Chapter 3

For those who may be confused by this, we have 2 separate universes here. One is a mainstream DC universe. Pretty much normal normal, though I don't know everything about the bats and all, so some things may be different. So that universe has the 3 bat boys we see in chapter 2, where Bruce at least tries to be a good dad. Then there's another universe where young Dick is abused by his evil Bruce. 2 universes; they are not the same.

I am so sorry this fanfic is so confusing. It should make a lot more sense here on out. Everything before this was kind of setting the scene.

"Dick?" Jason questioned, quickly realizing there was no one in the room but a terrified little boy, blue eyes wide with fear. Had the energy somehow transported and deaged their Dick Grayson? It seemed unlikely but possible.

"Hey, hey, it's alright." Jason said soothingly, hands outstretched as he moved toward the child. "It's me, Jason. Do you know me?"

Dick looked up, cheeks streaked with tears, and shook his head no, scrambling to his feet. "N-no, I'm sorry. Do you know Daddy?"

"You mean Bruce Wayne?"

"Y-yeah. You know him? Are you here to take me away from him? I love him, I don't want to leave Daddy!"

"No, no, no one's taking you away. Come here kid."

Dick did, walking on trembling legs to where Jason stood. "Is everything okay, sir?"

Jason stared down at this child, and wondered what was going on. He hadn't known Dick as a child, even if he had seen one of the Golden Boy's shows. Even so, he was pretty sure Dick would've responded much better to dangerous situations than this.

Jason remembered what Tim had said about teleportation. This Dick must be from another universe too. He might not be vigilante material, and like any normal boy would be terrified by being teleported anywhere.

"Everything's gonna be fine. My name's Jason. You need to call me that, or I'll feel old."

This was odd, talking to a little version of Dick. However, since dying, Jason had always had a soft spot for kids, even looking out for them in his crime lord days. It made caring for little Grayson easier.

"Yes, Jason."

Okay, now Jason was more confused. Dick, if he was anything like the Dick he knew, should be going in for a hug. If he was like any little kid ever (who wasn't the Demon Brat) he should be going in for a hug. Not standing there weirdly, like he was waiting for orders.

"Come here." Jason picked Dick up and set the boy on his knee, wrapping his arms around the small frame. He proceeded to explain, in terms a kid could understand, what had happened. Excluding the fact that he was a vigilante, that there were other people coming, and that Jason was not actually qualified to care for children.

Dick stared up at him with wide blue eyes, that were filled with terrified innocence and navette. "S-so… Daddy's not here."

"Yeah."

"And… the world is different?"

"Something like that."

"Oh. Okay."

Kid was probably in shock or something. "Hey, you know something really cool, kid?"

"What, Jason?"

"In my world, that I'm from. You're older, a grown up. But when you were a bit littler, I was adopted by your Daddy too. That makes me your brother!"

Dick's eyes went very wide at that. "My brother? I have a big brother?"

"Yep. 'Course I'm supposed to be your little brother, but over here I guess I'm the big bro." If that wasn't a terrifying thought. Jason Todd, poster boy for messed up poster boys, trying to take care of the what was supposed to be purest ray of sunshine to grace the mortal plane. Admittedly, Dick had turned out that way with Bruce (Bruce!) raising him, but Jason was sure he'd be worse at child rearing than even Bruce. Surely, he could do nothing but mess up.

They needed to get Dick back to his own Bruce ASAP. Seriously. Jason wasn't good at this.

"I have a big brother. Wow. That's awesome. That's amazing." Suddenly Dick was beaming from ear to ear, looking like he wanted to explode with the purest form of joy in existence. Still, something worried Jason, pressed at his consciousness. Dick was not pursuing any form of contact, including a hug. That was… weird to say the least.

"I love you so much already! I'll do whatever you want, and love you, and obey you, and I guess Daddy's not here, so you're in charge! I'll do whatever you want, I promise! I love you so much already, and I don't know how to say it, and you're just super perfect and I love you! Do you want me to do anything? What should I do?"

Well. Hopefully this complacency would last, and Jason wouldn't have an unruly elementary acrobat on his hands. Kid or not, that was a good formula for someone getting shot in the head. Even if he didn't have his guns right now. He'd find a way.

"Do you know anything about computers?"

"Yeah! Daddy needs me to look things up sometimes, but I have to be real careful so people don't find me!"

Weird. Some kind of ninja game, maybe? Spies and Bad Guys? Well, kid imagination games weren't his priority right now. "Well be careful not to break anything. Let's find some computers and do some research on the us's of this world. We can't have two Dick Grayson's running around, could we?"

Suddenly, Dick grabbed his head and cried out, a whimpering cry that Jason could tell hid a much greater pain. Dick shot his hands away from his head, and tried to look normal, but Jason had been a vigilante for years. He could see the pain in Dick's eyes. He moved forward to help Dick, but the pain seemed to fade then, and Dick's breath increased every so slightly, so slightly most people would have missed it. Jason was not most people.

"What happened, kid, you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine. I'm sorry Jason, it won't happen again. Promise."

Something changed in Dick's gaze, something Jason recognized from long years of hiding from his father. Dick was expecting punishment, and he wasn't expecting a time out.

Dick was waiting for Jason to hit him.