BatSwitch

Notes: This story has been written a little differently to the rest. I used a word generator to give me prompt words and tried to write to those. The prompt is below and the story starts with Young Justice's side (well, it really starts with the Justice League but they only stay for a scene).

This is a crossover but I haven't marked it as such (on purpose).

Prompt: Daddy!Bats!... Richard!?

I'm looking through some older parts for fills to read and prompts to try filling, and I've encountered many Daddy!Bat prompts, as well as ones where Robin is not Dick Grayson and some where he dimension/time-travels to the comic future of Bat!Grayson.

So it just got me thinking. I really like YJ Daddy!Bats... But everyone paints Grayson as such a great Daddy!Bats to Damian. I want to see Daddy!Bats!Grayson mothering the YJ team.

That's right. This is a "Switch Bruce!Batman for Grayson!Batman" prompt.

Is this some sort of universal burp? Was someone looking to eliminate Grayson!Batman by sending him to another universe, and said universe bitch-slaps their plans by bringing said universe's Batman to fill in for Grayson, even though it's not the same person? Up to writer!Anon!

Alternate Universe-Grayson works best for this. I'm not looking for Grayson!Batman to be the future self of Robin from Earth-16. Their universes should be different enough that Grayson doesn't have to be over-the-top careful about not giving out any future events (which is already easy enough, as he'd know he never met Superboy as a thirteen year old and thus realize he is not a time-traveler).

I don't even know. I just know I'm dying to see Grayson!Batman mothering YJ in his own way while the League and him try to figure out a way to swap their Batmans again.

Does Robin realize who this Batman is and is completely awed by how awesome he is?
Does Grayson have a better time helping Supey out, after being with the emotionally-retarded, highly-violent little thing that Damian is?

Oh, the possibilities.

Young Justice's Side

Unusual

The Justice League had met many enemies with many kinds of rays, portals and the like.

That was the usual.

This was not usual.

Batman had been hit. A blast of light, a shudder in the Earth and a groan. The villain even seemed to be surprised, right up to when Superman punched him out.

"Batman?" Wonder Woman questioned, approaching the Dark Knight cautiously.

Hands pressed back to the ground and the Dark Knight acrobatically flipped himself up, around and onto his feet.

"Oh Hera," Wonder Woman gasped.

The Dark Knight looked around, eyes hidden behind the lenses of his cowl, assessing all of them.

Then, he smiled.

"Indeed," he agreed in a warm tone.

Accessible

"Override – B01 –zzit-"

The team looked up from what they were doing as the Zeta tube lit up, crackling with difficulty. Kaldur looked to Robin with a disapproving glare.

"It's not me!" Robin insisted, even though the code was his and he had a reputation as a hacker. Of course, if he was him, he wouldn't force the computer to say so.

The lights cleared with the announcement of Black Canary and 'Guest'.

"Okay, I guess that didn't work so well," a figure dressed in Batman's cowl said as he walked out. He possessed the growl but his word choice was all wrong.

"Please, do not mess with the Zeta beams again," Black Canary responded. Before she could call the team, they had already gathered and were eager for answers.

"I was just trying to make it more accessible."

Robin eyed the 'Batman' warily. He knew this wasn't Bruce. The Batman gave him a weak wave 'hello'.

"Batman, this is the team. Team, this is Batman."

"I'm from an alternate universe," Batman said, the growl in his voice fading a little. He kept it going though, just out of habit. "Robin and I were fighting the same criminal with the same weapon when your Batman and I were blasted. It appears we've switch places."

"You can't be the Batman," Kid Flash insisted, "your cape is too short."

"How observant," the Batman commented in a drawl tone. "So, Flash Kid, did you miss the part where I said I'm from an alternate universe?"

"It's Kid Flash!"

Artemis laughed and then caught herself. She shared a baffled look with the rest of the team; had the Batman just made a joke?

Black Canary sighed.

"He'll be looking after you all while we work overtime to try and fix this."

"You know-"

"I don't care if you think your side will solve it faster," Black Canary interrupted, "it's not a guarantee and we want our Batman back."

Robin nodded in agreement, glaring at the tall and black figure. The Batman reached out and ruffled his hair.

"Don't worry, your Batman is with some of best people I know. It'll be fine."

"Somehow, your word isn't very reassuring," Robin responded, batting the hand away.

"Is he smiling?" Kid Flash whispered to Artemis.

She nodded, frozen.

"Make him stop," Superboy said to them.

Sofa

They tried to ignore the visiting Batman. Robin went about hacking into the Justice League in order to find out everything about the incident. Kid Flash went with him. M'gann started cooking a new batch of cookies, feeling that everyone would need one. Superboy returned to his place on the sofa with the TV playing no signal. Artemis went to train.

Kaldur stayed with the visiting Batman.

"You don't trust me, do you?" the Batman said. There was a slight growl in his voice but it was overshadowed with a touch of sadness.

This Batman was very emotional, his voice giving away what his body didn't.

"My understanding is that you would not trust us in the same situation," Kaldur explained.

"Perhaps." The Batman looked down the hall were Robin had retreated. Then he turned and walked over to the sofa, flopping himself down next to Superboy.

Ear

Superboy tried to ignore the look Batman was giving him. Like he was examining him. But, after a while, it almost seemed to itch.

"What?" he growled, ice-blue eyes glaring at the man in the cowl.

"You just remind me of someone," Batman responded, "and I'm trying to figure out who."

"Superman?" Superboy suggested.

Batman barked a laugh at that. "No." In fact, he was trying to figure out why this Superboy seemed so much different than the one in his universe. "But I can lend an ear if there's something bothering you."

Superboy glared.

"Would you rather we go train together or something? I'm interested to see how you fight in this world. Do you have TTK?"

"What's TTK?"

Batman tilted his head in amusement although a smile didn't grace his lips this time.

"Tactile Telekinesis. But, if you don't have that, then do you have Superman's strength?" Superboy nodded. "Amazing." Superboy blinked.

Amazing? Really? But Superman had strength and could fly.

Somehow, he ended up outside, showing off his strength and leap to the alternate Batman.

Sloppy

They probably shouldn't have gone out. Not with Batman gone and a weird, almost-nice Batman in his place.

"This is just a street gang!" Kid Flash complained, right before a crowbar came flying towards his face, he dodged it but missed the one aimed at the back of his head.

"Kid!" Robin yelled as he saw his friend drop. He flipped over a couple of the gang members to get to Kid Flash's side.

"This is so… horrible," M'gann whimpered, even as she tossed a man coming at her with a bat away. "Why are they attacking us?"

"Because we stopped them from hurting that girl," Artemis responded, letting another arrow fly. They had dropped in, six strong and distracted the what-they-thought-were-two men from the victim, long enough for her to escape. They didn't notice the rest of the gang until they were surrounded.

Always check your surroundings. Most of them were mentally kicking themselves for forgetting that.

A black figure dropped down, eyes almost glowing in the darkness, cape fluttering as they landed and their thick boots not even making a sound as they hit the ground.

"Evening," came the growl before Batman knocked the two men who rushed him out. A punch to the chin and a strong grip around the other's arm before practically tossing him into his fist as the other hit the ground.

The thud of the two bodies put all attention on him.

"Leave the kids alone," a glint of barred teeth in the dark, "and run. See how far you get."

They didn't get far. Batman took down two by tangling their fleeing legs in rope and then barked out orders to the team to take them down.

It was much easier now that the gang was scared the too busy trying to escape, to save themselves, to work together.

When it was done, Batman tied them upside down on a lamppost and then glared down at them.

"Back to the cave. Now."

Flight

The flight back to the cave was silent. The imposing figure of the Batman stood just behind M'gann, a constant reminder that no matter what universe he was from, Batman was Batman after all.

Roll

They returned to the mountain and Batman walked them all off the ship.

"You can't treat us like this!" Robin said before Batman could say anything. "You're not My Batman!"

Batman's shoulders shifted and he rolled his eyes under the mask. He hoped he wasn't that much of a brat when he was a kid but had a feeling he might have been. It was not a pleasant realisation.

"And you're not My Robin," he growled back, "but we're stuck with each other, for now at least. And I'd rather that your Batman doesn't come back to find you dead at some gang's hands."

Lively

Batman watched as Robin fought with Kid Flash to be the next on the game, as Artemis gloated about her win over Kid Flash, as Superboy tasted the new cookies M'gann was holding out and as Kaldur closed his eyes and lent back on the couch, almost asleep.

Things were lively in this world, he mused to himself.

Yolk

M'gann's latest cooking disaster landed on the Batman's head when he appeared silently behind her. A yolk dropped down from the cowl and landed on his shoulder. It was promptly wiped away.

"Soundless silicon bootsoles, M'gann," he commented, "sorry about that."

She just nodded soundlessly as he turned and went to get cleaned up.

Slippery

Batman pulled the cowl off and dried it off as best as he could. It was designed not to get dirty or dusty but he couldn't deny that the egg and flour combination was slippy, gunky and gross.

"Yick," he commented, flicking it off his fingers. Footsteps sounded nearby and Batman looked up as Kid Flash and Robin entered the locker room.

Robin's mouth dropped open at the confirmation of not-Bruce sitting there with cowl in hand.

"Dude, I think the Justice League forgot to mention something," Kid Flash commented.

"They don't know," Batman responded with his characteristic smirk. "I'm sure they suspect but without confirmation, they can't do much about it. Besides, I get the feeling the rest of the team don't know your identities."

"They know Wally's," Robin responded in a soft voice.

"But not yours." It was a statement, not a question but Robin nodded anyway. "That sounds like Bruce. He wouldn't let me tell my first team either."

"What did you do?" Kid Flash asked.

"What do you think? I told them anyway." Kid Flashed laughed and Robin whacked him.

Dry

"Why are you Batman?" Robin demanded to know.

Batman sighed and pulled the cowl back on.

"Gotham needs a Batman," he responded in a dry tone, "and our Batman was… unavailable for a time."

"So, do you know me in your universe?" Kid Flash asked racing around him. "Do you? Do you?"

"Yes," Batman quickly responded. "We were friends growing up, like you two. You're now the Flash."

"Awesome!" And he immediately rushed off.

"He's going to tell the team, isn't he?" Batman muttered.

"Yep," Robin responded in the same dry tone.

Better

There hadn't been a portal or any warning at all. Instead, the Batman suddenly grunted and curled in on himself, his cape falling around his shoulders and covering his body.

The team let out a chorus of 'Batman' as the Batman was enveloped in a light. It lasted only moments.

"Huh. It worked." Standing before them was the original Batman from their universe. The Team stared at him with open mouths. "I want reports of what went on while I was gone." When no one could shake of the shock to move, he barked, "now!" and they scrambled.

"I think I actually missed him," Kid Flash commented to Superboy.

The Team ignored Robin's disappearance, they all knew he was back with Batman, giving him a hug.

"How about a verbal report?" Robin said, hoisting himself up over Batman's head in a handstand.

"Fine," Batman sighed, stalking over to the Zeta tubes. "I'll inform the League I'm back from the comfort of the Batcave."

Robin flipped of his Batman's shoulders with his haunting laugh. This Batman was better.

Batman's Side

Ruthless

Batman flinched as the world around him lit up and went dark.

"What the-?" A young voice squeaked when he appeared. Batman blinked down at a kid in a robin costume.

"What's with the hood?" he questioned in a growl. He looked around. Obviously the beam has transported him somewhere else.

"Where's Grayson?" the little Robin growled at him. Batman blinked as he pulled out a knife. "You better tell me, or it won't be pleasant!"

A ruthless robin… where was he?

Sleet

The ride back in the Batmobile was quiet. The Robin had his feet up on the console and was glaring into the distance. Batman tried to glean information from him but the kid was silent, more interested in the sleet outside than the Batman sitting next to him.

Batman knew he was either in the future or an alternate universe. At this point, he was going with alternate universe.

The batcave was nothing like he remembered. More cars, more tech and another Batman standing before a bunch of computer screens.

"Father! Grayson's gone!" Robin said, jumping out of the car the moment it stopped. "And there's some fake in his place!"

"Damian, calm down." This universe's Batman stepped forward and Bruce took off his cowl. He ignored the Robin's –tt- of surprise and stared at himself. "I thought so. Seems we might have a cross-dimensional incident on our hands."

Frequent

A lot of people seemed to frequent this Batcave. There was the ruthless Robin, who refused to have anything to do with him. Alfred, who brought them drinks and barely batted an eyelid at two Bruce Waynes in the cave.

Then there were the other three who appeared during his time there. One in a red helmet (Red Hood) who had a fight with Batman and stormed out. One in a red and black uniform (Red Robin) which was fitted with a segmented cape. He came in and assisted in getting a multi-dimensional machine up and running.

A red-haired woman in what looked like a black and yellow female bat costume (Batgirl). Bruce figured out that it was Barbara Gordon, the commissioner's daughter and wondered how she managed to get into this life.

Then there were the calls. They came in from around the world. Only one, to the League, had been about Dick's disappearance and the rest had been about something called 'Batman Incorporated'.

Ambiguous

Any time he tried to bring Batman Incorporated up, the Batman of this universe only gave ambiguous answers.

Bruce wondered if he was that secretive when planning something.

Obnoxious

The Robin, named Damian, made a –tt- noise when he spotted him.

"You're still here?" he sneered before turning to his father. "When are we getting Grayson back?"

"I'm working on it," was the growled reply.

Bruce thought Damian was an obnoxious little brat but, he guessed it ran in the family.

Crayon

Damian refused to leave the cave until 'Grayson' returned. He pulled out an art book and some crayons and sat there.

Messy

"This is a messy situation," Red Robin commented, typing calculations into the computer. "As far as I can tell, his side is also trying to get through. At this rate, we might end up cancelling each other out."

"Work around it," Batman ordered.

Bruce just sighed. His alternate-self wasn't keen on him assisting, at all.

Jar

Red Robin muttered something under his breath.

"That'll be ten dollars in the swear jar, Master Timothy," Alfred said as he placed a coffee next to the teen.

A few metres away, Damian barked a laugh.

"Oh shut it, Demon spawn!" Red Robin barked back.

"Make me, Drake!"

Crate

Bruce wasn't going to ask where Damian found the crate or how a ten-year old had the strength to throw it so far. He did wonder where Red Robin learnt that flip though. It looked like one of Dick's.

Quiet

The hours clicked over to morning and the cave was quiet. Damian had fallen asleep on the floor, his art supplies around him. Red Robin was furiously typing away.

Bruce had finally been giving a job; looking over blueprints and trying to put together a box device to get him home.

Alfred came down with a blanket for Damian and breakfast for Red Robin. He handed Bruce a slice of toast, made just the way he liked it.

Right

His Robin leapt up his body and did a handstand on his shoulders.

"So, how was it?"

Bruce thought about it. Even though there had been a lot of fights, everyone had been determined to get Dick Grayson back home. Even the Red Hood had appeared again towards the end, taking Damian to another room in the cave for training so he 'stayed out of the way'.

"I'll tell you later," he said. His mind said that those people had been a family and he didn't think he wanted that.

Just Dick and Alfred felt right in his family. They didn't need anyone else.

(He'd change his mind about a year later and decide to adopt an orphan named Jason Todd.)