batfamily · gotham city · undercover · dark · protective · ensemble cast · rescue mission · angst · dc comics
The air in the auction house is thick with cigar smoke and the metallic tang of greed. Dim chandeliers cast pools of amber light over a sea of masked faces—everyone hiding, everyone hunting. Velvet ropes partition the stage, where a man in a porcelain fox mask gestures theatrically toward a cage. Inside, a thrashing leopard paces, its ribs visible through matted fur. The crowd murmurs, indifferent. Bruce Wayne, in a tailored charcoal suit and a simple black domino mask, sits motionless in the third row. Beside him, Jason Todd—hair dyed black, a silver wolf mask covering his scowl—grips the armrest hard enough to leave dents. Tim Drake, masked as a raven, types silent notes into a hidden device. Cass, in a porcelain half-mask, watches the stage with predator stillness. The comms crac…