Big thanks to Dark, who edits everything for me :D
The day turned to night quickly. Almost too quickly, like the world could sense my doom and changed accordingly. In my rush to get home, I barely noticed the countless people crowded around the TV's in the shop windows. The public transport was for some reason cancelled.
Damn Bane
I simply assumed that he was the cause. Briskly, I shoved past people in my desire to get home. Blocks later, I finally reached the hovel I called home. After living with John for several months, I decided it was time to find my own place. He objected, but eventually relented and helped me find somewhere cheap but reasonably safe. He had still only been comfortable when I agreed to let him deck the place out in locks. I was now safer than most of Gotham's elite, except perhaps the elusive Mr Wayne.
Scurrying up the stairs, I bumped momentarily into my Landlord.
"Careful there, Aussie." Said Mr Lout, his pudgy fingers gripping my shoulders.
With a curled lip, I shrugged him off.
"Thank you very much, Mr Lout."
He sent me a yellow-toothed smile, more like a leer.
"You know I asked you to call me Barry."
Yes, you also asked me to join you in your room the other night
Nobody had been more annoyed than Mr Lout when John appeared, and then demanded he be allowed to put more locks on the door. Mr Lout had demanded copies of all the keys, both John and myself refused.
"I don't think so." My tone was short and clipped, the desire to run overwhelming my ingrained politeness.
Mr Lout frowned, one hand absently scratching his trackie covered crutch. "No need to be rude, Aussie. We wouldn't want anything to happen to those lovely locks of yours, never know who could break in..."
He let the sentence hang. Usually I would have reminded him that I was close friends with a police officer, as it was I was leaving anyway.
"Whatever." Grumbling out the teen-worthy avoidance measure, I shoved past him and went to my rooms.
Now, I say 'room'. The only housing I had found that doesn't require ID or anything that I didn't actually have, was this place. As such, it meant that my 'rooms' were literally a room. Plural.
A dingy fold out couch served as my bed, while a single cupboard and stove top shoves in the corner was my Kitchen. It was disgusting, but home. Over the last few months I had managed to make it less like a 100-buck monthly place. The floors had been cleaned and polished, while the walls now held their fair share of cheap but chic artwork. Truth was I was loath to leave this place. But Bane had seen me, I wasn't foolish enough to believe he would leave me be.
I was halfway towards getting my carry bag, when the door was knocked on. Freezing for a moment, I contemplated the fact that it might be Bane.
Bane wouldn't knock, stupid!
Which meant it was either John, or the landlord. Praying for the former, I tentatively opened the door.
"Clara?" Said John, giving me a confused look at my probable scared face. "Are you ok."
Forcing a smile, I nodded and opened the door.
"Of course, please come in."
Apparently believing me, John smile excitedly and came in.
"His back!" Laughing, John flung his hands in the air and sat on my bed. "The Batman. I saw him, well, I was forced to chase him in a car."
I had known for a while that Batman was John's hero, I found it endearing. Forgetting about my need to escape, a wild thought entered my mind.
"Did he get him? Did the Batman get Bane?"
"Bane?"
I silently cursed my slip up. John merely looked curious for a moment, before his eyes widened in understanding.
"He was the one Batman was after?! Bane took control of the Stock Exchange, why? And how do you even know that?" I winced slightly, his eyes widened. "You were there!"
John fired off his questions quickly, I barely caught them all.
"W—well, yes, I was there." John looked ready to explode, his face going a funny red. Rushing forward I sat down next to him, taking his hands in mine. "Look, I'm fine ok. I was looking for one of the children's parents; he worked as a stock marketer."
John shifted his hands from mine. He grabbed onto me, pulling me into his hold. A hand gripped the back of my neck, clutching hard. He was shaking against me slightly. Touched, I held him back.
"I'm fine, John."
Clutching me hard once more, he let me go.
"How did you know that it was Bane?" Asked John.
To be honest, I was quite surprised he even knew who Bane was. The only reason I knew who he was before I met him was because I had contact with the shadier side of the track. John hadn't.
"I—I heard about him. A few years ago, there were rumours of a man wearing a mask who acted as a mercenary."
"And this was definitely Bane?"
I thought about the protruding metal tubes, the dark eyes and the massive figure.
"There is no doubt about it."
Nodding, John grabbed my hand and stood, pulling me with him.
"Wait." Slightly panicked, I pulled my hand from his. "Where are you taking me?"
Sensing my worry, John smiled softly and motioned towards the door.
"You're going to come and stay with me."
"What? Why?" Stammering slightly, I resisted the urge to do what he said. It would be so nice to simply let John take care of me, but I couldn't risk his life when Bane came to get me.
"You're planning on running, aren't you?"
Mouth agape, I stared at him.
How did he know?
"You always run, Clara, running is all you know." He answered my unasked question.
"I won't," I meant it, "I won't run this time."
I prayed he wouldn't try and force me to go with him. He didn't, John just tilted his head for a moment and sighed.
"Do you promise?"
"Yes."
Nodding, John held onto me again. Clutching his back, I breathed in his scent. He smelt like pine and wood. For a moment we moved back from each other. To observers, one would think that we were lovers saying goodbye.
"I'll see you tomorrow, and if I don't, I will find you Clara." His voice didn't hold any forbidding. It was simply John making a promise, and it made me feel safe.
"Ok." Releasing John, I smiled softly. "I'll be at the boy's home tomorrow. I feel that they will need all the help they can get in the following months."
"Why do you say that?"
I thought about Bane's lair; whatever they had planned would affect Gotham in a big way.
"Just a feeling." Smiling calmly, I led John towards the door. He let me lead him, I was under no pretence about that.
He stopped just before leaving, "You won't leave?"
"No John, I won't... No more running."
...
The second I stepped into the boy's home, I could feel the excitement in the air. Children were rushing about, playing a game aptly named 'Batman vs. Police'. Every child wanted to be Batman.
Mr Reilly threw orders at me the second I entered the home.
"Clara, thank god you're here." The frustration showed on him, deep black circles dominated his eyes. I knew that they matched mine; I had spent a sleepless night expecting Bane to come crashing into my room. "I have nearly all the children waiting for you, more than usual showed up today." Mr Reilly was distracted by a child running past, and was gone.
Choking back a laugh, I dodged past several frazzled workers and slipped into my usual classroom. Mr Reilly had been right; there were a lot more children than usual. They went silent the moment I stepped in. Giving a nervous smile, I took my spot at the front of the room.
"Ok, so there are a lot more of you here than normal... So I will just give you a quick overview. My name is Clara, please don't worry about adding a 'miss' in front of it, I am no more of a teacher than you are." Confused murmurs broke out around me. Holding out a hand, I waited for them to quite down. "Yes, I am not a teacher. But I don't have to be, I am somebody who has lived homeless for a great amount of their life, like many of you are fearful to do. I am here to tell you that you don't have to be homeless; there are some sneaky ways to avoid 'the man'."
Some students tittered; several hands went into the air. One of them belonged to Mark; I motioned for him to ask his question.
"Yes Mark?"
Clearing his throat, Mark stood to pose the question.
"We all know something is going down, something underground." Breath hitching for a moment, Mark appeared to think about his brother. "What I mean is, how are you so sure that people are willing to give us a chance out there..."
A rejected look came over every small face. My heart ached for those who were constantly treated like dirt, just because they were orphans, or had made a few mistakes.
"I have no way of knowing for certain that the top ground is better than bellow, but I can tell you this, it is dark and scary down there."
"You have been there?" Questioned a child with bright red hair, he was holding onto the hand of one of the older children.
"Yes. And I escaped for a reason." I knew that something bad was coming, and I could either tell them the truth or leave them to the wolves when they came.
"What is this reason, small one?"
I froze; there was no question as to whom that voice belonged to. In the many children I had overlooked the one adult in the room. Bane was standing at the back of the room, hidden partially in a corner with a black leather hood obscuring his face. When everybody turned to look, he removed it. Many of the children cried out, having seen the 'bad man' on television beating people at the stock exchange. There was a moment of panic, many of the smaller children ran towards me and grabbed a-hold of my legs, using them as barriers. The older boys tried to run from the room, only to have Barsad suddenly appear at the door with an automatic rifle in his hand. From his face I knew he wouldn't hesitate to harm any who tried to dodge past him. The older boys backed off; coming to move behind me as well.
"Please, let them go, Bane." I had no choice but to protect these kids, it was my duty.
Chuckling, Bane shrugged off the leather hood. Children screamed at the sight of his mask, he would become a fixture in their nightmares for years to come.
"Fear not, no harm shall come to the little ones. They are important after all, the future of this... great city."
Bane moved towards our huddled group. Gently I disentangled the children from around my legs, directing them towards the older children. By the time Bane had reached the front of the group, I had moved so they were all behind me.
"What do you want?" I tried to act brave, I really did. But my shoulders slunk into a submissive position, almost instinctively.
"I told you what I wanted, small one. It is no fault of mine that you force me to come here, to teach a lesson." His hand reached for my wrist, I let him take it.
"I couldn't run anymore, they needed me."
His gaze met mine. He wasn't smiling or smirking, he was emotionless as he looked down. Two of his fingers dug slightly into my joint. It would only take him a slight movement; no more than the effort I extended to swatting a fly, to break one of the many bones in my wrist.
But I couldn't let the children see my fear, or pain.
"Please, Bane. Not here."
The fingers lightly teased my wrist, circling absently around my pulse. I shivered.
"They will see much worse in the time to come. Why should I spare them this now."
"They're just kids." My eyes started to water, frightened not only for myself but those under my care. "Let them keep their innocence for a little longer."
Something lit up in his eyes; a memory of something past?
He nodded once at Barsad. Barsad then moved away from the door, the older children took the hint and, grabbing the younger ones, ran from the room. They were smart enough not to call for help, knowing it would only end in pain for me. Mark was the only one to look back at me, I gave him a single watery smile, and he was gone.
Bane brought my attention back to him.
"We are leaving this place. Small one, you will accompany us. It seems you cannot be trusted to not interfere." His grip on my wrist changed. No longer punishing, it was now like a vice. "Barsad, ready the car. Release the teachers; let them return to their mundane lives."
Nodding, Barsad left the room. It became eerily silent between myself and Bane. All that could be heart was the breathing apparatus covering his face. My hands twisted together and sweat pooled at my lower back.
"Why are you taking me?" His eyes narrowed slightly at my tone, "I—I mean...I—I... Just…I don't understand. You could simply kill me…" Gulping, I prayed he wouldn't take my question as a suggestion.
Shockingly quick, for a man with his mass, Bane crowded me against the blackboard behind me. I didn't dare breath as his fingers fiddled with my hair; he seemed entranced with the longer locks.
"Do you think me selfish, small one? To wish to keep something from the horror of Gotham's future."
Don't answer! Wrong answer = less hair
"Nothing to say?"
Mute, I only shook my head.
Bane was obviously smirking under the mask; I could see the crinkles quite clearly in the corner of his eyes.
"Very well then, do not struggle."
His hand clamped down on my neck before I could ask what he meant. For a second, it was as if he were simply holding me to tight, then my vision started to go splotchy. Despite the warning, my body started it involuntary need to breathe. My nails didn't do any damage to his face, nor did my feet to his shins. Probably because I was so weak, kind of like a kitten scratching a tiger.
"Sleep now, small one." My eyes drooped. Bane somehow scooped my into his arms, while keeping one hand on my neck. "You will awaken to a new and glorious Gotham."
Darkness
Hey guys, it's been about a month since the last update. Sorry about this, but I have heavy class load at the moment and am in the process of re-writing 'Freedom Flight'… I will make an effort to get more Bane chapters out. Anyway, hope you enjoy.
Xoxo
Future
