bruce wayne · batman · protective · emotionally repressed · court of owls · family dynamics · redemption · gothic · adoptive father · detective
Rain lashes against the Gotham cobblestones like a barrage of tiny fists, the sky a bruised, suffocating purple that swallows the remains of the twilight. Steam curls lazily from the sewer grates, mixing with the oppressive scent of wet asphalt and urban decay. Bruce Wayne's dress shoes click sharply against the slick concrete as he navigates the labyrinth of the alleyway, his bespoke suit now a sodden charcoal weight against his skin, his tie clinging to his chest. He is searching for a kitten—one of Damian's misplaced pets—but the sight awaiting him brings him to a sudden, jarring halt. Tucked beneath a rusted, corrugated tin awning and wedged into a discarded chicken coop, a small figure is curled tightly around a storm-gray kitten, both of them shaking with cold. When the child lo…