Disclaimer: I don't own Batman, Young Justice or any of its characters.

...

Chapter 7.

Why did he think Wally's movie marathon was a good idea? Dick thought as he yawned one more time.

One second he was back at Bruce's side, slumped on the sofa having picked up his book again and actually getting somewhere with it, and the next he was groggily blinking his eyes and struggling to keep them open.

Now that he thought about it, his tendency to fall asleep was another of the reasons why his reading habit had declined considerably in the last few years.

That was his last thought before finally losing the battle against sleep.

He woke up some unknown time later, and when he did, it took only a couple of seconds for what happened in the last few hours to come back to him, but it wasn't until he saw the empty space at his side that he straighten up hastily, wide blue eyes searching frantically for mini Bruce. God! What if he woke up and went wandering around the alone Manor? What if he looked for Alfred and didn't find him? Or worse, what if he found him and saw something he shouldn't have?

From where he was lying on his stomach on the carpet with a book open before him, Bruce blinked up at the older boy's sudden awakening. Maybe he had a bad dream? With his small brow furrowed, Bruce wondered if he should say anything about it or pretend he hadn't seen him.

"Hey," Dick called with a smile, slumping a little in the sofa as soon as his eyes caught sight of the form of his tiny guardian. "Sorry I fall asleep on you. I must have been more tired than I thought."

"It's okay," Bruce replied easily, sitting up with his legs crossed.

Dick rubbed the sleep from his eyes before he stretched his arms, blinking as he looked down at himself. The blue blanket Alfred tucked Bruce in was now pooled in his lap. It took his foggy mind a second to come to the conclusion that Bruce must have covered him with it when he woke up and found him asleep. He couldn't stop the smile that spread across his face, but he did resist the urge to tackle the boy down in a hug.

He didn't want to scare him when he was just starting to relax around him, after all.

"Alfred stopped by while you were sleeping," Dick commented casually.

"Oh."

It wasn't a response that prompted further explanation, but Dick gave it anyway. "Yeah. I guess he wanted to make sure we still were where we said we would."

The younger boy wasn't sure what he was supposed to say to that, so he remained silent.

"Why don't you come up here so we can keep reading?" Dick suggested after taking a look at the watch on his wrist. It wasn't as late as he had thought. "Unless you want to do something else ...?"

Bruce pondered that for a moment. He was starting to feel a little bored cramped in here, but he didn't want to be rude. What if he said no and Dick didn't want to read more to him later? And, he also would like to hear another chapter, even if he worry he had missed too much of the story when he fell asleep.

With the decision apparently taken, Bruce stood up from the floor, letting Dick caught a glimpse of the book he had been looking at. Alice in Wonderland. Dick swallowed hard and ran a hand across his face to hide his expression.

It was one of the books Bruce's mother read to him when he was sick, so even now it was still one of Bruce's favorites. It was his comfort read.

Bruce shared that tidbit the first time Dick got sick under his care. He stayed in from work and showed up in his room with the book in his hand, and after awkwardly making sure Dick was as alright as he could while sick, had asked if he would like for him to read to him. Dick had been too miserable to truly care about the story, but had been so grateful for the company that he nodded right away from where he was cocooned in warm blankets.

He fell asleep almost as soon as Bruce started, of course, but had learned later why Bruce chose that particular book then, and Dick was pretty sure it wasn't a coincidence that he had been looking at the same book now.

Dick was pulled out of his melancholic thought when Bruce sat down on the sofa and was pleasurably surprised when he noticed the space between them was smaller this time.

Dick had just finished another chapter- he literally had just finished reading like two seconds before the silence was cut by a strange growling sound. A strange coming from the boy at his side, or more specifically, from said boy's stomach.

"Sorry,"

Bruce's cheeks immediately flared and he dropped his eyes in embarrassment. That and the murmured apologize stopped Dick from laughing out loud. He settled for an amused but not unkind smile instead.

"It's okay. I'm a little hungry too, so I guess that's our cue to go look for Alfred."

With only a small nod and without lifting his eyes Bruce followed the other boy and they left the library.

Dick watched Bruce out of the corner of his eye, not liking what he saw. It was both, sad and weird that he had to think of ways to make Bruce light up even when he was a kid. He was still thinking what to do when he saw the approaching figure at the end of the hallway.

"Uncle Clark!" Dick ran toward him, stopping himself from jumping into Super's arms at the very last second. Sure, Clark could still carry him easily- Please! He was Superman. He could carry like ten people in each arm without breaking a sweat (not that he even sweat, anyway) but he was too old for that kind of thing now.

Like any teenager, he even protested when Clark's hand ruffled his hair.

The struggle to leave childish habits like that behind was not an easy one, and it was something he had to kept reminding himself after years of routine. And he had to try harder now that he was part of the team. He couldn't take the risk of slipping and doing something silly in front of them when he already knew he was the weakest link.

With the kind of teammates he had, there was no way around it.

Up until recently, Dick had been delighted by the fact Bruce was part of the Justice League and that he got the chance to meet the other heroes, but lately, he started to wonder more and more just how exactly Bruce handled the pressure and requirements that came with being on a team with such powerful people. If he ever felt inferior and insecure of his place there.

Sure, he was Batman, but under all his training and fancy gadgets he was just human.

Maybe he'll ask him about it sometimes. Except he was a little afraid of the answer he would get.

Bruce stayed where he was, standing by the closed door and shifting on his feet a little as he watched them. He was feeling awkward and out of place. As if he shouldn't be watching them. But seeing Dick react like that to that man's arrival made him miss his parents even more. It reminded him of how he ran to welcome his father like that.

The little boy swallowed hard. He missed his parents so much.

An odd feeling made him look up, and he found himself meeting the bright blue eyes of the strange man as they watched him. He was smiling too, a smile that was almost as nice as Dick's, but there was something strange in his eyes, something Bruce couldn't name yet made him uncomfortable. He dropped his eyes, eyebrows furrowed as he looked down at his shoes.

It was Clark's murmured greeting what pulled the teenager out of his depressing thought.

"What are you doing here?" Dick asked Clark, to keep up the part, of course.

"Well, I couldn't not visit my favorite nephew now that he's in town, could I?"

"Pff! I'm your only nephew," Dick said with an eye roll before turning around to start walking back to where Bruce was standing.

"Well, you would still be my favorite even if you weren't," Clark replied as he walked behind him.

"Bruce, this is my uncle Clark Kent. Uncle Clark, this is Bruce Wayne, my cousin."

Clark crossed the short distance still between them, crouching down to be at eye-level with the little boy and offering his hand with a wide genuine smile.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Kent."

"It's nice to meet you too, Bruce. And you can just call me Clark, okay?"

Clark still hadn't let go of Bruce's hand, and Dick could see the boy was getting a bit uneasy, which Clark would have noticed if he had been paying attention. Dick was pretty sure he was struggling not to scoop Bruce in his arms and hug him to death. Maybe pinch his cheeks a little. And, okay, Dick couldn't blame him for it (he had hugged him as soon as possible) but the last thing they needed was for Bruce to think Clark was a psycho or something like that.

Right. Time to act.

"How's Conner?" Dick called merrily, watching Clark's shoulders tense. "He's his son," He added with a look in Bruce's direction, not giving Clark the chance to evade the issue even now.

The Kryptonian rose to his feet, lifting a hand to touch his glasses and giving him the perfect opportunity to shot Dick a look without Bruce seeing it. Dick only beamed in return.

"Ah. He's ... doing well. Busy with his friends and- stuff, That's why he didn't come."

"That's too bad. Say hi for me? And give him a hug too."

"Right," Clark replied, smile a little forced. He cleared his throat. "What were you guys doing?"

"We were reading," Dick replied with a wave at the closed door behind them. "But now we're on our way to the kitchen to ask Alfred if dinner is ready."

The bright smile was back on Clark's face. "I see. Well, you could go ask Alfred. Or, you could help me with the pizza I brought with me."

Bruce's eyes widened. There was no way Alfred had let him bright pizza into the Manor. Not when Alfred's dislike of fast food was even bigger than his father's. The very few occasions he had been allowed to eat pizza it had been prepared here by Mrs. Dawson, the cook.

The shock and curiosity override Bruce's shyness and discomfort, and he looked up at the man with wide blue eyes.

"How did you convince Alfred to let you bring pizza to the Manor?"

It was strange to hear the real awe in Bruce's voice over something so small and simple, but that didn't make it any less cute. A glimpse of the expression on Clark's face let him know he wasn't the only one enjoying this. Probably more than they should.

"It wasn't an easy task, that's for sure, but I managed to convince him. And not just that. I also brought dessert."

"You brought ice cream too?" Dick asked, both because he wanted confirmation, and to drag Clark's attention away from Bruce. Again. He would need to have a word with the Kryptonian about controlling himself better if he didn't want to freak Bruce out with all the staring and creepy smiles.

"Yeah. I brought your favorite, and since I didn't know Bruce's, I brought a couple of other flavors for him to choose too."

"You're the best!" Dick beamed.

Clark's eyes shone as he laughed. "Of course I am. Now, come on. Let's go before the pizza gets cold, or Alfred changes his mind."

No other words were needed to get the boys moving, and soon they (mostly Dick, though Bruce did send him a furtive look or two) were prompting the reporter to walk faster.

...

a/n: Sorry about the long wait, but I brought you an extra long chapter to make up for it, so ... I hope you liked it.

This chapter was supposed to be all about Clark, but Dick didn't want to let go of Bruce just yet, so we'll have more Clark in the next one :D