Chapter Text
Jason dangled, upside down, from the tallest monkey bars on the playground. They weren’t nearly as tall as the climbing apparatus in the cave, but they were tall enough that Jason didn’t come close to touching the sand underneath even if he stretched his arms out as far as he could. He let himself hang there, shirt riding up (or down?) as all the noises of the other kids playing swirled around him.
Ava and Claudia were running around, screaming and chasing each other in some kind of weird tag game that Jason didn’t really get. Donovan was yelling his three times table as loud as he could to literally no one, Ethan and Gavin were fighting about soccer rules, and a bunch of other kids were shouting and laughing and talking.
Jason stayed quiet. Even though he was upside down, his eyes were glued to the gate that parents came through to pick up their kids. The elementary school side of Gotham Pathways was like that: kids had to wait for an ‘authorized adult’ before they were allowed to go at the end of the day.
When Jason first learned about that rule, he really hated it. He had been leaving school on his own all the way back in kindergarten and, yeah, Pathways was way too far for him to walk home from, but still! He could handle getting across a fucking parking lot on his own.
But by now, he had figured out a routine with it. He didn’t mind hanging around at the playground with some of the other kids until he got picked up. Tim came every Wednesday, and Alfred came if he was already in the city running errands. Dick was on the list just in case, and Cass was, too, even though she didn’t drive much.
Most of the time, though, it was Bruce who came and that’s who Jason was looking for right now. He wasn’t late, he never was, but that uncomfortable, twisty feeling inside Jason always started curling around from the second the bell rang all the way up until he saw—
There! Bruce came through the opening; taller than everyone else and taking those big, long steps he always used. His eyes locked onto Jason right away, and that one corner of his mouth lifted just like usual.
With a smile on his own face, Jason took in a deep breath, swung back and forth, and gathered his momentum just like Dick had taught him. He flung himself off the bar and pulled his body into a tight ball. The world flipped around. Colours blurred together and noises spun all over. Then, Jason stretched out his body and planted his feet solid in the sand. Ethan and Gavin stopped fighting just long enough to cheer, and Jason’s smile got even bigger as he waved to the kids and then jogged over to Bruce.
“Hey, B!” The squirming in his stomach was totally gone now, but he still smashed into Bruce’s side and wrapped his arms around tight. That always helped to squeeze out the last of his anxious jitters.
“Jason.” Bruce hugged him back, but there was something just a little bit different about it than normal, so Jason pulled away so he could see his dad’s face.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“Bruce…”
“Just… that was a pretty big flip.”
What? No, it wasn’t. Jason did way harder ones at home all the time.
Bruce gave his head a shake and then changed the subject. “Where’s your backpack?”
Oh, shit. Where was his backpack? He knew he brought it outside at the end of the day and then… Fuck, this was what it was always like now. He couldn’t keep track of anything, even if he tried. It just flew right out of his head the second something else was going on. He couldn’t see his backpack anywhere nearby, so…
“Over there.” Bruce pointed to a spot on the grass right by the playground and steered Jason towards it. In basically no time at all, Bruce grabbed the backpack and then turned them back around so that they were heading towards the gate together. He kept hold of the backpack almost like he didn’t think Jason could carry it for himself. Or maybe he thought Jason would just lose it again?
“Bye, Jason!” Ethan’s loud voice cut through the rest of the playground noises. “Don’t forget to ask your dad!”
Jason gave his classmate a wave, but didn’t say anything back. That squirmy feeling was back in his stomach, and he didn’t feel like talking to the other kids.
Was Bruce mad about the flip? He still had his hand on Jason, and it felt a lot more protective than normal.
“It was just a single,” Jason said as they passed through the gate. “I can do those in my sleep!”
“We can talk about it later,” Bruce said in a firm voice. Then he smiled at Mrs. Ahmad, the playground supervisor, like there was nothing in the entire world that could ever be wrong. He did that kind of switch all the time, from secret conversations to smiley public ones, and—
Oh. It wasn’t because the flip was dangerous, it was because doing something like that at school was showing off too much. It meant that people would know Jason could do stuff that a typical kid wouldn’t be able to do. That meant people could get suspicious and start to look closer. Looking closer meant that they could find more things, and eventually it might lead to Batman.
And now Jason’s stomach was the thing that was flipping. He already knew all that stuff about keeping the Batman secret. That was a thing from way before, back when he had been Robin, and maybe there was a lot of stuff he wasn’t as good at anymore, but he hadn’t forgotten how to keep a secret.
“What was it that you were going to ask me about?” Bruce scanned his eyes across the parking lot before leading Jason off the curb. His hand was still on Jason’s shoulder, and it was starting to feel heavy.
“You know, the flip wasn’t that big a deal,” Jason said. “Everyone knows Dick’s my big brother and he never shuts up about the circus, so…”
So, no one would get suspicious with Jason knowing some really basic moves. It hadn’t even been a double! Jason had done that once and Mrs. Ahmad had gotten really worried about it, so he hadn’t tried it since.
“I said we could talk about it later, Jay.”
“Well, what if I wanna talk about it now?” He rolled his shoulder back, finally knocking Bruce’s hand off. He could fucking handle himself in a stupid parking lot. He didn’t need his dad making sure he looked both ways or whatever shit Bruce was thinking
And he didn’t need his dad telling him what he could or couldn’t do at school! He was smart enough to know what was suspicious and what wasn’t. He hadn’t even been trying to show off or whatever; he was just having fun. But now his insides were all tangled up and his face was getting hot, all because his dad might be a little upset about it.
Fuck, this was even worse than losing his backpack all the time. One wrong look or one weird comment from Bruce was all it took to ruin Jason’s mood. He couldn’t even stay happy on his own without his dad’s help.
He had reached the car at least, so he could hide his face a little by turning towards the door. Not like Bruce wouldn’t notice the way he clenched his jaw tight or the deep breaths he was taking. Fuck, he needed to get himself under control.
“Jason.” The dark, warped reflection from the car door showed Bruce crouching down low. He kept a little distance between them, though, and didn’t reach out. That helped. “I’m sorry I upset you.”
“Doesn’t take much,” Jason mumbled. He swiped underneath his eye really quick to get rid of the wetness. There was only that little bit there, so at least that was something.
“Still. I didn’t mean for that to happen. I only wanted…”
“Yeah, I know you’re worried about— about people knowing stuff. But this one wasn’t that big a deal! I remember how to be careful.”
He heard Bruce take a deep breath, like he was going to say something heavy. But then there was a pause, and Bruce let out all that air.
“Okay,” he said.
Jason turned around. “Okay? That’s it?”
“Well, we should still talk through this in more detail. But I think now isn’t the right time.”
And… and, yeah, Bruce was right about that. Whenever big emotions crashed into Jason, it took some time before he felt back to normal again. There was a part of him that was still scared about what Bruce was going to say, and if they tried to talk about this now, he’d just end up crying for real or saying something stupid.
“I’m glad to hear you remember how to be careful,” Bruce said. “I just want to get on the same page. You were always responsible about this in the past.”
It was nice to hear that. And, just like any other time Bruce said something nice to Jason, it brought out a warm, bright feeling inside him, one that helped to get rid of the stuff from before. It was still a bit annoying because it was basically the exact same reason why he had been feeling anxious in the first place. Whatever Bruce said was way too important for him to ignore even a little. But at least this feeling was a helpful one, so Jason let it sink in as he gave his dad a shaky smile and then climbed into the backseat.
Bruce drove slowly out of the parking lot and used the rearview mirror to check on Jason a couple times. They were on the main road before he talked again.
“So, what was it you needed to ask me?”
Jason blinked. “Huh?”
“That boy from your class said—”
“Ethan,” Jason remembered.
“Right. Ethan. What was he talking about?”
“Oh. Well, um… he was wondering if I’d go over to his house sometime to, like, hang out.”
That wasn’t exactly what he’d said. He’d wanted Jason to ‘come for a playdate’ but no way in hell was Jason saying it like that. It was weird enough talking about it at all, and it didn’t help that Bruce didn’t say anything right away. He just pulled on his ‘thinking face’ as he stared at the road.
“Hn,” he finally said, which wasn’t helpful at all.
“What?” Jason asked.
“Well, he’s… older than you, right?”
“Not by that much!” He was nine, Jason knew, but going to school at Pathways meant that his class had mixed ages in it. Bruce knew that! And anyway, Jason was seven, but there was a little part of him that was still kinda twenty-one.
“Do you actually want to go?” Bruce asked.
Somehow, that was even worse than him not saying anything. Because there was that part of Jason that wasn’t a kid, and it was super weird for a twenty-one-year-old guy to want to go on a fucking playdate with a nine-year-old, right?
“I… I was just…” He sucked in a tight breath and tried to ignore how hot his face and chest felt. “I dunno, I—”
“Jay, no, I didn’t mean it like— Bud, it’s okay if you want to go to Ethan’s house. It’s more than okay, actually.” Bruce gripped the steering wheel tighter as he flashed another look at Jason. “I was just checking in to see if you needed me to be the bad guy.”
Oh, yeah, that was another thing that Jason remembered from when he had first been with Bruce. For every school event or party or whatever, Bruce had always said Jason could blame him if he didn’t want to go or was already there and wanted to leave or whatever. He could say it was because of his ‘strict dad’ not letting him do something, so he didn’t have to try to save face or say no to another kid.
It had been nice to have that offer, even if Jason had never needed to use it. He didn’t need to use it now, either.
“I… think it’ll be okay,” he said. “It’d probably just be, like, pretty much what happens at school already.”
They sometimes did stuff together during free work time. Ethan was really into Legos and Jason had never really played with them much before, but he liked trying it out. And sometimes Jason played basketball or soccer with Ethan and some of the other kids at recess. He was younger and smaller than a lot of them, but he could still keep up.
“Okay.” Bruce was still holding the steering wheel really tight. “Well, it sounds like it could be good then.”
“Yeah, maybe.” Jason still didn’t really know. He had people in his life who actually knew who he was: all of his smothering siblings, Steph, Roy, and Babs. There was a lot of weirdness now that he was way, way younger than all of them, but a lot of times it felt like he was hanging out like normal. He didn’t have to hide anything about who he was, and it was nice not to worry about how he looked to other people.
Being with other kids was different than that. There was stuff that Jason didn’t know about: TV shows and memes and certain toys. And there were other things he was still trying to figure out, too. Not a single kid he had grown up with in Crime Alley used the word ‘playdate’, and he didn’t know if it was rich kid BS or something that everyone did nowadays.
But he did know that he actually liked doing some kiddy activities: riding his bike or playing dumb board games or even messing around with those Legos at school. It might be nice to have other kids who wanted to do that stuff too and weren’t doing it just because he liked it.
“So, did you two talk about any plans?” Bruce asked.
“Uh, well, he gave me his mom’s phone number. It’s in my backpack. I think… I think you need to, um, call her or whatever.” That was all Ethan said about it, and he had just kinda brushed off everything else Jason asked him about what day or what time they’d do it. All he seemed to want to talk about was random ideas of what they could do together. Apparently, kids just let their parents deal with all the actual planning of things.
Maybe that made sense because it wasn’t like Jason could get himself to Ethan’s without someone driving him, anyway, and he had a hard time remembering the days and times things were happening unless he made sure to put it in his phone and then check for it. It still felt dumb to have to need help for getting a fucking friend. Or maybe a friend. Whatever.
“I’ll give her a call,” Bruce promised. “We’ll set something up.”
And it was with that serious, take-action voice that Jason had heard a million times over. It washed away a bit more of the uncomfortable, nervous feeling inside him.
Bruce was gonna make it happen, and it was gonna happen fast.
Surprisingly, Bruce was heading into uncharted territory as he parked just outside the Dekker family home that afternoon. Jason’s lack of friendships the first time around had been a colossal failure that hadn’t even occurred to Bruce until after the second month of obsessing over why his son had chosen to travel across the globe for a total stranger rather than stay in Gotham to try to work things out.
It was so painfully obvious when Bruce finally realized it: Jason hadn’t had anyone outside their incredibly small circle that he had felt he could trust. The desperate what-ifs had tortured Bruce for weeks after, and it was still a life lesson that he would never let go of.
Dick, however, had landed on his feet with building strong friendships, just like he had with nearly everything, and both Tim and Cass were old enough when Bruce adopted them that a hovering parent would have only made things worse. Damian’s closest friend being an alien/human hybrid with the ability to travel the earth in seconds was a source of both comfort and concern for Bruce, but it also meant he was rarely needed to provide transportation.
So, it had been a new experience for Bruce to cold call a woman and request to bring his son to her home at some point in the near future. He had been pleasantly surprised and also relieved to get an invitation to stay there himself for the duration of the visit. Jason had been less pleasantly surprised, and asked more than once if that’s what ‘the other parents’ were doing.
Apparently it was, and it was also a semi-regular event for Charlene Dekker and a few other Pathways families. She had laughed and made an odd, veiled comment about parents needing to have fun, too, so that Saturday, Bruce and Jason drove out to the suburbs together.
It wasn’t Bristol, but still a wealthy neighbourhood with large homes and landscaped lawns. The Dekker house was framed with faux columns and had a massive multi car garage attached to the front. Bruce stayed right behind Jason as they travelled up the walkway, and he was the one to ring the doorbell.
“Bruce Wayne!” A blazingly white smile greeted him as soon as the slate blue door opened. It belonged to a woman who looked to be in her late thirties. Despite her heavy makeup and artfully styled hair, she wore a soft pink athleisure set. A gaudy wedding ring flashed on her hand as she waved at them. “I’m Char Dekker. We spoke on the phone.”
“Yes, of course,” Bruce agreed. He pulled on a little of his Brucie Wayne mask in order to match the woman’s energy. “This is my son, Jason. Thank you for having us.”
Charlene bent her knees and leaned down to get closer to Jason’s height. “Hi, sweetie! I’m so glad you could come for this little playdate. I know Ethan was excited.”
She spoke with that heavily saccharine tone that Jason always hated, but he didn’t show any sign of it this time. He just pushed a polite smile onto his face and nodded.
“Thank you for having us,” he said, parroting the exact words that Alfred had drilled into both of them years ago.
Charlene waved them in and shut the door behind them. “The boys are all in the backyard if you want to go on through, Jason. And, Bruce, us grownups are taking shelter in the living room.” She winked at that, but Bruce was still stuck on the first part.
“What sort of things are in the backyard?” If there was a pool or one of those giant trampolines Bruce was going to camp out there for the entire visit no matter how much Jason glared at him.
But Charlene shrugged it off with a wave of her hand. “I think they’ve got the soccer nets out for now. I’m really sure what all they get up to. Boys will be boys!”
As much as that comment always set Bruce’s teeth on edge, at least he knew that the worst of the possible hazards wouldn’t be there. He watched Jason head down the hallway in the direction Charlene had pointed. Following him wouldn’t be helpful. Even at this age, no child wanted a parent hovering over their shoulder when they were trying to make friends. And although it was a large house, it wasn’t nearly as large as the manor. Bruce could make his way to the backyard quickly if there was any trouble.
He set his residual unease to the side as he was led into the living room and to a grey armchair. Charlene immediately handed him a glass of wine.
“Now that the kids are finally occupied, we can enjoy ourselves for a bit,” she said, taking a swig from her own glass as she fell into her seat beside another woman. “I’m assuming you haven’t met anyone yet? This is Amy and Gary. Oh, and Heather. It’s her first time at ‘book club’, too.” She giggled as she took another drink in sync with Amy.
“I’m just glad to finally have another man here,” Gary said with a grin. “It was getting bad enough that I almost asked to switch jobs with David for today.”
“That’s Gary’s husband,” Charlene explained. “But you better not, Gare, because golfing with David’s the only way I can get Travis out of the house for this and trust me we’re all better off that way.”
That got a burst of gleeful giggles from Amy before the conversation continued in much the same way. It was very similar to the vapid society gossip that Bruce was painfully familiar with. The biggest difference was how the conversation circled around home management, childhood milestones, and school fundraisers compared to extravagant vacations, business mergers, and politics. The other difference was that chardonnay seemed to be the only drink on offer rather than top-shelf liquor and signature cocktails. It was always harder to dispose of alcohol when you were expected to stay in your seat, but Bruce made do with a nearby potted plant and the increasing distraction of the other parents.
It wasn’t enjoyable at all. Amy had a particularly vicious mean streak, and Gary seemed to enjoy egging her on. Charlene and Heather, meanwhile, were clearly both angling for approval from Amy while also dropping increasingly unsubtle hints for an invitation from Bruce to Wayne manor.
None of that mattered, though. Bruce would sit here all day pretending to drink his way through an entire bottle of wine if he needed to. The most important thing was that Jason was—
“Mom! Mom!”
“Gavin!” Amy abandoned her wine completely as a young boy came running into the room. “What’s going—-” Her voice cut off in a shriek as her son came into full view.
He was holding his nose; blood dripped through his fingers and onto his t-shirt. His face was crumpled in pain and a steady stream of tears trailed down his cheeks, adding to the mess.
“Oh my god!” Charlene jumped off the sofa, eyes bugging out.
Bruce stood up, too. He’d wait for now, but he was ready to step in if needed.
“He needs ice!” Gary shouted. “Get him ice!”
“Okay! I’ll— Just keep him away from the carpet!” Charlene’s heels clacked on the hardwood floor as she ran out of the room.
Amy tugged Gavin’s hands away, grimacing as she got another look at the mess. “What happened, honey? Did you fall?”
“N-no.” He sniffled.
The entire room watched him, waiting for an explanation. And then, unfortunately, Gavin turned to Bruce to say his next words.
“It was Jason! Jason punched me!”