I started this chapter as more of a marker of where things are, but I actually kind of love it. I like writing action chapters, but
I love writing the chapters where they're all just sitting around and talking about their accomplishments and life changes. Anyway, hope you like it. What are some of your favorite chapters and why? Let me know in the reviews!
Mallory got the keys to her new apartment two days later, and that weekend she and the other older team members, and Peter and Gar, gathered at Dick's apartment to help her move.
"Why does it take all of us to move this?" Raquel asked, looking at the small pile of boxes around the coffee table.
Mallory shrugged. "I just thought you'd want to see the new place."
"What, you had something better to do?" Roy asked, grabbing two of the boxes.
"I could have!" their friend shot back.
"That's a no," Gar said with a grin.
"Yep," Dick agreed, rubbing the green boy's head on his way to the kitchen. Gar rolled his eyes and hurriedly ran a hand through it to fix it. Lately he'd been staying in his human form, and he was more concerned with how he looked. Well, so was Peter. Mallory and Megan suspected that Perdita had something to do with that.
"Ok, well, let's get a move on," Karen said, motioning for Mal to grab the last box. Zatanna opened the door and Roy, Conner, and Mal carried the six boxes out of the apartment and the others started to follow them. Mallory and Dick stayed behind for a moment. Dick looked around his living room and grinned.
"Finally! I forgot how big it felt without all the junk cluttering up the couch."
Mallory laughed and punched his arm. "Hey, that's all the stuff I have in the world. Don't call it junk."
He looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "I wasn't talking about your stuff," he said.
She gasped with mock offense, but she couldn't keep it up for long. She tilted her head. "Thanks for letting me stay for so long."
He shrugged. "What was I gonna do, let you move in with Roy and make you hear about his security business 24/7? I'm not cruel."
She chuckled. "Yeah, well, thanks anyway."
He smiled and put an arm around her shoulder in a side hug. "I'm gonna miss you around here." She nodded, and he brightened and let go of her to pull something out of his pocket. "But, on the bright side, at least you'll get to have the place you always wanted." He handed her an envelope and she raised an eyebrow as she took it. When she opened it, Dick explained, "Bruce needed to get rid of some extra money, so I snagged some of it for you, so you could actually get furniture this time."
Mallory chuckled. "This is such a coincidence," she said, reaching into her back pocket, "because, Roy had the same excuse for this." She held up the envelope with a second check from Oliver.
Dick laughed. "Who gave more?" he asked.
Mallory shook her head. "That's for me to know and you to wonder about."
He rolled his eyes. "Oh, I'll find out." He laughed and turned to the door. "Come on, let's get you moved into your place."
The group took the bioship to Metropolis, and twenty minutes later Mallory let them into her new apartment. The boys put the boxes down by the fireplace and the others filed in and filled the place, looking around.
"It's bigger than I was expecting," Barbara mentioned, leaning on the counter as she looked around.
"I like it," Zatanna decided, nodding.
"Aww, we should have gotten something to make a toast with," Megan said.
The magician grinned. "Engapmahc, sessalg, won!" A bottle of champagne and glasses appeared on the counter in front of her.
"Nice!" Gar said. Peter picked up the bottle and sighed. "Couldn't go for the good stuff, huh?" he asked.
Zatanna chuckled and said, "Elppa eciuj rof eht sdik." A bottle of apple juice appeared in her hand, and she handed it to Peter with a look. The boys groaned, but they were grinning.
"Ok, who wants to pop the cork?" Artemis asked. Dick opened his mouth to volunteer, but she held up a hand to silence him and added, "other than Dick."
"What?"
"Oh, come on, we know you. You'll try to do something cool and end up breaking the window or shooting someone's eye out."
He laughed. "Maybe, but wouldn't that be a cool way to lose an eye?"
The archer shook her head. "Dick, if I ever do lose my eye, I sincerely hope it's from a sword fight or an explosion and not because I let you pop a champagne cork while we're in civies."
He shrugged. "Fair enough."
The archer handed the bottle off to Roy, "Here, I'm sure you've had plenty of experience with this over the years."
He shrugged and opened the bottle, and Zatanna took it from him and started pouring the drinks. When she offered a glass to Raquel, the girl hesitated, then said, "um, actually, I'll take some of that apple juice."
"What?" Karen asked. "Why would-"
It hit everyone at the same time. "Raq, are you…?" Megan started.
She grinned and nodded, and Zatanna squealed and threw her arms around her friend. "We're gonna have a baby!"
Raquel laughed. "Yeah, yes we are," she said.
Mallory grinned and shoved Zatanna off their friend so she could have a hug. "How long have you known?" she asked.
"I found out yesterday."
"Does Darius know?" Megan asked.
"Not yet, we're going to dinner tonight and I'm going to tell him then." She laughed and added, "I didn't mean for you to find out before he did, but then I guess I should've known better than to come here with all of you in one place."
"Congrats, Raq. You'll be a great parent. If you need tips on bedtime or anything, call me," Roy told her.
Raquel grinned. "Thanks, I'll do that."
"He's gonna be the best superhero in the world," Peter declared. "With your belt and all of us to train him from the beginning, he'll be undefeated."
Raquel put her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow. "Hold up," she said, "first of all, you don't know it's gonna be a boy, and second, why do you assume I'm gonna hang up my belt just because I'm gonna be a mom?"
The boy was quiet for a moment, and Barbara took the opportunity to raise her glass. "Well, that's one more thing to toast to. Mallory, congrats on the place, it looks great, and Raquel, congrats on the kid! Sorry Mallory, but she just outshined you."
Mallory chuckled and reached over to give Raquel another hug. "I'm so glad she did," she said.
Karen and Mal exchanged a glance, and Peter immediately picked up on their look. "What's with you guys?" he asked.
They both froze, looking around with slight panic on their faces. Megan's face lit up. "Are you guys expecting too?" she asked.
"What?! No, no no no," Karen said, shaking her head. She glanced up at Mal and continued slowly, "we don't want to take anything away from Raquel's news…"
"Might as well get all the announcements out now. I mean, how often are we all in the same room these days?" Mallory pointed out, twirling the untouched champagne in her glass as she waited.
Mal sighed heavily and tilted his head. "She's right, babe. Might as well tell them."
Karen nodded and smiled. "Well, a company reached out to me, they want to hire me to continue my research at their lab and find applications for their technology. They'll fund everything, the pay is phenomenal, and I'll have access to some of the greatest minds in the field. So…" she smiled and glanced at Mal before continuing, "I'm going to take it, and Mal and I are going to get married before I start the job."
"That's great!" Artemis exclaimed.
"Yeah, great," Gar said sarcastically, smiling as he crossed his arms and looked at Peter. "We're gonna have to deal with an old married couple on the team, on top of Megan and Conner."
Karen looked at Mal. "Uh, actually, little man," Mal said, and everyone looked at the couple.
"Um, yeah, so the only catch is that the job's in San Francisco," Karen explained, looking around. "It's going to be taking up most of my time, and it's so far away. I just, I'm not gonna have the time for it anymore."
The others were quiet for a moment, then Kaldur looked at Mal. "You know, you would be welcome to stay on the team if you want."
Mal shook his head. "Nah, I'm good. I never meant to become a superhero in the first place, and I only stayed to watch Karen's back." He looked around the group and added, "no offense."
"Aww, well, we're going to miss you," Megan said.
Karen tilted her head. "Why? Just because we're not going to be on the team anymore doesn't mean you get to get out of this friendship. Nah, you'd all better be at the wedding with expensive gifts and supportive energy."
"Wow! Well, Mallory's got the gift thing in the bag," Dick said.
Mallory jerked her attention to him and her hand went to her pocket the instant she recognized the envelopes in his hands. She narrowed her eyes playfully. "You little–"
"Huh. Hey Roy, tell Ollie he's slackin'. Bruce gave her twice what he did, and he already paid her way through college."
Roy and Artemis chuckled. "Will do," they said in unison.
"No, guys, really, that's more than enough. I had money saved for the place anyway, I don't need the money."
"Shut up! Don't be giving it back right before we get married! They'll think it's ok to give us some stupid vase or something," Karen interrupted firmly.
"Yeah, you'll ruin everything. They have such a rivalry going, for our wedding me and Darius got our honeymoon paid for by Bruce and our wedding paid for by Oliver, and when he found out that the trip was more than the wedding, he offered to give us a car."
"You got a car?" Mal asked in amazement. Raquel nodded, and he turned a glare on Mallory. "Do not ruin this for us," he warned.
Mallory laughed and snatched the checks away from Dick. "All right, fine. I'll find something to do with the money, I'm sure."
Peter sidled up to her and tilted his head. "Like buy your baby brother who you so heartlessly threw into a life of crime fighting a fake ID and some original Air Jordans?"
The group burst out laughing, and Mallory shook her head. "Start joking like that and I'll have you benched for so long you'll miss how reasonable I was when you first started," she warned, raising her eyebrows pointedly.
He paused, then faked a shudder and said, "I'm kidding, duh."
Kaldur shook his head, chuckling, then raised his glass. "We have much to celebrate today," he said. "So let's make this toast before the champagne goes flat."
"Wait," Artemis said, looking around. "If anyone else has an announcement, now's the time to speak up."
They paused, half-jokingly waiting for someone to speak up. Most of their eyes landed on Megan and Conner, their gazes expectant. Conner shook his head. "Nope. We're good," he told them. Zatanna and Artemis huffed in frustration, but their leader raised his glass again and started their toast.
"To Mallory, for her recent success and finding her way back to the life she deserves, we know you will continue to accomplish great things in all areas of your life, and we are proud of how far you have come over the years. To Raquel, for bringing a new life into the universe and into our family. I am sure she knows that her child will have more love than they know what to do with, and we cannot wait to meet them and see what they will accomplish, and we will stand by her side through everything that will come. To Karen, congratulations on your job, you have a brilliant mind and we know that you will change the world with it, and to Karen and Mal, may you have all of the happiness in your new life as a married couple that you both deserve, and know that you will never have to be alone in anything."
They clinked glasses and took sips of their drinks, and they ended up laughing. "That was the longest toast I've ever heard," Conner complained.
"Yeah, my arm was starting to get tired," Gar complained.
The group laughed, and Megan set her glass on the counter and clapped her hands. "Ok, let's get this place put together! So, Mallory, where's the gumbo pot going?"