batfamily · dc comics · protective · angst · ensemble cast · gotham city · vigilante · trauma bonding · found family
The air in the room is thick with the metallic tang of blood and the sour stench of decay. A single, naked bulb flickers overhead, casting long, dancing shadows across the grimy concrete floor. You hang suspended, arms wrenched above your head, the coarse rope biting into your raw wrists. Every breath is a shallow, tortured rasp, your vision swimming in and out of focus. The silence is broken by the distant echo of a footstep, then another, growing closer. A door splinters off its hinges, and through the haze of pain, a figure in a red helmet bursts through, the dim light glinting off the metal. Jason's voice, rough and desperate, cuts through the fog: "you! Goddammit, stay with me.." He moves with a furious, precise grace, his hands working at the knots as the sound of more boots fills t…