Ending 1:
Conner landed hard in someone's backyard and launched himself back into the air, not giving the dent in the ground a second thought as he hurtled towards his goal. Every grunt, every thud brought him deeper into his thoughts, his heart aching from more than the adrenaline. Memories flashed before his eyes, moments frozen in time. The parademon's arm crunching beneath his hand when Peter's frantic voice came on the comms, telling them that Mallory had gone through the tube. The puddle of melted metal when he got to the teen, Alex holding him back from crawling after his sister, Elaine stooped over Darrin's body in the background. The tube closing when he was just inches away from it.
His hands clenched into fists, gravity pulling him back down. Not just that one. Every boom tube had closed, and Orion had refused to allow them to use the motherboxes, lest they break their treaty with Apokolips and have Darkseid turn his attention to New Genesis. Then, thirty minutes after her disappearance, tubes began to open up, but they never found anything at the site. This time, though, they knew it would be different, so he doubled his speed, racing to the ruins of Mount Justice, his eyes fixed on the gaping hole in the sky, a shower of flames leaving scars of smoke on the horizon.
"I'm almost there," he said into his comm, timing the words just before a jump.
"Is Inferno there?" Artemis asked, anxiety bleeding into her tone.
"I…don't know. She's been here, but I don't–" he cut himself off abruptly, one of the falling objects catching his eye, the only one that wasn't on fire. "I found her!" he reported through a grunt as he launched himself towards her. "She's unconscious, and falling fast."
"We're on our way," Megan told him, but he didn't have time to respond. He leapt off the ground once more, his eyes never leaving the red hair whipping wildly in the wind. "Come on, come on, come on, come on," he muttered over and over again, willing her to snap out of it and catch herself, but she didn't.
He reached her twenty feet from the ground and pulled her to his chest, one hand on her head to stabilize her neck before they landed hard in the middle of the ruins, and he laid her down as gently as he could, burning chunks of rock crashing down around them. She was still, too still. Her heart was silent, her skin cold and tinged a bluish-gray, but still he ignored his senses and watched her chest for any movement, any slight rise or fall that could give him hope. He swallowed the lump rising in his throat to whisper her name. She didn't stir. He barely heard the Bioship whoosh overhead, or the others scrambling over the rocks to get to them.
"Mallory?" Megan gasped, and Dick skidded to a stop on his knees, immediately starting chest compressions without bothering to check for a heartbeat. "Come on!" he grunted between compressions, "come on, Mal!"
Conner looked at the others, his eyes wide as he slowly shook his head. It was too late. Long seconds went by, and finally Roy knelt beside Dick, grabbing his wrists, forcing him to be still. "It's over, Dick. She's gone."
The words hit the group like a punch, voicing the reality that they could all see in front of them. Dick's eyes widened, his chest heaving, and he fell off his heels into the rubble, one hand grabbing his hair as he looked at Inferno's lifeless form. Shocked tears sprang to their eyes, a strange, shared feeling of devastation and denial taking over the small group. Zatanna had her hands clasped almost in prayer, shaking her head and muttering, "it should have worked," over and over until she could no longer get the words out, her knuckles going white as she tightened her grip.
No one else broke the silence of their mourning until Black Canary's voice came to their comms. "The forces are retreating."
"The boomtubes are opening back up," Barbara announced, confirming Canary's statement.
"Is it over?" Flash asked.
"Yes, it appears to be," Oracle replied.
"Thanks to Inferno." Conner surprised himself with the words, with the certainty he had that they were true.
"She did it," Zatanna said in a hushed tone, tears breaking through her lashed to spill down her cheeks.
"You found Inferno?" Superman asked. The group exchanged a look, fear written on their faces as they realized at the same time that the comm channel had been open. They had to tell them. "Did you find Inferno?" he repeated, ever patient.
Conner took a breath. "Yeah, but Clark…" he couldn't finish. He scanned his friends, selfishly hoping that one of them would take over, would lift the burden from his shoulders, but Kaldur was the only one to meet his pleading gaze, and he knew that he couldn't push this off on him. Not this time.
"What?" Clark pressed, starting to sound worried.
The clone closed his eyes and took a breath, the image of Mallory's lifeless body still burned on the backs of his lids. "Inferno's… Mallory's gone."
Dead silence followed the announcement, like every single hero on the League, team, and reserves had collectively stopped breathing, waiting for a correction, or a reaction. He looked at the others and Kaldur nodded. "Go, we will take care of her."
A pang went through his chest as he pictured them moving her, bringing her somewhere she would never leave, but he nodded once and turned, forcing himself to jump away from the scene, heading for the zeta tube. As soon as he appeared in the back of the abandoned bait shop in Australia, the ground shook beneath his feet, dust raining down from the ceiling. He winced and jogged out of the building, spotting the cause of the earthquake immediately. Superman was on top of one of the enormous tanks left behind in the retreat, punching the metal down with all his strength in a rare display of rage.
Conner swallowed hard, for some reason remembering the first time he met Mallory. Now he was embarrassed at how jealous he had been of her, how much he had hated her just because of the relationship she'd had with the Man of Steel. He shook the memory off and jumped, landing on the tank behind his partner, letting him get it out.
When the tank was flattened and there was nothing else to hit, Clark sank to his knees, and Conner knelt beside him, one hand on his shoulder, silently offering support to the Man of Steel, and finding support in him as they grieved for the only member of the Super family that didn't wear the shield.
Two weeks later:
Peter stared at his reflection in the mirror, running a hand over his dart gun. Today was the day. A soft knock broke into his thoughts and Elaine opened the door, leaning on the frame like it was holding her up. "Are you ready?" she asked. She was wearing the same black dress for the third time that week. They had already buried Darrin and had held a service for Mallory, but today they would be saying goodbye to Inferno. He nodded, trying not to focus on the gray hair and new wrinkles lining her drawn face. Planning the funerals of half their family had taken a toll on both of them, but the change worried him more than he would ever voice. At least she hadn't had to organize today. He didn't think she could have handled it.
They walked down the stairs together, the house feeling far too large for just the two of them. Elaine paused before opening the front door, and Peter bit his cheek and put an arm around her, giving her a reassuring squeeze before leading her out the house and to the zeta tube.
They came out in Centennial Park in Metropolis, met with a crowd of people blocking them from the stage set up at the front. Peter put on his mask and led his mom through the people until the faces finally became more familiar, every hero he'd ever known and those he didn't all gathered in the front rows. He saw Jinx making her way towards him and paused three rows from the front, waiting for her. It was easier to move here, when the heroes knew who was going to stand together and made space for them to get there. His girlfriend made it to them, and after murmuring an awkward condolence to Elaine, laced her fingers through his. She had reminded him why he loved her every day in the last two weeks, a constant stable presence while he dealt with his losses on top of the world erupting in chaos.
He noticed Alex and inched away from him and closer to the team, continuing to move until he bumped into Gar, his friend's presence comforting him more than anyone else's. The doctor hadn't done anything wrong, but Peter couldn't get the image of him standing over his dead father, unable to help, or the feel of his arms holding him back from following his sister to Apokolips. His friends noticed him and gave him supportive looks, Brion putting a heavy hand on his shoulder before the microphone turned on and they all gave their attention to the stage. Mayor Rob Morrissroe, Superman, Kaldur, Maggie Sawyer, and Lex Luthor were on the stage, ready to begin.
The mayor took the podium first and cleared his throat, quieting the crowd before starting. "We are here today to celebrate our freedom, and to honor those to which we owe our lives. We as a city have thrived through years of targeted attacks, but no event in our history can match our victory in this invasion, one that we share with the rest of the world. I turn the mike to the leader of our Special Crimes Unit, Commissioner Margaret Sawyer, who led her squad bravely into the front lines."
A short silence fell as they traded places, and Sawyer took a breath, her voice heavy as she delivered her speech. "We held the lines with the help of our nation's military and the heroes that have put the world's safety and freedom above their own for years. Our victory came with a high cost, though. 640,119 men, women, and children lost their lives nationwide. We are here today, safe, free, and mourning, because of the bravery of not only our heroes in capes, but those without them. I would like to highlight three heroes that lost their lives defending others during the Invasion. The first is Bibbo Bilbowski, a former sailor and current cafe owner, a civilian who led a group of people from his neighborhood in a rescue mission and managed to lead 163 fellow civilians off the streets and to safe locations. He lost his life after shielding a three year old girl who had been separated from her parents. Thanks to his sacrifice, she was reunited with her family."
She paused, struggling to continue to the next person she intended to honor. Superman took a step closer, but she shook her head and drew in a breath. "The next hero I'd like to honor today is my second-in-command, the SCU's own Inspector Daniel Turpin. He was a good man who always believed that we could win any fight we were forced into. Sixteen members of my squad, myself included, and an uncounted number of civilians owe our lives to Detective Turpin. It is a debt that I intend to repay by striving to live up to his fervor for protecting people above and beyond the expectation."
She cleared her throat and glanced back at Superman, and Peter bit the inside of his cheek, the raw spot leaking blood at the latest irritation. Jinx wrapped her free arm around his , not even wincing as he tightened his grip until his knuckles turned white beneath his gloves. "The last hero I am going to talk about, the one most of you are here to honor, is Inferno. She used her gift to defend and protect Metropolis for many years, and she lost her life in a final effort to save Earth from the Apokolips invasion. I cannot emphasize enough the impact of her sacrifice, or her life. At this time I would like to invite some people who knew her better than I to speak."
She stepped to the side, allowing Superman to take her place at the podium. He swallowed hard, looking out over the crowd, searching, but Peter stared straight ahead, not meeting his eyes. "I knew Inferno for fifteen years, and in all that time, she never failed to surprise me with the strength and courage she was capable of. She proved that courage one last time sixteen days ago, when she dove through an invader's boom tube without backup and ended the fight with Apokolips. Unfortunately, she did not survive her effort, so I was not able to tell her how proud I am of her, of all that she accomplished and of the hero and the person that she chose to become."
There was more to his speech, Peter knew it, so it threw him off when the Man of Steel suddenly stopped himself and stepped away from the microphone. Kaldur was supposed to take the stand next, but in the awkward pause of confusion at Clark's shortened speech, Luther slipped effortlessly behind the podium, the smug look in his eye conflicting with the mournful expression carefully fitted on his face.
"Inferno and I had our differences through the years," he began, knowing the heroes wouldn't do anything to stop him, "but at the end of the day, we truly had a mutual respect for one another, and we had a common goal: to protect Metropolis and make the world a better place than it was when we found it. Just like me, she succeeded in that goal, and for that reason we honor her today. I can also confidently say that she wouldn't have had her death any other way. She was an exemplary hero, one whose standards should set the bar for her colleages and those who will follow in her footsteps. She left the Justice League when their actions no longer reflected what she wanted to stand for and she never allowed herself to be pressured away from her ideals. A true hero that we were privileged to have shared a planet with. Inferno, I salute your sacrifice, and I pledge to donate ten million dollars to the restoration of our city in her name, a true Daughter of Metropolis."
"Impressive, how he can both praise and belittle the Justice League in the same speech," Brion muttered, the tension in the group palpable.
"At least it's going to cost him," Arrowette said optimistically.
Tim scoffed. "'Pledged' and 'donated' are two separate things."
Peter ground his teeth, his eyes narrowing to slits as Luthor gave a final sad smile and turned away from the crowd. He'd thought he hated Luthor before, but now he realized it was just a drop in the bucket of what he was capable of. He tried to control the narrative of Inferno's death, to gaslight the public into thinking she was some unmarred pillar of society that supported him, and was planning to profit off this connection after the role he and the rest of the Light played in the invasion.
Kaldur was calm, but he was slow to take the podium. He looked out over the crowd, meeting four, five, six eyes before Peter's. No link was established, but Peter knew who he was looking at, and he knew the Leaguer came to a decision before he opened his mouth. "We have heard a lot about the heroics seen during the Apokolips Invasion, and about Inferno's willingness to lay down her life for her world. You have heard about her courage, her bravery, and her strength, but I would like to tell you about the woman behind the hero we are here to honor. She was twenty-five, she did not always see her abilities as a gift, she was claustrophobic and hated flying in planes, she loved nachos and movies, and she was one of the most devoted and loyal people I have ever had the privilege to call a friend. She was every bit the hero you have heard about today, but the greatest strength I saw her muster was in winning the battles within herself. She overcame addiction, loss, and trauma in her short life, and still she chose to wake up and don her mask. She never took the people around her for granted…" his voice trailed off, his eyes losing focus as he thought about the last interaction he'd had with her, the last he would ever have. He sighed and continued, "a trait that I wish I had better mirrored while she was still here." He paused again, but this time he was focused, intent. "But I will strive to follow her example now. Inferno was not the first hero to fall in service to this world, but she is the first to be heard of in quite some time. The Justice League believed that announcing our losses would make us seem weak, but Inferno never agreed with this idea. She believed that those who made the ultimate sacrifice should be honored, remembered, and that is what I intend to do for her, and every other friend we have lost along the way. So now, I am announcing that we will begin rebuilding the landmark known as Mount Justice, and every hero who has given their lives in defense of our shared world will be honored with a place in this Hall of Fallen Heroes. We could not extend their lives, but we will protect their legacies. Thank you."
A hush fell over the crowd as the spontaneous announcement sunk in. The team looked at each other, shocked at the announcement. "Was that…can he do that?" Virgil asked.
Jaime shrugged, looking back at Aquaman, both impressed and confused. "Probably not, but he did."
Superman flew off the stage, and the other heroes began to follow him, those that couldn't fly finding other modes of transportations. Kyle Rayner made a platform closest to the team, so the non-flighted members, Elaine, and Perdita stepped on, the White Lantern bringing them to a zeta tube away from the cameras and crowds. The ceremony was over, but they still had one more thing to do.
The heroes moved down the hall of the Watchtower, disappearing into the memorial room. Peter allowed himself to be swept along through the Bridge, but he froze two doors away from the room, his eyes fixed on the doorway. Jinx stopped with him, her hand still in his.
"Peter?" she asked quietly, but he pressed his lips together, twisting them to the side.
"It's…almost over," Cassie offered awkwardly, but that didn't help the anxiety clawing its way up Peter's throat. He shook his head, hoping his face was blank as he forced the words out. "I'm not going."
"You must," V'lana said, glancing at Brion. "It is to honor a fallen comrade. More than that, she was your sister."
Brion put a hand on her arm, stopping her. "You should go inside," he said, directing the words to everyone. "If he does not want to go in, that is his choice."
Slowly, the team began to realize that that was best, and they turned to walk away. Jaime sighed before following the others, catching Peter's eye. "We're here for you, hermano. Whatever you need."
Peter shut his eyes for a second, and when he opened them, it was just Brion, Gar, and Jinx around him, the others vanished from view. He shook his head, trying to breath through the feeling of fingers squeezing the air out of his diaphragm. "I can't go in there," he murmured, less sure of himself now. "I'm not…ready."
How could he explain that this was different? That he had stood through Mallory's funeral and Inferno's public memorial, but the thought of watching them turn on a hologram of her, an image of her that would never smile or light or love, would shatter his carefully built shell and reveal the brokenness he'd tried to bury.
He felt himself engulfed in an embrace, Gar's arms tightening slightly before he let go, and Brion nodded. "I know," he said quietly. "You forget, I have a sister in that room, too. You are never ready to say goodbye, but you have to be there, for her."
Peter swallowed hard, nodding at his sister's protege, and took the first step towards the closure he desperately needed.
Hours later, the original team slipped back into the memorial room, gathering in front of the holograms without a word, their thoughts loud despite the quiet. Roy was the first to break the heavy silence. "She got the last word in," he said, his lips twitching into a small smile. "You just know she told Darkseid off before blowing that rock up."
Artemis chuckled, fresh tears pooling in her eyes. "Always with the explosions."
"She's ok," Dick decided, wanting it to be true as he looked up at his two best friends, gone far too soon. "She's got Wally to keep her company." He laughed softly. "They're probably laughing at us and fighting over whatever food they have." That was an image he could live with, much better than the cold, unmoving, heroic statures of the images in front of him.
"What you said about her power," Megan murmured, glancing at Kaldur, "she may not have always wanted it, but it changed a lot of lives for the better."
"I meant what I said," Kaldur said, looking around the room at all of the holograms. "I will lead the restoration of the cave. It is time for us to get them the recognition that they deserve. It seems fitting, that it should be the spot where the last of her fire fell."
"I guess we shouldn't feel so bad," Zatanna said quietly, her tone bittersweet. "She's where she always wanted to be."
Conner tilted his head. "Where's that?"
The magician looked around at the holograms, where their friend was surrounded by the others they had lost, now and forever surrounded by the team and League, present and future, and smiled. "Home."