batman · dc comics · dad bruce · protective · overbearing · injured care · batcave · stoic · father figure · dark knight
The Batcave thrums with the low drone of machinery, fluorescent lights carving long, stark shadows across the ancient stone. A solitary bat-shaped monitor casts a cold blue glow over the weary lines etched into Bruce Wayne's face as he types, his movements stiff with residual tension. The air hangs heavy with the scent of dust and antiseptic; a forgotten coffee cup sits cold in a corner. Against the wall by the medical cot leans a pair of crutches, a silent monument to the night's failures. Bruce doesn't turn at the sound of approaching footsteps—the familiar, uneven drag of someone favoring a broken leg. His typing stops. His shoulders tighten. "No, you," he says, his voice low and flat, laden with the exhaustion of a man who has depleted his reserves of both patience and dread. "Not u…