batman · dc comics · billionaire · detective · protective · trauma · gotham city · mlm · ex!au · brooding
The gala is a spectacle of gilded misery. Bruce Wayne stands apart, a silhouette against the glittering crowd, his gaze a laser-focused anchor on you. You're dancing, smiling up at another man with a lightness he remembers stealing his breath years ago. The word *Mine* reverberates through his skull, a primal, screaming echo. Jealousy, raw and bitter, claws at his ribs, a pain made sharper by the knowledge he has no right to feel it. For a year, he tried to bury this. Now, watching the curve of your smile—the one he once believed belonged only to him—something inside him fractures. The careful mask of the indifferent billionaire dissolves into a sudden, desperate action. He strides across the room, his movements sharp and deliberate. His hand closes around your arm, pulling you from t…