Season four is finally completely out! I've been putting off watching it until I finish writing year 5 so that it doesn't influence my writing, but I can't wait to start watching it. Anyway, hope you like the chapter, please review!
Mallory and Raquel spent the night in Zatanna's room to avoid running into anyone or having anyone go to their rooms to talk. Mallory set an alarm for four in the morning, though, and allowed herself a few minutes to fully wake up before slipping out of the room and going to the kitchen where she had a feeling Dick would be. The lights were still off, the only one lighting the way was the light over the stove. Dick was in there, stirring something in a pot. She slid onto a stool and waited. He sighed.
"On a scale of one to ten, how likely are you to set the place on fire right now?" he asked.
"I'm not mad, anymore," she replied.
He nodded and took the pot off the stove. He offered her some of the oatmeal with a hand gesture, and she shook her head. "So, I take it that you want to lecture me about not having control over the rookies, remind me that we've lost people before, that Kaldur would have been able to get the situation under control without having to go through that big fight," he said. His voice was the only thing that betrayed how tired he was.
"No," she said quietly, her voice saying that the thought had never crossed her mind.
"Ok, then why are you up at 4:30 in the morning looking like you have something big on your mind?" he asked, coming around to her side of the counter so he could sit while he ate.
Mallory glanced around. "Where are Robin and Wren?" she asked, wanting to make sure that the other two insomniacs weren't around to hear this. She knew from personal experience that it was better to make sure the Bats weren't in earshot.
"They went back to Gotham last night," he told her.
She nodded. "Raquel and Z and I were talking last night," she started, deciding it was probably better to just get it over with. "We're going to accept the League's invitation."
Dick's face went from weary to panic in a split second. "Mallory, you can't do that!" he said, shoving his bowl away and giving her his full attention. "It was one bad mission. We'll do simulations, they'll get better. Please, Mal, don't quit before you really give them a chance."
"Dick, Lagaan almost got me or Raquel killed last night because he wasn't thinking as a team. That wasn't his first mission. And Robin and Wren, I'm not going to take away the fact that they're good at what they do, but they're too impulsive and untrusting. That whole fight could have been avoided if they'd just followed orders and stuck to the mission. I can't stay on a team that I can't trust my teammates, Dick. You know that."
He stared at her, trying to decide if there was a way he could make her change her mind, remind her that they'd all been impulsive on missions before. Finally, he just nodded, hanging his head a little. "Ok, if that's what you want to do, I'll support it."
Mallory smiled and took the glasses off his face so she could see his eyes. "You know that if you ever need us, in or out of costume, all you have to do is call us," she said.
He smiled a little and nodded. "Yeah, same here," he said. She nodded, and he shook his head. "I still don't know how you can walk away from the team, though. You're the one who calls it home."
Mallory sighed. "Dick, this isn't the same team that I joined. We're not a family anymore, we're a military group, and the fact that the older half of us want to treat it like it hasn't changed is hurting the performance of the new members. Besides, Z and I are still gonna be living here, at least for now, so I'm not making a complete break."
He stood and stepped over to her, wrapping his arms around her. Mallory chuckled and returned the hug. "What's this for?" she asked.
He rested his chin on the top of her head. "I'm gonna miss you," he said.
"Yeah, I'll miss you and the team, too," she said, then she pulled away and jutted her chin to his breakfast. "You should eat that before it gets cold," she said, standing.
"Where are you going?" he asked.
"Back to bed," she replied.
He chuckled, then sobered and said, "So, I guess you're gonna tell the League this afternoon?"
She nodded. "Yeah, we wanted you to be the first to know. When Megan and Conner get up, we'll tell them, and we can let the League know after that."
He nodded and turned back to the counter, starting to eat again. Mallory looked at him sadly, feeling bad that she was breaking the team up. She shook her head and went to her room, crawling into her bed, but she didn't get back to sleep, her mind too busy thinking about how after today, everything was about to change. Again.
That afternoon, Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman came to the cave, answering Nightwing's call that they needed to talk. The whole team was there, the newer members at the back, and Inferno, Rocket, and Zatanna at the front. The senior members had had a meeting a few hours before to give Megan and Conner a heads up, and to give them a chance to join them. The couple had been adamant, however, that they were going to stay on the team. Now, with the three main members of the League standing in front of them, looking at them expectantly, Mallory felt a wave of fear coarse through her, knowing that after this point, there was no turning back.
"We've talked it over, and we're going to accept the invitation to join the League," Rocket said.
Wonder Woman beamed. "Thank Hera. We've been in need of more female members," she said.
The girls grinned, and Mallory chanced a glance at Superman. He was watching her, and she looked away, not sure how to begin to fix their relationship now, after she'd intentionally hurt him.
"Very well. The induction ceremony is in two weeks, on December 31st. If you have anything that you need to take care of before then, do it now," Batman said, and the Leaguers went to the zeta tube. When they were gone, Gar bounced over and gave each girl a hug.
"What-" Zatanna started, but the boy grinned up at her and said, "I just can't believe you're gonna be on the League!"
They laughed, and Mallory said, "Yeah, me either. It doesn't feel real yet."
Zatanna looked at Mallory and Raquel and tilted her head. "You know, I think I want a change," she said.
"We're joining the League, Z. That's a pretty big change," Raquel said.
"I mean, like my costume or something. I want to feel like being on the League is gonna be different than being on the team."
Mallory looked down at her familiar orange and black costume. As much as she liked it, she knew what Zatanna was talking about. "I think I'm gonna change mine, too," she said.
They looked at Raquel, but the girl crossed her arms and grinned. "I'm good. You can't fix what's already perfect," she said.
The girls laughed, and Mallory and Zatanna went to Mallory's room and stared at their costumes in the mirror. They looked childish, like something a sidekick would wear, and they both agreed that they had outgrown that look. Zatanna grabbed a pad and a pen and started sketching. After twenty minutes and four crumpled sketches, she showed her final design to Mallory.
"What do you think?" she asked.
Mallory grinned. "It looks good," she said. "Try it on."
Zatanna muttered a spell and a cloud of smoke snaked its way up from her feet to her head, dispersing on the ceiling to reveal the costume she'd just designed. It was perfect. She kept the basic look, the coat with tails, the nylon stockings and boots, though the boot heels were a little higher than her old ones, but she made it look more mature. She got rid of the yellow vest and just had a white sleeveless shirt, and she added a white bow tie at the neck. She looked at herself in the mirror and grinned.
"I love it. Ok, your turn," she said, handing Mallory the pad.
Mallory gave her old suit one more look, tallying up the things she wanted to keep and the things she wanted to improve. She grabbed the pad and sketched a rough draft, added a few changes, then showed it to her friend.
"It's good," Zatanna said slowly.
"But?" Mallory asked.
"I don't know, it just looks a lot like Black Canary's costume."
Mallory looked at the sketch and nodded, seeing the similarity now. "Ok, yeah, I'll fix it," she said. She drew a few changes, then offered the new sketch to Zatanna, who grinned and nodded.
"It's a pretty big change, but it looks great," she said.
Mallory nodded. "Yeah. I'ma go make it," she said, going to the door, intending to go to the fabricator.
"No, no, I can make it," Zatanna offered.
Mallory nodded. "Ok," she said.
Zatanna muttered a spell, and Mallory watched as a cloud of smoke covered her. When it dispersed, she looked at her friend, watching for her reaction nervously. Zatanna just grinned and nodded her approval. "It looks great," she said.
Mallory took a breath and turned to face the mirror. A grin split her face when she saw it. The shirt was red, and a lot like Red Arrow's top. It was sleeveless and the neck was mostly covered with the exception of the very front. There was a black triangle on the chest, and a black belt separating the red top from the gray pants. Black boots and gloves and her same black domino mask with the red visors. Her favorite addition to the suit was a black jacket that cut off just below her ribs. She pulled her red hair into the same high ponytail that she'd been favoring lately for missions, liking the practicality of it and feeling like it set the suit off better.
"I love it," she said.
"Come on," Zatanna said, "let's go show the team the new looks."
Mallory shook her head. "No, let's save it for the induction," she said.
Zatanna sighed, but she agreed that it would be a great surprise. They took the new suits off and Zatanna put their old suits back on. They looked at each other, excitement bubbling to the surface as they realized that this was really happening.
"We're about to be members of the Justice League," Zatanna said.
Mallory grinned. She couldn't explain it, but seeing herself in her new costume had changed the way she saw her situation. It had been four years since she'd first walked into the cave, and so many things had happened in that time. The team had changed, she'd changed, and as much as she would always love the family that they had forged in that time, she was ready to move on to this next chapter of her life and see what it would hold. Lois was right. She couldn't let anything hold her back from living her life. Not when she didn't know how much of it she had left.