The Joy of Singing Off-Tune

Roy Harper stood on a roof in Downtown. He scowled as he surveyed the street below. I'm sure I saw something. Of course, he might just be really on edge because of that other reason. The stupid reason because super-hero's shouldn't get lonely but…Roy pressed his lips together and told himself sternly, concentrate. He had a job to do. There, once more, just a shadow sliding between the buildings. Red Arrow strung his bow and prepared to fire when, "Hey, Roy."

Roy dropped into a roll instinctively, letting loose an arrow as he spun around to see who had snuck up behind him. Robin ducked easily, swinging onto a higher level of the roof and complaining, "Hey! What was that for?"

"You shouldn't sneak up on me like that!" Roy snapped. "I could have killed you."

Robin smirked. "You would have tried."

Roy rolled his eyes and looked back at the streets. The mysterious shadow was gone – but it had been too big to be Robin.

"Oh, If you're looking for the thing you were tracking, it's not down there," Robin said.

"How do you know?" Roy asked, not looking away from the street.

"Cause it's up here with me."

Roy spun back around only to find Kid Flash – wearing a new dark outfit rather than the flashy yellow – smirking from beside the younger boy.

"Hi, Red Arrow," Kid Flash said. "It's been a while! You should visit us more."

"Last I checked, you were off The Team," Roy said. He tried to sound indifferent, but truth be told, he'd hoped that his old friend would come and join him. Maybe that's why they're here, thought Roy suddenly. Maybe Wally needed Robin's help in order to find me and that's why...

"I'm back on it, actually," said Kid Flash proudly. "Showed the Batman how helpful I could be and all that."

"Also everyone was sulking, like, a lot," Robin contributed cheerfully.

"Oh," Roy swallowed back his disappointment. "Congrats. Don't expect a card or anything."

"I'm not here for a card," said Kid.

"Why are you here?" Roy asked.

"I believe the proper term is...kidnapping," said Robin.

Roy blinked. "Wha-?"

But Kid was already gone, having wrenched Roy's bow from his hand in the process and leapt down the fire-escapes two at a time. Robin gave his infuriating cackle and was also gone, swinging from the roofs.

"HEY!" Roy cursed and raced after them.

Although the two younger boys were faster than him – after all, Kid Flash was a speedster and Robin was just too damn acrobatic – they stayed within his line of slight. Once Roy got over the annoyance that stemmed more from being caught unawares than anything else, he realized he was enjoying himself. Leaping from roof to roof, Roy allowed himself a small satisfied smile. Until he realized the roofs were ending.

"Hey!" He shouted after Robin.

But the Boy Wonder merely did a flip off the last roof and Kid Flash had disappeared around the corner long ago. Roy gritted his teeth and prepared to yell at them when he finally realized he was smelling salt. He got to the end of the roof and saw that Robin had done a fancy flip for nothing – there were stairs all the way down to the docks. Where Aqualad was waiting in a speed-boat.

Roy blinked. Huh? Kid Flash was suddenly in the boat and waved Roy's bow over his head with a cheeky smile. Roy rolled his eyes and followed Robin.

"Red Arrow," Aqualad greeted him with a nod even as he turned on the boat.

"Hello, Aqualad," Roy replied. He grabbed onto his bow and pulled it out of Kid Flash' hands. "Give me that!"

Kid Flash put up his hands in surrender. He'd changed out of his uniform, Roy realized, and into a black wet-suit. Robin was also changing.

Roy frowned. "Aqualad, what's going on?"

"We need your help," Aqualad said, without turning around.

Robin nodded. "Something big has happened."

Roy nodded, trying to look professional, but what he really wanted to do was pump a fist into the air. Unless...

Roy crossed his arms and scowled. "We meeting the rest of The Team there?"

"Not tonight," said Aqualad, still intent on driving. For a guy with gills, he really didn't seem to trust the speed boat.

"Just us," Robin added, handing Roy a wet-suit.

Roy nodded curtly as he began to strip down. Okay, now he really wanted to pump a fist in the air.

Kid Flash was messing around with what turned out to be small air tanks and Robin went to help him. Both of them had ditched their super-hero masks in anticipation of the water masks they would need. Red Arrow went and stood next to Aqualad and breathed deeply. For one moment, he pretended they were just Kaldur and Wally and Roy and Robin (Roy still didn't know the Boy Wonder's secret identity and he had given up trying to figure it out – Batman was pretty touchy about stuff like that.) For one moment he pretended that they had just met, and were off doing an errand for their mentors or – better yet – finally part of the Justice League.

This is stupid, Roy thought, blinking away the salt water. I'm an adult now; I should be on the League. Granted, he had become an adult about three hours ago but still.

"Approaching drop zone," announced Aqualad.

"Underwater communication enabled," said Robin, intent on the masks and earpieces scattered around him.

"C'mon, Red Arrow," said Kid Flash, patting one of the oxygen tanks. Roy let Kid Flash strap one on him, and then helped Kid in turn. Robin handed out the masks and explained something about the earpieces picking up underwater vibrations so that they could talk with Atlanteans but Roy was mainly not listening. He was trying to figure out where they were going. It was definitely underwater, that was all he had. And something big enough that Kaldur had barely said anything the entire ride out, even though he was always happy to talk with Roy. When the four had first met, Kaldur and Roy had bonded almost instantly since they were both older than Kid and Robin (much older than Robin) and they had done a few partner missions when they were both starting out as side-kicks. Kaldur was the only one of them that Roy had actually made an effort to keep updated on his progress (he knew Oliver kept tabs on him and probably Batman, too, but that was a given.)

It must be something really big, Roy decided. He felt that bubbling excitement that a really good mission was about to go down.

"Site reached," announced Aqualad. He stopped the speed-boat and Kid Flash dropped a sea-anchor.

"Ready?" Aqualad asked.

The three land-dwellers donned their masks and gave thumb-ups. Aqualad nodded and slipped over the side.

"Wait a minute," Roy said, "I won't be able to shoot an arrow underwa-"

But they others were already gone.

"Great," Roy muttered. He took a small knife from the folds of his discarded uniform and dove after the group.

"Commencing com check," came Robin's voice in his ear. "Roy? Wally? Can you hear me?"

"Loud and clear!" Wally called, literally swimming circles around him. "Woo-hoo! I love super speed!"

Robin shook his head and asked, "How about you, Kaldur?"

"I can hear you," said Kaldur. Roy started. He'd never give much thought to how an Atlantean's voice much sound under water; it was like someone was speaking through a tube. That might just be how the earpiece picking up the sound waves in the water, he thought.

"Although not very loudly," Kaldur continued. "Stay close."

And he went deeper into the water. The others followed much less gracefully. For several minutes, they simply swam down at an easy pace. Soon, Roy realized that the water was getting lighter, rather than darker.

"Hey," Roy said, tapping Robin's foot to get his attention. "What exactly are we doing here?"

Roy could tell Robin was smiling even with the air mask over his face. "Don't worry, Roy, you'll like this." And Robin kept swimming. Roy blinked and followed.

Suddenly, they cleared a rocky under-water ridge and before them was an underwater city. Roy's mouth would have dropped open if the mask hadn't been in the way. Schools of fish swam between arches made of coral and pearls. The Atlanteans that had given truth to tales of mermaids and mermen talked in small groups or swam from reef to reef, buying goods with coins of abalone.

"Where are we?" Roy asked.

"Welcome to Catalina," said Kaldur, finally facing Roy properly and revealing the huge smile he had on his face. "Happy Birthday, Roy."

"W...what?" Roy asked.

"You didn't really think we'd forget your birthday, did you?" Wally asked, trying to cross his arms. The effect was lost when he sank a few inches because of it.

"It's your eighteenth birthday, Roy," said Robin. "We got the night off and I borrowed some of Batman's water gear."

"You always said that you wanted to see an Atlantean city," said Kaldur.

"I..." Roy blinked. Crying in goggles was not recommended. "I thought...I...never mind." He cut himself off. I thought no one cared about what I did, anymore, he finished in his head.

"We're your friends," Kaldur said gently. "Friends celebrate together. And now, let me give you a tour."

"Yeah!" Cheered Wally.

Robin laughed and Roy could only grin like a fool.

They stayed in the underwater paradise until Robin's watch beeped to let them know that they had to start ascending. Roy turned back once more as they began to swim away, storing the sight away in his memory. As they rose towards the light of the moon, their movement sparked hundreds of glow in the dark plankton to life.

Limbs aching from the unaccustomed exercise (underwater gigs was not his style) but happier than he'd been a long time, Roy pulled himself onto the speed boat and turned to helped Robin in as well.

Robin took of his mask and smiled. "Well?" The younger boy asked.

Roy could only smile and Robin laughed. Not his usual cackle but the laugh of a child having a good time. Roy's grin was so wide his cheeks hurt.

"Ta-da!" Called Wally, vanishing into the small hold of the ship and then coming back just as fast. In his hands, he had a cake covered in chocolate frosting with eighteen small candles blowing in the sea breeze.

Before Roy could protest, Robin and Wally launched into a badly out of tune and rather un-coordinated rendition of Happy Birthday. Kaldur tried to follow along and then gave up and Roy was soon so breathless with laughter he could barely blow out the candles.

"I can't believe you guys did all this," Roy said, accepting the whole cake from Wally before the younger boy dashed away once more.

"Why not?" Asked Robin, slicing through the cake with a large knife. My knife, Roy realized with a slight twinge of annoyance, when did he get that? But the annoyance gave away to fondness almost immediately.

Roy shrugged. "You guys have a new team," he replied.

"True," said Kaldur, putting a hand on Roy's shoulder. "But you'll always be our friend."

"TA-DA!" Announced Wally again, coming up with a bottle of – of all things – Champagne.

Robin's eyes went wide. "Where did you get that?"

Wally shrugged. "Dude, I go to public high school. I know people with fakes."

"But...but...but that's alcohol," Robin protested.

Wally grinned wickedly. "I won't tell. Will you?"

Robin just stood there holding a piece of cake.

"Roy just turned eighteen," Wally said grandly. "We should celebrate, like really celebrate."

He popped the cork and a small spray of golden bubbles flew into the air. To no one's surprise, Wally managed to catch it all in his mouth. He swallowed and waggled the bottle enticingly.

Roy laughed and held out his free hand (the other one was occupied but a very large slice of cake).

"But..." Robin continued weakly.

"You've broken into government labs with no problem," Wally teased him. "Come on, Rob. We're heroes with dangerous jobs! Who knows if we'll ever even get to twenty-one."

The words were too close to home, Roy paused taking in the faces of his friends. Perhaps his only friends in the world.

Roy lifted the bottle and said, with his normal twisted grin, "To living on the edge." And he took a large gulp straight from the bottle.

And it tasted wonderful.

His mind had a pleasant background buzz, and the stars twinkled in the sky above as they had not for a long time. The night air was warm and the gentle rocking of the boat reminded Roy of being a child in a cradle. Roy lay on the front of the boat and let the sound of the ocean touch something deep within him.

"So, for future reference," Wally said from the other side of boat. "Robin is much too small to drink-"

Roy grinned and rose on his elbows to check on their youngest member. Robin was curled on one of the benches in the boat, fast asleep under a towel. He'd had them all on the floor laughing from his impressions of everyone from Batman to Canary to Flash earlier in the night, but when midnight hit and Wally had produced the a second, albeit smaller, bottle of champagne, the young boy had soon been out like one of Roy's birthday candles.

"-and Atlanteans can't hold their liquor," Wally finished.

The Atlantean in question was lying in the bow of the boat, one arm and one foot trailing in the water. He cracked one eye open and flicked his fingers in the water – promptly spraying Wally in the face with the salty spray.

Wally spluttered and Kaldur grinned, satisfied. "We don't have alcohol in Atlantis," he muttered, his eyes shut once more.

"And your metabolism burns through the stuff much too quickly," Roy added, looking at Wally.

Wally laughed, but sleepily. The cake had long ago been consumed and Roy could only hope that none of their enemies happened open them in this sleepy and drunken state.

"Roy," Wally said suddenly.

"Yeah?"

"Happy Birthday, dude."

Roy smiled up at the stars. Don't worry, everyone, he promised silently. I'll always have your backs.