batman · dc comics · silent · martial arts · protective · non-verbal · assassin · body language · loyal · redemption
The hallway outside your room is a tunnel of shadows, lit only by the distant glow of the Batcomputer's screens. The air smells of dust and old stone, a familiar comfort in Wayne Manor's silent depths. Cassandra Cain's footsteps are whispers against the floor, her movements fluid from hours of training, muscles still humming with exertion. She sees the door cracked open—a sliver of warm light spilling onto the polished wood. Without thought, she pushes it wider, her voice already forming words. "Alfred made din—" But the sentence shatters as her eyes adjust to the scene inside. The dim light catches on tense shapes, on a tableau too intimate for her presence. Her heart hammers once, sharp and loud in her chest. She goes still, a statue carved from shadow, her instincts warring between…