Author's Note: Last chapter! Thank you to Wombo Combi (Thank you so much!), Meridianpony (*insert evil laugh here*), Guest (Don't worry, it's not quite over yet), Guest 1 (Occasionally I'm a bit evil), and IndiaMoore (I know, that was a terrible way to end the second to last chapter!) for reviewing the last chapter (and I don't think I've ever gotten that many reviews screaming "No!" for a story in my entire time posting on this site)! I own nothing.

Bruce all but flew into the observatory, Oliver and Artemis right behind him. The ceiling was rattle violently, a beam of blue light rising up towards it. They arrived just in time to see Robin leap headlong into the beam of light. Dick let out an anguished scream, pounding his hand hard against what appeared to be some kind of control panel. "No!" the boy wailed. "No, no, no!" The light glowed brighter and Bruce flung up a hand to shield his eyes and stumbled his way around the wide beam towards Dick. His first son was trembling violently as he leaned against Batman, tears pouring down his cheeks. "We couldn't stop it," Dick whimpered softly. "So the only way was for someone to go in it."

"It will be okay," Bruce murmured, eyes already turning towards the control panel.

"No," Dick protested. "It isn't ever going to be okay again."

"Arrow," Bruce snapped. "Call the League. Red Arrow, get Dick and Artemis out of here."

"What?" Dick yelped. "No, no. I can't lose you too." Dick was clinging tightly to Batman's cape, terrified eyes fixed on his mentor. Bruce felt terrible about doing this, Dick had lost so much already and the possibility that he would lose more today was heartbreaking, but the man needed to focus. If he had enough time, and wasn't worrying about Dick being killed by something falling from the ceiling, there was a possibility that he could prevent the beam from erasing Robin entirely from existence.

"I'm sorry Dick," he told the boy and nodded at Oliver's first protege. Roy's dark eyes insisted that Batman had better know what he was doing before the boy picked up a furious and frightened Robin, carrying him out of the building.

"I have the League," Oliver announced, joining Bruce at the control panel.

"What member?"

"J'onn but Diana and Clark are on the way here as we speak." Oliver paused for a moment as Bruce snatched the communicator from him. "What's going on here?"

"The Light have ripped a hole in the universe," Bruce replied gruffly. "And now I have to figure out how to close it." That venue of conversation now closed, Bruce activated the communicator. "J'onn how much do you know about time machines?"

Dick trembled in the chilly Geneva air as the beam of blue light ripped through the ceiling of the conservatory and rose towards the pale blue sky. It disrupted the few fluffy white clouds lingering there and made the whole sky ripple. At the same time, his bond with Damian began screaming. Dick let out a pained cry and toppled to his knees on the ground. Artemis dropped down next to him, wrapped her arms around his shoulders and began talking to him but he couldn't understand what she was saying. Instead he was twelve being beaten on the ground by Two Face and silently praying that Batman would come before he died.

"Dick, please," Artemis was pleading with him when he flashed back in but the bond was pouring over him in a wave. He was just dropping out of the tube to the ground, trying to pull air into oxygen starved lungs.

"I can't, I can't," he gasped out between sobs. Then he was screaming. Through the bond it felt as if Damian's bones and skin were melting and cracking. Above them the beam of light blazed green. Then the light vanished with a low whump. At the same time Dick crashed to the ground, unconscious.

Oliver blinked open his eyes to the sound of a baby's wails. He stood slowly from where he'd fallen during the time that the beam was still active and knocking things down from the ceiling. What was left of the observatory was dark but the gaping hole in the ceiling allowed sunlight to drift in. A few feet away Bruce was picking his way through the rubble towards the sound of the sobbing. Oliver followed the other man, curious.

Lying in the center of the platform was a baby. It was all but drowning in the fabric of the Robin uniform, toothless mouth opened wide as it sobbed and whined. Bruce gently scooped it up, being sure to support the head and the child's sobs slowly quieted. "Is that Damian?" Oliver asked, staring at the tiny infant.

"Who?" Bruce asked and the archer realized that the other man didn't know what name the clone had chosen.

"Robin," Oliver corrected and Bruce nodded.

"Yes," he replied. "It is."

"How?"

"J'onn and I managed to reprogram the beam," Bruce answered, ignoring the footsteps that approached them. "Damian has been reverted to an infant form and his memories will be locked away for safe keeping. We'll be able to keep him away from the Light."

"Batman? Green Arrow?" Diana's call caught their attention and they turned to see the Amazon princess standing a few feet away. "Is everything okay?"

"Yes," Bruce replied, the barest hint of a grin on his face. "Everything is going to be just fine."

It felt strange stepping into Wayne Manor for the first time in years. Everything was just as he, and Damian, remembered it. Over the years spent tucked away inside a tube, Wayne Manor had taken on an almost fairy tale quality, like the outside world had been to Rapunzel locked away in her tower. Dick hadn't thought he would ever make it back here. "Welcome back Master Dick." Dick startled a little and spun around only to grin at Alfred. The man looked little different from when Dick had first moved into the manor, traumatized and grieving for everything he had lost. Dick lunged forward and hugged the man, unsurprised when Alfred wrapped his arms gently around him for a moment, patting his shoulder lightly. "Where is..." Alfred trailed off uncertainly but Dick understood what he was saying.

"Safe," the boy replied, smiling up at Alfred. "Bruce will explain the rest when he gets home."

"I shall expect him to," Alfred replied and Dick grinned, snickering a little. Sudden footsteps upstairs caught his attention and he turned to see a boy with auburn hair standing at the top of the staircase.

"Hi," Dick called, waving cheerfully, and the boy studied him warily before glancing at Alfred. The old butler patted Dick on the shoulder once and then left the room. The younger boy approached cautiously, as if suspecting Dick were a trap.

"Who are you?" came the sharp demand.

"I'm Bruce Wayne's ward," Dick replied, making sure to keep his body relaxed so he wouldn't scare off the boy. "I've just been gone for a while. Who're you?"

The boy hesitated a moment, studying Dick carefully. "Jason," He said at last. "My name's Jason."

"Nice to meet you Jason," Dick responded with a wide grin, offering his hand to the boy. "I'm Dick."

After her last conversation with Bruce, Talia al'Ghul had made herself difficult to find. Her father had warned her away from the Bat, telling her that if she was caught giving information to him again she would be killed. In response, she fled high into the mountains, leaving a clue behind that only one man would be able to follow. Now she sat before a flickering fire in a monastery, listening to the wind howl around her. She was not startled when the door groaned open, letting cold wind howl inside for a moment. Instead she stood and turned calmly to face her fate, hand on the knife tucked away in her skirts.

Bruce Wayne stood in the doorway, bundled up against the cold. Cradled close to his chest, in one arm, was a bundle of tightly wrapped blankets. Talia relaxed her grip on the knife and studied him with keen green eyes as he forced the door closed against the wind. "Bruce," she said at last.

"Talia." Their usual greetings exchanged, Bruce stepped forward, cautiously. "I need your help."

"Helping you has caused me nothing but trouble."

"I do not doubt that." Something shining deep in Bruce's blue eyes caught her attention and held it. "But this is different. This could help redeem you in your father's eyes."

"And what is in it for you?" Talia had grown up in a world where nothing was given up for free. Bruce was different, she knew that, but despite the affection she felt for him she had yet to be able to understand his way of thinking.

"Come see," was the simple response. Talia stepped forward and then froze when he unwound a couple of blankets from the cocoon in his arms. Inside was a small baby with wispy strands of dark hair and a ruddy skin tone. The infant was sleeping peacefully, not bothered by the storm howling on outside. "This is the clone the Light created through Cadmus."

"How did he end up so small?"

"The Light had a contingency plan that would have erased Richard Grayson from existence," Bruce explained. "The clone jumped into the beam instead. I managed to rewrite the programming of the machine and shut it down but the clone is now an infant."

"And his memories?"

"They have been repressed. He will not remember anything until the block begins to naturally crumble over time."

Talia studied the man she might almost love for a moment and then asked, "What do you need from me?"

"I need you to raise him and protect him as best you can," Bruce told her. "If you tell your father he is our son, that this is why you were around me often in recent months, it will put both you and the child above the Light's suspicion."

"If at any time it becomes dangerous for him to be in my care, I will return him to you," Talia responded. Bruce nodded once at her. The woman reached out her arms and Bruce handed the infant over. It whimpered a little at the movement, blinking open wide green eyes. Talia stared at those eyes, uncomprehending.

"The beam did something," Bruce explained. "Changed his eye color. None of us know how." Talia could only stare. With those green eyes and the ruddy skin, anyone would believe that the baby was hers. That the only thing the infant got from Bruce was that dark hair. A slow smile crossed her face at the idea that the plan might actually work.

"Does he have a name?" she asked Bruce curiously.

"Damian."

End of Part Three

The story will be continued in "Duplicity"

Final Author's Note: Yes, this does mean there will be a sequel, and hopefully I can start posting it in the next couple of days. It will take place ten years after this story so there are going to be a lot more Bat kids than just Dick and Jason in it. Also, a couple fun facts for you;

1. Jason was only supposed to have a short cameo where he steals the tires off of the Batmobile. Being the sneaky kid that he is, he slipped into several more chapters.

2. Talia was initially planned only to show up where she tells Bruce where Dick is and in the final part of the final chapter but she became more involved in the story as it grew.

And finally 3. This story was initially supposed to have a much different ending where Damian became Nightwing and went to Bludhaven and Dick took on a different name and became Robin again but part way through the first part this ending just showed up and refused to leave.

Thank you all for reading!