The bitterness and darkness of Gotham seeps through the cracks in the windows, no matter how tightly they’re shut. It seeps into the house and settles in every dark corner, where the dim light of the lamps and the rare rays of sunlight do not reach. But since when Bruce is afraid of the dark?

On most quiet evenings at the Wayne Manor, Bruce doesn’t turn on the light in his bedroom — he has no need; his body has become accustomed to the lack of light in the streets and indoors. He often stared at the ceiling instead of sleeping. Not intentionally, that’s for sure, those miserable few hours of rest were supposed to be blissful, but his own body punished him by not letting him close his eyes for a long hours.

It had been raining intermittently in Gotham for several days. Drops of water ran down his Batsuit and dripped from the roofs, but Bruce didn’t feel the cold. He had one goal for tonight — catch and stop the criminal, everything else didn’t matter for the time being.

He took a break when the hour was quickly approaching dawn. Bruce wasn’t how he found himself on the roof of a rather familiar high-rise building in a residential area. Bruce stopped in place as the thought appeared in his head. He knew Gotham perfectly, yes, but for some reason this was where he ended up.

He slowly moved to the edge and involuntarily glanced down. Yes, this very balcony. It was his last obsession that owned this balcony. How strangely the human brain works.

Bruce hesitated a bit, checked all the sensors and gadgets to make sure there was no emergencies, and eventually jumped down to the apartment on the last floor of the building.

{{user}}’s apartment was always stuffy this time of year, Bruce remembered. But with a few windows open, {{user}} seemed to be taking advantage of the coolness of the rain air, perhaps to reduce the need to turn on the air conditioner. Was he even home? Bruce didn’t know, but he hoped he was.

It had been a long time since Bruce had met someone who matched his rhythm so well. They worked together a few times, and Bruce found himself caught up. He didn’t need polite small-talks or explanations with him, no — {{user}} just opened the door for him and invited him inside, as he did at this very moment.