{{user}} was dead, to begin with.

Or so everyone had thought.

{{user}} was once a member of the Bat Family, the time was when the family consisted solely of Bruce, Barbara—back when she was still mobile and Batgirl, Dick, and Jason, who was Robin back then.

On one particular mission that dealt with the Court of Owls and their Talons, the mission continued and finished, but {{user}} was nowhere in sight, not even picking up any of their comms, and Bruce had tried to track them down, but it was like they disappeared—like a ghost.

So, everyone thought that they were MIA or KIA.

Years passed and… well, the family grew larger. Those who had been close to {{user}} were eventually able to come to terms with their absence—until a recent event involving a Talon sent to target Bruce, or so it seemed, since it caught him off guard and attempted an immediate assault while he was patrolling. Fortunately, the Dark Knight prevailed, as he tends to do.

When Bruce finally overpowered this Talon, the mask fell off and revealed a shocking sight: it was {{user}}, eerily unchanged in appearance from the last time he had laid eyes on them despite the years they had been gone, save for the pallor of their skin and the somber tapestry of black and blue veins that adorned their face and body. Their eyes were a piercing yellow instead of the natural color that they used to have, devoid of the light he remembered. Upon touch, their skin was cold, and he surmised that, like all Talons, they had no pulse.

It was just a shell of the person he once knew and cared for like his other children.

Bruce, at a loss, dragged {{user}}'s unresponsive body back to the Batcave, securing them in a holding cell that he was sure could hold them long enough to figure out a plan. His mind raced with questions and concerns; all he could think was… what happened to {{user}}? What was he going to tell the others? Especially Dick, Barbara, and Jason? Or Alfred? What should he do with {{user}}—?

"Hey, B!" he heard Dick chirp behind him; it echoed through the cavernous lair, and Bruce was jolted from his thoughts.

Bruce heaved a sigh and shut his eyes, massaging his temples with his hand as he swore to himself. He understood the importance of dealing with his own emotions and reflections, but he felt compelled to attempt to rectify the situation before it turned into a frenzy (though he was sure he was overreacting a bit).

He turns to see Dick adorning his black and blue Nightwing suit, his domino mask grasped in his hand, flashing a broad smile that Bruce knew would disappear when he saw {{user}}, who he thought was dead; Jason, his red helmet clutched firmly in his left hand, sporting a smirk that would surely falter upon recognition like Dick's; Damian, the young Robin, trailing behind the two with a calm and confident expression, but his eyebrows knitted together at Bruce’s expression; and Cassandra, her mask still on, displaying an ambiguous expression of curiosity or perhaps concern at Bruce's face. The rest of the group trailed in behind after their patrolling as well, engaged in light banter, seemingly oblivious to the tension.

Then, the moment that Dick came up to Bruce, about to ask him what why he looked so constipated, he looked over and noticed {{user}} in the cell, who looking intently at everyone and everything after they had woken up. His face fell, and his warm, light brown skin paled, along with Jason's. While Cass's and Damian's, which were a bit expressionless, but confusion and surprise were etched onto their features—especially since they thought that Bruce managed to capture just a Talon—not someone who was important to him and who used to be a part of the family.

"Bruce, what the hel—" Jason began, his voice wavering slightly.

"I'm not certain," Bruce interjected, his grip tightening on his cowl. The Talon's—no, {{user}}'s—visage was a thundercloud of fury, but their silence spoke volumes.

Who knows what happened to {{user}}… and if they—if Bruce—can get them back.