Author's note: Wow, two in one day. When you're sick, there's not much to do. Well, this one will be a lot less exciting than the last, but I hope you like it none the less.

Disclaimer: You know, same old same old…

Chapter Eleven

Boardwalk

After the Injustice League fiasco, the team quickly returned to Mount Justice. Showers were due, in order to get the stink of the swamps off their bodies. When they were all clean it was already past midnight, so Robin, KF, Aqualad and Artemis said their goodbyes, and Superboy, Miss Martian and Desmond went to sleep almost immediately. The next day arrived quickly, and Desmond woke to the sound of teens in the kitchen. Pulling some sweat pants on over his boxers, he walked into the kitchen to see the entire team assembled, all eating some sort of breakfast food. "What's going on?" Desmond asked, yawning and stretching. M'gann handed him a plate of scrambled eggs, then floated to the stove.

"We have the day off," she explained, tending to some sizzling bacon. "I thought we should all spend the day together." Wally made nodded, and swallowed his mouthful of sausages.

"Whatever you say, babe," he said flirtatiously to Miss Martian. Literally everyone else in the room smirked. Wally still didn't understand Conner and M'gann's relationship.

"So… breakfast?" said Desmond, scarfing down a few forkfuls of eggs. "What's next, a day out on the town?" M'gann blushed and nodded. Desmond's eyes widened. "Really? We're all just going to hang out?" The team nodded. "When did you guys decide this?"

"We got here half an hour ago," Artemis explained. "By the way, you snore." Desmond's face turned beet red.

"You guys went in my room?!" he exploded. "While I was sleeping?" The team had to fight to keep the food in their mouths as they erupted in laughter. Desmond crossed his arms and sat down with a huff. Artemis walked over and offered him a piece of her bacon, which he begrudgingly accepted.

"Cheer up," she said. "I was kidding. And come on, we'll have fun today." Desmond nibbled on his bacon and shrugged.

"I guess," he said at last. "So… where are we headed?" The team exchanged some looks, and after a moment gave a collective shrug. Desmond sighed. "I can always count on you guys for a battle strategy, but you're terrible at planning out a day, you know that?"

"Well," said Wally defensively. "If you're so good at it, where should we go, Mr. day-planner?" Desmond took a forkful of eggs and thought it over. It was a Saturday, so certain places would be crowded. No good movies were playing, and some ideas were just plain bad. Then Desmond snapped his fingers, getting a sudden idea.

"Let's go to the boardwalk," he suggested. This was met with quizzical looks from all around.

"Happy Harbor doesn't have a boardwalk," M'gann reminded him. Desmond smiled at their confusion and shook his head.

"The Queensland Boardwalk," he explained, trying to make things clear for his teammates. "In Metropolis. We'll Zeta-Beam there later. They've got food, rides, and fair-style games. And they have fireworks almost every night. It'll be fun." The team exchanged a few looks.

"Yeah, sure," said Robin at last. "Sounds cool. Any objections?" he asked. No one said anything, and he smiled. "Alright, we'll finish breakfast and Zeta-Beam to Metropolis."

XxXxX

The Zeta-Beam drop off point in Metropolis wasn't very close to Queensland Boardwalk, so the team had to take the bus, which none were too thrilled about. There weren't a lot of open seats, so two of the members had to stand. Desmond offered, since it was his idea to come to Metropolis, and Artemis was decided (via rock, paper, scissors) to stand as well. The bus ride wasn't very long, but it was nevertheless inconvenient. At some point along the otherwise silent ride, Artemis instigated some conversation.

"So," she started. "Did you come to this place before? How'd you know about it?" Desmond glanced out the window, trying to avoid his teammate's gaze.

"Uh, I was on the road for a while, before joining the team," he explained. "I came here a few times, met a couple guys. They hooked me up with a place to crash. In return I had to help work some of the attractions." Obviously he left out the parts about why he was on the road, running from his father and his past.

"Oh," said Artemis. Then they awkwardly left it at that. Soon, however, the bus arrived just outside the Boardwalk, and the team filed out. It was rather chilly for October, so they zipped up their jackets.

"What do you guys want to check out first?" Robin asked. Wally pointed eagerly at the concession stands lining the long wooden walkway. Robin gave him a gentle punch.

"We just ate," he reminded the speedster. "I was thinking more like a roller coaster, or some games." M'gann interjected quickly.

"We don't all technically need to stay together," she said. Desmond noticed her eyeing the Ferris wheel, and suspected she wanted to share a two-person cart with Conner. KF looked at her confused.

"It was your idea that we spend the day together," he reminded her. "And if you want to go on the Ferris wheel with me, all you need to do is ask." Conner stifled a laugh, and Artemis elbowed him in the stomach.

"Perhaps we should begin with some of the attractions," offered Kaldur. "I am anxious to test my prowess at some of these games."

"Sounds good," said Robin, and the team walked off to find some games that suited them well. Robin and Artemis quickly went to games that tested their hand eye coordination, and got top-shelf prizes every time. Aqualad found one of those games where you need to shoot the water out of the gun, and challenged Wally to a game. The speedster lost almost every time, and accused Kaldur of cheating. Desmond and Superboy found one of the games where you hit the target with the mallet, and it tells you how strong you are. Oddly enough, the top level of the strength meter was designated as "Superman!" Superboy cockily strode up, grabbed the mallet, swung in over his head, and smashed the target. Almost immediately the little metal ball attached to it struck the bell on the very top, denting it slightly. The man running the game looked to Conner with widened eyes.

"We've got a Superman over here!" he proclaimed, and Desmond couldn't help but laugh heartily.

"You have no idea," he said. The man ignored this, and went to a large box to fish out a prize for Conner. He handed him a small plush Superman. Desmond looked at it, and whispered to Superboy. "Irony's a bitch, ain't it?" Superboy chuckled.

"Give it to someone else if you don't want it," said the man. "Maybe that girl that's been making eyes at you for the last five minutes?" he gestured to M'gann, who was, in fact, watching Superboy. He gave her a small wave, and thanked the man for the prize.

They day progressed from there. The next destination was a hall of mirrors. The team walked in, and almost immediately got lost amongst their reflections. Desmond stumbled around for a moment, disoriented by the many mirrors. Mostly he saw his own reflection, but he would occasionally get a glimpse of someone else's, and become even more confused. He reached a large open room, completely reflective. These mirrors were tricked out so they could show a person's movements more distorted, so it wouldn't exactly sync up and confuse people even more. Desmond smiled as he tried to figure a way out of the room. He spun in a circle, and was suddenly being grabbed on the shoulders from behind. He jumped, screaming. He turned to see Artemis collapsed on the floor, clutching her sides to keep from laughing.

"What the hell?" asked Desmond. "Not cool!" Artemis slowly regained her composure, but stayed on the floor, too lazy to get up.

"I'm sorry, it was too easy," she apologized. "You should've seen the look on your face! I wish I had a camera!" She held out a hand, signaling for Desmond to help her up. He did so, and then turned to the way he'd come in.

"Yeah yeah, let's just get out of here," he suggested. The two set out to try and find an exit. They stumbled around for a few minutes, Desmond running into several mirrors (which Artemis found hilarious) before they found something. It wasn't the exit, however: it was Superboy and M'gann. Making out like dogs. "Oh yuck," Desmond whispered. "I mean, good for them and all, but it's so… mushy…" Artemis flicked his head. "Ow!" he whispered sharply.

"Shut it," she said. "I think it's cute. And they can't have moments like this with the team around, now can they?" Desmond shrugged.

"Whatever," he said. "I'm just saying, you won't catch me lip-locking with someone like that."

"Yeah," said Artemis. "You'd need a girlfriend for that to happen." He playfully punched her arm, and they continued to search for an exit. They finally found the way out, and met up with Kaldur, Robin and Wally, who had already made it out.

"Did you guys see Conner or M'gann in there?" asked Robin. Desmond smirked, but Artemis elbowed him in the ribs.

"No," she said. Just as Robin was about to volunteer to walk back in and find them, the pair in question walked out, both blushing an awful lot.

"Have fun, babe?" Wally asked, completely oblivious. Artemis pinched between her eyes in annoyance at KF.

"What now?" asked Desmond. Wally, once again, pointed to the food stands. The team groaned, but finally agreed to follow him to the food. Desmond had a hotdog, as did Robin and Kaldur. Artemis had a burger, and Conner and M'gann shared a large order of fries. Wally pretty much got one of everything. Zipping over to Conner and M'gann, he held out a milkshake with two straws.

"What d'ya say, Miss M?" he asked, implying they could share the shake. She politely declined, but Desmond whispered to Robin and Kaldur.

"I'm kind of getting tired of this, aren't you?" The two exchanged a look, and shrugged.

"Should we tell him?" Robin asked Kaldur. Desmond nodded excitedly, but Kaldur shook his head.

"It is not our place," he sighed. "Wally will find out when he finds out." They dropped the conversation, and continued to eat their hotdogs. After the food had been consumed, the team decided to go on some rides. There was a Ferris wheel, carousel, and a few roller coasters. The team settled on the coasters first. M'gann and Conner had never been on any before, so the team spent the ride explaining them to the two aliens.

"And then you go down a huge drop," said Wally, mimicking the drop with his hands. "And everyone puts their hands up, and screams. And some people puke!" Conner raised an eyebrow.

"Why do people like these, again?" he asked. Desmond shrugged.

"No one knows," he said. "We just do. Come on, we're next." The man running the coaster ordered them all into their seats. Conner sat with M'gann (of course) with Wally and Desmond behind them. Next were Artemis and Robin, with Kaldur bringing up the rear by himself. The ride took off slowly, as most usually do. There was the steep incline, and the peak. Just before the drop, Wally leaned forward.

"Get ready," he told Conner and M'gann. Then they dropped. The sound of wind whistling through Desmond's ears was second in volume only to the loudness of M'gann and Conner, screaming with delight. Desmond smiled at their enjoyment. Conner seized a moment to look back at his friend.

"I get it now!" he shouted above the roar of the coaster, before throwing his hands in the air once more, and whooping with laughter and excitement. Desmond followed suit, loving every twist and turn the coaster took. It soon ended, and just as the team was getting off M'gann and Superboy ran up to the rest of them.

"Let's go again!" pleaded M'gann. The rest of the team laughed, and agreed. They got back in line to repeat the ride.

After riding both of the roller coasters several times, it was starting to get late. Desmond checked his watch, and informed them it was much later than they thought; nearly eleven at night. As soon as he'd said it, all of them started to feel rather groggy. They'd been so active all day, but now it was catching up to them. They were planning on leaving, but Robin pointed to something large in the center of the boardwalk.

"Look!" he announced. The team did, and was delighted with what they saw. A band was setting up, for some sort of midnight show. It was clearly a cover band, as there were no screaming fans wearing shirts and asking to get things signed.

"Let's stick around for a while," Desmond said. "And besides, they haven't done the fireworks yet." The others agreed, and they milled around for a while, waiting for the music to start. The first song they played was "Little Lion Man" by Mumford and Sons. Desmond was a rather large Mumford fan, so this was a real treat. After that there were a few songs they weren't too big fans of.

"Hey," suggested M'gann after a few songs that no one was interested in. "Let's go on that Ferris wheel now." They agreed, and the team got in line. Once again, M'gann and Conner sat together. Kaldur took a seat with Wally and Robin, since the seats could fit three. This left Artemis to sit with Desmond. They got in, slightly uncomfortable. Not because they didn't want to sit with each other, but something was just… awkward. Like they both liked what was happening, but didn't want to say so. They sat down on the bench, facing the dark sky. The wheel lifted into the air, and Artemis yawned loudly.

"Tired?" asked Desmond. She nodded sleepily. Just then, the fireworks began. They were a spectacle: flashes of green, white, red and blue. All following synchronized patterns. One after another they lit up the night sky. From below, Desmond could hear, the band had begun playing "Fix You" by Coldplay. Desmond remembered a conversation he'd had with Artemis once regarding the band, and he felt like pointing out the song to her. "Hey, they're playing—" but he quickly stopped, seeing Artemis. She had fallen asleep, gently resting her head on Desmond's shoulder. He hadn't even noticed. He considered waking her, but decided against it. If he was being honest… he kind of liked it. Just then, the Ferris wheel shuddered, and stopped moving. "Must've gotten stuck," Desmond muttered to himself. He was at the top of the rotation, and had an excellent view of the fireworks.

"Lights will gui-i-ide you home," the band sang below him. "And ig-ni-i-ight your bones. And I will try… to fix you…" Desmond smiled, gazing at the fireworks before him. He took a quick glance at Artemis' sleeping form once again, and realized there was no one else he'd rather be on the Ferris wheel with.

So that was kind of gushy. Sorry about that, for those who didn't enjoy it. Also, I don't know if you can tell, but this story will have some Artemis/Desmond action. Sorry to the "spitfire" fans out there. Maybe there'll be a girl for Wally somewhere. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed, and had a good Halloween. I didn't (due to illness) but got some writing done.