Prompt 150
Reverse age robins/batfam, but Bruce is also included in this age-shift.
Damian is in fact the oldest, how was he created? Well that’s a wonderful question, one he didn’t have until he found what looks like a bit of a cloning lab while sneaking where he should definitely not be and well, he was going to have a mission anyway so.
The Waynes find a drenched at-the-time six year old out in the rain and with several knives.
It’s like coaxing a half feral cat, but they do manage to get him inside even if they can’t get answers out of him. But they do get him to relax and get him some legal papers since he apparently doesn’t exist. And it’s… different then what he’s used to. Calmer. More peaceful.
When the two die he nearly snaps, they were the closest things he had to proper parents, people who were kind to him and taught him kindness. He was out of practice, rusty in skills he could have used to save them. Something he’ll never let happen again.
Which, hm. He didn’t mean to become a vigilante. He really didn’t, but he has to make sure the city is safe. He has the training, he knows how to go unseen, even if he hesitates with some deaths. Thomas would be disappointed. So he stays his hand if he can help it.
Now if only the tiny meta child would stop following him. What was their name… D… D something Thomas. The world must be playing some sort of sick joke on him. A horrible sick joke. It doesn't matter if it's been years now.
It still hurts.
So maybe he investigates things, if only because this child is an idiot, and- Ugh, this is all the Waynes’ fault for giving him things like empathy, how disgusting. Fine, fine, he’ll train you, if only so you stop jumping off of bridges with no equipment or anything.
Duke is honestly relieved to get training, even if it’s exhausting. And he doesn’t have to return to the orphanage or anything, his teacher doesn’t seem to care! Which means he’s slightly betrayed when he finds out Damian has in fact applied him to homeschool. The kid is nine, as the Waynes would say, and needed to continue his education.
So Signal joins Ghoul in mostly-nightly patrols.
And then apparently their neighbor discovers them. Damian is so annoyed at himself. A twelve year old. A twelve year old discovered their identities, which means more contingencies and preventative measures are needed. This one’s last name isn’t so painful- Drake- but the kid reminds him of a bedraggled kitten that he begrudgingly invites him into the manor.
Which ugh, he’s going to get attached, the kid is already feeding the ducks with Duke and is trying to coax his dog over for pets. And also wants training- even though his espionage is actually surprisingly decent for a civilian and a literal child. Dammit he’s getting soft.
And so Wren joins them as well, freeing the children up to continue their civilian education. Even if he’s also doubling it as undercover training.
So why is Drake smiling nervously up at him with another costumed child squinting up at him. Oh the costume is definitely homemade, barely any protection save for a way to hide her identity, but still. It’s rather obvious what she’s up to.
And he can protest, he can, but she does complete the training gauntlet so fine. Fine. That doesn’t mean he’s going to take it easy on any of them, even if he gently dumps several kittens into their laps if he’s feeling affectionate enough. Stupid wide-eyes like stray dogs.
Spoiler joins them by the summer.
Which, honestly, he’s slightly resigned when they bring home another child. A literal street urchin who tries to bite him like some sort of kitten, so he scruffs him like one. This is karma for his own violence as a child, isn’t it?
Though perhaps not, seeing as Todd was the most interested in schooling. Maybe he could get him interested in something else as well, some other weapon that the others had yet to prefer. And perhaps convince him that armor was in fact not a negotiation.
Cardinal is quite relieved for that armor when there’s a bit of ricochet one night.
Picking up another assassin child was not in his plans either, he’d like to say. In fact, said child tried to break into his home on a rainy night not unlike how he came into the Waynes’ custody in the first place. So perhaps it really is karma, but nope. Can’t be since Cass is a sweetheart and latches onto Todd, who insists that it’s his job as her big brother to help her learn to read.
So another child joins in running across the rooftops each night, their little Shadow following them all.
That has to be it, right? No more small children insisting on wanting training or trying to bite his ankles or just going vigilante on their own? No such luck and he might let himself scream into his demon-bat’s fur for a few moments because honestly, what is wrong with Gotham?!
This kid isn’t even from Gotham- just watched his parents die, in fact they all saw it because the children insisted he try to have fun that wasn’t art or animal care and fuck. The police want to send the small child to juvie, and the kids who are definitely-not-his are all demanding he do something, and ergh. Fine. But that is the last child, he swears.
Y’know what, fine Dick, join the nightly runs too he supposes. But he’s cutting back on some of those colors to be safer, little Robin.
He said he wasn’t taking in more children, so why are there two very small children at the front door?!
29 notes
·
View notes