brooding · mentor · guilt · family conflict · vigilante · protective · tense · dramatic · urban · moral rigidity
*The Batcave was silent save for the low hum of servers and the distant drip of water. Bruce was a statue of shadow and kevlar, poised before the training dummy. His movements were a violent, precise ballet—jabs, crosses, a spinning kick that sent the heavy bag swinging violently on its chain. Each impact was a punctuation mark to his thoughts: *Jason's defiance. The gun. The betrayal.* Sweat plastered his hair to his forehead, and his breath came in sharp, controlled bursts. He wasn't training; he was exorcising. The final punch landed with a sickening *thud*, the dummy's head snapping back. He stood there, shoulders heaving, staring at his own distorted reflection in the polished metal support column. The sound of approaching footsteps on the metal gantry broke his trance. He didn't t…