Bruce reflects on finding out about Jason's first murder.
Chapter 33: He's Still My Son
Bruce's POV
How do you react when you find your child hurt, alone, afraid? What can you do? What should you do? How can live with the fact that you failed? You don't have a choice. He's still your son.
You find your guilty child three months after he took a life. You find him three months after he ran away from home. You find him hurt and alone in a pool of blood, surrounded by death. He's too afraid to come home. He's too afraid to face you. What do you do?
You clean his wounds. You hold his hand. You accept his apology as you hold him. You wipe his tears away as he cries onto your shoulder. You take your seventeen year old home, even though he's afraid to go home. He is afraid that he is no longer accepted. Yet, he is welcomed. For, the prodigal son has returned.
What do you do when an army comes to arrest your child? How can you refuse the same people who stand for what you do? Justice. They have come to take your guilty child away and punish him for the crime he has committed. How can you stand beside the army who will kill your child? How can you stand by and watch as your two youngest cling to your penitent child? How can you do nothing as your eldest stands between his remorseful brother and his duty? How can you not act as your surrogate father holds the guilty child's hand?
You make a choice. You stand proudly alongside your eldest, preparing for battle. But, your pride is lost. You crumble before them. First you plead for them to spare the guilty one. You take full responsibility for the boy's actions. You promise to reform him. You fall to your knees in front of the army's leader. The alien, who is your ally. Your brother, who stands for the very same thing you do. You beg him to give the guilty boy a second chance.
You watch with relief as they leave. You watch as your family embraces their lost brother and grandchild. Yet, you do not join them. You watch as he ignores them and only looks at you. Yet, you turn and leave them; you do not want them to see you shedding tears of relief.
Later when you are alone, he will come to you. He is apologetic, yet there is fear in his dark blue eyes. Fear that you will hand him over, should he do something wrong again. Fear that you no longer want him. Fear that you hate him for what he has done.
You put his fears to rest as you embrace him. You put his fears to rest as you accept him. You put his fears to rest as you promise to protect him. You put his fears to rest as you tell him you still love him. You put his fears to rest as you lie over and over again to those who trust you. Because, I have to protect him.
I don't have a choice. He's still my son. No matter what, he'll always be my little boy.
Thanks for all of the awesome reviews! Recently, I have been requested to write a chapter about Jason getting rid of Franklin, a chapter about Damian and what does the fox say, and one about Bruce becoming a father. So, I will be working on those chapters for ya'll. If anyone else has a request, message me or comment and I'll see what I can do. Have a great day!