Queen of Venom

Chapter 2

~3 Months after their meeting~

"So, you need a new name now. You can't go running around with your real name." Bane told her, as she looked over at him, laying on a bed of thick but soft leaves.

"Petunia. I like petunias." Lily said quietly. Even after 3 months, though she gained all of her predecessor's abilities with plants, and the garden thrived, she was unable to move much. Lily only had 5 or 10 minutes of mobility ever hour or so. She had used her time to lay down. She closed her eyes,

"If I had known this would be so taxing on you, I couldn't have offered, Lily." Bane told her, and she smiled gently,

"It's ok." She responded, "I'm trying to move the plants…it's so much harder to do underground." Lily frowned, opening her eyes half-way, staring at the ceiling. "I have a plan…but I need to be outside- some place with windows, maybe." Bane stood up,

"I think I know of a place." Bane told her, "Do you want me to carry you?"

"I don't want to burden you, but that would be nice." Lily responded, her burly bodyguard tucking his hands under her thighs and her upper back. Bane carried her out as she put her hands on her stomach. "Thank you."

"I pledge my services to you, didn't I?" Bane questioned, and she leaned her head against his chest while he carried her. After a while, they came to a large, abandoned hotel. 7 stories tall, most of the windows boarded up as well as the front door. Bane walked around the building, finding an area in the rear where the wall looked weakest.

"Try not to make a mess, Bane." Lily said gently, not wanting to cause a scene, even as Bane thrust his fist through the wall. His fist came out on the other side, and he pulled it back towards him, and avalanche of bricks and long-dried cement, falling at his feet. She sighed, Bane picking her up and setting her on his shoulder, before going into the hotel and up winding flights of stairs to the top floor, a penthouse.

It was one giant floor with a few things here and there. Thick trees hiding the doldrum hotel from view, but a road came from a point unseen, curved in front of the hotel, and went away once more. In the penthouse, there were a few long forgotten furnishings. A large fire place against one wall, dusty couches and a rug in front of it. A kitchen bigger than Lily's whole apartment, and an empty bed frame in the back corner, but aside from that, it was bare. There were windows everywhere, some boarded up, and a pair of dust-fogged glass doors lead out to a small balcony.

"It's cold, here, Bane." Lily whispered, and he set her down on the rug, Bane going over to the windows still in tact, and punching them out, letting in a cool, November breeze. Lily shivered violently from the cold, looking at Bane. He ripped down a few boards from the windows and put them in the fireplace, looking around for matches. When he found them, he lit one and threw it to the dry boards, making a fire. Lily put her hands towards it, smiling gently,

"Is this place suitable enough?" Bane questioned her, and when she nodded, he brushed her hair from her face, "I'm going to look for some blankets or something for you. Stay here," Bane told her, walking off and leaving the room to her and the fire. It was warm, but it felt unwelcoming, and she stood, shuddering from the cold. Her outfit didn't help either.

She wore dark olive green, 100 percent cotton bikini panties, and thigh-high boots of dark forest green, and gloves of the same color that went to her mid-upper arm. For her top, she wore a thin strap of cotton that barely covered her nipples (100 percent cotton). It was humid and warm in the sewer-like level of the Garden of Eden. Lily shivered again, and went over to the glass-door- barred balcony.

The handles were rusty and creaked in agony as she turned the handles, before pushing them outwards. The balcony was a semi-circle of thick cement, and she put her hands on the curved but smooth railing. Wind rustled though the trees, and pulled at her long, dark red hair. Lily smiled as the trees whispered greetings to her and she whispered them back, before looking down stoically to the curved road- and that's when she saw him.

A long, sleek, black car, was at the curve, parked in front of the hotel. It was thickly armored, and jet black, with a strange insignia on the hood- that of a bat. A man stood there, looking up at her. He wore a cape and mask of black, sharp tips on the top of his helmet, like a bat. Lily stared down at him and he stared back up at her, but she turned from him and walked back inside the studio, leaving the doors open.

"Lily, we have to go. The Batman is here." Bane told her, looking around for a way out for her. There was a butler's trolley, in the room, and Bane pulled open the door, the tray at the top floor, "In here." Bane urged softly, picking her up and tucking her into the trolley. "It goes to the kitchen on the first floor- there's one there too." She looked at him sadly. "I'll hold him off."

"Bane, I don't want to go…" Lily said, Bane reaching over and roughly pulled on the rope to send her down. She yipped and the trolley slammed to the first floor. Lily tumbled out the open door and fell to the kitchen floor.

"There was a girl here- where is she?" A dark voice asked, and Lily slowly crawled over to the kitchen doors, peeking out. The black-capes man stood in front of Bane.

"Girl? I'm alone." Bane said, shrugging, "If there was a girl, don't you think we'd be 'knocking boots'?" The man in the cape narrowed his eyes,

"Don't play with me. Was it Ivy?" The man asked, Bane flickered his eyes to Lilly, and looked back.

"No. It was a figment of your imagination." Bane said- before punching the man in the stomach, lifting him off the ground. "Go, now!" Bane yelled, and Lily got to her feet and ran out of the huge hole Bane has made earlier. The Batman tried to get up, but Bane kept him down, Vines coming out and wrapping around Lily, pulling her down into the ground. When she was long gone, Bane withdrew, punched a column out. The ceiling fell down as the hotel quaked from the lost of a support structure, and when the dust cleared, Bane was gone. So was the girl. Batman, was alone, in the old hotel.

~O~O~O~

"Batman ruined everything." Bane growled to himself, in the kitchen, as Lily laid on the bed of roses across the pool, watching him sadly. "I'm sorry, Lily."

"It's ok. It happens. What are you doing over there in the kitchen?" Lilly asked, as Bane walked over with a cup of tea for her. "Oh…Thank you."

"Feeling better?" Bane questioned gently, sitting down, and she sat up,

"I feel as if I could take on the world- better than I have in all my life." Lily told him, and Bane rested his forehead on her right thigh, she reached out and put her hand on his head, setting the cup of tea down. "I want to visit him…The Guardian." Bane looked up at her,

"Guardian?"

"Yes. He talked to me through the grate over there when you go out, when I'm alone. He's nice. I'd like to bring him something…to thank him for talking to me while you were gone." Lily said, Bane trying to figure out who the Guardian was, as she got up and went to the kitchen, pouring some more tea in the biggest dish they had. Bane followed her around, as she grabbed a small basket and collected some fruit from the overabundant garden. Taking the basket and the tea, Bane opened a door that went deeper into the bowls of Gotham. The door groaned with age and irritancy, as it was closed behind them. "Mr. Guardian? Are you down here somewhere?"

These was no response- only rustling and the splashing of the sewer waters. A large shadow, appeared from the other shadows, "Oh, there you are! Thank you for talking to me while I was sick, I'm all better now, Mr. Guardian!" She called to him, setting the basket down and the large dish of tea, on a rusty little bridge that lead from one side of the sewer to the other, over the murky water that ran down the canals. "I brought you some fruit and some tea. I'd like it if you had dinner with us tonight. You can come if you like they'll be an extra seat for you." she said, turning, "Let's let him eat in peace, Bane."

Bane picked her up and carried her back to the upper floor and shut the door, setting her down on her feet. "I will go out and get some meat for Mr. Guardian. He's not good with fruit."

"Don't, I'll go." Bane protested, before she turned around nd put a hand on his abdomen, stopping him as she looked into his eyes.

"How will I recover if I'm always laying down? I'll be fine, just stay here incase Mr. Guardian comes up, ok?" she asked, and Bane nodded dejectedly, "I'll be back soon." she said, pulling on a coat, and walking out of the Garden through the heavy front doors.

~O~ Wayne Manor ~O~

Batman sat in his bat cave, drumming his fingers on the arm of his chair, as he looked at the screen in front of him. A database showed a profile on a female criminal, dressed in green, the name across the top said 'Poison Ivy'. Under it, it said, 'Status: Missing.' He stared at the picture, his loyal butler, Alfred, coming to stand next to his chair.

"Poison Ivy, Sir?" Alfred asked, and Batman, also known as Bruce Wayne, shook his head.

"No…" Bruce leaned back in his chair, "I thought I saw her today, when I went to check up on the report of vandalism, I found Bane. We wrestled and some girl ran out, but I saw her on the balcony. She definitely looked like Pamela, but she wasn't."

"Maybe its something that's not in the cards, Sir Wayne. Isn't it your current girlfriend's birthday tomorrow?" Alfred asked, and Bruce stood up,

"That's right- I'll go get her a card." Bruce said, "I want it to be personal." He said, and Alfred bowed, as Bruce left the bat cave, changing, before going to the garage. He picked out a car and drove to the store, parking, and getting out.

He could just have Alfred get the card…but he needed to get out of the mansion anyways. Bruce stood in the isle with the cards, looking at them. Now of them seemed to be perfect… a woman walked into the isle and looked at the cards too. Bruce glanced over at the woman, blinking.

She had long, dark red hair that covered her face, as she stared at the cards. Bruce watched as she reached forward and grabbed a thank you card, opening it. "This…doesn't suit him." She sighed, closing it and putting it back. The woman put a hand to her face, "How sad! None of these seem to help me…" She sighed shakily, Bruce standing up,

"Excuse me, I hate to intrude, but you look troubled." Bruce said to her, and she looked at her, sparkling green eyes gazing shyly into his own brown ones.

"It seems that way." She said, looking at the cards, but turned to him, "I…I was sick and I just recently recovered." She clutched another card she had in her hands, "I want to thank him- my first friend- for talking to me while I was sick and made sure I wasn't lonely, but every card I look at seems to convey the wrong message. I can get him a gift, but I don't know what to get him. I'm sorry, I'm rambling." she said softly, putting the card back.

"I see. It seems I'm having difficulty finding a card as well. A birthday card for my girlfriend." Bruce said,a nd she smiled brightly,

"Oh, how nice." she looked at the birthday cards, plucked one up and offered it to him, "Maybe this one? It has a nice message and you can still add to it if you want." The woman offered, and Bruce looked at the message as she plucked up 2 blank cards.

"You're right, thank you." Bruce said, and she nodded, walking off and paying for them, as he stood in the isle and realized something. The girl was the one he saw earlier, at the hotel- the one Bane had been protecting. "Wait-!" Bruce yelled, but she walked out, Bruce put the card back and went after her. "Excuse me, miss!" The woman glanced back, stopping. "Let me introduce myself- I'm Bruce wayne and I'd like to take you out to dinner." Bruce told her, and she smiled sweetly.

"Not a chance in hell." She said bluntly, and Bruce twitched at her cold rejection. "You have a girlfriend. You may be nice, but I don't date cheaters." The woman said bluntly, and turned around,

"I'm just talking about dinner- not dating you." Bruce said, and she turned around hastily, blushing vibrantly,

"P-Please stop talking to me." She asked sincerely, "My-My brother is very over protective, and very jealous. I-I have to get home, good bye." The woman said, turning away ad quickly walking away. Bruce, did, abandon chase- before pulling up next to her in his sleek, black Bentley.

"He's your brother, what would he care?" Bruce asked, and the woman jolted in surprise and shock, "It's just dinner, no, a movie." She stopped walking and he stopped driving.

"I do not go on dates of any kind with a man who has a girlfriend. I don't even know you!" She proclaimed in embarrassment,

"I'm always on Tv…" Bruce murmured,

"I don't own a TV, and I don't pay attention to the news or current events." She admitted, looking around nervously, "I'm going home, it was nice talking to you." she said, two airs of eyes watching her as she walked off, Bruce getting out of his car. She started to run, and Bruce went after her, afraid that she may get herself into trouble. "Please stay away from me!" She yelled at him, making a sharp turn before someone grabbed her and pulled her into a dark alley. Lillian struggled, before someone whispered into her ear,

"So, I'm an overprotective brother?" They asked and she realized it was Bane. She stopped struggling and turned around, hugging him. Bruce was wandering around, and she had to think quickly, "Let's get you out of here." He offered, and vines came from the ground wrapping around them both, and pulling them down, Bruce looking into the alley to find nothing but shadows and emptiness.

~O~ Garden of Eden ~O~

Lily pulled the meat out of the oven, setting it out on the counter. "Boys, are you hungry?" she called out, and Bane put a piece of wood on the barrel drum he used to use to water the plants, thick vines serving as seats. A large reptilian being, sat at the make shaft table, long reptilian tail swishing behind him. "Mr. Guardian, how's your appetite tonight?" The reptilian creature growled hungrily and flicked his tongue out. "That's what I thought." She set some plates up and gave them their even portions.

"I'm surprised you were able to make dinner so quick, even though you were delayed." Bane said, and she smiled, brushing dust off her little apron (Bane's apron, technically).

"Let's not talk about that, ok? Its depressing enough for me, thinking I can have an intellectual conversation with a man, and he turns out to be a stalker." She said, sitting down, and nibbled on an apple.

"Tha….thank….thank y…you." The reptilian beast said to her, and she smiled,

"Don't worry about it, Mr. Guardian. You kept me company while Bane was gone. Oh, I almost forgot." she squeaked, getting up and going to the kitchen, pulling out a pair of cards. "One for each of you." They took the cards and read the dorky little 'thank you for being so nice to me!' saying.

"Don't get cocky, Killer Croc, it's just a card." Bane told the reptilian beast, and Croc hugged the card to himself, before Lily sat down again, and they all ate. "This is- really good, Lily." Lily smiled,

"Thank you, Bane." She smiled, and Croc helped himself to his portion. They all ate in silence, but it wasn't awkward. It was friendly, warm, welcoming silence. The type of silence where you felt like you weren't an outcast, but amongst people who understood you. Croc finished early and laid his head on her lap for a short nap, since his stomach was full with a home-cooked meal for once. Lily stroked his head, not caring that he was disfigured.

"I think we should make a baby, Lily." Lily looked at Bane in shock, after he said this. "I'm sure Croc would be willing to help." Croc looked up at Lily at the mention of his name, but she stroked his head and he closed his eyes.

"What are you talking about?" Lily asked sharply, confused and scared.

"It would be beneficial, if you had a child, especially now since you're not fully through the process of changing." Bane said, and looked at her, "Well?" Lily wondered how in the hell she got herself into this type of situation.