Redux
by TwinEnigma
Standard Disclaimer - I do not own Young Justice or any of the characters therein. I do not do this for profit, but rather for fun and skills building.
NB: AU, done as a fill for the YJ-anon-meme. De-anoning because I already admitted it was me.
Bruce Wayne was twenty-eight.
Dick Grayson was nine.
That's when the concept of Batman and Robin was born and it changed things, for everyone. Kids were now being looked at by the Justice League for the first time as an untapped resource, one part ally and one part PR boost, but it wasn't until Young Justice was formed that the idea of sidekicks as superheroes-in-training really gelled. Despite their team being relatively obscure and eventually decommissioned, Young Justice served as the platform on which the future of the Justice League was built and, eventually, became the inspiration behind other teams of teen heroes. All the members of Young Justice went on to become great heroes in their own rights, some on their own and others as legacies.
They were loved, greatly admired, the source of inspiration to many, and formed the backbone of the current Justice League.
Was it any wonder, then, that they had enemies?
And one day, those enemies acted.
It was a fitting vengeance, really. They could not undo all that these heroes had accomplished, nor the paths of fate that they had influenced and, in doing so, influenced others in turn. And much as some desired it, they could not kill them, for to do so would raise a furious retaliation unlike any other. No, these paths were closed to them, but there were other ways of destroying the long-grown founding members of Young Justice and all they stood for.
Lian Harper screamed in terror as her aunt Artemis fell to the floor.
A horrified Bart watched his great uncle Wally twist and contort.
Tula and Garth shouted for help, desperately trying to stop Kaldur's loss of height and mass.
Supergirl cowered, long suppressed fears of Krypton's clone wars coming to light as Superboy's screaming melted into wails.
J'onn was saddened when he reached into M'gann's mind and found all that she had experienced and learned on earth were gone, leaving her mind to match the long-ago guise she'd once held. His sorrow only deepened when he learned that she was not alone in this, that the other original members of Young Justice had been reduced so harshly and stripped of the memories of their deeds.
Yet, as young as they now were and as fruitless as the search for a cure was, there was some hope: some of their skills, ingrained so deeply in their core, had resisted the purge. It would not be easy, but it was certainly possible that they would regain them with the help of those whom they once called their students and protégés.
Damian Wayne was twenty-eight.
Dick Grayson was nine, again.
Batman and Robin returned.
And soon, Young Justice followed.
AN: It was a de-aging prompt, with the caveat that some skills remain in spite of their enemy's best efforts to eradicate them.
And then I just brought it full circle.