," she said. She planted her feet solidly, centering her balance, and held her fists towards her friend. Zatanna struck a similar post, and they both moved to attack. Mallory ducked Zatanna's punch and landed a light punch on the girl's stomach. Zatanna took a step back to recover and charged Mallory. After three minutes of fighting, Mallory was able to get the upper hand and Zatanna ended up on the ground.
"All right, everyone change partners and try maneuver 3," Black Canary called. Kalder stood in front of Mallory, Zatanna moved to Megan, and Artemis and Wally teamed up against Conner.
Mallory and Kalder fought for a while, and Mallory ended up on the ground. She accepted the leaders offered hand sheepishly.
"Guess four days does make a difference," she said.
"It is understandable to need some time away from the cave sometimes. You must continue your training regardless of where you are. Mallory, was your absence due to the fact that Robin had the collar?"
Mallory sighed. Of course, Kalder would try to make peace between her and Robin. "Kalder, it's not really about the collar. Honestly, if I was normal and someone came along that couldn't control their fire power, I probably would've done the same thing. It's just that he didn't tell me. Look, you don't have to try and be the peacemaker, Robin and I are good." Kalder nodded slowly.
"Change partners, try maneuver 6," Black Canary called. Mallory moved to Wally.
"Hey," Wally said.
"Just fight," Mallory said, holding up a hand. She didn't want a lecture from him, too.
Wally shrugged and they spared. They each won a fight before Canary called time. The team waited for her next instruction, but she touched her comm and said, "I copy, Zatara and I are on our way." She turned back to the team. "Training's over. There's a disturbance in Star city."
The Leaguers left, leaving the team and Zatanna in the training room.
"So, nachos?" Wally asked. Artemis shrugged. "Sure," she said, and they headed to the kitchen.
"I'll go get the cookies I made this morning. There should still be some, I hid them so Wally wouldn't eat them all," Megan said. She flew after them to the kitchen.
"Come on," Mallory told Zatanna, and led the way to the living room and claimed her place on the couch. She grabbed the remote. They could hear Artemis and Wally bickering about what to put on the nachos. Artemis said something about not needing to put everything in the kitchen on them, and Wally argued that anything tastes good with chocolate on it. Mallory hoped that Artemis would win that fight.
Zatanna glanced over her shoulder at the kitchen. "Should we help?" she asked.
"We are, we're picking the movie," Mallory explained. "If we let Conner pick it we'll sit in front of a static screen for 2 hours. Trust me, it's happened before."
"Are you sure? I mean, seems like Artemis could use some backup." They listen to the argument. Wally was trying to put pickles on the chips and Artemis smacked the speedster's hand away from the pan.
"I think she's got it," Mallory said. "How about Hunger Games?"
"Not the third one," Zatanna said, finally settling in and ignoring the fighting in the kitchen, which sounded like it was getting a little more physical.
Mallory chose the first hunger games movie. Megan floated in levitating a platter of cookies. She sat down and looked at the movie choice.
"You left them alone?" Zatanna asked. Her question was punctuated by the clatter of a pan as it hit the wall.
"Hey, Wally, bring me some pretzels when you're done making the nachos," Mallory called over her shoulder. "And hurry up, we're about to start the movie."
There was a wind behind them, and Wally was sitting next to Mallory with a huge bowl of pretzels the next second. Artemis came walking in a moment later with a large tray of nachos. They looked normal, no chocolate or pickles in sight. Artemis handed the tray to Conner, who held it while Mallory heated them to perfection.
Once everyone settled in, Mallory pressed play. Halfway through the movie, she had her hand in the bowl of pretzels when the familiar voice said, "Can I have some this time?"
The whole team looked, but Mallory felt like she was the only one in the room. Robin tested a smile on her, and even though she'd never seen his eyes, she felt like she could see the pleading look in them. She sighed. "Sure, I mean, saying no never stopped you before." His smile widened a little and he sat at the end of the sofa by Zatanna.
The movie ended, and the team finished the snacks, mostly Wally, and then Artemis stood.
"Well, Mal, I'd love to watch your training session with Hotspot, but I need to get home."
When she's zetaed away, Robin turned to her.
"So, your old school gave you a room?" he asked.
"No, I'm training him here," she said, not looking at him. Robin opened his mouth, but one look from Wally made him close it. Mallory looked at the time on her phone.
"I guess I need to call him, tell him where to meet me," she said. She went to the kitchen and pressed the comm. "Hello?" Isaiah said. "Hotspot, this is inferno. Can you train this afternoon?" she asked. "Sure," he replied. "All right. Can you meet me by the Daily Planet building in half an hour?" "I'll be there," he said. The comm clicked off and Mallory turned to go back to the living area, almost running into Zatanna.
"Oh, sorry," Mallory muttered.
"So, whose Hotspot?" Zatanna asked, moving around Mallory to open the fridge and pull out a bottle of water.
"He's a pyrokinetic we met on our last mission. I'm going to help him get a handle on his powers."
"Oh," Zatanna murmured, a smile on her face.
Mallory raised an eyebrow at her. "What?" she asked.
"Well, he's not on the team, he has the same powers as you, lives in the same town as you. Do you like him?"
Mallory leaned against the island, thinking about that. She did feel attracted to him, but she wasn't sure if she should encourage the feeling. Satanas chuckled. "What? I didn't even answer," Mallory said.
"If it takes you that long to answer, it's a yes," the girl replied. She walked out of the kitchen and sat back down by Robin.
Mallory pulled the water out of the fridge and took a swig. She shouldn't get involved with anyone. She already used every second of her time between school, the team, and patrolling Metropolis. She barely had time to spend with her parents with everything else going on. She chugged the water and had it for the zeta tube. She was already in costume from patrolling Metropolis earlier, so she zetaed close to the daily planet and flew over.
She was expecting him to be on the street in civis, or maybe on one of the smaller buildings, but there he was, sitting on the globe of the Daily Planet. She landed lightly in front of him. His lips twitched into a smile.
"I wasn't expecting you to call me today," he said.
"Well, I did. Let's go," she replied. Hotspot got to his feet and walked to the edge of the globe.
"Where are we going?" he asked. Inferno flew off the globe and looked over her shoulder to make sure he was following her. "To a fireproof training room," she replied. She led the way to the zeta tube a few blocks away and authorized his entry.
When they got to the cave, Inferno led the way to her enclosed training room that the League had put in after the incident with Conner.
"All right, this room is completely fire and heat proof. Show me what you can do," Inferno told her new pupil. Hotspot grinned.
He started simple, fireballs, fire streams, then he started trying some fancier things. He tried to blow fire out of his mouth like a fire eater in a circus, but he ended up choking on the effort. Mallory wasn't really paying attention to what he could do with his fire, she was watching for signs of pain, or at least fatigue.
When he showed some signs of tiring, she hit him with fire of her own. Hotspot grunted when it hit him. "Hey! What's the big idea?" he yelled.
Mallory didn't answer. She was already forming another fireball and aimed it at him. Isaiah managed to duck out of the way, but Mallory called the fire back just before it hit the wall and it hit the back of his head.
"Hey, stop it, will you?"
Mallory ignored him and went into combat mode. She flew around the room, getting blows of both fire and fist in at all angles. Isaiah started fighting back, trying to hit her with his fire. He did hit her a few times but she kept up her attack.
Finally, her effort paid off and he lost control. The fire that poured out of him when that happened was so hot it took her breath away. When he calmed down, Mallory approached him. He was kneeling on the floor, catching his breath. When he saw her, he glared at her and said, "What was that?"
"Does it hurt?" Mallory asked.
"Does what hurt?" Isaiah asked, furious.
"Your powers. Whenever I lose control, it hurts me."
Isaiah seemed to think about it. " Not really. My hands sting a little, I guess."
"Sorry about attacking you. I had to see what you could do. I think your powers are different than mine."
Isaiah sank all the way down to a sitting position. "Well, good for you. You figured something out," he muttered sarcastically.
Mallory sat down next to him. "You seem to have more of a handle on your powers than I thought you would. If you want to use this room to practice on your own, you can do that."
Hotspot took a breath. "No, I want your help," he said. The sincerity in his voice took Mallory by surprise. Then he grinned and added, "Just don't attack me anymore."
Mallory laughed. "All right, deal."
They sat in silence for a moment, then Mallory said, "So, what do you want to work on?"
Two hours later, Mallory zetaed Isaiah back to Metropolis.
"That was intense," Zatanna said.
"Oh, I thought you'd be gone when I finished." Mallory said. The girls went to the sofa. Wolf was sleeping on the floor next to it, and each girl gave him an affectionate pat before sitting down.
"My dad and Black Canary came back while you were in there, but I convinced him to let me stay for a few more hours."
"Who else is still here?" Mallory asked.
"Robin, Megan, and Conner. Wally and Kalder left right after you went to Metropolis."
Mallory nodded. Maybe she wouldn't have to talk to Robin.
"So, is he joining the team?" Zatanna asked.
"Who? Hotspot? No, we didn't ask him, and I don't think he would want to join even if we did. He seems more like the loner type. Actually, I don't know if he even wants to get into the hero work."
"He isn't already in it?" Zatanna asked.
"No. We met him trying to destroy private property. There were no records of him going out in costume before that."
Zatanna leaned against the arm of the sofa, sitting sideways so she could see Mallory. "You know, he's pretty cute," she said with a raised eyebrow.
Mallory rolled her eyes. "Of course, that's where you want it to go," she muttered.
Zatanna smiled and said, "What, and you don't? Robin pulled up the camera while you were training. We saw you two sitting with each other all cozy and sweet."
Mallory hid her clenched fist from her friend. "Why were you watching us?" she asked, trying to keep the anger out of her voice.
"Robin said he wanted to see Hotspot's powers up close. I just wanted to see if he was an option for you."
Mallory relaxed. She couldn't really be mad at Robin for watching the training session. He no doubt was still unsure about Isaiah, and he was a naturally curious person. Before the girls could say anything else, Zatara walked in from the library.
"All right, Zatanna, it's time to go now," he said. Zatanna sighed, but she followed her dad to The zeta tube. Before the light took her away, Mallory called, "Hey, don't wait so long to visit. The place isn't as fun without you," then she was gone and Mallory was left alone with Wolf.
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