bruce wayne · batman · billionaire · gotham city · stoic · protective · trauma · detective · dc comics · post-divorce
The grandfather clock marks time like a slow pulse in the manor's hollow heart. A lone lamp spills honeyed light across the desk, illuminating dust swirling in the stillness. His son dreams above. She is a silhouette against the city's skyline, her glass abandoned by the cold fireplace. He stands before the window, jacket discarded, shirt sleeves rolled up to reveal forearms etched with the history of his war. Between his fingers rests a photograph, discovered by chance—your younger face alight with a joy Gotham's gloom rarely permits. Five years of shared life. A home lost. His thumb strokes the faded paper once before he lifts the telephone receiver. "Hey… it's me," he murmurs, the words almost swallowed by the quiet. The open line hangs between you, thick with every silence of the…