I hope you like it. I had a little trouble trying to write Lagaan, so I hope he came out close to his actual character. please review and let me know.
A few weeks later, Mallory was sparring with Peter in the cave with Nightwing watching from the sidelines when Batman strode in. He paused and stood on the other side of the arena, watching the match closely. Peter tried to swipe his sister's legs out from under her, but she flipped over him. When she landed behind him, he slammed a foot into the backs of her knees and she fell forward. Before she could push herself to her feet, Peter shoved her to the ground and pinned her down.
"Give up?" he asked happily.
Mallory looked at him out of the corner of her eye. "Not quite," she said. She rolled over, laying on top of him, and splayed his limbs out, giving him no way out of the pin.
"Ok, ok, get off me," Peter said. Mallory chuckled and rolled off him, switching to a sitting position before getting to her feet and helping her brother up.
"How'd you do that? Black Canary told me no one should be able to get out of that pin," he said.
Mallory chuckled. "You didn't get it quite right. You almost had me, though."
"What did I do wrong?" he asked.
"You have to straddle the person so they can't roll around like she did," Nightwing explained.
"Ohhh," Peter said thoughtfully, then he looked at Mallory and asked, "go again?"
Mallory looked over at Batman. "Um, later, ok? Or, why don't you go find Gar? It's easier to learn stuff on someone your own size."
"Ok," Peter said agreeably, and he went towards the rooms to find his friend.
"He's gotten better since he was last here," Batman mentioned.
"Did you want something?" Mallory asked, crossing her arms. She didn't like the way he was watching her brother, especially when he no longer had a sidekick.
"Actually, yes. Assemble the team," he ordered.
"Is there a mission?" Nightwing asked.
"No, just an announcement," Batman replied.
Nightwing and Mallory walked off to round up the rest of the team, all of which were in the cave somewhere. When they were all located, they went back to the training room, Peter included, and stood in front of Batman in their civies.
"I am aware that the team has seen a significant drop in members recently. I am going to send you on some small training missions to learn to adapt to the shortage in the field," Batman said.
"Are these going to be real missions, or simulations?" Nightwing asked.
Batman looked at his former protege. "We'll start out with simulations and gradually go out into the streets. This will not affect real missions, this is something extra to help you adjust to being so short handed."
Nightwing nodded, and Batman looked to the doorway behind him where Aquaman was standing, and he nodded to him. The Atlantean turned to the side, and a green boy with big red bug eyes and fins on his head walked in ahead of the Leaguer. The team exchanged a glance as the Atlanteans walked over to Batman.
"This is Lagoon Boy. He is joining the team," Aquaman told them.
"Well, I'm glad you didn't have too much trouble replacing your old proteges," Mallory said, really trying to keep the sarcasm out of her voice. Apparently, she hadn't done a very good job of it.
"Kaldur and Garth made their choice," Aquaman said, looking at her sternly.
She took a breath. "You're right. I'm sorry," she said.
Aquaman nodded. "It is understandable to feel protective of what once belonged to a friend, but you must understand that, while I am sorry that they are no longer working with us, I still need some help out there, and so do you."
Mallory nodded. It wasn't right to make this new kid feel bad about taking the opportunity. Besides, it wasn't so long ago that she'd been standing where he was now, and she remembered how intimidating meeting the team for the first time had been.
"Your first simulation will be this afternoon. Don't expect too much, you'll be starting light so that Lagoon Boy can work his way in gradually," Batman said.
"We'll be ready," Nightwing assured him. Batman nodded, and the Leaguers left the younger heroes to get acquainted.
Mallory turned to the new addition and sighed. "I'm sorry about what I said, really. We could use all the help we can get," she said.
Lagoon Boy grinned and took a step closer. "Hey, don't worry about it, babe. Maybe you can make it up to me later."
Mallory raised an eyebrow as the boy stepped even closer and grabbed her hand. The rest of the team watched in amusement as Mallory made her eyes blaze red and said, "You need to back up, kid."
His eyes widened slightly and he dropped her hand like it was hot, which, the team realized, it probably was. He recovered quickly, though, and smiled. "Sure, babe, whatever you say," he said.
Mallory rolled her eyes. "It's Inferno," she said, her eyes going back to black.
Nightwing coughed to cover his laugh and said, "So, Lagoon Boy, were you a student in the Conservatory?"
"You can call me Lagaan when I'm off duty," the boy said. "And, yeah. I've studied there for years."
"What's your thing?" Rocket asked.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"Well, Kaldur had his water bearers, Garth had his whirlpools, Tula‒"
"Oh, that. I'll show you," Lagaan said. He clasped his hands together and concentrated, and he puffed up like a pufferfish. The team exchanged surprised glances before he shrunk back down to his normal size. "When I'm like that, I get excess strength and durability," he explained.
"Oh, ok," Zatanna said. Lagaan leaned closer to the magician and said, "I'd love to see your moves some time."
Zatanna smiled thoughtfully. "Would you now?" she asked, and Mallory waited for her friend to turn him into a pig or something.
Nightwing jumped in between them. "No, no I don't think he would," he said, giving his ex a look.
Zatanna sighed and shrugged. "Sure, take all the fun out of life," she complained with a smile.
"Ok, look, why don't we do some sparring, see what Lagaan can do?" Nightwing suggested.
They started walking over to the arena, and Lagaan fell into step with Raquel. He opened his mouth to say something, and she looked down her nose at him and said, "Boy, don't even."
He shrugged good naturedly and stepped into the ring.
"Who wants to go with him first?" Nightwing asked.
"Well, chum, why don't you just take me yourself. If you can," Lagaan said arrogantly.
Mallory and Zatanna exchanged amused glances as Nightwing tilted his head and grinned.
"Well, ok. If you insist," he said.
They struck fighting positions, and Lagaan threw the first punch. Dick grabbed his wrist and flung him over his shoulder before the kid even knew what had happened. His status update popped up in the familiar glaring red text, and he glared up at the leader.
"You want to go again, or you want to try your luck with someone else?" Nightwing asked, holding his hand out to help the boy up.
Lagaan brushed away the offered hand and got to his feet. "Whatever you want, Chum," he said.
Mallory could feel Conner's annoyance mounting, and he took a step forward, ready to pummel the kid. Mallory and Megan both help up their hands, blocking his path to the ring.
"Hey, Gar, why don't you come try your hand?" Dick said.
The boy came onto the ring and Nightwing backed off of it, standing with the rest of the team and Peter on the sidelines.
"Does he have to stay?" Mallory asked in a whiney voice.
"I think so," Dick replied.
Mallory groaned.
"Hey, look on the bright side. He's not that different than Wally," Dick said.
Mallory shot him a look. "Yes, he is. Wally's likable," she said.
They turned their attention to the fight to see that Gar and Lagaan were about evenly matched. Gar was holding his own until Lagaan grabbed his tail and spun him around, essentially throwing him across the room.
"Garfeild!" Megan exclaimed, flying over to her brother.
Gar got to his feet and brushed her off. "I'm fine," he assured her, glaring at Lagaan. The Atlantean walked over and put a hand on Megan's shoulder.
"Gee, I'm sorry, Little Fish. Guess I got caught up in the moment," he said.
Mallory rolled her eyes and turned to Peter, too irritated to look at the kid any more.
"He'll be alright. That's hardly the worst fall he's had while training," Megan told Lagaan.
"Thanks. I guess I was just trying to prove myself too fast," he said.
"Don't worry about that," the Martian replied. "Everyone makes mistakes when they're in a new surrounding. Believe me, I've made my fair share on the team." She turned around and she, Gar, and Conner left the room, going towards the simulation room where Batman would be programming their training ground.
Lagaan grinned as he stared after them. "I think she likes me," he said.
Mallory, Zatanna, and Raquel exchanged a look, and Zatanna tilted her head. "You do know that she's a lot older than you, don't you?" she asked.
"So? In Atlantis, age differences can be as much as a hundred years without seeming odd," he said.
"Well, age difference or not, you can just forget it. She's dating Superboy," Mallory informed him.
He shrugged. "Well, then, I'll just have to wait for her to realize what a chump he is," he replied, and he walked over to Nightwing, then the boys started after Megan's group towards the simulation room.
Zatanna turned to Mallory and Rocket. "Should we do something about that?" she asked.
Mallory tilted her head. "Why?" she asked.
"Well, if Conner gets irritated enough, he could really hurt him," she said.
"Oh, come on, Z. Conner's not gonna hurt him just for being an idiot," Raquel said, and Mallory added, "and even if he would, it's called teaching him a lesson. One that he probably needs to be taught."
Zatanna smiled a little. "Why don't I feel bad about it?" she asked.
The other girls just laughed, and the three of them followed the others to the simulation room where Batman was waiting.
"Inferno, maneuver seven!" Conner said, nodding towards a gunman on a balcony above the team. Mallory ran over and jumped, one foot landing in Conner's laced hands. He threw her up, and she put up a fire shield, protecting herself from the bullets as she came closer and closer to the gun.
"I'll take them out!" Lagaan yelled as she was in the air. He puffed up and ran towards the support beams.
"Lagoon Boy, no!" Conner yelled.
Mallory kicked the gun out of the man's hands and backflipped off his face, landing squarely on top of another goon's chest. When he hit the floor with Mallory on top of him, the whole balcony shook. She stumbled and spread her arms out unconsciously to balance herself. She heard the shot too late to put up a shield and felt the sharp pain as the bullet hit her chest right over her heart. The balcony collapsed the next second, bringing Mallory down with it.
The simulation ended, and the computer announced, "Status, Inferno, deceased." Mallory picked herself up out of the broken wood and rubbed her shoulder where the rubber bullet had hit.
"What was that? You could've gotten her killed!" Conner yelled at Lagaan.
Nightwing ran over from across the fake street. "Inferno, you ok?" he asked worriedly.
Mallory took a quick assessment to make sure nothing was sprained or twisted. "Yeah, yeah, I think so," she said, taking his offered hand to get away from the splintered wood pile.
Nightwing turned to face Lagaan. "What was that?" he asked, his voice low and threatening, not unlike Batman's everyday voice. "We had a plan. You were supposed to be dealing with the hostages. Superboy and Inferno had this under control."
"I just thought I'd give them a hand. They seemed like they had a little too much on their plate," he said, completely unphased.
"We had it under control," Mallory said firmly.
"You ruined the whole set up, and you got a teammate killed! How is that helping?" Conner yelled.
Nightwing held up a hand, silencing Superboy. "Lagaan, when we're out in the field, we depend on each other to watch our back and play their part in the plan. When you abandon your job and show up somewhere the others aren't expecting you, you're putting yourself and us in danger, and you're compromising the entire mission," the leader said.
Superboy scoffed. "I don't know what we were expecting from a rookie," he muttered.
"Rookie?" Lagaan yelled. "Who are you calling a rookie?"
"Even Gar and Peter know better than to barrel in somewhere and take out a platform when someone's about to land on it," Superboy snapped.
Mallory put a hand on Conner's shoulder. "Hey, I'm fine. He didn't know, but now he does. He's still learning," she said, surprised at herself for coming off so understanding. She was furious inside, but she knew having two hotheads in the situation wouldn't benefit anyone, so she kept her anger to herself.
"All right, let's knock off for the day," Nightwing said.
The team nodded and Mallory went out the room to the observation window where Peter was watching. "Come on, I need to take you home," she said.
"Is he really going to go on missions with you?" Peter asked.
"Yeah," she replied.
"Be careful, Mallory," he said seriously.
Mallory glanced over her shoulder at the Atlantean coming out of the simulation room. "Yeah, I will," she assured her brother as they started for the zeta tube.