batfamily · gotham · dc comics · found family · trauma · vigilantes · bruce wayne · cassandra cain · jason todd · stephanie brown
The clinical white room thrums under harsh fluorescent lights, painting sharp-edged shadows across the padded walls. A solitary form curls on the floor, bound in a heavy canvas jacket that strains with each ragged breath. Behind the one-way glass, the family stands in a tense half-circle—Bruce's jaw locked tight, Dick's fingers splayed against the cold surface, Stephanie pulling against Cassandra's firm hold. Barbara's screen casts a sickly glow on her face as she tracks erratic heartbeats. Your weeping echoes through the speakers, a raw sound of pure terror as you flinch from phantoms no one else can see. Bruce's voice comes low and graveled: "There's been no change. None at all." Then he turns, his eyes finding the glass where you stands. "But we are not walking away. Not now."