Happy Easter! Sorry I can't do two chapters for the holiday, but that would use up the extra chapter I have right now, and don't really want to do that. I'm almost done catching up on school, and then I'm going to use the rest of the week to get ahead on the story. Anyway, have a good holiday, hope you like the chapter, and please review!

They landed the Javelin about a mile away from their coordinates and hiked in from there to avoid being detected. It took almost twenty minutes to navigate the thick jungle, but eventually, they crested the last hill and managed to see the base.

"Well?" Arrowette asked.

Mallory touched the side of her mask, zooming on on the base. It was small, really small. Only the size of a warehouse. There didn't even seem to be guards around. "Let's get a little closer," she suggested. She glanced at Impulse. "You might want to switch to stealth mode," she mentioned.

"Oh, right." He pressed the lightning on his chest and his suit turned gray.

She nodded and led the way down the hill, choosing her footsteps carefully to avoid sticks or plants and picking her way around the roots. She was almost surprised that the others did the same, and they made it to the edge of the clearing almost silently. She narrowed her eyes, studying the building. It seemed to be abandoned, but she didn't believe that for a second. She turned to Jaime.

"Scan the building," she ordered.

He did, and he shook his head. "No life signs," he reported.

"Yeah, well, wouldn't be the first time," she muttered. "Impulse, run a perimeter, let me know if anyone's inside."

A gust of wind blew her hair back halfway through the sentence, and he was back before the last word was out of her mouth. "It's empty," he confirmed. "Like, really empty. Nothing inside except some empty crates."

She narrowed her eyes, taking a moment to study the building. Kaldur told her that this wasn't a wild goose chase. Still, why would an empty warehouse in the middle of the jungle get noticed by the League's computer?

"Let's go," she decided. She darted to the door of the building, staying in the shadows just in case. When the others made it over, she glanced at them to make sure they were ready and kicked the door in. They fanned out, their defenses ready, but nothing happened. Mallory closed her fist to end the fire and looked around. Bart was right. Empty.

"This is weird, right?" Jaime asked, looking around one more time before retracting his cannon.

Mallory didn't answer. She was staring at the pile of empty crates in the middle of the room. The exact middle, not even an inch to the side according to her goggles. And there wasn't any space in between them.

"Inferno?" Arrowette said.

Mallory ignited a fireball and threw it at the crates. The flames traveled to the tops and died out. She narrowed her eyes and walked over, kicking the bottom crate gently. None of them moved, and a metallic ring came from the stack. She smiled with satisfaction. "It's a trapdoor," she told the others, certain of it now. She looked at Jaime. "What does the scarab say?"

He scanned the crate. "It's made of an aluminum alloy, there's definitely something under it. And it says that we should try to remove the top crate."

Arrtowette secured her bow on her shoulder and grabbed the top crate, pulling it towards her. It slid easily, and there was a snap before the pile shifted to the side, revealing a hole in the floor only big enough for one person to fit at a time. Mallory lit a fire and threw it in, and it hit a wall about twenty feet down.

"Well, let's go," she said, stepping down into the passageway.

"Shouldn't you tell Aqualad what we found?" Arrowette asked hesitantly.

The squad leader shrugged. "I will if we actually find something. For all we know, this place was abandoned before we got here."

The others nodded and followed her down the steep steps.

They descended into the passageway, Mallory's eyes glowing as she looked into the dark. They reached the bottom soon, coming to a narrow hallway that led to a door lined with dim lights. The group went to it, but it was locked. Arrowette stepped up with a mechanical lockpick, and it snapped open a moment later. Mallory smiled and nodded at her, and she ushered her squad into the room. She followed them and shut the door. She bumped into Jaime's back and turned to see why they were stopped, and a shock of alarm went through her chest when she did. They were in a huge room, and it was filled with rows and rows of Reach pods, all of them filled with kids. Their eyes were wide and their jaws had dropped as they initially took it in.

Mallory heard the footsteps first, and she grabbed a fistfull of Bart's costume and shoved him behind a table full of machines. The speedster yelped in pain as her fingers pinched his skin below the skin-tight material, but he recovered quickly and the others followed them to cover just as the squad of Cobra goons marched in. A woman followed the group into the room, a clipboard in her hand.

Mallory's eyes widened as a flash of anger boiled in her chest. Dr. Spence. She clenched her fists to keep the fire at bay, but she couldn't do anything about her eyes. The glowed red, flashing with fury. Gamma Squad watched as Spence and the guards stopped in front of one of the kids.

"We'll take this one next," the scientist told them. Her voice made Mallory's arms itch to hit something. "Bring subject 517 to lab C. I'll be along in a moment."

The Cobra goons did as she said, wheeling the girl's pod out of the room. The doctor walked towards them, and they held their breath, thinking that she'd spotted them, but she walked right to the computer a few feet away from where they were and typed something in. The woman paused, looked around the room, and then left.

The squad waited a few minutes to make sure no one else would come in, then they slowly came out of their hiding place. Bart ran around the room, stopping in front of each pod. Arrowette was pacing, her breaths coming quick. Jaime was just standing and staring, glaring at the pods. Mallory put a firm hand on his shoulder, bringing him out of his thoughts.

"Don't go there, Blue," she said quietly. "This isn't your fault."

"Yes it is," he snapped.

She retracted her hand and narrowed her eyes. "Did you kidnap these kids?" she asked accusingly.

His eyes flew open. "No! Of course not."

"Did you know about all this?" she asked, gentler. He shook his head, and she nodded. "Right. You aren't responsible for everything the Reach have done. But we're going to find the people that are, and we're going to take them down."

He smiled a little and looked back at the pods. "You gonna call the team?" he asked.

She nodded again and put a hand to her ear. "Aqualad, we've got-agh!" there was a loud pop right in her ear, and when she yanked the comm out of her ear, it was fried. She winced, staring at the comm. "It's jammed," she told the others, looking at them gravely. "If we're going to do anything, we'll be on our own."

The younger heroes looked at each other, and Arrowette crossed her arms. "So, what's the plan?" she asked. The others looked at her, making it clear that they weren't going anywhere.

"We're going to set them free," Mallory decided. "Impul-uh, sorry…Kid Flash," Mallory paused after forcing the name out of her mouth, unsure how she felt using the name for someone other than Wally. She pushed the feeling aside. Now wasn't the time. "Search the compound, mark where any other kids are. Arrowette, go through the computer. I want to know everything these creeps have done and everywhere they've sent these kids. Blue, go look for the labs, see what kind of experiments they're doing here."

"What about you?" Jaime asked.

Mallory narrowed her eyes. "I'll be in lab C. If anything goes wrong, disappear and get to the Javelin," she told them.

They nodded and moved, going to complete their assignments. Mallory flamed up and flew down the hall in the direction the guards took the girl's pod. She was going to find Lab C. She needed to have a chat with Dr. Spence.

She could hear the screaming three halls away, and she used the sound as a homing beacon. By the time she got to the door, she was seeing red, she was so furious. She burst into the room in a blaze, taking out the guards before they had time to react. The first thing she did was slam her fists into the controls, ending the shocks being sent to the girl in the pod, and she sagged against the restraints. Mallory opened the pod and brought her to the ground.

She heard the clicking of heels on the tiles and sent a fireball at the door without taking her eyes off the girl's face. The fire hit the door just as Dr. Spence reached for the knob, and the woman shrieked and jumped back, looking at Inferno. Mallory laid the girl's head on the floor gently and rose into the air, hovering in the air. Flames rolled across her body and lept out of her eyes as she slowly and silently approached the scientist. Terror showed on Dr. Spence's face as she backed up, clutching her clipboard to her chest as if it would shield her from danger.

"P-please, I can explain," she stammered, panting.

Mallory didn't give any indication that she'd heard her, she just kept approaching the woman. Spence's eyes widened even more, and she backed up until she was against the wall.

"It's not my fault!" she started in a panicked rush, "They kidnapped me, forced me to work for them! You have to believe me! I would never do this if it wasn't for them threatening my family, me."

Mallory was only two feet away from her now, and she was still staying silent, her face like a stone.

"Inferno, please. You can't think that–"

"What I think," Mallory interrupted, landing inches in front of the woman, forcing her voice to be calm, "is that you keep ending up in the middle of unethical research on children, involved in their murder, torture, maiming, and yet it's never your fault that you've done it. Do you see a pattern forming?"

Spence didn't answer, knowing that there was nothing she could say now that would get the hero to pity her. "Wha-what do you want from me?" she asked, her voice trembling slightly.

"Besides you behind bars? I want to know what's going on here. Why are you using Reach tech, what are you doing to the kids, who are you working for, and who are your clients?"

"I…don't know," she said.

Mallory narrowed her eyes, fire covering her body in a fraction of a second. "Wrong answer," she said, her tone low.

Spence noticeably straightened her spine, and even though she looked a little sick, she put on a brave face. "You won't hurt me. The Justice League doesn't torture people."

Mallory took a step closer and turned up the heat so Spence would feel it. "Tread carefully," she warned. "I'm not on the League anymore, and I may not torture people, but others do. Arsenal especially would be glad to spend some time with you. He's not thrilled that you stole his arm and gave his life to someone else. And since he can't go after Luthor…"

"Ok, I get it," she snapped. Mallory tilted her head expectantly, and Spence bit her lip. "I don't know very much," she started firmly. Mallory refrained from rolling her eyes, but she didn't interrupt. "All I know is that the pods were left by the Reach when they were escorted off world. I was hired to try to research the metagene on these kids, find a way to determine who has the gene without going through the experiments first."

"Why would they hire you?" Mallory asked.

"Because of my work with the clones at Cadmus. I know genes, the meta gene is just a mutation to look for."

"What happens to the kids that have the gene?" Mallory asked. She already knew what happened to the ones who didn't.

"They get taken, they don't tell me where, and it's not part of my job or clearance to know."

"Who are you working for?"

The scientist shook her head. "I don't know," she insisted again.

"It's fine," Mallory said, ending the flames. "I think I can guess."

Blue came in the door and looked around at the trashed lab. "Uh, well, I guess this one's taken care of. I'll move on to D."

"Never mind," Mallory told him. "Get the girl. We need to get back to the Javelin and let Aqualad know what's down here, and that we're bringing home an old friend."

Two hours later, Gamma Squad was back in the Watchtower, standing in front of Kaldur as he looked over the report. The Justice League was called in to handle rescuing the kids, and they took Dr. Spence into custody to be questioned. Now, they were just waiting for Kaldur to review everything that happened and be released.

"You should have called me before you put yourself in a potentially dangerous situation," Kaldur said sternly, his arms clasped behind his back. Mallory rolled her eyes as she watched her friend pace in front of the group. He caught her eye and she saw the sparkle of humor in his eyes before he added, "however, it is impressive that you managed to make it through the mission without anything exploding. Especially with Inferno as your squad leader." Bart and Jaime burst out laughing, looking at her. She couldn't keep the smile off her face as she shook her head, refusing to respond. "Overall, your performance was satisfactory. Well done, Gamma Squad."

Bart spedover, putting a hand on her shoulder, and Jaime grinned at her. "Good job, leader," Arrowette said with a smile.

Mallory chuckled and shook her head. "Thanks. And for the record, I'm not the reason things explode. If anyone's the trigger, it's–" she scrunched her eyebrows for a moment, thinking about it, and she realized for the first time that none of them made things explode when they were on their own, or on different teams. It was only when it was a group of them. Except for the spaceship she exploded, and that barely counted considering the circumstances. She shook her head. "You know what, never mind. You guys go on home." They laughed and headed for the zeta tube. The OGs watched them disappear into the light, then Kaldur stepped closer to her.

"You did well, Mallory. You are a good leader."

She smiled, tilting her head a little. "Thanks. I wasn't sure I wanted to do it, but I have to say, I kind of like the fact that they have to listen to me. It makes me feel powerful."

He laughed. "You control fire and have the strength of a Kryptonian, you've been a member of the most powerful group of individuals on the planet and you've been to space, but giving orders to a group of teenagers is what makes you feel powerful?"

She grinned. "Yeah," she said without hesitation.

He chuckled. "Me, too," he admitted.

She laughed. "Please, you stayed the leader because you knew none of us could be responsible enough when we're with each other. You were the mom friend who organized us."

He shrugged. "Same thing. You listened to me."

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever." The zeta tube came to life again, announcing Alpha's return. "I'll be in the lounge," she told him.

He nodded and put on his stern face, and she chuckled and left the bridge. The room was empty when she went in, but she'd only been sitting for a few minutes when she felt arms wrap around her shoulders. She laughed and reached up out of instinct, and Zatanna leaned closer so she could see her.

"Z!"

The magician laughed and stepped over the back of the sofa, sliding down to sit next to her. "Hey, Mal. We just got done cleaning up your mess, so I figured you'd still be here."

Mallory chuckled. "Sorry, I guess."

"So, why didn't you tell anyone that you were joining the team?" she asked.

"I didn't plan it, it just kind of came to me."

"Sure, whatever," she said, flipping her hair over her shoulder in mock offense.

Mallory laughed and hugged her. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Next time I rejoin the team, you'll be the first to know."

Zatanna flashed a smile, then put a scowl back on. "And why'd you go back to the team instead of the League?"

"I-"

"You chose the team over me and Raq!" she interrupted.

"I know, I'm-"

"We were devastated when we found out. And we had to find out from Hal. Like, not even Artemis or Megan, Hal. How could you do that to us?"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry. I miss you guys, but I just didn't want to go back to that much publicity. Maybe eventually I'll go back to the League, I'm just not ready for that yet."

Zatanna smiled. "You know I'm kidding," she said.

Mallory narrowed her eyes playfully. "Yeah, but only a little."

The magician shrugged, not trying to deny it. "So, how was your first mission back? And your first mission as squad leader."

Mallory sighed and leaned against the back of the couch. "There were so many kids in there, Z," she said, the tone of the conversation sobering quickly.

The magician nodded slowly. "I know, I saw them."

"I thought that the trafficking ring had died down when the Reach left, but it's grown. And Spence being involved? I mean, I guess I'm not really surprised, but what's the Light's endgame here? Why are they getting into human trafficking?" Mallory shook her head, raking a hand through her hair.

Zatanna sighed. "Batman started going through the files, but the closest he could find so far about where the kids are going is a reference to 'the partner'. We all thought that the Reach were the Light's partner, but now we're back to square one."

Alpha squad came into the lounge, so the girls dropped the subject and listened to the others tell them about their mission and who messed up what and how they got out of it. Mallory sighed contentedly as she curled up on the end of the sofa, a sense of familiarity warming her from the inside out, like a blanket covering her. She'd missed this, the downtime, the missions. Even if it wasn't exactly the same, and even though they didn't have the cave anymore, this was still the team. This was where she belonged.