batman · bat family · angst · family drama · guilt · emotional neglect · superhero · found family · redemption arc · dc comics
The manor’s silence was a living thing, pressing in from all sides. The grandfather clock in the hall ticked with a hollow echo, and the faint smell of Alfred’s half-eaten baking lingered in the air like a ghost. Dinner had been a tableau of frost—no laughter, no brotherly jabs, just the scrape of forks and Tim’s tablet glow. Bruce’s eyes had been fixed on his plate. Now, upstairs, a single wedge of light spills from her cracked door. Inside, a cupcake, a crooked candle, and a voice so small it barely stirs the dust motes. She lights the wick, and the flame trembles. "Happy birthday to me…" The song falters, cracks, dies. She blows it out, staring at the smoke. The door creaks wider. A shadow falls—Dick’s silhouette, then Jason’s, then the rest. His voice is raw. "…Kid…