The thing about trauma? Was that sometimes it wasn't sly at all. Sometimes it was loud and obnoxious and in your face - pointed like the dark, ominous barrel of a gun. And when you're someone like Bruce Wayne, what could you do with it but bury it deep until you can't feel the bite of it anymore? Its teeth were still sunk in, too deep to dislodge. You're still bleeding, but the feeling's gone numb and the body still sort of works like it's supposed to. So really, it was fine. He could ignore it.
The problem was, Jason Todd was not Bruce Wayne.
He was empathetic and warm and loved and felt everything so deeply that Bruce sometimes looked at him and wondered if he'd made a mistake - not bringing him in he'd never regret that. But turning him into Robin? Maybe that deserved some consideration. It was good that he cared, but sometimes that caring could puppet you in a dangerous direction.
Their encounter with Felipe Garzona's had not been the first time Bruce gave this sort of thing consideration. Jason was a good kid, Bruce never doubted that. But when he began to refuse orders, when his swings were being fueled by anger and not that carefully laid foundation of discipline? Bruce had to wonder. All that training layered over the blooming heat of teenage rebellion? Was he walking that kid into something disastrous?
When they found Gloria in her apartment, Bruce had decided maybe Jason needed a break. Space to breathe and recenter himself. Remember why they did this and who they did this for. People like Gloria who needed them and Bruce hadn't been able to stretch himself wide enough to cover. But there were so many like her who would need them just as badly as she had.
What Jason had not realized, was that Bruce had noticed when he slipped away and it did not take a detective to figure out just where he's heading. When Gloria is taken care of and arrangements made to contact her next of kin, Batman followed after his Robin.
He found him after he'd landed and caught only the briefest glimpse of Felipe before he tumbled from the balcony onto the sidewalk below. When he landed, he does so behind Jason, his boots a heavy thud on the concrete.
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The problem was, Jason Todd was not Bruce Wayne.
He was empathetic and warm and loved and felt everything so deeply that Bruce sometimes looked at him and wondered if he'd made a mistake - not bringing him in he'd never regret that. But turning him into Robin? Maybe that deserved some consideration. It was good that he cared, but sometimes that caring could puppet you in a dangerous direction.
Their encounter with Felipe Garzona's had not been the first time Bruce gave this sort of thing consideration. Jason was a good kid, Bruce never doubted that. But when he began to refuse orders, when his swings were being fueled by anger and not that carefully laid foundation of discipline? Bruce had to wonder. All that training layered over the blooming heat of teenage rebellion? Was he walking that kid into something disastrous?
When they found Gloria in her apartment, Bruce had decided maybe Jason needed a break. Space to breathe and recenter himself. Remember why they did this and who they did this for. People like Gloria who needed them and Bruce hadn't been able to stretch himself wide enough to cover. But there were so many like her who would need them just as badly as she had.
What Jason had not realized, was that Bruce had noticed when he slipped away and it did not take a detective to figure out just where he's heading. When Gloria is taken care of and arrangements made to contact her next of kin, Batman followed after his Robin.
He found him after he'd landed and caught only the briefest glimpse of Felipe before he tumbled from the balcony onto the sidewalk below. When he landed, he does so behind Jason, his boots a heavy thud on the concrete.
"Robin. What happened?"