Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Jason Todd was a peculiar child, Bruce knew. A great child, but still peculiar.

He was so many different things, sometimes contradicting himself. Sweet. Prickly. Kind. Suspicious. Smart. Sassy. Funny.

Most of all, though, he was Bruce’s.

Even if Jason didn’t often believe that.

Bruce had brought the twelve-year-old home just two months prior, but already he was attached. There was no other way to put that. He was attached. Jason had been his official foster child for two weeks, and Bruce was looking forward to the day he could stand in front of a judge, and make Jason his officially.

As long as that was what Jason wanted.

Because sometimes, Bruce wasn’t sure if Jason did.

“You know, convenience stores are way over priced,” Jason said, as Bruce led him into one near Gotham’s biggest park, “They always say you’re paying for the convenience, but there’s always a grocery store just a few blocks further with everything like half the price.”

“Hm,” Bruce said, nodding as he held the door for Jason, “Maybe so. But grocery stores rarely have the iced coffee I want.”

With a roll of his eyes, Jason said, “I bet your ice coffee costs like, five dollars, too.”

“3.79,” he said, smirking at how Jason rolled his eyes harder. “Go pick out a snack and a drink, I’ll meet you at the register.”

“Sure,” he replied, shoving his hands into his pockets. Sometimes it was difficult to make Jason pick things out, but at least with food he usually sucked it up and let Bruce spend the money.

Inside, Bruce wanted to stay at Jason’s side the entire time, keeping him within reach, but Jason was a fiercely independent child, and Bruce’s attention often chafed him.

The side effect of living on the streets for three years, completely alone and self-reliant, Bruce supposed.

It was a process, trying to teach Jason what was appropriate for children to do, and what was not. Trying to teach Jason it was okay to be protected, and cared for. It was okay to be reliant on someone else.

They’d get there. In the meantime, since the store was relatively small, and only had the one entrance, Bruce felt mildly comfortable letting Jason roam it on his own.

There were several other people in the store, but they were all doing their own thing, quietly picking out snacks. The radio played in the background, loud enough to keep the atmosphere peaceful, rather than the tense and awkward, of a completely silent store.

Bruce grabbed his iced coffee first, from one of the fridges and huffed a quiet laugh when he saw the drink was actually $4.79. Because of course Jason just knew the price of something off the top of his head. He could already hear the mocking he was going to suffer, when the cashier rang it up.

He took his time perusing the snacks, however. Looking at the dozens of protein and granola bar options. Jason was still looking at all the candy, three aisles over, so Bruce was trying to give him plenty of time to make up his mind, without the pressure of wasting Bruce’s time.

Jason could be funny like that. He waffled between loving Bruce’s attention, finding every single way he could to annoy Bruce, just for the laughs, and avoiding Bruce out of fear of bothering him, and wearing out his welcome.

No matter how many times Bruce told him he could never bother him, he still fell into those moods.

Then again, it hadn’t been that long since Bruce brought him home, all things considered. Jason just fit so well into the family, Bruce felt like he’d always been there. Like their family hadn’t been complete until he was there, having had a massive Jason-sized hole none of them had even noticed.

But it had been just two short months. And adjusting to a new family took time.

So Bruce would give him time.

Bruce was deciding between a cranberry almond bar and a pomegranate blueberry pistachio one, which sounded like a strange combination to him, but if it was being sold obviously someone liked it. He doubted the company didn’t do focus groups on it.

He had both in his hand, and was reading over the ingredients when he heard Jason’s voice ring out.

“Bruce,” he said, loudly, earning Bruce’s attention immediately.

Because his voice squeaked, in the way it did whenever he was panicking.

“What is it, lad?” he asked, clutching both bars in his hand as he quickly made his way out of his aisle and over to Jason.

To Bruce’s immense relief, he was still there, right where Bruce thought. Standing in front of the M&Ms. As far as he could tell, Jason had just been looking at the candy.

There was another person in the aisle, but he was casually walking in the opposite direction, a few bags of gummy worms in his hands.

Jason wrapped his arms around himself and trembled slightly as Bruce approached, and Bruce looked back at the other person, scrutinizing him a little more.

He was a broad man, about three inches shorter than Bruce, and seemed to just be picking out snacks. He grabbed a bag of cashews from the end cap, and caught Bruce’s eye as he did. But didn’t seem… anything, really.

“What’s wrong?” Bruce asked, kneeling down next to Jason and scanning him for any hint of injury. Any sign of what had upset him. Jason was a rather sensitive child, he’d come to learn, but usually he hid it very well under his street kid bravado.

It was only in the privacy of his locked room did Jason ever let go. Bruce had yet to be privy to such an episode, other than to hear the faint whimpers from the other side of the door. And he’d yet to gather enough courage to knock. Ask if Jason needed anything. Like maybe an ear to listen, reassurances, or even just a hug. If Jason would allow such a thing.

“Nothing,” Jason said, his voice doing nothing to mask how shaken up he was. He tightened his arms around his stomach and added, “I just— I thought you’d left me,” his eyes flitting away from Bruce, and back at all the candy.

Bruce frowned. He didn’t believe Jason for a second. Sure, Jason wasn’t completely secure in his place in the Wayne family, but he knew Bruce wouldn’t outright abandon him at a convenience store.

Right?

“Of course I didn’t leave you, Jay,” he said, reaching up and placing a hand on Jason’s back to rub a circle there. Jason tensed, as he always did, but then let out a quiet sigh and dropped his shoulders. “I was just picking out a snack. Did you find something you wanted?”

With a jerky nod, Jason reached out and picked out a bag of M&Ms, seemingly at random, and showed them to Bruce.

“Okay, buddy. Did you want a drink, too?”

“Yeah,” Jason breathed, before he took a deep breath and straightened up.

Bruce stood, and removed his hand when Jason pulled away. But Jason didn’t start moving. Instead, he looked up at Bruce, as if waiting for Bruce to lead him to the drinks.

It made Bruce frown harder. “Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked, placing a hand on Jason’s shoulder and squeezing.

All Jason did was nod. Nod and lean into Bruce’s touch.

Which only made Bruce more concerned, not less. Because Jason did not like his personal space being invaded.

He tolerated it, sometimes. The random hair ruffle, or pat on the back. Just the small reassurances. But never more than a few seconds at a time, and never did he lean into it. Even when it made him smile. He just wasn’t at the point where he trusted physical affection, and Bruce got it. He did.

So what changed?

“Okay,” he said, a little unsure, “Did you want a Dr. Pepper, or something different?”

Dr. Pepper was Jason’s usual soft drink of choice, and it was what Bruce had fully expected him to pick out.

And sure enough, Jason nodded and said, “Yeah. A can of it.”

They walked to the sodas together and Jason kept himself glued to Bruce’s side the whole time. Every time Bruce put his hand on him, he took a deep breath, and seemed to relax further.

And all it did was made Bruce more concerned.

After they checked out and left the store in silence, they moved on to the park. The original plan had been to get snacks and eat them while walking around. Jason loved the city, and walking around Gotham’s main park was the compromise they’d come up with. The compromise between letting Jason roam Crime Alley alone and Bruce not wanting Jason in Gotham at all.

Bruce led them to a bench so Jason could manage the can of soda and bag of M&Ms easier before they did any serious walking. The bench was large, and Bruce fully expected Jason to sit on the edge, similar to how he always sat on the very edge of the couch, as far away from Bruce as he could be.

But he didn’t. He sat down right in the middle, right next to Bruce.

And again, it was weird how close he was. Jason never allowed himself to be that close to people. He did come close, sometimes. When they practiced self-defense. When Bruce was teaching him how to tie his school tie. The one time Jason had let Bruce hug him. But there was always a purpose. Never did he just… stay close.

Jason didn’t find comfort in being near, he’d thought. They hadn’t had that level of trust yet. He wasn’t sure it was even possible to gain that level of trust, with Jason.

With a kid who had been through some horrific things in his life, and suffered all sorts of abuse. Not that Jason had ever regaled Bruce with any tales, yet. But Bruce could tell. Just based on how he reacted to things.

And how he never let anyone close to him, for any length of time.

“Are you sure you’re okay,” Bruce asked, once again. He felt like a broken record, but he was at a complete loss of what else to do.

“Yeah,” Jason said, between handfuls of M&Ms, “I’m fine.”

Bruce put an arm up on the bench behind Jason, and said, “Okay. But if you’re not, you can tell me, you know that? You can tell me anything.”

“I know,” Jason said, offering a ghost of a smile as he leaned back, letting his head rest back against Bruce’s arm. He closed his eyes, for a moment, and took a deep breath before turning his attention back to his candy.

And again, it didn’t assuage Bruce’s concerns in the least.

- - -

The rest of the day passed in much the same manner. They walked around the park for a bit, but Jason soon grew bored. Bruce had expected him to be more active. Maybe run around some, mess around on the gym equipment, or even talk to the dog walkers as he pet every dog he saw.

But none of that happened.

Instead, Jason stayed right by Bruce’s side, as he just silently observed the world around them.

Eventually they started exploring the little shops surrounding the park. There was a rare and used book shop nearby Bruce just knew Jason would love, but Bruce didn’t want to start with that, so first he brought Jason into one of the many ‘tourist trap’ style stores.

Dick used to love these sorts of stores. Just a crammed pack store filled to the brim with random, crappy souvenirs and whatever the latest trend in toys was. He used to always look through the keychains that had common names on them, trying his best to find his own. No matter how many times Bruce told him, “You are not going to find a keychain with the name ‘Dick’ on it,” Dick insisted on looking, anyway.

Once he’d found a little New Jersey bike license plate with ‘Grayson’ on it, though, which had made him pretty happy.

Jason didn’t particularly like tacky things, not when it came to purchasing and owning such items. He did, however, typically enjoy looking around and making fun of everything.

So it was kind of strange how, when they stepped into the shop, Jason barely even looking around from where he stayed standing, right next to Bruce.

“I see at least seven different bat symbol designs,” Bruce said, quietly, trying to get Jason to perk up, even if just a little. Batman stuff was his favorite thing to make fun of.

Especially when the bat was drawn so horribly.

All Jason did was offer a ghost of a smile as he started following Bruce around the store, over to all the Batman merchandise. He looked around, but nothing apparently caught his attention, so Bruce moved on toward the huge wall of t-shirts.

Those touristy type t-shirts with ‘Gotham City’ written in about fifteen different fonts and designs alongside plenty of Batman related shirts, a couple Robin ones, and a handful other random sayings. Bruce pointed to one of the displays that read ‘I’m not saying I’m Batman, I’m just saying Batman and I have never been in the same room together,’ and asked, “What do you think? Should I get it?”

Finally, Jason smiled a little more, biting down on his lip as he often did, like he were trying not to smile. He shook his head after a second, and said, “You don’t even wear t-shirts.”

“I do so,” Bruce said, feigning outrage. Even though he was currently wearing a suit, without a tie, while they were having a leisurely walk around the park, “I wear them all the time.”

Jason scoffed, “Ya, like old ratty ones when you work out or sleep. My street clothes were in better shape than those.”

“Fine,” Bruce said, pulling out a 2XL from the bottom of the stack of shirts, “Guess that means I need new ones, huh?”

With a wide grin, Jason said, “I dare you to actually wear that.”

“I will.”

“Uh huh, I believe you,” Jason said sarcastically. He shifted at Bruce’s side, and actually started looking at all the different t-shirt designs.

“This is $20 on its own, or two for $25,” Bruce said, pointing at a sale sign, “so why don’t you pick one out for yourself.”

“All these are way too big for me,” was all Jason said, even as his eyes kept scanning all the various designs.

And while he was technically true, Jason still wore children’s sized clothing, he didn’t drown in S or XS shirts. “Extra small fits you fine. Plus, you can grow into it and wear it a bit longer.”

“Okay,” Jason said, skeptically, but he did step away from Bruce long enough to look at all the options more closely. Eventually, he settled on a grey shirt that simply said Gotham City on the front in a very basic font. It wasn’t quite as ‘fun’ as some of the other shirts, but Bruce was just glad he’d picked something out.

Besides, it was a little endearing how much Jason still loved his city. Even after it had treated him so badly.

“Want anything else?” Bruce asked, leading Jason away from the t-shirts and through the toy section, which was unavoidable on the way to the register.

As expected, Jason shook his head ‘no.’

Bruce would love it if Jason picked out something else, like perhaps one of the large Pokemon plushes, or a Gotham themed LEGO set, but a t-shirt was victory enough. Bruce was not going to push him any further.

Especially not when he was still acting so strangely.

After Bruce paid for the shirts and the two of them left the store, Jason’s mood hadn’t really improved. Despite his moments of smiles and banter in the store, his face reverted right back to a blank expression as they walked down the street.

Jason’s blank expressions were almost worse than his upset ones. When Jason went blank, it was usually because he was afraid of showing Bruce his real emotions. Afraid that his emotions would set off the adults in his vicinity, and bring harm down upon himself.

Whether Jason did that consciously, Bruce didn’t know. But it hadn’t taken long for Bruce to figure out that’s what was going on.

Bruce set his hand on the base of Jason’s neck and massaged his shoulders just a touch. Jason flinched, of course. Just slightly, but quickly relaxed into the hold as they kept walking.

“There’s a used and rare book store up the road, want to check it out?” Bruce asked, moving so his arm was slung over Jason’s shoulder, pulling him a little closer as they walked. He wasn’t quite hugging him, but it was almost there.

Jason didn’t seem to mind, either, because he looked up and asked, a touch curiously, “Rare books? Like what?”

“Let’s find out,” Bruce said, as they turned the corner of a block, to head the two blocks toward the store he was thinking of, “I’ve gotten a few gems there over the years, like my signed first edition of Alice in Wonderland.”

“You what?” Jason said, his eyes going wide, “How much did that cost?”

“Do you really want to know?” It had been quite an expensive find. More than the cost of most new cars, actually, but Bruce hadn’t been able to resist. It had beautiful illustrations in it, as well, and was an excellent addition to his collection.

“No,” Jason said, almost scornfully, “I bet you paid way too much for it.”

With a smile, Bruce stopped for traffic at the final crosswalk before the store. He gripped onto Jason’s shoulder to get him to stop, too, and said, “I’ll show you with when we get home, if you want.” He didn’t think he paid too much for it, but he supposed it was all relative. He’d gotten the book for a very good price, considering what it was.

But if looking at it from the perspective of ‘it’s a book’ and not ‘its a first edition signed book,’ he supposed it was a little pricey.

Regardless.

“It’s actually signed by Lewis Carrol,” Jason asked, looking back up at him, this time with a touch of wonder in his eyes.

Bruce squeezed his shoulder and said, “Sure is.”

“Wow.”

They finished the short walk to the bookstore, and once inside, Bruce let go of Jason.

But Jason didn’t wander. He looked around, obviously intrigued by everything, but didn’t take a single step further into the shop than Bruce did. “Go on,” Bruce said, motioning at all the shelves of books, “Look around.”

The look of pure pleading Jason sent his way, at that, only made the pit in Bruce’s stomach grow heavier. Because Jason was looking at him as if begging not to be left. Like the very last thing he wanted was to leave Bruce’s side, for any reason. Even to look at what was his favorite thing in the whole world. Books.

Jason loved books. So for him to be so shaken that he didn’t even want to look at them, if it meant getting out of Bruce’s reach…

“Lad,” he sighed, kneeling down so he was looking up at Jason, rather than looming over him, “Are you sure you’re okay?”

Swallowing, Jason cleared his throat, as if to speak, but then all he did was nod his head.

“You can look around,” Bruce said, placing a hand on Jason’s back, trying to encourage him to walk around, “I’ll just be over there looking at what’s behind the glass. I’m not going anywhere.”

“I—“ Jason started, as he looked around the store again.

The store wasn’t empty, there were a couple other groups, as well as a few single shoppers milling about, but it was a decent sized store and did not feel crowded at all.

Whatever Jason was seeing, however, was apparently too much for him, because he shook his head and whispered, “I just want to stay with you.”

What had scared his independent little child so thoroughly?

“Okay,” Bruce said, patting Jason’s back as he stood, “I won’t make you do anything.”

He wouldn’t make Jason do anything, but he most certainly would be hacking into that store’s server to see if he could figure out what had happened. What had freaked Jason out so much?

Perhaps he really had thought Bruce left? Had someone walked out the door just before Jason freaked out?

Bruce walked over to the glass cases, as promised, and took a few moments to review all the titles. He smiled and nodded at the shop owner, Freddy, when he said hi, but otherwise they were left alone as they browsed.

Jason stayed right by his side, and only seemed mildly interested in looking at everything.

Likely because the prices of the books were prominently displayed, and several of them were priced well into the quadruple digits…

So Bruce didn’t spend too long browsing. He wasn’t really looking for anything, anyway. Alfred’s birthday wasn’t coming up, and Father’s day had already passed, so he did not need a gift for him, anyway. And that was typically why he purchased first edition books. As gifts for Alfred.

Perhaps he could also purchase Jason first editions for his birthday.

They wandered around the store, Bruce walking slowly to ensure Jason had plenty of time to peruse all the stacks. He wasn’t holding his breath for it, but he did hope Jason would pick something out. Or would, at least, linger on a book or two, so Bruce would know what to purchase him anyway.

Instead, about five minutes into their perusing, the shop door’s bell rang as two men stepped into the store. They were a bit boisterous, and immediately struck up a conversation with Freddy behind the counter.

Jason sidestepped, almost pressing himself into Bruce’s leg. If he were only two inches closer, he would be.

Bruce thoughtlessly put his hand on the side of Jason’s head, combing his hair back like he had done to Dick dozens of times before. Anytime Dick stepped so close. Because every time Dick had done it, he’d been looking for that affection. That little bit of reassurance from Bruce.

It wasn’t until his fingers were moving back to comb through Jason’s hair again did he pause.

But Jason didn’t flinch. Didn’t shy away. In fact, he leaned his head against Bruce and closed his eyes, taking a deep, steadying breath.

That pit in his stomach only grew heavier.

He definitely needed to review the security footage. And pay closer attention to the other person in the aisle with Jason.

What had they done?

“See anything you want,” Bruce said softly, as he combed through Jason’s hair again. When all Jason did was shake his head, Bruce said, “Okay. We can come back another time.” Perhaps the best thing for them to do was go home.

Go home so Bruce could figure out what had happened.

“Okay,” Jason murmured, easily following when Bruce turned to leave.

And when Jason didn’t even look back longingly at the books, like he did every single time he pretended he was ready to leave without buying something at a bookstore, Bruce’s stomach completely bottomed out.

He needed to get to the bottom of what the hell had happened to his little boy.

Chapter Text

Jason agreed easily when Bruce suggested they head on home. Their original plan had been to spend the whole afternoon out, but clearly that wasn’t something Jason would enjoy, anymore. Even though he’d been looking forward to the trip, just that morning…

Bruce really wished he knew what had happened. But even in the car, Jason stayed silent, and didn’t even admit to being anything other than ‘fine.’ Eventually, Bruce stopped inquiring, and let Jason sit there silently, in the passenger seat, his arms wrapped around his stomach and his head resting against the window next to him.

What the hell had made his outgoing, sassy, spitfire little boy so insecure?

And as soon as they got home, Jason went straight to his room. He didn’t stop to talk to Alfred or anything. Just got out of the car, and headed straight upstairs.

“Everything all right?” Alfred asked, when Bruce walked into the kitchen and found him there, working on dinner.

He sat down at the island and crossed his arms on the counter. With a sigh, he said, “I don’t know. Jason’s upset about something.”

“Hm,” Alfred hummed, as he set his knife down from where he’d been cutting up carrots. Wiping his hands off on his apron, he turned around and asked, “Did you ask him about it?”

“Yeah,” he said, nodding, “I kept asking him what was wrong but he didn’t want to talk. He kept saying everything was fine.”

Alfred took a seat across from Bruce and asked, “But you don’t think it is?”

“No. He’s acting so strange.” Bruce sighed, and reached up to rub the side of his face for a moment. “He did say he was afraid I had abandoned him, but I’m pretty sure he was lying. Then he told me later he just ‘wanted to stay with me’ when I suggested he go look at books.”

It was just so unlike Jason. Sure, he was a child, he was twelve, but he’d spent so many years fending for himself, alone, without anyone to answer to or rely on, Bruce’s attention often chafed him. He was not used to parental attention. Someone there to tell him what to do. Someone who actually cared about whether he was eating, and what, and how much he slept. About him.

Jason was more likely to scream at him about being ‘controlling’ than he was to beg not to be left behind.

“That is quite strange,” Alfred mused, “He’s not one to turn down books.”

“No,” Bruce said, snorting a touch, “He’s really not.” Usually Jason was over the moon whenever Bruce brought him to a bookstore. The kid loved books so much, he’d been carrying around five of them in his backpack, as a homeless child. He could only own what he could carry, and he’d chosen to burden himself with five books.

“Perhaps you should speak to him again,” Alfred said, patting at the counter in front of him while he stood, “Let him simmer for a bit, then go speak to him.

“I suppose I’ll have to,” Bruce sighed.

In the meantime, though, he could dig into the security footage.

- - -

Hacking into the store’s servers took a lot longer than Bruce had anticipated. For some reason, the store seemed to have three different camera systems, mixed together in the store. He had to hack each one in order to find the specific camera that was pointing down the candy aisle, and of course it wound up being the last system he hacked.

But finally he found the right camera, and sifted through the footage until he saw Jason enter the aisle, looking around at all his options.

Then, the man Bruce had seen walks up behind Jason, and grabs onto Jason's shoulder.

And Bruce saw red.

He gripped his tablet so tightly, he thought, absently, he might break the screen.

Because there was a man putting his hand on his son.

And he hadn’t even noticed.

Jason jumped, in the footage, and quickly turned around to face the man. The hand had only been on his shoulder, but it had been clear it was aggressive. It was a ‘turn around and look at me,’ sort of move, not a ‘hey I need your attention.’ Whoever this man was, he thought Jason owed him something, and Bruce was afraid to find out what.

Especially since it was clear, just based on how Jason’s eyes widened, and he took a step backward that he recognized the man. He tried to take another step back, but ran right into the M&M display, so he planted his feet and scowled up at the man, switching from flight to fight just like that.

That was the Jason Bruce knew. Spitfire little boy, acting like he was tough enough to take on even a man two feet taller and a hundred pounds heavier than he was.

With the training Bruce was giving him, he probably was. But that man didn’t know that.

There was no audio in the clip, Bruce was annoyed to discover, when he turned his volume up in attempt to hear what the man was saying. Perhaps one of the other camera systems did have audio, but if Bruce hadn’t heard them talking, he highly doubted the cameras picked up on it, either.

Jason snaps something back, his scowl only deepening, until it vanishes right off his face. Because the guy says something else to him, then reaches out and grabs his arm.

As if he was going to drag Jason somewhere.

Bruce had to pause the video again, just to let his vision clear that time.

How dare—

Bruce had been right there, and yet, apparently, he might as well have been on the other side of the planet, for how much protection he’d been offering Jason.

He was right there, and this man dared to put a hand on his son.

Finally, after he’d let a minute pass, he looked back down at the tablet and clicked play.

But all that happened was Jason freed his arm almost effortlessly, using one of the hold breaks Bruce had taught him. He took a step toward the side, then lifted his face and clearly shouted out for Bruce.

And sure enough, a second later, there he was. Walking down the aisle, inquiring after Jason’s well being, while the man—the assailant—casually grabbed some gummy bears, and walked off down the other direction.

Like nothing had happened.

Why had that been enough to fool Bruce?

Before Bruce knew what he was doing, he was already on his feet and half way down the hall, the video paused on his tablet, still clutched tightly in his hand.

Who was that man and why the fuck had he placed a hand on his son?

And why hadn’t Bruce noticed? He knew he shouldn’t have let Jason out of his sight. Bad things could only happen if Bruce wasn’t there to stop them. He could have stopped this. That man would have a broken wrist had Bruce seen him touch his boy.

Did Jason know that? Is that why he’d been so… clingy?

It wasn’t until Bruce was standing right outside Jason’s door, hand reached toward the knob did he pause. And think.

He wasn’t mad at Jason. He wasn’t. And barging in on him would only scare him.

And break the promise Bruce had made to him, about never going into his bedroom without permission.

Bruce took a step back and closed his eyes. The very last thing he wanted to do was scare Jason. Scare him any more than he’d already been scared that day. He was going to track that man down and—

Clenching his teeth, Bruce forced a deep breath in through his nose, then held it for five seconds.

Anger would not help.

Jason didn’t deserve his anger.

Finally, after Bruce had gone through his breathing exercise a few times, he opened his eyes and stepped back toward the door and knocked.

“What?” Jason asked, almost immediately, his voice a little terse, but not outright angry.

“Can I come in?”

Bruce realized his error a second too late.

“What?” Jason asked warily, his voice laden with confusion, “Why?”

He’d never asked to come in before. Never. It was one of the many boundaries they’d established, to help Jason feel safe.

More than anything, Bruce just wanted Jason to feel safe. Jason deserved to feel the safety he had, living in Bruce’s house.

“I—“ Bruce started, “or, could you come out? Maybe come to the library with me? I want to chat with you.”

The library was safe. They’d had several important talks in the library thus far, because even Bruce’s private study was unnerving to Jason, sometimes.

A long moment passed, during which time Bruce considered setting a time for Jason to come down, later. They needed to talk about this, and it had to happen that afternoon, because Batman was definitely doing something about it that night. If there was something to do.

But if Jason wasn’t ready, then Bruce could give him a little more time to prepare.

Finally, though, Bruce could hear when Jason’s feet hit the carpeted floor, and his feet started shuffling across it toward the door. When the knob turned, Bruce took a step back, then immediately frowned at the state of his son.

Jason… Jason had clearly been crying. His face was red and splotchy and his eyes slightly puffy.

“Are you all right?” Bruce found himself asking, before he could think better of it. Obviously Jason wasn’t. And Bruce knew why.

“What did you want?” Jason snapped, scowling up at him.

“I want to talk to you.”

Rolling his eyes, Jason crossed his arms and said, “Yeah, you said that. About what?”

“About…” Bruce started, but paused. He wasn’t quite sure how to say it. Jason was already on the defensive, he didn’t want to push him any further in the wrong direction.

In the end, he held the tablet down, closer to Jason’s level, and watched as Jason’s eyes flickered down to the screen.

Jason furrowed his brow, and scrutinized the screen for a second before it seemed to dawn on him what he was seeing.

“You hacked the store,” he demanded, looking back up at Bruce with a murderous scowl on his face.

“Well, yes,” Bruce stammered.

“Why,” Jason snapped, “I said I was fine!”

“But you clearly aren’t,” Bruce said evenly, “You’ve been shaking up all day, and you’ve—“

“Maybe I didn’t want to tell you,” Jason cut in, his face screwing up a little, as if he were going to start crying again, “Did you think of that?”

“I did,” Bruce said slowly, because obviously Jason hadn’t wanted to tell him. Otherwise he would have. But that didn’t mean Bruce was going to stop being concerned. With a sigh, Bruce knelt down on one knee and asked, as gently as possibly, “Jason, what’s going on?”

“It’s none of your business,” Jason snapped, glaring harder at Bruce, now that he was down at eye level.

But as far as Bruce was concerned, it was.

Someone dared to put a finger on his kid, and it scared him so much he was hiding in his room crying.

It most certainly was Bruce’s business.

“This man had no right to touch you,” Bruce tried, “he should not have tried to grab you like he did.”

“I know,” Jason snapped, stomping his foot a little as he cross his arms across his chest, “I didn’t let him. I broke the hold like you showed me.”

Bruce nodded, and tried to give Jason a reassuring look as he said, “I saw that, I’m very proud of you.”

Somehow, that was what broke Jason’s resolve. He paused, for a full second, then absolutely dissolved into tears. Right there, in front of Bruce.

Like he’d never done before.

It killed Bruce all the more to see. Even if, at the same time, he couldn’t help but feel honored Jason was finally at the point of showing Bruce such an emotion.

“Jay,” he whispered, holding one arm out toward him.

Jason only considered him for a split second, before he pressed his hands into his eyes and walked forward, the few steps between them, and let Bruce warp his arm around him and pull him close.

“What happened,” he asked, softly, as he wrapped his other arm around Jason and rest his chin on the top of Jason’s hair. Jason kept crying, nearly sobbing right into Bruce’s chest, but despite how hard he was crying, he was doing it mostly silently. In a way that just hurt all the more.

Kids shouldn’t know how to have their emotions in silence. They should never fear how others around them would react, if they started crying. And then learn to cover it up, so no one would find out.

“Who was that guy?” he asked, when Jason just shook his head against Bruce’s chest, “You’ve got me very concerned here, bud. Whatever it is, you can tell me.”

It took another several seconds, but finally Jason took a deep breath and stuttered out, “His-his name is-is Snatcher. Or… that’s what we called him.”

“What did he do?” Bruce prodded, although he could guess, just based off the name.

Snatcher. Some villains had the dumbest names…

Jason pushed against Bruce’s chest, lightly, so Bruce let go and sat back, as Jason took a step back and scrubbed at his face with his sleeve. Finally, he said, a little more levelly, “If he catches you, no one ever sees you again. All the street kids knew that.”

Bruce’s blood ran cold.

There was a kidnapper out there, who was not only recognizable by face, but so notorious the homeless children had nicknamed him and warned each other about him?

How did he not know about this?

“He knew me,” Jason said, between heartbreaking little hiccups, as he clearly tried hard not to keep crying, “Fr—From before. He caught me once, when I was nine.”

“Jay,” Bruce whispered. There’d been a man kidnapping homeless children for years. And Bruce hadn’t caught on.

No one had caught on.

Because no one ever noticed when already ‘missing’ children went actually missing.

“I didn’t want to get murdered,” Jason said, as fresh tears streamed down his face, “or worse, so I fought back. It took biting him, but finally he lost his grip on me and I ran right out onto the street. I hid inside a restaurant until the owner threatened to call the police if I didn’t leave, but by then he’d given up and left.”

And just as quickly as horror had set in, rage took over. He could feel it in his joints, the overwhelming urge to get up and punch someone as his fists clenched tightly. Preferably the monsters in Jason’s past.

How dare someone threaten his son, any child. Defenseless, hurting children who had enough to worry about without having to dodge who was, most likely, a human trafficker.

Then, when Jason sought out the safety of people around him, the restaurant owners had threatened to call the police on him. As if he was the criminal.

With a breath, Bruce unclenched his fist and reached out slowly. When Jason didn’t flinch backward, he ran it up and down Jason’s arm as he said, “It’s all right. I won’t let him get you again.”

“I know,” Jason cried, a little petulantly, “but he did get me. And he said—he said had I not been such a little punk, he coulda sold me to you years ago, and—“

“No,” Bruce cut in, so harshly Jason flinched back, away from his touch. Bruce couldn’t help but hate himself for it as he lowered his hand. “No, Jason,” he said, trying for softer, “He’s wrong. I would never—“

“I know!” Jason exclaimed, “I told him that. I said you weren’t like that, and he just laughed and grabbed my arm, and I thought maybe he was gonna take me again and—“

“But he didn’t,” Bruce said quickly, “he didn’t and you’re here. You’re right here.”

Jason nodded, like he understood and believed it, but then he started crying, anyway. “I almost wasn’t,” he cried, pressing his hands back into his eyes as he did, “When I was nine. That was almo—almost my life. Then I wouldnta met you or Alfie or—“

“Shh,” Bruce said, gently reaching out and grasping onto the edge of Jason’s sleeve. He tugged, a little, and Jason easily stepped forward and right back into Bruce’s hold as he continued crying. “Don’t think like that,” he whispered, “That wasn’t your life, because you defended yourself. And I will defend you now, okay? I will never let anything bad happen to you.”

Jason wiggled, a little, in Bruce’s hold, so he let go. But when all Jason did was free his arms from between himself and Bruce so he could wrap them around Bruce’s chest, he couldn’t help but hug back, just a little tighter.

“Why me?” he cried, right into Bruce’s shirt, “Why do I get out, but all those other kids don’t?”

“You can’t think like that, Jase.”

“But it’s not fair,” he whined, making Bruce tighten his hold just a little more.

His boy. Even when faced with something traumatic, his first thought was what about everyone else?

What about all the other children?

It amazed him, just how empathetic his children could be.

“I know,” Bruce eventually said, once Jason’s stuttery breaths had evened out, “Life seldomly is fair. But I promise you, I will track this monster down, and I will make him face justice for his crimes, okay? I won’t let another kid be hurt by him again.”

“You swear it?” Jason asked, pulling away from Bruce, just enough, so he could look straight at him.

“I swear, yes.”

“Okay,” Jason finally said, after searching his face for who knew what for several long seconds. With a definitive nod, he said, “I’ll help you.”

“You will?” Bruce couldn’t help the upturn of his lip, at that.

“Yes. As Robin.”

Bruce dropped his arms, when Jason fully broke his hold and stepped back.

“We’ve talked about this, you can’t be Robin until you’ve been trained.”

“But you need me,” Jason whined, already back to his usual self. Giving Bruce a challenging scowl, as if he could possibly intimidate Bruce into doing what he wanted.

“I do need you, yes,” Bruce agreed, standing to his feet, “but you can help without going out yet.”

“I can?” he asked.

Bruce motioned with his head for Jason to follow, and made his way down the hall.

Jason hesitated only for a moment before he rushed to catch up, his little footsteps echoing down the hall as he sprinted. “How?”

Leading Jason down the stairs, and toward the entrance to the cave, Bruce said, “First I’ll show you how to hack into security cameras, and you can help me find evidence to use against him.”

“Yes,” Jason exclaimed, now happily following Bruce all the way downstairs.

Bruce knew he wouldn’t be quite as excited about it, once he started writing his own code, but he was glad Jason was so enthusiastic about his training.

And as he and Jason worked together, over the course of the next week, to track down ‘Snatcher’ and gather up enough evidence to bring him to justice, Bruce really got a chance to see Jason at work. To see him put his talents to good use. His intelligence and stubbornness and empathy, all working together to push through a difficult case and really focus on the little details that were needed.

He hated it had taken the memory of a traumatic event resurfacing to see that side of Jason, but he was quite happy with the result.

Jason was a remarkable child, and he was glad to know him.