It's a little longer than usual, but I didn't want either of these to be standalone chapters, so here it is. Oh, and I posted an extra chapter for Easter, so if you haven't read that, go back and read chap 263. Anyway, Hope you like it, please review!
One week. That was all it took for the League to organize a squad, gather provisions, and make their arrangements for a four week mission in deep space. The volunteers for this excursion were Superman, Wonder Woman, Hawkwoman, Icon, Hawkman, and Guy Gardener. The rest of the League, and the team by extension, had the task of coming up with a way to make sure that the absence of the heavy hitters would not be noticed. Megan and J'onn offered to put in appearances and they decided to ask Donna if she would pose as Diana a few times. As a Green Lantern, Guy would not be missed.
As for Clark, he insisted that Metropolis wouldn't need him, that Inferno and Superboy would be enough of a presence to keep the bad guys in line. The request caught the others by surprise, but Mallory knew it was directly related to their talk, that he was using the month away as a test, a preview of what his retirement would look like for the rest of the world. It wasn't really an answer, but it was a start.
Just three days after that meeting, the six Leaguers gathered at the Watchtower, the only other people there the ones saying goodbye or receiving last minute orders. Mallory, Conner, and Clark found a quiet space a few feet from the rest to say their goodbyes.
"You have anything for us to do while you're gone?" Conner asked, getting the practicalities out of the way first.
Clark shook his head, though. "Nothing special. You might drop in on Volcana, bring her her groceries for the month. She was complaining that you hadn't been out there in a while, anyway," he said, looking at Mallory. She nodded, making a mental note to go to the island in the next few days. "Oh, and don't forget to take care of the plants and animals at the Fortress," the Kryptonian added.
Both of his proteges nodded. "That's it? Nothing about Metropolis? Or looking out for Loid and Ma and Pa?" Conner asked.
Clark titled his head. "No. Should there be?"
The clone smiled a little. "No, but you usually do anyway."
"You two can handle things for four weeks. Just look out for each other and make sure Lois doesn't do anything suicidal."
"And there it is," Mallory said, looking at Conner. "He just couldn't resist."
"That's just voicing a concern, not reminding you of anything," the Man of Steel protested, but they let the argument go before it took root, seeing the other groups starting to say their goodbyes. Clark looked at the two of them, pride in his eyes. "I'll see you in a month." He hugged Conner first, just a quick thump on the back and then a handshake. When it was Mallory's turn, he opened his arms and she leaned into them, wrapping hers around his middle and squeezing hard. "Be safe," he told her.
She grinned, rolling her eyes. "Always." When they let go, she tilted her head, excitement bubbling to the surface. "Good luck."
He nodded. "If there's something to find, we'll find it."
They walked towards the hangar where the other six heroes were converging near the Javelin, the heroes staying behind in a small group in front of them. "Good luck," Raquel said, and Diana nodded to her.
"Thank you. I trust that you will be fine in our absence. We will send a signal every three days with updates. The gods willing, there will be some soon." They filed onto the ship, final unspoken words given with looks and body language, and then the ship was powering on, the doors closing, and the group staying behind left the room, going back to the Bridge just in time to watch the Leaguers disappear into space, their ion trail the only evidence of their departure.
"I hope this isn't a waste of time," Mallory murmured, hugging herself as she stared out into space, anxiety eating at her stomach. She should be on that ship, she should be finding the updates herself, not waiting for them to reach them from across the galaxy.
"It will not be," Donna assured her, squeezing Kyle's hand slightly. She was just as anxious as Mallory. Maybe more, with how things were going in the political scene lately.
"She's right," Cassie piped up confidently. "They're not going to stop looking until they find something."
The pyrokinetic nodded. She knew that, she was just worried that there wouldn't be anything to find, that the Light and their partner had covered their tracks well enough that there weren't any loose strings to follow.
Conner seemed to read her mind. "You found out about Manheim and Apokolips. If you found that here on Earth, they'll find something on their end."
She nodded, feeling a little more confident. The others started going to the zeta tube, so the past and present team members didn't turn at first when the tubes powered on. It wasn't until they heard the computer announce Karen and Mal that they looked at the machine, watching their friends materialize across the room.
"Donna? What are you doing up here?" was the first thing Mal asked when he appeared. The Amazon didn't get a chance to answer before Raquel had flown over to them, wrapping Karen in a hug.
"Who cares? How's the little one?" she asked, looking down at Karen's very large baby bump.
The mom-to-be grinned, her hands moving to rest on her belly automatically. "Fine. Kicking more every day."
"Just like their parents," Conner said, the rest of the group making it over to them. He shook Mal's hand, going in for a one armed hug.
Cassie looked between their former teammates, excitement glowing on her face. "What are you guys doing here? We haven't seen you in months!"
Karen propped one arm on her hip, arching an eyebrow. "And whose fault is that? None of y'all are carrying a whole second human around with you, you could have come out to see us. These two did." She jutted her chin at Conner, implying that Megan had gone with him.
"Well, I mean, no offense, but he doesn't have a real job, so…" Mallory pointed out, letting her voice trail off in favor of smiling sweetly at the clone to counter the fake glare he sent her way.
"We've talked about this. Just because I can set my hours doesn't mean it's not a real job."
She shrugged. "Just because you said it doesn't mean I bought it," she replied. She waved a hand in his direction, cutting him off before he could defend his profession. "So what are you doing up here?"
"We're actually moving back to the East coast," Karen replied, earning smiles from the people around her.
"That's great!" Kyle said.
"What about your job?" Donna asked.
"Well, I got an offer from STAR labs in New York. That's kind of why we're here. Our old lease ran out this week, and we didn't want to renew it when we're moving so soon, but our new lease doesn't start for another two weeks. We're just going to stay here tonight and we'll get a hotel for the rest of the time. I just didn't feel like dealing with finding one tonight."
Mallory shook her head. "No, you're not getting a hotel. Come on." She was already stepping onto the platform to punch her coordinates into the zeta tube. "I still have my apartment in Metropolis, and no one's staying there. You can use it as long as you need to."
"Oh, you sure?" Mal asked, but he was right on her heels.
She rolled her eyes. "Duh. You coming, Karen?"
The pregnant woman said a quick goodbye to the others and waddled over to them. The zeta tube dropped them off just two blocks away, and they reached the apartment in just a few minutes. When she opened the door, she handed her friends the key, looking around the space. "You can just move my stuff out of the way, but there's everything you should need. Alex had all the basics, pots, towels, that kind of stuff, so I didn't bring much with me, just clothes, really. And we did switch out TVs, mine was better."
Mal looked at the mantle, a disappointed groan coming out of his throat at the empty space where Oliver's housewarming gift used to be, a normal size television there instead. "Aw, man."
She chuckled, but Karen was looking around the space, her lips pursed thoughtfully, her eyebrows drawn in confusion, or disapproval. "Why do you still have this place?" she asked, looking back at Mallory.
The redhead froze for a half a second, then tossed her hair over her shoulder, laughing. "Well, after all the HQs the team's been through, I learned it's always good to have a spare." Her friend didn't stop giving her the look, and the smile faltered. She lifted a shoulder in a half shrug. "I don't know, it just makes me feel better, knowing it's here." Karen frowned, and Mallory shook her head. "Can you not say what you're thinking?" she asked quickly. "I've already had my commitment issues pointed out once this week, I don't need another lecture. I love him, I love living with him, I just…I'm not ready to give up this place. Not yet."
"Does he know about it?" Mal asked, leaning on the counter as he entered the conversation.
"Of course," she replied. "I don't keep secrets from him." The lie left a bitter taste on her tongue, but she swallowed it down and added, "And it came in handy today, didn't it?"
At that, the scientist finally cracked a smile, leaning against her husband, his arm going around her shoulder without even thinking about it. "Yeah, it did. Thanks, this'll help a lot. We can help with rent while we're here."
Mallory shrugged. "You don't have to, it's just two weeks. If you need anything, give me a call."
Mallory had hardly made it back to their apartment when she got a text from her brother that simply said, 'SOS LA, now'. She groaned, her hand freezing just before she threw her keys into the bowl by the door, making Alex look up from where he was stretched out on the couch reading a study on anesthesia protocol.
"What?" he groaned through an easy smile, already knowing the answer would involve her leaving again.
She sighed, putting her keys back in her pocket. "It's Peter," she said apologetically, holding her phone out so he could read the text himself.
He nodded. "Go."
She took the two steps to where he was lying, giving him a quick peck on the lips as both an apology and a thank you. "I promise, the next crisis I'll pass on."
He laughed. "Yeah, right. You want to make this up to me? Bring me something when you get back."
She nodded readily. "Apple turnover from the bakery on Fourth?"
His face lit up. "And that's why I love you."
"Because I bribe you not to be mad at me for never being here?" she asked, pausing at the door to hear his answer.
He grinned. "Well, yeah, and it happens so much you knew my order at every restaurant and cafe in the first week."
She smirked, rolling her eyes as she pulled the door shut behind her. The zeta tube was just down the block, but it took a minute to search for a tube near Gar's apartment in LA where her brother was staying. When she got there, she was surprised to see that she wasn't the only one who'd gotten the SOS. Jaime opened the door for her, but besides him and Peter, Megan, Jinx, Virgil, Cassie, and Perdita were spread around the room. The only person who wasn't there but should have been was Gar.
"What's going on?" she asked, the Queen's presence making her nervous. Her eyes found Megan and Peter, and the Martian linked the three of them to bring her up to speed.
"It's Gar," Megan started, biting the inside of her cheek anxiously. "He's been withdrawn, since Tara…" Mallory nodded, not needing a reminder of what happened. It was hard not to glance down at her brother's prosthetic leg at the name, but she kept her eyes on her friend.
"He's been taking pills," Peter said bluntly, getting right to the point. "I didn't know it at first, he was just sleeping more, I figured with everything that had happened he could use the rest. But then it started snowballing, he was always sleeping, he only came out of his room to eat, and even then only like once a day, sometimes not even that. He's been missing work, he doesn't care about anything, and then I found those in his room." He nodded to the coffee table where there were three prescription bottles, two empty and one half full.
"How long has this been going on?" Mallory asked, disappointment building in her chest.
Peter winced. "Months." Mallory made a face, and he nodded. "I know, but I swear I didn't know he was taking anything, I thought he was just depressed. I kept telling him to go talk to someone, and he kept telling me he would. Until I confronted him about the pills, then he stopped pretending, he just shut down. I tried to to talk to him, then I threatened to tell you guys or his agent. Perdita came in this morning and tried to talk to him, we thought he'd take it better from her, but he kicked her out. I didn't know what else to do."
"So…what are we doing?"
"An intervention," Megan explained. Mallory nodded, twisting her lips to the side and keeping her thoughts to herself. "I know you don't think they work," the Martian said, reading her friend without even needing to use her powers, "but that's why you're here, to keep things helpful."
The redhead shook her head. "I don't know how helpful I'll be, but I'll try."
"Good. He should be here soon," Peter said, switching to talking out loud.
"Where is he?" Cassie asked, the others turning now that they were done explaining everything to the new arrival.
"His agent came and dragged him to the studio a few hours ago. They've filmed everything they could without him, but he couldn't call in anymore. Trust me, when he gets here, he's not gonna be in a good mood."
Virgil rolled his eyes. "Great."
True to his word, the green teen arrived in just a few minutes, and he was certainly not in a good mood. That wasn't what made the group freeze and take in a collective breath, though. The boy that was standing in front of them didn't look anything like the boy they knew, the one that was so enthusiastic and full of life, that had been in peak physical condition to be a part of the team. This boy had a dull look in his eyes, his hair that he'd been so particular about just a few months ago was overgrown and scraggly. He had whiskers peppering his cheeks and dark circles under his eyes. He'd lost weight and muscle tone, and his skin seemed to sag a bit on his hunched frame. Even his skin looked like a paler shade of green. He was wearing sweatpants and a stained wife beater.
When no one said anything for a moment, he scoffed, directing his glare at Peter. "What's this?"
"We just want to talk, hermano. You've been so busy lately."
Jaime's words didn't fool the actor for a second. "Really? An intervention?"
Megan narrowed her eyes, seeing that this was going to be harder than they thought. "Yes, an intervention. Now go sit down, you're going to listen to us."
Her brother rolled his eyes, but he did what she said. He fell into one of the chairs hard, like his legs physically couldn't hold him up anymore. When his eyes landed on the table, though, the tiredness left his eyes for a second, a wave of panic and then anger replacing it. "You searched my room?!" he yelled, with more force than Mallory had previously thought he was capable of in his condition.
Peter shook his head. "What was I supposed to do? I knew you were using something, I needed to prove it. Besides, they were under your bed, I wouldn't call that hidden."
His friend crossed his arms, shaking his head, fuming in his seat. "Fine, you're not gonna leave until you say what you came to say, so just get it over with."
The others exchanged looks. This was going to be hard. Mallory was the first to move to the couches opposite where the green teen was sitting. She hoped this would actually help, and not end up backfiring on them.
"Don't be like that, Ese," Jaime started, leading the rest in sitting on the couches around the actor. "We're here because we're worried about you, this," he gestured to the younger boy, indicating everything about him, "this isn't you."
"Right," Virgil picked up the thought and ran with it. "You're supposed to be working with the team, helping people, keeping everyone on point and working together."
"You're important to the team, Hermano, but you haven't even been to the Watchtower in months. And, no offense, but look at you, you aren't in any shape to go out in the field. That used to be important to you, you used to take pride in being a hero and you loved going on missions. You haven't been to a training session in so long, you wouldn't even get greenlit to go with us if the world was ending."
Virgil shot him a look, taking over with a lighter tone than what Jaime had drifted into. "Bottom line, we all miss you, and we want you to get some help. You can still fix this, just start coming to training, once you get back into that routine, it won't be hard to fix the rest."
Jaime nodded encouragingly. "We all need help sometimes, there's no shame in it, you know that."
They stopped their schpeel and Gar arched an eyebrow. "Next."
The others exchanged a glance. "Gar, what happened?" Cassie asked softly, looking at the boy. "Was it really so bad that you couldn't talk to one of us?" The green boy didn't respond, didn't even twitch a facial muscle, and the Amazon sighed and pushed on. "I get that you've had a rough time, but so have we, we were all there. If it's too much, I get that. I even get you not wanting to be on the team. But I don't get you trying to self-destruct, I don't get you isolating yourself instead of leaning on your friends to help you through. This isn't the first time you've lost someone, you know better than this. We need our friend back, even if you won't be our teammate again."
"Next."
Mallory felt Peter bristle beside her, but he kept his mouth shut as Perdita gave it a shot. "Garfield," she started, her accent thicker than usual with the tears gathering in her eyes, "you cannot push everyone away. You do not have to talk to us, or anyone in the hero community, but you cannot keep this bottled up inside, and you cannot continue to waste away. It has stolen your best qualities, your optimism, your desire to help people and do the right thing. Whatever you are feeling that is driving you to this," she motioned towards the pill bottles still sitting on the table, "ignoring it will not make it go away. I can get you a counselor, one that will be discreet. Please, let me do that for you."
Gar studied her for a moment, his face unreadable. "Why?"
She tilted her head, her eyebrows drawing together in confusion. "You are my friend, I would do anything to help you."
He scoffed. "'Friend'? Where were you when Tara died? Where have you been for the past six months?" He shook his head. "You came all the way from Vlativa to give that speech? Do us both a favor and go back where you belong. You're better at being a queen than a friend."
The girl recoiled, reacting as if she'd been physically struck, and that was the last straw for Peter. His hands clenched into fists, anger flashing in his eyes as he openly glared at his best friend. "You don't get to treat her like that!" he yelled. "You don't have any reason to be so rude to any of them. Everyone in this room is here because they still care about you, and we're not gonna let you destroy your life, no matter how hard you make it for us. Would it kill you to just go talk to Canary? I told you a hundred times, she helped me a lot after what happened, she'll help you through this, help you get your life back on track."
"What do you even care?"
Mallory had never seen the look that came over her brother's face. It was about 10 percent hurt, 20 percent sadness, and 70 percent pure rage. He flew out of his seat, taking a few steps closer to Gar's chair. "I lost my leg saving your life!" he yelled.
Gar was on his feet now, too, and a shadow of guilt crossed his face before it was replaced with the same anger that had been in his eyes all evening. "So what do you want, a medal? I didn't ask you to get involved."
"What I want is for you to make the sacrifice worth something! I didn't save you just to watch you throw your life away a few months later while I'm hobbling around on this damn thing." He slammed a fist down on the robotic leg, never breaking eye contact with his friend.
Mallory's mouth fell open a little at the pain in her brother's voice. It was the first time she'd ever heard him have anything bad to say about the leg, the first time he admitted to it being a struggle. Gar didn't seem to appreciate the significance, though. "Then don't watch me."
Peter's fist was flying before any of them could react, connecting with Gar's cheek. The force of the punch, combined with the surprise of it and Gar's weakened body, sent him to the floor. Jaime got to Peter before the others, holding one arm firmly to keep the fight from escalating, but the damage had already been done. For as unreceptive as Gar had been during the talking, he was now completely shut down. His eyes were glazed over, and he seemed so tired. It took him a full minute to get back to his feet, and he looked around the semicircle. "Are you done?" he asked dully.
Megan stepped up to her brother, angling her body so that she was between him and Peter. "It's easy to sit there and dismiss what everyone's saying, to project your self pity and anger on others rather than actually dealing with your problems, than actually facing your guilt and grief." She paused and took a breath. "You're not the only one who's hurting, the only one who feels guilty about what happened. I can't help you if you keep withdrawing from everyone who cares about you. You may not want to admit that you need us, but we need you. I need my brother."
Gar's face softened. "I'm sorry." His eyes closed for a second, but when they opened again, the anger was back in them. "I don't want to be needed. I can't take being needed anymore, so stop telling me how to fix myself. I'm doing this my way. Alone. Next." His eyes went to Mallory, but she just narrowed her eyes, pressing her lips together, and he tilted his head, sneering. "I guess that's everyone." He stood and started to walk away.
Megan and Peter looked at Mallory, telling her to step in, and she sighed, standing up. "Not quite." He froze, but he didn't turn around. "You're going to get clean, there's no choice here. And since you won't take the first step here and start dealing with the root cause, I'll give you a push. Until you go to a session with Black Canary, you're banned from the Team, the League, and all hero activity, effective immediately."
He didn't react at first, and she realized she was holding her breath, waiting for his answer. He had just spent half an hour telling them he didn't want to be in the team anymore, so maybe her threat seemed a bit empty, but she knew him, she knew what the team meant to him. It was home, it was his, and even if he wasn't active right now, she knew he wouldn't be able to let it go. Or, at least she hoped he wouldn't. Every second of silence felt like she was watching him slip a little further out of reach, but finally, he sighed, irritation practically rolling off him.
"Fine," he snapped, glaring at her over his shoulder. "I guess you would know about getting clean."
She didn't allow the shot to sink in, but she stayed standing until he had slammed the door to his room, then she let the tension out of her shoulders and turned to the others. "Well, at least that's something."
Megan nodded, her eyes trailing to the closed bedroom door. "I don't even recognize him anymore," she said quietly. "How could we have let it go this long?"
Peter winced. "That's on me, and I'm sorry. I just, I hoped he would straighten out on his own, but he just kept getting worse."
Mallory and Megan exchanged a glance and the pyrokinetic put a hand on her brother's shoulder. "Come on, you can stay with me tonight, give him a chance to calm down." They said goodbye to the others and started down to the zeta tube. Mallory kept her pace slow, though, so they could have a few minutes alone before getting to the apartment and having Alex with them. "I know you're mad at him," she started, still figuring out where she was going to go with this, "but no matter what he says, he's not doing this because of you."
"I know," he replied, his hands still in fists at his sides.
She sighed. "I know you do. I guess what I'm trying to say is, be patient with him, ok? He's going to need everyone's support, especially yours."
His hands slowly unfisted and the anger on his face ebbed, replaced by a tiredness that added ten years on him. "Yeah, I know," he murmured, his words almost getting lost in the breeze.
The redhead studied him, her eyes trailing down to the fake leg. She couldn't let it go. "So, you've been seeing Dinah?"
He nodded, pausing in front of the zeta tube. "Yeah, and Barbara. They offered to counsel me pretty much the second I woke up in medbay. It helped, especially talking to Babs."
She nodded. She was glad that he'd found an outlet. Honestly, it made sense now, why she'd never seen him work through the injury. It wasn't that he'd bottled it up, it was that he was actually working through it.
He seemed to misinterpret her face, because he rushed to explain himself. "I know you would have been there, but I couldn't talk to you. You just, you've never been hurt this bad on the job, you couldn't understand the way she does. I'm sorry I didn't tell you about them."
She shook her head, smiling a little, a pang in her chest because she knew exactly what it felt like. She'd spent far too long dealing with the knowledge that she would die for the team, but he didn't know that, and he never would. "Don't be." She pulled him into a hug, noting how he was almost as tall as her now. He'd really grown up, he wasn't just her little brother anymore. He was his own person, more than capable of taking care of himself, both physically and mentally, maybe even better than her generation of heroes, and those that came before her. "I'm so proud of you."
She didn't even know that she'd said it out loud until he pushed her off and asked, "why?"
"For learning from our mistakes." He didn't understand what she meant, but it was all the explanation she was going to give. "Now come on," she said, shaking off the sentimentality and punching in her coordinates. "We have a stop to make. You want an apple turnover?"
