Well, I'm finally getting around to that plot that I wrote and never did anything with. Just a fair warning, these two chapters get a little dark, or at least darker than the rest of the story has been.
Two weeks later, Mallory and Brek were cuddling on the couch watching a movie when Conner came into the living room. He was obviously agitated about something, and he paced around the room for a while until he finally stopped in front of them.
"Mallory, can I talk to you?" he asked. Mallory exchanged a glance with Brek, and he nodded. She swung her legs to the floor and followed Conner out the room to the garage. Sphere was there, but the clone waved his pet away distractedly, which was when Mallory realized that whatever had him upset was serious. He never walked by Sphere or Wolf without giving them a pet.
"What is it?" she asked.
Conner continued pacing back and forth in front of her. "The visions, they're coming stronger every time I close my eyes. I don't know what to do, and you're the only person I've told about it."
He rubbed a hand over his eyes wearily, and Mallory took a close look at her friend. He had dark circles under his eyes, his face looked worn down, and his body looked slumped. She couldn't believe that no one had noticed it over the past three weeks. "Are you still seeing the genomorphs being tortured, or is it something else?" she asked.
"It's still the same, but lately the images have seemed fresher, sharper. I don't know what's going on. I mean, I haven't even seen anything from Cadmus since the Thanksgiving that you moved out of your parents' house."
"So you haven't told Megan, huh?" she asked.
"No," he replied.
"Why not?" she asked sharply. He looked at her forlornly and she forced her irritation down.
"I just don't want to make everyone worry, and I don't want the attention," he said.
Mallory heaved a frustrated sigh. "Conner, this is ridiculous. Come on," she said, grabbing his wrist and forcefully pulling him out of the garage to find Megan.
"Where are we going?" Conner asked.
"To find your girlfriend so she can find out what's going on, like you should have done to start with."
"Mallory, wait," he said, starting to drag his feet.
Mallory stopped and spun around, her eyes red. "Do not make me force you. I'm already mad that you waited this long," she said.
Conner sighed and didn't try to talk her out of her decision, which worried Mallory all the more. He was never this submissive. Whatever he'd been seeing recently, it must have been pretty bad for him to let her get him help. They found Megan and Kaldur sparring in the training room.
"Oh, Kaldur, you're here too," she said, a little disappointed.
"Is there something the matter?" the Atlantian asked. Before she could respond, Robin and Wally came in from the kitchen, Robin with a snack sized bag of pretzels and Wally with a half gallon of ice cream.
"What's going on?" the speedster asked, his mouth full.
"Nothing," Conner said sharply, glaring at Mallory. Mallory glared back at him.
"Conner needs help and he doesn't want to admit it and look weak," she said.
"What?" Megan asked.
"He's been having visions of genomorphs being tortured and killed for a few weeks now. I wanted him to get help when he first told me about it, but he wouldn't. It's gotten worse, though, so now I'm not giving him a choice. Megan, can you go in his head and, I don't know, do your thing, figure out what's going on?" Mallory asked.
"I can try," Megan replied, looking at her boyfriend.
Mallory nodded, and the group went to the fountain room for quiet. Megan and Conner went in, and Robin, Wally, Kaldur, and Mallory waited outside. An hour later, Megan and Conner came out, a grim look on their faces.
"It's Dubbilex," Conner told them.
Robin, Aqualad, and Kid Flash's faces hardened, but Mallory tilted her head to the side. "Who's that?" she asked.
"He was the head genomorph at Cadmus. He helped us escape that night that we found SB," Robin replied.
"He is a telepath, and he is convinced that the future of the genomorphs is directly connected to Superboy. It would make sense that he would contact him in the event that his kind needed assistance," Aqualad added.
Mallory nodded in understanding. "Well, what are we going to do?" she asked.
"Go to Cadmus and get some answers," Conner said decisively.
Wally rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't know, Con. Remember what happened the last time we were there?"
"If there are beings in danger, we have to do something," Megan pointed out.
Wally sighed and nodded. "Yeah, I know." He grinned and added, "I guess it was kind of fun, starting the team and all. And we got Supey out of the deal."
Conner rolled his eyes and Aqualad nodded. "Then it is decided. We will go to Cadmus and find Dubbilex," he announced.
Megan smiled. "Good. I'll go find Artemis and Zatanna," she said.
"Actually, Miss M, maybe you should stay behind. We don't want the League to find out and come looking. Not when we're not sure if there's anything going on. You can give them some excuse if they ask. Besides, if things do turn sideways, there will probably be flames," Robin said.
Megan sighed, but she nodded. "All right. But be careful."
Mallory smiled. "Aren't we always?" she asked.
The five of them went to the training room, and Kaldur said, "We will need to be in our suits. We will meet here in five minutes." They all nodded and Mallory headed to her room to change. Brek was waiting outside her door.
"Hey, Mal, what's going on?" he asked, following her into her room. Mallory went to the bathroom and started getting into her suit.
"Nothing, just a little side mission," she replied easily. She came out and sat on the bed to pull on her boots.
"You sure? Superboy looked pretty worried," Brek said.
Mallory stood up and put on her mask. "Yeah, it's kind of personal, that's all. Hey, don't worry, I'm not going alone, I'll be fine."
Brek smiled slightly. "Yeah, I know you will," he replied.
Mallory rolled her eyes. "Of course you do. I'll be back late, don't wait up," she said. She gave him a kiss and hurried to the training room. The boys were all there waiting.
"All right, let's go," Wally said when she joined the group.
"Careful, Kid. It was your rash impulses that got us in much of the trouble the first time," Aqualad warned.
"Actually, Cadmus is different these days. Guardian is in charge," Conner told them.
"How do you know that?" Robin asked.
Conner shrugged. "I went there Thanksgiving before last," he said.
The five of them went to the zeta tube and went to Washington DC. Mallory followed her teammates as they walked to the building with sure strides. Conner pushed the front doors open and they strode in. They got stares from the workers, but they ignored them and went to the front desk.
"Tell Guardian we want to see him," Conner told the secretary.
The poor girl stared up at the group nervously. "I‒I'm sorry, but Guardian, he hasn't been here for some time."
"Then who do we see about shutting this place down for good?" Conner asked.
Wally put a hand on the clone's shoulder and smiled at the receptionist. "Sorry, babe, he's a little intense. All we want is to see whoever's in charge. We have a few questions."
The girl relaxed a little. "I'll get the doctor," she said, and started walking to a hallway behind the desk. The young heroes followed behind her, deciding not to give 'the doctor' a choice on whether to see them or not. The girl let them into an office and the boys immediately recognized Dr. Spence, who rose from her desk nervously when they entered the room.
"And to think you had me convinced that you weren't experimenting on the genomorphs anymore," Conner growled at her.
"What are you talking about?" the woman asked. Mallory felt Robin and Kid Flash tense beside her at the sight of the doctor.
"Oh, come on, you were right there beside Desmont, ready to clone us and then kill us. You really expect us to believe you went straight?" Robin asked.
Mallory raised her eyebrows in surprise. Apparently there were a few details of that night that had been left out of the retelling.
"Why is she even here, anyway?" Wally asked Robin. "Shouldn't she be in Bell Rev right alongside Blockbuster?"
"Apparently there's a loophole for soldiers and scientists about following the orders of their superiors," Robin replied. "Believe me, Batman tried to get the charges to stick. She's got friends in high places, though."
"Well, maybe we can change that this time around," Wally said, turning back to Dr. Spence.
"Enough," Kaldur told them, taking his eyes off Spence to glare at the other veteran sidekicks.
Mallory kept her eyes trained on the doctor. The woman looked absolutely terrified, and she took a small step backwards, her hand groping the desk for the silent alarm. Mallory walked around her calmly and put an arm reassuringly around her shoulder, effectively leading her away from the switch. "Guys, we're not going to get any answers this way," she told them.
"Who, wait, are you that kid who works for Superman?" Spence asked.
Mallory smiled warmly at her. "I work with him, yes. The name's Inferno. Now, we have a few questions we'd like to ask you, if it's not too much bother. We'll try not to take up too much of your time," Mallory said.
Spence hesitated, then nodded.
"Great, thanks," Mallory said, moving to stand back with her teammates.
"We would also like to ask Dubbilex some questions," Aqualad said politely.
"He's not here," Spence said.
"Where is he?" Conner asked.
"I don't know. He disappeared some time ago."
"I thought I solved the missing genomorphs," Conner mentioned.
"You did. This is something new. The genomorphs aren't just disappearing, they're being taken. There is evidence of struggle in some cases, others are just never seen or heard from again."
"Why didn't you call the police?" Mallory asked.
"The police wouldn't care about a few science projects going missing. Besides, my superiors didn't want anyone digging into the past too much."
"Superiors, as in Luthor?" Conner asked bitterly. Mallory cocked an eyebrow, waiting for the woman to answer.
"Well, yes," she said. Conner's hand clenched into a fist, and Mallory put a hand on his arm, snapping him out of his rage before it took over.
"Where is Guardian?" Aqualad asked.
"He left when he found out about him and Red Arrow. I haven't heard from him since," Spence said.
"What about them?" Mallory asked, her full attention trained to the woman when the familiar name came out.
"You mean you don't know?" Spence asked.
"Know what?" Mallory pressed, irritation rising. She knew her eyes must be red, but none of her teammates tried to calm her down. At that point, they were all ready to get some action.
"Well, they're both clones of the original Speedy," Spence told them.
Mallory and the boys exchanged looks of surprise. "So that's why they looked so much alike," Kid Flash commented under his breath.
Conner was the first to recover from the shock. "Well, I guess since you don't have anything to hide, you won't mind us having a look around."
"Well, no, I guess not. I'll have Mindy give you the full tour," she said, gesturing to the secretary in the doorway.
"That won't be necessary. I have the full blueprints right here," Robin replied, pulling them up on his wrist computer.
Spence glanced at her secretary nervously, but she didn't say anything as the young heroes walked out the office and strode towards the elevator.
"How are we going to search this whole place with just the five of us?" Wally asked, sliding to the floor of the elevator as they started the long descent into the sublevels of Cadmus.
"We won't have to. I just need to get into their secure files, then I'll know everything that there is to know about Cadmus and all it's projects," Robin replied, typing away on his holographic keyboard.
Mallory slid down to sit next to Wally. "Where do you think Guardian went when he found out?" she asked.
"I don't know. I would have thought he would go to the League for answers," Robin said.
Mallory rested her head on the wall, her mind filled with memories of Roy. "Do you think he knows? Roy, I mean," she said.
Kaldur leaned against the wall and sighed. "I do not know. It is hard to say if he is keeping tabs on our world, or simply pushing on to complete his mission," the leader said.
Mallory shook her head. "I wish he would come home, let the League help him," she said quietly.
"Yeah, well, it's gonna take a lot of convincing to get anything through that thick skull, even if we did know where to find him," Wally replied, his voice heavy.
"I've got something," Robin announced, his eager voice out of place in the room.
The team looked to him, and he started scanning the file for the meat of it. "There's another facility across town that is for waste disposal. In the early days of Cadmus, though, it was used as a testing site. They would experiment on all kinds of animals, plants, mentally insane and homeless people."
"Wait, how old is Cadmus? I thought it was created to counter the Justice League, and it's been less than a decade since the League formed."
"It's only nine years old," Robin said grimly.
A shock went through Mallory as the horror sank in. They had been doing experiments on people in modern times, not way back hundreds of years ago. Her face hardened.
"Well, it seems we have a heading," Kaldur said grimly.