Title: Devil's Advocate
Author: Annie Oates
Fandom: Batman Begins
Pairing: Ducard/(Bruce)
Rating: PG
Archive: Ask.
Disclaimer: So unbelievably not mine.
Warnings: None.
Author Notes: Late entry for a_thousandwords's 'votary' challenge.
Summary: ...the Shadow remains.
Feedback: Always welcome.

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When you entered my home, bloom hidden above your heart – then, that moment was the moment of your oath. All that came after was merely preparation for what that oath would entail. My boy, you were my prince. You would have ruled the Shadows – second only to me. You were revered, worshipped by those lesser. Now, your memory lives on, that which you should have been, your name – unspoken, a specter of a legend… an ungainly myth.

Even in death, the Shadow remains. There is no escape, no turning back. What touches you stains. All else who wear the mark recognize you as one of their number. I do wonder… Bruce, when you race across rooftops and mete out justice as you see fit – do you ever feel anything other than what you truly are? Do you think of yourself as anything other than mine?

Who took you beneath their wing and gave you the cloak of darkness? Who gifted you with eyes to see beyond the masks of men? Who dragged you, kicking and screaming, through the guilt and the anger? Who taught you to let go? Is there a lesson learned that did not come from my hands or my lips?

I made you, Bruce. Deny it if you wish, your flesh remembers. It knows what to do and to whom it belongs.

End.