"If I knew you were going to break into my house any chance you got, I wouldn't have bothered making you a key," Batman stood in the Bat Cave, watching as someone messed around with his computer, a small, yet fond, smile on his face. It was almost unnoticeable but definitely there.

Said person on the computer didn't bother turning around and just took out the lollipop in his mouth, "Shut up."

"What are you doing now?" The Bat walked forward, looking over the other's shoulder, "Are those the blueprints to the training rooms?"

The person sighed and stopped typing for a moment, swiveling in the chair to look at the man. He moved the lollipop in his mouth as he studied the hero through black welding goggles before speaking, "Honestly, I don't know why you're asking these stupid questions when you already know the answers. I was thinking about making some changes to the rooms to accommodate Superboy's enhanced strength better."

"You mean I'm making the changes while you critique from the background while being unhelpful."

"As always," The man grinned, showing off pearly white teeth. "Gotta keep up the routine. So, what's up with the League, Batsy? How're they handling the goose chase?"

"Well," The Bat reached up and pulled off his cowl, leaning against the desk. "They're starting to doubt you're in the Mountain."

"Good, good," He nodded, turning around to type something in before looking back at the hero. "I gotta say, you're acting skills have gotten better, kid."

"I'm older than you, Core," Bruce pointed out.

"Mentally or physically, though?"

"You know the answer."

"Of course I do, kiddo. I'm just testing you."

"Shouldn't you be with Superboy?" It was the Wayne's unsubtle attempt to get the other out of his place.

"He's with his team in the living room watching some movies. He's not up for training yet. Thanks for the Kryptonian cloth, by the way. He's healing up nicely."

"Of course. You would have nagged me for it if I didn't give it to you."

"Glad you know me so well."

The YJ team was sitting on the couches in the middle of the movie when a voice drifted over one of the characters' dialogue. "What'cha guys watching?"

Kid Flash flinched when he realized Core had slipped in between him and Superboy without him noticing, "What the hell? When'd you get here?"

"Thirty seconds ago. Hey, Baby Blue, what're we watchin'?"

The teen of steel didn't seem surprised by the man's appearance, probably having heard him from a mile away (literally), "I think it was something called Tangled."

"Oo, that's a good one. Scootch over a bit, I need some room here and Bus Stop," He jabbed a thumb at the speedster to his right. "Is hogging all the room."

Robin and Artemis started cackling at the name while M'Gann giggled. Kaldur just shook his head, a hint of a smile on his face. Wally looked indignant as he sputtered in his spot but was ignored by the man next to him.

"Hand over the popcorn, Six-pack," Core patted Superboy's stomach to get him to look down and pointed to the bowl next to the super's arm. He shoved a handful of the food in his mouth, swallowing before grinning, "Thanks. Oo, hey, Robbie, it's the duck scene!"

"I know, it's my favorite part!" The Boy Wonder shushed the others even though they were already quiet and started mouthing the words to the dialogue alongside Core.

The YJ team seemed comfortable around the man even though he was an unknown character. All they knew was his alias and his age (though his age wasn't accurate either if you looked closely enough) yet they let him hang around often enough. It was probably because they felt like they had no right to ask him to reveal himself since they knew it was difficult to. They figured they'd give him some time.

It was around 1:00am when everyone but Superboy, Core, and Kaldur fell asleep in the living room. "We should head to bed, guys," Core yawned, stretching his arms as he stood.

"Let us take them to their rooms so they are not uncomfortable," Aqualad said, already working on lifting up M'Gann from her perch on the loveseat.

"Ugh, if you wanna be nice," The way Core said it made it seem like he rolled his eyes. Even then, he lifted up Robin bridal style, easily shifting the boy in his arms. "Oi, Baby Blue, grab Bus Stop and take him to his room. I'll come back for Artemis."

By the time Superboy made it back to his room, Core had somehow beat him there and was sitting on his bed, scrolling through something on his phone. He wore sweatpants and one of the super's black shirts with the Superman logo. The teen of steel didn't say anything as he grabbed a change of clothes and went to the bathroom. He walked over to the bed a little while later and sat next to the man, peering over his shoulder, "What are you doing?"

Core shifted a bit to show the screen better and scrolled a bit through his phone once more, "Fanfiction, man. The fluff is getting to me, I swear."

Superboy thought about the term. He knew what 'fan' and 'fiction' meant but he never heard it together. He pondered it a bit more, "Is it like fiction writing but made by a fan?"

"Mmhm," Core clicked on a link and showed him. "See, this is a show called Supernatural. This person made a little story where the characters do something they want to do. It's something that doesn't actually appear in the show and is made for their own entertainment."

"Sounds interesting," Superboy nodded.

"Some are," The man scrolled through his phone a bit more before finding something to read. "Some are just full of grammar and spelling mistakes. It takes away from the story."

"Do you read them a lot?"

"Not really. I do once in awhile. I just like going through them and finding one I like so I have something to read later. You should go to sleep, dude. It's, like, 1:15."

When Superboy woke up that morning, his arm felt much better and he didn't feel the weight of his comforter on him. When he glanced over he noticed Core curled up on the edge of his bed under the blanket with one of his pillows. His goggles were still on and didn't look to be bothering him as he slept.

"Stop staring at me, creep," Core muttered, his back still turned away from the super.

Superboy had to wonder how he did that. He was tempted to ask but decided not to. Instead, he simply said, "Breakfast is ready."