Chapter Fifteen: Eight Years Have Passed, Lazarus Come Forth
She didn't turn, only nodded at Bane's words he spoke to her back.
"You can trust Sebastian."
Bane watched the doorway long after she'd departed.
The walk to the front door made Olivia feel like she was walking the plank.
She watched herself open the door in slow-motion to a Great White shark that would consume her whole, she'd decompose alive in his gullet.
As Maureen opened the thin door, the wood swollen in the frame from the damp air to Sebastian, she mentally put on her doctor's coat.
Sebastian tried on a neutral expression that still made him resemble death incarnate.
"Doctor Hightower," he stated.
"Maureen," she said and forced herself to extend her right hand.
"Sebastian," he said as he returned her grip and shook her hand.
"You're here to keep an eye on me," Maureen said as she let Sebastian cross into the room.
Sebastian couldn't help an actual smile pull at his lips that he quickly suppressed as he walked into the one-bedroom beach house.
"There's nothing to drink or I'd offer," Maureen said as she settled on one of the linen sofas.
Sebastian wordlessly nodded and settled at a rigidly backed dining room chair.
As they began to have an awkward start to a conversation that began lamely with the cost of gas and the unseasonably warm weather for the time of year, Isaak Cain drew closer to the heart of Gotham City and Maureen's home.
When Isaak arrived, he would scout around before slipping in through the sliding glass door.
Isaak took multiple photos of every part of Maureen's home, everything from the contents of her medicine cabinets to each dresser drawer.
Isaak would pack several suitcases upon Bane's directions.
He was careful to check and recheck the list to make sure he didn't fuck anything up, practically hard with how badly he wanted to please Bane.
Isaak scanned paper after paper from Maureen's antique rolltop desk. It had been her grandfather's and such a large and obtrusive piece of furniture, but she knew her grandfather would haunt her dreams if she let go of that desk.
Isaak would spend much longer than he'd anticipated in Maureen's home when he found her thriving shrine to Josef Hightower.
He took close to one hundred photos, capturing still frames of Josef's urn and Maureen's depraved grief that had caused her to frame his suicide note and have it on one side of his urn, their wedding photo on the other.
Inside the beach house's airy bathroom, Bane stripped himself free of the last of his clothes, closing his eyes and exhaling with a groan of satisfaction as the hot water rained down on him.
He moved in a circle at the pace of a bloated snail, letting the water stream down his scarred skin, pound the aching muscles of his upper back and sluice down the divots his muscular frame created as he shifted.
Bane soaked the square washcloth that Maureen had been using to dry her face. He added a generic soap that had been left by the tenants before and agitated the cloth until suds poured forth.
He scrubbed his face, opalescent bubbles sliding down the muscular flesh of his chest, popping as they slid down the ridged muscles of his abdomen.
Bane wrang the excess water out of the washcloth, raising his hands when a thread from the towel snagged on the diamond ring he had taken from Maureen.
He dropped the damp cloth and twirled the ring around his finger, admiring its cut, beauty, and brilliance.
Bane felt a surge on his jealousy that it was still a ring indicating the sign of another man's ownership and grit his teeth with enough force his jaw popped.
He twisted the handle of the shower to the hottest setting and closed his eyes as the temperature spiked his skin flushing red like the lobster the beach town was known for.
Bane slid the hand that glittered with her stolen ring down the front of his body to close around the length of his cock. He squeezed his eyes shut tighter as the water seemed to grow just a tad hotter as he stroked his thick length until his cock grew hard in his grip.
His breath shuddered as the prominent diamond of the ring dragged along his thickness, the jewel scraped his sensitive length in time with his quickening strokes as he imagined the ring finding a way back on his Maureen's hands if she turned her practice into more of one of a hands-on approach.
Bane groaned deep in his chest as his breathing became rapid, in sync with each stroke of his cock that throbbed with its rigidity.
As he came hard, spilling cum to the shower floor, on the other side of the bathroom door, Sebastian and Maureen had lapsed into casual conversation.
"How'd that happen?" Maureen asked, gesturing towards his eyepatch.
Sebastian didn't hesitate to share; he couldn't explain why he felt so at ease talking to her.
Maureen sat back as Sebastian told her about losing his eye from a misunderstanding in South America.
"A misunderstanding?" Maureen asked, her eyebrow arched.
Sebastian nodded, "more or less."
Maureen smirked and looked around the quaint room, unable to keep from letting out a frustrated breath. "I don't suppose there's something stronger than water to drink around here is there?"
"Not here, there are places nearby."
"Could you please?" Maureen asked. "I really need something to drink," she admitted.
On the outside Maureen appeared fine but inside her nervous system was reaching a fever pitch, booze would calm her down.
"Go ahead, return without any other stops."
Maureen looked over as Bane spoke from the doorway. Fully dressed in fresh clothes as he spoke to Sebastian.
"Thank you," Maureen heard herself say, genuinely grateful.
"Do you have a preference?" Sebastian asked as he paused at the door.
"Scotch," she called back without delay.
Bane waited until Sebastian had closed the door after him before crossing the room and setting the deadbolt.
Maureen stared at Bane's broad back as he engaged the lock before turning towards her.
She sat up straighter and recrossed her legs in the space of silence before Bane spoke.
"A food and beverage delivery was delayed, or you would not thirst."
"It's fine," Maureen murmured as Bane sat at the same chair that Sebastian had occupied around the small square dining room table.
In the space of time before Sebastian returned, Bane remained at the table and Maureen in the chair with the worn-out cushion. Bane heard the satellite phone buzzing from his cargo pants side pocket.
He kept half an eye on Maureen as he held the phone up to his ear, Isaak talking as soon as Bane acknowledged him and gave him permission to speak.
Bane kept his expression painfully neutral as Isaak summarized the entirety of Maureen's life within the walls of her home.
Isaak continued when Bane prompted, to detail several encrypted messages he'd sent that contained photos to give visual life to all that he described.
Bane ended the call with Isaak and used one of the encrypted tablets to look at the deluge of photos that his eyes on the ground had obtained.
Bane had the self-control to keep his very pupils from dilating when he zoomed in on the slideshow of images capturing Josef Hightower's suicide note.
"My beloved Moe,"
"Don't blame yourself."
"You never could've saved me; I was damned since birth. Don't stay in love with my memory, don't wait for me to roll away my headstone. Don't stay loyal to my remains."
"I love you."
"Eternally yours,"
"J."
Bane blinked a couple times before he raised his eyes and caught Maureen recrossing her legs as she covered a yawn.
He returned his attention to the last few encrypted messages that Isaak had transmitted before he was interrupted by Sebastian knocking, loudly heralding his return with processed food spoils and alcohol.
Bane didn't open the door further than he needed to in order to receive the paper bag from Sebastian.
When he had walked out of the bathroom earlier, he had felt the stirrings of necrotic jealousy start in his gut when he watched Maureen smile at Sebastian.
Bane murmured orders for Sebastian to monitor the perimeter before he reengaged the deadbolt.
Maureen sat up straighter as Bane brought the bag of food and alcohol over to her and set it on the low coffee table.
"Thanks," Maureen said, raw gratitude shining brightly in the single syllable as she uncrewed the cap of the aged scotch and drank directly from the bottle after finding no cups in the bag. She couldn't help but find a shred of light in the darkness when she saw a couple bags of her favorite shiny, candy-coated chocolates nestled at the bottom of the bag.
Bane settled back at the table and reviewed the last message from Isaak as the potent alcohol warmed Maureen's chest and belly, hitting her hard with how dehydrated she was and how loud her empty belly growled. He watched her tear open the bright paper end of the candy bag and not look at the colors as she ate them.
Bane turned off the tablet and replaced it in one of his duffle bags as Maureen rubbed at her temples, relaxation pouring over her from the scotch's strong embrace.
"I'd like to return to some of the earlier word association now that we're no longer mobile."
Maureen slowly looked over at Bane, shrugging before she took a few more big sips off the bottle, feeling her face get warm.
"Guilty," Bane stated as he rose to his full height.
"You," Maureen said with another shrug as she added. "You're still very much guilty."
"Fear," he said as he began to walk towards her.
"Yes," Maureen said, "still afraid," she added dryly as she took another sip.
"Sex," Bane let easily fall from his scarred lips as he settled on the edge of the queen-sized mattress, wrinkling the periwinkle blue comforter under him.
Maureen blinked a few times as she cleared her throat before answering.
Bane capitalized on her silence and slip from the sober plane and let his eyes lavisciously run from the crown of her head to the tip of her couture high heel.
"Inevitable," Maureen finally managed before turning her attention to the bottle's label.
"Marriage."
"Love," Maureen answered quickly.
"Love," Bane lobbed back just as fast.
Maureen flicked her eyes to his hand, instantly frowning when she didn't see her ring on his last finger.
"What did you do with my ring?" she asked on what was becoming a barely detectable slur.
"It is safe," Bane quickly assured her before coming back to his line of questioning.
"Love," Bane repeated.
"Where is my ring?" Maureen repeated in a louder, more shrill tone.
Bane stood up from the bed, clenching his hands in and out of loose fists.
"Answer me," Bane demanded.
"You first," Maureen spit as she also rose to her feet, a tad unsteady.
Bane felt himself pushed off his center of reasoning with a surge of frustration, unrequited lust, and anger at her blatant and fearless stubbornness.
"I don't wish to play games with you anymore Doctor Hightower," Bane roared in a tone that could frighten the undead.
"Maureen. Please call me Maureen," she managed as Bane snaked his hand out and caught her upper arm, squeezing with enough assertion to capture the entirety of her attention as he pulled her close.
"Why does your heart remain with the dead?" Bane rasped, watching every part of Maureen still, how fast she sobered up as he continued.
"Josef urged you to move on, with his own words he admitted you were not at fault."
Maureen felt her mouth dry up and her throat threatened to close as Bane kept his grip on her upper arm unbreakable as he closed the already small distance between them and lowered his face until his lips were a breath away from touching hers.
Bane's whispered exhale teased her full lips. "Talk to me Moe."
Bane remained close as he watched Maureen's face contort with beautiful hurt and anger, snapping out of her paralysis.
"Don't call me that," Maureen spit. "And don't talk about Josef, you've no right to speak of him," she added bitterly, a sob threatening to distort her coherency.
"Let go of me," Maureen managed to add, trying to yank herself free of his impossible grip.
Bane lost the ability to conceal his true self. His furious lust bubbled up to the surface, leaving his skin taut with the current. His fingertips could've practically shot bolts of lightning as his scarred lips pulled into a dangerous smirk.
"You want me to let you go?"
"Yes," Maureen tersely managed.
Bane openly smiled, licking his lips, feeling the scarred ridge of his lip under his tongue.
"I don't believe you," he chuckled and manipulated his grip on her until he could twist her arm up behind her back, pulling her flush to the front of his body.
He was quickly and unashamedly pleased at the sudden touch.
"I don't care what you believe, let go of me," Maureen shouted, pushing against his broad chest with her free hand, looking over at the bathroom's doorway to avoid Bane's lips.
"You are squandering your love and affection on the dead," Bane rasped hoarsely until Maureen turned back to face him, moving in the smallest increments, growing hyperthermic from his inundated body and embrace that threatened to devour her whole.
Maureen shook her head at his words, "I wasn't strong enough to keep Josef alive, I can't love someone else, only to watch them die," she whispered, her eyes beginning to shine with unshed tears.
"He spent his last words urging you to not dwell," Bane pressed.
Maureen shook her head, waterboarded by misplaced guilt and shame. "It's too dark of a way back, I'm stuck here until I die," she nearly sobbed.
"I can lead you from the darkness," Bane stated.
Maureen thought back to much of his word association sessions as she frowned. "The darkness is your home though, where you find comfort," she murmured.
"It's not your home," Bane stated easily.
Maureen flattened her hand against his chest, sighing heavily. "I'm not strong enough anymore."
Bane watched her eyes soften as she fell down a memory rabbit hole.
Maureen was bombarded with everything that was right in front of her face. She hadn't been strong enough to save Josef, she hadn't even seen his sadness. Maureen was slowly becoming stuck in an inky black pit; eventually she'd die from lack of sunlight like one of her glorious plants.
Bane's words brought her to the present moment with the stark clarity on his naked admission.
"I am strong enough for both of us," Bane growled, his words reverberating through the dense musculature of his chest and vibrating under her palm.
Bane moved his face just barely to close the small distance between them until he could press his lips to Maureen's. He growled against Maureen's mouth as she let him deepen his kiss, tasting the candy and alcohol's sharpness on her breath.
Bane became the Ferry Man on the shores of the River Styx as he slid his free hand to the natural sway of Maureen's lower back, crushing her to the front of his body until her breath threatened to leave her lungs. He kissed her with a rabid, growing urgency, his tongue poking between her full lips, taking payment for leading her from the darkness without a coin being pressed into his palm.
"Unshackle yourself from the past," Bane breathed against her lips when he broke the kiss.
Maureen squeezed her eyes shut, overwhelmed by Bane's strength and the press of his body. "I didn't realize how broken he was, I never could've put him back together," she sobbed.
"I will not break," Bane rasped with a gruff promise.
Bane returned his lips to Maureen's, groaning in feral satiation as Maureen met the probing tip of his tongue with hers, echoing his moan.
Maureen sighed heavily when Bane released her trapped wrist and felt a shudder of anticipation under the taut flesh of his chest as she smoothed her hands up to slip her arms around his neck, leaning into him, her breasts smashing against his broad chest.
A poorly timed sleeper wave hit the driftwood logs that served as a sort of fence outside the beach house.
Bane broke the kiss and forced an involuntary gasp from Maureen when he dropped his hands to the roundest part of her hips and lifted her into his arms. Unlike the other times he'd carried her anywhere, he always cradled her body like a new bride.
Maureen felt a deep blush crawl up her neck as his grip and manipulation left her thighs on either side of his waist, she could feel his etched oblique muscles under the soft, smooth skin of her inner thighs, the muscles hard and defined even through the cotton pants leg.
She had no choice but to hold onto him tighter as he began walking with her to the rear, sliding glass door.
Bane shifted her weight to one side as he slid open the door and continued carrying Maureen to the sand-covered patio. Fat, green succulents surrounded the makeshift space in large terracotta planters.
Maureen's hand slipped to the round corners of his shoulders, scrabbling frantically when she felt Bane lower her heavily onto one of the South-Western printed chaise lounges.
"Could you see this as your new home?" Bane rasped as he quickly pulled at her thighs, yanking them back snuggly at either side of his waist as he pushed himself closer to rest against her clothed center.
Maureen stammered for her words, truly in that moment, only able to see Bane and feel his hands as he slid up the outside of her thin cotton pants, squeezing the supple flesh as he continued, his breath coming raggedly.
"Could you see this becoming your daily view?"
Bane didn't give Maureen a chance to answer as he crushed his lips against hers, gravity making him more powerful as his broad body kept her fully immobilized.
"Just like that?" Maureen asked on a breathless gasp when Bane lifted his lips.
Bane nodded and kept her locked in his fiery, liquid caramel orbs.
Maureen's lips parted in surprise when she felt Bane's hand began to yank at the waistband of the cheap, cotton pants she'd managed to put on under her couture pencil skirt.
"Could you give your body to me now? Bane asked on a strangled moan as he added in a choked tone. "Later, your love?"
Maureen broke out of her wordless fugue when she felt him begin to slide the thin, cotton pants down her lithe thighs.
"Why would you want to leave the darkness?" she asked, beginning to tremble at the most intimately she'd been touched since Josef took his own life eight years before. "Why would you want to leave all that you know?" Maureen added quickly as Bane forced the borrowed pants to her knees, struggling to pull them down her calves.
Bane abandoned trying to completely remove the black pants, remaining wordless as he returned a hand to tease against the pale blue panties she was wearing under her designer pencil skirt. "I want to live with you in the sun, on the shores of this vast ocean. I'm beginning to wither in the darkness," Bane admitted in a raw, grating tone.
"Will you live with me in the light?" Bane asked in strained tone, forcing his breathing into a controlled and staccato rhythm as he teased his scarred fingertips against her satin lingerie, the fabric snagging on his rough cuticles.
