Disclaimer: I don't own Batman, Young Justice or any of its characters. Really, I don't.

...

Chapter 1.

As soon as Dick materialized into the Batcave he ran to the changing area and hurriedly discarded his suit, putting on the first clothes he found; a blue t-shirt and dark sweatpants.

He had been on the mountain training with the team when Alfred had contacted him, telling him 'a matter of utmost importance had come up' and he was needed back home. That, of course, didn't signal whatever that 'matter' was as an emergency (they had a code for that) but Dick still had fleet to the zeta tubes without so much as a hastened 'Sorry. Batcave.' and was now climbing the stairs two at a time to get to the Manor.

He emerged from the cave through the hidden passage behind the grandfather clock and into the main study mere minutes later. The room was empty, just as the cave had been, so he left the room without missing a second.

Dick had just turned a corner when the sight of a small boy of about five or six standing in the middle of the hallway made him freeze in his track.

The kid had short dark hair, small winged eyebrows and blue eyes peeking from under dark bangs, and was wearing a dark sweater and shiny dress shoes. He was standing very still, watching Dick back just as carefully, with a glimpse of fear in his eyes-

His striking dark blue eyes.

It was the eyes that convinced Dick. There was a certain something about Bruce's eyes that made them so distinctive. Dick wasn't sure if it was the color or something else altogether, but what he did know was that he had never seen eyes like his before.

"Bruce?"

The word startled Bruce, making his eyes widen and his heart beat faster as he watched the strange older boy in his home.

Dick lifted his hands, palms up, and did his best to look as harmless as he could. "I'm sorry for scaring you."

"I'm not scared!"

The corner of Dick's lips curled up. He may be tiny, but yep, this was Bruce alright. "Yeah, okay. I'm sorry for showing up like this. Alfred sent me."

"Who are you."

"I'm Dick. Richard, but I like Dick better." Dick lowered his hands but didn't move from where he stood, still a couple of feet away from the nervous boy. "You, ah, you don't know who I am, do you?"

Bruce didn't answer, his eyes narrowed and hands curled into first at his sides. He bit his lip and tried to be brave, resisting the urge to call for Alfred.

"That's okay, really. You were very different the last time we meet." Dick paused. He had never wished more for Alfred to appear around the corner with his always impeccable timing. No such luck. "I'm ... your cousin. From your father's side."

Thanks to Alfred's patience and willingness to answer endless questions when he first came to live at the Manor, he knew that for the most part, the Waynes had not been really happy with the marriage between Bruce's parents, and so Bruce did not have much contact with them, not even when his parents were alive. Dick was really, really hoping that would help him right now.

Bruce still didn't look convinced, but he relaxed slightly, some of the fear leaving his eyes.

"Cousin,"

Dick barely held back a sigh of relief at the inquiring but not disbelieving tone. "Yes! My parents and I don't live in Gotham so that's why we don't see each other a lot."

"Where do you live?"

"Um, we travel a lot, but I live mostly in Star city." Thank God for Batman's training to think on the spot and Alfred's to keep a straight face while lying through his teeth. Though it wasn't exactly a lie. He traveled to Star city every year with the circus, after all.

"Why are you here?"

"My parents had to leave the country. Business stuff, you know? So I'm staying here for a few days." Dick made a face. It was weird, talking about his parents like this. Talking as if they were still alive. He swallowed hard, turning his attention back to Bruce as he spoke.

"My parents are out of the country too."

Dick held back a grimace. Poor Alfie, having to go through that conversation. "Oh, I know that. But Alfie is here and I remember he makes really amazing chocolate chip cookies and he's totally great so he agreed to look after me. My- my mom thought it would be nice for us to spend some time together, and that we would miss them less if we weren't alone."

Bruce pondered that for a moment. Alfred hadn't mentioned any of that, and neither had his mother or father. But then again, he didn't really remember seeing his parents leave or saying goodbye to them. It was ... very strange.

"How did you get here?"

"Mom and Dad drove me here, but they were already running late so they didn't come in. Alfred greeted me at the door and told me to come look for you while he went back to the kitchen."

Bruce nodded slowly after a moment. His father had always assured him the Manor was safe (especially after he had bad dreams), so there was no way someone strange would have just walked inside, much less get past Alfred. Maybe he was telling the truth.

"So, do I get a welcome hug?"

There was hesitation, but not panic or annoyance in the little face, so Dick didn't wait for an answer, even if he moved slowly to give Bruce time to stop him or pull back. He bent down a little to throw his arms around his neck and hugged him tightly.

"It's really good to see you, B," Dick whispered against the soft dark hair. "You're a lot- taller than I remember."

It took a moment, but he felt Bruce's small hands on his back, returning the hug. He felt like he might cry of happiness. Bruce had gotten better at giving hugs over the years, but he was still kind of awkward about it most of the time, so this was nice. Really, really nice.

"B?" Bruce asked as soon as he was released, looking up at the smiling face.

"Ah. I'm not really a fan of names. They're kinda boring." Dick hesitated. "You don't mind, do you?"

Bruce shook his head, seeing a bright smile light up the othe- Dick's face. He had a really nice smile. Just seeing it made him smile back a little.

Dick cleared his throat, "We probably should go look for Alfred. Bet he's still in the kitchen."

"Okay,"

They walked together through the hallway, and while Bruce still seemed to be a bit wary of him, he wasn't eyeing him out of the corner of his eye or sending him furtive looks to make sure he wasn't going to attack him or something, so Dick counted it as a win.

"This is gonna be asterous."

"Asterous?" He asked with knitted eyebrows.

Dick's face light up. "Yeah! You know, like, 'aster' is the opposite of 'disaster' so this is going to be super asterous."

"That's not a real word, is it?"

"But of course it is! Just like how 'like' is the opposite of 'dislike.' Or 'approve' is the opposite of 'disapprove.'"

Bruce gave him an uncertain look, little brow still furrowed, but didn't protest further.

"Ooh! I have so many things to teach you, little B," Dick threw an arm over his shoulder, grinning widely. The position was kind of weird, with Bruce being so tiny, but not too awkward. For once, being small for his age wasn't all that bad. "But first we need to go find Alfred."

...

a/n: I know a lot of you are waiting for updates on my other fics and I should be working on them, but I just couldn't resist. De-aging and time travel are two of my favorite tropes ever, and while I've come up with a lot of ideas using them, this is the first time I get really invested in writing it, and so I did. I just love tiny Bruce. So cute!

There will be most likely one more chapter, but after that I can't make any promises.

Lastly, English is not my native language, so any tips or corrections are welcome.