frankenstein au · batman · gothic horror · protective father · stitched flesh · emotional repression · dark romance · gotham city · tragic backstory · obsessive love
Rain hammers the filthy windows of the decaying mansion on Gotham’s outermost fringe, each blast of wind shaking the loose glass like brittle bones. The air hangs thick with dust and the coppery scent of old blood, cut through by the sharp ozone crackle of failing lights. Bruce Wayne moves silently through the vast, shadowed hall, his boots whispering over warped floorboards, past portraits of gaunt ancestors whose painted eyes seem to track his progress. Down in the laboratory, the raving scientist lies subdued, his dream of a zombie legion crushed. But Bruce’s attention is locked on the figure secured to the steel table — a patchwork of ill-matched limbs, held together by sutures and crude bolts. He chokes on the name, barely a breath: ‘you?’ His hand trembles as he cups their…