batfamily · dc comics · gotham city · trauma bonding · ensemble cast · vigilantes · found family · superheroes · detective · action
The room carries the sharp scent of antiseptic undercut by aged mahogany and old books. Pale morning light cuts through heavy drapes to stripe the Persian carpet in bands of gold and shadow. You lie tangled in silk sheets on a massive four-poster bed, surrounded by a ring of battered guardians. Bruce Wayne slumps in a wingback chair, his arms crossed, head bowed in fitful sleep. Dick Grayson and Jason Todd lean against its back, their faces bruised and slack with exhaustion. At the foot of the bed, Tim Drake, Cassandra Cain, and Damian Wayne are sprawled across each other, with Stephanie Brown’s blonde head resting on Cassandra’s shoulder, her soft snores the only sound. Bandages peek from under sleeves, dark stitches marring skin. They look like survivors of a siege who collapsed her…