This story line isn't entirely original, this is actually what happens to Hotspot in his comics, but I changed a few things to fit better in my story. Hope you like it, please review!
The next day, Mallory and Brek were in the living room watching a movie. The League had put the Time Trapper in Belle Rev until the futures would bring him with them to face justice in the thirtieth century, and Kara and Brainy had gone to Smallville so Kara could say a real goodbye to Martha and Jonathan and let them meet Brainy. Mallory turned to say something small to Brek and found him staring at her.
"What?" she asked with a small smile.
"I love you," he replied.
Mallory bit her cheek. As good as it felt to hear him say that, she couldn't say it back. Saying it would make it too real, and he would be gone forever in a few days. Brek seemed to know what she was thinking. He smiled and looked around the cave.
"So, am I gonna keep my room in the cave, or do I need to find an apartment somewhere? Well, I guess I'm gonna have to find a job first. What do you think, should I keep Polar Boy or change it to something else?"
Mallory stared at him, confused and hoping against hope that his rambling meant what she thought it did.
"Yeah, I guess I'll keep Polar Boy. Oh, wait, am I going to be on the team? How does that work, do I have to audition or is it just like a majority vote kind of thing?"
Mallory's face broke into a tentative smile. "You're staying?" she asked, needing to hear the words.
"Yeah, I'm staying," he replied.
Mallory threw her arms around him, knocking him over and ending up lying on top of him on the couch.
Brek laughed. "Well, that's encouraging," he said.
She smiled, not knowing what she could possibly say that would tell him how happy she was that he was staying. She was about to kiss him when her phone went off on the coffee table. She ignored it for the first few rings, then Brek propped himself up on one arm.
"Are you gonna get that?" he asked.
Mallory sighed. "Yeah, I guess," she replied.
She sat up and looked at the caller ID, her face immediately changing from annoyed to concerned. "Hello?" she sat up, putting her feet on the ground and leaning her elbow on her knee. Her eyes widened and she stood up, taking a few steps towards the zeta tube, trying to focus on what the other person was saying.
Brek sat all the way up, concerned by her behavior.
"Wait, Nikki, Nikki, slow down, I can't understand a word you're saying," she said, her voice calm even though there was a fearful expression on her face. "Isaiah's what?" she asked.
Brek watched her face as she listened.
"Nik, calm down, it's gonna be ok, I promise. Is someone with you?" she waited another moment, then said, "Ok, good. What station did you say it was on?" Mallory asked, going to the training room and pulling up a holographic screen. Brek jumped to his feet and followed. "All right, I'll watch it. Nikki, how are your parents doing?" She was typing in a news station, but her fingers froze at something the other person said. "Oh, well, yeah, ok, I'll come. Of course. All right, I'll see you soon, bye."
She hung up and started sorting through footage on the screen, her face holding determination.
"What's going on? Who was that?" Brek asked.
"My ex's little sister. She said Isaiah's missing. I couldn't make everything out, but from the sound of it, something bad happened," Mallory explained. "Listen, could you go find Zatanna or someone on the team and have them come here? I'm gonna need some help looking for this."
She didn't wait for an answer, just kept flipping through footage. Brek hurried down the hall and knocked on Zatanna's door.
The magician answered, and he said, "Mallory told me to get you and tell you to come to the training room."
"What's up?" she asked.
"Apparently something happened to her ex and she's trying to find out what," he said.
Zatanna got up and headed for the door. "All right, I'm coming," she told him. They went back to the training room to find Mallory still staring intently at the screen, obviously shaken. "What happened to Isaiah?" Zatanna asked.
Mallory shook her head. "I don't know exactly. Nikki called me, and she was so hysterical I could barely make anything out. All I know is that Isaiah's missing and there was some incident at his college. Nik told me they saw it on a home video channel. Can you help me go through all this?"
"Yeah, of course," the magician replied, and she and Brek moved to the screen and each took a video to skim.
They're comms went off then and they pressed the button. "Attention, all members. The Atom has been abducted from Ivy University along with a group of students. Assemble at the cave."
Zatanna turned to Mallory, dread on her face. "What school does Isaiah go to again?" she asked, but her tone said she knew the answer.
"Ivy University," Mallory replied grimly.
Ten minutes later, the entire League and team were in the cave's training room around a holographic screen and Batman. "Dr. Palmer and three students were abducted from Ivy University yesterday afternoon," Batman said, pulling up the video Mallory had been looking for. She winced as she saw Isaiah being carried onto a ship on a flying platform with the others. His face wasn't showing, but she'd know him anywhere.
"Why are we just addressing this now?" Flash asked.
Batman narrowed his eyes at the speedster, and Flash looked down slightly. "I've been reviewing the evidence all night. This was no simple abduction. The symbols on the ship are alien in nature, as is the technology used to carry the prisoners to the ship. And here," he pointed to the video as it showed the ship blow a hole in the side of the building, a beam of light shot into Dr. Palmer's lab, depositing four armed men in the building. "This is almost like our zeta tubes, but the readings are off." Mallory sighed impatiently, waiting for one of Batman's foolproof plans. Instead, he said, "This will take more time. Flash, Superman, and I will go to the abduction site and look around. Lanterns, check for any disturbances in space. I suspect these aliens will either make their demands or leave. Either way, we'll need to know what and where they are. We'll need the watchtower ready to defend an attack." He closed the screens and started for the zeta tube with the League not far behind him.
Mallory stared after him incredulously. "That's it?" she heard herself say, and all the Leaguers turned back to her in surprise.
"Until we know more about the captors, it would be foolhardy to try and launch an attack, or a rescue," Batman replied.
Mallory felt her hands go to fists, but she didn't say anything else as the Leaguers zetaed away, probably to the watchtower to make further plans.
"Mallory, you ok?" Wally asked. It wasn't the first time she'd challenged Batman, but it was the first time that there didn't seem to be a reason behind.
Mallory sighed. "Isaiah's one of the prisoners," she said quietly.
Wally's face immediately held understanding, and there seemed to be a shift with the rest of the team. No matter what they had said about him when Mallory was dating him, Isaiah was a friend, and as far as they were concerned, they would treat his disappearance like he was one of them.
"Mal, Batman has a point. We don't even know where they are. Until he can get more information, there really isn't a lot we can do," Zatanna said gently.
Mallory sighed. "I know, I just hate the sitting. I want to be doing something."
Zatanna nodded. "Then go to Metropolis and spend some time with his family. You already told Nikki that you would."
The fight seemed to drain out of her as she thought about going to see Isaiah's family for the first time since they broke up under these circumstances, but she nodded and headed for her room to change. Brek watched her, not sure if he should follow or not. In the end he decided against it. She needed to work through this alone.
Mallory took a breath and knocked on the apartment door. "Who is it?" Mr. Crockett asked from the other side. His voice sounded tired.
"It's Mallory. I heard about Isaiah," she replied. She heard some heavy footsteps come to the door, then it opened and Mr. Crockett was standing in front of her.
"Nikki told us she called you," he said, stepping to the side so she could come in. Mrs. Crockett was sitting on the sofa, and when she saw Mallory she got up and walked over to her. She tried to say something, but she broke down into sobs before anything came out. Mallory hugged her, and his mom held her tight. When she finally got some control over herself, she let go and smiled at Mallory, wiping the tears off her face. "Thank you for coming," she said.
Mallory nodded. "Of course. How are you doing?" she asked.
Mrs. Crockett took a shuddery breath. "We're managing," she said, taking Mr. Crockett's offered hand. Despite the horrible circumstances that had brought them to that apartment, Mallory couldn't help but feel a little happiness that the two of them were in the same room and comforting each other.
"Where's Nikki?" Mallory asked.
"She's in her room. She hasn't wanted to come out since she found out," Mr. Crockett replied.
"Can I go see her?" Mallory asked. He nodded, and she went down the familiar hall and knocked on her door. There was a muffled answer, so she opened the door to see Nikki sitting on the floor with a coloring book.
"Mallory!" the girl yelled, immediately embracing her.
"Hey, Nik. You ok?" Mallory asked, tilting the girl's face up so she could see it. She'd obviously been crying, but she seemed to have gotten a little bit of control over herself.
Nikki nodded. "I'm so glad you came," she murmured, hugging Mallory tight.
"Hey, of course. " Mallory replied. She sat on the floor where Nikki had been, and the girl followed suit. "So your mom, is she staying here, or did she get a hotel?" Mallory asked, hoping to ease Nikki's mind away from Isaiah.
"She got a hotel, but she's been here the whole time. She's the one who found out about him first," Nikki told her. She started crying without warning, and Mallory sighed and pulled her close. "Why did this have to happen?" Nikki asked tearfully, looking up at Mallory with big eyes.
Mallory sighed. "I don't know, Nikki. But it's gonna be ok. I'm gonna get him back, I promise."
Nikki looked up at her. "How?" she asked.
Mallory winced at her slip and glanced at the floor. The coloring book lay open, a picture of the justice league standing in front of the Hall of Justice on the day Red Arrow and the others had been inducted into the League sat half colored. It must have been her imagination, but she could've sworn the picture of Batman narrowed his eyes as he waited for her to decide whether to tell Nikki the truth or make something up. She looked at the girl that she still thought of as a little sister and sighed. "Nikki, you know how Isaiah has powers?" Nikki nodded. "Well, I do, too," she said, careful not to actually say that she was a superhero.
Nikki's eyes widened. "Really?" she asked.
Mallory nodded.
"What can you do?" the girl asked.
Mallory snapped her fingers, lighting her thumb.
"Wow, you're just like him!" Nikki said, sitting up straighter.
Mallory smiled and put out the fire. "He's going to be fine. I'm sure of it."
Nikki leaned her head on Mallory's shoulder. "I missed you," the younger girl said.
Mallory rested her head on Nikki's, an ache rising in her as she thought about how things used to be. "I've missed you, too," she said quietly.
She sat with Nikki for an hour before convincing her to come out of her room and get something to eat. Mrs. Crockett pulled out some leftovers and the family sat and picked at their food.
"Mallory, would you like to stay with us for a few days?" Mr. Crockett asked as they were clearing the table.
Mallory looked at him, a little surprised. She knew she should say no. After all, she and Isaiah weren't dating anymore, and she should be at the cave waiting for Batman to come up with a plan. But she wanted to be with them, to help them through this hard time. She thought about it for a moment, then said, "Yeah, thanks."
Mrs. Crockett smiled. "Stay as long as you want, dear. You shouldn't be alone right now, anyway."
Mallory nodded. "Thanks. I'm gonna go call my parents, let them know I won't be at the school," she said, remembering that his family thought she was in boarding school. They nodded and Mallory left the apartment. She texted her mom to let her know what was going on, then called Zatanna.
"Hey, it's me. I'm gonna stay with Isaiah's family until something changes. Call me as soon as you hear anything, ok?" she said when the magician answered.
"Yeah, ok. How are they?" Zatanna asked.
"They're ok, I guess. I wish someone would come up with a location and a plan already. The waiting is killing me."
"I know, but hang in there. We'll get them back. If they don't bust out themselves. I mean, it's the Atom and Hotspot. I'm sure they're working on something as we speak."
Mallory sighed and leaned against the wall, her eyes finding the vent across the hall. "Yeah, you're probably right. Thanks, Z. I'll see you soon." She hung up and went back into the apartment.