Chapter Text
Tim had been on patrol like normal, tracking down a magical artifact smuggling operation. He really should have been expecting a magic user to be protecting the operation. For all that Tim is excellent at what he does and how few things make him balk anymore, having a magic firework set off right next to your head would daze anyone for a few seconds. And a few seconds were all that the magic user needed to hit Tim with a spell.
He’d had enough time to press one of his emergency beacons and say a small prayer that whatever he got hit with wasn’t fatal before the world around him went dark.
When Tim woke again, he was being carried, when he tried to move he found his arms were weighed down by the heavy fabric of his hero costume- which was entirely too long now. He looks up to see Jason. He smiles a bit- if Jason’s got him then everything’ll be fine, something in the back of his mind told him something wasn’t quite right but he couldn’t focus on that right now because he was falling back into the dark again.
Jason really tried not to panic when he heard Oracle say the words ‘Red Robin has activated his emergency beacon near the docks. Sending you the coordinates now’ He hopped on his bike and sped through the streets of Gotham at record pace, using every short-cut he could and closing in on Tim’s coordinates as quickly as he could.
When he grappled up to the rooftop and saw Tim’s costume laying there without him occupying it, for a moment he feared the worst. But then he saw something move behind his chest plate and heard the sleepy cooing of a pup.
“Red?” Jason double checks the coordinates on his helmet “O? You sure this is the right spot? Red’s costume is here but no Red.” Oracle responds after a few seconds
“Hood, check the costume, I’m playing back the feed from the area and it looks like Tim got into a fight with a magic user. It’s pretty grainy though- magic and tech aren’t known to play nice together.”
Jason moved the neck of his costume to find a tiny pup, looking no more than maybe five years old. He had Tim’s almost ghostly pale complexion and the same scar that wrapped around the left side of his ribs. On adult Tim the scar was a subtle silvery color that nearly blended into his skin. On the pup it was still an angry pink color that jumped out at you.
“O, there’s a pup in Red’s costume, I’m like ninety percent sure it’s him. I’ll still run a DNA match at the nest, but I’m pretty sure we have a code 413972-A.” Barbra laughs slightly and he can almost see her roll her eyes at him.
“Okay, I’ll send out a notification that Red Robin possibly got hit with some kind of ageing magic and to take him off patrols for a while” Jason smiles a bit as he scoops the pup into his arms.
“I’m heading back in for the night, I’ll let you know what’s up once we run DNA to confirm.”
“Heard Hood, be safe, and try to avoid the north bridge, Ivy’s on one tonight but BB and Spoiler have it in hand so far.” She says and Jason can hear the clack of her fingers flying over her keyboard.
“Heard O, heading to the south bridge anyway. Over and out.”
Jason carefully wraps the pup up in the top half of the red robin uniform and packs the bottom half of it into his jacket. He’s reasonably sure that this pup is Tim, but he texted Kon anyway to set up a dna match in the nest.
The first thing Jason notices as they drive through the city on his bike is the way the pup melts at any physical contact, even when unconscious. One of the key signs of extreme touch starvation in pups. It would be adorable if the implications weren’t so horrific.
After he crosses the south bridge, it’s only a twenty minute drive back to the apartment, he pulls into the hidden area of the parking garage that Tim set up when he bought the building to store their cape vehicles, parks his bike and takes the private elevator up to the nest. Kon is waiting by the miniature medbay with a finger lancer and some children’s pajamas set out on the bed.
Jason can see the exact moment he notices Tim curled into his chest, face pressed into his chest plate and sleeping soundly. His face goes soft and he floats over to them.
“Oh wow, Jay he’s so little…” Kon pets Tim's hair and he lets out a puppy coo, head following Kon’s hand as soon as he stops touching him. “Jay- that’s… That’s not good is it?”
Jason shakes his head and moves over to the bed in the med bay. “No Kon, this level of touch starvation in a pup this size is very not good.” Jason doesn’t even bother putting Tim down; he grabs the finger lancer and takes a blood sample for Kon to test at the computer.
“Ya know how I’ve thought for a while that Tim’s been downplaying how bad his upbringing was?” Kon nods as he runs the blood through the computer, it’ll only take a few minutes to confirm whether this is actually Tim or not.
“I think it might actually be worse than I assumed.” Kon goes over to Jason and takes Tim out of his arms, holding him close and getting him dressed into the children’s pajamas. Tim goes limp in his arms and starts purring like an engine. By the time Kon manages to get him changed the computer beeps and when they check, the DNA match confirms that it’s Tim. A very tiny kid Tim.
Jason looks at his two mates, and takes a deep breath. His mind is starting to run a bit wild with worst case scenarios. Before he can ‘what if’ himself into a genuine panic attack Kon brings Tim back over to him. Showing him that physically he’s fine. Jason nods and places a hand on Tim’s back. It’s fine, he’s okay. “I’m going to call Zatanna and hop in the shower. Take him upstairs and see if you can wake him, find out what the last thing he remembers is and how aware he is of the present.” Kon floats over and presses a kiss to Jason’s forehead.
“We’ll get this all sorted I promise. Try not to give yourself a fit worrying okay? I’m sure everything will be okay.” Jason closes his eyes and presses a kiss to the top of Tim’s head. He smiles weakly when he takes in his scent, still the sweet milky scent of a pup with a hint of the floral jasmine that's a part of his scent as an adult.
“Okay clone boy, I’ll try. Now bring him upstairs before he wakes up. Don’t wanna freak the kid out too bad right out of the gate.” Kon leans down and kisses him softly.
“We’ll be right upstairs. Take your shower, make your call, and then we can figure out how to fix this.” Kon sounds steady, sure. It puts Jason’s mind at ease for the moment. If anything was genuinely wrong, there would be signs. A sigil on Tim’s body, or some kind of pain he’d be unable to sleep through.
Once Kon and Tim are safely upstairs he calls up Zatanna, after twenty minutes of explaining the circumstances and what it looked like happened from the recoverable security footage Zatanna gives him her conclusions.
“Hood, I’ll be honest, it seems like pretty basic de-aging magic. That kind of thing usually wears off on its own within a few days. There wasn’t a huge ritual, it didn’t take more than a few incantations- I think you should wait it out.” Jason was shaking his head, hand resting on his forehead like that could abate the migraine forming behind his eyes.
“ ‘wait it out’? One of my mates is 5 years old! Wait it out? What if it’s not temporary? What if he’s stuck like this?” Jason realizes belatedly that he’s yelling, and he takes a deep measured breath. “Sorry.. - Are you sure?”
Zatanna chuckles a bit and lets out a sigh. “Okay, how about this. Give it a week. If the spell hasn’t worn off yet then give me another call and I’ll personally come to Gotham and change him back. But like I said, these types of spells are usually temporary. Two to three days at the most. The longer lasting ones require much more prep time and supplies than this magician had. I’m really not worried.” Her voice is easy and clearly the beta is trying to soothe him, which wraps back around to pissing him off.
“If he’s not back within a week, and then you come and tell me all this bullshit is irreversible and you fucked up I will burn down your library.” Jason threatens, and he fucking means it too. He doesn’t care how many first editions or thousand year old books it destroys.
“Hood, relax. Your omega will be fine. No de-aging spells are completely irreversible. Some of them are more complicated than others to undo, but it’s doable. No matter what- Red Robin will be fine. Now if you don’t mind- I have actual emergencies to deal with.” and she hangs up on him. Okay maybe he had been a bit overprotective.
Jason finally decides to slide off his clothes and stand under the warm spray of the nest shower. He takes a few minutes to clean the sweat and the scent of Gotham off of his body from patrol before heading back upstairs to their apartment in sweat pants and a t-shirt.
What Jason finds is Kon playing (and losing badly) to Baby Tim at a game of what looks like rummy. He hears Tim’s laugh and it warms his chest.
“Wow Conner, you’re really bad at this.” Kon smiles and shrugs
“Am I bad at this or are you really good at it Timmy?” He pokes at the childs stomach and causes a fit of giggles to overcome the pup.
“Bit of both?” He suggests to Kon who smiles and makes a little wave at Jason.
“Yeah pup, probably a bit of both.” Tim turns his wide eyed gaze over to Jason and abandons his card game to come rushing over to him
“Jay! You’re really here! Conner said you were here but you weren’t here when I woke up and I didn’t believe him.” Jason smiles and pets at Tim’s hair gently. Tim purrs softly and makes grabby hands up at him, clearly wanting to be picked up. Jason really can’t deny him anything right now, not with how worried sick he is.
“You know who I am?” And Jason’s heart about cracks in half when the pup nods and presses his face into Jason’s neck. It seems like he at least has some of his memories intact.
“Mhmm! You’re Jason Todd, you were the second Robin!” He hugs Tim tight and scents the pup and sits down in his reading chair with Tim in his lap
“Can you tell me the last thing you remember Tim? Can you try really hard to remember what happened?” Tim sighs and closes his eyes, laying on Jason’s chest and making that face he always makes when he’s focusing really hard on something.
“I was… I was on a roof. There was a man. He was dressed funny, and he said a bunch of words I couldn’t understand. Something loud went bang right by my ear and then my skin felt really tingly and everything went dark.” Tim shakes his head and rubs his hands into his eyes. “Conner, my head hurts again.” Kon moves over to them, still sitting on the floor and rubs at the pups back.
“It’s alright. You don’t have to think about it anymore. You’re safe here. Me and Jay are going to keep you safe okay? Nothing bad is going to happen to you.” Tim scrubs at his eyes a little longer before he yawns and nuzzles at Jason’s chest, chirring and whimpering softly.
Jason can’t take it, he’s always had really strong protective instincts, and having a distressed pup clinging to him is setting him off. He repositions Tim right next to his scent glands and projects calm-safe-rest.
“It’s late, how about we get ready for bed.” Tim doesn’t say anything back, but tightens his grip on Jason’s t-shirt with little hands and his scent turns sour and afraid.
“Baby bird? What’s wrong?” Jason nuzzles at Tim’s cheek gently and gets him to look at him. When Tim looks up at him his eyes are shining like he’s on the verge of tears. It breaks Jason’s heart, he lets his gaze drift over to Kon who definitely isn’t fairing much better than he is. Kon mouths ‘later’ at him and he nods. They’ll debrief later. Clearly something had happened before Kon had managed to get Tim settled when they’d gotten home.
“Are you gunna leave? I don’t wanna be alone again… I’m always alone.” Tim’s quiet voice trembles as he clings harder to Jason’s shirt. “Please don’t leave.” Jason sighs and presses a kiss into Tim’s temple.
“Easy pup. Nobody’s leaving. Ya wanna know why nobody is leaving?” He asks as he bounces Tim gently in his arms, trying to get him to relax a little. Tim nods and scrubs at one of his eyes to clear the tears away.
“All of us live here together. This is our home.” Tim hiccups a little bit and takes a deep breath in and out, clearly trying to calm down, but he’s overwhelmed. So Jason does what he always does when Tim gets overwhelmed like this. He narrows down the choices Tim has at the moment and lets him pick. “ So I’m going to give you a few options and you’re going to choose what you wanna do. Does that sound okay?” Tim nods and rests back against Jason’s shoulder.
“Yeah, that sounds good. ”Jason rubs his back, trying to sooth him.
“Good, Now- what do you want to do for wind down time? We can listen to some music together or we can read together or we can have some quiet time.” Tim hums and thinks for a few seconds.
“Music sounds nice. I wanna do that one.” Jason smiles and stands up, starting to wander around the living room, trying to get him calmed down.
“Okay, Now where do you want to sleep tonight? You can sleep in the nest in our den, or we have a guest room you can sleep in.” Tim hums and stays quiet for a few seconds, he seems to be thinking it over.
“The guest room is fine.” Tim whispers, but he doesn’t sound sure, and Jason has half a mind to push it- but it’s been a long day. If that’s what he says he wants then Jason won’t argue with him.
“Alright sweetie. If you need anything our room is going to be right across the hall. Do you want company for wind down time?” Tim nods and presses his face into Jason’s scent glands. As an adult Tim had told them that his parents weren’t around much, but for him to be this clingy as a pup… It reads more like abandonment. This isn’t ‘my parents worked a lot’ behavior. This was a red flag for severe neglect.
Children around this age should be in an adventurous stage, trying to distance themselves from authority figures and protectors to explore the world on their own. Despite the impression that Tim remembers more than he should at the age he’s at, the fact he’s trying to cover himself in Jason’s scent in an attempt to be soothed, accepted as pack? Pure rage spikes hard and fast up Jason’s spine.
He has to calm down, he can feel the pressure behind his eyes that means his eyes are glowing, and he doesn’t want to scare Tim. Jason scents him and takes a deep breath to remind himself that his Tim is fine. He overworks himself and is a general menace to society, but he’s alright. He’s loved. Kon and him make sure of it. They can make sure of it now too.
Jason carries Tim into his nest and Kon follows not far behind them, he opens his phone and connects to the bluetooth speaker on the bedside table, putting on some piano covers to relax to. They settle in their nest like usual, Tim between him and Kon. Tim buries his face in the pillow he usually uses and he keens softly and sadly. Kon lets his fingertips run through Tim’s hair as he soothed him.
“‘S something wrong?” Tim shakes his head and buries his face further into the pillow. Kon lays next to Tim and slowly starts coaxing him out of the pillow with quiet whispers and gentle pets. “It’s okay, we’re not gonna be mad if something’s buggin ya.” That seemed to be the key, Tim whispers something so quietly that Jason can’t quite hear it, but Kon catches it.
“You miss your mom? Buddy that’s okay. Is it the music? Does it remind you of her?” He nods and squirms uncomfortably, starting to hide himself under the covers. Jason smiles a bit and places a hand on his shoulder.
“It’s alright sweet boy. Do you want me to change it?” Tim pauses under his hand and shakes his head again.
“She used to play the piano sometimes, when Dad would be away for DI stuff. She taught me a little before Dad hired a tutor, but I liked it better when she taught me… She’s dead now isn’t she?” And the room goes quiet but for the music again.
“I can remember being bigger than this- but then the memories start going through my head really fast and it makes me feel sick. I remember that she died, but trying to remember how is too hard. Details are harder than the broad strokes.” Tim sighs and curls up into a little ball. “This sucks.”
Jason smiles a bit and rubs over Tim’s back.
“Yeah kid, it does. I’m sorry about your mom but I’m happy to hear you have some nice memories with her. You don’t talk about your parents much when you’re all grown up. I got the impression that you and them had a complicated relationship.” Jason keeps his tone light, trying to see if he can pry any more details from Tim like this. Even this young Tim gives him a look he knows well. Kon calls it the ‘I’ll play along’ look.
“They weren’t horrible or anything, … They didn’t want to have kids and it was something they did because they were expected to. They weren’t super interested in me. They did their job as parents. I had clothes, they fed me, made sure I went to good schools. Mother would teach me things sometimes, if it was something she had an interest in. They liked to go away on vacations and fund archeology digs. They usually left me behind for those though. So I was alone a lot. That’s all.” Tim shrugs and settles back down. He stretches and hides his face back in his pillow, seemingly done with Jason’s prying for right now.
They settled into silence and after about a half hour of listening to music Tim’s breathing evens out into sleep. Kon smiled a little sadly and picked Tim up and carried him to the guest room across the hall, tucking him in quickly before coming back to the bedroom. Kon looks spooked for the first time all night. He throws himself into Jason’s arms and Jason pets at his hair and kisses his forehead.
“You okay? Seemed like you were handling this pretty well till now. Did something happen while I was downstairs?” Kon nods and buries himself in Jason’s chest.
“It was bad Jay. Like, criminal neglect bad” Kon shakes his head and looks up at Jason.
“ and I don’t think he knows how bad it is. He told me that he was too old for a babysitter. Do you know how old he is? I thought based on how tiny he is that he was like four or five, Reasonable right?” Kon chokes on air trying to steady himself and Jason pets at Kon’s cheeks to try to calm him down. Eventually Kon calms and leans into Jason’s hands. He’d been holding in his upset and his outrage while Tim was around, not wanting to make him panic.
“ He’s eight. Eight year olds should be so much bigger than that Jay. He’s too small. Jon was so much bigger than that when he was eight. I asked him how old he thought was too old for a babysitter. You know what he said Jay? He said that his parents said that six was too old to need a babysitter.”
Jason sighs and shakes his head. He pets down Kon’s spine and lets his hand wander up under his shirt, “Okay Kon, I know. It’s fucked up. Would it help to hear what Z said to me earlier?” Kon nods and peaks up from his spot on Jason’s chest.
“He’ll be okay. Red’ll be fine okay?” Jason doesn’t know how he manages it, but the words come out sounding so much more sure than Jason feels. But he knows Kon needs him to be sure. “ I know he’s tiny and fragile right now, but remember it’s still Tim. Our Tim. Our Tim who is a survivor, at the end of the world, it’ll be him and the twinkies and the cockroaches. Remember that for our Tim all that is such a long time ago. Z said that it shouldn’t last more than a few days okay? She’ll come by and undo it if it lasts more than a week. At maximum, he’s little for a week. We can handle a week right?” Kon nods and sniffles a little.
“I’m sorry, it’s , I love you both, and I know none of us exactly had picture perfect childhoods, but it’s hard to see him like this. He was practically trying to bathe himself in your scent so you’d accept him as pack and protect him.” Kon smiles a bit and nuzzles his face into Jason’s scent glands in his neck. “It would have been so cute if it wasn’t so sad.” Jason smiles and kisses Kon’s temple, his mate is so precious and caring, they both are in their ways.
“We are going to make sure Tim is safe and taken care of, and then when he’s back to normal we’re all going to debrief and unwind. Everything will be fine.” Jason kisses at Kon’s forehead and his temple and down his cheek. He can feel Kon’s smile against his lips and Kon starts pulling at Jason’s curly hair, still damp from his shower.
“Your hair is gunna be so frizzy tomorrow, why don’t you let me put some leave-in conditioner in it, and then we can relax.” Jason smiles and lets Kon go grab what he wants, lets him play with his hair and style his curls for the next day.
By the time Kon is done distracting himself, with Jason’s hair, Jason is a puddle purring in Kon’s lap. “Awe, you gettin all sweet on me? My sweet alpha?” Jason nods and nuzzles at Kon’s hip.
“Mmm, you can’t play with my hair like that and expect me to still talk.” Kon laughs, it’s more relaxed than he’s sounded all night, and Jason smiles up at him. “We’re going to be fine. Tim is going to be fine.” Kon nods at him and lets his thumb run over Jason’s cheekbone, still a little tacky with hair product on it.
“Yeah, we’ll be okay. Okay. What would make you feel better- like right now? What is something we can do right now that’ll make you feel better? Because I can tell you’re about two minutes away from camping out in front of the guest room door and sleeping in the halls.” Jason groans and closes his eyes trying to think.
“I don’t know right now, I think a movie and being held would help a lot right now. I’m not going to be able to sleep anyway… I’m too worried and you’re right. I have half a mind to sit in front of that door to make sure nothing else happens.” Kon leans down to kiss him, it’s gentle, not like how he kisses to start something, a small reassurance.
“Then I’m going to carry you to the couch and we’re going to put on a movie. I am going to hold you and you are going to be a human weighted blanket for me, and I’m going to try to get a little bit of sleep so at least one of us has the energy to keep up with a child tomorrow.” Jason laughs as he’s man handled into Kon’s arms.
For as much as Kon likes it when Jason is the one throwing him around, it feels as nice for Jason to be held and carried like he weighs nothing, and to Kon? He probably weighs nothing to Kon right now. The thought makes Jason curl into Kon’s chest. “Do you think you could still carry me like this if you were depowered? I know you’ve been training more with the kryptonite stuff Tim gave you. What are you benching at baseline now? 200? 250?” Kon makes a pleased sound and he can feel the vibration of it against his cheek.
“Oh, love. I’m at 450 now. Do you know why I’ve been doing all that?” Jason shakes his head as Kon gets them all sorted on the couch.
“I assumed that it was for hero stuff, ya know if you ever get hit with magic or something and you can’t use your powers.” He can feel Kon’s laugh shaking his chest.
“Well that is a good side benefit, and has been useful. I like being able to carry you. I was so upset the first time I tried to lift you with my earrings on and I almost couldn’t. It made me so sad. I know you like it, and I like doing it. So I started making sure I always could.” Jason feels his cheeks heat, but it makes him feel warm and loved.
“You are such a sap.” He says, but there’s no heat to it. Jason is more than content to be doted on.
“Mmm, you wanna go there you hypocrite?” Kon asks, poking Jason in his ribs and flipping them so that Jason is pressed into the couch. “ You are the biggest romantic in this house. I will not be slandered by the man who charmed Martha Kent’s apple pie recipe out of her to be able to make it for me.”
Jason barks out a laugh as Kon starts playfully kissing at his neck “ I will not be called a sap by the man who makes heart shaped pancakes on our anniversary. You sir, are the sap here.” He can feel Kon’s smirk against his collarbone and feels a sharp nip to his skin.
“Conner Johnathan Kent I am not fucking you on this couch right now. So don’t even start.” Jason laughs out and flicks at Kon’s forehead. Kon pouts and makes a soft sigh
“Ugh, fine. No need for the full name Jason Peter Todd.” He teases before he flips them back over so that Jason is pillowed on Kon’s chest and he turns the tv on for Jason to pick a movie. “I thought maybe it'd help you destress a bit, but if you want cuddle time and movies, then I’ve got you.”
Jason grabs the remote and starts scrolling through movies, he doesn’t want to think anymore, not about anything, so he puts on Lord of the Rings and lays down against his boyfriend's chest. Kon’s hands end up in his hair a few minutes later, gentle fingers scratching at his scalp and petting down the back of his neck.
The hobbits don't even make it out of the shire before Jason is dead asleep.