[Comprehensive British and American] Family Matters

Bruce finished his recording work on the Batcomputer, took off his Batman equipment, and prepared to go upstairs to take a bath before being greeted by quilts and pillows.And then he's thrown into the arms of a very un-Jason-wait, are those tears?Jason crying?How long had it been since he chased Jason upstairs to bed, and Jason came back crying, what happened?

"What's the matter, Jason?" Bruce tried to calm down, hugged Jason who was stubborn and refused to raise his head, and gently drew circles on the boy's back. (This appeasement gesture works on Dick, and I hope it has the same effect on Jason)

Jason muttered something that Bruce couldn't catch.

"Shh...it's okay, son. I'm here, it's okay..." Bruce could only repeat the comforting words again and again, maintaining a steady movement of his hands, and the rapid thinking in his mind caused Jason's mood to fluctuate violently possibility.

Jason seems to be preoccupied these days, and he knows this.Although Jason tried his best to hide it, Bruce was called the world's number one detective for nothing. He could see that something was bothering Jason.After some consideration, he chose to respect Jason's privacy and not to inquire too much.

Bruce considered that Jason's melancholy might be due to his friend Sam's leaving Gotham not long ago. For Jason's slightly barren social circle, Sam, who has experienced supernatural cases together, is not worth much. Not heavy, but he quickly overturned his assumptions.

Jason's mood did not gradually calm down as time passed. Rather, he seemed more and more anxious every day.And his contact with Dick also became frequent.Bruce is aware that Dick wants to abduct Jason to his Teen Titans, (yes, all Dick's cover-ups are useless in front of Bruce,) so the two are secretly conducting some investigations outside of Gotham, keeping Jason busy Desperate.But Jason is not the kind of person who will cry because of pressure. Even if he really can't bear it, Jason is more like the kind who will hide in the quilt and cry bitterly, and continue to face it the next day with the attitude that nothing happened. All types.

Or... just a nightmare?

Bruce remembered that when Dick first arrived, he often dreamed of the tragic death of the Graysons in the middle of the night and ran to him or Alfred crying.Even when he was a child, he also experienced countless nightmares, waking up to the gunshots in the crime alley and the blood on the ground.

"Hey, Jason. Talk to me, huh?" Bruce squeezed lightly, trying to peel the teen off of him so their eyes could meet.After a while of not-so-obvious resistance, Jason finally let go, muttering sorry.

"What happened, Jason, you scared me." Bruce's question was not answered, and Jason's series of anomalies finally made Bruce give up his respect for the teenager's privacy.No matter what secret Jason was hiding, he had to ask it out today. This secret obviously hurt Jason, and he couldn't stand by and watch Jason get hurt in the name of respect, even if it was Jason himself.

Bruce hesitated for a moment, feeling that the Batcave was not a good place for a long conversation. He decisively ignored Jason's protest, picked up the boy, and went upstairs to his room.

The commotion of Jason rushing to the Batcave also alarmed Alfred.The butler in a nightgown watched his master striding back to the master bedroom with a cloudy face and the young master with red eyes in his arms. He didn't ask any questions. He just silently prepared two cups of hot cocoa with marshmallows floating in them and delivered them to the master bedroom. In the room, gently close the door, leaving time for the two of them.

***

Bruce carefully stuffed Jason into the quilt, and took a few more pillows to create a situation where Jason was tightly wrapped.He had discovered early on that Jason liked tight, small spaces, another sign of insecurity.The hot cocoa sent by Alfred at the right time was even more helpful. The warmth of the hot drink and the sweetness of the chocolate made Jason obviously relax. The most direct observation was that Jason's face turned red up to the ears That was the usually awkward Jason finally realizing his emotional performance.

"Good boy," Bruce reached out and rubbed Jason's hair, successfully making Jason's face flush to the neck, "I'll go wash my body first, let's chat when I come back."

"Go and go." Jason lowered his head and started counting the little marshmallows floating on the cocoa, squinting at Bruce with disgust, "You stink."

Bruce shook his head helplessly, wisely he didn't point out that he didn't know who was holding the "stinky" self and refused to let go.

——Hot baths and hot cocoa are the gospel of mankind.

Bruce and Jason, who were huddled under the quilt on one side and leaned on the fluffy down pillow, thought in unison.Bruce waited patiently for Jason to put down the mug that had lost its temperature, and said in a low voice:

"A girl I knew committed suicide."

"Oh." Bruce's originally prepared words of comfort lost their effect in an instant, and the young life disappeared before it had time to bloom, and any words seemed pale and powerless in the face of such regret.

Bruce could only hold Jason's hand and said sincerely, "I'm sorry, Jason. Is there anything I can do to help?"

Jason turned his head to look at Bruce, as if he hadn't expected the man to make such a proposal.But on second thought, Bruce is like this, he cares about everyone, he just never says it.He chose to directly incarnate as Batman to protect the people in the city.Jason himself is the best example. It is because Bruce cares that he is here, has a family, a responsibility, and a future promised to himself.

For the first time in his life he felt that he had made the right decision to ask Bruce for help.Jason believed that if it was the person in front of him, if it was Bruce, he would understand.

"Yes." Jason looked at Bruce, seeing himself begging in Bruce's eyes.Jason hates asking adults for help, (Dick is different, your "brother" isn't an adult right?) makes him feel like a suckling brat, but this time it's not for him, it's for Gloria .

To rest an innocent girl in peace.

"Okay, so what should I do?" Bruce didn't show any surprise, even if it was hidden perfectly from Jason's point of view, he waited silently for the next step, without any urging or impatience.

"I wanted to know why, and I didn't think she was the kind of person who would kill herself. So I asked Dick to help me, and we found some... bad hints."

Jason bit his lower lip, paused, and motioned for Bruce to fetch the tablet he had left on the bedside table.He didn't know how to use words to describe the behavior of those bullies. Even if he was often criticized for his bad mouth, he couldn't use those words to attack female villains. Jason simply didn't know how these people could make himself attack like this a girl.

"This..." Bruce obviously had the same idea as Jason, and he could see it from his tightly pursed lips and the creases between his brows. He let out a breath, put down his tablet and reached out to hold Jason, patting the teenager's upper arm to express comfort, "I'm really sorry, Jason, this kind of thing should not have happened to this poor girl."

"Yeah, this kind of thing shouldn't happen to anyone." Jason closed his eyes, took a deep breath, held his breath for three seconds, and then exhaled slowly.

Bruce nodded thoughtfully. He had investigated Jason's previous records at school.That public school is not famous for its good school spirit. In the past few years, there have been serious incidents of school violence from time to time, but the most serious ones were hospitalizations. This was the first time that a student was bullied to the point of committing suicide.

"You want to find out these cyberbullying students and teach them a lesson?" Bruce tried to guess, but got a negative answer from Jason shaking his head.

"If you just want to find out the person behind the Internet ID, Dick and I can do it. I just... suspect that something happened to her, and let these people choose to humiliate her with such words." Jason said, Unknowingly, his hands gripped the quilt tightly.

Bruce quickly strings together Jason's hints: cyberbullying, suicidal teenage girls, sexual humiliation.The girl was likely a victim of sexual violence during her lifetime.

The conclusion could not have been worse.However, compared to the poor girl, what Bruce didn't want to think about was what Jason's abnormal reaction meant when he rushed down the Batcave.

impossible.Bruce tried to tell himself that Jason's medical and police records didn't show that he had been harmed in this way. When Jason first arrived, Dr. Rice had a comprehensive physical examination, and he had no special needs other than malnutrition. worried.But then again, in a place like Crime Alley, who cares if a child is being coerced?Not to mention whether the victim has the courage to sue the prisoner.

"Jason." Bruce made his tone calm, but God knows how much he wants to grab some pervert who may exist in a dark corner of the city, let him expose his dick and rub it on the ground by himself, "This is very important, please be sure The truth has to be told. Have you ever..."

"It's not my fault! It's my mother's drug, he suddenly showed up at my house and said he was sorry my mother died, and he could 'take care' of me." Jason's sudden outburst made Bruce's heart sink heavily Going on, this is almost a "Yes", and Jason is still trying to explain, as if taking Bruce's brief sluggishness as dislike for him, "I'm sorry, Bruce! I didn't mean not to say it!"

Jason looked at Bruce's unbelievable look, and added carefully: "Please don't kick me out?"

Just when Jason's hope was extinguished bit by bit in Bruce's silence, he saw something that shouldn't appear on Bruce's face, drawing two wet marks along his cheeks.

Bruce is crying.Why?

Before Jason could come up with an answer, Bruce had already wiped away his tears, holding Jason's cheek in both hands so that his eyes met his, without any room for staggering.

"You're not going anywhere, Jason. Did you hear that? Your home is here, where else do you want to go, huh?" Bruce even narrowed his eyes threateningly to get Jason to dismiss him. I just realized the idea of ​​packing up and running away before being kicked out.

"And then never say sorry about something like this. It was never you, or her, who should say sorry. Do you remember?" Bruce shook Jason's head slightly, "Remember Is it, son."

"Remember...remember." Jason murmured and repeated, "It's not me who should say sorry, remember."

"Very good." Bruce nodded sullenly, "Lie down now, close your eyes and get a good night's sleep. Tomorrow we will go through this case together. If this girl has ever been hurt, then we will let the girl who did such a thing The prisoner comes out and takes responsibility. Including the drug head." (Especially the drug head!)

"Are you sure you want me to sleep with you, I'll kick people when I sleep." Having said that, Jason didn't have the slightest intention of going back to his room, instead he shrank himself into the quilt and wrapped him tightly.

"By the time you can kick me out of bed, I should be retiring, boy." Bruce twitched his lips and patted Jason's quilt roll, "You know I'll never turn you away Right, Jason, never."

"Uh...thank you?" Jason closed his eyes and turned his back to Bruce, lest the tears suddenly get uncontrollable again.

"Thank you. I'm your dad." Bruce's tone was so righteous that it made his nose sour.

"No, you are the guardian." Jason could only use such weak reasons to retort against his will.

"Hmph." Bruce sounded annoyed and funny in the dark, "Go to sleep."

Jason rubbed the unfamiliar mattress under him and closed his eyes.

"Good night, Dad."

"Good night, son."