Sorry, I know this isn't very good but I didn't want to just move on after having Gar's mom die. Also, I know that in the show Megan said that she wasn't there when Marie died, but I just liked this idea better than him just showing up at the cave one day. Anyway, please review with your thoughts.
It was late that night before the team finally returned to the cave. Robin had radioed Batman to tell him about the complications the team had run into, and when the team made it to the training room, the entire League was there. Megan brought Gar to her room to rest, and the team unconsciously gravitated to their mentors. Mallory stood in front of Superman and he immediately wrapped her in a hug. "I know, Torch, I know," he said quietly. Mallory looked up at him, her chest aching. She wanted to cry, but she couldn't make the tears come. She hadn't known Marie very well, but she'd known her well enough to mourn her, and she was Gar's mom, and Megan's too, in a way. Add to that the fact that she and every other member of the team felt directly responsible for her death.
She, Conner, and Clark stood together, not saying anything. Megan came out of her room a half an hour later, and everyone looked up. Mallory looked for Batman and Robin, but they had disappeared.
"He's asleep," she said quietly. Conner went to her side and she held his hand in a death grip and broke down. The team regrouped in the middle of the room to comfort her and each other. The Leaguers who were not connected to the team decided to leave to give them some space, and when the room was a little less crowded, Megan finally said what she'd been thinking since the accident.
"This is all my fault."
"No, Megan, it's not your fault," Mallory said, giving her friend a hug.
"Yes, it is. Robin told me not to blackmail Queen Bee. Marie-" Her voice broke when she said her surrogate mother's name, and she cleared her throat and continued in a quieter voice, "She told me not to do it. This is my fault. And now we can't even bring Queen Bee in."
"Of course we will, Megan. Queen Bee will face the consequences of her actions," Tula said.
The team winced at her choice of words, and Wally shook his head. "No, she won't. Not with the legal process, anyway. We don't have any proof, and she's the queen of Bialia. We wouldn't make it past an accusation," he said, his voice heavy.
Artemis glared at Wally.
"What? We all know that already," he said tiredly.
"Maybe don't say it out loud this soon," the archer said angrily.
Mallory watched Wally nod and lean his head against hers, hiding her face from the team. They all knew Artemis hid her emotions behind her anger, so they all knew she wasn't really made at Wally. A long moment passed of Megan getting control of herself, then she took a shaky breath and sighed.
"I'm going to go to bed, I, um, I'll see you guys tomorrow." They nodded and watched the Martian go off to her room. Mallory looked behind her to see that even their mentor had left, realizing that they weren't helping the team just by standing around.
"I think I'm gonna spend the night with my folks, you know, give them the cave," she said quietly.
"Yes, I believe that is a good idea. Perhaps all of us should find other lodging for the night," Kaldur said. He and the other Atlantians had been staying in their rooms in the cave for the last few days. Tula and Garth nodded, and Garth said, "We can spend the night in Atlantis. It's been a while since we've been back there, anyway." Kaldur nodded and the three of them went to the Zeta tube. Raquel followed them not long after.
"Come on, Artemis, I'll walk you home," Wally said quietly. Artemis nodded, and the couple was gone the next moment. Mallory turned to Zatanna.
"You can come spend the night with me, if you want. My parents have a rollaway bed somewhere." Zatanna nodded, a glazed look in her eye, and Mallory realized that she was thinking about her dad. She sighed and turned to Conner. "You could go to Metropolis and spend the night with Clark if you want. You know he'll be fine with it."
Conner looked off in the direction of the rooms and shook his head. "I think I'm gonna stick around. I don't like leaving them alone this soon," he said, and Mallory nodded. "I just can't believe that Marie's gone," she said quietly.
He nodded. "I hate not knowing what to do for them," he said.
"Do you think Gar would like it if Peter came up for a few days? It might help get his mind off things," Mallory said.
Conner shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. You gonna bring him tomorrow?"
Mallory nodded, and she gave her friend a quick hug. "I know you were close with her, too. I'm sorry," she said. Conner nodded and turned to go to his room, and Mallory and Zatanna went to the zeta tube to go to Central City.
The next morning, Mallory, Zatanna, and Peter zetaed to the cave. Mallory had told her parents and brother what had happened, and her parents had agreed to let Peter stay at the cave for a few weeks. Megan was in the kitchen stirring something in a mixing bowl distractedly, and Conner was sitting at the counter, looking at her helplessly. Mallory and Zatanna went over and sat down.
"Hey," Zatanna said, not knowing what else to say.
Megan nodded to them, her eyes settling on Peter, who was looking around the room for Gar.
"I'm sorry, I should have asked you first. I just thought that it would be good for Gar to have a friend, and Peter really wanted to see Gar when I told my parents what had happened," Mallory explained.
Megan smiled sadly and shook her head. "No, it's ok, I think you're right. Gar hasn't said anything since it happened. I'm sure he'll be glad to see him." She turned back to Peter and said, "Gar's in my room."
Peter nodded and started walking to the Martian's room hesitantly. Mallory looked at her friend. "How are you doing?" she asked.
Megan shook her head, and Mallory nodded and looked at the counter. Of course she wasn't ok, it hadn't even been twenty four hours yet, but what else was she supposed to say?
"Gar didn't sleep much last night. I guess I didn't really expect him to," she said.
The zeta tube whirred to life and Wally and Robin appeared and silently joined the group in the kitchen. "Where's Gar?" Robin asked.
"He and Peter are in my room," Megan replied.
Robin nodded, and Wally said, "Oh, good, Peter's here."
Mallory nodded, and they drifted into a long silence.
"Team, report to the mission room," Batman said over the intercom.
"Oh, you have got to be kidding me," Mallory said angrily, and even Robin's face darkened. Megan was the only one who didn't react to the announcement. She just morphed into her suit and levitated towards the training room. The group watched her in surprise, then split up to get into their suits. They were assembled in the training room in ten minutes.
"Where's the rest of the team?" Batman asked.
"They aren't coming," Zatanna told him.
"Oh, I wasn't aware that missions were optional now," Batman said.
Mallory glared at the floor, resisting the urge to throw a fireball at him. How could he be so cold?
"Yeah, well, it's not like anyone we know died yesterday," Robin said, his voice quivering with pent-up anger and grief. Batman shot a look at him, and he glared back. Mallory didn't know why, but shock and sadness went through her, seeing the dynamic duo at odds.
Batman finally let up and pulled up a holographic screen. "There's been a security breach at the Star Labs in Central City. I want the team to keep an eye on the one in Gotham. If there's going to be another robbery, that is the most likely target."
"So you want us to stake out Star Labs in broad daylight? Sounds like a waste of time to me," Conner muttered.
Batman glared at him, but before he could say anything, the zeta tube announced Black Canary. "Hey, I just wanted to check on everyone, see how you're do-" she stopped in her tracks when she saw the line in front of Batman, and her face hardened. "What's going on here?" she asked.
"There's a mission," Batman replied.
Canary shook her head in disbelief. "No," she said firmly. Batman stared at her, not saying anything, but also not backing down. Canary turned to the team. "Get out of your suits. There is no mission," she said, walking over to them. The team glanced at Batman, who still hadn't said anything. He sighed and nodded, and they hurried out of the room to let the Leaguers battle it out.
"I can not believe him," Mallory said angrily on the way to the living area. "How could he possibly think that sending us on a mission right now is the right thing to do?"
"It was just busy work to keep us occupied," Wally said.
Robin was still glaring at the wall, his hands in fists, and when they saw this, the redheads dropped the subject. When they got to the living room, they saw Peter and Gar on the sofa, a movie playing on the TV and Gar curled up on the arm of the couch, fast asleep. Peter was staring at the TV, not really watching the movie, and he looked up when the group came in and walked over, giving Mallory an unexpected hug. Mallory returned it, and Peter murmured, "Don't ever leave me like that."
Guilt and sadness tugged at Mallory's chest as she hugged her little brother tight and said, "I'll try."