Hi, guys! I'm back!

It's been YEARS since I've uploaded anything, and I'm now a high-school graduate and almost 18. I don't know if any of my original readers are out there, but I hope so! I want to address a few errors in the last chapter that many people pointed out.

For one, AGES

(ages were WAY off and inappropriate to the characters, so I will rehash and explain!

AGES

ALFRED: 60s-ish

BRUCE: we're going to assume Bruce began training to be Batman as soon as he was 18, that he did not go to college and instead traveled the world. Ergo, he became Batman around 20 and consummated with Talia as Ghul at 21. So, Bruce is now about 37-38

TERRY: this story is obviously an AU, so in it, Terry is a clone of Bruce (the same as Connor is to Clark). Being that he was artificially grown, Terry is in his late teens, around 19

DAMIAN: 16

TIM: 13

JASON: 9

DICK: 6

Thank you very much for bringing the age issue to me! I wasn't considering the Damian-Bruce relations when I created this story. I also was much less knowledgeable about the comics when I began it. I've read much more now, though, so I hope I can do the Batfamily justice!

ALTER-EGOS

BRUCE: BATMAN (duh)

TERRY: after leaving Gotham, where he went by the name 'Nightwing' (in the comics Dick took that name from Clark, which leaves the open end that Terry could also have taken it from 'uncle clark'), Terry passes on the mantle of nightwing to Damian and travels the world under the pseudonym Batman, wearing the same costume as in Batman Beyond. BATMAN

DAMIAN: NIGHTWING

TIM: choosing a name for Tim was hard, but I loved the idea of him having a name that linked him to Stephanie. (I haven't decided whether or not to put Steph in this story yet) Ergo, in my AU, he chose the name Spoiler because he wishes to 'spoil the plots of villains' (similar to Stephanie's acquiring of the name) SPOILER

JASON: jaybird isn't a superhero yet, and you'll see him tossing around names like 'Batboy', 'Flamebird' (associated with the stories Clark told Dick in the comics about Nightwing and Flamebird of Krypton), and 'Renegade'. His name will eventually be revealed in later chapters.

DICK: Robin (nothing special here, sorry)

CHAPTER TAKES PLACE ONE WEEK AFTER TERRY ARRIVES AT THE MANOR

...

Wayne Manor was unusually quiet. Its usual occupants were all off doing their own business- Damian was driving himself and his two younger brothers to school; Alfred was cleaning up the parlor (after an unfortunate event involving a few certain boys and shaving cream); Terry was sleeping in his old bedroom; and Bruce was in the kitchen, scrambling for breakfast as he made his way towards the door.

"Bruce!"

The small cry stopped Bruce just a few feet short of the front door, toast hanging out of his mouth and hand scrabbling for his tie. "Dick, I'm late for work-"

The 6-year-old was standing there in his Superman pajamas, hair disheveled and big blue eyes glistening. He was holding a box of brightly colored flash cards in both hands, holding them out to Bruce. "B-But you said you'd help me with my cards today!"

Bruce sighed. "I'm sorry, kiddo, I woke up late." He ran a hand through the boy's hair, unsuccessful in his attempt to flatten it. "I'll help you tomorrow morning, okay?"

The little boy shuffled his feet against the tile floor, lip quivering dangerously. "O-Otay..." he slurred, sniffling and blinking away tears. Bruce couldn't help but feel guilty. He knew Dick wasn't trying to make him feel bad- the little boy was too good for that. And all the books he'd read in his many years of parenting said that six-year-olds cried easily. So why was he feeling so guilty?

"Dickie, I-"

"G'mornin', D'd... G'mornin', D'ckie..." Shirtless and still half-asleep, Terry McGinnis-Wayne shuffled his way into the foyer, one hand rubbing his eyes while the other scratched at his chest. The young man coughed and blinked sleep sand away from his eyes. "Dad, you runnin' late?"

Bruce huffed, nodding, and then ran his fingers through Dick's hair once more. "I'm sorry, kiddo," he repeated, "I've got to get to that meeting."

"B-But my cards!"

Terry, who had retrieved coffee from the kitchen and was near fully awake by now, crouched next to his newest little brother. "What'cha got there, Dickie?"

Bruce was slipping on his shoes as an idea popped into his head. Dick was growing comfortable with the Manor, but he was still shy towards Terry- which made sense. Terry had only been around for a week now, and Dick had hardly interacted with him what with Terry running back and forth between the Justice League, patrol, and catching up with his friends. Bruce was surprised that Terry was home at the moment. But it would work in everyone's favor.

"Terry, can you help Dick with his cards?"

Terry stood. "Uh, yeah, I guess." He turned a smile down towards Dick, who blushed and looked down at his bare toes. "That sound good to you, Dickie?"

Dick shrugged. "I guess..."

Bruce hoped this worked out as well as it did in his head. "Be good, Terry. I'll see you later, Dick."

"Hey! I'm almost twenty! You don't need to tell me to be good."

Bruce paused and winked at Dick. "Keep an eye on him for me, will ya chum?" Dick giggled and nodded.

With one more glance to his eldest son, Bruce walked out the entryway, door slamming shut behind him.

They settled down at the kitchen table, a round white little thing with four chairs and a massive benched window adjacent to it. Terry had decided that the kitchen was the best place to spend some time with Dick- it was neutral territory, a large open space, and had food. Food was always good.

As he fried up some bacon and eggs (living alone for a year had forced the young man to learn some bare necessities of cooking), Terry watched Dick from the corner of his eye. The little boy had hefted a dictionary over to a chair and was perched on it, sorting his cards by color. There were at least twenty of each, in pink, yellow, green, blue, and white. Then the boy began to methodically count the cards, shuffle them up clumsily, and sat them back down in their separate piles.

"Hey, you want some food, pipsqueak?"

The taunt didn't get the desired effect, as Dick tilted his head to the side and said, "Pip-squee-kk?"

Terry frowned. "Yeah, pipsqueak. It mean little, tiny, kiddo- that sort of thing."

Dick chewed over the word, nodded to himself, and then flipped off the chair. Terry nearly had a heart attack. Sure, he knew that the boy was raised in a circus and had been training as an acrobat, but watching a six-year-old do a front-flip off a chair was horrifying. Dick looked proud of himself, though, so Terry quickly switched his face to a smile.

"You hungry?" he asked again.

On cue, Dick's stomach growled. The little boy blushed, and Terry laughed. "Alright, so that's a yes. Whaddaya want? We've got eggs, bacon, oatmeal, toast, cereal... Basically everything."

Dick stood there for a moment before shyly asking, "Lucky Charms?"

Terry frowned. "Ah, sorry, kiddo. I think the only kind of cereal we've got is Wheat Thins and Special K. Bruce's gotta watch his figure, right?" Terry ticked a point in his head as Dick giggled. "I think we've got some Frosted Flakes, though. Jason's got a big sweet tooth, too." Digging in the pantry, Terry retrieved said cereal and poured a bowl for Dick, handing it to the child before grabbing his own breakfast and taking a seat at the table.

Dick took a few big bites of his cereal, milk dripping down his chin, before he pointed to the cards. "I'm on blue."

Terry wasn't quite sure what that meant, but he reached for the blue stack of cards anyhow. Glancing over them, he realized that they all had words printed on them. A few had pictures on the back to illustrate, the others having definitions. "What're you doing this for, pipsqueak?"

"My English isn't good. Mami was teaching me, but we didn't get far. I don't know a lot of words, and I can't read good."

"Read well."

Dick huffed. "See?!"

Terry chuckled. "Yeah, yeah I see. Alright, so what is this word?" He held up an easier card, and Dick squinted at the word, sounding out the letters. Terry noted how the little boy's brow scrunched up and how his lips moved exaggeratedly as he tried to figure out the word.

"L-L... Lay... La-ke? Lake!"

Terry grinned and ruffled the boy's hair. "Good job, Dickie! Now, what's a lake?"

"A really, really big puddle!"

Terry chuckled to himself, but accepted the answer.

Dick and Terry then worked through the rest of the cards. Dick got bike, bird, and tire easily, but he struggled with pest, lump, zoo, and quite a few others. When the two were done eating, Dick had gotten half of the cards right. The little boy was looking exceedingly frustrated, and Terry couldn't help but feel sorry for him. When Dick couldn't pronounce 'spoon' correctly after at least ten tries, he began to tear up. Terry sighed and put the cards down, holding a hand out to the child. "I think it's time for a little break, yeah? Do you like cartoons?"

"Cartoons!" the little boy parroted, making Terry grin.

"Yeah. I think Looney Toons is on..."

Dick plopped down on the couch, looking rather small against the massive red structure, while Terry fiddled with the TV. After a few moments, Bugs Bunny and Tweety Bird appeared on screen. "Tweety!" Dick exclaimed happily, bouncing on his perch.

"Yeah!" Terry praised the child. "Do you know how to spell 'tweet', Dickie?"

The boy's smile instantly changed to a frown, eyebrows furrowed. Little fists clenched as Dick huffed. "No."

"Try it."

"T-T... W?" Terry nodded encouragingly. "E... A. T?"

Terry smirked. "Close. Change the A to an E."

"Two E's? That's weird..."

"Eh. English is weird."

"And hard!" Dick exclaimed, hugging a pillow to his chest. "Roma is easier."

Terry cocked an eyebrow. "Roma?"

"Uh-huh. Român. Mami taught me that."

"You're ESL?" Terry wondered aloud.

"Huh?"

"Nevermind. So you're just now learning English?"

Dick shrugged. "Mami teached me English last year. But I'm still not good at it."

"Taught."

"See!"

Terry chuckled at the little boy's exasperation, but paused when he noticed the child's frustrated tears. "Dickie?" He sat down on the couch next to the boy, allowing Dick to crawl into his lap and cuddle up to his chest. "Hey, hey, pipsqueak. No need for the waterworks. What's wrong?"

"English is too hard."

"You're doing really well, though. And you've got a good grasp on the basics already!"

Dick sniffled and mumbled something that Terry couldn't hear. The young man ran his fingers through his little brother's hair, tilting the child's chin up with his free hand. "What was that, kiddo? You've gotta speak up some."

"Wanna speak Român..."

Terry sighed. "I know you do, buddy. But none of us know Roman, and it isn't a very popular language..."

"No, Român!"

Terry chuckled. "Case in point."

At Dick's confused face, Terry explained, "It sort of means 'example'." When Dick's face turned downcast and dejected, Terry quickly diverted the boy's attention back to the television. "Hey, look! Tom and Jerry's on now."

Dick watched cartoons for the next hour or so, leaving Terry to his thoughts. Poor kid. Take him away from his home, away from his parents. He goes from a circus to a mansion! Can't even imagine that transition... I've lived with Bruce nearly my entire life... Same goes for Dami... Jason could probably relate to the kiddo best, but his background's still pretty different... Dick sniffled and rubbed at his eyes, yawning loudly. Terry grinned. It's gotta be hard being a little kid like this. Trying to learn an entirely new language, entirely new lifestyle- hell, even the layout of the Manor's gonna take him years to learn! I don't even think I know all the rooms... It was then that Terry noticed the captions were on the TV screen, and Dick was mouthing to the words. There were few words, being it Tom and Jerry, but the kid sounded out a few of the sound-effects. "B-O-O-M. S-C-R-E-E-C-H."

There's gotta be something I can do to help him... Terry told himself as he ruffled the child's black locks. Dick leaned into the touch, and Terry grinned. Dick was really warming up to him. He'd have to take the kid to the park some time... Suddenly, a loud BANG came from the TV as Jerry hit Tom with a hammer. Dick squealed with laughter and exclaimed, "Pisica prostie!" and it was then that the idea hit Terry. He'd have to let Bruce know when he got home... And surely Alfred would be eager to help as well.

Dick looked up at Terry with a toothy grin, and the young man was temporarily distracted. I'll work on it later.

It was almost two weeks later that Terry's plan came to fruition. The boys were all gathered in the gaming room. Jason had somehow convinced Damian to play Sonic the Hedgehog with him, and the older boy was quickly learning how to pound his little brother into the dirt, much to Jason's dismay. Tim was lying on his stomach on the ground, half doing his homework and half watching Dick. The little boy was walking around on his hands, and Tim- despite knowing of the little boy's training- was ready to jump up and catch him should he fall.

Terry knocked on the door, catching Tim's and Dick's attention. Jason and Damian were too invested in their video game to notice. "Alfred says dinner's ready, guys."

Dick jumped up, darting to the door. Ever since he arrived at the Manor, his favorite part of daily life there was eating dinner together. He had been uncomfortable in the massive dining room at first, but Alfred's warm, home-cooked meals quickly helped him settle in. He especially loved the days that Alfred made chicken and dumpling chowder. "What are we eat tonight?" he asked with excitement.

"It's eat, pipsqueak. And we're having pui."

Dick froze in his venture out the doorway, one hand on the siding and one on the door handle. "Y-You said-"

"Pui, right? Pui si porumb pe știulete."

"What?" Jason inquired with a pout. "I dunno what you're sayin', Ter!"

"Chicken and corn on cob," Dick translated, bouncing with excitement. "He said chicken and corn on cob!" Looking back to Terry with large, watery eyes, Dick whispered, "Multumesc, Terry."

Terry beamed, ruffling the child's hair and hefting Dick up to sit on his hip. "Not a problem, Dickie. Maybe Bruce and I could help you with your cards, and you could help us with our Român."

Dick began to vibrate with joy. "Da, da! Can we make cards for you?"

Terry kissed the boy on his forehead. "Whatever floats your boat, pip."

"Float boat?"

"I'll explain later."

...

BATMAN and affiliated characters DC Comics