they see the man but not the light.

7/19/2020

Bruce Wayne wakes in a cold sweat in a bed he has scarcely begun to accept as his own.

The previous evening's bourbon churns in an empty, rumbling stomach. The dull throb behind his eyes tells him all he needs to know about Elliot's extravagance and he almost gags to smell it on his breath now. If the man has a problem, Bruce thinks he would be the one to tell him. As it stands at the moment, he has far more pressing matters to see to besides the drinking habits of his reluctant host.

Namely, his family.

Their memories rush back to him, relentless in their recall. The throbbing in his temples persists. But time waits for no man, no matter how crippling his hangover and so Bruce lurches to his feet despite the middling protest from the man within. He showers, brushes his teeth, scrambles some eggs and swipes through Elliot's phone in search of some clue of what has changed, and what has remained the same. Emails and text messages color in the gaps in time well enough. For everything else, there's Google or Apple News or Twitter. They are shoddy substitues for his own means of survelliance but they'll do for now.

The pandemic ravages the globe. Leaders fail their people. Life goes on, but only just. The air feels heavy, all but oppressive outside the tall glass windows which overlook a city Bruce doesn't recognize. Frustration wars with resentment in his chest as he huffs a sigh and tosses the phone onto the couch in passing, bound for the bedroom. Where his insticts feed on the fuel of formulas, investigation, action, Elliot's rest entirely on a certain tension - a whirlpool of avoidance and self-interest, too like over-indulgence and pride for Bruce to abide. His host beats against his skull like an animal caught in a snare before realizing his efforts are useless, or he grows weary of the struggle, or both. Bruce's will is greater besides, and he is not so easily rankled by these circumstances as most. Still, some part of him wonders if there might instead be value in laying low for a few days. Disappearing from the grid until solutions present themselves ... so many outcomes manifest on a blank canvas ...

"We're better than that and you know it," he says aloud, perturbed as he shrugs off Elliot's shroud of indiferrence to riffle through his wardrobe for something to wear.

And that's when he sees it.

Black as coal and broad in the chest, the suit hangs in stark contrast to the expensive fabrics and pressed dress slacks crammed in at the back of the closet. Reinforced kevlar feels all at once foreign and familiar to the touch and Bruce releases a breath he doesn't realize he is holding when he folds the cape over his forearm, testing the weight of the thing. It's all there, he realizes. The belt, too. The suit is so much more than an extension of himself: it is an extension of his will, the very essence of his life's work. Gooseflesh rises on his arms as he presses his face against the material, breathing deep the scent of iron and violence - the scent of home.

If Elliot'd anything to say, he decides against it and so much for the better. Bruce's eyes are damp when he rights himself, his brow stitched with curiosity. He wonders at how the suit has come into his possession, of course, but so too at the small slip of paper pinned inside the right sleeve.

Typeface font embossed on crisp white cardstock affords little explanation; only the coordinates are of interest and as he brushes his thumb across the numbers, Bruce Wayne feels something akin to hope bloom within his breast.

7/20/2020

Within Wayne Manor, walls march upright, bricks meet neatly, floors are firm and doors are ajar. Silence rests as a shroud against the wood and stone as it so often had in his childhood; in the home which had once felt too-large and seeming-monsterous for a young boy and his aging caretaker. Now, life seems to stir. To breathe with and around him, revived by his interest. Memories drift like so many ghosts between the trappings of an erstwhile legacy, their shade stirring the dropcloths that cover the furniture. As he drifts among these relics, his hand trails in his wake, collecting dust at his fingertips. Dust which he presses between his thumb and index, watching without interest as it smudges his skin.

Chapter Three

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. In tempor urna non purus finibus accumsan. Proin ornare congue diam, quis euismod enim mattis id. Quisque faucibus non justo et egestas. Phasellus metus erat, tristique sit amet neque vel, feugiat cursus urna. Vestibulum in dignissim orci. Mauris nec aliquam lacus. Quisque at congue dui.

In ut pharetra nulla, quis mattis purus. Nunc volutpat est velit, vel tincidunt eros pulvinar in. Integer sed aliquet neque. Phasellus aliquet mi nisi, ac posuere lacus ultrices quis. Morbi convallis congue urna sit amet pulvinar. Integer non sem semper dolor tincidunt posuere. Quisque eget molestie augue.

Morbi ac est nulla. Duis rhoncus porttitor euismod. Donec pharetra laoreet mi id varius. Suspendisse ut nunc eget sem bibendum sodales et eu nisi. Vestibulum vel maximus arcu. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Quisque ut elementum magna. Praesent blandit mollis rutrum. Fusce lobortis rutrum pretium. Nam sed egestas est. Sed velit neque, porttitor id viverra ut, hendrerit ut felis. Ut cursus porta efficitur. Nunc ex elit, vestibulum quis dictum sit amet, feugiat nec diam. Etiam egestas libero non mauris dignissim, eget molestie lectus fringilla.

Maecenas dapibus dolor nec mollis pretium. Fusce vitae aliquet urna, quis egestas dolor. Fusce dictum mi tortor, eu tristique lorem congue id. Aliquam sed nisi maximus, hendrerit sapien vulputate, feugiat metus. Nullam hendrerit nec quam quis volutpat. Nulla facilisi. Suspendisse semper nisi in tellus commodo congue. Suspendisse faucibus viverra ultricies. Vivamus nec justo sed lorem aliquam finibus eu at dui. Orci varius natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus.

Sed sit amet quam consequat, interdum leo in, finibus metus. Donec varius facilisis purus sed dapibus. Fusce id leo magna. Aliquam eu magna nunc. Suspendisse ligula turpis, porta vitae nisi sed, tincidunt faucibus libero. Vestibulum interdum, dui in porttitor iaculis, ante diam mattis lorem, non malesuada arcu ligula id mi. Etiam id consequat magna. Morbi tempor risus nec mi sagittis, id ultricies metus rhoncus. Ut dignissim vitae risus id scelerisque. Mauris malesuada laoreet elit, et efficitur lectus viverra in. Aliquam dapibus eleifend accumsan.

7/19/2020

7/20/2020

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five