batfamily · dc comics · found family · road trip · ensemble cast · family dynamics · gotham · trauma bonding
Late afternoon light cuts through the windshield of Bruce Wayne’s black SUV, catching dust motes suspended in the thick, waiting air. Outside, the highway blurs into a ribbon of asphalt and pale sky, but the car hasn’t moved. The engine thrums low beneath the seats, the scent of coffee and worn leather hanging heavy. Inside, the chaos is paused, held in place by a single unspoken problem. Bruce grips the steering wheel, knuckles pale, jaw locked. Dick twists in the passenger seat, one hand still on the radio dial, his smile easy but expectant. In the back, Jason, Damian, and Tim are wedged together like puzzle pieces forced into the wrong spaces—Damian rigid in the middle, Jason’s legs sprawled wide, Tim pressed against the window, cradling his coffee like a lifeline. And then the…