Batfamily Week 2020
Day 4: Robin's | De-Aging | Reverse Batfam AU
Ao3 Link
Batfamweek2020 Tag
Fandom: Batman, Titans
Tags: bafamweek2020, de-aging, De-aged Dick Grayson, crossover, Dick Grayson as Batman, Titans!Dick Grayson, batbro's, angry Dick Grayson, violent Dick Grayson, spoilers for episode 'asylum' in S1
Created for official-batfam-week
"Oh this is not good," Tim muttered as he stared into the quarantine room.
"What gave it away replacement?" Jason snapped, crossing his arms tight over his chest.
"That is not Grayson, it can't be." Damian insisted while Bruce heaved a sigh as he pushed his cowl down off his face to rub at his eyes.
"It is," Bruce, said gravely as the two-way mirror into the room shook as a fist slammed against it, a very pissed off Dick Grayson snarling at them from the other side. His hair was matted to his face with blood, bruises obvious on his skin and his eyes wild and unfocused. His clothes were ripped and covered in what looked like a mixture of soot and blood.
"What do you know about the formation of the Titans?" Bruce asked, mainly at Jason who furrowed his eyebrows as he thought.
"Dick was a founding member along with Beast Boy, Raven and Starfire?" Tim was now figuring out what that may not be right and his mind was wheeling.
"This Dick is from that time when he met those three. We won't know what events are happening until we talk with him." Bruce said not answering Tim's unspoken suspension and Tim made a mental note to do some more digging into the Titan's origins.
"I am assuming you are the one to do so Father?" Damian wanted to go in and perhaps challenge this Dick Grayson, this Dick Grayson who seemed as violent and angry as Damian had been when he first came to Gotham. It made him curious as to what led Dick Grayson, his Batman, his happy-go-lucky partner to be so full of rage.
"He doesn't know you and Tim and well… Jason may or may not be on good terms with this Dick Grayson." Bruce heaved a sigh again.
"I don't remember meeting big bird when he looked like this." Jason rubbed at his forehead.
"You did say you lost some memories when you came back," Tim said quietly and Jason just hummed knowing Tim was right as Jason had told him that himself.
"I want you to remember the Dick Grayson's you know, remember who is he now and not to base him off of what may be said once I go inside," Bruce said slowly as he considered pulling up the cowl but deciding against it. Bruce silently steadied himself before he entered the room and blocked a spinning round kick from his eldest.
"Dick, calm down," Bruce ordered but grunted as he ducked a wild punch.
"Fuck you!" Dick spat angrily as he spun around into a defensive position, hate burning in his eyes.
"Dick, you're safe so just calm down." Bruce tried again, holding his hands up in surrender to show Dick he wasn't a threat.
"Safe? Safe! We have an insane doomsday cult hunting us!" Dick cried out as his unfocused eyes darted around the room and his hands rubbed at his wrists like he was trying to chase away the feeling of something restraining them.
"They've been taken care of, you're safe. All of you are safe." Bruce pieced together what time Dick was from.
"Of course you know what's happening, I bet that fucking tracker I dug out of my arm wasn't the only one!" Dick snapped shaking either from rage or from shock, Bruce couldn't be sure.
"How did you know about the tracker?" Bruce had always wondered and he winced when Dick's face twisted up in betrayal.
"The new Robin, Jason fucking Todd told me. My fucking replacement! A replacement for a name that you had no rights to use!" Dick lunged at Bruce, landing a solid hit on Bruce's side and Bruce allowed it before twisted Dick around in a chokehold to subdue his eldest.
"That was my mother's name! You had no right to give it away to someone else!" Dick choked out; wild eyes glossing over with unshed tears as he thrashed against Bruce's arms.
"I know chum, I know. Relax, you're system is full of drugs and you need to detox." Bruce murmured as he felt Dick slowly going limp in his arms.
"Bruce, please, I… I, I don't understand." Dick sounded small and confused as he turned his head to the side, burying his face in the chest piece on Bruce's suit.
"I know chum, just relax for me." Bruce took a risk to stroke his eldest's hair, not something he had done in many years but knew it was the right move when Dick let out a sob and collapsed fully against him.
"I need help, I can't protect Rachael or Gar or Kori. I need help Bruce, please. I can't keep doing this alone." Dick whispered as Bruce lifted him briefly before setting Dick back down on the bed.
"You're not alone Dick, you've never been alone," Bruce said what he wished he had done all those years ago as he stroked Dick's hair as he eased a sedative out of his belt.
"You'll never be alone, I promise," Bruce whispered as he pushed the needle into Dick's arm and watched as his eldest's eyes fluttered and his face evened out as the sedative took a quick hold.
Bruce let out a sigh as he stood up fully from where he had been bent over the bed. That was more intense than the first time around, but that Dick had fought Trigon and had come to terms with himself in a way Bruce hadn't excepted but this Dick Grayson was full of rage still.
Bruce left the room after a moment of watching Dick sleep, knowing he would have a lot of questions to answer from his other sons.
"What the fuck was that Bruce? His mother's name! What the fuck man!" Jason was the first to explode when Bruce shut the door behind himself.
"A doomsday cult, what exactly was Grayson doing at this time?" Damian asked curtly, eyes narrowed but never leaving the sight of Dick now sleeping peacefully in the quarantine room.
"What exactly led up to Jason becoming Robin?" Tim had never gotten the full story and Bruce just sat down as he thought over each of his son's outbursts.
"The doomsday cult was a cult that was determined to bring a demon named Trigon to Earth to destroy it and remake it properly. They planned on using Raven as the portal between his world and ours. Trigon did arrive on Earth, but Raven fought him back and trapped him while Dick and the other Titans backed her up." Bruce answered Damian's question first as it was the least stressful one to answer.
"Hm," Damian hummed, content with his answer for now knowing Grayson would answer him properly when he was brought back to his proper age, Grayson always answered his questions no matter how painful it may be for him to talk about.
"Dick got shot, angry words were exchanged from both sides and I… I fired him as Robin. He left the next day and turned up in Detroit as a Detective a few months later angry and violent. I found Jason stealing the wheels of the batmobile a week later." Bruce said regret about how things went down with Dick all those years ago obvious in his voice and face.
"Damn Bruce," Tim whispered as he tried to absorb the new information while Jason growled and punched a nearby table as he glared at Bruce.
"I don't remember much from my time as Robin, but I do remember Dick being kind to me even when I was a brat. I had no clue that I was running around like an idiot with his mother's name that you stole him from to give to some random kid you met on the street!" Jason ranted before he threw his hands up and stalked towards the workout area, needing to hit something.
"How long will Grayson be stuck like this?" Damian asked after a moment of tense silence fell over the cave.
"Zatanna said it will wear off soon, hopefully, he'll be asleep the whole time," Bruce said as he slumped back in his chair, suddenly exhausted and a headache forming over his left eye.
"I shall be watching over him then," Damian stated firmly like he was daring his father to tell him no. Bruce didn't say anything and Damian marched into the quarantine room and settled himself down in the chair next to the bed.
"You must return to normal soon Grayson," Damian told the younger, unconscious Dick as he crossed his arms.
"You taught me to control and get a handle on my anger and now I understand how you managed to do it so well. I am afraid I am not properly equipped to teach you and that is why I insist you turn back soon." Damian caught himself and clamped his lips shut.
Damian sank in the chair and crossed his ankles as he settled in to watch the rise and fall of Dick's chest. Grayson would be just fine; Damian was there to make sure of it. Father, Todd and even Drake may have failed Grayson in the past in some sort of way but Damian would not fail Grayson, that was not an option and he would keep that promise to himself no matter what age Grayson was.
It was Damian's duty as Robin, as the successor of the name Grayson's mother had given him and Damian would honour that.