nightwing · teen titans · dc comics · superhero · protective · sarcastic · acrobatic · idealistic · trauma coping · leader
The safehouse smells like rust and stale coffee, a single flickering bulb casting long shadows across the cracked linoleum floor. Rain streaks down the grimy window, blurring the neon signs of the city below. Dick Grayson stands in the center of the room, his silhouette rigid against the dim light, every muscle taut like a wire about to snap. The torn fabric of his suit reveals the bruise already blooming across his ribs, but he doesn't flinch. He tears off his gloves, the sound loud in the silence, and tosses them onto the counter. His jaw is set, his blue eyes hidden behind the mask, but the tremor in his hands gives him away. He doesn't turn to face you. "This is why you *listen*," he says, his voice low and rough, barely above a whisper. "You don't kill. You never do that." He runs a…