Ok, so i know I said I wasn't going to be doing season three, but I realized that in order to get to where I want to be, I might need to use some things from that season. That being said, I am going to do my own thing with it, so while I may use some characters, it doesn't necessarily mean that they'll read the same way as they did in the show, and I'll be cutting other characters entirely. Season three was, in my opinion, a mess once it got to the id and late season, and I'd like to try to correct that, even if it's just in my own head cannon. I really hope you like what I do with it, and please don't get too mad with the changes that I may make. With all that out of the way, I hope you like the chapter, and please review.
Year 9,
Eight months later:
"When are you going to be back?" Megan asked Mallory over the comms.
"I don't know, I've got a busy day. Maybe in a couple of hours. Why?"
"Red Tornado's on duty and he brought something to my attention, thinks the team should go check it out."
"How serious?" the pyrokinetic asked. She zipped up the over-sized wetsuit she was wearing, making sure it wasn't going to leak, and plunged down into the icy water, transitioning to swimming for a moment before she pulled herself out in the ice cavern and shed the suit entirely, leaving a puffy arctic-level coat.
"I mean, it's not all that serious I guess. There's a rally slash protest at the site for the construction to start for the Mars Communication Satellite station. Tornado just thought it would be good to have some people in the crowd in case things turn ugly."
Mallory walked down the hall of the Fortress of Solitude, checking on the creatures in each case as she passed. "I think you can manage that one without me," she said. "I just got to the Fortress of Solitude, so I'm easily an hour and a half away from a zeta tube."
"Why are you at the Fortress?" the Martian asked.
"I've been house-sitting for Clark since he went to space," she replied. The League had volunteered to give the Rannians a hand when their war escalated to outside interference, and Clark was one of the first to step up.
"Oh, well, at least they'll be back soon, you won't have to make the trip up as often."
"I don't know, I've kind of liked it. It's really peaceful up here."
"That's what Conner says," she replied. "So, since you don't want to come on this mission, who should I call instead?"
Mallory laughed, starting a fire in her hand and spraying it at the baby sun-eater, a sentient plant creature that her former mentor had saved from an angry planet. She'd asked him at the time what he planned on doing when it got big enough to want to eat their sun, but he'd just said they would deal with that when it happened. "I don't know, Megan. You're the leader, you should be able to decide who to send on this busy-work of a mission."
"Hey, it's not busy work, this could turn out to be serious," she said defensively, then she sighed and added, "but I'm tired of deciding who to send on what. I mean, Bart's getting tired of being benched, but he's not the best at stealth."
"Ok, well, this isn't going to require stealth, so he'd be perfect. So that's him and Jaime, maybe Cassie. Oh, you could send Stephanie and Cassandra, give them some field time."
Stephanie and Cassandra, otherwise known as Spoiler and Orphan, were Batman's newest proteges. Stephanie had been working her way into the Bat family for a while, after she'd helped Tim bring her father, Clue Master, to justice. Cassandra was a little more complicated. She had become a permanent resident of Wayne Manor overnight, after Barbara had lost the use of her legs while saving her life. Stephanie fit right into the team's upbeat energy, but Orphan was different. She couldn't speak, or wouldn't, no one really knew except the Bats, who wouldn't tell, and even if she could she was much more serious and withdrawn. She'd been raised as an assassin, a Shadow, and she was still learning how to have a life outside of that identity.
"I don't know if Orphan's the best fit for this," Megan mused. "She tends to use more force than necessary, and we don't want to cause any problems."
Mallory tilted her head to the side in agreement. "Well, Virgil would be good, and Cissie. Oh, and Peter isn't doing anything today."
Megan groaned. "You literally just named all of them!" she complained.
Mallory laughed, moving on to feeding the animals in the cases. "Well, I don't know. Who's leading the squad?"
"Well, I was hoping you, but I guess I'll give Artemis a call."
"Why can't you do it?" she asked, scattering some grain for the dodo bird.
"I have a session later, I'm not going to be on the mission at all."
"And Conner? He just doesn't want to?"
Megan chuckled. "Well, that, and he's in Genomorph City today, giving them a hand with the new school."
"Oh, I wish he would have told me, I would have gone with him," Mallory said.
She finished feeding the last animal and sighed. "Ok, well, I'll let you go so you can call her," she said, making her way back to the entrance of the Fortress and putting the wetsuit back on. "I'm going to be going by the house later, I was going to give her a hand bringing those boxes Mrs. West wants over to Keystone, but if she's already gone I'll just borrow the car I guess."
"Ok, say hi to Roy and Lian for me," the Martian requested.
"Will do," Mallory promised, then they signed off and she dove back into the freezing water, coming out the other side and starting the long flight to the nearest zeta tube.
It was three hours before Mallory made it to Star City after getting to the zeta tube, going back to her apartment to change and check on Moe, running some files to her office, calling Mrs. West to make sure she was home, and then finally zetaing to Star and walking the six blocks to Roy's house. She knocked twice, then opened the door.
"Hey, anyone home?" she called.
Lian shrieked from a few rooms away, and Mallory grinned when the little girl turned a corner and jumped into her arms. She spun her to absorb the momentum, and Lian laughed and leaned her head back. "That was a good hug," Mallory said, setting her back on the ground. "Hey, where's your dad?"
"He's in the yard," she replied. She giggled and added, "he broke the grill."
Mallory chuckled and followed the four year old out the back door, where Roy was covered in charcoal, beating the grill with a hammer. "Woah, what did it ever do to you?" Mallory asked, laughing.
He jumped and turned around, smiling sheepishly and returning her hug. "Well, for starters it wasted my whole morning," he said.
She raised an eyebrow, looking at the dents his tantrum had created. "You know, for someone who was cloned off a genius, you're not very smart. Why didn't you just call Arsenal? You know how good he is at that stuff."
Roy rolled his eyes. "I have some pride left, despite what you may think," he joked.
"Yeah, well, with the amount you started with, I'm not surprised," she shot back.
He rolled his eyes and picked Lian up. "Daddy, Daddy, tell her what happened yesterday!" the girl insisted.
"I don't know, Kitten. I think we should just keep that between us," he replied.
Mallory leaned against the brick ledge of the porch. "You might as well tell me, if you don't I'll just get it from Artemis later," she pointed out.
He sighed. "I was trying to show her how to hold a bow, and Brucely caught me off guard and I ended up shooting the light out."
The pyrokinetic smirked. "That's what you get for not practicing," she said, sharing an exaggerated look with Lian. She leaned in and whispered loudly, "not that he was very good before."
"All right, you know what?" Roy said, and they all laughed. "Why are you even here?" he asked, setting his daughter on the lawn chair.
She sobered a little. "I came to give Artemis a hand, she's giving some of Wally's stuff to his mom, but she got pulled for a mission so I told her I would do it."
"Oh, yeah, she mentioned something about that," he said. "They should be in her room, you want a hand?"
"No, I can do it, thanks. I'll let you get back to your grill abuse." They smiled a little, and she added, "I could use your car, though, if it's all right."
"Yeah, go ahead, the keys are on the hook by the door." He tilted his head, looking at her face closely. "You sure you don't want me to come with you? I can change and be ready in ten minutes."
She smiled gratefully, but she shook her head. "No, thanks, it'll be fine. I haven't seen her in…well, a while. I'm kind of looking forward to catching up."
He nodded, and she turned back to the house. As she went down the hall, she couldn't keep from looking at the pictures her friend had up. There were family pictures of him, Jade, and Lian. One of them was taken the day before his wife had left them after a targeted attack on her, deciding that it was too dangerous for her to be in contact with Lian. That was just four months ago. Roy said that Lian still asked when mommy was coming home. It broke his heart every time he couldn't give her an answer.
There were other pictures of Artemis with her niece and brother-in-law, after she'd moved in with them. That was two months ago, when her apartment was bought by the school to turn it into dorms and she was left with nowhere to go. There was a picture of the old team in civies, taken on the day Roy was inducted into the League, and some of the friends in pairs. She paused in front of one of her, Dick, Wally, and Roy hanging out at a carnival. She didn't even know that one existed, he must have hung it recently. She smiled a little, shaking her head at how young they all looked. She missed those days.
She turned away, clearing her thoughts, and made the rest of the trip to her friend's room, where the three boxes were sitting by the door, ready to go. She flipped the top flap open to make sure and was greeted with all of her friend's old action figures. She sighed and closed the box, picking it up. She made three trips to the car for the three boxes, and when she was done she grabbed the keys off the hook and poked her head out the back door.
"I'm heading out. You want me to do anything while I'm gone? Fill the tank, groceries, anything like that?"
He shook his head. "Thanks, but I think we're good. When you get back, though, I'll let you cook some steaks before you leave."
She chuckled and nodded. "You got it. I'll see you later."
She pulled out of the driveway and drove to a zeta tube that she knew could accommodate the car. It scanned her and the vehicle and let her out a mile outside of Keystone. She drove the rest of the way to the West house and pulled in, but she didn't get out right away. The last time she'd been at this house was the wake, and she wasn't exactly eager to relive those memories. The door opened, though, and Mrs. West stepped out on the porch, forcing Mallory to put a smile on her face and step out of the car.
"Mallory, it's so good to see you!" Mrs. West said, joining her in the driveway.
Mallory smiled and returned the woman's hug. "It's good to see you, too. I'm sorry it's been so long, but–"
The older woman shook her head. "You don't have to make excuses for my benefit. I understand. Here, let me help you with those and I'll fix us something to eat. There's plenty of food in the house." She smiled sadly and added, "old habits, and all." They brought the boxes inside and put them on the table, then went to the kitchen, where Mrs. West went to the refrigerator and pulled out a pan of chicken. "Would you get some plates?" she asked, bringing the cold chicken to the table. Mallory went to the cabinet and grabbed the plates and forks, bringing them back to the table wordlessly. She slid into a seat while her friend's mom dished out the food, and they were quiet for a moment, the time since they'd talked last evident in the silence. Finally, Mrs. West smiled and asked, "so, what have you been up to?"
"I'm working at Angel's Placement in Metropolis," she started.
"Oh, good. What do you do there?"
"I'm a supervisor, so I'm one of the people who goes through all of the cases that come through us and I do house calls to try and place kids with the most compatible fosters."
"I'm so glad you're working with children. You're so good with them."
Mallory chuckled. "Well, I don't know about that, but I do like what I do. I've helped place a lot of kids with people who ended up becoming their family."
"That's amazing, that you can do that for someone. But then, I always knew you would do something like that. You're just not satisfied to let Inferno fight to make the world better, are you? You have to fight as Mallory, too."
The redhead smiled and looked at her plate. "That's nothing special," she said after a moment. "Most of the League is like that. Lawyers, philanthropists, reporters, detectives, therapists. A social worker doesn't really stand out in that lineup."
Mrs. West shook her head. "You don't have to stand out," she said. "You add a little bit of light wherever you go, in or out of costume. I'm so glad Wally had people like you around him."
Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes and she blinked them away, huffing dismissively. "No, I was lucky to have been a part of them. Not many people get to have the kind of friends that I have." She sighed and continued, "that's why I do what I do. Everyone deserves to find their family, like I found with them."
Cissie King-Jones is Arrowette, by the way. I didn't remember her name before I looked it up, so I just thought I'd put this in so y'all weren't confused. Please review! :)
