"Hey Roy." Robin said, and Roy looked or to see both heroes toting hollowed-our plastic pumpkins...
"What's with the pumpkins?" Roy asked, and Sparrow grinned. "It's halloween, you dope! We're going trick-or-treating!"
"Sparrow- we were supposed to ask him to take us really nicely and use the puppy eyes!" Robin scolded, before sighed. "Batman totally forgot about Halloween, so we were wondering if you'd take us trick-or-treating."
Roy stared. He remembered the mouthwash incident. The first time they were left alone together. The vault. Getting lost in the watchtower...
"No."
"But why?" Robin asked, looking disappointed.
"Because every time I do something with you guys it turns out horribly wrong." Roy said matter-of-factly.
"Are... are you saying you don't like us?" Sparrow's small voice asked, and Roy looked over to see the six-year-old's lip trembling and eyes sparkling with unshed tears that were welling up at alarming speed...
"No, it's not that..."
"So we're bad luck?" Robin asked, voice quivering as well.
"No, guys, it's SO not that, it's just..."
"You don't love us?" Sparrow asked, a tear trailing down her cheek.
"No, guys, you're taking this totally out of context..."
"I loved you, Roy..." Robin said, looking like a kicked puppy.
Roy sighed. "Fine! I'll take you trick-or-treating!" he said. Instantly, the eyes of both Bat children were dry, and Sparrow grinned.
"Wally, you can come out now!" she said, and Wally bounced out from hiding, holding his own pumpkin.
"Trickortreatingtrickortreatingtrickortreating!" he bounced happily on the balls of his feet, and Roy realized they'd been planning this and sighed. What had he gotten himself into?
"Okay, you need costumes..." Roy said. The three children looked at him like he was dumb.
"We ARE wearing costumes, Roy." Wally said, looking at him. "We're in our superhero costumes, remember?"
"You three can't go out like that..."
"It's HALLOWEEN, Roy, this is the only night of the year we CAN go out like this in public and not be swarmed. Everyone else will think we're just kids dressed up like Speedy, KF, Robin and Sparrow. It's foolproof." Robin said.
The kid had a point, Roy realized, and he sighed. "Fine. Give me a second." he hurried into Green Arrow's room and tugged the case off his pillow. "If I'm going through this, I'm at least getting SOME candy out of it." he explained. "Now come on- let's get to Star City. The league meeting won't last forever."
They zetaed down to Star City, since it was the only place Roy knew well enough to take them through.
They found there way through the back alleys to make the best time, heading up through every apartment building and getting candy from every door..
More than once, Roy had to stop and take them to Tops so they could take empty bags from the self-checkout to dump the overflowing pumpkins into...
"Okay, are we good?" Roy asked.
"Not quite..." Wally said. He'd gone through his whole bag of candy on the way in. "Can I use my speed, just this once?"
Roy sighed. "Fine. But be COVERT..." Wally was already gone, running into the apartment building on the left, running between the doors and trick-or-treating when he reached them...
"Okay, I think I'm good." Wally announced, when he'd filled six pumpkins full of candy and dumped them into his tops bag.
"Okay..." Roy announced.
Robin looked over to see three shadowy figures standing on the fire escape of a building. "Sparrow..."
"I see them." Sparrow whispered all too loudly so that both Wally and Roy heard.
"What're they doing?" Wally asked, looking confused.
"Maybe they'e just setting up a prank..." Roy said, but he, too, was uneasy.
"Why do they have guns, then?" Sparrow asked, pointing.
That was when Roy felt his blood run cold- alone, he'd be able to take down one, maybe, before the others shot him, but not three...
"Sparrow! Robin!" Roy hissed, but the two children were already moving stealthily towards the base of the fire escape. Robin leapt up, not making a sound, and Sparrow did the same, her brother expertly catching her hands and pulling her up beside him...
"You two get back down here, now!" Roy hissed, but they didn't hear him, they were too intent on stopping these people, and Roy didn't want to yell and give the thieves any advanced warning...
"Wally, stay put." Roy ordered, moving to climb up after his surrogate siblings, who were already on the second level of the fire escape, heading towards the fourth, where the men were at work...
Wally stared with wide eyes, realizing his help was needed, before staring at the locked door... He moved to pick the lock and succeeded, racing up the staircase with all the speed he had...
"Nice night, isn't it?" Robin asked from where he and Sparrow were perched on the railing of the fire escape, behind the robbers, who froze...
One of them reached for there guns... Roy was on the story below them, he could imagine the pull of the trigger, the gasp of pan, the blood droplets raining down on him and the anguished scream from the sibling who hadn't yet been shot...
But it never came. There was the shattering of glass as Wally burst through the window from the inside, swiping guns from all the men, and the sound of battle as Sparrow and Robin, seeing their chance, pounced.
Roy realized another man had a second gun. He saw the metal glint by the moonlight, saw it through the apparent spider-web of mesh metal that separated him from his siblings... Each gap was about an inch or two wide, and as the man took aim, Roy's eyes narrowed dangerously, his fingers nimbly grabbing an arrow from his quiver as he notched it in the bow and pulled back, taking careful aim... It'd have to be a perfect shot to make it through the tiny gap and manage to hit the man... But he released, certain as he did so it'd find it's mark...
The man yelped as the arrow exploded into foam, encasing him and rendering his gun useless...
"Sparrow! Robin!" Roy hustled up the ladder in time to find the two acrobats slapping cuffs on the remaining two... Sirens screamed right on cue, and Roy got out the ropes...
Wally left the guns alined neatly on the sidewalk, and two minutes later, the cops arrived to find three restrained robbers, hanging from the fire escape by their bound wrists, swaying slightly in the breeze.
They were so preoccupied by hearing the testimonies of the excited trick-or-treaters who'd seen the thing go down to notice the hand reach out of the shadows in the alley and grab a plastic bag filled with candy that a certain speedster had discarded a few moments earlier to help his friends, or the four figures who stole off into the night, all with bags of candy, grinning...
"Didn't you guys go trick-or-treating?" Black Canary asked as the leaguers emerged from there meeting, surprised to find the sidekicks on the couch, watching TV.
Sparrow shrugged, but she was grinning, and all of them were popping pieces of candy from a mixing bowl...
"In other news, Speedy, Kid Flash, Robin, and Sparrow were seen foiling an attempted robbery at the Star City museum. The scene was observed and taped by some local trick-or-treaters with a smart phone, who quickly called the police, but it's clear from the footage that these were no costumed-look alikes. Let's see the video."
The kids all exchanged nervous glances and Robin reached for the remote to change the channel, but Batman pulled it away before he could...
They watched the video, and Roy realized they looked... skilled... as Wally grabbed the guns from the men, he shot off the arrow, and Sparrow and Robin moved in to take down the men, while Wally skillfully evaded the men who attempted to regain their weapons...
"You went out in costume?" Oliver asked, shocked by there audacity. "You could've been recognized..."
"It's Halloween, there were like twenty other kids dressed just like us, Ollie." Robin assured him, popping some skittles into his mouth.
Batman looked unconvinced. "So you went out trick-or-treating in your costumes, risked getting recognized, and went on an unauthorized mission in stopping the robbery while we were in a four hour meeting?"
"Pretty much." Sparrow said easily, tossing up an M&M and catching it in her mouth. Everyone else blanched at the easy tone she used, and Flash stared.
"Wally, you could've been shot!" he said, gaping. "All of you could've!"
"Well it wasn't like any of you guys remembered it was Halloween. Besides, we had a good time, and getting shot at is an..."
"Occupt-occupti-octopus-octagon-occupationable hazard." Sparrow stuttered, though she knew the word. She was laying on the cuteness here, knowing she'd need it, and Superman smiled, ruffling her hair. "Close enough, Sparrow..."
"Well, at least you succeeded." Wonder Woman said, looking both a bit surprised and proud...
"You might not be so lucky next time. DO NOT do this again." Batman said, but his normally scary Bat-demeanor was ruined when Sparrow gave up her perch on the couch, jumping at Batman, who reflexively caught her.
"Tired..." she muttered, curling up against his chest, and Batman sighed.
"Bats, it's not like we can ground them for trick-or-treating..." Flash said, turning to Wally. "Did you get any Butter Fingers?" he asked eagerly.
"Sure did." Wally presented his eager uncle with what was, in Flash's mind, chocolate gold, and Robin nodded to Martain Manhunter. "I got a little pack of oreos..." he said, handing them to the Martain. J'on was touched.
"While I don't know what Halloween is, I'm... flattered you'd give me your Oreos." he said.
Robin shrugged. "I figured out of everyone, they'd make you the most happy..."
"Uncle Clark, I saved you my gummy bears!" Sparrow said. Superman was instantly beside her.
"And I saved you the Swedish fish, Tati." Robin said.
Everyone stopped and stared. "You like Swedish Fish?" Wonder Woman asked, shocked that the dark knight, the caped crusader... liked SWEDISH FISH.
"Aunt Diana, who DOESN'T love Swedish fish?" Robin asked.
"The kid has a point..." Flash said, mouth full of Butter Fingers.
"Swedish Fish?" Sparrow instantly perked up from where she'd been almost asleep in Batman's arms. "I love red dye!" she was practically vibrating from excitement, but Batman kept a firm hold on her.
"Come on Bruce, lighten up. It's Halloween..." Hawkman said, but Batman shook his head.
"Her and red dye are a recipe for disaster. Besides, if you give her a pack of them she'll eat them all, get on sugar high, climb to the highest place possible and try and re-enact scenes from Rambo, and pass out two hours later after going on a sugar-induced rampage." Batman said simply. "Oh, and she'll take the batteries out of everything."
Black Canary crossed her arms. "And whose idea was it to let a six year old watch Rambo?"
"It was educational, strategic film." Batman said, and Black Canary and Wonder Woman rolled their eyes. Men...
It was then Oliver approached Roy. "Got ay Baby Ruths?" he asked seriously, as though trying to keep his love for the candy a secret. Roy grinned.
"Sure do. Fetch!" he tossed a fun sized baby ruth, and Oliver was instantly running after it, intent on finding it...
All the leaguers watched as Oliver searched the floor for it like it was a diamond or something, completely unaware of the odd stares his fellow leaguers were giving him, and Roy ended up on the floor from laughing, holding his aching sides... Maybe Halloween wasn't so bad after all.