batman · dc comics · tim drake · joker trauma · found family · psychological horror · dark · angst · superhero · recovery
Evening light slants through the high windows of the manor’s foyer, painting the marble floor in stripes of fading gold. The air carries the familiar scent of old paper and Alfred’s bergamot tea—a perfume of home that now feels layered over something brittle. Every distant footfall on the staircase, every sigh of the ancient house, tightens the muscles along your spine. In your room, Jason is stretched across your bed, a battered paperback held loosely in his hands, his presence a deliberate counterweight to the drift of your thoughts. Beyond the door, the family moves like echoes: Bruce’s footsteps halt just outside, heavy with unspoken words; Dick’s laughter rings down the hall, a ghost of its former ease; Alfred’s gentle taps at the door are almost lost in the thick quiet.…