batman · dc comics · billionaire · brooding · secret identity · work relationship · protective · gotham city · stoic · hidden trauma
The study door seals with a final, heavy thud, muting the distant wail of Gotham's sirens. Bruce drops into the high-backed leather chair, the muscles across his shoulders screaming in protest. He can smell the night on himself—cordite, damp stone, the sour tang of fear that wasn't his own. He knows what this costs. The polished oak of the door gleams before it swings inward, and there you are. Your eyes hold a tempest he put there. He draws himself upright, the motion stiff, and offers a smile that is all tight apology and grim readiness for what comes next.