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"I can't believe that worked!" Gar said excitedly, practically bouncing in his seat. The bioship landed at the sanctuary and Marie ran out to meet the team, immediately giving Gar a hug and a once-over.
"Well?" she asked anxiously.
"Queen Bee is supposed to announce her change of plans sometime today," Robin replied, one hand in Zatanna's as they made their way up to the house. Marie smiled and the group went to the house and made themselves comfortable in the living room. Wally turned on the TV to the news station and they settled in to wait for the announcement.
"So, what do we do if she doesn't make the announcement?" Artemis asked suddenly.
"Then we turn the notebook over to them and let them deal with it. I already got kidnapped once today, I'm done with this case," Wally replied with a grin.
"The League will be better equipped to deal with the situation if it does come down to war," Kaldur added, and Robin turned to Megan. "If you hadn't blackmailed Queen Bee, we could have kept the notebook and gotten the team back. We had everything, you should have stuck to the plan."
"Come on, Robin, lay off her. You got us back, and we stop the war one way or the other. I call that a Win," Wally said.
Robin sighed and smiled. "Yeah, I guess you're right," he said.
Megan grinned. The sun started to rise, and Marie brought out some food for the team while they waited for the announcement. Finally, around one, G Gordon Godfrey announced the press conference for Queen Bee that their sister station would be covering. The team leaned forward in their seats as the screen changed to a view of outside the Bialian palace. Queen Bee stepped out onto a balcony, the grounds crawling with soldiers. Queen Bee started out thanking the people for coming and addressing who the speech would concern, then she started getting to the point.
"I am aware that there have been rumors that I intend to invade Qurac and take my place as it's ruler. These rumors are not accurate and were circulated by a key member of my cabinet. I assure you that Qurac is quite safe from any Bialian aggression, now and in the future. In fact, as a gesture of faith and good will to our sister country, I hereby announce to the world that Qurac has my protection, and I will take personal responsibility if any aggressive and suspicious activity occurs from outside the country, and will accept any consequences the world leaders decide is fit."
The team grinned and looked at each other with satisfaction, and Marie gave Gar a one armed hug and kissed the top of his head. He smiled up at his mom, then got up and turned into a bird, taking a lap around the room. "All right!" Wally said excitedly from his seat. His grip in Artemis's hand tightened and the archer grinned at her boyfriend. "This is wonderful!" Tula said, looking around at her teammates with a wide smile.
Mallory looked at Megan and Robin and locked eyes with them. "see? Everything turned out fine, we got the team back and stopped the war, and the world didn't break just because we resorted to questionable methods."
Robin smiled at Megan. "Yeah, I'm sorry about before. We're a team, I should have listened to you before shooting your idea down. But still, in the future, let's try to stay out of the moral grey area, ok?"
Megan smiled back and nodded. "Sure. I'm sorry I accused both of you of not being worried about the team. I know better than that, I was just so worried."
Mallory nodded. "We know, so were we," she said. Conner murmured something in Megan's ear and the Martian ended their link.
In the background, Queen Bee was continuing her speech, looking directly into the camera for the news the team was watching and saying, "and incidentally, I can assure you that the cabinet member who did this has been removed from office, and the person responsible will face the consequences of their actions."
A Q&A followed her speech, and Wally turned off the tv. "We should do something to celebrate" the speedster announced.
"Well, first I have to return the notebook before the press conference ends," Robin said, standing up.
"Let's all go and then we can have a picnic when we get back," Zatanna suggested.
The team agreed, but Megan said, "The nearest store is an hour away by car, and then it's the hour back to the sanctuary."
"That's not a problem," Marie said. "It'll take you guys about two hours to return the book and get back. I'll go to the store while you're gone and we'll meet at the spot. Megan, you remember that clearing in the woods on the edge of the sanctuary?"
Megan nodded. "Yeah, it's not that far from the waterfall Gar and I found when I was teaching him how to control his powers," she replied.
Marie nodded. "Yeah, we can meet there."
The team nodded and started going outside. Wally and Robin paused at the door, and the speedster turned to find Gar. "You want to come with?" he asked.
Gar grinned and looked up at his mom. "Can I?" he asked pleadingly.
Marie laughed and shrugged. "Why not? I mean, you went on the mission, you deserve to celebrate with the team."
Gar grinned and gave her a tight hug that she returned laughingly. "I love you, mom," Gar said, practically skipping out the door.
"Love you too. I'll see you soon," Marie replied, leaning on the doorframe and watching as the team filed into the bioship and took off towards the Bialian border.
Robin made quick work of the notebook, putting it back in the desk drawer and getting back in the bioship via the hole in the wall that Mallory had been blown through. Once that was done, Mallory started them for the clearing. Gar was so happy he couldn't sit still. Finally, Artemis laughed and asked him what was so exciting.
"I'm on the team now!" he replied happily.
Mallory started and turned her seat to face him, and every other member of the team were looking at each other, trying to think of a nice way to tell him otherwise.
"Ugh, Gar, you did a great job, Buddy, but…" Wally started, looking around for someone to take the lead on it.
Gar realized something was up and started looking around, his eyes settling on his sister. "What?" he asked.
"Gar, this, well, this was a one time thing. Your mom isn't going to want you to be on the team full time," Megan tools him.
"Not full time, but she said I could help you guys sometimes. I already asked her," he replied.
Megan relaxed a little, her worry lessening. Gar turned to Mallory and leaned back in his chair like something had just dawned on him. "Is this about you not wanting Peter to be a hero?" he asked.
Wally coughed to cover a laugh that Gar had just laid the entire blame at her feet, and Mallory covered the shocked look and made her face harden a little. "No, this isn't about Peter, it's about both of you. You're too young, too inexperienced," she said.
Gar raised an eyebrow and smiled, ready for a debate. "But Peter told me that you started being a vigilante solo when you were ten, and with no previous experience," the boy said.
Mallory sighed. She knew she shouldn't have told Peter the real story of how she'd become a hero. "That was different," she said, using the go-to line that grownups had always used with her when she'd questioned something, and hating herself for it.
Gar seemed to think the common phrase meant he was winning, because he grinned wider and asked, "How?"
Mallory glanced at Wally, Robin, and Artemis, and got no help from them. Wally was trying not to laugh, and Artemis and Robin had eyebrows raised, waiting for her answer. She turned back to Gar. "Because I'd been training with my powers my whole life, so I wasn't inexperienced with them, and I was never really alone. I was in Metropolis, if something had happened, Superman would have shown up."
"Ok, how is that different? I know how to use my powers, and I'm never gonna be alone, I'll be with you guys."
Mallory sighed, running out of arguments. "Thanks for the help, guys," she said.
"You're doing fine. Hey, why don't you tell him something else that will convince him, like 'because I said so'," Wally said.
Mallory glared at him out of the corner of her eye. "Whatever, Kid Mouth. Why don't you use your famous stalling tactics, instead of leaving me trying to reason him out of it," she said.
Wally shrugged. "I'm on break," he replied, grinning.
"We're here," Megan said, and Mallory sighed in relief and turned around to watch the ground get closer.
They got out and Gar immediately took off, calling over his shoulder for Robin and Wally to catch him, evidently setting the topic of joining the team to the side. The rest of the team settled on the ground, content to wait for Marie to come with the food. Mallory stretched out in the grass, her eyes closed against the sun. Zatanna and Artemis weren't far away, talking about having to start college soon.
Mallory didn't know how much time passed, but it must have been the better part of an hour before Artemis looked around and said, "shouldn't Marie be here by now?"
Mallory cracked an eye open, looking around. She'd almost forgotten about the woman meeting them there. Really, she should have made it to the clearing before them. In the back of her mind, she felt like they should go look for her, but she shot the thought down. She was getting paranoid from too many years in the field. "She'll probably be here soon. Maybe she had car trouble or something," she said. She sat up and surveyed the clearing. Gar had the entire team, except for Artemis, Zatanna, and her, involved in a big game of chase. She grinned. "How come you two aren't playing?" she asked, turning to her friends.
"Zatanna smiled. "We were, we just got tired. Megan and Conner are up for a break next."
Mallory laughed. "Well, I guess I'll take a shift when they do, I'm rested up now."
"I don't understand how a ten year old can have this much energy," Artemis mentioned. Megan and Conner were coming to the group now, and the girls stood up to meet them.
"Oh, come on, Conner. Don't tell me you're tired," Mallory said, smiling playfully at the half Kryptonian.
He rolled his eyes. "Whatever. You've been sleeping since we got here," he shot back. The girls laughed and Mallory, Zatanna, and Artemis were about to go join the game when Conner held up a hand.
"Wait," he said, the smile falling from his face.
"What?" Mallory asked.
"I hear a car. It's going too fast though. Something must be wrong."
"Yeah, or someone just wants to take advantage of the empty roads," Artemis put in.
Conner shrugged and opened his mouth to say something, then there was a loud, sickening crash that the whole team heard. The game stopped immediately as the entire team froze and looked in the direction of the sound. Then Gar looked around, and his voice sounded small as he asked, "Where's my mom?"
Mallory saw her alarm mirrored on the faces of her teammates, and the next second they were all running through the woods towards the sound. Wally was there when the rest of the team broke through the treeline, and he turned to them, a stricken look on his face. Gar pushed through the team, and Wally made a grab for his arm, trying to keep him from seeing the horrible sight in front of them. Gar's eyes landed on the waterfall and he froze. There, at the bottom, was his mom's car, a twisted, mangled piece of metal after the long fall off the top of the cliff.
"I don't hear a heartbeat," Conner said quietly, and Robin scanned the car from where he stood and shook his head, pain apparent on his face. They looked at Gar. Silent tears were trailing down his cheeks as he stared at the car. They saw the exact moment that he realized what they were saying.
He fell to his knees, his hands clenched into fists in the sand. Megan knelt beside him, hugging him and crying along with him. Wally was staring at Robin, and Mallory noticed something unspoken pass between them. She was more in shock than anything else, just staring at the scene in front of her in almost confusion. No, Marie was all right, that wasn't her car, she would show up at the clearing soon and they would eat and then the team would head back to the cave and tell Batman that the mission had been a success. These thoughts were in her head, even as the team grieved. Megan and Garfield in tears on the ground, Conner standing there, his hands in fists, his jaw clenched, his eyes shut tight. Robin staring at the boy as his little heart was torn to shreds as the only parent he'd ever known was suddenly gone from his life. Wally alternating from looking at Gar and looking at Robin. Artemis, Raquel, and Zatanna hanging close together with Mallory, then Zatanna went and sat with Megan and Gar and silently cried with them. Kaldur, Garth, and Tula hung together, giving each other emotional support. All of the grief, and Mallory couldn't feel anything.
Then she looked to the top of the cliff and her emotions returned in a flood, the foremost one being rage. There, standing beside the broken rail, was Queen Bee. Mallory's eyes flashed red, a fire burning within her. Queen Bee smiled down at the group, and Mallory understood it perfectly. This was the consequence of the team's, of Megan's, actions. She flamed up, intending to go after the criminal, but the next instant she was gone, and Mallory had no choice but to face the horror of watching her little brother's best friends go through the worst pain of his young life.
I could really use some reviews, I'm getting burned out with school already, and I could use something to be excited about.