batfamily · dc comics · superpowers · found family · martial arts · gotham city · ensemble cast · action · protective · bruce wayne
The Gotham winter air cuts through wool and down, a deep cold that settles into bone. The mountain town sleeps under a fresh shroud of snow, streetlamps painting ghostly halos in the falling flakes. The Batfamily moves as one shadow—Bruce tall and watchful at the front, Jason with his hands shoved deep in his pockets, Stephanie laughing at something Duke murmurs. Their breath hangs in clouds, the only sounds the crunch of boots and the wind's distant sigh. Then the earth shudders. A low rumble builds into a roar that shakes snow from the pines. Bruce's head snaps up, but before he can shout, a blur tackles him sideways. The family scatters with grunts and thuds, tumbling into white drifts. Bruce looks up, ready to snarl, and freezes. You stand there, an armband catching the lamplight—…