Sorry for the delay with getting this out, however I made sure to add a little extra at the end to make this chapter come out and finish with a punch; we are on chapter 20 after all ;)
So 20 chapter's in and still going strong. I honestly can't believe the following this story has, it's still hard to wrap my head around, and all of you are such amazing people! A big thank you to those who defending this story or sent me PM's expressing that a certain someone's review was a bit harsh, and on that note, I would like to say something to people who think I am butchering or destroying Bane and the Batman world.
This fic is mostly based off of Christopher Nolan's world of Batman, more commonly known as Nolan-Verse. So that being said, he never gave Bane much of a background and this story is very much along the lines of, what would have happened if Bane was given the chance to love someone who wasn't Talia. That being said though, I'm still following the movie's plot lines, I don't intend on making him a soft and cuddly bunny type person, I know he is cold and harsh and has no attachment to the human life, but there is always an exception to the rule. Fanfiction is made so that Fan's of stories, or video games, or movies or whatever, can express or develop different sides to a pre-existing character, create a whole new chain of events or recreate the entire story from a different perspective. That is what FanFiction is, and this story is my version of what Bane's life would have been like if someone like Rayna was in his life early on, so if you don't like it, then you don't have to read it. But this is my story, and I like this Bane how he is, as do many others, obviously. I always appreciate feedback, but flames are not feedback or constructive criticism. A flame gives no help to a writer, only hinders their ability to write, so it's pointless and if that is your honest opinion, then keep it to yourself or tell me how you feel when you aren't logged in as a guest, so I can discuss and talk to you in a PM on why you think I'm 'ruining Bane', and I can then explain to you what I have just typed. Thank you.
AND with that rant over, ENJOY THE CHAPTER :D
Bane's Lullaby Ch 20
"Deal's off." I said over the phone, my voice hushed even though I sat on top of the roof of our cabin, Bane and Rayna inside and most likely distracted by the other. Thankfully with them being newly engaged, it gave a proper distraction that allowed for this conversation.
"You can't back out of this Azriel. I saved your life."
"You also gave me false information. You said Bane took her captive, but I have never seen her this happy in her entire life. I won't take that away from her, even if that means neither her or I would be a part of it again." I heard my contact smile.
"How sentimental, but even at this point you wouldn't be able to be a part of the league anymore…it was destroyed last night."
"What?!" I exclaimed, my genuine shock bringing my volume to a shout. I couldn't believe it—they had to be wrong; nothing could ever destroy the league.
"A man by the name Bruce Wayne was seen bringing Ra's to the village after the explosion and then he left. I need Bane, Ra's needs Bane to fulfill his destiny, and so we can destroy Gotham." I shook my head.
"He exiled Bane. If he needed him then he never would have done that. It's you who's stressing his importance—and part of me wonders if it's more for business or pleasure."
"My father said he exiled him, but from my understanding, Ra's still keeps in contact with him. They're both so weak minded when it comes to Rayna, I always found it sad." I heard the sick and twisted hatred start to surface in Talia's voice.
When things didn't go according to her plans, she always let her true emotions slip past; it was her pattern.
If nothing else was distracting her, she could focus all of her mental power on concealing her true feelings, her true opinions of others and the fact that she hated everything that breathed unless it was herself or Bane; nobody else was worthy of her 'nice' side.
I always tried to make it so Ray saw it too, saw the deep seeded hatred, but she always refused—that was like Rayna though. She always ignored the bad and searched for the good, no matter how hard it was to find.
"So you lied to me to get me to track down Bane and Rayna, for what then? I won't bring them back, I won't let you rip them apart."
"We'll see Azriel. I will talk to you later and I do hope you change your mind by then." Talia disconnected the phone and I sat, unmoving, as I took in the threatening tone in her voice.
Part of me felt like running away in hopes it would save them, but part of me felt like if I stayed, than I could help keep them safe. The only thing that was certain was that I regretted my desperate decision to agree with Talia.
Sighing heavily, I curled my chest into my knees and closed my eyes, feeling the heaviness from the stress. I had to figure out what to do before mentioning any of this to Rayna or Bane, especially Bane.
"Azriel." Bane greeted me as I walked into the cabin to grab some tea. It took awhile for me to get used to his new size. It was incredible how his body worked with Venom, a mysteriously beautiful thing.
"Bane." I said, nodding towards him. "What brings you out of your bed and away from your fiancé?" I heard him give a gruff sound, obviously taking my sarcastic tone as a threat, but he always got that way when I said something about Rayna.
"You said I needed a ring, and I want to make one, but I need your help." I heard the floor creak under his heavy feet, slightly bending the wood beneath him. I turned around and leaned against the counter.
"Well you know what you have to do to get me to help." I said, giving him an obvious and over-exaggerated wink. I heard him give a sharp laugh and his hand reached out to me, and eventually gripped the back of my head. My body went stiff, what was he doing?
"Come." He said suddenly, as he pulled my head forward and slightly pushed me towards the door. I heard him chuckle at my obvious rigidness—he managed to unnerve me with one move and he obviously found it amusing. I smiled as Rayna's words ran through my head, as if responding to what happened.
'Bane! Be nice to Azzy, don't—' however…she may have not defended me since I did wink at him. A laugh escaped my lips as I stepped onto the porch.
Smiling, I breathed in the cold brisk air of the winter's night. "Alright, my man. What are you thinking in terms of a ring? You want to try to find scrap metal or something?" I took a few steps down the stairs leading off our porch, but stopped and looked back at Bane when I didn't hear him move with me.
"I want to carve it out of wood or stone, but up here wood would be easier to find than stone that is easily moldable." He let out a heavy sigh, almost motioning his agreement to his own decision. It was always an odd concept to think that a brute like him actually had a brain, and a highly functioning one to boot.
"Okay, so what do you need me to help with?" I asked, unsure what exactly it was that Bane wanted. I didn't know how to carve wood, and I definitely didn't know what kind of tree would be the best for making a ring.
"I used to carve a lot of stone when I was in that prison." Bane spoke with a darkness that he always had when talking about the cage that he grew up in. I never knew how to respond when he talked about it, to be honest, which was rare for me.
Nobody could really blame him for being so angry or closed-off though, or for having the potential of being borderline psychotic; it was a blessing that he wasn't like that already with everything he's gone through.
"I can teach you," he said, cutting off my train of thought, "but my hands are too big to put in the fine details, or carve the inside. That is what I need your help for." He started to walk down the stairs, having a certain determined look in his eyes.
"Okay, so then why am I coming with you to find the wood?" I asked, slightly annoyed. I wanted to have some tea, relax a little during the quiet night and then get back to doing watch.
It wasn't that I didn't like Bane, but being alone with him was always different than being around him with Rayna close by. He was always softer when he was around her.
I felt a hand grip the back of my jacket and effortlessly pick me up, off the ground, and gently place me in the shin deep snow. "I want the company." Bane said with a cheeky smile, which happened to be conveniently hidden by his mask.
"I guess I don't have much of a choice." I said, recovering from the fact that I felt insignificant next to Bane, his physical threat apparent to me. His strength was overwhelming and I couldn't help but study his muscles as he moved through the snow, or more like plowed through it.
I followed him quietly at first, my mind fixated on how effortlessly Bane moved through the thick snow, leaving a perfect trail in his wake, his body forcing the snow aside, like it had no chance at opposing his stride.
"Did I frighten you that much?" Bane asked, his voice breaking me from my previous concentration. Something about his voice didn't seem right, there wasn't a lingering threat or a hint of anger, however I couldn't quite put my finger on what drove this foreign tone to his robotic voice.
I let out a heavy sigh as my mind struggled over the idea of lying to Bane or telling him the truth.
"To be honest, ever since your episode at the league, your physical presence is easily noticed. You…can be intimidating at times." I breathed in as Bane stopped moving.
By this point we had walked pretty far into the forrest. Bane had periodically snapped a branch off of a tree, examined it and then tossed it away, all while keeping a steady and fast pace.
"It's hard to not become what everyone thinks you were made to be. They put that expectation on you and won't believe your something else, even if you are. They always think your hiding it." I said nothing, my own guilt keeping me quiet.
"But then again, those who seek evil in others usually have the bigger demon." He turned to look at me, danger in his eyes.
"Azriel, what demon's are you hiding from us?" He crossed his arms over his chest and let out a heavy sigh, his eyes never leaving mine. I felt my heart beat against my chest; I was scared.
"There has been something about your presence here, since day one, that I have questioned. Why have you not told us how you got here?" He paused, giving the proper amount of time to further intimidate me.
His eyes were cold and distant, the same darkness that I had seen in him the day he nearly killed one of his league brothers, brewed within. But Rayna's love protected me, I knew that much. As long as I chose my words wisely with Bane when I explained everything, he wouldn't kill me.
"You're a smart man, a brilliant con artist and sadly Rayna can be easy to trick with your game of smoke and mirrors, but I am not that easy." He took a step forward, the crunching of the snow setting my skin on edge; it too easily reminded me how quickly Bane could crush my bones. He stopped, a foot away from my slightly trembling body.
I couldn't take it anymore, the guilt had been eating away at me, for too long I played out my days in wonderful and ignorant bliss, hoping that my past would never come back to haunt me.
I didn't want to get them in trouble, and I didn't want to harm them, I just wanted to be by the one person who wouldn't make me feel so alone in this world.
"So you better explain to me now." His words tore me away from my thoughts; my body trembling further—something about right now didn't feel right. "Why do I suddenly scare you more than before, Azriel? What do you not want me to know?."
"I—" I stumbled over my words, unsure of how to respond. I was frightened for my life and theirs. This was my chance to explain before anything else could go wrong; god knew what lengths Talia would go to get Bane within her grasp and away from Rayna.
"I was lost, hungry, and dying. She saved me, and I owed her a debt, but what she asked of me wasn't fair!" I exclaimed, scared that Bane had already connected the dots, but he stood still and unmoving, his eyes watching as I slowly got more desperate for his sympathy.
"She said that you took Rayna captive and against her will. That you stole her from Ra's and brought her to some rural area. She said that if I brought Rayna back to the league and gave you to her, that I could go home again. That Ra's would lift the excommunication off of my name—I could go home." Tears started to roll down my face silently as I saw Bane's jaw clench and his eyes became harder and more fixed on me.
We stood in silence, but I could take it no longer. I covered my face with my hands, not able to take the guilt anymore, knowing that my actions threatened Rayna and him. I was weak; I gave into Talia, of all people, and risked their lives. I heard Bane give a heavy sigh, and then the crunch of the snow as he stepped closer to me.
Crunch, Crunch.
The last sounds I would surely hear before he crushes me with his hands, before he breaks me for threatening the safety of his beloved Rayna, of my sweet Rayna. I jumped as Bane's hand rested on my right shoulder.
"Talia." He said, with another heavy sigh. "She is relentless when it comes to things she wants. I am sorry she used you like that Azriel, do not let it haunt you anymore. She will not find us up here." I looked up at him, letting my hands fall to my side.
Was he being kind to me? Offering me kind words to soften the blow to my guilt? I smiled, knowing how hard it must have been for him to put his anger aside to allow such speech.
"Thank you Bane. I know we can protect—"
I watched Azriel with unnerved eyes. I should kill him and move Rayna, it would be the only way to get away from Talia, yet something in the way he pleaded, in the desperate way he looked at me, I knew he was telling the truth and that he never meant for this to happen.
Talia was an evil woman, she stopped at nothing until she got what she wanted, destroying everything in her path if necessary. She deceived and corrupted others into doing her bidding—somehow she always found leverage on them.
I let out a sigh, pushing away the anger I felt towards Azriel and thought of Rayna, thought of what she would say. 'He didn't mean it Bane, you couldn't blame him…its Azzy.'
I could picture her eyes start to water at the idea of her friend leaving this world, and I knew that I couldn't be the one to do it. She would never forgive me, and it wasn't his fault.
He was simply manipulated when he was in a desperate state, he had no way of backing out without accepting death, and as noble of a league member Azzy was, he never had to accept the fact that there could have been someone out there who could kill him, until it came to me.
Besides me, or Ra's, there were few who could match his skills. However, being unpracticed and unnerved, he would stand no chance against me at this point. I watched as his body trembled in front of me; he was terrified of my wrath.
I walked forward, towards him, and gently placed my right hand on his shoulder, feeling him jump under my touch. "Talia." I said, letting out another heavy sigh as I thought of the twisted past and relationship her and I shared. "She is relentless when it comes to things she wants. I am sorry she used you like that Azriel, do not let it haunt you anymore. She will not find us up here."
Azriel looked up to me, shock covering his face. He didn't understand my kindness; it was probably one of the few times in my life that I easily pushed aside my anger.
It was an odd feeling to have these days, anger. The adrenaline was addicting, but my life didn't have an agenda for it, no reason to feel it, so it was rare emotion that I engaged in, which made it all the more easier to ignore.
He simply smiled. "Thank you Bane. I know we can protect—"
Red spread across the perfectly white snow as Azriel's smile disappeared from his face, and his lifeless body fell to the ground, a bullet lodged within his brain. There was no time to react; I needed to get to Rayna right away.
Talia had found us.
I awoke, stretching my body over the entire bed, expecting to collide with Bane at some point, but finding my body had no restrictions. Lifting my head from the pillow, I saw the bed was empty.
I entered the living room, expecting to see either Bane or Azriel, but when I saw neither, I felt panic set in.
Opening the door, I looked on the porch to see Azriel's mug sitting on the table. I accepted the fact that they must have left for a walk, but that's when my eyes fell onto their tracks and I could see the thick layer of freshly fallen snow; they had been gone too long. Closing the door, I rushed back inside and started to get dressed for the outdoors—I had to go find them.
Finally dressed, I grabbed the emergency bag that we kept ready at all times, just incase. Going outside once more, I called out Bane and Azriel's name, listening intently as my voice carried over the empty land.
"Rayna!" I heard Bane call from the distance. I nearly bounded off of the porch and briskly walked towards his voice. He appeared in the clearing, his chest frantically rising, but there was no Azriel. Where was Azzy? I felt my heart race. Where was my friend?
Before I could ask any questions, I saw men appear in the clearing around the cabin, wearing army vests and mercenary-type clothes. I saw the type of uniforms around the league a lot as mission clothes or under-cover uniforms.
"Run!" I heard Bane yell but my body didn't respond, as I stood, motionless. How were there people here, why were there people here…and where was Azzy?
"Rayna! RUN!" I heard Bane yell again, and I looked at him as he started to charge at the armed men.
"BANE!" I yelled, starting to move towards him but he just started to run faster.
"DAMNIT RAYNA! RUN!" He yelled with all his fury one last time before he tackled one of the men, got up with ungodly speed, just to pick up another and throw him against a tree, obviously knocking the man unconscious.
My body took over, disregarding my fright for Bane's life, and I turned and ran, not caring what direction, or where to. I just did as he commanded, and ran.
Tree's whipped past me as I bolted through the forrest, hearing the sound of men following me.
The weight of my emergency kit slowed me down slightly, but their weapons would slow them down more. Darting through thicker trees, I could tell I was winning ground on them; their sounds were slowly drowning out into the distance.
Suddenly, something caught my foot and I fell down, knocking the wind out of my lungs. Rolling around in shock and agony, I focused on breathing past the sharp pain as tears started to roll down my cheeks. I needed to get up; I had to continue to run.
Reluctantly standing up, I looked down at what caused me to trip and I felt my world stop. My eyes landed on Azriel's face, a hole in his head and his skin slightly blue. I felt the sadness and panic leave me as I let my emergency kit fall to my side, as I stared at my dead best friend.
They did this to him…and they would pay for it. Dropping to the ground, I started to rummage through the kit, feeling my newfound anger burn deep in my stomach.
Wrapping my grip around the handgun, I pulled it out and started to walk towards the cabin. I slowly and carefully placed my feet in my old tracks, making sure I was as quiet as possible, my white clothes not giving away my location immediately; I knew I would see them coming first.
One dark spot out in the distance marked where they were, I let loose a bullet and saw him fall. Quickly another left my barrel and then a third, causing my pursuers to drop dead in their tracks.
I walked back over to Azriel, knowing I could do nothing. I grabbed the tarp that was in the emergency kit, unfolded it partially and placed it over my friend.
"Good bye Azriel. My dear friend." I spoke softly as tears stung my eyes. "I will never forget your kindness and you will forever follow me in my heart. Just promise to watch over me with kind eyes and your forgiving smile." I turned away and started to walk towards the cabin.
I was done with being afraid; whoever did this to us would pay by my judgment.
I walked back into the clearing, praying to see Bane, sitting on the porch waiting for me to come home, hoping that he would be okay, but as I assumed, my wishes were not granted.
Talia stood in the middle of the open area, four of her men standing behind her. "Hello, my sister. I see you were stupid enough to return, as I predicted." I felt my heart twist and shatter as the situation that lay before my eyes forced the realization upon me that she was behind this.
"But father said—"
"Father would believe anything when it came to you." I heard the bite behind her voice, the lingering threat that she spoke with when it came to the sibling rivalry between us.
"He never understood, father. He never understood why I could never love you, why I always hated you." A smile broke her jagged and harsh face; it didn't look right. "Your mother was right to hate you, though; it was the one thing she did right." She played with the knife in her hands as she spoke, watching it as the sun shined off the metal.
"Why?" I asked, not knowing what else to say. "Why kill Azzy?! Why take Bane? Why go to this length to do all of this? If you had told me…if I would have known this is what you would have done, I would have left. I would have run from it all, from that entire life. Why did you let it come to this?" My voice was but a whisper, barely traveling across the open space.
My body wouldn't allow me to move, I stood, motionless and unable to think of the reason, the logic, behind my sister's moves. It was purely vengeful, this was all done with malicious intent—she never meant for it any other way.
"My entire life, I have done nothing but love you." I spoke softly, feeling my anger rise within. "MY ENTIRE LIFE," I screamed, "you have hated me, tortured me, and made me feel like I was living in hell."
"Why can you not accept the fact that I deserve love? That I deserve happiness and that it isn't my fault that you deny that from yourself! It's your own damn fault you hate this world Talia!" My breath created a fog in front of my eyes; my chest was rising quickly as I paused from my rant.
Slowing my breathing, I focused on calming down before I spoke again."…And if it isn't your fault, then it definitely isn't mine."
"Why do all of this, Talia? Don't you ever get tired of it all?" She simply smiled and signaled her men to raise their guns to me. Slowly, she moved towards me, through the snow, the smile still painted on her perfectly poised expression.
"Because, my lovely sister, nobody deserves to be happy, especially you. Everyone thinks you are perfect, they think you are pure and pretty and what this world needs more of. They don't see you for the weak, feeble, mis-guided and gullible twit that I know you to be."
"Somehow, you enchant people with your kindness, with your likeability, and you trick them into loving you." She stopped before me; anger causing my body to shake. It took the fact that I had four armed guards pointing guns at me to stop me from jumping my sister right now.
I couldn't take her anger anymore; I couldn't take the constant fighting and me constantly pacifying my own distress in hopes that it would get better. It never would, not only did Talia hate me, but the feeling had finally become reciprocated.
I raised my weapon, so it was inches from her face. I heard her men ready their guns, but she simply raised her hand, signaling them to stand down. I watched as her eyes smiled back at mine, a grin appearing on her face.
"You try to make me believe that you can kill me now, because you finally found some courage?" She laughed. "I know you could never pull that trigger, Rayna." She leaned in, pressing her forehead against my gun, her eyes still locked on mine. "Do it, if you can stomach killing your own sister."
"You aren't my sister." I said, through gritted teeth as she straightened her posture and placed her hands behind her back, a blank stare peering at me.
"Suddenly you stop trying to love me? After everything I had done to you, it took me taking Azriel and Bane from you to truly hate me?" I saw a smile momentarily replace her frown.
"I question your strength of spirit, sister. I expected you to pretend there was compassion between us for the rest of your pitiful life; which luckily won't be long…" I saw the smile peak back in the corner of her closed mouth, she was too happy at this moment.
"Unless you pull the trigger." I heard the threat behind her voice, I saw the daring look in her eyes, but what would I become if I did this.
Even though I hated her, even though the thought of her being my same blood disgusted me, I couldn't find the reason for her to die. I couldn't become her and kill without reasons; I wasn't a murderer.
Slowly, I lowered my gun and closed my eyes as I cursed the fact that my overly courageous and angry self thought I would even do it in the first place.
I woke up, sitting against a metal frame, in a moving vehicle of sorts. Even though my eyes were open, all I saw was black; a bag had been placed over my head.
I started to move my hands to try and feel how tight the bonds on my wrists were, but I stopped moving when I heard a man's voice.
"She's awake." One said.
"What do you want me to do? I'm driving." The other replied in an annoyed tone. I could already tell by how they both spoke that one was obviously more intelligent than the other. I felt a fat finger poke me.
"You awake?" It was the stupid one.
"Yes, don't poke me! Where are you taking me? Who are you?" I tried to keep my voice level, and thankfully succeeded.
"Well I'm Ga—"
"Idiot! Don't tell her who we are." The driver said, cutting off his goon.
"Well she's gonna have to find out eventually. Might as well tell her now, what harm will it do. We have to take care of her, we might as well be nice." Hmn, sympathy from a stranger who was hired by Talia, the last thing I was expecting.
"I'm Gart, and this here is Blaze." I could hear the smile behind his voice, but I didn't care. I wanted to know where I was going and I wanted this stupid bag off my head.
"Okay, well hello Gart, I'm Rayna." I smiled but it quickly turned to a frown when I remembered that I had a bag that blocked my face.
"Gart, would you be kind and remove this bag from my head and tell me where we're heading? There isn't really a use for it; I have no need to fight. I would be lost outside of this vehicle, since I have no clue where we are and how we got here." I heard the man's hearty chuckle.
"We will arrive soon enough, Miss Rayna. We're already home."
"And where's home?!" I pressed, a notable amount of frustration behind my voice.
"Gotham."
DUN DUn Dunnnnnnnnnnn! Rayna's Gotham bound, and without Bane. What will happen to Bane? Why is Rayna being taken to Gotham? What does Talia have in store for her? And who exactly are the mysterious Gart and Blaze? TUNE IN NEXT TIME TO "BANE'S LULLABY! CHAPTER 21".
Sorry, felt like doing that. But honestly, what did you think? I honestly cried when I wrote Rayna saying goodbye to Azriel, so I accept the fact if you hate me for killing him off, I hate myself too, but we can always blame Talia. YAY TALIA IS EVIL AGAIN! Well, she always was, but I hated having to pretend she was nice =P
And as always, thank you thank you thank you for sticking with me through 20 chapters. I cherish you all as readers and I always look forward to hearing what you though, good reactions or bad, about the chapter :)
Love love!
Narrie