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The next afternoon, Mallory and Jen had their first day of classes. When they got done, they went out to get some dinner and relax. By the time they got back to their room, it was dark out. Mallory unlocked the door and immediately sensed that something was off.
"Jen, stay back," she said quietly, lighting her eyes so that she could see into the dark room.
"What is it, Mallory?" Jen asked, her voice betraying her nerves.
The curtains fluttered, and Mallory realized that the windows were wide open. She flipped the light on and walked over to the window, peering out into the night, searching for some sign of movement, but the night was as still as glass.
"Mallory, what happened? Was someone here?" Jen asked, looking around.
Mallory scanned the room, looking for anything that was out of place. There was a piece of paper taped to the window. She peeled it off and opened it. It read:
Sorry I couldn't be there when you moved in, but I couldn't let it go without giving you a present. Lock's disabled, so you can leave whenever you want. Don't forget to come home on the weekends.
love, your favorite ex-Bat
Mallory grinned and looked at her friend, who was still looking around fearfully. "Don't worry, it was nothing," she said, closing the window and putting the note in the drawer of her desk.
"Are you sure?" Jen asked.
"Yeah, it was just a friend saying hello," she assured her. Jen nodded hesitantly and went to change into lounge clothes. Mallory shook her head and looked at the window with a smile. Nightwing sure knew how to pick a present.
The week flew by with classes starting and the girls trying to get familiar with the campus. By the end of her last class of the week, Mallory was ready to get back to the cave for some training and, hopefully, a mission. Jen came in the room and saw her packing, and her face fell.
"I thought you were gonna come with us tonight," she said.
Mallory sighed. "I said I'd think about it, and if there wasn't anything going on at the cave," she reminded her friend.
"Oh, well, what's going on at the cave?"
"Um, well, uh, Mr. Freeze threatened to freeze Gotham, uh, and we need to go fight him," Mallory said.
Jen arched an eyebrow and crossed her arms. "Mallory, I'm an empath, I know when I'm being lied to," she said. "Besides, I watch the news, and nothing's going on in Gotham."
Mallory sighed. "Sorry, I just really want to go home and see everyone. We're probably going to go get some food with Wally and his girlfriend so we can talk about college and work and all," she said.
Jen faked a hurt look. "Ok, well, if I'm not good enough for you anymore, then go right ahead and leave me and go hang out with your big shot friends," she said, and she sat with her back to Mallory at her desk. Mallory stared at her friend's head, not sure if she was faking it or not, and she grunted and grabbed her phone.
"Fine, just let me tell them I'm not coming," she said after a moment.
Jen grinned and hopped out of the chair. "Great! I'll pull something for you to wear tonight," she said. Mallory nodded and pulled Zatanna's number up. She sighed, then dialed.
"Hey, Mallory! How was your first week?" the magician asked.
"Good, a little overwhelming, but I'll live," Mallory replied.
"Great. Well, when are you coming? We're trying to pick a place to eat for tonight," Zatanna said, then she added, "oh, and you're on speaker, and Megan and Conner are right here."
Mallory groaned inwardly. "Ok. Um, actually, I called to tell you that I'm not coming home this weekend."
She held the phone away from her ear in anticipation of the yelling that was sure to follow. Sure enough, Zatanna's voice came surging out the phone.
"WHAT? Mallory, you can't miss tonight! Wally and Artemis are coming!" she said.
"I know, but-" Mallory started, but Megan interrupted her. "Mallory, come on, if you have homework, Canary won't make you train too long, and we shouldn't have a mission," the Martian tried.
"Guys, I'm sorry, but Jen wants me to go out with her and some of her friends. I can come back for a few hours tomorrow, couldn't we just move dinner to breakfast or lunch?"
Megan sighed. "Fine, but you'd better be here," she said.
"I will, promise," she assured her friends.
Zatanna's voice lightened considerably as she started demanding to hear about college. Mallory laughed and told her she would tell her the next day, and the magician reluctantly allowed her to hang up. Jen came back in a moment latter with Mallory's jean shorts, antique-looking yellow crop top, and combat boots.
"How's this?" she asked.
"Jen, it's a little cold for that, don't you think?" she asked.
"Not for you, it isn't," Jen replied.
Mallory shook her head and swapped the shorts for some jeans. "Secret identity, remember?" she said. Jen sighed, but she allowed Mallory to winter the outfit up a bit.
"The team's not happy that I'm staying," Mallory mentioned as she got dressed.
"Sorry. They'll get over it though, right?"
Mallory raised an eyebrow, but allowed her friend to move on.
"And I promise, if the night turns out to be a flop, we can leave and you can go to your cave."
"Ok, I'll hold you to that," Mallory said.
Jen laughed and tossed her hair over her shoulder to look through her closet. She pulled out an outfit similar to Mallory's and went to the bathroom to change.
"Who else is coming to this thing?" Mallory called, going to the mirror to put on her makeup.
"Just some friends of Brandon's. I've met Seth and Anna before, but I don't know the rest."
"Great, so you can slip off and be alone with your boyfriend if they're all jerks, but I have to either stick it out or be a third wheel," Mallory muttered.
Jen came out and looked in the mirror over Mallory's head, her face serious. "Do you really not want to come?" she asked.
"Honestly, not really, but I'm already dressed, and I already rescheduled with the team, so I might as well," Mallory replied.
Jen wrapped her arms around Mallory's neck. "You're the best, and I own you one. And I meant it, if the guys are horrible, the two of us can leave and catch a movie or something."
Mallory sighed and shrugged, standing so Jen could take the seat at the mirror. "Ok, guess I can't go wrong with that," she said.
She watched as her friend did her makeup, impressed at her technique, and when she was done they caught a bus to the business district where they were supposed to meet Brandon and his group. They were already there when Mallory and Jen got there, and Brandon met them a half a block away from the others. He kissed Jen and she wrapped her arms around his middle. Mallory smiled and looked him over. He was a hair shorter than Jen, with a stocky build and dirty-blond hair, but his smile was the thing that made him stand out. It was the kind of smile that was infectious and would brighten any room.
When Jen and Brandon broke the kiss, Mallory smiled and said, "Let me guess, Brandon?"
He laughed and nodded. "Yep. And you must be Mallory."
"That's me," she replied.
"It's nice to finally meet you. Funny, I was picturing you with red hair," he said. Mallory chuckled and didn't say anything. "Well, I want you to meet some friends of mine," Brandon said. They started walking back towards the group, Jen's hand in Brandon's. "Guys, this is Jen and Mallory. That's Brice, Seth, Alex, Anna, Olivia, and Ryan."
They exchanged hellos, then Brandon and Jen led the way to the docks. Mallory fell into step with Olivia and Alex at the back of the group.
"So, how do you know Brandon?" she asked, just trying to make conversation.
"We all grew up together. I've known him since kindergarten," Alex replied.
"Yeah, I was the last one to join the group, and I've been in it since third grade," Olivia added.
"How do you know Jen?" Alex asked.
"We went to jr high together," Mallory replied.
"Do you go to Metropolis U?" Olivia asked.
Mallory nodded. "Yeah, I'm majoring in social work," she replied.
"I'm majoring in pre-med, and I'm planning on going to medical school," Alex said.
"Engineering," Olivia said. "So, how cool is it to live in a city that has a superhero?" Olivia asked.
Mallory tilted her head. "Where do you live?" she asked.
"Opal City. How about you?" Olivia asked.
"Well, My parents live in Central City, but I've lived in Metropolis most of my life," she replied.
"That's so cool. Have you ever seen any superheroes?" Olivia asked, her eyes widening.
Mallory smiled a little. "Yeah, I've seen Superman plenty of times, and I've seen Flash a few times when I visited my parents, and I saw Inferno once."
"Inferno? What was she like?" Alex asked.
Mallory chuckled. "I don't know, I just saw her flying once, I didn't talk to her or anything."
"But, what did she look like? I've always wondered how superpowers cohabitate with a normal human body. Is there some sort of toll it takes on them? Are they even human?"
Olivia laughed and shook her head. "We shouldn't have opened that can of worms. If he could, he'd be an alien doctor just for the challenge."
Mallory tilted her head, looking at Alex. He had fair skin and chocolate brown hair, a lean body, and dark green eyes. But he had a look in his eyes that seemed to demand knowledge, yet it wasn't a bad look. Actually, he was kind of good-looking. She shook it off and looked around. The docks weren't the best part of town, so she kept a subtle eye out, wishing she knew if Clark was patrolling tonight or not. She hadn't worn her suit under her clothes, so she wouldn't be able to do much if something happened. She shook her head again, telling herself to stop being paranoid. They got to the street show without incident, and the group settled in to watch the street performers start their acts.
When the show ended, the group went to a sidewalk cafe to get some food, and Mallory ended up at a table with Alex, Jen, and Brandon. Brandon and Jen were absorbed in each other, and Mallory and Alex sat there awkwardly until Alex said, "So, uh, what classes are you taking?"
"Honestly, I don't remember. Let me pull up my schedule," Mallory said, turning to face him so that she wouldn't be facing the couple. They pulled their schedules up on their phones, and Alex pointed out that they had psychology together.
"Wow, that's a coincidence," Mallory said.
"At least I'll know someone in the class. It's been weird, coming here from Opal."
"Small town?" Mallory asked, sipping her coffee. She'd never been to the city, and she'd never heard of anything big happening there, at least not in her lifetime. Tornado had said that there was some action there back in the Justice society days when Starman lived there.
"The smallest. Everyone knows everyone, and everyone talks about everything."
Mallory smiled a little. "When I was little, I used to want to live in a town like that," she said.
"What cured you?" Alex asked, chuckling.
"I came to a boarding school here and fell in love with the city," Mallory replied.
Alex nodded, "Yeah, you're lucky. Man, for as long as I can remember, me and the guys talked about getting out of that place."
"Wow, that bad, huh?" Mallory laughed.
"Hey, when you can't bring a date to a restaurant without some old woman telling you that she'll tell your mother, then it's time to get out of there."
"Hey, I've had overprotective people on dates. That's not just in small towns."
Alex raised an eyebrow. "So you've had a 90 year old cut in on your date before?" he asked. Mallory laughed and shook her head. "No, just a house full of almost brothers. Man, Roy was the worst of them."
"Roy?" Alex asked.
Mallory shook her head. "He's just a friend of mine. He and my friend Wally went to my ex's apartment when we first started dating to personally threaten him. Oh, I was so mad at them."
"Yeah, I'll bet. They aren't in Metropolis, by any chance, are they?" Alex asked.
"No, they're kind of all over the place these days," she replied, pushing the thought to the side. "Why?"
"Well, I was gonna ask you if you want to go out some time, but I'm not too crazy about the thought of getting jumped by a gang of almost brothers on the first date."
Mallory laughed and studied his face. "I don't know, you know, you'll have to meet them eventually if we started dating, and my last boyfriend just dropped off the face of the earth," she said, wanting to see where this was going.
"Well, as long as it's not the first date, I think we can work something out," he said.
Mallory couldn't help the smile that spread across her face. "Alright, deal," she said.
They exchanged numbers, and then they talked until the rest of the group was ready to go. They went back to campus, and as soon as Mallory closed the door to their dorm, Jen whirled around, a big grin on her face. "Well?" she asked.
"Brandon's great," Mallory said, taking off her jacket.
"Well, yeah, I already know that. What's going on with you and Alex?" she asked.
Mallory shrugged, fighting a smile. "I don't know, but I'll find out next Friday night," she said, letting the grin spread across her face.
Jen squealed excitedly. "Mallory, that's great! Where are you going?" she asked.
"I don't know, we'll figure it out when it's closer. Now, I have to get some sleep so I can wake up in time to go to the cave in the morning," Mallory said.
Jen let her get ready for bed and turn out the lights, but Mallory laid awake for hours, thinking about her date with Alex, and wondering if she was really ready to move on after losing Brek so completely.