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Mallory and Robin hurried back to the cave. When the zeta tube dropped them in the training room, Robin immediately started calling the team and the League. Mallory ran to Brek's room. She had to stop them. She banged on his door, but no one answered. She hit the panel and the doors slid open, but the room was empty. There was a note on the bed, and she picked it up and read it.
"I'm sorry, Mallory. I hope you'll forgive me someday." She crumpled the note and ran to the other futures' rooms, but they were all empty.
She made one more stop at her room, donning her costume. Someone knocked on her door, and she opened it.
"We're all here, Robin told us. Are you ready?" Zatanna asked.
"Almost," Mallory said. Zatanna nodded, and Mallory turned back to her dresser. There was one more thing that she needed.
The team and the League zetaed to Metropolis, and Superman scanned the city.
"They're spread out, surrounding the alley by the planet," Clark told them.
Batman turned to the team. "We'll be waiting for their man to show up. You find the Legion and subdue them." The team nodded and went into action. Mallory soared through the sky, scanning the rooftops until she found Brek on one and she landed behind him.
"So this is why you wouldn't tell us what your mission was," she said, and he visibly jumped and turned around.
"Mallory, I'm sorry. I don't want to, but I can't abandon my team."
Mallory narrowed her eyes. "Why are you doing this? Why do you have to kill him?" she asked.
"Because he takes over the world! This is the moment that defines the rest of history! If we fail, we won't get another chance."
"Then we'd better not fail," she said.
He looked up, surprised.
"We're not going to let you kill him, but that doesn't mean we won't help you catch him," she said.
Brek shook his head. "Catching him isn't going to be enough. We don't know how his powers work, he could escape and then we'd be back where we started."
Mallory shook her head. "No one is all powerful. We'll find a way to keep him contained."
Brek seemed to think about it, then he sat on the ledge in defeat.
"Where are the others stationed?" Mallory asked, putting a hand on his shoulder.
Brek stood back up and pointed to three other buildings. "Kara isn't going to let you stop her. Not without a fight."
Mallory sighed. "If that's what it takes to stop her from making the worst mistake of her life, then so be it." She flamed up, and Polar Boy flew beside her to the rooftop where Brainy was. Rocket had him in a bubble, and he was yelling and frantically hitting the bubble.
"Good, you got him," she said.
Robin, Artemis, and Wally nodded, and Rocket said, "Yeah, I think Miss M and Z could use a hand over there, though." Mallory looked to where she was gesturing to see Megan and Zatanna and Kadur fighting Sandy on another rooftop. She turned to Brek. "Stay here," she told him, then dove off the side of the building, catching herself midair and going to the roof.
When she landed, Megan flew off a little bit, trying to protect herself from the fiery battle to come. Sandy's eyes widened, then narrowed as her idol landed in front of her, her face grim. "I don't want to fight you," Mallory said, holding her hands up and taking a step towards her.
Sandy narrowed her eyes. "Well, you should have thought of that before you came," she said. They didn't say anything else, Sandy just started the charge and Mallory countered it. Flames went in every direction as the two pyrokinetics fought. Sandy flamed her body up, gathering fire in a huge ball to throw. Mallory held her hands out, her fingers lacing with the energy, and she pulled. Sandy's fire dissipated, and the girl looked at her in fear and confusion. Before anything else could happen, Zatanna slapped Mallory's inhibitor collar of the future's neck.
"How?" Sandy stammered, but Mallory was already moving. Conner was alone with Supergirl, and she knew he wasn't as strong as her, and Kara was determined to get this done. The ground shook slightly, and Sandy's eyes showed her fear.
"He's here," she said quietly, looking around. Mallory ran to the side of the roof and looked over. A portal was opening in the air between the daily planet and the building they were on. The League was surrounding the hole in the sky. A man came out riding on a metal disk, and he looked around in surprise when he saw the League. Superman made the first move, but the villain did something, and the man of steel started going backwards. The rest of the Leaguers went at him, but they couldn't get a punch in.
Mallory heard a grunt from the roof of the daily planet and looked up to see Kara standing over Conner. She jumped and flew up to where her two friends were fighting. "Supergirl," she called when she landed on the roof.
Kara turned and glared at Mallory and started walking to the side of the roof. Mallory sidestepped so she was blocking her way. "Get out of my way, Inferno," Kara said, a dark look on her face.
"No," Mallory replied. She saw Conner getting up behind Kara, giving her hope that between the two of them they could keep her away from the real battle.
Kara stared at Mallory, her eyes red as she prepared her laser vision. "Move, Mallory," she said, her tone deadly.
Mallory narrowed her eyes. "No," she repeated.
Kara didn't give any warning, she just grabbed Mallory by the arm and threw her across the roof. Conner jumped in between her and the platform of the globe, softening the blow, and they both got up.
"Kara!" Mallory yelled, and Supergirl turned, ready to put them both down. "We don't have to do this," Mallory said, readying for the fight.
"Yes, we do," Kara replied. She flew towards them, and Mallory shot fire at her face, distracting her while Conner got in a punch. In barely phased her, and she slammed her fist into Conner's cheek, throwing him to the ground so hard that the building now had a dent in it. Mallory looked at him, then back at Kara, her heart pounding in her chest.
"Just give up, Mallory. You can't win," Kara said. Mallory narrowed her eyes and held up her fists. She ran towards the super, trying some hand to hand combat with her hands heated as much as she could make them. It did nothing, and Kara threw her into the platform again, only this time Conner wasn't there to soften the blow. She slid to the roof, the breath knocked out of her, and Kara levitated over to her.
"Sorry, Mallory, I didn't want you to get involved." She grabbed Mallory by the throat, pulling her up until her feet were no longer on the ground.
"You know I can't let you do this," Mallory rasped, both hands on Kara's wrist as she tried to loosen the super's grip.
Kara raised an eyebrow. "How are you planning on stopping me?" she asked.
Mallory got her hand to her neck and pulled out the small ball on the chain and flicked the top open, revealing the glowing green rock within. Kara gasped and fell to the roof, clutching her arms. Mallory held the Kryptonite on her until she was certain she wouldn't be able to fight anymore, then she sighed and closed the lead lid of the ball. "Sorry, I didn't want to have to resort to that," she said quietly, kneeling beside Supergirl.
They heard the sounds of the League fighting below, and Mallory and Conner propped Kara up between them and went to the edge to watch. After a long battle, the League finally managed to subdue the threat, and the Lanterns trapped him in a bubble. The team and League met on the roof of the Daily planet.
"You, you got him," Sandy said, surprised. Zatanna and Megan were on either side of her, but they hadn't tied her up. Rocket let Brainy out of the force field, and he stalked to the League angrily. "Do you have any idea what you've done?" he asked the heroes.
"We defeated the enemy without killing him," Batman said, his tone threatening.
Brainy took half a step back, but he recovered quickly. "You've doomed the future to serve him. History suggests that he could escape, killing him was the only way to insure that he would stay out of the picture."
"We don't kill. We can find another way," Clark said firmly.
Brainy threw his arms up in frustration. "Kara, you try," he said.
Kara looked up at Clark weakly, but she didn't even try to convince him. Clark glared at her, and she ducked her head. "Sorry, Kal," she said quietly.
Everyone was staring at the two supers, waiting for something to happen, then Robin's voice pulled the attention towards him. He was standing by the bubble containing the Time Trapper, his wrist computer scanning something. "Batman, look at this," he said, holding up the holographic screen. "Do these readings look familiar to you?"
Batman studied the screen for a moment, then his eyes widened slightly. "They're identical to the technology the Clock King used to manipulate time last year," he said incredulously.
"Exactly," Robin replied, shutting the screen down. "So, theoretically, if he didn't have the belt, he wouldn't have the powers, right?"
Batman nodded slowly. "Lantern, get the belt off. I'll run some tests, make sure," he said.
Hal made the bubble into a claw machine and got the belt off of the villain. Mallory and the rest of the team exchanged bewildered looks as the Leaguer dropped the belt in the prize chute. Batman took the belt, and John forced the claw machine back into a normal bubble.
"We should regroup at the cave," Superman suggested. The other Leaguers nodded, and Clark walked over and scooped Kara up, and the team headed to the zeta tube.
As soon as the League and team were gathered in the cave, Batman and Robin went off to do some tests on the belt, and the Lanterns stowed the prisoner in the training room. Megan and Zatanna pulled some food and sodas out since it was only five in the morning, and the heroes helped themselves to everything and started lounging around the room.
Mallory found Brek standing by himself by the counter. She stood next to him and grabbed a soda from the pile. They stood in silence for a moment, neither knowing what to say. Finally, Brek sighed.
"Uh, thanks for coming after us. I just hope Batman's right about the belt being Time Trapper's source of power, or else-"
Mallory shook her head, smiling slightly. "Batman's always right, don't worry." She paused, looking around, then she asked, "what does this mean for us?"
Brek shrugged. "Nothing. I love you, but if the Time Trapper is still able to manipulate time without the belt, I have to stand with my team, and you'll have to stand with yours."
The happiness Malory felt at hearing that he loved her was immediately crushed by the weight of the rest of the sentence, and she leaned against the counter and sighed. "He's right. You'll see."
They didn't say anything else, just stood together, watching as the team and League stood around in relative silence, waiting for Batman's final verdict and avoiding the topic of what was going to happen if he had been wrong. An hour went by, then two. The heroes grew more and more restless. Wally looked like a three year old on a sugar high being made to sit still through church. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the Dynamic Duo came back into the room, the belt in Batman's hand. The room collectively drew a breath of anticipation.
"It's the belt. Without it, the Time Trapper can't manipulate time."
Mallory smiled at Brek, a silent 'I told you so'.
"How could you possibly know that? This technology is far advanced for me. How do you know enough about it to make such a claim?" Brainy asked.
"I've seen this technology before. A recluse in Gotham invented it, but the Clock King got his hands on it and used it for his own gains. In order to prevent anyone else from doing the same, the recluse hid the plans away and destroyed the prototypes. The Time Trapper must have found the plans and constructed a device of his own, giving him the ability to control all aspects of time." He narrowed his eyes and added, "The next time you go on a mission in our jurisdiction, tell us what it is before you try to unnecessarily assassinate someone." With that, the Dark Knight strode past the boy to Superman.
Mallory went over to Robin, but Wally beat her to it. "Dude, you totally just stopped a war between the times! So cool!" the speedster said, literally picking his friend up and spinning in a circle.
"Dude, what are you doing?" Robin asked.
Mallory joined the two and laughed. "He's got a lot of pent up energy, that's all. Congrats, though. Once again the Boy Wonder saves the day."
She expected his usual smile, but his eyes narrowed slightly and he looked away. "Yeah, guess so."
Mallory and Wally exchanged a glance, then the speedster shrugged and threw an arm around Robin's shoulder, leading him towards the kitchen. "Come on, be happy about it. Grab a drink."
Robin finally grinned and the trio found the rest of the team. Just like that, the gathering of heroes waiting to see if they were going to fight or not turned into a victory party. Flash ran out and got pizza, even though it was still early in the morning, and the League stayed around the cave.
Kara found Mallory with the team and pulled her to the side. She was mostly recovered from the kryptonite, and her face was dead serious as she said, "thank you for stopping me."
Mallory smiled. "Hey, no problem. I hope I didn't hurt you too bad. I've ever used Kryptonite before, wasn't sure how long to hold it on you."
"Yeah, it was a little long, but I guess you had a right. With the mind I was in, I might have killed you without even realizing it. Hey, are you ok? I mean, fighting a super usually doesn't turn out good for the other party."
Mallory shrugged. "A few bruises, but nothing that won't heal. Conner took the brunt of it."
Supergirl nodded, relieved.
"So, when are you and the others going to go back?" Mallory asked after a second.
Kara tilted her head, thinking about it. "I don't know. Before, we were going to leave as soon as we, uh, as soon as the mission was done. but since we didn't kill Time Trapper, I guess we can stay a little longer. I want to go see Ma and Pa before we leave, and have a chance to really tie up all the loose ends I left the first time I went to the future."
Mallory nodded and found herself looking for Brek in the crowd. Kara noticed and smiled to herself before walking over to Brainy, who was talking to Aqualad. Mallory started to go back to the team, but Sandy stepped in front of her.
"I just wanted you to know, I mean, when I fought you, it wasn't, I didn't mean, uh…"
"Hey, it's fine. I know it wasn't personal, we both had a job to do, that's all."
Sandy smiled a little, looking relieved. There wasn't anything else to say, so Mallory moved around her to go back to her teammates. Sandy went to where Kara and Brainy were standing at the edge of the room talking.
"When do we have to leave?" she asked, looking between them. Brek walked over as she asked it, and he looked at the couple intently, waiting for the answer.
Kara smiled and exchanged a glance with Brainy. "I think we can spare a few more days."
Sandy grinned, and Brek looked relieved.
Kara tilted her head. "Brek, you said that you wanted to stay behind. Back then that wasn't an option, but things are different now. What are you going to do?"
Brek raised his eyebrows in surprise. "You would let me stay behind?" he asked.
Kara slid her hand in Brainy's and shrugged.
"But what about the Legion? What would you tell the superiors?" he asked, looking more at Brainy.
The green boy smiled. "I'm sure I'll be able to think of something," he replied, and Kara said, "So, is that what you want?"
Brek looked across the room to where Mallory was talking to Kid Flash and Artemis. She laughed at something, then locked eyes with him and smiled. He returned it, his chest swelling at the sight of her. "Yeah, it is," he told his friends.
Sandy squealed and threw her arms around him, unable to contain her excitement. Brek laughed, returning the hug.
"Well, we'll miss you when we go back, but I'm happy for you. Both of you," Kara told him, giving him a hug when Sandy let go.
"Thanks. Hey, don't say anything to Mallory. I want to be the one to tell her."
"Of course," Kara replied, and they all looked at Sandy.
"What? I've been here for almost four months and I haven't told anyone who Batman really is, and I've talked to Inferno, the Inferno, and not told her anything about her saving the world and d-"
"Shh, not so loud," Kara said, and Brainy looked at Brek. "You know, that is another thing to consider. Are you sure you'll be able to watch the woman you love sacrifice herself?"
Brek's face grew serious. "I've thought everything through. Maybe my being here can make a difference. The timeline isn't set in stone."
"Maybe, but the invasion is coming, and Inferno is vital to the success of the resistance. You could be staying to spend most of your life without her."
Brek looked back over to Mallory, her face beautiful and innocent, her smile pure as she talked to her friends. He smiled a little. She was content where she was, and that was one of the things he loved most about her. He'd been to a dozen timelines and in hundreds of countries, but he'd never felt content where he was until he'd met her. "I want to spend all the time I can with her. If that means spending the rest of my life alone in this time, then I'm ok with that."
Brainy nodded and Brek went to Mallory's side and joined the conversation she was having with Kid and Artemis. Kara watched, wishing she could warn the heroes of what was coming, but that was the curse of coming from the future. There was nothing she could do without causing something worse to happen.
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