"I've missed this place," Jason sighs, looking around the Manor entryway.
"And this place has missed you," a voice comes from behind him.
Jason spins around and almost falls off of his crutches. "Alfred!"
Dick steadies him. "Slow down there, Jaybird."
"I do what I want," Jason says, heading toward Alfred as soon as he's steadied on the crutches again.
"You do indeed," Alfred says with a sigh.
Jason… Jason isn't sure whether to feel guilty or relieved or something else entirely at that statement. So he just smiles up at Alfred and begins the awkward process of hugging him while still staying upright on the crutches.
"It does me such good to see you in person, Master Jason," Alfred says into Jason's hair.
"Yeah, me too," Jason says, although he's not sure how well it comes out with his face mushed against Alfred. "Phone calls and video calls from the Watchtower just didn't cut it."
"Speaking of the Watchtower," Dick says after a few moments, so apparently at least Dick can understand Jason with his face mashed into Alfred.
"Indeed," Alfred says.
Somewhat reluctantly, Jason pulls back. "Yeah. The kid and B'll be arriving soon too."
"About an hour or so," Dick says.
"That should allow us to get Master Jason settled comfortably in his bedroom for some rest, then," Alfred says.
"Nope," Jason says breezily.
Dick sighs. "I didn't think so. Alfred, Jason wants to be here when Junior arrives."
"I have to," Jason says. "I've gotta be there for him."
Alfred looks back and forth between Jason and Dick. He must see something, because he sighs again and says, "In that case, we will all get settled comfortably in the primary living room, then."
Jason nods. "Yeah. We've gotta show the kid how family actually works, with games and hugs and stuff. Oh, and we need to have snacks for him too. He's so skinny, Alfie. Can we have snacks for him?"
"I would never argue with the idea of feeding a child, and from the information Master Bruce has sent me, I would in fact argue for the idea of feeding this child quite fervently," Alfred says. "We will certainly 'have snacks.'"
"Cool," Jason says.
By the time Jason has settled onto the couch in the primary living room, Dick has gathered a bunch of games at his and Jason's brainstormed suggestions, and Alfred has brought in several different kinds of foods to spread out, there's still like thirty or forty minutes left until Bruce and Junior arrive. That's what Jason thinks, at least, but then Dick's phone buzzes.
"They're almost here," Dick says, looking up at Alfred and Jason.
"Huh. I guess that took us longer than I thought," Jason says.
"Or, more likely, perhaps it took them a shorter amount of time than we thought," Alfred says, eyeing his watch.
"I'll go bring them here," Dick offers. He stands up from his weird halfway-squatting position on the floor, stretches in that way that makes Jason cringe to watch him stretch so far, and walks out of the room.
Jason wiggles back and forth a little on the couch.
"When did you last take pain medications?" Alfred asks.
Still wiggling back and forth, Jason blinks up at him. "What?"
"You are uncomfortable," Alfred says, gesturing to Jason.
"Oh," Jason says. "Nah, not like that. I just… I guess I'm nervous. I want this to go really well. I want it to be perfect for Junior. That kid deserves so much better of a life than he's got."
Alfred nods, a fond look on his face. "Indeed. And we will do our level best to deliver such a life to him."
Stopping his wiggling, Jason pats the couch next to him, raising his eyebrows. "Come sit with me?"
After a moment of hesitation, Alfred does come perch on the couch.
Jason flops into Alfred's side gratefully. It's familiar and right every time, the starchy feel of Alfred's suit and the soft rhythm of Alfred's breath.
It's so familiar and so right, in fact, that Jason starts to doze off. He wakes up slowly to murmuring voices.
"-A panic attack," Bruce is saying.
"The poor lad," Alfred says.
"Dick is sitting with him in the bathroom now," Bruce says.
"The bathroom," Alfred repeats.
"I asked Junior if he felt nauseous and he said not to worry because he'd clean it up if he threw up," Bruce says.
They're both quiet for a moment.
Struggling fully back to alertness and trying to put the pieces of what he'd heard together, Jason pries his face up from Alfred's side. "Ise'kay?"
"What?" Bruce says, pausing pacing for only a split second.
Jason clears his throat. "Is he okay? The kid?"
"He got pretty nervous when we got into the Manor," Bruce says.
Jason frowns, but before he can ask why, Bruce continues.
"I'm not sure why. My best guess is that something reminded him of his father or that somehow being here made him feel guilty for somehow knowing our identities," Bruce says.
Jason nods. The guesses make some sense.
They sit there quietly for a moment. Well, Jason and Alfred sit; Bruce keeps pacing.
"But he's going to be okay," Jason finally gets up the courage to say.
Bruce and Alfred exchange glances.
"He is," Jason says firmly. "We're going to help him be okay."
"We will certainly do our best," Alfred says just as firmly.
"I'll check on him in a few minutes, give him some time to try to collect himself," Bruce says. "It might be-"
Then Bruce pauses and tilts his head a tiny bit, clearly listening.
Jason hears it too in the next moment: footsteps. Exactly one set of footsteps.
There's just enough time for Jason to worry that somehow Junior ran away or something before Dick comes into the room, Junior set on his hip like a large toddler.
Jason grins at the sight. His grin falters when Junior looks at him with tears in his eyes. "Aw, kid, what's wrong?"
"I didn't mean to do it wrong," Junior says, voice trembling.
"You didn't do it wrong," Jason says immediately. He doesn't even know what "it" is, but he's sure Junior isn't in the wrong.
"I wasn't supposed to-" Junior begins.
"You did nothing wrong," Bruce says firmly. "You're in a new situation. It's different, and that's got to be frightening for you. We aren't going to be mad at you for having a panic attack for that reason, or for any reason, for that matter."
Junior ducks his head into Dick's shoulder and shakes, a whole-body tremble that makes Jason hurt just to watch.
"It's going to take time to adjust," Dick says, running a hand over Junior's back.
Junior says quietly, "But it'll be hard."
"It might be," Dick says.
"I don't want it to hurt," Junior says. "I know I don't get to want, but I don't want to get hurt or hurt anybody. I just don't want to."
"You won't have to hurt anyone," Bruce says.
"And you are certainly allowed to want," Alfred adds.
Junior's head shoots up. He stares at Alfred hopefully.
Alfred smiles. "Hello there. It is a pleasure to meet you, young sir. Welcome to Wayne Manor."
"...Am I allowed to want things here?" Junior asks.
Alfred nods. "Most certainly. If you have a request, simply let me know what you want."
Junior clings to Dick for a moment longer, then he wriggles a little.
Dick sets him down.
Slowly, Junior walks up to the couch. He stares at Alfred for a long moment, rocking back and forth, on his toes to on his heels. Then he says softly, "I want to not have to be alive."
"Aw, kid," Jason says without really thinking about it. "I don't think that's what Alfred meant."
Junior shrinks in on himself.
Again, not really thinking, Jason shoots out a hand to rest on the kid's shoulder.
Junior freezes.
Alfred hisses out a sharp breath.
Bruce and Dick look uncertain.
And just when Jason processes what's happening and that he probably shouldn't've done that…
Junior leans forward into Jason's hand. His face is filled with what looks remarkably like pure want.
Jason gets an idea. Slowly, he puts his other hand on the kid's other shoulder.
Junior leans forward even more, practically on his tip-toes.
"You like that?" Jason asks.
Shyly, Junior nods.
"C'mere," Jason says, leaning closer into Alfred and patting the couch on his other side.
Junior looks to the side, toward Bruce and Dick.
"If you want to, you can," Bruce says.
Dick gives him a thumbs-up.
Slowly, Junior climbs onto the couch. Every time Junior hesitates, Jason tugs him closer, until Junior's head is resting tentatively against Jason's shoulder. Then Jason wraps his arms around the kid.
Junior's whole body melts into the touch.
"You like that?" Jason asks.
Hesitantly, Junior nods against Jason's shoulder.
"You want to have more of this?" Jason asks.
Junior tenses.
Jason quickly adds, "You can. If you want hugs, you can have hugs."
Junior untenses some. He's not as loose-limbed as he was before, but he's not super tightened up anymore.
Jason imitates Dick's earlier actions and strokes a hand down Junior's back, then pauses. "You want more of that?"
"Yes," Junior says, barely audible.
"The thing is," Jason says slowly, stroking Junior's back again, "If you're not alive, you can't want things. So you have to live. We just have to help you find ways to want to live."