Y'all, this might be a little random, but I miss Wally being on the team. It's not as much fun writing the down time without him in the mix. And I know I could still be writing him in more, but it's just not the same, having to have the meets outside of the cave and around the team's schedule. Anyway, hope you like the chapter, please review! Who's your favorite character in the show?
Mallory sighed and looked around the living room. With Nightwing on a week's leave of absence and Batman not showing up with missions or training exercises, things had been pretty dull around the cave. Black Canary was in the training room with Lagaan and Gar, but she was in a hurry today, so she'd excused the more seasoned fighters from the daily training.
"You want to do something?" Zatanna asked from where she was laying on the sofa beside Mallory. With half the team gone, the once crowded seating was emptier than ever.
"Like what?" Raquel asked. She'd already complained about giving up a date with Darius to come keep the live-in team company, and now she was just flipping through the channels on the TV.
"I don't know. We could go get something to eat. Maybe we'll get lucky and stop a robbery or something," Zatanna replied.
Megan shook her head. "I don't feel like being in costume. Can we just go get something to eat and just get out of the cave for a while? Maybe we can do some shopping or something."
"There's a new mall in Metropolis. You want to go there?" Mallory asked.
The other girls shrugged, and Megan looked at Conner. "Do you want to come?" she asked.
He shook his head. "No, I'm just gonna take Wolf and Sphere out for a while. They're just as bored as we are." The five of them looked over to where Wolf was splayed out on his side, staring into space.
"What happened to us? We used to be fun," Mallory complained.
"We lost Wally to domestic life, and Dick chose his new family over us," Raquel supplied.
"Oh, that's right," the pyrokinetic muttered, and Zatanna said, "That's not really fair. Mallory and I told him to go spend a few days with them."
Raquel rolled her eyes dramatically. "That was a stupid thing to do," she said.
"Oh, come on. We should be able to get through a week at the cave without one member of our team," Megan said brightly. "Come on, let's go get ready."
The four girls went to their rooms to change and get their wallets and phones, then they met back in the living room. Mallory put their coordinates in the zeta tube, and they came out in Metropolis.
"It's a few blocks down," Mallory told her friend, looking around. She'd been avoiding patrolling in her city since Isaiah and his team had been getting more media attention, and Clark had noticed, though he hadn't said anything. She pushed the thought aside and led the way to the new mall. The girls spent hours trying on clothes and looking at knick knacks. By the time they came out, they were all loaded down with bags, their wallets almost empty. They made their way to a sidewalk cafe and sank into some chairs, exhausted.
"Ugh, my feet are killing me," Raquel said.
"Mine too. But at least we're not bored anymore," Zatanna replied with a smile.
A waitress came and took their order, then Mallory leaned back in her chair and tilted her head. "You know, Clark told me that his work's thinking about asking Ted to join," she said, civilian for Superman told her that the League was going to ask Blue Beetle to join.
"That's great. He's a good guy, I'm sure he'll do a good job," Zatanna replied.
"You know, he's just like Bruce," she said. Since Dick had told them his secret identity, it hadn't been hard to figure out Batman's.
"Yeah, I didn't think he was like Clark," Raquel said, saying that she didn't think he had powers. The girls were interrupted by an ear-splitting scream and a crash. They jumped to their feet and looked around. Megan spotted it first, a flash of blue light in the sky and bolts of lightning being shot down to the streets.
"Livewire," Mallory told her friends.
Zatanna grinned. "So, we did get lucky," she said.
She raised her hands, getting ready to say a spell to put them in their suits, but three figures came towards the villain. A blond boy in a green suit running on the street, a girl with silver skin in a skimpy black suit flying on a metal disk, and a flaming figure in an all too familiar black and red suit.
"Hotspot?" Zatanna said in disbelief. Mallory didn't return her friends' looks, and they eventually looked up at the fight. The three teens fought Livewire skillfully, if a little simply, and they eventually got her knocked out and ready for transport. Hotspot looked around the crowd of spectators that had gathered and grinned at them. Then he spotted Mallory and his face changed. He nodded to her and flew off with the rest of his team. Zatanna, Raquel, and Megan turned to Mallory.
"Did you know?" Zatanna asked.
Mallory nodded. "Yeah, he started the team a while ago," she replied, going back to her seat. Her friends followed her, their faces creased with confusion.
"How are you being so calm right now?" Raquel asked. "I'd be flying after him with a firehose."
Mallory chuckled at the image that popped into her head at that. "Guys, really, it's fine. We don't have a monopoly on teams, you know. Besides, they've been doing a good job keeping Metropolis safe. I'm always glad to have some help in that department."
Zatanna raised an eyebrow, not buying it. "Oh, come on. You can't tell me that it doesn't bother you, even just a little bit."
Mallory sighed. "Ok, fine. It hurt when I first found out, but that was months ago. I'm fine with it now, really. I get wanting a team, and wanting to do something to help. Guys, really, just drop it," she said.
Her teammates gave her a few more looks, but they didn't say anything else about her ex and his new team. They finished their coffees and went back to the cave. By the time they got back, Black Canary was long gone, and Gar was in a cat form, curled up on the sofa watching cartoons.
"Where's Conner?" Megan asked her brother.
Gar turned back into his usual half boy, half monkey form. "He hasn't come back yet, and Lagaan left about an hour ago, said he had something to do," he told them.
"Oh, good. If I heard him call you 'babe' one more time today, I seriously would have welded his mouth shut," Mallory said, looking at Megan.
The Martian shook her head and smiled. "You guys are too hard on him. He's not that bad."
"Conner thinks he is," Raquel mentioned, sliding into a stool at the kitchen counter.
"Conner thinks any guy who gives me a second look is bad," Megan said, waving a hand dismissively. Mallory looked at the other girls.
"Because he's your boyfriend, Megan. You two have been dating for four years. And Lagaan's given you more than a second glance," Zatanna said.
Wolf came walking in, so the girls dropped the subject and started gathering their bags to bring them to their rooms. Conner came in and Megan gave him a quick kiss.
"You have any fun?" he asked.
"Yeah, it was good to get out of the cave. We should've done it sooner," Megan replied, and the girls continued on to their rooms to put away their purchases.