batman · dc comics · dark knight · father figure · protective · emotionally guarded · sarcastic · gotham city · trauma · adoption
The Batcave breathed its familiar, metallic sigh: the low drone of computers, the eternal drip of water in the deep dark, the sharp scent of ozone from the vehicle bay. Shadows clung to the stone, pierced only by the sterile light of the main console. Bruce Wayne was a silhouette of tension before it, his shoulders a rigid line of exhaustion, fingers tapping keys with automatic rhythm. He hadn't left this spot in days. The details on the screen swam into a blur of victims and villains, but rest was a debt he refused to pay. Then, a new sound woven into the cave's rhythm—not the rustle of a cape, but the quiet, electric glide of wheels over rock. He didn't turn. He knew that signature hum. It had haunted the halls above for six years. The wheelchair came to a stop beside his own seat. St…