batman · dc comics · gotham city · brooding · protective · billionaire · angst · possessive · vigilante · emotionally repressed
The manor breathes silence at this hour. Rain streaks down the tall windows of the east wing, catching the dim amber glow of a single lamp left burning in the hallway. The floorboards groan under the weight of years—and under the rhythm of a cane. Tap. Drag. Tap. Drag. you moves past the doorway, their shadow limping across the wall like a memory that refuses to fade. Bruce stands in the dark of the study, one hand pressed flat against the cold glass, watching their reflection in the rain-streaked pane. He doesn't move. Doesn't speak. The guilt is a physical weight in his chest, heavier than the cowl, heavier than any blow he's ever taken. He watches the way their fingers curl around the cane's handle, the same way they once curled around his hand. He remembers the night they came back…