I watched Battle of the Super Sons the other night, and I really liked it. It wasn't perfect, but I think they got Damian and Jon right for the mist part. I mean, Damian could have been a little more moody, but I still really liked it. If you haven't seen it, you definitely should. It also kind of takes from Young Justice a little, but I won't say any more. Anyway, hope you like the chapter, please review!

"Dick?" Mallory called, tossing her wallet on the table by the door.

He practically jogged into the living room, still pulling on his jacket. Before she could ask him what the rush was, he had crushed her into a hug, lifting her off the floor for a second. She laughed, pushing him away gently, and he put her back down, a grin splitting his face. "Congratulations! You're officially employed again!" he exclaimed. His excitement was contagious, and she felt her own excitement from the day coming back. She grinned back, pressing a hand to her forehead, her eyes flashing red as her fire caught on to her adrenaline. "Hey, come on. I'm going to buy you that dinner I promised." He checked his watch and grabbed her wallet and jacket from where she'd dropped them. "Come on. I'm starving."

She chuckled, but she didn't argue as he led the way down the stairs, setting a quick pace out to the street. He didn't stop when he got to the sidewalk, but he did slow down a little, checking his watch again. "So, Big Belly Burger?" Mallory asked. She thought she saw his lip twitch, but a second later his face was normal and he turned the corner, headed away from the burger place. She looked back at the red and white checkered sign, then at her friend. "Uh, Dick? Where are we going?"

"Oh, I had a burger for lunch. I thought we'd go to Bibbo's instead."

"Bibbo's?"

He shrugged. "Yeah, sure, you like his pancakes, and I've been dying for some of his pecan waffles."

Mallory raised an eyebrow. "Ok. I guess it's totally reasonable for Dick Grayson to go all the way to Metropolis for one meal."

He laughed and stopped at the front of the alley. "Obviously." He bowed a little, offering her the zeta tube first. She punched in her coordinates, coming out in the alley behind the dinner. She waited a moment, and Dick appeared behind her in a flash of light, the door of the phone booth squeaking as he stepped out.

"So, tell me all about it," he said as they turned the corner. He held the door open for her, letting her go in before him.

"I honestly have no idea how I got the job. Dr. Veritas had an essay I wrote from-"

"Mallory!"

The pyrokinetic jerked her attention from Dick to the voices from the other side of the room and was stunned into silence. The entire old team was there, even…

"Donna! Garth!" she exclaimed, shocked. Garth was the first one to walk over and hug her.

"Hello, Mallory. Long time no see."

She laughed, still stunned that they were all there, and returned the hug, moving on to Donna. "I can't believe you guys are here. What is going on with you? How's the ambassador's life?"

Garth huffed, somewhere between a laugh and a scoff. "Please, I'd rather not talk about that tonight."

"Agreed. Sometimes I miss the team, where all of our disagreements could be settled quickly, either by word or fist," Donna said.

Zatanna chuckled, stepping up to give Dick a hug. "Maybe you should suggest sparring in the debates. I think that would really liven things up."

"Yeah, not to mention Themiskyra and Atlantis would be running the world if they did that," Raquel called from the booth.

"Maybe then we'd finally get that world peace they've been promising," Roy said, leaning back in his chair.

"Yeah, for sure. If they would just let us make the rules, everything would be so much easier," Zatanna said sweetly.

"Better than letting a member of the Light do it," Conner muttered.

Mallory tilted her head. She hadn't been keeping up with the presidential candidates, and she'd been out of the loop since going solo. Part of her didn't even want to know, but the other part had to ask. "So, how's it looking for Luthor?"

Garth scoffed, irritated at the very mention of the problem. "Good. Really good. He's got almost as much support as the two main party candidates, and plenty of time to boost his polls."

Donna sighed heavily. "I fear that if we do anything to keep Lex Luthor from becoming the president, it will reflect badly on the League, and they cannot afford that now when they are just starting to rebuild the confidence of the people after the Reach invasion, but if we do nothing, then all will be lost."

"That's a bit dramatic, don't you think?" Megan asked optimistically.

"No, not really, if you think about it," Mallory replied.

They were quiet for a moment, then Zatanna stepped up. "Well, then, let's not think about it for one night. We can worry about the world ending tomorrow, but tonight we're celebrating." She signaled Bibbo, and the man came over with a notepad and a pitcher of water.

"You know what you want now?" the older man asked, and the group found seats around the tables pushed against the booth.

"Just keep the pancakes coming," Zatanna ordered with a smile.

"Add in some hash browns," Artemis requested.

"Yeah, and a plate of bacon," Dick added.

The mention of meat made Mallory think about something. "So the boys weren't invited?" she asked, broaching the subject as casually as she could. The approach didn't fool anyone, and they were all quiet while Bibbo finished writing down their order and walked back to the kitchen.

"Uh, well, Gar almost came, but…" Megan started.

Mallory nodded, fighting her disappointment. "But Peter didn't want to, and you didn't want to draw attention to that," she finished for the Martian.

The group was quiet for a moment, then Kaldur sighed. "He will get over this, Mallory. He simply needs a little time."

She nodded. "Is he…ok?" she asked, looking around at the people that he still saw regularly.

The members still on the team or League looked at each other, not knowing how to respond. "Uh, yeah, he's fine," Raquel said tentatively.

"But?" Mallory pressed.

Zatanna sighed. "But nothing, you know how he gets when he's mad. He'll come around soon, and in the meantime, you know we're all there for him."

Mallory thought about what her brother had said on the roof and just nodded, then she put on a smile and tilted her head. "So, how did you all happen to be here just when we showed up?"

They laughed and Megan was glad to switch to a lighter topic. "Dick called when you told him you got the job, and we spread the word while he was at the precinct."

Roy leaned forward, looking down the table at Mallory. "Yeah, I have to say, I was pretty offended that I had to get the news from Kaldur. What happened there? You tell Dick and leave the only other person on our team out of the loop?"

Mallory chuckled and shook her head, choosing to ignore him. She turned to Dick, earning a mock offended expression from Roy. "I should have known something was up before we even left. You were pacing yourself too much."

Dick shrugged. "Yeah, I know. But you were too worried about the food to pay attention, so it worked out."

"Speaking of the food," Conner said, nodding to where Bibbo was bringing out the first round of pancakes, hash browns, and bacon.

"Here you go, hot off the griddle," he announced, setting the platter on the table. Mallory passed the plates to Conner, the plates hot in her hands. When everyone had some food in front of them, she shoved a forkful of hash brown in her mouth and sighed as the flavor and heat worked together to lighten any remaining depression about her brother or the looming presidential problems.

"I'll take that as a compliment," Bibbo said with a smile.

The others laughed, and Mallory smiled and nodded. "You know I love your breakfast," she said.

"Yeah, you and that ice fella. He's been back in here twice since you two shut me down that day. I don't know what you see in the guy."

Mallory's eyes widened a little at the mention of Icicle Jr, and she silently willed Bibbo to shut up. Thankfully, he distracted himself from the topic when he noticed that there wasn't any syrup on the table and went to get some. It had never been said out loud that she knew of, but Bibbo knew that they were superheroes, which meant that he knew that Mallory was Inferno, and she had brought Icicle Jr in for a meal and then let him go. She sneaked a glance at the others and found them all looking at her. She winced, waiting for the lectures.

"Does he know that Brek's not around anymore?" Artemis asked gently.

Mallory tilted her head in confusion at first, then realized with some relief that they thought he'd meant Brek. "Oh, uh, I guess not. Funny that he even remembers him after all this time. He can barely remember a drink order." They chuckled and let it go, but Conner kept his eyes on her for a little longer than the rest, watching her for something. She ate another bite of her food and smiled, hoping to convince him that nothing was suspicious.

"So, Mal, tell us about this job you got," Donna said, and Mallory grabbed the line thankfully, diving into the details about her new position. Soon, Conner's face went back to normal, and she relaxed in her chair, talking easier now that they had avoided her secret. It was nice to see the old team, especially the ones who had left the life, but she wasn't ready to tell them about Jr, especially when she was just starting to convince them that she was getting back on the right track. Besides, if Peter found out that she was seeing a supervillain, he would be so mad that he'd probably cut her off entirely, and she couldn't let that happen. She couldn't lose another brother. She wouldn't.