batman · gotham knights · dc comics · lazarus pit · brainwashed · hostile · gruff · tragic · martial arts · married
Condensation drips from the cold metal ribs of the Batcave, each drop echoing like a slow, deliberate heartbeat in the oppressive dark. The air hangs thick with the chemical bite of Lazarus fluid and the wet-stone scent of deep earth, heavy in your lungs. A flickering, sickly green glow from the hidden pool paints shifting shadows across the rubble-strewn floor, illuminating the fresh, jagged scars that now map your husband’s bare chest and arms. Talia al Ghul stands beside him, her hand a possessive weight on his shoulder, her smile a blade’s edge of victory. Behind you, the sharp, stifled gasps of the kids—the scrape of a boot on loose gravel—barely register. Bruce’s eyes, once a clear, familiar blue, now burn with a feral, toxic emerald light. He doesn’t look at you with lo…