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Spending the night as one of the Quitters worked wonders for Mallory, and in the next few days she found herself feeling almost normal again. She was smiling more, and she'd gone out in Bludhaven a few times to give Nightwing a hand with patrolling, even though he insisted, only half jokingly, that he could handle his job and she could back off. She was still resisting the idea of getting a job, though. She didn't exactly know why, but she did know that she didn't want to fail again. Getting her feet back under her as Inferno was hard, but it was more natural to her. She'd done that for more than half her life now, while her life as an independent civilian was only a few months old when it crashed and burned.
A few nights after they stopped the arms deal, Mallory was watching TV in the apartment when Nightwing came in through the window, still in full costume from his patrol. He shut the window with a soft thud and turned around, facing her now that she had looked over her shoulder to make sure it was him.
"How was it?" she asked, muting the TV.
He scrunched his eyebrows together slightly, walking around to the front of the sofa and taking in the dishes on the coffee table. "Fine, not much going on tonight. Did you leave at all today?" She looked at her stash guiltily, not answering. Dick sighed and pulled off his mask, tossing it on the table. "Mallory, you need to be getting out there, looking for a job. I love you, but I can't support you for the rest of your life."
"You don't have to. I'll get out of here," she said.
"To where? Roy's? Don't you want to get out on your own again? Back in Metropolis, or Central, or some other city that can be yours?"
She sighed. "I will, I swear. I'll get out there and put in applications, as soon as I hear something." Dick crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow at her. She sighed and rolled her eyes. "Fine, I'll go tomorrow," she said.
"It is tomorrow. Now come on, get up, get a shower, and get into the city early."
"Fine, I'll do that," she said, but she didn't make a move to get up. Dick pulled out one of his escrima sticks and prodded her with it. "Come on, don't make me turn on the electricity," he said with a smile.
Mallory glared at him and snatched the stick away, but she did get to her feet and toss it on the sofa. "You're so pushy," she complained.
He just laughed and grabbed his stick and mask, following her down the hall. She went to the bathroom to get in the shower, and he went to his room to take off his suit and put on his uniform so he could get to work in an hour.
It took her a few hours to get herself presentable and in the right mind for business, but thanks to the head start provided by Dick, she was still in Metropolis at eight sharp with a list of places to apply to. It took her most of the day to make her way through the list of places, nearly ten that would be in her field and three more backups at clothing stores for a good measure. She was exhausted by the time four o'clock rolled around. She made her way to the zeta tube and went back to Bludhaven. The apartment was empty when she got there, and she remembered Dick saying that he was going to be working a double beat. She winced as she pulled out her bun and kicked her shoes into the corner. She really needed to stop sponging off of people. As soon as she got a job, she would pay him back for everything.
She made herself some dinner and tried to settle in for the evening, but even though she hadn't slept the night before, she was too restless to sit still. After an hour of trying, she gave up and put on her suit. She'd made a batch of shampoo the day before, so this was the first time she'd had to burn her hair in a very long time. She kind of enjoyed it, the warmth of the low flames on her head with the rest of her body at a normal temperature. She went out the window and took the fire escape to the roof, jumping a few buildings down before she flamed up and flew into the evening sky.
Her flames practically blended in with the burning orange and pink of the setting sun. She smiled, the wind blowing her hair back as she made her way through the city. She had only patrolled a few times since she'd come to Bludhaven, not wanting anyone to think Inferno had switched cities, but it was a nice change of pace from the Intergang thefts and high tech crimes of Metropolis, not to mention Lex having a hand in almost everything she fought.
She landed in a particularly slummy part of the city and practiced her stealth tactics, keeping to the shadows to observe the passersby and determine who posed a threat. She hadn't stopped any crime an hour later, but she was having fun people watching anyway. She was almost disappointed when she heard shots a few blocks away. She flamed up suddenly, making a couple who had just been passing her alley startle and jump into the deserted street. She waved at them and flew towards the sounds.
She found the source when she found a block of ice in the road and three people with their faces covered shooting at it. Mallory rolled her eyes when she recognized the figure on the safe side of the block and swooped in from behind, lifting the woman in the middle off the ground. She shrieked for a moment, but she regained her senses quickly and tried to get her gun around to shoot at Inferno. The hero blew at the gun, and it heated up and melted the tip.
"Really, do you guys never learn? It's been tried. Get a new act, already." She went back around the street and dropped the woman on the opposite side of the ice wall. The man looked at her and she said, "Here, hold this for a minute. And we need to talk." Icicle Jr smiled a greeting and gave her a mock salute, which brought a smile that she fought to keep hidden.
She made quick work of the other two goons, knocking them unconscious in just a few minutes. They clearly weren't professionals, at least not at the level that she was used to fighting. When she announced that it was all clear, Jr let down the ice wall and started walking towards her with a sheepish grin.
"Hey, so Inferno, you see…"
"Didn't I tell you to stay out of trouble? And here you are, in plain sight, in the middle of a gunfight. I know the cops here are crooked, but even they can't ignore something that obvious!" she exclaimed.
"Hey, this time it wasn't my fault, I acted purely out of self defense. They have beef with my dad, their gang got ripped off in some deal, or something like that. Anyway, I was just minding my own business, walking down the street, and they ambushed me."
Inferno raised an eyebrow suspiciously, but his jeans and gray sweatshirt seemed to back up his story. "What are you doing in Bludhaven?" she asked.
He tilted his head. "I could ask you the same thing. I thought you were part of the super family, why aren't you in Metropolis?"
"I'm following a lead," she said easily, the hero go-to for any situation like this.
Jr shrugged. "Well, I'm just here for some fun. They have some good clubs around here if you know where to look."
Mallory thought about the fronts that Dick had pointed out and nodded. "Yeah, I know."
He smiled. "Oh, so heroes do know how to have fun. Good to know."
"Why? You thinking about switching sides?" she asked.
He laughed. "No, but I am thinking about seeing someone from the other side, and it's good to know she might be interested in having some fun."
"Oh, yeah? Who?" Mallory asked, a sinking feeling in her stomach telling her that she already knew.
Icicle suddenly seemed more nervous, his usual obnoxious front melting into something a little more vulnerable. "Oh, come on, Inferno. Running into you this many times can't be coincidence. At this point, it's fate, don't you think?"
"I don't like letting fate run my life. He's too selfish and fickle," she said flatly.
Icicle smiled. "So you do believe in it, then," he said.
Mallory shrugged. "More like I believe in…timelines. Some things are just supposed to happen. Call that what you want, but it doesn't mean I think this is supposed to happen."
"Oh, come on. What do you really have to lose, going on one date with me?"
Mallory smiled a little. "Really? I could give you seven things right now."
"Ok, ok. But don't you ever just take a chance?"
Mallory sighed. Take a chance? She couldn't remember the last time she'd taken this kind of a chance. Was it when she'd agreed to go out with Hotspot all those years ago? No, it couldn't have been that long. Could it? "Well…" she said slowly, and Jr jumped on her hesitance.
"Ok, look, meet me here tomorrow night, same time. I'll show you some of the fun places around here."
Mallory tilted her head. "I'm not gonna get beat up, am I?" she asked, only half joking.
He scoffed. "Please, like anyone could lay a hand on you," he said dismissively, and he started to walk away.
"That's not a no!" Mallory called after him.
He just smiled and gave her a backwards wave. She laughed, shaking her head, and flew off in the opposite direction. Dick would be home soon, and she didn't feel as restless as she had before.