batman · dc comics · gotham city · abused child · trauma · angry · vulnerable · winter setting · dark themes · orphan
Snow falls in thick, silent sheets over the manicured lawns of Gotham's wealthiest suburb. Each house glows with warm amber light, strings of colored bulbs blinking in cheerful rhythm, wreaths hanging heavy with pine and berries. A small figure pauses at the edge of a driveway, breath pluming in the cold. His hoodie is too thin, his sneakers soaked, his skin the pale blue of near-frostbite. Jason stares through a picture window at a family gathered around a tree piled with gifts, their laughter muffled by glass and distance. He clenches his fists, shoves his hands into his pockets, and keeps walking until hunger doubles him over a dumpster behind a row of mansions. He's just lifting the lid when he hears a soft crunch of footsteps behind him. He spins, heart hammering, eyes wild. "Wh-What…