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The next day, Mallory zetaed to the watchtower after work, still in her civies. There wasn't anyone in the main room, which was strange considering that at this time of the day most of the heroes should be up here. She walked over to the window, the Earth spread out in front of her. The sun left a glare around the planet, giving it a halo of light. She smiled a little. This had to be the most beautiful sight there was, and only a handful of people would ever get to see it. She suddenly felt lucky that she got to be one of them.
"Can I help you?" a strange voice asked behind her.
She turned to see a girl she didn't recognize in a red suit with an arrow on the chest. Mallory chuckled to herself, remembering that she didn't quite belong here anymore. "No, thanks, I know my way around."
The girl drew an arrow out of her quiver and aimed it at Mallory's chest so fast the pyrokinetic barely saw the motion. She fought the smile, keeping her face blank as she raised her hands. "Don't move!" the girl ordered.
"Yo, Arrowette! What's going on in here?" Mallory's captor didn't even blink as she kept her eye trained on Mallory. Jaime came through the door in his armor, and as soon as he saw her, he flew over and pushed the girl, Arrowette, gently, stepping in front of the weapon. "Woah, chill! That's just Inferno," he told her.
Arrowette's eyes widened, and her face reddened when she looked at Mallory's amused face. "I'm, oh, my gosh, I am so sorry, I just, well, I saw you there, and I didn't know–"
"It's fine. You were doing your job. I should have called ahead, or at least worn my suit."
The younger girl nodded and stumbled over a few more apologies on her way out the room. Jaime retracted his armor and rubbed the back of his neck.
"Sorry about her. It's her first week on the team, so she doesn't know all the solos yet."
Mallory shook her head. "Jaime, really, it's fine. The way I see it, she's doing just fine. Besides, I could have told her who I was as soon as she spotted me." She grinned and started walking, leading the way to the lounge. "So, catch me up. Is there anyone else I should know about?"
He thought for a few steps. "Well, Static is on the team now."
"Really? Virgil's on the team? What about the others?"
He shook his head. "Nah, the others gave it up after Arsenal left their team and Virgil joined up." She smiled. "How's Ty?"
"Better, now that everything's better at home, and he doesn't have to be looking over his shoulder all the time."
She nodded. "Good, I'm glad. What about you? It's been forever, what's going on with you?"
Jaime shrugged. "Not much. I've had to keep a low profile since the Reach left, but I think people are starting to trust Blue Beetle again. I just, I feel awful that I almost ruined everything Ted worked for."
She put a hand on his shoulder. "Jaime, you know better."
He tilted his head. "Maybe. I hear you might know how I'm feeling."
Her eyes widened a little and she dropped her hand to her side. "Oh, uh, no, I'm–"
"Mallory, it's ok," he said, smiling and putting his hand on her shoulder. "They'll forgive you. You're Inferno, you've been a hero for so long, no one can really fault you for having a rough couple of months."
In her head, she argued this. It was too close to the backlash of the way the League handled the Reach, and she could still see the fear and uncertainty in peoples' faces when she landed at a crime scene. But Jaime was looking at her with so much sincerity and belief, she didn't have the heart to crush it. Besides, maybe he needed to believe it was possible to win the public back, considering where he stood as the face of the Reach invasion. So, instead of voicing how she really felt, she just smiled and nodded. "Yeah, maybe you're right. Thanks."
They had made it to the lounge now, where team members and Leaguers were sitting around, just hanging out, waiting for something to happen. She had intended to go in quietly and find Conner first, but as soon as they came in the door, Jaime announced their presence. "Hey, look who's here!"
Every person in the room looked at her, and before she knew what was happening she was being smothered in greetings and small talk. Gar gave her a hug and Jaime led her into the room.
"Hey, Inferno, it's great to see you," Lagaan said, offering her a hug that she accepted awkwardly. They had put their differences aside for the most part, but they still weren't the closest, and this was the only time Mallory could remember that they had had any non-aggressive physical contact.
"Inferno, you are certainly missed," Shayira assured her, stretching her wings slightly as she got up.
Mallory smiled. "Yeah, I miss you guys, too."
"Yo, Inferno, you gonna join back up?" Virgil asked.
She shook her head. "No, but I would love to see you in action again. Let me know if you ever need a hand in Dakota."
"He won't," Raquel assured her firmly, a challenging smile on her face.
Mallory laughed and held her hands up in mock surrender. "Ok, I'll stick to Metropolis, then."
A few more minutes of small talk went by, then Artemis finally got to the point. "So, Mal, what brings you up here?" She was in her Tigress suit, but her mask was hanging from her belt.
"Oh, yeah, uh, I need to talk to you guys real quick."
Kaldur seemed to understand that she didn't want the newer members to hear, and he nodded immediately. "The conference room should be empty now, if you would like to go in there."
She nodded and glanced over to where Peter was sitting with Gar, his face stony. She sighed. "Vigilante, do you want to come with us?"
He seemed surprised at the invitation, but he did a good job of covering it. He nodded and followed the group into the conference room. Clark, Diana, Hal, and Dina were in there when they came in, and they looked at the group curiously.
"Oh, my apologies," Kaldur said. "We did not mean to interrupt."
Hal shook his head, smiling. "No problem, it's nothing important."
"Mallory, how have you been?" Canary asked.
She smiled and shrugged. The older heroes started to leave, but Mallory caught Clark by the arm as he was walking past her. "Can you stay for a minute?" He tilted his head, but he nodded. They hadn't talked since the day he stepped in on her handling the intergang incident, but he didn't seem to be holding anything against her.
The group settled around the table, but Mallory was too restless to sit down. She paced a moment, then looked up. Conner gave her a small nod, seeming to know what was coming, and she took a breath and let it out slowly. "Ok, so, uh, I know I've been a little…problematic lately, and I'm sorry about everything I've done. It means the world to me that you are all still standing by me."
Peter looked away, and she couldn't decide if it was guilt or disgust on his face. She ripped her gaze away from him, letting them land on Megan, who always looked encouraging.
"I've been seeing Icicle Jr for a little over a month now. I wanted you to know about it because, I'm just tired of avoiding you, and I'm tired of having secrets."
There was complete silence in the room for longer than Mallory was comfortable with. Clark broke the silence first, chuckling and shaking his head. It was so opposite of what she'd been expecting, she couldn't come up with anything to say.
"You had me worried for a minute. I thought you were going to say that you were on the run or something. Mallory, I've known about Jr for weeks now."
Her jaw dropped, then she narrowed her eyes. "How? I never–"
He raised an eyebrow. "You haven't exactly been in hiding. I've seen the two of you together a dozen times in Metropolis. Usually right where the trouble is."
She thought about it, and it suddenly made sense why she'd never run into him while she was with Jr. He was staying away on purpose, to give her the time to come to him.
"So, when we came to your apartment…?" Artemis asked suspiciously.
Mallory shook her head quickly. "No, not that far back. Just, a little after I moved in with Dick." It felt like the hundredth time she'd explained it. At least this would be the last time.
"I am not sure that this is a wise thing to do…" Kaldur said hesitantly. They were looking at each other, not wanting to talk openly and not knowing how to express what they wanted to say. Clark picked up on their hesitance and walked out the room. When no one said anything for a moment, Megan linked them. Mallory immediately felt the wave of disapproval masking the group's concern.
"Mal, are you sure you want to do this?" Zatanna asked. "I mean, how do you really expect this to end?"
The pyrokinetic paused, realizing that she hadn't pictured it ending, or continuing. She'd never considered the future with him, or without him. Nor did she want to.
The others picked up on her hesitance and Megan sighed. "Mallory, we are just worried about you. We don't want you to make a mistake."
"Mal, are you sure you're with him because you like him, or is this about something else?" Raquel asked.
She wasn't sure exactly why, but that struck a nerve. "What is that supposed to mean?" she snapped.
They didn't answer, and Conner sighed. "It's not that big of a deal," he said.
Megan looked up at him. "Did you know?" she asked.
He shrugged. "Yeah, I've known for a little over a week, I guess. But come on, Megan. You know Jr's not that bad. He's not gonna set her up or anything."
Megan made a disgusted face when Conner said that Jr wasn't that bad, and Mallory couldn't help but chuckle. "Well, now you know how I felt when you were dating Lagaan."
The others laughed, and Megan huffed. "That's not the same thing," she insisted, but she was fighting a smile.
"Look, guys, what if you met him? Would that make you happier?"
They looked at each other and shrugged and nodded.
"Where are you going to bring him?" Peter's voice made her jump. She didn't know he was on the link. "You can't bring him to the Watchtower."
"Well, we could meet somewhere," she suggested.
"Or we could do it on the bioship," Megan offered.
"That would be ideal," Kaldur mentioned.
Mallory nodded. "Yeah, that sounds good." She finally sat down, feeling much more settled now that the hard part was out of the way. She glanced at her brother, but he was focusing on the table. "So," she said aloud, and Megan cut the link. "Catch me up. What's going on up here?"
Peter pushed away from the table, and the others looked at him. "You don't need me for this. Me and Gar were about to hook up a video game in the lounge."
They paused, then Megan nodded. "Oh, ok, well, have fun."
"I'll play the winner when I come back in," Zatanna promised.
He nodded and started to walk away without even looking at Mallory. She couldn't stand to let him just leave, so and stood up and jogged after him. "Peter!" He turned back to her, still not looking her in the eye.
"What?"
"I haven't forgotten what we talked about, Peter, I swear. Icicle Jr, he's not going to change anything. I'm here to stay this time, and I'm going to prove it to you."
He finally looked at her, his face conflicted. "Why?" he asked.
She smiled a little. "Because, you guys mean more to me than anyone or anything else in the universe, and I don't want to let you down. Not again."
His face shifted a little. It wasn't a smile, but for the first time in months, he looked like he believed in her, even if it was only a little. He nodded. "You do that," he said, and let the doors slide shut behind him. She smiled and went back to the table, sitting back down.
"So, just out of curiosity," Raquel said, "who else knows about this?"
"Well, other than you guys and Clark, Dick and Roy. Oh, and I guess Bibbo. But, come on, tell me what's going on with the team. Oh, and the League dirt, too. I really miss being in the loop."
"Well, you could always come back," Megan pointed out.
She shrugged, and Zatanna picked up the conversation. "Well, this should make you happy. Lagaan's leaving the team."
Mallory tilted her head, looking around. "Really? Why?"
"He just doesn't like it as much as he thought he would, and Arthur gave him a good job in the government back in Atlantis."
"Yes, he will be in charge of security. It is a high honor, and he will still get to work with Aquaman."
Mallory nodded. "So, that's the only reason?" she asked gently, looking at Megan.
The Martian sighed. "It has been a little…uncomfortable, since I broke things off with him. He thought it would be best if we were not on the same team because of it. We parted on good terms, but he is probably right. It's not a good idea to have history with your teammate."
Mallory and Zatanna exchanged a look. "Oh, hey, here's some more good news," Raquel said. "We set the date for the wedding. It's going to be in March, and you'd better be there."
Mallory grinned. "Please, you know I wouldn't miss it." Raquel grinned, and they started talking about the wedding.
Mallory stayed in the Watchtower for the rest of the afternoon, catching up with the Leaguers and the newer team members, playing video games and training, and, after most of the heroes went home, Mallory settled onto the sofa with Artemis, Conner, Megan, Gar, Peter, and Kaldur, snacks on the table and a movie on the TV.
She smiled, curling her feet underneath herself as she leaned on the arm, Kaldur beside her. If she focused hard enough on the movie, she could almost trick herself into believing that she was back in the cave, watching a movie and trying to keep Wally from stealing all of her snacks. If she really tried, she could even hear him beside her, laughing at the jokes and bickering with Artemis and complaining when Dick or she snatched a handful of pretzels out of his bowl. If she closed her eyes tight enough and listened to the calm and lightness in her heart, she almost felt like she was home.