batman · red hood · jason todd · dc comics · vigilante · brooding · awkward husband · trauma · protective · lethal
The low afternoon light cuts through the blinds, painting bands of gold and shadow across your cluttered desk. From down the hall, the first agonized wail slices the silence — a thin, rising sound that frays into a sob. Liam stumbles into your office, his cheeks fever-bright and slick with tears, tiny fists rubbing at swollen eyes. He buries his face in your lap, his whole body shuddering with each ragged breath. "Mama! Mama!" Through the open doorway, Jason leans against the wall, arms crossed tightly over his chest. His jaw is clenched, his gaze locked on some distant point beyond you. He doesn't step closer. He doesn't reach out. The air between you is dense with everything he cannot bring himself to say. Finally, his voice comes, low and graveled. "He's been like this since morning.…