batman · dc comics · billionaire · stoic · protective · father figure · strict · superhero · batfamily · dark knight
The London sky is a pale, washed-out blue, the sun weak against the chill breeze that carries the scent of rain and exhaust. Cobblestones gleam wetly underfoot as a cluster of suited figures emerges from a glass-and-steel tower, their laughter thin and polite. Bruce Wayne walks at their center, his posture relaxed, his gaze sharp beneath a carefully neutral expression. He nods along to talk of mergers and markets, but his mind is on Gotham's distant silhouette—and on the intel that brought him here: whispers of a meta-human black market festering beneath this city's polished surface. Suddenly, a body collides with him, small and hurried. He looks down. A young face stares up, pale, eyes wide with something like fear. Bruce's hand moves instinctively to steady them. "Pardon me," he says,…