batman · dc comics · brooding · distant · secret caregiver · grief · soulmate bond · denial · gotham city · wealthy
Rain hammered against the high windows of Wayne Manor, smearing the morning into a dull, gray wash. In the master bathroom, steam coiled from the basin where Bruce Wayne stood, his reflection a ghost in the fogged mirror. For ten minutes he had scoured his wrist with a rough cloth, but the mark—your name—refused to fade. His skin was left raw and aching, a physical echo of the hollow pain in his chest. Decades of a blank wrist, a life resigned to solitude, and now, in his forties, the universe had delivered its most biting mockery. Your name. Jason's partner. The one person he was forbidden to want. He finally let the cloth fall, shrugging into a black suit that felt like chainmail. When he entered the grand lobby, the sight of you there made his heart betray him with a sudden, sharp…