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A few days after they were back on Earth, Mallory was coming back to the dorm after meeting Alex for their project and lunch when her phone buzzed in her pocket. She checked the caller ID and smiled. "Hey, Z," she said when she answered it.
"Hey, are you done with classes for the day?" the magician asked.
"Yeah, just finished with everything. Why?" Mallory replied.
"Oh, I was just thinking we should go do something, maybe get Megan to go shopping or something," Zatanna explained.
"Yeah, sounds good. Is Raquel free?"
"I don't know, she was gonna be my next call."
"Well, you call her, I'll call Megan. Whoever gets off first can see if Artemis can come," Mallory said. She'd reached her dorm building and shifted the phone to her other hand so she could scan her card at the door.
"Sounds good. We haven't seen Artemis in a while, it's about time we all hung out," Zatanna said.
"Ok, well, I just got back to my room. I'll call Megan while I change, and we can meet at the cave, ok?"
"Yeah, see you soon," Zatanna said, and she hung up just as Mallory was opening her dorm door. She tossed her bag on her chair and went to her closet, pulling out a pair of camo cargo pants, combat boots, and a black crop top. She ran a hand through her still black hair as she dialed Megan, deciding to just pull it into a sloppy ponytail.
"Hey," Megan said.
"Hey, what are you doing?" Mallory asked, putting her friend on speaker while she changed.
"Nothing. Clark and Conner went to Metropolis, he's trying to help him find a job that he'll like."
"Well, you want to come hang out with me and Z and maybe Raquel and Artemis?" Mallory asked.
"Yeah! Of course. It'll have to be after training, though. Dick isn't going to be here, and Dina only has about half an hour to spare, she has a presentation for work she has to do."
"That's fine, we were going to meet at the cave anyway. Hey, how's Peter been doing now that he's actually on the team?"
"He's been great. He practically sleeps in his uniform, and he's been tagging along with Dick in Bludhaven a lot to get more experience. We went on an observation mission for a new Lexcorp base the other night, and he did really well."
Mallory smiled. "I'm glad. I hate that I haven't had much time to watch him train or anything lately. I'm trying to clear my schedule a little now that Metropolis is calming down."
"Yeah, well, we'll talk when you get here, ok? Canary just got here."
"Ok, see you soon," Mallory replied, and as soon as she hung up she was dialing Artemis's phone. The archer picked up and said, "Z's on hold right now, I'll be there in ten minutes." Mallory grinned and grabbed her wallet. "Great, see you then," she replied. She hung up and left her room, heading for the nearest zeta tube in the city.
Mallory and Raquel got to the cave at the same time, and they made their way into the training room together. Zatanna was there, and Megan was training the new team alone. The girls hung back for a moment, watching the activity from the outside. Peter was sparring with Lagaan, and Gar was sparring with Megan. Peter managed to swipe Lagaan's legs out from under him, but the Atlantean backflipped away, managing to stay on his feet. Peter narrowed his eyes, the visors of his mask not much more than slits. A few more minutes, and Lagaan managed to catch the younger boy off guard and tripped him, pushing him to the ground before he could regain his balance. Not long after, Megan threw Gar over her shoulder, holding on a little longer than she would with anyone else to help soften the landing. The girls walked over and the boys ran to meet them.
"Hey, Vig," Raquel said, giving Peter a one-armed hug.
Peter grinned at the nickname and moved on to stand by Mallory. "How was the space mission?" he asked, his eyes wide with excitement.
Mallory laughed and put an arm around his shoulder. "It was cool. We met a lot of Lanterns. Maybe you'll get to meet them one day."
"Did you really fight the alien and blow up a spaceship?" Gar asked.
The Leaguers shot Megan a look, but the Martian shrugged and shook her head. "I didn't tell them," she assured them. They looked at each other and Zatanna said, "Nightwing."
They laughed and Mallory shrugged. "Yeah, I did. It wasn't as cool as it sounds, though."
"Yeah, right," Peter said.
The zeta tube announced Artemis's arrival, and Megan turned to the small team. "You can go now, training's over for the day," she said. Lagaan was out of the room before the archer appeared in the tube, but the brothers hung around to say hi. When Artemis came through the tube, her hair was cut to half the length it had been, which was the first thing that they talked about.
"It just got to be too much to take care of," she explained after Zatanna mentioned it.
"It looks good. Makes me think I should go a little shorter," Mallory said.
The boys said hello, and Artemis looked at Peter and tapped his mask. "I heard about your new gig. Vigilante's a pretty cool name."
He grinned and nodded. "Yeah, too bad you're not still a hero, or you could take me on patrol," he said.
Artemis laughed, and the boys left, saying that they were going to use Nightwing's training room for a while. The girls formed a circle and started to decide what to do.
"We could go shopping," Megan suggested.
Artemis shrugged. "I mean, I guess, but I'm on a budget right now. We're trying to get a little ahead on our rent."
"How about window shopping in Metropolis? They have some good places, and most of the stuff is too expensive to buy anyway," Mallory said.
"Sure, sounds good," Zatanna said, and Raquel put in, "we can grab some food from that bakery you like, Mal." They went to the garage and got their motorcycles, Artemis borrowing Dick's since hers and Wally's had been brought to the Arrowcave for safekeeping. Mallory smiled as she pulled her helmet on and straddled the bike. It had been a while since she'd ridden it.
They rode into the zeta tube and came out through a sign on a deserted street at the edge of the city. Mallory led the way through some backstreets as they made their way to the heart of the Metropolis, where they weaved through traffic and found a parking garage to leave the bikes while they walked.
"So why was Dick out today?" Zatanna asked as they made their way down the street, starting to browse the stores.
"He said something about a problem at the Batcave. I think Wren and Batman got into it again," the Martian replied.
Mallory nodded. "Did you guys see the news the other day? Wren has a new name now."
Artemis smiled. "Yeah, I saw. I'm glad she got out, after what went down between her and Bruce."
"What happened?" Raquel asked.
"They were disagreeing on missions, and finally she just refused to follow one of his orders. He stopped letting her go out as Wren, and she didn't want to be his partner anymore anyway, so she was going out in a black suit. Nightwing and Robin were on the roof the night she was caught on the cameras, and Dick called Wally when he got home."
Their conversation was interrupted by Zatanna's phone going off. When she checked the caller ID, her face froze and her eyes darted to the others shyly before she answered. "Hey, I'm with some friends," she said quickly. The girls couldn't make out what the person on the other line was saying, but Mallory did detect a familiar Yorkshire accent coming faintly from the other line. She and Raquel exchanged a knowing glance, a smile on their faces. Artemis and Megan looked at them questioningly, but they waited until Zatanna rejoined them before saying, "Z has a new boyfriend."
Zatanna's eyes widened slightly, an involuntary laugh coming out of her. "No, he's not my boyfriend," she said.
Mallory raised an eyebrow. "Of course not, luv," she said, mimicking the way the magician said the word.
Zatanna rolled her eyes. "He's helping me get around in the magic world, that's all," she insisted.
"Z, you hang out with him at least three times a week, and you smile every time you talk about him. Just admit it already," Raquel pressed.
Zatanna shook her head, but the tell tale smile was on her face. Artemis slung an arm around the magician's shoulder and pulled her closer. "Look at you, Z! So, when do we get to meet him?"
Zatanna shook her head. "You don't! Don't think I've forgotten what the boys did when Mallory brought Isaiah over for the first time."
"Well, we're all older now, and it's not like this is your first boyfriend," Megan said.
"No, my first boyfriend is one of the people you want me to introduce him to!" Zatanna pointed out.
They laughed, and Artemis shook her head. "True, I guess." She smiled and added, "but at least we got you to admit that he's your boyfriend."
Zatanna's eyes widened and she froze midstep. The others laughed and kept walking, and she caught up with them before long. They changed the subject after that to work and school, giving their friend a break.
The girls stayed in the city together until around six, when Artemis and Raquel said that they needed to get home. Zatanna, Megan, and Mallory stayed for another hour or so, then the Martian and magician decided to go back to the cave to get dinner started for the live-ins.
"You want to come?" Megan asked.
"Who's staying over tonight?" Mallory asked. Really, she knew she should get back to the dorm, since it was Wednesday and she had early classes the next day.
"Me, Zatanna, Conner, Gar, and maybe Lagaan. Peter doesn't usually stay over on week nights," Megan said.
Mallory resisted making a face at the mention of the Atlantean and shook her head. "No, I'm good. I think I'll stay in the city for a while, do some patrolling in civies and see if I run into anything before I go back to the dorm."
Megan shook her head. "Lagaan's not as bad as you think. He's gotten better."
Mallory looked at Zatanna, who shrugged. "I'm not around him that much, but Conner doesn't think he's gotten any less annoying," the magician reported.
Mallory laughed at Megan's reaction to that. "No, it's not just him, really. I haven't had a night to decompress in a while. I'll see you guys on Friday."
They said goodbye, and Zatanna and Megan went to the parking garage together to get their bikes. Mallory continued down the street, looking around for signs of trouble. It was almost May, so the days were getting longer, which meant that she still had about an hour and a half of daylight left. She used them running errands and stopping by the park to watch the ducks swim through the small lake. When the evening shadows started to fall, she started walking back to the parking garage. It was dark by the time she got there, and she paid her fee and rode out onto the mostly open road. She didn't feel like going back to her dorm yet, so she decided to ride through the city to see if she could find any crime to stop. She did this for a few hours, managing to scare off a mugger before he even had a chance to steal anything. Finally, around ten, she decided to do one last circle of the nightclubs before heading back to campus. She'd gotten about halfway through the last street when her phone buzzed in her pocket. She ignored it the first time, but when it rang a second time back to back, she pulled over and rested one foot on the ground and pulled out her phone to check the caller ID. It was Wally. She pulled off her helmet and slid the arrow to answer it.
"Hey, what's up?" she asked.
"Where are you?" Wally asked. His voice sounded heavy and distracted. It was unlike him, and a pit formed in her stomach immediately, sensing that something wasn't right.
"I'm in Metropolis, why?" she asked.
"Uh, I'm at Dick's. Can you come?" he asked.
The pit hardened until Mallory felt like she would puke, anxiety taking over as she tightened her grip on the phone. "Wally, what's wrong?" she asked, her voice insistent.
There was a pause on his end, then he cleared his throat and said, "Robin's dead."
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