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If Dick had known patrolling tonight would lead to stumbling into a new villain extremely unprepared, maybe he would’ve considered calling for assistance before heading out. Currently, he was embarrassingly neck to neck with a woman who called herself Mind Weaver. Despite having a name that warranted a bit of intimidation, she appeared anything but. He didn’t know much about this lady, but between her disheveled hair, sunken in eyes, and particularly empty baby carrier, any other person likely would’ve assumed she’s a mother who’s lost her baby.
Still, Dick wasn’t just any other person, which meant Mind Weaver opted for using her magic. From what Dick could tell, it was definitely weaker than anything he’d seen from Zatanna, but it was still enough for a struggling fight. So, Dick tried his best to keep the fight away from potential bystanders on the street, and led Mind Weaver into an abandoned building.
He had just enough time to slip out of her sight.
“Nightwing,” she snarled, her hands taking a shape that resembled a bear’s claws more than anything else, “don’t run off from me. You know how dangerous it is to be outside without an adult, especially at night in a city like Blüdhaven.”
Okay, so that was creepy. What was her deal, trying to insinuate that Dick was a child? Maybe this was her whole schtick: being a mother who’s lost her child, and then lost her mind along with them? Dick has a feeling she’s got to be going at least a bit insane if she’s talking to Dick as if he’s a child.
Suddenly, he gets the urge to call for backup. He honestly should’ve done that already, considering this is a magic user, but he hadn’t exactly had a moment yet with all the distracting combat. So, he sends a quick message to Babs, and he knows he’ll be alright. She’ll send someone in the area, and then he won’t look irresponsible in the mission report he has to write later.
Climbing up from the crate he hid behind, Dick flips off the top of it, catching Mind Weaver by surprise and allowing him to get a good kick in the shoulder, “Miss me?”
“No,” she mutters, not bothering to hide her pain as she rubs her shoulder angrily.
She shoots magic at him, but he hastily dodges all of her attempts. He wants to continue to taunt her, but for what it’s worth, she does move fast. Distantly, he hopes whoever Babs sends arrives quickly, because with the way she’s attacking, all he can hope to perform in retaliation is defense if he wants to avoid being hit.
Thankfully, she seems to grow frustrated, pausing for a moment, “You need a timeout, mister!”
“Listen, Mind Weaver, is it? I don’t know who you think you’re fooling, but I’m an adult!” Dick shouts, taking advantage of the opportunity to speak. “Please, calm down! If you’ve lost something, I would love to help you find it.”
Suddenly, Mind Weaver glances down to her chest, where the empty baby carrier is strapped, and Dick curses himself for not avoiding eye contact with that thing, “Do you think you know me? Who I am, and what I’m trying to accomplish? Do you think I’m a bad mother, who’s lost her baby?”
“No, no! I would never think you’re a bad mother, and I don’t think I know you, either. All I want to do is help you,” he nearly pleads, trying to meet her where she’s at.
The intense anger she held stubbornly to her features suddenly erodes, leaving a small pout instead, “Will you, really?”
Now, Dick isn’t stupid. Even if she seems to have let her guard down, it could easily mean the exact opposite. But, for the past who knows how long of being in constant battle and buying time for whoever Babs is sending, Dick is now stuck trying anything he can to buy more of said time. So, he takes a neutral stance, still careful to keep a reasonable distance from her.
“Yes, the two of us can go to the police station,” where you’ll be arrested, he silently tells himself, “Then, we can give them your baby’s description so they know who to look for.”
After a moment of hesitation, she shakes her head jerkily, visibly growing angry once again, “That sounds nice, but I’ve already tried that.”
“Maybe we can figure something else out—”
“Nightwing!” Dick hears a nervous voice call out from behind him, causing him to not think before turning around. “Look out!”
Dick doesn’t even have enough time to turn back around to Mind Weaver before his world goes black.
____
As he wakes up, Dick feels drained to the point where he doesn’t have enough energy to open his eyes. Voices flood randomly into his ears, hushed yet harsh.
“—my fault, I distracted—”
At the very least, Dick could recognize that it was Tim. Huh, so it was Tim who Barbara called. It wasn’t his fault he got injured, and Dick will tell him that once he manages enough strength to move.
“—dumb move, he was clearly about to—”
Jason. From what Dick could assume based on the relationship Jason and Tim share, if Jason was being harsh, it was out of his love and care for his brothers. Dick can only hope he isn’t being too hard on Tim, because again, Dick knows it was his fault for giving Mind Weaver an opportunity to strike him.
“I agree, it was foolish to—”
Damian taking Jason’s side was definitely unexpected, but Dick guesses he shouldn’t completely rule it out in his mind. After all, when it comes to himself, Dick knows Damian is particularly protective.
Dick scrunches his nose at the thought of everyone ganging up on Tim. He doesn’t have a full idea of who’s present, but he knows for sure that Bruce can’t be present; currently, he’s doing League business on some foreign planet Dick wasn’t interested in enough to remember the name of.
As his head clears, he hears Cassie cut through the bickering, “I think he’s awake.”
Of course, if he wanted to go unnoticed, he shouldn’t have moved his face. The last thing he wants is attention after this injury; his body is still so tired.
Opening his eyes, the first thing Dick notices is that everyone looks huge. Like, abnormally towering over his bed large. He recognizes that they’re in the batcave, at least, but even the cave seems monumentally larger.
Tim seems to sense his discomfort, because he kneels and meets Dick eye to eye from where he lays on the recovery bed, “Hey, Dick, do you remember us?”
Dick looks around warily, because of course he remembers his family. Jason, Damian, and Cass all give him their own versions of concern through their eyes, and Dick’s stomach begins to twist. What had that woman done to him? Did she literally shrink him? That would be awkward. But then again, what would that have to do with his memory?
Nervousness overtakes him, and he can’t say much. It goes on long enough to the point where Tim just decides to ask another question, “Do you know how old you are?”
It hits him, then. He hadn’t shrunk, not exactly. He’d been physically regressed. He glances down at himself, and surely enough, everything about him is now miniature.
When Dick continues to choose silence, Jason chimes in, “Maybe he can write it down?”
“That’s assuming he knows how to write,” Tim sighs pointedly, vaguely gesturing in Dick’s direction. Ouch. Did he look that small?
“He looks tired,” Cassie observes, and Dick is grateful for the cop out. To really sell it, Dick even yawns.
“Perhaps it would be wise to allow him to rest properly. Cranky children are not tolerable,” Damian suggests, more likely than not wanting to have time to perform any preparations he can for a child in the manor.
“Are you sure? Because—” Before Jason can finish his thought, Dick flops onto the bed, turning his back to them as much as possible. “Yup. Sure. Okay. Whatever.”
Unfortunately, in his attempt to avoid the embarrassment that is communicating with his younger siblings as an extremely young child, Dick didn’t realize there was a real possibility of him accidentally falling asleep. Curse his young body.
____
Tim was freaking out. Not only was it entirely his fault Dick had been turned into a baby, but he was almost completely on his own to deal with it. While Jason, Cassie, and even Damian were helpful, he still finds himself solely responsible for attempting to find a cure, mostly because Bruce is currently off planet.
Thankfully, they don’t find themselves too busy yet, as Dick had decided to go back to sleep shortly after waking up. It was a bit unfortunate though, because in his brief time awake, they weren’t able to decipher his mental state at all. Sure, he seemed uneasy, confused, and even arguably aware of his situation, but given the fact that he could have just woken up in a room full of people who are strangers to him, Tim can only assume so much.
It was now hour two of researching possible routes Tim could take with addressing the situation. However, he was mostly waiting for his sample to finish processing on his computer, because then, they’d actually know for sure how old Dick is. After all, if Dick has kept his adult memories and knowledge, then Tim can nearly guarantee Dick won’t know how old he is, either.
“Drake,” Damian greeted seriously, now changed into pajamas, “given the current predicament, I have decided to stay in from patrol for the rest of the night, as have Todd and Cain. We will monitor Grayson. One of us will inform you of any changes in the case that they occur.”
“Thank, Dami,” Tim says, turning away from his screen to face him properly, “I appreciate the help.”
“Yes, I would hope you appreciate it, especially considering you’re the reason this has transpired in the first place,” he scoffs, and any appreciation Tim genuinely felt begins to fade out of pettiness.
“No need to remind me,” he groans.
Suddenly, Tim’s computer rings, and Damian’s head perks up, “What was that for?”
“Dick’s analysis,” Tim says, snatching his computer and beginning to scroll through the information. “It says— It says he’s biologically three years old.”
“Are you certain? In such a case, it should be safe to assume he isn’t retaining any memories, right?” Damian squawks, clearly just as surprised as Tim.
“Probably,” Tim nods, suddenly feeling outside of his own body, “I guess if he really acts like a three year old when he wakes up, we know our answer.”
“I will inform the others. Continue your research.”
____
The next time Dick comes to, he can only assume it is the morning, given the fact that everyone is sitting in various positions in chairs around him, except Tim, asleep. He takes the moment to truly realize his situation. Kicking the thin blanket off his legs, he notices his legs are particularly chubby, as if a toddler’s. He doesn’t really want to freak out right this second, but his breaths begin to come in harsher. He was a baby, and there was nothing he could do about it.
That woman clearly didn’t enjoy him assuming her situation if she felt the need to do this to him. Distantly, Dick wishes she had just killed him instead, because at least then he would have avoided the humiliation of watching his family see him this way. He can only be grateful Bruce is still off planet. Hopefully none of them have sent a message to him yet.
Climbing off the bed quietly proved more of a challenge than he would’ve preferred. His feet slapped against the hard floor, and the oversized shirt one of them threw on him nearly got caught on one of the bed’s screws.
He paused in fear, looking around to see if anyone had heard him. Thankfully, it seems that his situation has exhausted everyone, because nobody even flinches.
He waddles his way to where he knows Tim will be: the Batcomputer. And even though it’s technically in the same room, the cave is so large and vast that it nearly feels like another floor. Tim doesn’t notice him at first, and Dick can probably thank the lack of sleep for that.
He doesn’t know what to do now that he’s here. Dick does want to go up to Tim, but he’s so embarrassed to be a baby that he doesn’t know if he can face being perceived this way by people who are supposed to be his younger siblings. Unfortunately, Dick doesn’t appear to have much of a choice for long, because Tim does end up turning around. Curse these trained vigilantes and their hyper awareness.
“Hi there, Dick,” Tim seemed thrown off by the fact that Dick was by himself, “what are you doing here?”
Out of some instinct that is foreign to him, Dick attempts to hide his face in the collar of his shirt. Dick would never do this as an adult, as far as he’s aware, so he begins to wonder if he’s picked up some rather baby instincts as a result of the spell.
After straight silence, Tim rises from his chair and clears the distance between the two of them, tilting his head, “I can’t tell if you’re an embarrassed adult or a shy kid.”
An overwhelming stress rushes through Dick’s body. He wants to tell Tim that he’s still an adult, but that would more than likely lead to him being teased, or even worse, knowing his family knows he’s aware of any baby-like action he may perform, just like the shirt collar tucking.
So, he chooses his battle: being the baby.
“But then again, how did you know where to find me?” Tim wonders aloud. But before he can come to any conclusions, Dick takes a step forward, wrapping himself around one of Tim’s legs, digging his head into his hip.
“I walk ‘round long while,” Dick lies, fighting with his tongue to pronounce words properly, but to no avail.
Dick can feel Tim silently celebrate Dick finally being verbal before picking him up and placing him on his hip, “I’m sorry, someone should’ve been awake for you.” Then, Dick watches as Tim looks back at his research, shakes his head, and begins to walk back to the recovery area.
Dick silently curses himself. Either way, he was going to regret his decision, and now that he’s picked his poison, he’ll have to live through it until Tim can find a cure. The last thing he’ll do is let his family find out that not only he’s kept his adult mind, but also that he’s been pretending to actually be a baby.
They finally reach their sister and brothers, who are still promptly asleep. Tim does seem a bit annoyed, but Dick is happy he gave him a break from the likely hours upon hours of grueling research and unavoidable guilt Dick knows Tim is suffering through.
“Guys, you said you would watch him,” Tim says, a hint of sass in his tone.
Damian wakes the fastest, speaking through a yawn, “How could he have reached you without waking us?”
“He’s probably kept his adult memories and knowledge. How else would he have been able to leave without any of us waking up?,” Jason reminds, stretching in pain from the soreness of sleeping on a chair.
“Actually, I think he hasn’t. He’s talking and acting like a baby,” he sighs, causing Dick to push his head towards Tim's chest in embarrassment. He hears Cassie coo at the action.
“I guess that might be most preferable. After all, this version of Grayson seems shy and unlikely to cause trouble,” Damian observes.
Dick doesn’t want to give his siblings a hard time. But really, if he was an absolutely well behaved baby, would they truly believe he hasn’t kept his adult mentality?
“I don’t think you know too much about babies, Damian,” Jason laughs hard as Damian scoffs, “he’s probably only acting like this right now because he doesn’t know us.” Then, turning to Tim, “You said he’s what, three? I think that’s old enough for him to like, I don’t know, have conversations at the very least.”
Wow, so he was two years old. That explained the chubby legs, the waddling, and his slipping speech. He could act like a three year old. He had to now.
“That is true. I don’t think it would hurt to introduce ourselves,” Cassie suggests, so Tim places Dick on the recovery bed and grabs his own chair.
Dick just stares at the lot of them. It is a bit intimidating, watching them circle around him in chairs, but it could be even more intimidating if they were standing, so Dick chooses to count his blessings instead.
Jason starts as soon as Tim sits down, “My name is Jason. I’m—” he turns his head back and forth in hesitation, and apparently Tim understands what he’s silently asking and gives him a nod “—I’m your oldest brother.’’
Silence follows, and Dick suddenly realizes they may be waiting for him to say something, anything back, “Hi.”
It’s not much, but it’s apparently enough to gauge adoring reactions from his siblings. Jason grins, Tim and Cass share a chorus of “awws”, and even Damian can’t help but smile with his eyes.
Cass quickly follows, “I’m Cassie, your oldest sister.”
Talking oddly enough takes true effort from Dick, because even though he planned on saying a full sentence, this time he only manages to nod and say, “Cassie.”
That’s still more than enough for his siblings, though, as they continue with their fussing over him. It really does begin to make Dick feel a bit shy, so he messily grabs for the thin blanket and covers his face up until his nose.
Then, Tim chimes in, “I’m Tim, your second oldest brother.”
The shyness he gained from the attention begins to fade, as the silent focus on him causes him to grow impulsively nervous, and Dick takes advantage of that to do the most believable baby thing yet. He puts the blanket down, despite himself, and giggles loudly before excitably grinning, “Hi, Timmy!”
He could get the hang of this. Right?
As expected, they reacted most expressively to that one. If Jason was grinning before, he was absolutely beaming now, and couldn’t stop himself from joining in on the “aws”. Even Damian couldn’t hide his smile, and he hears Cassie mutter that he’s finally getting used to them. It made Dick happy to see that something as simple as that could bring his siblings such happiness. He wishes it was this easy to make them this happy as an adult.
Finally, Damian gave his own greeting, “I’m Damian, your third oldest brother.”
Despite the sleepiness beginning to creep into the back of his mind, Dick puts his full effort into clapping his hands, saying, “Dami!”
It’s not the best, but he really did try. This baby body was really giving him a hard time; he hasn’t even done anything yet!
Still, his siblings reacted instantly, with Jason chuckling and muttering about how Dick hasn’t completely changed, ‘cause he still calls him Dami. It truly warms Dick’s heart to have the privilege of bringing joy to his siblings; it almost makes the whole becoming a baby thing worth it.
However, like a switch, a deep and intense feeling suddenly harps throughout his body. He finds that he’s not able to help himself as he reaches for Cassie, making grabby hands with no shame.
Cassie only laughs before reaching forward and placing him in her lap, “Okay, Dick.”
“Looks like he’s warming up to us fast,” Tim comments happily, not bothering to stop himself from gently ruffling Dick’s hair. Dick realizes he can’t help but lean into the touch. Normally, as an adult, he’s already particularly affectionate to the people he loves, so he has a feeling this notion has only been amplified now that he’s a toddler.
This spell seems to have changed a lot of things, from things that appear less concerning to his family such as infantile behavioral changes to the more concerning actual physical alteration. At this point, any involuntary childish instincts Dick expresses will merely be accepted as the new normal until the spell is cured.
It scares Dick, because the previously distant baby instincts were quickly becoming less and less optional. He’s suddenly grateful to have decided to pretend --- plus, his siblings seem to enjoy his presence a lot more, too.