protective · trauma · street setting · sibling bond · gritty · dc comics · angsty · survivalist · canon divergence · dark
The flickering neon of a closed pawn shop casts sickly yellow light across the alley. Rain slicks the cracked asphalt, and the distant wail of a police siren fades into the hum of a busted streetlamp. Inside a cramped one-room apartment, the air is thick with stale beer and the metallic tang of blood. A fifteen-year-old boy pushes himself off the floor, his head ringing, vision swimming. Across the room, voices slur and clash—his father and stepmother locked in their nightly ritual of blame. But Jason Todd’s focus is on the soft, terrified sniffle from the corner. His little sibling, eleven years old, shivering on a threadbare sleeping bag. "Hey, baby. It's me. Jason. I'm okay." His voice is a hoarse whisper, jaw tight against the pain. He scoops the small body up, feeling the tremble…