notes : . mistakes are to be expected. also i know nothing about DC universe or anything about batman. i haven’t read it and don’t plan to. i wrote this for a friend🤗
Dinner had gone cold. You weren’t sure how long ago.
The windows rattled softly beneath the storm while thunder rolled somewhere far off in the distance. Usually, nights like this felt warm. Quiet and Safe.
But instead, tonight you sat alone in the living room of Wayne Manor once again. Your untouched food was abandoned behind you. Rain battered against the windows. Your phone was tightly in your hands. You reread the messages you’d sent Bruce over and over again.
Bruce can you answer please it’s been three days?
Please stop doing this just to come back and pretend everything’s fine. you know it makes me worry about you.
And to each message, nothing. No call, no response, no explanation. At this point you were beyond frustrated
Finally with fingers and a pounding chest you typed one last message.
If you don’t answer me tonight we’re done. I’m serious this time Bruce.
The message delivered instantly.. For a moment nothing happened. Then your phone rang. It was Bruce.
Relief hit first. Until you answered.
"…Bruce?" you speak into the phone.
Silence greeted you for half a second. Then his voice came through the speaker. It was low. Sharp. Controlled. Not the soft voice you were used to hearing at night. Not the voice that whispered against your skin when he thought you were asleep. This voice was colder, focused, and almost unrecognizable.
"I need you to listen carefully."
Your pulse started pounding. "Bruce what’s going on?"
"I can’t explain over the phone."
“Then explain in person because I’m getting really tired of—" but he cut you off before you could continue.
"Go to the grandfather clock in the hallway."
“Move the hands to ten forty-eight."
Your grip tightened around your phone. "Bruce you’re scaring me."
For the time his voice cracked slightly. "I know."
Then quieter: "I’m sorry, but please just trust me."
The line disconnected after.
You stared at your phone in silence. Every instinct screamed at you not to move.. Eventually your legs carried you down the dark hallway anyway.
The manor felt wrong tonight. Too quiet. Too empty. The grandfather clock stood at the end of the hall where Bruce said it would. Your hands shook as you reached for the clock hands.
The second they clicked into place something within the walls rumbled loudly. You stumbled backward as part of the floor slowly shifted open beside the clock. A hidden elevator was revealed, descending into darkness.
Your stomach dropped. "What the hell…??"
For a second you genuinely considered turning around. Leaving. Pretending none of this existed.. Bruce’s voice over the phone echoed in your head again.
With trembling hands you stepped onto the elevator platform. The descent felt endless. The deeper you went the colder the air became.
Slowly you started hearing them. Bats. Dozens of them. Maybe hundreds.
Your breath caught as the elevator finally lowered into an underground cavern.
The realization hit slowly at first. Then all once.
Massive computer screens glowed against the darkness. Strange vehicles lined the cave floor. Weapons. Gadgets. Armor. Batman’s armor.
Your heartbeat pounded hard it hurt. Above you bats clung to the cave ceiling, in clusters. They were disturbed by the artificial lights illuminating the cavern.
Sitting near one of the computer stations was Bruce. He was still partially suited up.
Fresh bandages were wrapped around one arm while his torn black armor lay discarded beside him.
He looked up the second he heard your footsteps.
Suddenly everything made sense.
Bruce stood up immediately.
For a second he looked like he wanted to walk toward you.
Neither of you said a word.
You just stared at him, taking in your surroundings.
The man you thought you knew.
“Say something " Bruce said quietly.
He did not sound like the man from the phone call anymore.
Now he just sounded tired.
“You’re….batman…??" you said.
The words came out above a whisper.
Bruce looked away briefly before nodding
“Yes " he said, he didn’t want to say it but how could he say no when all the evidence is in your face??
Not because anything was funny.
Because your brain just genuinely didn’t know how else to react.
“You disappear for days at a time and this is why?"
Bruce stayed silent, which only angered you more. He suddenly drops this bomb on you and now he wants to be silent?
“You let me think you didn’t care enough to answer me."
“That’s not true " he said.
“Then what else was I supposed to think??" Your voice cracked sharply through the cave.
“You vanish constantly Bruce. No explanations. No calls. Nothing."
“I was trying to keep you from this " he said.
He gestured vaguely around the cave.
“You don’t get to decide that for me " you said.
The way he said it sounded like he didn’t know.
Your eyes drifted back toward the Batman suit sitting beside him.
Suddenly fear settled heavily into your chest, but not fear of Bruce.
“You could have died " you said.
Bruces expression softened immediately at the sound of your voice shaking.
“I’m aware what being batman entails…." he said.
Then your eyes narrowed slightly.
“And Catwoman?" you asked.
“The pictures " you said.
Bruce immediately rubbed hands over his face “Seriously?" he said.
“You laughed about them with me " you said. Bruce had laughed when you showed him the article weeks ago. Told you tabloids exaggerated everything.
“There is nothing, between Selina and me " he said.
He said it fast, defensively. At the moment you didn’t know if he was lying in desperation or telling the truth but he was so nervous to sound confident in his own words.
You couldn’t help but roll your eyes at ‘Selina’ of course he knew her name. You were sure they were more than what he’s telling you.
“That picture—”he starts, “She kissed me to distract me during a theft,” Bruce explained quickly. “I pushed her away right after. It meant nothing.”
“Maybe it meant nothing to you.”
Bruce went quiet again. He was unsure how to answer, you were like a ticking time bomb. Anything he could say, you can easily misinterpret it and get the wrong idea.
Suddenly the entire space in the batcave felt unbearable.
“I don’t even know who you are anymore.”
He flinched at those words as if they physically affected him.
The tension in his shoulders. The slight drop in his expression. The hurt he tried unsuccessfully to hide.
“You know me…” he said quietly.
Because he knew didn’t actually have an answer. You had every right to believe that, he had a whole separate identity and you didn’t even know.
The silence stretched painfully between you both.
Finally, you started to turn around to exit the way you came in.
Bruce’s eyes immediately followed the movement.
“…What are you doing?” he asked, his voice cracking slightly.
“I’m leaving, what else does it look like Bruce?”
“No.” He half blurted it out on instinct
Bruce stepped forward immediately. “Don’t do that.”
“I need space.” you back away from him, not letting him make contact with you.
“We can talk about this tomorrow maybe, I..I just don’t want to stay here tonight.” you admit.
Bruce ran a frustrated hand through his hair “You’re upset. I understand that, but leaving isn’t going to fix anything.”
“No,” you whispered shakily. “But staying here right now might make me hate you more than I do right now.”
His eyes widened. He hadn’t even considered the possibility of you hating him.
For the past two years he’d been doing everything in his power to seem like an acceptable man for you. But I guess hiding that he’s batman cancels all of that out.
You saw it immediately in his face. Bruce looked genuinely shaken.
For a second he almost reached for you, But he stopped himself.
“You don’t mean that.” Internally he was wanting you to tell him he’s right, that you don’t mean it. You’re just angry. But it didn’t come.
“I don’t know what I mean right now.” Your voice cracked at the end.
Bruce’s expression softened instantly.
“Hey,” he said quietly, taking another careful step closer. “Look at me.”
Not Batman, Gotham’s protector.
Just Bruce Wayne. The man you thought you’d been dating and planning on marrying.
The man you loved who was looking at you like his entire world was slipping out of his hands.
“I know I should’ve told you,” he admitted quietly. “I know I screwed this up.”
Your eyes burned immediately. “Bruce—”
“I love you so much it scares me sometimes.”
His voice started losing that calm control you were used to hearing from him.
“That’s why I kept trying to separate you from this part of my life.”
“You don’t get to decide things for me.” you were getting tired, you weren’t gonna stand here and listen to him weep and beg for your forgiveness.
“And you don’t get to lie to me because you’re scared.”
Bruce sounded desperate now.
Like every word leaving your mouth was another crack forming in the floor beneath him.
You looked away first. “I need to go home.”
Bruce closed his eyes briefly.
The movement looked painful for him to do.
You expected him to argue again.
Instead, Bruce quietly followed you out of the batcave and to the front door, grabbing your coat from the chair and holding it out toward you.
The gesture almost hurt worse than the fighting.
You took it silently, not bothering to thank him. This was the least he could do.
When you finally reached the manor doors, Bruce spoke again.
“I’m not going to stop loving you because you’re angry at me.”
Your chest tightened, but you couldn’t crack now. You left before he could see the tears forming in your eyes.
The next five days felt miserable.
You stayed in your apartment.
Bruce never came upstairs, never knocked, never called repeatedly.
But you knew he was there.
Every night, the same black car parked somewhere across the street.
Sometimes you caught sight of him standing beside it in the rain.
Just watching your apartment windows.
It should’ve annoyed you.
Instead it made your chest ache. You’d figured he’d be onto the next, maybe a woman who could handle his double life, maybe catwoman..
By the sixth night, Alfred finally gave up.
“Sir, respectfully,” Alfred said firmly, “standing outside their building like a lost teenager is not helping matters.”
Bruce sat slumped in the Batcave chair, staring blankly at security footage he hadn’t actually been watching.
“And you’ve spent six days staring at their apartment.”
Bruce rubbed exhausted hands over his face. “I don’t know what else to do.”
Alfred’s expression softened slightly. “Then perhaps stop approaching this as Batman.”
“You need to speak to them as Bruce. Not the detective. Not Gotham’s protector.”
“As the man hopelessly in love with them.”
Bruce looked away immediately after that.
Because hopeless was exactly how he felt.
Rain hammered against your apartment windows the night Bruce finally came upstairs.
You had just settled onto the couch with a blanket wrapped around your shoulders when someone knocked at your door.
Your heart immediately started racing.
Because a part of you already knew who was at the door.
Still, your hands shook slightly as you unlocked the door.
Bruce stood there completely soaked from the storm.
No carefully composed billionaire mask.
His dark sweater clung damply to his shoulders while wet hair fell messily across his forehead. He looked exhausted.
More than exhausted, He looked awful.
Like he hadn’t slept properly in days.
For a moment neither of you spoke.
Then Bruce finally said quietly:
One word. Yet somehow it sounded more desperate than any speech could’ve been.
You tightened your grip on the door.
Seeing him so broken made you feel bad. Remembering the two years of silence gave you strength. You stepped back let him in. Did not take his wet coat.
Bruce entered the entryway. Stayed back. He did not try to move. He stood awkwardly on the linoleum floor. “I need to tell you about the picture in the newspaper “ he said urgently. You rarely heard him sound like that.
“Selina, also known as Catwoman was trying to get a security drive from me. It was a trap to distract me. The picture was taken in an instant. I pushed her away right after it was taken. There is nothing between us. There never was.”
“I don’t care about that “ you said, crossing your arms and leaning against the kitchen counter. Your voice was steady. Filled the quiet apartment. “You’re missing the point. You’re defending a picture. The picture hurts because it shows you have another life. You laughed with me at that picture weeks ago. You let me believe it was a wild story.”
Bruce looked hurt. He took a step forward and opened his hands. It was rare for him to look vulnerable. “I did it to protect you “ he said. “If the people I fight discover you they will hurt you. I did not lie to hurt you. I did it to keep you safe.”
“Don’t hide behind protection “ you said, your voice rising slightly as your frustration boiled over. “That isn’t true. You didn’t leave me out of it to ‘keep me safe’. You left me out because you didn’t trust me enough to tell me the truth. You let me plan dinners and worry about your trips. You let me sit there for days wondering what was wrong with you and if you were okay. Every time you left you chose to treat our relationship like something you could just set aside.”
“It wasn’t a hobby “ Bruce said roughly his eyes intense. “You were— you are part of my life. I was scared that the bad things I deal with would hurt you. I am scared of losing you.”
“You should have thought about that before you lied to me for two years “ you said, your voice quiet but still filling the room. You looked down at your hands feeling the ache of solitude from the five days. “You can’t just tell me the truth now. Expect things to go back to how they were. I need time Bruce. I need to figure out if I even know you.”
There was silence for a moment. Bruce stood there considering your words. He is a detective. Always has a plan but now he did not know what to do. He looked at you wanting to hold you. He knew that if he did he would lose you forever.
“Okay “ Bruce said, his voice defeated. He took a step back toward the door. “I’ll give you space. I will wait as long as it takes.” He looked back at you one time. “I am not giving up on us.”
He opened the door. Stepped into the dim hallway. In that moment you saw what looked like his weakness. The three weeks that followed were very grueling for him.
He kept his promise. He gave you space. The black cars disappeared from the street. You did not receive midnight phone calls or hear him knocking on your door. Instead Bruce started sending you messages every evening at seven o’clock. These messages did not ask you to come to him or say that he missed you. They were like a diary.
He would write things like “I am going to the Bowery. Alfred is watching the phones. I will be home by 4:00 AM.” In the morning you would receive another message: “I am back at the manor. I hurt my arm. Alfred fixed it. I am sleeping now.” He was sharing his life without secrets. He was proving that he wanted to be honest with you and that meant you would trust him again.
It was a Tuesday evening when you finally decided you were ready to go back to Wayne Manor. You walked up the driveway rang the bell. When Alfred opened the door he looked happy to see you. He nodded, then escorted you to the batcave you were suddenly introduced to last time you were here.
As you entered, you followed the smell of motor oil and cleaning stuff to a workshop on the floor. This was where Bruce fixed his equipment.
Bruce was sitting at a workbench with a light on. He wore a grey t-shirt with grease on it. His hair was messy. He was fixing a device. Tonight he was moving slowly. Not very carefully. You stepped towards him. Your shoes made a sound.
Bruce didn’t bother to look up. He just assumed it was Alfred. “I told you Alfred I’m not hungry “ he said, his voice rough.
“Good, because I did not bring food “ Alfred replied quietly. The tool in Bruce’s hand fell on the workbench rolled away. He went still and then turned. His chest went up and down quickly. When he saw you he looked surprised.
He stood up quickly. The stool made a noise. For a moment he looked like he might cry. He stepped toward you his hands shaking.
“You’re here “ he said, his voice wavering.
Seeing him like this without his suit or mask made you feel sorry for him. You walked into the room stopped in front of him.
“I told you I needed to know if I really knew you..” you said softly looking into his eyes.
“The messages helped, Bruce.” He made a choked sound. Tears went down his face. He closed his eyes and cried. He was a man who could take a lot of pain, but just seeing you again made him break down. He wasn’t sure he’d ever get the liberty to hold you again.
He didn’t wait. He buried his face in your neck wrapped his arms around your waist. He held you tightly his body shaking. “Thank you” he whispered over and over, his voice muffled.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” He whispers, as you wrapped your arms around his shoulders, burying your face in his hair. You weren’t angry anymore; you loved him the same, batman or not.
“I’m still mad about the whole two years of lies just so ya know.” you said, holding him tightly.
“But…we’ll figure it out together. No more secrets. Okay?” Bruce pulled back to look at you. His eyes were red and full of love. He wiped his face and a small smile appeared.
“Yeah, no secrets.” he promised as his pinky locked around yours.
“I’ll show you everything please…just don’t leave again.” he pleaded, resting his forehead against yours.
“I’m not going anywhere “ you whispered. He leaned down kissed you. Nothing could describe the relief Bruce felt, he’d never ever keep anything from you again, now knowing it does more harm than good.
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