Chapter 30
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He hit the earth hard. A roar of agony tearing up his throat as he landed flat on his back. A white-hot pain shooting through him as something plunged into him, slicing through his flesh. Pain seared through his body. His hands trembling as he gripped the rough metal pipe that protruded from his body. Blood gushed out of him, staining his skin red. The edges of his vision blurring as his body went into shock.
Arman lay face down before him, moaning in pain as he began to stir. A grin spreading across his face as he lifted his head from the dirt to see him lying there impaled and bloody. He could see the excitement in his eyes, unable to believe his luck. The great beast down at last. He knew he could not take him at his full strength – he never could. Back in the pit, he'd had to use Talia to get to him. Then when all hell broke loose, it had been the mob that had took him down. Not Arman. He knew that this was his first and only chance to take him down with his own hands and he revelled in it.
Lifting himself from the ground, he hissed in pain, clearly wounded from the fall himself and doubled over. Reaching out he placed a hand on the exposed pipe, jostling it as he used it to lift himself from the ground causing Bane to roar out. Black dots clouding his vision as pain radiated to every fibre of his being.
Wearing a grin from ear to ear Arman began chuckling.
"Oh this is just too good" he sniggered "it's almost poetic if you think about it. What are the odds that you are to die here, in this place, protecting someone you care about?"
Anger surged through him. He wanted to reach out and grab him, but he remained still knowing moving was not an option. He could feel his strength fading, growing weaker with every passing second. The pain luring him into a false sense of comfort, threatening to take him under but he fought against it. He needed to stay awake.
Like a shark to blood Arman began to circle, eyeing him up and down before coming to crouch beside him and pulled a knife from his robe. The curved blade glinting off his mask as he held it in front of his face.
"You remember this?" He sneered, studying his face for any kind of recognition.
Bane clenched his jaw. Of course, he remembered it. It was Talia's knife. Passed down to her by her father after she was successful in her initiation. It had seen more action than most men. The very weapon that had wounded the Batman during her siege of Gotham. 'Perfect for slitting throats' or so she liked to say, referring to the crescent shape of the blade. It was her most precious tool - besides him.
He barely felt the pinch of the blade as Arman pressed it against his skin. The pain was unbearable now, every part of him felt as though it was on fire. He didn't know how much more he could take when he felt Arman's lips at his ear.
"Change is coming. Can you feel it?" he hissed pressing the blade deeper "Talia is gone. You couldn't save her and now you'll fail to save her too..."
Even in his weakened state his words rang clear. Fighting against the darkness, Bane turned his head, his eyes meeting hers from across the gloom.
She was in the same place he had left her, trying desperately to free herself from the rubble. Her face twisted in pain as she tried to make her way to him. But why? Why would she help him after all he had put her through? He had tried to break her in more ways than a person should ever endure. He had taken her from all she knew. Forced her to witness unspeakable horrors and still, despite it all, she remained untainted by him.
Watching as she struggled to get to him, Bane realised too late that she was what he had been looking for. She was the innocence he was so sure had been scourged from this world. She had not fell prey to corruption or greed. She had not succumbed to the darkness as Talia had. He had known nothing but anger and pain until she came along. Stirring something inside of him that could no longer be ignored. She was light in the darkness. His redemption.
His only wish was that he could save her the way she had saved him.
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Lauren watched helplessly as Bane withered in agony. His skin pale and sweaty as blood spurted out of him. A hand wrapped round the metal pipe that jutted out of him, spearing him to the earth.
Ash fell from her hair as she lifted herself from the rubble, the earth swaying a little as she got to her feet when a searing pain shot through her. Her ankle flopping over, disjointed from the rest of her body causing her to fall back. Biting her lip she fought back a cry, tears pricking her eyes until the pain subsided, the heat replaced by a deep throbbing. She remembered the heat upon her face as she was thrown backwards. Her head still warm and fuzzy from where she had smashed it as she fell into the darkness. Her ankle broken from the heavy debris that fell upon her, crushing the bone in half. Her training told her to keep still but she didn't have a choice. Bane needed her. He was getting weaker with every passing second. His blood pooling around him, saturating his clothes. She needed to get to him and fast.
Mashing her teeth together she rolled onto her front. Blowing hard through puffed cheeks as pain seared through her. Her stomach rolling as she felt her ankle dangle behind her. Arman was crouched by Bane with his back facing her. The glint of the blade catching her eye as she slowly dragged herself towards them. She needed to be careful. One wrong move and they would both be dead.
Edging closer, Arman suddenly got to his feet. Screwing her eyes shut, she buried her face in the ground, praying she blended in with the mud that covered her as he began talking in a strange tongue.
"Don't worry" she heard him hiss "He is just here to assess – this time."
Barely daring to breathe Lauren lay still as another pair of footsteps approached from behind. Mud squelching beneath their boots as they came to a stop. Daring to lift her head she saw a figure stood just a head of her. The black garb filling her with fear.
"Seeing as you are still alive, I assume everything is proceeding as expected?"
"Yes sir" Arman replied.
"And the target?"
He moved aside wordlessly, allowing the knight to see Bane falling in and out of consciousness as he slowly bled out.
"Why has he not been eliminated yet?" The knight demanded "your instructions were clear."
"I'm getting to it."
"You've had your fun. Put an end to this. Now."
"Yes sir."
"Finish up here before you re-join us. We move on the invaders in five."
Lauren frowned. There was something unusual about this Knight. His armour was the same yet different. His leather breastplate branded by a strange emblem but it was his voice that bugged her. It was so strangely familiar as though from a distant dream. Lifting her eyes, she watched as the knight began buckling himself to the rope he'd descended from, when she caught a glimpse of his face. Her heart faltering at the sight of him. His eyes standing out against his dark skin.
Abu.
It all made sense now. The bombings. The ambush. The shooting in the park. It was him all along.
Bane had been telling her the truth. All this time she had blamed him for Jay's death. Not once did he tell her the truth – he simply let her hate him for it. She thought his death had been a malicious attack. Punishment for rebelling against him but it was far more complicated than that. It wasn't just to teach her a lesson but a calculated move. He was already going to storm the hospital that night. He was already going to find her out. Already going to murder a Crawler only he'd got the wrong man.
All because of Abu.
He'd been behind it all. Befriending her in order to gain information to feed to their enemy. Using her and Jay as a means to an end, to bring Bane down no matter what the cost. He was the reason the Crawlers had taken her, why they were so well equipped. He was the reason why Jay was dead. He was the puppeteer working from the shadows. The snake in the grass and she had been fool enough to trust him.
"Why" she whispered "why did you do it?"
Abu turned then. Seeming indifferent at the sight of her, as though he were looking at a stranger.
"I had a job to do" he replied "it was either him or me"
Anger flared in her chest as she thrashed on the ground trying to get to him but Abu turned away, unnerved by her.
She was no threat and he knew it. Tears welled in her eyes as she watched him climb up the rope feeling her vengeance disappear with was not the time. It wouldn't bring Jay back and Bane needed her.
Left alone Arman turned back to face them, a smirk spread across his face.
"You hear that? The League are here" he sneered "what do you think they'll do when they find her?"
Bane lifted his eyes to meet hers, his fear masking her own. She knew the end was coming, she could feel it. She wouldn't make it in time before Arman slit his throat. She would be forced to watch him die. Part of her was afraid, part of her was relieved it was all coming to an end. Bane had put her through hell, but she could not let him die. Not now. Not after everything they had been through.
Born into pain, forged by suffering he had never known any different besides violence. Talia had used him, Arman had tortured him and the League had turned against him but despite all that, there was still a glimmer of light within him. She had seen it. It was buried deep within the darkness and she knew he would never escape it…unless she showed him how.
Watching as Arman brought the blade to Bane's throat once more she felt something digging in her leg. Delving into her pocket she rummaged around frantically until her hand clasped around the handle.
The knife from the driver.
Pulling herself onto her elbows she scrambled across the ground as fast as she could. Her eyes locked on Arman.
"Get away from him!"
Lurching forward she swung out with the blade. The knife Slicing open the back of his ankles in one fluid motion causing him to cry out in pain.
"You bitch!"
Pain exploded across her face as his fist connected with her face sending her sprawling backwards. The force causing the knife to fall from her hand, sending it clattering across the dirt.
"Shit!"
She tried to reach for it. Her fingers just inches away when Arman kicked her in the side, causing her to double over, pain spreading through her body when his boot came down hard upon her stomach, knocking the breath out of her.
"You stupid girl!"
She could hear Bane bellowing in the background as Arman's hand knotted in her hair. Smashing her face into the ground. Once. Twice. Three times. She could taste blood in her mouth. Her ears ringing as he finally climbed off her. Watching helplessly as he headed in Banes direction.
"Please" she begged "please stop!"
It all happened so fast.
Seeing an opening Bane suddenly lunged forward, blood spraying from his wound as he grabbed Arman by the back of the neck, drawing him in. His eyes wild above the mask as he plunged her knife beneath Arman's jaw, ramming it deep into his skull with a sickening crunch. Blood splattering across his mask as Arman failed around. His eyes wide, muttering incoherently before falling still.
"Bane!"
Forcing herself to her hands she dragged herself towards him as he fell back exhausted. Reaching him, she pushed Arman's body aside, clamping a hand down upon his abdomen in a desperate attempt to try and stem the bleeding.
"Bane?"
"Hmm"
She took his head in her hands. His skin ashen beneath the mask. His eyes glazed as they found hers. His hand gesturing to the blood that ran down her face.
"Y-your face"
A half laugh, half sob escaped her lips. Tears welling in her eyes.
"I'm okay" she murmured "don't worry about me"
"I always worry about you"
Her face crumpled. The gun fire above them finally beginning to die down.
"They're coming"
She knew he was right. Tears of desperation sliding down her cheek as she looked around helplessly.
"Save your strength. I'm going to get us out of here"
He chuckled beneath her hands, his face twisting in pain with the movement.
"You never could lie to me"
She didn't reply. His breathing was laboured now. She could hear the hitch in his chest as his body slowly shut down. He was dying...and there was nothing she could do to stop it.
They listened as the last bullets were fired. The war cries fading into a deathly silence. No one was coming for them.
"You didn't answer me before"
"What?"
He turned to look at her, his eyes soft as he slowly faded before her. He looked so fragile, so breakable.
"Why did you come back?"
She swallowed hard. The question hitting a nerve. He wasn't supposed to ask her this. Not now. She didn't want to acknowledge the ache inside of her and yet he drew it out. Forcing her to confront what she had known all along – of what she feared most.
"Because - because I love you"
Her voice was merely a whisper. Sobbing silently as she stared at the ground, unable to bring herself to look at him when she felt a flash of warmth against her cheek. He said nothing. He didn't need too. His eyes burning as he gently wiped away a tear with his thumb. His fingers tenderly curling around her jaw, cupping her cheek.
Closing her eyes, she turned her face into his palm, allowing herself just to feel for once. His hand warm and rough against her skin. He was the last thing her heart expected but sometimes love is not where you want it to be or look how you imagined. Sometimes its complicated and painful but its real. They shouldn't belong together and yet somehow they fit together in a crazy tangled mess.
Breathing him in as though he were a part of herself, she suddenly felt his body become limp. His hand dropping from her face.
"Bane?"
He didn't respond.
"Bane?!"
She listened for the rasp of the mask. Shaking his arm vigorously.
"Bane!"
Nothing.
Getting to her knees she pressed an ear against his chest straining to hear for a heartbeat as panic set in. Her heart racing as her mind conjured a list of clashing instructions as she began pounding on his chest.
One. Two. Three. Four.
She tried to stick to the same rhythm. Unsure if she was even doing it right as she desperately tried to restart his heart.
One. Two. Three. Four.
"Come on"
Her arms ached as she continued with the compressions. Sweat forming upon her brow as he remained motionless beneath her hands.
One. Two. Three. Four.
"Wake up!"
Her arms burned, slowly beginning to tire but she kept going. Any second now he would open his eyes. He had too.
One. Two. Three. Four.
"Lauren?"
She heard a voice behind her – Barsad – but didn't reply, continuing with that same rhythm.
One. Two. Three. Four.
"Lauren."
"He's not breathing."
"We need to go"
His words made no sense. Go where?
One. Two. Three. Four.
"Lauren please"
She felt his hand on her shoulder, but she shoved him away.
"Get away from me"
One. Two. Three. Fo-
Her hands were suddenly ripped from his chest as Barsad grabbed her from behind. His arms wrapping round hers, pinning her to him as he hauled her from the ground.
"What the hell are you doing?!" she cried "Let go of me!"
"I can't."
"No please! Put me down! He needs me!"
"There's nothing you can do for him."
She thrashed furiously in his arms, desperation turning her feral but it was no use, he was too strong, throwing her over his shoulder as he walked away from Bane's bloody body.
"Please" she begged "I can't leave him!"
She began pummelling his back with her fists. Her eyes wild as she punched him again and again. When he suddenly dropped her in the dirt.
"I'm so sorry."
The last thing she saw was Bane lying there, still, and unmoving in a pool of his own blood before she felt the butt of a gun against her temple.
Then everything went black.
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And there we have it.
I cant believe it, but the epilogue is up next.
I cant begin to tell you how much your continued support means to me. I have received so many lovely comments and
reviews over the years that your encouragement had led me to want to write more.
I truly hope you have enjoyed my take on Christopher Nolan's Bane and the story has a whole just know that I couldn't have done it without you and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
I hope you will continue reading my work as there is more Bane and Lauren yet to come.
Until next time
xoxoxoxox