A/N: Thank you Batbabe for the review! I can't believe I forgot about this ::Sweatdrop::

Darrian usually would have been as bored as hell wandering round Bruce's house with nothing to do, but at that moment he was slightly preoccupied. The attack on the house couldn't be the only one coming. Soon enough, the guy he owed money to would send more of his people to come collect him, and he couldn't rely on Bruce to be there all the time... and he really didn't want to drag Bruce or Alfred any deeper into this mess than they were already.

He hated that his whole situation was about his former drug problem. He had an on-off relationship with recreational chemicals since he'd been thirteen and it had come and gone over the years. He hated it even more that he'd had to tell Bruce. Bruce, who had nearly fallen into the same trap back when they were still living together.

The kid had been miserable and depressed for some time now. Who wouldn't be, having their parents' die and then being stuck in some god-forsaken children's home run by violent sadists, only to end up living a meager life, moving from squat to squat?

Being exposed to the kind of lowlifes who would sell a kid drugs, he'd of course, tried to turn to them for help.

Darrian still remembered the time he'd found Bruce coming in from having been to see one of those guys, eyes glazed, pupils dilated, shaking and jumpy like a hyperactive puppy and sometimes staring at nothing before talking randomly to himself in riddles. Darrian had shaken him and forced Bruce to tell him what he'd taken- LSD, as he'd thought- then promptly locked him in the bedroom, sitting with him and watching him until he came down, before immediately telling him that he was in no circumstance to ever try solving his problems with drugs again.

The sad fact of the matter was that Darrian apparently wasn't as strong as Bruce had been, and very shortly, after Bruce had left him, he had gone back onto heroin.

Darrian shook himself out of these thoughts, looked around and found himself near the front door. He glanced at the clock.

What the hell time is Bruce supposed to be back at?

The doorknob suddenly turned and Bruce walked in looking worn and tired. His eyes fell onto Darrian standing a few feet away and he forced himself to smile, even though it looked more like a grimace, at least he tried.

Darrian smiled. "BRUCIE!" he randomly ran and glomped Bruce before pulling back. "Heya mate. You looked shattered. Hard day at work?"

Bruce chuckled softly, "Yea, you could say that. Lex Enterprises wants me to help them with their newest product," He sighed and glared at the floor, "The guy's an idiot, he won't give up on the fact that I. Don't. Like. Guns."

Darrian raised an eyebrow. "Oookaaay then. Why don't you tell him to shove it?"

Bruce smirked cheekily, "As a matter of fact, I did. Not in so many words... but you get my point."

Darrian feigned shock. "You bad boy.." He smirked. "Apart from telling someone to relocate a piece of machinery, what else did you do today?"

"Had lunch with Lois Lane." He answered simply moving away from the foyer and into the game room.

Darrian wolf-whistled following Bruce. "Oooo, who's Lois Lane then Brucie?" He teased.

Bruce glared at Darrian over his shoulder, "Just a friend." He said grabbing two pool sticks and tossed one to Darrian.

Darrian caught it. "A-ha..." he said, not sounding at all convinced. "Sure.. okay then... if that's what you're calling 'em these days, fine..."

"She's got a boyfriend, and even though I could take him down... I guess he'd be what you would call a 'friend.'" Bruce smirked cockily as he rounded up the balls on the table.

Darrian cocked his head. "Oh really... this boyfriend... what's he like?" He asked, faux-innocently, although the huge grin on his face gave him away.

Bruce shook his head, "Ever heard of Superman?"

"That CAN'T be a nickname."

"You mean to tell me that you've never heard of Superman either?" Bruce looked up at Darrian in shock.

Darrian mewed. "No... Remember? Rock... hiding... no TV or newspapers whatsoever..."

Bruce nodded, "Right. Yea well you'll see him on the news soon enough, he's 'always' on the news." Sinking a striped ball into a corner pocket, Bruce moved around the table, "But you'll meet him even sooner, he and Lois are coming over for dinner Saturday."

Darrian raised an eyebrow with interest. "Ooh... really? Yay, meeting new people who DON'T wanna torture, maim and/or kill me."

"That's a good way to look at it." Bruce grunted frowning when the ball missed the side pocket.

Darrian aimed to pot a colored ball, but it ended up totally overshooting. He growled at it. "Yea... well fuck you too." He said to it, then asked Bruce. "So, when are they coming over?"

"Saturday at 6." Bruce said raising an eyebrow.

Darrian smiled and nodded.

A/N: Please Review!