Part One: The Mercenary

Chapter 1

The Fire We Make

What I want, more than anything, is a heartbeat.

I don't think anyone could understand. I don't think anyone really knows what it's like not to have one, although I'm not quite sure. We want what we don't have. We reach for the unreachable. Every human being has one. So how could anyone desire it?

Most people take it for granted. Most people don't even feel or are aware of that soft thump that is as everyday an occurrence as waking up in the morning. It's almost nothing, something that should happen simply because that's how a human body works. They don't understand how important it is. They can't comprehend that there is nothing, absolutely nothing, keeping a heart beating. The body is made to heal itself, but is a body really able to function by itself? A marvelous mystery. How precious it is to have. How wonderful. And it's my dream.

It's silly, really. Not enough people place their hand on their chest and feel the gentle pound. Feel it, and appreciate it. Only when the beat is threatened do people see their lives flash before their eyes and wish they had done things a little differently. The heart is about to stop, and a man could think about that special woman he never got to kiss. A mother could think of a million things she wished she'd said to her child. A baby could think of the life they never got the chance to live. Lost loves, lost desires, forgotten dreams. It all comes back right before that final beat. And then there is nothing but silence. A silent heart.

I wish I could have a heartbeat if only to feel it stop.

His heart stopped once. Maybe not literally, but the impact was just as great as reality. Before he met her. Before he met me. His heart stopped when his first love before any of us almost faded away and became just as still as a dead organ. Maybe I could have felt it. Maybe that was when I became fully aware of him. In that moment I could see his face, that very quick, very painful instant as he rushed the evils who tried to harm the blossoming innocence. And perhaps I've been with him ever since that moment. I want to reach out and feel his heartbeat. I know that it would be the greatest one of all. I can watch him sleep and wonder when the day will come when he'll finally think of me. I can watch him do the things he does, and wonder if one day he will stop when he looks at my face and feels my life running through his own veins. I watch him now. I want to feel his heart. So precious. So taken for granted.

I can see his face but he doesn't know mine. I can hear her soothing voice but I'm not even a passing thought in her head. And yet I love them. I pine for them. Where there is passion there is creation. Where there is passion, a life is formed.

All I want is a heartbeat.

But right now, I don't have one.

Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

That's what they say. That's the famous line. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Someone once right in the head has now become so intoxicated by their own supremacy that everything goes very wrong. Goes right down multiple roads. The road inconvenience is first. Minor problems that can easily be rectified, but what follows is the dread of rising numbers that sparks the paranoia. The next road is failure. Everything is lost, dead and gone. The crown of control has fallen at your feet, right on top of the footsteps of your fleeing soldiers. The next road is what destroys the king, ending the corruption. The road straight to madness.

Inconvenience, failure, madness. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Bane had absolute power. And he was far from being corrupted by it.

Gotham City was his. The most dangerous, most famous city in the world was his home, his land. The American military did what he asked of them, staying right at the fine line of freedom and total destruction. Maybe some soldiers had tried to sneak in during his months of leadership, but for the most part the cavalry stayed right where he needed them to stay. Like a nervous parent waiting for their children to return to them after a long separation. The citizens were rowdy, but he expected that. He would rather them be rowdy so that he could lend the firm hand of discipline. Everything was perfect. Everything was according to the plan.

A nuclear wasteland would become his destiny.

Power would not corrupt him because the time it would take didn't exist. There was a deadline. There was a countdown. There was a trigger.

Perhaps the trigger was his favorite part.

Bane ruled Gotham City. He liked the demands of his time and energy and mind. He liked the steps it had taken to get this way. He'd enjoyed the hunt for the Bat, the media attention, the minor problems that were not seen as inconveniences. He was a king.

Unbeknownst to the world was the knowledge that he also had a queen.

Talia al Ghul had long ago brushed away the title of princess. After the death of her father in the exact city the both of them controlled together, her coronation to Demon Head, to queen, had propelled her to greatness. Bane had been by her side ever since she could remember, even after his excommunication because she had left with him, and it had gone without words that if she were to become the queen, then his rightful place would be as king. Her father, who only after his death would she finally honor with this one task, wouldn't care for the facts.

But Bane was meant for greatness. Ra's al Ghul had known it, even as he'd despised. And Talia had given it to him without question.

Only after complete success, after their rule of a nation, would they finally rest in peace together.

They would destroy Gotham. And then would bathe in the ashes right before they submitted to it.

The trigger was his favorite part.

After Bane had taken Gotham over completely, and after the unfortunate fiery death of the mayor, Bane had commandeered his home for himself, which was conveniently not too far from City Hall where Talia had to spend most of her time due to the façade she had to keep up. Bane had never cared for luxury, had never had any need for it after most of his life roughing it with the rest of his mercenaries. But because he was close to her, it was the only reason why he'd taken such a lavish penthouse apartment. The proximity made it easy for him to attend Dr. Crane's court, to keep an eye on Talia and the developing uprisings people thought he wasn't aware of. But it also made it easy for his men to retrieve Talia, who would no doubt cause a little scene of restraint because she was a perfect actress, so that she could stay with him for a few hours before duty would call and separate them again.

It was where they were now, relaxing for once because relaxation was found in only one way for them, high in the sky in the apartment he would stay in just for her.

The city was tearing itself apart below them. It made for a wonderful view.

Talia, fresh from the shower she'd taken to wash her grimy hair because she was technically a prisoner, stood at the window and watched the city with her arms crossed over her chest and a long silk robe wrapped around her clean body. She wouldn't have much longer here, time to spend in comfort with clean water, delicious food, and the company she'd always kept before she would be thrown back into the slums to cry and wish like the rest of them. But certain luxuries were always nothing but a simple pleasure. And she had learned long ago to enjoy them during the time given.

Even though time was coming close to an end.

Bane watched the sky outside the big window she was standing near, sitting on the end of the king-sized bed inside the former mayor's lavish bedroom. The clouds had consumed the sky of winter, casting everything in a gloomy, gray storm. It had begun to snow the night before, sending everything to freezing temperatures that had Talia sighing deeply inside the shower as she'd let the hot water beat on her skin. Perhaps she had not found a place by the man-made fires inside City Hall at night, so Bane was happy to give her that time in warmth. Watching her now, he breathed into the mask and tasted the bitter essence of his painkillers.

Talia smiled softly. "I wish you wouldn't stare at me too much. I must look a wreck every time you come fetch me."

"Your face is tolerable."

Holding the smile, she shook her head at him. "I could always count on you for pretty words, my friend."

A lifetime together. A very long, very hard lifetime that couldn't be changed, and wouldn't. A beginning inside prison, where he had kept her safe and she had given him a purpose. A middle with the League of Shadows, where they had become something greater than mere humans. And an ending as rulers, where they would die in the glorious fire with the twelve million rotting souls. They would have immortality. They would forever be known for their actions here, in the cursed city that destroyed lives. A fine hour. A peaceful end. They had risen together. They would die together, too.

Talia turned and approached him, her attention to the city long forgotten so she could give it to him instead. "Tell me of your hours. Tell me everything. I want to know what you are up to when you must leave me with the peasants."

"Everything is how I want it. There is not too much obedience or disobedience. It is like a school. The behaved children are ignored. The bothersome children are disciplined."

Standing in front of him now, she smiled again. "Then it is exactly how you like it."

"It is," he murmured, wondering which of his bothersome children he would get to punish after this time with her. "Many assume I am the one with the detonator. It pleases me when they find out otherwise after their most anticipated ambushes. They die with puzzlement."

"That is not a kind way to die," she drawled, sitting next to him on the bed. "And your health? Are you eating enough?"

"Why do you worry about me? I know how to take care of myself."

She patted his thigh affectionately. "We have always taken care of each other, precious Bane."

Many thought differently. Many didn't even believe the truth when it was told to them. But the truth was, there was no romantic relationship between Bane and Talia. Of course they loved each other. Of course he would follow her to the ends of the earth and of course she would always be there to make sure Bane had the best care, the greatest authority one could have. But intimacy did not come at a physical level. Their love was pure. They loved each other as much as someone could love another person who one could not do without. Surely no one could love someone as much as Bane loved Talia. Surely no parent could love their own child as much as Talia loved Bane.

But even though romance with each other was out of the equation, neither of them could say they had never tried it without telling a lie.

One night long ago there had been intimacy between them. One night long ago there had been sex.

And because their love was pure, it had never happened again.

"You are lonely," she murmured, looking at his face, a face she had not seen uncovered since that last day in the pit. "I can see it."

"Hardly. There is too much work to be done. And no time to waste on pleasure."

"Everyone needs pleasure," she countered, her mind already at work. And a sick happiness that she had used Bruce Wayne for her own before he was sentenced to hell sizzling inside. "Must we have this conversation every time I see your need? Have I not always provided you with the perfect woman to take your comfort from? You need someone to take care of you when I cannot be with you."

Talia had strived to give Bane everything, just as he'd done the same with her. But with the exception of that one night, she could not give Bane the pleasures a woman could give a man. And because he was never interested enough in one to find use for himself, Talia had always found a willing woman to satisfy him, one who would do the job and walk away as soon as he was done with her. The time in between women for Bane was long. Only she could tell when his need was rising. She could see it now, in his tired and fierce eyes.

"The end is near, the hours numbered. I do not wish to spend my final weeks with any other woman except you."

She scoffed, crossing her legs delicately. Her expression of concern for Bane eased away, and hatred took its place. "That is impossible. I must stay with them. It is much harder for me to sneak off to see you, what with all these damn worrisome men around me. They coo over me as if I were a baby."

He smiled underneath the mask, the straps pulling around the skin of his face. "And little do they know that you could destroy every last one of them in hand to hand."

She smirked. "I wish I could be given the chance. You are having all the fun." Carefully, she scooted behind him, placing her hands on his shoulders and once again marveling at the greatness of him. Maybe her father had known more than she of his power. And maybe that was also the cause for his hate. Bane's relationship with her aside, perhaps Ra's al Ghul had tried to protect his position from the man he thought a monster. "I may be confined most of the time in the slums now, but I could easily find you a woman to warm your bed. She needn't be there long."

"In this palace I'm quite sure my bed needs no warming."

She laughed, squeezing his shoulders and working the very hard and very tight muscles there. Talia was the only one allowed to touch him this way. "How I enjoy you, love. And I will miss you very much when the fire erupts. Very well then," she sighed, easing some on the pressure around certain scars on his body, knowing they were more sensitive than others. "But I will not allow you to ignore your need. I will step back and trust that you will find satisfaction in the one you choose."

Bane relaxed as Talia touched him. He had to admit that he didn't mind when she would send him someone. It was much easier to be given a willing body, do with it what he wanted and send it off, never to see again. Most people wouldn't understand that aspect of their relationship, but it was something that just always was. Bane did Talia's bidding, and she kept him well and comfortable.

They had come a very long way since the day his heart had stopped when a group of men from the pit had tried to take her.

Both of them glanced over as they heard a body carefully approaching the tall, closed door of the master bedroom. With a soft knock it was pushed open. Barsad, Bane's second in command and hawk's eye, entered with his soft footing and watchful eyes. Eyes that always seemed to be open for any sign of danger, or a possible target. He was the only one who could disturb Bane and Talia's alone time without generating annoyance, simply because the disturbance was absolutely called for. And he was the most trusted solider in the League of Shadows.

Barsad bowed slightly in apology to Talia. "Forgive me, but I have been sent some news on the various uprisings."

Continuing with her ministrations on Bane's body, Talia listened as Bane nodded for him to continue.

"Surprisingly, not every cop in the city was trapped underground. The Commissioner Gordon is still missing and has been grouping his numbers. Our weasels have provided us with information. They tell me the very few cops left unscathed gather at a certain workplace to hold meetings, and plan."

Bane kept his eyes on Barsad. "And how did these particular cops not answer the call for all units? Did they ignore it?"

"I'm not quite sure. Perhaps they could have been on holiday or some kind of leave? Either way, my sources are accurate."

Bane lifted a brow casually as Talia cracked his back with her skilled fingers. She may be the Demon Head, but it was his job to make decisions concerning such difficulties. "Accurate sources," he murmured.

"Yes, sir. Otherwise they would not be my sources."

More cops, Bane mused, once again looking out the giant window to the city on the other side. The sun was setting in the west, the sky promising more cold and snow for the coming day. When it was severely cold at night, and the streets more upsetting than usual, Talia could spend a few more hours with him than normal. But this news would send her off sooner because now, he had a few more pests to squash. Barsad was right, he thought, wondering why he ever had the slightest doubt for his solider. Sources would not be sources if they were wrong. Those sources, he knew, would be dead.

Sending Barsad off with the promise that they would look into it, the second closed to door and left them alone.

"You will go," Talia said, smoothing her hands down his back. "You will go now, and dispose of the naughty police officers."

"I will retrieve you at the very next opportunity."

Smiling, she gave him a kiss on his masked cheek from behind. "Leave me now, my protector. I must take a few moments before I return to the cold to make myself look haggard. I'm afraid it would not be right for me to go back freshly clean and relaxed."

When she got up, he took her outreached hand. "I have never had to tell you to be safe."

In her eyes, the fire burned. The fire that would kill millions. "With you around I always am. Continue with your fun, my love." Lifting his hand, she kissed him there, too.

Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

But the time it would take didn't exist.

"So," Bane muttered, staring at the building in front of him in the night, the snow falling on his shoulders and his long brown coat keeping the worst of the cold at bay. "This is where Gotham's Finest retreat when they have nowhere else to go."

Barsad nodded, holding up a hand to stop the remaining soldiers at their backs. He, too, looked to the building, and was not surprised.

The structure was a little rough around the edges, two stories with blacked out windows and an antique door to keep the world outside, but the foundation it sat upon could be seen as prime real estate if the owner bothered with it. A few people here and there, ones who were not bothered by the mercenaries because they were oddly used to them and unafraid to go out at night, came in and out. Bane took notice that it was mostly men, men who would go in nervous and scatterbrained, and come out content and smirking. And with every comer and goer, the big bright light nailed to the front gleamed down on them like a glowing red ruby. The air outside smelled of perfume, booze, and something a little more scandalous.

It made Bane feel out of his element. Almost.

"Lovesick," Barsad said, reading the red light that was the business' name. "They do not like to say they are a gentleman's club to avoid certain attention. The ones who manage it like to convince themselves they are above such establishments since they serve not only alcohol, but food and other sorts of live entertainment, as well. But truly… it is a gentleman's club. Hardly anything more."

"And this is where the officers gather?"

"They assume they are safe here. Out in the open, with every other man's attention focused on the half-naked women. I have already spoken with tonight's manager. His name is Bing Simon. He has agreed to make an appearance to you."

Bane studied the building, watching the way the obnoxious red light would brighten, and then dull. Gotham's remaining cops would meet at a strip club because here, they thought they were safe from him. But even with the minor threat, Bane wondered if he wanted to waste his time in such a place.

"You will have me wait here for them?"

Feeling his leader's annoyance, Barsad spoke quick. "I have no knowledge of when the police will arrive, but they will most certainly show up tonight. I considered it would be wise to wait until they were all gathered together before we ended what is left of the force."

Bane looked at Barsad. He then looked at the group of his men that had come along with him. Perhaps there would be many positives to staying. Bane could kill the rest of the police and their operations against him and Talia, and by the looks of their faces, he could see that his men wanted to go inside, as well. Holding a city hostage hardly came with personal time, and their bodies seemed to be itching to get in and simply see.

Lovesick was not the kind of place where Bane would spend his time. Normally, he would not give such places a passing thought.

He went in anyway.

A/N: And here we are yet again. Only this time, we'll be going in a slightly different direction. As you can see, I've changed Bane and Talia's relationship from what it was in Mercenary.Sleeping Sun will be very different from the others. Not to mention our new leading lady, who will be making her first appearance in the next chapter. I hope you're all as excited as I am for this new adventure, and I can't tell you how much I've missed you. Tell me what you think, darlings. And, as always, trust me.