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Jason couldn’t help but feel like he was just waiting for the other shoe to drop. Nothing had ever been this good without some sort of backlash, and he was terrified for what was to come.
Of course, just when he thought that maybe he could do this, maybe he wouldn’t mess up and get himself kicked back out onto the streets, he went and broke a very expensive looking vase.
He hadn’t even tried to fix it, or clean it up. He’d just run, as fast as possible.
He was currently hiding under his bed, trying to stay silent despite the fact that he felt like he couldn’t breathe. Tears were blurring his vision, but he could still see the watery outline of Bruce’s shoes as he opened the door and came in.
“Jason?” He asked softly.
Jason pushed himself further back, silently willing Bruce to forget he was there, to leave. The lines between this man and the one he normally hid from were fading, until he was sure that his father was about to reach under the bed to bring him out.
“Jason, are you okay?”
Jason wasn’t sure where he was, panic obscuring rational thought. Why was he under here? His father always hated it when he hid. He should go face him, maybe it would hurt less if he—
“Jason, I’m sorry. I don’t know what I did to scare you. I’ll leave if you want, but I need to know that you’ll be okay.”
That… that wasn’t his dad. His dad never said sorry in a voice that meant it. His dad never waited patiently for Jason to calm down. His dad would have forced him to crawl out, or dragged him out by an arm. That wasn’t his dad.
“M-Mr. Wayne?” Jason asked, voice breaking.
“Hey Jason. Are you back with me now?”
“I-I think—think so… s-sorry….”
“It’s okay. Can you come out now?”
Jason’s heart dropped into his stomach. He didn’t know what he had done, but whatever it was, Bruce wanted to be able to reach him. Maybe if he complied, it wouldn’t hurt as much?
He pulled himself out from under the bed, but didn’t rise, sitting on the floor and keeping his eyes down. He would take whatever pain he had earned and hope that Bruce was kind enough to let him stay after.
Bruce moved and Jason braced himself, but the man just sank to the floor with a quiet thump, sitting cross-legged a few feet away.
“Jason… Can you look at me please?” Bruce’s voice was soft. If he was angry, he was doing a remarkable job of hiding it. Jason let his gaze slowly rise up to Bruce’s face, and he was surprised to find sadness in the man’s eyes.
“I-I’m s-sorry Sir… I kn-know what I d-did wro-wrong… I’ll fix I-it, promise!” Jason whimpered, trying to placate Bruce before he was struck.
“You—“ Bruce’s voice broke, before he started again. “You haven’t done anything, Jason.”
“But… y-you’re u-upset…”
“Yes, but not because you did something wrong.”
“Oh…” Jason didn’t know what that meant. If he hadn’t done anything wrong, was he still supposed to stay still for a punishment, or could he hide back under the bed? “W-why are y-you u-upset?”
“Because someone hurt you.” Bruce’s voice was full of sorrow, but it was his words that made Jason’s breath catch in his throat. “Someone who was supposed to take care of you hurt you bad enough that just being left alone with me is sending you into a panic.”
“I-I’m s-sorry—Di-didn’t m-mean to—“
“I know, it’s okay. I know you don’t mean to. I don’t want to scare you; I don’t want to hurt you, I promise.”
But Jason was shaking his head. “I d-deserved i-it…”
“Jason…” Bruce looked stricken, but his tone stayed comforting. “Can I touch you?”
Jason nodded stiffly, closing his eyes and bracing his hands into the carpet, preparing for whatever Bruce wanted to do to him.
He couldn’t help the shaking gasp leaving him as he was firmly tugged into the safest hug he had ever felt.
“There is nothing you could have done to deserve that.” Bruce said, moving one hand to pet Jason’s hair. “I promise, son, that I will never do anything like that to you.”
“N-never?” Jason asked brokenly. “E-even i-if I r-really d-deserve it?” He curled deeper into the hug, frightened that pushing would make Bruce retract his comfort, but he had to know.
“Jason, did you know that Dick once lit the kitchen on fire? He wanted to see if he could cook something without Alfred, but left a towel too close to the stove, and half the cupboards ended up with smoke damage.”
“R-really?” Jason asked, “w-what d-did y-you d-do? W-were y-you m-mad?”
“Mad? I was furious! And terrified, so, so terrified that he had hurt himself. But I never laid a hand on him. He was grounded, make no mistake about that, but I never hurt him. There is nothing that my kids, either of my kids, could do that would make me hurt them.”
Jason broke down, crying into Bruce’s expensive shirt while the man rubbed his back comfortingly.
“It’s okay, you’re safe now. Alfred and I, we’ll keep you safe, because that’s what parents are supposed to do.” Bruce pressed a soft kiss to his newest son’s head.
“Thank you, Dad.” The words were whispered into His chest.
Bruce couldn’t help himself anymore, and wiped away the tears that were building in his eyes.