Enjoy this elusive update in between me trying to work on requests :)) it's low key short, but all I got
There was something horrible about the feeling that came with the silent ride back to the cave.
Tears fell silently, and hearts were torn with grief... grief and guilt.
They thought the moments couldn't possibly get any more painful, but they were wrong...
M'gann's face could've been carved from stone as she levitated the small still form of their teammate out of the bioship. Her eyes however, red from the tears she'd shed, betrayed just how broken she felt inside.
It got worse when they heard Batman's zeta tag echoing through the mountain base. His gaze was desperate as he ran to them. The way he froze when he saw the white cloth draped over the body of his son, lenses of his cowl blown wide with shock was like an arrow to the heart of every member of the team.
The team's own initial reaction was mirrored back at them as Batman stumbled to his son's side, falling to his knees and pulling back the cloth with trembling hands.
Tears pooled afresh in the eyes of the team as they saw Batman clutch his son to his chest, burying his face in the raven hair.
And their hearts broke again when they heard the Dark Night's cries.
—
Things had been broken for so long. Bruce hadn't been the same since the botched mission that had cost him his son. He'd distanced himself from the league, the team, even somewhat from the mantle of Batman.
It had been a surprise to the league when they'd heard about Jason, Bruce's new Robin. Some had been angry, others more understanding... but nobody other than Alfred had truly understood.
Jason's fire had helped a bit, given Bruce the will to live again. A reason to go out every night and fight for the lives and safety of others...
The very things he hadn't been able to provide for his original Robin.
He found however, that training a new Robin, bringing someone else into his home and into his heart couldn't possibly replace the ones he'd already lost.
—
Jason peered into the room he knew simply as the other Robin's room. He didn't even know the other boy's name. Only that he'd died traumatically in a mission gone wrong... that his death had almost taken Bruce with it, and that it was still in danger of doing just that...
Bruce had fallen asleep again on Dick's bed, something he tended to do when he particularly missed his eldest son.
Jason would've smiled at the sight of the well loved elephant stuffed animal clutched in Bruce's arms if he hadn't known the story behind the toy... the boy who'd loved it for so long.
Deciding to leave his mentor in peace, Jason turned away from the door, almost running into Alfred on his way down the hall. "Will he ever stop hurting?" He asked the butler. "He, of anyone deserves peace."
Alfred smiled sadly. "When you love someone and you lose them... there'll always be a hole left in your heart."
—
As time passed, Bruce found that his grief only seemed to deepen, consuming him like a relentless storm.
Jason, no matter how much Bruce loved him, could never replace the son he'd lost. The laughter that filled the cave now seemed hollow, a painful reminder of what was missing.
Days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months, yet Bruce's heart remained heavy with sorrow. He watched Jason grow, become Robin, and live his life, his heart breaking with every milestone reached, knowing that it should have been Dick laughing as he swung through Gotham at his side.
Bruce's grief became a constant companion, a shadow that followed him wherever he went. He found himself lost in memories, haunted by the laughter and joy that Dick had once brought to the manor. The emptiness in his heart grew with each passing day, a void that seemed some days to swallow him whole.
In the depths of his despair, he realized that he had become a mere shell of his former self. The weight of his loss had become too much to bear, and he could feel his spirit slowly crumbling under the weight of his sorrow. He had lost his oldest son, and now, he was losing himself.
And so, Bruce lived each day in a haze of grief, another piece of his heart forever missing. He learned to exist, to go through the motions, but the spark of joy had long since faded from his eyes. The love he tried to give Jason was tainted by the ache of what he had lost, a constant reminder of the void that could never be filled.
As the years passed, Bruce's heartache remained, etched into his very soul. He carried the weight of his grief until his last breath, forever longing for the son he would never hold again.