stranger things | dick grayson

forty three

word count: 3k

a/n: bARBARA IS IN FULL SWING BABEYYYY

~

Glancing at the doorway, Eleanor hid her annoyance from Bruce's presence by looking back down at the bowl of cereal. She mixed the small cornflakes around with her spoon as he approached her from the other side of the counter very slowly.

'Eleanor?' He asked followed by a small sigh.

It was childish, but she turned her head away even further, a clear indicator she didn't want to talk to him anytime soon.

'Will you just say something to me?' He begged her. 'Anything... Please?'

Eleanor was unsure as to when she turned soft— she knew exactly when and it started with Rachel— but when she saw Bruce standing there with misty eyes and still wearing his pyjamas, despite it being mid-day, she felt bad for him. He wasn't coping well and she was frustrated with the timing of it. Now he wanted her help?

'What do you want me to say?' She asked with a sigh and dropped her spoon into her bowl, crossing her arms so she could lean on the counter.

He shrugged his shoulders a little as he shoved his hands into his pockets. 'Anything to comfort your father—'

'No,' Eleanor said and stood up taller, placing her hands firmly on the countertop. 'I'm sorry. I'm sorry but you'll never earn the right to be my father.'

He ducked his head and swivelled to the side, almost as if he was about to leave, but he stayed where he was for he had something else to say. He remained silent with an intense stare on the ground.

'But you'll always be my Bruce.' Eleanor rounded the counter to stand in front of him as he snapped his head upwards to look at her. 'You fucked up. You fucked up so bad it got Jason killed, and it's not the first time you fucked up and it's hurt someone... But don't you forget you were the one who helped me, alright? You've helped a lot of people. This city needs Batman as much as it hurts them. This city needs you, Bruce. Don't give up on it.'

She walked back over to her bowl and began emptying the contents into the sink. She began rinsing it.

'I fucked up, Eleanor... How do I fix it?' He asked her as she placed the bowl and spoon on the drying rack.

Eleanor looked up at him, and whilst there was still anger, there was also pity.

'I don't know. That's something you're going to have to figure out on your own I'm afraid.'

+

It didn't feel real to her. She should have never been in the position she was in, staring down at Jason's grave. It was right next to Alfred's. Eleanor never met Alfred, but she knew how much he meant to everyone else, and she knew he saved Jason and Dick's asses more times than any of them could count.

'Eleanor, it's cold out here,' Dick said from over her shoulder.

She didn't bother with turning around to look at him. He was at her side within a few seconds, gently wrapping a scarf around her neck to keep her from freezing over in the snow.

They stood together in silence as Eleanor scrounged for the right words to say.

'He just... never listened... But then again, we didn't even pay attention to what he was doing and I just wished we did. He might still be here,' she murmured and scrunched her nose up to sniffle at the cold. 'How are we sure it's not going to happen again? How are we supposed to look after the others when we couldn't even look after Jason? You know, what if it's Gar next? Or Zoe? Connor? Rachel!'