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The four waddle along the dirt path, trees towering over them as their shadows cast a dark hue over the group. Cassie had decided, impulsively, that they should go on a little walk to ‘clear their systems’, so here they are now, in the middle of nowhere as the sun rapidly sets. Tim kicks a rock and watches it bounce along the ground before stopping entirely. Tim sighs.
“You look like a depressed Victorian child.” Cassie scoffs. Tim rolls his eyes, sending her a glare.
“Maybe I am, you wouldn’t know.” He mocks in an annoying, high pitch tone.
“Actually, I’m pretty sure I would.” Cassie says in an equally-annoying way, dragging her words out dramatically. Kon groans as Cassie swings her arms obnoxiously with a grin adorning her face. Tim shoves her, a small smile growing where he’s obviously trying to pretend like it isn’t. Cassie gasps, clutching her heart as if Tim wronged her in some big way. Kon finally intercepts, blocking each other from the other’s view. Both Cassie and Tim groan.
“We weren’t actually going to fight.” Tim pouts. Kon smirks.
“Yes, because of course I believe that.” Kon gives Tim a look, and Tim knows exactly what he’s talking about.
“It was one time!” Tim defends.
“And you would have seriously injured her if she wasn’t a demi-god.” Tim rolls his eyes, muttering a ‘whatever’ as he tries to brush off the fact that Kon’s correct.
“Guys, we should probably get home soon.” Bart finally speaks up as he looks warily around them. Dark grey clouds fill the sky as the smell of rain begins to waft around them, the four making eye contact with each other right as heavy droplets start to hit them.
“I hate flying in the rain,” Kon whines, letting out a defeated sigh.
“Well, suck it up ‘cause it’s gonna be a long ride and the sun doesn’t look like it’s shining for a while in any direction.” Cassie snorts, stopping her walking and turning to face the rest of the group as thunder rolls above them.
“Yeah, Kon, and you’re gonna have to focus on not getting me wet, either.” A wide smirk grows on Tim’s face. Kon gives him the stink eye.
“Or you could go home with literally any other person here.” He points out. Tim sticks his bottom lip out in an over-dramatic pout.
“You don’t want me?” He sniffles, sending Kon the best puppy eyes that he can muster. Kon sighs.
“Whatever, just tell me what apartment we’re going to and–” Kon is cut off by a flash of lightning, striking directly down on Tim. The other three let out shouts of concern, their minds running a mile a minute when Tim disappears.
“Where did he go?” Cassie asks, her head swiveling around as she tries to spot Tim.
“Tim? Where are you?” Kon calls out, signalling Bart to look around in the surrounding area. He hears the rustle of a bush in response. Kon and Cassie lock eyes before slowly approaching the bush.
“Come out, whoever you are.” Cassie calls out experimentally. Two big blue orbs eyes answer Cassie’s call.
“Tim?” Kon asks. The head pops further out of the bush, revealing the face of a toddler-sized Tim.
“Oh my god, Batman is gonna kill us.” Cassie whispers, fear creeping through her words.
“Batman?” Tiny Tim asks, his eyes growing wide.
“Yeah, why don’t you come out from there so we can get you home to Batman.” Cassie talks in a sweet voice, tiny Tim merely narrowing his eyes at Cassie and her attempt to lure him out.
“Where’s Batman?” Tiny Tim asks instead. Cassie purses her lips, glancing at Kon, who shrugs, before focusing her gaze back on Tim. She bends down a bit, a, rather poor, attempt at getting eye level with tiny Tim. “I’m not stupid. Unless you provide Batman, I’m not goin’ anywhere with you.” Tiny Tim huffs.
“Of course.” Cassie has to withhold a laugh, although amusement is obvious in her strained words. Kon gives her a glare, but Cassie shrugs back at him, a smirk dancing on her lips. Kon rolls his eyes.
“Kid, we can’t ‘provide’ a Batman just to prove we aren’t going to kidnap you. How do you think we knew your name? And why we were here, in the middle of nowhere, with you? It’s ‘cause we were hanging out before you got… little-tim-ed.” Kon tries to explain, but tiny Tim scoffs.
“Doubt it. You could’ve lured me out here like those serial killers on tv.” He puffs out his cheeks and looks behind the pair at the emerging Bart with wide eyes, a smile starting to form. “You look just like my friend!” He exclaims happily before gasping, his face falling as his posture turns to one of guilt. “Sorry.” He says, looking down at the ground.
“Hey, no, you’re okay, you did nothing wrong, don’t worry.” Cassie holds a hand out, not moving as tiny Tim seemingly contemplates taking it. After a moment, he comes out from behind the bush and lightly grasps Cassie’s hand, much to her relief.
“Where are you going to take me?” he asks, far too polite for a child of his age, his words meek and nervous.
“We’re gonna take you home, where we all live.” Kon cuts in, a gentle smile on his face. Tim nods.
“We all live together?” He asks, confused. The three nod as they begin their trek out of the woods (they could fly or run, but they don’t want to startle tiny Tim).
“Yeah, when you’re a little bit older, you buy this big apartment and we all move in. We have places to stay outside of there, but we all are over so much that we practically live there.” Cassie explains, hoping that her honesty and thoroughness helps Tim trust them a bit more. She refrains from saying too much, but she wants to answer a little more than just the question he asks as a way of introducing him to his older life. Tim nods, processing the information.
“Don’t people only live together when they are married though?” He gasps. “Am I married to you?” His eyes are wide as he stares at Cassie. Kon and Bart both snicker, whispering to each other from their spot a little ways behind Tim and Cassie. Cassie opens her mouth, trying to formulate a response that wouldn’t confuse Tim.
“Well, we aren’t married, but we are dating. But we’re also dating the other two back there!” She hopes the simple words help Tim, but the pint-size Robin seems to bluescreen.
“All of us? But that’s not allowed ‘cause that’s wrong.” His breath hitches. Cassie’s eyes widen and out of the corner of her eyes she can see Kon and Bart tune back into the conversation, worried.
“Well, if we didn’t know that you were dating all of us, then that would be wrong, but since we’re all dating each other, it’s okay, because we all know about it and are okay with it.” She isn’t sure about how much Tim knows about any sort of non-monogamous or non-heterosexual relationships, so she tries to explain consent as best she can. Tim takes a deep breath.
“But that means I’m dating boys. That isn’t allowed ‘cause mom said so.” He points out. Cassie bites her lip, thinking of what to say.
“Well, some people think that it’s wrong, but really, it’s okay. You can like whoever you want.” She looks down at Tim, trying to gouge his reaction. He looks off to the side of the trail nervously.
“So that means it’s okay that I like my friend, even though he’s a boy?” Tim looks up at Cassie, his eyes wide and sparkling with unshed tears.
“Of course, Tim, there’s nothing wrong with that.” Cassie moves her hand and rubs his back, her eyes jumping to the mile marker beside the trail. They’ve walked almost half a mile already. “Hey, Timmy, are your feet hurting?” She asks, knowing that toddlers can’t walk all that far and she can tell that Tim is getting to that point from his shifting weight. Tim gulps.
“I can walk, it’s okay.” He mumbles, looking down at the dirt below his feet. Cassie sighs.
“It’s okay if your feet hurt, I can carry you.” She offers. Tim shakes his head.
“Mom and dad say that I’m too heavy to carry anymore.” His voice shakes, shifting his weight from one foot to the other again.
“Well, I’m super strong, so I could even carry Batman, easy-peasy.” She smiles, despite knowing that Tim couldn’t weigh more than 40 pounds wet, so even if she was an average human, he wouldn’t weigh anything. Tim gasps.
“Really?” He asks, excitement evident on his face. Cassie nods.
“Yeah!” She exclaims, her heart warming when Tim hesitantly lifts up his hands to let Cassie pick him up. He settles against her chest near instantly, his breath stabling as he slumps against her, yawning. “You tired?” She chuckles when Tim shakes his head.
“Don’t need naps.” He pouts, his eyes fluttering close.
“Of course not, but you’re allowed to have them.” She quietly mumbles, watching him close his eyes and drift off.
“He’s so adorable.” Kon aggressively whispers once he catches up to them. Cassie nods rapidly.
“I know!”
~~~
The four land on the roof of the tower, deciding that it would be easier to fly once Tim fell asleep. Bart opens the floor latch from the inside, holding it open for Cassie and Tim, but dropping it after Kon in a playful manner. Kon punches Bart’s arm, laughing quietly when Bart sticks his tongue out in retaliation. Cassie shakes her head, a smile betraying her true feelings.
The four waddle down to the sleeping quarters, Cassie gently prying open Tim’s door to lay the sleeping child in older-him’s bed. She tucks the blankets around him, making sure he’s nice and snug before tiptoe-ing out of the room, leaving the door open just a crack to let the light from the hallway provide gentle illumination to the boy’s room. Kon and Bart stay outside of the door, Kon cocking his head to the side, towards the living room, following Cassie as she leads the other two around the couch.
“We need to figure out what’s going on.” Kon glances at the two as he plops down on the couch.
“Obviously. He probably just got hit with magic lightning that made him younger, or something.” Bart throws himself onto the couch, pillowing his head in Cassie’s lap as she runs her finger through his hair.
“Do you hear about ‘magic lightning’ a lot? Because I don’t and that’s the problem.” Kon deadpans, rolling his eyes when Bart sticks his tongue out at him once again.
“We just need to like, talk to Zatanna or something. She’ll probably fix it.” Bart sighs, shrugging. Cassie hums.
“If we want to talk to her, we’ll probably have to talk to Batman as well, and that might not go so well…” Cassie trails off, nodding solemnly when Kon groans in annoyance.
“God, I forgot about him. He’s gonna be so mad. It isn’t even our fault!” Kon pouts.
“Let’s get some sleep, above all else. We’re all tired from the past week and in the morning we can reconvene, throw out some ideas and whatnot. That sound like a solid plan?” Cassie raises an eyebrow, smiling softly when the other two nod in agreement.
”I don’t wanna move.” Bart whines, his eyes meeting Cassie’s as a look of fear dawns on his face when Kon picks him up, throwing Bart over his shoulder while ignoring Bart’s protests. Cassie lets out a quiet laugh, following the two to Kon’s room where they all curl up for the night (after changing into their pajamas, of course) before drifting off to sleep.
~~~
The door creaks open, Cassie groaning quietly as she looks to see where the sound came from. Gentle yellow light floods the room as a pint-sized Tim creeps into Kon’s room. Cassie sits up, trying not to disturb the other two sleeping figures. She glances at the clock, pursing her lips when she reads ‘04:26’ in bright red letters. She looks back at Tim, who’s nervously fidgeting, his eyes cast down on the floor.
“What’s wrong? Are you alright?” Cassie whispers, climbing to the edge of the bed to try and get closer to the kid.
“Um, I just, I dunno. I’m sorry.” He turns away, but Cassie hops off the bed, laying a careful hand on his shoulder.
“Hey, you can tell me. You won’t get in trouble, I promise.” The kid looks up at Cassie, eyes practically twinkling in wonder.
“Just had a nightmare…” his lips purse as he adverts his eyes once more. Cassie frowns.
“Do you wanna talk about it? Or just hop in bed with us?” Cassie offers. Tim’s eyes widen.
“What do you mean?” He turns his head to the side curiously, much like the gecko in Frozen 2. Cassie smiles.
“Well, when I was younger, I always wanted to be with someone else after having a nightmare, I hated being alone. If you want, you can join us. I know Kon and Bart wouldn’t mind.” Tim looks at the bed nervously.
“Promise?” He asks quietly, nearly breaking Cassie’s heart from how uncertain he looks. Cassie nods.
“Of course, sweetheart.” She stands up, helping Tim climb onto the bed, mumbling reassurances the whole time, confirming that yes, this is aloud, and no, he won’t get in trouble the next morning.
Eventually, Tim manages to settle down, his small frame settled between Cassie and Kon— Bart still unmoving from his spot at the foot of the bed— his breaths evening out as Kon’s TTK falls over the four in a protective bubble.
~~~
Tim is sitting on the floor, coloring with pens on a blank sheet of paper, since the others don’t know how to entertain a toddler and he seems to be enjoying himself, when Tim’s laptop turns on, a blurry photo of Batman overtaking the previously-black screen. Cassie and Bart glance at each other, panic flashing through their eyes as Kon clicks the green ‘answer’ button.
“Your presence is needed back at the Batcave.” Batman’s gruff voice cuts through the silence that the room had fallen into, the only sound being that of the pens scratching on the paper.
“Uh…” Kon responds, very intelligently. Batman grunts.
”Where is Robin?” Batman asks, although it sounds more akin to a demand. Tim perks up at that.
”Robin?” He asks, voice quiet enough to (hopefully) not get picked up by the laptop’s microphone.
“He doesn’t want to talk to you.” Kon answers, looking at Cassie with desperation while she tries to explain what’s happening to Tim.
”I need to talk to him.” Batman replies. Kon scoffs at that.
”And why should that change anything?” He responds distractedly.
“…I will be arriving at the Titan’s tower later today. I expect him to be there as he was supposed to come home yesterday, though I presume he forgot and stayed the night at the tower.” Batman says after a moment. Cassie lays a hand on Tim’s shoulder, trying to be reassuring even as Kon and Bart whisper to each other with panicked words.
”And you won’t find anything, because we will be in space. On a mission. That’s why he can’t talk to you, because he’s making preparations for said space mission.” Kon glances at Cassie’s pinched expression and decides to ignore her obvious annoyance.
“You said that he didn’t want to talk to me.” Batman stoically points out. Kon freezes, whisper-yelling at Cassie after she calls him an idiot.
”Yes, that too.” Bart calls over to the computer. Batman sighs.
“We will see about that.” He says ominously before disconnecting the call, the resounding beep echoing throughout the room.
”We are not going to space.” Cassie declares. Kon stares at her.
”What else are we supposed to do? Just let him figure out that we somehow accidentally shrunk his kid into a pint size version?” Kon retorts. Cassie sighs.
”No, but we still can’t just go up to space all willy-nilly, we would need an actual reason. We don’t just have spaceships lying around.” She reminds Kon. He shrugs.
“Well, what do you suggest?” His eyes bounce around the room, refusing to make eye contact with Cassie.
”I don’t know, just… not space.” Bart groans.
”Why don’t we just run away. That would be so much easier.” He pouts. Cassie lets out a breathy laugh.
”As nice as that would be, we do eventually have to return Tim to his normal age.” Bart wrinkles his nose at that.
”Lame.” He flops down on the floor beside Tim and Cassie.
”So very lame, yes.” Cassie pokes Bart’s side, much to the aforementioned boy’s dismay.
“I’m out of ideas, then. What do you suggest we do, oh girl of wonder.” Kon lightly teases.
“Why don’t we just hide Tim? Let Batman come and tell him that Tim doesn’t want to see him.” She proposes. Kon shakes his head.
”Batman wouldn’t let that slide. He’d want to hear it from Tim himself.”
“Doesn’t that defeat the whole purpose of Tim not wanting to talk to him?” Bart pipes up. Cassie nods.
”Yeah, but Kon’s right, Batman would notice that something’s wrong within seconds.” She lets out a deep sigh.
”Space is our best option.” Kon tries. Cassie glares at him before finally nodding.
“I suppose space is the best thing we can do, at least until we get Tim back to normal.” She concedes, finally standing up and dusting off her pants. Kon smirks.
”Let’s go get us a spaceship, then.” He cackles when Cassie pounces on him.
~~~
Bart stares at Batman, suddenly feeling so much smaller than he is. Bart can’t read Batman’s face, his expression stone cold, but he imagines that Batman is looking at him with a very unimpressed look.
”You said you would be in space.” He states calmly. Bart blue screens.
”Uh, yes. We are. In space, I mean?” His voice goes several pitches higher. Batman breathes, somehow making Bart feel even smaller.
”We? So Robin is here as well?” Batman inquires. Bart inhales oxygen, trying to formulate an excuse while trying to prevent Batman from leaving his sight.
“Uh, no.” He says quietly. “No!” He says far louder than before, “Robin is not, in fact, here, on this space center, with me and you, Batman!” He yells as loud as he can without being too obvious. He hears Cassie curse before something crashes down, hopefully meaning the other three are leaving.
“What’s going on?” Superman comes from around the corner behind Batman.
“Nothing! Just me, y’know, grabbing something I forgot here a little while ago.” Bart laughs nervously, his form going blurry from his jittery energy.
“Oh! Y’know, I just made a lost and found box in the kitchen, what did you lose? I might’ve seen it around.” Superman smiles. Bart shakes his head.
”Nope, I already grabbed it.” He dusts off. Batman purses his lips.
”Where is it, then?” He asks. Bart gulps, biting his lip before bolting away. A crash resounds from the hallway behind Batman and Superman, a shout echoing throughout the space before they feel the telltale whoosh of air that signals a speedster’s presence.
“Robin-3 Detected, Superboy-1 Detected, Wonder Girl Detected, Impulse Detected,” the familiar sound of the Zeta tubes’ programmed voice reaches the depths of the Watch Tower, the departure ‘ding’ following the identification.
~~~
”Space is a no-go.” Kon sighs, holding a sleepy mini-Tim close to his chest. Bart groans.
”That was so embarrassing, he definitely knew that I was lying.” He pouts. Kon gives him a pointed look.
”You were not sly. At all.” He deadpans. Bart sticks his tongue out at Kon, opening his mouth after a moment, about to speak when Tim cuts him off.
“I wanna go home.” He whines, clutching the fabric of Kon’s shirt in his fists as he nuzzles further into Kon’s chest. Cassie frowns.
“Home?” She questions hesitantly, not wanting to overstep but also curious as to which home he means. The tower? Where ever he was before they found him? He has no memories from older-him, so he was likely taken from another situation, at least, in his mind he was. Tim hums.
”Wan’ go home. Tired. When’re we goin’ home?” Tim mumbles. Cassie smiles softly.
”We’re home already, sweetheart, but we’ll put you to bed soon.” She rubs the back of his head, brushing a small kiss in his hair when he lets out a pleased hum.
“You.” He responds. Cassie looks at Kon, confused.
”What?” She blinks, pursing her lips.
”Wit—“ he hiccups— “with you.” Cassie smiles once more.
”Of course, sweetheart, you can sleep with us again tonight.” Tim smiles, his breaths evening out as the moments drags on. Kon brings Tim up tot he sleeping quarters while Cassie grabs them all a change of clothes and Bart prepares a snack. Eventually, they all wind up back in Kon’s bedroom (the one with the biggest bed), their warmth shared between the bodies as they drift off to sleep.