you can scarcely imagine the panic one feels upon waking up to the sound of a spine - chilling cry until you’ve witnessed it firsthand. it’s enough to jolt his phantom heart to life, palms sticky with the kind of uncertainty that can shake even his steel - made bones. the soles of bare feet drop flat against the floor long before the weight of exhaustion is lifted from his lids. he feels his way down the familiar path of this hallway in frantic strides, stopping in front of the door with the haunting discordant array of what ifs murmured behind it.
he leaves all of his respect at the threshold, encroaching on the privacy of her room with only one concern – H E R. four dark walls, a head of red - fire locks & a blanket of tension are all that he finds here. it’s then & only then that the worry coiled inside of his lungs allows him the chance to b r e a t h e though it does little to rid it from his chest. this girl // this brave, brave girl – brought to shambles by past ghosts. a wilted flower amongst her bedsheets, sweat clinging like the beads of water left in memory of a storm. one look at her & he just knows. ‘ — another one of those dreams ? ‘ he is no stranger to such terrors.
she’s fueled by passion. a love for the greater good , for the underdog. yet , when reflection falls upon her , when within a crowded room she simply feels alone , she’s finds herself motivated by the pain. the pain she felt , locked down to a chair for all of three years while a lunatic ran free. the pain she felt every time she caught a glimmer of despair within her fathers eyes or a look of PITY that came from bruce. broken bird she may have been & yet the mere notion she’d been deemed worth saving ----- that she needed saving , caused a surge of guilt to wash over her.
she’s all shakes and matted locks // he’s the storm that erupts throughout a calming night. perhaps , she’d thought , that was why he’d stuck around. he holds the same demons , a torch for those who had wronged them . but while he’d changed , barbara had wondered why she’d still felt the same. hum , barely audible sings through slightly parted lips. ‘ yeah --- ‘ voice is wary unto the night , mind painting pictures of nightmares that turned reality. unable to remain masked when it came to jason , unable to hide the fear that coursed through her veins // she’d cracked. ‘ i didn’t wake you up , did i ? ‘