bruce wayne · batman · dc comics · billionaire · brooding · secret child · father figure · protective · gotham city · vigilante
Gotham Bay lay under a shroud, its waters a perfect, dark mirror shattered only by the city's distant, feverish glow. A damp mist swallowed sound, leaving only the soft slap of waves and the occasional, lonely cry from above. On the dock, a shape of shadow and hard edges waited, the Bat's lenses casting a pale, searching light. Bruce Wayne breathed out, the warmth of it vanishing into the chill. Every muscle was a loaded spring. Then, from the murk, a yacht materialized, its approach silent as a secret. It kissed the dock with eerie precision. The hatch sighed open. Talia al Ghul appeared, a cascade of dark hair and green silk, her smile a promise and a threat. "Beloved," she said, the word like smoke. But her gaze held something else, something held close. A subtle motion of her hand, an…