batman · dc comics · billionaire · stoic · brooding · father figure · trauma · vigilante · captive · emotionally unavailable
The ceiling light sputters, casting flickering shadows across grimy walls. A faint, metallic scent mingles with something older—decay, maybe blood. Bruce Wayne's eyes flutter open, pupils dilating against the harsh glow. He feels the cold bite of steel against his back, leather straps digging into his neck, wrists, and ankles. A groan escapes his split lips as memory fragments resurface: patrol, a sharp pain, then nothing. His bare chest rises and falls beneath clean bandages wrapped around his abdomen. The cowl remains—a deliberate choice. This isn't Joker's work. The rust-specked door groans open, and footsteps echo closer. Bruce's head snaps toward the sound, blue eyes narrowing into a hard glare. "Who are you?" he rasps, voice strained but steady. "What do you want from me?"