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?

Part 28: A Bird's Eye View

Raven looked down to see a four-year-old boy. "Tim? What happened to you?"

"It's a long story. I'll tell you about it over a frappaccino when I'm back to normal. Anyway. Can you tell me where I might find a cat's eye opal, a pink one? Plus, do you know it's properties?"

"Cat's eyes are usually worn for protection against witchcraft and death. They heal as well. The pink ones, I think deal more on the protection of death, but why were you turned into a child, it is far out of my knowledge range. The only one that has a Pink Cat's eye is Zatanna, but I don't know where she is. She takes precautions to keep herself hidden."

"Hugo Strange used a pink cat's eye opal in a gun to de-age people."

"Hmmm, instant fountain of youth."

"Well, the gun's beam hit me. An accident. That . . . That was almost three days ago, no . . Four days." Tim thought to himself. 'I'm losing track of time. I'm becoming more and more emotional, and the people around me are only seeing the four-year-old, not the real me. There's more to that pink opal than that. They are not telling me everything.' Tim was certain of it. "Raven, I need help finding Zantanna. I can't live like this. Having to relive my whole childhood."

Raven took her godson from, whoever that woman is and held him close. She had never heard of Catwoman. 'Perhaps she's one of the Batman's associates, Batwoman, maybe,' Raven thought. Raven turned toward Tim after the woman was gone. "Tim, I do not know where she is. I don't know the first place to look for her. If I had an inkling, I would be able to go from there. Is there anything here with her energy on it?"

"I don't know," Tim replied. He was starting to grow weary, and his muscles were beginning to ache. He fought it off. 'These moments of being tired are really beginning to bug me.'

Raven snapped her fingers. "Batman knows Zatanna. They are good friends, yes?"

"Yes. Maybe he would know where she's at. She is a member of the Justice League."

"They better be just friends," Selina hissed.

'Oh," Raven was taken aback by that response.

"Don't worry, they are. Batman helped her when her father went missing. He only has eyes for you."

"Great, because I stole his heart ages ago, and I don't want to have to steal it back. I'm going to go," Selina said. She gave Tim a peck on the cheek. "Good luck, sweet little kitten. If you need anything, just call." Selina couldn't help thinking to herself. 'If he were my kitten, just imagine what trouble we could get into, my little stray.' Selina climbed on her motorcycle where she hid it among the others and sped out of the cave.

"Who was that?" Raven asked.

"Selina Kyle," Tim answered. "She's . . . She's a good friend of Batman's." Tim tried to explain. It was embarrassing enough. "It looks like I need to talk to Batman," Tim was getting weary. He yawned. "Sorry Raven. Thanks."

"Can...can I take Caleb? I want to spend time with him."

"Caleb?" Tim looked over at Samantha. This was a decision that both had to make.

Samantha nodded. She had stayed silent during that whole exchange. She didn't even have time to question why Selina was even here. She just came then left.

"Yeah . . . Sure."

"Thank you." Raven was starting to want a child, seeing how Samantha and Sasha were taking care of their babies, Raven wanted one now. 'I want to have a child,' Raven said to herself. 'But my father would sense it." Raven opened a portal that took her to the nursery. Samantha arrived in the nursery just moments after Raven.

"His bag is over there. Already packed." Samantha walked over and kissed her baby's head. "Be good for your godmother. Caleb gave her a smile. and they disappeared through a portal.

Samantha looked over at Caine who was still asleep. 'He's going to miss his brother.'

"I have to talk to Zatanna." Tim headed to the bat-computer. He thought of one place where Zatanna might be.

Bruce went down to the cave to dress for the JLA meeting that was taking place when he spotted Tim. He was standing on the chair trying to tap into the JLA com system. "Okay little man, you should not be breaking into classified files without my permission." Bruce picked up Tim.

"HEY! Bruce, I need to find Zantanna."

"Later," Bruce carried Tim out of the cave, took Tim to his room, and placed him on his bed. "Time for bed, Tim. I will let Zatanna know you are looking for her, if she's at the meeting."

'Great, even Bruce is treating me like I'm four.' Tim looked over at the clock. "It's not even nine pm."

"Sorry, little man," Bruce teased. "It's bedtime for you. We'll talk later. Get some sleep."

Tim watched in frustration as Bruce shut the door. 'No, I can't live this way anymore.' Tim wanted to cry. He was tired, and aching, and fighting sleep. It's like his body was adjusting to being a four-year-old, and that was bad. If that was the case, then he might never go back to his old self. He had to find a way. He spied his laptop. It was too heavy and ackward for him to move off the floor, so he sat there working. 'So, her home is called Shadowgate. It's outside Gotham, but on the west side. I don't care how long it takes me. I have to find her. I'll leave a note and explain why I left.' Tim wrote his note.

"Dear Family,

I've gone in search of Zantanna. She's the only one who can help me. Dick, Jason, I know you like to see me stay four years old, maybe even see me grow up, but I can't. I'm 17 and I need to be 17, again. Sammie misses me, and it's not fair to her. Damian, I don't know what I did for you to hate me so. I'm sorry. Maybe if I'm not around Dick will pay more attention to you. I don't know when I'll be back or how long this will take. I have to do this. Take care of everyone. Tim"

Tim packed a few of his new clothes in a backpack, along with some cash. He was going to need it. 'I don't have enough room to carry much. I'll pay for food along the way.'

He left his laptop where it was. It would be too heavy to carry. Tim left his phone behind so he couldn't be tracked via its GPS. Tim grabbed a rope from under his bed, tied it to a table leg, and climbed out the window.

Continues with Part 29