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When Mallory zetaed into the training room that afternoon with her bags, the cave was empty. It was after training, she realized, and before dinner, so most of the team were probably in their cities, and Megan, Conner, and Zatanna were probably in town or something. She lugged her bags to her room and stacked them on her bed, then looked around the familiar room. It had been seven months since she'd been in the cave, and a satisfied feeling wrapped around her like a blanket. She was home.
She started unpacking, and her hand stilled when it touched the black baseball cap Brek had left behind. She pulled it out and stared at it, thinking of its original owner. She smiled sadly and put it on her dresser with her denim cap and went back to her unpacking.
A half an hour went by before she heard the familiar cacophony of voices drifting in from the kitchen. She only had one suitcase left, but she abandoned the chore and walked out slowly, in the back of her mind wondering how the team would react to her just showing up out of the blue.
The first person she saw was Megan. She was talking to Artemis at the counter, the rest of the team settled in both the living room and the kitchen.
"We can't just skip classes," Megan was saying. Her eyes wandered to Mallory and her face lit up as she pushed away from the counter. "Mallory!" she shrieked excitedly, flying over and engulfing Mallory in a hug.
Mallory hugged her green friend back tightly, looking at the rest of the team while she did. Everyone was walking over, and she looked specifically at Wally and Robin. Wally was grinning, and Robin was smiling with satisfaction.
"Well, welcome back to reality," Wally said, giving her a hug.
Mallory let out a huff. "Yeah, thanks for the pep talk back there. I guess I needed it," she said.
"Mallory, you can't believe how much we missed you," Zatanna told her as the pyrokinetic gave Conner a hug that he pretended he didn't want.
"I missed you guys, too," Mallory replied.
Raquell was close to Mallory, and she looked at her carefully, then broke into a smile. "I love your hair, girl! When did you get it done?"
Mallory ran a hand over the red hair, still getting used to the new length. "Today. I decided it was time for a change," she replied.
"Mallory, I do not believe that you have met Tula and Garth," Kaldur said after giving his younger teammate a hug.
The two Atlanteans stepped forward, and Tula immediately gave Mallory a quick hug. "It is so good to finally meet you," she said.
Mallory smiled. "You too. I've heard a lot about both of you," she said, looking between Garth and Tula. A small pause entered the conversation, then Mallory asked, "So, what are your hero names?"
Tula smiled. "I am Aquagirl, and Garth is called Tempest," she said.
Mallory nodded and turned to Robin. "So, what was this mission you needed me for?" she asked.
The boy wonder grinned and pulled up a holographic screen. He typed something in and turned back to her. "You know that Kobra base we infiltrated a few years ago?"
Mallory nodded.
"Well, it seems they're still going, even with Kobra behind bars. Batman's sending us back in to find out who's leading them, considering all the lieutenants are in jail, too."
Mallory grinned. "Great. So, who's on the lame half of the team this time?" she asked. Artemis glared at her playfully.
"Well, we'll be going in as two separate groups of friends, so more people will be able to go undercover," Robin replied. He switched the screen from a picture of the base and blueprints to a chart of the team members waiting to be filled out. "Kaldur and Wally both asked to be on the bioship," Robin said.
Mallory turned to Wally in surprise. "Really?" she asked.
He shrugged. "Last time wasn't great being hungry all the time," he explained.
She nodded in understanding and turned back to Robin.
"The last one that's going to stay on the bioship is Conner," Robin said, typing the three boys' hero names into the chart.
Mallory nodded. That made sense. "Well, who's in what group?" she asked.
Robin shrugged and looked around at the team. "We haven't really figured that out yet. It doesn't really matter, once we're inside we'll have the link to communicate with everyone."
Megan, Artemis, and Mallory looked at each other, and Raquell and Zatanna nodded at each other.
Robin chuckled and shrugged. "Ok, well, guess I'll go with Z and Rocket. Tula can go with Inferno, Miss M, and Artemis, and Garth can be in this group."
The team nodded, all satisfied with their positions, and Mallory scanned the Boy Wonder's holographic screen as he filled in the groups. "When do we start out?" she asked.
"We still have a week and a half, so there's no rush. Batman's trying to get in touch with an old ally on the inside, but we're not sure if that's going to pan out yet. If it doesn't, we'll have to stake out for a few days and see how they're recruiting people."
She nodded and Robin closed the holographic screen. "Sounds like it's all planned out. How long have you known about it?" she asked.
"We've known about the base for about a month. We've known about going undercover for about a week," Wally replied.
The team moved from the doorway to the living area and settled in. Mallory noticed that the team had replaced one of the chairs with another couch, so the two sofas now made an L, and the two chairs were opposite the new couch. She sat where the end of the sofa had been, Wally on one side, Tula on the other, sitting on the new section of seating.
"I have wanted to meet you for some time," Tula said quietly to Mallory as the rest of the team talked about what they needed to avoid doing to keep from anything exploding during the upcoming mission.
"Thanks, I've wanted to meet you too. Kaldur's said great things about both you and Garth. So has the rest of the team," Mallory replied.
Tula smiled and pushed some auburn hair out of her face. "The team has spoken highly of you, as well. They spoke of you often, especially on missions. I am excited to see you in action. As you can probably imagine, we do not see many fire wielders in Atlantis."
Mallory chuckled and turned her attention back to the team's conversation when Wally laughed and said, "If we don't want anything to go wrong, we should just not go. Besides, missions aren't any fun when things go the way they're planned."
She smiled at her friend's statement, and even Kaldur's serious face cracked into a smile at the speedster's words. "Perhaps it is time to consider that Batman expects collateral damage when he sends us on missions," the leader said. Robin grinned and Wally shrugged.
"So, Mal, how does it feel to be back?" Zatanna asked from her spot next to Robin.
Mallory smiled. "Great. Feels like I never left."
The Magician smiled and Artemis looked around Wally to see the pyrokinetic. "Well, believe me, you missed a lot. We'll have to fill you in later."
Mallory nodded. That was one thing she was looking forward to.
There was a lull in the conversation, and Megan filled it by saying, "do you guys want to go somewhere? There's a new exhibit opening at the Hall of Justice, remember?"
Mallory tilted her head. "What are they adding to the Hall?" she asked. Clark hadn't mentioned anything on his visits, and the local Smallville news hadn't covered anything on the Hall.
"They're adding a whole hall of the Green Lantern Corps history. Hal and John fought it at first, but Guy Gardener insisted on suggesting it to the League, and the majority voted yes," Conner informed her.
Mallory nodded, mentally coming up with a list of heroes she thought voted no. "We should go. I'd love to see it. Besides, I haven't been out with you guys in forever," she said, looking around.
Wally and robin shrugged, and Kaldur nodded and stood. The rest of the team followed the original three to the zeta tubes, and they zetaed to Washington D.C.
The group of teens strode into the Hall of Justice casually with the rest of the tourists, easily blending into the crowd in their civies. They walked through the hall dedicated to the formation of the League, and Mallory looked up at the statues of the original seven members, a shiver of awe going down her spine.
"The new hall's over here," Robin said from the front of the group, drawing Mallorys attention away from the statues. She followed the group through the halls, walking side by side with Raquel as the couples on the team paired up.
"Hey, how's Darius? You haven't mentioned him in months," Mallory mentioned.
Raquel smiled. "He's good. He finally met my Dad a few months back, and we're talking about getting a place together."
Mallory grinned and gave her friend a hug. "Raquel, that's great! Why didn't you tell me?" she said.
The girl shrugged and glanced away. "I don't know, I guess I just thought, what with Brek and all, you wouldn't want to hear about it."
Mallory shook her head in mock disbelief. "Next time, don't worry about that. I would have been just as happy for you if you told me the day after Brek left." Raquel smiled and the girls nearly ran into Tula and Garth in front of them when the group stopped.
"Here it is," Wally announced, nodding to the doorway to the hall. Mallory took a few steps closer, the scene in front of her leaving her speechless.
The ceiling of the hall looked like the night sky, and there were glowing mannequins hanging from the ceiling dressed in Green Lantern uniforms. A large green lantern sat on a roped off pedestal in the center of the room. Along the walls were the past and current green lanterns with room for many, many more to be added. The team walked in slowly, taking in the atmosphere.
"I can't believe Hal didn't want this," Mallory said quietly to Wally. "This seems like something he would love."
Wally chuckled. His uncle and Hal Jordan were friends, so he'd grown up knowing the Lantern and his ego.
"Wow, I never would've guessed this was Guy's idea," Artemis said sarcastically, glancing up at the Lantern's statue, which seemed bigger than the others. Mallory and Wally snorted and the three of them caught up to Robin and Zatanna who were looking at the lantern while the rest of the team moved around the room.
"I can't believe Batman agreed to this," Zatanna said, looking around the room.
"Yeah, he got outvoted," Robin replied with a smile. "That wasn't a good night for me."
Wally smirked and the team regrouped back at the doorway.
"Ok, now what?" Zatanna asked.
"Now I go see my family. They don't know I'm back yet. I'll see you guys tomorrow, I'll probably stay at the house tonight," Mallory said, taking a step away from the group. Wally and Robin exchanged a glance and Mallory could sense the two having their own kind of psychic conversation. When they both looked back at her, she sighed and shrugged.
"Do you want to come?" she asked. Wally was next to her in the blink of an eye, and Robin, Artemis, Zatanna, and Conner weren't far behind. The rest of the team followed along as the teens slipped into a maintenance closet and zetaed to Mallory's neighborhood.
The large group of teens drew a few looks from the neighbors as they made their way down the street, but they pressed on and Mallory let them into the house. Peter was in the living room, and he jumped to his feet as soon as he saw the team pile into the front room.
"What are you doing here?" the boy asked, practically skipping over and giving Mallory a quick hug. Wally ruffled his hair affectionately and moved around him to go to the kitchen. Mallory rolled her eyes and turned to the team.
"Make yourselves at home," she told them. Wally, Robin, Zatanna, and Conner were the only ones who had been to the house before, and Wally and Robin were already making themselves comfortable. Wally had the refrigerator open and Robin had plopped down on the couch. Kaldur led the others into the living room and they sat around the room, many of them having to sit on the floor for lack of seating. Mallory jogged upstairs to look for her parents. She found her mom in her room putting laundry away.
"Hey," she said from the doorway.
Elaine jumped and turned around. "Mallory! Hey, when did you get back?" she asked, walking over to hug her daughter.
"A few hours ago. I stopped at the cave first to unpack. Speaking of which," Mallory replied, and she was interrupted by the sound of glass breaking. Mallory groaned and she hurried after Elaine as her mom ran downstairs to see what had happened.
She clearly wasn't expecting to see eleven young adults and her eight year old son roughhousing in the living room, a plate of cookies seemingly the prize for winning the fight. She turned back to Mallory, and the pyrokinetic covered her eyes with one hand.
Elaine marched into the middle of the fight and grabbed Wally and Robin by the arms, dragging them out of the dogpile. The rest of the teens froze when they saw her, and Wally and Robin rubbed the backs of their necks and looked at her sheepishly.
"Uh, hey, Mrs. J," Wally said, testing a smile.
Elaine crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow expectantly.
"We're sorry, Mrs. Johnson. We'll clean it up," Robin said hastily.
Elaine nodded and scooped up the platter of cookies from the floor. "See that you do," she said sternly. The rest of the team immediately started straightening the furniture, but Mallory, Wally, and Robin saw Elaine fight a smile, and as she passed the boys, she quietly said, "It's good to see you."
Robin and Wally grinned and joined the team as they got the room back to normal, and Mallory smiled and righted a chair by her foot. She'd missed this.
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