He wasn't quite sure just what Alfred had said and done to convince the boys parents to let him come and stay over at the Wayne residence on a semi-regular basis, though, and wasn't sure he really wanted to know, either. The boy seemed happy to be here, and Alfred seemed genuinely happy for a change that this particular boy came over often, so why not?
And it wasn't like he actually knew just what the boy's home life was like, either.
Tim Drake, though, Bruce decided, was a hard nut to crack. He was even more difficult to understand then Jason, in some ways, and that was saying something.
This was rather odd, to say the least, as Tim didn't cause even a fraction of the trouble Jason had initially. No stealing, no brawling, and at least he had the basic concept of manners down pat.
It was just that...
Well.
"Mr Wayne?"
"Yes, Tim?"
"Why is Jason here?"
"...Why, did you fight with him?"
"...No. Why's he still here, though?"
"Tim. Jason isn't old enough to go off to university yet."
The boy wrinkled his nose.
"...Jason isn't going to university."
Well, Bruce did wonder sometimes, but it wasn't like he hadn't had classmates in Uni who had to have much lower basic intelligence levels then Jason, and a fair amount of other classmates had had several kinds of learning disabilities too, so...
"Oh, he will, I'm sure."
Tim looked at him.
"Jason isn't going to university. He's bad. Bad people go to jail."
Bruce groaned. What?
"Jason isn't really bad and he isn't going to jail, either."
Tim blinked.
"Jason's mum is bad, his dad is bad, and he's bad. Bad kids go to jail. A-"
What now? And "A-" what?
"...Tim. Jason's mum is a nice person, she just got unlucky. Jason's dad ..."
And just were had Tim heard of Jason's parents at all, anyway?
"Jason's dad separated from his mum when Jason was a baby, and he didn't have anything to do with Jason at all after that. So there."
...Tim looked ready to cry. Now what?
"No. Jason's mum's bad. She was a bad mum and that's why she's in the hospital, except it's not really a hospital, it's a loony bin! And she'll never get out!"
Bruce nearly headdesked. Oh god, save me from crazy children...
"Tim. Jason's mum isn't bad. And she works at the hospital, so off course she can get out, when she's not on shift. Why, she might even come here, sometimes..."
...Actually, that wasn't a bad idea...
Oh, crap. Bruce watched Tim burst out in tears and go running out of the room, bemused.
...Well OK, Alfred seemed to be handling it...
Bruce sighed.
What the hell was wrong with the boy?
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(Posted Fri, 28 Apr 2006 13:11)
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