The team entered the mall and gazed at the multitude of stores and shops to go to.
"Before we just run off and lose track of what we are doing, what are we getting and where can we find it?" Kaldur asked as he adjusted the toddler in his arms.
They walked over to the directory before Wally pointed to a shop on the map.
"Let's go here. They'll have some fun toys for Rob." Wally ruffled Dick's hair and the toddler instantly fixed the hairs that were now sticking up. The team walked the short distance and found the shop. There were play sets all around the large store, and games and toys stocked on the walls.
Kaldur put Robin on his feet so he could go play on the different plays sets, but he just stood there, trying to act serious, even though he eagerly wanted to play.
"Robin, wanna play on the swing set?" M'gann swung the empty seat in hopes that the boy would want to play. He just shook his head and stood there.
"What's wrong?" Conner knelt down by Robin doing his best to act as kindly as possible to the kid.
"Noting. Dis store is for kids." Dick said, keeping a straight face. Wally picked Robin up and carried him away from the group.
"Put me down, I can walk by myself." Dick kicked his legs and flailed his tiny fists at Wally, but he just kept carrying the kid away from everyone else and set him on a bench for kids.
"What's wrong Dick?" Wally asked with concern.
"Noting, essept for my words!" Dick angrily tried speaking normally.
"Don't worry buddy, your little mouth can't pronounce everything right yet. No one cares."
"I do!" Dick pouted and crossed his arms.
"Come on. Why don't you wanna play?" Wally put a hand on Dick's shoulder, hoping it would help the kid relax.
"Playing is for kids." Dick replied.
"But you are a kid." Wally tried ruffling Dick's hair again, but his hand was swatted away.
"No I'm not. I'm supposed to be tirteen." Dick reminded Wally.
Wally sighed. Even when the kid was three years old, he still had to act mature.
"You may have been older at a time, but for now, you're only two or three. You'll never have the chance to be little again, so at least have fun while it lasts. Right now I can tell you just want to play, and that's why we're here. You can go back to being thirteen when you really are thirteen, but right now, just be a kid." Wally watched as the serious look on Dick's face faded and the tense figure of his body melted.
Dick jumped off the bench and ran over to the little car that went down a slide.
"Wally, push me!" Dick yelled as the speedster smiled and lightly pushed the car down the ramp and over to little hills.
The rest of the team played and watched as Robin ran from each play set to the next. After Robin was done, the team looked at the different toys and games sitting on the shelves. They went all around the walls, waiting for Dick to choose some toys. He had already picked out an airplane and a lego set and he was happily carrying the box with the plane while Conner held the legos. Kaldur watched as the boy's eyes widened in joy at a toy, but he kept walking. Kaldur looked at the toy Robin had been staring at. It was a plush Bird doll that looked like a Robin. It looked like it would be the size of the boy.
"Robin." Kaldur called before the toddler turned the corner. He walked back over to Kaldur to hear what he wanted.
"Do you want another toy?" He asked, knowing the real answer. Rob shook his head.
"Are you sure?" He raised an eyebrow at him. Robin just looked at his shirt as he played with the end.
"I already got enough toys." Robin ran around the corner before Kaldur could ask again. Kaldur grabbed one of the birds and looked around the corner. Seeing that Robin was with M'gann and Artemis, Kaldur walked the other way to hide the bird from Rob.
The rest of the team met next to the register when Artemis realized something.
"Wait, how are we paying for this?" She asked, knowing that she didn't have money and most of the team probably didn't either.
"Don't worry Babe. The Bat is taking care of it." Wally handed the card to the cashier who swiped it. The rest of the team started moving towards the door when Kaldur put the stuffed animal by the register.
With bags in the hands, Wally and Kaldur met up with the team, which was walking towards another area of the mall. After walking around for a little while, Robin's little jaw dropped at the sight of the castle that children were playing on.
"Hello Megan! I forgot about the castle!" M'gann said in her happy tone of voice. Everyone just looked at her oddly.
"I looked up this mall a while ago and I read that they had a castle for kids to play in."
The team left the subject at that and went over to the castle. There was a bridge and a moat in the carpet surrounding the castle, and Robin jumped across the rock designs as he made his way to the side entrance of the castle. Everyone played along with him, jumping on the fake rock patterns and running around with him. As they soon realized, the castle was definitely not made for teenagers. Kaldur and Conner stayed out by the side of the castle, and soon M'gann couldn't fit into the small places either. Wally and Artemis decided to stick it out and stay with Robin, knowing that the boy could vanish and get lost if they didn't keep an eye on him.
Robin jumped around and played with all the different parts of the castle. He sat in the king chair and played with the chimes on the wall next to it. He looked out the windowed wall to see Conner, Kaldur and M'gann watching him with smiles on their faces as Robin waved to them.
Robin slid down the slide and Wally sped to the bottom, using the stairs, and caught the boy as he reached the bottom of the slide. Robin giggled as he ran over to the globes with light reaching from the sphere in the middle to the edge of the glass, looking like lightning. He put his hands on it and watched in amazement as the lightning shaped lights went to his hands. He moved his fingers and watched as the lights followed.
Robin ran and found a picture of a knight in armor holding a princess close to him with their faces cut out.
"Wally! Wally!" Robin called as he jumped to put his head by one of the faces. Wally slid the stepstool that was placed by one hole and put it by the other, so the toddler could put his head through.
"Wally, put your head trew!" Wally put his head in, not knowing what the picture was. Artemis walked over and tried to contain her laughter.
"What?" Wally asked.
"Stay there." Artemis dug through her bag and pulled out a digital camera. "Smile!" She took almost twenty pictures of the two boys, making sure she saved each and every picture.
Robin's smile reached ear to ear, and Wally smiled as well, until he took his head and looked at the board. His face turning red, he ran after Artemis, who still had the camera in hand. Robin ran to go look around the castle again, but a strong arm caught him and lifted him up.
"Not so fast there." Conner smiled at the boy. He was still giggling until he heard his stomach growl loudly. Blushing, he held his stomach and smiled awkwardly. Conner carried him over to where the group was now standing. Wally was still trying to grab the camera. Conner grabbed the camera and looked at why he was trying to take it. A smile grew on his face as he handed it to Kaldur and M'gann. They both contained their laughter as Wally's face grew red.
The team snapped out of the laughter when Robin's stomach growled again.
"Looks like its time for lunch." Artemis said as she quickly took the camera and shoved it into a zippered pocket of her purse.
At the food court, everyone got their food and grabbed a table that was off to the side. Robin tried sitting in a normal seat, but seeing that the table was too tall for him, Kaldur grabbed a high chair from a stack and put Rob in it. There were a few scattered conversations here and there, but they mostly ate as quickly as they could so they could explore more of the mall with Robin.
Robin was almost done eating when he heard music. He looked over the balcony and saw a merry-go-round spinning.
"Can we go to Merry-go-round?" He asked eagerly. The team ate the small remainder of their food before going over to the carousel. They all hopped on to the different horses. Conner, seeing that there weren't any seats that weren't childish, sat on a black horse with a blue mane and a blue and gold saddle. Kaldur sat on a white horse with a black mane and a silver and orange saddle. Wally wanted to just hold Rob on his horse, but Artemis picked Robin up and glared at Wally. Not wanting to get mauled by Artemis, he sat on a brown horse with a darker brown mane and a red and blue saddle. M'gann hopped onto the white horse with a purple mane and brown saddles. Artemis helped Robin up onto a white horse with a blonde mane and a red and black saddle.
As the ride started, Artemis held onto Robin while she grabbed her camera again. She took pictures of all the guys, who looked like they wanted to die right there and then. M'gann laughed lightly as she saw Artemis taking pictures and Robin laughed with her.
By the end of the ride, the three boys jumped off as soon as possible and got of the ride. Artemis lifted the child off the horse and on to the ground where he walked sluggishly and held her hand. As they kept walking, Artemis noticed the boy get slower and slower.
"Want me to pick you up?" she asked brightly. He nodded his head and reached his arms up to her. He soon was sleeping contently on her shoulder as they continued to walk. Kaldur looked back and noticed the sleeping boy.
"Is he ready to go?" He asked the archer. She shook her head.
"I don't think he wanted to leave just yet. He just needs a little time to relax." She looked at her watch, seeing that it was only 12:00.
"Lets just walk around for now." She suggested. The team made their way through the mall, picking stores to go to when Rob woke up, and choosing stores to go in now.
…
Batman walked into the interrogation room that the scientist was in. The man was restrained by cuffs on his hands and ankles with a chain keeping him from fully extending his body. He was relatively skinny and short, with brown, graying hair.
"And to what do I owe the honor of having the almighty Batman join me today?" He asked while he smirked.
"You're going to tell me what I want to know." Batman's voice was deep and dark.
"Well if your gonna be that harsh about it you can at least call me by my name: Minervo. It's from the-"
"The Roman Goddess Minerva. Goddess of Science." Batman finished.
"And wisdom, medicine, arts, and war." Minervo added.
"You are going to tell me the cures to your little experiments Minervo."
Batman slammed down on the table, shocking the scientist.
"Not so fast. I have many experiments. How do I know which ones you want?"
"You are going to tell me everything if you have to." Batman growled.
"Some of them don't even have cures. Some you just have to wait and wait and wait or live with them forever. I remember some of the ones I have by my traps leave you permanently affected. And some you wait, or maybe you can cure it early. I can't remember which trap was curable and which wasn't." Minervo acted tough but Batman could see the fear in the scientist's eyes. Batman was going to get the information out of him anyway he could. He was not going to let Dick stay a child forever.
…
I hate doing the sciency parts! I don't like having to make a deadline in which Robin changes back, or have to make up something that cures him! Eh, I'll do that later.
At my old mall, we really did have a castle like that! It was the greatest thing ever….
Ha HA! Two chapters in one night! And I'm still going!
Please oh please review! It makes me so happy seeing them in my inbox!
Thanks for reading and enjoy the fluff!