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Jason came back so suddenly it felt like a bucket of ice-cold water had awakened him.
“You good, kid,” a concerned face suddenly swam before him.
“Yeah, uh, what happened?”
Jason stared at the deep blue eyes of the man. Something about them looked familiar.
“You tell me, kid. You were wandering the streets, catatonic, while wearing a dirty and expensive suit.”
“Mr. Looney Fenton!” Jason blurted out. His eyes widened, and he put his hand over his mouth. Instead of being offended, Mr. Fenton raised a pierced eyebrow and chuckled.
“Yep, that’s me. How you’ve been, kid?”
Danny smiled a bit, remembering all the kids in an old apartment building he used to live in, calling him that.
Jason shrugged, “I’ve been better. Where am I?”
“Currently, we’re standing under a lamp post in the middle of Crime Alley. I think we should move, yeah?”
Danny started walking, expecting Jason to follow. Jason hesitated. He remembered Daniel Fenton, aka Mr. Looney Fenton. He always told the kids in the building that ghosts were real and to respect the dead. The dead deserved to be remembered and cared for; if not, the spirits would return and cause havoc. Everyone thought he was crazy, but he wasn’t hurting anyone, so people let him be.
Plus, he used to make killer fudge for all the kids in the building to enjoy. Sometimes, that would be the only thing Jason would have for the whole day.
Still, Jason was suspicious. The man was kind, a little too kind. The street kid in him told him to be wary. The Robin in him told him that Mr. Fenton hadn’t done anything to garner suspicions.
Jason remembered a woman who seemed nice. A woman who smoked as he got tortured. He remembered…he remembered…he couldn’t remember…
“Hey kid, you coming or what?”
Danny did not think this was how his night was going to go. Being a psychopomp in the corrupt city of Gotham was never easy, but he didn’t think he would find the revenant (?) of his old neighbor wandering the city calling out for ‘Bruce.’ He remembered the kid, too. Jason was full of scars. His hands were bleeding with missing nails. His face was bruised black and purple.
A part of Danny wished he could ignore the problem at hand, but the kid was part of the world of the dead. As the balance, the bridge between life and death, Danny had a duty to help the dead even if they weren’t a ghost.
Danny waited to see if the kid would follow when he saw the blank look. Fuck. Danny walked toward Jason and noticed that the closer he got, the more alert the kid became. What in the Ancients was going on?
Jason came back to himself.
I had lost myself. I hadn’t known who I was, he thought hysterically.
Jason got into a defensive position when Mr. Fenton got close to him again.
“Whoa, kid, I’m not gonna hurt you, and I definitely don’t want to fight you.”
“Who are you? How did you find me?”
Danny sighed and picked the kid up in a fireman hold. He ignored the kicking and screaming and turned them invisible. The last thing he needed was to be stopped by the police or mugged. Danny doubted Jason noticed that they were floating six feet from the ground.
Danny carried the kicking teenager back to his current living space. It was a little house just on the edge of Crime Alley. Danny deposited the kid on the old couch and stood with his arms crossed. Now what should he do? He wasn’t exactly used to dealing with the (kinda) living anymore.
“First things first, do you need anything?”
“I need to get home, you kidnapper!”
Danny rolled his eyes.
“Okay, you know you died, right?”
The kid went still, his eyes glazed over, and he looked like he was about to cry. Crap. Danny hadn’t meant to be so blunt, but he wasn’t used to being tactful anymore. It was always asking the spirit what they wanted, making sure the spirit knew they were dead and how to help them move on. Danny had no idea how to deal with the living dead.
Maybe he should call that asshole Constantine…
“Yeah,” the kid finally said, “I know. I remember it happening.”
“Good, I mean, not good, but at least you know you—well, you know.”
“Smooth.”
They stayed in awkward silence for a while.
“I need to get to Bruce.”
The kid got up and made for the door.
“Whoa, wait, kid, do you really want to go there in the middle of the night? You’ll give the man a heart attack. Besides, it’ll start raining again soon.”
Jason stared down at his messed-up hands. The man had a point. How was he going to explain this to Bruce? The man was a paranoid bastard and probably wouldn’t believe he was Jason. Jason plopped down on the sofa.
“Here, kid, you need this.” Mr. Fenton put a blanket that was on the couch over Jason’s shivering shoulders.
“I’ll be back; I’m just going to get the first aid kit.”
Jason stayed in the musty living room, thinking about his next move. He could always call Wayne Manor, but he imagined Alfred (because it was always Alfred who answered) would think it was a cruel joke. Bruce and Jason hadn’t exactly parted on the best terms, either.
Jason had to make a plan. He didn’t think he would survive if his dad rejected him.
Danny looked for the first aid kit while thinking about what to do. He knew who Batman was. Of course, he did. Spirits were a chatty bunch. There was little else to do when you were a ghost that survived in an area that had very little ectoplasm to let them manifest.
Danny knew that the resurrected boy was the late Robin.
He remembered how loudly the city had cried out. She had manifested in front of Danny and cried for her lost Robin. He held on to the Spirit of Gotham that day and the day of Jason Todd-Wayne’s funeral. Right now, Danny felt her hope for her once again living Robin.
Danny sighed. He had a feeling he would get a visit from her soon.
Danny went to the living room and saw the kid rubbing tears away from his eyes. Danny’s heart and core went for the kid. Dying sucked.
Danny sat on the table before the kid and took bandages and Neosporin from the first aid kit.
“What’s your name, kid?”
Jason snorted, “You don’t remember?”
Danny smiled, “I remember Jason, but I’m not sure,” he lied.
“It’s Jason Todd. How’d you know I died? How’d you find me?”
“That is a long story.”
“I have time,” Jason said while crossing his arms.
Danny sighed, “I’ll tell you anything you want if you let me treat your wounds.”
Jason looked at Danny suspiciously before nodding and putting out his hands.
“I’m a psychopomp; that’s someone who guides souls to the afterlife.”
“I know what a psychopomp is,” Jason said haughtily, “I’m not an idiot.”
“Never said you were, kiddo.”
“And I’m not a kid. I’m a teenager. Call me Jason, or else.”
“All right, Jason, call me Danny. I help the spirits of Gotham move into the Infinite Realms by helping them with their obsessions. Some I help move on completely by resolving their unfinished business.”
Jason watched as Mr. Fenton, Danny, wrapped bandages on his fucked up hands. Jason shuddered at the memory of waking in his coffin.
“I felt your ectoplasm in Crime Alley.”
Jason didn’t even remember making it to Crime Alley.
“The hell is ectoplasm,” he asked instead.
“Ectoplasm is what ghosts, spirits, are made of. It’s their very essence. Whatever emotion they felt when they died, it imprinted on it, and they came back as ghosts to the infinite realms, at least for the most part. The spirits of Gotham don’t form in the Infinite Realms, though. They form and stay here in Gotham; I help them go to the Infinite Realms.
“I’m guessing the Infinite Realms is the afterlife. Is that where I was when I was dead?”
“It’s an afterlife, yeah, but not every dead person goes to the Infinite Realms. Only those who died with things to do and with strong emotions go there. Most people who end up in the Realms died violent deaths.”
So, it was likely that Jason had been there.
“Why did I come back? How did I come back?”
“I don’t know. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay,” Jason whispered. He wanted his dad.
“Hey, kid, how about I show you to bed, and then we can figure out what to do in the morning.”
Jason let Danny put cream on his cuts and bruises and followed him up the stairs. Jason was surprised he didn’t feel more pain…actually, he didn’t feel any pain. Weird.
Danny led Jason to a plain room with only a dresser, a twin bed, and a desk.
“You can stay here for the time being. I still have some things to do, so I’ll have to leave for an hour or two. Think you’ll be fine?”
“I’m not a baby. I can take care of myself.”
Danny nodded, “Okay.”
Danny felt terrible leaving the kid, but he had to check the cemetery Jason came from. He watched as Jason went to bed and tucked himself in before leaving. He transformed and turned invisible and followed Jason’s ectosignature to his grave.
Danny felt sick when he saw the dirt overturned in Jason’s grave. He had to have clawed his way out of the coffin. Danny knew that’s what must have happened for Jason’s hands to be messed up, but it was one thing to know and another to see.
Danny floated up into the sky and watched the city of Gotham. In the distance, he saw a figure hiding in the shadows.
The Batman.
The man had become reckless and more violent after Jason’s death. Lately, a new kid had started following him, and he had calmed down.
Danny’s ghost sense went off. He turned around to see a lady steeped in inky and black shadows come behind him.
“My little Robin, he’s alive?”
“For the most part,” Danny answered. Danny saw black tears fall down Lady Gotham’s cheeks.
“I’m so glad,” she said, “Please, I know you’ve done much for me and the shades and spirits that reside here, but please, take good care of him for me.”
She disappeared.
Danny sighed. He would find a way to get the kid back to his dad, find out why the kid was back, and deal with it. Then he could wash his hands from the kid. It wouldn’t be easy, but it was doable.
Danny went home and entered through the front door, something he rarely did. He went into the living room and heard loud footsteps coming down the stairs. Danny had enough time to notice Jason’s tears before the kid threw himself at Danny.
Danny automatically got the kid and held on to him as Jason blubbered into his shoulder.
“It’s okay. I’m here. What’s wrong? Did you have a nightmare?”
Jason continued sobbing and holding on to Danny. He couldn’t let go of the kid, so he sat on the couch, and Jason climbed into Danny’s lap.
(Danny had a sudden sense of déjà vu as he remembered all the kids in a decrepit building would climb over his tall frame as he talked about the ghosts and gave them candy and fudge. Jason used to be one of those kids from the building.)
Danny held on to Jason while the boy sobbed.
(Danny was very aware of how small Jason was.)
Jason stopped crying and awkwardly got off Danny’s lap.
Jason had lost his sense of self when Danny left. It had been immediate. One moment he was planning what to do about Bruce, the next, he had almost all thoughts in his mind gone except for ‘dad’ and ‘Bruce.’
Jason came back, terrified, because he remembered how it felt like to lose his senses. He knew it had something to do with Danny.
“Did you know?”
“Know what, kid?”
Jason ignored the kid part, “That I was going to go catatonic again when you left?”
“I’m sorry, what?”
“When you left, I went back into zombie mode,” he said flatly. Jason didn’t think Danny was acting. He hadn’t known it was going to happen.
“I lose all senses when I’m away from you. It happened earlier, too. You asked me to follow you, and I started forgetting who I was.”
“Okay, maybe, maybe it’s just a side effect from returning from the dead. I doubt it has anything to do with me.”
Jason shook his head. Something in him was telling him he was right.
“I can’t go home like this. I need to find a way to fix it.”
Danny took a deep breath, “Don’t worry, Jason, we’ll find the solution together.”
____
Jason fell asleep on the couch, his head resting on Danny’s shoulder. They slept the rest of the day away. When Jason woke up, Danny was still asleep.
If the bags under his eyes were any indication, the guy needed it.
Jason looked around the barren living room. His eyes landed on an old TV. He shrugged. He might as well watch some TV. Jason flipped through the channels and settled on a news network. He might as well try to catch up.
Jason watched, bored. There were the usual robberies, murders, oh, a cat found its way home after three years away, more robberies…
“And in other news, Batman and Robin have been able to apprehend…”
Jason tuned out the rest of the news report.
Batman and—Batman and ROBIN?!
Jason looked at the date on the news station. It had only been a year since Jason’s death. How long has Batman had a new Robin? Jason shook Danny awake.
“Hmm, wha—what’s goin’ on?”
“How long has Batman had a new Robin?”
“What?”
“How long has Batman had a new Robin?!”
Danny looked at Jason with pity, and Jason’s blood went cold. Danny knew. He knew that Jason was, used to be, Robin.
“About two months,” Danny said, watching Jason’s reaction.
Two months…No, it had to have been longer. Bruce would have to teach the new Robin. Still, it took Bruce less than a year to replace him. Who was his replacement? Who was the new shiny model that Bruce had gotten?
“I want a computer.”
“Jason—”
“I want a computer. Now!”
Danny reluctantly took out his laptop and gave it to Jason. The first thing the boy looked about was the Joker.
“That fucker is still alive! What the fuck, B?”
Danny didn’t know what to do when Jason started crying. Should he give the boy space? Danny knew the Joker had killed the last Robin, but he hadn’t thought how his being alive would affect Jason.
Jason looked at Danny, “You know, you know about me, don’t you?”
“I know you were Robin. I know who Batman is; the dead like to talk.”
“You know who the new Robin is,” he made it a statement. Danny hesitated before nodding.
“Who is it?” Jason demanded. He wanted, needed to know.
“Kid, don’t do this to yourself.”
“Who. Is. It?”
Danny sighed and then answered, “A kid named Tim Drake.”
Tim Drake? Why did that name sound familiar? Wait…
“Tim Drake, as in Jack and Janet’s Drake kid? Our neighbor? That Tim Drake?”
Danny shrugged, unsure how to answer.
Jason shut the laptop and ran upstairs. Danny let the kid be; after all, what’s the worst that could happen?
Jason climbed out the window. He needed to get to the manor and demand to Bruce what he was thinking, putting another kid in those colors after the last one had died.
How could he replace me? And so quickly, too! How could he not kill that fucking clown? How…How…how…
Who was he? Bruce…he needed Bruce…he…
And Jason lost himself again.
Danny lay on his couch, unsure what to do. Things would probably have been easier to deal with if Jason had been a ghost.
Danny stared at the ceiling. Things were so much easier in Amity Park, but after his parents chased him out of town, Lady Gotham permitted him to reside in her city. Danny had decided to help the lost spirits, so different from the ghosts of Amity Park, who just wanted to fill an obsession, and aided their journey into the Infinite Realms.
Danny didn’t even know what Jason was. Was he a zombie, a revenant? How did he come back? (Because he felt alive.) Danny almost, almost called Constantine, but he remembered how they parted last time. (There had been a lot of literal cursing and threats.)
“I’ll leave him as a last resort,” besides, he was sure Lady Gotham would help if Danny needed it. She seemed to be attached to Jason.
After an hour, Danny decided to check up on Jason.
Danny panicked when he opened the door, and the room was empty. He looked under the bed to make sure Jason wasn’t hiding and found nothing.
Fuck, fuck, FUCK!
Lady Gotham was going to kill him. He was only 32 years old; he didn’t deserve to die! (He forgot he was immortal.)
“Okay, Fenton, calm down; take a deep breath. He couldn’t have gotten far.”
Danny transformed and followed Jason’s ectosignature trail. It took him a while, but he finally found Jason. From above, it looked like the kid was out of it. It couldn’t be true, right? It couldn’t be that Jason was only coherent when Danny was around, right?
Danny felt his stomach drop as he got closer. The closer he got, the more coherent Jason seemed to be. Once Danny was in front of the kid, Jason fell to his knees and began to cry. Danny got a hold of Jason and flew them back to his house.
He went intangible, deposited Jason on the bed in the guest room, and transformed in front of him.
“What are you,” Jason asked in a hollow voice.
“I’m a halfa; half human, half ghost.”
“Does that mean you’ve died?”
“Yeah, I have.”
Jason brought his legs to his chest and buried his face in his knees.
“I can never go home, can I? Even if we take the new, better Robin out of the equation, Bruce will never want a broken kid like me.”
Danny put his hand on Jason’s shoulder.
“You’re not broken, Jason. You just came back from the dead!”
Jason snorted, “If I get away from you, I lose all sense of self and can’t think at all; yeah, I’m broken.”
Danny didn’t know what to say but remembered what Lady Gotham asked of him.
“You can stay here as long as you want.”
Jason turned to look at Danny.
“What if I want to kill the Joker? Will you still let me stay then?”
Danny shrugged, “The dead deserve to get their closure.”
“Bruce would never allow it.”
“I’m not Bruce. I don’t play by the rules of the living; I play by the rules of the dead. The dead deserve their vengeance.”
____
Danny didn’t know how it happened, but he ended up with a new brother sidekick.
Since their first talk, Jason didn’t bring up killing the Joker again, but he did follow Danny around when he had a job with the dead of Gotham. (It’s not as if Jason had much choice, but still, having a living person to talk to was nice.)
After three months, Danny had gotten used to the kid and, he could admit to himself, was attached to Jason.
After discovering that Danny couldn’t make anything except fudge, Jason took over kitchen duties. (He had been appalled.) Danny hadn’t eaten so well in ever.
He was teaching Jason how to deal with the dead after they discovered that Jason had new clairvoyant abilities. He could see and feel the emotions of the ghosts that resided in Gotham.
They still hadn’t figured out why Jason was only coherent around Danny.
Danny had popped into the Ghost Zone with Jason to ask Frostbite, but the yeti could only theorize that Danny’s ectoplasm was probably helping Jason heal.
Danny tried to give him space when he could, but it was hard when Jason’s mental capacities depended on proximity. Thankfully, Jason could be a few feet away from Danny before he started losing himself.
One night, almost a year after Jason’s mysterious resurrection, the kid came to Danny with a serious look on his face.
“What’s up, kiddo?”
Jason took a deep breath to steady himself, “I’m ready.”
He didn’t elaborate. He didn’t have to.
The dead of Gotham were clamoring for the Joker’s death, and so was he.
“Are you sure?” Danny asked. Jason was glad that the man who had become like family wasn’t discouraging or looking at him with disgust.
Jason lifted his chin and said with certainty, “The dead deserve their closure. Very few of the departed can get their revenge; I deserve to get mine and give it to Joker’s victims.”
“When,” Danny asked.
“Tonight,” Jason answered.
The clown didn’t make it until the following day.
Both the living and dead were at peace the following weeks. Lady Gotham came and thanked Danny and her little Robin for curing her of that cancer plaguing her.
After the Joker’s death, Jason could part from Danny for a day or two and a few miles. It was as if killing the Joker had helped slightly lift Jason’s confusion.
“You think I’ll ever be able to be apart from you,” Jason asked one day.
“Maybe. You are getting better.” Jason stared at the street as little kids chased each other down the street. (Not all of them were alive.)
Danny put his arm around Jason’s shoulder and drew him close.
“It’ll be okay, kid, I’m here.”
Jason smiled sadly. It’s not that he didn’t appreciate Danny, but he was getting older. He was about to turn eighteen in less than a year. He didn’t want to always depend on his looney neighbor turned older brother figure.
Jason got up, “I’m gonna go for a walk. I’ll call if I need anything, kay?”
Danny smiled, “Kay, kid.”
Jason decided to go to a little hot dog stand with the best chili dogs in Gotham.
Jason didn’t know that Wayne Enterprise had done a charity event in Crime Alley to help underprivileged kids. He didn’t know a new center was opening across from the hotdog stand.
He didn’t know Bruce Wayne would be there personally to open the Jason Todd Center.
Jason didn’t know that as he walked down the street to the stand, Bruce Wayne would be in a car driven down the same street by Alfred Pennyworth.
Either by kismet or by dumb luck, both men looked up at the same time and spotted a familiar figure. (Jason hadn’t grown much; death didn’t help with his growth.)
Alfred braked suddenly, causing the figure to look up.
Baby blue eyes met steely blue ones. The boy was frozen for a second before he ran. Bruce didn’t think; he reacted.
“Jason!”
Jason ran. He didn’t want to talk to dad Bruce. The man had replaced him, forgotten him. Worse, he had allowed Jason’s murderer to live.
(Jason remembered how he froze when he confronted the Joker. He hadn’t been able to move. Danny had helped him. He moved Jason’s arms and helped him squeeze the trigger thrice while ensuring no one could hear them.)
“Jason, please!”
Jason ran all the way home.
Danny was still on the porch. He got up on the defensive when he saw Jason running down the street. Danny could practically taste his fear. Then he saw Bruce Wayne. He was chasing Jason.
Jason ran up to Danny and hid behind the man, suddenly glad Danny was a 6’8” behemoth.
Bruce stopped in front of an old house. It looked like a stiff wind would bring it down.
“Jason,” he whispered.
Bruce wasn’t a man who jumped to conclusions. He checked and rechecked the evidence. At the moment, though, he knew deep in his being that Jason was back and alive…and he hadn’t come home. He had run away from Bruce and was hiding behind a stranger.
“Who are you,” Bruce growled in his Batman voice. The man didn’t answer; he stared at Bruce, unnerving the other man.
“Jason,” the man said, “go inside. I’ll deal with this.”
Jason quickly went in, and Bruce wanted to rage against the stranger. How dare he hide his son away from him? What right did he have?
Bruce felt his phone buzzing in his pocket and ignored it. (He knew Alfred would get him back for that later.) Right now, he had to concentrate on the enemy in front of him.
“You might as well come to the porch. I’ll tell you what I can.”
Bruce clenched his jaw but stepped in.
A few hours later, Bruce felt like he would lose it. Jason had been back for almost two years. He couldn’t be far from this…man (he refused to call him by name), and his son didn’t want to see him. Oh, and the man before him was a psychopomp that helped the dead the Gotham.
How had Batman never noticed that?
“Look, Jason is a good kid. I don’t mind taking care of him.”
“He’s my son; I can care for him fine.”
Danny raised an eyebrow.
“Oh really, you know how to deal with the living dead? Do you know what to do with the powers he’s developed? Do you know how to deal with the fact that he has died and come back?”
Bruce gritted his teeth.
“I would learn.”
Danny sighed, “Let me talk to Jason to see what he wants.”
Bruce wanted to protest, but the man was gone by the time he could even think about opening his mouth.
Danny found Jason hidden under the bed.
“Is he gone?”
“No,” Danny answered.
Jason whimpered, “He’s going to hate me when he finds out I killed Joker. He already distrusted me when he just thought I killed a person. What will he do when he finds out I actually killed?”
Danny sat on the floor by the bed.
“Listen, kiddo, the ball is in your playing field. If you want to leave, say the word, and we’ll be gone before he even notices.”
Jason wanted to say yes, Ancients, he was tempted to say yes, but he didn’t. Bruce knew Jason was alive; he would hunt him down.
“Do you know what he wants,” Jason asked?
“To talk,” Danny answered, “I don’t think he’s lying.”
Jason didn’t say anything and got out from under the bed.
“Can you bring him inside? I’ll be down in a bit.”
Danny nodded and went back down.
Bruce was a ball of nerve. Uncharacteristically, he was fidgeting as he worried. He wanted to enter the house, bundle Jason up, and take him home. He didn’t think it would end well if he did.
Finally, after an eternity, the door opened, but instead of Jason, the man came out again.
“You can come inside. Jason will be down in a bit.”
Bruce entered the house. The first thing he saw was a set of stairs leading up. To his right was a doorway leading to a living room. That’s where he went. The room had a couch, a coffee table, and a TV. The floor was littered with papers and books. From what Bruce could see, a lot of them weren’t in English.
“You can sit here.”
Bruce nodded and sat on the couch. It was well-worn, and he sunk in. Bruce looked at everything critically when he heard soft footsteps coming down the stairs. Bruce got up, and his breath caught in his throat when he saw his son in front of him alive.
“Jay-lad,” Bruce went to hug his boy, but Jason moved out of the way. Bruce felt a way of disappointment hit him.
“Jay-lad?”
Jason looked at Bruce and asked, “Why?”
Bruce looked at his son, confused.
“Why what, Jason?”
“Why did you replace me? Why… why was he still alive?”
Jason looked at Bruce straight in the eyes, and at that moment, Bruce understood. Joker’s death wasn’t a coincidence. It had been Jason.
Bruce turned to Danny, angry.
“You! You did this! You turned my son into a murderer!”
“Don’t you dare! Danny has been there for me since I crawled out of my grave,” Bruce flinched, “He’s killed for me! He’s protected me! And he would never replace me with a newer, shinier model.”
“No, Jason, it wasn’t like that.”
“Oh, yeah, then how was it?”
“Jason, son, when I lost you, I lost a part of myself.”
“Oh, so you decided to get a new kid to fix you up? Why did you even allow another kid to wear those colors after I died in them?”
“Tim, Tim was going to do it anyway. What better way to keep him safe than by being by his side?”
Jason snorted, “Like you kept me safe?”
“Jay lad, please, come home. I can fix this, I promise.”
Jason looked at Bruce. How he wanted to believe Bruce, his father, so badly. But if his death had taught him anything, it’s that Bruce wasn’t perfect. He made mistakes.
“Even if I wanted to return to the Manor, I can’t. I can’t be away from Danny for long.”
“And why is that,” Bruce asked the man, Danny, sharply.
“I don’t know. I’ve been researching it and have no concrete reasons. Not even Lady Gotham knows.”
“Lady Gotham?”
“Yeah, Lady Gotham, you know this city is sentient, don’t you?”
Bruce filed that piece of information away for later.
“What if Danny comes with us?”
“Whoa, hey now, I’m not leaving this place. The dead here needs me.”
“And I need my son back home!”
“Bruce, you can’t order me around. Besides, I stopped being your son when I died!”
Bruce felt tears pooling in his eyes, “No, Jason, you will always be my son. No matter what.”
“Fine, I’m your son, whatever, but Bruce, please, give me space to wrap my head around this.”
“No,” Bruce said stubbornly. He would have his son back home tonight.
“Bruce, don’t do this. If you make me go with you, I will hate you forever.”
Bruce deflated at Jason’s statement. He didn’t sense any lies.
“Jay lad, please. I miss you; Alfred misses you.”
Jason flinched; bringing Alfie into the conversation was a low blow. He didn’t know what to do and turned to Danny for guidance.
“It’s up to you, kid.”
Jason looked at Bruce’s red-rimmed eyes. Jason couldn’t help himself. He went to hug his dad.
Bruce held on to his son as hard as he could. He didn’t want to let go. Unfortunately, all too soon, Jason let go.
“I’m sorry, Bruce. I can’t go back. Not yet.”
“Why not? I can ask Zatanna or Constantine to help with the problem you have. Hell, Doctor Fate owes me a favor! Please, Jay lad.”
Jason almost gave in to Bruce’s begging, but then he remembered the terror of losing oneself. He couldn’t do that. Besides, he couldn’t leave Danny to go to greener pastures.
“You know where I am. You know I’m alive. You can visit me whenever you want, but I refuse to lose myself for even a second. I’m sorry, dad.”
Bruce wanted to rage against that decision. He just got his son back; he wanted Jason by his side! Then he looked at Jason’s face of fear.
Jason couldn’t be himself without Danny. Should Bruce be selfish and take his son back and have him become catatonic? He knew the answer. He couldn’t. It wouldn’t be fair to Jason.
Bruce hugged his son again, wishing he could freeze the moment and stay that way forever.
“My son, Jason, never question whether I love you. I will always love you, no matter what.”
“Even though I’ve killed?”
Bruce tightened his hold on Jason.
“I won’t say I like it, but I understand.”
“Let me call Alfred. He’ll be glad to see you again.”
It turned out to be an understatement. Alfred had cried tears of joy when he saw his grandson alive.
“Oh, my boy, you’re back.”
Alfred hugged Jason just as hard as Bruce had, “Don’t think you’re not in trouble for not telling us,” Alfred reprimanded. “And you, Master Bruce, should know better than worrying an old man by not answering your phone.”
“I’m sorry, Alfred, it won’t happen again.”
“Hmph, it’d better not.”
Bruce turned to Danny and gave him his phone number.
“I’ll keep in touch. If you need anything for Jason or yourself, let me know. I’ll come back tomorrow to see Jason.”
Danny nodded, “I’ll take good care of him. He’s like a little brother to me. I won’t let anything happen to him.”
“Thank you. You took care of him when I couldn’t. You still are, and I may not show it well, but I appreciate it.”
Danny smiled, “It’s okay to be angry about it. It’s not fair that Jason can’t be far from me. Be assured, I will find a way to fix it.”
“Thank you,” Bruce turned to his son, “Jason, you’re a miracle. I’ll call tonight and be back tomorrow morning.”
“Kay,” Jason said.
Bruce kissed Jason’s curls and reluctantly got in the car. He watched his son as Alfred drove away. It felt like leaving a piece of soul behind.
Bruce watched as Danny put his arm around Jason’s shoulders. He would find a way to help Jason and then have his son under the Manor’s roof, where he belonged.