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Conner looked upset, and Robin frowned, concerned for his friend. “Hey, Kon,” the Boy Wonder greeted, sitting down next to the half-Kryptonian. “You doing okay? You look more angry then you usually do.”Conner sighed, crossing his arms. “I don't want to talk about it,” he simply said, shutting down, but that didn't deter the younger one at all.“Come on, talk to me. Whatever it is, I swear I won't laugh. It's good to talk whatever is upsetting you, even a bit. Did KF do something? Did he trip you and run away? Are you having a fight with M'gann?”“No. Fine. It's Superman, okay? He's still ignoring me, and it really sucks.”Robin sucked in a breath. “Batman got on his case for that.”“Why would Batman care?”“Well, he is pretty much my dad, Conner. He doesn’t say it, but he loves me. Batman love kids in general, and he cares for lonely kids even more. Sometimes, he would come by and play with the kids at the orphanages and give out toys. He also gives out the best hugs too. You wouldn't think a guy like him even knows the definition of hug, but it's one of the most comforting things you'll ever get and it makes you feel special. His hugs will whelm you with happiness.”Conner paused for a second, a little envious of his friend for having such a constant and readied support. “That sounds really nice,” he said, feeling a little more down.Robin noticed and felt a little guilty for not being able to make his friend feel better. Then he had an idea (because he was Robin. Robin always has an idea), and he smiled as he got off the couch, walking out of the room. “Come to the training room in ten minutes,” he said before disappearing before Conner could reply.Nine minutes later, Conner was getting off the couch and went to the training room as told. Was Robin going to spar with him to cheer him up? Well, it wasn't such a bad idea. A little adrenaline would help distract him by putting his focus on something else.“Robin,” Conner called out, entering the training room. He saw Robin standing in front of the zeta tubes, typing away at his small supercomputer. “What are you doing?”“Give a sec,” Robin said, looking at the tubes expectedly with a smile. “I'm going to get you whelmed, Superboy.”And as expected, one of the zeta tubes activated, a yellow glowing growing as a voice announced overhead. Recognized: Batman, 02. “Robin,” Batman said, walking out of the proximity of the zeta tubes, his expression blank underneath his cowl. “What is this emergency that is so urgent but not enough to get everybody here? I hope you're not going to waste my time.”“This is an emergency, B,” Robin said, pointing at Conner, who felt put on the spot suddenly. Batman shifted his attention to the clone. “So, Superman's being a jerk still about not acknowledging Conner, and that would make anyone feel down in the dumps.”Batman frowned, nodding. “I'm aware. Superman and I will have another talk about this.”“Good, but that's not why I called you here. I told Conner you give the best hugs, and he needs one. Right now.”It wasn't to say that Batman frowned, but he didn't smile either. By now, Conner felt out on this conversation and greatly embarrassed. “It's fine, Robin!” the Superboy interjected, feeling nervous for some reason. His eyes were looking down, one hand rubbing the back of his neck. “I don't need a hug. I'm fine.”Robin gave him a look that said he didn't believe him either while Batman’s stare was starting to feel heavy on Conner. They were now stuck in a standstill - Robin expected one of them to make a move, Conner too nervous to even walk away, and Batman staring at Conner, occasionally glancing over to Robin, who had a miniscule pleading expression.Batman silently sighed (which Robin noticed and smiled at), lowering his guard just a bit. “I don't know what exactly Robin told you,” the older man said, beckoning Superboy over with a gloved hand, “but I guess I can risk my reputation. Just this once.”Superboy almost jumped in surprise. “I'm fine, Batman,” he said, shaking his head stubbornly. “I don't need a hug.”“Sure you don't,” Robin huffed amusingly.If he was any lesser of a man, Batman would have rolled his eyes at Conner’s attitude. Instead, knowing that some people needed a little push, the Dark Knight reached over and pulled the half-Kryptonian towards him by the back of the head, placing Conner’s face gently on his shoulder.Conner was caught by surprise again, this time by how warm Batman was. He didn't think that the older man was cold or anything, since mammals are warm-blooded in general; he just didn't expect Batman to feel like a soft fire, warming up cold fingers in the winter. Without even thinking, Superboy wrapped his arms around Batman’s torso and dug his face a bit further in to make himself more comfortable. Robin was right, Conner thought as he became relax, this really feels comforting. It became even more so when the hand on his head combed through his hair for a moment.“He'll come around soon, Superboy,” Batman assured him, voice softer than usual.Conner was glad that Batman made no move to push him away but let Conner decided when to break apart. “Thanks,” Conner said in appreciation, still a little embarrassed.The corner of Batman's lips actually quirked up for a second before that blank expression was put back on again. The Dark Knight merely nodded and headed back to the zeta tubes. A flash of yellow and a voice, and he was gone.Robin stood by, watching with a great big smile on his face. “See?” he asked happily. “Batman gives the best hugs. But don't go telling everybody about this, okay? He's not going to let me call out for any more private hugging events any time soon.”Conner laughed. “Yeah, I won't,” he said, feeling way better than he did earlier. “I think you were right, about feeling special.”“I told you. It makes you feel the aster.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
M'gann was sitting in the walls of the training room, feeling extremely glum from the previous mission which she felt great personal fault for. They had just came back with Conner and Artemis unconscious because she was distracted by a crying child, revealed to be an illusion caused by telepathic interference. Her teammates were knocked out when they tried to stop the villain of the day from attacking her. Kaldur and Robin managed to get them out of the way as Wally rushed in to rescue her. They came back more scratched up than usual.
When they came back to Mount. Justice, Batman gave the team harsh critiques that would've last much longer if Black Canary didn't stop him and dismiss them to rest up. Batman sent Robin back to Gotham.
That was half an hour ago, when M'gann disappeared into the walls and stayed there. Not a lot of people can find her in solid objects, and she didn't want to be found for a while.
“How long are you going to stay there?”she heard Batman say, his back towards her as he went over mission files on the Computer. She had forgotten that he was still there, doing a bi-weekly check and upgrade of Mount Justice’s systems.
M'gann didn't respond.
Batman looked over his shoulder and look at her, as if he knew where exact she was. “Instead of sitting inside walls,” he said, “why don't you go to Superboy and Artemis? It would be nice to see a familiar face when they wake up.”
M'gann sighed, standing up and coming out of the wall. Her head was down with a frown as she hovered over to Batman. “I don't think they would want to see me,” she confessed. “I'm the reason they were hurt. I wasn't paying attention.”
The Dark Knight hummed, not in agreement but in acknowledgement of her feelings. “They're your teammates, Miss Martian. They protected you for a reason, and it's not because they could get angry at you for being caught unguarded. They care, and I think they would appreciate seeing you safe and sound after risking their lives for you.”
M’gann was still doubtful. “But what if it happens again? It's not the first time my telepathy caused more trouble than not. Wouldn't they get mad at that?”
A hand was placed on her shoulder for comfort. M'gann lifted her head to see Batman had turned all his attention to her. “But it won't,” he began
, “
because you won't let it. You care for them too, so you'll do everything you can to get better, faster,
stronger.
And even if it happens again, you won't have to face it by yourself because everyone is willing to help you, the Young Justice, the League. You have friends and family. They won't let you suffer alone.”
Hearing that, M'gann felt very loved, remembering the truth Batman had just told her. Without warning, she jumped at him and wrapped her arms around him in a hug. She buried her face into his chest, a few tears falling, and she didn't think a thing about the sudden invasion of another person’s personal bubble. Not that Batman particularly mind that moment, simply moving an arm around her in return.
He let her cry out her tears in a warm silence.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
The sun was setting in Central City, and once again, extraterrestrial villainy was stopped by the Justice League. Luckily, it was a simple invasion of space butterflies (which was one of the more mundane alien invaders) who came to Earth after the destruction of their home planet only a few solar systems away, and Central City and her people were mostly unharmed and now safe. Barry watched peacefully for a moment over the citizens cleaning up the mess and the superheros who stayed to help.Then out of nowhere, a yellow blur came rushing into view and latched itself onto Bruce, who would have fallen over due to the force if Diana had not caught them.“Kid,” Barry said, noticing his (now) part-time sidekick first and wondering what had happened.Wally was currently attached to Batman, his small arms around Bruce’s torso and a pouting cheek pressed against the man’s back.“Flash,” Bruce said, directing his upset confusion at the older speedster, “what is going on?”“I don't know either,” Barry answered, putting his hands up in mock surrender.Really, he didn't know. His nephew always went to Iris or him first when upset. Barry never expected Wally would go to Bruce. Well, he never expected anyone to go to Bruce willingly. Unless you're Clark, but only because Clark was Superman.“Kid Flash,” Diana called out softly, looking the speedster who had pretty much looking like an extra body part on Bruce. “What's the matter? You're upset.”“Yeah, what's up, buddy?” Barry asked, placing a hand on Wally’s red hair.Wally didn't answer, instead turning his head to rub his face against Bruce’s back as a response. Barry would have laughed at the Dark Knight’s grunt, but first, Wally.“Let me guess,” Bruce said, silently sighing. “You had an argument with someone.”“Artemis?” Barry asked.“No,” Wally finally answered, still pouting. “It's Trickster. I was passing by, and he was trying to rob a bank and was being a total jerk the whole time. He called me an idiot and told me to go back to kindergarten.”“You shouldn't let insults hurt you, Kid,” Diana said. “It's merely a play villains do to rile you up.”“I know that, but he said it in a really harsh tone and it felt really mean, like he was mad at me even though I didn't do anything.”Ha, that actually was kind of off-putting, Barry thought, seeing how his nephew was really nice to his rogue gallery and was friends with some of the younger ones. Wally even went to a concert with Pied Piper just last week, and Trickster was one of the more friendlier rogues.Bruce actually sighed, sounding exasperated as he shifted his body to face Wally instead of slipping away, which was a surprise. “He's probably not mad at you specifically,” the Dark Knight said, letting the young speedster pout against his chest now. “Maybe he's just placing his anger onto you because of something else. Why don't you go visit him in jail later with something that would cheer him up, like chocolate or coffee, and ask him about it? If anything, he’ll tell you and you two can talk it over like friends.”The three adult superheros looked at Wally expectedly. “Are you sure he's not mad at me?” the speedster asked as he looked up from Bruce’s chest, doubtful.“Of course,” Diana answered with a chuckle. “No one can be too mad at you anyway, even Batman. Trickster just needs some time to calm down. You two will be fine.”“Yeah, and afterwards, we'll get ice-cream with him when he gets out,” Barry added, smiling. “Ten scoops of mint chocolate, Kid. On me.”In an instant, Wally cheered right up, not longer pouting, and was wearing his usual cheerful smile. “Okay!” he exclaimed, giving Bruce a tight squeeze before letting go. Then he gave Diana and his uncle a quick hug. “Thanks, Wonder Woman, Uncle Flash! I'm going to go see Trickster right now!”“You're welcome,” Diana replied, smiling tenderly at the young speedster as Barry gave him one last ruffle on his head.“And thanks, Batman!” Wally shouted as he started running. “M'gann was right about your hugs! They're really comforting.”Barry let out a laugh when he heard Bruce groaned in disagreement of the emphasized word. “So are you giving the kids hugs now?” the speedster asked, giggling.“Not a word,” Bruce growled as Diana watched them, laughing with mirth in her blue eyes.
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"Hey, scholarship kid," someone called out mockingly behind her as she continued to mind her own business. What was it with people and picking in the new kid? Don't they, children of rich people, have something better to do? What losers. "Hey, I was talking to you," a classmate called out again, pushing her against the locker.Artemis was so impressed by this action that she was speechless, rolling her eyes. God, she wanted to leave already and don her bow and arrow. People liked her more when she did. Anyway, today wasn't really a good day for her, as the team had just returned from a last minute mission that barely ended two hours before class started, and it was a Monday. There was a calculus test she didn't get a chance to review, so she knew she could even better. Obviously, she was in a bad mood or sorts. "Hey, are you listening?" her classmate said again, smiling sickly sweet. Artemis was offend that they were blonde, taking the cliche too far. "Why don't you go back to where you belong?" Artemis, knowing how this will go, was silent. Don't drag this out, don't pick a fight and don't get expelled. Mom would be so proud. And Artemis didn't want to disappoint her. There was enough disappointment in their lives. "You should totally try out for the cheerleading team," her classmate continued on, twirling a lock of hair playfully. "Everyone wants to see how bad you'll fail. I heard you have some condition that excused you from P.E. If you try hard enough, maybe you can even run."Uuuuuuggggghhhhh. A hand slap on the locker at her left eye, and she flinched as a reflex. There had been worse thing that she barely dodged. "Hey!" a loud voice echoed in the empty hallway, and both of them turned. "Mister Wayne!" her classmate shouted, embarrassed about getting caught. She immediately took a few steps away. Mister Wayne was of course Bruce Wayne, the super rich guy who was the reason why she was going to such a pretencious school. "What's going on here?" Wayne asked raising a curious eyebrow. He was wearing a nice, clean suit and a soft, assuring smile. It was almost nothing like what Artemis had seen in the papers or heard about. "Nothing," Artemis interrupted, pushing past her classmate. "I was just leaving."Wayne turned around, concerned. "May I have a moment of your time, Miss Crooks?" he asked. "You should go, Miss Rogers."Artemis' classmate squeaked her quick goodbye and ran with her face red. "You know my name," Artemis said, catching that. She had never met Wayne in person before. He gave her a smile. "Of course. I know the name of everyone I give money to. It's good business that way. I wanted to ask if you're okay. It didn't look like that was a friendly encounter. Are you having trouble settling in?"Artemis puffed. "I'm fine. Luckily, I'm a patient person. Something I got from my mom."His smile brightened. "I can see that. She is a very wonderful woman. She wouldn't stop thanking me when I went to visit her, to get a feel of your character. I'm happy to say that she absolutely adores you, Miss Crook."Artemis blushed, looking down a little as she bit her lips in order to not smile in front of a stranger. "Thanks," she replied, "but I'm doing fine, Mister Wayne. Thanks for your concern."She looked up and saw a thoughtful expression on Wayne's face, his eyes bluer than she was used to. Then, without warning, he pulled her gently on the back with one comforting arm, hand placed on top of her head like she was a little kid. It was surprising, and unexpectedly calming and peaceful. It wasn't often that she felt so safe outside her team, but this was one of those rare moments, like the world kind of slowed down for them. "Sorry," Wayne said sheepishly when he let go, but he kept a kind hand on her head. "You just remind me of my son when he first started out. He's adopted, so that's enough reason for bullying. He wouldn't tell me, but I figured it out."He removed his hand, and the top of her head got a little cold. "Have a good day, Miss Artemis," he said, smiling at her. He took out a card and handed it to her. "If you're ever having problems at school, call this number and tell my secretary your name and I'll help you out. Even Superman needs a little help sometimes."And with that, Wayne walked away with a wave, leaving Artemis in the empty hallway with a personal business card in her hand. She had no idea what just happened, but her day was ending pretty good.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Magic. It was how they got into this mess in the first place. Young Justice was sent on a covert mission to collect Intel on an obscure factory in Poland set up by LexCorps. They honestly didn't expect Klarion the Witch Boy guarding the area. There was some fighting, of course, and Superboy managed to set the entire building on fire when they discovered it was manufacturing a dangerous fungal virus genetically encoded to target those who didn't have metahuman genes, dormant or active. And luckily, everyone managed to get away as they immediately rushed back to M'gann's bioship only a few hundred yards away. However, Klarion had one last trick up his sleeves, waving a spell right at Artemis who was the closest to him. Kaldur, as the leader of the team, saw this threat and made the choice to take the blow, much to everyone else's concern. "Kaldur!" Kid shouted, putting his powers into overdrive and ran to pick up his fallen friend. "Everyone, get in!" Miss Martian urged, and everyone slipped in, right before the bioship sealed itself up. The Martian was already in the command seat, taking off as they heard the Witch Boy shout in anger. "Is he okay?" Robin asked, taking over immediately. Everyone looked to Kid, who was holding a small, sun tanned boy with bleach blond hair. His eyes were almond shaped, his cheekbones sharp like a knife. He was a very pretty child, blinking in fear because he didn't know where his king and queen was. He was amongst strangers. "Kaldur?" Artemis tried, getting really worried. "Y-yes?" the child replied, very still. "Where am I? Where is King Orm? Where the queen? What have you done to them?" Superboy frowned, getting a little frantic about the kid. "We're you're friends," he tried to assure. "We'll take you to the king and queen really soon, Kaldur," Robin added, giving the boy a smile. "We promise. They entrusted you with us."Kaldur looked hesitant, and everyone was on edge with worry the entire way back to Mount Justice."C'mon, Kaldur," Miss Martian gently urged. "We have to go meet up with someone before King Orm and Queen Mera arrive. He might seem scary, but he isn't, much."The team headed straight to the meeting room, training room any other time, and there waiting for them was Batman and Giovanni Zatara. "Report," Batman said, accessing the situation at once. Zatara was a little surprised at the younger Kaldur, bit he smiled endearingly moments later. Everyone kind of started talking at once. "One at a ti-”Batman stopped mid-sentence and looked at the boy tugging at his cape with wide blue eyes like the surface of the ocean. "Are you my father?" he asked. "The king told me that my father dresses in all black so he could hide like a mantis seen from above."Zatara almost let out a chuckle, and so did Robin. Everyone else watched carefully because it was rarely that Aqualad shared a piece of his past. "I'm not," Batman replied honestly.Young Kaldur looked disappointed, dropping his hand. "I see," he accepted quickly with a quiet voice, lowering his eyes. "Thank you."Everyone felt a tight at their heartstrings at how dim his blue eyes got. Miss Martian was seconds from reaching and holding the boy in her arms, and Kid was ready to go into the kitchen and share his secret stash of cookies. Artemis and Robin were about to jump in and comfort him while Superboy wanted to reach out in sympathy. But it was Batman who got to him first, lifting the child Atlantian up in his arms in a holding embrace. There was a thick gloved hand on Kaldur's hair and another on his back. "You're not unwanted, Kaldur'ahm," the Dark Knight assured, willing for this one time to break his usual character for a child. "You are worth more than a million pearls and stronger than the largest waves."And Kaldur laughed, soft peals of laughter ringing ever so sweetly in the room.
Recognized: zero-six, Aquaman; A-twenty-one, Queen Mera
"My king!" young Kaldur shouted gleefully, his blue eyes shining again. "My queen!" "Kaldur'ahm," Queen Mera greeted with a smile, regal in her green dress. Her red hair moved gracefully along with her. She held out her arms for him. Batman put the boy down, and he quickly walked over to his beloved monarchs. Aquaman smiled, looking a the boy his wife took in her arms, and he gave the team and the two overseers a nod of gratitude. "Thank you for calling us quickly," Aquaman said. "Is he alright, Zatara?" "Give me a moment to check," the magician said, placing his hand on the boy's face. He muttered a few words, and his eyes glowed briefly. He smiled, bearing good news. "It'll wear off within the next few hours. It seemed that the Witch Boy wasn't malicious this time around, only a mild inconvenience. He'll be fine by tomorrow morning.""So we'll just take Kaldur'ahm home to Atlantis until he recovers," Queen Mera said, smiling gracefully. "What do you say to that, dear one?"Young Kaldur giggled as she pressed a kiss on his nose. "Whatever you will, my queen," he said gleefully. "I've almost forgotten he laughs like this," Aquaman said with an endearing smile, rubbing a thumb against his young charge's cheek. "Maybe I should work harder to make more time for him, outside of the League and courtly duties."Queen Mera nodded in agreement. "Kaldur'ahm will be back soon," she told the Young Justice team. "Say goodbye, Kal."The boy turned around to give his teammates a wave. "Goodbye, my friends," he said with a smile. "Goodbye, sir. I thank you for the hug."
Recognized: zero-six, Aquaman; A-twenty-one, Queen Mera; B-zero-two, Aqualad.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“Bruce!” Robin shouted as he transported into the Batcave, Batman pausing the type on the the computer.
“What is it?” Batman asked, taking the moment to give his son all the attention the boy wanted. He turned the chair around at an angle to face Robin.
The Boy Wonder sounded very excited, laughing as he skipped towards the older man, and stood right in front of Batman. “Stand up for me,” Robin said, smiling.
Batman raised an eyebrow but complied, getting up as smoothly as flowing water. In an instance, Robin had wrapped his arm around Batman who raised both eyebrows. “Did something happen?” Batman asked curiously as he placed a gloved hand on top of smaller head of black hair. “You're . . . cheerier than usual.”
Robin shook his head against Batman’s chest. “Not really,” he answered easily, laughing again. “I just wanted to hug you. Everyone in the team said they got hugged by you. That's not fair if I don't get a hug too. I'm your partner.”
Inwardly, Batman could not help but melt at just how affectionate Robin was, especially with someone who tried to be emotionally dead. Silently, he wrapped an arm over Robin’s shoulders and leaned forwards slightly.
Alfred was smiling as he walked down the steps of the Cave, carrying a silver tray of snacks. “Welcome home, Master Richard,” the butler greeted, placing said tray on the closest table. “Here are some snacks after a day out again. Master Bruce, I expect you to eat a little something as well. Dinner will be served in two hours.”