Chapter Text
People were fickle things.
No one ever stayed long. No one ever tries to.
It’s hard enough to make friends in school without being ridiculed for being lower class, even in Gotham.
It’s harder so when one doesn't even go to school, too poor to afford even the lowest education.
Those he did talk to were either random kids who lived in the area, knew this life, or adults who asked for too much and expected him to behave like he was some saint.
It hurt worse when the kids he thought were friends left him for better things, different circumstances, or even just flat out said he had a bad personality.
It hurt.
But who cares. No one stays long. And Jason only needed himself.
He could take care of his mom.
He could take care of himself.
Maybe that’s why he ended up here, taking the wheels off the Batmobile without any look out. The kid who offered left, abandoned him at the scene the moment he thought he saw a shadow on the wall.
That left Jason unaware of the approaching figure until the shadow of the bat was hunched over him.
He panicked, dropping the tire iron as he scrambled up, turning to face Batman his mouth agape.
“I-I-you-…where-“
He bolted, turned to try and run, wondering what happened to his lookout.
He barely made it an inch before Batman had him by the hood of his thin jacket, pulling him back.
“Where are your parents?”
Jason couldn’t help but flinch at his tone. It wasn’t something he should’ve been scared of but there was that parental authority in it that Jason couldn’t stand.
“Where’s yours!”
Jason knew it didn’t make sense. He may not have gone to school but he had at least some sort of common sense, mostly thanks to some ladies at the local library who taught him some random lessons.
“You’re coming with me then.” Batman moved to readjust his grip, grabbing Jason’s arm rather than his hood so he wouldn’t hurt the boy.
“No! I’m not- let me go! I didn’t do anything wrong! Your tires are still there!” Jason argued as he thrashed in Batman’s grip, trying to pry the man’s fingers from his arm.
He knew how this would go.
Once they reached the police station they’d grab his file, send CPS to his house and once they saw the state of his mom she’d be hospitalized with bills she would never be able to pay and Jason would be shipped off to the nearest foster family who only wanted the check that he came with.
Jason bit Batman’s fingers, while it surprised him the man didn’t let go, he just stopped to look down at him.
“Let. Go.”
He thought he looked so badass.
He didn’t.
He was a wet kitten in a soggy alley trying to fight for scraps and his own life.
Bruce let out a deep sigh before letting go of him, watching as he scrambled off, oblivious of the small device attached to his sleeve.
—☆—
Jason made it home and changed just to find the small metallic shine of the device.
He froze. Stared at it. Then grabbed a brick and smashed it before running outside in his bare feet, not thinking, ignoring the small shards of glass that he had stepped on as he found the nearest barrel fire and threw it in before bolting back to his house and locking the door.
He stood in front of it panting as tears welled up in his eyes.
He might have just ruined everything.
He ran to his moms room, feeling the pain in his feet as blood stained the floors while he trudged to her room.
Crying as he crawled into her bed he still kept volume to a minimum.
“Mom…please…wake up…I’m sorry. I’m trying, really, but I need you, I’m scared” he admitted in the silence of the room, curling against her and lifting her arm to cuddle into her.
“Mommy…please” he whispered into the room, practically feeling the way it almost echoed back.
She didn’t stir, didn’t even twitch. Jason was used to it. She’d been asleep for a full day now…her body stiffer than usual but it was probably a side effect of the drug he found her with last night.
—☆—
Jason woke up that morning to a bag with some food on the counter in the kitchen.
He wasn’t sure how it got inside but judging by the bat symbol that was on the bottom of the bag it was a pretty easy deduction.
He was hesitant about it but ultimately knew he needed it. His last meal was a few days ago and maybe this was enough to wake his mom up.
jason rushed the food back to her room.
She didn’t stir when he held the sandwich in front of her nose so he opted to just open her mouth and try to get her to chew. He frowned when she didn’t.
“I’ll just leave this here…I’ll be back later” Jason uttered before sliding off the bed and going to get changed.
There wasn’t much to do except for looking for some more food and money. He’d scrounged up a solid twenty bucks in the last few days but not enough to get an appointment for his mom.
And by the time the day was done he had about five more dollars and a few pieces of hard candy.
His stomach dropped when he got home though. The door was cracked open, lock broken. He ran to his mom’s room.
Jason’s eyes widened at what he saw.
Batman was hunched over his mom, fingers on her neck as he was leaned close to her face.
“GET AWAY FROM MY MOM” Jason yelled as he ran at Batman, tugging at his cape and trying to punch him as he cried, wanting the man away from his mother.
“Kid- hey-“ Batman tried to get him to stop, needing him to relax so he could try to assess the situation and figure out what to do.
Jason did not relax.
“She’s already dead” Batman snapped harsher than he meant.
That was when Jason broke, still fighting, but the tears broke through. They streamed down his face as he sobbed, desperately pulling at Batman.
He knew she was gone.
He wasn’t dumb.
He realized she wasn’t breathing the minute he got home the other day.
But hearing someone say it, having to acknowledge it was a whole different thing.
“She’s gon-gonna wake up” Jason cried as he fell to his knees at Bruce’s feet, gripping his own shirt and pleading to himself more than with some god.
Maybe if he believed it enough himself he’d make it true.
Batman stayed silent, but Jason could feel the pity and concern radiating from the man before he slowly lowered himself to crouch next to Jason.
“…what’s your name kid?” Batman asked softly as he hesitantly held his hands over Jason, wanting to touch him and provide an anchor but knowing better than to touch a kid who clearly wasn’t used to such comforts.
He was met with silence, just watching Jason sob quieter than a child should.
“C’mon…we gotta go kid, you can’t stay here.”
Again, nothing.
Batman sighed before reaching, pausing only when he realized that Jason wasn’t fighting. The boy had just given up, only tensing at the touch.
Batman cursed internally as he picked Jason up, holding him on his hip as he made some calls.
Jason didn't feel safe, not in the slightest. But he was exhausted and hadn’t been getting enough rest physically or mentally, eventually his eyes closed and he let sleep consume him.