CHAPTER 11

Take Yourself Off Safety

The clouds were so thick that not even a single star was shining, and the wind was so cold it felt like small slashes across her face. She didn't care, the freedom granted to her up in the roof was worth it. A sickening pain in her gut made its way to her chest, try as she might to fight it. She wasn't going to win, not right now. Jolie pulled her knees to her chest and buried her face as the tears slipped through her eyes. She let the faces she had tried so hard to keep from her mind flood her vision. John Blake was the hardest to see, the one that made her almost vomit, the one that broke her heart. He was so far away from the person she had become that it might have made her laugh had she been able to do so. She heard his voice, whispers in her ear of the night they had spent together. If he could see her now… that made her feel worse than anything else could. Jolie choked down her sobs, she would not feel pity for herself. She was doing what she had to, she was surviving, surely Blake would understand that… She laughed out loud, she couldn't even convince herself.

She let the wind blow on her face, stinging her eyes. He would fight, as she had been… just not for the same side. She wasn't fighting for Bane's reckoning, she was not buying what he was selling to everyone else. By that standard she had killed many more of Bane's men than the others, would that count at all? She doubted it. Unless she killed Bane himself, she would always be on the wrong side.

She thought about it, how it would feel to be the one to end this. He loved to remind her that he could easily kill her, would she be able to return the favor? She could feel the outline of her knife on her hips and tried to imagine slitting his throat with it. Would he feel betrayed? Would she feel guilty? Maybe, maybe if it came down to either him or her. She thought of Bane and the way she felt when they were together. They never talked about it, not a single word during or after. Perhaps she was becoming an animal like he was, she knew that was as much as their nights meant. He would never let her get close enough to hurt him and to be honest she was not even sure she was ever capable of that. If she let herself be completely frank, she could never kill him. Maybe hurt him, but never enough to stop him from whatever he was trying to achieve here. She wondered if killing him would stop the rest of them… for some reason she did not think so.

Jolie took in a hard breath, it was the first time she had admitted she cared for Bane. She had totally and utterly fucked up. Jolie looked back up to the blackened sky, she didn't even know who she was anymore, she lost track of who was wearing the real mask.

"You are not allowed to be here." A callused voice said behind her. She didn't need to turn around to know it was Bane.

"I find I like to break rules as often as I follow them. Besides, I'm the lookout." Jolie said pasting on her smile, it faltered.

"Then we should all leave that much faster." Bane said teasingly. "Why are you up here?" He said deadly seriously. Jolie looked up at him, smiled.

"I just wanted… I wanted to be away from your brothers." Jolie said honestly. He flipped his coat back as he kneeled next to Jolie.

"Is anyone of them bothering you?" Bane asked, keeping her gaze. Jolie let her head fall on his, she nuzzled his cheek with her nose.

"No, I'm paranoid. I assume they all hate me." Jolie whispered. "It is hard to feel comfortable when everyone would easily jump at the chance to kill you."

"If they do I promise you they will join you instantly." Bane said a little seriously. Jolie looked at Bane, his eyes dark and dangerous.

Jolie easily pushed him down from his crouch as she slid on top of him. He instantly grabbed her waist as she rubbed herself on top of him. She felt him harden, without breaking his gaze she began to undo his pants as he undid hers. She let her hips circle his slowly leaning back as he ran his hands up and down her stomach and her breasts. Bane made a guttural sound and she let her waist slow down and then speed up only to slow down again. Jolie leaned into Bane and held on to his bulging shoulders as he lifted her and placed her on her back. There was steam coming from their bodies as they kept moving in sync, neither of them bothered to notice the cold winds.

Jolie closed her eyes, letting go of everything in her head as he filled her up. Bane growled and grabbed her by the hair until she opened her eyes. Jolie smiled as he lifted her up to his chest, easily keeping the same pace she had set. Jolie held on to his neck and instinctively kissed his mask, in between the tubes, where his lips should have been.

Bane grabbed her shoulders and stopped mid thrust. He looked at her furiously at first, then confused, then suspicious. Jolie couldn't get out of his iron grasp and only looked at him wide eyed. She moved her forehead toward his and he hesitantly met it, she let her lips brush the strap as he let one of her arms go. She put her hand on his temples as she gently kissed his brow and moved her way down to the cheek. She went back to where his lips should have been and he cautiously moved his head back but she insisted. She made sure to look into his eyes, so that he would know she was trustworthy. When he stopped fighting her, he actually closed his eyes. Jolie was holding her breath, completely focused on her lips on his mask. He shoved himself inside so hard it made her scream out.

When they were done they zipped on their clothes and Bane looked at Jolie intentsely. It felt as if they had crossed borders without realizing it. Jolie wasn't sure how to deal with that, she seemed pretty useless in that department these days. He subconsciously touched his mask, where Jolie had 'kissed' him and that vulnerability made her hug him. It was the first time she had done that, it was so instinctive that Bane returned it, just as quickly as it had started it was over. She did not fool herself to think this meant more than it was, but as an animal develops loyalty towards another, she felt the tie with him.

"I remember what it was like to feel… You don't develop feelings easily, that is good. Still, you must remember those feelings. Your enemies are ruled by them. It makes them predictable. " Bane spoke to her as if he was starting a lesson, everything always led back to her training. When Jolie looked up at him, he fixed her mask straight.

"You are intelligent, but no one is born that way. Who trained you?" She asked him curiously.

"I was taught by Rha's Al Ghul… one day you will know what this means." Bane said with his usual humor.

"What are you going to do when this is over? Will you go conquer another city, or another country? Bane the Conqueror… its old fashioned but I can see it." Jolie said smiling, letting her forehead fall on his. It was getting so easy to be this person.

"I am not a conqueror." Bane said simply.

"Well someone needs to tell that to all those people hiding in their houses. Someone should have told…" Jolie said smiling. She was curious about his past, but it was too late for that. She had to keep moving forward, looking back did nothing but get you killed.

"I would not want to know you without your mask." She whispered truthfully.

"Oh I was very handsome, you would have fallen madly in love with me." Bane narrowed his eyebrows in amusement.

"Doubtful, I've never fallen in love, even with a pretty face." Jolie said as she pulled her coat tighter around her chest.

"You are lying. Everyone does at one point or another." Bane said seriously. He pushed Jolie off of him and began to put on his pants. Jolie didn't respond or acknowledge when Bane left her on the roof.

The people were standing, waiting patiently for the line to move as they got their rations. Jolie kept a close eye on the drivers who were unloading the supplies. She had a team of eight men, four mercenaries and four convicts and she knew only two of their names. One of the convicts was particularly handsome, though he seemed not to be keep his hands to himself.

"You're a pretty little thing, aren't you? What's her name pop?" He said as he put the barrel of the gun in the young girls hair. She was in fact very pretty, even as she trembled in line with the rest of her family. Her father was turning red, an older man but sturdy and very capable of causing trouble.

"You mind if I take your daughter out on a date? Tonight is good for me and I promise it will be good for her." The convict said sickeningly. The father, caring nothing about his place in line, pushed him hard and the convict stumbled onto the floor. His cheeks got flushed as he saw everyone staring at him. Angry, he stood up he pointed his gun straight at the man's face. His daughter got in front of him screaming, yelling for help.

"Enough." Jolie yelled as she walked toward the commotion, everyone had stopped to look at the scene play out. "Put your gun down." She ordered as she tilted her head with a smile.

"Ricky, just do what she says man." His friend walked next to her. She looked at him, smiling wickedly.

"Yes Ricky, do as I say." Jolie said condescendingly. Ricky looked at her, he was too angry to be smart. Jolie smiled wider. He was about to open his mouth and say something to Jolie.

"Oh, no no no. Ricky, what you have said up to know has gotten you into this. I advise you to shut the fuck up." Jolie ordered.

"Is that right bitch? They don't run this city anymore, we do… and I don't think you are on the right side. Wait till Bane hears where your sympathies lie." Ricky yelled as he pointed the gun at her. A shot rang and everyone crouched down, Jolie looked at Ricky, his knee had been almost shot off. She turned to nod at the mercenary who had taken the shot and recognized him. She nodded her appreciation to Suraj.

Jolie sauntered over to Ricky, who was screaming in pain. She took his handgun, it was old and cheap, she held it reluctantly.

"You're nothing but Bane's fucking whore-" He yelled in between the pain as he held on to his shattered leg.

"Don't worry about Bane, Ricky. As a matter of fact, don't worry about a fucking thing." Jolie said as she pulled the trigger point blank at his head. "You three, clean your friend up." She ordered the other three convicts who moved much quicker than she would have thought possible.

"Maybe next time you leave the goods at home old man." Jolie said to father who was cradling his daughter.

"Thank you." He said respectfully. Jolie spun around to face him.

"I wouldn't, see he was just particularly annoying. I could have just as easily killed her and then no one would have anything to fight about. Leave the girl at home." She said as she walked back towards the front of the line.

"Chop Chop driver, we have hungry people here in Gotham." Jolie yelled at the black man with green eyes who was looking at her intently. He looked at the floor and continued to distribute the supplies.

Jolie returned to the safe house and went straight into her room, she was about to take off her mask when she noticed Bane standing in the shadows. She threw her knife and it caught his coat, he smiled.

"You can see me in the darkness, yet you let a gun be pointed at your face." Bane said harshly as he came into the small rays of light. Jolie leaned against the wall, she rolled her eyes.

"I had it under control, he was a douche." Jolie replied. Bane looked at her confused by her choice of words, and not at all amused. "He was inconsequential." Jolie corrected herself.

Bane walked closer towards her, every muscle was strained. Jolie kept her head down.

"I needed to show everyone that I wasn't afraid, that I had control…" Jolie had begun after the silence became unnerving

"You had no control, nothing about that was controlled." Bane yelled at her.

"I was trying to avoid any casualties, we can't just kill-" Jolie continued.

"That is not your decision to make." Bane interrupted again.

"Then why don't you lock me up here in the room! I obviously cannot do a single thing right out there!" Jolie said pushing him away from her, he didn't even move a little. She walked past him and when he grabbed her hand she forced him forward but was to slow to move out of the way. Bane crashed into her on purpose and cornered her against the wall. He punched the wall next to her face and she tried to slip under his other arm. He grabbed her and pushed her back against the wall, this time her head gave a loud thud.

"If you don't trust me then you should just kill me." Jolie spoke calmly, her eyes stinging but she would rather die than let her eyes water without her permission. Bane grabbed her neck and for a second Jolie thought it was over for her, but he loosened his grip so that she could breathe.

He put his forehead on hers, trying to calm his anger.

"If it is death you wish for, you will not find it here. Perhaps you will have better luck the next time you oversee the supplies." Bane said growling. Jolie understood his anger, he thought she was trying to die, purposefully.

"How could I ever leave you here, alone? Even if you do send me away…" Jolie said as she brought her hand up to his face. Meeting his gaze for the first time, he was angry.

"You are to be… you need to be there to let the men see that you can lead. That is the plan, not to get you killed by a rat of Gotham." Bane said forcing the words in his accustomed indifference.

"Why does there have to be a plan? Can't we make our own rules here? And if not here then somewhere else, anywhere else?" Jolie said and for the first time she saw conflict in his grey eyes. He tore himself away from her, as if she were dangerous.

"You will not disappoint me next time." Bane bellowed.

She moved toward him and recoiled even farther back until he slammed the door as he left the room.

"We need to move now." Bane said as he threw Jolie's clothes at her. She instinctively grabbed her mask and put it on, she hated him to see her without it on.

"What is the rush?" Jolie asked concerned. He was in strictly business mode, which was never good because his business was killing.

"We have intruders." Bane said deadly seriously. Jolie froze and turned to Bane, frightened.

"Are you sure?" Jolie asked keeping her voice steady.

"Yes. They have been confirmed." Bane said as he looked at her dressing.

"Will you blow up the city?" Jolie asked as she turned her back to him and put her pants on. She couldn't have him seeing how scared she was of the answer.

"That is up to the trigger man. Now let's hurry." Bane said as he walked towards the door. Jolie followed hesitantly.

They arrived at Tellsons bank, it seemed ingenious that anyone would hide here once the money was looted and the building abandoned.

Jolie stepped off her motorcycle quietly and let her hair fall down her face. Without warning, Bane grabbed her by the waist and did their forehead bump, his eyes were wild. Almost excited, she smiled at him, it was always so easy to play off his energy.

Jolie walked into the lobby right after Bane and was slightly disappointed when everything was empty. She walked through the teller stations, they were all in disarray, blood splatters were still visible. She heard the elevator move and her skin broke in goose bumps. She let herself take a deep breath, there was no turning back. The elevator stopped, and she could hear footsteps before the gunshots began.

She saw three men walk out and take cover while a fourth had jumped back in. Jolie ran for the stairs and easily jumped up to the second and then third floor. She saw many people running in no particular direction. They had been there for a while.

"… Somebody sold us out!"

Jolie ran towards the shouts and saw the only group of people that seemed to have purpose. As Jolie turned the corridor she slowed to a saunter and saw all three had their backs to her.

"Take Miranda" A familiar voice said and the other man grabbed her hand and turned right towards Jolie. She pointed her gun directly at his head and almost pulled the trigger until she saw his face, her insides fell straight through the ground.

Blake turned and saw the girl he had seen a thousand times in his mind, he almost thought this was part of his imagination until he saw the gun in her hand. Her smile disappeared instantaneously, recognition set in her face.

Blake stood still, trapped in Jolie's eyes, for what seemed like an eternity. He wanted to run but couldn't move his feet, he had turned into stone. He knew neither Fox nor Miranda had seen her yet, he wasn't sure if they would know who she was.

He looked into her unblinking emerald eyes, they truly were stone. Her gaze was completely fixed on him and as her eyebrows narrowed and her lips pouted he almost didn't care about the gunshots behind his head.

He inhaled deeply and took Miranda by the hand. He closed off that part of him, the part that cared for Jolie, the part that knew her. She was lost to him, had always been slightly out of his reach. He ran.

Jolie never stopped walking towards John Blake, but she was running on autopilot. She would have cried had she not been slapped so hard by the shock that he was alive. She could not control her arm, or the hand that was pointing her gun at him. It never seemed to bother him and for a second she saw a flicker of happiness to see her.

She heard the gun shots, Bane was close and her heart was beating out of her chest. When she saw his eyes harden and turned to the only exit he had left with Miranda's hand intertwined with his she almost didn't stop him. Almost.

As Jolie ran past Fox she smiled at him without realizing she was doing it. Blake was running deeper into the bank, a bank she had never been in before. There were a lot of sharp turns and blind spots, so much so that the only reason she was going the right way was because she could hear Miranda's high heels. As if they had read her mind, Jolie could no longer hear the echo of footsteps.

Jolie ran faster, trying to find a way to cut them off. When everything was silent she slowed down, they had to have stopped. Somewhere behind her she heard something fall, as Jolie turned she saw Miranda looking at her before running. Jolie chased with all her speed, but she wasn't fast enough. She heard a loud noise and saw Blake and Miranda jump out of a window into a garbage can. Blake had moved the garbage well away from the windows so that Jolie was left staring at him.

Blake looked at Jolie stuck in the window and couldn't help but smile as he raised his hands away from his chest.

"Be my guest." He yelled before turning to catch up with Miranda and ran out of her sight. Jolie felt as if she had ran straight into a brick wall, he knew who she was.

Jolie found that Fox had surrendered easily and she took charge of him. As they made their way down into the elevator and into the lobby Bane was there standing over the only man that had survived the shooting, barely. She recognized him when he opened his eyes, he was the driver to her supplies truck, the one who had looked at her oddly.

"I'll die before I talk…" He said defiantly.

"I'm on your schedule, Captain." Bane said as he placed his hand over the Captain's nose and mouth. Bane searched the room, until he saw Jolie standing with her gun pointed at Fox's back.

"There were people living upstairs." Jolie says nonchalantly.

"Give them over for judgment." Bane ordered. "Hang them where the world will see."

"Miranda Tate escaped, some jock ran her out." Jolie continued.

"Who did?" Bane asked interested. Fox inconspicuously looked at Jolie.

"I don't know, some guy I guess." She said avoiding Fox's gaze. Bane nodded and let her take Fox to where they were going to round up all the people hiding in the bank.

"I should have let him kill you, not that he would have. You were in it all along." Fox said accusingly when they were well away from Bane.

"I was never a part of this plan, I just happened to be better at surviving it than you have." Jolie replied calmly.

"No one is going to survive this when the bomb blows." Fox said reading her expression. He smiled when he saw her face.

"Guess they didn't tell you that part, huh?"

Jolie wiped her face from all expression, this was dangerous information.

"Why didn't you tell him it was Blake?" Fox continued. Jolie looked at him, just hearing his name made her discombobulated.

"He was never in the sewers, was he?" Jolie looked at Fox pleadingly for a straight answer.

"No, he wasn't. Then again, you don't get to know that kind of information when you're playing for the other team." Fox said softening his tone with her.

"The other team was the only one who would take me, Fox. It was every man for himself and nobody came to rescue me." Jolie said slightly bitter.

"That's were your wrong, Miss Farrell. Some jock did, from what I hear." Fox said under his breath as Bane walked out leading the other prisoners. She gave Fox over to the crowed and stood next to Bane, trying not to think about anything that had happened inside the bank.