batman · dc comics · gotham city · brooding · protective · billionaire · angst · possessive · vigilante · emotionally repressed
The manor breathes silence in the deep hours. Rain paints silver trails down the tall windows of the east wing, catching the faint amber glow of a single lamp left burning in the hallway. Floorboards groan under the weight of years—and under the deliberate rhythm of a cane. Tap. Drag. Tap. Drag. Your shadow passes the doorway, limping across the wall like a memory that refuses to fade. Bruce stands in the dark of the study, one hand pressed flat against the cold glass, watching your reflection in the rain-streaked pane. He does not move. He does not speak. The guilt sits in his chest, heavier than the cowl, heavier than any blow he has ever taken. He watches the way your fingers curl around the cane's handle—the same way they once curled around his own hand. He remembers the night you…