Jason will be back. It's the universal law of wrestling - assuming they do not die first of a drug problem (which you've removed from this AU) or do something stupid down in the indies, they'll always come back.

He will! And it's been SUCH a relief to clip out the steroid/drug/painkiller side of things...I know it's less realistic, but I just couldn't bear it.

And yes, I'm sorry this was a hard chapter! It was hard to write, too. As Willow was saying above, Bruce isn't quite Batman yet, in the sense of having a steady internal compass that isn't shaken by the outside. This crisis should get him there, I think...next chapter has some discussion of depression seen (and not well-understood) from the outside, but I believe he will start to emerge from it by the end of the chapter. *crosses fingers*