Work Text:
Sono Collegati 6: Stone
by Prodigette
Terry looked down at the carved marble in front of him. He remembered the words that he had said a few minutes earlier with a very small smile. Terry would definitely have more to say each time he came there. At least once a week, he'd come to Gotham's Cemetery to talk to his father. Terry didn't talk about him often. He didn't want to forget about what happened to his father. He couldn't. All that Terry could do was hope that his father was proud of him, wherever he was.
The teen didn't really know if the man could hear anything he had to say, but it helped to get some things off of his chest. This was his therapy.
'Warren Anthony McGinnis'
Terry ran his fingers across the carved letters as he set the single white rose down on the headstone. Feeling eyes on him, the teen already knew who was staring at him. He took a deep breath before speaking.
"How did you know I was here?" Terry asked. His voice was like a loud whisper, void of any cockiness. There was a pregnant pause before there was a response.
"I didn't." The deep voice said. At that short sentence, the teen turned around slowly. Bruce could see that his partner's sky blue eyes were now red-rimmed.
"I should be here." Terry said. The young man looked up to see a slight look of confusion on the older man's eyes. "Buried here. It should have been me." He clarified.
"Don't think that. None of that was your fault. The only thing we can do is to stop this from happening to anyone else." Terry knew that Bruce knew what he was talking about. The older man looked down at the headstone and smiled some. "Mr. McGinnis, your son has grown up to be a fine young man."
Bruce turned on his heel to walk away.
Hearing that, Terry blinked back more tears. The last thing he wanted to do was let Bruce see him break down. "Bruce, don't go." Terry walked forward a few inches and looked down at his dark shoes. "Care to talk about it?"
Terry shook his head. "Maybe later."
Bruce gave the teen's right hand a quick, but comforting squeeze. Terry looked up at him and smiled some. "Thanks." Terry mouthed. Terry looked down at Bruce's gloved hand, seeing two white roses in it. He furrowed his eyebrows in thought.
"Would you like to meet my parents?" Bruce asked. There's was a slight mix of sadness and something else in that voice. It sounded as if Bruce was proud of Terry. Terry sniffled some and a small smile lit up his features. The moment was sad and sweet at the same time.
"Yeah. I'd like that a lot. I'll... be right there." Bruce nodded slowly and walked ahead a few feet to give Terry some privacy.
Terry looked back down at the headstone. He felt the familiar stinging in his eyes as fresh tears formed and rolled down his cheeks. He wiped them away with the sleeve of his jacket and shook his head.
"Yeah, that's him. I know you liked that I was with Dana, but... Bruce is really good to me. I hope you can see why I love him. I'll see you next week, Dad. Miss you." Terry said. His voice was low enough so that only his father would be able to hear him, wherever he was.
end