She was watching the people on television happily eating it and, to be honest, it did look delicious. It had a dark, chewy outside, but gooey inside. It even had crunchy bits to bite on! She almost squealed when the lady on TV provided a recipe - a quick check ensured that Mount Justice had all the ingredients to make the treat. Even the well-stocked kitchen had the right equipment needed. Oh she just knew the others would love to eat something like that!
Humming along to the theme of her favorite show, she floated to the kitchen area and started gathering everything she needed. The lady on TV had showed the right way to make the dessert, and she promised herself that she would follow everything exactly. No more burnt food this time!
Twenty minutes later, the pan was in the oven, the timer was set, and Robin and Wally were due any minute. Artemis had already arrived, storming off somewhere grumbling about 'preppy prep schools - Megan still had no idea what the other meant, even though she'd explained it seven times. Superboy was in his room, and Kaldur was swimming. But she knew everyone would be coming around when she was done; just as she knew that it was going to be amazing sharing the first treat she'd made correctly with her friends. She almost couldn't wait for the specified fifteen minutes of baking!
~
Wally yawned as he and Robin stepped out of the transporter. It's been another boring week of school, petty criminals, and more school. And while their night job was exciting enough on its own, they were both looking forward to spending the weekend with teenagers who understood them. Well, mostly on the exciting night job part. Not so much on the whole school thing.
But as they entered the main room, the smell of chocolate and...Something else greeted them.
"What is that?" Robin asked, sniffing the air.
"Beats me. I think it's coming from the kitchen." Wally shrugged, taking a sniff for himself. Even if he didn't recognize the other smell, there was still chocolate and chocolate was awesomely good. And if he was fast enough, maybe he could steal a bite. Or two. He was grinning in anticipation of chocolaty goodness when he turned to his best bud, "What do you say we go find out?"
He didn't give Robin a chance to reply, but just grabbed the younger teen's wrist and sped him along towards the kitchen like a weighted animal balloon. He found Megan just pulling a pan out of the oven as soon as they entered.
She glanced up and smiled. "Good morning, guys!"
"Hey Miss M. What's up?" Robin asked crossing over to take a peek at the pan.
"Don't look!" Megan gasped, swiftly covering the pan as she gave a sheepish grin. "It's a surprise."
Wally's interest was piqued at the mention of 'secret.' It wasn't often Megan hid something and Wally always liked surprises. It made life exciting. And he liked exciting.
"What's that smell?" Superboy asked, entering the kitchen.
"It's a surprise apparently," Wally replied absently. He sped over to stand next to the green-skinned girl, alternately looking at the pan from all angles and asking her, "Hey, Beautiful-" zip "you sure you won't-" zip "share what it is-" zip "with me? I promise I won't tell."
"You keeping a secret is like a strainer holding water," Robin scoffed beside him. When Superboy looked confused, Robin added, "It won't stay in for long."
"Dude!" he protested. "Not cool! I can too keep a secret!"
"Oh yeah? Name one!" Robin demanded, crossing his arms.
Wally's eyes shifted from left, to right, and then up as he thought. There was that one time in school when...oh wait, he had to tell the teacher about that. Then the one that...that he told Uncle Barry about as soon as he visited. How about the fact that Robin revealed himse-ackk! Martian in the vicinity! Can't think about that!
Finally, he gave up on the idea and decided to change the subject by turning back to Megan. "Uh...so, what's in the pan, Megan?"
"What's that smell?" Artemis asked as she meandered into the kitchen. Kaldur was right behind her, similarly looking curious.
"Well, since everyone is here now, I guess I can show you." Megan said brightly.
"Finally! So what is it, Gorgeous?" Wally asked again.
"Go to the living room so I can serve it in peace!" she said, shooing them out with a spatula. Wally wanted to comment on how adorable she looked at that moment but Robin was tugging on his arm.
"Wow, Megan's cooking and it's actually going well?" Robin was joking as they turned back to the main room. "It must be the end of the world-!" he jerked when a pan came flying past just inches from his face. It was quickly followed by another and another.
"Duck!" Artemis yelled, dodging one that would've hit her head.
"I think that's a pan, not a duck," Wally pointed out dryly as he, too, hit the floor.
"Shut up, moron!" Artemis growled back, grabbing one of the abandoned pans and throwing it at the redheaded speedster.
Wally sped away, letting the pan clatter to the floor. He was about to toss a taunt to their archer when he caught sight of Megan's horrified expression.
"Don't throw the food!" she exclaimed, entering the room in time to witness the event.
"She was throwing it!" Wally pointed an accusing finger at Artemis, which the archer ignored in favor of studying another one of the pans.
The pans held near-black, lumpy cakes cut into even squares. The smell of chocolate hit his nostrils and Wally grabbed one of the squares and bit into it.
"Is this actually food?" Robin asked, taking one of the dark chunks in his hand. "It looks more like some projectile Batman would have me train with."
"...They're brownies," Megan said, her smile disappearing. "But I followed all the Earth directions! They were in for the specified amount of time, and I used the right measurements! Why don't they look right?"
"Well, for starters," Artemis said. Wally looked up to see her eyeing him as he ate his way through his second 'brownie.' "What are those green things in them?"
"What do you mean green things?" Megan asked crossing over to take a closer look herself. "There aren't-"
"Right here."
"Really?" Robin asked, taking a closer look at the piece in his hand. "Well, there's your problem." He held it up to eye-level, where little specks of green became more visible.
"Wha-hey!" Wally yelped as Kaldur yanked a brownie out of his mouth. "I was eating that!"
"And now, you're not," Robin said nonchalantly as he tossed the one he held across the room. It landed perfectly in the trash can. "Score!"
"As much as I hate you," Artemis said, dumping the rest as well. "I really don't want to
have to clean up your puke the entire weekend we're here."
"Or have you zipping back and forth to the bathroom all the time." Robin added.
"I don't know what went wrong." Megan murmured, her arms drooped as she held the remaining pan of brownies. "I followed the directions perfectly."
"Maybe you picked the wrong ingredient." Artemis suggested.
"Or maybe she picked the wrong ingredient," Superboy spoke up. They all glanced up to see him step out of the kitchen, a jar of nuts in his hand. "The almonds are two years past their expiration date."
"They are?" Megan shrieked in disbelief, grabbing the jar to see for herself. "I-I didn't know! I didn't check-"
"And the eggs are past their expiration date, too." Superboy added.
"It is alright, Megan," Kaldur said, taking the jar from her. "I am sure you will improve in time."
"But what if Wally gets poisoned...?"
"I have an iron stomach," Wally cut in cheerfully. "I won't get sick from bad nuts. Don't worry, Megalicious."
"Ugh," Artemis huffed. "I'm going back to my room before Kid Spew loses his breakfast." She spun on her heel and left the room.
"I have a conversation to get back to." Kaldur excused himself and similarly left, heading for the ocean.
"Training," was all Superboy said before he went for the gym.
"I-I'll try to make something for lunch." Megan floated back into the kitchen, leaving Robin and Wally alone in the main room, the former, Wally noted, looking like he really did not want lunch.
"You know?" Wally spoke up, breaking the silence as he looked forlornly at the trash can. "The sad thing is, I'm still hungry for that." The brownies were sticking out a few inches above the edge of the can, tantalizing the perpetually hungry teen. "They're tempting me, Rob. They're just so tempting!" He took a step towards them.
"Dude, that's nasty. Don't eat them out of the garbage!"
"Well, it'd gross Artemis out," Wally mused, his face brightening at the thought. "Maybe I should take them and see what she does."
Robin shook his head, wrinkling his nose. The clap on Wally's shoulder was slightly heavier than his usual pats. "Well, look at the bright side," he said with a smirk.
"What bright side?" Wally asked, warily watching the smirk grow on his friend's face.
"You're right, there is no bright side, you just ate gross brownies!" Robin chirped, and ran for the sleeping quarters, his trademark laugh echoing through the empty room.
"Dude! Not cool!" Wally yelled, starting to chase after Robin. He made it to the doorway before the brownies caught his eye. The slight smell of chocolate wafted into his nose. He hesitated for a fraction of a second before snatching them and racing after his friend. "Hey, Rob! You, me, Belt's Soft Serve! They won't know what hit 'em!"