Summary: Takes place a day after the previous chapter. Dick/Connor fluff

Disclaimer: I don't own DC

Dick found Connor sitting up at the top of Mount Justice, overlooking the sea below. Ever since their last mission, which had ended with Dick getting himself nearly killed, the Kryptonian had been...distant. Dick could tell something was bothering him, he just didn't know what.

"Uh, hey." The Kryptonian merely grunted, and Dick took that as his invitation to sit down beside him, to which the clone had no visible objection. "So...what's up?"

"What?"

"Nothin', nothin', just...y'know..." Dick was careful with his words. The last thing he wanted was to be thrown off the cliff by an angry Superboy. "You've been kinda...distraught. Something wrong?" Connor sighed before nodding.

"Yeah...I...you almost died yesterday. And-and I wasn't there to save you." Grayson raised an eyebrow.

"You didn't have to. Rocket got to me in-"

"I know, but...I'm supposed to be the strongest. I'm Superboy. So...why wasn't I there?"

"You did your part. The plan worked. And yeah, it was kinda close, but in the end, everyone made it out alive." Connor frowned.

"That almost wasn't the case."

"Look, not every mission will go flawlessly. Sometimes, we get hurt. But we keep going. It's just what-"

"You guys shouldn't have to be the ones who get hurt." Dick raised an eyebrow. "I'm Superman's clone. I can take the hits. There's no need for any of you to. Lately it feels like I haven't been doing my job right. This is, what, the third major injury in the past week?"

"Well, yeah, but we recovered."

"That's not the point. You guys shouldn't have been hurt in the first place if I was doing my job." Robin placed a hand on Connor's shoulder. He had clearly been hanging out with Clark a lot more, that much was for certain. Ever since the Kryptonian had opened up to him, Connor spent every waking hour learning from him. He must have inherited Clark's burdens, too.

"Nobody expects you to take the hits for us all the time. Hell, I've been doing this for the longest out of any of us. If anyone should take the hits, it should be me. You guys are still kinda new to this."

"No offense, but you're just...human. You break. I don't."

"I haven't broke yet. None of us have."

"I know, but you could. Any of you could. I'm the strongest, so I should be the one to make the sacrifice. Why are you doing it? You could die, I won't." Connor was genuinely confused as to Robin's motives. Dick shook his head.

"I'm not gonna let you, or any of them, take the risks when I can. I'm sorry. It's just who I am." Connor kept his blank expression. Dick had an impressive inner strength, something he was trying to mimic himself, but there were times when he forgot that he was the one with superpowers and not Robin. "Listen, you don't have to always be there to save the day. Even Superman isn't always the one to take the risk. You've gone above and beyond for this team, all of us have. Don't feel like you're lacking anything, cuz you're not."

"I know, but...I'm supposed to be the backbone of the team. I'll take the hits so you don't have to."

"I don't want you to. It's just...it's better if I do it."

"Why?"

"Because you're my friends. I can't let anything happen to you. Even if it means I get hurt." Connor didn't respond, but deep down, he felt the exact same way Dick did. A comfortable silence overtook the two before Dick next spoke. "We good?"

"Yeah. Yeah, we're good. But don't ever do something like that again, or else I'm gonna kill you for real. Or maybe I'll have Zatanna do it for me." Robin shuddered at the notion of his girlfriend's overprotectiveness, and the two walked back inside once it started to get cold, ready for whatever came next.

This one was kinda out of left field, and it probably wasn't very good, but I haven't done a Dick bonding chapter that isn't with Zatanna or Bruce in a while, so I thought I'd start here. If you want more like this, just leave a comment, preferably with some context as to what basic story or idea you have for the chapter. Feel free to leave comments or suggestions for chapters you wanna see. Next chapter up soon.