Author's Note: I am TERRIBLY sorry for my laziness. This story got kind of stuck because of my writer's block, so I had to stop writing for a while to work the kinks out. I have no idea how Richard/Robin interacts with Bruce/Batman outside of the league, so I tried my best to keep them both in character. In my point of view, Bruce is a lot more easygoing when he takes off his uniform.

Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice. But man! Season 2 threw me for a loop! What happened to M'gann and her bubbly personality? She got weird...


Richard Grayson stood in front of the double doors that led to Bruce's private study.

He breathed in and let out a shaky breath.

"Come on. It's just Bruce. Quit being whelmed." The sixteen-year-old muttered to himself. "Moment of truth…ah, how do I put this? 'Bruce, I'm seeing Wally West because I like him.' No…Do you want him to make you feel the aster?" The Boy Wonder scratched his head. "You know what? Screw it. Either way, it's gonna be a disastrous fall. Might as well…"

He raised his hand to knock on the door…and paused…

Dick Grayson can do this.

Dick can do this.

'I can do this.' He thought. 'I can-'

"Need help opening the door, sir?" Alfred appeared out of nowhere, carrying a duster in one hand.

Grayson almost jumped at the unexpected presence of the famous butler. "Sheesh! Alfred, don't do that!" He was sure that if Alfred Pennyworth was younger, he would've passed as an excellent ninja. Perhaps living with two bats rubbed off on him.

"Of course, sir." The butler answered matter-of-factly. "Perhaps next time I shall tie a bell around my neck so you will know when I am near at all times."

The most amusing yet wonderful quality about Alfred was that you could never know whether he was being sarcastic or not.

Dick scratched his head sheepishly. "I wanted to talk to Bruce about…" He paused, unsure how to phrase his thoughts. "…stuff."

Wow, lame.

"Well if you were looking for Master Bruce, I'm afraid he left quite some time ago."

"Oh." Alfred could bet money that Master Richard looked downright relieved yet glum at the same time.

The butler sighed and dropped his poker face. "Something you want to tell me, sir?"

"…Eh…" Robin hesitated. "It's a complicated and messy situation."

"Well, talking about it with someone usually helps to unravel the knots in your heart, Master Richard."

"You really wanna get tangled up in my mess?"

"Surely you don't consider me as an outsider, Dick." Alfred dropped the formality and smiled. "However, it is up to you. But sooner or later I will know; nothing escapes from the eyes of Alfred Pennyworth, not even Master Wayne's shenanigans."

Dick swore there was a hint of a mischievous sparkle in the old butler's eyes.

"I think a vacation for you once in a while will do you some good, Alfred." Grayson joked and followed his long time friend.

Alfred took this as a sign that Dick was willing to talk. "Oh I dare not think of it. Leaving you two unattended in a house with a kitchen is a crime that I cannot afford to commit."

They stepped into the pristine kitchen complete with white marble counter tops and white marble floors. The cherry wood cabinets gleamed from the gold rays of the afternoon sun. The brunet teen gracefully hopped up onto the little island, swaying his legs gently back and forth. For a moment, Alfred saw a nine-year-old Richard John Grayson again, looking curiously and with awe at Master Wayne's spacious mansion. Innocence radiated from the young circus boy like a halo, and despite his parents' tragic death, the boy was still a bundle of everlasting energy and sunshine.

Growing up did wonders though, Alfred decided with a nod to himself. Intelligent and quick-witted, Richard Grayson soon learned the ropes, figuratively and literally, in order to get by in a place like Gotham City. It was a wonder how the boy still kept his chipper and bright personality in this gruesome society.

Alfred smiled to himself and walked to one of the cabinets; Master Richard was indeed a child to be proud of.

"Whip out your apron, Master Richard, because we're making cookies."


"So…I want to date this girl, right?" Robin started carefully, kneading the dough with both of his hands. Specks of flour dusted his arms and face as well as the light blue apron he wore.

Alfred blinked. "A girl? I was under the impression that you held affections for Master Wallace."

Dick kind of freaked at that moment and did a weird, erratic motion with his arms. "You knew?"

The butler raised an eyebrow. "Why of course! It had been rather obvious...It was obvious, wasn't it?" Alfred gave him a look.

"I…" The brunet weakly argued. "I hang out with Barbara too. It could be her for all you know."

"Miss Gordon has a boyfriend." Alfred countered smoothly, adding just a hint of sugar to the dough.

Dick was dumbfounded for a second. "Right. What was his name again? Jerry or something?"

"It's Jacob, Master Richard."

"Ah…the Turner kid." Dick mulled it over in his head. Jacob and Babs? That's amusing, especially since the Turner kid is a huge jock. Never knew Babs had a thing for nice-looking tennis players.

"So what about Master Wallace that has you so worked up?" Alfred asked, bringing the topic back to square one.

The brunet stopped kneading and listed off with his fingers. "His eating habits, his big mouth, not to mention that cocky personality of his-"

The old butler inwardly snorted in amusement at that particular bit; how ironic, not to mention a tad bit hypocritical of Master Richard.

"Everything about him makes me want to fly into a building. But it's not really him this time...it's more about Bruce."

The butler understood immediately, but decided to let Dick do all the explaining.

"Bruce is great." The teen started, picking at the hem of his apron. "Having him as a dad is like, a dream after what I've been through. And I know that he's a busy man, what with being Batman and the boss of his own company, and that's totally fine, even if it gets a bit lonely without him here. But then on occasion he would smile whenever I do something awesome, and I find myself thinking, 'Man, if only he could smile more often.' I know that I probably sound like I'm eager to please, but I really want Bruce to be proud of me. He probably doesn't want me to date just yet, and who knows what he'll do if I told him I want to date a guy. I mean, Bruce has just been more of a...women's man, you know? I don't know...this whole thing just sucks."

The old butler smiled and put a warm hand on his ward's shoulder. "I believe staying by him is enough."

The boy looked puzzled and stopped rolling the dough into a pancake; of course he'll stay by his dad. He was the only family he's got after all. "What do you mean, Alfred?"

"There are not many things I regret in my life, Dick." The old man said as he went over to get some cookie cutters. "And at my age, I simply don't have the energy to keep hounding about the past anymore. But if I could go back and change just one thing, it would've been my relationship with Master Bruce."

"After his parents were taken away, Master Bruce completely closed himself off. I was the only one left in this mansion but I failed to act like family towards him. And before I could, young Master Bruce had already grown up, and here I am, a butler, a long-time close companion, but what else?"

Alfred then pressed the shapes into the dough. For a second, Dick saw a spark of sadness and nostalgia in his old friend's eye, but it was quickly masked by Alfred's famous poker face.

"But you, Master Richard, you are the only family he's got. It is true that Master Bruce can be quite inept when it comes to emotions, and his lack of emotions is what distances himself from others, and makes many people question as to where do they stand in his heart. Of course he, along with me, is to blame for his behavior, but he sincerely loves you, Dick. He might not be the perfect father, but for you I am sure that he will do his best to become just that so you can be happy. After all, family always loves and accepts one another. Master Bruce may do this in a peculiar fashion, but he is no exception."

Dick seemed to think about it while he poured the chocolate chips onto the cookies.

"You needn't worry." Alfred reassured. "After all, you are at that age to date, and teenagers must do what they do best. I'm sure Master Bruce would understand perfectly." He rolled his eyes a bit at that. "Breaking all those poor ladies' hearts..." He muttered to himself.

Robin giggled (it was on the masculine side) and smiled. "Thanks, Alfred." He said quietly, and in one swift moment, gathered his old friend into a hug.

The old butler blinked, and then smiled once again and patted his young ward on the head. "It is what family is for."


When Bruce returned that night, he felt the urge to sigh. It wasn't anything major really; Mr. Fox had caught a bad virus so he wasn't able to go to work today, so naturally Wayne had to step in. There were also some preparations to be made for the business meeting with another Japanese company next week, so the man thought that he would get it done and over with now rather than later. He never was a procrastinator.

"Welcome home, Master Bruce." Alfred said and took his coat.

Wayne nodded and made his way to his private office. "Good evening, Alfred."

"Dinner and hot tea in the office, sir?"

"Make that wine instead of tea." Bruce rubbed his temples, and then looked upstairs. "Dick's asleep already?"

"Not just yet." Answered the butler as he moved toward the kitchen. "He's in the kitchen. Master Richard and I had quite the heart-to-heart talk today."

The White Knight was intrigued. "About?"

Alfred smiled. "I'll let him fill you in on the details later, Master Bruce."

Wayne blinked. "Right." He chuckled before entering his office.

After Bruce ate his dinner, he leaned back in his chair with a glass of wine in his hand. A quiet knock came at the door.

"Come in."

Dick opened the door and came in with a plate of cookies he made with Alfred. "Hey, dad." He said casually, munching on a star-shaped one.

"Hey." Bruce set down his glass casually. "How are things with you nowadays?" He asked, thinking that this was a good time to catch up on what he missed.

"Well, I haven't ended up in the hospital yet for anything major so I guess everything is perfection."

Wayne snorted in amusement. "I know you're doing your job well as Robin, I meant school."

"Bleh."

"I'm afraid I don't specialize in teen talk, Richard." Bruce smiled and leaned back in his chair.

"It's alright. Babs is there and everything to protect me from harassment."

Bruce gave an airy chuckle. "I heard that the semi-finals for the math meet are coming up. How's the preparation?"

Dick gave his signature smirk and cackle. "What preparation?"

Wayne smirked and swirled his drink. "Confident as ever I see."

"Yup. So why are you home so late?" The teen pointed at his father accusingly with a bat -shaped cookie .

Bruce raised an eyebrow at his son's unusual silly antics. Dick confirmed it by biting viciously into the pastry, completely severing its head from its winged body. His blue eyes narrowed mockingly, silently promising pain if the Batman told him a lie.

The playboy billionaire rolled his eyes.

"Business at the company. Why?"

"Huh...You sure little Miss Selina Kyle didn't call you out for a little rendezvous on top of the usual gargoyle statue?" Dick said sarcastically. "No? Maybe this time it's another weekend sweetheart. What's her name?"

Bruce sighed; this was definitely payback for not spending enough time at home with his son.

"Look, Richard. I promise, this was purely business." He stated honestly.

"The last time you said that I was greeted by a very curvy woman in the wee hours of the morning, and she made coffee with my mug."

"You know, you're being unusually snappy today." The detective narrowed his eyes and turned the tables. "I know you're kind of the snappy talker to begin with but really, what's the matter? Did you fight with Wally?"

Dick slowed down his chewing and swallowed rather painfully. His mouth felt kind of dry and suddenly he remembered how important water is. "Ahhh..." He awkwardly choked. "No, Wally and I are fine."

The detective didn't believe him. "Well then, what's the problem?" He continued to ask anyway.

The teen gathered himself for a minute and concentrated. He had Bruce all to himself right at this moment; an ideal opportunity couldn't come any faster.

"I don't want Wally and I to be ...just fine." He stated.

The detective had a strong suspicion about where this was going, but refrained and let Dick do all the talking. He raised one delicate eyebrow to fake his mild confusion, silently urging his son to go on.

The teen swallowed. "I want to date Wally West."

The White Knight of Gotham gave his son a long hard stare as the awkward silence blanketed them both. Dick, despite the fact that he didn't want to, forced himself to stare into his adoptive father's dark pupils; he refused to give in on this, and he wanted Bruce to know that.

Personally, Bruce always knew this was going to happen one day. He saw the signs; all the subtle touching, the 'man-hugs', the piggyback rides, and the total disinterest in perfectly attractive girls on his son's part. Ever since Batman and the Flash introduced them to each other Dick had never went through a day without Wally.

And it was the same with the redhead, much to Batman's chagrin.

It wasn't that Bruce was against the concept of homosexuality; to be honest, he'd rather spend his time on matters that actually effects him and the league in some important way. It was just...

"But it's Wally West." He sighed and rubbed his temples. "You never fail to give me difficult equations to work with, do you Dick?"

The Boy Wonder shrugged and smirked impishly.

Wayne snorted to himself at this and leaned back in his leather chair; being a father was no piece of cake.

"On one condition."

"Anything." Dick answered immediately.

The billionaire blinked in mild surprise at the abrupt answer; already his son had sold his heart to that...that devil in disguise. A small prick of pain started in his heart, but the man was quick to shoot it down; his little bird was ready for his first real flight, and all he can do now is to accept that fact.

"You will promise me," Bruce emphasized. "That your new relationship with him will not affect team dynamics during missions. You are to act how I've always trained you to, and in case of emergency you will not judge based on biased opinions. Do you understand me?"

"Crystal."

"And of course I trust you to keep up with your studies."

"That's two conditions, dad. But of course." Richard smiled eagerly. "So I take it that you agree?"

"Unfortunately." Bruce muttered before sipping his wine. "Now go and call him before I change my mind. I know how badly you want to let him know the 'good news'." He added sarcastically.

The teen didn't need to be told twice. "Here, have the cookies!" He set the tray down before scrambling out of his office.

Alfred came in not long after to offer Master Bruce some truffles he made as a late night snack. In the old butler's mind this could be counted as comfort food, seeing how Master Bruce was no doubt sulking a bit on the inside over the loss of his son to Master Wallace, or as Bruce calls the kid (out of spite of course), that moron.

A few seconds later however, Dick popped his head into the room again. "Bruce, you're the best! So are you Alfred!" He practically beamed before zipping away again.

"Ah, you can't ever seem to stop them from growing up, can you?" Alfred smiled fondly as he placed some dessert truffles on the office table. In a way, Bruce suspected that his old friend's words were meant for him too.

"No…I guess not. Time doesn't wait for anyone."


To Be Continued...