Chapter Text
Dick wheezed, resisting the urge to curl up in a ball and pretend he wasn’t here. Stephanie grunted in his general direction. Code for ‘get up, we don’t have time to be injured’. Groaning, he tried to get to his knees. Gravel pushed into his skin.
Yellow light flashed as Cass’ punch was deflected. It sent her flying into a chimney. She let out a silent scream as she hit it, back arching away on instinct. Dick winced in solidarity, and stupidly, wished Batman was here.
He grimaced.
“What do you want?” he yelled, not expecting an answer. He’d asked the same question over and over again, but got no response. The yellow light orb wordlessly flashed at them, sending them flying across rooftops.
His eyes slid over to Cass who was heaving in air, arm held shakily over her midsection. Steph had peeled herself off the floor and rushed over, even as Cass batted away the blonde’s fussing.
Something laughed. Dick whipped his head back and recoiled. The thing had a mouth. A horribly real mouth, attached to what was otherwise just a bit of light. Damian’s lip curled up as he stared at it.
“Oh my god, ew,” Steph said. Dick turned to give her a stern look, but the thing spoke again.
“Don’t be rude,” the thing snapped, light pulsing in her direction. Cass straightened and moved to get in front of her, but the light got there first. Steph let out a soft breath and a shudder, jaw tight.
Cass turned her back to the light, hands twitching as she stared at the girl. Dick almost did a double take.
“I’m fine, Cass,” he heard her say, in the cadence of someone who was about to pass out.
Dick swung his escrima around, hoping the movement would bring the light’s attention back to him.
“I asked what you want,” Dick said, taking a step forward. “Kind of rude not to answer.”
Something laughed. Instinctively, he looked at Stephanie, but found her fussing over Cass.
The thing laughed. Dick repressed a shudder. It had no dimples, no skin. Just lips that stretched over a wide grin.
“It’s not what I want,” the thing said. “So much as it’s something my boss wants. I’m just here for assistance.”
Well, that was stupidly vague. He swallowed down his frustration. He missed the days of the villainous monologue.
Behind him, Dick heard the tell-tale thunk of Jason’s boots on concrete. Despite himself, Dick relaxed a little. Everyone was here now, at least.
“Okay then,” Dick said. “What does your boss want?”
Light flashed out across the rooftop before Dick could get out another breath. Instinctively, he squeezed his eyes shut, reaching up to shield them. His chest tightened, making each breath rattle as it came out. Reflexive tears began to stream down his cheeks. He could work with this, he reminded himself. He just needed to be able to see-
His back arched before collapsing in on itself. A strangled half scream forced its way out of him.
“Dick!”
The world titled for a second. Distantly, Dick felt gravel scratch up his cheek as he watched Tim’s boots approach him. His head thudded with his heart, stinging with every breath he took.
He heard a voice, muted, like it was at the end of a corridor.
“Well, my work’s done here.”
–
Blinking took more effort than it should’ve when he came to. Steph was next to him. Her cheeks seemed bigger than usual. He chalked it up to a trick of the light.
He reached out to shake her awake, except he had to reach much further than he thought. Groggily, he wondered if he was concussed. He looked down at where his head was to look for blood, and on the way caught a glimpse of his hands. They were a lot smaller than usual.
“Oh, for fucks sake,” Jason said. Dick turned slowly, his head still heavy. The white was gone from Jason's hair. His skin, damp with the light rain that had made him shiver earlier, was noticeably paler. “Why are you taller than me again,” he murmured, leaning into Dick’s space.
“Oh fuck,” he heard someone whisper. He looked up to spot Tim, who was watching them, eyes wide. “We have to go, now.”
Even as he spoke, he remained motionless, arms stiff at his sides.
Cass instantly scooped Steph up in her arms, holding her close to her chest. Idly, Dick watched as the hood on the Spoiler costume fell. Steph’s yellow hair almost matched the yellow on Cass’ suit. It certainly blurred the lines of where the bat symbol on her chest started and ended.
“I can carry Grayson,” Damian said, trying to keep his voice level and failing.
“You and Dick are the same weight,” Tim mumbled, shaking his head. Damian’s jaw tightened at the dismissal. Tim bent down to pick Dick up.
Dick, for once, had no words for this situation. He settled into Tim’s arms, watching as Cass scooped up Jason too. Jason hadn’t seemed to notice that he’d immediately clutched onto her suit until Dick caught his eye. He released the fabric like it burned him, cheeks red.
The silence stretched on the rooftop. Sirens were approaching them. Dick could still hear the light rain splattering the ground.
“This is weird,” he said, unsure whether to rest his head on Tim’s bony shoulder. Tim huffed, his movements stiff and awkward.
“Yeah,” was all he said.
–
Cass had raced ahead even with two people in her hands. Dick suspected something was going on with her and Steph that would explain the urgent air around them. Tim and Damian took their time, Damian hovering unnecessarily close.
Dick waited for Tim to get defensive, to snap at the youngest that he was perfectly capable of carrying someone. But neither of them spoke until they got just past the cave’s entrance.
In the middle of the cave, Cass seemed to be having a silent battle with Jason.
They had finally stopped. Tim’s hold on him had been weirdly loose the entire way back, to the point where Dick found himself clinging to the younger boy for safety purposes. But now that they had stopped, Tim seemed to lose whatever reservations he had about touch, his arms tightening around Dick.
He shot Damian a questioning look. The boy's eyes widened, and then he looked away. Dick sighed, moving a little to get Tim’s attention. Tim adjusted his hold, not showing any indication of letting go.
“Tim,” Dick said softly, not wanting to interrupt whatever fight Cass and Jason were having.
Tim blinked twice before finally looking down at his brother. He placed Dick back on the ground with a hurried, ‘oh, right.’
“Thanks, Timmy.”
Both of them paused for a second. This was usually the point when Dick would ruffle his hair, but right now he couldn’t really reach. Tim had even slightly ducked his head out of habit. They looked at each other and snorted.
Out the corner of his eye, he spotted Cass shaking her head, jaw tight.
“What’s going on?” he asked, approaching the other three. Steph seemed to be groggily gaining consciousness, blinking slowly as she counted the people in the cave. Dick met her eyes and smiled gently. Her own smile wavered as she reached the end of her headcount, seemingly realising Bruce wasn’t here.
Jason took a step away from Cass, turning his attention to Dick. He seemed to pause for a second, shocked. Dick tried to not have the same reaction. Jason was just so small. Jason shook his head, as if to shake away his own confusion.
“She wants to call Bruce but won’t tell us what’s going on!” Jason shouted, his voice cracking halfway through.
Steph sat up slowly, eyes wary as they swept over the cave. Cass walked over to sit beside her. She reached to place a hand on Steph’s back, as if to keep her steady.
“Wait’,” Steph said. Cass’ hand froze. Dick zeroed in on it, but for the life of him couldn’t figure out what it meant. Steph didn’t seem to notice the motion. “You guys know wha’s going on?”
Cass seemed to realise Steph was speaking to the group at large, not her. She placed her hand on the girl's back.
Tim’s lips thinned, mouth twitching downwards in a way that indicated he was keeping a secret.
“Ohmygod yuh do!” Steph said, staring at Tim. “I can spot yur lying face from a mile away, dumbdumb.”
Tim’s mouth remained shut. Jason shot him a disbelieving look, his eyebrows raised. Dick took that as his cue.
“What is it? C’mon guys, we’re gonna have to deal with whatever this is at some point, and I’d rather it didn’t get dragged out.”
He realised after he spoke that Damian was silent. Had been silent since his offer to carry Dick. The boy’s brow puckered just slightly. He always looked up at Dick when he felt his brother's eyes on him, but now he kept staring straight ahead at the wall. Dick crossed his arms, heart clenching with worry.
“Cass, call B,” he said.
“What?” Jason yelled. “Do you not care that we have no idea what the fuck’s going on?”
Dick sent Jason a pleading look before realising that was a mistake. The boy seethed under it. Pointing to the corner, he motioned for Jason and Steph to follow him to it.
“Think about it, guys,” he murmured, though he was mostly addressing Jason. “Look at the way they’re acting. This is serious.”
Steph hummed, pinching the skin on her wrist.
“Cass wouldn’ let go of us earlier,” she admitted. “We’d literally just touched the floor when yous got here.”
Jason’s eyes flickered back and forth between the two of them. He looked over Dick’s shoulder. Dick could hear the other three at their stations, typing and whispering frantically.
“Tim was the same with me,” he said slowly, frowning. Jason put his helmet on the bench, and Dick kept his eyes on it. Their clothes had shrunk to fit them, by the looks of it. “Okay,” he continued, taking a breath. “Okay. Let’s figure out what we know.”
“We’ve all been physically sent back a few years, but we’re still mentally in this year,” Steph noted, still pinching herself. Jason swatted her hands away.
“Any idea how old you two are?” Dick asked. Jason hummed like Steph did, holding his hands out. Dick had no idea who had picked up the habit from who, but he found it sweet regardless. Despite himself, his mouth twitched upwards.
“Fingernails are long,” Jason muttered, eyes glazed over for a second. “Skin’s soft. I’m gonna guess I’m about twelve physically.”
Steph lifted up her arm and sniffed.
“What’re you doin?” Jason asked, laughter in his voice.
“Tryna see if ah stink like a kid or stink like a teenager,” she said, and snorted when Jason pushed her away with disgust.
Dick examined his own hands. They were darker than they usually work. If he was younger, that made sense. Gotham and Bludhaven didn’t offer much sunlight. His nails were clipped. He clenched and unclenched his fists. No consistent ache yet.
“Verdict?” Dick asked as Steph stopped sniffing her pits.
“Don’ know,” she sighed. “Oh! Ah know how to find out, hold on!”
She began to take off her costume. Jason and Dick both snapped their heads away.
“Warn a guy will you!” Jason cried. Steph cackled. Her costume rustled as she shimmied out of it.
“Relax, I’m just finding something on my thigh, yus can turn around.”
They did just that as she squeezed a bit of scarred flesh. It stood out, purple against her pale legs.
“Aha! Found it! Am about fourteen,” she said triumphantly.
As she stood there in her sports bra and underwear, Dick couldn’t quite suppress his alarm at her skinniness. Her ribs poked at her skin in a way that looked painful. Steph flushed under his scrutiny, covering her ribs with her arms.
“Jesus Christ you were a scrawny teenager,” Jason said, tactful as ever. “At least I’ve got the excuse of malnourishment.”
Steph sent him a blank look.
“And I don’t?”
Jason spluttered, seemingly putting two and two together. Warmth bloomed across Dick’s chest. Even if Jason didn’t see it yet, he was glad that Steph recognised their similarities.
“Oops,” he said with supposed nonchalance, though his flushed cheeks said otherwise. He reached into his locker and threw a jumper her way. “Don’t freeze.”
She barely caught it. Idly, Dick wondered how she ever fought crime in that state. It was a miracle she didn’t collapse on the spot.
He frowned, pushing down his worry. He still couldn’t place his age.
“Gonna try the same method as Steph,” he muttered, pulling off his costume. Without thinking, he folded it with military precision, and placed it on a nearby chair. He reached up to peel off his mask when a wave of fear struck him. He hesitated, turning to face the mirror.
An ashen face met his own. He remembered. Slade Wilson had slowly peeled it off. It didn't hurt. The gentleness alarmed him, pouring terror into him for a reason he couldn’t name.
He shook the thought away and ripped off his mask so quickly he was sure it’d burn. Jason and Steph both turned to stare at him. Jason seemed to recognise something in Dick’s eyes.
“I’m thirteen,” he said suddenly. Jason perked up, taking his own costume and rushing to the mirror. Dick didn’t want to stare at the boy’s torso, the way it was skin and bones, but he couldn’t tear his eyes away. His brother, his sister. He ached for them. After a few seconds, Jason huffed.
“Disappointed you don’t have a cool ass scar to identify your age?” Steph teased.
Jason was clearly trying not to sulk as he tugged a shirt over his head. He tossed Dick a shirt too. The fabric itched around his shoulders, but he felt less exposed by the second.
Dick heard Tim before he saw him.
“Could you all stop stripping?” he said, exasperated. “Also, Steph, I know you got that scar from falling off your friend’s bunk bed.”
Dick snorted, leaning on her shoulder. She scowled and pushed him off, muttering about her reputation.
“Sucks to suck,” he grinned. She pouted. “What’d you need Tim?”
Tim’s face hardened, fingers tightening around the tablet in his hand. Cass appeared behind him and put a hand on his shoulder. Dick zeroed in on it. Comfort. This was a situation where Tim needed comfort.
“Tim, tell us what’s going on,” Steph demanded, eyes burning into Cass’ hand.
“I, uh,” he said, suddenly struck stupid by Steph’s gaze.
Dick would’ve laughed if it had been any other situation. He did some mental maths; Steph must have been around the age they met. He couldn’t picture a body so frail as hers being able to lift a brick, let alone hit someone with it, though. Looking at her fiery expression, he supposed she did it through sheer willpower.
“Okay,” he shook whatever stilled him off. “I need to know what age you are at the moment, how you know you are that age, and whether your body knows what age you are.”
Dick was surprised that Tim didn’t address him first. He used to all the time, constantly turning to Dick for answers. Mildly, Dick wondered if it was because Tim didn’t trust him anymore. Maybe it was the resentment showing through, the resentment that flashed through at him that day in the kitchen, when he’d revealed that Bruce had hit Dick. Or maybe he just wanted to check in on Steph.
Either way, he turned to her first. Steph was also confused for a second, eyes landing on Dick, and then Tim.
“Am fourteen,” she said coolly. “‘Cos this scar is pretty recent, look,” she angled her leg to show gim. Tim looked over it for a few seconds, and then nodded. “Am all here mentally and everythin’, but ah keep nearly fallin’ over so me body hasn’t got the memo yet.”
Tim swallowed, quickly typing something in on the tablet. The blue light did his face no favours. He looked haggard, worse still with his lips in a thin line. He looked back up at Steph like he was going to ask another question, but then he slumped and turned to Jason.
“Twelve,” Jason said shortly. “Only had long nails when I was twelve, had to keep ‘em clipped after.”
Dick swallowed. He hated the cool gaze Tim had at that moment. It slid over from Jason to him, and he repressed a shudder. His tongue thickened around his words.
“I’m thirteen ‘cos I’m not pasty yet,” he began. Jason snorted and began to fiddle with the hem of his shirt.
It was something he used to absentmindedly do before he died, whenever he was unsettled. One time, Dick had found him dawdling outside the library, hands twisting in threads that were hanging on for dear life. He’d confessed he’d accidentally left a book in school, and Alfred was cleaning the library that day. He couldn’t remember how he’d distracted Alfred, but he did remember the soft smile pushing up Jason’s cheeks in a silent thankyou.
He continued to speak, purposefully keeping his mind preoccupied with Jason.
“I automatically fold my clothes military style. I only did that when I was thirteen.”
Jason had noticed whenever Dick came out of the shower, skin blisteringly hot. He’d offered him ice cream.
‘It helps,’ was all he said. At the time Dick was a little outraged that a kid could look through him and not say anything.
He was certain that Jason knew what happened, despite the fact that Dick had never breathed a word of it to anyone. His voice stopped in his throat when he thought about why Jason, a kid, would know that. Silently, he accepted the ice cream.
“I think my body kind of knows, but kind of doesn’t. When I go to reach for something I keep finding that the distance is different than I think it is.”
Tim nodded, forehead wrinkling as he typed the information in. He took a breath, and turned to say something to Cass, only to realise she wasn’t there. Dick hadn’t even realised she’d left. Tim tensed without her reassurance.
“Traitor,” he muttered. “Leaving the hard job to me.”
“Can we know what’s going on now?” Steph called, her arms crossed.
“Um, so, uh,” he paused. Dick could pinpoint the moment he shifted from Tim to an imitation of Bruce. No, not Bruce, Batman. “The spell that hit us sent us all back to the ages where we lost our virginity.”
Jason gasped. The echo of it reverberated across the cave. He pointed at Tim.
“Ohmygod you’re still a virgin!” he yelled. Steph cackled, lifting her hand up.
“Now ah know that’s not true,” she said. Tim put his hands up to his chest, face mildly stressed.
“Have I really grown that little?”
A delighted smile slowly pushed up Steph’s face.
“Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait,” she said, fully grinning. “You - when we - you never grew from that point onwards! Ohmygod did I curse you.”
Jason coughed into his first and said, “pussy curse,” in monotone. Steph burst into a fit of giggles. Dick valiantly tried to keep a smile off his face for approximately one second before joining Steph.
“I, wait, hang on,” Tim stammered.
Steh dramatically placed her hands on TIm’s shoulders.
“I am so sorry, I have ruined your life!” she cried, laughing more when Jason and Dick doubled over. “Now you will never grow another-”
Cass’s hand lightly chopped Steph on the head. Steph looked up and was met with the other girl’s fond smile. She playfully groaned and muttered something about her being a buzzkill.
Tim tried to clear his throat twice before Dick handed him a glass of water.
“What is it Tim?”
“Basically we don’t know exactly why that uh…thing did that. But we have confirmed that it’s boss is Hannah Tiburth, a reporter who for a long time has been known as a conspiracy theorist because of her uh,” he paused for a second. “For her unorthodox ways of trying to prove that the Waynes are the Bats.”
“And you think this is one of those methods?” Steph asked.
“Yeah, it lines up with her usual behaviour. Especially because she thinks Bruce is,” he hesitated again.
“A paedophile?” Dick supplied. Jason already had his mouth open. He gave Dick a sullen look, like he’d just stolen his line. “What? It’s not exactly a new theory.”
Tim cringed.
“Right. We usually can stop her stuff from being put out because no one is that eager to be sued by Bruce, but this time will be more difficult. She set up a livestream when we were fighting that thing, so anyone in that stream saw the spell. We’re guessing she’s gonna try and coax the Waynes.”
Dick breathed out slowly.
“Okay, so as long as we hunker down in here we should be fine, right?”
Tim nodded.
“There are clips from the stream that are going viral right now and we’re doing what we can to stop it from getting further popularity, but we’re guessing pretty soon a large part of the public will be demanding at least a statement of some kind from us.”
“And the spell?” Steph asked.
“We haven’t found a way to fix it yet. We’re working on it.”
“How can we help?” Dick asked. Tim turned off the tablet screen. Dick’s eyes were rooted to the shadows on Tim’s face that the blue light left in its wake.
“You don’t. I need you guys to be stable, and I don’t know how stable you will be when it comes to this. I don’t know if the spell is going to make you guys more grounded in the past over time or what.”
Steph narrowed her eyes.
“Says the guy who has also been affected by the spell!” Steph snapped.
“I know that, I do,” he said softly, “I’m helping out a little before Bruce gets back, and then I am also doing nothing, okay? I’m just less affected than you guys at the moment.”
“How do you even know that?” Jason demanded.
“Because I wasn’t shrinking like you guys were.” he said, suddenly pale. Dick got the feeling he was dancing around the issue at hand. “I…I just had to watch.”
Dick grabbed Tim’s hand and squeezed it, trying to not be alarmed by how small his hand was in comparison to his little brother’s. Jason and Steph fell quiet. They were all familiar enough with the helpless feeling of watching someone suffer and being able to do nothing about it. They didn’t need a reminder.
“It’s okay, all right?” Dick said. “We’ll look after each other.”
He meant for it to come out soft, lilted up at the end like a question. Instead, it came out more like an order. Luckily, his family was way more familiar with orders.
“Tim, do you want us to go fill in Alfred?” Jason asked.
“Ah, I hadn’t even thought about-”
“Gotcha. We’ll do it,” Steph said. Jason grabbed her and started to drag her behind him.
Dick recognised it for what it was. Jason’s need to be close with his younger siblings in times of trouble, to protect them. He had melted the first time he saw him do it with Duke, sticking firmly to his side while undercover to the point that Duke had to gently push him away. Steph waved a quick goodbye to the others before turning to keep up with Jason.
“It’ll be alright, you know,” he said, loud enough for everyone in the cave to hear.
Tim nodded.
“Of course.”