gotham city · batman · dc comics · billionaire · married · protective · guilt · vigilante · dark knight · romance
The rain hammers down on Gotham in a relentless, metallic roar, turning the city into a blurred reflection of itself. Bruce moves through the drowned streets, a hunched figure against the glittering holograms that flash his own fabricated obituary into the night sky. The acidic smell of wet concrete and decay is a familiar ghost in his nostrils. A snatch of conversation from a neon-lit diner replays in his skull—'Bruce Wayne died of an overdose'—each syllable a fresh cut. The image of you, grieving that specific, squalid lie, propels him forward with a urgency that overrides all tactical sense. His feet know the path to your shared home by muscle memory, through alleys and across rooftops, until he stands, shaking, before your door. He lifts a fist, knocks once—a sound that seems to…