"Hey, Jaime, what's the emergency?" Mallory asked, walking away from the zeta tube to where he and Megan were standing on the bridge, the rest of the younger members of the team standing behind them.
"That's what I'm trying to figure out," Megan said, crossing her arms and looking at the teens. "Where're Artemis and Conner? What, they didn't need to–"
"Recognized, Beast Boy, B17, Vigilante, B20."
The girls' faces lit up as they looked at each other, understanding now why they were there, and turning to the tubes just in time to see their brothers appearing in the tube in civics, each with a duffle bag on their shoulder and a suitcase in tow.
"Gar!" Megan squealed, flying over and grabbing him in a hug. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming?" She gave Peter a quick one-armed hug too before Mallory made it to them and pushed her off, wrapping her arms around her little brother.
"Wow, you got tall," she complained. He was at her shoulder already.
"Yeah, well, that's what happens," he replied with a grin. Mallory didn't let go and he started trying to push her off. "Ok ok, off," he ordered.
She chuckled and tightened her grip for a second, then let him detangle himself and duck under her arm to say hi to the rest of the team. The redhead moved on to Gar, ruffling his hair before pulling him into a hug. He raked a hand through his hair, putting it back in place. "Careful, Mal! That's worth a lot of money now," he said, grinning.
She raised an eyebrow, looking at the green locks so carefully combed into place. "Really? Looks the same as it always has," she said.
He shrugged. "Yeah, it is, but apparently that's my best feature."
"According to who?" Megan asked, shaking her head.
"Teen Weekly's latest poll," he replied proudly.
Cassie snorted. "Wow, like he wasn't conceited enough before, now he's got girls telling him it's all true."
Bart laughed, slinging his arm around Peter's shoulder. "What about you? Any polls?"
Peter rolled his eyes and lifted the speedster's arm off of him. "Nope, there has to be one boring one out there, or they never would have let us move out there by ourselves."
Mallory smiled, resting her elbow on his shoulder. "Yeah, that sounds like you," she said sarcastically, one eyebrow raised. "Just a boring guy that doesn't look for trouble." He looked away guiltily, a smile playing at his lips, and she chuckled. "Ok, what is it?"
Gar raised an eyebrow, watching his friend, but Peter just shook his head and said, "so, where's everyone else?"
"They didn't get the call, apparently," Megan told him, looking at the younger members of the team for confirmation.
Cassie shrugged. "They'll find out later, Gar asked us to get you two up here."
"We just said 'them', didn't say to not call anyone," Peter shot back.
Wonder Girl shrugged, and Virgil crossed his arms, moving on. "So, how long are you guys gonna be here this time?" he asked.
Gar shrugged. "Until the new season starts shooting, should be a month or two, depending on production factors."
The sisters couldn't keep the smiles off their faces at the news. "Well, that's just great," Mallory said sarcastically, her smile and soft eyes betraying her affection for her brother. "I thought we finally got rid of you guys, and now you're gonna be living with us again."
Peter rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right. Don't worry about being put out, I have other places to stay."
Megan's eyes widened. "Hello, Megan!" she said, and Mallory looked up at the old saying. "Stay, where's Gar going to stay? We gave his room to…" she paused, glancing at the younger members of the team that still hadn't been told about the Markovian prince staying in the Martian's home, and she finished awkwardly, "Wolf?"
"What, Wolf's getting too good to sleep in your room?" Bart asked, but Gar gave her a knowing look and shrugged.
"Nah, let him keep it. Hey Pete, your parents cool if I crash with you?"
Mallory raised her eyebrows. "What, neither of you want to stay with me?" she asked, only half joking.
Peter chuckled and gave her a one-armed hug. "Sorry, Sis, but you don't wake us up with homemade waffles and fruit. And you don't have a spare room, come to think of it."
"No, but I have a couch, and you can make your own breakfast," she argued, already knowing that she'd lost the fight.
Gar shook his head and walked over to stand by Peter. "Sorry, Mal, but Momma J wins every time."
"Yeah. Come on, let's go put our stuff away," Peter suggested, grabbing his bag off the ground and rolling the suitcase behind him. Gar followed, and Mallory and Megan did the same.
"Hey! You just got here, man! You're really gonna ditch us already?" Bart called after them. They ignored the complaints and punched in their coordinates to Central City, and they were in front of the Johnson home in under two minutes. Mallory led the way, letting herself into the house and announcing her presence.
"Mom? Dad? You home?"
"Mallory?"
"Yeah," the redhead replied, walking towards the voice coming from the office.
"What are you doing here? I thought you had a job now," her mom said, stepping out of the room.
Mallory rolled her eyes and hugged her mom. "I do, I'm on my lunch break. I just thought I'd bring you a little surprise." She stepped to the side, and the rest of the group came around the corner. Elaine let out a little squeak of excitement when she saw the boys and laughed, pulling first Peter, then Gar into tight hugs.
"When did you get back?" she asked, going back for a second hug from Peter.
"A few minutes ago, came straight here after the Watchtower," her son told her.
"Well, for how long?" Elaine asked.
"A month or two. Speaking of which, it's cool if I stay here, right?" Gar asked. "Megan rented my room out while I was gone."
Elaine laughed and shook her head. "You know better than to even ask. You can have Mallory's old room, like usual." She paused, looking at the green teen, and added, "as long as you can promise that there won't be girls running in here and tearing the place apart."
Gar laughed and shook his head. "Don't worry, Mrs. J. No one knows where I am thanks to the zeta tube, and I plan on keeping it that way. I promise, strictly hoodies and sunglasses when I go outside. Well, when I'm in civies, anyway."
Peter nodded and looked at Megan. "I hope you dig up some good missions while we're here. I've been looking forward to busting Luthor or blowing up a Cobra base all week."
"I'll do what I can," the leader promised.
The boys went upstairs to unpack, and Mallory checked her phone. "Oh, I have to go," she said regretfully. "I only have ten minutes left on my break, and I haven't even eaten anything yet."
"Oh, then go grab something out of the fridge," Elaine offered. "I think there's some leftover chicken and veggies, and maybe some salad if your dad didn't finish it off for breakfast."
The pyrokinetic nodded and went to the kitchen, packing the leftovers and jogging back to the zeta tube. She'd left her civies on, so at least she didn't need to rewash her hair and change before she went back to work.
That night, Peter met Mallory at her apartment, and the two of them went out to patrol Metropolis and catch up. They had taken a few turns around the city and settled on the globe of the Daily Planet with a half a dozen donuts, watching the planes as they passed and saying anything that popped into their heads. After an hour of catching up on everything that had been going on with the boys in LA, Mallory smiled a little and looked at her little brother. He seemed happier since he'd been back, more settled in his skin, and she couldn't help but think it was because he was finally on his own, not living in the shadow of the original team members.
"So it's really working out, then?" she asked.
He nodded, staring at the colors the sunset had left streaked in the sky. "Yeah, it's been really good. Gar hasn't really been coming out with me as much lately, with his agent booking him more commercials and appearances on top of the show, but I don't really mind. I told you, I've built up some regulars, and the city's different than anywhere else I've ever patrolled, the bad guys aren't part of some bigger plan. For the most part I've just been taking out the petty crime, fight a guy one night and never see him again." He shrugged. "It's simpler that way."
She nodded, looking back out into the sky. There was a ship coming towards the harbor, just a speck against the blue and pink ocean. She hadn't taken much time to just relax lately. She'd almost forgotten how pretty Metropolis could be when you took the time to notice it. She opened her mouth to tell him that she was glad he'd found a place to spread his wings a little, but before she could form the words in her mind, a loud bang made them jump and the next second the wall of the Metropolis mint crumbled in a cloud of dust and debris. She sighed and got to her feet. "They just can't let us have a night off, can they?" she asked.
Her brother shrugged, putting his arms around her neck from behind so she could give him a lift. "Not when we want it, anyway," he said, but he didn't look annoyed in the least.
She smiled to herself and flew towards the trouble, careful to keep her flames controlled so she wouldn't burn her brother. They were at the scene in minutes, just in time to meet Sawyer and Turpin pulling up behind a platoon of their officers and gear. "Who is it?" she asked, still three feet above the ground. Peter let go and dropped to the pavement, crossing his arms as he waited for the answer.
"We don't know yet, the cameras can't pick up an image with the cloud," Maggie replied, looking towards the destruction as if she could see through the cloud better than her equipment.
"We'll check it out," Inferno offered. "Keep your men back, no need to risk their safety before we know what we're up against."
"You know, the SCU got along just fine before you costumed freaks showed up," Dan yelled.
Mallory smiled and tilted her head. "Aww, you're welcome, it's my pleasure," she said sweetly.
She and Vigilante ran up the steps, climbing over the ruins of the wall. They had just made it to the tile floors of the lobby when they got their first glimpse at their opponent. Mallory made out the hair first: bright pink, and tied up in two buns on top of the girl's head. Peter slowed down a little, but she didn't even look back at him as she pressed forward. "Hey!" she called, stepping out of the cloud of dust.
The girl turned around, giving the hero a full look at her. She was young, only about Peter's age, certainly no older than Gar. She had pale skin, really it was almost gray, and striking pink eyes. She was wearing a dark purple skirt, jacket, and shirt, leggings, and black combat boots. A black choker with a purple pendant hung from her neck. There was something about her, though, that told Mallory that she was going to be more trouble than she looked. There was an air of confidence about her, a glint of amusement in her eye, and cocky smirk fixed on her lips. She'd done this before, clearly, and she didn't think she was going to get caught this time, either. Well, she was going to be disappointed.
"Drop the bag and put your hands up," Inferno said firmly.
The girl's smirk spread into a grin. "Sure," she said, and she dropped the duffle on the ground.
Mallory nodded, surprised that she seemed to be giving up so easily. She watched her warily, waiting for the other shoe to drop, but nothing happened. She took a step towards her, and her foot skidded in the rubble. She twisted her knee hard and sucked in a quick breath, grabbing it to keep it from twisting anymore.
"Inferno!" Peter yelled, and he collided with her a second later, pushing her painfully into the pile of bricks just in time to keep the chunk of loose cement from crushing her.
The girl watched the whole scene with amusement, and a pleased look came on her face when Peter got to his feet, leaving Mallory sitting on a slab, holding her knee. "Well, well, well, what are the chances?" she asked, nudging her duffle farther behind her. "Hello, Vigilante. What are you doing all the way in Metropolis? Did you follow me?"
"Hardly," Peter replied. "What are you doing here, Jinx?" Mallory tilted her head, watching the exchange with interest.
"Well, you've ruined the last three jobs I tried to pull in LA, I just thought I'd try my hand somewhere else. Clearly it didn't work."
"Clearly. You know you're going to have to put that back."
She shook her head. "I don't know, I took out Inferno, what else is stopping me from waltzing right out the front door?"
"The small army outside, Superman showing up, the trackers they put in the money ties," his face softened a little as he added, "me."
She chuckled, walking up to him. "You want to stop me?" she asked, stopping inches away from him.
He didn't move a muscle. "No," he said, "but I will if you make me."
She hopped backwards, scooping up the duffle. "I think I want to," she said.
The fireball hit the strap of the duffle the next second, dropping the bag to the ground, and Peter threw his line, tying her up. He looked back at Mallory. "You ok?" he asked.
She tried to get up and winced, immediately sitting back down. "I'll manage," she told him. "Get Turpin, will you?"
Peter waved the SCU in, and Mallory flamed up, picking her brother up on the steps and flying them to the room opposite the newly out of commission mint, setting them down gently and hobbling to the ledge so she could sit and make sure the officers didn't have any trouble taking their prisoner. Peter sat down next to her, his legs dangling over the side, and she looked at him and arched an eyebrow.
"So, I take it you know each other?"
His ears reddened a little and he shrugged, staring straight ahead. "She's one of my regulars."
"Sure seems like she's more than that," Mallory mentioned, smiling a little. "Is she why you don't mind Gar not tagging along so much?"
Her brother rolled his eyes, shaking his head. "You're so annoying, you know that?" He sighed and leaned back on his hands, then he looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "When you were dating Junior," he started, and Mallory put her teasing aside, understanding now that he was being serious, "why did you start? I mean, you had to know that it wasn't a good idea, that it wouldn't work out in the end. Why did you take that chance?"
She shrugged. "I don't know, it just…felt right. I didn't want to talk myself out of something that might have really been something, so I just took a chance."
"You ever regret taking that chance?" he asked, his voice not much louder than a whisper.
Mallory smiled and caught his eye, making his look at her. "Never," she said without hesitation. "It may not have worked out with me and Cameron, but I wouldn't trade our time together for anything. Sometimes taking that risk is the only thing that gets you to where you need to be. And you never know, maybe it will work out. You'll never know until you take the chance."
Peter smiled a little. "I'm surprised, I thought you would have told me to run. I mean, she did just put you out of commission."
She chuckled. "Yeah, don't love that, but after the kind of example I've set, I'm not exactly in a position to tell you who to date. Just, do me a favor and watch your back? I don't want to see you get hurt."
He nodded. "Sure, always."
There was a commotion at the trucks below them, and they looked down just in time to see Jinx disappear in a cloud of smoke. Mallory didn't miss the small smile playing at the corner of Peter's lips knowing that she'd gotten away. Mallory sighed, the big sister part of her concerned about this crush, but she couldn't say anything. Icicle Jr, Cheshire, Catwoman, Star Sapphire. She'd known plenty of good people on the wrong side of the law. Was it really out of the question that this girl could be one, too?