Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Agent A. We have a problem."

Alfred arches an eyebrow in response. Batman, the fittest man in the world, who would rather die than ask for help, has trouble with his own feelings and recognized that being with ONE problem?

Well, that was a good start, Alfred could have a party over it.

"Alfred, we really have a problem"

Okay, now Alfred is getting worried.

"Report please," Alfred responds neutrally, "I'm afraid something has to do with the wizard you're following, sir? Are you going to cancel the family patrol?"

"Yes, I'm ending the patrol immediately."Batman replied, and Alfred swears he heard a slightly desperate tone.

"Sir? What's really going on?"

A static of silence in response.

"The boys, they are..."

"They're fine, I think....I'm taking the kids to the cave"

Alfred stops for a moment allowing his mind to repeat like a parrot.

Kids?

"Oh my..." Is all Alfred can say when Bruce arrives carrying 2 children in his arms, both wearing oversized Robin uniforms.

He is followed by 2 almost identical children with the old and first Robin uniform, only one is smaller and has lighter and straight hair, while the other is taller, perhaps older.

"Alfred" Bruce greets. Followed by "Alfred!!!" The two children scream with joy almost in unison.

"Master Dick? Master Jason? Welcome back boys." Alfred tries to maintain his composure, but he can't help but smile.

"A lot happened today and-- wow" Dick's eyes widen "the Batcave looks different!!" He says as he looks around the place.

"Why is there a cow?" Jason asks, already without a mask, with narrowed eyes."Yeah. And why does he have the same clothes as me?" Dick frowns and points at Jason.

"Young masters" Alfred begins "Shall we all relax first? You can go change while I help master Bruce take care of his brothers" Alfred finishes walking towards Bruce,who is still standing holding the two children in his arms, with despair (or pure joy) in his eyes.

"Sure! How about a race? I'm sure--" Dick starts turning to Jason, but soon a confused expression takes over his face "Wait...Brothers?"

"The wizard picked them off one by one while they were distracted by the hostages..." Bruce begins as he changes a sleepy Damian into more comfortable clothes, but unfortunately, they are too big for the 6-year-old Damian.

"I'm afraid you managed to capture him, right?" Alfred asks.Tim looked to be around 13 years old (because of the old uniform, the first Robin uniform makeover). Alfred was taking off the Kevlar, leaving the boy to sleep in the most comfortable part of the clothing.

"Yeah, but he passed out before I could get him to undo the spell," Bruce replies absently.

"Did he pass out, or did you knock him out?" Alfred raises an eyebrow, and Bruce heats up. Alfred just sighs in response.

"Looks like we'll have to call Miss Zatanna then...." Alfred says tiredly.

Bruce woke up in shock, with all his senses almost on edge. He was afraid he had slept in and let his guard down after that night's tiring patrol.

He opened his eyes slowly, keeping his breathing shallow so as not to alert the intruder in his...bed?

Bruce's heartbeat calmed down when he realized it was just Damian, now very small.

Damian was sitting up, clearly having just woken up, and was confused, looking around suspiciously at the place he probably didn't remember.

"Ummi?" Damian whispers, like a child, a child that Bruce missed the opportunity (even though it wasn't his fault) to be a part of the boy's life when he was a baby.

"Habibi" Bruce stands up as he sits down, and ends up startling Damian, who turns sharply to Bruce with wide eyes.

"M-man anta?--" ( > Who are you? <)Damian is interrupted when Bruce's arms pull him close in a tight hug, but the boy quickly stiffens.

"Babak huna"( >Your father is here< ) Bruce responds, and the boy relaxes more in Bruce's arms. "Baba?" He says softly, staring at Bruce with glassy green eyes.

Bruce just smiles in response as he places a kiss on his son's forehead "Let's go to sleep habibi" he lies down with Damian in his arms.

It doesn't take long for darkness to embrace them both.

"gooooood morning!!!!!" Bruce was woken up (not really, he woke up the moment he heard footsteps in the hallway)  when he felt his kingzise mattress sink along with a pair of hands squeezing his cheeks.

Bruce smiles "Good morning Dick" Bruce sits down as he is run over by a hug "Good for you too Jason" 

"Morning" Jason says still holding Bruce's waist, Bruce smiles at the value received by his children, but Tim is missing, maybe he's still sleeping.

"It's a baby!!" Bruce hears Dick say and when he turns around it's Dick looking at Damian with shining eyes.Damian wakes up with a frown on his face from having his sleep interrupted, he looks at Dick.

"Baba, who is it?" Damian asks, his eyes still sleepy, turning to Bruce.

"They're yours Ikhwah, habibi" Bruce replies running his hand through the younger man's hair.

"ik- ikhh--" Jason tries to repeat confused "This is Damian, he's your little brother" Bruce introduces.

"Wowww when did you adopt him???" Dick asks turning away from Damian's frown to look at Bruce "no wait." Dick fits the pieces together in his head.

"Bruce, you have a son!???!" Jason shouts in surprise, as if he had seen the plot twister from Star Wars.

"Yes, you, Damian, Dick and Tim are all my sons" Bruce jokes as he reaches up to ruffle Jason's hair, who groans in embarrassment afterwards.

"Why don't you guys show Damian the way to the dining room? Alfred should be making pancakes for your breakfast." Bruce says, he's worried about Tim waking up and seeing his room different.

"Yes!!! Let's go Jason!!" Dick says excitedly and wastes no time in picking Damian up, as if he was already waiting for an excuse to carry the boy.

"Duhh, you're too slow for me," Jason says, already running into the hallway, followed by Dick yelling at him to slow down, and Bruce swears he heard Damian yell "put me down!!!".

Bruce goes to Tim's room, he knocks on the door "Timothy?" He asks.

It wasn't long before he heard footsteps inside the room, as if he was desperate. Bruce was startled by the idea that someone had come in, so he quickly opened the door and...

He comes across a small Tim in super baggy clothes, looking like a hip hop dancer who listens to rap.

"Why are my clothes too big?" Tim asks with his eyes glazed over at Bruce, he is standing in the middle of the room in a pair of long jeans and a yellow short-sleeved shirt that is also large.

"Tim-" Bruce tries as he approaches.

"Am I in the future?" Tim asks again.

"Yeah....almost that" Bruce narrows his eyes.He crouches down in front of Tim, who is now staring at the ground.

"What do we do now? What if it's not true, but it's an alternate universe?" Tim rambles. "I can't remember what happened yesterday...But I remember last week we were investigating the--"

"How about we look for some of your old clothes around here, huh? Then we can talk over breakfast," Bruce suggests with a smile. He looks at the devastation in Tim's room as he starts opening drawers. "There must be some old clothes around here..." Bruce starts looking.

"So you're the first Robin? I thought you were taller and Bruce always referred to you as an adult" Bruce hears Jason from the dining room.

"Well... Actually I'm surprised that YOU'RE Robin now. My mom called me that," Dick replies, but he doesn't sound angry, just confused.

"What's Robin?" Now it's Damian.

The conversation stops when Bruce and Tim enter the room, Bruce after a lot of struggle managed to find one of Tim's old clothes.

Dick kept his old clothes in his old room as a keepsake. As for Jason...No one had touched his room since he had...Well...(No beta we die like Jason Todd)

Damian was wearing Dick's old clothes that Alfred found.But it's still too big, he was wearing a sweater and shorts, but it looked like pants on the boy.

It doesn't take long for Tim to sit down, he sits between Damian and Bruce.

"Uh...I feel like I've seen you somewhere before....Oh! You're the Timmy of the Drake family!!" Dick gets excited

It doesn't take long for Tim to fit the pieces together "Dick?" Then he looks at Jason sitting next to Dick "JASON?!?!" Tim is startled. 

"What's going on?" Jason asks with a frown "is there something on my face? Is something wrong?" He whispers to Damian."Yes," Damian replies. "What?" Jason asks, "All over your face."o Damian smile.

"brat" Jason whispers.

"Is Tim our brother too?" Dick asks. "What? No!! I'm not an orphan" Tim replies, and Bruce feels guilty for thinking 'not yet'.

"Okay. Let's calm down, I owe you guys an explanation" Bruce begins as he raises his hands, the argument between the boys ends.

"You are in the present, but you were affected yesterday by a...Uh... Spell and you ended up becoming children with no memory" Bruce says trying to stay relaxed so as not to scare the children.

"So we're actually big boys?" Dick asks. "I think everyone except the little demon," Jason scoffs as he quietly chuckles at Damian.

"Boys-- Damian, drop the knife" eyes turn to Damian who dwelled on Jason with the knife he took from somewhere, he hesitantly leaves the knife on the table,but still stares at Jason with a murderous look.

"Yes, you are big little boys in the future, and I admit I am proud of all of you" Bruce smiles

"Are we still heroes?" Tim asks and Bruce nods.

"So why is everyone here...Robin?" Dick asks.

"In the future, you leave the mantle, which ends up becoming a legacy for Jason, Tim and Damian" Bruce responds.

"So... Jason, Tim and Damian would be from the future for me? Because I don't remember Jason or Tim, much less Damian" Dick refutes.

"But I remember" Tim joins the conversation "I remember you and... Jason..." Tim completes.

"Really? And what did I become in the future??" Dick asks excitedly, and Bruce is afraid of where this conversation might lead.

"You become another hero in Bluedhaven... I always thought you were cool because of your skills." Tim shrugs shyly.

"Wow!! What about me??" Jason asks.

Tim turns to Bruce with wide eyes, as if telepathically asking if he has permission.

"I..." Tim turns to Jason "I don't remember....I guess..." 

"Ahhh" Jason snorts.

"But why don't I remember the 'Robin' cloak?" Damian asks with a frown.

"Maybe because you became Robin a short time ago," Bruce replies, and yes, that was indeed the case.

The wizard already knew this, saying that Damian was a violent boy and that he should behave like a young child. So, he decides to cast a spell stronger than the others.

"Wow," Dick says, "Well, looks like we have a lot to do now..." Bruce sighs.

Chapter Text

"Father, I don't understand." Damian narrows his eyes at the training carpet.Tim and Dick were training, but now, staring at Damian with wide eyes, Bruce was crouched beside the younger, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Damian, habibi....You can't train with a katana with your brothers...." Bruce tries to soften his voice as much as he can,but receives only a frown from his youngest son.

"Why not? Don't they have enough skills to handle a katana?" Damian asks and Bruce sighs. 

"Your brothers are skilled enough, but this could end up hurting them, and that would upset me." Bruce responds by placing his hand on his youngest son's back.

"Why don't we use something else? I don't know... Like a fencing pole? Or a staff," Tim suggests with a shrug.

"I'd like to take up fencing!" Dick points out, "it's easier." 

"It's complicated," Tim corrects.

"Tt. Nothing is complicated enough for me" Damian replies "my mother made sure I was well trained" he adds proudly.

"Your mother?" Dick asks

"Talia Al-ghu" Bruce replies, he gets both Dick and Tim shocked.

"WHAT?!?!" Dick screams, almost pulling his hair out. "I thought you broke up with her!! You refused to join the League, right?..." 

"Don't worry Chum. It was a completely different situation..."

"She stole your blood and cloned you?" Tim asks.

"No" Bruce replies

"Did she steal your DNA?" Now it's Dick.

"Neither--" 

"Did you donate your sperm to save the world?" Bruce sometimes asks where Tim gets so much creativity.

"Timothy." Bruce sighs in defeat.

"I know how," Damian chimes in, getting everyone's attention again."Mother said that she and Father loved each other very much, so she asked the stork to bring me, but she said that when I arrived, she and Father had fought, so I grew up only with her," Damian says.

Well...Bruce should thank Talia for preserving Damian's childhood a little. He knows that she and Ra's were no longer with Damian, but they were both strict when it came to training.

"Have you grown? I doubt it" a new voice joins in, and it was Jason holding a tray of cookies next to Alfred.

He receives a death glare from Damian, but it doesn't intimidate Jason, it was as if he was already used to it.

"I'm afraid a break wouldn't be a bad idea. Master Jason helped me a lot in the kitchen today," Alfred says smiling as he puts a hand on Jason's shoulder.

"It must be poisoned," Damian says, drawing laughs from Tim and Dick and a frown from Jason.

"You don't look so bad." Tim comes closer. "Can I?" He asks.

"Just get it" Jason replies 

Tim picks up a cookie, he stops to analyze it and then takes a bite.

"It's delicious," Tim says, savoring it.

"Hey!! I want it too!!" Dick also approaches while also taking it. Damian stands beside Bruce watching, as if waiting for an order.

"Well, I think we should hurry, we don't want to miss it" Bruce stands up and guides Damian by the shoulders to approach his older brothers

Damian takes two, and offers one to Bruce, who accepts with a smile.He watches Damian hesitantly place the cookie in his mouth, and as he takes the first bite, the boy's pupils dilate.

"Tt...It's acceptable..." He whispers.

"Okay...Uh...What should we do now?" Jason says with a shrug.

"Hey B! Why don't you tell us what we're like when we grow up?" Dick suggests.

"Well... I have a better idea, why don't you leave something for your future self?" Bruce also suggests.

"Uhm...doesn't seem like a bad idea" Tim responds enthusiastically .

"I'll write a letter!!" Dick replies as he runs towards the stairs.

"I don't know... Maybe I'll write a letter too... Do you want to come with me Dami?" Tim says. He receives a deep frown from Damian, who then looks at Bruce, as if asking for permission.

"You can go, Alfred will call you later" Bruce smiles and gives Damian a little push to follow Tim."keep an eye on them Tim" Bruce finishes.

Then Tim, Damian and Jason follow behind Dick who has already disappeared at the top of the stairs.

The 4 were in Tim's room, Dick decided he would stay to accompany the 3, Jason stayed because he was curious about how Present Tim had left the room.

"Uh....It's more different" Tim says. "I think it's more messy" Jason replies.

"Those shirts are four times your size," Dick observes. "Maybe the shirts in my current room are bigger?".

"Unlike your room, mine is all dusty! Like it hasn't been in for decades" Jason exclaims and Tim freezes.

"U-uh... Y-yeah... How would Alfred manage to leave your room in this state?" Tim stutters nervously. He feels more terrified when he receives a suspicious look from Damian.

"Too bad... I couldn't find Zitka in my room." Dick sniffs. "Zitka?" Damian asks. "That's my stuffed elephant."

"Aren't you like-- 15 years old??" Jason says incredulously. "Yeah, so what? It was my parents how give me it." Dick replies.

"A" Jason and Tim respond in almost unison.

"Tt. That's a lot of clothes...Drake, your room is a mess" Damian says as he moves a pile of clothes near Tim's bed. "I found something"

The three approach the youngest, who reveals a camera, it looks new.

"Oh. We can record a video!" Tim gives the idea.

"About what??" Jason asks confused

"How about we film something funny? Something memorable?" Dick suggests. "When we take pictures, we usually take them for ourselves to look back on later! So I'd like it to be something funny."

"Doesn't sound like a bad idea...But about what?" Tim asks.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Hey!!" Jason says excitedly with a wicked smile "I have an idea..." His eyes fall on Damian.

Alfred was drinking tea while waiting for Zatanna's visit.

He was in the library resting after cleaning some rooms in the mansion.Then he hears footsteps.

Jason runs down the hall "HI Alfred!!" He says quickly before disappearing.

A few minutes later he passes by, returning from where he came, carrying a pile of clothes in his hands "bye Alfred!!" And he disappears.

Then it's Dick, he goes, and comes back holding a bunch of clothes in his hand.Then it's Dick and Jason, and again, he comes back holding a bunch of clothes.

Alfred even tries to follow them, but they are hiding inside Timothy's room, accompanied by laughter.

"I've already called the Robins, Master Bruce," Alfred says as he arrives at the Batcave. Bruce just nods in response.

"Looks like it was a peaceful afternoon after that magic" Zatanna laughs

"It wasn't as bad as I thought...But they were very quiet...I hope they didn't leave a trap for their future selves" Bruce snorts.

Then, they hear footsteps coming from the stairs, the 4 of them enter the cave, everyone seems normal.

Except Damian.

"Oh my God!! Damian what happened?" Bruce crouches down as he wraps the youngest in his arms.

Damian was getting it a lot, and he was sweating a lot, and his face was almost purple."I'm fine Father...I...I was just showing these inferiors my skills..." The boy took a deep breath, or at least he tried to.

"Maybe it's the magic" Tim suggests "it's weird that he just got like that out of nowhere" And Dick and Jason wave quickly.

"Okay, let's get this over with" Zatanna sighs funny.

Bruce wakes up feeling out of place, as if he's out of routine.

He gets up, takes a shower, gets ready and goes out for breakfast.

He finds Damian and Tim already at the table. Not arguing, but not talking either.

"-- my clothes are missing. How did they end up in your room out of nowhere?" It's Damian's voice.

"I have no idea, I don't even remember anything about yesterday! And my stuff wasn't even that messed up," Tim replies.

"Tt... It must be because your room is already a mess, Drake." Bruce can imagine Damian rolling his eyes.

"Good morning Father" Damian says when he notices Bruce's presence.

"Good morning B" Tim says so too.

"Hm. Good morning," Bruce replies, trying to sound neutral.

It doesn't take long for Jason to join, followed by a still sleepy Dick, they greet each other and start breakfast.

"So...” Tim begins “Does anyone remember yesterday?” 

"I was going to ask that," Jason replies, "And I was also going to ask why the hell my clothes were in your room."

"My clothes are gone too." Dick shrugs.

"You were affected by a spell on the last patrol and turned into children again" Bruce begins "But I don't know what you did this afternoon... It was supposed to be a surprise for you now" Bruce finishes.Earning suspicious and strange looks at the table.

"My camera was used" Tim says "There's a new video... And it's ours...." 

Dick, Jason and Damian, who were there to get their clothes, stop to stare at Tim. Expecting something else.

The three approach Tim to watch the video on the small camera in Tim's hands.

"Let's do a challenge" the video begins with the voice of a younger Jason, but he doesn't appear, he's probably holding the camera.

"Let's put 100 layers of shirt on our little brother" Dick begins and Tim covers his mouth with his hands to stop himself from laughing.

Damian is between the two, neutral, without any reaction, looking like a corpse. 

They start with Damian's little clothes, then Dick's, then Jason's, and lastly, Tim's clothes from when he was 13.

Then they get shirts from when Dick and Jason were pre-teens, already in the 50's shirt layer.Damian was already sweaty, and barely standing because of the weight.

Then they moved on to Timothy's most present shirts, going up to 80. You could barely see Damian's neck.

So they took Dick and Jason's shirts.

"Why are Jason's shirts looser than mine?" Dick wonders.

"duhh, because I'll be taller than you"

They make a few more comments. And Damian there, almost dying, he was already sitting on Tim's bed, barely able to stand up, looking like a ball with the shirts.

"98..." Dick puts another shirt on the younger boy "99..."

"100!!" Dick puts the last shirt on Damian, who now could barely see his mouth. 

They ended up with a Bruce shirt.

They celebrate while Damian just watches, as if he were in his last moments.

"Man this is amazing!!" Younger Jason says.

More laughter from Tim and Dick.

Meanwhile, the older ones stare at the video just watching themselves torturing the younger one.

"Dude...Don't let Bruce see this video...But send it to me when you can" Jason says with a laugh.