She found him in his study and stood in front of him for a moment before clearing her throat to get his attention. He looked up.
"Bruce, when was the last time you paid attention to Jason?"
He thought this over for a moment. "I don't remember."
"Exactly."
"I'm a very busy man," he defended.
"Yet you always have time for Richard."
"That's different."
"How?"
"I... Uh..."
"It's not. Bruce, do you realize how much you're hurting him? I found him outside crying. And when I asked him what had him so upset he asked me why you don't care."
Bruce looked shocked.
"You treat him like he's not your son. You always have time for Dick but never any for him. This has got to stop. I'm not trying to tell you how to be a father to Jason. I'm telling you to be a father to the kid. Because right now Alfred is more of a father to him than you are. Heck, even Dick is more his father than you."
"You're taking this personally."
"Of course I am. My own mother wouldn't even give me the time of day, my sister hated me, and my dad was never around. This is personal. I almost killed myself because I so sure that I would never be good enough for them. I would give anything to keep Jason from going down that path. I've seen where it ends, and it's not pretty." Ruby bowed her head.
Bruce was shocked. He hadn't even known that there was a problem. "I'll try to do better, I promise."
"Just treat Jason and Dick equally. That's all I ask."
"I will." He stood up and headed towards the kitchen with Ruby following. "When Jason came up earlier he said something about it being your birthday."
"Not a big deal. I already spoke with my father Neptune and he gave me a gift of knowledge far more valuable than anything material. Though he gave me a toy as well like always." A smile graced her lips.
"Knowledge about...?"
"The future."
"Whose future?"
"Jason's. The valuable knowledge was how to change it."
"What was it like?"
"In the glimpse I saw he was pointing a gun at someone."
Bruce fell silent. The reached their destination and on his way to get a plate of food from Alfred he ruffled Jason's hair.
Jason stared at him. "Who are you and what did you do with Bruce?"
"I replaced him with a robot," Bruce shot back over his shoulder.
Both Jason and Richard looked to Ruby for an explanation. She just smiled at them.
"He's not a robot or a clone or anything else. That is the real Bruce Wayne. I didn't mess with his mind either. I'm not even a telepath."
Bruce listened from in the kitchen and it hurt to know that things had been so bad that neither of his sons had believed it was actually him just because he had acknowledged Jason.
Alfred put a hand on his shoulder and he sighed. "I had no idea there was even a problem. I feel terrible for hurting Jason like that. He's my son. I care about him. How could I have been so blind?"
"Now that you are aware that there is a problem I know you will do everything in your power to fix it, Master Bruce."
"Yes, Alfred, I will."