Chapter 16

An hour later, Valerie was in her office at the main GCPD headquarters. She was fielding reports about convicts that were still on the loose and gang brawls, trying to take advantage of the chaos and gain territory. Valerie was beginning to wonder how Barbara did all this and never went crazy.

A knock came to her door. "Come in," Valerie instructed.

"Captain!" an officer shouted as he hurried in.

Valerie looked up, alarmedly, "Trevor. What's wrong?"

"We got an anonymous call. Fiend is going after some woman named Max McGinnis."

Valerie's blood ran hot at that name. "Fiend…" Her mind flashed to the day she first met him. He threatened to kill her to locate Max in the first place. She always hated herself for giving in to that fear.

"Captain?" Trevor asked.

Valerie blinked back to the present. "Yeah, sorry. Fiend. Someone saw him?"

"Yes, ma'am. It's the first sighting of him since the prison break."

"He probably wants to finish what he started with her years ago."

"What do we do?" Trevor asked.

"Put out an APB!" Valerie ordered. "Find that silver skinned bastard. I want everyone looking for him! Now!"

"Yes, ma'am!" Trevor ran out of the office to send out the APB.

Once she was sure Trevor was gone, Valerie hurried over and locked her door. She walked back to her desk and pulled out the cell phone Batman gave her. "Didn't think I have to use this that fast!"

Tiana was monitoring all of the feeds from the police and the news when a phone call came through. It was the phone Batman gave to Capt. Valerie.

Tiana answered, using a voice scrambler, "Capt. Valerie. How can we help you?"

"Hi," Valerie began, uncertainly. "Uhhh… I don't know how this works but… I need to get a message to Batman or his team."

"Yes, I work with them. He said you would call us. What information do you have?"

"An anonymous tip. Fiend is going after Maxine McGinnis, the woman he targeted years ago."

Tiana froze. She managed to keep the shock out of her voice, "What?!"

"Get word to Batman!" Valerie pleaded. "I've got units heading over to the McGinnis house! I'll head there as soon as I can!"

"Yes, ma'am! Thank you!" Tiana ended the call and got on the comms. "Everyone! We got a serious problem!"

"What's wrong?" Runner asked.

"Fiend! Valerie got a call! He's going after Max!"

Batman stopped. "Max…" he breathed out.

"What a time to go back to the house!" Ember grunted.

"I'm the closest!" Runner informed. "I'll get there now!"

"Batman, where are the children?" Koutetsu asked.

"With their grandmother, thank God," Batman answered. "They're all at Mel's house."

"Mike's with Max, right?" Ember asked.

"Yeah. So's Helena."

"Still hauling ass," Runner insisted. "I'd bet money Rene's with Ket."

"I'm right behind you!" Batman declared.

"See you there!"

"I'll call Max, Mike, and Helena," Tiana informed.

Minutes later, Max, who had finished downloading all of her schematics and other relevant data, was in the living room with Helena and Mike. She had Tiana on phone, getting the news on Fiend and Rene.

"Right!" Max said. "Got it! Thanks, Tia!" She ended the call and looked at Helena and Mike. "Our timing during this mess? Has sucked!"

"Who you tellin'?" Helena asked, sarcastically.

Mike looked around, "We don't know how close they are. We already got backup coming?"

"Tia said Runner's on his way," Max answered. "We could just leave."

Mike thought it over. "No, wait. If they come here… and we can keep them busy, the good guys can catch 'em."

Max and Helena looked at Mike in shock. "Mike, you're as crazy as we are!" Helena laughed.

"It's how I get the job, Ms. Wayne. Be right back." Mike rushed out of the house, heading to the car.

"Does he know he can call me 'Helena', right?" Helena asked.

"Mike's like that," Max giggled.

Mike got to the car, opened the trunk, and removed a shotgun. He looked down the street and saw two hulking figures in the distance. "Shit!" He ran back into the house, locking the door.

"You saw them, didn't you?" Max asked.

"That or your neighborhood watch is seriously into powerlifting." Mike considered everything, "Probably got just a few minutes." He looked at Max and Helena, "Get in the panic room! Lock it down!"

Helena blinked, "Aaaaand just what the hell are you gonna do?"

Mike smiled, nervously, "My job!"

"Mike…" Max said, concernedly.

"Max," Mike reassured, "Terry saved my life. Saved Aunt Millicent. This is what I can do. And they'll have to rip my heart out before I let 'em hurt you or you, Ms. Wayne. I swear."

"Mike, seriously," Helena said. "'Helena' is much better."

Mike chuckled a bit. "Yeah, I figured just… didn't wanna overstep."

Helena laughed.

"Thank you, Mike," Max said, appreciatively.

"Hey," Mike smiled. "Don't thank me yet! Just hope and pray the good guys gets here in time."

"The good guy is already here," Helena pointed out.

Mike chuckled a bit. "Well, the ones who deal with psychos like this on a regular."

"That's fair!"

"Stay alive, Mike," Max insisted.

"You got it, boss," Mike nodded.

A couple of minutes later, Max and Helena were in the panic room in the basement of the house.

"Roomy," Helena noted.

"Terry had it built like this in case me and the kids needed it," Max noted.

"He's really like Dad and thinks of everything."

Max checked the exterior cameras, then saw two large figures headed toward the house.

"Shit!" Max grunted. Her cell phone rang. It was her mother.

Helena saw the phone. She looked at Max, "You got this?"

"Yeah. I think." Max calmed herself down and answered, deceptively calmly, "Hey, Mom!"

Helena's eyes widened. That sounded absolutely convincing.

"Hey, baby," Lisa greeted. "Grace wanted to say good night."

"Oh, sure!" Max said. "Put her on."

Max heard Lisa and Grace fumble with the phone. "Hi, Mama!" Grace greeted.

"Hi, baby," Max greeted. "Shouldn't you be asleep?"

"Yes, ma'am. I just wanted to say night-night."

Max laughed, fighting back tears. "Okay! Night-night, baby."

"I tried calling Daddy but he didn't answer."

"Oh, Daddy's with Uncle Basem. They're hanging out."

"Oh, okay."

Max smiled. "But your Aunty Helena is here!"

Helena quietly laughed.

Max put the phone on speaker. "Say 'Hi', Grace."

"Hi, Aunty Helena!" Grace said, excitedly.

Helena giggled, "Hey, there, Beauty Princess. You listen to your grandma and Aunt Mel and get to bed, okay?"

"Yes, ma'am!" Grace paused. "Umm, Mama?"

"Yeah?" Max asked.

"Is Daddy stronger than Batman?"

Max blinked. She and Helena looked at each other; Helena just shrugged. They looked back at the phone and Max asked, "Where'd you get that from?"

"Stevie said Daddy and Uncle Basem could beat up Batman," Grace replied. "I don't know if Daddy can beat up Batman."

Max laughed while Helena just smiled. "Your daddy is really strong, Grace," Max explained. "In fact… yeah. I think he could beat up Batman."

"Daddy's really stronger than Batman?" Grace asked in awe. "That's awesome! Daddy's so cool!"

Helena smiled and covered her mouth to keep from crying.

Max smiled as tears fell. "Yes, he is, baby! Yes, he is!"

Mike stood with his shotgun aimed at the door. A loud pounding came to the door. Mike tensed up, moving his finger over the trigger of the shotgun, and steadied his breathing. One more strike and the door splintered into pieces, causing Mike to back up.

Fiend and Rene stood at the threshold of the door. Fiend laughed, "Check it out! Max has a side dude."

"I'm her security guard, gremlin!" Mike just kept the shotgun aimed. "Now, get the hell outta here!"

Fiend scoffed then sneered, "You're on the wrong side of that gun, security guard."

"That's what you say, pal! Now, get lost!"

"You've got one chance to tell me where Max is… or I'm gonna rip you in half."

Mike pumped the shotgun once. "Then ya best get to rippin'!"

Fiend laughed. "Buddy… I'm gonna remember you. But, it's been a few years since I've gotten to tear flesh off a body so, I can't lie… I'm gonna enjoy killing you."

Fiend took a step forward.

Mike was about to pull the trigger.

"Actually…" Rene put his hand on Fiend's shoulder, stopping him. "…you're not."

Rene spun Fiend around, punched him, and threw him across the street, sending Fiend crashing into a car.

"What the hell?" Mike asked.

Rene looked at Mike, "I'll keep him busy as long as I can. Call the police. Tell them to find Batman." He turned back around and walked back to the street to face Fiend.

Max and Helena stared at the screen, in total shock, then looked at each other.

"Did… that just happen?" Max asked.

"I… think so?" Helena replied.

Max immediately pulled out her phone and dialed Terry.

Fiend growled as he pushed himself free from the car. He got to his feet, glared at Rene, and roared, "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!"

"My name isn't Tumulus," Rene declared. "It's Rene LeBlanc. And you're not going to hurt anyone."

Fiend growled. "That's why you went along with this! You wanted to get me alone." He wiped a bit of blood from his lip. "Fine with me, man. I'll kill you first. Your funeral."

"We'll see."

"C'mon!"

Fiend and Rene ran at each other.

Mike stood in disbelief as Rene and Fiend duked it out with each other, each struck blow sounded like heavy concrete blocks repeatedly colliding together. Mike shook off his shock and pulled out his phone, calling the others.

As they brawled in the street, Rene was unsurprised to see he and Fiend were evenly matched; this did, conversely, frustrate Fiend. With the fight clearly heading for a stalemate, Fiend shifted to using his claws, exclusively; his only advantage over Rene. To Fiend's surprise, however, Rene wasn't really trying to dodge or even deflect the blows. Rene simply absorbed all of the injuries. The battle continued for another couple of minutes with both taking heavy damage. Rene knew he probably wouldn't last much longer, and he didn't know how close any of the heroes or the cops were to take them down.

Rene knew it fell on him to stop Fiend. No matter what.

Fiend went for a swipe and Rene maneuvered around Fiend; then Rene locked Fiend in a front guillotine headlock, trying to choke him out. Rene jumped up and wrapped his legs around Fiend's core, using all of his bodyweight to force Fiend to the ground. As Fiend began to choke, he repeatedly scratched at Rene's abdomen and back, then slamming his claws into Rene. Soon, Fiend's claws pierced Rene's skin, stabbing him in the side and the gut. Rene felt the stabs, the pain emanating from the strikes, and the blood leaving his body. But Rene refused to release his grip. In fact, Rene tightened his grip on Fiend, determined to, at the very least, leave Fiend unconscious.

Fiend felt his consciousness slowly slip away. He kept stabbing but he wasn't able to hold on much longer. Fiend's strikes came slower and slower as he couldn't stay conscious. Seconds later, he fell comatose. With his claws still in Rene's side.

Rene felt the claw still piercing his side, among all of the other injuries, but he noticed Fiend had stopped moving. Rene released his grip on Fiend and exhaled, painfully. Rene grabbed Fiend's wrist and pulled the claw from his side.

Rene struggled to catch his breath. "In…interesting…"

"RENE!" Runner screamed.

Rene blinked and looked to see Runner's Nightbike landing on the ground. Runner raced over, sliding next to Rene. He took note of all of Rene's wounds.

Even Rene wasn't strong enough to survive this.

"Oh, God!" Runner whispered. "Oh, God! Oh, my God!" He looked at Rene, "Rene…"

"I'm sorry!" Rene whispered, breathlessly. "I'm sorry!"

"No, no! You're alright! You're gonna be alright!"

Rene scoffed. "No… no, I'm not."

Runner looked at the unconscious Fiend. "You… you protected… Max."

"I… I had to. Fiend's still… still alive…" Rene paused. "I've… killed enough p-people…"

Runner looked at Rene in shock.

"He doesn't know," Rene whispered.

"What?"

"Fiend. He… doesn't know who you are. Only Bane… only Bane does. His… wife, too. I-I think."

Runner stopped. "Wife."

"The… the woman! They… they didn't… tell anyone else…"

"Rene…"

"They're hiding…" Rene continued, weakly, "…all over the city. Under-underground! Targeting… Gotham's elite… he… wants to break… the city. I… heard something… about a weapon. Some… kind of… mobile weapon. They're… they're building! They… they want Gotham. They wanna control… G-Gotham! I… don't know anymore. I'm… I'm so… sorry. Runner… I'm sorry!"

"Rene, stop talking!" Runner ordered. "That's enough! You said enough!"

"I made you lose everything!" Rene had tears fall from his eyes. "I killed… my sister… and Stephen. It was my fault! It was all my fault! You went to save me! You tried to save her! I killed her! I'm sorry!"

"Rene, stop!" Runner, desperately, commanded.

"Please… please, forgive me. Please!"

Runner stared at Rene and nodded. "Yes. I forgive you, Rene."

Rene smiled, and even quieter whispered, "You have… a beautiful… family… B."

"Rene…"

"Try… for a… girl… next…" Rene eyes slowly closed. And his body went limp.

Runner froze. "Rene? Rene!" He shook Rene, "Oh, God, no! RENE!"

Bruce went to the bathroom as Diana stood on the balcony. He stared at himself in the mirror.

He could only see his failures. Between Barbara being shot, Bane having even returned in the first place and his children and everyone he loved in mortal danger, Bruce couldn't see past all the pain he caused.

He gripped the sink counter.

Then he felt lightheaded.

Diana stared out at the city, exhaling in worry. She hadn't felt the need to go back into being a hero in decades. But now she felt an urge to. However, she wanted to make sure she didn't step on anyone's toes, and she wanted to keep Bruce safe. That's what Terry, Helena, Max, and everyone needed her to do more than anything. And that's what she wanted to do more than anything. She sighed and walked into the bedroom and didn't see Bruce anywhere.

"Bruce?" Diana asked.

She walked toward the bathroom.

And found Bruce on the floor.

"BRUCE!"

A/N: This was honestly one of the hardest chapters to write for me. I think all of you can see why. But... now the heroes know a little bit more about Bane. How will it help? And what happened to Bruce? See you next time...