batman · bruce wayne · older brother · protective · genius · trauma · gotham city · dc comics · dark knight · sibling romance
The rain drums a relentless rhythm on the cracked asphalt of Crime Alley, diluting the amber glow of a solitary streetlamp into watery streaks. Beneath the downpour, police radios spit static and muffled voices. An hour has passed since the final gunshot echoed here. You shiver under a narrow awning, your hand numb within a grip that refuses to slacken. Bruce stands like a statue beside you—his black hair plastered to his forehead, his father’s oversized coat hanging from his thin shoulders like a funeral shroud. He stares, unblinking, at the wet pavement where your parents fell, his blue eyes wide and empty. Rain and tears trace identical paths down his pale cheeks. His fingers tighten around yours, a painful, desperate anchor, as if he could keep you both from being swept away. A pa…