Sorry it's short, but I wanted him to be officially introduced in a chapter of his own. The next chapter should be longer. Hope you like it, please review!
The next day, Mallory and Peter were on their way to their parents' house at ten in the morning. Peter opened the door and announced their arrival, and Elaine told them that they were in the living room. They went down the hall and found, to Mallory's surprise, their parents sitting on the sofa and Wally sitting on the floor across from them, his back leaning against the chair, a bowl of pretzels on the coffee table in front of him. He looked up and grinned.
"Hey," he said, standing up to give her a hug.
"Hey," Mallory replied, returning it despite her confusion, "what are you doing here?"
"I got a text from Peter telling me to come. Apparently he has an announcement," he replied, ruffling Peter's hair in greeting.
Mallory looked at her brother, one eyebrow raised. "Oh, yeah? I didn't know he even had your number," she said.
"Well, duh, how else did you think he knew to pick me up from school or give me a ride to hang out with my friends?" Peter asked. He lowered his voice so that only Mallory could hear him and added, "besides, we've got a better chance of convincing them if he's fighting on our side."
Well, she couldn't deny that. Her parents, especially her mom, had always treated Wally like one of the family, more so than any of the other teammates. She shook her head. "I guess I didn't know about that, either," she said, biting her cheek to keep from laughing at how close Wally was with her family. She looked at her friend. "Hope you didn't have to wait long," she said.
He shook his head. "No, just about half an hour," he replied.
"And we're glad he did. It was good to hear about how college is going. It's been a while since we've caught up with him," Elaine said from where she was still sitting on the sofa.
Mallory nodded. "Yeah, it's been a while for the team, too," she said, then she turned to Wally as they sat down and asked, "so how's Artemis? Oh, and Brucely, how's he doing?"
Wally chuckled at her hasty addition and nodded. "Everyone's good. How's League life treating you?"
Mallory shrugged. "It's all right. At least the missions usually go according to plan."
They laughed, then Darrin cleared his throat. "So, not to interrupt, but clearly there's something going on, and I'm going to guess it has something to do with the fact that Peter went on a patrol last night," he said. The young heroes grew serious, and Mallory and Wally looked at Peter, waiting for him to make his case.
"Yeah, I went on a patrol of Central last night, and it went great. Mallory and Nightwing said that I could join the team once I proved I could handle it," he said.
"Well, I don't think we used those words…" Mallory said, trying to defend herself, but Wally put a hand on her arm, silencing her. Now wasn't the time.
Elaine and Darrin exchanged a look. "I see," Darrin said, and he clearly did. With all of the pieces in place, the last thing that Peter needed was their definite, permanent blessing. This was the last chance they had to put their foot down before Peter became a hero. Elaine looked at Mallory and Wally. "And you really think he's ready? I mean, he's so young…" she said.
Mallory nodded. "Mom, he's really good. I wouldn't even have let him get this far if he wasn't, you know that," she said.
"Yeah, Mrs. J. And age doesn't matter so much. Nightwing started crime fighting when he was nine. Peter's been training since he was five. Besides, he'll be on a team with Megan, Conner, and Nightwing, plus all the new members. They'll all be watching his back. He's going to be fine," Wally said, putting on his most reassuring face.
Elaine sighed, weakening under the combined looks of the redheads. She looked at Darrin. "Well, I guess we kind of already said it was ok," she said slowly.
Darrin sighed. "I know, I just don't like the idea of him being a vigilante, running around fighting crime like some kind of Gotham nutcase."
Wally laughed. "Hey, Nightwing would resent the fact that he wasn't here to hear that!" he said.
Mallory chuckled. "Why do you say he's going to be a vigilante? The League's made up of superheroes, so why's the team vigilantes?" she asked.
"Well, not all of the League are superheroes. Batman, Blue Beetle, Green Arrow, they're vigilantes," Elaine replied.
Mallory and Wally tilted their heads, trying to understand the logic. "So… but you think we're superheroes, right?" Mallory asked, referring to her and Wally.
"Well, yes," Elaine said.
Wally nodded slowly. "So if you have powers, you're a superhero, and if you don't, you're a vigilante?" he asked.
Her parents looked at each other, and Darrin shrugged. "I guess when it comes right down to it, yeah," he said.
"So you think Nightwing's a vigilante leading a team of superheroes?" Mallory asked.
"Well, yes, I guess he is," Elaine said, then she added, "but you know it's nothing really against him, we love him. It's really just that people without powers have to use different methods to get the same result. That's really what makes them a vigilante, the methods they use."
Mallory and Wally exchanged a glance. "But-" Mallory started, but Peter shook his head. "Don't bother, they're not gonna budge on this," he said, then he grinned and added, "besides, I think I like the title vigilante better, anyway. And I think I have just the costume to go with it." He grabbed a pad and a pencil and started sketching, and he slid it across the coffee table when he was done, showing the suit to the others. "Well, what do you think?" he asked.
They exchanged impressed looks, and Wally huffed, a grin splitting his face. "I think we just met the newest member of the team."
Two days later, Mallory and Wally watched quietly from the doorway of the training room while Nightwing gathered the current team together. Miss Martian and Superboy stood beside him in front of Lagoon Boy, Wren, Robin, and Beast Boy, all in full costume. "All right, team, I'd like to introduce you to our newest member," Dick said.
The others turned to the other doorway where Peter stepped out in his new costume, a black bodysuit and domino mask, a silver star over his heart bearing the bold black letter V, his utility belt and wrist bands now a matching silver-gray. The same color lines ran down the sides of the costume from the shoulder to where the black combat boots covered the shins, and he had two holsters on either side holding dart guns and batons.
He grinned and crossed his arms over his chest as Nightwing continued, "Vigilante."
I really want some reviews, so let me know what you think about the story!