-This Was SO Much Fun To Write!-

"Rules, guys!" Roy ordered their attention. "Everyone have a buddy?"

Artemis rolled her eyes, but Zatanna just linked their arms. "Yep!"

M'gann leaned on her boyfriend's arm. "Uh huh!"

Roy nodded. "Walls, Rob?"

"Yeah." Wally relented, toying with his rainbow button-up. "Are you sure they were out of Ally shirts?"

"Sorry, the only Ally shirt left is the one Superboy is wearing." That was a lie. There were a lot of Ally shirts left, but he only got one, for Conner. So, Wally was stuck with a two-thirds buttoned rainbow shirt, Dick had a black shorts and rainbow high socks and accents. Artemis wore an orange and pink sports bra and grey jeans and her 'GalPal' had matching grey overalls and a black bralette. 

They looked like they belonged in the parade. In fact, Roy had made them all go to the mall for a pride makeover when he realized they hardly owned anything rainbow. He gave them a crash coarse in which flags meant what. M'gann identified with the Demifluid flag, and shapeshifted a dress in the pattern.

"What do we have in our back packs?" Roy asked, getting ready to count them off on his fingers. "Water, Snack, flags, sunscreen..."

"CellPhones." Kaldur added, he was buddied up with Roy. 

"Wallet!" Dick held it up. He'd been saving his allowence for a month to but cool shit at the parade. No like he was gay or anything.... he was just a really good Ally.

"That's right." Roy nodded encouragingly. "And STAY WITH YOUR BUDDY!"

"We get it." Conner rolled his eyes. "We're not kindergarteners."

Roy wanted to object to this. "The pride parades are big in Star City, and I can't track you all down if you get lost. If something goes wrong, or you get seperated from your buddy, meet up on 22nd and Main, at the starbucks."

"Mkay." Dick closed his velcro shoes- Artemis still clowned on him for those.

"And if there's an emergency-" he reached into his bag. "Me and Aqualad have a first-aid kit and allergy meds and stuff. We also have hand sanitizer, extra snacks, and money if you need food."

Yep, Roy was playing Gay parade mom to the kids, It was their first parade after all. You couldn't blame him and Kaldur for being protective; the kids managed to get hurt when alone in a padded room, and now they would be IN PUBLIC. 

THESE KIDS COULDN'T BE IN PUBLIC! Not without strict rules anyways.

"Every hour we will contact you to ensure you're alright." Kaldur added, over-protective mom tendincies coming out. "We have a battery pack, and two cell phones. You can call us at any time. Tell us immediately if you feel threatened or even slightly uncomfortable."

The team assured their moms that they were fine. They were, after all, not children, they could handle a parade.

So, the seasoned pride attendee and team leader lead them through the Zetabeam, and down several blocks to the main street.

"Remember," Roy pointed to the over-filled starbucks. "Meet-up spot."

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"Where's the team." Bruce could swear he said that three times a week. The kids couldn't go A DAY without getting into trouble. Sure, They were teenagers, but they were immature and childish.

If Dianah had a dollar for every time she heard that, she could retire now and buy a yacht. "They went on an outing with spee- Red Arrow." She sighed. 

"Did Robin go?"

"He did." She was clearly as DONE with this as he was. 

Bruce wasn't surprised, just disappointed. Dick was thirteen and he knew (or should know) that he wasn't allowed to go out until Bruce said yes. This was the second time this week, Dick was getting a talking to for this. This team was currupting him, he kept forgetting Everything Bruce told him.

"Do we know where they are?"

"We will soon." She waited a few seconds for the call to go through. She heard sound at the other end. "ROY HARPER-"

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Dick and Wally were having the times of their lives. Running and stumbling through the crowds with huge grins.

"We should've done makeup for this." Wally said regretfully.

"Should've?" Dick pulled down his sunglasses.

"Whoa!" The redhead gaped at the eyeshadow. 

 "Barbra did it." Dick said "most of it."

Artemis and Zatanna weren't running, they were just strolling at a steady pace. now the others were gone, they'd locked fingers and chatting intimately. Suddenly, Zatanna pulled her companionback as a group cut past them. A person with a mostly shaved head stopped them. 

"Hello?" The blonde asked.

"Hi, I just wanted to say that you two are adorable, and if you need a cheaper alternative to U-haul, I can hook you up."

"Huh?" The blonde girl asked as the person blew a kiss and hurried after their friends.

"I don't know... I'm new here." Zatanna admitted. "Why would someone see us holding hands and offer us a moving van?"

Conner was standing patiently as his girlfriend chatted with a group of people who also carried Demifluid and transfemale flags. 

"Is this you're SO?" One of the people asked.

"Yeah," M'gann bubbled. "This's my boyfriend, Conner."

He waved sheepishly.

"Awesome to see the CisHets here supporting!" Another cheered. "My brother is... somewhere with his friends."

The three chatted as a crowd for another ten or fifteen minutes, once he was in the conversation, it was pretty fun. No one even questioned M'gann's green skin.

Roy's phone buzzed, he read the caller ID. "Ah shit. Go ahead a little, I need to take this."

He answered the call.

"ROY HARPER, What The Hell Do You Think You're Doing?"

"Hey, how's it going?"

"What did you do?" She repeated, having NONE of his shit. "where did you take them now?"

"We're just hanging out in Star." He tried to keep up with Kaldur while also keeping all the cheering and talking out her earshot.

"What's all that noise? Did something happen?"

"No, We're just at the pride parade!" He heard a pause and a heavy sign. Maybe that was a stupid thing to say.

"Roy..."

"They're safe, okay? We've taken EVERY precaution; buddy-system, cellphones, food and water, meeting location..." he began going to detail about keeping the kid's safe, only to realize she'd hung up.

Wally grabbed Dick's backpack to keep him close as they squeezed through a huge crowd. They were grinning and talking about stopping for food soon, when they literally ran into a couple. The couple stopped them to talk.

"It's great to see young folks at pride." One of them exclaimed.

"Is it you're first parade?" The other asked.

The two nodded shyly. 

"That's sweet, how long have you two been together?"

Wally blinked. "Huh?

Dick realized what they said and went pale. "Nonononono! We're strait-" he tried to explain.

The two of themeyed the kids, looked at each other, burst out laughing. "Remember when we were like that?"

"God, we were IDIOTS."

"-NO!" Wally asked. "We're actually strait."

"Okay, Okay." The couple walked away, laughing.

Dick and Wally looked at each other in horror. "Have we been looking like a couple THIS WHOLE TIME?"

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Dianah snapped her phone shut, sighing again. "They're in Star city. At the Pride parade."

Obviously. They were in the one place where it would be hardest to find eight powerful, flamboyant teenagers. "Should we get them?"

She knew they'd be a needle in a haystack, and they was tired already. "They're probably fine. They'll have to come back eventually. And Roy's taken every precaution..."

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6:45 pm

They stumbled through the zetabeams. They'd all had a light dinner in town, but were starving and tired. But they were happy. Dick collapsed on the couch, they'd all sweat through their sunscreen multiple times. Wally fell on top of him, Zatanna and Artemis following. 

"That was awesome!" The black-haired girl shook some glitter out of her hair. Artemis started brushing through it. 

"yeah!" Dick exclaimed hoarsly. "I'm exhauste-"

"Everyone! Hydrate again!" Roy called, limping to the kitchen for more water.

He ran directly into the adults. "Oh-" He started. "OH! Sorry, The kids told me they got approval to go!" That was a Lie, Roy didn't give a shit if they were allowed to go, he just wanted to take them.

"Did you have fun?" Dianah asked stiffly, she'd gone out for dinner and returned just in time to get them in trouble.

"Yep, all of us, especially those four, have tired themselves out." He pointed at the children; collapsed in a rainbow pile of warm, sweaty, sleepy queerness.

Wally and Dick were nuzzled up on the couch, they needed to shower, but damned if they had the energy to get up and do that. Artemis and Zatanna were brushing glitter and confetti out the latter's hair and drowsily discussing this, and that, and how they were totally going to the Gotham Parade.

They still didn't get the U-haul joke.

-Don't Worry, The Other Part (SO 2) Will Come-