Start Again [Batfam/man fic]

~Introduction~

Holland Caulfield, the 6 year old down the street that lives in that one house, the one house that seems to always be in a state of screaming, a state of crying. Holland is that one kid who comes to school with new bruises everyday, who denies anything happens at home, and insists that he's just a clumsy child.
Holland Caulfield is the kid with scars that cover his body, burns and cuts concealed under his clothes. Long time bruises on his wrists from the hours he spent hanging in the basement while his father drank and smoked upstairs. It didn't matter how many tears fell from the blue eyes of the boy, for him, it didn't seem like there was going to be a way out, that he would quite possibly die where he was.
Holland Caulfield is a 10 year old boy who's malnourished and suffers from PTSD. He lives in the orphanage in the city of Gotham, hardly an upgrade from the life he had with his father. He's a boy who is socially inept, who doesn't have much friends and makes no attempt to have any. He's a boy who's always in a state of fight or flight, but for him he's always been in a state of flight. The kids call him a freak because he doesn't talk or react, but they only say that behind his back, they've seen the scars and heard the story from their parents. How finally that poor child that cried and cried at home from the fists of his father was free, and how scarred he was now, not physically but mentally. This led to Holland being the cliche outcast, but strangely enough he liked it. He was smaller than the kids his age, often mistaken as a 6 year old again, when in reality he was a first year in junior high.
Holland had been in the orphanage for almost a year, just about to finish his 6th grade year, when one night he did something to help the hero he looked up to. Batman.
The thing with Holland, is that he was born with special abilities, but like an adolescent snake, he couldn't control how he used his power. So when he was born, the lights flickered and exploded, sending glass all over the hallways and rooms. When he was finally out of his mother, connected by only the umbilical cord... the doctors blamed it on an electrical malfunction. Hollands mother died, electrocuted, killing her instantly. The doctors wondered and wondered how Holland wasn't dead as well, as the umbilical cord had not yet been cut. No matter how many tests were done on Holland, they couldn't find anything wrong with him, and he was discharged with his grieving father. It wasn't until Holland was 3 that his father realized what had actually happened in that hospital.

 Holland had killed his own mother.

A 3 year old Holland was sitting in the living room, playing with the various toy trucks and cars, in his own little world. Outside, the rain and wind hitting the house ferociously. The television blared cartoons as Hollands father, Gabriel, cooked dinner in the kitchen. With a loud crack of lightning, the power was shot, the only source of light from the sun barely peaking from behind the storm clouds. Holland sat up, surprised at the sudden darkness and silence. "Holland?" A concerned Gabriel called. "I'm okay. The tv is off." Holland said nonchalantly. "I know, but the power is out in the WHOLE house, bud-" Gabriel stood in the doorway between the kitchen and the living room watching as his son stood before the television with a single hand to the side of it. "What're you do-" Gabriel started with a smile, but ended with a look of realization that soon turned into anger. The television turned on suddenly, static branching across it, originating from where Hollands hand made contact with the television. "It's back on dad! I'm magic." The little boy said, hands moving out to his sides proudly. "Dad? What's wrong?" The look his father gave him sent shivers down Hollands spine, making him feel uneasy. "Dad, what is it?" Holland asked again, but with fear sticking to his words. At that moment, all the scars that Gabriel thought had healed reopened, and anger spilt out of them like hot lava. Before Gabriel himself knew what he was doing, his hand was gripping the collar of Hollands shirt, and dragged a screaming, kicking, and crying Holland to his room, throwing him in and slamming the door closed. Gabriel's mind spiraled out of control at this point, at the same time did Hollands quality of life hit rock bottom as he became his fathers punching bag.

On that cold, dark night, when a 10 year old Holland was sitting on the front porch of the orphanage, Batman was facing one of his rivals, battling across the rooftops of Gotham. When Holland saw Batman get knocked off the roof,hitting a streetlight before hitting the ground, he quickly hid in the darkness behind a nearby pillar, watching as the rival the kicked batman off the roof got evermore closer to the struggling bat. A light glinted off the knife in the man's hand, making Holland recoil slightly at the sight, but by a stroke of courage, and a flick of his wrist, Holland sent a current of electricity through the enemy, and electricity flying down the street, streetlights illuminating every inch of the street for a second before the lights exploding. 

"Dang it!" Holland scolded himself silently.

The noise earned Batman's attention as he looked and made brief eye contact with the boy, shadows covering a majority of his face. Holland scrambled back into the orphanage as fast as he could, looking briefly behind him at the bat, unsure of what to think about what he'd just done, but batman looked equally confused.

Once inside, Holland rushed upstairs, throwing himself under his blankets. The quiet snores of the other boys giving him some sense of security. As Holland lay there, he couldn't help but repeatedly think "HE SAW ME!! GODDAMN IT!! HE SAW ME!!" Holland laid in the bed, restless, tossing and turning, but ultimately not getting to sleep until two hours before sunrise.