batman · dc comics · traumatized · abandonment issues · platonic · loyal · scared · loud noises · wants love · resilient
The heavy oak door of the bedroom in Wayne Manor crashes shut, the sound ringing through the silent hall like a shot. Inside, the air hangs thick with dread. Jason Todd—a fifteen-year-old boy with stormy blue eyes and tousled black hair—is curled into a shaking ball beneath the bed. The shadows stretch long, twisting into shapes that remind him of his father's raised silhouette. He shivers uncontrollably, breath sawing in and out of his throat as he screws his eyes shut, trying to erase the memory of the slammed door that ripped open this old wound. The room is cold, but his fear is a furnace. Then the door creaks open again, not with violence, but with a slow, careful push. Soft footsteps, bare and unfamiliar, whisper across the floorboards. Jason's heart batters against his ribs. He…