Hey everyone! Hope you are all having a great day! Sorry it's late, but this is whumptober prompt 14: Childhood Trauma. I'm getting to the others, I swear! Leave me a comment if you like this chapter or if you're looking forward to any of the prompts! Love reading your thoughts! Lots of Love - Lorna :)

Dick, Damian, and Tim all looked at Bruce in horror. Well, Tim and Dick were looking at him in horror, and Damian just frowned, his eyes narrowed into angry slits.

"Bruce, you can't be serious."

Bruce wanted to say that of course he wasn't, that he would never, but Batman said that Jason had to get over his fear or it was going to be the death of him one day. Bruce went quiet at that.

"He needs to be able to think clearly through the fear. The only way to do that is practice."

Dick's fists clenched tightly, the look in his eyes murderous.

"Like h*ll!"

Damian eyed his brother warily, looking between Dick and Bruce. Bruce thought Damian was right to be cautious; an angry Dick, a truly angry, protective Dick, was not to be trifled with.

"Dick, his fear could get one of you or him killed."

"His fear stems from exactly that! He already died Bruce! He's afraid of being in spaces that remind him of waking up in his own d*mn coffin!"

Bruce's heart clenched at that, but Batman didn't back down.

"He needs to be able to work through it." His tone wasn't cold, but neither did it leave any room for further discussion. Jason hadn't spoken a word throughout this entire argument, since Batman had brought up the idea that he needed to overcome his fear of tight, coffin-like surroundings. Even now that the decision had been made, Jason refused to meet his eyes. Bruce wanted to kick himself. He wasn't doing this because he wanted Jason to be terrified, but all Jason could see was that Bruce was putting him in a position that would make him miserable and afraid.

"I want to speak to your brother. Can you please go upstairs?" Bruce sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

Dick scowled, his eyes sharp and then softening, if only slightly, as he realized what Bruce was trying to do. "Depends." He replied shortly, turning to Jason. He put a hand on Jason's shoulder, which Jason promptly shrugged off. "Do you want any of us to stay, Little Wing?"

Jason paused for a moment and then shook his head. "No, it's fine."

Dick nodded. "Ok, Jay. Just call, and we'll be here if you change your mind."

Jason just remained silent.

"Come on, Tim, Damian. Let's go." Dick tugged them up the stairs, giving Bruce a heated glare in warning as he left.

There was an uncomfortable silence as the boys left. Jason didn't choose to speak, and Batman was basically a talkative mute.

"Jay," he finally said.

"Don't," Jay replied, voice hard and toneless.

"I'm trying to keep you safe, Jason."

Jason took a shuddering breath, and Bruce wanted nothing more than to take away every bad thing that Jason was feeling.

"B." His voice broke as he struggled to rein in his fear. "I can't- It's just… it's just coffin's. I don't- I don't want to get them hurt but I just…why isn't that good enough?"

Bruce took a few steps forward, grateful that Jason didn't step away. Bruce wrapped his arms around his son, pulling him into a tight embrace. Jason was shaking, and his fingers were fumbling to grab onto the bottom of Bruce's shirt.

"Oh, Jaybird." Bruce wrapped a hand around the back of Jason's head, cupping it and bringing him closer. "I know. You're so brave. I just want to keep you safe."

"Bruce," Jason cried.

Bruce could feel his heart breaking into thousands of pieces that embedded themselves in his gut. "It's going to be okay, Jay. We'll start small."

Jason nodded slowly against Bruce's chest. It took another minute for Jason to pull away.

"I have a containment box that should be similar. Do you- would you want your brothers here for the first time?"

Jason nodded again, moving to stand, watching numbly as Bruce brought out a large prison container. The other boys filtered into the room, but he hardly seemed to notice them. Dick was close by, hand on his shoulder, drawing him into a warm embrace. Jason couldn't help but sag into it, though it was more his body's natural reaction to being hugged, rather than his head being conscious enough to actually do anything. Bruce was speaking, so was Tim and Damian, but Jason just let the words fly overhead.

"Can I go in with him?" Damian asked.

Bruce gave him an odd, fond look. "It could be potentially dangerous if he starts to panic."

"Then it's good I'll be with him, right?" Damian quirked his eyebrow as if daring his father to disagree. "Then I can get us out."

Bruce nodded. "We're going to be doing it for several time intervals. We'll start with ten to fifteen minutes and increase it by five to ten minutes each time after you've been able to do the original time twice without incident. Once you make it an hour or more, the phobia will have been overcome enough so."

Bruce motioned for Jason to come and lie in the box. They all watched with rapt attention as Jason lay in the container. He wasn't breathing, didn't even look as though he understood what was going on around him. His eyes were open, but unseeing, mouth in a tight line, and body more tense than should be possible. Dick wanted nothing more than to pull him out or do what Damian was about to do. He was too big, though, would only make Jason feel more confined and afraid.

Bruce then motioned for Damian to get in. Carefully, with forced light steps, Damian climbed into the container and lay beside Jason. The only reaction he got was the slight shift of his brother's eyes as Damian moved beside him.

Bruce frowned as he set the lid on, his eyes sad.

Damian didn't mind the darkness. Most of the time, it was comforting to him, but now he worried that he could only just make out his brother. There was light filtering in from the cracks and spots where air was seeping in, but not enough to see as he wanted. The moment the lid came down, Jason's breathing started to turn shallow and yet rasping in panic.

"Todd, breathe," Damian demanded.

He could feel Jason shake his head. "Air," he rasped.

Damian's fingers clutch Jason's shirt, pulling him closer. "There's no shortage of it. Breathe like a normal human being, Todd."

That seemed to get through Jason's thick skull, because his breathing deepened and normalized. Clarity returned to his brother's features.

"Dami-?"

There was a sharp nod.

"I- what are you doing in here?" Jason breathed. He was starting to shake now that his body was finally getting the air it needed.

"Stopping you from sending yourself into cardiac arrest."

Jason's hands were pushing against the walls as though stopping them from caving in.

"Oh God," Jason hissed. His fingers were prodding the cushions in the container, pulling at the padding. "I need to get out."

"Todd," Damian replied sternly. "They're going to let us out at the end. Fifteen minutes. No more, no less."

"Dami, I can't," Jason breathes, his eyes scrunching shut and finger still clawing at the top of the confines.

"Todd." Damian maneuvered through the very tight space and grabbed his hands. "Listen to me. Do not move."

It was an order, one that left no room for argument. Jason stilled. He was acting like a cornered animal, and Damian knew how to deal with them.

"You're doing… well." The compliment tasted weird in his mouth, but Jason didn't need Damian to take him down another level; he was already on the floor. And it wasn't a lie. Jason had done much better than anyone had expected, and Damian suspected that it was probably because he was there and Jason didn't want to frighten or hurt him on some subconscious level.

"I can't stay in here, Dami." Jason trembled. "It's too small. I need to get out."

"It's not getting any smaller, and it's not going to hurt you," Damian replied. He wasn't necessarily the best at comforting, but he dealt very well with blunt facts.

"You're not claustrophobic, Damian!" Jason yelped. He tried to yank his hands away, but Damien left no room for him to do so.

"True, but neither are you, most of the time anyway," Damian scoffed.

"Dami, I can't last 15 minutes like this."

Without thinking, Damian snipped, "It's probably only about ten now."

Jason whined like a hurt dog. Damian could feel his brother's breath speeding up, his heart beating frantically in his chest. "I need to get out. They aren't going to open the lid."

"Todd." Damien pressed on Jason's hands, hard. Hard enough to hurt. Jason turned to him, eyes wide with panic. Damian could see the whites of his eyes, terrified in the dark.

"Father, Grayson and Drake are watching us. Do you trust them?"

Jason nodded after a second.

"Good. Then lie here, close your eyes, don't move, and think about how much you trust that Grayson and Drake won't let it go even a second over the time." Damian said shortly.

Jason nodded, exhaling shakily.

They waited in silence for a couple of minutes before they heard muffled movements. Jason's eyes opened in terror and hope. However, Damian needed him to stay at least somewhat calm, and fear did not lend itself to that.

"Close your eyes, Todd." He didn't give a reason, and Jason was malleable in fear right now. He did as Damian demanded.

Light filtered in as Dick yanked the lid away. Jason was breathing heavily, desperate to leave, but he waited for Damian to get out first, before quickly climbing out on his own. He put as much distance between himself and the container as possible.

Bruce looked at him, his eyes sad and yet proud. "You did really well, Jay. Good job."

Damian shot his father a nasty look that spoke volumes. It was a definite threat that Bruce had better know what he was doing. Dick and Tim had already pulled Jason into a corner so that the box was out of sight. Tim was sitting in Jason's lap, a grounding presence that Jason seemed to take comfort in. Bruce had been worried that after being forced to suffer through his fear in something that was claustrophobia-inducing, Jason wouldn't want to have his siblings close. He was glad this wasn't the case. Dick was on one side of Jason, running a hand up and down his back in soft, even motions. Jason eventually gave in to leaning against Dick, tucking his head into his brother's neck and under his chin.

Bruce came to kneel down next to his boys, watching how Dick tensed and gave him another threatening look. "Don't screw this up," Bruce was what it screamed. Tim eyed Bruce carefully, his own threat sitting idle in the air. Tim's eyes said the better be here to help not hurt… or else. Bruce reached a hand out and carefully brushed stray hair out of Jason's face.

"You did so well, Jaybird. I'm so proud of you," Bruce whispered, his fingers moving to rub a slow circle on Jason's cheek. He shuddered and clung to Tim more tightly. They all stayed like that, with the exception of Damian, who moved to curl around Dick's other side like a lazy house cat, until everyone but Bruce was long asleep. Birds of a feather stick together, even when the bat comes. Bruce smiled as he draped a blanket over them all.