Ya'll, midterms are killing me! On the bright side, I only have one more chapter to write before I'm done with year 4. Anyway, hope you like it, please review!
Mallory woke up on the sofa the next day. The team had spent the next together in the living room, and they had eventually drifted off into exhausted sleeps. She pushed herself up groggily and rubbed her eyes. Most of them were still asleep, but Megan was in the kitchen cooking breakfast, and Tula wasn't there. The events from the night before flooded her mind and her grief came back all at once, stinging the back of her eyes and pressing down on her chest. She stood up and went around the couch to the kitchen to help Megan.
"Morning," Megan said.
Mallory nodded and stroked Wolf's head. Sphere rolled over and beeped, and Mallory patted her absentmindedly. "I'd almost convinced myself that it was a nightmare," she said quietly.
Megan stopped mixing the waffle batter and looked at the pyrokinetic sadly. "Yeah, me too," she murmured. They fixed breakfast silently, and one by one, the rest of the team woke up and joined them. When they finished, Garth cleared his throat.
"I want to thank you all for everything, but I am resigning from the team as of today," he said quietly.
"My friend, are you sure? Would it not be better to grieve for her among those who are also grieving?" Kaldur asked.
Garth shook his head. "It is too hard to be here with all the memories, and while I do not hold anything against you, she sacrificed herself in front of you, and I was not there to say goodbye. I must take some time to get over that."
Kaldur nodded, and Mallory exchanged a look with Robin and Zatanna, not sure if this was the time to tell him. She decided it was as good a time as any, and she sighed and said, "Garth, I guess we should have told you this last night, but Tula managed to say something before the temple came down. She told us goodbye, and she asked us to tell you that she loved you. That was the last thing she said, before…"
Garth nodded. "Thank you for telling me. I will gather Tula's and my things before I leave, and I will speak to Aquaman in Atlantis. Again, thank you." He stood and went to the rooms, presumably to go through his and Tula's rooms.
Rocket stared after him. "I can't believe he can just walk away like that," she said. The team knew she didn't mean it in a bad way, merely as an observation.
"I get it," Artemis said, lacing her fingers through Wally's. "It's one thing to be ok giving your own life, but it's another to lose someone you love out there."
Mallory sighed. "Uh, I'm going to go to Central in a few hours. I know I'm not supposed to, but I have to tell my parents that Tula's, um, what happened. They know she was kidnapped, so…"
Kaldur nodded. "It is all right."
She nodded and, after a long moment of silence, stood and went to her room. It was still a mess from her earlier project, but she couldn't find the energy in her to even think about cleaning it up. She made her way to her bed and sat down. Her eyes caught on the acceptance letters, and she remembered her conversation with Wally just the day before. Could that be right? Yes, it was right before they left for the mission. It was scary, how quickly everything could change.
Tears pooled in her eyes as she stared at the letters. Well, she would never know if Tula would be happy for her, because she'd sacrificed herself so that they could have their futures.
She clenched her hands into fists. No, this wasn't supposed to happen. Brek told her that she would sacrifice herself. Tula wasn't supposed to die, it was supposed to be her. Had they changed the timeline? Was she the cause of Tula's death? She shook her head. No, she couldn't let herself go there. If she did, she would never come out. Besides, the events surrounding the sacrifice had been different. There wasn't an invasion, just a ritual.
She curled up on her bed and sobbed into her pillow
Mallory let herself into her parents house that afternoon and found Peter drawing at the kitchen table.
"Mallory!" he said excitedly, stacking his drawings and getting up to meet her.
"Hey, Peter. Are Mom and Dad home?" she asked.
"Mom's somewhere, Dad had to go in today," he replied. Mallory nodded and started to go look for her mom when Peter stopped her. "I know you said I can't patrol, but I think I'm ready now. It's been weeks, and you haven't even let me go to the cave. But I've still been training here, though. Look." He did a combat move on a chair, sending it clattering to the floor. "That's not all. I‒"
"Peter, I don't want to talk about this. You're not going on patrol," Mallory said.
"Well, when can I?" he asked.
"You're not going. Ever. End of discussion," she said.
Peter stared up at her, confused and angry. "What? But you said‒"
"I know what I said, but I changed my mind. I don't want you going in the field. Now where's Mom?"
"What happened? Just a couple of weeks ago you said I could start small. Why are you taking this away from me?" he asked, his young voice more angry than she'd ever heard it.
"Peter," Mallory started, but he cut her off.
"No, you can't just brush me off. I want to know why," he said.
"Because I don't want you to end up like Tula," Mallory snapped. The second the words were out of her mouth, she regretted them. He hadn't even known that Tula was in danger. His eyes widened and he looked up at her.
"What-what happened to Tula?" he asked hesitantly.
Mallory laughed bitterly, shaking her head and blinking away tears. "She died, Peter. Last night, we went on a mission, and she didn't come back."
"Oh, my goodness," Elaine said from the doorway.
Peter looked down in confusion. "But, but she was a good guy, and she knew what she was doing. Why-"
Mallory sighed. "That's what I've been trying to get you to understand from the second you wanted to put on a suit. Good guys get hurt sometimes. None of us are guaranteed to come back. We've just been lucky so far, and last night our luck ran out. I don't want to have to worry about you getting hurt, Peter. I've got too many people in my life that I'm already worried about. I just want you to be safe. Don't you see that?"
Her brother didn't answer, and she saw his eyes well up. She took a breath and softened her voice. "Oh, Peter," she murmured, but he brushed past her and ran up to his room. Mallory sank into the chair, and Elaine came and wrapped her arms around her.
"Oh, honey, I'm so sorry," she said. Mallory held her mom's arm and silently cried, her shoulders shaking as she relived the events of the night before. When she couldn't cry anymore, Elaine went to the stove to make her some tea, and Mallory glanced at her brother's drawings. They were good, for a nine year old. The top one was a dog, the next was a landscape. The rest, though, were costume designs. She sighed as she flipped through them, feeling like she'd betrayed him in a way that she wouldn't be able to make up for.
Elaine set a cup in front of her and she thanked her, then held up one of the costumes. "He was pretty excited about it," she said.
Elaine took the picture and studied it. "You did the right thing, Mallory. I'd hate the thought of him in danger. I wish you would think about leaving the team, too. I worry about you so much."
Mallory sighed. "You know I'm stuck there. I can't leave my friends, and I don't want to leave the life."
Elaine nodded. "I know, dear," she said.
They sat in silence the rest of her visit as Mallory thought about everything that had happened. She didn't tell her mom about Robin's sudden independence, but the thought was as heavy on her mind as Tula's death and Garth leaving the team. How could so many things change so fast?
A week later, the team was in the living area when Robin, in civies, and Kaldur came up from Tula's memorial together.
"I have an announcement to make," the leader said, taking a seat with the others. "I will be resigning from the team. I have already spoken with Batman and Aquaman. The only thing there is left to do is tell you how much you have meant to me, and that I am sorry to be leaving." He turned to Robin and said, "I said once that I would become the leader until you are ready to lift the burden from my shoulders. I believe that I have upheld that statement. You are more than ready to take command."
Robin nodded solemnly, and the rest of the team looked at each other, stunned, and added this new change to their pile of grief.
"Kaldur, are you sure?" Megan asked, putting a hand on his shoulder.
He nodded. "Yes, I am. I have thought this through, and I must leave. I cannot stay when I know that my actions played a part in Tula's kidnapping and, in turn, her death."
"Kaldur, that wasn't your fault," Wally said firmly.
Kaldur shook his head. "Perhaps not, but still, I feel a certain responsibility to it."
Mallory looked at him sadly. He was the big brother, their leader in and out of the field, and one of the best people she'd ever known. She would miss him, but she understood his needing to take a step back. "Kaldur, we understand you need time. Your place on the team will always be here, if you ever want it back," she said.
Kaldur nodded. "Thank you, Mallory," he said.
She nodded. "Just promise me that you won't just disappear like Roy. I don't think I can lose any more friends."
Kaldur exchanged a glance with Robin. "Actually, I was planning on staying in Atlantis. I need space from the surface world, and I am sorry, but the team as well."
Mallory sighed, and they all stood. "We love you, Kaldur," Megan said, giving him a hug. Mallory hugged him as well. "We'll miss you around here," she said. "I will miss all of you as well," he said. Wally and Robin walked him to the zeta tube to say their goodbyes, and the team looked at each other sadly.
"How long do you think he'll be gone?" Gar asked, his tail twitching slightly.
The older members of the team exchanged heavy looks, and Megan put a hand on her brother's shoulder.
"Gar, I don't think he's coming back. At least, not for a long time," she said.
Gar looked at the others to see if they agreed, then looked at the doorway sadly. Mallory sighed and went to her training room, worrying about what was going to happen to the team, and everyone in it.