A/N: Okay guys. I am so sorry. I know I said I would only be gone for two days instead of a whole week...But hear me out, okay? Monday: Intense thunderstorm. I didn't want to risk loggin on to the computer. Tue-Thurs. my desktop was being a complete bag of douche. It just suddenly crashed on me. It still is actually. I'm using a laptop that isn't mine for this chappie. So I'm not exactly sure when I'll be updating the next oneshot/drabble/vignette. I have to say it's completely disappointing. There goes my plan of updating every weekday...

Day 7: A pet you love

Characters: Roy, with a little Wally

Rating: T (for language)

Genre: Humor

This was getting ridiculous. When Roy swore off of working with someone, he had meant it damnit -said for the occasional run ins with Young Justice. But really...that was just a friend helping friends (even Artemis was now considered a somewhat acquaintance), right?

Now his situation was almost comical, if one removed the fact that he was being held and lowered, slowly, into a vast container of unknown boiling chemicals, and focused on the talking parrot perched on the above walkway's railings.

Yes...a parrot. An annoying, talking parrot that had never left him alone since the day it just randomly perched on his shoulder. If he were to work with a partner -all unwillingly, mind you- they would have to be human, firstly, and be at least better than Ollie...and quiet, definitely quiet.

"Roy want a cracker?" Thank god there was no one else in the factory now.

The redheaded archer sighed irritatedly, if he were to be stuck with a parrot it should have been the one that knew the traditional line. Nothing was ever normal for him, and this was no exception.

"No you smug rat with wings, I do not want a fucking cracker."

"Ooh, you said a bad word, mister." The bird echoed the line a kid had said to him before.

"Yeah, well, you're not exactly helping the situation now, are you?" The damned bird just tilted its head. "Didn't think so. Why couldn't I have gotten a dog? Or a monkey? Every guy wants a monkey, but no, I get stuck with a useless parrot."

It whistled. "I'm not useless."

Roy glared through the domino mask. He was probably crazy, but who could blame him? "Try me, parrot."

It must have understood him, for it took off and flew downwards, past his line of sight. "Yeah, that's right, you fly away!" Yup, he was crazy.

His head swung forward in accepted defeat. At least his approaching death only needed a few more seconds before his feet touched the surface of the boiling liquid, but then a sudden whirring sound echoed from up above him. Roy was jerked up and away from the container, his muscled arms screaming each time he swung from side to side. It was only a few minutes that had passed, torturous as it was, until his feet touched solid ground. There was a squawk to his right just after he had removed his cuffed hands from the dreaded hook. How was he not surprised that he had just been proven wrong by the parrot he had just been arguing with moments before?

Said parrot, which had been next to a hanging remote control, flew over and landed on his shoulder. Something that resembled a straightened out paperclip stuck out of its beak, and Roy wordlessly lifted his hands to the bird, still in quite a bit of shock.

There was only the sound of the parrot picking the lock and muffled breathing, that is until the cuffs clanked to the floor, releasing Roy's aching wrists. Immediately, his hand shot up and grabbed the parrot's feet, wincing as it started pecking at its new entrapment. He raised it up so he could look at it in the eyes. As a result he was pecked on the nose, lightly.

"Ow," he growled, rubbing his nose furiously.

"Roy," it simply squawked.

"Hey, when I'm in this mask I'm Red Arrow."

"Okie dokie, Red Arrow."

He was simply floored. That was the first time someone...some...thing? (how does one address a bird/animal?) had just called him Red Arrow with no hesitation. He contemplated on what he was supposed to do now. He was pretty sure that the mobster that had trapped him here was too stupid to even plant explosives in here, but he wasn't taking any chances. "We'll talk about this arrangement later, for now stick close with me so we can get out of this dump, got it?"

His fingers released the parrot. It seemed to like the spot on his shoulder for it flew back there and replied, "You got it, partner."

Partner...heh...

Roy set that thought aside and creeped against the wall. Coast was clear in the hallway, but he couldn't help but cringe inside every time his boots scuffed the tiled floor. He rounded a corner and came face to barrel. One of the henchmen had decided to stay and keep watch...well, shit. Roy was all out of arrows, so hand to hand was his only possible solution. Of course, his reflexes and all the training that Black Canary taught him could not be fast enough to dodge a bullet, so he put his arms up slowly. Great, what only seemed like five seconds of freedom ended with another capture. Ollie would be laughing his ass off by now.

But something happened that even he would not have expected. The damned parrot had launched itself onto his perpetrator's face, feathers and all. He watched in fascinated horror as it screeched, pecked, and scratched.

The other man was distracted enough -distracted was a complete understatement- that Roy came to his senses and twisted the other man's arm that held the gun, disarming him completely before he planted a good solid punch on the face. The parrot, his parrot landed neatly on his shoulder again, patiently waiting for him to start moving again.

"You are a little monster."

From the corner of his eye he saw that it tilted its head to the side, probably in confusion.

"Yeah, I think I'll call you monster. How does that sound?"

It did that little head nod that parrots loved to do. If it approved or not, Roy was still unsure.

The both of them exited through a doorway on the rooftop of the factory, and he was relieved to see that no one else was up there. For some reason the parrot started singing a Lady Gaga song, much to his undying awe from his new found buddy.

"Of course...Lady Gaga...monster. Should've known coming from an interesting bird like you."

"Gaga. Monster."

Roy leapt onto the roof of a closer building and looked at it with a sudden idea. If this bird were to stick to him from now on, with and without the mask...it would be wise to create two identities for the bird. That seemed pretty far fetched though. People, smart people, would begin to suspect who he really was just from the sudden appearance from the parrot. It wasn't as if he could slap on a mask and costume on it...could he?

"Look here parrot, since you decided to invade my life with your nauseating presence. There are a few rules we need to establish here. When you're with Roy, your name is Gaga, and when you're with Red Arrow, you're Monster, got it? I think it's only right to give you names. I can't just keep on calling you damned parrot or something."

His only response was a little nip on his earlobe, but he smiled. At least he wouldn't be that much alone now.

xXx

"Dude! You got a parrot? What happened to that monkey you wanted?"

"Wally...leave me alone, I'm here to see Kaldur."

"I've seen you in some of the papers, Roy! Where in the world did you get that parrot?"

"None of your business."

"Come on! What's its name?"

"I'm not telling you."

"Aww, come on, man."

"Gaga."

"Roy want a cracker?"

"You called it Gaga? What possessed you to-AHHHH!"

"..."

"ROY! TELL IT TO -OW!- TO STOP! TELL -OW! DAMNIT!- TO STOP! ROY!"

A/N: Sorry if it's a bit bleh, but I hope it was nice for you.

Oh...question: Does "rat with wings" only apply to pigeons or birds in general? I was a bit confused when I added that in.

Aand brownie points to the person who can tell me the Dane Cook reference I used in here. XD