Connor had recently returned from a day out with Clark that had been mandated by Black Canary and forced upon by Lois. She knew little of what their relationship was other than Connor was a clone but in her eyes, she saw a sibling or a son of Clark being neglected. The team had decided to meet Connor right after the day out to see how it went in case he needed any comfort. That proved to be a good idea when he came home hellbent on destroying every punching bag there was in the gym. After some prodding, he'd admitted that Clark had been teasing him all day and at one point said he shouldn't be called Superboy because he was bringing Clark's reputation down. "That fucker," Artemis grumbled. Superman had been somewhat of the shining star of the Justice League. He was supposed to look out for the little guy and have a heart of gold but they'd all felt a little disenchanted with the person they'd seen belittle Connor. It wasn't his fault that he was a clone and it wasn't like he was doing anything particularly evil to deserve such notes. 

"I think he hates me," Connor sighed. 

"He doesn't hate you," M'gann soothed. "He's probably angry that people even got the DNA to make you and directing it at the wrong person." He frowned, shaking his head in disbelief. "Robin, you've known Clark the longest, he wouldn't be like this to someone innocent, would he?" 

"Not for much longer he won't be," he answered. They all gave him a curious look as to what he meant by that but he didn't expand upon his answer so the group carried on soothing the super. Meanwhile, Robin slipped away in key Robin fashion. He'd had just about enough of hearing the stories about what the big blue boy scout was telling someone he cared about and when Robin wasn't happy with someone, they were in for a week of hell at his hands. Mind you, you wouldn't be able to trace it back to him. You can thank Batman for that.

And a week of hell was what Clark had although he attributed it to something more villainous. At first, he thought he'd just had some bad luck but it slowly got more malicious as the week went on. 

On Monday, he'd tried to use his bus pass on his way to work but was told there was no money on it and that he needed to pay his way. It just so happened that he'd been unable to find his wallet that morning and therefore had no way to pay so he was forced to walk to work in the pouring rain. He decided that he'd just have to top it up the next day and Lois was kind enough to swap desks with him so he could warm up by the radiator.

On Tuesday his wallet was still missing and his bus pass didn't work again. He called Lois to see if he could hitch a ride with her but she was already at work by the time he asked. Another walk in, thankfully, dryer weather. Yet when he finally got into the office, the computer wouldn't let him log on. He tried about fifteen times before finally calling an IT guy to come help but when he did it, it worked. His boss criticised him for wasting time and ordered extra pages.

On Wednesday, he'd sworn off public transport and walked straight to work. Once again his computer gave him trouble and once again, the IT guy could get in on his first try. His boss once again berated him for wasting time and forced him to do another load of pages. That proved incredibly hard to do since his letters kept randomly switching and he felt like he was losing it slightly when the screen jumped around before flipping upside down. He blamed it on having one too many late nights.

Thursday was when his thoughts about bad luck turned to a villain messing with him. He got to work that morning and Lois didn't greet him which he found odd. Fearing something was wrong, he went over to her desk and smiled warmly. She glanced at him with disgust and focused on her screen. "Don't even try it," she'd told him. He'd asked what she meant and she showed him a text. It seemed normal at first, asking about having dinner tomorrow night. Then he realised what made Lois so mad. The text hadn't been sent to her. It had been forwarded to her from someone else who received it. He tried to explain that he didn't send the text and that he wouldn't ever cheat on her but she refused to hear it.

Then on Friday, his boss gave him the worst assignment. Gala duty. Everyone hated gala duty because it meant talking to the most stuck up of stuck up. Then it was revealed the gala was in Gotham which made the assignment even worse because there was an increased likelihood of being kidnapped or something else horrible. He wasn't as apprehensive as his peers about it, seeing it more like an inconvenience rather than life-threatening. Lois was still mad at him and refused to accompany him to the gala. His boss refused to pay for his transport thereafter a meme was sent to his inbox, reportedly passed on from a coworker who received it from Clark. Someone was poisoning his relationships with people and he had no idea who it was. 

Clark flew to Gotham but tried to keep his presence undercover. His wallet was still missing so that meant he couldn't pay for transport nor could he get a new suit which he assumed would be talked about by every guest he interviewed. He attended the gala fight minutes later than planned thanks to having to change out of his suit in a dingy alley with at least five rats scuttling about. When he entered the hall, all the good guests had been snapped up by other reporters and for a moment he thought this night would be a wash as they told their good gossip to rival papers but then he heard a voice. "Clark, what a surprise! What're you doing here?" Dick asked with a smile. Thank God for the little acrobat. He let out a relieved sigh that he'd have someone to make some meaningful conversation with. He'd have some juicy stories he could use to get back in his boss's good favour. 

"I got put on gala duty," he explained. 

"Trouble in paradise?" the teen asked, taking a sip of his white grape juice. It'd been put in a champagne glass to give it some semblance of class. His drink of choice didn't have Clark's attention though. What had his attention was the knowing gaze he was getting. It wouldn't have been enough to make him suspicious had Dick just teased him but it wasn't in a teasing tone. Dick sent him a smirk that made his skin crawl and finished the last of his drink. He placed it on the table and glanced over to where his mentor stood with a group of billionaires. Bruce gave him a nod. "I think you and I need to have a little conversation. Let's go outside, shall we?" He was already walking by the time Clark caught the tone he used and swiftly followed after. There was humiliation in being pulled aside by someone so small and young but this wasn't Dick he was dealing with. No, he was now dealing with Robin without his mask. He was well and truly screwed.

They walked over to a large water fountain where Dick made himself comfortable whilst Clark was quite the opposite. He couldn't sit down and stood above the teen to maintain some sort of dominance in their interaction. It didn't intimidate the acrobat one bit though. "What's going on?" he asked. A dark look overtook Dick's features that made him look considerably older than he actually was. He'd only seen that look a handful of times and each time was followed by a beat down either verbally or physically. Given that there was no glowing green rock in his back pocket and he was being confronted at a gala, the latter wasn't on the table. That didn't mean he'd leave unscathed though because the verbal assault was still on the table. 

"What's going on is a taster session. You've experienced but a fraction of what I'm capable of when given the right push and this time, I wasn't even trying. Half of the things I did before I went to bed or alongside homework."

"I don't understand."

"You wouldn't, would you?" Dick stated. He glanced at his nails, picking the dirt from beneath his nails. "I'm a very practical person, Clark. When I see injustice, however small or big it is, I have to do something about it. Even when I see it come from someone I once looked up to. It's rather painful to say that in the past tense because you were quite the uncle figure to me." The super narrowed his gaze but didn't question the statement. "Now, I'll be decent by giving you a solution here because you're clearly dimwitted enough to get yourself in this situation in the first place. You need to apologise to Connor for everything you've said." Clark let out a laugh but that was decidedly the wrong thing to do because it just pissed the young teen off. "I can make Lois leave you, I can get you fired, erase your social security number and put you on every type of offender registry there is in as long as it takes to eat a croissant. You'd rather I do that than apologize?"

"What have I got to apologize for? Connor is a violation of my rights and if I'm uncomfortable with that, it's well within my rights to be."

"And he had no hand in that," Dick argued back. "He is a victim just as much as you are. All that he asks is for some fucking guidance!"

"I can't help it if he makes me uncomfortable."

"You called my friend a mistake!" he shouted. "I respect you as a hero but my respect is damn well wavering for you as a person. You may be bigger than me and stronger than me but I can destroy your world."

"If I didn't know any better, I'd think that was a threat."

"Then maybe there might be something in that head of yours."

"Richard-"

"You're going to apologise and you're gonna show him how to master at least one of his powers or I will make your life hell."

"You wouldn't dare." There was a hum, offhanded and calm, and then Dick shrugged before sitting back down. He dipped his fingertips in the water, watching it ripple with an unreadable expression.

"Look at your phone." The super quirked an eyebrow but curiosity had him pulling out his phone anyway. Immediately, he knew something was wrong. A picture of a girl who worked in the cubicle next to him had replaced his usual background. It was painfully intimate despite it only being a picture of her posing in the mirror. A boyfriend would have this picture so why the hell was it on his phone? He looked at Dick for answers. "Check your messages with Lois." He did so and found a message had been already sent talking about meeting family that weekend. It wasn't something you would look twice at if it wasn't for the name it signed off with. The name of the girl in the cubicle next to him. "She has you blocked currently. I think she'll unblock you by tomorrow after a wonderful message from her best friend reminding her of how lovely you've been prior and assuring her that it was simply a case of texting the wrong person. Yet when she sees that, she might change her mind about your second chance." Clark sighed and sat down beside the teen. 

"He means a lot to you then," he stated, running a hand through his hair.

"He does. He's a little brother to me. The whole team is family and believe me when I say, I wouldn't do this without good reason. You mean a lot too."

"What do you like about him?" he asked.

"You'd know if you actually tried."

"Enlighten me."

"He's sweet and passionate. If you spoke to him, he'd listen patiently. He likes to watch static. He's got some anger issues but wouldn't you have them too if you were treated the way he was? Created in the manner he was?" He hated that he shrugged. "When we saved Connor that night, I promised myself I'd lookout for the guy. It's been amazing seeing him grow but seeing you beat the kid when he's down already is like a kick to the gut because I know you're a good guy and that he's a good guy too. No one can help how they're born and all you've done is blame him for something he couldn't control." 

"That's why you keep him safe? Did all these things that made my week awful?" Dick nodded with pride. "I'll apologise. Maybe talk to him."

"You will talk to him."

"I'll talk to him," Clark amended.

"Then we've come to an understanding." He took Clark's phone and swiftly deleted the message and reset the background, removing any trace of them being there. "I regret every fight I had with my dad. No matter how small it was or how young I was, I regret every part of it. If something ever happened to Connor, I can guarantee that you'd be the same and you'd be spending the rest of your life kicking yourself for it. If anything happened to you, I want him to at least remember something good rather than you going out of your way to hurt him."

"I hope he knows how much you mean to him."

"He doesn't and that's for good reason. That goes for the rest of the team so don't tell them about the family comment." Clark nodded. "What Connor's gonna see is a change of heart and you'll be smart enough to keep it up without me forcing it." Dick handed him back the phone. "I protect my family, Clark. I'm not afraid to sever ties with others in order to do so." That seemed like the end of the conversation as he got up and went back inside.

A day later, Connor received his seemingly unprompted apology and accepted it happily, eager to get close to the man he idolised. Two weeks later, Clark took Connor on a day out and said he'd make up for everything. He filled the day up with things he'd obviously gotten from top ten lists on google but the effort was appreciated and it put Connor in a good mood. "It's so weird," the clone said. "Now he really likes me and tries to get into my interests."

"I told you he was just redirecting his anger at the wrong person," M'gann told him with a smile. 

"You tell us if he goes back to his old ways though," Robin told him. There was some weight to his voice that meant to tell him specifically but they couldn't figure out why. The change was unprompted to them. Still, Connor nodded. For some reason he couldn't explain, having Robin there for him made him feel safe. Protected maybe. That was rather silly given how tiny and human Robin was but feelings were often irrational.