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

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Chapter 9.

Standing by the door, Alfred allowed a discrete smile to form on his lips as the sound of laughter drifted from the three figures in the room. It had been so long since he had heard the beautiful and dear laugh of his young charge, and hearing it alongside Master Dick's was truly a gift.

He did not move, closing his eyes as he took a moment to bask in this blissful moment for a bit longer.

The sound of a well-known throat cleaning made Dick look back to find Alfred standing behind the couch. The sound of the TV cut out a second later.

"I apologize for the interruption, Mr. Kent, but I believe it's time for Master Bruce and Master Dick to start getting ready for bed."

"Aww, it's too early!" Dick complained, even if he had no idea what time it was. He had been enjoying this -being with Bruce and Clark and watching something they all loved- too much to pay attention to anything else. So much for believing he was past his Gray Ghost fanboy days, he thought wryly.

But, if even Batman and Superman were still Gray Ghost fanboys, he didn't feel too embarrassed about it.

Uncle Clark had to leave a couple of times to deal with emergencies but had used answering a phone call and going to the bathroom as excuses to leave the room. Bruce had been thankfully too busy watching Gray Ghost solving mysteries and saving everyone to notice anything strange in that.

Bruce struggled to hold back a yawn when Alfred looked his way but failed. He barely lifted a hand in time to cover his mouth.

"It is most definitely not 'too early' for two young gentlemen to go to bed, sir," Alfred said, looking back at Dick.

"Sorry, Alfred. I hadn't noticed it was so late," Clark said with a sheepish smile after looking at his watch.

"There is no harm done, sir."

Dick felt a little bad when he saw the almost pained expression on Alfred's face as he looked at the center table filled with empty pizza boxes and soda cans, as well as the ice cream bowls. The feeling passed as soon as it came when he noticed the similarities on Bruce and Clark's demeanors. Both were very deliberately not looking at Alfred and seemed pretty guilty.

It was so freaking adorable! He barely stopped from cooing.

"I can help you clean all this," The Kryptonian offered after a moment, standing up.

"That is not necessary, Mr. Kent. I will take care of it."

"Okay."

Clark shot the butler an uneasy look before turning back to the boys now standing at his sides.

"This was fun, wasn't it?" He asked with a curl of his lips.

"It was asterous!" Dick shouted with a raised fist. "Sorry," He added quietly in Alfred's direction.

"It was fun. Thank you." Bruce added with a smile as the man turned to him.

"Well, I'm glad to hear it. Maybe I could try to come back tomorrow. If you're okay with it, of course," Clark added, looking at Bruce. "It is your home, after all. And I'm sorry for showing up like this. I just wanted to surprise this guy," He added as he ruffled the older boy's hair.

"Oh. I was surprised alright." Dick piped up, stepping away from the offending hand.

"It's fine," Bruce replied with a little shrug. "And you can come back if you want."

"Thanks, champ," He beamed at the little boy before turning to Alfred. "It is okay if I come back, right?"

"Of course, sir. Though, may I suggest refraining from bringing any more of that so-called food?"

"Yeah." He rubbed the back of his neck. "I will do that."

Alfred nodded.

"Well, it was nice to meet you, Bruce," He grinned, offering his hand.

"It was nice to meet you as well, Mr. Ke-" Bruce looked from the man's face to Alfred and back. "Clark."

"Thank you," Clark replied with a soft look before finally letting go of his hand. He hesitated a moment, looking at Bruce before he turned to Dick, ruffling his hair affectionately before dragging him into a hug. "It was great to see you too, kiddo."

"You too, big guy. Make sure to come back, huh?"

"Of course." Clark booped him on his nose, making the teenager protest. "Behave yourself, okay? I don't want to be called in the middle of the night to pick you up because you're a handful."

Bruce frowned, looking up the man. How could he think they would just kick Dick out? That was rude. He turned to the older boy and frowned when he saw the smile on his face.

"I can't believe you would suggest something like that, uncle Clark. It's like you don't know me at all," He said cheekily.

"Right," Clark snorted.

The boy blinked. Oh, they weren't serious. That was good.

After seeing Clark Kent off at the door, Alfred led both boys up the stairs to the second floor and to their temporal bedrooms, one across the other. The butler moved to open the door of the bedroom to the right and turn on the light.

"I took the liberty of unpacking your bags and accommodate your possessions in this bedroom, Master Dick."

"Thanks, Alfred." He replied. That meant Alfred took the time to move some of his things to this guest bedroom since, as Alfred said before, he couldn't use his own.

"You're welcome, young sir." Alfred crossed the hall and did the same with the bedroom on the opposite side. "You, Master Bruce, will be using this bedroom. I already lay a pair of pyjamas for you to use, so why don't you go get ready for bed while I show Master Dick his room."

"Okay." Bruce agreed easily before turning to the other boy. "Good night, Dick."

Dick crossed the short distance between them and bent down to hug him, planting a soft kiss at the top of his head. "Night, little B. I'll see you tomorrow."

The younger boy gave a short nod, feeling his face heat up at the unexpected hug. He ducked his head and turned to enter the bedroom.

"This way, Master Dick." Alfred prompted when his now older charge didn't move, still looking after Bruce.

They entered the guest room together, and Dick flopped on the large bed.

"I assume everything went well with Mr. Kent's visit?"

"It went a lot more that well," He was quick to assure him with a grin. "Bruce was kind of gloomy and shy at first, but uncle Clark is great at getting people to like him, and he brought Gray Ghost, so of course Bruce warmed up to him pretty quickly."

The butler smiled softly in response. "I brought here what I thought you may need before locking your bedroom, but if there's anything missing, let me know and I shall get it for you."

"I will, Alfie. Thanks."

Alfred bowed slightly. "I shall go see Master Bruce now."

"Wait-"

"Don't worry, Master Dick," Alfred said before Dick could finish. "I shall come back to share what little Mr. Kent told me once Master Bruce is asleep."

The light sound of Dick's laugh followed the butler as he walked to the door.

Bruce was in the bathroom when Alfred entered the bedroom, the clothes he had been wearing folded untidily at the foot of the bed. The butler folded them correctly before putting them away on one of the armchairs and then walked to pull the covers back and arrange the pillows.

Alfred was still in the room when Bruce slipped out of the bathroom, clad in a pair of striped light blue pyjamas.

"Did you brush your teeth, Master Bruce?" He called without turning around. Bruce stopped, his brow furrowed. He hadn't even made any noise!

"I did," He replied when the butler looked in his direction, showing him his teeth.

"Very well. You should lie down now."

Bruce nodded, closing the distance to the bed and doing as he was told.

"Did you enjoy your day, Master Bruce?" Alfred asked after a moment of hesitation as he tucked the thick blanket carefully around the boy.

"Uh-huh." He lifted a hand to his mouth as he yawned. "I like Dick. He's really nice and fun."

"He is," Alfred agreed with a gentle smile. "I hope you were not alarmed by Mr. Kent unforeseen visit."

"A little," Bruce admitted. "Do you know Mr. Kent?"

"I suppose you could say that. I have met him several times before." He replied, trying to be as honest as possible under the circumstances.

"He's nice. And he likes Gray Ghost," Bruce added, content with that reply. He knew Alfred would never let anyone like that into the Manor if he didn't know them, especially while his parents were away.

"Alfred?" Bruce called quietly as the butler stepped away from the bed.

"Yes, Master Bruce?"

"When can I talk to my parents?"

The butler sighed softly before turning back to face him. "I do not know, Master Bruce. I told you before that the town they are in is so small that there isn't an adequate phone reception." The expression on the boy's face made him add, "I'm sure they will call as soon as they are able."

"I miss them." He whispered as he looked down at his hands resting on the blanket.

Alfred hesitated before putting a comforting hand on Bruce's thin shoulder, grateful the boy wasn't looking at him. "I know you do, dear boy, but they shall be back very soon."

Bruce nodded, rubbing his eyes with the cuff of his pyjamas.

The butler withdrew his hand, needing to look away for a moment. "It is time for you to sleep now, young sir."

"'kay," He yawned again. "Night, Alfred."

"Good night, Master Bruce," Alfred replied softly after smoothing the blankets one more time. He chose to leave the bedside lamp on without asking before exiting the room on silent feet.

...

a/n: Guess who didn't want to leave just yet? This chapter was supposed to be all about Bruce, Alfred, and Dick, but I couldn't exactly kick Clark out without letting him say goodbye. Even if he's going to be back soon anyway. And, sorry about the angsty turn at the end, but I couldn't help myself.

Thank you fo reading!