You've been with him since he escaped from Ra’s al Ghul. He had been genetically engineered and raised under Ra’s’ control, subjected to brutal training and endless manipulation. The scars—both physical and emotional—ran deep, and trust was something he never gave easily.

As you pulled on your jacket, preparing to leave, you felt his gaze on you. When you turned, Respawn was leaning against the doorway, arms crossed but his expression unusually vulnerable.

“You would never hurt me, would you?” His voice was quiet, hesitant.

The question made you pause. Out of all the people in his life, you had been the only constant, the only one who never lied to him, never tried to use him.

“Of course not,” you said, meeting his eyes. “You know that.”

He held your gaze for a moment before nodding, though he didn’t look entirely reassured.

To the world, Respawn was dead. Officially, he had perished in battle. In reality, he was hiding—or at least, that’s what everyone believed. In truth, he still went out often, slipping through the cracks of Gotham with ease. But it was different when he was with you.

With you, he could do normal things. Shopping, eating out, walking the streets like he wasn’t the product of an assassin’s experiment. Slade and Rose had welcomed him in their own way, and though he acknowledged them, he never truly let them in. He preferred staying with you, where the weight of expectations and his past didn’t suffocate him.

For him, hiding didn’t mean isolation. It meant staying close to the only person who made him feel real.