Sorry I'm a little late, I had a long day at work. I would love some reviews. You know, as Christmas presents. And this chapter is pretty big, so please, please, please, please REVIEW! :)

Isaiah came out of medbay, one arm around Toni as she helped support him.

"So I take it you're gonna live, huh?" Mallory asked.

Isaiah shrugged and smiled, holding his stomach where the worst of the gashes was. "Yeah, Palmer says I'll be fine in a few weeks. Toni and I were gonna go to the house, let my family know I'm ok. Am I still in the system?"

Mallory nodded. "Yeah, but Toni and the other guy are gonna need to be authorized."

"His name's Cody Driscoll," Toni said, glancing over at him.

"Can you do it?" Isaiah asked.

She shook her head. "No, you'll have to get Manhunter or Superman, I don't know how to just authorize it one time," she explained. Superman came around the corner, heading for the zeta tubes.

"There he is, Toni. Go tell him you need to get to Metropolis," Isaiah said, shifting his weight so that he wasn't leaning on her anymore.

The girl looked at him like he was crazy. "I can't just go ask Superman for a ride home!" she hissed.

Isaiah grinned. "He's cool, don't worry about it. He'll be glad to help."

Toni sighed, and Mallory noticed her shoot the two of them a look before taking hesitant steps towards the Man of Steel.

"It never gets old, watching people meet him for the first time," Mallory mentioned, getting up so Isaiah could take her spot on the arm of the couch. He didn't move, which left them closer than they should have been under the circumstances.

"Hey, thanks for coming to help me," he said quietly.

Mallory shrugged the words off. "That's my job," she said, not meeting his eyes.

"I know, but you didn't have to go in my head."

"What was I supposed to do? Leave you in a coma?" she asked.

Isaiah chuckled. "No, I guess not." His eyes landed on the figure around her neck, and he raised a hand like he was going to touch it, then let it fall back to his side. "I see you kept it," he said, nodding to the gift.

Mallory's hand went to it unconsciously, the familiar feel of the glass calming her. "I told you I would," she said quietly.

Isaiah was about to say something, but before he could Toni was beside him again, immediately taking one of his arms and putting it around her shoulder, presumably so he could lean on her again, but she was staring at Mallory as she did it. "He said he would. I can't believe I just talked to Superman! I mean, wow, I never thought I would actually meet him. Ugh, he could probably see how nervous I was," Toni gushed, looking up at Isaiah.

Mallory chuckled. "Don't worry about it. Isaiah had about the same reaction to meeting him. Probably worse, considering he'd just attempted a felony not long before," Mallory said, smiling at the memory.

Isaiah grinned and gave her a sideways glare. "You don't have to say it like that. I didn't do it, did I?"

Mallory shrugged. "Only because we stopped you. Boy, you were dumb back then."

They both chuckled, thinking back to the first time they'd met, and Toni cleared her throat awkwardly.

"Ok, well, your family's worried, we should get to their apartment," she said. Isaiah nodded and they went towards the zeta tube.

Zatanna joined Mallory back in the living room. The Legionaires started walking towards their rooms, and Brek started to walk back over to Mallory.

"Maybe you shouldn't wait until tonight to talk to Brek," Zatanna said quietly before he got to them, moving closer to Mallory. "There's nothing going on right now, you might as well."

Before Mallory could respond, Brek was next to her. He had a strange look on his face, and when he put an arm around her shoulder, she turned to him. "Everything ok?" she asked quietly.

"Uh, yeah, everything's fine. Where'd Robin go?"

"Gotham. Another breakout," Zatanna replied.

Brek nodded, but he was very distracted. Zatanna nodded to behind her and Mallory turned to see Toni coming back to them.

"How is he?" Zatanna asked.

"He'll be fine. Dr. Palmer said it would take a few weeks for the injuries to heal, but it could have been worse," she said. Zatanna nodded and Toni turned back to Mallory. "Uh, Inferno, could I talk to you a second?" she asked quietly.

Mallory looked at Zatanna, who glared at her discreetly and went towards her room. Brek took his arm off her shoulder, and she turned to him. "I'll see you later, ok?" she said. He gave her a strange look and pressed his lips against her forehead. "I love you," he said quietly, so Toni couldn't hear. Mallory gave him a confused look, but he turned and started walking towards his room, so she turned back to Toni.

"What is it?" she asked.

"I told Isaiah that I forgot something, but I needed to talk to you. Uh, look, I don't know how to say this without sounding like a jealous girlfriend," she said, her voice soft.

"What is it?" Mallory asked, having a good idea what was coming.

"Well, I want to ask you to stay away from Isaiah. And I know I shouldn't, I know I don't have the right to do that, but, I mean, seeing you in there, I know you still love him, and the two of you still have a spark. You have your boyfriend, you have your family, your team, the League. Isaiah's all I have left, I can't lose him. Seeing you two together, I'm just, I'm scared that if he sees you any more, he'll decide to try things again. So please, just give him space, ok?"

Mallory stared at the girl, shocked and uncomfortable at the vulnerability she'd displayed. She cleared her throat and nodded. "Uh, yeah, ok," she said awkwardly.

Toni smiled a little. "Thanks," she said.

Toni hurried back to the zeta tubes, and Mallory sighed and leaned on the arm of the couch, feeling like she'd been punched in the chest.

Later that evening, Mallory went to Brek's room. She'd spent an hour deciding what she was going to say, and she felt as light as air. She'd made her decision, and she was prepared to stick to it. She loved Brek, and she wanted to be with him.

This was what she was rehearsing in her head as she knocked on his door, expecting them to open immediately. They remained closed, and he didn't ask who it was. She knocked again, louder this time, but again she didn't get a response.

"Brek?" she called, the happy feeling dwindling as uneasiness took hold. When she didn't get a response this time, she pressed the panel on the wall. The doors slid open, revealing the room to be pitch black.

"Brek, you in here?" Mallory asked, her fingers fumbling to find the switch. She found it and gradually turned up the light. The room was clean. Too clean. The bed was made, there wasn't any of the bric a brac he'd collected in the four months lying around.

She turned and noticed the black baseball cap she'd picked out for him, and she went over to it. When she picked it up, a piece of paper fell to the ground. She picked it up, still holding the cap in one hand, and opened it. It read:

Dear Mallory,

Are letters a thing in the 21st century? I couldn't remember when they went out of style. Well, I guess that's not really important. By the time you read this, I'll already be back in my time. I'm sorry I didn't say a real goodbye, but I couldn't risk weakening and staying behind because of you. I love you so much, but today I remembered something very important: history repeats itself. You and Hotspot belong together. You might think it's over, and you might be right, but I couldn't take the chance that it's not. It wouldn't be fair to either of us. You would feel like you have to stay with me because I've given up everything for you, and I would be bitter that after all this you want to go back to him. It wouldn't have worked long term, anyway. I shouldn't tell you this, heck, Kara and Brainy practically burned it into Sandy not to tell you, but I care about you too much to leave you there knowing what's coming, so here it is. You don't get the happy ending you deserve. There is an invasion, the world will need you, and of course, you'll answer. That's one of the things I love about you, you can't turn your back on anyone. I'm not telling you this to get even with you, or to make you suffer. I'm doing it in the hopes that it will, somehow, change your fate, in the same way that I had hoped that my presence would change it. That is another reason I decided to go back to my time. At first when we were talking, I thought it would be a cool story, that I had dated The Inferno from the Hall of Fallen Heroes, one of Earth's greatest protectors. Things changed, though. I started having feelings for you, and I thought that if I stayed I could somehow change what is coming. Now, though, I realize that my presence will not change anything because I'm not originally from your time. Nothing I could do would matter in the grand scope of time, and I couldn't stay there and watch you die. Hopefully, now that you know what happens, something will change. I am so sorry for everything. Just know that I love you, and I always will.

-Brek Bannin, Polar Boy

Mallory stared at the last sentence, tears trailing down her cheeks. She slid to the ground. The world swam around her as the tears collected. She put her arms on her knees and buried her face in them, sobbing as her heart broke. She'd lost them both, and it was her own fault. Her hand clutched the bill of the cap, the only solid thing she had left of him. She tried to take a breath to calm herself, but she choked on the air and gave in to the grief, sobbing into her arms in the silence of the empty room.

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