Synopsis: Someone has stolen all the money from the Wayne Foundation Youth Charity Fund. Batman and Red Hood go after the man who did it. While doing research on the thief, Tim is hit by a mysterious beam from an odd weapon sitting on a shelf and is de-aged. Oh boy, what are they going to do with a four-year-old Tim?
Continues with Part 25: Listening is Hard When You're Not Yourself
Samantha came in from outside and headed up to the nursery. She wanted to taker her children outside to get some air. As she passed her bedroom, she heard yelling from inside. The sound was somewhat muffled, but she decided to check it out anyway. She walked into the room when Damian rushed past her with tears in his eyes. He came from the direction of the bathroom. The bathroom light was on and the door was open. She went in to see Tim was under the water.
"TIM!" Samantha grabbed him and pulled him up.
Tim coughed up water that had gotten into his lungs, an automatic reflect despite the fact that he appeared to be unconscious.
Samantha started to check him out and discovered he had fractured his skull. Though there was no exposed area like a break in the skin, there was swelling. 'Damn it. Why did Alfred let Damian look after Tim? He was not in the right emotional state of mind to even be near him. Samantha laid Tim on the floor and started to heal his skull, relieving the swelling, and removing the pain. 'I hope there's no brain damage. Tim's been through enough to add that to the mix.'
"Ugh." Tim came to as soon as Samantha was done.
"Tim are you okay? Damian didn't hurt you, did he?"
"No," Tim said, quietly, but he couldn't help recalling Damian's last words to him when he tried to go after him.
"Then how the hell did you end up under the water?" Samantha asked.
"Damian was upset. He yelled at me and ran out. Tried to climb out to stop him."
Samantha sighed. "I knew I should've put him to sleep. He's too damned emotional right now."
"Maybe you should put me to sleep," Tim mumbled, feeling hurt from Damian's words.
"What did he say?"
"That I've stolen Dick from him, that everything is about me." A couple tears slipped down Tim's cheeks.
Samantha reached out and wiped Tim's tears away. "Mmmm, I can see where those words hurt, but those words hold some truth to them. You may not have noticed it, but Dick does spend a lot of time with you."
"Well, I'm going to put a stop to it," Tim said.
"Don't stop Dick from being with you, tell him to hang out with Damian sometimes. That's all you have to do. Yeah, Damian said some hurtful words, but you have to learn to let things roll off of you."
"Normally I would, but things are not normal. Damian's words hurt. I want my 17-year-old body back. And no one is doing anything to help me. Dick really would like me to stay four-years-old . . . And Jason . . . Probably the same. And Damian hates me. . . . And . . . And I can't even be with you . . . "
"You know what, I don't even see why I'm bothering," Samantha stated. "You're not even listening." Samantha left the bathroom. 'Tim just pissed me off. He thinks those words hurt. He doesn't know how much I hurt from him just doing that. Whatever he does I hope he's happy with himself.'
'Oh great, Tim. You just pissed off your wife, but she's not my wife. Not like this.' Tim pulled his knees up and buried his face in his knees. He started crying. He felt more alone than ever. How was he ever going to become normal, again?
Continues with Part 25: A Cat's Eye View