It’s fine. Jason’s sure it’s fine. They live in a quiet neighbourhood, nothing ever happens here. It’s fine.
But logic is no match for the irrational paranoia of the PTSD-inflicted. Jason’s always been overprotective of his son, for what he considers pretty damn good reasons. (Ra’s al Ghul and Bruce Wayne are both threats that need to be taken seriously.) Even then, he tries to give his son his freedom. He knows he’ll do no good for Damian as a helicopter parent. Which is why, once Damian got old enough to be wanting to spend time with his friends away from parental supervision, Jason had bought Damian a cell phone with an unlimited calling & texting plan, and made a deal with his son. His curfew is sunset, but if he’s going to be out later than that, call him (no texting, texts are easy to fake) and give him an estimated time of arrival. Even if Jason has work in the morning, he never goes to bed until his son is safe at home. Damian knows that his father deals with some pretty serious post-traumatic stress, and he’s always been understanding of it.
So when the sun is setting and Damian hasn’t called, Jason’s feeling antsy.
He checks his phone compulsively, nearly every thirty seconds, but there’s nothing. No missed calls, no texts, nothing. Damian hadn’t said anything about being out late, but Jason knows he likes to spend time with his friends after school before coming home. Maybe the time just got away from them?
Night has officially fallen, and Jason’s not ashamed to admit that he’s panicking now. Has Ra’s found them? Found Damian? The older he gets, the less likely it is that Ra’s will have interest in Damian, but it’s always going to be a worry. Jason has visions of Damian being dragged off by League ghuls, and it makes him crack open the program he’s never used before. He tracks Damian’s GPS signal and nearly runs out to the car, throwing it into gear as he tears off down the street. His son. He needs to protect his son.
@blccdheir | that one thing
