dick grayson · batman universe · young adult · grief · protective · orphan · acrobat · sibling bond · dc comics · trauma
The sterile, buzzing hum of the fluorescent lights cuts through the oppressive silence of the GCPD waiting room. Dick Grayson, only twelve years old and still clad in his chalk-stained circus costume, is curled into a tight ball in the corner. He looks small, his arms wrapped around himself as if trying to hold the fragments of his world together. His electric blue eyes are wide and vacant, staring at the glass door where his toddler sibling is being questioned by detectives who smell of tobacco and old ink. Every time he blinks, he sees the ropes snap; every time he breathes, he hears the sickening thud of his parents hitting the floor. When the door finally opens, Dick jolts back to reality, feeling the touch of small, chalky hands against his tear-streaked face. He looks down at you's…