If You Could Turn Back Time

Ch 6

Alfred's flight to England was scheduled for Monday morning of the next week. When the day came that he was to leave, Bruce stood outside the manor with Dick in his arms and Jason at his side.

"Are you sure you'll be able to handle things here while I'm gone?" Alfred fretted, straightening Jason's school uniform and smoothing Dick's unruly curls.

Bruce chuckled. "We'll be fine Alfred." He said before looking at his watch. "The taxi is supposed to be here any minute."

Jason jumped forward and wrapped his arms around the butler. "Bye Alfred, I love you!" He said.

Bruce gave the butler an awkward hug, and Dick took that opportunity to try and eat the small flower that was pinned to the lapel of Alfred's suit.

"Dickie, no!" Jason said, reaching up and trying to stop the baby from continuing to eat the flower.

"Sorry about that Alfred." Bruce said, shooting an apologetic look at the butler.

"It's quite alright Master Bruce." Alfred said, brushing the fallen petals off of his suit.

"Wait Alfred, I almost forgot!" Jason shouted, turning and running back into the manor. He came out a few seconds later with an envelope clasped in his hand. "This... is... for... you." He said between gasps, holding out the letter for Alfred to take. "Open it... when you're in England." Jason finished, regaining some of his breath.

"Thank you Master Jason." Alfred said politely, tucking the letter into a pocket on his suitcase.

"Look! The taxi's coming." Jason said, pointing down the driveway at the yellow vehicle that was pulling through the open gate.

"Time to go inside." Bruce said, quickly grabbing Jason's hand and pulling him inside the house.

"Bye Alfred!" Jason yelled before the door closed.

Alfred climbed into the taxi when it stopped, watching as the driver loaded his luggage into the trunk.

"To the airport?" The man asked when he got into the car.

"Yes sir." Alfred replied, settling into his seat and buckling his seatbelt.

"So," the driver began after they'd pulled out of the manor's gate, "who was the kid with Mr. Wayne?"

"That was Master Jason." Alfred replied coolly.

"Not him, the baby." The driver replied, well aware of Jason's existence as the child had been the subject of many news articles.

"I do believe I have no idea what you mean." Alfred said, adding notes of confusion to his voice.

Bruce had decided to keep the fact that Dick had been turned into a baby a secret from the press to prevent nosy reporters poking around in things they shouldn't be. If anyone looked close enough they'd be able to connect dots that Bruce preferred to stay unconnected. Robin had gone to Jump city at the same time Dick Grayson had left home. Dick Grayson was suddenly back in Gotham, the same time Robin vanished from the Titans, and if anyone knew about Robin turning into a baby that would connect things even farther.

Alfred knew someone was bound to notice Dick sooner or later, but he was content to keep that to the later side of things rather than the sooner.

"I guess I must've just been seeing things." The driver muttered before turning his complete focus back to the road.

—

Things went fairly smoothly for the first day that Alfred was gone. Bruce worked from home for the day so he could watch Dick. He got Jason to school on time, and managed to remember to pick him up on time as well.

When Bruce got back to the manor with Jason he stopped his second son before he could run off to start on his homework.

"Hey Jay. I have something I need to show you." Bruce said, leading Jason towards the entrance of the batcave.

"What is it?" Jason inquired.

"You'll see." Bruce replied cheekily.

Bruce turned the hands on the clock until they reached the correct time and the secret door clicked and slid open.

"Woah!" Jason breathed, nearly vibrating with excitement as he followed Bruce down the stairs.

Bruce sauntered over to the glass case that was holding his batman costume and leaned against it, turning back towards Jason.

Jason's smile was so big it looked like his face might burst from the amount of happiness he had bottled up inside of himself. "YOU'RE BATMAN!!!" He shouted, his voice echoing around the cave.

Bruce smiled at Jason and nodded.

"Does... does that mean that Dick is Robin?" Jason asked in wonder.

Bruce paused for a moment, smile faltering for a split second. "He was, but now that he's a baby he won't be able to do it anymore. I wanted to ask you if you would like to be the new Robin..." Bruce said, gazing down at Jason.

There wasn't even a split second of hesitation before Jason yelled, "YES!"

Bruce set Dick down in his playpen and turned to Jason. "Let's get started with your training then Robin." He said with a smile.

—

After Jason hurriedly did his homework he spent the rest of the afternoon training with Bruce.

Although he enjoyed it, and he was excited to become a superhero, Jason cried himself to sleep that night. He already knew the basics of fighting, thanks to his time growing up on the streets, but Batman took things to an entirely new level. Everything that Jason did wrong would upset Bruce. It seemed like nothing the Robin in training could do was ever good enough for the man. It was always, 'Dick got that on his first try.' or 'Dick was so much more flexible than you are.' or 'You should be stronger... Dick was at this age.'

Bruce expected Jason to be as good as Dick at everything. The likelihood of that happening was slim, considering that Jason and Dick were two very different people.

Jason hugged his pillow, sniffling as tears rolled down his cheeks. 'I'm just his replacement for Dick aren't I.' He thought to himself.

Despite his best efforts, a hatred for his older brother was slowly growing in Jason's heart, and every comparison that Bruce made only added to it. His hateful feelings weren't directed at baby Dick though. He loved Dick as his younger brother. Instead he directed his hatred at the older version of Dick. The one who left him all alone and was too perfect for him to ever live up to...

Jason tried to quiet all of the self doubt he was now feeling, and he eventually fell asleep, his face and pillow soaked with tears.