Bruce sat in the Batcave, glaring at the computer screen in front of him as it loaded, connecting to a call with the Titans.

The video finally connected, and the face of Raven appeared on the screen.

"Have you gotten any information from him?" Bruce said, assuming Raven would know who he meant by him.

"Yes actually, he hasn't held anything back from us as far as I can tell." She responded in her slightly monotonous voice.

"He answered all of the questions I sent to you?" Bruce asked in disbelief.

"Yes."

Bruce sat there, waiting for Raven to tell him the answers she had received or something.

"I'll send them over to you." Raven said before ending the call.

A few minutes later Bruce had a video pulled up on his screen. He played the video and watched the interview.
~
"So Salt..." Cyborg said, pacing back and forth. "What did you do to our friend?"

"Well, I turned him into an infant. If that wasn't obvious to you." Salt answered.

Cyborg was already getting annoyed with this man's sass. "I know that, but why did you do it." He said through gritted teeth.

"Now that's an entirely different question... As you know, I was aiming for Raven. If I had turned her into a baby it would be simpler for me to take her. None of the rest of you could hold up against my magic, and once she was mine, I could have raised her as my own. It would have made her completely loyal to me." Salt said.

Cyborg looked taken aback. "Why did you want her in the first place?" He asked.

Salt grinned just a bit. "She has magical abilities that exceed even my own. With proper training she would be a very valuable asset."

"Well, you missed." Cyborg growled. "Now." He tried to calm himself just a bit. "Is there a way to reverse the spell?"

Salt had the nerve to laugh. "Why would I make a spell reversible if I intended for it to be permanent?" Salt chuckled again. "As far as I know, there is no way to reverse the effects."

Cyborg huffed before turning and shutting the video off.
~
Bruce pulled his cowl off. He was struggling with what to feel. On one hand, he was completely distraught that he wouldn't be able to fix his son, but on the other hand, he was actually ok with raising his son up from a baby.

Bruce put his head in his hands and sighed. Dispute how honest as Salt was being in the interrogation, he didn't just want to believe that there was nothing he could do to fix Dick.

"Did you find anything useful sir?" Alfred asked from across the room.

"The Titans interrogated Salt, but he said there is no way to reverse the spell... I'll have to contact Zatanna and Dr. Fate to see if there's anything either of them can do." Bruce said, leaning back in his chair.

Alfred nodded, face not giving away any of his emotions. "Master Bruce, may I suggest you spend more time with Master Jason. I know this isn't exactly related, but he's been much happier recently, now that he has someone to play with."

"I know... he deserves a better guardian." Bruce said, leaning his head back on his chair. "Well, I better get going. Gotham isn't going to patrol itself." Bruce stood and walked over to the Batmobile, pulling his cowl back up over his head.

—

The next morning Bruce awoke before Dick. The baby had been thoroughly tired out the night before, and had slept through the night without waking up at all.

Bruce had contacted Zatanna and Dr. Fate after he'd finished patrolling, and he was going to the mountain to meet up with both of them.

Dick whined a little when Bruce picked him up out of his bed.

"C'mon Dickie. It's time to wake up." Bruce said quietly. He didn't bother changing either himself or Dick out of their pajamas, and instead simply walked down to the Batcave.

Bruce grabbed a bagel for himself and a package of baby food for Dick. He set Dick in the playpen he now had in the Batcave, thanks to Alfred, then went to change into his Batman costume.

Dick was playing happily in the playpen with a stuffed rabbit... well it was more of him trying to eat the stuffed animal than him playing.

Bruce finished his bagel as he walked out of the changing room in full costume.

When Dick saw Bruce he started crying, being scared of the big man in black.

Bruce quickly pulled his cowl down and tried to calm Dick down. He picked up the crying baby and bounced him gently. "Shhh. It's ok Dickie, it's just me." Bruce tried to make his voice as calming as he possibly could.

Dick eventually calmed down, and Bruce sat him on his lap, feeding him from the container of baby food he had carried down with him.

Bruce's baby care skills had improved greatly over the past few days, and he was now able to feed Dick without making too much of a mess. When the container was empty Bruce tossed it in the trash before changing Dick's soggy diaper.

After that, they were finally ready to go. Dick was still wearing his Batman pajamas, and Bruce had once again pulled his cowl up over his face. Dick didn't seem to mind this as much the second time, and instead of crying he busied himself with trying to grab the pointy ears on the top of the cowl.

Bruce walked through the zeta tube with Dick in his arms, stepping out into mount justice.

As soon as the automated voice announced their names a gust of wind blew into the room as Wally ran in.

Dick giggled and clapped his small hands when he saw Wally, holding his arms out to the speedster.

Wally didn't have much experience with babies, or children in general, so he just stood there, looking down at the adorable child in Bruce's arms.

"He wants you to take him." Bruce said, holding Dick out to the speedster.

"Um... ok." Wally said, nervously taking Dick in his arms.

Dick immediately started investigating Wally's bright red hair, grabbing and pulling at it.

"Ow!" Wally said, gently detangling Dick's tiny fist from his hair. "Um... Should I take him to see the others?" He said sheepishly, turning to look at Bruce.

Bruce just shrugged and walked off towards the cave's living room area.

Wally followed behind Bruce, walking as carefully as he could, so he wouldn't trip or drop Dick.

When they got into the living room Wally was almost immediately surrounded by the other members of the team. It seemed they all wanted to get a look at their youngest team member.

The girls cooed at the baby, and Artemis reached out and took Dick from Wally's arms. Artemis, M'gann, and Zatana all huddled together, talking in strange baby voices to Dick.

Superboy huffed before he plopped down on the couch. He tried to seem as disinterested as he could. In reality though, he was actually very curious. He'd never really interacted with a human baby before. Sure, he'd seen people with babies, even rescued a few, but he'd never really played with one, or held one. The same could, for the most part, be said for children in general.

Of course M'gann noticed Superboy craning his neck to try and see the baby. She gently took Dick from Artemis and walked over to Superboy. His eyes widened in surprise when she set Dick down in his lap.

"M'gann, why'd you hand him to me? I don't know anything about babies." Superboy said, looking up at his girlfriend.

"Come on. It's not that hard. Besides, I think he likes you." M'gann said with an encouraging smile.

Dick, who was currently trying to eat the red S on Superboy's shirt, looked up at M'gann and smiled.

While all of the teens crowded around Dick, Bruce looked for Dr. Fate. The man was nowhere to be seen, so Bruce settled against the wall and waited.

—

About 30 minutes later, Dr. Fate's name was called from the zeta tubes. The magician came walking into the room a few minutes later. He walked over to where the teens were playing on the floor with baby Dick.

Fate picked up Dick and held him at arm's length. "The sorcerer who did this, what information were you able to get from him?" He asked, handing the baby back to the team.

"Not much... He said he made the spell to be permanent, and was planning on casting the spell on a specific member of the team." Bruce replied.

"Let Zatanna see if there is anything she can do first. Fate should not intervene unless absolutely necessary." Fate said, looking towards the young magician.

Zatana looked at Dick for a moment before standing up and starting to speak some words in her strange backwards magic language. She floated in the air, and her eyes turned white, but it only lasted for a few seconds before she fell roughly to the ground. "I'm sorry, I don't think there is anything I can do." She said, rubbing at her head.

Fate stepped forward and lifted his hands. A glowing yellow ankh shot out of his hands and surrounded Dick. A few seconds later the ankh disappeared. "I'm afraid this is not something Fate will be able to fix." He said before turning and flying through a portal.

"So... It's permanent then?" Wally asked.

All of the team members looked up at Bruce. Bruce nodded sadly and picked Dick up. "I guess it is." He said, turning and heading toward the zeta tubes.

Bruce sighed when he walked out into the Batcave. Dick had fallen asleep in his arms in the short time it had taken for him to walk to the zeta tubes. He glanced down at the sleeping baby lying peacefully in his arms. Bruce brushed an ebony curl off of Dick's forehead with his finger.

Another sigh left Bruce's lips as he gently laid the baby in his play pen, taking off his cape and tucking it around Dick, hoping it would be enough to keep him warm.

Bruce quickly changed back into his civvies. He sat down in the chair of the Batcomputer and began filing away the information he had received from the Titans as well as from Fate and Zatanna. Robin was not coming back.

Something bright in the corner of Bruce's vision caught his eye. It was Dick's robin costume. The titans had included one in the bag they had given to Bruce when they had first dropped Dick off. He picked it up and walked over to one of the glass cases lining a wall of the cave. He was about to put the uniform inside. Dick wouldn't need it again, at least not for a long time.

Before Bruce could put the uniform away he stopped as a thought entered his mind. His hand tightened on the brightly colored uniform, and he looked back at Dick in his crib. Who said he had to get rid of Robin until Dick was old enough again... maybe someone else could take up the mantle.

Bruce thought back to how happy Jason had been recently that he had been spending more time with him. He looked down at the yellow, red, and green uniform in his hand before whispering aloud, "Maybe it's time for Gotham to have a new Robin..."