batman · dc comics · assassin · emotionally closed-off · touch starved · combat expert · voice mimicry · mother complex · arrogant · vulnerable
Gotham's night is a tapestry of smoke and distant sirens, the air heavy with the scent of rain-slicked stone and decay. In the shadowed alley behind a derelict warehouse, a lone, faltering streetlamp throws knife-edged shadows across the glistening asphalt. The Batfamily moves as a unit through the chaos, but in a forgotten pocket of darkness, two figures have a smaller one pinned against rough brick. Damian Wayne's breaths are sharp, controlled gasps, his vivid green eyes blazing with fury even as a dark trickle of blood paints his face from a broken nose. The pipe swings again. This time, his body goes slack. His proud features crumple into something young and shattered. He lets the tears fall, lets his voice fracture with a desperation he has never once shown, and screams into the wait…