Prompt: Kaden learns a hard lesson on patrol one night, when someone dies on his watch.

Dick: 41

Jason: 39

Kaden: 16

A Hard Lesson to Learn

Fear gas. Despite his old age, Scarecrow was still active and terrorizing Gotham with new fear formulas. This particular formula brought your fears to life, projecting monsters, criminals, etc, onto other people. Fortunately, Batman and Robin arrived on the scene and managed to round up the infected civilians, tying them up and securing them, preventing them from inflicting harm on themselves or others.

Except for one man who was wielding a gun.

"Robin, I'm going after Scarecrow. Be careful," Batman said evenly. Robin gave a nod and pursued the man with the gun, keeping his wits about him. When he got outside, the man had climbed onto the roof. Robin followed ad when he got up a gunshot rang out, missing him by inches.

"Hey look pal, calm down. Everything is going to be fine. You're hallucinating."

"Don't touch me! Stay away! You took everything from me!" the man sobbed. Robin approached slowly when the man tossed the gun aside, backing up toward the edge of the building.

"Hey, hey! Look at me! Focus! Listen to the sound of my voice! You're hallucinating! Whatever you're seeing, it's not real!" Robin tried again. The man started the panic, sobbing hysterically as Robin drew closer, so the teen stopped dead in his tracks, wracking his brain for a solution. The man was near the edge of a building; if he made the wrong move,

"You killed them...you killed them all you...sick fucking clown!" the man shouted. Robin easily deduced from there what the man's fear was. A fear he once had years ago. All the more reason to be cautious.

"Listen-" Robin spoke softly, taking another step toward the man. Wrong move. The man grabbed up the gun and attempted to fire, but Robin was fast. He threw a wing-wing, knocking the gun out of the man's hand. Shocked, the man stumbled backwards, toward the edge of the building.

"No! Stop!" Robin shouted. The man tripped and fell, just as he made a mad dash toward him, drawing his grappling gun. He heard the scream and dread filled his heart; he was too late. He stopped at the edge of the building, looking over it to see the man below, dead.

Robin stared down wide-eyed in horror and stumbled backwards, collapsing to his knees and tearing off his mask.

I...I just killed him!

Batman landed on the roof, cursing under his breath; Scarecrow had somehow eluded him, slippery snake. He caught sight of Robin on the ground a short distance away, and hurried over to Robin's side, concern etched on his face. He knelt down beside the teen and grabbed his mask off of the ground, pressing it back to his face. He was in shock, didn't react.

"Robin. Robin!" Batman called. Robin was snapped out of his thoughts and looked up at Batman, the same shocked expression on his face. Batman frowned and stood up, moving toward the edge of the building, seeing the dead man at the bottom. He looked back at Robin and immediately understood.

"I...I killed him," Robin muttered softly. Batman shook his head, kneeling down before the teen and placing a hand atop his head.

"No, you didn't. Scarecrow did, Robin. Not you," Batman said evenly. Robin looked up at him and shook his head.

"But I-"

"You can't save everyone, Robin. I know it hurts, it sucks, but..." Batman paused, searching for more words, but finding none. He was not the best person to be trying to console him, considering his own past.

"C'mon. Patrol's over," Batman said, tugging Robin to his feet.

"Shit," Jason muttered, raking a hand through his hair, looking down the hallway to his son's bedroom. He didn't know what to do or say to him, because he himself had willingly killed so many as The Red Hood. His son wasn't a killer, so he couldn't even imagine how he must be feeling, not really.

"He's still pretty shocked from the whole thing. I tried to help, but...y'know, former assassin and all," Damian tried to joke, chuckling a bit at his own comment. Jason smirked and nodded, patting the young man's back.

"I know what you mean," Jason replied. Dick frowned and crossed his arms over his chest; this would be up to him, and he'd have to dredge up old memories he would have rather forgotten. But for Kaden's sake, he'd do it.

"I'll talk to him," Dick finally said. All eyes were on him and he gave a shrug and a sigh.

"I know how he feels. I've been where he's been. But it'll still take time," Dick explained. Damian gave a nod and excused himself.

"Alright. I think it best if he stays off patrol for a little while. Good night," Damian called back before he left. Jason turned to Dick and rubbing his back soothingly.

"You okay to do this? I know those memories aren't exactly..." Jason trailed off, concern in his voice. Dick managed a small smile, stealing a kiss from his husband, followed by a hug.

"I can handle it. Besides, Kaden needs someone right now. May as well be me," Dick answered. Jason gave a curt nod, watching as his husband made his way to their son's room.

Dick gave a light knock, before pushing the door open. Kaden was tucked in a corner, on his bed with his earphones in, hugging his knees. The teen looked up at his papa with a blank expression. Dick managed a small smile, despite the cutting edge of the defeated, broken look on the teen's face. He sat on the edge of the bed and patted the space beside him. Kaden sighed, turning off his music and scooting over to sit beside his papa.

"Hey, how're you holding up?" Dick asked. Kaden sighed again and raked a hand through his hair, looking downright miserable.

"Fine I guess. For a killer," he muttered. Dick frowned and gently grabbed the boy by his chin, making him look at him.

"Hey. You're not a killer, okay?" Dick said firmly, but calmly.

"Why not? I may as well have pushed that man myself," Kaden snapped, pulling away from the man's grip and glaring down at the floor. Dick shook his head and rubbed the teen's back soothingly.

"Kaden...we can't always save everyone. Sometimes...sometimes we lose people, despite our best efforts," Dick began. Kaden snorted softly, but Dick chose to ignore it. He dug deep, for a particular memory from Bludhaven.

"I know how you feel, Kaden. In fact, I've felt worse. Because...I've done worse," Dick said softly, a somber look on his face. Kaden looked at his papa in surprise, not expecting this conversation to go this way.

"In my earlier days as Nightwing, there was this super villain named Blockbuster. Terrorizing Bludhaven," Dick began, tone soft as he stared down at the floor. Kaden shifted a bit on the bed, giving the man his full attention.

"Things got pretty dark for me, and he drove me to near insanity. By the end of the whole ordeal, another vigilante...killed him," Dick continued. He looked over at Kaden, who flinched a bit at the sad look in the man's eyes.

"But you didn't-"

"Do anything," Dick interrupted. He took a deep breath, exhaling and then went on "I didn't do anything...to stop it. I had the power to stop it, to save him, but instead, I did nothing. I let this vigilante kill him. I just...watched." A silence permeated the room as Dick gathered his thoughts and collected himself. He looked down at Kaden and flashed a sad smile.

"So yeah, little wing. I know what you're going through. I know how you feel. That moment ate at me for so long. Even to this day, I still feel a bit of guilt for it. But eventually, I moved on, chose to try and be better." Dick cupped the teen's face, thumb stroking over his cheek gently.

"You tried to save that man, that's the difference though. You're not a killer, and you didn't kill him. Fault lies with Scarecrow. His fear toxin is what caused all this. You have nothing to feel guilty about, you understand?" Kaden managed a small smiled and gave a nod. Dick smiled back, ruffling the teen's hair then kissing his forehead.

"I...yeah. Thanks papa," Kaden answered, hugging the man tight. Dick kissed the top of the teen's head and hugged him tight.

"No matter what you do, your dad and I will always love you. This doesn't change anything, okay?"

"Okay."

"Good. Now c'mon," Dick said with a grin, pushing himself off of the teen's bed and heading for the door. Kaden flashed a quizzical look and followed his papa out of his room.

"What?" Kaden asked. Dick turned, walking backward with a goofy grin on his face.

"Me, you, and your dad are going to pull an all-nighter, and play some video games. That'll take your mind off things, yeah?" Kaden grinned from ear to ear.

"Really?! You realize I have school tomorrow?" Kaden asked.

"Blow it off! We'll call you out sick!" Jason called from the living room, grin on his face, having caught the conversation. He got to setting up the tv and the console and tossed Dick and Kaden a controller.

"C'mon, let's play," Jason called, waving them over. Kaden laughed and hurried over to the couch, flopping down beside his dad. Dick chuckled in amusement and joined them, sitting on Kaden's other side.

"Love you baby bird," Dick said once more, kissing the teen's head. Kaden snorted.

"Yeah, yeah. Sentimental crap later. It's game time!"