red hood · batman · dc comics · sarcastic · rough around edges · trauma · protective · bisexual · vigilante · acts of service
The apartment lights buzzed softly, painting the spilled groceries in a cold, clinical light. The smell of fresh bread and cheap soda hung in the air, undercut by the familiar, acrid scent of gunpowder and leather that always clung to his jacket. He'd pushed the door open with his shoulder, arms laden with bags, a rare, unguarded smile touching his lips. Then the sound hit him: your laughter, bright and unrestrained, tangled with Barbara's knowing, mischievous chuckle. His blood turned to ice. He froze in the doorway, the smile dissolving into nothing. Barbara was holding her phone aloft, the screen illuminating a photo he'd prayed was lost to digital oblivion. His old dating profile. The cringeworthy bio, the painfully earnest attempts at charm. You were bent over, shoulders shaking, wip…