Cold Love

Without you

"Bruceeee! Look at my new flip!" Dick screamed from the living room. He must be at it once again. Sometimes Bruce wondered if he even had any bones; the boy was abnormally flexible. Bruce sighed before heading to the living room.

Dick was standing upside down on his right hand. Once he saw Bruce, he lifted himself up using his right hand, doing a flip in the air before landing on his feet.

"How was it?" He jumped up and down in anticipation.

"It was great," Bruce reached his hand out to ruffle the boy's hair only for him to disappear. Bruce frantically searched the room for his son but he was nowhere to be found.

"Okay Dick. You win. You can come out now!" He sighed.

"He's gone Master Bruce. You must accept it," Alfred squeezed Bruce's shoulders. Bruce refused to believe even a word of Alfred's claims. How could his little boy not be here? He could still hear his laugh and see him running around the manor! How could his little boy leave him? No! It must be a prank.

"Please Master Bruce, for God sake accept the reality!" Alfred cried as he watched the boy he raised search for something that was never there. He knew no words from him could convince his master.

"Miss Jane will be returning tonight," he informed before leaving his master to do his bidding. Jane basically was Dick's mother. Bruce was sure Dick would come out for her and then he would show Alfred he was wrong. He had to be wrong. Or was he wrong? Perhaps Richard truly did leave him like everyone else in his life. Why would Alfred lie? Maybe this was all his imagination.

Jane collapsed to the floor in tears as Alfred finished explaining the situation, handing her the last letter from Dick. She couldn't believe it. Her sweet little boy was gone and some, if not all, was her fault. She was only supposed to be gone for two days but she didn't return for two weeks. Moreover, not once did she call the manor. She should have but she never did. She was to blame just as much as Bruce if not more.

Alfred hugged Jane as she poured her heart out. Bruce was broken, Dick was gone, Alfred was doing his best, and she had to do hers. She couldn't just sit around and watch the city burn. Gotham needed both Bruce and Batman. At the moment it had neither. Gathering herself together, she whipped her tears, using Alfred to get back on her feet.

"Where's Bruce?" Alfred only pointed to Bruce's office before disappearing into the shadows. Jane took one deep breath, trying to calm her nerves before stepping into his office, not bothering to knock.

"Bruce," She called out. The said man didn't reply, he only stared at the ceiling. She slowly approached him making sure not to startle the man. She gently ran her fingers through his hair. He smiled at her touch but said nothing.

"Bruce......He's gone," she whispered. If he were not Batman, he would have not heard.

"I know, but denying it is so much easier. Please Jane. At least let me have that," he removed her hand, pouring himself a glass of wine. "He....he was my everything."

"I know Bruce but you need to let him go. He.......he's a strong boy," she tried not to sob. She may have not been the boy's biological mother but she did love the boy like her own. Yes, it hurt but she was also proud. The boy wanted to be his own person, outside of his father's shadow. He wanted to prove that age did not matter. He may have been the youngest on the team but he was the most experienced. He didn't need to be protected. Jane more than anyone understood the need to be out of some's shadow. To want to prove yourself. It was the reason she moved to Gotham.

"He's a strong boy. He'll make us proud and he knows this will always be his home. The manor's doors will always be open to him just like our hearts," she pulled Bruce into a hug. The two cried in each other's embrace. They cried for their son, their light, their happiness, their everything, wishing more than anything that he was safe and happy.