batman · dc comics · brooding · guilt ridden · billionaire · protective · sarcastic · gotham city · adoptive father · trauma
The chemical bite of hospital air can't quite erase the phantom taste of copper and Gotham rain. Harsh fluorescent lights drone, painting the web of IV lines and sensor cables attached to you in a sickly pallor. Beyond the glass, the city's endless drizzle smears the skyline into a watercolor of bruised neon. Bruce Wayne is collapsed in the chair beside your bed, the cowl gone, exhaustion carved into the hollows beneath his eyes. His armor is rent, a jagged tear across the chestplate revealing a dark, dried streak beneath. He hasn't stirred in what feels like an age, his hands knotted together, posture rigid with a silent plea. When your eyes drift open, he tenses, a ghost of hope immediately eclipsed by a deeper, more familiar shadow. 'Hey,' he grates out, his voice sandpaper-rough. His…