Hope you like it, please review!
By the end of the week, Mallory had to face the inevitable doom ahead of her: she had to start packing for college. It wasn't something she was looking forward to. It wasn't that she wasn't excited to start her life as Mallory Johnson, and it wasn't having to start over in a new place. She was scared of living in a small dormitory for the whole week, unable to just come and go as she pleased. She was going to miss her regular life with the team, and she just hoped that living away from the cave wouldn't interfere with the their missions too much.
She sighed and pulled out her bags, packing all of her favorite civilian clothes to go to the dorm. At least there she could wear an outfit without thinking about how she might have to burn it at some point in the day. Zatanna and Megan passed by her door and poked their heads in.
"Hey, whatcha doing?" Megan asked.
"Packing," she replied simply. The girls walked in and sat on the bed.
"You're getting ready to move into the dorm, huh?" Zatanna asked.
"Yeah, might as well get it over with," Mallory replied. She finished packing her clothes and moved on to office supplies and toiletries. She packed her black shampoo at the bottom of an overnight bag and threw her makeup and everything else she thought she might need on top of it.
"How are you feeling? You should be excited about it, patrolling in the same city and all," Megan said.
Mallory shrugged. After talking it over with her parents and Clark and Lois, she'd decided to go to Metropolis University. Her first choice had been Gotham University, but her parents hadn't been crazy about the idea of her living in Gotham, even with her powers, and Clark had pointed out that Batman wouldn't appreciate her coming in to patrol Gotham on a regular basis because of her powers. She'd decided that if she went to school in Metropolis, it would be easier for her to patrol. Besides, she had another reason for going.
"Did I tell you that Jen's going to Metropolis U?" she asked, thinking of her friend from the boarding school.
Megan smiled. "No, you didn't. I didn't know that you two were still in touch."
Mallory nodded. "We still talk every now and then. When I told her that I was gonna go there, she looked up her major and found out that they offer it, so she applied. She just got her acceptance letter a couple of weeks ago."
"What does she want to do?" Zatanna asked.
"She wants to be a teacher. I think she wants to teach kids, but I can't remember for sure."
Zatanna nodded thoughtfully, and Mallory smiled.
"Still haven't found a job, huh?" she asked.
The magician shook her head. "No, and I'm really starting to get depressed about it. I'm not qualified to do anything in the real world, and I refuse to bus tables."
Mallory shook her head. "You'll find something, don't worry. It doesn't have to pay that much to start with, I mean, no one's gonna kick you out of your room here or start charging you for rent, so I think you'll be fine."
Zatanna shrugged. "Yeah, but, I mean, eventually I'll want to get a house of my own, or maybe live in my old house."
She grew quiet, and Mallory zipped her suitcase closed and moved it off the bed so she could sit, too. "What's going on with the house, anyway?" she asked. She hadn't heard anything about it since they'd helped Zatanna move into the cave.
"Nothing, it's just sitting there. I haven't had the courage to go back there since I moved here," she said quietly. Mallory and Megan exchanged a look, and Zatanna looked at Megan. "What about you?" she asked.
Megan tilted her head. "I don't know. I haven't really thought about it," she admitted.
"You would be really good as some sort of counselor. You know, you're practically our resident counselor here anyway," Zatanna suggested.
Megan laughed and shook her head. "No I'm not, Black Canary is," she said.
"Sure, for the big stuff, but we come to you when there's something little that we just need to talk about. Why did you think we came to you instead of someone else?" Mallory said.
"I assumed it was just because I'm the only one who's not going to completely tear you apart," she said.
Mallory and Zatanna raised their eyebrows. "We don't tear each other apart! We just say it like it is. It's called realism," Malory said, a little defensive.
"Ok, I'm sorry, you're right. I shouldn't have said that," Megan said with a laugh.
"We come to you because you know how to make us feel better and you're good at putting things in perspective," Zatanna told the Martian. Megan thought about it for a moment, and Mallory went back to packing. She only had a few more things, her laptop, chargers, and bedding. She left room to add things easily, and she stacked the suitcases by the door so they'd be ready when she brought them to her dorm the next day.
"Maybe I will look into taking some classes. I could use something to do in our downtime now that we're not in school anymore."
"Yeah, you might suggest to Conner that he look for a job, too. He's going a little stir crazy around here," Mallory said.
Megan put a hand up, shaking her head. "No, I'm not broaching that topic again. I suggested he start working somewhere in Metropolis so he could spend more time with Superman, and he stormed out of the room and didn't talk to me for the rest of the day."
"Yeah, he still doesn't want to follow in Superman's footsteps," Mallory mentioned.
"Are you going to need help moving in? I don't think we have anything to do tomorrow," Zatanna offered.
Mallory shrugged. "I mean, if you want to come, you can, but I think I can manage. I'm not bringing a lot."
"Of course, we want to come!" Megan said. "Are your parents going to help you move in?"
Mallory shook her head. "No, they wanted to, but they'd have to fly up to Metropolis and then pretty much fly right back to Central."
"Then we'll be there. I'm sure we can get Dick, Conner, and Raquel to come too. And Wally and Artemis will want to come," Zatanna said.
"No, Wally and Artemis start classes tomorrow, and Dick's got work," Mallory said.
"Well, Conner isn't going to be doing anything," Megan said.
"I'm taking Wolf and Sphere out tomorrow," Conner called from his room down the hall.
The girls looked at each other and chuckled. "Sometimes I forget," Megan admitted.
"Me too. Maybe he should wear an inhibitor collar around the cave, just for his hearing," Zatanna said.
Mallory decided not to continue the conversation, considering Conner could hear every word of it, and she stood and looked around the room. "I think I packed everything," she said.
"Do you know what you're going to wear?" Megan asked.
"No, it's just move in day, I'll probably wear sweatpants and a t-shirt," Mallory replied.
Zatanna shook her head. "Mal, this is first impressions day. You have to wear something cute," she insisted.
Mallory rolled her eyes, but she allowed her friend to pull out an outfit and lay it out on the dresser. "There, now you're ready," she said.
"Great," Mallory said, "so, you guys want pizza for dinner?"