Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the storyline. Thanks for reading.
Stripped Bare
It had been five days since Blake had allowed him back into his bed, and not once had the man touched him with his mouth, teeth or tongue. And as he stared at his bird, who was still lying under the covers while he got dressed, Bane had to fight the urge to demand the other man get up and see him off properly with a sucking kiss against the skin of his neck, or even a brief brush of lips over his masked cheek. Anything was better than nothing at this point, though he didn't say so. Couldn't say so because he knew his man would refuse to give in and he wouldn't know what to do in that situation. He knew what he'd do to anyone else, but not to his little bird. And if he showed how much it bothered him Blake would exploit the admission, no question.
Well aware of the eyes on him Blake deliberately sat up so that the covers pooled around him, making a show of stretching his arms above his head to display his body more prominently. "You can tell Barsad he's off guard duty again tonight. And I don't need to be picked up either."
"Why?" He'd already told the detective he was busy, but this was the first he'd heard that the man had plans too.
"I've got the night off and I promised to be the chaperon at a bachelor party." And boy did it say something about how much he hated pretending to be a hooker, Blake silently thought, that he was actually looking forward to being stuck looking after a bunch of drunk, heterosexual cops for the night. He didn't even like half of them, but he'd given his word and he wouldn't let Tim or Emma down.
He knew what a bachelor party was in theory, but didn't see why it would appeal to the other man. "You don't drink."
"Which is one of the reasons I got roped into this. Designated driver." Pointing at himself Blake did grin this time. "I also won't be tempted by the strippers, should there be any, which is why Emma insisted Tim had to invite me. She knows nothing will happen to him with me around as babysitter."
"She would marry a man she cannot trust?"
"It's not being faithful she's worried about, it's the fact that he tends to be too nice for his own good. Too much of a people pleaser, and his new partner is the sort who finds trouble when he's sober, much less drunk. Emma and I went to high school together, so she knows I can handle myself and the ass's bullying tactics."
Interested, as the detective wasn't big about talking about his past, Bane walked over and took a seat on the side of the bed facing Blake. "You were bullied in school?"
A snort was Blake's response. "I was a foster kid, gay, and mouthy. Yeah, lockers and I were real friendly for a large portion of my high school education."
Bane's eyes narrowed, wishing that he'd been around then to deal with these unknown bullies.
"I should be back here before two at the latest. I'd hate for you to leave without a proper good bye." The question /invitation was clear in Blake's voice, the detective biting back the confession that he'd miss the other man like hell shortly since this time tomorrow Bane would be out of the city for nearly a week on 'business'.
"I don't know how long I'll be. I'll let Barsad know about tonight, and text you when I'm done." After he made sure that Blake was telling the truth, and that this wasn't an attempt to get rid of the shadow that was apparently aggravating the federal agents quite a bit, Bane silently added. And he would definitely see Blake before he left the city, there was no question about that.
"Sounds good."
)
That Night
They hadn't known quite what to make about the crime lord's choice in location, having expected the man to want his own turf but not anticipating that they'd be visiting a strip joint. Bane, Barsad and Talia had all agreed that the man had to be up to something with his choice in venue, but damn if they could figure out what the man was up to. They'd hacked into the man's cameras and knew Tanzello didn't have men in place to ambush them or make trouble. No more bodyguards than expected and they would be easily dealt with. So on the surface everything suggested this was just a harmless meet, but they were suspicious regardless.
Talia was in disguise of course, playing at being the underling in this case and letting Bane do all the talking. No one outside the League knew who was really in charge and that was how it would stay until it was too late for the people of Gotham.
Tanzello offered them refreshment and appeared content to talk only of what Bane thought of the city and its people until Bane asked him to get to the point about why this meet was necessary.
"Straight to business, I appreciate that. But first, I must ask, do you know where your detective is this evening?"
Bane's eyes narrowed ever so slightly, the only signal that he would snap the man's neck then and there if that had been a threat to his lover's wellbeing.
Not having gotten to where he was by being an idiot Tanzello remained cool and collected as he explained that that hadn't been a threat or idle question, he had simply wanted to know if Bane had sent his detective here to get the lay of the land so to speak since the detective was currently with other cops in the club area beneath them.
His little bird was here? Seriously? He didn't believe in coincidences…but he'd just assumed that a group of cops would have the sense not to frequent a club run by and full of criminals.
"You question my honesty? I will show you." Pulling his laptop over to him the man started typing while he explained that he had all the tables in his establishment wired, the contents of the recorded conversations reviewed in case any piece of information could be used to his advantage.
The three League members silently agreed that that was a good way to gather information, though their attention quickly shifted to the voices coming out of the laptop now as Blake's voice was one of the mix as he asked someone named Ryder to keep an eye on someone named Tim while he took care of some assehole who apparently didn't know how to take no for an answer.
"Would you like a visual as well?" The man behind the laptop asked, having already programed the cameras in the club to recognize Bane's lover and follow him wherever he went.
And not waiting for Bane's answer Tanzello handed the laptop over, wanting to see just what sort of reactions the man would have to what was in store.
)
Blake ignored the pounding music, wolf whistles, catcalls and other noises as he interrogated the young officer in front of him as to just how Tim had come to be onstage with a bunch of strippers when he'd expressly told the kid to keep Tim with him so that he could deal with an assehole who'd been harassing the poor woman stuck waitressing his table. And while he knew Ryder was usually a good officer and guy, apparently he'd been grabbed by some of the others while Stoker had gotten the groom-to-be on the stage and paid the strippers well to keep him there.
"Fuck."
Evaluating the situation and the best way to extract the man from the stage, which wouldn't be easy since the target was at the top of the T shaped platform dead center, with the whole thing surrounded by throngs of horny men who were not going to move from their prime locations willingly. The whole place was so packed, in fact, that it would be easier, and no doubt quicker, to go by way of the stage. Unfortunately.
He'd known enough strippers to know they didn't like people getting in their way without their permission, and he knew the true owner of the place, who was one of the biggest crime lords left in Gotham. Fucking with the night's entertainment wouldn't go over well with them, much less the patrons who would no doubt turn into a very dangerous mob at the slightest provocation.
So yeah, there was only one way to go about getting Tim back ASAP.
"Shit, first hooker, now stripper. What's next, Bane's slave boy?"
"Uhm…Sir?" Obviously confused by what Blake had just said Ryder's eyes went huge as he watched the higher ranking officer take his shirt off, taking the article of clothing automatically when Blake handed it to him. And the man's wallet, watch and cell phone.
"Hold onto those."
Muttering under his breath Blake pushed the mostly drunk cops away from the stage and ignoring their exclamations of shocked surprise Blake hauled himself up and onto the platform, knowing he was going to regret this.
As expected the two strippers nearest him were immediately all over him, rubbing up against him like cats sniffing catnip while making it clear that it was going to cost him quite a bit financially if he wanted to play with them onstage.
Allowing them to maul him, it would make things go faster, he explained in a low voice that he was simply interested in retrieving the man they'd grabbed earlier and that he would get off the stage as soon as he managed that.
Both wished him luck and returned to their poles, leaving the walkway free for the moment.
Doing his best to move to the music, it was the sort of pounding beat that made a body want to move, Blake had only made it four feet towards his destination when two women dressed in dominatrix outfits, complete with whips, appeared onstage as well, making a beeline for him like heat seeking missiles. Security strippers were not to be messed with.
They met halfway up the T, their whips out and more than ready to be used as the two were quick to prove by snapping them in his direction like he was a lion in need of being trained.
Stubbornness kept him from backing off , his training with Bruce paying off as he nimbly moved his body this way and that to avoid getting slashed or captured by them as they came at him. It was like dancing really, and the audience seemed to love it as they hooted and hollered so that he could hardly think, much less be heard of them as he tried to communicate through words and gestures why he'd gotten on the stage in the first place.
"You got moves, Little Boy." The blonde purred in his direction. "I could make you dance all night."
He didn't have all night and if he didn't get back soon the other idiots would probably find some way to force poor Ryder onto the stage too and then he'd have two officers to rescue. "How bout I show you one of my best moves?" He called out, hoping she'd take the bait.
"We don't like it, we're taking it out of your hide." The redhead warned.
"Just clear a path to the front and if you're not satisfied you can punish me." He assured them, praying that wouldn't happen. He didn't even want to think about what Bane's reaction would be if he ended up with lashes on his back. The man would seriously freak, especially since he already had his lover on the edge as it was.
The two women looked at each other in silent communication and then moved out of the way to clear a path for him.
Praying the sweat and other crap on the stage wouldn't cause too much problem Blake waited a moment for the beat and then turning around tensed his muscled and then began his back flips, one after another until he was within reach of the center pole. Grabbing it with his hands and using the momentum to swing his body around the pole, Blake ignored the hands reaching for him and kept going until he was facing the two women again, hanging from the pole by the strength of his arms alone. Then he lowered his body up and down the pole a few times while doing a side split, figuring that he better throw something at least a little sexy into the whole routine if it was to past their muster. Plus maybe grinding his ass against the pole in a penetrating motion would clue then into the fact that he was gay and therefore hadn't come onstage to harass the girls.
Or maybe not, he amended, taking in the way one was eye fucking him, but the other nodded in acceptance of his 'toll', and not wanting to give her time to change her mind Blake quickly straightened up and headed in the direction of Tim, who'd been pulled off to the side when he'd come flipping their way.
Having been turned loose the young, very drunk officer stumbled over to congratulate him on his awesome routine, Blake just smiling and then bowing down at the waist to neatly scoop the shocked man up and over his shoulder in a fireman's hold. And since he didn't want to risk their wrath again Blake opted to leave the stage to the professionals and so headed over to the edge, grateful when the men there were willing to move aside so that he could get off.
Needless to say it took him a while to get back to the others, and in that time he was cheered, snarked at, groped, and had things shoved into his pant pockets that he hoped weren't illegal in nature.
Arriving at his destination he put Tim back on his feet, the man weaving in place but not at all upset about being carried. He'd thought it was fun.
Putting his shirt back on Blake smiled at the man and then searched his pockets, amused that he'd been slipped a couple business cards and some money. Serious money, he realized moments later when he recovered what turned out to be five one hundred dollar bills wrapped around a business card from his back pocket.
And then he saw the name on the card and it was all worthwhile, the detective laughing hysterically as he imagined what Bruce would say when he heard that a member of his board had tried to buy his ass. He'd either bust a gut laughing too, or keel over from the shock.
Either reaction would be good.
"All right, Drunk Cops." He announced when he had himself under control again. "We're leaving NOW."
"I ain't going anywhere. This is a bachelor party, you damn queer. You don't like the show, leave. Nobody will miss you."
"Tim is the only one I promised to get home." Blake pointed out coldly, having no problem with the idea of leaving the man behind. Stoker was just a little too well known by the people here for his tastes, the strippers and staff having given the jackass looks that said they knew him and were no more pleased to see him than Blake would be in their place. And if Stoker hung out here…well it was hard to imagine Tanzello hadn't taken notice…and figured out a way to use the man to his advantage.
Yeah, he'd be looking into the man. Later. After he delivered his charges home and took the shower he desperately, desperately wanted.
Thinking about it just made him want it more and so he enlisted Ryder's help in rounding up all the other cops and together got the hell out of there before anything else could go wrong.
)
Having taken the laptop back from Bane, and who would have suspected the detective would have ended up putting on such a show for them, Tanzello closed the laptop lid, not surprised when the very dangerous man sitting across from him advised him to forget any interest he might have in Blake.
"Ah, but I know your boy so I'm afraid that's impossible. His father, he worked for me once upon a time."
Mind still occupied by the images of his bird currently consuming his every thought, Bane was caught off guard enough by the comment to forget the image he was supposed to be presenting. "He did?"
"Mhmmm. Robin Blake Senior, hell of a good bouncer. Kid takes after his mom in looks, his old man was built like a tank. Anyway, he'd bring the kid to work with him, and the kid used to play on the stripper poles like they were a jungle gym. And if there was a way to make money while he was there he found it, fetching drinks or cleaning up. It was a real shame Rob got dead, especially since it was in front of the boy and all. I liked them both. Don't know what his dad would think about you though."
"Blake's his own man."
Tanzello's lips curved in the slightest of smile. "Yeah, I remember him as a stubborn little bugger. And I hear he's not in your pocket, which fits with what else I remember."
Silence greeted that observation.
"But that's not why I asked to speak with you." Well it was, but that was only a part of it, the old crime lord thought before meeting Bane's gaze squarely, not an easy thing at all to do. "They say that you've come to take Gotham maybe, to rule over it as Falcone and many others have tried to do in the past. I want you to know that if that's your aim, I won't be getting in your way. I don't care who rules this city so long as I can run my businesses in peace."
He paused thoughtfully for a moment and then continued. "And you should know that though this city has turned its back on The Batman…you should not assume HE has turned his back on it."
