This is doing so well. Hugs to all!

It has been brought to my attention that the names are getting a bit confusing-I know I tend to switch between civilian and hero names a lot. So, here is a quick recap of the current cast.

Lt. Maxwell Pross
He's a marine who is part of a special operations division of the military. It has many different service branch members selected for their individual skill. The division itself is called Alpha. Because of his background, he was chosen by his commanding officers to act as a caretaker for the children of the League for the summer. The kids are torturing him but not always on purpose.

At some point, all the kids were kidnapped by Cadmus and experimented on. The tests gave them DNA from their parents/guardians that has created all sorts of bizzare situations. On the plus side, genetic testing now proves the ones they call their parents to biologically be so regardless of how their family formed.

Robin/Dick/Richard
wee!Robin is very much like his older self. He has all his weapons and skills but lacks the experience to deal with his nightmares yet (and he's not allowed to fall asleep wearing his utility belt because of it). He calls Batman daddy and Kid Flash is his best friend.

Kid Flash/Wally
wee!Kid Flash is far more hyper than his teen-aged self. It hasn't been shown yet but he has less control over his powers (often runs into walls and has trouble turning). Like Flash, his powers aren't from a metagene but a lab accident; that Iris nearly killed Barry because of. He has a crush on Artemis. In this universe, Flash is his adopted father.

Speedy/Roy (Red Arrow)
wee!Speedy is the oldest and so far the most hostile towards the Lt. Part of it is due to the number of previous sitters he's had in Star City that turned out to be enemies or just nuts. Part of it is he enjoys tormenting the man (Pross' mental nickname for Speedy is ginger devil even though he has no freckles). Like Robin, he has his full skill set. He calls Green Arrow Dad and Black Canary mom; but mommy when he is talking to her.

Aqualad/Kaldur'um/Kaldur
wee!Aqualad is the second oldest and speaks with far better diction than his peers just like his older self. He has a severe peanut allergy and has not yet learned to control his electrical attacks (they usually manifest as a startle response). Aquaman has adopted him as his son and is addressed as Father.

Miss Martian/M'gann/Megan
wee!Miss Martian is just as peppy as her older self but she has a tougher time staying focused on things. When her mind wanders, so do her powers (at great hazard to those around her :P). She likes to cook and seems to have a crush on Superboy. Martian Manhunter is still her uncle but for legal purposes he is her guardian as well.

Superboy/Kon-El/Conner
wee!Superboy got a better deal than his YJ counterpart. Not only does Superman want him as a child, but he has Lois Lane for a mom. It has also been said that Lois is not the damsel in distress the comics play her up to be (Manhunter makes it clear that she is considered dangerous even by villains). Like his mother he often says exactly what he's thinking but isn't old enough to know when not to. He calls Supes dad.

Artemis
wee!Artemis is Speedy's little sister whom he is fiercely protective of. Her file originally states 'don't make her cry, Speedy will hurt you' but the digital version simply says 'don't make her cry'. This amendment is explained when she Canary Cries Lt Pross across the kitchen after scrapping her leg. She likes Kid Flash but you will see them argue a lot. Green Arrow and Canary are daddy and mommy to her but her file mentions Huntress as her birth mother.

Zatanna
wee!Zatanna has killer hiccups that fire of bursts of magical energy and the only way to stop them is to use and inhibitor bracelet and wait till they stop. She seems to be good at explaining things to the Lt. She is staying with Kid Flash and Megan's uncle while Zatara and Flash are out of the country on assignment.

Rocket/Raquel
wee!Rocket has Icon for a dad. She likes to write and show off her large vocabulary; often she will use words more advanced kids would but her grammar isn't as meticulous as Kaldur's. She broke her leg several months prior and as a result has gotten used to flying but is to be encouraged to walk more often. Due to the Cadmus incident, she has some of Icon's alien DNA.

Lil Blue/Jaime (Blue Beetle)
wee!Jaime has two fathers, Booster Gold and Blue Beetle (Ted Kord). The scarab isn't making him crazy though. It does nearly vaporize Pross when he scares Jaime. The accident that caused it to fuse with his spine happened when Booster was supposed to be watching him. Odd side effects: he hears and reads English just fine but can only speak in Spanish (the only person this seems to be an issue for is Lt. Pross) and another one from this chapter.

I know nothing about the military; all my info comes from hasty google searches. I totally respect their service thought.

Plot and Lt. Pross mine. Nothing else sadly. No money made. T_T

Er...I think I may have traumatized some people with the update last night. Sorry! I my defense I DID change the rating beforehand...just forgot to give a teensy warning. There will be a little bit of Booster/Beetle in this chapter. Nothing any worse than what is considered PG-13 if one character is girl though. If it bothers you, the datapad video scene. Or pretend Blue Beetle is a woman.

Let the lunacy continue!

Read Between the Lines
Or
Syne- what? Oh dear god...

After that fiasco, Pross quickly put on the armbands. Been nearly roasted by a toddler was not fun. Speaking of whom, he found himself even more baffled by Jaime when he sat down by himself with a pencil and some paper. The boy liked numbers, a lot. He spent a lot of his time writing math problems and giggling. He didn't understand why at first and became even more confused when he saw that the problems he was doing were trig level. The kid was two!

When nap time came, he wisely took the opportunity to check the datapad and found the file on the kid with the killer metal bug on his back. It said that the scarab on his back was an AI and armour with impressive defensive and offenive capabilities (no shit) and warned not to agitate it (duly noted). It was invented by Blue Beetle and became attached due to a momentary lapse in attention on Booster Gold's part when the boy was playing in the laboratory. As a result he has somewhat scrambled neuropathways resulting in his inability to speak in anything but Spanish. He cannot understand it when it is spoken or printed though; only English. He also has a few forms ofsynesthesia not caused but amplified by this condition.

"What's synesthesia?" He thought aloud. The kids were all snoring away on their mats in the rec room. Or so he thought.

"The production of a sense impression relating to one sense or part of the body by stimulation of another sense or part of the body." Rocket answered. The looked over to see her spiky locks moving behind the sofa before she came around the side holding a coloring book and some crayons. With a flicker of lavender, she levitated up and plopped down next to him.

"You're supposed to be taking a nap." The lieutenant sighed. "How do you know that?"

"I read a lot and I'm not sleepy. I want to color." She opened the book to a scene where Hello Kitty and Keroppi were playing in the snow.

"Do you know what those words actually mean Rocket or are you just repeating the definition?" He smiled as she made the Japanese feline's parka pink.

"It's what Jaime has. We see regular graphemes or numbers and letters. He sees colors and it makes math super easy for him. He can't read very well now so how it works when he spells things is as yet undetermined." She didn't even look up from her picture. "He likes how numbers change colors when he rearranges them or makes new numbers with them cause it's like magic. That's why he was doing those problems."

"Makes as much sense as anything else today." He shrugged. No, no it doesn't. How does that work?

Unfortunately for him he was about to get an eyeful of exactly how it worked.

Just not the kind the little tot had.

The data pad pinged and a video began to play. Hadn't pushed anything and couldn't get it to stop.

[Booster I'm mad at you!] The voice of Blue Beetle spoke. The video was of a laboratory out of a sci-fi flick. He wasn't wearing a costume but a lab coat. The man sat hunched over a table doing something that required goggles so he still couldn't see his face.

[Awe babe you can't be that upset.] Booster chuckled coming up behind him. He wrapped his arms around the smaller man and a devious smirk formed on the gold and black clad hero's lips. He dangled a whistle in front of him. [Oh no you don't.]

Blue swatted it away and it landed across the desk. Undeterred, the blond man did something with his wrist and the sound of a whistle filled the room. The sound was odd though, much higher than the gym whistle sitting on the desk. The pitch bordered on just out of the range of human hearing. If Pross thought that was strange, what came next caused his brain to die.

[Nngh...] Blue groaned. Not an 'ow!' groan. It was an 'ah...' groan. A faint blush spread across his face. Booster did it again. [Nnghh...not fair...I'm still mad.]

[But how long can you stay mad like this?] Booster purred, sliding the white garment off of the flustered scientist revealing the blue dress shirt underneath. As Blue squirmed, his lover trailed kisses along his jawline. The wrist motion was repeated and the sound came back a third time.

[Ahhhh! Michael stop! Jaime will hear it too!] By now Blue was bright red, pant and clutching the edge of the table for dear life.

[So? Doesn't affect him like it does you beautiful...]

WHAT THE HELL?

Pross tossed the pad like it was a pit viper and scooted away as if his ass was on fire. He stared wide eyed at where it landed as if the device would spring to life and assault his vision again. That was the last thing he expected to see on the otherwise helpful pad.

Who gets off on a sound like that? More importantly, why the hell was it playing on the datapad? That was the weirdest thing he'd ever seen.

"You're squishing me!" A muffled voice squealed.

In his shock, he totally forgot about Rocket beside him. The girl was now crushed between his back and the arm of the couch. Oh, but not for long. Faster than he could turn his head, the lieutenant found himself propelled forward and flipping over the table. His face bashed into the uncarpeted floor with enough force to stun him briefly.

To Icon's daughter, the solution to being sandwiched in was simple; switch on her force field and let it turn Newton's third law (and Pross) on it's head. So far she was keeping true to the pattern; the boys nearly kill him, the girls just maim him.

"What is wrong with you?" She hollered.

His response was cut off by snickering that quickly devolved into full blown laughter Someone, two someones were yucking it up right behind her. Robin and Speedy, of course. The lil' Ginger Demon got Robin to hack into the device and show him that...whatever it was. Evil, evil brats!

WHACK! A pillow hit the two boys in the face.

"Ow! Jeez Rocket the doofus that almost suffocated you is on the floor!" Speedy huffed.

"Because of you two imbeciles!" She grumbled in response.

Turns out no nobody was actually asleep anymore. They were rolling up their mats and going back to playing. Well, Jaime was looking around confused. He said something to Superboy who shrugged and walked over to the group by the couch.

"Jaime said heard that special noise his Dad makes with his glove. I heard it too but Uncle Gold's not here." Superboy translated.

The high pitched whistle sounded a fourth time and Pross dove for the datapad which had thankfully landed screen down. This was a nightmare. How the hell was he going to explain this to a bunch of kids? Where's the friggin off switch? Unsure what else to do, he hurriedly removed the back panel and battery.

"Mi barriga!" Jaime fell over laughing and holding his sides as if someone was ticking him.

"Uncle Gold's glove makes a sound that tickles Jaime's tummy." Robin chirped. "But it makes Uncle Blue's face turn pink. It's weird but funny! It's called sin-ni sin um..."

"Synethesia. Uncle Blue and Gold both have it and so does Lil Blue. It's different for all of them." Rocket said before bouncing to her feet. "Who wants to play hide and seek?"

"Me!" Everyone, even the kids on the other side of the room cheered.

"You're it Pross! Hide!" Speedy called and all of them scattered leaving the man alone on the floor. The last general guide line flashed in his mind like an alarm bell.

/5. One child out of your sight for a short time may be fine. If two or more are missing, you have a problem./

Shit.

*End*

Jaime hollered "My tummy!"

I swear to god this is an actual condition. There are more that 65 known versions of synesthesia and some people have more than one type. It doesn't affect two people in quite the same way either. I came up for this short piece after reading a fic called Synesthesia on An Archive of Our Own by Leticheecopae. Which I do not recommend reading if guys doing more than kissing squicks you out.

The next chapter will be a while from now, working title:

Read the Ninja List
Or
Hide and Go (BLEEP) Yourself Lieutenant Pross

Sirensoundwave out!