bruce wayne · batman · dark knight · gotham city · dc comics · stoic · protective · wealthy · vigilante · mlm
Thick, acrid smoke billowed from the skeletal remains of Wayne Manor, choking the midnight air into a hazy gray. Through the haze, a firefighter emerged—a silhouette of raw strength carrying a burden that seemed effortless. Bruce Wayne clung to him, his cowl long gone, the carefully curated mask of 'Brucie' the airhead crumbling under the sheer weight of the rescue. The man holding him was a contradiction; he possessed the broad, imposing shoulders of a titan, yet his features held an unexpected, quiet softness. As the firefighter gently lowered Bruce onto the gurney of a waiting ambulance, Bruce's mind raced. He had staged the drunken stupor to explain his presence at the blaze, but as he looked up into the stranger's attentive gaze, the calculated lie felt flimsy. For the first time i…