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Jason didn’t think too much about his actions before. He just thought it’d be funny messing a little bit with Bruce’s inventory – or what little stuff the old man had on his desk. Pens, notebooks, reports from the Wayne Enterprises, letters from Lucius, even the photo frames – none were spared from his little ‘pranks’.
He had no idea why he loved doing it. He had no idea why he wanted to do the ‘pranks’. Maybe he found it funny, to mess with Bruce’s otherwise ‘organized’ life. Maybe he found it part of his ‘vengeful’ act that he didn’t manage to accomplish. Maybe he just literally had nothing better to do than sneak inside the Manor and into Bruce’s room—and just move stuff like a pet cat that also had nothing better to do.
It was quite amusing, though, to have the little trinkets moved by a fraction. He wasn’t there to see Bruce’s reaction, but Jason knew that his dad Bruce must’ve freaked out. The old man was always on about discipline and ever so meticulous on every particular detail of his life. Jason just knew that the old man had planned out every aspect of his life down to the very second of it. He’ll probably have to sneak also in the Batcave to confirm that—if he managed to figure out the password Bruce had on his files. He had access to the computer—Bruce never took them off—but they only have access to their particular password, and the BatComp takes logs of which passwords were used to access the computer, and he doesn’t want to answer to whatever drama that’ll cost.
Dick will probably the first one to tease him about it—something about ‘missing dad’ even though, no, he just liked messing around!
Missing dad? Pfft. Jason didn’t buy an apartment miles away from home to just ‘miss’ people in the Manor.
Yeah, he’s sneaking in—but it’s not like he’s the only one doing it. Dick definitely did (he caught him once, they surprisingly managed to sneak at the same time, in the same window). And Tim! Jason also caught Tim sneaking in from the backdoor. It had been funny seeing Damian hit Tim because he ‘thought he was an intruder’, even though both of them knew that Damian wouldn’t let an actual intruder take even a breath inside the Manor (he’ll behead the poor guy even before he could step foot inside the grounds – it happened once, Jason helped him bury the poor dude, and they never talked about it again).
So yeah, he’s not ‘missing’ anyone. He just liked messing with people, not missing.
There’s a huge difference!
Still on denying his true intentions, Jason snuck inside Bruce’s room once more. He didn’t have to take a detour from the right wing of the Manor (where Damian’s room resides) because he just saw the little dude driving the Batmobile out of the cave (which he couldn’t believe for about 10 minutes, before being giddy at the prospect of hinting at Bruce about Damian’s misdemeanor). He planned on replacing one of reports from the Board with sentence snitching on the little demon.
He was giddy with many devious ideas on how to snitch on the little demon’s when he noticed something strange.
Bruce and Jason may not be related by blood, but Jason had taken up Bruce’s particularity on small details – perhaps it was the training during his Robin days, or perhaps it has been him admiring his adoptive father Bruce as Batman that he had subconsciously tried to imitate him.
Nevertheless, Jason saw the difference that he had hoped Bruce had been noticing since the beginning—
The pen didn’t move.
It remained slightly tucked at the side of the report papers, hiding half of it inside.
Jason had thought it’d be something so obviously out of place that Bruce would burst a vein upon seeing the disarray on his desktop, knowing that Bruce was never one for being disorderly. Jason had seen the old man rearrange his desk every time he sat and left it – putting everything in place. He had even joked once if Bruce had gotten himself tested, which earned him a signature Batglare.
The pen was left disorganized.
In fact, if he took a moment to see more, Jason noticed that the desk looked like it hadn’t been touched at all! The paper remained scattered over the flat desk, the pen tucked on one pile, the frames nudged a little bit on the backside, while the laptop remained closed.
What the hell?
Jason then turned around and walked towards Bruce’s bed—and noticed that it wasn’t as tidy as it should be. The blanket wasn’t tucked away but instead left crumpled at the other end of the bed. The pillows were tossed around, as if Bruce had never felt comfortable sleeping under them. In fact, the bed looked like a teenager’s been rotting in it, not an old man with a butler that takes care of every corner of the Manor.
A lump found itself in his throat and suddenly the room felt suffocating. He needed to get out. He felt like he was suddenly submerged in water and he was grasping for air. He suddenly questioned himself. What is he even doing in the Manor? Didn’t he swear never to return? Didn’t he hate the very man he’s trying to annoy with his silly pranks? What is he doing here—
He doesn’t belong here.
He took a deep breath before rushing towards the window, intending to jump over and somersault to the ground. He needed to get out of the Manor. It was a mistake sneaking in. It was a mistake pretending to prank Bruce. What is he even thinking?!
He was about to open the window when he heard the door open with a soft click.
Oh shit.
Jason will definitely get figured out. There’s no way in seven hells that Jason could hide anywhere in the room without The Batman noticing where he is. Yes, he’s very good in sneaking in. He’s very good at concealing himself with the shadows that he’s practically morphing with it. But all of these, he had learned from Bruce.
After all, hadn’t that been the first clue how Bruce recognized him as Red Hood?
With a curse, Jason did the unthinkable – and sneaked under the bed. And prayed to all Heavens that Bruce would be too tired to notice. If all else fails, he’ll just drag his brothers down with him and reveal that both Dick and Tim had snuck in earlier and that Damian had illegally rode the Batmobile out of the cave. At least, he won’t get in trouble alone.
Fortunately for him, it happened just as Jason had hoped. Bruce had been too tired to notice that there’s a six-foot man built like a wall hiding underneath his bed. Jason heard the scuffle of blankets before the bed dip and Bruce’s heavy sigh following after. He remained silent as he counted the minutes until Bruce’s sleep catch with him. He had wondered briefly where Bruce had been, since he had noticed that the room remained dark – which means that Bruce didn’t go out to patrol. Was it because he was too tired to? Oracle hadn’t ping him yet, so Alfred was probably just informing the others. Jason was thankful that he had the foresight to silence his phone before sneaking in.
It felt like hours before Bruce’s soft breathing echoed around the room. Jason waited for a few more minutes before softly nudging his body away from where he was hiding. He channeled all his trainings as a Robin to make sure that he wouldn’t be able to wake up the hero who taught him how.
Thankfully, he was successful.
He took a quick peak at Bruce—and noticed that he was sleeping on an odd position. Bruce laid atop the crumpled blanket, his body hunched over, his arms cradling his stomach, and he was murmuring something underneath his breath. He was twitching, as if his body was trying to fight off something.
He doesn’t look comfortable.
He looked like he was having a nightmare.
Jason frowned.
He should probably leave. Whatever this was, whatever nightmare Bruce was having, it wasn’t his to solve. Jason shouldn’t even be in this room. He shouldn’t even be sneaking away from Bruce’s sleeping form.
But as he was about to turn around, he heard his father whisper…
“Ja…son…”
Panic blossomed in his chest. For a brief second, he feared he had been discovered. But as he was about to explain, he noticed that his father’s eyes remained close. They were scrunching against the eyelids, while his fists clenches, and he coils deeper into himself.
Jason heard his father whisper once more, like a man silently praying,
“Jason…no…”
Jason swallowed. He looked at his father and knew what he had to do. But he also knew that he’s going to regret it. This is wrong, he thought to himself as he quietly walked closer to his father’s body. This is so wrong, he yelled at his thoughts.
He quietly sat at the other side of the bed and removed his gloves. He took a deep breath and ever so softly lifted his hand—to hold Bruce’s.
He felt the other man’s hand clenched softly to him, felt the warmth of his father’s hand seeping into his own hand. And then he began to hum. He hums to an old melody that sooth him in his childhood, the same melody that his father had learned the moment Jason had been comfortable enough to tell him the story of his mother’s death. The same melody Jason heard Bruce hum to him one night during their late patrol.
Just close your eyes
The sun is going down
You’ll be alright
No one can hurt you now
Come morning light
You and I’ll be safe and sound
He hummed until he heard his father’s breath stabilized, till he saw that his father’s body no longer twitched, till he saw that his father finally relaxed into his sleep.
Just for this night, Jason will let himself indulge in his little fantasy.
Just for this night, Jason will remind himself that he was a son.
Just for this night, Jason will admit to himself the real reason why he sneaks in.
He closed his eyes and leaned his head against the bed frame, softly touching the end of his father’s head.
Yes, just for tonight, Jason will allow himself to miss this.
His home.
His dad.