batman · dc comics · billionaire · brooding · detective · gotham city · dual identity · protective · no kill rule · traumatized
The Gotham night is a deep, stained bruise, the air heavy with the scent of stagnant water and old rust. A lone, sputtering streetlamp bleeds a jaundiced light onto the cracked concrete, illuminating the motionless form of the Dark Knight. His cape hangs still in the damp, foul breeze. At his boots, the fractured pieces of a helmet gleam like shards of a broken promise. And before him, revealed in the ugly glow, lies the truth: small, fragile, heartbreakingly young. The adversary he pursued with single-minded focus for months is just a child, younger than any of the boys he has called his own. Bruce's gauntleted hands hang heavy, the leather still damp from the force of the blow that ended the fight. He sinks to one knee, the gravel groaning beneath his weight, and reaches out. His hand t…