Batman searched desperately through the wreckage. "Robin", he screamed in a voice unnaturally high. He heard a thin, weak groan. Batman surged over to the place where he had heard the sound. He pulled a small, brightly clad form from the concrete and brick walls, a prison made from the wreckage of human achievements. This building had stood for years as a warehouse. Now, it became an executioner for a young child.
Smoke bellowed from the broken bits of walls and water sprayed from a busted pipe. Batman could smell gas trickling from bent wiring, but he didn't care. All he cared about was Robin now. He pulled a large hunk of wall off the boy and saw his broken form beneath. "Jason", he softly, almost in disbelief at his condition. The boy looked bad. One leg was twisted beneath him at an odd angle and his costume was ripped and torn so that it was almost just a hunk of rags. His ribs were partially bashed in and blood trickled from his skull. Batman gently lifted the boy out of the wreckage.
"Jay", he whispered softly.
"I'm sorry", Jason choked, "this is all my fault. I wanted you to be proud of me. But, now it's too late."
"No Jason, no", Batman said, "I've always been proud of you, always."
"But", said Jason, though labored breaths, "I was never as good as Dick. He wasn't bad like me, he wasn't unlovable. You never loved me like you loved him and I don't blame you."
"Of course I loved you Jason. I always loved you. I adopted you because I loved you, I cared for you because I loved you." Batman held Jason close, supporting his neck in fear it might snap. Jason seemed reduced almost to the helplessness of a baby and somehow and that made the Batman's love for him burn brighter and more primordial, as if going back to the instinctive love of a small child and not a wayward teenager.
"You really loved me", Jason asked softly.
"Yes", said Batman, "yes I did. I still do, now more then ever. I love you so much Jason, you can't leave me, you simply can't." He pressed the child to his chest, his fingers curling though his hair.
"You love me", Jason said softly, his eyes glazing over as his life slipped away, "You really love me. I love you too Bruce, I love you too." Batman held him away from his body for a moment and pulled off his mask. He had the sudden urge to see the child's young face once again. Jason's big blue eyes glowed startlingly bright for a moment, despite the glaze of death and he looked up at Bruce.
"You love me", he said.
"Yes Jason, yes I love you." Then, Jason closed his eyes, a small smile painted across his young lips. The boy started to feel cold in his arms now, a small life gone.
"No Jay no", Batman screamed, "no, don't leave me, no." Then, he felt arms on him, arms shaking him gently.
"Bruce", he heard a voice ask questioningly. Bruce writhed in place for a moment and then sat up panting. He looked around in the gloom and darkness and saw Jason, still very much alive, sitting on his bed close to him. The thirteen year old looked tired, but concerned, in his blue pajamas.
"Bruce, its ok, he said, it was just a bad dream." Bruce breathed a sigh of the deepest relief. Jason crawled up closer to him. Bruce leaned out and put his arms around him, pulling him into his lap and holding him tightly. Jason knew he was much too old for this sort of thing, but Bruce seemed to need it right now and Jason didn't despise it as much as one might suppose. In fact, he rather enjoyed being so close to him. The touch of someone who actually cared had been hard to come by in his youth, where he had come from.
Bruce rocked him back and forth slowly, taking in deep draughts of air. "I love you Jason, he said softly, don't ever forget that I love you so much. Your just as good as Dick was, don't ever forget that either."
"I love you too Bruce", Jason said, "I know you love me. Thanks." Bruce stroked his hair and put his chin on the boy's head, enjoying the feeling of that small life in his arms. The dream had seemed too real. He kissed Jason's forehead and ruffled his hair.
"You should go back to bed."
"Ok", said Jason. He was about to scoot off the bed when Bruce suddenly scooped him up. Jason considered himself a little old to be carried, but if Bruce wanted to, he could, he supposed. After all, he was Bruce. He seemed a little shook up. Jason wondered what he had been dreaming about, but decided not to press. It didn't seem right and he wasn't sure if he wanted to know the answer.
Bruce put Jason down on his bed and tucked him in, kissing the top of his head. Jason felt like a five year old but he didn't really mind tonight. "Hey", said Bruce, "do me a favor."
"What?" Jason asked.
"Don't ever die on me kiddo, promise me that ok."
"Sure", said Jason, "I won't." He gave Bruce a winning smile. "I won't."
Then, Jason lived a long and happy life, had a couple of kids and despite what the writers may have decided, did not die. The end.