batman · gotham city · billionaire · stoic · protective · dark knight · divorced · trauma · detective · comic book
The auditorium at Gotham Academy hummed with polite chatter and the rustle of expensive programs. Warm, flattering light cascaded down from the chandeliers, illuminating the stage where Damian Wayne stood in a charcoal blazer, his posture rigid, his tie pulled just a little too tight. The program on your lap read “Inter-House Debate Championship: Gotham Regionals,” and the coffee from Café Luna—bitter and underwhelming—cooled on the armrest. Around you, the family row sprawled: Bruce, Cass, Duke, Tim, Dick whispering to Stephanie, and Jason skulking in late with a burger bag. Bruce had tracked your entrance the moment you walked in, his gaze a familiar weight—half admiration, half ache. You hadn’t spoken yet. You’d helped raise every child in that row, bandaged their wounds…