Worth It ++Clark, Young Dick++

Worth It, a Young Dick and Clark one-shot

—Involving no slashy-ness or warning other than a young, adorable Dick Grayson acting shy and cute around his favorite hero.

Summary: Clark swore he saw a smile curve Bruce's lips as he listened to the boy's chatter, they turning to leave the headquarters now that they had accomplished what they had intended, and it was in observing their departure and glancing at the invitation still clutched in his fingers that he decided that it had, most certainly, been worth it.



The boy had been glancing at him for ten minutes now.

Clark looked over his shoulder again, unsurprised when the boy wonder's eyes flickered away immediately and his face flushed. He had been acting this way since he and Batman had arrived at the JLA Headquarters. From what he gathered, it was unusual behavior for Batman's young charge, though he had seen the boy often act in this manner around him in the few encounters they'd had, shyly, which the boy was not, not usually. However, it had never been to this extent before—once he had gotten comfortable, he tended to become more likely to grin and a little chattier—and he wondered over the cause of it. He did note that the young Robin, as he had been dubbed, appeared to be clutching something tightly to his chest, an envelope of some sort, and his gaze would often flicker to Batman as well, nervously it seemed, though again, why, the man of steel couldn't fathom.

This went on for a little longer with the boy fidgeting and sending him several more shy glances, his grip on the envelope tightening until Clark feared the paper might rip in his grasp, until Bruce finally tilted his head down towards the boy and spoke, which Clark could hear perfectly with his hearing, and both the words themselves and the incredible amount of patience in the man's voice surprised him.

"Go on," the dark knight said quietly to his charge. "The worst he can say is no." Though there seemed to be an interesting inflection to the cowled vigilante's words that indicated that a no would be met with much displeasure by the man, and the glance he sent towards Clark confirmed this, causing the caped hero's eyebrows to rise slightly.

This seemed to do little to abate the boy's fears, but he nodded and inhaled deeply before quickly making his way over to Clark on light feet that the young Robin was known for. Clark kept his gaze from the boy in the hopes that it might ease him a bit, for his attention did appear to be the cause of the boy's anxiety, though he did take note of him out of the corner of his eye, and it was only when the boy wonder approached and hesitantly tugged at his cape that the man finally looked to him.

To his surprise, he found the now slightly crinkled envelope being held out to him, and his eyebrows rose lightly as he turned his attention to the boy peering up at him shyly through his bangs, eyebrows drawn back, and Clark almost felt certain he could see the wide, blue eyes watching him anxiously from behind the white-tinted lenses of the boy's mask. Yet, despite his nervousness, the boy wonder smiled at him with a nervous curl of his lips that showed just a hint of white between them.

Clark realized that he had been standing there silently a bit too long when the boy's cheeks darkened and he could begin to feel Bruce's sharp stare upon him. Thus, he returned the younger's smile, which appeared to relax him somewhat, and accepted the envelope.

"For me?" He asked, as the boy nodded shyly again, hands tucking behind his back as he rocked on his feet, and the Kryptonian glanced over the neat scrawl of his name in blue on the front of the white envelope.

Curious, he turned it over and opened the letter—or so he presumed it to be, though the envelope seemed a bit smaller than he expected for a letter. However, he instead found, again to his surprise, a colorful invitation, and flipping it open, he found the date and time for the birthday party of one Dick Grayson imprinted inside. Blinking once, he looked to the boy again, bewildered and noting that the younger had taken to fidgeting, not quite meeting his eye, though the boy's gaze flickered back to his when he felt the caped hero's eyes upon him. Another hesitant smile curled the boy wonder's lips as he looked up at the man of steel hopefully.

Clark glanced towards Bruce, unaffected but still amazed by the sharpness of his stare, indicating that there would be consequences to face should he not accept without good reason.

He returned to the boy wonder, regretful. He hated that he would have to turn the boy down.

"I'm sorry," he said apologetically. "I already agreed to go home to my parents that day. It's a special occasion, and I promised I wouldn't miss."

Remorse further filled him as the young Robin's face fell, disappointment causing the younger's eyes to drop to the floor and his body to still and slump with the weight of it as a quiet "oh" escaped him.

However, Clark took hold of his small shoulder, kneeling down to meet his level, and smiled. "But I'm free the next day. What do you say we take a flight around Metropolis? Just you and me. I could show you around. There's a lot of great sights to see, and I know the best views..."

It was worth it to see the boy's face light up with the broad grin that looked much better and more appropriate on him. "Really?" he replied, hopeful and eager.

At Superman's nod, the grin widened as a delighted laugh escaped him, and the boy practically sprinted his way back towards Batman. However, halfway there, he seemed to remember himself, and he instantly made his way back to the man of steel's side, startling him with a hug around his neck.

"Thank you," the boy said quietly, happily, before releasing him and bounding his way back to Batman's side again, grin splitting his face as he spoke excitedly to the dark knight, tugging at his cape and nearly bouncing on the balls of his feet.

Clark swore he saw a smile curve Bruce's lips as he listened to the boy's chatter, they turning to leave the headquarters now that they had accomplished what they had intended, and it was in observing their departure and glancing at the invitation still clutched in his fingers that he decided that it had, most certainly, been worth it.