The Devil's Command
by batmanbane
Chapter 10
Victoria Morales kept a careful grip on both Pavel children as they left their suite and ventured into the long hall. Bane had summoned them, and with Barsad holding up the rear with his ever-present assault weapon, Victoria felt like they were walking the last mile. She didn't dare pass that fear along to Maksim.
She was charmed when Bane promised Maksim a mercenary uniform, and then had his man deliver one for little Katya as well. But his four-day silence afterward had greatly disturbed her. There was talk amongst his men that he had been crossed by a woman, which might explain everything, but Victoria read his seclusion as a sign that he had finally made a decision about the fate of the children.
She prayed silently as the group approached Bane's door. Her faith told her that she would soon be reunited in heaven with her husband and child. But what about the children? They were Russian-born and had no religion. How could these two innocents be consigned to hell? How could God be so cruel?
"I can finally show Mr. Bane my uniform!" Maksim jumped excitedly, interrupting Victoria's thought process. "Where's he been anyway?"
"I don't know, but I'm sure he is eager to see you in your uniform." Victoria's voice was fraught with tension, and she felt sick to her stomach.
"Bane wants to see you alone first," Barsad warned Victoria. He had no idea what Bane had planned for the trio, and he was feeling very conflicted. "The kids stay in the hall with me until he asks for them."
Hesitating, Victoria asked, "But what do you know about children?"
"Nothing, ma'am, except that they're safe with me."
Before she entered Bane's suite, she took one long look at the children, just in case it was her last. "I'll only be a moment, niños," she promised, her voice trembling. "Be good."
Inside, the widow of Javier Morales found Bane standing near the fireplace, monitoring the activity on the snow-covered streets through the floor-to-ceiling windows. He seemed calm, but she knew from experience that it wasn't always a sign of good humour.
"Victoria," he mused. "Are you very attached to the Pavel children?"
"I am," she replied as she tentatively approached. "In the short time I've cared for them they have filled the chasm left by the death of my husband and child. Thank you, Mr. Bane, for asking me to look after them. I cannot imagine my life without them."
Bane nodded, slightly amused. Unknowingly he had given the grieving woman a reason to live, which had never been his intention.
"If I were to release them, you would continue to look after them?"
The woman's sad demeanor transformed into a cautious smile. "If you would allow me, Mr. Bane, I'd take them to my home in Barcelona. They could have a wonderful life there. It is a beautiful, cultural city where they would be well-educated." Victoria's eyes brimmed with hope.
"Indeed it is a beautiful city," Bane agreed as he called for Barsad to bring the children in.
Maksim Pavel rushed towards the mercenary, eager to show off his uniform. The boy wore a khaki tee shirt, cargo pants, and a red scarf. Dressed identically to Maksim, Katya followed on tentative feet, reaching with outstretched arms to the man who had lifted her so high.
Bane ignored baby Katya's overtures as Maksim approached.
"Look at my uniform, Mr. Bane! I've been wanting to show you forever."
Bane stared down at the boy with Leonid Pavel's black eyes. "Excellent!" He chirped. "You pass inspection, young Maksim, as does your sister." He was uncomfortably aware that Katya wanted him to pick her up, but he had made a decision. He had killed Pavel and now he was determined that the man's son should know.
Settling himself into the mayor's Eames lounge chair, he groaned and beckoned the five-year-old with his forefinger.
Maksim went to him, gripping the armrest of the chair as he weaved restlessly back and forth.
"There is something I must tell you about your father." Bane rumbled.
Appalled, Victoria whispered, "Mr. Bane, I beg you, please don't!"
"Is he coming to take us home?" Maksim's eyes were bright and excited by the prospect of good news.
"I'm afraid not. Your father is dead, my boy."
Maksim blinked, taken aback by Bane's words. "No, Victoria says he's working, but he's thinking of us." He repeated his governess' words haltingly.
Bane shook his head. "Your father is dead, Maksim. I know, because I am the man who killed him. Would you like me to show you how I did it?"
A stunned Victoria turned on Bane, not caring that he might kill her in retaliation.
"How could you, you savage beast? All because the police commissioner's daughter rejected you," she raged. "I've heard your men whispering! The one woman you truly want is indifferent to you, and now your pride is so wounded that you lash out at the nearest target, an innocent child. I've witnessed your cruelty before, but never anything as heinous as this!"
A furious Bane rose to his feet. "Hold your tongue, madame," he threatened darkly.
Victoria's obvious distress triggered panic in Maksim, and he began to sob uncontrollably. The crushed five-year-old suspected he was facing a terrible truth.
"It's not true! It isn't true! You're lying!" His little fists pounded Bane's knee pads. "Poppa! You give me back my Poppa!"
Seeing her brother and governess both overwhelmed by tears, Katya also began to cry. Victoria scooped both children up, holding on to them for dear life.
"I hate you, I hate you," Maksim bawled, tears streaming down his red face.
"Good." Bane nodded his approval as he watched the boy convulse in Victoria's arms. "Hate is a powerful weapon, Maksim. It will make a man of you, and one day you will thank me for it."
It was clear to Barsad that no matter what emotional mayhem he had wrought, Bane was going to release the children. Diplomatically, he broke up the scene.
"If we're done, brother, I'll take over from here."
"We are done," Bane confirmed. "Arrange passage to Barcelona for Mrs. Morales and the children. They are to leave tonight via our usual channels. Have Perez open an account for her with a deposit of $100,000 American dollars now and $200,000 to be paid annually on January 1st."
"Right," Barsad said, mentally adding the task to the list of things that Bane had given him earlier. Though it bothered the sniper to see Maksim so badly hurt, he was glad that Bane had been lenient.
"Alright everybody, let's go!" Barsad called as he herded the sobbing trio into the hall and to freedom. "Dry your eyes. You're going home."
The sewers were all but abandoned now that the mercenaries had completed the preliminary phase of their work. For months they had drilled and laid explosives, their activity virtually undetected thanks to the miles of tunnels beneath Gotham. Although many of the same tunnels were now blocked, Bane's command post was still accessible, and it was there that he summoned Talia for another meeting later that same day.
Miranda Tate's high heels pierced the sound of the waterfall as Talia rounded on Bane's lair and found him seated on the edge of his bunk.
"Do those heels serve you well as you camp in the cold atrium of Wayne Enterprises?" Bane's voice was stern and judgemental.
"Oh, be quiet, Bane. They are the only perk I have in that wretched place. I've thrown my neck out sleeping on that hard bench," she complained, making reference to the office banquette on which she slept most nights. How she missed Miranda Tate's comfortable townhouse.
"I worry about you, my dear. You have lost your taste for suffering."
"I have not," she answered curtly, swiftly changing the subject. "I trust you have better news for me tonight, my friend."
"I do indeed," Bane said, raising himself from the bunk. "I have done your bidding and dispatched the Pavel children."
"The Morales woman too?"
"Drowned. All three of them."
It was a boldfaced lie. Bane knew he was disrespecting Talia, but he no longer cared. More and more he needed to make his own decisions, and not just follow her orders.
"I wish I could have been there when Crane judged them," she grinned. "Especially to hear the cries of that raving Spanish woman. I never understood why you kept her on."
"It was a textbook execution, my dear. No need to obsess any further. We have other priorities."
"Yes. You still have not produced Commissioner Gordon, and you foolishly allowed his daughter to come and go."
"As you know, holding her failed to bring him out of hiding, my dear."
"Well, maybe if you had paraded her on the steps of City Hall with a rifle pointed at her head, that might have swayed him. Instead, you preferred to romance her. She is not likely to return now that she wants nothing more to do with you."
Troubled by her words, Bane frowned as Talia surveyed her surroundings and sniffed distastefully.
"Why are we meeting down here, Bane? It's not very pleasant."
"Because I grow tired of 30th-floor luxury and the executive gymnasium at Wayne Enterprises," Bane replied bluntly. "I am in danger of losing my way, but unlike you I intend to ground myself."
The daughter of Ra's al Ghul focused her eyes on Bane with a look that could only be described as predatory.
"I agree with your self-assessment, my friend, but it is not luxury that leads you astray. You have been spellbound by that Gordon girl, but that's over as of tonight. I will remedy that."
Talia tossed her coat from her shoulders, revealing a stunning blue dress that fully exploited her generous breasts.
"I should have done something about this situation long ago. Prepare yourself, brother. I have the will to act."
"Talia, no. This is not a good idea," Bane protested, only too aware of what she wanted. Winslow had left him feeling battered and vulnerable, and the mask wheezed a frustrated sigh as Talia peeled off her high heels.
"Shhh..." she whispered. "Don't fight it, Bane. It has been so long for us, so long. Allow me to ground you, brother, there on my mother's blanket."
Once Barsad had seen Victoria and the Pavel children safely on their journey, he returned to City Hall, only to find Keogh alone in the suite with his feet up, watching a hockey game on the big screen television as he ate his dinner.
"Where's Bane?"
"Not here. He said you're to report to him in the sewer. Want some pizza?"
Barsad frowned. "No thanks. What's he doing down there?"
"Beats me," Keogh replied, washing his pizza down with beer. "He's in a mood today."
"You can say that again," Barsad complained, annoyed that after such a long day he now had to go into the sewers. "Is he in the usual spot?"
"Yup. Command post."
A half-hour later, Barsad descended a ladder into the sewer and went in search of the miserable mercenary. As he neared the waterfall, he heard angry voices that he recognized as belonging to Bane and Talia.
"I am owed your love, your loyalty and your body! Instead, you insult me. No man has ever refused me before!"
"I regret your upset, my dear, but there is a reason why we ceased our previous relationship. I believe you wish to restart it for the wrong reason. Do not deny that you would use your body to try and control me."
Barsad entered the cold cavern where Bane had spent months planning his siege of Gotham. "Looks like I arrived at a bad time," he said sheepishly.
"I am leaving," Talia sneered as she stepped into her discarded shoes. "You are off the Gordon detail, Bane. I'll bring him in myself. While you sulk and pine for your pretty little police officer, armed gangs have been killing our men. Is it too much to ask that you pull yourself up by your bootstraps and put a stop to them?"
Barsad peered sympathetically at Bane as the sound of Miranda Tate's high heels receded into the distance.
The mercenary sat bent over on his bunk, looking very world-weary. "Did you see the children off at the Heliport, brother?"
"Yea, yea. Victoria said to thank you for the generous financing, although she still doesn't like what you did."
Bane nodded. "And the boy?"
"Last time I saw him he was strapped into his seat, staring into space. Katya was screaming her head off. I felt sorry for the helicopter pilot. Am I glad to see the back of them!"
"Indeed," Bane replied, rubbing his hands together. "They are a handful."
"Hey, why are we down here when there's dinner and warm beds back at City Hall?"
"I needed to reconnect with myself," Bane sighed. "I have learned that I do not function well in opulent surroundings. There is a margin for error."
"You mean like telling Maksim the truth about his old man, and pursuing the daughter of the man you're supposed to hang from the bridge?"
"Your candor is not appreciated," Bane frowned. "I have endured enough this evening."
"Speaking of which, boss, what was Talia so mad about?"
"As you no doubt suspected by her words, she attempted to engage me in amorous activities, but I refused her."
"Well thank the lord for good judgment, brother," Barsad smirked. "Otherwise I would have walked in on the both of you, and that's a sight I'd rather not see."
Winslow stared wistfully out the kitchen window of Abby Murtaugh's house as her mind drifted to Bane, and her own disappointment.
It was bad enough that as a police officer she had fantasized, and lusted after him. It was far worse that she slept with him and thoroughly enjoyed it.
What kind of police officer would have sex with the warlord who was holding her city hostage? Only a corrupt cop could be capable of such behaviour.
Again and again, she relived Bane's words to her on the morning she left him when he had said that she was his Waterloo and that it was his destiny to be tamed by her.
In the days since, she had come to believe it was only sweet-talk, his mode d'emploi with every woman. It was likely that he had shrugged off the cold shoulder she had given him. After all, he hadn't tried to stop her from leaving. Maybe he hadn't been impacted by her rejection, as she originally thought.
She genuinely believed that somehow Gotham would be victorious, and when the dust settled she would have to think seriously about her future. It wasn't going to be easy for her to continue as a police officer, with her colleagues and the entire city knowing that she had been held by Bane and that he had forced her into a sham marriage. There would always be gossip about possible disloyalty and hanky-panky, and of course, they'd be correct in their suspicions.
Sudden movement outside distracted her from her thoughts. From her spot at the window, she focussed on the detached garage at the back of the house. It looked as though someone was sitting on the ground, resting against the far garage wall, where a pair of boots extended into the snow.
Winslow grabbed her jacket, slipped out the front door and made her way around to the garage. The snow allowed her to move silently, and she slipped into place on the opposite side of the garage.
"Come out from there, whoever you are. I've got a gun," she shouted.
There was a very long pause and more movement until a defiant-looking teenager revealed herself. She held a grenade in her hand, and she was poised to throw it at Winslow. The girl was short, shorn-headed, with large, haunted eyes. Because she wore combat fatigues, Winslow assumed she was one of Bane's people.
"You've got a gun, but I've got a grenade," the girl replied. "If you don't put that thing down, I'll pull this pin and we'll both die. I'm not afraid of death, because I got nothing left to lose. What about you?"
"You don't want to do that! I'm police. Officer Winslow Gordon."
"All the cops are underground! Show me your badge," the girl demanded.
"I'm not carrying it. I can't risk being discovered if I'm stopped and searched."
"I don't believe you!"
"You have no other choice. Now, just how old are you, anyway?"
"The girl swallowed hard. "Seventeen."
A previous conversation with Barsad tripped Winslow's memory. "You're the girl who's leading the civilian uprising."
"There are three groups," she nodded. "Bane's sniper killed the other two leaders. I figure he's after me next, so I've gone nomad. He's not gonna get me before I get Bane."
"What are you doing in this backyard?"
"Resting. I couldn't get inside the garage, so I had a little snooze against the wall.
"Where are your parents?"
The girl's lip trembled ever so slightly. "Gone. Scarecrow sentenced them."
Winslow's brow furrowed and she lowered her gun in a sign of trust. "You need to be with people you love right now. You're going to get killed if you keep on doing what you're doing."
"Uh-uh. Like I said, I'm not afraid of dying, and I don't have any love left in me. Only hate. And I'm gonna waste Bane with it!"
As the girl spoke, Winslow spotted Gordon and Blake in the distance behind her, silently easing around the side of the house with their weapons ready.
But the girl's hearing was sharp. "Whoever is behind me, show yourself or I swear to God I'll pull this pin!"
"It's Commissioner Gordon and Detective Blake," Gordon replied readily. "What's your name, honey?"
"Come around and stand next to her, and drop your guns."
After Blake and Gordon silently took their places next to Winslow, they dropped their guns. All three police officers sensed that she wasn't really a threat to them.
Satisfied, the girl nodded. "My street name is Jade, that's all I'll say."
"Well, Jade, where are you getting those hand grenades?" Blake asked.
"I'm not going to answer that question."
"You know you've killed people." Winslow reminded her. "Your parents died, but two wrongs don't make a right."
"Don't give me that turn-the-other-cheek Sunday school crap! I'm not a kid anymore. You grow up real fast when you watch your parents die."
"At least come inside," James Gordon reasoned in a fatherly way. "You're shivering, and I'll bet you're hungry."
"You know what I used to be, Commissioner Gordon? Before Bane, I was a pitcher on my high school baseball team. I was really good at throwing players out. So you know I can throw one of these babies," she said, indicating the grenade.
"Jade, put that thing down and come inside," Winslow said. "There's food and a place to sleep."
Jade looked tempted for a moment but stood her ground. "No, I gotta go. I'm gonna throw Bane out at home plate, and if any of you tries to follow me I'll pull the pin."
The three police officers looked at one another, and James Gordon nodded at Winslow.
"Alright," Winslow said. "Have it your way. But if you need a place to crash, you know where to find us."
Jade's lip trembled again. "Thank you, all of you," she muttered. Her enormous eyes took in each one of the police officers, and then she was gone.
Author's note: Thanks to all my favourites and followers! I've received quite a few new ones lately, and it makes me glad that Bane is still so popular. I'd welcome your reviews. Have a great summer, everyone. 😁