Work Text:
Bruce didn’t know what to expect when he first brought Jason home. His first thought was that he would overreact, maybe throw something and curse just as he had when he first met him. The bruise from the tire iron still ached around his thigh and he had to give the kid credit for that one, for his remarkably small size he could throw a hit like nobody’s business.
Alfred had seated him at the island in the kitchen, and had his arms crossed ahead of him. Bruce stood in the doorway, silent, watching.
Jason made remarkable eye contact, locking his hazel eyes with Alfred’s rich brown ones. There wasn’t a single emotion on either of their faces, just stern looks. It was the intimidation game and it was a game Alfred was good at.
But Jason? Was giving him a run for his money, there was a plate of food set before him yet he didn’t break eye contact, he’d hardly blinked and it’d been ten minutes. Any longer, and Bruce was positive Alfred would break the tension with a sarcastic remark. Bruce was sure of it.
Instead, Jason rolled the sleeves of his ratty sweater up to his elbows, still making dangerous eye contact, and he said,
“I once read that a chair is symbolic of your place in life.”
The tension bled out of Alfred’s face, replaced with a curious head tilt and a click of his tongue. Bruce waited with baited breath. This was the same kid that called him a “big boob” not even an hour ago.
“And how is that a chair can be symbolic of your place in life?”
Jason’s expression broke with a smirk, “The article said that when you are sitting it means two things, you are either in a position of power well enough to relax or you’re being questioned. When you’re doing a job interview, you will sit while whoever is hiring you stands to question you. In an interrogation we often see that detectives will stand above their subject, punctuating the fact that they are in a higher rank than they are. Now, you stand above me.”
Bruce felt something twitch in his chest, pride? Wonder? He found himself looking back at Alfred and his beloved butler was sitting down next to Jason.
“Then I want to make it quite clear my boy, that we are in the same place, just with different responsibilities.” Alfred’s eyes drifted up and met Bruce’s, and a smile cracked onto his lips.
Jason was charming, in his own way. Charming in a way Bruce had yet to describe, it was interesting.
He too came over and flanked Jason’s other side, “And where did you read that?”
Jason shrugged, “Probably in the Gotham Gazette. The back pages have some interesting philosophy pieces that don’t make front line news, for obvious reasons. They’re fun, sometimes.”
“Philosophy,” Bruce corrected, “Now come on and eat, it’s nearly three in the morning, you need to go to bed.”
“I’m staying here?” Jason sounded bewildered, looking up with wide eyes and a dropped jaw.
“That was what we discussed in the car-”
“I thought you were pulling my leg!” Jason kicked Bruce’s leg, albeit a lot softer than the tire iron he threw at him earlier. “You’re serious?”
“Deadly.”
Jason mumbled a quiet, “Holy shit.” between his hands.
In a lot of ways, raising Jason was completely unlike raising Dick. For starters, they had to put him on a special diet to help him gain weight, which was a lot harder than Bruce thought it would be. Jason was a fan of running around, and causing chaos in a completely different way.
He liked to follow Bruce, specifically in the cave. He would ask a million questions about everything and anything. Bruce would answer him but the questions slowed down once he introduced Jason to the library.
More often than not if Bruce couldn’t find Jason, he could find him in the library, poured over several books at a time. He filled out notebooks with notes to preserve the pages of the books. There was a stack on one table or the other, pages marked with sticky notes.
Bruce could recall a time where his father told him that all humans craved a simple thing: knowledge and the understanding of the world around him. The craving for knowledge didn’t seem to leave Jason Todd either. Bruce expected that he wouldn’t want anything to do with school, god knew that Dick hated it.
But when Bruce came into the library and suggested schooling Jason had lit up.
“Yes!”
“What?”
“Y.E.S!” Jason shouted, slamming a book down. Was Jason trying to read Pride and Prejudice? “I haven’t been able to go to school in like a year! No way, yes! Absolutely, when can I start?” He was by Bruce’s side, fists clenched tightly. Jason tended to hit things or lash out when he was overwhelmed with his own emotions, luckily he’d started channeling that out through talking.
“I’ll call the Principal of Gotham Academy as soon as they open tomorrow and get a meeting together. You’ll have to dress nicely-” He put his hands in his pockets and Jason reached for the cuff of his sleeve
“I can do that! Totally, no problemo but I want something else too.”
“Hn?”
Jason’s eyes sparkled, and he held onto Bruce’s sleeve tightly, “When I start school I want to start training as Robin too. I’ll have perfect grades, and I won’t let it get in the way. Alfred said I weigh enough now, so I’m ready. I can handle both, I could handle the press and your secret. Besides I once read in the paper that people are questioning where Robin went so,” he spoke quickly with excitement, bouncing on the balls of his feet. He was pleading.
Bruce knew that Jason wanted to be Robin, but he didn’t think it was this badly. He looked down at where Jason held his sleeve and looked back up at him.
He put his hand on top of Jason’s head and sighed, “If you can keep up with school, and with your training as Robin, then we’ll see if you’re ready.”
Jason’s breath caught in his throat and he let go of Bruce only to pump his fist in the air, “Yes! I’m gonna go get Alfred and tell him all about it!” He ran back over to his books and flipped all of his notebooks shut, “I’m going back to school.” he muttered it quietly under his breath, but his fingers trembled and he ran back over to Bruce.
He leaned against him and Bruce put an arm around his shoulders. It was the first thing that resemble a hug that Jason had given him since he was officially adopted and under Bruce’s custody. His messy curls went frizzy around his pant leg and Bruce smiled, ruining his hair even more.
“Go tell Alfred so he can prepare some proper clothes, I expect spick and span.”
Jason looked up at him and grinned, “Got it!” and he skipped down the hallway, a paper flying out of his notebook along the way.
Bruce walked over and picked it up, unfolding it and reading it carefully.
Serendipity: the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way.
He smiled and tucked the note into the pocket closest to his breast. Jason was always doing some sort of research, teaching himself in the library. He would do wonderfully at school.
Bruce did end up getting a registration appointment at Gotham Academy the same day he made the phone call. He knocked on Jason’s door, making sure he was getting ready on time.
“Jay-lad, you’re good in there?”
“Uhh…”
He took that as a good maybe and he opened the door up. Jason was standing in front of a mirror, looking over himself sheepishly.
“You look fine,” Bruce put a hand on his shoulder, squeezing gently. Jason was tense with a newfound nervous energy that Bruce hadn’t seen in him before. Normally Jason was the sort of kid to tackle situations head on without thinking, but he was overthinking about school.
“Gotham Academy is super prestigious, isn’t it?” He smoothed down the front of his button down.
“It is, but I think you’ll do just fine there. Their curriculum is the best, once you get used to it you’ll love it.-”
“They’re gonna know I don’t belong there.” Jason huffed and tucked his shirt into his slacks with frustration, hanging his head low in the process. “They’re gonna take one look at me and know that I haven’t been to school in a year.”
“Nonsense. They won’t know that just by looking at you.”
Jason glared up at him, “Yes they will. They can always tell.”
Bruce grunted and bent down, “So, make them believe that you belong there.” He pointed back to the mirror. When he knelt down he was at Jason’s level, impossibly small despite being eleven years old. “Square your shoulders.”
“What?”
“Just square them.”
Jason sighed dramatically and squared his shoulders, still glaring into the mirror at Bruce.
“Good, now hold your head high.”
“This is stupid.” Jason muttered but tilted his head up anyways, still squaring his shoulders.
Bruce pointed in the mirror again, “Now lose the nasty look on your face and you’ve got the appearance of someone who belongs in Gotham Academy. That and if you keep glaring your face’ll get stuck that way.”
“No it won’t-” Jason swatted Bruce’s hand away. “They’re gonna see through it.”
“Even if they see through it, you’re worth going there. You’re smart enough for it, you just have to believe in yourself a little more, okay?”
Jason looked at himself in the mirror again, eyes drifting up and down. He nodded and leaned against him just as he did yesterday.
“Okay.”
“Good, now let’s get to the car and have a nice meeting. You’ve got this, don’t forget that.” He patted Jason on the back and led him out of his bedroom.
The car ride was spent in mostly silence. Bruce looked over at Jason every now and again and caught him fiddling with his fingers. He didn’t make eye contact and acted as though his fingers were the most wonderful thing in the world.
It remained the same way in the Principal’s office. Dr. Dianne Gray was a wonderful woman, with kind eyes and swept back gray hair. She examined Jason thoroughly.
“Jason Peter Todd is a wonderful name you know, rolls of the tongue beautifully. Tell me, your father says you’re interested in things like philosophy and literature. Can you talk to me about that?”
There had been no luck in getting Jason to talk about his life, before or since Bruce adopted him. They both look at each other when she refers to Bruce as his father, but Jason looked back upon her with a curious look on his face.
Jason exhaled slowly, the tension dipping from his shoulders. He made eye contact with Dr. Gray for the first time since they got into her office and he smiled.
“I once read an article about how a chair represents your place in society.”