YOU CAN NEVER ESCAPE THE HE'S A CHILD AGAIN SERIES

anyway there was a lack of Selina in that series so I shall amend that - this takes place between chapters 18 and 19 in those two months 

It was when he saw Dick in yet another shirt that swamped his tiny frame that Bruce realised he'd have to get the kid some new clothes at some point. They were making no headway in fixing this and if his son was really gone, he couldn't sit by and let this version become neglected. He'd made that mistake once before.

The boy hadn't asked for anything but that didn't mean he didn't want any clothes that actually fit him normally. He kept tugging and pulling at the shirts, tying the bottom of them in a knot to make them shorter and there was always a frown on his face when he was told to get dressed. Well, the frown could be from a lot of things but Bruce - against his better judgement - thought it was likely due to the ill-fitting clothes. 

When he noticed it again, this time Dick was getting particularly frustrated with how his pants kept unravelling themselves when he'd rolled them up. He gripped the fabric tightly and pursed his lips as his face went red from his contained anger. Bruce could only feel pity for him and decided that he wasn't going to let it carry on.

"Dick, can I talk to you for a minute?" he asked. 

"For the last time, I don't know anything," Dick replied grumpily. He fiddled with his pant leg before ultimately giving up and trudging over to his mentor. "He's not like Jimeny Cricket or something. He's not spoken to me since he told me to enjoy it this time round."

"It's not about that. It's about your clothes. Do you want to get something that fits you better?" The acrobat shrugged and looked at his feet as he scuffed them against the floor. "Chum?"

"I'd like new clothes but what's the point?"

"What do you mean?" He shrugged again, whatever he meant by that never being explained. He'd been unlike himself since talking about the dream he'd had which wasn't too surprising. Bruce wouldn't know how he would deal with it now let alone as a kid. 

"It's nothing B. Do you want me to pick them out on the web or?" Whilst that would likely be the easiest option, Bruce wasn't entirely ignoring his common sense today. The last time Dick had been outside was probably when Slade took him and that wasn't exactly a good experience. It'd probably be good to get him used to the differences in the city now. It wouldn't be hard to convince one of the others to take him for the day even if it was still a little off-putting to spend time with him.

"I was thinking you could go out and get them?" Dick's head snapped up at the suggestion and his frown disappeared, being replaced by a bright grin.

"Really? Yeah, that sounds awesome! When are we going?"

"Oh bud, I don't know if I can go with you. It'll raise suspicions about having another kid. One of the others will take you, I'm sure they'd love to spend some time with you," he replied. The frown reappeared and the acrobat seemed to crumple in on himself, backing out of the room as though to run away from the conversation.

"Actually, I think I said I'd try to meditate with Damian today. Maybe another time or something. It's not really that bad anyway, Mama used to always give me hand-me-downs from the other circus folk so if anything, it's nostalgic. I'll sew them and stuff."

"But you look miserable whenever you wear those clothes," Bruce countered. He shrugged for the umpteenth time and almost made it out of the room before his mentor realised the problem. Dick was used to a past where it was only him, Bruce and Alfred. He was probably feeling a little neglected going from so much one-on-one time to sharing it amongst a large family. "You know what, this might actually be a good time to practice undercover work. I could wear a disguise and then there won't be any suspicions." 

"Yeah? That'd be fun!" he replied brightly. "Could it just be us too?" 

"Yeah, it can just be us."

"Radical! When could we go?"

"Tonight. Won't be as many people around closing time." Dick nodded excitedly and it was almost heartbreaking to see him so happy over something as simple as new clothes. It reminded Bruce of when he first came to the manor and tried to navigate his way around having so much money at his disposal. He thought he was spending far too much getting two chocolate bars and daring to look at Lego sets. "Why don't you spend today getting some ideas? We could pick up some things for your room too so you're not as bored."

"Right on, but I really did say I was gonna meditate with Dami so I better go before he gets mad."

"I'll collect you when it's time," Bruce assured him. The boy nodded and darted out of the room with renewed energy that would likely make meditation impossible. 

After checking online to be sure the shops wouldn't be busy, Bruce dressed himself and Dick as normal as possible to avoid being detected. He knew that some people would naturally recognise him and he'd have to think of a way to explain why he was with a child he hadn't publically said was related to him but it would do. Besides, Dick looked so happy to be out of the house. The manor was big but once you knew all its secrets it could be very boring for a child. The garden was nice but Gotham weather didn't permit its use very often. Sometimes something as mundane as a mall meant much more. 

"That used to be a blockbuster," Dick said suddenly as they walked through the mall. He pointed to a shop that now sold watches and jewellery. He didn't sound sad about it but not exactly happy either. 

"Those went out of business. Nobody really gets DVDs or tapes anymore," Bruce replied. 

"Suppose it's easier to steam it."

"Stream it," he corrected lightly. "I still like the old stuff. It's better to look at a wall of DVDs than scroll Netflix." 

"Do they still make DVDs?" He nodded. "Do we have a DVD player? Could we get some if we do?"

"Sure, there's probably a small Walmart somewhere. Let's focus on clothes first though." The boy hummed distractedly, looking at all the shop fronts that he remembered much differently. A lot had gone out of business, changed names or were replaced by shops much more popular that kept with the trends. Only a couple of big names managed to make it but when Dick saw them, he seemed to relax just a little bit. Bruce wished he could've saved some somehow even though he had no idea that all these years later he'd be in this situation. 

When they got to a store he deemed quiet and appropriate, he let Dick loose. Usually, that would lead to him losing sight of the acrobat in seconds but this time, he lingered in his line of sight. He seemed a little overwhelmed and kept glancing back for some sort of reassurance. He looked at one price tag and grimaced. 

"It's really expensive here," he said softly. Right, this was Dick who didn't like to spend money he didn't deem as his. 

"I want them to last. You can get anything you want." That didn't seem to help as he stared at the price tag for a moment longer before taking a step back as though he'd be forced to pay for even touching the tag. "How about I give you a budget and some goals?"

"Yeah okay!"

"You've got $500 and I want six outfits including shoes and at least two coats. Think you can do that?" Dick nodded and immediately set off on his mission with a determined expression. Bruce told himself that he would be open to whatever brightly mismatched outfits he was presented with. He'd rather his kid be happy in something that was an offence on the eye than in the dull clothes Bruce would rather him wear. He took a seat in one of the armchairs near the entrance for parents to collapse in after a long day of their children running them ragged and went on his phone. 

Not a second later, he got a text. 

Selina: Are you in Gotham Mall?

Bruce: Yes

Selina: I see you

He smirked to himself. He hadn't seen her in a long time so it'd be nice to catch up although he doubted she had any good intentions in the mall. Maybe she could pause them for a moment so they could talk out of uniform. He looked around briefly to try and spot her, seeing her heading straight for the shop he was in. She didn't look happy. Perhaps she thought he was doing some undercover mission to bust her plot to steal something of worth. He'd tell her it was a coincidence.

When she rounded the corner and stood in front of him, her look of displeasure turned to one of rage. She put her hands on her hips and her eyebrows became tightly pinched together.

"Bruce fucking Wayne, you have some nerve. What? You won't talk to me until I actually run into you?"

Oh. Shit.

He didn't tell Selina anything about what happened. In fact, he hadn't spoken to her since Dick was brought home as a child. He definitely didn't say anything to her whilst he was working on a cure for it and after they figured there wouldn't be a cure. In all fairness, it had been a rough couple of months as he moved between grieving the loss of his son and reminding himself his son was still there just different now. He grimaced as he tried to conjure up the best way to tell her.

"I can explain," he began. Selina rolled her eyes and scoffed. 

"Explain? I thought something happened until I saw you out and then what? You couldn't stop by once?"

"Did you by any chance hear about Nightwing?" he asked. She softened at the mention of the acrobat before it dawned on her that most good things don't start with 'did you hear what happened to so and so?' Especially in that tone of voice. "He's not dead," he added quickly. 

"Fucking hell Bruce, there are a lot of things in between alive and dead. What's happened? Is he okay?"

"It's a long story and we're still unsure but he's not really himself...anymore."

"What're you-" she stopped immediately when she saw Dick run up to his mentor with a stuffed dinosaur plushie in his arms. 

"I know you said to look at outfits but if I use the same pants for two outfits then I could get this too and technically it's a decoration and look at how cute he is."

"He's nine," Bruce said as she stared at the boy in shock. "Hey, how about we add another $100 and you go see if they have any Lego?" he suggested. Dick didn't need to be here for the story and he probably didn't want to be either. His ward nodded with a grin, gave him a wink as though he understood what was going on (he definitely didn't) and ran off. "Remember the outfits!" he called after him.  

"You're buying him things," Selina stated. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think this is permanent."

"It might be," he replied honestly. "It's looking like whatever turned him into this, there's no way to reverse it without changing him. For a moment we thought we had a chance but," he trailed off. She sighed heavily and took the seat next to him, running her fingers through her short hair. 

"And you didn't say a word? I know he wasn't my own and we weren't the closest but I deserved to know about this. I would've taken a text. I'd still be pissed but I'd be informed and pissed." She could say they weren't close but they were. Dick liked her a lot, always happy to see her and especially happy when she was with Bruce. He said she was good for him. 

"I know. I'm sorry."

"Who did this?"

"Wilson," he gritted out. "Had Talia's help but he wanted another go at making a protege. His plan was to get Dick with enough initial training from me but young enough to manipulate into something else."

"Bastard," she muttered. "Is Dick still Dick in there or is he really a kid now?"

"Looking more like the second every day. He's probably not coming back."

"How are the others taking it?"

"As well as anyone could. We've had some fights, some less than pleasant conversations but they want to be there for him. It's all I can ask of them."

"How many other people know?" Selina asked. 

"Us, my kids, Koriand'r, Barbara and Wally. In my defence, the last three found out because they were there for the rescue. They noticed Dick was gone but they didn't expect this. Not many would."

"How are you?"

"Coping. In a weird way, it's nice to have him back. I think I can do better this time but some parts run too deep. I can't fix everything." She nodded slowly before carefully reaching for his hand and running her thumb along his knuckles.

"I'm here when you need me."

"You don't have to be."

"I'd like to be." She smiled that long-suffering smile of wanting him to come to her when he was struggling but knowing he wouldn't. He would this time though. He promised himself he would. "Does he know who I am still?"

"I think so. He doesn't remember anything past nine so he would've met you a few times."

"It's a good thing he remembers you and Alfred isn't it?" she said, looking on the bright side. He supposed it was.

"Is he still working?"

"Not currently. Maybe when we've got things sorted out and he's ready. I think for now we should just let him do whatever he needs," he replied. She seemed surprised by his reluctance which he didn't blame her for. He'd thrown Dick in at the deep end often when he was fresh out of physio and that work ethic stuck with the acrobat for far longer than he ever intended. "In some way, a part of me is happy this happened. I regret what I've done to him and a second chance isn't something you get often." Even if the person he did it to wasn't there to see the change. 

"What about Damian? Those two were thick as thieves."

"He's not great but he seems to get on with Dick. It's not the same but he's protective. Caring. It's more than I would expect," he answered. Selina nodded to herself and looked across the shop where Dick was tilting his head thoughtfully at a shirt. There was a bright Superman symbol on it and she couldn't help but laugh.

"Superman is still his favourite," she muttered.

"Some things never change, do they?"