I'm running out of names for these chapter! Anyway, hope you like it, please review!
For the next week, the team took turns staying with the Bats at the hospital. The original team was taking turns staying at the hospital with Dick. The younger members of the team were rotating between Bart, Jaime, Virgil, and Peter's houses, giving Tim and Stephanie a place to go away from the hospital or the manor. From what the heroes heard, Bruce was holed up in the Batcave working, just like he did after Jason died. The girl from the hospital was living at the manor, though they hadn't heard much about her.
Dick stood and stretched, breaking Mallory's thoughts. "You don't have to be here, you know," he said quietly.
She looked at Barbara, sleeping in the hospital bed. She was so still and pale it was frightening. The only comfort they had between the brief times she would wake up was the steady beeping of her heart monitor. "It's fine," she said.
Dick shook his head. "Really, Mal, I'm fine. You haven't been out in a week."
"Neither have you," she pointed out.
"She's my girlfriend," he said. He smiled a little, though it looked like it took a lot of effort, and added, "besides, I'm not you. I'm surprised you haven't burned the place down out of boredom."
She bit her lip and looked at her hand. It had been a while since she'd let out some fire. Now that he'd pointed it out, she did feel a little restless. "You sure?" she asked. He nodded and she hesitated before getting to her feet and collecting her things. "Z'll be here in a couple of hours if you want to go get some food or something," she reminded him. He didn't answer and she stepped in front of him, forcing him to look at her. "I'm serious, Dick. You need to get out of this room. You should go home for a few hours, grab a shower and some food. Barbara's going to be fine."
"I don't want to not be here when she wakes up," he said, shaking his head.
Mallory crossed her arms. "If she wakes up and sees you like this, she'll kick you out anyway, and then she'll start on us." He didn't give her a response and she sighed. "Just take care of yourself, ok? We don't need something happening to you, too." She rubbed his arm as she passed him, and when she looked back at the door, he was back in the chair by the bed, his head in his hands. She shook her head and let the door close behind her.
It was a short walk to the zeta tube, and she punched in her coordinates and came out near the Daily Planet. She swung by a cafe and grabbed a coffee and a muffin, then she changed and flew to the top of the globe to eat in peace. It had been a hectic couple of days, and she relished the alone time, with nothing by the open sky around her and the city below. She was halfway through with her snack when a gust of wind blew her hair into her face.
"Well, I didn't expect to see you today," Superman said.
She looked over her shoulder and shrugged. "Dick wanted some time alone."
Clark flew in front of her and landed on the globe. "How is he doing?" he asked, sitting down with her.
Mallory took a sip of her drink, considering the question. "He's…better, I guess. He's taking it really hard. Well, I guess we all are, but…I mean, we all know we might die in the field, but I've never once thought that I could live and not be able to do this. I don't know what would be worse."
He nodded, looking out at the ocean. Mallory followed his gaze, studying the waves disappear out into the horizon.
"How's Bruce doing?" she asked after a few minutes.
Her mentor sighed tiredly. "He's not taking it well. He hasn't left the cave in a week, except to beat some crook half to death before dropping him with the police."
"Yeah, well, that's about what we were expecting from him, anyway," Mallory muttered.
Clark shook his head. "He's blaming himself for it. And Jess isn't helping anything, she's blaming him, too."
She looked down at her muffin, no longer hungry. "She hasn't come to the hospital since the first night," she said.
"She's gone to the manor twice, to check on the girl and see Alfred, and both times she ended up in a shouting match with him, and both times it just pushed him further into himself."
"Where's she staying?"
"I don't know. She hasn't gone to anyone in the League, she hasn't been to the Watchtower or the Hall."
"She hasn't reached out to any of the team or the Quitters, either. Not even Dick."
Clark shook his head. "I just wish she would open up a little more. Dick and Time have found comfort in their teammates, and I hope Bruce has as well. She hasn't allowed anyone to get close enough to offer that to her. It's not good for her to be alone right now, especially not when it was Joker who did it."
Mallory sighed. "I'll see if I can track her down. Maybe she'll talk to one of us, or at least come stay with someone."
"Thank you."
She drained her cup and stood. "I guess I should go. I need to check on Peter, make sure he's taking it easy so he doesn't–"
Clark pulled her into a hug without warning, and she let the words die in her surprise. "What…?"
He let go, but kept his hands on her shoulder. "I'm just so glad you're here, and you're all right," he said quietly. She stared at him, stunned, and he let her go, shaking his head slightly. "I don't know what's wrong with us, why we have to watch so many of you get hurt. I'm just thankful everyday that you and Conner and Dick are all right."
She didn't know how to answer him, and he didn't expect her to. He flew off without another word, and she took off a moment later, heading for a zeta tube. She thought about what Clark had said, and in that moment, she let herself be thankful for the people she still had instead of missing the ones who were gone.
Three hours later, Mallory went back to the hospital with a mission in mind. When she got to Barbara's room, Zatanna was sitting on the sofa with a book and Dick was in the chair by the bed, almost exactly like she'd left him.
"Hey, what are you doing back?" Zatanna asked when she walked in.
"Oh, nothing. I need to run an errand, I was hoping you would come with me?"
The girls glanced at Dick, who nodded. "Go ahead. Like I told you, I'm fine."
The magician got up and followed Mallory back out to the lobby before asking, "so, what's this errand that you couldn't get someone else to help with?"
Mallory glanced around them before answering, "I need you to talk to Jess with me."
Zatanna stopped in her tracks. "Oh, come on, Mal. That's not our place."
"Then whose place is it?" Mallory asked. "Because the last I checked, none of the Bats are in the physical or mental shape to do it, and she's not taking this well. Someone has to talk to her before she decides to do something she'll regret."
"Ok, but why me? Megan's the counselor."
"Because she knows you better than Megan, and I don't want her to have her guard up so much."
"Do you even know where she is?"
"Yeah, she's staying at an apartment in the Narrows, I found footage of her going out the window the last three nights. If we time it right, we can be there waiting for her when she goes out tonight."
The magician sighed and nodded. "All right, let's go."
They took the zeta tube to Gotham just as the sun was starting to set and walked through the city in civies until they got to the Narrows. They could feel the shift in atmosphere over one city block, the clear line between the different areas.
"Come on," Zatanna urged, slipping into the first alley they came to and walking to the bottom of the fire escape. "I'll feel better when we get to the roof." They climbed up in the fading light and jumped over a few rooves before finding the one they were looking for. "So, did we time it right?" Zatanna asked, panting slightly from roofhopping.
Mallory nodded. "You mind?"
Her friend rolled her eyes, but she spread her arms and said, "tup su mi ruo situs." A haze of smoke circled around them, and when it dispersed above their heads they were in their suits, ready to go.
"All right, now we just have to wait," Mallory said, leaning on a vent hood.
Zatanna sat down next to her, crossing her arms. "Do you even know what you're going to say?"
The pyrokinetic shook her head. "Not a clue. That's why I brought you."
"Great," her friend muttered. Mallory smiled a little, not saying anything, and the magician returned it after a few seconds.
They settled into a comfortable silence, not wanting to tip Jess if she was close. They waited for ten minutes, fifteen, before the soft thud of a window opening drew their attention to the side of the roof. A few seconds went by, then they saw the dark head poke over the side of the roof as she climbed up the fire escape. They could tell the second she knew they were there, right after she swung her legs over the side.
"What do you want?" she asked, turning to face them, her visors narrowed to slits.
"Just to talk," Mallory told her calmly, not getting up.
"I'm good," she replied, pulling a grappling gun out of her belt.
"Just give us ten minutes," Zatanna said. "You can even time it."
The girl pushed some hair out of her face, biting her lip as she thought it over. "Did he send you?" she asked.
Mallory shook her head. "We haven't even talked to him since it happened."
She hesitated, then nodded. "Fine. Ten minutes, then I'm out."
"All right, then, here it is," Mallory started, deciding to state the obvious instead of dance around it. "Everyone's worried about how you're handling Batgirl's injury after what happened to Robin."
Zatanna's eyes widened at the bluntness, and Jess visibly shut down, her face hardening. To her credit, though, she didn't argue the statement, and she didn't walk away.
"Really, we just want you to know that you don't have to be alone," Zatanna continued, trying a gentler approach. "You're still a part of the team, even if you aren't on it anymore."
"Well thanks for that, but I'm not a part of your little family. Probably a good thing, too, with all the bad luck around you."
The girls exchanged a glance, and Zatanna took a step forward. "Jett, why are you trying to push us away? We're just trying to help."
"Oh, my god, you never stop! You want to help someone, go help Babs walk again! Go help Cass heal her scars from being raised as an assassin for her entire life! Go help your dad break away from that helmet!" Zatanna pressed her lips together at the mention of her father, but Jess wasn't finished. "You want to help someone, find someone who needs it. That's not me."
"You need to–" Mallory started, but the girl cut her off.
"No, you need to back off. You assume that because I'm not running to you guys with all my problems that I'm all alone and about to snap. Well, I've got news for you: you're not the only people in the world, and I don't need you to adopt me into your little club. Just leave me out of it." She spun on her heel and started walking across the roof.
Mallory and Zatanna exchanged a look, and the magician took a step in her direction. "Jett, wait," she said.
"No," the vigilante replied without turning around, "your ten minutes are up. Give my regards to Bats next time you see him." She fired her grappling gun and swung off the roof without any hesitation, and the girls watched as she swung out of view.
"Well, that went just great," Mallory muttered sarcastically.
Zatanna shrugged. "At least we know she's not planning anything, and she knows that she can come to us if she changes her mind."
"Yeah, I guess," Mallory replied with a sigh. "And she's not alone." She looked at the magician and offered a weak smile. "Thanks for coming, anyway."
"Yeah, of course," the magician replied.
They looked back at where Jess had disappeared, then Mallory heaved a tired sigh and looked at her friend. "You want a lift?"