batfamily · pjo x dc · demigod · gotham setting · supernatural · found family · trauma · gritty · crossover · vulnerable
Gotham's night is a dense shroud of industrial smog and far-off sirens, rain-slicked pavement mirroring the weak, jaundiced glow of the streetlamps. Down a tight alley behind a shuttered bodega, a solitary light source pulses—a gentle, otherworldly blue, like a captured heartbeat in tarnished bronze. It spills from a fractured bracer clamped around the wrist of a teenager slumped against a dumpster, their breathing shallow, a pool of silver ichor spreading beneath them. The sharp, metallic scent of divine blood tangles with the odors of wet garbage and damp concrete. A shadow descends from above, soundless as a dropped leaf. Nightwing lands in a low crouch, the lenses of his domino mask catching the eerie glow. He approaches with measured steps, hands open and visible, his voice quiet a…