AUTHORS NOTE:

I know, technically it's not April Fools Day. But a fic's a fic, and who doesn't love a good prank? Especially when it's on our favourite heroes of the 31st century! There are more chapters in the works so sit tight and I'll post them as soon as I can. But for now, enjoy, leave a comment, and have a wonderful morning/day/evening/night!

April Fools

It was early when it happened. Lightning Lad had just dragged himself into the kitchen for a coffee. It was just before five in the morning at Legion Headquarters, and most of the Legionnaires were sleeping soundly.

"Why do I always get the early morning monitor duty?" Lightning Lad grumbled.

"Because you lost that bet against Cosmic Boy last month." Superman answered from the breakfast bar, smiling into his coffee.

"What're you so peppy about this morning?" Lightning Lad growled. "I thought you didn't like mornings."

"I don't." Superman took a sip from his mug and continued. "But when you've lived on a farm your whole life you tend to get used to them."

Lightning Lad made a noise of acknowledgement but made no return comment, and moved to open the cupboard where the menagerie of mugs was kept, failing to see Superman returning his mug to the bar and watching him with anticipation.

He gave a startled yelp as the metal bucket that had perched above the cupboard door landed on his head, dumping the freezing contents onto his drowsy form. He cursed, throwing the bucket off and glaring at the Man of Steel, who was doubled up with laughter.

"What the sprock Clark!" He snarled, striding over to the hero and slamming his hands on the breakfast bar, making the coffee mug shudder. Superman's laughter dulled to chuckles as he spoke.

"A-April fools Garth! Oh man, you should have seen the look on your face!"

"That was not funny Superman. And what're you talking about 'April Fools'?"

"Y-You've never heard of April fools?" Superman questioned. Lightning Lad gave him an annoyed look that screamed 'start explaining before I hurt you'. "You're missing out! It's something we do back in the twenty-first century. We spend the entire first day of April pranking people! You mean you guys don't have that?"

"No, but we should!" Lightning Lad smirked, his anger dissipating as he glanced up at the clock and then back to Superman. "You thinking what I'm thinking..?"

Brainy sighed. He'd been working on a particularly stubborn invention for hours and he was starting to feel the pain of being hunched over a table for so long. He stood and stretched, feeling the mechanisms grind together in his lower back and shoulders as moved. The laboratory door hissed as he turned to greet his fellow scientist.

"Evening Vi," He greeted, throwing her a questioning look. "Shouldn't you be on monitor duty? If I recall you were supposed to be on-duty until twelve-until-three."

"Brainy, it's six-thirty in the morning." Vi corrected, stifling a yawn with her hand. "My shift ended hours ago." She sighed. "Did you pull another all-nighter?"

"This particular invention was being... Stubborn to put it lightly." He gestured to the mess of tools and mechanical parts scattered across the tabletop behind him.

"When did you last sleep?" Vi asked bluntly, giving the Coluan a concerned look. Brainy paused.

"...Three days ago?" He replied carefully. "Not that that fact is important, I'll rest once I finish this-"

"You'll rest now." Violet interrupted, pulling him away from the mess. "Brainy, you're working yourself to pieces again."

"Vi, as much as I appreciate your repeated concern for my well-being, I believe I know when I need to rest." Brainy snapped, yanking himself away from her.

"This isn't good for you Brainy-" Vi started.

"I know."

"-You shouldn't be pulling these all nighters-"

"I know."

"Brainy." The sudden shift in tone and yank on his arm forced him to turn, only to be faced with himself, reflected in the front of another unfinished project. Vi appeared behind him. "Look at yourself."

He looked tired. His hair was tousled and dirty, his uniform smeared with grime and his eyes lacked the bright, intelligent look they usually held. Every ache seemed to suddenly intensify. Brainy sighed.

"Does that look healthy to you?" Vi asked gently, her concerned reflection watching him for an answer.

"...No." He admitted, dropping his gaze to the floor.

"Exactly. You need to rest." Vi told him as she guided him towards the laboratory door as she scrunched her nose. "And a shower."

"I know, I know." He bit back halfheartedly, pausing outside of the lab and giving the Imskan a small smile. "Don't blow anything up while I'm gone."

"I won't." Vi laughed in her signature way. "Blowing things up is your job."

Following Vi's advice, Brainy decided to venture down to one of the boys locker rooms before disappearing to his quarters. Muttering polite 'good mornings' to a few teammates as he passed, he tried his best to ignore the intensity of the morning light and the growing noise of the day. Brainy winced as he strode into the boys locker room, trying to tune out the rowdy laughter of the Legionnaire's now awake as he made his way to an open shower. He sighed at the shower door slid shut, dulling the rabble outside.

"How are they this so loud at this time in the morning?" Brainy muttered to himself as the hot water switched on, washing away the dirt and aches of mechanical and laboratory work. He hummed a random tune and sighed as the water seeped under his armor, caressing his circuits as he ran a hand through his hair.

"No more late nights..." He said quietly, grabbing the nearest bottle of shampoo. "At least until next week." He grumbled as the bottle let out a depressed noise and no shampoo.

"Seriously, why does anyone leave the empty bottles here..." He grumbled as he replaced the bottle on the shelf and called out to the busy room. "Anybody got a spare bottle of shampoo? Someone left the empty one in here." He sighed. "...Again."

"Yeah! Gimme a second and I'll pass one over!" Lightning Lad called from the neighboring block. Soon enough a bottle flew over the shower wall, and was effortlessly caught.

"Thanks Garth." Brainy called over.
"No problem." Came the reply, along with a suppressed snicker. Brainy gave the bottle a suspicious look, but shrugged, passing off his teammates snickers as nothing important.

Lightning Lad darted out of the shower beside Brainiac 5, looking around at the others and pointing at the second bottle in his hands and then pressing a finger to his lips. The group nodded and cackled. This was going to be good.

Lightning Lad darted out of the locker room for a moment and laughed as soon as the door closed, leaning on the eagerly waiting Superman's shoulder.

"Brainy totally fell for it! I can't wait to see the look on his face!"

Superman chuckled. "Switching shampoo for hair dye. A little cliché, but it's a classic."

"He's gonna go crazy when he sees it! Come on!"

"Hold on a second Lightning Lad, " Superman grabbed his partner-in-crime's arm. "You know, as soon as Brainy sees what we did to his hair, he's gonna be after you, right? You did give him the 'shampoo' in the first place."

"It'll be worth the trip to the infirmary." Lightning Lad answered, pulling Superman into the locker room with him. "Now hurry up! I do not wanna miss this."

Just as they entered a cheer erupted from the Legionnaires inside as Brainy stepped out of the shower looking very confused, and sporting very pink hair.

"Nice hair Brainy!" Nemesis Kid commented.
"Yeah, colour really brings out your eyes!" Timberwolf chuckled.

"What are you guys talking about?" Brainy questioned, scrubbing his colorful hair with a towel, staining it with remnants of dye. "I haven't done anything...with...my..."

His voice trailed off as he looked down at the towel, then darted to the mirror. His eyes and hands raked across his scalp for any trace of blonde among the sea of neon, yet he found none. The locker room grew silent, waiting for the scientists reaction.

"What..? How did...?" Brainy turned, his eyes locking on Lightning Lad and the bottle clasped in his hand . "You switched the shampoo with hair dye didn't you?"

"...April Fools?" Lightning Lad turned to Superman for backup, only to find the historic hero already flying down the hallway and the locker room erupting into a roar of laughter. "Hey! Wait for me!"

Even when he was halfway down the hallway Lightning Lad could still feel the dark look Brainy had shot him before he had escaped. He was going to regret this later.