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With the phone pressed to her ear, Cheryl tapped her pen on her desk. It never took Bruce Wayne long to answer, but it was always strange to think about having a direct line to a billionaire. There weren’t many parents that she could reliably get ahold of no matter what time she called, so this—
The line clicked as Bruce answered. “Yes?”
“Hello, Mr. Wayne. It’s Cheryl Hendricks calling. Everything’s fine with Jason, but I was hoping you’d have a couple minutes to talk.” She’d learned from experience to lead with the ‘everything’s fine’ message, and maybe she was just imagining it, but she felt like there was a difference the next time Bruce spoke.
“I have some time. What would you like to discuss?”
She leaned back in her chair, glancing out the window to the busy playground. Recess was in full swing, so she still had a good amount of time for this call. “We’re firming up our class lists for next year and I had a thought about Jason.”
“I was under the impression he’d be with you.” Somehow, his frown was audible.
“And he still could be! But I think, if he’s interested, he could also be successful transferring to the older class a year earlier.”
“Hn.”
She looked up to the ceiling, burying a sigh. Who would have guessed that this well-known socialite would be so taciturn in real life? It had been surprising when she first got to know him, but by now she’d thankfully developed a small amount of skill in interpreting those grunts.
“It’s not something I recommend all the time, but it might be a good fit in this situation. Jason’s mature for his age, and academically gifted. Plus, most of his friends will have transferred up already.”
“Yes. They’re all older than him.” He seemed slightly perturbed by that for some reason, even though Cheryl had never seen anything that was cause for concern.
“That’s how it is with some children. The beauty of Pathways is that we can be flexible for students who don’t fit within the traditional grade hierarchy.”
“So… This wouldn’t be an issue for the school.”
“Not at all. Actually, Jason would already need to be in another room next year for his math. He’ll have progressed past the level I teach.”
“Hm.”
That flavour of grunt was pleased and a little proud, so Cheryl kept talking. “He’s really doing very well. I’d miss not having him for that last year, but this might be a good move for him.”
“Alright. I’ll talk to him and see what he thinks.”
“Of course.” Funny how things could change. At one time, it had bothered Cheryl to see how much responsibility Bruce gave over to his youngest son. Children should be cared for, and it was impossible for a young child to understand enough about their education and about the world in order to make complex decisions about their schooling.
But now, she could see the other side of it. Having a say in his life was extremely important to Jason, and he got visibly anxious if he felt like he was being cut out of even minor decisions. Plus, there were times that he was still a puzzle to Cheryl, and she couldn’t always predict what he’d feel about a certain situation.
“Talking it over with him sounds like a great idea,” she said. “And I’m available to answer any questions either of you might have.”
Inwardly, she’d already predicted what his response would be. Jason had always been concerned with pushing himself to learn more, with growing up faster. Often, that had her concerned, but this opportunity could be a good way to validate that instinct within Jason. It was exactly what he’d always wanted.
Jason sat on the sofa, cheek squished against Damian’s arm, as he stared at the sketchbook page.
“I think it’d be cool if it was all black.”
“Tt.” Damian kept right on with his drawing. “That will make it more difficult for others to keep an eye on you.”
“Well, yeah. I could be all sneaky and then—” He shot out his fist. “Pow! Drop down and knock out a bunch of bad guys. That’d be good.”
“I was referring to the people supervising you.”
Jason wrinkled his nose. He really didn’t like thinking about people ‘supervising’ him. He’d been the fucking Red Hood, working totally on his own except for the times he’d decided to team up.
But… he knew he couldn’t do it that way anymore. He didn’t even really want to. He liked thinking about being out with his family and doing kickass stuff together. He just sorta wished it could be somewhere in the middle of being a lone wolf and having people literally babysitting him all the time.
Pouting, he eyed the rest of the uniform that Damian was sketching out. Even though they hadn’t decided on colours, there was lots about it that looked cool.
“You’re gonna add the knee pads, right?”
“Yes. I told you I would after I finish the overall proportions.”
“Yeah. Hey, I like the gloves. And the boots.”
“Hm.”
Jason tilted his head at the drawing and then sighed. “I still can’t decide if I want a cape or not.”
He’d really liked not having one when he was Red Hood. It had felt super grown up and serious and all of that. But then…
“I’ve always found a cape to be useful in many situations,” Damian said.
“I know!” With a groan, Jason threw his head back. “You always look so cool using yours so I kinda wanna— Um… yeah. That’s why I'm still… thinking about it.” His face felt a little warm as he petered out, but he could see the secret little smile that had snuck out onto Damian’s face and it helped to make him feel a little better.
If he was gonna be a copycat little brother, at least it made his big brother feel good.
“You can test several prototypes and make your decision then,” Damian said. He was finally getting to the knee pads and they looked as awesome as Jason knew they would.
There were a few things that Jason for sure knew he wanted: strong knee pads and chunky boots to help with some of the ass-kicking moves that he liked to do, long pants because there was no way he was gonna do the whole short shorts thing again. Everything was gonna be really stretchy, too, because he knew tons of cool flips and tricks and stuff and he didn’t want anything holding him back.
But there was a lot of important stuff that he hadn’t figured out yet.
“I know I need to decide on a name, too.”
Damian hummed. “That would most likely help determine the colour scheme.”
Jason dug his heels into the sofa so he could boost himself higher in his spot. “Well, Dad doesn’t like me being something that’s red again.”
“Hm.”
“Even though there’s lots of good names with that! I could be Cardinal or Phoenix or even, like, Red Hawk or something.”
Damian lifted an eyebrow. “Have you decided on a bird for a name?”
“Well, no, it doesn’t have to be. But Batboy and Batkid both sound really stupid so it can’t be anything like that.”
“Hm,” was the only thing Damian said, but Jason could tell he was thinking the same.
“Dick said I could be Flamebird,” Jason said. “Cause I guess Nightwing and Flamebird are both dragons? I dunno, though.”
Nodding Damian started drawing out the cool utility belt that Jason also said he’d wanted. He was gonna have so many pockets. “Have you realized that if Father is already concerned with the colour red, Phoenix would certainly bring too many unwelcome connections to your former identities?”
“Well, no one thinks I came back to life! They just think I’m my own kid.”
With a little secret smile, Damian nudged his elbow into Jason. “What about Shadow? The name is already circling Gotham’s underworld after your little field trip last week.”
“Maybe… Do you think people will just think of the guy from Sonic?”
“Perhaps.” Damian tapped his pencil on the sketchpad.
“I could be Raven?”
He shook his head. “Already taken.”
“Right. Duh. Ugh, part of this is so hard because everyone else took all the good stuff already! It’s like that with the colours, too. Blue and yellow and purple are all taken. And Tim kinda has red now.”
“Green?” Damian suggested.
“Nah, that one’s in two whole other superhero teams.”
“True.”
Frowning, Jason wiggled his toes. At first, he’d been really excited when he’d realized he got to pick his own name and uniform and all of that. This was finally something that Jason got to pick for himself. It was going to be a uniform that actually fit him and a name that people were going to use all over the place.
He never got to do that when he’d been Robin, and even though he’d kind of done it as Red Hood, it wasn’t the same. He’d picked a lot of things just because they fit into his plan, not because he actually liked them.
Now, the only rule was that it had to be something that Jason wanted. Bruce had actually come out and said that! Maybe he’d be weirdly worried if Jason picked something red, but he’d promised he wouldn’t say no to it. It was a super grownup decision which Jason got to do even though he was still just eight years old.
So… now Jason just had to figure out what he actually wanted. It was turning out to be way harder than he’d thought.
He was still thinking about all of it when Bruce came into the room.
“Hi, boys. I wanted to talk to you about something, Jason.”
“Oh. Okay.” Jason peeled himself off of Damian to sit on his own. His eyes bounced between Damian and Bruce, trying to figure out what was going on. It wasn’t that Bruce was gonna take away the vigilante stuff, was it? He’d promised, so…
Bruce came over and sat on the other side of the sofa so that Jason was in the middle. “It won’t take long.; I’ll let you two get back to having fun soon.”
“It’s uniform design, Father.” Damian tilted his page so Bruce could see it better.
“Right. That looks great, Damian. And I like the knee pads. We should add some others. Maybe wrist guards?”
“…maybe.” Okay, so whatever this big talk was about, it wasn’t going to be taking vigilante stuff away from Jason. And he didn’t hate the idea of the wrist guards, but he also knew that Bruce would put him in a giant bubble if he could, so he didn’t want to add too much protective stuff right away.
“Okay, well.” Bruce gave his head a shake. “I wanted to talk to you about school next year.”
Oh. That was way different from anything Jason had been thinking. Wasn’t it supposed to be all decided already? “I’m just going to Pathways still, right?”
“Of course. You can stay there all the way through as long as you’re still enjoying it. But Ms. Cheryl thinks you’re ready to move up to the older class.”
Damian looked up from his sketch. “That’s a year early, isn’t it?”
“It is. Ms. Cheryl says you’ve been excelling in your coursework, Jay, and she recognizes that you’re a little more mature than most eight-year-olds.” With a little smile, Bruce tugged Jason’s earlobe.
Jason echoed the smile back automatically. “That’s… pretty cool, I guess.”
“It’s payoff for all your hard work.”
“And evidence that you are reaching your goals,” Damian added.
Jason nodded. Yeah, they both had a point. From the very start, he’d had a plan for school: get caught up on stuff as fast as his dumb little kid brain would let him and then, as soon as he could, move into college classes and start learning things that he’d never had a chance to ever before. That’s why he’d been doing the accelerated math group and a bunch of really tricky writing projects and all of that.
So… this was all a part of the plan, right? Jason was moving ahead, just like he’d wanted.
Bruce brushed his fingers through Jason’s hair. “I know that restarting your education hasn’t been easy.”
“Well… I like it now.” He really, really did. Going to Pathways was really cool and fun and nice. Ms. Cheryl was one of Jason’s top favourite teachers that he’d ever had, and—
And if he moved up to the older class next year, then…
“This way you’ll be in the same class as Ethan,” Bruce said.
Jason nodded. Yeah, that would be pretty good. Most of Jason’s friends at school were older than him, so they’d all be in the other class next year. But if he was in the older class… he’d kind of be the baby, wouldn’t he?
Or… was it being even more of a baby to want to stay in a younger kids’ classroom when his teacher and his dad and everyone thought he was ready to move on?
“So, what do you think?” Bruce asked. “We can talk it over more if you want, but—”
“No. It’s good.” Jason made himself nod and sent a smile up to Bruce. “It’s what I was wanting, right?”
Bruce looked at him for a second longer before he nodded. “Right.”
Jason let out a shaky breath. Yeah, exactly. Finally, he was getting the chance to get done with all this kid stuff a little bit faster. It was a good thing.
He was just going to keep telling himself that until the weird feeling in his stomach went away.
“Hey, Duke! I heard you passed the road test thingy! That’s awesome!”
The words gave Duke barely enough warning to look up before a small tornado barrelled into his room, leapt up onto his bed, and yanked the covers sideways. With quick reflexes, Duke lifted his laptop out of danger and laid it on his desk before he turned back to Jason.
“Yeah, I did. Word travels fast, huh?”
Jason grinned. “Alfred told me downstairs.” Even though he was sitting, he still somehow found a way to bounce in place. “That’s so cool you got your license now!”
“Yeah, it’s, uh… pretty great.” A smile pulled on Duke’s face. This hadn’t even been on his radar before coming to live with the Waynes, but now it was a total done deal and it was kind of cool.
“What kinda car is Dad getting you?”
Automatically, Duke’s shoulders hunched up. “He’s not buying me one; I don’t need anything like that.” The whole thing was a massively big tell for a family full of detectives, even eight-year-old ones, but thankfully, Jason didn’t call him on it.
His bouncing did slow down, though, and he took another careful look at Duke.
“I get it,” he said. “But… just remember that Dad doesn’t mean to be weird about money; he just grew up too rich to live in real life.”
Duke snorted and flopped over onto his back, staring up at the ceiling of his bedroom that was somehow inside a literal mansion. “He keeps showing me pictures of this one Lexus and calling it a ‘good beginner car’.”
Jason laughed, crashing down on the bed right beside Duke. The bed barely bounced, which meant that Jason was either really tiny or the mattress was just that crazy fancy.
“Yeah, Dad’s super out of touch with that stuff, but I bet you could get him to buy you, like, a Toyota or something. Those are— They’re not too fancy, right? I kinda forget about some of that.”
Irritation flickered inside of Duke. “It’s still a brand-new car. You think anyone in the Narrows could afford that?”
Jason stilled. “No. And I— I know that it’s— Look, I do remember what it was like growing up poor, okay? I’m not just… some spoiled rich kid.”
The defensive annoyance faded into guilt, and Duke nudged his shoulder against Jason. “I know you aren’t.”
Sometimes, it was easy to forget that Jason had lived a whole other childhood that was totally different from this one. The fact that people like Duke forgot about that second childhood probably made it even harder for him.
It was the same thing with the car. Duke wasn’t the kind of guy to drive to school in a brand new vehicle that had been purchased in his name. That wasn’t who he was. And if that’s who he somehow became, then…
“I finally talked Bruce into letting me borrow that old Honda in the garage instead. It’ll be perfect for getting to and from school and my parents’ hospital. That’s all I need.”
Jason nodded easily. “That’s good. And it’s awesome you get to drive yourself around wherever you want all by yourself! That’s one of the grownup things that I still miss.”
“Yeah, I, uh, guess it’s not the same when you have to ask people for rides everywhere, huh?”
There was a heavy sigh. “No. And it’s not like Dad will even let you drive me anywhere anyway!”
“He says after I’ve got a few months’ practice down.” Honestly, Duke was kinda glad for that rule. Yeah, he liked helping Jason out with stuff, but being the one driving the car with Batman’s kid in the backseat was way scarier than any of the stuff he did as Signal.
Jason didn’t look as happy about it. He let out a sigh as he kept staring upwards. “It’s just dumb to think of you and Dad both driving to Pathways every morning.”
“Maybe a little. But I know you like having Bruce drive you.”
Jason wrinkled his nose, drew in a breath, and then gave up, pouting.
A bark of laughter escaped Duke. “Aw, c’mon, isn’t it like what you told me before? You’re deciding to lean into being a kid?”
“Well, yeah, but— There’s a difference between being a kid and being a little kid. I’m supposed to be growing up!”
Duke thought for a second. He was starting to figure out the whole thing with Jason, but he hadn’t really stepped into giving any kind of advice yet. But screw it, what was the worst that could happen?
“So, uh, I don’t know how much you remember about seeing all that from the outside, but… it’s all kind of a mix. Big kid, little kid, whatever. It’s not like it’s some tier you reach where you learn long division and then you suddenly can’t like having your dad drive you to school.”
Jason didn’t say anything, chewing his lip as he thought about it.
So, Duke kept going. “I mean, if I had the choice, that’s what I’d be doing every day.”
A tightness suddenly gripped his chest, and Duke dropped his eyes away from Jason. Dammit, he’d been doing so much better with this, but every once in a while it snuck up on him.
His dad was never going to be able to drive him to school again. He’d never buy Duke new shoes or ask about Duke’s day or a million other things that Duke had taken completely for granted. Those days were gone.
A set of small, strong arms wrapped around his middle and squeezed tight.
“Thanks,” he murmured, pulling Jason a little closer.
“M’sorry. I know I’m really lucky I have Bruce.”
“Well…” Duke gave his head an abrupt shake. “I didn’t mean to make it all about me. All I’m saying is that everyone’s in a different place with different things depending on what else is going on. You’re getting ready to go out and be a ninja warrior child this summer; that’s really not a little kid thing.”
Laughing, Jason got in another tight squeeze before rolling away.
Duke pushed himself up to sitting. “Any progress on the name, by the way?”
“Ugh, no! It’s really hard to decide!”
Duke shrugged. “Only if you make it a big deal. But hasn’t almost everyone in your family changed names at some point?”
“Yeah… I guess so.”
“And isn’t that also a giant bonus to having a secret identity? You pick something that feels right for now, but if that changes in the future, it’s okay.”
Jason wiggled in his spot as he thought about it some more. “That kinda makes sense.”
“Good.” That was a relief. “So… it’s like what I said before. It’s not about having everything figured out all at once. Things change at different times and that’s okay.”
“And like for you.” Suddenly, there was a mischievous smile growing on Jason’s face. “Maybe this wasn’t how your life used to be, but if you all of a sudden get a stupidly rich foster dad who’d be all sad if he doesn’t get to buy you a car—”
“Oh, c’mon, Jay—”
“Because it’d be right for the moment!” He was climbing back up to his feet, already restarting his bouncing. “And in two months you’d be allowed to take your brother out for ice cream literally whenever you want!”
“More like whenever he wants.” Duke tried to swipe Jason’s legs, but the kid was too stupid fast for that to work.
Laughing, Jason bounced to the other side of the bed. Then his expression suddenly got more serious. “I know it feels weird to have Bruce spend a ton of money on you, but he really doesn’t think about it the same way as other people do. And it’s just… what things are like for now, right?”
Damn, there was no way Duke was going to get away with ignoring his own advice, was there?
“I’ll think about it,” he finally said.
With a whoop, Jason dropped down onto the bed and bounced up again.
Duke rolled his eyes. But it wasn’t like he paid for the mattresses around here, so who cared? “Just… as long as what I said helps you, too.”
A shy smile flickered onto Jason’s face. “Yeah, uh… maybe. I still don’t know about the name, but… I think I figured out something else.”
Cheryl stood at the door of the school, taking the usual afternoon chaos. Most of her class had made for the playground as soon as the dismissal bell had rung, but a few had already reunited with their parents and were making their way to the parking lot. Thankfully, Cheryl wasn’t responsible for the rush of parents eager to sign their child out as soon as possible, and she had just been about to head inside to start resetting her classroom when little Jason Wayne came up to her.
“Hey, Ms. Cheryl? Do you, um, have some time to talk?” He looked uncharacteristically nervous, eyes cutting away from her towards the ground.
“Of course, honey. You can always come to me with anything you want to talk about.”
“Good.” His shoulders relaxed and a small smile flickered across his face. Then he turned towards the playground. “Hey, Dad! She says it’s okay!”
Blinking, Cheryl watched as Bruce Wayne strode across the grass towards them. She hadn’t even noticed that he was already here, and this wasn’t what she had been imagining. Bruce looked just as at a loss as she was, looking down at Jason to explain.
Jason’s eyes drifted towards the other students running and yelling and playing. “Can we um… Can we go somewhere else?”
Did he want a quiet space? Privacy? The mystery continued.
“How about we head back to the classroom?” Cheryl offered.
That seemed to do the job, but she still puzzled over it as she led the way through the empty hall and into their little room. Was it an issue with friends? It couldn’t be bullying, could it? Jason was such a natural leader; he was rarely the target for any kind of teasing.
They settled into place around the small meeting table that Cheryl used for student and parent conferences alike. It was the same one they’d sat at the very first time she had met Jason and Bruce, but the picture they painted today was so different to the one she’d held back then. Bruce had none of the irritating pushiness from before, Jason (while still nervous) seemed so much more confident and at ease.
Once they sat down, he took a deep breath. “So I um… I wanted to tell both of you together.”
Bruce leaned forward in his chair. “Tell us what, Jaylad?”
“I— I don’t wanna go into the older class next year. I want to stay here.”
Cheryl blinked. She reprocessed. Before she had time to think of what to say, Jason kept talking.
“It’s not like I have to because I’m only turning nine next year anyway. And— I know I’m supposed to do some harder math, but I was thinking maybe I could go to the older class just for that? Cause that happens sometimes at Pathways, doesn’t it? And even if Ethan and Joey won’t be in this class anymore, Donovan still is, so I’ll still have some—”
“Jay.” Bruce laid a hand on his son’s shoulder. “You don’t need to convince me. If it’s what you want, we’ll make it happen.”
Jason’s expression brightened, and Cheryl finally pulled herself together.
“I agree with your dad. Moving up a year early was only a suggestion, but I’d love to have you here for another year. Truthfully, I’d miss not having you.”
The smile on his face stretched wider. “Okay. Um, good, cause— Cause I know it’d be good for me to learn harder things, but… But I also really like it here! They don’t get morning recess in the older class. And there’s no Lego wall or extra snack time or… or fun pillows to read on…” He shrugged sheepishly, like those were trivial reasons to want to stay.
For Cheryl, though, they were extremely important. Maybe Jason had older friends, and maybe he excelled academically, but he still belonged with his same age group. He still needed the additional recess times and the creative play and all sorts of other things that were folded into the daily life of this room. That’s exactly why Pathways had flexibility in students’ academic planning.
Bruce was nodding along, too. “Remember we decided you’d go to school not just for the learning. It was also so you’d have a chance to be a kid.”
“Yeah. Uh…” Jason leaned into his father’s touch. “I guess I’m just… not ready to grow up like this yet.”
“Well, you explained it in a very grown-up way,” Cheryl offered. She couldn’t think of a single student who had ever set up their own meeting to talk about their academic future. “You knew what you’re going to need next year, and you were able to talk about it with us. That’s called self advocacy, and it’s a really good skill to have.”
Jason glowed at her praise, and she found herself echoing the smile. She hadn’t been lying; she really would have missed him if he’d moved on a year earlier.
“Going to the other class for advanced math will be easy to schedule,” she said. “And we can look at doing some other extension opportunities, too. Plus, you’ll still be able to see Ethan and Joey at lunch recesses.”
“Yeah, that’s what I was thinking. And, oh! Remember that animal project we do every fall?”
“Yes.”
“Well, Dami’s friend’s grandma and grandpa? They live on a farm and I was thinking I could visit them again this summer and pick an animal there for my report. Cause they know a ton about animals and I got to even help with some of them last time! But I didn’t know about the animal project yet since I wasn’t at Pathways til January for my first year and… And they got cows and chickens and a really old horse— Wait, Dad, it didn’t die yet, did it?”
It took a second for Bruce to respond. “I think Hattie’s still alive and well. I can check if you’d like.”
“Yeah, maybe. Cause a horse would be good for the project, right, Ms. Cheryl?”
Luckily, Cheryl’s years of experience had honed her ability to keep up with rambling children, so she had an answer at the ready.
“That would be an excellent choice. It can be about any animal that inspires you.”
Jason grinned. “Cool. I like the chicks, too, even though Dad says we’re not allowed to have any at home. And Jon’s grandpa says— Oh, wait, am I allowed to use stuff that he says for the project? Because I know we’re supposed to research but—”
“An interview with an expert is excellent research. Although I hope you know you don’t have to do any homework over the summer, Jason.”
“I know, but… it’s fun.”
Cheryl smiled again. There were very few children who would call extra research over the summer ‘fun’, but that was one of the many ways that Jason was unique. He was curious, intelligent, mature, and still full of youthful energy. He was exactly the kind of student that needed to be at a school like Pathways.
And now, thankfully, she’d get to have him for one more year.