Ok, there are a few things I want to talk about with this chapter. When Brek and Sandy are playing the video game, Brek calls her a villain. That's the equivalent of calling her a cheater. And when Brainy says 'engaging', that's dating. I wanted the futures' language to be a little different than ours, but I didn't want anyone to be confused about what I mean. Also, Sandy says 'oh my hero' a lot, and that's just like saying 'oh my god'. With that one, I was watching CW's Supergirl, and they show every planet as having their own religion/gods, which kind of defeats the purpose of it. Because of that, I think that religion would just kind of be forgotten by the thirtieth century, so 'oh my hero' made more sense to me. I'm also going to try to show the team's couples a little more, which is why I'm putting Zatanna and Robin back together. The only reason I split them up was that I didn't think I could handle another subplot, but I'm ready to at least try now. Oh, and last thing, does anyone know who Rocket's fiance is in young justice? I looked it up, but I didn't get an answer. Enjoy and please review!
Mallory woke up to the moon reflecting on the ocean, the waves lapping playfully on the beach. She was lying on the blanket, her head on Brek's shoulder, his solid form lying next to her, one arm around her. Her phone buzzed and she turned the screen to face her. She was startled to see that it was three thirty in the morning, and they'd been gone since the afternoon before when they'd slipped away from the group in Happy Harbor.
She looked at him and smiled. He looked younger asleep, his white hair falling across his forehead, his face slack and peaceful. She hadn't noticed before, but his eyelashes were long, and the white color made them almost invisible in the light.
She pushed herself into a sitting position, careful not to disturb him. She had a few messages from Zatanna, the only live-in team member she'd given her number to, asking where she was and if she was ok. She texted her friend to let her know she'd be back at the cave soon, then she turned back to Brek. She hated to wake him up, but they did need to get back to the cave before any League members discovered their absence.
She leaned down and shook his shoulder gently. "Brek?" she said quietly.
His eyes shut tighter, then fluttered open. When he saw her, he smiled and said, "Didn't realize I fell asleep. I guess that makes us even."
Mallory chuckled. "Yeah, I guess. We have to get going. It's almost morning."
Brek looked around the beach, then sat up and smiled. "Almost. We don't have to go back right away. Hey, I'm starving, what do we have left from yesterday?"
Mallory stared at the fish, unrecognizable now, still on the spit.
"S'mores it is," she said, handing him the boxes of graham crackers and chocolate and the bag of marshmallows while she got the sticks ready. She didn't want to start another fire in the fire pit, so when they got the marshmallows on the sticks, she made a small fire in her hand and they roasted them over that.
When Brek took a bite, Mallory looked at him expectantly, and he raised an eyebrow. "We have s'mores in the future, too," he said.
Mallory smiled. "I think that's the first good thing you've said you have there," she said.
Brek shrugged. "Maybe you just weren't paying attention."
They finished the food and Mallory glanced nervously at the sun starting to rise over the ocean. "We really should get back. I'd hate for Batman to find out I was out with you all night."
They pulled on their shoes and Brek helped her to her feet. "The cave's just about a mile down the beach. We should be there before anyone wakes up," she told him.
They threw their trash away and started walking, watching the sun rise as they made their way across the sand.
When they got to the cave, Zatanna and Megan were in the kitchen fixing breakfast. "Where did you two go yesterday?" Megan asked, a little too casually.
"We went to the beach. I'm gonna go get dressed," Mallory told them. She started walking to her room, looking forward to taking a shower and getting the sand out of her hair. She heard Brek fall into step beside her, but she didn't look at him until they had rounded the corner and could see their rooms.
"They're not gonna let go of this," she murmured, smiling.
"Maybe not, but it was worth it," he replied.
They got to her door first, and when she opened it, Brek gave her a quick kiss before continuing on to his room. Mallory couldn't help the smile that spread across her face, and as she washed her hair and got dressed, she didn't care that her friends were going to pester her about coming in so late, or that Batman would surely find out somehow and punish her for staying out with the Legionnaire. She was happy, plain and simple, with no negative emotions mingling with it and pulling it down, and it had been a long time since that had last happened.
Mallory joined her friends in the kitchen a half an hour later. Most of the work was done, so she sat at the counter to wait for the food to be ready.
"Well?" Zatanna asked with a smile.
"Well what?" Mallory asked innocently.
Zatanna heaved a sigh. "Don't make me do twenty questions. You've been gone since we started the tour. What happened?"
"We went to the beach and roasted a fish," Mallory reported.
"That's it?" Zatanna asked suspiciously. Megan pulled the breakfast pizza out of the oven and joined them at the counter.
"We kissed, watched the sun set, and ended up falling asleep," Mallory finished.
Zatanna grinned. "I told you you would be a good couple," she said.
Mallory raised an eyebrow. "You know, I seem to remember that we had a deal. If I went out with Brek, you would give Robin another chance," she said, trying to turn things to her friend.
"Huh, must've slipped my mind," Zatanna replied with a smile. The smile turned to surprised alarm as the computer announced, "Recognized, Robin, 01."
"Wow, he has good timing," Mallory said with a grin, turning back to Zatanna. "Maybe you'd better just go talk to him now before you forget again."
Zatanna glared at her playfully, but she walked around the counter to wait for him to come in from the training room.
"Hey, has Wally been around yet?" Robin asked.
Mallory raised an eyebrow and looked pointedly at the full pizza on the island.
"Guess not," he said with a grin.
"Why are you looking for him?" Megan asked.
"Nothing, really. He just texted me last night that he was going to need help with something and that I should meet him here in the morning."
"Wally's definition of morning is a lot later than six," Mallory commented, smiling.
Robin laughed. "Yeah, I guess I forgot about that. Hey, is that done? I'm starving."
Mallory gave Megan a look, and the Martian said, "almost. It needs to cool, and I need to, uh, make some sauce for it."
Robin shrugged and went to sit in the living room. Mallory nudged Zatanna discretely towards him, and she tossed her friend one last glare before going to sit next to Robin.
Mallory went into the kitchen to help Megan pretend to make some sauce, which was just going to be the extra gravy, and they tried to pick up some of what was being said. Megan cut the pizza ten minutes later, unable to realistically pretend to be fixing breakfast any longer, and Mallory made her plate before calling Robin and Zatanna to eat. When they came, they were smiling, and Mallory grinned at Zatanna when Robin's back was turned. Zatanna rolled her eyes at her and made her plate.
"I guess I'm just gonna go to his house and see if he's even up yet," Robin said after he'd finished eating.
As soon as the light sucked him away, Mallory turned to Zatanna. "Well?" she asked, copying the way her friend had questioned her earlier.
"Well, we're going to go out tonight, talk things over, decide if we really want to try again. That counts as a date, and that's all I promised," the magician said. She was trying to keep an annoyed look on her face, but she was clearly happy about the results.
"Well, this has been a productive morning," Megan said, chuckling.
"Why do you say that?" Kara asked, coming in from her room. The three girls turned to her, surprised. She'd levitated in, so they hadn't heard her coming.
"Oh, well, Mallory and Brek went out last night, and Zatanna and Robin are going out tonight. We've been trying to get those two back together for a while now."
"Mal, you went out with Brek? Polar Boy?" Kara asked, coming to sit at the counter with her.
"Yeah, sort of," Mallory replied. Kara's forehead creased a little. "Why?" Mallory asked, not sure how to take the reaction.
"Well, do you think it's a good idea? I mean, you're from two different time periods."
Mallory tilted her head. "So are you and Brainy, but you two worked it out. Besides, that's getting a little ahead of ourselves. We hardly know each other."
Kara nodded slowly. Before she could say anything, Conner and Wolf came to the kitchen. Mallory noticed that her friend was starting to get dark circles under his eyes, and worry tugged at her chest. Why wouldn't he get help? He loaded his plate and went to sit in front of the tv.
Later that day, the team was training with Black Canary. Kara and Brainy went to Brek's room and found him and Sandy playing a video game on a holographic screen projected on the wall.
"Brek, we need to talk to you," Brainy said, his tone leaving no room for argument.
When Brek looked up, Sandy took the opportunity to kill his character, ending the game.
"Villain," Brek muttered.
"Brek, this is important," Kara said, sitting on his bed to face him.
"All right, what is it?" he asked.
"We know you're engaging Mallory," Brainy said.
Worry passed over Brek's face for a second, but then it was gone. "So?" he asked, his usual calm composure back.
"So? Oh my hero, that's so schway! Why didn't you tell me?" Sandy gushed, her words tripping over each other in her excitement. Brek smiled a little and shrugged.
"Sandy, we can't encourage this!" Kara said sharply.
"I don't know what the big deal is," Brek said.
"Yes, you do. You know exactly why you can't get involved with her," Brainy said.
Brek rolled his eyes. "Sounds a little hypocritical coming from you," he said.
"Supergirl was different. She was supposed to change times. You know that Inferno is important to her timeline. She can't come back to the future with us."
"I know that," Brek said solemnly.
"Then why are you doing this?" Kara asked.
"Look, things aren't that serious between us. It's pretty early to be talking about changing time periods. But if things did get serious, I can always stay here."
Brainy's face hardened. "You can't mean that," he said flatly.
Brek glared at him. "Why not? It's not like I have anything in the thirtieth century anyway."
"You have the Legion," Kara said quietly.
Brek scoffed. "Yeah, right. The Legion. Can you honestly look at this team and say that the Legion is better?"
Kara's face hardened. "Once our mission is done, we need to go back to the thirtieth century. Do you really think the heroes here will let you be one of them after that?"
With that, the other Legionnaires filed out the room, leaving Brek with the heavy knowledge of what was to come.