A couple of things about this chapter: I know that Jorge Valdez is from Marvel, but I was tired of trying to come up with names on my own, so oh well. Also, sorry it's kind of choppy, but I'm so close to getting to season two that I'm kind of rushing through these last few chapters. Speaking of which, next chapter is the last one in the gap years! I can't wait to start writing season 2, and finally get to watch season 4! Anyway, hope you like the chapter, please review!
Two months later, Mallory came back to the cave with the last of the things from her dorm, ready to move back in for winter break. She found the team gathered in the training room in their suits while Nightwing briefed them on a mission. She waited in the doorway, not wanting to interrupt.
"The League has asked us to go out and locate Jorge Valdez, a known drug lord, serial killer, and smuggler. He took over Paco Testas' deals when we took him down two years ago. Because it is technically in Mexico, the League can't intervene without permission, which is where we come in. He's never been seen outside of his base, but we have a tip that he'll be checking shipments personally tonight at one of his shipping sites along the border. You'll be splitting into teams of two and investigating each site, and if you find Valdez, keep tabs on him and call for backup. Don't put yourself in a situation you can't get out of. Megan and Conner, you're Alpha, Bumblebee and Blue Beetle, you're Beta, Batgirl and Beast Boy, you're Gamma, Robin and Vigilante, you're Delta, and Lagoon Boy and Wonder Girl, you're Zeta. Figure out how you want to get there." The team moved out towards the hangar, and Dick turned to Mal. "I'll show you how to man the missions from the cave. You need to keep tabs on every team, listen to their data and mark it down, and know when a team needs backup called if they don't do it themselves." Mal looked at the holographic screen with some apprehension, and Dick broke into a grin. "You'll be fine, it's not as hard as it sounds."
Mallory walked over. "Mind if I hang out with you guys?" she asked.
"Uh, yeah," Dick said with playful sarcasm, "you're not on the team anymore."
Mallory smiled. "Well, I'm on the League, and the League assigned you the mission, so think of it as an observation."
He shrugged. "Fine," he said.
Mallory rolled her eyes, grinning. "So, what are we teaching him first? The life support signs? How to read the blueprints? How to find the blueprints?"
Mal's face grew more and more timid as Mallory listed out the things he would need to learn. Dick chuckled. "Let's just start with location," he said, turning to Mal. "Each member of the team has their comm with them when they go out on a mission, and the comms have a tracker in them so we can find them if something goes wrong." He showed him how to pull up the trackers, and they watched the group of dots traveling fast towards the border.
Zatanna came in from her room and paused when she saw them gathered around the screen. "What are you doing?" she asked.
"Teaching Mal to be the guy in the chair," Mallory replied.
Zatanna smiled. "Oh, so I guess you already showed him how to deploy the nukes, then," she said.
"Nukes?!"
"Relax, she's kidding," Dick said.
"Yeah, that doesn't come till lesson five," Mallory added, shooting Zatanna an amused glance.
"All right, let's focus. The team's on a mission," Dick said.
Mallory rolled her eyes playfully. "You'd never know that you're only 18," she said, "you can be a real killjoy."
They let the leader tutor Mal on the basics of walking the team through the mission, putting in some useful advice here and there, and soon he was doing it by himself, with the three more seasoned heroes watching in the background to make sure he knew what he was doing.
A few hours later, Megan came on the comms, announcing that she and Conner had located Valdez.
"Ok, I'm sending you some backup. Robin and Vigilante are the closest to you, but the others are on their way," Dick told them.
"Don't bother, we already have him and we're on our way to the cave," Megan replied.
Mallory's eyebrows shot up and she looked at Zatanna and Dick. "Ok, then I'm calling in the team and alerting border patrol. Good work, guys."
"Ok," Megan said dully.
Zatanna looked at Mallory and Dick with mild concern. "She doesn't sound right," she mentioned.
They nodded, but neither commented on it. Dick was busy showing Mal how to recall the team, and Mallory didn't think it was anything. If it was, they would have accepted the backup. She was probably just worn out from the mission.
By the time Megan and Conner arrived back at the cave, the team was more than mildly concerned. They were the last to arrive by nearly half an hour, and they'd brushed off several calls on the comms and Megan hadn't answered when Mallory, Zatanna, and Dick tried to reach out to her link. Conner came in the training room first from the hangar, and Mallory could tell as soon as she saw him that something was very wrong. He was seething, fuming, his fists clenched, his steps heavy, glaring at the floor in front of him. Mallory hadn't seen him like that since the old days when he lost control all the time. Megan came in several steps behind him, everything about her body language suggesting that she was trying to stay strong. There was a dull look in her eye as she made her way to Dick. Conner didn't even stop, he stormed right past Mallory and Zatanna, bumping Mallory's shoulder hard as he passed.
"The prisoner is safe with border patrol, they moved him to a secure blockhouse until he can be transported to a maximum security prison to wait for all the charges to be gathered," Megan reported.
Dick nodded, staying business-like for the benefit of the new team members, who were all looking at each other in confusion. Gar and Peter looked at the original team, wanting answers. Megan waited for Dick to say that the team could go before heading for the living room. Zatanna stopped her gently on her way.
"Hey, what happened?" she asked, so that only Megan, her, and Mallory could hear her.
Megan shook her head. "Nothing, it's fine," she said, forcing a small smile.
Her friends didn't buy it, but they let her go, knowing she didn't want an audience right now. They could hear her chopping vegetables in the kitchen a moment later. The girls turned to see the team's wide eyes on them.
Zatanna sighed. "I hope they're ok," she said softly.
Lagaan was staring at the doorway to the living room. "I hope they aren't," he muttered, more to himself than anyone else. Mallory glared at him, but he didn't even look up.
Dick sighed. "Ok, go hit the showers, the show's over," he said.
The team went in different directions, Gar and Peter hesitating before going to Beast Boy's room. The three left looked at each other.
"What do you think happened?" Zatanna asked, looking between them.
Mallory shook her head. "I have no idea."
Mallory stayed up late that night, long after the cave settled into a tense silence. She couldn't sleep, thinking about what had happened between her friends. She also couldn't get the look of anger on Conner's face out of her mind. She was worried about him, about what he might do. Finally, she sighed and pushed herself to her feet. She had to talk to him, and she was sure that he would still be up. She made her way down the hall and knocked on his door softly.
"Go away," he snapped.
"Conner, it's me. I just wanted to see how you're doing," she said quietly. She heard him sigh heavily, and a few seconds later the doors slid open.
"You see me, I'm fine, goodnight," he said briskly.
She caught the doors just before they closed again. "You're not fine. You're furious, and you're carrying the anger. You know better than that."
He went back to his desk and sat down, Wolf laying at his side. "Stay out of it, Mallory," he said.
Mallory walked in and sat on the edge of his bed. "I will, I just don't like seeing either of you like this. You can't work anything out if you don't open yourself up."
He glared at the wall. "There's nothing to work out. We broke up, that's all," he said, his voice low.
Mallory's eyes widened and she felt a pang in her chest. "I'm sorry," she said, her voice sincere. Conner and Megan had been together for almost as long as the team had been around, and everyone had thought that their relationship would outlast it by a long shot. She let a moment of silence follow her statement, then she tilted her head and asked, "what happened?"
He shook his head, and for a moment Mallory didn't think he was going to say anything, but then he sighed and said, "she did something that I can't forgive."
Mallory looked at him with confusion, but she could tell that he wasn't going to say anything else about it. "Well, ok. I'm really sorry, Conner. Do you want anything? Spar? Patrol?"
He forced a smile and shook his head. "No, but thanks."
She nodded and stood up slowly. "Well, you know where I am if you change your mind."
He nodded, and she went to her room, but she didn't feel much better than she had before. What could he have meant, she'd done something that he couldn't forgive? It didn't make sense to her. She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts, but she knew she wouldn't get any sleep that night.
The next day, Raquel came to the cave after hearing what had happened, and the Leaguers and old team gathered in the kitchen with Artemis and Wally on speaker phone.
"So, they're really broken up?" Artemis asked.
"Yeah, I think so. Conner was pretty mad about whatever happened," Mallory replied.
"It just doesn't make sense. They were fine before the mission," Dick put in.
"Where are they now?" Wally asked.
"Conner went to Metropolis, and Megan decided to spend the day with J'ohnn," Zatanna said.
"It's gonna be so weird around here if they don't work things out," Gar said.
Zatanna rubbed the boy's head. "I know, they were like the parents of the team. It's like they're going through a divorce now, and we're caught in the middle of it."
Peter shook his head. "They're going to be ok. They have to be," he said optimistically.
Raquel smiled at him. "I hope so, Bud, but I wouldn't count on anything. It looks pretty bad right now."
"You'll see. They'll make up and everything will go back to normal in no time."
The older heroes exchanged a look, and Mallory shrugged. "Maybe. We'll see," she said, but none of them felt the same optimism that the boys were showing.
Also, my account stopped showing updates, so I would really like some review since I can't see how many people are reading it.