CHAPTER TWO:
I couldn't keep focusing on where Bruce was and cursing him for giving up his night job. I needed to get myself fixed up enough to get out of here. I needed to get Derek out of here. I couldn't figure out why he was here though, surely his crime wasn't deserving of death and shouldn't I be the one who wanted revenge? I was the one he was stealing from. Something bigger was going on. I couldn't think about that though, I needed to focus. I was really fucked up. My knee was pulsing, I had lost a lot of blood and knew by the shaking of my hands that if I didn't stop it from bleeding then I wasn't just fucked, I was royally fucked. That wasn't my only problem though, I also had my left arm which was completely useless with my wrist and three of my fingers broken. My eyes briefly glanced at the ring glittering from a harsh angle on that hand. The swelling was so bad that the ring cut off my circulation. Why the hell didn't I take that off before going out tonight? My focus was everywhere because I was panicking. My heart was pumping in overtime, my breaths coming quick. I tried regulating my breathing but it wasn't working. I went through all of the mental tricks I was taught by Alfred. This caused me to flash back to the first time I had an attack.
"Miss White?" Alfred caught me on the floor in the bedroom, I couldn't catch my breath and my heart was pumping in overtime.
"Lilly!" I hardly processed him rushing forward and kneeling in front of me. His hands firmly gripped the sides of my face, making our eyes meet. I desperately tried to catch my breath.
"Lilly breathe with me, when I breathe in you do the same, okay?" I barley nodded when he began to breathe in and then out, in and then out, in, out. Over and over until finally I caught my breath and my heart drummed at a calmer pace.
"I'm so sorry Alfred, I- I just. I don't know what happened. One second I was packing and-"
"You were having a panic attack Lilly." Alfred believed it had been set off by the pictures I had been packing, the "emotions became overwhelming, I am sure" is what he said. Either way it wasn't the first one he had to walk me through, what I didn't know was that Bruce witnessed many of them from the shadows.
I pulled myself out of the memory when I got my breathing under control. No one was paying me any attention, which was good. I watched intently as Derek begged for the hulking man's forgiveness, even telling him that he could keep me but to let him go. I felt like I was going to throw up. I was sickened by Derek's whimpering, a feeling that shocked me. Wasn't it understandable that he would say these things? Shouldn't I be feeling sympathy instead of anger? Maybe I was just confused about my feelingsā¦nope never mind it's definitely anger. I wanted Bane to shut Derek up already, punish him if that's what he wanted to do.
I tore off a piece of my sleeve using my teeth and tied it tightly around the bullet wound in my leg, the bullet went straight through but I wouldn't be able to do shit with my leg not properly taken care of, I wasn't even sure tying it off would help me. I didn't want to draw attention to myself. The less Bane paid attention to me the more likely I could think of a way out of here. I also didn't want him to stop talking, I was soaking up his words, trying to figure this puzzle out. From what I could gather Derek and John Daggett employed Bane in order to help take over Wayne Enterprises. Derek was John's pawn and was stealing the money from the foundations, mainly the orphanages, and using that money to pay Bane. He was using it to pay his half of the deal because if he helped Daggett then together they will take over Wayne Enterprises. Derek was stealing because his accounts are still linked to his families and he didn't want to be traced back to Bane in anyway. In tonight's "business meeting" Derek made a smart comment to Bane about just being the muscle of the plan and nothing more. Well Bane decided that Derek was disposable and that's why he's here tonight. Unfortunately, my eavesdropping was interrupted by the man who I've encountered one to many times before and was buddy buddy with Bane himself.
He crouched down in front of me and reached for my hand, he only gently pulled it back when I roughly yanked it out of his reach. His grip and eyes held mine steady. I could only watch him as he moved on from looking at my hand to my knee. I let out a hiss when he touched it.
"What the hell are you doing?"
"Looking at your hand and knee."
"Why?"
"I'm part of the reason you're here and that's your first question?"
"What should my first question be? Why am I here? From experience I've learned that question never gets answered." He glanced up at me and smirked.
"That's true." He put more pressure on one of my fingers causing my eyes to well up with tears.
"Fuck!" I jerked my hand away from him, all he did in return was smirk.
"You're giving me mixed signals here, building me up then tearing me down and now taking care of me? A girl could get confused, especially when I don't even know your name." His smirk only grew.
'I'm Barsad."
"I'm going to throw out a guess here and say you already know who I am."
"We all know who you are." If the loss of blood didn't cause me to be pale, the fear I felt when I realized Bane's attention was on me and Barsad caused all the blood to leave my face. I kept my focus on Barsad, hoping Bane would go away. He scared me. A feeling I wasn't unfamiliar with lately but it wasn't the same kind of fear. For once, since I was taken by the Joker, I was scared shitless that I was going to lose my life.
"We all know who you are, I've had my men watch you for weeks now. You fight for justice in this pit, you wish to cleanse this city of its filth. You've given seventy percent of your inheritance to the orphanages, twenty you've invested in children's medical research, you have only kept ten percent for yourself. Then at night you rid the streets of the scum of Gotham."
"I know all of this, it is my life after all. What's your point?"
"You were born into privilege but you refuse to live that way, you live by what you earn and nothing more. You're angry about the lies this man told you. I could see the fire burning in your eyes when I told you he was taking the money from the causes you stand so firmly behind. I commend you on the way you live when everything and everyone around you screams for you to live a more lavish life. But you're not really living are you?" I refused to answer him so he squatted in front of me at eye level. I turned my head away from him but his hand gripped my chin with bruising force making me face him.
"I will free you from the burdens of society, you will be broken only to rise again and you will see Gotham receive the reckoning it deserves."
"You want me to help you because I live off my paycheck and not my inheritance? Are you crazy? What reckoning? What are you planning?"
"I'm recruiting you because you are exactly what we need."
"That doesn't answer any of my questions. It leaves me with more. Why would you need me? I'm just one person." I should learn to shut up in scary situations. It didn't matter though because Bane was done talking to me and instead he turned his attention back on Derek.
"Money does not equal power Mr. Redwood." By this point Derek was a blubbering mess, I don't think he could even hear himself. Bane turned his attention to Barsad.
"Kill him." Bane turned back to me causing me to try and push myself backwards but it was a useless attempt. He lifted me up in his arms as though I weighed nothing. The full body movement caused my pain to hit me like a truck. It didn't take long before the pain and my state of exhaustion overwhelmed me making my eyes heavy and rendering my brain useless in registering the sight of Barsad shooting Derek in the head.
I woke up in a pitch black room days ago. I shouldn't really call it a room. It was a cell. My knee had been stitched closed but my fingers were left alone. My wrist had even been wrapped. I tried setting my fingers as best I could but that wasn't easy in the dark. The ring was gone, I couldn't bring myself to care. The only light I had was what filtered in underneath the door but that wasn't anything. The room was damp and cold. I was hungry and thirsty. Every now and then I could hear the sound of boots walking past my door but they never stopped. I was praying that someone would stop. My eyes had adjusted to the dark room but there wasn't anything to look at. It was wall to wall concrete. The damp musty smell assaulted my nose and left my eyes to constantly water, I wanted nothing more than to get out of here. Did anyone notice Derek and I were missing? Or did Bane drop his body to be found? Becoming a vigilantly for this city was the worst mistake I have ever made. It destroyed my relationships and now would probably mean my death. I was smart enough to know that I was no threat to Bane, especially with all of his men around. Besides it was looking like he was going to leave me in this room to rot. I understand why people in these situations lose their minds. I was close to it. Just when I thought I couldn't take anymore I heard footsteps outside. This time they stopped.
Normally it only sounded like one man but I know I heard two. I listened closely. My ears immediately perked up when I heard my name. With my heart pounding and knowing I needed to act fast I crouched down low in the darkest corner of my cell. I was weak, therefore I knew that I had a slim chance of taking two men down by myself. Surprise was going to have to work in my favor. If I could surprise at least one of them and take them down then I could take down the other and run. I might die trying but I wasn't going to let them starve me to death or worse take my mind from me. The door opened quickly, the light streaming in stunned me longer than it should have. I didn't consider the idea of my eyes being sensitive to light after being in the dark for so long. Before they had a chance to spot me though I pounced. I immediately wrapped my legs around one of the men and punched him. I got lucky and hit right at his temple. He was down. My eye sight was still weak so I stumbled to the other guy. Struggling with him weakened me further but after a few minutes I got ahold of his gun. I knocked him out and turned to run. I had no clue where I would run to but I needed to try something. It was right after I turned to run that I ran right into a wall. Except it wasn't a wall at all. It was a Bane. He grabbed my shoulders and held me at arm's length.
"You were right Barsad." I was going to lose my shit.
"Let go of me! Just fucking kill me but don't send me back in that room! I won't-"
"You are not going back to the room Lillian." Oh. Well good. I guess. I didn't feel very relieved but I couldn't go back to that room.
"Take care of them and meet us in the training room." Barsad nodded once before throwing a saucy wink at me. I would give anything to punch that man. Bane guided me down a long hallway and stopped in front of a ladder.
"Climb."
"What?"
"Climb. I will follow."
"No." His eyebrow rose at my challenge.
"I will force you to climb Lillian."
'Stop calling me that and no. I want answers." I didn't get answers. Instead he threw me over his shoulder and climbed up the ladder. He didn't let me down until we came to a large open room, I could see steal bridges over my head but besides that the room was empty, it too was a concrete cell. Just larger.
"Sit." I did as I was told this time. Not eating or drinking caught up to me and my adrenalin has given away to fear and exhaustion.
"Are you going to kill me?" I didn't think he heard me because he showed no indication that he had.
"Do you want me too?" I didn't bother to look at him.
"No."
"That will change." My fear reached its peak. My heart was drumming so loud in my ears that I didn't hear Barsad enter the room. I didn't notice him until he was crouched down next to me. He pulled out something from a back pack and handed it to me. It was a water bottle. Two beats passed and I just stared at the bottle. This could be a trick or it could really be water. I pondered if I should take it. Figuring that I was a dead girl anyway I grabbed it from hands and began to drink.
"Woah, slow down." I almost cried when he took it from me.
"If you continue to drink that fast you'll get sick. Take little sips." I didn't answer him.
"Can you do that?" Slowly I nodded and silently took the water back. Then he gave me food. I would take a sip and he would hand me a piece of some kind of bar. This continued until both were gone.
"Thank you." I don't know who was more stunned by my thanks, me or him. He nodded once then stood back up and went to talk to Bane, who had been watching our exchange silently. I didn't hear what they were saying and I didn't care. I just wanted to sleep. I wanted to sleep and not think, not feel, not live this nightmare. A nightmare that I couldn't help thinking I created myself.
"Up Lillian." I didn't move fast enough to please Bane so Barsad came and lifted me up under my armpits.
"What are you going to do with me now?"
"I'm going to train you." As soon as the metallic sounding words left his mask the lights went out and a steal fist met my cheek. I was officially in hell.
Back in Gotham things were much different. Two weeks had passed since the benefit and Bruce's mind was preoccupied with the pretty cat burglar. Alfred was happy that Bruce was getting back out but he wasn't pleased that Batman had to come out again as well. He just wanted Bruce to find happiness and peace. He knew that as long as the Batman was needed that wouldn't happen though. Alfred was in the lounge room tidying up when he thought about Lilly. He needed to give her a call. He hadn't talked to her since the night of the benefit but he wanted to make sure she knew he was always here, whether she was a White or a Redwood. He couldn't help but think that she should be a Wayne. Bruce still loved Lilly he could act like he didn't in front of her but Alfred knew better. Alfred saw all the signs, from him keeping the picture of them by his bed, Bruce telling Alfred the best ways to work through a panic attack, and the way he looked after hearing the news of her engagement. Alfred's heart broke for both of them. The more he thought about Lilly the more he thought about how odd it was that he hadn't heard from her. He sat down and grabbed the phone. While it rang he switched on the television to see what was going on in Gotham. The phone fell from his hands and he rushed to get Bruce.
"Bruce you need to turn on the news."
"Why?"
"Damnit Bruce turn on the news!" Bruce was stunned by Alfred yelling at him but he quickly did what he was told and turned it on. Derek Redwood's face filled the screen with the headline "Body of prominent Gotham figure found in river." Bruce immediately turned up the volume. He picked up his cell and dialed a number faster than Alfred had ever seen.
"Who are you calling?"
"Lilly."
"Bruce-"
"She can't see this on the news Alfred." She didn't answer so he kept calling.
"Bruce you know as well as I do that she won't answer." Alfred had a terrible feeling that Lilly was not going to be found as easily as Bruce assumed.
"She will. She's not like me, she'll answer my calls."
"You know that's not what I'm saying." Bruce knew what he was saying but he didn't care, he kept letting the phone ring anyway. Praying she would answer. The reporters droned on with repeated statements and images of Derek's family. Finally, they began giving details Bruce and Alfred hadn't heard before. Bruce put the phone down.
"This just in- Derek Redwood's Death is determined to be from a single shot to the head but multiple other wounds are visible. Autopsy reports states that he has been dead for at least two weeks. The Redwoods released a statement saying that they had filed a report last Wednesday but wanted to keep the issue quiet. As far as we know Ms. White has no family and no one has heard from Bruce Wayne who was listed as her emergency contact at her past job at Arkham. Could she be staying with him?" The screen switched back to the reporter on scene, GPD was swarming the area behind the reporter, taking pictures, bagging up stuff and examining the body.
"Actually, Amanda we do know that Ms. White has a brother but no one has contacted him at this moment, and as far as Bruce Wayne goes GPD does not believe he needs to be involved. They believe that she wouldn't have contacted him, although Mister Wayne is seen as a recluse he is still seen as a prominent figure in this city and we believe he wouldn't hesitate to turn her in." They thought she was a suspect. How could they really believe she would do something like this? Lilly loved Derek. Didn't she?
"Did she love him Alfred?"
"I don't know."
"She wouldn't do this, and if they thought she did then why wouldn't they contact her brother, it's almost as if they are keeping something from us." Alfred had to agree.
"How could I let this happen?" He had been distracted by Selena Kyle. He hadn't thought about Lilly once. That wasn't true, he was enraged the morning after the benefit when he saw the two of them smiling like a perfect couple celebrating their engagement. They looked like the next Kennedy's in the picture. He promised to not bother with thoughts of her after that and he focused on the cat burglar. That's what he wanted after all, for her to be happy and free of him. He felt sick. How could this be happening? Where the hell was his Lilly!?
The horror of the situation only grew as the citizens of Gotham were given more details. There was no sign of foul play at Lilly's place but there was a sign of a major struggle in Derek's. If GPD didn't believe Lilly killed Derek before then the way the apartments looked certainly implied that she had. Maybe she was just with Gabe, she flew out after the announcement of the engagement and she just hasn't been back. That's why they don't know where she is and that's why there wasn't a struggle at her place. She wasn't involved in this. But Bruce didn't want her to hear about this from the news. He definitely didn't want her to hear that she was a murder suspect. Bruce was on the phone again but this time he was hoping to get ahold of Gabe.
"This just in on the Redwood case, Police just stated that they found Lilly Whites engagement ring in one of Derek's pockets." Both men sat down heavily on the sofa. The air thick with tension and defeat. This was happening with Lilly. How could Bruce let this happen? Gabe answered his phone on the fourth ring.
"Hello?" Bruce had to clear his throat twice before he could speak.
"Gabe, its Bruce."
"What do you want Bruce?" His tone was less than friendly. It was friendlier than their last conversation that the two men had. Gabe came to get the last few boxes Lilly had left at the pent house. Bruce had overheard her call to him a few nights before, she had just suffered another panic attack.
"Hey, it's me. I-Gabe, I need you." Bruce couldn't hear what Gabe was saying but he watched as Lilly bit her lip to keep it from trembling, a habit she just started a few months ago. A habit created because of him.
"I just can't do this. I got most of it but he's leaving for the pent house tomorrow and I have things I need to get there too." That was the reason he was going to the pent house, he wanted to be where she was for as long as he could. He knew that once she was gone it was for good. Lilly needed to be as far away from him as possible. If she didn't get away then she would end up like Rachel. When Gabe showed up at the pent house things went south. He sported a shiner for a week after their encounter.
"Gabe what a surprise, what can I do for you?"
"Shove it up your ass Bruce, you know why I'm here." He brushed past Bruce and went to the bedroom. Lilly probably told him where her things would be.
"Gabe just because your sister and I broke up doesn't mean we can't still talk to each other. We can be adults." Gabe had Bruce pinned to the wall before he could even blink.
"I watched my sister wait and wallow for you for years. Years! I told her to give you a second chance and this is how you treat her!? Lilly deserved better than you. She always has, your nothing more than a prick. If you so much as look at my sister again, I swear to God, nothing and I mean nothing will hold me back." Bruce laughed. He didn't mean to but he laughed. If only Gabe knew that this was all for Lilly's protection in the first place. He got the shiner after that.
"I'm calling about Lilly."
"You son of a bitch I told you to leave her alone." Bruce didn't want to tell Gabe about Lilly.
"Gabriel, Lilly is missing. Derek was found dead this morning and her ring was found in his coat." Gabe listened to Bruce after that. He went through all the details with him and booked him the red eye into Gotham. This didn't make Bruce feel much better, in fact when he hung up the phone and looked at Alfred he felt even worse.
He didn't feel as bad as Lilly did at that moment though. If Bruce had seen her now he wouldn't even recognize her. Her face was busted up, covered in hellish shades of black and blue, one eye was swollen shut. He neck was covered in the same colored bruises but in the shape of hands. She looked like she was barely hanging on.
"Get up." I shook my head no like a child. My blubbering tears left stinging trails down my face. He wasn't going to let me get away with this. It wasn't the first time we'd been through this. He stalked towards me and pulled me up by my hair.
"Kill him."
"N-n-no." His fist connected with my ribs in a brutal fashion.
"Kill him Lillian. He's been stealing from the poor for years. He takes pleasure in getting rich off their money, kill him." The man crouched before me had eyes that were pleading for mercy, I couldn't do it.
"I won't do it!" Bane threw me down.
"You are weak. Worthless. Do you think you're doing the world a favor by helping him?" Bane snapped the man's neck. This was the third one in three days.
"Barsad take her." Barsad pulled me up and dragged my limp body down the long hallway, he sat me down on a chair and just stood at attention beside me.
"Please just kill me." For once in the time that I had been trapped in this hell the man beside me seemed stunned. His head whipped to face mine. He crouched down and gently grasped my tender face but still I could barely see him.
"You don't want that. Lilly you just need to do what he's training you to do. Then you will be liberated. Don't wish for death."
'Please Barsad. Please.' Barsad went to say something else but quickly stood back up when he heard Bane approaching. He didn't speak, he just motioned at Barsad who suddenly was holding me down. Neither man spoke above me, I couldn't tell what was going on until I heard the distinct sound of scissors. He chopped off a chunk of my hair. I didn't bother to move. I assumed this was some sick way of breaking me down further and I was ashamed to admit that it worked. My red curls were a part of my identity, and he was slowly cutting them all off. Once my hair was short enough he began to shave it off. More tears fell from my eyes.
"Get her ready for tonight." I didn't bother asking what was happening tonight. My hands couldn't stop brushing over my now bald head. Getting ready for tonight consisted of me having to put on road gear for a motorcycle and given a helmet. Once those things were on Bane tucked me in front of him, then we drove off to the stock exchange. I don't know what exactly they did inside the building but I do know that there were other hostages besides me when we all left and this time I was put on the back of the bike. The chase was causing me to get motion sickness. Bane swerved in and out and sped through the streets of Gotham like it was nothing. I couldn't even focus on the other hostages. My plan had been to keep my head down when I felt Bane chuckle, I glanced up to see what he was chuckling about when my eyes landed on a very familiar bike. Bane swerved his bike to come to a stop and Bruce did the same. As soon as the bikes stopped I ripped off my helmet. I tried to run for it but Bane didn't even give me the allusion that I could get away with it. Bruce was staring at me.
"Br-Help me please! It's me, Lilly, please!" He didn't do anything. He was just staring at me. Why wasn't he doing anything? Bane began to drive off.
"Batman! Please! I'm sorry! I'm sorry just help me!" Bane sped up while I croaked the words out. My eyes flooded over as I watched my last hope be surrounded by cops and fade away. I don't remember what happened next because that was when my body collapsed.
"Alfred could you come here?" Alfred leaned over Bruce who was staring at a surveillance footage from last night. The image zoomed in on the largest bike with the hostage on the back. That hostage had taken off their helmet. Bruce could have sworn that this particular hostage had been trying to tell him something but he couldn't understand what they were saying.
"Does this hostage look familiar to you?" Both men stared at the picture but it was Bruce that made the connection first.
"Oh god. Oh god. No. No. NO!" He slammed his hands on the desk and stood up, he yanked his hands through his hair in frustration. The hostage was telling him that she was Lilly.
