First off, bear with me, I'm struggling through finals and finishing up assignments. I don't think I'll have a chapter next week with exams, but I'll try to have it done for the next week. I don't know if I portrayed the level of autism quite right, because some of the habits and behaviors I gave him are toned-down versions of what my friend's little brother does and he's been diagnosed with level 3. The sandwich thing is something that he does, and the towel is something he used to do because of being so sensitive to textures. I hope I got it generally correct though. Anyway, I hope you like the chapter, please review.

"They've found evidence of Apokolips spreading out agents in deep space, but they haven't been able to link it to the meta teen trafficking yet," Kyle told the original team, taking a sandwich off the tray on Raquel's coffee table. They'd gathered at the mom's house to hear the update the League received that day from the squad in space, only the second in the almost three weeks since they'd been gone.

"That's it?" Artemis asked impatiently.

"It is more than we had before they left," Kaldur pointed out. I am sure that they will find more before they return."

"They were on their way to Thanagar when they called," Kyle told them. "Shayira and Carter have been coordinating investigations with their military from Earth. Hopefully they know something that will be helpful."

Mallory nodded, not saying anything, instead becoming very focused on grabbing a sandwich off the tray. She agreed with Artemis, it was too little for how long they'd been out there, but they'd had this argument before. The topic switched to Rachel, Dick filling them in on the girl and asking Zatanna to help her get a grip on her power. The magician had just agreed when footsteps sounded in the hall, and a moment later Amistad came in, two toy trucks in his hand.

"Hey, Buddy," Roy greeted, but the boy didn't acknowledge him or any of the other adults in the room, just went straight to the table and set his trucks down, wheels up so they wouldn't roll off. He grabbed the last sandwich off the plate, studied it, then began deconstructing it, pulling each layer apart and setting them in a line on the table, bread, meat, cheese.

A flash of annoyance crossed Raquel's face when he put the layers on the table, getting crumbs and mayo on the wood. "Amistad," she said, making an effort to conceal the irritation, "we've talked about this."

"Aw, I bet it tastes better like that," Cameron said, going to the floor to sit with the toddler. "What are you playing?" He picked up one of the cars, flipping it over to roll it across the table.

A sudden shriek made everyone jump. "No!" the boy insisted, snatching the toy out of Cameron's hand and putting it back where it had been, wheels up.

"Amistad!" This time the name came out sharp and reproachful. "Apologize." The boy didn't look at her, or apologize. He just continued to eat the deconstructed sandwich, bread, meat, cheese. "Amistad," Raquel warned, but Cameron shook his head, moving back to the couch.

"No, it's fine."

Raquel shook her head, not letting it go. "Go to your room," she told her son. Nothing. She was getting exasperated, they could all see it. Finally, she stood and scooped the toddler up. Immediately, arms and legs were swinging, screams exploding out of his mouth. She just pressed her lips together and stepped over Conner's legs, carrying him out the room. No one said anything, a little stunned at the behavior. Amistad had never acted like that before. Even when their friend came back, no one said anything, giving Raquel the opening to vent. "I don't know what to do with him these days. He won't even look at me, and Darius isn't helping. He just wants to play along, let him express himself. His tantrums are getting worse, he's getting set off by the smallest things. The other day I was giving him a bath, and everything was fine, and then I went to dry him off, and you would have thought I was scraping his skin off the way he reacted. I swear, I get more bruises from one day with him than a week of patrols." She was tearing up, and she fisted her hand, pressing it to her forehead.

The friends looked at each other, silently coming up with a plan to help. "We can watch him if you need a break," Artemis offered.

The mom paused, considering it, but Megan spoke up before she could give her answer. "How long has this been going on?" she asked, clearly leading up to something.

Raquel shrugged. "The tantrums? A month, maybe a little more."

The Martian's eyes were on the coffee table, where the trucks and sandwich were still sitting. She pressed her lips together, linking the team. "Have you ever thought about getting him tested?" she asked. A stretch of silence followed the question, Raquel just staring at her, her face blank. Megan sighed. "For Autism," she clarified.

"He doesn't have autism!" Raquel insisted, but they could all see the doubt that the flash of anger was covering up.

"Ok," Megan conceded easily. "It was just a thought."

They moved on, Zatanna changing the subject with a gentle touch, and five minutes later they were back to normal, teasing, catching up, making plans, but that look of doubt didn't leave Raquel's face.

At the end of the evening, when everyone was getting ready to leave, she pulled Mallory to the side. "Does Alex know any good doctors?" She looked at the floor, showing a rare vulnerability. "That can test Amistad?"

Mallory took a breath, reaching out to squeeze her friend's arm. "I'll ask him," she promised. "I'm sure he can get you an appointment with someone."

Her friend nodded. "Thanks."

Mallory gave her arm one more squeeze, nodding. She was about to leave when she paused and turned back around. "Either way," she said, locking eyes with her friend, "he's a great kid, and he's going to accomplish everything he sets his mind to."

She smiled a little. "I know he has all the support he'll ever need to help him get there."

Mallory nodded. "Yeah, his parents are pretty great."


A week later, Mallory was walking to her apartment, carrying Karen's bags of baby things while the pregnant woman waddled alongside her.

"Ugh, just leave me," Karen joked after Mallory had to adjust her pace for the third time.

Mallory laughed, shaking her head. "We don't leave people behind. Besides, I don't want to do anything to jeopardize my 'aunt' standing before that kid comes out."

Karen grinned. "Oh, right, Raq's scoring," she nodded, remembering how when Raquel was pregnant, she would make them earn the privilege to be called an aunt or an uncle. The second Amistad arrived, though, all of that went away, despite Artemis and Dick being way below the line for refusing to leave work to bring her craving foods. The smile faltered. "Did she call you?"

Mallory's breath hitched in her chest. "No, I've been waiting." Today was the day she was supposed to bring Amistad into the developmental pediatrician. She'd been expecting news, either directly from the mom or from one of the others, but until now it hadn't come.

"He's level 2."

It wasn't a surprise. They'd seen the signs building for months, the lack of eye contact, the insistence on sticking to a schedule, but it still hit hard. "How did Raq take it?"

Karen shrugged. "Honestly, I think it was kind of a relief, in a way. It helped her see that she wasn't doing anything wrong, and neither was Amistad. She just has to do some adjusting." She sighed, rubbing a hand over her belly. "It's not right," she murmured. "With everything we've accomplished in the last fifty years, I mean, we teleport for casual transportation and send holograms across the galaxy, but we still can't ensure that we give our kids the best lives they can possibly have?"

Mallory let the silence hover between them for a moment. "Amistad is going to have a great life," she said, quietly but firmly.

"But it'll be harder for him, harder than it should have to be," Karen insisted.

"And you're working towards a solution to that," the pyrokinetic reminded her, pride coming to her tone. "I still can't believe how far you've come in your research. You created the first gene editor in history. Karen, you've almost single handedly given the world cures to hundreds of genetic conditions, tay sachs, autism, maybe even cancer."

"Not soon enough. Not for Amistad, and not for the thousands, maybe millions of babies that will be born with those conditions while the world takes its time deciding whether or not it's ethical to tamper with a human's DNA." Karen stared down at her unborn baby while they waited for the elevator in the lobby of Mallory's old apartment building.

"Did she tell Darius yet?" Mallory asked, bringing her attention away from the worry about her own child.

"She hadn't when I talked to her. I don't think she wanted to tell him." She hesitated. "They've– things have been a little rocky lately."

This was news to Mallory. "What's going on?" She couldn't believe that it was just worries for their son that would put a wedge between them.

Karen shrugged. "She didn't go into too much detail, she just said they've been fighting a lot, and they never really resolve anything. Either she gets called away, or Amistad interrupts them."

"She didn't tell me anything. Neither did Z or Kaldur," Mallory mentioned. If anyone would know about Raquel's home troubles, it would be Zatanna since they spent so much time together on the League.

Karen nodded. "I didn't either, until two weeks ago when she called me after a big fight. She said he wanted her to quit the League and focus on their son." She shook her head. "That's probably why she's not in too big of a hurry to tell him about the diagnosis." She opened the door, letting Mallory walk in first to put the bags on the sofa.

"That doesn't sound like Darius," Mallory said, shaking her head. "She's been Rocket longer than she's known him, he should know better than to expect her to give it up." She sighed. "Well, they'll work it out, anyway, they just need some time to talk without anyone getting pulled away."

Karen bit her lip. "I hope so."

She didn't seem to have nearly as much confidence as the redhead did, but Mallory couldn't accept anything other than her answer. They were the perfect couple, almost as perfect as Megan and Conner. Raquel had known he was the one after their first date, and Darius had been so supportive of her through the years, even when it wasn't always easy. "They've weathered worse than this," she said, because that was what she kept telling herself.

Wishing everyone luck on their finals, you'll do great!