"Hypothetically speaking…"

"Jesus Christ!" Wally startled when Core suddenly dropped down in front of him and he stared incredulously at him. "Did you just come out of the vents?"

"No. Yes. I've been in there for five hours."

"Five- Are you copying Robin and crawling around up there?"

Core scoffed, balancing on the heels of his shoes, "Bold of you to assume he isn't copying me. Why're you asking me about this now? I've been pretty much living in the vents for over a week now."

Wally tilted his head, "Good point. Anyways, you were saying?"

"Oh, right. Hypothetically speaking, if you were really a robot, would you want to know?"

The speedster squinted at him, "Is this your way of telling me you're a robot?"

Core grinned and wagged a finger at him, "Wouldn't you like to know." He reached over and grabbed the vent cover before jumping up and pulling himself into the vast ventilation system. "I must be going, dear Wally, and I don't know when I shall return. Please, I only ask that you remember me fondly." He blew a kiss at the speedster.

Wally pretended to catch it, grinning when his action made the teen cackle and disappear. Core was getting more and more relaxed around the team and he was fun to be around and banter with. Wally could consider the teen already to be a really good friend.

"Wally," Robin ran into the room followed by Kaldur, Artemis, and M'gann. "Have you seen Core?"

"No," The speedster denied, trying not to look up at the vents. He could almost feel Core's looming presence over him. "Have you asked Supey?"

Kaldur nodded, his lips pursed in frustration, "He won't tell us anything."

Wally wasn't that surprised at the statement. Superboy was very protective of Core, especially after the stunt the members of the Justice League pulled. "Why do you need Core anyway?"

"He said he was going to murder Superman with a Roomba," Artemis answered, shifting from foot-to-foot, her eyes roaming the area like she could spot Core. Everyone knew that was futile though. You wouldn't find him unless the man allowed himself to be found.

"Oh," The speedster sat back with wide eyes. "That's… Bad?"

"Yes," The archer gave him a deadpanned look. "That's very very bad."

Wally shook his head, "I don't get it. I thought it was, like, an unspoken agreement that we all don't like Superman."

"Yeah but we don't want him dead," M'gann said, raising her hands as if to emphasize her words. "That's horrible!"

Kaldur spoke up, "I don't think Core is actually going to kill Superman. He will probably simply put him in the infirmary."

Robin snorted, "Yeah, for a month at least."

"Wait, shh," Artemis held up a finger, motioning for everyone to be quiet. "I hear beeping from the vents."

Just as she said that, the cover for the vent came flying down and Core swing himself out, landing on his feet in front of the group. He held up a Roomba that was spray painted blue, a large grin on his face. His black goggles glinted dangerously in the artificial light of the room and the young heroes felt chills go down their spine.

"Hello, children," Core held up the Roomba. "Meet Charlie."

Robin stared at the robot before raising a hand, "Hi, Charlie." He smiled in amazement as the Roomba beeped in acknowledgment. "What can Charlie do?"

"Watch." Core placed Charlie on the floor before laying down on the couch, peeking from the side to watch the little robot.

"Recognize Green Arrow B011. Recognize Flash B09."

"We're looking for Core," Green Arrow said as a greeting, not seeing the man in question on the couch. "We-" He looked down when he heard a small beeping and grinned, "You guys have a Roomba?"

"It's so cute," Flash crouched down, holding an arm out like he wanted to poke the robot. There was just something about Roombas that made people think of an animal.

Suddenly, the front panel of the robot opened and razor sharp blades whirred. It zoomed over to the speedster, who shrieked in fright as the Roomba started barking at him and firing tiny lasers.

"Jesus Christ!" Both Green Arrow and Flash left quickly, barely allowing the building to announce their departure.

There was a moment of silence before Kaldur turned to Core, "He barks?"

"And quacks," The nineteen year-old said happily, sitting up and holding his arms out for Charlie as he cooed. "He's perfect."

"I heard Charlie attacked the Flash," Superboy said as he flipped another page in the book he was reading.

"Yes," Core lifted the robot up proudly, smiling as Charlie wiggled tiny robot arms at him. "I'm so proud."

Superboy hummed and looked up, marking his page. "How are you going to get him in the League's headquarters?"

The nineteen year-old waved his question off, "I have my ways. Are there any blueberries in the fridge?"

"No, you ate them all," The teen of steel replied, getting up so he could change into comfortable sleep clothes. "Here, eat this."

Core caught what the super threw at him and turned his head down to look at it, "You want me to eat a hairy plum?"

Superboy stopped at that and turned around slowly, "Core… That's a kiwi. When was the last time you slept or something?"

"Irrelevant!"

"Ah, so it's been a while then." The blue-eyed teen threw him a shirt and a pair of shorts, "Go to bed. You freak everyone out when you don't get enough sleep."

Core gasped, "I do not!"

"You made that lady outside cry yesterday."

"She was snooping! You know I don't like when people snoop," Core pouted, getting up from the super's bed, the clothes bundled in his arms.

Superboy nodded sagely, "Yes because that's your thing and no one can take it."

"Baby Blue, you wound me. I'm going to shower and sob my eyes out over my broken heart."

"You do that. It wasn't meant to be anyway. At least we'll always have training."

"So mean." Core sniffed loudly, making annoying wailing noises as he walked to the bathroom. It was a wonder how the Justice League kept losing him. At times it seemed like he wasn't even trying to hide.

Superboy rolled his eyes and changed into a pair of sweatpants before climbing into bed. Training tomorrow was going to consist of fighting some practice bots with the team and he couldn't wait to see how his work with Core was coming along. The nineteen year-old was teaching him some moves that he said he learned from Batman himself and he felt a strange kind of glee at that. "Night, Core," He said quietly when he heard the teen slip back into the room.

"Goodnight, Heartbreaker."