A/N: Just want to give a huge thanks to everyone who left a review on my first Young Justice story, they made me hapy =] This one's a short companion piece to my other fic Cape, check it out if you haven't yet –hint hint- This one's centered mainly around the relationship between KF and Robin, but most definitely includes familial bonding with Daddy Bats, hope you all like it!

Mask

"Kid, you're staring." Robin didn't even need to turn his head to know who was staring a proverbial hole through his head. Although Kid Flash couldn't see it through Robin's dark shades, light gray-blue eyes had turned to watch with amusement as the teen speedster's own emerald eyes widened in surprise.

"Dude, how do you do that when I can't even see your eyes?" Kid Flash demanded, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms as Robin appeared to continue studying his thick biology book. "Why are you reading that anyways?" All Wally could see of the book from his vantage point were a few complicated looking diagrams and words too long for him to bother trying to decipher.

"Light reading really. Well, that, and Batman wanted me to brush up on my body systems in case the knowledge comes in handy on a case." Robin shrugged, still not visibly turning his attention from his reading.

"Psh, light reading." Wally scoffed. "Boy Wonder indeed. Batman's sure got a lot of say in what you do though, like what you study, what friends you make, hell, he even controls who can see your eyes! Don't you have parents or something who have a say in your life?" The second the words left his mouth and Robin's whole countenance stiffened, Wally knew that those had not been the right words to say. "Oh geez, Rob I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't pry and I have the world's largest mouth with no filter between it and my brain and-"

"Wally, it's fine." Robin cut off his friend's rushed apology before he asphyxiated himself. Robin lifted his head from his book, only to jump back into the back of the couch upon seeing Wally's unmasked face inches from his own.

"It's just, you know, you're my best friend Rob, and I know next to nothing about you other than you have the ability to kick some serious bad guy butt." Wally looked sheepish as he said that, even though Robin had actually expected the confrontation long ago.

"You're my best friend too, and believe me KF I would tell you everything if I could, but-" Robin knew he had a reason for keeping his secrecy, but that didn't stop the guilt that overcame him whenever his teammates pointed out how detached he sometimes was.

"I know, I know. It's to keep you safe." Wally waved off his friend's frown with a carefree smile.

Safe. That actually had been the reason why Batman first placed the mask upon Robin's face.

"Bruce?" A nine-year old Dick looked curiously up at his mentor from the batcave's training mats. Batman had just gotten a call from the Gotham police department asking for backup, and so Robin was sat cross-legged where the older man had left him mid sparring match while watching the transformation of Bruce to Batman.

A slight grunt from the now dressed superhero encouraged Dick to continue.

"Why do you wear that mask?" Dick asked, pointing to the bat head shaped cowl that Bruce was just pulling over his head.

"Technically, it's a cowl." Batman smiled down at him, kneeling on the floor to let the boy reach up and gently finger the pointy ears on top of his head.

"It's funny looking." Dick giggled, placing his hands back on the mat and leaning on them.

"It does set me apart from the other masked heroes." Batman pointed out, making Dick let out a laugh before nodding in agreement. "And to answer your question, masks, or cowls, are worn by superheroes to protect their identity. It's so that the bad guys can't recognize them when they're out of costume."

Dick tilted his head to the side a bit as he thought about that, dark hair falling slightly to the side as his little pink tongue poked out of the corner of his mouth. He made an adorable sight, even if the Batman would never use the word adorable in his vocabulary.

"So, the mask is like a superhero's superhero?" Dick asked, knowing the question sounded a bit stupid and decided to make up for it by flashing his big blue eyes at his adoptive father.

"Something like that." Batman laughed, ruffling the boy's hair before standing up. "Go on upstairs and get some dinner, I'll be back soon." Batman called over his shoulder and he strode towards the batmobile.

"Hey Batman, when I become Robin will I get a mask?" Dick called after him, leaning his body to the side so he could see around the batmobile. Batman paused at the open car door, shadowed eyes looking over the top of the car and staring straight at the young superhero in training.

"You will most definitely be getting a mask."

Robin could still remember the feel of the soft mask as Batman carefully placed it over his closed eyes for the first time, nothing had ever before felt so at home on his face. When Batman finally told him to open his eyes and look in the mirror, Dick slowly turned around and saw Robin grinning back at him for the very first time.

"Um, Rob? Yoohoo…Robin." Wally was waving his hand in front of Robin's face, snapping him back to the present in time to scowl at his friend in an uncanny imitation of his mentor. "Where'd you go dude? I've been talking for like five minutes now and you've just been, zoning." In Robin's mental absence Wally had gotten, if at all possible, even closer to Robin's person.

"Dude, personal space." Robin placed a hand on the older teen's chest and attempted to push him back. Not the brightest idea ever. With the steady beat of the other's heart under palm, Robin suddenly felt his own heart speed up until it was beating angrily against his ribcage.

Wally's eyes were fixated on Robin's hand still pressed against his chest, and so thankfully didn't notice the slight blush creeping onto the younger boy's cheeks. "Robin?" His voice, for once, was quiet and unsure of itself.

"If you could just pry my hand off, we can forget this whole awkward moment ever happened." Robin kept his voice as level as he could, seeing as how his hand seemed to be glued in place and he couldn't find the will within himself to move it.

"What if I don't want to?"

Dick had been sitting at the kitchen's granite topped counter with Bruce the night of the Cadmus incident, the Young Justice team having just been formed. Both were nursing bowls of vegetable soup as Alfred sat across from them with a cup of hot tea. The atmosphere was only slightly tense as no one uttered a word, the only sounds in the kitchen the gentle hum of the refrigerator and the occasional slurps coming from Dick.

"If I may, sirs, communication tends to help." Alfred pointed out, causing two pairs of eyes to glare half-heartedly at him.

Bruce turned towards Dick, who was still resolutely facing away from him and instead staring intently into his half empty bowl. No matter, Bruce could wait it out. He'd once had a staring contest with his reflection in a mirror for…way too long when he was seventeen.

A small twitch started in Dick's jaw after two minutes, and after five minutes he was shifting in his seat. By the time he'd felt his father's eyes on him for ten full minutes he finally broke down.

"Okay, you win! Let's talk." Dick threw his spoon down and swiveled on his stool to face Bruce head on.

"You keep your identity a secret and keep your eyes covered at all times." Bruce, although changed into a pair of faded jeans and open necked shirt, was using his Batman voice, making Dick squirm slightly in his fuzzy bunny slippers and plaid pajama bottoms.

"That it?" Dick tried to laugh off the serious look on his mentor's uncovered face but failed miserably.

"Dick, they may be your teammates now but you have not yet established trust. Until you can be absolutely sure that they will not sell you out you will keep your identity hidden, and even then I would feel much more assured if you kept the people who know to a minimum." Bruce's voice had not yet dropped its stern commanding tone, making Dick sigh in resignation.

"Understood."

Bruce seemed satisfied with his answer and relaxed his frame as he turned back to his cooling dinner. Dick however was still shifting uneasily in his seat, forgoing finishing his meal as he thought about the right way to word his question.

"Say it." Bruce hadn't even glanced up from his copy of the day's Gotham Times, making Dick scowl at his mentor's perceptiveness. Man how he wished he could do that.

"Bruce," Dick started very, very carefully. "What would you say if I told you…that I think I…may be gay?" To be fair, Dick had not expected Alfred to be the one to start choking on his tea.

Bruce took a moment to gently pat the old man on the back until his spasms subsided before turning slowly towards his adoptive son, whose eyes were once again glued to his bowl as he sat on his hands to prevent them from fidgeting. Bruce felt a sigh threaten to escape his chest as he watched the obvious discomfort his son was in. Really, he was surprised this hadn't come up sooner. He'd been anticipating this talk ever since Robin had first met Kid Flash and Batman witnessed his young partner checking out the Flash's nephew's behind.

"I would say that it doesn't change the fact that you're my son and I love you, as does Alfred." Here Bruce paused to make sure the old man was still breathing. "I would also say that I'd fully support you no matter what, and that you should always protect yourself." Alfred gave Bruce a raised eyebrow for that, even though it was sort of lost on Dick. The Talk would have to wait for another time.

"I would also say that, when you finally get through that thick skull of Wallace's, I should be allowed to intimidate him before the first date. And no kissing until the third date." Once Bruce fell silent both Dick and Alfred blinked owlishly at the Wayne heir for a minute or two before Dick's face broke out in the widest grin either of the older men had ever seen.

"Understood."

"Wally," Robin couldn't believe what was happening as his best friend started to lean towards him, eyes intent on Robin's lips. "Wally, wait." Robin kept his hand firm on the other's chest, effectively stopping him while putting the most adorable pout on the red head's lips.

"I think," Robin paused to send a silent thought to his overprotective father. "I think you should know exactly who you're about to get tangled up with." Robin reached up to gently grasp his sunglasses and pull them off, revealing his eyes to his best friend for the first time.

"My birth name is Richard Grayson, call me Dick unless you're trying to insult me. My parents and I were trapeze artists in Haley's Circus before Tony Zucco sabotaged the trapeze and they fell." Dick paused again to give his parents a moment of silence. "Bruce Wayne took me in and eventually adopted me, I think it's because I'm just so darn cute, and I've been living with him ever since. He's my father in every sense of the word other than genetics, he's very overprotective at times, and he told me that if I allowed you to kiss me before the third date he would lock you in the batcave for a month with no sunlight or food."

Kid Flash was the second fastest person on the planet, only ever outrun by his uncle, but when it came to thought processes…well, there are definitely faster minds. Dick sat and watched, patiently, as he could practically see the gears turning in his best-friend-maybe-boyfriend's head. After five minutes of stunned silence Dick started to worry that he had broken the other's mind.

"You know, that actually explains a lot." Wally said finally, slack lips pulling up in a wide smile. "And you, my little robin, have the prettiest eyes I have ever seen." Apparently, the threat of being locked up for a month with only bats for company was not enough to deter the Kid Flash from crushing Robin to him in a tight hug.

"Just don't start using your lame pick-up lines on me." Dick warned, nevertheless wrapping his arms around his new boyfriend's neck.

"I am so bored!" Wally was never one for patience or long stakeouts. Flash noted somewhere in the back of his mind that it was a good thing his nephew didn't have a certain moody vigilante as a mentor. Wally wouldn't last ten minutes in his presence.

"Just a while longer kid, we're about to get our man." Flash assured with a roguish smile, just as several burly men approached the docks. "Here we go, get ready for it." Flash got to his feet, as did Kid Flash, both ready to rocket out there and take down the bad guys.

Unfortunately for them, a blur of black and red suddenly beat them to it. The two Flashes stood dumbly in their hiding spot behind a stack of cargo crates as the small blur flipped and spun in every which way, taking down each and every man on the dock within seconds.

"You know, I sometimes wish you had gotten yourself a deadbeat boyfriend." Flash noted with a barely concealed smirk as he leaned back against the crates. Kid Flash simply stood there with a soft smile on his face as Robin finished tying up the drug dealers and made his way over.

"Funny that, Batman tells me the exact opposite." Robin let out his signature laugh/cackle upon seeing the now familiar pout directed at him.

"Come here you annoyingly smug thing," Wally pulled Dick closer by the Boy
Wonder's cape, making sure they were fully hidden before lifting his boyfriend's mask to give him a hello kiss. Pulling back, Wally was very satisfied to see the glazed look in Dick's uncovered eyes.

Dick would have to remember to thank his father for giving him his mask when he got home, that thing had most definitely served its purpose.

A/N: So I've seriously been thinking about making this a trilogy thing (since I just love writing with these characters), sound like a good idea or should I scrap it?