Sorry I'm a little later than usual, hope you like the chapter, please review.
Two days later, Mallory was watching the news with Mrs. Crockett and Nikki, waiting for an update that she knew wasn't going to come. Mr. Crockett had gone to the office to take care of some details for a big case, so it was just the three of them there when Mallory's phone buzzed on the coffee table. The text that showed read 'Come home, field trip - Z'.
Nikki read the screen before handing the phone to Mallory. "You have a field trip?" she asked.
Mallory's heart skipped a beat and she read the text for herself. "Oh, I totally forgot! I've got to go. Thanks for letting me stay here Mrs. C, but I'll probably spend the night at the school tonight. I've got a lot of catching up to do."
Mrs. Crockett nodded and gave Mallory a hug. "You call me if you need someone to talk to, all right?" the woman said.
Mallory nodded and returned the hug. "Same to you. Both of you," she said, bringing Nikki into the hug.
The girl smiled a little and followed Mallory to the door. "You are gonna come back, aren't you? You aren't just gonna disappear again?" she asked.
Mallory gave her another hug, holding her tight. "I'll come see you soon, I promise," she assured the girl before hurrying out the door and to the street.
She found the nearest zeta tube and punched in the coordinates for the cave. She appeared in the training room a moment later, the last of the team and League to arrive. Brek was standing closest to the tube, and they said a quiet hello before turning their attention to Batman as he pulled up a holographic screen of the abduction site and a diagram of the orbit of Earth.
"We've identified alien markings on the ship that took the prisoners away, a race called H'san Natall, and there is an unidentified craft in Earth's orbit right now," Batman started.
A pang of alarm went through her, even if it did make sense. H'san Natall, the same race that had fathered Isaiah. This couldn't be a coincidence.
"The League will draw the attention of the craft while the team sneaks aboard and frees the prisoners. Green Lantern took a scan of the ship, so they will have a basic blueprint to go by. Any questions?"
The room was silent as everyone waited to load onto the ships.
"All right. The team will take the bioship and stay in camouflage mode while the League engages the ship."
They started for the hangar, Mallory and Brek side by side, Sandy not far behind them, practically skipping with excitement. "Can you believe we're going on a mission with the Justice League?" she asked Brek. He grinned. "I know, it's schway, huh?" "Totally. Well, I guess you'll go on plenty of missions with them through the years. I still can't believe you're staying."
Brek nodded and they got to the bioship. Mallory and Brek sat next to each other, and Mallory noted with some annoyance that the bioship was getting really crowded.
"So, how did things go with Crockett's family?" Brek asked.
"Fine. Hey, I'm sorry about this. I know this must be the last thing you wanted to happen the week you decide to change time periods."
Brek took her hand in his, turning his seat so he was facing her. "Hey, it's fine. It's not your fault. When this is over, things'll go back to normal and we can celebrate then." Mallory smiled, getting lost in his pale blue eyes.
"Well, we're here," Megan announced, pulling Malory's attention away from Polar Boy. She anxiously scanned the outside of the huge ship. The team was staying far enough away that the ship wouldn't be able to get a reading on them, and they saw the Lanterns' ship containing the entire league as it approached the ship. They ordered the ship to release the hostages and shut down their weapons, and the ship answered them by firing some kind of energy cannon at them. The League went to work. The members who could fly in space got out of the plane, and those who couldn't took smaller pods to assist. The team watched as the League held their own against the attack, then John Stewart punched a hole in the side of the ship and made an airlock for the team.
"All right, we're up," Robin said.
Megan sidled the ship up to the hole and they ran into the larger ship. When they were all off, Megan told the bioship to wait a safe distance away and the Lantern closed the hole he'd made. The team seemed to take a collective breath as they prepared themselves for what they could be going up against, then they gathered around Robin as he pulled up the blueprints of the ship.
"The prisoners should be here, it's the only logical place," Robin said, pointing to the centermost room in the ship.
"Great. Now how do we get there?" Artemis asked, one hand tightening around her bow.
"Give me one second to chart a course, there, done. Ok, follow me," he said, and he started jogging down the hall. The team followed, keeping an eye on the surroundings as they made their way deeper into the alien ship. Robin stopped short at the end of a hall, and the team did as well, watching for danger.
Suddenly, ten aliens rounded the corner, their red eyes narrowing at the sight of the team. They raised their weapons, and the team went into action. Four of the purple humanoids were down before the rest could even fire a shot. The rest, however, were prepared, and they put up much more of a fight. Conner and Wally were fighting one, Mallory and Sandy another, and the rest of the team were trying to bring down the other four. Mallory shot fire at their alien, hitting him on the horn on his head, then she ducked, letting Sandy get a shot in. They both flew up and shot fire at him from both sides, but it barely stunned him. He smiled and opened his mouth, and Mallory saw the flames gathering at the back of his mouth and shoved them down his throat. He fell to his knees, choking, and Mallory and Sandy jumped at him in unison, each kicking him in the face before flipping and landing behind him on their feet. The alien slumped to the floor, unconscious. Conner and Wally, mostly Conner, had taken care of their alien and had started assisting the others, so the two Infernos did the same.
"Guys, there are more on the way," Robin said over the link.
"How many?" Rocket asked.
"Too many," he replied.
"Robin, Inferno, Zatanna, and Artemis, go find the hostages and get them to a secure location. The rest of us will meet you by the exit when we can," Aqualad ordered.
"They're not going to let us just walk away," Zatanna pointed out, muttering a spell that left one alien bound from head to toe by his own fire.
"Then you must disappear," Kaldur said.
"Megan should go instead of me. She can't fight when they're throwing fire," Artemis said.
Kaldur nodded and Robin threw down some smoke pellets. Mallory and Zatanna ran away from the fight side by side, and they met Robin and Miss Martian around the next corner.
"All right, this way," Robin said, leading the way down a hall.
The girls followed him, all of them extra careful not to run into any trouble. They came to a room that had screens and dozens of aliens in it, which Mallory assumed was the control room, and they were able to catch a glimpse of the League's fight. They were still going strong, but the non powered members had been forced to back up. They were running out of time. Robin motioned for them to keep going, and Mallory gave the screen showing Superman and Captain Marvel bending the cannons one last glance before following the team.
Finally, they came to a room with a sliding door made from a clear substance and they snuck inside. There was equipment all over the room, obviously used for scientific tests, and another door at the far end of the room.
"It's locked," Robin told them after trying it.
"Let me try," Zatanna said. Robin moved out of the way, and the magician muttered a spell. The seam of the door started glowing, then it widened, leaving enough room for Mallory to burn through the lock.
When they went in the room, Megan gasped in surprise. There were four pods attached to the wall, three of which contained people from Earth. The young heroes rushed to the pods, and Mallory immediately recognized Dr. Palmer.
"Are they ok?" Zatanna asked, looking at Megan and Robin.
Robin scanned them with his wrist computer. "They're vitals are fine," he reported, and Megan nodded and added, "They are just unconscious. The pods are interacting with their minds, keeping them asleep until they are needed."
Robin started looking around the room, then he pressed a button on the control board and the pods opened with a hiss.
"You read H'san Natall?" Megan asked, surprised.
Robin grinned. "Nope," he replied.
The girls waited for an explanation, but he went to Dr. Palmer and shook him gently. The three captives woke up slowly and stumbled out of the pods looking disoriented.
"Dr. Palmer, are you able to walk? We're here to get you out," Robin told him.
The Atom nodded. "Just give us a moment, we'll be fine," he said.
Mallory looked at the three prisoners, fear taking hold of her. There was Dr. Palmer, a girl with pale skin and black hair, and a boy Mallory had never seen before. She turned to Robin, telling herself to sound normal. "Where's Isaiah?" she asked. Robin realized that he wasn't there and started scanning the room, but all he got was static.
"How do you know Isaiah?" the girl from the pod asked weakly.
Mallory turned to her. "Do you know where he is?" she asked.
The girl nodded and pointed to a room off the one they were in. "He's been in there since last night," she said, her voice betraying her fear and worry.
"It's ok, I'll go get him," Mallory told her. She went to the room and flipped on the lights. There was a pod in this room, too, but it was different. It was lying down, and it gave Mallory the sickening image of Snow White's glass coffin. Isaiah was inside, and she took a half a moment to let the relief sink in that he was alive. She went to the control panel and scanned the buttons. They were all marked with the alien language, but one of them had a picture of a pod opening. If she hadn't been so concerned about Isaiah, she would have laughed. So that was how Robin had known which button it was.
She pressed it, and the pod opened, but Isaiah didn't move. Mallory pressed another button and the pod started raising until it was standing up. She went in front of her ex and tried to shake him awake, but all she ended up doing was making him fall out of the pod on top of her. She managed to keep him from just falling flat on the floor, but she knew she wouldn't be able to carry him all the way to the ship. She heard footsteps behind her and then there was a gasp.
"Isaiah!" the girl exclaimed, and she ran over and stood beside him, ignoring Mallory even though she was the only thing keeping him from falling to the floor. Mallory realized that she must be Toni, his new girlfriend, which made her feel even more uncomfortable literally being between them. She locked eyes with Megan.
"Can you carry him?" she asked. Megan nodded and her eyes glowed white as she lifted him in the air.
"All right, we need to get back to the opening and get on the ship," Robin said.
"What about the rest of the team?" Zatanna said.
"Aqualad said they would meet us there. We need to stick to the plan," the Boy Wonder replied. "Come on."
They hurried through the halls, the trip uneventful, and made it back to their original point of entry. "Aqualad, we're at the point. Where are you?" Robin said into his comm, pulling out some explosives.
"We are on our way. Make our opening, we will be there by the time the ship is ready," the leader replied. Robin nodded to the group he was with and put on an oxygen mask, then he handed one to Dr. Palmer. Zatanna produced more, handing them out to the rest of the team and prisoners. "Ok, find something to hold on to," Robin said, planting the explosives and shooting his grappling hook on the wall. Megan took the former prisoners far away from where the opening would be made, and Mallory flamed up, ready to fight the suction. Zatanna grabbed Robin's line and the two clung on, holding each other tightly.
The explosion went off, and Mallory was taken back at how much force was trying to drag her out into space. She forced her fire to match the force, holding her own against it. The bioship struggled to the opening and locked on, ending the suction. Robin and Zatanna crashed to the floor and Mallory flew full force into the wall.
"Inferno, you ok?" Robin called.
Mallory rubbed her shoulder and got to her feet. "Yeah. Hey, remind me to thank these guys later for making their walls squishy," she said. He grinned and the three of them and Megan's group boarded the ship. The rest of the team came running in a moment later being chased by a dozen aliens, and Megan shut the doors and flew the ship off. The aliens were sucked into space at the sudden opening, and the team heaved a collective sigh of relief before flopping in their seats, half asleep from exhaustion. Mallory remembered Isaiah and sat back up, leaning over him. He still hadn't woken up, which worried her considering he hadn't been with the others.
"Thank you so much," the girl prisoner said, looking around.
Wally grinned. "Hey, no problemo. That's what we do." He leaned forward, about to say something that would likely embarrass them all, and Artemis kicked the back of his seat. "Oh, I'm sorry," she said, turning to Megan when Wally looked at her with a confused expression on his face. "I hope I didn't hurt her."
Megan smiled and shook her head. "The ship's fine," she assured the archer.
"Wha- uh, excuse me," Wally stammered.
"I'm sure you'll agree with me someday, babe," Artemis replied with a sweet smile.
The girl with the dark hair turned to Mallory, the closest to Isaiah. "I guess I should thank you. If you hadn't known that Isaiah was with us, he might have been left behind."
Mallory nodded.
"I should introduce myself. Toni Monetti, I'm a student at Ivy University."
"You seem kind of young to be in college," Mallory commented. She looked about seventeen, just a year younger than Isaiah.
"I skipped my senior year of high school. But that's not important. Who are you?"
"Inferno," she said, surprised that the girl didn't know who she was.
Something crossed Toni's face, but before Mallory could decide what it was, it was gone. "Is he going to be alright?" she asked, looking at Isaiah.
"I don't know," Mallory replied, hating the answer. Toni turned around in her seat and Mallory looked out the window, absently watching the League regroup and load back onto the Lantern's ship, John Stewart escorting the H'san Natal ship out of Earth's space. She put a hand to her neck, holding the figure, her thumb rubbing on the cool glass as she silently prayed that Isaiah would recover.
Brek watched Mallory closely as she stared out the window, one hand holding the figure that her ex had given her. He'd never told her, but it bothered him that she still wore it. Until now, he'd been able to convince himself that it didn't have anything to do with the person who had given it to her, she just liked it. Now, though, seeing how much she still cared for him, he wondered if that had been why she'd never put it in the box in her dresser with the kryptonite necklace.
Zatanna turned in her seat as they started back into Earth's atmosphere. "You ok?" she asked quietly.
He nodded and glanced back at Mallory, the look telling Zatanna all she needed to know.
"It doesn't mean anything. She's worried about him, he was part of her life for over a year. That doesn't mean she wants to get back together with him," she told the Legionnaire quietly.
Brek sighed and looked at the magician, smiling a little. "Yeah, I know," he said.
She nodded, returning the smile before turning back around to talk quietly with Robin. Out of all the team, he appreciated Zatanna the most. She understood things without needing to put them in words, and she knew just what to say to put someone's worries away.
Still, though, thoughts nagged at him until Miss Martian flew the ship through the hangar doors on the side of the mountain and opened the hatch.