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Dick spent two weeks sending the team to games, campouts, into the cities and towns to have some fun. Before long, they were forging friendships outside of their comfort zones, their performance in the field got better and better, and their communication became more subtle and familiar. With that crisis averted, Megan and Conner had more free time without having to train with the new members.
One morning, Mallory swung by Conner's room after breakfast, knocking on the door before hitting the button to open them. "Hey, what are you doing today?" she asked.
The clone shrugged. "I need to fix Megan's bike, but that can wait. Why, what do you have in mind?"
Mallory smiled. "I was thinking we could go pay Clark a visit. I've never seen his office before, and I want to see the look of panic when he sees us come in."
Conner chuckled. "Sounds great. Let's give him a half an hour to get to work, then we can head out."
"Ok. I'm gonna go get ready," Mallory replied. She went to her room and pulled out some clothes. She started to just put them on, but then she decided to put her suit on underneath. She might as well run a patrol after, as long as she was in Metropolis anyway.
A little while later, Conner came to her room to see if she was ready, and they went to the zeta tube. They came out a block away from the Daily Planet and started walking.
"I can't believe we've never done this before," Conner mentioned.
"I know. I used to think about dropping by, but I was always scared that Batman would find out somehow," Mallory replied.
Conner chuckled. "You aren't scared of him anymore?" he asked.
Mallory shrugged. "It's different now," she admitted, then she grinned and added, "now I know where he lives." She held the door open for her friend and they went to the sign by the elevators that said what was on each floor.
"I thought he'd be on the top floor for some reason," Conner said.
Mallory shrugged and hit the elevator button. The doors whooshed open, and as soon as they stepped on, ten more people came running towards the elevators to get on. They crammed in until they were practically suffocating, and finally let the doors close. Mallory shot Conner an annoyed look and he rolled his eyes and tried to shrug. By the time they got to their floor, it had emptied a bit, and they stepped off with two other people and looked around. It was a large, open room with rows and rows of large desks, and a wall of windows that overlooked the city. Mallory could see the tiered building where she'd had her first date with Isaiah, and the memory made her smile.
"So, any idea where to find Clark?" Conner asked. Mallory scanned the room, but she didn't see her mentor anywhere.
"Hey, are you looking for Clark Kent?"
They turned around to see a red-headed guy with freckles holding a box of prints looking at them curiously. "Yeah. Why, do you know him?"
The boy grinned. "Yeah, I work with him all the time. He's not here right now, he and Lois Lane are in the editor's office, but I can show you where he works, and no one will mind if you hang out for a bit."
They smiled and nodded. "Thanks," Mallory said, and they started walking, weaving around people and desks.
"I'm Jimmy, by the way," the red-head said.
Mallory tilted her head. "Jimmy Olsen?" she asked.
He smiled. "Yeah."
"Clark's talked about you before," Mallory explained.
That made Jimmy's smile widen, then he tilted his head. "So, how do you know him?" he asked.
Mallory and Conner exchanged a glance. "We're his cousins," Conner said.
"I'm Mallory, this is my brother Conner," Mallory said.
"Huh, Clark's never mentioned you before," Jimmy said thoughtfully.
Mallory tilted her head. "That's weird. But I guess he doesn't like to talk about Smallville much, does he?"
"No, not too much. Well, anyone can see you're related, you look a lot alike." Mallory chuckled but they didn't say anything. Jimmy stopped in front of a desk close to the window. "Well, this is it. It was great meeting you. I have to get these to the printing room, but maybe I'll see you later."
Mallory and Conner nodded, and Conner asked, "how long do you think he'll be?"
Suddenly a door at the end of the room opened and they could hear yelling from inside it. Jimmy winced and moved towards the elevator. "Uh, it shouldn't be long now," he said, and practically ran away from the room. They exchanged a glance and looked at the room.
Clark and Lois came out of it with a heavy set older man with gray hair and a stern look on his face. "Now get out there and get me a story! What am I paying you for, if in the city with superhumans and aliens running rampant, you can't find me one newsworthy item for tomorrow's front page!" He slammed the door behind them, and Clark and Lois started walking towards them. Mallory would have expected them to be upset, or at least phased, by the abuse, but they were smiling as they walked back. That is, until Clark saw his two visitors, Mallory sitting in his chair, Conner leaning against his desk, his arms crossed, waiting for him.
His face froze and his eyes darted around to see if anyone was paying attention. He and Lois came to the desk and Clark hissed, "what are you doing here?"
Mallory chuckled and nodded to conner. "Told you the face would be worth it," she said. He smirked.
"I'm serious. You can't be here, what if someone sees you?"
"Oh, someone already did. Jimmy, he showed us where your desk is. He seems nice, no wonder you talk about him so much."
Clark's eyes widened. "You talked to him?" he asked.
Conner nodded. "Sure. Relax, we told him we're your cousins from Smallville. He bought it. Sometimes it helps to look like you."
"Apparently so. It's good to see you two, it's about time you saw the office," Lois said, going to her desk next to his and sitting down.
"Lois, we can't encourage this," Clark said.
"Why not? They're already here, and Conner has a point, you look close enough to be family. Besides, if no one's figured out who you are by now, adding in some family members isn't going to change anything."
Clark sighed and grabbed Mallory's arm gently, pulling her to her feet so he could sit in his chair. Mallory rolled her eyes, but she allowed him to kick her off the chair, and she stood beside Conner instead.
"So, why are you here?" Clark asked, gentler this time.
"We didn't have anything else to do. We thought you'd want to go do something, but apparently you have work to do," Mallory said.
Lois shrugged. "There just hasn't been much going on lately. What we need is some excitement, something to make the front page."
Mallory smiled. "I'd be happy to dig something up, if you want," she offered.
Clark shook his head. "You're not going to create a fight just so we can get a byline," he said firmly.
Mallory shrugged. "Suit yourself," she said.
"If you want to hang around for a while, we can go get lunch together. There's a great food stand that sets up in Centennial Park. I warn you, though, it can get pretty boring around–"
He was cut off by a young man running down the aisle, yelling, "the Hybrids are fighting an unknown attacker downtown!"
The four of them were on their feet before the sentence was out of his mouth. "Oh, yeah, I'm so bored right now," Conner said sarcastically as they hurried to the stairs.
Clark rolled his eyes. "Do you bring your suits?" he asked.
Conner unzipped his jacket, revealing the red S, and Mallory grinned and nodded. They got to the roof and jumped off. Mallory burned off her clothes and the dye and put on her mask while Clark pulled off his clothes to reveal the Superman suit underneath. They each grabbed one of Conner's hands and the three of them flew towards the fight. They could see the destruction from the sky, a cloud of smoke rising from what they could only assume was an alien-level threat.
"What are the Hybrids?" Mallory asked as they sped forward.
Clark shook his head. "I don't know, I've never heard of them before," he said.
When they reached the fight, they landed outside of a crater in the middle of the road. It took a moment for them to get oriented, but Clark went right in, and Mallory and Conner followed him without hesitation.
They found four people the team's age struggling against a huge man with long black hair and gray-white skin. He had a chain and was pummeling the small team with it. A boy in a green suit was on the ground in front of him, trying to fight him with his fists, while a flash of light in the shape of a human flew around him, sending light flashes out at the enemy. It did nothing, thought, and the green suit was knocked away with a single backhand.
Another girl with silver skin and a tight black leotard suit came flying in on a disk, and Mallory's eyes widened as she recognized her. She looked around and finally found the person she was looking for when Hotspot flew in behind Toni. The alien swung a chain and it wrapped around Isaiah's ankle, and he used him to knock away the two girls, then slammed the pyrokinetic on the ground in front of him. He had the hook end of the chain raised, ready to bury it in Hotspot's chest.
Mallory flew in, grabbing her ex's arm and pulling him away a split second before the hook came down. She flew him all the way to the edge of the crater and slammed him down on the hard pavement, her concern for his safety fueling her anger at his recklessness. He looked up at her and smiled weakly.
"Thanks, Inferno. Good timing."
She glared at him. "What were you thinking! Why did you try to take this guy? You're obviously no match for him!"
He tilted his head playfully. "It's good to see you, too," he said, trying to push himself to his feet.
Mallory narrowed her eyes and stuck a finger at him. "Stay here. I'm not going to be the one to explain to your family that you were being stupid and reckless." She turned and saw that Superman and Superboy were fighting the alien, and she flew over to help. She and Conner took the back and sides while Clark took the front.
"Why are you here? We had a deal," Clark said, startling both Mallory and Conner.
"Yeah, well I'm not here for you or your pathetic fragging world. I'm just here to collect my prize," the alien replied.
Hotspot came flying in, much to Mallory's annoyance, and between the seven of them they managed to get the enemy somewhat contained.
"All right, now what's this about?" Superman asked. "Maybe I can help."
The alien looked around. "It's a top secret mission, real important. If your little friends were to hear it, I might have to take their heads off so they wouldn't repeat it."
Toni's eyes widened a little. Clark sighed and turned to the others. "You can go now, I have it under control." Mallory and Conner hesitated, but Superman nodded and said, "it's all right, I'll call you when we're done here."
They were about to leave when the press came running over. "Superman! Inferno! Any comment on the destruction? Are you and these young heroes officially working together?"
Superman flew up, carrying the threat by the scruff of his vest. Conner jumped, heading towards the bridge, and Mallory flew after him. She was aware of someone following her, but she didn't pay them any attention until Hotspot grabbed her ankle and pulled her down on a rooftop a few miles away from the fight.
"Come on, Inferno, It's been a long time, at least let me ask how the team is," he said.
Mallory sighed. "They're fine. You want to tell me why you and your team thought you could take on someone like that?"
He shrugged. "Hey, taking on stronger guys is part of the gig. You know that," he said.
Mallory narrowed her eyes. "No, not for you. That's what Superman's for, that's what I'm for, you shouldn't be risking your life fighting someone you're going to lose against. It's not fair to your family. They don't even know about this."
"Actually, they do. I told them a few months back," he said quietly.
Mallory paused in her rant. "Oh. How did they take it?"
He shrugged. "They were worried, but they understood why we do it."
"We?" Mallory asked.
"Oh, not you, don't worry. I was talking about Argent and Prysm and Risk."
"Prysm?" Mallory asked. The name wasn't familiar to her.
"She was taken by the H'san Natal too, but she wasn't rescued with us. They sent her down to investigate us, but we managed to break their control, and now she's one of us, a Hybrid."
Mallory rolled her eyes. "Hybrids, huh? So, how did that guy at the Daily Planet know your name and Lois Lane and I didn't?" she asked.
He smiled. "Hey, just because Lois is Superman's favorite reporter doesn't mean she's the only one on Metropolis. We wanted to give someone else a break."
Mallory chuckled. "Oh, she's not going to like that very much," she said.
"Hey, do you want to come get lunch at my place? It's been a while since you've seen my family."
Mallory glanced behind him where Toni and Prysm were standing on a nearby roof, waiting for him. "Are you and Toni back together?" she asked. He nodded. "Then no, I don't think so. I don't want to cause any problems with her. Besides, I still have work to do. Thanks, though."
He nodded and went to the edge of the roof. He was about to jump off when Mallory said, "And, Hotpot?" He turned. "Be careful. I've lost too many people recently, I don't want something to happen to you, too."
He smiled and nodded. "You should listen to your own advice." He jumped off the roof and Mallory watched him and his team, minus Risk, fly towards his family's apartment.
"Inferno, Superboy, meet us out on the road leading to the scrubbed Lexcorp base," Superman said over the comms.
"All right, I'm on my way," Mallory replied, and Conner said he could use a lift. Mallory went to the bridge and picked him up, flying them to the outskirts of the city, where no one could get hurt if there was a fight.
They landed on the road to get to the base, where Superman and the alien were waiting.
"You really called these puny fragging kems to help? They look useless." He eyed Mallory and licked his lips, adding, "oh, but there might be some hope for that." He walked closer to her. Mallory's gaze flickered to Clark's concerned face before she set her glare on the enemy. "What do you say, girly? You want to—"
Mallory flamed up without moving a muscle, scorching the alien's face. He just grinned. "Oh, I like 'em fiery," he said.
The next second Mallory's fist collided into his jaw with as much strength as she could summon, and the alien staggered back into Conner, who caught him and held his shoulder firmly. Clark stepped up.
"That's enough, Lobo. Tell us why you're here."
The alien, Lobo, grumbled under his breath, rubbing his jaw. "I'm looking for a bounty, I followed an ion trail to this solar system, but it ended before it showed what planet it went to. I figured I'd just start with yours, you know, since I know it so well."
His voice was mocking, trying to provoke, but Superman stayed calm. "Who exactly are you looking for?" he asked.
Lobo pulled out something that looked like a baseball card and handed it over. A hologram popped up from it, showing a small, strange-looking creature with pale green skin, a hunched appearance, and a skinny body with large arms and hands.
"It's a Krolotean, mangy little pests of the cosmos. This one's wanted for assassinating and impersonating the head of the high council of Zor. Now, me personally, I would have liked to see that, but I don't get paid to watch the fun, just to have the fun bringing them in."
Mallory exchanged a glance with Superman. "I've never seen anything like this, on Earth or otherwise. He's not here," Clark said firmly, handing the card back.
Lobo grunted and stuffed the thing in his vest. "You'd better hope he doesn't show up. They're nothing but trouble." He whistled, and a flying motorcycle with a skull on the front came flying over. He hopped on and revved the engine. "I'll be looking for it on the other planets around here, but chances are, I'll be back." He flew up, the three heroes watching until he disappeared in the sky.
"Well, he was friendly," Mallory muttered sarcastically. Clark chuckled.
"How do you know him?" Conner asked.
"He's an old friend. He came to collect me for a bounty a few years back, we ended up in the same situation and we had to work together to make it back home. He's the reason I have all the alien species in the Fortress of Solitude."
"I've never been," Conner said.
"Wow, I never took you?" They shook their heads. "Come on, I'll take you now. Inferno, you're going to need something warmer."
"I'm fine, I can regulate my body temperature," Mallory reminded him.
"I know, but I don't want you melting everything. Come on, we can stop at the cave first," Clark said. They started for a zeta tube, and Conner looked up at the sky.
"Are you sure he's a friend? He didn't seem very concerned about your safety or about your city."
Clark followed his gaze with a hard look on his face. "No," he said simply, and they continued on.
We're getting closer to season 2! I'm so excited to be done with the gap years, I'm sure you guys are too. Or maybe you aren't, I don't know. Review and let me know!