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She only managed to keep Dick down for two days before he insisted that he was well enough to go to work. From there, he was patrolling again within a week, though she insisted on going with him to make sure he didn't get hurt again before he was fully healed. Later that week, though, she was the one inviting him on a mission. Intergang was starting to get more active, and she was curious about the timing. She planned on staking out the Manheim mansion to see if she could pick up anything useful, and she asked the other two thirds of the Quitters to go along with her.
"You sure we're not gonna get interrupted by one of the other Supers?" Roy asked. He was leaning on the side of the chimney on the roof of the mansion. Dick was sitting next to him, rubbing his side absentmindedly while he watched his screen, keeping an eye on the cameras.
Mallory looked over at them from where she was perched on the edge of the roof, watching the grounds. "First, I'm not a Super, but thanks I guess. Second, no, Superman's staying home tonight and SB's on a mission with the team."
"Wow, that's really all the heroes in Metropolis?" Roy asked.
Mallory arched an eyebrow. "I mean, no, but it's all the Supers. And Isaiah's team really only patrols during the day, so they shouldn't get in the way either." Dick smirked. "What?" she asked.
"I don't know, it's just a little weird that there's really only the three of you," he replied with a shrug.
"Why?" she asked.
"Because everyone else has kind of jumped on Bat's child army campaign, and technically SB wasn't his choice so you're the only kid he signed off on risking their life fighting criminals."
"What? No, that's not what we are, and Superman's not- he didn't- I'm not– I was never his sidekick!"
"Sure," Dick said with mock sympathy.
"Besides," she continued, ignoring the disbelief in his tone, "I don't know what you're talking about. It's not like they go around collecting kids, they just–"
"Me, Second Robin, Wren, Third Robin, Batgirl," Dick said, not looking up from his screen.
"Arsenal, me, Artemis, Arrowette."
"Ok, but I mean, no offense but your mentors aren't exactly normal," she said.
"Garrick has Flash, Kid Flash, and Impulse," Dick said.
"What? No, that doesn't count. We're only counting from the Justice League on, and Impulse shouldn't count either," she said.
"Oh, come on, Inferno. Even Wonder Woman's gotten in on it. Troia and Wonder Girl ring any bells?"
"Troia's the same situation as SB, so really it's only Wonder Girl," she pointed out.
"Ok, so she's just the same as Superman. But Aquaman had Aqualad, Tempest, Aqua Girl, and Lagoon Boy."
Mallory opened her mouth to deny it again, but instead she sat back on her heels and tilted her head. "Huh, even Black Lightning's in on it now." Her eyes widened suddenly with indignation. "Oh, my gosh, it's a status for them, isn't it? Whoever has the most sidekicks is the better hero or something?"
Roy and Dick looked at each other. "Wow, eight years, that is the most delayed reaction I've ever seen," Roy muttered.
"Yep," Dick agreed.
She shook her head. She looked back out over the roof. Nothing had changed. She sighed and leaned her head against one of the pillars. "I don't know, maybe we should have spread out a little. Red, you want to maybe go to the other end of the roof, and Nightwing, maybe you could go do your ninja thing, see if Ugly's in his office?"
The boys got to their feet, but before they started to move, there was a boom, like thunder, but it came from below them. They looked over the edge of the roof and watched as a boom tube opened up. A small army walked over to the opening, Ugly and Whisper at the front. Three figures came to the edge of the boom tube. Mallory touched her mask, zooming in to try to get a glimpse on who was on the other end, but they were just shadows from where she was. She glanced over at the boys.
"Hey, Wing, can you…?" He was already gone, and she nodded and turned back to the grounds. Some crates were pushed into their side of the tube, Ugly clasped arms with whoever was on the other side, then everyone backed up and the tube disappeared. Dick back back beside them without a sound. "Well?" she asked.
He pulled up a picture on his wrist computer and held it up for them to see. "Look familiar?" he asked.
She and Roy leaned forward, squinting at the picture to see what he was indicating. The person on the other side of the boom tube was still in the shadows, only one sleeve of a green suit sticking out as he clasped arms with Ugly. They couldn't see the face, but they didn't need to. She narrowed her eyes, looking up from the picture.
"I think we need to have a conversation with Ugly," she said, pressing her lips together.
Dick nodded, looking back at the picture. There were the crates with the signature red and black blotchy writing that screamed Apokalips, and the arm reaching out, though unimpressive at first glance, had a ring with the Manheim crest stamped into the metal. Bruno Manheim was alive, and he was on Apokolips.
They waited until the grounds calmed down, then Roy shot a line down to the balcony and they ziplined down. Dick took out the guards with some darts before they noticed anything, and Mallory burned the lock on the door. They crept down the hallways, the cameras on a loop thanks to Nightwing, keeping an eye out for guards. They found Ugly in his office and walked in quietly. His back was to the door.
"Congrats on recovering from the comma," Mallory said.
Ugly whirled around, a gun aimed, but Roy shot it out of his hand immediately. "Too bad," Ugly said with a chuckle, "I wanted to see what the new tech does." He crossed his arms. "What are you doing trespassing on my family place?"
"Actually, family is why we're here," Nightwing mentioned.
Ugly raised an eyebrow. "Oh, yeah?"
"How's your old man these days?" Roy asked, leaning on the wall by the door.
Ugly laughed. "Everyone knows my old man died years ago, tragically in an explosion."
"Right. Only problem with that, there was never a body recovered, and we saw him tonight," Mallory told him.
"Right. Come back when you have some proof."
"We have all the proof we need to fake a report," Dick said casually, leaning on the edge of the desk.
"Right, and what would that do?"
"It just might make it a little harder to pay off the officials when the public is calling for an investigation. And then you'll have the insurance company after you, how much did you get from the life insurance? Oh, and the IRS will probably audit you, and our hacker here might make it a little easier for them to find all of those offshore accounts."
"What do you want?" the man asked, glaring at her.
She narrowed her eyes, stepping closer to him. "What's Manheim doing on Apokolips? Is that why Intergang has a deal with them for the weapons? What's in it for them?"
There were footsteps outside, and they all went quiet. The door edged open. "Hey, Ugly, why's–" Roy grabbed Whisper from behind, disarming her and holding her in place. She calmed down quickly and arched an eyebrow. "What's all this?"
"Just a couple of heroes trying to ruin the family name," Ugly replied.
Mallory lit her eyes and pushed Ugly into the chair. "I'm running out of patience," she warned.
He just laughed. "Please, like I'd be scared of you, little girl. I deal with worse than you every day. What are you gonna do, put me in jail? Yeah, sorry, but that ain't even holdin a candle to the threats I've gotten from the top dog. Do what you want, I'll be back here by morning regardless, and we'll just get another shipment to distribute." The heroes paused, knowing he was right, and he narrowed his eyes. "Now, whenever you're done, I assume you know your way out."
Dick tilted his head, asking what she wanted to do, and she shrugged and backed away.
"Good, you've gotten smarter than the last time we crossed path," Ugly said.
She crossed her arms. "You'd better watch your back, Ugly. Believe me, you don't want to see me angry." She turned to the boys. "Let's go." They nodded. Roy knocked Whisper out with an elbow to the back before following her and Dick to the window. She broke it and flamed up. While Roy and Dick slid down to the ground, she looked back at Ugly. "I will find what I am looking for. You might not want to be in town when I do."
She flew down to the ground to join the boys. The crates were still outside, some of the goons going through them. She blasted them, and they exploded. She looked back up to the window where Ugly was watching them, then she and her partners disappeared in a puff of smoke.
They zetaed back to the warehouse in Bludhaven and went straight to the computer. Dick pulled up what they knew about Intergang's activities since Ugly and Whisper recovered from their commas six months ago. Roy and Mallory watched his fingers fly over the keyboard for a moment, but they got bored when nothing interesting came up. Roy went to his shelf and started sorting through his arrows, seeing what kinds needed to be restocked in his quiver, and Mallory paced a few feet away.
The TV was on in the background, a news station announcing the latest in the election polls. She paused and watched the pictures of the candidates come up with the percentage of the population that was supporting them. Luthor's number was up to thirty-seven.
"A surprising amount of support for a third party candidate," Cat Grant said on the television. "If this campaign continues like this, we may just be looking at our next president. Back to you, G. Gordon." Mallory turned away from the set in disgust, shaking her head.
"You hadn't heard?" Roy asked.
She looked over at him. "Heard what?"
"People have been backing him because of the MFD thing. They know he helped the League save the world, and they see that as him turning a new leaf. And he already has the backing of the Relasias."
"Yeah, and the other candidates aren't great. They're just typical politicians, promising whatever they can and trashing their opponent," Dick put in without looking over his shoulder. "Lex hasn't said anything bad about any of the other candidates. That's gotten him some support, too."
She scoffed. "Sure, he's not saying anything to the public, but come on, he's probably poisoning them or threatening their families or something. Or arranging for their assanation if he doesn't get elected."
"Well, obviously," Dick replied with a grin. "But, I mean, at least he's just going for the gold openly. He could have ran for vice president and gotten the job easier."
"I think that would have been suspicious for anyone," Roy put in.
Mallory groaned and flopped into the couch that was still there from the brief time the live-ins had stayed there after the cave was destroyed. "You don't really think Lex has a chance, do you? I mean, he's a trend, the person people like to say they're gonna vote for, but they wouldn't actually do it, right?" The boys exchanged a glance and she shook her head. "No, don't answer that."
She stared at the TV without really seeing it, thinking about the election, and Intergang and their Apokalips connection. It was too much, too big, for them to handle with their limited resources. The Quitters was never supposed to be about taking on the big problems. It was about getting away from world crises and missions going wrong. It was about getting back to their roots and not being held back by public opinion or leaders. But what if the very thing that she'd helped create to free her was holding her back?
"Mal?"
She looked up at Roy's voice. "Hmm?" she murmured, still not in the moment.
"I was saying that we should set up a cache in Metropolis. You know anywhere we can put it?"
She shook her head distractedly, not looking at him.
"You ok?" Roy asked.
She twisted her lips to the side, biting the inside of her cheek as her thoughts finished coming together. "I think I'm going to go back to the team." She said it quietly, but she might as well have shouted it for the reaction she got. Dick spun around in his chair and Roy dumped his quiver to the side, their faces stricken.
"What? But you love what we do," Dick said, disappointment in his voice.
"Yeah, and you left the team for a reason," Roy pointed out, trying to logic her out of the decision.
"I know," she said quietly. She crossed her legs and leaned forward, pulling her mask off and looking at it for a second. "I just, I needed to get away from–everything for a while, figure things out. I love you guys, but I just, I think I'm ready. I found an apartment I can afford," she looked at Dick as she continued, "I move in at the beginning of the month."
His face fell for a second, and she sighed, hating that she wished she didn't have to move out. He took a breath and pushed a hand through his hair. "Mal, if you leave, this–QU–it'll die again."
She shook her head, pushing away the guilt that she felt rising. "That's not fair, Dick. You guys will still patrol, you'll still need a hand sometimes. And I'll be on call if you need me. There are things that I need to do, and I can't do them from here."
Roy got up and sat on the sofa with her. "It's fine, Mallory. We're glad you're finally figuring out what you want." He looked at Dick pointedly. "Right?"
The youngest of them sighed, then a sheepish smile came to his face. "Yeah, of course. Sorry, It's just not gonna be the same around here without you."She returned his smile, the moment feeling good, then he chuckled and said, "I'm just glad you're finally getting out of my place. Seriously, you cannot take a hint."
She tried to look annoyed, but she ended up just shaking her head, rolling her eyes as a soft laugh came out. "It's gonna be hard to go back to living alone," she admitted. "But it's time. I need to start being an adult."