One Last Dance | R. Grayson

[08] Brothers In Arms

After Erica had left, Richard decided to call Jason. It had been long since he talked to the boy, and he felt he should mend that gap. After all, he had no fault in all that had happened between Bruce and Richard, so it wouldn't be right to punish him with estrangement.

Jason had become part of their family not long ago and was very impressed by Richard. In the short time that Richard stayed in Gotham after Jay's adoption, the boy would follow him around and consider him an ideal role model. He was talkative to the point that it got annoying but Richard couldn't overlook the genuine admiration Jason had for him.

He too had started to think of him as a younger brother and often hung out with him. But then it all changed due to the rift between Bruce and Richard.

Joker's recent attack on their friend Barbara and Bruce's decision to keep her survival a secret from the boys had caused that rift and driven a wedge between Richard and Bruce.

Richard left Gotham and went to Metropolis initially but then settled in the neighboring city of Bludhaven.

Ever since Richard had come to Bludhaven, furious at Bruce, he hadn't tried contacting anyone else either. He had blocked Barbara's number, too, feeling that she didn't trust him enough to confide in him about what she was going through before that attack. All that frustration and resentment that he had left behind in Gotham urged him not to reach out to them again.

But after talking to Erica that day, he realized he also needed one more thing from his life, but he hadn't voiced it out before her earlier.

He needed closure.

He had to move on from his bitter past, but to do so, he had to fix his past mistakes. And the starting point for it, he assumed, was to patch things up with Jason, who hadn't even wanted him to leave in the first place.

He dialed his number and waited for him to pick up the call. Two or three rings later, Jason answered the phone, his excited voice startling Richard at first.

He had almost forgotten how energetic the boy was and how cheerful his voice sounded over the phone.

"Thank God you are alive, and thank God you are finally talking to me!"

A small smile flickered upon his lips as he greeted him, "Hi Jason."

"Hi, how are you?" His excited voice made Richard feel as if he was back at the Manor with the young boy bouncing around him in excitement, eager to do anything with him as long as they would get to spend some time together.

Richard had always found his attitude rather endearing, but sometimes, he would tell him off for being so hyper. To him, Jason was like a golden retriever who strived for love and attention. 

"I'm fine. How are you doing?"

A dramatic sigh escaped the boy, "I am bored. Like you couldn't have chosen a better time to leave Gotham? It sucks here."

"Or perhaps you are angry that I didn't take you with me," he remarked playfully.

"Ya think? I was pissed, and still am. And the fact that you are asking this after one year of staying MIA doesn't help either. One year of me patrolling with the Old Bat alone, can you believe it? It's a wonder I'm still sane!"

Richard went silent at that remark. He didn't want to talk about Bruce just yet; he wasn't ready.

Jason had noticed that sudden silence, so he quickly changed the topic before Richard could think of ending the call abruptly, "Anyways, tell me how things are going for you? How's Bludhaven?"

"Same old. I hardly get any free time, or else I would have called you earlier," he replied, grateful that Jason had changed the topic.

"Yeah, I heard from Supes that you have also taken on a vigilante identity there. What do you go by again?"