Bruce arrives quickly to the cave when he'd been called. Cass had been less than helpful, saying only that he needed to come when he'd called her.
"What happened?"
Zatanna grimaced at Batman's question before admitting to her error. She apologized before explaining how they'd been chasing a rogue magician when they'd crossed paths with Red Hood and then said magician had started randomly launching spells. From what Zatanna was able to decipher, the spell was a simple one. Simple to do but not so much when it came to undoing it. It was further complicated by the fact that the magician, now in custody, was a total amateur who simply got lucky in saying any correct spells. Which made him of zero help.
He gave a nod and left the young magician behind after she apologized again so he could check on his children.
From what was observed by the others, Jason and Tim had some big memory gaps and weren't aware of their hero personas. Or about any of them.
On reaching them, Bruce tried not to stare. They were so tiny. They were much younger than when he'd first met them. Tearing his eyes away was hard but he did it and looked at Cass, "Are they alright?"
"Hey! We're standing right here!" Jason growled. Coming from a prepubescent boy, his growl sounded tiny. Totally not like how his usual older self sounded like. It made him want to smile, remembering when he first met Jason.
"They're alright, right guys?" Roy spoke while Cass gave them a look.
Jason huffed and begrudgingly gave a nod.
Tim, however, sucked in a deep breath as he looked at Bruce in wide-eyed admiration. "Batman!" Tim was shaking and pulling on Jason's arm. "It's Batman!"
Jason, on the other hand, was frowning at him even as he pulled out of Tim's hold. "What's the fuss? He's nothing but a big boob!"
Bruce could only sigh. Roy was thinking he misunderstood, but that sigh actually sounded fond.
With a small smile of relief at their being generally alright, Bruce looked at the boys. These were his sons alright.
Bruce wasn't sure what to expect when he brought the boys home to the cave and got out of the car preparing what to say once he took off the cowl.
Certainly it wasn't to realize that Tim already knew who he was. It didn't make much sense since, in his own words, Tim found out who they were when he was around 9 years old. This Tim was clearly much younger.
Perhaps the memories really were just there, all floating beneath the surface. He'd already ordered Zatanna to do what she can to reverse the magic. It was the waiting that was going to be hard.
Bruce really hated magic.
Jason had scoffed when he saw Bruce without the cowl. He'd looked suspicious and confused about it. But he ignored him in the end so he could look around him instead. He saw Jason's jaw drop and heard Tim give a tiny squeal. Bruce followed their eyes. They were looking at the dinosaur.
"Why in the hell do you need a dinosaur?" Jason asked, incredulous.
"Language." Bruce saw Jason stiffen. It had been automatic. And it had certainly been awhile as well since he'd tried to curb his sons from swearing.
Someone cleared their throat from above them. All three looked up to see Alfred, some clothes in hand. "If the young masters won't mind, I've prepared their sleepwear. It is quite late for young boys, after all."
It was a silent reprimand but Bruce elected to ignore it. They'd stayed longer with the Titans as he ran tests on the kids to make sure they were at the least healthy and had no other side effects from the magic.
"Good evening, Mr. Pennyworth." Tim greeted as he pulled a reluctant Jason behind him. He whispered not quite soft enough, "It's okay. We're safe here."
Bruce had to smile as his sons kept their hands linked while Alfred directed them to a plate of milk and cookies along with some pajamas. Already, he could hear Jason actually negotiating (Bruce had to shake his head here) for a later bedtime. And movies because, as he heard it, "Rich guys have got to have lots and lots of movies, right?"
For B, I felt he needed two intros. As Batman and as Bruce. Though it still isn't much because again, this isn't really supposed to a serious de-aging story, hmm-kay?
Cass followed from behind. Her lack of dialogue is only because this is B's chapter. She'll get her own with the two later.
