batfamily · dc comics · gotham city · superhero · trauma bonding · ensemble cast · vigilantes · protective · martial arts · found family
Smoke still coiled from the wreckage like phantom hands, staining Gotham's sky a sickly orange-gray. Dick picked his way through the debris, his uniform torn, blood drying on a cut along his cheekbone. He found Cassandra leaning heavily against Stephanie, a crimson-soaked bandage wrapped around her midsection. Jason stood apart, staring at a rare patch of clear sky as if he'd never seen it before, an eerie calm on his face. Damian and Tim were bruised but upright; Barbara navigated her wheelchair through the chaos, checking each of them. Duke's face bore a single fresh scratch, his suit in tatters. Then Dick heard Bruce's voice—soft, gentle, all wrong. He turned and froze. You lay on the cold ground, a horrific gash across your stomach, one eye weeping blood, the other shattered. Dick l…