Hope you like it, please review!
The next week went by in a whirl of goodbyes, celebrations, furniture shopping, and extra work from her day job. Mallory barely found time to patrol with everything that was happening. She had just gotten home from work one evening when there was a knock at the door. She tossed her bag onto the new couch, still wrapped in plastic, and squeezed her way through the other furniture that she hadn't had a chance to arrange yet. When she looked through the peephole, she groaned and leaned on the door for a second, then she put on a bright face and opened the door.
"Hey, Oliver. What are you doing here?" she asked.
He grinned and shrugged. "I've been meaning to drop by and see the place," he said, walking in.
She rolled her eyes and pushed the door closed. "Oh, yeah?"
"Yeah, of course. It looks…good, so far," he said, eying the door packed with wrapped furniture and bags of housewarming gifts. He pulled a corner of the plastic wrap off the sofa and looked at her. "Is this part of my housewarming present?" he asked.
Mallory refrained from rolling her eyes. "Thank you for the money. You really didn't have to," she told him.
"Well, you're practically family, I wanted to." She raised her eyebrows, wanting to question that statement, but she bit her tongue before she could form the sentence. "You know that the money wasn't all I was going to do, right?" he asked.
She pressed her lips together and tilted her head. "It wasn't?"
"No, of course not," he assured her. "I was just waiting to, uh, see what else you would need."
"Uh huh," she said.
"Yeah, well, I talked to Artemis and Roy, and they said you haven't gotten a TV, and you were going to need to look for a new oven, so I went ahead and took care of that for you."
"Took care of…? Ollie, seriously, you don't need to–"
Before she could finish her sentence, he went to the door and whistled into the hallway. A work crew started to come in, bringing in a TV that was far too big for the size of her living room and a brand new oven, refrigerator, and dishwasher. Her jaw dropped as she watched her new home being invaded by Oliver's pride gifts, and for a second she was furious.
"Ollie, what–why would you think–"
She was interrupted by her phone vibrating in her hand, and she looked at it immediately, both glad for the distraction and irritated at the interruption. Her heart stilled at the text from Conner.
Roy's, now
"Uh, I'll talk to you later, Ollie," she told him distractedly, stumbling through the mess of the apartment to grab her wallet.
He nodded, not even noticing her change in moods. "That's fine. I'll stay and watch the place, and the appliances should be set up by the time you get back."
She didn't respond, just went out the door, slamming it behind her. She didn't know what was going on, but for Conner to tell her to go to Roy's, she knew it had to be big. She just hoped it was good news.
When she got to the house, Megan was the one that answered the door. Mallory put her wallet on the table by the door and looked around.
"Is Lian ok? What's going on?" she asked.
"Oh, no, nothing's wrong," her friend assured her, leading the way down the short hall to the living room. "Kaldur just got some news and he wanted to tell us at the same time."
They reached the living room and Megan perched on the arm of Conner's chair. Mallory sat cross-legged on the floor, leaning on the arm of the sofa as she exchanged greetings and tallied the people in her mind automatically. Dick, Zatanna, Raquel, and Roy were squeezed together on the couch, Conner and Megan were there, and Kaldur was in the other chair, so they were only missing Artemis. She heard footsteps coming from the rooms and looked over, expecting the archer to come out from checking on her niece. Instead, Cheshire walked out in one of Roy's shirts and some baggy gym shorts, her thick hair pulled back in a messy bun.
"Well, she's finally down," she said, perching on the arm of the couch by Roy. He automatically put a hand on her back, smiling up at her. Mallory fought her instinct to jump to her feet, trying to remind herself that Cheshire wasn't their enemy anymore. At least, not when she was off duty. It was still weird to see her here, in the middle of the group as if she was one of them.
Jade smiled at her. "Well, hello, Inferno. Or, I guess I should say Mallory." Mallory twisted her lips together, not wanting to say anything that would make Roy mad. Jade's smile widened and she leaned into her husband a little more. "Oh, don't worry, I didn't get that from Red. Lian was telling me about your trip to the zoo." She put away the act for a split second and looked around the group. "Thank you for looking out for her. I've made a lot of enemies in my time, so it's good to know she'll be protected."
The group nodded awkwardly, looking at each other with the same expression on their faces. They were all thinking the same thing, that if Jade was so concerned about her daughter's safety then she should be with her instead of popping in and out whenever it suited her. None of them said it, though. They didn't have to. Roy knew what they were thinking, and Mallory had a strange feeling that Cheshire could read them all as well as they could read each other.
"So," Raquel said abruptly, changing the subject, "anyone hear from Artemis yet?"
"Not since I texted her," Megan said.
They drifted into an awkward silence, not knowing if they could talk with Jade in the house. The assassin didn't seem all that uncomfortable being the outsider. She stretched after about ten minutes and looked around. "I'm going to get some coffee. Anyone want something from the kitchen while I'm up?"
The group shook their heads, and Roy tilted his head. "Really, you sure? Dick, we have juice boxes in the fridge."
The youngest of the group rolled his eyes. "Ha ha," he said, then he perked up a little and added, "but, actually, yeah, can you grab me one?"
The others chuckled and shook their heads, but Jade just smiled and went to the kitchen, the swinging door swishing as she pushed through. With her out of the room, the others looked at each other, feeling more free to talk.
"Why is she here?" Mallory asked, her gaze settling on Roy.
His face darkened a little. "She's still my wife, Mallory, and Lian's mother. She's always welcome here. If any of you have a problem with it, we don't have to meet here."
The pyrokinetic shook her head. "No, that's not what I meant," she said, even though it kind of was. "I just meant, why is she here. I thought this was a family meeting."
"Well, she is part of Roy's family, so I suppose that makes her a part of this by extension," Kaldur offered.
Raquel looked around at the others to gauge their reactions. "I'm sorry, but are we really saying that we're letting Cheshire into the group? I mean, I'm all for family and everything, but she's tried to kill all of us multiple times."
Jade laughed in the kitchen, ending the conversation for the moment as they all turned towards the door. Roy chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck as Megan linked them.
"Yeah, I probably should have warned you, but she's got really good hearing."
"Yeah, ya think?" Zatanna complained.
"Look, I know it's a little…weird, for her to just be hanging out with us after all you know of her is fighting her, but just give her a chance. She's not a bad person when you get to know her. She and Artemis come from the same messed up family, and you accepted her without a lot of question."
"Artemis made a choice to leave her family behind," Dick pointed out. When Roy turned a glare on him, he held his hands up in defense. "Hey, I'm not saying Cheshire's beyond hope, I'm just saying, she made a very different choice, so you can't really compare them, or ask us to trust her the same way."
"Speaking of Artemis," Zatanna said, "someone should probably warn her about–"
"Hey, guys, what's the SOS about?" Artemis asked from the doorway. The group froze, their eyes turning to the archer. She walked over to the seating and leaned on the back of Kaldur's chair, looking around. "Is everything ok?" she asked. Her face grew more concerned when no one answered. "Is everyone ok? Lian's not hurt, is she?"
"No, no, nothing like that," Kaldur assured her. "I asked you all here to discuss something."
"Oh." The blonde looked around the group again, confused. "Then why–"
"Heads up, Boy Wonder." Jade tossed the juice box at Dick, and he caught it without taking his eyes off of Artemis. The archer tensed up at the sight of her sister, and Jade grinned. "Hey, Sis," she said, her voice silky smooth.
"Well, how long are you going to be here this time?" Artemis asked, her voice tight.
Jade's grin turned smug and she took a sip from her mug of coffee. "Indefinitely," she replied.
The group shifted, not even trying to contain their surprise. Roy winced, then sighed and took Jade's hand. "Yeah, uh, probably not the best time to tell everyone, but Jade defected from the Shadows. She's done being Cheshire."
"What?" Megan's face was as shocked as the others'.
"And you came here? To the place where your daughter lives? Jade, how could you? How could you put her in so much danger? The Shadows will have every assassin and associate on your trail!" Artemis yelled, her protectiveness and fear for her niece come off as fury towards her sister.
"Don't you think I know that?" Jade yelled back, her front dropping at the accusation. "I know how they think, and how they operate. Believe me, this is where I need to be. I need to be close to Lian to protect her, and, if I'm being honest with myself, I'm tired of letting other people dictate what happens to me. I'm ready to take my life back. If you're not willing to give me that chance, then–"
"No," Megan interrupted, looking at the others. "We are sorry, we may have let our history with Cheshire get in the way of our perception of you, but we believe that everyone deserves a second chance, so… welcome to the family, Jade."
The woman raised her eyebrows slightly, surprised. "Well, thank you. From what I hear, that's quite an honor coming from one of you."
"But," Artemis put in, "you only get one second chance. If you do anything to hurt anyone in this group of our community, I swear I'll make dad's punishments look like a slap on the wrist."
Jade chuckled, putting her personality mask back on. "Fair enough. Though, you've never won a fight against me, so we'll have to see how that goes."
Artemis smiled challengingly. "That's because I never really wanted to hurt you before. That could always change, though."
"Ok, so Kaldur, why are we here?" Conner asked abruptly, getting things back on track. The group remembered why they were there, and they turned to the leader expectantly.
He sighed and looked around, not seeming to know how to start. "Well, I asked you here because I met with Aquaman this afternoon."
"Is everything ok with him? Mera and Little Arthur are all good?" Zatanna asked.
Kaldur nodded. "Yes, all is well. Actually, that was what he wanted to talk to me about. Everything is going so well that he is looking to spend more time in Atlantis, both to spend time with his family and to focus more of his attention on running his kingdom. He already has Garth as his ambassador to the surface world, so he does not need to be involved in the UN unless it is to meet with other world leaders, and Lagaan has already assumed command of the army as chief of the guard, so Arthur does not need to be so concerned with Atlantis's protection. That only leaves one loose end to attend to." The group waited for him to continue, but Dick and Roy shifted on the couch, their eyes wode.
"Woah, Kaldur, that's huge," Roy said, sounding both impressed and overwhelmed.
"Are you sure you want that?" Dick asked.
Kaldur shook his head. "No, that is why I asked you to come. There is much to consider."
"Wait, so, what are we talking about here?" Zatanna asked, looking between the three original sidekicks.
"Think about it. With Garth handling the UN and Lagaan handling protection, what's the only other thing that takes him away from running Atlantis?" The others thought about it for a moment, and they came up with the answer almost at the exact same time. Their eyes widened and they stared at the leader.
"Wait, so he asked you to…?" Artemis started.
Kaldur nodded. "He asked me to take his mantle and his seat on the Justice League as Aquaman."
They were quiet for a long moment, dumbstruck at the news.
"Kaldur, that's– that's amazing," Raquel said slowly.
"What did you tell him?" Megan asked, leaning forward a little.
"I told him that I would have to take some time to think about it," he replied, rubbing a hand over his forehead. "There is much to consider here."
"Like what?" Roy asked. "Kaldur, you respect Arthur more than anyone else in the world. Why wouldn't you take his name?"
"The team, for one thing," he said. They looked at each other, starting to understand his hesitance. "With the exception of the time I spent with Black Manta, leading the team has been my life, nearly since the beginning of my partnership with my king. I fear that if I leave, it will–"
"What, fall apart?" Zatanna interrupted incredulously.
Kaldur shrugged, not answering, and Mallory shook her head. "You should know better by now. The team's not going anywhere. At this point, it's beyond our control. It's going to keep growing with or without us."
Kaldur shook his head. "That is not really what concerns me," he said. "I do not doubt that someone capable will take my place. It is just that leaving, I have done it before, and I do not want to leave you again. I do not want to end what we started all those years ago."
There was another pause, and Artemis tilted her head, trying to understand what he was saying. "Kaldur, are you saying you don't want to leave the team because you don't want to break up…this?"
His silence was as much an answer as they needed, and Zatanna laughed. "Kaldur, come on. You guys didn't start a team when you went to Cadmus, you started a family. And we've never needed the team to keep us together, that's just what brought us together."
"Yeah, I mean, look at who's sitting here," Mallory put in. "Roy was never a part of the team, then he joined the League, betrayed them, dropped off the grid, did everything he knew how to get us to stop looking for him, and married Cheshire, and he's still here. Wally and Artemis left the hero gig, and they were still at every important event and we talked to them almost every day. Raq, Z, and I left the team and joined the League, and we were still at every family meeting. I tried a couple of times to leave you, and you guys were always there to bring me back. You left the team to join the bad guys and you killed Artemis, and you're still here. You and Dick put together the whole undercover thing, and look who's still here. Dick, Roy, and I started our own team, but we were still your first call when something was going on."
Dick raised an eyebrow at her. "Are you done? Or are you gonna recap the rest of the seven years?" he asked.
She shrugged. "The point is," she said, smiling a little, "we've gone through plenty of changes, but we're still here, and the team has nothing to do with that."
Kaldur straightened, thinking for a moment. "So, you think I should join the League as Aquaman?" he asked.
"I didn't say that," Malllory replied.
"Well then what was the point of all that?" Roy asked.
"It's his decision! I was just saying that either way, he'd still be invited to stuff."
Dick threw up his hands. "Well, that's helpful."
"Well, it's all I've got," she shot back. "I don't see either of you saying anything."
"Ok, look. What was your first reaction when Arthur asked you to take his name? Before you thought about the team, or us, what did you think?" Dick asked.
"I was…proud, and honored that he asked me."
"Did you doubt that you would take it before you started getting in your head about it?" Artemis asked.
He paused, then shook his head. "No, I did not."
The original team smiled at the leader. "Well, there you go," Zatanna said, and Megan added, "I think we just met the new Aquaman."
"Welcome to the League, Aquaman," Raquel said.
A smile finally crept onto Kaldur's face and he nodded definitely. "Thank you," he said, looking at each of them. "You made this decision much easier for me."
"Not to point out the obvious," Jade said, pulling everyone's attention to her, "but it would seem that there's an opening for leader of your little club."
Roy tilted his head and looked around the group. "She's right," he said. "So, who's gonna step up?"
Conner and Megan looked at Dick, and the others followed their gaze to the former Boy Wonder. Dick realized he was the center of attention and shook his head firmly. "Nope, I'm good just being half of the Quitters. Sorry."
"Ok, then, let's see. Zatanna and Raquel are in the League, Dick and Roy are the Quitters, I don't want to be the leader, so that leaves Conner, Megan, and Mallory," Artemis reasoned.
Mallory shook her head. "No, that just leaves Conner and Megan. I barely want to be a squad leader."
"That just leaves Megan," Conner said firmly, not giving any other explanation.
Megan's eyes widened and she straightened, looking around. "No, guys, I don't think–"
"Oh, come on, Megan, you're the next logical choice," Zatanna said.
Megan shook her head. "No, I'm not. It's better for me to be in the field, so I can link a squad or get into whatever else needs to be done." She looked at Mallory and Artemis. "One of you should step up. You're both more than capable."
Mallory shook her head. "Megan, I'm not going to step up and lead a team that I just got back on, even if I did want to, which I don't."
"Yeah, and I'm not really the leader type, you know that," Artemis added.
"Why does it have to be one of you?" Jade asked. Artemis glared at her, and she shrugged and held up her free hand. "No offense to any of you, I'm just saying."
Dick tilted his head. "I mean, she's not wrong," he said slowly. "It doesn't necessarily have to be one of us."
"Ok, so who are we gonna pick out of them? Bart?" Artemis asked, shaking her head.
He chuckled. "No, I guess not." He grew more serious as he looked around the circle. "But Barbara isn't a bad choice." Artemis nodded thoughtfully.
"Do you really think she's ready?" Kaldur asked.
Dick shrugged. "I mean, she's never really led a team, but she's been squad leader plenty of times, and she does a good job of keeping the Bats in line, even Jess. That's a pretty good start." He looked at Megan. "You know, you don't have to lead them permanently. You could just take over until she's ready to step up, or until Artemis or Mallory or someone else decides to."
Kaldur nodded. "That is true. I truly never thought that I would be the leader for long."
Megan looked at Conner, then the others, and they could tell she was on the edge of the decision.
"You know," Jade said boredly, not looking at anyone, "just from an outsider's perspective, none of you seem to make good leaders."
"Thank you, Jade. That's very helpful," Artemis snapped.
The assassin smiled. "But," she continued, giving her sister a look, "out of all of you, the Martian would be the one I'd think was the leader. She's the only one who seems to focus on the bigger picture instead of the fight at hand or finding something to blow up."
Mallory threw her hands up and looked at Roy. "You told her to say that, didn't you?" she accused.
Roy laughed and shook his head, and Jade tilted her head. "What, you didn't think we could see what you were doing? Literally every mission you went on against the Light, something exploded or caught on fire. I thought you did it on purpose for a while, but then I decided you were just that incompetent."
"Competent enough to infiltrate the Light and stop what you were doing," Conner pointed out.
"I'm not part of the Light, and you didn't stop anything," Jade shot back.
"Yeah, sure, tell that to the Reach," Raquel retorted. She turned back to Megan. "So, what do you say, Miss M?"
Megan sighed, then tilted her. "All right," she said, nodding slowly. Her hair fell over her shoulder and she tucked it behind her ear, the red making her white skin seem even paler. She'd made the switch from green to white recently, trying to finally fully break away from the lie she'd lived when she first got to Earth. It was still strange to the others, seeing her make such a big change to her appearance, but they were trying to get used to it for her. "I'll step up and be the leader, but only until Barbara is ready to take over, if she wants to."
"All right," Dick said, sticking the straw in his untouched juice box. "Well, congratulations, Miss M. You're officially the boss now."