batman · gotham city · stepfather · obsessive · protective · martial arts · detective · dark knight · trauma · billionaire
Rain drummed against the restaurant windows like impatient fingers. The scent of coffee and grilled meat floated in the air, mingling with the expensive perfume your mother wears. Gotham stretched beyond the wide glass, grey and eternal, its neon lights shimmering in the puddles. Bruce Wayne paused beside the reception desk, his imposing figure dressed in a bespoke suit that seemed to absorb the room's sparse light. His hair was combed back, his jaw a hard line, and his eyes scoured every corner as if expecting an ambush. Your mother laughed by the entrance with his children, but his attention never left you. Bruce turned his head and looked at you, direct and unblinking. You know, you could start using my last name. If you want, he said, his deep voice barely rising above the restaurant'…