-In which Roy plays a mean prank, and M'gann learns something about the camp counselor-

Conner sat away from the other kids at the campfire, kicking at the sand as the fire crackled between him and the others.

"Hey." The blonde woman, the activity supervisor, sat beside him. "I noticed you haven't talked to any of the others yet."

"I don't want to."

"Conner, right?" She nodded. "Your dad told us this might be an issue. It's okay, Conner. A lot of kids have a hard time making friends, there's no need to be shy."

"I'm not shy!" Conner protested. "I don't want to go to camp. I want to go home."

"I know. That's normal." She assured. "But it's my job to make sure you have fun, and I hope that after a day or two you'll be more excited to stay." 

Kaldur hung on the edge of the group, not speaking much unless addressed. He'd learned very young that people were usually too busy to listen, but these other kids seemed to: when Megan asked him a question she genuinely wanted to hear his answer. 

Still, as he stared down the beach at the water that separated the camp from Gotham, he missed home. He missed his parents, even though they never had much time for him, he longed to be at home where the comfort was constant.

M'gann really wanted a marshmallow, but was too terrified of getting close to fire to actually toast one, so she ate hers unroasted; she was talking the whole time. She really held the loose group of kids together with her unending prattle of conversation and questions. Between her and Wally, there was actually some socializing happening. Roy sat near Kaldur, he seemed the most mature of the children. Artemis sat as far as she could away from Roy, as she was getting real tired of the teen cramping her style. I mean, how stupid was it to make him babysit her at camp? She hoped nobody knew.

"It is time to retire; you have been divided into two cabins," the counsellor, a bald man of impressively height, announced shortly after eight. "Richard, Wallace, Kaldur'ahm, and Roy will be in Cabin one; Conner, Megan, Artemis will be in cabin three."

"What happened to cabin two?" Wally joked.

There was a seconds pause. "Please do not enter cabin two."

"Why?" M'gann asked, a little spooked.

"This isn't some stupid campfire story." Roy mocked. "What do you think there's a ghost in there?"

"Of course she doesn't think that!" Artemis objected, ever willing to clash with Roy; besides, Megan seemed nice!

"How do you know what she thinks?" Roy replied. "For all you know she might actually believe in ghosts."

"I'm gonna--"

Mr. Smith stepped between the two. "Kindly take your things to your designated cabins."

Dick trudged to cabin one, trying to keep up with Wally, who was quite fast despite carrying a duffle bag as big as he was.

"Please change into your sleepwear." Mr. Smith said. "When everyone is done we will walk to the washrooms so you can wash up and brush your teeth." He lead the remaining kids across to cabin three and repeated the message. All seven piled into the shoddily lit cabins, dropping their bags.

Dick gasped. "Bunk beds! Dibs on top!"

"Me too!" Wally agreed.

The older two boys seemed fine with this arrangement, placing their things on the beds and beginning to change into their pyjamas.

The washroom wasn't far, but it was dark, the grass lit only by their flashlights, and the trip was long enough that the children knew thy defiantly didn't want to have to return in the middle of the night.

The  old concrete building was devided into a 'boy's side' and a 'girl's side', though the latter seemed to be out of service, so everyone used the other side. 

When they were all finished, Mr. Smith ushered them back to their cabins. "Please remember, lights out is between ten and seven am. Please stay in your cabins during that time. If there is an emergency, please come to the main building, our rooms are labeled for your convinience." He stood, turning to leave. "Goodnight."

The first quarter-hour was peaceful, the children-- and Roy, who persisted in detaching himself from them-- continued unpacking, Kaldur settled down with a book, and Dick and Wally chatted away overhead. 

Finally the oldest got up. 

"Where are you going?"

"I'm gonna give the space case in cabin three a spook." He said, stretching. "You saw how scared she got at the mere idea of ghosts, it be wasting checkov's gun if I didn't go over there and do something-- maybe I can get dear ol' Arty too."

"I don't think that's a good idea." Kaldur said. "You shouldn't-- you might get in trouble." He corrected shyly.

Roy looked up at the other two. "Either of you coming?" They shook their heads, as fun as pranks were, they didn't want to go back out in the dark and risk getting in trouble. "Alright then, I'll be right back."

Conner, M'gann and Artemis decided who got which bed without much fuss, and soon they were all ready to turn the light out. M'gann had been talking the entire time, Artemis interrupting every so often with a remark. Conner didn't want to talk.

"What do you think is wrong with cabin two?" She finally asked.

"I bet a kid died in it," Artemis said. "I bet someone beat the kid's face in until his brains came out."

"Ew!" M'gann squeaked, covering her ears. "You don't-- I mean-- you don't believe in ghosts?"

"I'll believe it when I see it, but I ain't seen it." She replied, thick Gotham accent slipping. 

There was a short pause as M'gann reached into her bag. There was a particular doll she liked, It looked just like Hello Megan, and she liked to bring it places with her, and brush it's hair.

Artemis wanted to laugh at her for playing with dolls at their age, but she suddenly became very aware of the teddy bear sticking out of her own bag. She liked the bear, it was soft and cute, but really the reason she'd brought it was to smuggle in her switch blade inside the pocket on the bear's back. Edged weapons were specifically banned at camp and Ollie had been certain to triple-check her bag for any. Artemis couldn't sleep without a knife under her pillow. When she was a little girl her mother had taught her to do so every night, just in case.

Suddenly, there was  a sharp tapping on one of the grimy, cloudy windows.

The three immediately stopped. 

"What was that?" M'gann asked softly, hugging her doll.

"Nothing. A rat maybe." Artemis said.

"I'm going to look." Conner stood, walking to the door.

"No!" The other two exclaimed. 

"What?"

There was more tapping, not from the window right besides M'gann's bunk.

She squealed, leaping off the bunk and scurrying to the other two. "Who-- Who's there?"

"Hold on!" Artemis jumped up to her bunk, grabbing her teddy. She slid the knife out and gathered with the others. "There, if they get too close I'll..."

"The door doesn't have a lock." Conner observed.

Silently, all three turned to face the door.

Dick crawled into his sleeping bag. He reached into his backpack, removing a small stuffed toy. He didn't want the other kids to know he had a stuffie at camp. 

Simultaneously, on the other top bunk, Wally was removing a stuffed cheetah from his own bag. It had been a gift from his uncle once when the went to the zoo. That would've been when Wally was very young, before they started seeing each other so often.

Kaldur's item from home was a little stone doll of his mother. He'd had it some time now, and liked to bring it with him when he had to stay away from home, that doll being more or less the only item of value he had.

The door banged open; startled, the boys quickly hid their treasures before Roy could see them. "That was great!" Roy laughed. "Maybe that will loosen them out."

"It doesn't feel right to scare them..." Kaldur proposed gently.

"I  scare Artemis all the time, she gets over it in an instant!" He sat on his cot. "Besides, if I have to be here, I might as well try to have fun."

After about fifteen minutes the trio had calmed down, and they were just getting back into bed when Artemis made a discovery: "The lights are on."

"What?"

"No, we just turned them off."

"Not here," she said, "in cabin two."

"What?" 

The trio huddled around the window. Sure enough, not ten feet away, Cabin two was lit up like a lantern.

"That's it! I bet that's Roy exploring in there, and it was probably Roy who scared us!" Artemis grabbed her flashlight. "I'm gonna go out there and--"

"No!" M'gann begged, turning desperately to Conner. "Stop her!"

Artemis ran out into the dark, Conner following her, and M'gann following him. Artemis clambered up to peak in the windows.

It was lit shoddily, like the other cabins, but it had no bunk beds, just a large table covered in strange beige shapes. Artemis squinted, and stifled a shriek. It was body parts. She tried to calm herself, she'd seen dead people before.

Someone approached the table from the shadows.

"Mr. Smith." Conner said.

"Shh!" The other two hissed, noses practically pressed to the low window as they watched in awe and horror. Mr. Smith, sliding his fingers under a seem in his arm, began to peel the skin back, revealing plastic and metal innerworkings. He twisted the arm sharply and removed it, dropping it on the table.

That was about all M'gann could stomach. She heaved forwards, covering her mouth. The other children, sensing that they'd rather be in bed than caught sneaking out by Mr. Smith, rushed back to cabin three, tripping and stumbling the whole way