Awwwwww. They love each other so much! :(

Hi there! Crane’s toxin is something to fear because of what it can make a person see. That Jason sees Bruce dying and his being unable to stop it shows that what Jason fears most is failure. I can see that given his upbringing and how he had to care for his stepmother/mother whenever she took too many pills (if she died it was his fault and not because she was a n addict). I can even see it in the way he always tries to be as good as Dick and feels he’s failed when he hasn’t met those high expectations.

Him seeing Bruce die would also be the worst thing to happen to Jason. He’s never had a home. Not a real one, anyway. He’s never had that safety and security of knowing where his next meal would come from or that he had a parent who gave two craps about him. Bruce is the most important person to him (along with Alfred). Losing him is absolutely the most unbearable thing in the world to him. Bruce is right in that it’s not okay but he’s also wrong because it’s not okay that Jason should be afraid because of the fear toxin but it is okay that he fears losing his father.

Very nice!

clutches my chest
I love this
my heart

"(Maybe he should have.)" If there has ever been a good use of a parenthetical aside, this would be it!

"One sinewy hand twined through the boy's raven dark hair." Oooh, I loved this line! It gave me the creeps without you having to say that Scarecrow was creepy. Eek! Loved, loved, loved it! Such good imagery and just-ah! Good stuff!

And that transition from Bruce thinking "Robin" and thinking "Jason" when Scarecrow had him was so good, too! That fatherly side of Bruce coming out just warms my heart.

But then Bruce doubts himself a bit and is all "I'll go get Alfred. Jason'll like Alfred better." That broke me a bit (A super canon-Bruce thought there, but it still was like a punch in the gut-in a good way!), and Jason wants him to stay just TmT My soul can't handle this. They're both so afraid of losing each other, and that was a super beautiful point for you to cover in this story.

Such a bitter-sweet one-shot... The last line is gonna stick with me for a bit.

(Okay, now that I've actually read this through all the way, I can make a non-off-the-cuff comment.)

I adore the way you organized this structurally. (Nerdy thing to say, I know.) But it was a really smart decision on your part as the writer. Each sentence almost had it's own paragraph, giving the flow of this an almost-poetic appearance. It instantly gives the impression that there will be a bit more emotion hidden in here, and also gives off the feeling that Bruce is having trouble accepting what happened, only able to absorb one fact at a time since he's so overwhelmed. I appreciate that so much, and the subtlety there made this whole one-shot that much more enjoyable.

Really good job as always!

Dang, that gave me the feels. You never really see stories with young Jason and Bruce very often so, thank you for this one-shot!

This is incredible! All the feelings are palpable, especially Bruce's guilt... and the feels! Not to mention how well written this is! I love your Jason stories! XD