Barbara carried Dick to his bedroom and watched him walk to his dresser carefully after letting him get down. He opened the drawer with some difficulty given that it was made from sturdy oak and pulled out an outfit that Barbara simply couldn't let him wear. It was all bright colours and would surely cause some sort of headache from constantly looking at it. "Glad to know your fashion sense has always been terrible," she commented as she took the clothes from him and went to find a more appropriate outfit. He hummed quietly and let out a little yawn she couldn't help but coo at. 

"Babss," he complained.

"I can't help it, you're just so adorable." She handed him the clothes and turned around so he could get dressed comfortably. Although, she did keep an ear out for anything suspicious. She dreaded hearing a thump. The poor boy had had enough pain for the day and no doubt he was still feeling it. Then there were things they didn't know yet. 

When the group noticed that Dick hadn't spoken to them in a while, they got worried. It wasn't new for him to cut off contact suddenly but there were usually warning signs. There was usually an argument or something bad to trigger such an event but they knew nothing of the sort had happened. They got together one day, compared notes, and decided to pay his flat a visit to make sure he hadn't been recovering from an injury none of them knew about. Barbara used her spare key, i.e a pick locking kit, and they went inside to find the place abandoned. There were no signs of anyone living in there for the last few weeks they hadn't been contacted as there was mouldy food in the fridge and strewn out papers still out rather than being tucked away. They looked for the Nightwing suit but found it was missing which only grew their fears. Had he been kidnapped? They knew he patrolled alone most of the time so what if they were the first to notice his disappearance and he'd already been gone for so long? The image of him sitting alone not knowing whether he'd be saved or not was one they never liked to have but it came with the job description. After a further search, they confirmed that he had to have been out as Nightwing given how he'd left his place and then not returned. They looked through the reports that had been left out to see if any of them could give him a lead but none of them was any cause for true concern. Of course, drug dealers and human trafficking were major concerns but from what they could see the left out cases were the closing notes. The next step was to call up the Bats if Dick had gotten injured and cared for there. It wasn't uncommon that Bruce ever the awkward father would take him from a nice comforting apartment to a tense massive manor where he avoided his own foster son aside from a few moments of care. None of them enjoyed that but it happened all the same. Sometimes people never learned. So, whilst sitting in Dick's apartment, they called the Batcave. There was no response so they called Wayne Manor instead and were glad to get an answer this time. "Wayne Manor, this is Alfred Pennyworth speaking," Alfred greeted them, his voice poised and stern. 

"Hey Alfie, it's Barbara. I've got Star and Wally with me here. We're just calling to see if you've heard from Dick recently?" There was a pause that none of them liked.

"Were you told of his current state?" Their hearts leapt to their throats. Current state? What's that supposed to mean? Was he okay? 

"What do you mean?" Wally asked quickly. His question was barely understandable thanks to how quick he said it but the butler had heard speedster speak before and could translate.

"Master Dick was...well...turned into a child."

"WHAT?" they exclaimed in unison.

"He was turned into a child I'm afraid. He was found wandering the streets in the form of his nine-year-old self."

"Can we see him?" There was another pause. 

"You see Misstress Barbara, there have been some complications. The de-ageing scheme appears to have been part of a larger plan and Master Dick was unfortunately kidnapped. Do not fear for him though, we were able to find him and we're currently finding a way to get him home." There was nothing about that that made them not fear for their friend. If anything, it made them more panicked. 

"Alfred, we'll be over soon."

"Oh, there's really no need. They've just set off-"

"Alfred."

"As you wish Misstress Barbara. Shall I prep a jet for you?"

"Yes, thank you."

They hadn't been told much more than that and before they knew it, they were in Slade's base rescuing their friend. "You can turn round now," Dick called. The older turned back to find him in a much more respectable outfit than the one he'd picked out and smiled to herself. "You know Babs, you guys shouldn't really be mad at B. He probably didn't know what to say." Her smile fell and she was confronted with the trait that Dick still demonstrated nowadays despite all the things his foster father had done. Making excuses for Bruce. He did it often, and seeing him so young didn't fill her with the best feelings. She knelt in front of the boy and held his hands tightly to hopefully grab his full attention. "I know you mean well by protecting him but you must understand that he had the opportunity. You can't make excuses for a grown man nor any of your brothers for not letting us know what happened to our best friend." Something lit up in the little boy's eyes when he heard the term best friend and she was suddenly reminded of how little he'd heard that word when referring to him. Not a lot of kids considered him as a best friend. It was just him and her for a good time. He knew a lot of people but he didn't really develop relationships with them. Maybe because they didn't like him or something much deeper than that but she'd always thought he deserved to have more best friends. It was sad to see that he'd forgotten he had plenty of best friends nowadays. Hopefully, when they got him back to normal, he would remember. She scooped him up into her arms and cuddled him, hearing a giggle come from him. She knew that Dick appreciated the physical comfort and she was happy to provide it when he was just so damn huggable. He was tiny making him the perfect size for hugs. Then she took him back downstairs, still holding him. 

Starfire floated up to Barbara when she reached the bottom of the stairs and gave her the biggest pair of puppy eyes she could. With a huff, she relinquished her hold on Dick and handed him over to the alien. "I can walk," Dick reminded them but he didn't make the move to get down. He quite liked being cradled. It was nice knowing he had a group of friends that was so comfortable with hugging him. From his short time with his brothers and his experience with Bruce, he was happy that at least a few people didn't mind hugging him. 

"Oh, he is tiny! Look at him in my arms!" Starfire gushed. 

"You are a lot smaller than I remember," Wally muttered to himself. 

"You're just taller," Dick insisted. 

"Let's figure out what to do with you whilst the others work on getting you back to normal."

"Nap?"

"Not with your potential concussion. I need to be able to see any signs you're taking the turn for the worse," Barbara explained. He let out a huff but nodded all the same. "How about we play a game instead?" He gave her a look and she frowned. "What's up?"

"No running games."

"What? But you love bouncing off the walls?" Wally said although it came out like a complaint. 

"Been training for a while," he explained briefly. They had the intuition not to make him talk much more on the topic. They weren't sure how long he was kidnapped nor how long he'd been training but if it was enough to stop him running around then they could guess it'd been quite some time. "TV time?"

"Sounds like a plan," Barbara confirmed.

Downstairs, the family were pouting about being told off by the group of friends. They wouldn't admit to pouting but it was obvious. Sure they knew that the trio had a good reason to scold them but they genuinely didn't think to contact them about the situation. They had a lot on their plate including but not limited to their newly turned nine-year-old brother. Since the group had taken Dick upstairs, they'd contacted M'gann only to find she was in the middle of a mission so it would be a day or two before she could get to the Batcave. She barely wrapped her head around the concept of her once twenty-something friend now being a child so they couldn't get much further in the brief interaction. They'd debated talking to Martian Manhunter but he was on the same mission so there was no use. Once again, they were playing the waiting game. Damian huffed and got up, gaining the attention of his family. "I won't have guests, unwelcomed guests at that, keep me in this dank cave whilst Grayson spends time with them," he complained.

"Someone's jealous," Jason teased. Granted, he wasn't happy either about the separation since they only just got their baby brother back but that was besides the point. 

"I am not jealous!"

"You are so jealous," Tim agreed.

"If you value your tongue, I suggest you shut up now," he snarled. They did but made mocking faces behind his back as he went over to the stairs.

"Don't pick fights Damian. Dick doesn't like arguing," Bruce called. 

"Don't tell me what Grayson does and doesn't like. You've hardly been the upstanding father figure before his taking and I doubt you will be after it." The older didn't physically cringe at the words but he didn't say anything either which was telling enough. There was venom laced within the sentences and he couldn't even disagree with them. He knew that he hadn't done the best by the boy, not in the least, but maybe he could now that they had a possible deadline. A few days until they hopefully got their acrobat back to usual. "Make sure he doesn't start a fight upstairs," Bruce ordered to Alfred who nodded and followed after the teenager. "Are you two still staying here?"

"We'll stay until we have Dick back," Jason told him. "Plus you guys buy the nice food. Makes a change." The addition felt like a cover up yet none of them drew attention to it. The older nodded and let out a sigh.

"Bruce, as much as he's a little shit, Damian has a point. We can handle Gotham tonight but you need to stay back with him. Nobody gets a redo like this and in all honesty, you're messing it up. Like we literally just saved him from Slade and Damian was the one to storm up there not you," Tim commented. "You're emotionally stunted yeah but even you can see what I'm getting at here, right?"

"I do."

"So what're you gonna do about it?" Jason asked.

"Spend time with him I suppose."

"If you're gonna half ass it, don't bother. Step up your game B. You don't have much time left." The brothers seemed happy with saying their peace and left him in the Batcave to roominate. He really should've gotten a parenting book back then. Perhaps therapy too...definitely therapy.