Catherine Wheel
When your job involves you getting shot at on a regular basis, the Fourth of July is a special kind of hell.
Gotham actually isn't too bad on the Fourth of July. The Bats don't have to worry about fireworks because there aren't any fireworks. Everyone who lives in Gotham is too traumatized for that.
The Joker is the one who provides the explosions this year, but that's practically a normal Wednesday night.
Kon spends the Fourth of July at the Kent farm. This year the whole family is there: Ma and Pa, Clark, Lois and Diana, Jon, and Krypto. Jon is ten now and insists that being in the double digits means he will now beat Kon at every game that ever existed. Kon accepts each challenge with a smile. Jon's attempts at trash talk and his cheers whenever he wins almost drown out the sounds of the fireworks that Kon can hear surrounding them.
Jon also insists that ten-year-olds can stay up until midnight, but all three of his parents disagree. He has to go to bed at nine o'clock. Technically Kon should be going to sleep too so he can get up early to help with chores, but none of the adults say anything when he stays downstairs with them.
The fireworks grow more frequent after Jon leaves. They sound like a hail of gunfire. Kon keeps seeing his friends, the ones who aren't bulletproof like he is. He's jumped in front of guns for them before. With this many bullets he can't protect them all.
"It's okay," Diana says. "They're safe."
"Breathe," Clark reminds him.
Kon pets Krypto and breathes.
Camp Half-Blood has the best Fourth of July fireworks show in the country. Since Cassie started being Wonder Girl she's stopped going to it. She has noise-filtering headphones courtesy of the Hephaestus and Hecate cabins and she listens to music in the Hades cabin until Nico gets back.
"Is it over?" Cassie asks.
Nico nods.
Even without hearing the fireworks, when Cassie falls asleep back in her own cabin in her little alcove out of the sight of the giant statue of her father that dominates the space, she dreams about the people who bled out in front of her. She dreams about people she couldn't save.
She blames the thunder and lightning that's always going in cabin one. It doesn't sound as much like gunshots as fireworks do, but when she's been dreading fireworks all day it's bad enough.
She'll ask Chiron if she can bunk in her cousin's cabin next year, if she's still alive then.
For Bart, avoiding Fourth of July fireworks is as easy as running to another continent. He, Grandpa Barry and Wally don't even have to put in a request for someone to cover their patrols since 1) they can get back to Central City in seconds if they need to and 2) their regular Rogues care enough about everyone's mental health to always take the Fourth of July off.
"Where to this year?" Grandpa Barry asks.
"We could visit Tasmanian Devil," Bart suggests. "That was fun last year."
"That was cold," Wally says. "But, hey, what are the odds of a witch causing a massive ice storm again?"
Grandpa Barry looks up from his cell phone. "According to T.D.? Pretty good. Any other ideas?"
They throw around a few countries before deciding on France. They're not allowed in Paris, but they should be able to get close enough to hear Jagged Stone playing later that night and there's plenty to do in other cities until then. Actually, there's so much to do that they might stay a few more nights.
That decision has nothing to do with the tendency of Grandpa Barry's neighbours to set off fireworks from July first through to July tenth.
Speedy is with Starfire and the Outsiders hijacking a ship that's transporting kidnapped metahumans. The team-up is definitely overkill—Starfire, Essence and Mx. Martian together could beat Superman without any help from Speedy and Tigress—but beating up slavers is kind of Starfire's thing and there were enough metathuman kids taken from Star City to justify Speedy jumping on Tigress's invitation. The Outsiders planning their ambush for July fourth when the ship is in international waters is a bonus.
They sweep through the ship like a tidal wave. Starfire and Essence draw the most fire. Starfire's starbolts are flashy and dangerous-looking, and Essence's shadow magic is terrifying. It's understandable that the hired guns shoot at them first. The distraction means that Mx. Martian and Tigress can free people from cages and collars without Speedy having to provide much covering fire. That's good. It means Speedy can protect the freed metahumans who fight and get in over their heads.
Time isn't consistent in battles. Seconds can feel like they last for days and hours can be over in a blink. To Speedy, it feels like less than a minute before everyone is freed and the whole ship is under their control. All there's left to do is get all these people home.
The echoes of gunfire in Mia's ears take hours to fade.
Raven understands the point of fireworks. The bright lights and loud noises are made to scare away minor evil spirits.
She's glad that they often scare her. It means she must not be as evil as her father wishes.
The first time Gar searched for animals that weren't bothered by fireworks was on July fifth the year the rest of the Doom Patrol was killed. He's got it down to a science now. Three hours before sunset he takes his Titans communicator, dives into the Pacific Ocean and turns into a shark. Then he goes out and down, deep enough that the sounds of explosions don't reach him. It's peaceful, knowing that the only thing he has to do is keep swimming unless someone calls him.
It's the only thing he feels like he can do. All the animals he's looked up are more affected by fireworks than humans.
Vic and Joey stay at Titans Tower on the Fourth of July. Someone has to be there, physically and mentally, for the city's sake. Vic's room is soundproof. Between him and Oracle, they have eyes everywhere in San Francisco. He and Joey watch movies and wait to see if the Teen Titans are needed.
Neither of them is particularly bothered by fireworks, except for when they are. It's better not to risk it.
The first Titans weekend after the holiday, no one feels like cooking. Vic orders a dozen pizzas and they eat sitting in front of the TV while a stupid, sappy romantic comedy that none of them are actually watching plays. They're all so tired.
"Next year we're visiting Bunker for a week," Tim says.
"Mexico City is nice this time of year," Gar agrees.
At the very least they won't have to deal with endless fireworks.