Hope you like it, please review!
"Mallory! Did you finish looking through those case files yet?"
Mallory looked up from her computer to see her coworker, Anna, weaving through the crowded room, her arms full of files. "Yeah, I finished with them yesterday," she replied when the woman, maybe five years older than her, made it to her desk. It was an open workroom, which meant that there were at least twenty desks lined up in rows, a two foot space in between each of them.
"Great! So, what did you think?"
She hesitated, pretending to look through her drawers for the files, though she knew exactly where they were. The files were of kids that were being approved to go to foster homes, and part of her job was to make sure that the kids were placed with good people, and that they would be compatible with each other. The files were done, all she was supposed to do with them was see how the process went, but they were all wrong. One of the kids was a special needs girl in a wheelchair going to a family who had no experience with that level of dependence. Another was of a hard headed teenage boy going to a first-time foster who worked as a preschool teacher. She couldn't stall any longer, so she pulled out the files and stacked them on the desk.
"Uh, well, I wasn't supposed to add anything to them," she said, debating in her head if she should say something or not. If she did, and the input wasn't appreciated, she could be frozen out of the circle, stuck to just doing jobs that didn't matter. If she didn't, though, she'd be letting ten kids who already had hard lives to another home that didn't seem to want them. Anna paused after she gathered the files, expecting Mallory to say something else. When she didn't, the woman smiled and started to walk away. The hero inside of her couldn't let her just stand there, and she could almost feel her fire brighten, pushing her forward. She hurried around the desk, catching up to her coworker.
"Um, Anna, wait."
Anna turned around, looking at her expectantly.
"I actually had an idea to swap the placements around. I made a list, it's at my desk, give me just a second."
She scooted back to her space and snatched the legal pad out of the top drawer. She'd spent hours on this list, putting a little time into it each night that she had the files. She looked up as she started moving, half expecting Anna to have left already. She wasn't, though. She was still standing where she'd left her, watching the pyrokinetic as she made her way back through the maze of workspaces.
"I was reading through some of the files, and they just don't feel quite right. I made a few notes, just some suggestions for switching them up a little." She handed the pad over without any further explanation, not knowing how else to put it.
Anna tilted her head as she looked over the suggested changes, her face nearly unreadable. Mallory found herself reading all of her micro expressions, digging back to her lessons with Dick and Roy on what they meant. She looked away when her coworker looked up, hoping she hadn't noticed her studying her.
"Well, Mallory, this is a lot of changes. Are you sure they're good ones? Or, are they even worth the extra work and time to make them?"
Mallory's eyes narrowed, waiting for something else to follow the statement, but nothing did. Her nerves turned into anger in the snap of a finger, and her fears of getting in trouble were completely forgotten.
"Yes, I'm sure," she said, just barely managing to keep her tone civil. As it was, it had turned icey. "I'm sorry if you didn't want to be inconvenienced just to give these kids a home that could change their lives one way or the other."
Anna rolled her eyes, her cheerful face darkening. "You're being a bit dramatic, Ms. Johnson. Every one of these children will be moved to a new home in four to eight months. No one wants them, so they just move to whoever has space for them."
"Isn't it our job to change that?"
They stared at each other, Mallory's muscles twitching before she even realized that she was getting ready for a fight. She forced them to relax, laughing at herself inwardly at how tense she'd gotten over a workplace disagreement. Anna took her relaxation as a sign that she was giving in, and the smile came back to her face.
"Well, I'll look into the changes and take them up with Dr. Veritas, but chances are they won't be implemented. You are just a rookie after all."
Mallory noticed that her eyes were still stormy as she turned around and stalked out of the room, going towards the offices. She sighed and rubbed the back of her neck, sinking into her chair as soon as she got back to her desk. It would take some getting used to, being back in the workplace and away from heroes and villains. She winced. At least as Inferno she knew how to deal with the bad guys.
She was about to get back to work when her phone buzzed in the drawer. She pulled it out to check. Roy had sent her a text.
Hey, need you at centen park in ten. Bring comm.
She sighed, fighting the urge to jump up and leave. She typed her reply quickly and hit the send button decisively.
Can't, I'm at work. Can it wait?
He was typing back immediately.
No, tailing suspect. I'll fill you in when you get here.
She shook her head, throwing her phone onto her desk in frustration. She didn't have a ton of work, really she could probably have finished it after whatever mission Roy was calling her to. But this was a rabbit hole, and she knew it. If she left work today, she would do it again tomorrow, and the next day. She'd been down this road before, and she failed. She couldn't be Inferno and Mallory at the same time. She wasn't Superman.
I can't come rn. If it can wait, I'll come when I get off, if it can't you know how to get in touch with the others. Conner hasn't been busy lately, and Z's off work until next week.
She sent the text, but she couldn't help but send a dig
And, there's always Ollie or the kid. I'm sure they'd love to help out.
There was a pause, and she thought the last text had made him mad enough to stop bothering her. But, just when she was turning back to her computer to work, the phone buzzed again.
Fine, I'll send coordinates when you get off.
Before she could respond to the text, another one came in.
And if you ever suggest I work with them again, I'll sic the big guns on you faster than you can light a match.
Now, have a nice day, Lian says she misses you.
She laughed, shaking her head at how much the tones changed in such a short amount of time. Still, she made a mental note not to tease him about his past for a while. She had no doubt that he had enough dirt on her to follow through with that threat, and she knew he would tell Batman and the rest of the League without any remorse. He'd probably make some popcorn and enjoy watching them grill her. She dumped her phone back in the drawer and turned back to her computer to get some work done.
As soon as five o'clock rolled around, Roy texted her an address and told her that he had picked up her suit on the way. She rolled her eyes, still in the process of logging out of her computer. She gathered her things and scooted around her desk, her head down as she texted her partner her status. She sensed the person before she looked up and managed to spin around them without hitting them.
"Woah, watch where you're going!" Anna snapped.
Mallory looked up. "Oh, sorry, I'm late for meeting someone," she said, biting back the response that she wanted to give.
"What, your boyfriend can't wait two minutes for a response?" she asked irritably.
Mallory smoothed her face, smiling a little. "Cousin, actually. And he's having a hard time right now, so I really do need to go. I'll see you tomorrow."
Anna smiled a little too sweetly. "Sure, for a minute, maybe."
Mallory raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry, what does that mean?"
Anna shrugged, already seeming bored with the conversation. "Oh, I probably shouldn't have said anything, but when I showed Dr. Veritas the changes you just insisted on putting on the cases, she mentioned that she wanted to see you tomorrow morning. The last person that got that kind of appointment with her didn't even last the day." She started walking away. "See you tomorrow, Ms. Johnson!" she called over her shoulder.
Mallory glanced around the room, then rolled her eyes, going to the elevator. She would worry about whatever came of this tomorrow, but Roy needed her right now.
It took her almost twenty minutes to find the building, but she finally found the condemned apartment house in the suicide slum and jumped up to the bottom rung of the fire escape, pulling herself up until her feet hit the rungs. It was only five stories to the roof, and she was there in a few minutes. Roy was on the side of the roof, staring intently at something on the street.
"Well, glad you could join me," he said.
She crossed her arms. "Where's Nightwing?"
"At work. Took a double shift last minute. I'm surprised he didn't tell you."
She shrugged. "I haven't talked to him since last night. So, what are we doing here?"
"I've been following a member of Icicle's gang since last night. He finally led me to the HQ."
"Which is in the middle of a condemned block in the worst part of Metropolis?" she asked, looking around. Nothing about the area said that it had been used in the last ten years or more.
Roy nodded, still staring at the street through his binoculars. After a moment, he handed them to her and pointed at the alley across from them. She focused on it, and a door slid open on the side of the building, two men coming out. One of them was just a random guy, the other was Icicle Senior. She looked up at Roy, and he had a messenger bag held out to her, the top flipped open, showing the red sleeveless top of her costume. "Suit up, Inferno. We have work to do."
She winced, looking between her friend and her unofficial boyfriend's father. This was exactly what she'd wanted to avoid, but there was no way to back out of it now. All she could do was force a smile and accept the bag. "Great." Yeah, she thought, just great.