I actually really like this chapter. I know it's long, but there wasn't a good place to break it, and I didn't want it to be a two parter, so I just left it the way it is. Anyway, let me know what you think. Hope you like it, and please review!
Mallory leaned her head back, her eyes closed against the sun. The ocean waves lapped at the sand, the grains shifting beneath her feet. It felt like heaven, the outside temperature coming close to matching her internal heat, lulling her limbs into a heavy relaxation. The sand shifted beneath her feet, and she shifted with it, groaning as the warmth of the sun disappeared and she opened her eyes to her bedroom, the gentle waves morphing into Alex's white noise machine.
"Morning, Sunshine," her boyfriend greeted her from where he had just gotten out of bed.
She shut her eyes tight, pressing her face into her pillow. "No," she said, her voice muffled against the fabric.
"Oh, come on, you have to give me one," he groaned, and she finally looked at him, almost jealous that he could have a smile that bright this early in the morning. "I don't know why you want to give me a nickname so bad, but I have enough names already."
"Yeah, but I don't get to use them, do I, Torch?" She arched an eyebrow, and he threw his hands up. "Ok, I know, that one's off limits. How about I make you some waffles and you forget I even said it?"
She grinned, stretching. "Mmm, sounds like a deal." He nodded, turning off the static noise, and she finally rolled out of bed, chuckling when her feet hit the floor.
He looked over his shoulder as she followed him out the room to the kitchen. "What?"
She shook her head, sliding onto a stool at the counter. "Nothing, just, when I was living with, well, any of the team, they all claimed that the only way I would wake up for them was literally getting thrown out of bed."
He laughed, shaking his head and pulling out the waffle iron. "That's terrible."
"Yeah, and what's worse, I actually believed them until you and your white noise. I still haven't thrown it in their faces. I'm waiting for the right moment to cash that bit of abuse in."
"That's a pretty good chip. The worst thing my friends ever did to me was locking me out of the getaway car after we egged Mrs. Fritter's house on Halloween."
"Aww, how old were you?"
"Eight. Anna's older brother had just gotten his license." He rolled his eyes. "I had to apologize, clean the house, and do her chores for the rest of the week."
"You ever cash that one in?"
"Nope, but that day's coming." She laughed, taking the bowl from him to stir. "You're in a good mood," he noted. "I've missed you around here lately. How did that mission turn out?"
She looked down, watching the ripples disappear in the batter. Raquel's situation popped into her head, and she rested her wrist on the side of the bowl. "Yeah, um, actually, I wanted to talk to you about that." He leaned on the counter, and she took a silent breath. "The mission went fine, and…it was over in a few hours. I haven't been around much because Dick was…hurt, the night we went to Bialiya, and we were staying with him."
Alex nodded, perfectly still as he studied her. "Why didn't you just tell me that?"
"I don't know. I guess because that's all I ever have to tell you, bad news and crisis hoping. I mean, come on, even I get tired of it."
He smiled, but there was a question on his face. "So…what else haven't you told me?"
Her knuckles tingled with past guilt, but she shrugged and slid the bowl of batter back to him. "Well, I'll tell you when you have a few hours."
"Well, I have some waffles to make, but I'm free for the rest of the day."
She couldn't bite back the smile. "Ohh, too bad, I have to train with the team." He shrugged with acceptance, turning back to the waffle iron, but she grinned and added, "unless you want to come with me…?"
The team gathered at a zeta tube in Metropolis in full costume, their numbers finally feeling normal again with Gar and Peter side by side in the pack.
"Ok," Conner said, starting things off, "with Vigilante and Beast Boy coming back full time, we need to relearn how to work together and delegate."
"Great," Jinx said, leaning on Cassie's shoulder. "So…why are we here instead of the simulation room?"
Artemis's lips twitched into a smile. "Well, we had something better in mind. We're going to split into teams, A against B, in a real world setting. Capture the flag, but with sparring. Winner sets the training regimen for the other team for the next week."
"Ok…what's the catch?" Bart asked.
"Nothing, come on, you shouldn't be so suspicious," Mallory said suspiciously.
Megan smirked. "Right. Ok, team A is Static, Wonder Girl, Nautica, Kid Flash, Vigilante, Geoforce, Blue Beetle, Icicle, and Beast Boy. Everyone else, group B."
"Oh, that sounds fun," Alex said, edging a little further into the circle of heroes.
"It doesn't sound fun, it sounds rigged," Jaime corrected, narrowing his eyes at the opposite team.
"What do you mean?" Alex asked.
"All the senior members against the rest of us? Prize of controlling training? They don't think we can beat them."
"What are you talking about? This is about building teamwork, not winning or losing," Mallory said.
Virgil cocked an eyebrow dubiously. "Oh, yeah? Then why are you smiling like that?"
She smirked. "Nothing, just thinking about how nice training's gonna be this week. For us."
"Oh, come on. This isn't fair! You guys are practically connected, and you have all the native Metropolitans on your team," Cassie whined.
"You guys have access to the city, you can't blame us for not knowing your way around," Conner pointed out.
"But the odds are way off. More people means more work delegating, and we haven't all been on one squad in, like, forever," Brion pointed out.
Artemis tilted her head, rolling her eyes. "Fine, if you're gonna whine about it, we'll even the odds. Icicle, you're with us."
Cameron's eyes widened slightly, his lips curling up in a laugh. "I feel like I should be offended."
"Shut up."
He grinned and leaned closer to Mallory. "I think I'm growing on her."
"Ugh, let's just get started," the blonde groaned, pulling out her crossbow and shooting a line to the next roof.
"Should I…?" Alex asked, and Mallory looked at Megan. "Can you…?" The Martian nodded and flew up a few feet, lifting Alex with her. Mallory grabbed Conner's hands, flying him with them to minimize property damage from their exercise.
"They'll be following us soon," the clone pointed out. "What's the plan?"
"Woah, that's weird," Alex said, and the others got the feeling that he hadn't meant to be heard in the link.
"Yeah, you're gonna need to get used to stuff like this," Cameron put in, icing his way from roof to roof, collapsing the bridge as soon as he passed. "You haven't even seen the weird stuff yet."
"What are you calling the weird stuff?" Artemis asked, disapproval in her tone.
"Well, Miss M's real form, for one thing. Not that it's bad," he added in a rush, glancing back at the Martian. "It's just not what I was expecting."
"Well, maybe you should think about that before you barge into training sessions without warning," Megan pointed out, and Mallory laughed. "J'onn need a pointer?"
Her friend smiled, shaking her head. "Ok, time to focus. Where should we leave our flag?"
"I know a parking garage that'll work," Mallory mentioned, glancing at Cameron.
"Or maybe we don't go to the one place in the city that I had my heart savagely ripped from my chest," the former villain suggested, grinning.
"Fine, if you're gonna be so picky, we can go down to the docks," the pyrokinetic said, then added in a mutter, "talk about a weak link." Her ex glared at her, humor sparkling in his eyes, and she couldn't keep the grin off her face.
"Ok, to the docks," Alex said, excitement leaking into his voice. "So, what do I do when we get there? I am going to be doing something, right?"
The senior members exchanged an amused look, and Mallory nodded enthusiastically. "Oh, yeah, we have a special job for you."
He tilted his head. "Why do I feel like I'm not going to like this?"
She chuckled. "Because you're super smart, which is why you're going to be on the sidelines in case one of the kids gets hurt."
Conner shook his head. "You let them hear you call them kids, and you're the one that's going to get hurt."
"True."
"Come on, I can help. I'll guard the flag while you guys go out looking for the other one. You're short handed compared to them, you can't search the whole city with one of you staying behind."
The heroes exchanged a look, and Artemis shrugged. "Fine, you stay with the flag, Megan will keep us linked, so let us know if anything happens. And I mean anything, if you hear anything but silence, let us know. And if you hear too much silence, let us know."
"Got it," he replied with a mock salute. "Any other orders?"
Conner shook his head as they landed on the docks, slipping into an old, dilapidated warehouse that had once belonged to Intergang before they found out the League knew about it. "Artemis, you set up the traps, Alex, here's the flag, find a good place for it in the middle of the room. Cameron, Mallory, maybe block the back door and the windows, keep the entrances to a minimum."
They went to work, Mallory welding the door shut, Cameron icing the windows to add thickness to the glass, Alex finding a sturdy shipping container to hang the flag from, and then a comfortable place to wait with it, and Artemis setting traps around the room to slow the other team down once they found their location. Once they had the building ready, the five heroes slipped out the door, leaving Mallory's boyfriend to stand guard.
"Where's the best places for them to set up shop?" Artemis asked, looking between Mallory, Conner, and Cameron.
Conner raised one shoulder in a half shrug. "There's the obvious spots, the roof of the Planet, the old STAR labs facility, Centennial park."
Megan shook her head. "They know that's what we'll be expecting. Think smaller."
"Maybe they're going to set up somewhere public. It would be unexpected."
"And risky. I would hope they wouldn't be that stupid."
"I don't know. You know how they can get when they're all together without an adult," Cameron pointed out.
"Or with one," Artemis muttered. "They weren't alone for the Disney World fiasco."
Cameron rolled his eyes, opening his mouth to defend himself, but Mallory cut them off. "Guys, focus," she said. "We have to think about what parts of the city they know. Cassie said it herself, none of them are very familiar with Metropolis, and they wouldn't risk a new place that they aren't sure they can defend. Out of all of them, I guess Peter has spent the most time here, but all of his visits have centered around…" her voice faded off, a slow smile spreading on her face. "Oh, that little…" she shook her head, stopping midair. "I think I know where they are. Icicle, you and Tigress go back to the warehouse, we'll call if we need backup."
They exchanged a glance, but they did as she said, leaving Conner and Megan to follow the pyrokinetic's lead. They ended up at her old apartment, the one she still owned, but no one had locked there since Mal and Karen moved into their place two weeks before. Sure enough, when Megan flew down to look in the window in camouflage, team B's flag hung on the mantle, the tv turned on and Bart and Jaime on the couch.
"It's just the two of them?" Conner asked.
Megan nodded. "That's all I saw, anyway."
"They're pretty cocky, leaving their flag with only two guards," Mallory mentioned.
"More like confident," Artemis said, her tone telling them something was wrong. "Guys, we have a situation. There's a tracker on Alex."
The others' eyes widened, and Mallory hit her forehead with the palm of her hand. "Ugh, hello, Megan. Peter knew Alex would be with me, he must have put the tracer on him while the others were complaining about the rosters."
"I didn't even hear them coming up with the plan," Conner admitted, impressed and annoyed.
"Well then how do you know it was even a plan?" Alex asked.
"Because it's exactly what we would have done," Mallory told him, shaking her head. They'd done variations of the same technique dozens of times, without speaking a word to each other. Something would happen, and they would just know to go into action, Wally leading them in complaining while Dick took advantage of the attention being on everyone else to place a tracker or hack the security or swipe something they needed from one of the Leaguers. Honestly, she was embarrassed she hadn't known what they were doing from the start.
"Well, this changes things. Mal, you know the apartment, so you get their flag, capture KF and Blue. Conner and I'll head back to the warehouse, they're going to need backup soon."
Mallory nodded, watching her friends fly back the way they came. "I'll meet you there as soon as I can," she promised.
As soon as they were out of sight, Conner being levitated by Megan's telekinesis, she flew around to the other side of the building, finding the window to her old bedroom. She knew to expect traps, so she scanned the fire escape thoroughly with both her eyes at the tech in her mask. There was one pressure triggered sensor below the windowsill, and a heat triggered one set up on the railing. She could only guess what they would do once released, and she knew even if she could get through the window, there would only be more traps set within. Even if they wouldn't stop her, they would slow her down enough for Bart and Jaime to come up with a plan to take her out.
She glanced up and grinned, an idea coming to her. She flew up to the roof, scanning for more traps, but there were none. Of course, with Vigilante being the only one with the MO to carry those kinds of gadgets, they would be limited on how many they could set, so they had probably concentrated their resources on the windows and inside the apartment itself. She landed by a large vent cover and reached inside, pulling out her emergency duffle bag. Five minutes later, her costume was covered with baggy sweats, her hair tucked into a beanie, and the skeleton key she used to open the roof access door was in the lock, turning the tumblers with ease. From there, it was an easy walk down three flights of stairs to her door, and she forced her face to go blank, tilting her head just enough that they wouldn't be able to tell who she was by looking through the peephole, then she pounded on the door.
"Hey!" she called, altering her voice to a deep, gravelly monotone. "Open up! We don't allow squatters in this building!" She heard the boys moving around inside, sharp whispers being exchanged as they tried to decide what they should do. She bit back a laugh and pounded on the door again. "I mean if, open up, or you can deal with the cops instead of me!"
More sharp whispers, then she heard footsteps coming to the door. There was a long pause, probably them making sure it wasn't a trick, and then the door opened a crack, and Jaime, sans armor, peeked through the opening. "It's ok, we're friends of the owner, and she—"
She looked right at him, and his eyes widened when he recognized her, but she didn't give him a chance to suit back up. She pushed the door in, grabbing his arm and twisting it behind his back. He struggled, and he almost broke her grip when she felt the gust of wind and pushed the teen forward, right into one of their traps. A line shot out of the fireplace, coiling around him tightly, but she didn't have time to register that he wasn't a threat. A sharp pain hit her side, and she grunted, staggering back a bit.
Bart skidded to a stop, making sure she wasn't really hurt, and she took advantage of the hesitation to come up with a plan. She didn't have a prayer of beating his speed, and he knew he preferred fighting styles too well to think she could catch him by surprise in hand to hand. Luckily, she had two aces up her sleeve. He couldn't get to his top speed in the small apartment, and she'd learned how to fight with Wally, she knew the speedsters' strength could also be their weakness. She needed to get him talking.
"They really just left you two here? I knew you guys were rusty, but I thought you could come up with a better plan than this."
"Oh, don't worry, we did," Bart assured her, speeding towards her. She managed to block two punches before the third came too fast to process, and she doubled over from the force to her stomach. Kid Flash used the half a second it took her to recover to unwrap Jaime and use the same cord to bind her where she stood. Blue Beetle armored up and the boys stood in front of her, grinning with premature victory. "Wow, Inferno, we expected more from you," Bart teased, leaning on Blue's shoulder. "You're out of the game now, those cords could hold Conner for a full minute, and that's all the others will need to raid your HQ and get our victory."
Her eyes glowed red, and Jaime shook his head. "Nada, hermana, no fire, you'll set off the fire alarms, and you don't want the fire department to start asking questions, do you?"
She grinned, remembering that she had one more ace up her sleeve. She'd disabled the smoke alarms long ago. One good burst of flames and strength, and the weakened cords snapped in her grip. The boys jumped back in surprise, and she grabbed Bart, tapping his pressure point instead of hitting it hard enough to actually knock him out. Then she threw him at Blue, who caught his friend, incapacitating him for long enough for Mallory to leap over the couch and grab the flag from its hook. She laughed triumphantly, holding it up, only to turn back around and find Jaime had disappeared, leaving her with the fake dead speedster.
"So, can you give me a lift, or…" Bart asked, but she ignored him, shooting out the now open window. She heard Kid calling her rude as she flew, but she didn't turn back. If he wanted to, he could be at the warehouse before her. Which, she realized, he probably would be.
"I have their flag, and I took Kid Flash out," she reported to the others. "I'm on my way back to you now."
"Great, we'd appreciate the help," Megan replied. "The rest of the team is here, and they're putting up a good fight."
She doubled her speed, making it to the wharf in three minutes. As soon as she flew in the door, she could see that the opposite team was fighting to win. Bart had made it before her, and he was sitting on the sidelines with Alex and Jinx, all of whom had been "killed". The others, though, were very much alive. Artemis was fighting Peter and V'lana simultaneously, Conner and Cassie were battling closest to their flag, still mounted on the shipping container. Megan and Cameron were tag teaming the rest of team B, but they were losing ground fast.
Mallory made her decision in a split second and tackled Brion from behind, pinning him to the ground in a pool of his own lava. Before she could tap his neck, he broke her hold, rolling out of her reach and popping to his feet facing her. She narrowed her eyes, slowly starting to circle him, watching for an opening, but her protege didn't give her one, so she charged. She faked low and spun kicked, catching him square in the jaw, and in three more moves, he was out of the fight.
She didn't wait for him to start walking to the sidelines, she moved on to Static, intending to take out his disk like she'd done in practice not long before. When he didn't allow her to force him too high, she smiled a little, glad that he'd worked on the weakness, and went with plan B. She flew up, backflipped in the air, and came down on him like a missile. When he dodged out of the way, Megan finished him off with a kick and an elbow to his shoulder. Mallory finally landed, helping the Martian and Cameron defend their flag.
Suddenly, team B stopped fighting, their faces splitting into grins, making team A look back at their flag in panic. Sure enough, V'lana stood on top of the container, holding their flag out triumphantly.
"Ok, so we tied. I guess…" Megan started, but Peter laughed, shaking his head.
"Guess again," he said, and Mallory's hand went to her jacket, only to find that the flag she'd captured was no longer in the pocket. Gar morphed in front of them, waving the reclaimed fabric tauntingly, and the senior members finally had to admit that they'd been beat.
"All right," Megan conceded, "team B is the winner." They erupted into cheers and high fives while the OGs, Cameron, and Alex moved closer together.
"Is it always like this?" Alex asked, looking around at the excited teens.
Mallory smiled fondly. "Yeah, pretty much."
"Hey, let's go to the Watchtower and start figuring out your training session!" Jaime called, and Artemis groaned playfully, smiling at her friends. "Great. I have a feeling we're gonna be sore this week."
They started to leave the warehouse, but Mallory froze when her comm screeched, an unfamiliar feedback assaulting her ear. "Inferno, you will be at the following coordinates in five minutes, or our deal is off the table." A series of numbers followed the curt message, and Mallory hurriedly pulled up the screen in her mask, typing in the numbers before she forgot.
Alex and her friends had paused when she stopped. "What's going on?" Conner asked, and Mallory wished for the millionth time that she had a way to turn off his and Clark's super hearing.
"Nothing, I just have to go do something. Can you guys authorize Alex? I'll be there soon." They gave her one more questioning look, but she shook her head. "I'll explain when I get back."
They nodded at the promise, and she took off in the opposite direction, her heart pounding with anticipation at what this meeting could mean.
Half an hour later, Mallory was arriving on the Bridge, Zatanna, Canary, Captain Atom, Kaldur, and Dr. Fate all gathered on the floor, waiting to hear why she had called them for an impromptu meeting. Mallory couldn't wait to explain her news, though. She was so excited, she felt like she was about to burst, and when she locked eyes with Zatanna, all she managed to get out was, "she took the deal."
Zatanna tilted her head in confusion at first, but the realization hit her a second later, and her eyes widened, tears beginning to pool in them. "Really?" Mallory nodded, grabbing her friend in a hug.
The others looked at each other, not sure what was happening, but they gave the girls a moment before Canary stepped in, putting a hand on Mallory's shoulder to gently pry her off the magician. "What deal? Who's 'she'?"
Mallory nodded, taking a breath to calm her racing heart. "I spoke to Waller a while ago, asking if she could use the Helmet of Fate to force criminals with magical backgrounds into service in exchange for time off their sentences. She finally got back to me, and the answer was yes!" When no one reacted to the announcement, she looked around, trying to drive in her next statement. "Zatara wouldn't have to be Dr. Fate anymore."
Kaldur looked between Mallory and Zatanna, conflict warring on his face. "That would be a wonderful thing," he said slowly, "but…why did you not come to the League with your idea before making deals with someone like Amanda Waller?"
"It's not even really a deal, we're not giving anything up, and neither are they. It's a win-win. And I didn't ask you guys first because we've wasted enough time already, and I knew coming to you would only start a long conversation that I didn't think we had time for." She shrugged, glancing back at where the team had come in from the simulation room. "All that's left is for you to sign off on it," she said, looking at the leaders of the League and keeping to herself that she had already given the ok on their behalf. Zatanna looked at her fellow heroes, her breath caught in her throat and hope brimming in her eyes.
Nate shook his head, rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably. "I don't think you've thought of all the logistics of this," he started. "First of all, what would happen if these criminals were able to take control of the Helmet?"
Mallory looked at Fate, opting to let him answer that. "No mortal being could take control of the Helmet of Fate," Nabu said fiercely, but he turned to look at Mallory. "However, I did not agree to this arrangement."
"Yes, you did," Mallory shot back. "I asked you if you would be willing to switch hosts if I could get better matches than Zatara. Well, how about Wotan, or the Wizard, or Felix Faust? Any of them would be as apt at sorcery as Zatara in his prime."
Canary sighed, a sad look coming to her face. "Mallory, we all admire how much thought and fight you've put into this, but it just won't work. We can't sentence someone to spend the rest of their life in the Helmet just because we'd rather have Zatara back with us. And if the Helmet is forced on them, Nabu will not allow them to become Dr. Fate."
"The sentences would only be five years, which they would lose in prison anyway, if they didn't escape and cause more problems, and they'll be doing this on a volunteer basis. Trust me, if I had the choice to spend five years in the helmet or the rest of my life in prison, I'd choose the helmet. Next."
"There is another problem that you may not have considered," Kaldur said. "As someone who has spent time in the Helmet, I was still aware of what was going on around me, even though I had no control over it. If this were to happen, Dr. Fate would no longer be able to be a member of the Justice League. We could not risk the criminals within the Helmet remembering what they see and hear in this base."
Mallory paused, hating that he'd caught her unprepared, but it was Black Canary that spoke up. "That would be a small price to pay." Mallory and Zatanna looked at her hopefully, and she tilted her head, considering the proposal. "There are still things that need to be worked out, but…" she looked at Nate and Kaldur for their agreement, and they both nodded. "I suppose we owe it to Zatara, and Zatanna, to give this a try."
Zatanna actually whimpered at Canary's words, and she pulled their old trainer into a hug. "Thank you." She looked at Mallory, going back to hugging her. "Thank you so much." The team stepped up to the meeting, Mallry, Artemis, and Conner all taking their turns with the magician.
"Wow, this has been a good day all around," Gar announced.
"Yes, it has," Kaldur agreed.
"Let's go to the lounge," Canary suggested, putting a gentle hand on Zatanna's shoulder. "I think a drink is in order."
"Sounds great," Bart agreed, earning an arched eyebrow from the woman. The speedster rolled his eyes. "What? In the future, there's no age limit on alcohol. Besides, it's not like I can get drunk, anyway."
"Well, you're in the past now, and you can have a drink when you're twenty one, just like the rest of the team."
"Unless you have a gumbo pot stashed away up here," Artemis muttered, and Canary looked at her sharply.
"What?"
Mallory elbowed the archer hard, shooting her a glare. "Nothing." She turned to Alex. "Hey, I want to show you something."
They started to walk away from the group. Canary stepped closer to Nate. "The Javalin should have checked in by now. What do you think is keeping them?"
"It's probably nothing," Nate said, his voice getting lower with distance, "but we can have John send a Lantern out to check on them, just in–"
They finally got to the door Mallory was looking for, and she paused before opening it, looking at her boyfriend with curbed excitement. "What is it?" he asked, looking around her for a hint to what was within.
"Well, I know you said you weren't ready," she said, "but I just thought you'd like to see what you're missing."
She punched the button, and the panel doors slid open, revealing the medbay. She had to bite her lip to keep her grin from spreading too wide as she watched Alex's reaction to the space. A look of awe came to his face, and he stepped forward almost in a trance, taking in all of the state-of-the-art machines, the Leaguer-specific cabinets, the pharmacy stocked with anything and everything a doctor could ever need in a lifetime. He opened the cabinet marked Superman to find green surgery supplies and extra needles, and he looked at her.
"Is this…?"
She nodded. "Kryptonite-laced metal. It's the only way you'd be able to cut his skin." He shut the lead-lined cabinet, moving on to textbook upon textbook of medicine when dealing with alien species. "Martian Manhunter started those," she told him. "Back when it was just the original seven members, and he was the one that had to doctor everyone. It's helped some of the other Leaguers that have ended up doing medical care, but no one's really a doctor. Mostly, they just read the books and hope for the best." His eyes roamed the room, finally landing back on her. "So, what do you think?" she asked when he didn't say anything for a moment.
"I–this is incredible, Mallory. I could stay here for the rest of my life." He thumbed through the pages of one of the homemade textbooks like he wanted to rip the knowledge from the pages in an instant.
"So, do you want to–"
"Yes," he interrupted, and she laughed at his eagerness.
"I knew I'd win you over eventually."
She had to pry him out of the room, but eventually they made it back to the lounge, where the others already had a party in full swing. Mallory gravitated towards the senior members and Kaldur and Zatanna, but Alex mingled with the others like he belonged, and they accepted him completely.
"So, what did he say? Is he our new doctor?" Artemis asked.
Mallory smiled, watching her boyfriend talking to the team and Canary, and practically studying Nate, and she nodded. "Yeah, I think he is."