Present
It is the look in her eyes that stops him.
And the only way such a small feature could do so is the absolute familiarity in her expression. This fear, he'd seen it before on a child's face. He'd seen it that horrible day, when he saw her for the last time. And here it is again; brown eyes wide and brows risen, lips trembling and trying to keep from sobbing, and flushed cheeks out of anger or grief-he could never tell.
His grip loosens until his whole hand is absent from Raja's neck. He couldn't do it. He couldn't kill her. Because she has that same look as the child's. And when she realizes her life is saved the tears flow from her eyes unrestrained. Bane stands, pulling her up with him. No words need to be said anymore. He takes the main door out the town house and she followed. He sits on his bike, just as his phone vibrates which he answers swiftly.
"What is it?" Barsad responds back,
"There's an issue with Daggott."
"On the way." He says and motions for Raja to join him but she doesn't move. She just stares at him, possibly thinking of why he spared her.
"Come, Raja." He says, purposefully not using her surname-after this odd incident there is no need to keep using her surname.
"Why am I still alive?" she questions, and unfortunately for her he didn't have a valid answer.
"I do not know. Now come, we must leave." She is hesitant, but joins him on the motorcycle. He could sense her fear clearly from this position. And he wouldn't have cared before, but now it somewhat pains him.
"You do not need to be afraid anymore." He tells her, and she sucks her teeth.
"You almost fucking killed me."
"I did."
"I should be afraid."
"But I do not want you to be." She doesn't respond. And as he turns on the engine, barely hears her silent sobbing.
She knew the situation was bad when the men continued to approach her, even though she held their employer by gunpoint. And she wasn't kidding about shooting him in the head-its nothing she hasn't done before. But despite her assurance that she would kill the weasel man they still came closer.
"They know," A deep, grunge, voice conveys,
"They just don't care." One comes at her and she shoots him point blank. She is no newbie to the batman's existence. When the caped vigilante joins her in the brawl she accepts his help with no complaints-until he knocks the glock out of her hand.
"No guns, no killing."
"Oh, where's the fun in that!" when the last man is on the ground, groaning in pain, gunfire comes from reinforcement. Batman leaps off the rooftop, and she runs after him. But before jumping she looks behind her, and instantly brown eyes meet her own.
The look in her friend's expression is hard to stare at.
"Raja." She whispers in disbelief, having thought these people would have killed her by now.
Nothing needed to be shouted, Selina knew Raja wanted her to go, to use the first chance to get the hell out of this city. She nods in understanding, and when seeing the relief in her friend's eyes leaps off the roof landing into a seat.
"My mother always told me never to get in a car with strange men." She says as she puts on her seatbelt.
"This isn't a car." And the machine roars to life, startling Selina. When the thing actually begins to rise she stares at the Batman in astonishment. 'Where does he get all this stuff!' She thinks. The hovercraft has a large window casing as a covering, she could easily see Raja from this height and a tear slips down her cheek.
At that moment she knew she couldn't just leave her behind.
It was one in the morning when they arrived to the tunnels. Bane leaves Raja to Barsad and goes back to his own area. As much as he wants to sleep, there is still much to be done. In the morning Bruce Wayne would wake up a penniless man. And still, it would not be enough to break him. But this situation was no different than any other he had dealt with. Batman rules the city, whether the Gothamites believe it or not, and once he's out of the equation conquering everyone else would be too easy. Bane goes over the mission splayed out on his desk.
It had to be perfect; there was no time for do overs.
"Sir." He glances over his shoulder and grunts, acknowledging Barsad presence.
"You should sleep."
"I will."
"I will make sure everything is in place for stage three. Not to be rude but no one likes the cranky side of you."
"Is that so," Bane stands from his chair,
"Selina Kyle knows Bruce Wayne, we will use her to lure the Batman here."
"Understood sir." Barsad leaves the giant to himself as he lies on the large cot. It takes no effort for him to fall asleep.
He hears the screams clear as day. And at first he thought it was a part of the dream, but when he opens his eyes and stands from his bed the screaming pursues. And what makes his heart clench is the familiar tone of it.
The high pitch wailing that, decades ago, he had to calm. He rushes to the scene, ending up in Raja's room. Two of his men are trying to calm her down, holding her in place as her body thrashes.
"Leave. I will handle this." He tells them and they obey without question. Bane closes the door and goes to the bed.
"Raja." He calls, but her screaming doesn't seize. He gets on the bed, wrapping arms around her firmly and keeping her in place.
"Listen to my voice Raja. You are having a nightmare. None of it is real. My voice is real. I am real. I am here for you. I will not leave you."
The words flow from his mouth automatically, since they are the same words he used to calm the child. Her screaming dies down. Her thrashing becomes slight twitches. Her sobbing becomes deep, slow, breaths.
And for the remainder of the early morning he remains with her.
A/N: Holy crap! it's been a while since i've updated-had to watch the dark knight over and over to figure out what the hell to do with the plot! But i guess its getting somewhere, right? Anyways i've, recently gotten a deviant art account. I haven't actually posted anything but its mostly experimental. If any of you are interested i can draw out my characters, if you want a visual of them. If the idea is interesting PM me or leave a review. My deviant account link is on my profile page. With that said, everyone have a lovely day!