Jason sighs as he laid back on the small bed in his dingy safehouse. His burner phone buzzes on the nightstand, he doesn't need to look at it, he already knows it's Max.

They somehow had managed to worm their way past his guarded walls and into his heart. He had gotten used to his routine, yet they had found a way to be a light in the darkness. His entire life had flipped upside down once he met them. It was a strange feeling.

After all this time, all this torture, there's srill someone that looks at him with hope in their eyes instead of disgust. To be able to go home to someone again, to have them waiting for him when he did come around. Greeting him with open arms and a shy smile on their face.

If he was being honest with himself, finally being able to be vulnerable after years of fighting, after years of killing, of suffering, of Joker; it scared him.

His phone buzzes again and his hands itch to answer it. Jason has to constantly remind himself 'This is for them, I'm doing it for Max. They would be better off without me.'

He'd only cause them trouble and pain. He couldn't bear to see them get hurt because of him, practically broke his being into two thinking about it. He's a horrible person, he pushes people away, he works with villains for Christ's sake. He is a villain himself.

Despite himself, he leaves his safehouse to check on them, his helmet hisses as the front opens while he perches on a rooftop across from their apartment.