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Dick wanted to show the League how much he loved and appreciated them. Everyone loved food, and the League was always eating. Dick had seen Barry eat food off the floor more than once. He could cook better than floor food. Spaghetti seemed easy enough and Dick loved when Alfred made it. He would sit in kitchen and talk to Alfred while he cooked, so Dick was pretty sure he knew how to cook. It couldn’t be that hard. Dinner was supposed to be a surprise though so the first thing that Dick had to do was ditch his babysitters. It was cute that the League thought he needed to be watched, but he’s Robin, he didn’t need a babysitter.
It was relatively easy ditching Hal who arguing with Barry. Dick slips out of the lounge unnoticed by the adults who are supposed to be watching him. When Barry and Hal get at it, it normally takes a while for them to notice what’s going on around them. Dick made sure to stick to the corridors that were a little less traveled as he made his way to the kitchen. It was early enough that no one was hanging out in there which worked well for Dick.
He opened up the pantry to find some pasta. It was well stocked seeing as it was picked apart pretty much everyday. The grocery bills for the League must been insane. Dick pulled out every bag of pasta he could find, wanting to have enough for everyone to have seconds and thirds. They weren’t all spaghetti but that didn’t really matter. Dick was pretty sure all pasta was the same anyway. Dumping the bags of pasta on the counter Dick pulls open all the drawers trying to find the biggest pot he could find. The discarded pots and pans were left strung across the kitchen floor until he found a pot that was so big he could probably cook a baby in.
Once the pot was full of water, it was difficult to move but Dick managed to get it on to the stove with only a little bit of the water sloshing over the edge. He turned up the stove all the way wanting the water to heat up as quickly as possible, not knowing how much time he had to finish the meal. He scrambles down from the counter to work on the sauce while he waits for the water to boil. Alfred always makes a tomato sauce from scratch but Dick isn’t sure if can do that. He couldn’t even find a whole tomato. Looking through the fridge Dick settles on a bottle of ketchup, that was tomato and was already made so it would save him time. He set it to the side for later.
When the water begins to bubble Dick scrambles onto the counter to dump all of the bags of pasta into the pot. He has to stand on the counter to be able to stir the pasta. Wanting to add meat for protein, Dick decided it was safe to leave the pot allow for a little bit, going to freezer to try and find something he could make into meatballs. Nothing really looked good so Dick just grabbed a bag of chicken nuggets. Alfred didn’t like him eating the highly processed food like this so this meal would be a treat for everyone. Excited about the idea of giving everyone a treat Dick decided his sauce needed to be more sweet.
Barry kept a stash of candy in one of the training rooms, figuring that was one of the last places people would look for candy. Dick knew about it though and neglected to tell anyone, not wanting the open source of candy to disappear. Rushing over to the training room Dick decided to go with the bag of peanut m & m because they were candy, but had peanuts in them so had protein. Bruce had told him eating more protein was important. When Dick got back to the kitchen the pot of pasta was boiling over. With a little gasp of distress Dick tried to save his pasta, but it was burned. Disappointed, but not deterred Dick just moved the pot to an cool burner. The sauce would cover the taste anyway.
Trying to be as careful as possible Dick grabbed a strain and poured the water out of the pot catching the pasta. He liked that they were all different colors and shapes. It was prettier than just plain noodles. Putting the pasta back into the pot Dick grabbed the ketchup bottle and started pouring it in. Once he was satisfied he grabbed the bag of m & m’s and dumped them all in. Not all he needed was the chicken nuggets. Just the fire alarm went off, startling Dick causing him to fall off the counter he had been standing on. A swarm of heroes rushed into the kitchen looking ready to fight.
“Barry if you are burning Hot Pockets again, I swear to goodness,” Clark said entering the kitchen freezing when he saw the mess. The rest of the League who had come at the sound of the alarm were looking at the mess in equal parts disbelief, confusion, and stress.
“Dick, what are you doing?” Arthur finally asked.
“I made you guys dinner!” Dick said with a smile dumping a cooking sheet full of chicken nuggets into the pot. The hero's exchanged looks before Hal moved to looked into the pot. He had to noticeably restrain himself from gagging at the smell and site. The smile on Dick’s face dropped, replaced with a small frown, eyes filling with tears. “You guys don’t like it. I just wanted to show you how much I appreciate you guy,” Dick said a quiver in his voice. The hero's all rushed to reassure the child that he was loved and they appreciated the gesture, talking over themselves.
“Do you think he learned to cook from Batman?” Hal asked in a hushed whisper, nudging Barry.
“Do we need to intervene? Is Dick not eating right?” Barry asked in a concerned voice. As if summoned by people mentioning his name, Batman appeared in the doorway looking more tired than normal.
“Dick, what has Alfred said about cooking?” Batman asked in a tone that said this was not the first time this had happened.
“That it is ok to cook with help, but under no circumstance am I supposed try by myself,” Dick mumbled looking down at his feet. Batman sighed leaning down to run a hand through Dick’s hair. It was impossible to stay mad at Dick.
“Clean up and when we get home I’m sure Alfred would be happy to try and teach you how to cook for the millionth time,” Bruce said with almost a smile.