Fic: Homecoming
Title: Homecoming
Fandom: Batman (Nolanverse)
Characters/Pairings: Bruce Wayne/Batman, Alfred
Rating: PG
Word Count: 200
Disclaimer: I don’t own Batman.
Summary: Bruce sees Gotham for the first time in seven years. Set during Batman Begins. (Companion piece to The Return)
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As the jet begins its slow descent, Bruce Wayne looks out the window and waits.
He glances at Alfred, asleep in the seat across from his, looking so much older than Bruce remembers him being. He feels a twinge of guilt at that. At the years in between, at the person he was.
Seven years. He had changed for the better; his city for the worst.
His city. When he left, he hated every dirty building, every rotting street. Every person who knew his name. He ran away from Gotham as fast as his feet could take him.
Soon, he felt an ache that he couldn’t pin down. Different from the loss of his parents, more than missing Alfred. It took the threat of Gotham being burned to the ground for Bruce to finally realize what it was.
Homesickness.
And from that moment to this, he’d felt Gotham’s pull, calling him back.
Out the window, the outlines of buildings slowly appear, dark against a lavender sky. He lets out the breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. His eyes run over the ragged edges of the city.
His broken, rotting home.
I’ll fix you, he promises silently. I’ll save you.
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