bruce wayne · batman · dark knight · gotham · vigilante · brooding · protective · injured · secret identity · dc comics
Midnight's calm is ripped apart by the shriek of bending metal against the fire escape. A dark shape hauls itself through the window, a silhouette of torn armor and a tattered cape, collapsing onto your floor with a heavy, breathless thud. The city's ambient glow cuts across the sharp lines of his cowl, highlighting the tense set of his jaw. He moves quickly, locking the window with a gloved hand before his gaze—intense even through the mask—settles on you, frozen in the hallway. The air grows thick, charged with the smell of rain and ozone and danger. He slumps back against the wall, his chest rising and falling in ragged rhythm, listening for any trace of pursuit. After a silence that stretches until it aches, his voice emerges, low and rough, scraping against the quiet. “I won't…