Wren is an OC from another story I'm writing that is Batfamily centric, so you should go check that out. Hope you like the chapter, please review!
Three days later, the team was gathered in the training room to meet their newest members, Wren and the new Robin. When they walked in with Batman and Nightwing, Mallory couldn't help but stare at the stranger wearing her friend's costume. He'd made some changes to it, but the R was as familiar to her as her own suit, and it was hard to see someone she didn't know wearing it. She suddenly understood Dick's anger at Batman, but she kept it buried deep. Her friend was getting over it, and she didn't want to cause any more damage between them.
"Guys, these are the new additions, Wren and Robin," Nightwing said, a hand on each of their shoulders as they stood in front of the team.
Mallory smiled, and Megan said, "Welcome to the team."
"They'll be joining us for a simulation later, for now Batman suggested that we get to know each other a little," Nightwing continued.
"Sure. We can do a tour of the cave!" Megan suggested enthusiastically.
Wren raised an eyebrow under the mask, and Mallory smiled a little, remembering the first time she'd been on the receiving end of Megan's bubbly personality.
"I have some cases to look through. If there's any problems, I'm sure you can work them out for yourselves," Batman said, and he went to the zeta tube.
Nightwing walked over to the old team and asked, "So, where do you want to start?"
"Front door seems like a good place," Megan said.
Nightwing nodded, and the team started walking. Lagaan fell into step with Wren and put an arm around her. "Don't worry, Babe. I'll show you the ropes," he said, leaning his face close to hers.
The next thing the team knew, the girl's fist was in Lagaan's stomach and the Atlantean collapsed to the ground, doubled over and winded. The team stared at her in shock for a moment, then the new Robin laughed. Nightwing narrowed his eyes and walked over to help Lagaan up.
"What was that?" Lagaan asked angrily.
Wren crossed her arms. "Just a friendly warning. For now," she replied.
Mallory's eyes widened and her jaw dropped a little, and she had to make a conscious effort not to start laughing herself. It really wasn't right to punch a team member, but she'd been wanting to do the exact same thing since the day she'd met him.
"Ok, maybe we should just skip the tour and go straight to the simulation," Dick said, looking at the new recruits with an exasperated expression on his face.
"Why don't we just let Wren and, uh, Robin do a simulation so we can see what they can do?" Mallory suggested.
Nightwing looked at the two. "That ok with you?" he asked.
"Sure," Wren said, and Robin said, "Yeah, whatever." They went in the room and Nightwing programmed a simulation for them. They fought expertly, and Zatanna looked at Nightwing in surprise.
"I thought you said they'd only been training about a month," she said.
"Yeah, that's right," he replied.
"Then why are they so good?" Mallory asked.
"They grew up on the streets, Robin said they picked up a lot of stuff," he said.
Mallory raised an eyebrow, wanting to question him some more, but she decided against it.
Robin was fighting one of the robots and he brought his elbow down on the robot's head, breaking it off. He didn't even stop, just moved on to the next one. Wren's style was a little different, more defensive than offensive. She would get the bots off balance and kick them down. Her moves were a little predictable, but a few sessions with Black Canary would fix that. Zatanna looked at Dick, her face creased with concern.
"He's so‒ angry," she said quietly.
Dick sighed. "I know," he said. "But he'll be fine. Canary can teach him how to use it to his advantage. She did with Conner."
Conner crossed his arms. "He's not just using blind rage, Nightwing. He knows what he's doing. He already is channeling his anger." The clone's words were punctuated with a loud crash as Robin came down heavily on top of a training bot, his feet crashing right through the thing's chest. The simulation ended and the new Bats came out.
"We good?" Robin asked.
The old team exchanged a glance. "Uh, yeah, you two are really good. We have a few notes, but we'll talk to Black Canary and she'll be able to help you work on them," Raquel said, taking the lead.
Robin shrugged boredly. "Whatever," he muttered, and he and Wren went back down the hall, Lagaan and Gar following them.
"Dick," Mallory started quietly.
Dick turned around. "Mallory, don't. You of all people know that it's easy to lose control," he said.
Mallory sighed. "Yeah, I do. And I also know how dangerous it is. I think Conner's right, though. I don't think he is losing control. I think he wants to do that much damage."
"It'll be fine. I'll talk to him, ok?" he said, his voice pleading.
"Dick, we're not saying kick him off the team. But we need to know that we can trust him to help us in the field, and that we won't have to keep an eye on him the whole time," Zatanna said.
Dick nodded. "Ok, I'll talk to him. But I think he needs this, so give him a chance, ok? Give them both a chance, for me." The old team nodded, and Dick smiled the same grin that none of them had ever been able to resist. "Thanks. You want to spar a little with the new recruits?"
They returned his smile, and the team followed him down the hall to the training room.
The next day, Mallory walked into her parents' house, hoping to find Peter home. Her mom was the first one she ran into, and she looked up from where she was working on a project. "Mallory, hey, what are you doing here?" she asked, abandoning her work to greet her daughter.
Mallory returned her hug, wondering how her mom would react to what she was going to tell her brother. "I just came to talk to Peter. Do you know where he is?" she asked.
"Yeah, he's with your dad, they went to the movies to give me some quiet time to get this done," Elaine replied.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I can come back later, I didn't know you had a client," Mallory said, taking a step towards the door.
"No, no, I'm about done, anyway. Besides, there's no sense in you coming all the way back here," Elaine said. Mallory chuckled, but she sat down across from where her mom's supplies were laid out. "Well, how are the new recruits working out?" Elaine asked when they got settled.
"How did you know about the new birds?" Mallory asked.
"Peter told us about them when he got home. He said that there were some problems with them, but he didn't say what they were. Is everything ok at the cave?"
Mallory shrugged. "Fine, I guess. The new people are a little green, but they'll learn. I did."
Elaine studied her daughter from across the table. Mallory noticed her mom watching her and tilted her head. "What?" she asked.
"Oh, I don't know, it's just that ever since Wally left, you never really talk about the team anymore. You used to go on for hours about what's going on down there, now the only way I hear about it is if Peter tells me or if I specifically ask about it. I asked Waly if anything was going on, but he said that he just thought you were getting used to the changes."
"When did you talk to Wally?" Mallory asked.
"Oh, I asked him to take Peter to a friend's party the other day, your dad and I both had work," she said.
"You could've called me," Mallory said, smiling a little.
Elaine shrugged. "It gave me a chance to catch up with him. I haven't seen him since before he got his apartment. But that's beside the point. Is everything ok with the team? You just don't seem as happy when you talk about it anymore. Not since Tula, anyway."
Mallory shrugged. "It's different. We lost a lot of people, and now it just feels like we're trying to replace them with the new recruits. I don't know, I don't think it'll ever be the same. When Tula- well, you know, she took something with her. The dynamic just isn't the same, and the new people, oh, my gosh, I'm so sick of hearing Lagaan's voice! If I have to hear him flirting with one of us one more time, I'm gonna fry him and serve him up with chips."
Elaine chuckled quietly. "Now, Mallory, maybe take a breath. I don't want scorch marks on my coffee table." Mallory took a breath, calming herself. "Good. Now, he can't be all that bad. Maybe you're just blaming him for the way the team has changed. He is the first one who joined after a lot of your friends left. But it's not his fault, dear. You have to give him a chance."
Mallory rolled her eyes. "You haven't met him, Mom. I don't think you'd be telling me to give him a chance if you knew how annoying he is."
Elaine shrugged. "Maybe not. Is it just him?"
Mallory shook her head. "No, it's the new birds, too."
"Well, what's wrong with them?" her mom asked.
"They're too selfish and untrusting to really work as a team, and I swear, Robin's anger is gonna get someone killed. He punched one of the training bot's head off."
"Well, maybe you could talk to him, help him figure it out. You do have a little bit of experience in that field, you know," Elaine said, smiling slightly.
Mallory shook her head. "I don't think Wren would let me. She's acted weird around us since she first walked in. I don't know, Mom. I just- I don't know if I trust them, and that's really what's bothering me. We haven't had a mission yet that we really had to depend on each other. I don't know that I would be able to fight when I don't know them well enough to trust that they have my back."
Elaine looked at her sharply. "Mallory, if you don't feel safe, then you need to walk away. I don't want anything to happen to you, especially if you can prevent it."
Before Mallory could say anything, the front door opened and Darrin and Peter walked in. "Hey, Sweetie, what are you doing here?" Darrin asked.
Mallory stood to give him a hug. "Just came to talk to Peter. What did you see?"
"The monster that ate Minnesota," Darrin replied, making a face.
Mallory chuckled. "I wonder who got to pick," she said, looking at her brother.
He grinned. "It was great! They took a missile and filled it with liquid nitrogen, and they froze it in the lake, then they exploded it in a million pieces," Peter said.
Mallory smiled. "Sounds... interesting. Hey, you want to go get some ice cream?"
"yeah," he replied.
"Ok, go on outside, I'll be out in a minute," she said. She watched her brother scamper back down the hall and waited for the slam of the front door before turning to her parents. "I'm gonna tell him that he can make up his own mind about becoming a hero," she said.
Her parents' faces hardened, and Elaine stood up. "Why? You were the one that said he shouldn't be doing it, and you know how we feel about it," Elaine said.
Mallory bit her lip and nodded. "I know, but, well, I got it a fight with Clark, and I finally told him that I was tired of him treating me like a kid, and I realized how much of a hypocrite I was being. I don't want him to hold this against me. Believe me, I'm still gonna try to discourage him from joining the team, but it has to come from him."
Her parents exchanged a glance, and Darrin nodded. "We trust you. But let's make one thing clear. We are 100% against Peter becoming some kind of vigilante, so if he does decide to become one, you'd better make sure that he's ready for it before you put him in the field."
Mallory nodded. "Of course. You don't have to tell me how serious this is. If anything happens to him out there, it'll be my fault. You don't think I thought about that?"
They didn't answer, and Mallory turned and walked to the door. Peter was waiting at the sidewalk, and she caught up with him and they started walking to the old fashioned candy shop at the heart of the subdivision. They talked about school and movies for a while, but when their order came, Mallory brought up the team.
"So, Peter, everyone at the cave says that you're doing really well with your training," she said.
"Yeah, Black Canary said I'm as good as Robin was when he first started."
Mallory smiled. "That's high praise. But he goes by Nightwing now," she said.
Peter grinned. "I know, but I like when he makes that face when I call him Robin."
Mallory chuckled. "So, Peter, I wanted to talk to you about, um, about patroling."
He looked up so fast she thought he would crack his neck. "You're gonna let me come with you?" he asked.
Mallory took a long time finding the words she was looking for. "Look, Pete, I still don't like the idea of you going out in the field, but I also know that I haven't really been fair to you. So, if you still want to," he was practically bouncing in his seat, and Mallory rolled her eyes and continued, "I will gradually start letting you go out in the field, when Batman, Black Canary, Nightwing, and I say that you are ready."
"Thanks, Mallory!" he exclaimed. "I'm gonna have to find a suit, and I have to get some batarangs from Nightwing, and-"
"Shh, Peter, keep your voice down," Mallory said, chuckling despite the fear drumming in her chest. "Look, I said that you could do this, and I meant it, but I need you to do something for me."
"What?" he asked.
"I need you to take some time and really think about all the angles to becoming a hero. It'll change you, you'll get hurt, and there's always a chance that you won't come back from a mission. You know Tula didn't. And then there's the risk of being kidnapped, cloned, tortured, and not to mention having to put up with Lagaan all the time..." Peter laughed and Mallory smiled. "Just take a month or two and really think about it, ok? You'll have the rest of your life to help people."
Peter thought about it for a moment. "Fine, I'll wait. But I'm telling you now, you'd better get a room together for me at the cave, cause I'm gonna say yes."
Mallory nodded. "Ok, it'll be waiting for you if you still want it."
They ate their ice cream, and Mallory watched as her little brother doodled a costume design on the paper table cloth. She sighed. She knew offering it to him was the right thing to do. She just hoped that she'd never regret this decision.
Thoughts? Please review, I want to know what y'all think!