#and the JLA is like sweet sunshine man cannot be made a spooky Bat!!!

[redrobin-detective]

A phone rang. Usually this wouldn’t be unusual. Except that it was a pay phone. And it was the third one that had rang when Billy passed it. Yes, the area of town he was in was poor enough to have multiple pay phones that were still in use. Billy glared at it. Once was ignorable. Twice was a coincidence. Three times was a pattern. Maybe the League had finally figured out who he was and was using the creepiest way possible to tell him. Maybe Doctor Sivana had also figured out who he was and this was a trap of some sort. Either way, better to get this out of the way. He picked up the receiver. “Hello?”

“Billy.” The voice was deep, way deeper than Doctor Sivana’s nasally one. It was most similar to Superman’s, but it didn’t have the same uptilt, and it was much growlier. “Thank you for picking up.”

“You’re welcome I guess. Who is this?”

There was a beat of silence. “Jason’s father.”

Billy’s eyebrows disappeared into his bangs. “Oh! Um, hi.” This was the first time he’d ever heard Batman’s voice, the first time he’d had any indication that he existed beyond Jason’s fond grumbling. “It’s nice to finally speak to you sir.”

Batman sighed. “It’s nice to speak to you too. I just wish it was with better news.”

“Sir?”

Batman sighed again, except it sounded wobblier this time. “I don’t know… you probably haven’t heard. Jason…” There was a long pause. Billy could hear Batman breathing through the line. It would be creepy, but it sounded like Batman was trying not to cry. A stone of dread formed in Billy’s stomach. “Robin is dead.”

Billy dropped the receiver. No. No, it couldn’t be true. But Batman wouldn’t lie to him. For all of Jason’s complaining, he talked highly of his dad. Billy knew Batman was a stubborn, gruff, overachieving perfectionist and an emotional brick wall, but he was also kind, smart, loving and honest, or at least honest about the important things. Billy scrambled for the phone. “I… I’m sorry. For your loss.”

“Yes. Thank you. And I’m sorry for yours.” There was a minute of silence. Billy didn’t know how to fill it. He felt numb. Like his fingers wouldn’t work if he asked them to. “I… The funeral. It’s this Saturday. You were important to him. I would like it if you were there.”

“Yes! He was important to me too. He was my friend…” Days of playing video games flashed behind Billy’s eyes, of running through an empty Watchtower, eating pizza on Fawcett’s tallest building. “I won’t miss it.”

“Thank you. Will you need transportation? I can have you picked up.”

“No, thanks. I can make it there myself.” It would only take a few minutes for Captain Marvel to fly to Gotham. “What time?”

“12pm.”

“Right.” He’d check at the library what time that was in his time zone. Or maybe he’d arrive three hours early, just in case. “See you then.”

“Thank you. You’re a good boy Billy, and I’m glad you were his friend. Thank you for bringing him happiness.”

Billy’s throat closed. He nodded, said, “Mmhmm,” between closed lips and hung up. Then he slid down the side of the phone booth. He wrapped his arms around his knees and cried.

***

It was raining. The funeral was small. Billy. Jason’s dad and grandpa. A guy with glasses and a trench coat. A lady in a wheelchair. And the priest. Apparently Jason’s birth mother died at the same time as Jason. She was buried in the plot next to his.

There was more food at the reception than Billy had ever seen in his whole life, but he didn’t have any appetite. He picked at his egg salad sandwich until Jason’s grandpa sat down next to him. “Hello. My name is Alfred Pennyworth. I’m-”

“Jason’s grandpa.” It was probably rude to interrupt, but Billy was tired. He hadn’t slept well. “Jason told me.”

Alfred looked surprised. Then he pressed a hand to his eye. He sniffled. When he spoke again, his voice was thick. “Indeed I am. Master Bruce isn’t feeling up to speaking to anyone, so I am making the offer for him.”

“Offer?”

“Yes. In light of your closeness with Jason and your current situation, Master Bruce would like to know if you would want a place here.”

Here. In a literal mansion. Food whenever he wants. New clothes. But… “Thanks. But I need to stay in Fawcett. They’re counting on me.”

Alfred nodded. “I understand. As does Master Bruce. In which case, he asked me to give you these.” He held out a cellphone and a card. “The phone is programmed with Master Bruce’s cell number as well as mine. The battery only needs to be charged once a month. And it will have service anywhere. And a gift card to Bowls Bistro.”

Billy raised an eyebrow. “That fancy place in the Southtown Mall?”

“Indeed. I researched all of the eating establishments in Fawcett and determined that Bowls Bistro is the healthiest option, while still being quite delicious.”

“Thanks.” He pocketed both. Bowls was ok. Or, the dumpster food from it was. Maybe it was better fresh.

“The gift card will be topped up constantly, so don’t worry about running out.”

Billy nodded. Alfred wrapped an arm around his shoulders and gave him a squeeze. In his embrace, Billy managed to finish his sandwich.

He took a few days off heroing. He felt bad, but there also wasn’t any big emergencies for him to step in on. Then he did a couple of days work just in Fawcett. A week after the funeral, Captain Marvel took a deep breath and stepped inside the Zeta tube.

It was just Hal and Diana on duty. Diana took one look at him and asked him what was wrong. “A good friend died,” was all he could say.

“Oh no,” said Diana, and,

“Was it someone we knew,” asked Hal.

And Billy started crying. Because Jason was good and light and his funeral was so small. Because he deserved to have more friends than he could count, but he only had Billy and a pen pal. Because Jason was gone, and none of these people would know how amazing he was.

And Diana held him as he cried.

***

By @loxare, Read your Isolation AU fic and then wrote this instead of sleeping

AND I’M CRYING INSTEAD OF CLEANING UP BUT WHAT’S YOUR EXCUSE.