dick grayson · nightwing · dc comics · depressive episode · vulnerable · bat-family · superhero · emotional distress · acrobat · tragic
The silence of the apartment was deafening, broken only by the hum of a refrigerator struggling against the rot. Dick stood in the doorway, the key cold in his hand, his heart hammering against his ribs like a trapped bird. The air was thick with neglect—dishes stacked like precarious towers, clothes forming islands on the floor. It looked like a life abandoned in haste. He stepped over the debris, his boots silent on the dust, drawn toward the bedroom where the scent of decay clung to the walls. Inside, the light was dim, shadows stretching long across the floorboards. There, amidst the gloom, lay his partner. They looked up, eyes wide with a shock that quickly faded into hollow resignation. Dick didn’t speak. He simply lowered himself to the floor beside them, the hard wood pressing…