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"You're still asleep?"
Mallory cracked her eyes open and groaned, rolling onto her stomach and hiding her face from the light streaming into Megan and Conner's living room. "Yes," she said into her arms. Megan chuckled and set something on the coffee table, and in seconds the smell of freshly made waffles and bacon coaxed the pyrokinetic out into the open. "Mmm, thanks," she said after taking a bite. "I wish I had someone living with me in Metropolis. I could get used to breakfast already being made."
"Breakfast? Mal, it's almost two in the afternoon. I think the breakfast ship sailed a while ago."
Mallory gasped, springing to her feet. "No! Zatanna's–"
"Already met with him, and Artemis went with her," Megan told her friend, guiding her back to the couch. "Don't worry about it, you guys had a long night."
Mallory groaned, rubbing her eyes. "I still can't believe I slept so long. So, I guess I fell asleep before we could really talk, but you're ok with Brion staying here, right?"
"Yes, of course. I mean, there wasn't anywhere else he could go, and you couldn't leave him behind."
Mallory nodded. "Where's Conner?" she asked.
"He's upstairs with Dick and Artemis, trying to figure out what to do."
She sighed. "I guess I should be there for that."
Her friend shrugged, getting up and going to the kitchen with the plate. Mallory yawned stretched, running a hand through her hair. Some of it was still black, but most of the shampoo had been burned off at some point during the mission, leaving it looking blotchy and charred. She pulled it up in a messy bun and pushed herself to her feet, going to the stairs. She glanced back at Megan. "Do you want to come?"
The Martian shook her head. "Nope. I don't know what you guys did last night to show up at my house with a possibly kidnapped prince, but I would love to have at least a little bit of deniability when the authorities and Batman come around."
Mallory groaned, rubbing her forehead. "Thanks a lot."
Megan grinned. "You're welcome. Now hurry up, or you'll miss all the good stuff."
She trudged up the stars, turning the corner to go to the study upstairs. When she pushed the door open, Dick, Conner, and Artemis looked at her expectantly. She tilted her head. "What?" she asked, going to the desk and sitting on the edge.
"Oh, nothing. Are you sure you're ready to join us so early?" Dick asked teasingly.
She just narrowed her eyes. "Not all of us were trained to not need sleep by the vampires of the League." The others smiled and she added, "it's been a minute since I've done night work. Just go ahead and talk, I'll catch up when I'm awake."
Artemis chuckled and went to the table by the window, pouring some coffee. "Here, I can do you one better," she said, handing it to her friend.
Mallory smiled, accepting the caffeine gratefully. She forced some heat into the cup and took a sip, looking around. "Ok, so what's the big talk about?" she asked.
Conner crossed his arms, leaning on the wall. "Just trying to figure out what to do with everything we got last night," he said.
"We managed to get plenty of footage of Delamb and Vertigo and the others, and I already gave most of it to Gregor to help him put his uncle in prison, but now we need to decide how to use the rest of the information we collected," Dick explained.
"Not to mention Dr. Jace and Prince Brion downstairs," Artemis added.
"Right," Mallory muttered into her cup. "So, stick to the easy stuff first, I guess. Can't the League take the information we have and use it to petition to have a looser leash on overseas missions?"
The others looked at each other. "I don't think so," Dick said, "since they would have to admit to having ties to us, who went on an illegal mission and almost got the monarchs of two countries killed in the same night."
"Well, to be fair, they shouldn't have been out in the open like that," the pyrokinetic said.
Dick smiled and Artemis rolled her eyes at the comment, but they continued to fill her in on the details of their conversation up to then. "We also thought about handing it over to Donna, since she gave us the intel to begin with. I mean, if anyone would be able to get the League on a looser leash, it would be the people on the assembly."
"But then she would have to say where she got the intel, and we all know she's not very good at lying," Mallory finished for him.
He nodded. "Well, what about Garth?" she asked.
Artemis shook her head. "We thought of that, but we just don't know that the intel we have is enough to blow our cover over. Maybe we should just wait for a while, see what comes of Gregor taking Markovia. The League could use another ally in the assembly, maybe Markovia can be that."
Mallory nodded, letting a beat pass in silence before she brought up the more difficult problem. "And…the prince?" she asked.
Dick sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "We…don't know that either. Conner and Megan agreed that he could stay here for now, but that's a short term solution."
"Not even," Mallory said. "What about his powers? He's going to need someone to help him learn how to control them, or he'll just keep losing control like he did last night. Megan can't live with someone who can kill her over a stubbed toe or slow internet."
Conner sighed and nodded. "Yeah, that's kind of where we decided to wait for you to wake up," he admitted.
She narrowed her eyes, already shaking her head.
"You're the logical choice to mentor him," Dick continued. "You know what he's going through, and you have a similar powerset, and you can't get hurt by him. Plus, you did tell his brother you would look after him."
"Yeah, and by me, I meant we!" she said. "Come on, I'm not a teacher. What about Fire, she doesn't have a protege, let her take him under her wing."
"Fire is still new to the hero life, and she's part of the League. Prince Brion has to be kept quiet from the public. Besides, you're better than you want to give yourself credit for. You're great at coaching the team in combat training."
"Yeah, hand to hand combat, not powers. It's not the same thing."
"Come on, Mal. He needs someone, you're the only one who can give him the help he needs."
She glared to the side, muttering, "he'll figure it out."
An orange glow came from the window, followed by a sizzling sound. The four friends rushed to the window, looking out to see Brion standing in the middle of a circle of lava. They looked at each other, and Artemis raised an eyebrow at Mallory. "Sure, he will."
She rolled her eyes, following Dick as they ran out to the yard. They stopped when they rounded the corner, seeing that he wasn't losing control so much as he was trying to practice activating his ability. He had one arm covered in lava and seemed to be trying to throw it at a rock. There were charred patches of grass all around the rock, but none had actually made it to the target. When he noticed them behind him, he narrowed his eyes and shoved his cooled hand in the pocket of the sweatshirt Conner had given him.
"No, go on, show us what you've got," Dick encouraged, putting on his brightest smile.
The prince scoffed. "Why?"
The group looked at each other, and Artemis stepped forward. "Because we want to help you, Prince Brion."
"Don't!" he snapped, then he took a breath and continued a little calmer, "don't call me prince. It only serves to remind me that I am in exile."
"All right, sorry, we didn't think about that," Conner said. "So, Brion, go ahead and try to hit the rock."
The teenager turned back to the boulder and heated his arm, collecting lava on it. He focused on the target for a moment, then pulled back his arm and made the motion like he was throwing a ball. A little bit of lava did go in the general direction of the target, but it fell to the ground only a few feet in front of him. He winced, embarrassed to have failed in front of an audience, but Mallory just smiled. When he turned and saw her amusement, he glared at her angrily. "What?" he demanded. "You think it is funny that I have absolutely no control over these powers I was cursed with?"
The smile fell from her face and she walked over to his side. "No, I know it's not. It just reminded me of when I was first learning how to use my fire." She lit a fireball in her hand and threw it at the rock, leaving a scorch mark exactly where she'd meant to. He raised his eyebrows slightly, impressed even though he tried to hide it, and she smiled with satisfaction and turned back to him. "Your mindset is wrong. You're thinking of your powers as something external, like a tool. You need to realize that it's a part of you, so if you want to use it, you need to reach within yourself. Try thinking of it like an extra arm. Sure, you can use the other arm to pick it up and move it around, but it's not going to be very effective or precise. You need to use the arm on its own. You want to hit the target? Try extending that arm, instead of throwing it." She nodded to the target and stepped back a little, watching as he thought about her advice.
He closed her eyes, and she nodded slowly as he took a moment to feel the sensation of the new ability surging through him. He raised an arm and lava coated it again, then he opened his eyes, aimed, and extended his arm towards the rock. A surge of lava flowed from his hand to the target, coating the edge of the rock only a foot away from the center he was aiming for. He stared at it in surprise, then looked at her, smiling. "I did it," he said.
She smiled. "I didn't doubt you could," she said. She looked at him, her expression growing serious. "You may not want these powers, but they don't have to be a curse. Once you learn to live with them, they'll feel just as normal as breathing."
"Well, how am I supposed to learn to live with them when they are so…volatile?" he asked impatiently.
Dick smiled. "Well, that's what we're here for," he said.
Mallory and Conner shook their heads. "Yeah, that coming from the guy with no powers," the clone said. The former Boy Wonder rolled his eyes, the smile staying on his face, and Malory looked back at Brion.
"He's right, though. We want to help you get to a good place. If you need anything, you can come to any of us."
"Sure, and you'll just do all this out of the kindness of your hearts, right?" the boy said sarcastically.
The friends looked at each other. "What do you mean by that?" Artemis asked.
"You know I am of the Markovian royal blood. What do you expect in return? Money? Power? Political moves?"
"Brion, you're in exile. Even if we wanted anything from you, we know you can't get it," Conner pointed out.
"Plus, we're good on money, we have enough political allies, and Inferno just showed you that we don't need any more power. Really, we're good," Dick added.
Brion didn't look convinced. "No one would do all of this and not expect something in return," he said, his tone still accusing.
The friends just smiled. "You really haven't grasped the whole 'hero' concept yet, have you?" Artemis joked. "Relax, kid. Come on, try to hit the target again."
He looked each of them up and down, still seeming to be trying to find their angle, but eventually he just grunted and turned back to the rock, shooting lava at it again.
Mallory backed up so she was even with the others. "This'll be interesting," she muttered.
Conner nodded. "We have a long way to go."
The small group was in the yard for half an hour with Brion, coaching him on activating and deactivating his ability and giving him tips on how to calm down when he felt himself losing control. Mallory had just put out a tree after Brion had caught it on fire when Dick suddenly froze for a second, then started to go into the house, a tense look on his face.
"You ok?" Artemis asked.
He put on a smile that all of the OGs knew was fake. "Yeah, Megan just called me in. Uh, Mal, why don't you guys take a break from training for a minute? But, uh, stay out here. It's a nice day, might as well enjoy it."
He turned on his heel and went back up to the house, leaving Mallory, Artemis, and Conner to exchange confused glances. None of them knew why Nightwing was acting so strange, but Mallory intended to find out. She looked at Brion. "I'll be right back, she said. "I'm going to get something to drink. Anyone else want something while I'm inside?" They shook their heads, and Mallory went to the back door, slipping inside noiselessly and easing it closed.
She walked through the house, listening for her friend's voice, and followed the tones until she was around the corner from the front hall and stood there, listening.
"Dick, is everything all right? I saw smoke coming from the backyard," Kaldur said. Mallory raised an eyebrow, even more confused that Dick would act so strange when it was just Kaldur at the door.
"Oh, uh, Malory was bored and she was practicing out back, Conner startled her and she ended up catching a tree on fire. It's out now," the former Boy Wonder replied easily.
"Ah, yes, I knew she and Artemis would be here, I was hoping to speak with all of you together."
"Well, I don't know if you really want to right now. Neither of them are in good moods."
"Oh, well, thank you for the warning. Really, you and Megan are the only ones I need to speak with, I suppose."
Mallory narrowed her eyes, mildly offended that her 'moods' were a valid excuse to stay away.
"Sure, what do you need?" Megan asked.
There was a pause, then a new set of footsteps came up to the house. "This is V'lana. She is the daughter of the leader of the Atlantean territory Aqua. Her father has been at odds with King Arthur for some time, but he has grown ill and V'lana has decided to pledge her loyalty to the greater Atlantis. She asked the king to take her in as a protege and teach her and train her on the surface world, and Arthur in turn asked if I would take on the responsibility."
"So, you want to put her on the team?" Megan asked.
"In time, yes, that is the goal. But she is not yet ready for that burden. She graduated at the top of her class at the Conservatory of Sorcery, but she does not have the skills necessary to fight hand to hand on the surface, and her telepathy has been neglected in her studies. I was hoping that you could help her develop her power, and that Inferno, Superboy, Tigress, and, if you are willing, Nightwing, would help her learn hand to hand combat before introducing her to the team."
"Yeah, sounds good," Dick said quickly. "Well, see you next time. I'll come up to the Watchtower when you bring her and give them a hand with her training."
"You misunderstand," Kaldur said. "I was hoping to introduce her now and let you start getting to know each other."
"Uh, right, but we don't want her to get fried, do we? I told you, the girls aren't in the mood for this."
Kaldur chuckled. "You underestimate them, my friend. I am sure that it will be fine."
There were some footsteps, then Dick jumped in again, his tone so smooth and calm that it betrayed the nerves he was covering to Mallory, though she thought that if she could see his face as well as hear his voice, she would probably be completely convinced. "No, look, there's no reason for you to stay. I'll take V'lana out back and introduce her. There's already a full house, and I'm sure you have more important things to do, right, Aquaman?"
Mallory could hear the smile in Kaldur's voice as he replied, "very well. I have not made arrangements for her housing, but I will work on that today."
"Hey, don't worry about that, either. We'll work it out," Dick said easily. They said goodbye, the door closed, and the footsteps came towards her.
Just before they turned the corner, she stepped out, blocking Dick's fist as it unconsciously came at her face. He slumped against the wall, holding his chest as he caught his breath.
"Jeez, Mal, how long have you been there?"
"Long enough," she said coolly, crossing her arms.
"What?" he asked, straightening up.
"We aren't doing this," she replied, narrowing her eyes.
"Doing what?" he asked, his face too innocent.
She didn't change her stance. "We aren't starting with the secrets. We shouldn't be keeping Brion a secret from Kaldur."
Artemis and Conner came in from the back, and Megan rounded the corner from the door in time to hear the last sentence. "What?" Conner asked, immediately looking at the younger hero with suspicion.
"Look, it's just for now, until we can figure out what our next step is."
"This is Kaldur you're talking about," Mallory said.
"No, this is the Justice League we're talking about," Dick corrected. "If they ask Kaldur something, it's better if he can actually have deniability. I wouldn't have had to lie to him if he hadn't picked this second to bring…wait, where's V'lana?"
They all looked around, and Artemis groaned. "Oh, no. We left Brion outside by himself."
Dick shook his head, giving them an annoyed look as they turned and hurried back to the yard to see the Atlantean talking with the prince, her long, black hair pulled up in a ponytail now, her hands on her hips as she talked to a frustrated-looking Markovian. "Ugh, really?" he muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose. He looked at Mallory out of the corner of his eye. "You were supposed to stay with him."
She glared at him. "How was I supposed to know he would bring another kid? Besides, this isn't on me. We wouldn't have had to hide anything if you had just told Kaldur the truth." He groaned and looked away.
"Well, maybe she doesn't know who he is?" Artemis offered as they got closer. "Hey, V'lana, I see you met SB's cousin, Brian."
The girl raised an eyebrow at them. "Really? I didn't realize that Superboy was related to the Markovian royal family. And I believe his name is pronounced Brion."
"Great," Artemis said.
"You do know you're supposed to be keeping a low profile, right?" Mallory asked, looking at the prince.
He narrowed his eyes. "I did not tell her who I am. And I do not appreciate you assuming it is my fault that your secret is out already."
"Wait, if he didn't tell you, how did you know?" Conner asked.
The younger girl rolled her eyes. "Please. I live under the ocean, not a rock. We do get news of the surface world, you know. So, why are you keeping this from Aquaman? He seems like a decent man, I do not believe he would do anything about it."
Mallory looked at Dick pointedly, and he sighed. "He is a good man," he said, "but we have our own reasons for keeping him in the dark. Look, we didn't intend to drag you into this, but you can't tell anyone that Brion is staying here, not even Kaldur."
"But why?" the girl asked, crossing her arms.
Dick looked around for help, but Mallory purposefully wouldn't return the look, and Artemis and Conner just stood silently, waiting for him to give a real reason. Finally, he just sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Look, you're just going to have to trust me on this, ok? We can train you along with him, if you want, and we'll figure out your living arrangements, I just need to hear you say that you'll keep this quiet."
V'lana looked at each of them, narrowing her eyes suspiciously. "You aren't planning anything that I should stop, are you?" she asked.
Mallory snorted. "Yes, we are. That's why we're explaining this so suspiciously on purpose," she said sarcastically. Artemis elbowed her in the ribs and she winced, rubbing the spot. "Sorry. Look, it's really not all that complicated. Brion's in exile and we broke the law shutting down a human trafficking ring in Markovia and getting him out. If the League finds out about it, we'll be in big trouble and the prince here won't have anywhere to go. So, will you help us out here, or are we going to have to kidnap you and say you ran away?"
She could feel her friends glaring at her, but V'lana let an amused smile spread across her face. "Well, when you put it like that…" she said, glancing at Brion, then the others. "Sure. I'll keep your secret."
Dick sighed with relief. "Thank you," he said. "So, V'lana, welcome to the secret squad."
Artemis laughed, shaking her head. "Oh, we are not calling ourselves that," she said firmly.
"You have a better name?" he asked.
"No," she admitted. "Because we're not a team. Not an official one, anyway."
He shrugged. "All right, if you want to get technical about it, welcome to the secret not a team."
V'lana chuckled. "Well, unofficially, I'm honored to be included. So, what does this unofficial team plan on doing next?"
