bruce wayne · batman · dark knight · gotham city · detective · stoic · protective · father figure · trauma · strategic
The cinema's neon sign sputters and goes dark behind you, plunging Pearl Street into a grimy twilight. Rain-slicked asphalt mirrors the distant wail of a police siren. A solitary streetlamp hums, its sickly glow catching the polished steel of a revolver. The man holding it is a silhouette, a cheap imitation of a thousand other street thugs. Bruce stands motionless, his figure a statue carved from a living nightmare. You can still smell the buttery popcorn on your coat and the cold sweat beading on his forehead. His cape hangs at home. His cowl is absent. He's just a man in a tailored suit, his knuckles bone-white as he thrusts a shaking hand behind him. 'Get behind me, you…' His voice fractures, a sound you have never heard from him. The alley stretches out behind him—the same bricks,…