This is my first take at a TDKR fan fiction. Don't get me wrong I love the scene on the plane, but I feel there could have been more to it. This is my adaptation of the movie spinning a bit of a story from that scene. If you don't know it, its mine. Everything else I unfortunately don't own, or else I'd have a little more money in my bank account. I hope you enjoy it.
It was to be an easy job, after 18 months in Afghanistan, I was looking forward to easy. Fly in, grab the guy and fly out. Simple enough and we were partnered with the CIA, what could be better? Aside from a completely Special Forces run job, that is. I had been in the Army for 6 years, four of which I was assigned to a Special Forces unit. The military had been my calling, perhaps not all my life, but after my mother put me in a military school, I knew nothing better.
The flight had taken a little longer than expected and the turbulence had caused the CIA agent with us, Agent Williams, to turn a nasty shade of green, but soon enough we had landed in an open field and the waiting for our package began. A Range Rover pulled up at a quick pace and stopped just as quickly. Men piled out of the vehicle. Agent Williams focused solely on the older gentleman, but my eyes were on the three hooded figures that were pulled from the backseat, hands zip tied behind their backs.
"Dr. Pavel, I'm CIA." Williams greeted the man, I could hear them speaking, but I adjusted my IOTV and made sure my M4 was on semi, and my finger graced the trigger well. I saw the shine of the briefcase he handed over to the man that had apprehended the good doctor.
"He wasn't alone." The man said to Williams, who looked surprised. For a CIA agent he wasn't very perceptive to the things going on around him.
"You don't get to bring friends." Williams spoke with a chuckle to Dr. Pavel. The older man had a look of concern on his face and I turned my attention back to the three faceless men. An armed man stood behind them, a rifle in their backs, moving them towards us.
"They are not my friends." The doctor spoke as one of the guys from my team, SGT Harper, took ahold of his shoulder and pulled him onto the plane. I waited for Williams' orders to shoot them there on the spot. We didn't have room for stragglers and there was no need to weigh the plane down with the additional bodies. These men were nobodies that were standing in the way of some well-deserved R&R for me and my men.
"Don't worry no charge for them." The man spoke to Williams again, I couldn't place his accent, but there was definitely one present. I knew for a fact the CIA paid highly for Dr. Pavel, renown in his line of work with nuclear physics and protons. Completely out of my league, but I understood enough to know that this man could make things go boom on a very large scale. Williams chuckled at the thought of paying money for the three men in front of us.
"And why would I want them?" He asked. I stepped up to his side as he spoke, never letting my weapon fall from the low ready.
"Me and my men could take care of them right here, sir. No need to pile on additional weight. Just cut the slack." I patted the loaded magazine and looked from him to the bearded man that turned Pavel over and back to the men.
"Not just yet Staff Sergeant." I appreciated my rank, and had earned it in quick time, but when Williams used it, it wasn't to respect my rank, but to take a jab at how he as a civilian was running this operation. He looked back to the man for an explanation as to why he should keep them.
"They were trying to grab your prize. They work for the mercenary, the masked man." I heard the explanation, but to me it meant nothing. They were all masked men right now. His description meant nothing to me or to this mission. But I watched how Williams' face lit up like a child on Christmas Day. To the CIA this must have meant something.
"Bane?" He looked for confirmation from the bearded man, who nodded in agreement. I watched their interaction, but wasn't able to pull a thing from it. To work for a man that was so powerful that the CIA was looking for him, these men looked to have gone down without a fight. There were no scuffs on any of them, I saw no blood, no torn clothing. They were in impeccable shape. "Get them on board, I'll call it in." Williams gave the orders and my men started towards the trio. I held my hand up to halt them. "Do we have a problem Brycen?" Williams' used my first name in a show of complete and total disrespect. I glared at him and then turned my attention to the man with a beard.
"Did the three of them just turn themselves in?" I asked him directly, Williams stared at me with his mouth agape. The local said nothing. "Did they put up a fight when you captured them?" I didn't like his stalling.
"Sergeant Dalton, this is not your mission. You are merely here for support of CIA operations. I would kindly appreciate you knowing your role and having your soldiers get these men on my plane." I set my jaw in response to his tone. The bearded man shot me a strange look and that uneasy feeling still sat heavy in the pit of my stomach.
"Agent Williams, with all due respect sir, for these men to be as highly sought after as you would like to believe, they are looking mighty good to have been apprehended." I spoke with more strength in my voice, and a glare in Williams's direction.
"Mr. Barsad's men are also well trained. Do not make me say it again Sergeant Dalton, or I will hold you in contempt. This is a CIA mission, have your soldiers get these men on my plane." This time he had pulled his 9mm off his belt and waved it at me. I doubted he would shoot me here in front of the lot, but it was not a battle worth fighting at this point. I nodded at the other three soldiers, Dimmick, Leslie and Allen, each grabbed one of the men and lead them onto the plane. "Thank you for your business Mr. Barsad." William's shook his hand and turned towards the plane. "I'm calling in the flight itinerary; if you don't want to get left I suggest getting on board." He spoke directly at me, with a poke to my chest. The little CIA punk failed to remember that I could easily kill him after grabbing those two fingers he so forcefully pushed into the chest plate of my IOTV. I exhaled loudly and eyed Mr. Barsad, who was keeping his eyes on me as well.
"You know something don't you?" I looked at the bearded man, gnawing a bit on the inside of my lip. As I stared at him, suddenly he gave me a half smile. "I don't find this funny sir."
"You look like him." The man spoke cryptically. I narrowed my eyes.
"Like who?" Barsad started to speak.
"Dalton!" Williams's voice was calling from the plane. I looked hard at the man in front of me, but all he did was nod back at the plane and smile.
"You will know soon enough, perhaps it will save you." More cryptic speech. I took a few steps towards the plane, and turned back again, but the bearded man was back in his vehicle, a cell phone to his ear.
"I'm getting to the bottom of this, and coming back with the information we've been after for years!" Williams had a gleam in his eye as I felt the plane take off. Harper and I were standing behind the men who were on their knees facing Williams. Williams had his 9 out again, waving it around as if the men in hoods could see him. Lucky for him they couldn't, as it was not intimidating in the least bit. "Brycen, do we have a problem?" I looked at him with a confused look when he glared at me.
"Excuse me, were you talking to me?" I pointed at my chest and the name tape on my IOTV. "Because I couldn't hear you."
"Sergeant Dalton, we will deal with this problem when we're back on the ground." The masked man in the center didn't make a sound, but from the rise and fall of his back I could tell he was holding a chuckle. I kicked his back out of frustration, which had him face down on the floor. Williams snarled at me and pointed his pistol to have me haul the punk back to his knees.
"We may have use for you." I heard the words barely a whisper when I pulled the man up. I eyed the hooded figure. Crazies, all of them, I thought to myself as I stood back up. Harper gave me a shake of his head and all I could do was shrug. No matter how easy the mission might seem, I would never be volunteering me or my squad for another CIA assistance mission.
"The flight plan I just filed with the agency, lists me, my men, Dr. Pavel here, but only one of you." Williams was back to waving that blasted pistol around, as he shouted at the men in hoods as if they couldn't hear. He pointed his pistol at the hatch and nodded to Harper.
"Is he serious?" Harper muttered to me. I shrugged.
"Sergeant Dalton is not running this mission Sergeant Harper, now open the door." Williams was shooting daggers in my direction, though I had said nothing. In the Army we had an NCO Support Channel for a reason, and my men weren't about to breach that for some knuckle head like Williams. "First one to talk gets to stay on my aircraft." Williams pointed to the first of the hooded men as he made eye contact with me. I sighed; this would have been easier had we shot them on the ground. But no, he had to make this all so much more dramatic than it had to be. Leave it to the CIA not to know how to do things properly. I shook my head and rolled my eyes before Williams leveled the pistol at my head.
"Come on B," Harper said from his point holding open the hatch. "Let the 'Agent' have his moment. He's not worth it Sergeant." I looked at the three younger guys behind Williams. All three of them under 22 years of age, babies to the Army and infants to Special Forces. This had been their first deployment and I was their first squad leader since joining SF. The all looked at me with wide eyes, waiting to see what I did next. The twitch in Williams hand told me there was no way he'd actually shoot me, but the theatrics of the moment got the reaction he wanted from everyone on board. I roughly grabbed the first man by his collar and waist band and pulled him over to the open hatch. The man never once fought me. I threw him down in the doorway, his head hanging out of the plane. Williams wedged himself and that pistol of his between me and the hooded man, a knee in the guy's chest. I shook my head and bit my lip. I felt Harper pat my back.
"Who paid you to grab Dr. Pavel?" Williams had to yell to be heard over the air moving within the plane. The man said nothing, did nothing, he just lay there all but halfway out of the aircraft. Williams suddenly pulled the trigger. I expected the man to go limp, it took me a moment to realize he had fired into the air. "He didn't fly so good." Williams motioned for me to pull him back into the plane.
"Thought we were weeding them out sir?" I still had hands on the man, but wanted clarification as to what was going on. Williams ignored my questions and again motioned for me to move the guy. I sighed loudly again and tossed the guy to the back of the plane.
"Who wants to try next?" He held that damn sidearm in the air like he was an old west cowboy, it took all my willpower not to reach for the 9mm I had strapped to my chest. My M4 had been put to the side once we got on board, but my own handgun was within range. With a smile as if he knew the battle I was having in my head, Williams pointed to the man in front of me, not dropping the goofy grin on his face. I pulled the guy to the hatch the same as I had the first. And again Williams pounced on the man. "Tell me about Bane, why does he wear the mask?" This man, same as the first said nothing, and didn't struggle. I could tell Williams was becoming more and more frustrated. This time he pressed the pistol against the hooded man's forehead. "A lot of loyalty for a hired gun." I could feel the spit flying from his mouth as he spoke disgustedly to the man.
"Or perhaps he's wondering why someone would shoot a man before throwing him out of a plan." The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end at the sound of the voice. It was the same voice that had whispered to me earlier, the man that was in the middle. Williams climbed off the man I had my hands on to get to the one that spoke, the one I couldn't take my eyes off of. When Williams moved I grabbed the guy tightly and pulled him out of the hatch, Harper closed it quickly behind us.
"At least you can talk. Who are you?" Agent Williams stood in front of the man, speaking slightly quieter now that sound of rushing air had stopped. I adjusted the cap I wore and placed my hand on my chest, that feeling in the pit of my stomach coming back with a vengeance and I refused to be unarmed when something happened. Harper eyed me and my stance, he didn't ask questions but I saw his hand go for his hip.
"It doesn't matter who we are, what matters is our plan." That voice came again from beneath the hood. It chilled me, which not many things did. There was a hint of a European accent which was mixed with something, strong yet muffled. The muffling I blamed on the hood. Williams squatted in front of the man. His pistol was still in his hand, but honestly I doubted he knew how to really use it. He used his free hand to reach out and pull the hood off the man. "No one cared who I was until I put on the mask." As he pulled the hood off, the man spoke again, I could see a strap on the back of his head, part of a mask that covered his face. A mix of metal and leather, the reason his voice had that muffled yet amplified sound. Harper looked over at me.
"What the hell is that?" He said quietly. I lifted my eyes to the three young NCO's across the plane from me. While Harper and I could only see the man's back, I knew they saw the full mask. Dimmick's eyes were round as saucers, while Leslie had placed his hand protectively on his weapon. Allen looked like he was looking for a way off this plane.
"Guess that's what a Bane looks like." I said it with my jaw clenched, barely above a whisper. But as I spoke the man in the mask turned his head to look back at me. I expected him to have some kind of anger or hatred in his eyes, the look of a man that wanted to kill you. But instead he looked to be analyzing me. I didn't take my hand off my pistol, waiting for him to do something rash. He just locked eyes with me, eyes that looked ridiculously familiar.
"B…" Harper's voice had an edge to it, though it was hushed. I waved my hand at him to try to shut him up.
"If I pull that off will you die?" Williams spoke harshly to the man, causing him to whip his head around and I wouldn't have been surprised if he bit Williams' head off through that metal contraption on his face.
"It would be extremely painful," Was his response as if Williams' question was the stupidest thing he had ever been asked.
"You're a big guy." Williams countered, not being deterred by the sharp tongue, but I could make out the beads of sweat on his forehead. I doubted he had planned on actually capturing Bane.
"For you…" The masked man, Bane, was by far the biggest man on the plane right now. Harper was the second biggest, but I wasn't sure how that match up would go if weapons weren't a factor. I eyed the zip ties that bound his hands together. I was unsure of how well those would hold up against Bane's brute strength. His muscles stretched the fabric of his black t-shirt.
"Dalton…" Harper's tone was still hushed but I could hear the urgency in it.
"What?" I answered annoyed, but not taking my eyes off Bane. I felt his arm on my shoulder.
"B, seriously, look at me." Harper turned me so I was facing him.
"What the hell is your problem?" I watched as Harper's facial features changed. "What is it?" Harper was acting like a soldier that was wet behind the ears not a seasoned vet and it was quickly getting on my nerves.
"B, he looks like you…" I rolled my eyes at my right hand man and best friend, before turning my attention back to Williams and Bane. "It's the eyes man, exact same."
"Was getting caught part of your plan?" Williams was still eye to eye with Bane, his pistol was down by his side now.
"Of course!" Bane replied with a carefree tone. I had to snort at that. "I believe the young sergeant tried to warn you." Bane spoke after he heard my laugh. Williams glared at me with hatred he had been yet to show. I almost wished he would have fired his weapon at me, to give me and my men a chance to take Bane out and get home safely. If this was his plan, I didn't foresee it ending well. "Dr. Pavel refused our offer in favor of yours we had to find out what he told you." The doctor was sitting in a seat a few feet away from Bane and looked frantic that this man was in such close proximity.
"Nothing, I said nothing." He said each word quickly, clearly shaking and sweating. I sighed, this was not looking good for us.
"Well congratulations you got yourself caught." Williams spoke down to the large man. And suddenly the plane started to shake, similar to turbulence.
"Sir…" Allen's voice was wavering as he tried to get Williams' attention. I looked to him and he pointed to the window. When I looked out I saw nothing. Giving him a shrug, Allen just continued to point.
"Now what's the next part of your master plan?" That sarcasm was not necessary. I saw Bane's arms flex against the cuffs.
"Crashing this plane." The tone of his voice was worse than the usual. I was ready to pull the pistol from my chest right away. As soon as I thought about it, Bane was on his feet and the zip ties were popped. "With no survivors." He finished his voice gruff. Suddenly the sound of rounds started popping off as well as the sound of glass breaking. I saw Allen hit the deck, either out of necessity or from a direct hit I wasn't able to tell. Both Leslie and Dimmick had their pistols out and tried to return fire out of the windows. I saw Bane land a direct blow to Williams' face and then I went to work. I looked quickly at Harper and the two of us went for the two hooded men still left on the plane. We subdued them with a few punches; their arms were still secured behind them. I went to pull my pistol and take care of the pair when suddenly the plane lurched forward.
"Fuck!" I said as I couldn't help but topple backwards. Harper fell first, in direct line with the aisle and he fell the whole way down, as the aircraft was completely vertical. I hit a seat as I started my fall and out of instinct stuck an arm out to catch myself and swing between the two rows of seats, bracing myself with my legs to keep from toppling over the seats and down to the bottom where I figured everyone had ended up. From my spot I looked up, catching my breath, I both saw and felt Bane slam his large frame against one of the seats in the row that was anchoring me. His large combat boot came to rest on the seat next to me. I braced myself with my legs and pulled my right arm out to fire. It wouldn't kill him, but a shot to the leg could mame him. As I pulled the trigger there was a sudden explosion and I used all my strength to hold myself steady but the shot was off target. Bane didn't even seem to notice, all I could see were his legs.
Suddenly a single shot went off from a pistol and Bane's hulking form swung into the area I was held up in, his back slamming against me solidly, knocking the breath out of my lungs. I heard the automatic rifle fire pop off and knew for a fact that wasn't my guys firing. I said a silent prayer for the four of them that were no longer in my line of sight. As I was catching my breath and ending my prayer, I felt a death grip on my IOTV.
"Sergeant, so nice of you to join me." Bane had turned so he was now facing me. "I had hoped I'd have the pleasure." He reached behind him and grabbed something. I braced myself to be met with a bullet hole somewhere in my body. Instead, he quickly wrapped a line around me, securing a carabineer to my IOTV. "I kill you, or you come with me." He said it simply as if I had choices. As I eyed the man in front of me, he spoke again. "You come with me." And swiftly he punched me directly in the temple and all went dark.