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Chapter Text

“Wing on your left.” Hal warns through his comm, but Nightwing is already moving to disarm the opponent. 

“I think the kid's got it handled Lantern.” Oliver says, “Duck down.” 

Hal drops low as 2 arrows whiz over his head and extend nets out to capture 2 more goons. 

“How much longer you think this'll take?” Hal asks as he uses his ring to smash goons out of the way. 

“Not much longer I think.” Oliver replies, “But where'd that sparkly girl go?” 

“Sparkly girl? What sparkly girl?” 

“The one who was leading these knuckleheads? You know the girl that's been causing havoc all over your city?” Oliver deadpans, 

“Right her. Shit. Forgot about that.” 

“Of course you did. And- fuck Lantern behind you!” Oliver shouts, Hal moves behind a piller just as a blast of something whizzes behind him. 

“I think we found our sparkly girl.” Hal breathes, that's all they have time for. Soon the goons they've tied up or knocked out are suddenly on their feet again. 

“You didn't really think it would be that easy to stop me did you?” The girl, actually a woman, smiles at them creepily. Her eyes glow, her mouth opens and she points. While she chants, spells blast out from her hands in all directions. Above him Hal sees Nightwing rapidly dodge some of the strikes. 

“We gotta shut her up. Without her voice she can't cast anything.” Nightwing says over the comms. 

“Working on it!” Hal growls, vaulting over a railing and using his ring to conjure a glowing muzzle-shaped clamp. 

Oliver was already moving, flipping over a fallen crate and shooting two more arrows in rapid succession. The first pinned the hem of her flowing coat to the floor, the second detonated in a burst of flashbang light, stunning her for a heartbeat.

“That’s our window!” Hal barks, a shimmering cage formed around her as Hal focused, the emerald lattice tightening around the witch. She glares as the lattice wraps around her mouth muffling her words. 

“She can't chant now,” Oliver says, circling, bow still drawn. “Think we got her?”

But then the woman's eyes start to glow again. Oh fuck. She can still cast… it wasn't her voice fuck fuck fuck.

“LANTERN, MOVE!” Nightwing yells from above, diving off a ledge. 

Hal turns just in time to see the blast heading straight for him—but then Nightwing’s there, slamming into him mid-air, knocking him clear.

The spell hits Nightwing full-force.

There was a crack of energy, a blast of light.  No no no no no NO NO! 

“Nightwing. Nightwing. Fuck fuck fuck.” Hal could register Oliver beating the ever living hell out of the woman behind them. He stands up and stumbles to where the lump of the suit is. “No no no no no please kid fuck.” All that was left was the suit. Nightwing was gone. 

“Shit shit. What the fuck did she do?” Oliver is with him.

“He… Wing's gone..”

“Gone? What do you mean he's…” Oliver trails off, face going ashen as he sees the lump of suit. They stare at it. 

“He… he pushed me out of the way… oh my god Arrow.” Hal puts a hand to cover his mouth, as tears leak out of his eyes. 

“What… how.. how do we explain this? His family fuck we don't even know who he is who he… fuck.” Hal curses and gets up. He can't keep staring at the bundle. 

“Lantern listen to me. It'll..  it'll be fine. Im sure whatever spell.” Oliver tries to stop his rapid pacing. 

“BUT WE DON'T KNOW WHAT SPELL! HE'S FUCKING GONE! LOOK! IT’S JUST THE SUIT! NIGHTWING'S GONE! LOOK AT IT! JUST LOOK AT IT!” Hal gestures wildly to the lump on the ground. The lump moves. They both still.

“Are you sure he's gone? Because I’m pretty sure that suit just moved… maybe.. maybe he got turned into an animal or something…” Oliver offers, hope coloring his voice. 

“I..” The lump shuffles again. They both watch with bated breath. Hal wipes the tears out of his eyes. Could it be Nightwing? Could he still be alive? Please oh fuck please let that be him… The lump seems to struggle against the fabric for a bit before a very human head pops out of the suit. Hal and Oliver exchange looks. The child fights the fabric a bit more, twisting in ways only 1 human is capable of twisting in order to get 2 small arms out of the fabric. 

“W… wing?” Hal whispers, the child whips its head towards them. Small hands curling around the suit protectively. The first thing they both see are his eyes. Brilliantly blue eyes the color of the ocean on a sunny day. They were beautiful. Belatedly both Hal and Oliver realize that this is the first time they've seen Nightwing without his domino on. 

“Hey Kiddo… do you recognize us?” Oliver asks, he had dropped to his knees at some point. The kid barely looked 10, and he seemed a couple inches taller than 4ft. The kid silently looks at them and Hal is terrified for a minute that he lost his memories. 

“I want my dad.” The kid finally says, well shit. 

“We're um… we're friends of your dad.” Hal says, Oliver gives him a look but he ignores it. 

“Dad says that me and Alfie are his only friends.” The kid looks at him suspiciously. There was something all too disarming about that blue-eyed stare. As if it could judge their true intentions without a single word being said. 

“Well umm… uh..” Hal flounders at a loss for what to say. 

“We're superheroes. This is Green Lantern and I’m Green Arrow, we can help you find your dad. Our watchtower has all sorts of stuff to help you find people.” Oliver comes to his rescue. A spark of recognition enters the child's eyes. 

“You guys are Green Lantern and Green Arrow? Like the Justice League's Green Lantern and Green Arrow?” the kid asks, 

“The very same.” Hal smiles, 

“And you're gonna take me to the Watchtower?” The boy is smiling now, dimples in full force. If they weren't already taking him to the Watchtower, they would've caved like wet paper bags for that face and taken him anyway. 

“Yeah and then from there we'll help you find your parents.” Hal smiles gently. He walks forward and picks the kid up bundling him in the suit. He gives him enough time to yell or scream or complain but instead the child just smiles and burrows himself into Hal's arms, not a care in the world. The. Dimples.  The dimples on adult Nightwing were bad as it is. On kid Nightwing? They were LETHAL. Hal’s heart feels like it's gonna burst out of its chest. 

“Come on. The nearest zeta is just a 10 minute drive.” Oliver beckons them to his car. 

“Can we fly?” The child, Nightwing? It felt wrong to call such a little child by the vigilante's name. 

“Fly? I don't think…”

“Please Uncle Lantern…. I love flying.” The child's eyes go wide and round and his bottom lip trembles and suddenly Hal is hit full force with puppy dog eyes he is not prepared for. There's not a single reason why he shouldn't let the kid fly. He can't think of a single one. So they're off. It turns out to be the right choice, because just like his older self, tiny Nightwing really does love the feeling of wind in his hair. He cheers and laughs as they zoom to the zeta. His soft, dark hair tickles Hal’s chin and the Lantern feels a softness in him that he hasn't felt in a very long time. They land at the zeta as Oliver shows up. They both go in one at a time and enter the lobby. Thankfully it's empty. 

“Now kid. I know we promised that we'd get you to your parents, but..”

“My dad.” 

“What?” Oliver blinks at the child. Or at least Hal thinks he does. It's hard to tell with the mask on. 

“I want my dad.” The kid says quietly. Hal and Oliver exchange stricken looks. 

“How about we get you some clothes first? Oliver says hurriedly.

Before Hal can do anything he scoops the little boy out of his arms and is already moving to where they know some spare clothes are. What the fuck Arrow? Hal pushes the annoyance aside and walks after them. It takes some rummaging but finally they find a pair of superman pants and a batman shirt that are just a little too big for him. 

“I didn't know that 8-year-olds were this small.” Oliver mutters, 

“I'm 9.” The kid snaps, glaring at them. Except even his glare is adorable. 

“Right sorry. 9.” Oliver amends, the glare is gone and replaced with a blinding smile. Before either of them know what's happening the boy is running at them. His head barely goes up to their hips. He hugs each of their legs. 

“Thank you.” the little boy looks up at them through his bangs. He looks like an angel. 

“Your welcome sweetheart.” 

“Anytime kiddo.” They both smile back, the charm and happiness infectious. Oliver picks the boy up before Hal can, shooting him a smug grin as Hal scowls at him from behind the kid's back. 

“Uncle Arrow, I can walk!!” The kid complains, 

“Yeah but what if I wanted to carry you?” Oliver chuckles, 

“Dad usually let's me hang on him while he does stuff too.” The kid says, nonchalantly. His voice was light but both of them could tell that he was anxious. 

“Don't worry kid. We'll find your dad.” Hal ruffles the boy's hair and gets a giggle as a reward.

We'll find your dad… somehow…

“Okay so how the hell do we find his dad?” Hal asks, Clark is currently distracting BabyWing. It turns out that BabyWing is a huge Superman fan which worked out perfectly. So while Clark kept the kid entertained Hal, Barry, Diana, and Oliver talked. 

“We could always ask Batman.” Barry offers, 

“You think Batman would know his family?” Diana asks, 

“I mean why not? He knows all of our identities.” Oliver shrugs, 

“Are we even sure this is Nightwing though?” 

“You didn't see him trying to twist out of that suit Diana. Nobody with a normal spine could do what he did.” Hal deadpans, 

“Okay so we ask Batman? I mean he's gotta know something about Wing's family.” 

“Or.. or we could just ask Wing.” Oliver offers, there was something familiar about the kid, but he just couldn't put his finger on what it was. It must just be the resemblance to his older self…

“What?” 

“I mean do we really have time for Batman's lecture and brooding and everything? His drama takes a shit ton of time. We already have Zatanna and Constantine working on a cure but who knows how long that'll take! Even with Superman it's pretty obvious that the kid wants his dad.  If we just ask BabyWing I'm sure it would be faster.” Oliver takes a breath when he's done explaining. They all exchange looks. 

“He does have a point… it would be faster..” Hal agrees, rubbing the back of his neck.

“I don't know… I don't want to take advantage of him being vulnerable to find out personal things about him…” Barry frowns, 

“I agree. Nightwing values his privacy.” Diana crosses her arms over her chest looking conflicted. 

“Yeah but these are different circumstances. Sure it's not ideal. But that kid looks like he's seconds away from bursting into tears without his dad, even with Superman holding him.” Oliver points to where BabyWing had gone quiet and was staring vacantly at something. 

“Yeah okay let's ask him.”

“Guys there you are!” Clark smiles at them. His face screams ‘you-better-have-shit-figured-out’. 

“Did you guys find my dad?” The kid asks, he turns and is half out of Superman's arms before the kryptonian manages to grab him back. 

“Careful kiddo. That's a far drop for a small boy like you.” Superman chuckles, 

“I've fallen from farther. Now where's my dad? I want my dad.” The kid says, adamantly. Clark decides to ignore the previous statement about falling from large heights. 

“Well about that..” 

“You couldn't find him could you. Of course you couldn't. He probably doesn't want anything to do with me.” 

“What kid no…”

“He probably wished he left me at the orphanage.” Orphanage? Wait hold on.  “And… and he wouldn't care if… if..” the kid was crying oh fuck fuck fuck fuck. Immediately all of them surround BabyWing trying to calm him down. Evidently all of them are terrible at it because the boy only wails louder. 

“Of.. of course you can't find him.. he… he doesn't want you too…. He he....”

“WE DON’T KNOW WHO HE IS!” Hal shouts, all of them glare at him. 

“Seriously dude? You don't yell at a crying child.” Oliver mutters, elbowing him.

“Wha… what?” The kid hiccups, wiping away his tears. “You.. you don't know who.. who… my dad is?” There's an awkward silence. 

“No that… that's why we're struggling to find him.” Diana says softly. The child's eyes are still watery but he seemed more confused than anything. 

“You…  you really don't know who my dad is?” the kid repeats, his voice firmer. He wipes the tears away, sea blue eyes visible again. “But… but THEY said that you guys are his friends!” The child points to Hal and Oliver completely throwing them under the bus. Clark looked like he was actively trying not to fry them with his heat vision. Diana looked frustrated. Barry just gives them an irritated glance and turns back to BabyWing. 

“Well… not friends… but we can find him for you, but only if you tell us his name. Superman could fly you over as soon as we get the address.” Barry explains, that was another thing to think about though. Did Nightwing's family know that he's a vigilante? If not, how would they explain this? Oliver scrutinizes the child. The child was undeniably Nightwing. The child was also undeniably adorable. The kind of adorable you see in ads, billboards, or the news. Where have I seen that face before? 

“His name is Bruce.” 

“Bruce?” 

“Uh huh..” 

“Um… okay Bruce. His name is Bruce but umm… we might need a bit more than that.” Clark says gently. 

“Yeah there are a lot of Bruce's out there. Can you give us a last name or a middle name kiddo?” Hal asks, BabyWing purses his lips into a cute pout as he mulls it over. Oliver is a little surprised by the pause considering how desperate the kid seemed for his father. Bruce.. his dad's name is Bruce… he kinda looks like… 

“Bruce Wayne. My dad's name is Bruce Thomas Wayne.” The kid finally says, there's a beat of silence. 

What. The. Fuck.

Chapter Text

“Do you really need me for this?” Diana asks, looking bored.

“Yes I do. Now shush, he's asleep.” Clark hisses, they had bundled BabyWing (Dick Grayson? Could they call him that? That was his name but it felt wrong to know it) in Clark's cape to protect him from the wind while they flew to Wayne Manor. 

“I still don't understand why you need me for this.” Diana repeats frowning. 

“I need you to explain this situation to Bruce Wayne.” 

“What!? Why me?” 

“Because I obviously don't know how to!” Clark snaps, they both look to the child who's still blissfully sleeping, completely unaware of their panic. 

“Well neither do I! Does Bruce Wayne even know that his oldest son is a vigilante?” 

“Diana, Bruce Wayne doesn't even know where his other shoe is! Obviously he doesn't know that his oldest kid is moonlighting as a vigilante!” Clark scowls, 

“Wait, so will we have to tell him?” Diana asks, eyes widening. 

“Well how else are we going to explain this? He's literally 9! He's supposed to be 24!” 

“Maybe we can say that he was hit on the street?” Diana offers,

“But shouldn't his dad know that he's a vigilante?” Clark counters, 

“Well obviously he's been keeping it a secret for a reason! He probably started when he moved out! Remember the big fight in the news before Wayne got another kid? Maybe this was like an act of rebellion!” 

“I don't know D… moonlighting as a vigilante and also training to be one of the best of his generation is one hell of a way to rebel against someone.” Clark frowns, 

“Well whatever, none of that matters. What matters is how we're going to explain this to Bruce Wayne!” 

They were approaching the front of the house. House was a gross understatement for the sprawling estate. Tall, glittering windows wrap around the place. Elegant pillars cradle the canopy above the doorway, reminding Diana of themysciran temples. The driveway disappears farther behind the mansion, from their vantage point they can see another building. That’s probably his garage holy shit. BabyWing, well Dick Grayson, stirs in Clark's arms. 

“Are we home yet?” He yawns, big blue eyes looking up at Clark innocently. It's very disarming to think that this is the same child who grows up to fight the likes of gods. He's just so cute and cuddly and huggable….

“I… yeah see…” Clark shifts the bundle so that the little boy can see the manor. They both land at the front door and stop, unsure how to proceed. The dark brown oak doors are massive, just falling a few feet shorter than the pillars in front of them. They exchange looks and then Diana rings the doorbell. It chimes loudly in the building. 

“I bet Alfie's busy making dinner. Just give him a minute. He's a bit old so it takes him some time too-” BabyWing gets cut off by the door opening. Standing on the other side is not an elderly British butler. Instead Bruce Wayne stands there with a pen in his mouth, a notebook in his hand, and reading glasses perched on his nose. He's wearing a navy sweater that probably costs more than Clark's apartment and he has on light grey sweatpants of some fancy brand that neither of them recognize. 

“Superman? Wonder Woman? What are you?”  

“DAD!” The little bundle launches from Clark's arms while Diana and Clark stare at the billionaire. Bruce Wayne moves faster than Barry, immediately dropping whatever he was holding to catch the boy as he flies towards him. 

“D.. Dick…. I….” Clark and Diana don't know it. But for the first time ever, Batman is speechless. 

“Oh my god B I missed you so much!” The kid hugs Bruce's neck and then pulls back to immediately start babbling. “There was this big light and then Green Lantern and Green Arrow were there! Then Green Lantern flew me to this tube thingy. Then we went whoosh and suddenly we were in the Watchtower!! And then they got me these Superman pants and look, look, it's a Batman shirt!” The kid was jabbering a mile a minute (much more than he had said to the rest of them) and it looked like Bruce was blue-screening big time. Diana didn't think she had seen the man blink once since he got the kid in his arms. “And then I got to meet Superman! Can you believe it! Look, it's Superman! And Wonder Woman!! Aren't they amazing?” BabyWing points to them, giving them a happy grin from where he was perched on Bruce's hip. His arms were slung around the billionaire's neck and he looked completely at ease. Hera help me Nightwing is actually Bruce Wayne's son. “And then they flew me all the way here! I was flying B! I was really flying and it was amazing! It felt SOOO cool and then we went swish and swoosh and then we were here and it was so much fun!!” The kid makes swoopy gestures and is smiling so brightly it's almost painful to look at. I think Clark might have some competition for the title of sunshine child….

“Seems like you had a lot of fun Chum.” Bruce Wayne finally says, his voice was warm and soothing, a little shocked but calm all things considered. Oh my fucking god. Nightwing is his actual child. Holy shit. He turns back to Clark and Diana. “Superman. Wonder Woman. Thank you for bringing him to me.” There's a softness to Bruce Wayne that they don't see in the tabloids or the news. 

“It was no problem Mr. Wayne. But about little Dick he..” Diana trails off when she notices that Bruce isn't even paying attention to them anymore. Dick had curled himself completely into his father's side and finally seemed relaxed, all his extra energy spent storytelling. Bruce brushes some hair out of his face and holds him tighter. Clark and Diana exchange a look of mutual understanding.

We can't tell him.

15 minutes later….

“I'll be right back to tuck you in sweetheart. Let me just go and get a book, okay?” Bruce kisses his young charge's forehead, sweeping curly black locks out of the way, then walks out of his bedroom. 

“Well this is quite a surprise.” Alfred falls into step with him, that statement is all the confirmation Bruce needed to know that the DNA tests came back positive. They walk to Dick's room to get one of the children's books he used to read to him. 

“It IS a surprise. None of them notified me about it happening.” Bruce mutters darkly. 

“It's a good thing the rest of the children are out of the house. Master Dick doesn't seem to have much memory besides what he knew at age 9.” Alfred muses, “I imagine the only reason he told the league anything was because you told him to trust them at that age.”

“Hrmmm..” Bruce looks through the shelves and eventually picks out Alice in Wonderland. 

“Alice in Wonderland, Master Bruce? Feeling sentimental are we?” Alfred graces Bruce with the closest thing to a smirk he's ever seen. 

“He's so tiny Alfred.”

“I know.”

“He barely goes up to my hip.” 

“Mhmm.” 

“He's so light! I feel like if I hold him too tightly he'll break, but I don't want to let him go.”

“Understandable.” 

“How are you not freaking out right now?” Bruce stops abruptly and turns around scowling.

“It's magic Master Bruce. It's simply magic, with a few days and a counter spell Master Dick will be fine. He is not injured and he is not dying. He's merely little again.” 

“Exactly! He's so young Alfred! God he's so tiny. Look at him!” They were outside Bruce's room now, they both peek in to see Dick cuddled up in the bed looking cozy and warm. It's a sight for sore eyes. A blast to the past. Nostalgia, overwhelming love, and a need to protect make it impossible for Bruce to breathe. 

“Master Bruce, are you having a crisis?” 

“I.. maybe I don't know okay just…look at him…” Bruce whispers, “He's so young. God he WAS so young.” 

“And now he's young again.” Alfred observes, 

“Yeah he's… he's young again…” Bruce says, suddenly he doesn't know what to do with himself. His entire heart wants him to curl up in bed and read the story while his oldest sleeps with him. His mind is raging, wanting to fix the situation, wanting desperately to scream at Hal and Clark for flying Dick when they could've dropped him, wanting to hit someone because NOBODY TOLD HIM that something happened to his son. 

“Master Bruce, if you wait much longer I'm afraid Master Dick will fall asleep before you're able to start the first line of the story.” Alfred says dryly. Bruce blinks, coming back to himself and steps into the room, closing the door lightly behind him. 

“B? That you?” Dick's voice, so much higher, drowsily beckons him. 

“Yeah Chum it's me. Are you still up for a story?” Bruce smiles, 

“Always. You got Alice in Wonderland? I love that one!” Dick cheers,

“I know you do. Almost as much as you love Robin Hood.” Bruce chuckles and slips under the covers, pulling the little boy close. 

“Eww B your cold.” Dick whines, 

“Am I cold?” Bruce presses a cold hand onto the younger's face. 

“B!” Dick shrieks, batting him away. Bruce laughs as his oldest turned youngest tries to bury himself in the blankets to avoid Bruce's cold hands. 

“Okay okay. Maybe a story will warm me up? How about that?” Bruce offers, Dick had completely turned into a blanket burrito and all Bruce wanted to do was hold him and give him the world. He nods, eyes blinking sleepily as Bruce starts the story. It doesn't take long for Dick to fall asleep. Not surprising considering he's had a long day. Bruce looks down at the sleeping face, young and peaceful. His heart aches, wishing that time and mistakes hadn't pulled them apart. It's not that they weren't close now that Dick was an adult. But this closeness? This softness was rare and far between now. He kisses Dick's forehead, and shuts the light off, completely oblivious to Alfred secretly taking pictures of them. His son snuggles closer to him and Bruce envelops him in his now warm embrace. For the first time in a very long time, Bruce sleeps soundly, a tiny heart beating softly in tandem with his own.

“He's definitely Bruce Wayne's son.” Clark announces walking into the Quiver. 

“Fucking HOW though?!” Oliver demands, 

“Through adoption? Duh.” Hal rolls his eyes at the archer. 

“Does he know that Wing is well… you know Dick? Like does his dad know?” Barry asks, 

“That's the thing. He has no clue!” Clark exclaims, 

“Wait…You didn't tell him?” Hal asks, giving them a look.

“Why would we tell him? And plus his mind didn't really seem to be in the right place for that bombshell anyway.” Diana retorts, “Ours definitely weren't and we're not even related to him! Imagine the heart attack it would of given him if BabyWing being deaged wasn't enough!” 

“But then how did you explain it to him? I mean his 24-year-old son turned 9 for fucks sake. Wayne may be an idiot but that sure as hell warrants some explanation.” Hal frowns, 

“We really didn't. Dick, Babywing, he pretty much explained it for us.” Clark shrugs, there was a long pause. 

“You let a 9-year-old explain what happened?” Barry gives them a judgemental look. 

“Well he just started talking and we didn't know how to explain it!” Diana retorts, defensively. 

“And Wayne didn't ask you any more questions, really?” Hal asks, skeptically. 

“Well he IS from Gotham. I’m sure he's used to weirder things happening.” Clark replies, 

“Yeah but weird, is one thing. And having your eldest deaged is a completely different thing. Especially when he was delivered home personally by Superman and Wonder Woman.” Hal replies, 

“I told him that I wasn't needed but he insisted on me coming along.” Diana glares at Clark. 

“You think I was going to fly up to one of the richest people on the planet and explain to him that his oldest son is a vigilante? ON MY OWN?!” Clark shouts, “It's like you barely know me at all!” 

“You’re Superman for fuck's sake!” Diana retorts, 

“And you’re Wonder Woman! But you were just as worried as I was!” Clark snaps, 

“Okay both of you shut up. We aren't here to listen to you argue.” Barry cuts in, 

“Yeah we're here to figure out how the fuck this happened.” Oliver finally says, 

“What do you mean?” 

“Dick Grayson is Nightwing. NIGHTWING. DICK GRAYSON. IS. NIGHTWING.” 

“Yes we know that Ollie. Tell us something we don't know.” Hal sighs, 

“Why are you guys not freaking out right now? The son of a billionaire has been fighting criminals as a vigilante for YEARS now, and Wayne had no clue!” 

“Honestly I think you're more upset that YOU never figured it out.” Barry snickers, 

“OF COURSE I AM!” Oliver shouts, taking the other aback. “I've known Dick for YEARS! I've known about him since the first time Bruce told me about his parents dying! I just don't understand! He's such a sweet kid!” 

“He still is a sweet kid. He just also flies off rooftops and breaks people's bones.” Diana shrugs, 

“That's not fucking normal Diana! You can't just. Oh my fucking god. How does Bruce not know?” 

“Well maybe he doesn't know because Nightwing showed up AFTER Bruce and Dick's big fight?” Hal offers, 

“Yeah I remember writing an article about that. Dick moved out around the same time Nightwing showed up.” Clark agrees, 

“It would also explain how Nightwing has all of those cool gadgets.” Barry pipes up, Oliver looks at them all, some of his prior hysteria waning. 

“You guys aren't as freaked out by this as I thought you would be.” Oliver finally says, 

“Probably because we don't really know him personally.” Diana shrugs, 

“Yeah… maybe… but… still it is a little insane.” Oliver replies, 

“Oh definitely.”

“Absolutely nuts.” 

“100%” 

“Never would have seen it coming.” 

Oliver gives them all a look. 

“You guys fucking suck.” He mutters, the others exchange broad grins. 

“Oh come on Ollie. Don't be such a sourpuss. Think of the bright side. We FINALLY found out the truth about Nightwing's identity.” Hal slings his arm over Oliver's shoulder with a smile. 

“Yeah and on top of that, thanks to Zatanna, we know that the spell will wear off on its own. So there's no more surprises.” Clark agrees,

Chapter Text

3 days later... 

There is an exhaustion in Jason's veins he hasn't felt in a very long time. He was so tired, he was actually looking forward to going to the manor this Saturday — if only for Alfred’s cooking and the chance to stop adulting for a weekend.

His comm buzzes. A message from Tim. He ignores it. That mission was a cluster fuck of a trainwreck and the only reason he was on it was because Tim called in an old favor. Jason would've rather been in debt to Tim then get chased through the Amazon rainforest, during the rainy season, by a pack of cannibals masquerading as human traffickers. Just thinking about the past week made Jason want to crawl into his bed and collapse. His comm pings again. He frowns at the message. 

Bruce isn't at the manor. 

?

Alfred said he had some last minute business. 

K

Godamnit Jason I already apologized. 

Jason just turns the holographic screen off and continues walking to the control room. Steph and Damian were already at the manor. Cass was on her way. Dick was oddly silent. There wasn't a single message on the group chat from him and it was a little weird. Maybe he's busy… 

“Oh Hood hi!” Ugh. Just my luck. Jason forces a smile on his face. His helmet still smelled like lizard shit after they found a little family making itself at home there yesterday, so he had opted for just the domino. At this point he would just need a new helmet.

“Arrow. Lantern. Superman.” Jason greets, 

“What're you doing here? I thought you'd be back in Gotham after that trainwreck of a mission.” Oliver says, Jason's face twitches. Fucking Harper… 

“What trainwreck of a mission?” Aunt Diana walks in with Uncle Barry. 

“There was no trainwreck.” Jason cuts in quickly. 

“Apparently he and Red Robin-”

“THERE WAS NO TRAINWRECK!” Jason interrupts loudly. They all stare at him. Way to be subtle Todd. 

“Ok… so then what are..”

“I just have some files to file jesus. Don't you guys have something better to do than interrogate me?” Jason scowls pushing past them, past his embarrassment, to the console. Jason can feel them staring into his back as he works and it makes his skin feel like its crawling. Finally he can't take it anymore. 

“If you have something to ask me, just ask. Don't just keep staring like Batman.” Jason snaps turning around. There was more silence. 

“We didn’t want to ask you anything.” Hal deadpans,

“Dick Grayson is Nightwing.”  Barry says at the exact same time. 

There was silence. Barry covers his mouth with his hand. All of the founders stare at Barry. 

“FLASH WHAT THE FUCK?” 

“YOU ABSOLUTE MORON!” 

“WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT?!” 

“SECRET IDENTITIES!!! EMPHASIS ON SECRET!” 

“I'M SORRY I’M SORRY I'M SORRY HE'S FROM GOTHAM!” Barry shouts, 

“OKAY AND?” 

“THAT DOESN'T MEAN YOU TELL HIM!”  

“WE DIDN'T EVEN TELL BRUCE YOU IDIOT!” Diana screams, 

“Wait tell Bruce? Tell him what?” Jason interrupts, a bit confused. 

“We never told him…”

“There's a lot of things they didn't tell.” The room temperature seems to drop as a dark figure swirls in. So dramatic. Batman looks livid. Well this explains why he's not at the manor…

“Batman? You seem mad…” Clark says nervously. 

“I don't seem mad. I AM mad.” Batman growls, 

“Why on earth are YOU mad?” Hal snaps, 

“Why didn't you tell me what happened to Nightwing?”  Batman retorts,

“Something happened to Wing?” Jason asks, Bruce looks at him as if he just realized that Jason's in the room. Thanks for nothing you prick. 

“We didn't tell you because we handled the situation.” Oliver replies cooly. 

“What situation?” Jason demands, he had a feeling that whatever this fight was about was the reason Dick was suspiciously silent on their groupchat. But why would Dick not text if something happened with the JLA? 

“I don't CARE if you had the situation HANDLED. I should've been notified.” Bruce snarls, walking towards Oliver. “Protocal dictates that whenever something like this happens you NOTIFY me.” 

“Protocal dictates that we call his emergency contact. We didn't have it so we took him home.” Diana snaps, 

“Look Batman. We get it. You’re a control freak. But we handled it. We got Nightwing back to his dad. It's fine.” Hal waves him off, 

“Back to his dad? Why did you need to get Nightwing-” Jason tries valiantly to get their attention but it's as if he's white noise in the background. 

“Honestly Batman. You should have more trust in us at this point.” Clark scowls, interrupting Jason. 

“Trust? Trust when you were throwing and flying him around?!” Batman snaps, glaring at Hal and Clark. 

“How..  how do you even know about that?” Barry asks, scrunching up his face in confusion. 

“He's Batman, that's how he knows.” Diana deadpans, 

“Who fucking cares how he knows? The kid had fun! He called me Uncle.” Hal grins, boastfully. Bruce scoffs. 

“Batman, you need to calm down. It's not that big of a deal. Nightwing's fine. Sure we breached protocol. But who hasn’t?” Barry says, nonchalantly. “He's with his family and he's safe, that's all that matters.” 

“YOU SHOULD'VE FUCKING TOLD ME!!” Batman shouts, everyone in the room flinches. 

“WHY THE FUCK SHOULD WE HAVE TOLD YOU?” Hal yells back, always one to match Bruce's energy. 

“Yeah honestly man. You don't even BOTHER with Nightwing. Stop overreacting.” Oliver agrees, 

“Over… overreacting? You think I'm overreacting because NONE of you thought to even send me a MESSAGE about it? You expect me to be okay leaving him with you incompetent babysitters?!” Bruce scoffs, 

“Babysitters? Who needed a babysitter?” Jason demands, I thought we were talking about Nightwing? 

“Incompetent babysitters?! Batman I'll have you know Nightwing LOVED spending time with us! A lot more than he would've enjoyed with you!” Diana snaps, Jason's mind is whirling. What the fuck happened?? Why does Dick need a babysitter? 

“Oh so now we're incompetent because we didn't tell you 1 thing out of a zillion that happened? Really?” Hal scowls, 

“We had it handled. The kid was taken care of! We got him home! There was no need to involve you!” Clark frowns, 

“No.. no need to INVOLVE ME? Are you fucking KIDDING me right now?? YOU SHOULD'VE CONTACTED ME AS SOON AS HE WAS HIT!” Batman shouts,

“Oh my god shut up already.” Hal groans, “We were going to contact you, but we didn't because we didn't want to deal with THIS dramatic bullshit you're doing.” 

“Dramatic. Bullshit?” Batman's voice is dangerously low, but Hal's never had good self-preservation instincts. 

“Yes dramatic bullshit! If we called you, you would've wasted more time getting BLOOD SAMPLES than getting him home!” Hal snaps, 

“Lantern..” 

“No if you wanted to know so badly than maybe you should've given a fuck about him before what happened! Then maybe we would've fucking called you.” Hal walks up to Bruce looking ready to bash his head in. Bruce's hands are rhythmically clenching into tight fists and his body is quivering from barely constrained rage. 

“You've never given Nightwing more than a cursory glance and now you're suddenly losing your shit because we didn't contact you? Grow the fuck up Batman. You don't need control over everything and everyone.” 

“Lantern..” 

“We had the situation handled.” 

“Green Lantern.” 

“He enjoyed himself, so what if we flew him around a bit? He's fine.”

“Lantern seriously shut up..” Barry looks nervously between the Dark Knight and his best friend. Hal does not heed his advice. 

“You just can't stomach the fact that all of us are ACTUALLY COMPETENT since you're so used to spewing your BULLSHIT and ordering us around all the time.” Hal finishes, their both face to face now. Bruce's body is coiled, tense with anger. Jason really didn't want to try and hold back a furious Batman. He was already exhausted as it was, not to mention he still had no clue what the hell was going on. Bruce opens his mouth looking like he was ready to unleash the hellfire of a thousand suns on them when….

“B! There you are!!! I was so scared I wouldn't find you!!” A little boy runs into the room, pushes Batman's cape aside and clings to Batman's leg, instantly breaking all of the tension. What. The. Fucking. Hell. Jason stares. The action reminds Barry of the way Robin was first introduced to them many years ago—hiding in Batman's cape. All of them gawk at the unlikely duo. Batman doesn't look so intimidating anymore. He looks even less intimidating when he sighs, bends down, picks up the boy, and places the relieved child on his own hip.

“I told you I'd be back in an hour.” Batman murmurs, his anger seems to have evaporated. 

“Yeah but it's been an hour B! You were gone and there were voices downstairs!” The kid buries his face into Batman's shoulder. It's eerily similar to what Dick Grayson did to Bruce Wayne 3 days ago. The founders exchange silent looks. There’s no fucking way…  The kid finally stops sniffling and looks up. There was a domino over his eyes, he had on a red, yellow and green suit. He looked like Robin. The similarities between this kid and the first Robin were eerie. Hal looks to where Red Hood is standing as still as a statue. Red Hood is right there though….But that kid is DEFINITELY the first Robin… but he also looks like kid Nightwing, Dick Grayson, whatever his name is… but we left Nightwing with Bruce Wayne….

“Did Nightwing sneak away from Bruce or something?” Barry whispers to Hal. 

“I don't fucking know Barry, shut up he's staring at us.” Sure enough, maybe-Robin was staring at them. Hal sneaks a glance at Red Hood. Red Hood was giving no indication that his brain was still remotely with them. 

“Why were you yelling at them? They said they're your friends. ” The boy asks, giving Batman a confused look. They did say that. Well Hal and Oliver said that to Babywing. BabyWing who was Dick Grayson. Dick Grayson who was also apparently the first Robin. The first Robin isn't Red Hood what the fuck? 

“Batman. Who. is. that?” Red Hood finally seems to snap out of his stupor. Batman turns to respond to Red Hood. The kid doesn't let him. He lightly smacks Batman's face until the other is looking at him again. 

“Hey.. B.. B!! You never told me why you were yelling at them!” The kid, Babywing? Robin? Dick? Fuck my head hurts. 

“I yelled at them because they didn't inform me when you were hit.” Batman says, not saying a word about the fact that he let the child smack him. 

“So what? They were nice and they brought me back to you.” The little boy smiles, holy fuck the dimples. It was definitely the same kid. Nightwing was Dick Grayson. Dick Grayson was also apparently Batman's first Robin. How on earth did Batman meet him though unless….  

“YOU’RE BRUCE WAYNE!” Barry shrieks pointing at Batman. Batman, Red Hood and BabyWing give him a weird look. 

“No but I don’t fucking understand! WING is Dick Grayson! THAT child is clearly Robin!” Hal points at the child in Batman's arms. 

“You absolute MORON! DICK GRAYSON IS BOTH OF THEM!!” Diana hits Hal in the back of the head. Hal rubs the back of his head and gives her a look, realization dawns slowly. 

“Wait.. if Dick is Wing.. and we gave him to Bruce… and then now the tiny child… Oh my fucking god. If Dick is.. And then he’s also… WAIT WHAT!?” Hal shrieks looking between the little Robin, who was definitely the same little boy from 3 days ago, and Batman. 

“I need to fucking lay down because ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME BRUCE?!” Oliver shouts,   

“Have you been Bruce Wayne this entire time? Does that mean that Dick Grayson’s been Robin this entire time too?” Clark asks, flabbergasted. 

“Obviously he hasn’t been Robin this ENTIRE time!” Hal snaps, 

“Who fucking CARES about that? Wing is Robin, Robin is Dick Grayson. Which makes Bruce Wayne, BATMAN!! Why are we focusing on Robin when BATMAN IS BRUCE FUCKING WAYNE?!” Oliver shrieks, a small giggle interrupts the tension before anyone else can start screaming. They all turn to where BabyWing is smothering his laugh in his dad’s cape. 

“Uncle Ollie said a bad word.” Dick giggles, 

“Yes he did, didn't he.” Batman scowls at Oliver, in a distinctly Bruce way. 

“Oh my fuc- freaking god. You’re actually Bruce.” Oliver breathes out stunned. 

“Obviously he's Bruce Wayne. Why are you guys acting like this is news???” Red Hood, wait… Bruce has multiple kids… who's the…

“WHY would we know that?” Oliver shouts, 

“You literally took the kid back to the manor! You're saying you didn't know? Even after that?” Jason, his name was Jason, now Hal remembers!

“No we didn't know! We didn't even know that Wing was Batman's son!” Hal snaps, 

“Excuse me?” This time Batman (Bruce? Can we call him Bruce or would that be too weird?) looks confused. “If you didn't know Nightwing was my son, why did you bring him to me as a civilian?” 

“We asked the kid! Dick said that Bruce Wayne was his father! We knew that Wing's dad was Bruce Wayne! How were we supposed to know that Bruce Wayne is Batman?!” Clark snaps, 

“Isn’t it common fucking sense that if Wing is Dick Grayson then Batman has to be Bruce Wayne?” Jason retorts, looking irritated.

“Again! We didn't know Wing was Batman's son!” Diana scowls, 

“Yeah we thought you were his first kid!” Barry points at Jason. 

“ME? Where the fuck did you get THAT idea from?” Jason gives them a look before glancing at his father only for him to realize something else, “YOU.” Jason suddenly shouts rounding on Bruce. “You’re yelling at them for not telling you but what about us?! You never told ANY OF US what happened to Wing!” 

“You were all busy.” Bruce retorts, instantly.

“Okay really?” 

“Now you’re being a hypocrite.” 

“Way to be hypocritical Batman.” Everybody talks over each other. 

“Look, we're talking about 2 different things.” Bruce interrupts, he turns to the league. “I should’ve been informed that something happened to my son.” He takes a breath and turns to Jason. “We thought he would be back to normal by now and you guys were all busy and we had it handled so Agent A and I agreed not to bring it up.” There was silence. 

“Now that’s just bullshit B.” BabyWing swears, giving Batman the most judgemental look he can muster. Which was honestly pretty judgemental for a 9 year old child. Batman-Bruce (god it's weird to know his name) kind of deflates. Hal and Oliver stifle laughs. Clark, Diana, and Barry look amused. 

“High-five kid.” Jason grins, offering his hand to his baby older brother. Robin’s domino squints at him, and for a second Jason thinks he’s gonna be kicked in the face. Then Dick gives him a high-five. Robin just gave me a high-five. LET’S FUCKING GO! I’m not washing this- No. Stop. Don’t be Timothy the Stalker. Jason couldn’t explain why all his prior feelings of anger had vanished. Maybe it was Dick. It was probably Dick. Looking around the group, everyone seemed much calmer than they were before Robin showed up. 

“Robin, Language.” Bruce says much too late for it to be considered a reprimand. Dick just smiles back at him eerily. 

“иди нахуй (Go fuck yourself),” Robin chirps back cheerfully. Jason chokes on air. If Bruce is a little disarmed by the child’s expression nobody needs to know that. He doesn’t even bother with his signature Batglare. It’s always been useless on his kids, instead he takes one last cursory look at his colleagues. They still seemed to be somewhat reeling because of the revelations. Bruce would explain it all some other day. For now he had a little bundle of chaos and cuteness in his arms that he needed to deal with. While Jason starts to laugh, Bruce wraps up the little demon in his cape and walks back to the zeta. Robin waves to them as they leave. The Founders wave back. Jason's too busy laughing to do much more than wheeze.

“What did he say to Batman?” Clark asks curiously once Jason's laughter dies down. 

“He told him to go fuck himself.” Jason snickers,