Tim was usually one of the calm, clear-headed ones of their group and didn't tend to let much of his emotions show and of course in their line of work nothing was unexpected. But no one had yet to be de-aged. As he kneeled down to wake her she opened her eyes.
"Who are you?!" Luckily as she tried to move further away the oversized costume stayed with her, covering her child-like body. Stephanie's features had changed a lot as she went from a beautiful woman to the most adorable little girl with long wavy blonde hair going past her waist and the biggest blue eyes. Her childhood in Gotham narrows clearly showed in the slight darkness that shown in her eyes. A darkness the Jason also had; one that no child should ever possess.
"Stephanie calm down. I won't hurt you." Seeing that he was frightening her he held up his hands in a non-threatening way. All the while trying to figure how this happened and worried that if she did not remember him she might not remember who did this to her.
"Yeah and I'll just believe a stranger in Gotham. How do you know my name? Where am I?" Stephanie rolled her eyes; she had learned from a very young age to trust no one. Ever. Her father made sure that rule stuck with her but she didn't want to think of either abusive or absent father. What she wanted to know was who this stranger that seemed to know her and why was he dressed like it was Halloween. It was really weird.
"We're not strangers we've been friends for years." This would be a problem if he could not get her to believe there past, as it would be a pain in the ass to try and get her to Oracle or the cave with her acting like she was being kidnapped by some weirdo in a cape. He could always nock her out with a pellet but that would not help him gain her trust and he did not want to scare his best friend any more than necessary.
"Look I promise you we are friends and I would never hurt you. You hurt you head and I just want to help you get better." Even though Tim was trying to convince Stephanie, he knew he had not been the best friend he should have been to her over the last few years. But Tim only wanted to keep her safe after losing her one time already; unfortunately that required him to control his feelings around her. Now Tim no longer had romantic feeling for her, he just never wanted any harm to come to her.
Stephanie looked him in the eyes but it was hard to tell anything with a mask on and this guy seemed to be really good at hiding his emotions. But something was telling her to trust him. Stephanie relaxed her body a little and gave a small nod.
"Now we have to go somewhere to get you help alright?" Tim moved closer and picked her up; making sure the costume kept her completely covered. Not that he hadn't seen everything when they were dating and this was Steph but it was a respect thing and he felt it would make her much more comfortable.
Steph just nodded her head staring straight at him, putting her hands on his shoulders but never completely relaxing her body. Tim carried her out of the building and pulled out his grapple.
"Now I want you to hold on really tight. Okay?" Offering her a small but reassuring smile
"What is that?" Steph was curious but not afraid of the gun shaped device in the weird guy's hand. Tim smiled a little bigger remember his first time as Robin using the grapple to fly through the sky, feeling like the world was disappearing around you.
"Have you ever wanted to fly?" He aimed at a high roof and pulled them up. The feeling never gets old as you soar and it never will; the feeling of not worrying about anything even for a little while was something that nothing else compared too. Of course Stephanie was not expecting to be pulled more than 20 stories into the air and held tight to the stranger hiding her face in his shoulder. But after a few minutes she looked up and saw the most beautiful sight. All you could see was the lights from the buildings and the stars. She never knew Gotham could be so beautiful it took her breath away.
The rest of the time she giggled and Tim felt his heart tighten seeing this little girl, his best friend, laugh and smile so hard like Gotham wasn't a place of misery and pain but a beautiful treasure.
Soon they reached his bike and they drove the rest of the short distance to the cave. Upon pulling up Tim picked her up again so she wouldn't trip over her costume. But she didn't seem to care anymore as her head started to bob up and down as she tried to fight sleep; which was hard for an 8 year seeing as it was almost 2 a.m. As Tim walked over to a an examination table he set her down and Alfred, always seeming to be ready for all the injuries that were incurred during the job, walked over to the pair.
"Master Tim I hope tonight was uneventful." Of course this being said before he saw the little girl sitting in front of them. Alfred rarely showed any emotions, hiding them better than Batman. But he was most certainly not expecting this.
"Who is the young miss? Surely you are not trying to be that much like Master Bruce and recruiting young children. Even though this was said in a calm tone it was clear to see that Alfred did not approve of any more children being brought into this kind of life.
"No this is Stephanie." Tim chuckled all the while trying to keep Steph calm as she was now more awake with another strange man in front of her. It seemed that she was very uncomfortable around guys.
"She doesn't seem to remember us."
"Oh dear. Hopefully this can be easily fixed." At this point Alfred had moved a little closer to her to try and exam any injuries but Steph was not having that. She moved further away.
"Alfred won't hurt you Steph he just wants to make sure you're not injured anywhere else." Tim tried to ignore that flash of mistrust that was there for a second. No one should ever be afraid of Alfred, that man is a saint. Before anyone could continue the conversation Nightwing, Batman, and Robin pulled into the cave.
"Was Stephanie alright?" Dick asked as he climbed off the bike and walked over to the two of them.
"Tt probably not. Fatgirl most likely messed something up and needed to be saved again." Damian walked over with Nightwing with his arms crossed and the usually scowl on his face. Both had taken over their masks by the time they reached the table. Batman had walked over to the computer knowing that Batgirl was not deadly injured and could wait. But neither Robin nor Nightwing was expecting to see a small little girl with way to much hair and blue orbs sitting in an oversized Batgirl suit.
"What happened?" Even though Dick was closer to his brothers he cared for all the members of his family and got quit protective when something happened.
"What does it look like Dick? She was like this when I found her, no one was around."
As the weird guys in the costumes began to talk Steph looked around the place. It looked like a cave and it was really creepy. What kind of weirdos dressed up and lived in a cave? But now that she thought of it she was wearing a weird outfit too. Why? Though she didn't get to think about it anymore as a very large man, larger than the other four came over. He was covered in black and had a scowl on his face like the youngest guy. Her body tensed and she got ready to bolt should she need too; guys that big and intimating in Gotham were never usually good.
Upon walking over Batman had pulled down the cowl but the normal frown never left. Like the calmer and collected members of the family Bruce never showed any emotions. Bruce did not even slow until he was right in front of Stephanie and when he tried to reach a hand out she slapped it away.
"Don't touch me." Not many people could glare let alone slap away Batman especially a child but Stephanie was not going to let this guy do whatever he wanted without a fight.
"I am not going to hurt you. I just need some blood to run." Bruce stated in not the most comforting tone. He moved his hand but not where he stood.
"Bruce you can't just demand a kid give you blood. Try and be a little more considerate." Dick sighed. He moved closer but at a slower and less intimating way, crouching down to get closer to her height.
"Hi Steph I'm Dick. You don't have to be afraid we just want to make sure you are okay, I promise it will only feel like a pinch." Dick tried to sound as harmless as possible.
"First off don't talk to I'm stupid kid and second just because you ask nicely doesn't mean I'm going to give you my blood you weirdo." Steph glared. Tim chuckled as Dick usually could get anything he wanted with that smile. It was good to see that Steph hadn't lost her spark.
Before anyone could say anything else Damian, having grown annoyed with the situation, took out a batarang and cut her forearm and had a vial to get a few drops.
"Master Damian!" Alfred lectured as he grabbed a gauze to cover the wound
"What the hell you asshole!" Steph glared at the brat and tried to get up but was being held down by Tim's hand on her shoulder.
"Dami you can't go around taking what you want when people say no." Dick sighed. It seemed he had some more work to do with his youngest brother.
"Tt this was taking too long and even though I don't care about Brown's wellbeing I don't wish to waste more time on pointless conversation." Showing no remorse had having just harmed a child and handed the vial to his father who took it over to the computer.
"It will take a few hours to run all the tests. We should know in the morning." Bruce placed the vial in a compartment in computer and got to work.
"Very well than this would be a perfect time to call it a night. I believe some of the young Masters clothes should be sufficient for tonight." Unlike Dick, Tim and Alfred talked to Stephanie like she was an adult which she appreciated. She jumped down from the table and tried to pull the pants of the weird suit she was wearing up so she wouldn't trip. Steph followed Alfred up a set of stairs to an expensive looking den/library area.
Dick and Damian had already headed upstairs. Alfred led the young girl to a room that was bigger than her father's apartment.
"Hopefully this room will be sufficient Miss Stephanie." Stephanie walked in and span in a circle. The bed was in the middle of the room with a stone balcony through the glass door windows, along with a joined bathroom also impressively large.
"Wow. This is cool."
"I am glad you approve. Master Tim will bring you some clothes for tonight. Sleep well." Alfred offered a loving smile as he cares deeply for all members the of the family the same.
After having bid her goodnight and leaving, Tim entered the room with a set of clothes very close to her size.
"I know the clothes are a little big but they should work for now." Tim handed her the clothes and she went to change in the bathroom. After a few minutes she walked out in some shorts and t-shirt that almost covered them.
She was not expecting the Tim to still be sitting there as she was usually left alone as adults didn't want to be bothered.
"I am right across the hall and Dick is next to me. Don't worry about Damian he won't bother you he tends to ignore everyone but Dick and Bruce." Tim said as she came to sit next to him on the bed. Steph just nodded her head but seemed to be dozing off. Tim got up and helped pulled back the covers, she crawled under and got comfortable.
"We are going to fix this and you are going to be just fine." Tim offered her a reassuring smile and moved some of the bangs out of her face.
" Hhhmm." Steph said right before she slipped into dreamland.
Tim laughed at her and walked over to the door and shut the lights. As he got ready for bed he couldn't help but get a feeling this would not be as easy to fix as he hoped.