Author's Note: I'm still working on this story I swear. I want to say thank you to everyone who has followed and reviewed this story, You guys sticking with me is a great motivator. As always I don't own anything dark knight related.
Earthy and clean, like leaves in the puddle of an autumn rain, bitter and sweet all at once. Smokiness with a whisper of some exotic spice, the kind who's description always dances just out of reach. Those were the things Lena encountered as she balanced on the edge of consciousness and they instilled her a sense of contented security and equable curiosity. Wakefulness tugged at her so Lena begrudgingly ascended from the peaceful state and a soft warmth enveloped her as she blinked against the early afternoon sun filling the familiar a small gasp Lena sat up from the couch, her head swiveling to take in the space, not fully believing her eyes. With a heavy sigh Lena collapsed back into the worn fabric of her living room sofa.
She closed her eyes and tried to reconstruct how she'd made her way home, flashes of the previous day came to Lena but her attention kept wandering to the scent surrounding her. Lena's eyes popped open with alarm as she realized the redolence was emanating from the fleece lined jacket she was enfolded in. Flashes of memories rose up, the warehouse, the rebels, Bane, and the frozen river swirled around her head like a dream after waking, real and unreal all at the same time. At the thought of the terrorist, Lena's addled mind focused and she shrugged out of the garment leaving it strewn across her sofa, in much like the grand pose usually assumed by its former owner.
Lena bit down on her cheek as a torrent of pain wrenched her body and a deep weariness filled her as she limped towards the bathroom to assess the damage. Her face was covered in bruises, small trails of dried blood issued from her nose and ears no doubt caused by the concussive force of the explosion.
"Well, best not stand here feeling sorry for myself,"Lena's hoarse voice filled the quiet void as she began the painful process of cleaning her wounds.
After she'd patched herself up as best she could Lena headed to the kitchen for some much needed coffee. With a steaming mug in her hands Lena sat numbly at her small table trying to look anywhere but at the intrusive article of clothing, while still in disbelief that her ill-conceived escape plan had actually worked. The shadows of the apartment began to stretch, and the drink cooled in her hands as Lena sat in a state of unease. Something was gnawing at the back of Lena's mind making it impossible for her completely relax but before she could grasp the idea there was a sharp knock at the started in surprise,tense and motionless in a seemingly endless moment of panic until a low voice called,
"Lena it's Henry, are you in there?" Lena let out a shuttering breath and had to suppress a hysterical cry of relief.
"I'm here, just a minute,"
Lena replied, getting to her feet she closed the short distance to the front door and pulled it reassurance of seeing a familiar face was palpable to Lena but her happiness was short lived as she watched Mr. Scottsdale's face fall at the sight of her injuries.
"You look like ten miles of bad road my girl, what on earth happened to you?"
Lena opened her mouth to reply but Henry barreled on. "Do you have any idea how worried we've all been about you? Eleanor had herself in fits at the thought of you dead in a ditch somewhere."
He gave a huff of frustration for good measure and Lena squirmed under his accusatory glare.
"Not many ditches around Gotham Mr. S, probably would have been a gutter or an alley."
Lena offered with chagrin, looking down at her feet. Her gallows humor sobered Mr. Scottsdale and he too looked down at his feet before saying,
"I don't know how many times I've lectured Eleanor about how you're a grown woman fit to take care of herself and here I am chiding you worse than she would. Speaking of Ellie she'll be wanting to see you now that you're back but I think it'd be best for everyone if you lie low for awhile and heal up."
Lena nodded in agreement and added, "Just tell anyone who asks that I've got a bad cold and I don't want to spread it around the building."
Mr. Scottsdale gave an approving nod and patted Lena's shoulder briefly before turning to go. Over his shoulder he stated,
"I don't know what happened to you and if you don't want to talk about it that's fine just don't you forget we're always here for you my dear, no matter what."
Lena's throat tightened and all she could manage was a murmur of acknowledgment before she gentle closed her door. Lena felt an overwhelming crush of thoughts and emotions engulf her mind and with cowardly resignation she shuffled off to her bed to banish them all with much needed sleep.
When next she woke Lena was well into nightfall and a faint glow filled the space from the weak sliver of moon outside the window. Still feeling ill at ease Lena got to her feet and walked carefully to the window and climbed out onto the fire escape, heading to the roof to check on her feathered neighbors. The night was cold but the lack of wind took away its bite as Lena's breathes puffed around her. She stood, hands stuffed in her jacket pockets, and watched the sleeping raptors snugged together on their usual chimney. The comforting sight and familiar surroundings did little to distract Lena's turbulent thoughts and no matter how hard she tired Lena couldn't chase a pair of hauntingly dark eyes from her mind.
She was again indulging in her bad habit of being lost in thought which was why it took so long for Lena to notice the lone figure staring at her from across the roof top. Every inch of Lena seized up when she became alert to his presence, while inside her heart pounded and her blood writhed with fearful adrenaline. The intruder took a few short steps closer and spoke,
" You know it really shouldn't surprise you that I'm here."
Her brain was a static transmission as Lena tried to formulate a reply. He took another step towards her, his features came looming out of the viscous night.
"You know it's not nice to sneak up on people."
Lena finally managed to stammer, but her words sounded hollow and weak even to her own ears.
"I'm a lot better company than what you could have had to deal with tonight."
The pale light shown on the steady smile of the young man Lena had met at the warehouse. She wasn't sure if it was the gloom of the shadows but he seemed to carry a sadness about him even though he's voice was light as he continued,
" I imagine you're wondering how I tracked you down."
He paused and under Lena's pointed stare he continued on,
" Barbra is an Ace with computers as I'm sure you saw, and once she had your riffle's serial number it didn't take long to find you. No one is truly anonymous nowadays."
The young man let the statement hang in the air between them as Lena chewed her bottom lip in contemplation. Lena turned away from him, towards the black cityscape of Downtown against the charcoal sky.
"I imagine your little sleuth went rummaging around in my past, where she has no business or right to be,"
the statement rang of resigned bitterness and though she couldn't see it, the young man had the decency to flush guiltily at the infringing of Lena's privacy.
"I'm sorry."
was all he could reply, two simple words Lena had heard countless times before but it wasn't words that made Lena turn to face him once more, it was the emotion behind them. It spoke of pain, loss, and rage seething together below a razor thin vainer of "normalcy", it was a mask Lena recognized because it was a mask she wore everyday.
"The only ability of a broken man is to recognize brokenness in others around him."
Lena spoke barely above a whisper but it seemed to carry across the entire city in the silence.
"And who came up with that one?"
the man questioned with sincere curiosity.
"Me, just now," Lena commented with a small and rueful grin.
"I'm guessing you didn't just stop by to shoot the breeze, was there some message you wanted to relay from your fearless leader? It's awfully cold out here and I'd like to go back inside sometime before all my appendages fall off."
His brow furrowed for a moment before he stated,
"Like I said before, it didn't take Barbra long at all to find you, as a peace offering she's done everything she can to guard your electronic trail from Bane and his men, but it's only a stop gap. Bane has access to all the hard copy documents in city hall and it's only a matter of time before tacks you down."
It was a truth Lena knew already but hearing it spoken aloud made the direness of her situation infinitely more real. The young man continued,
"You're smart enough to know that Bane won't stop until he has what he wants, and he'll crush every single thing you care about to get his way. If you join us we can look out for you, Ms. Newman you don't have to go it alone."
The young man gave her an imploring look that Lena was sure had won him more than a few hearts and she considered her reply.
"I was damned the second Bane learned my name, because you're right he won't stop until he has what he wants and for reasons completely incomprehensible to me I'm that desire for the time being."
The rebel youth looked relived for a moment assured that Lena was finally coming to her senses, his excitement was short lived though as she continued.
" But what you're asking me to do is to run away from the very things that are at most risk. Everything I hold dear is right below our feet, and if I go with you what do you thing will happen when Bane finally figures it out and finds this place? He'll burn it to the ground and not think twice about the destruction."
The young man's mouth opened ready to protest her claim, but when no solution presented itself he looked away in silent resignation.
" The people in this building didn't ask me to do what I did, but if I'm not here when Bane comes looking, they're the ones who will pay the price for my actions and that's just not something I can run away from."
Lena took a steadying breath feeling suddenly drained from the honesty of her words.
"I understand your decision, and I'll let Barbra know what you've told me tonight."
He turned to go but paused before leaving and added,"If you ever change your mind though or just feel like talking find one of the street kids and tell them you need to talk to Blake." He gave Lena a lopsided smile, empty yet genuine somehow,
"That's my name by the way Ms. Newman, Johnathan Blake at your service."
The desolate tick counted out the last breathes of the dying day in the dying city. The ornate face of the grandfather clock glinted against the dark paneling of the office, while an elegant Tiffany desk lamp created a cupola of light above the large oaken desk formally owned by Mayor Antony Garcia. The large form seated behind the imposing fixture sat with a small piece of twine stretched between his massive hands. Bane aimlessly tied and untied different knots as he mulled over the reports Barsad had brought him earlier and the events of the previous day.
The raid on the warehouse had been a failure after discovering that the rebels had abandoned the place before the attack, though the footage his crew had gathered was proving to be an effective piece of propaganda. The streets of Gotham were quiet for the first time in weeks but this did little to quell Bane's restless mind. The secondary report Barsad had brought him proved to be all the more disappointing and infuriating. No information could be found on his little captive in any of the online databases and what's more there was firm evidence pointing to the deliberate removal of files pertaining to Lena Newman. Leaning back Bane quietly contemplated,
"Who is shielding you my little bird?"
"You are my shield, you always have been and you always will be, but you haven't called me your little bird in quite some time."
Recognizing the voice in an instant he stood and took in the elegant woman perched in the door frame of the office. Talia al Ghul approached the desk and gave Bane a quizzical look,
"Reminiscing on old times my dear friend?"
"My idle thoughts should be of little concern to you."
Bane shot back more harshly than he had intended to. Talia's brows went up in surprise but before she could question his mood Bane continued,
"We do not have a meeting scheduled tonight you took a great risk coming here has something happened?"
An intoxicating beautiful smile graced her lips before she looked away from him and began pacing slowly around the room.
"I just wanted to come and congratulate you on the new video, it has done wonders for dampening the unrest in the city."
"Your sentiment could have been expressed just as easily in a message, and there would be considerably less risk involved."
Bane rebuked his eyes following her every movement. The smile dropped into a childish pout as Talia faced the towering man,
"But I have missed your company my old friend what fun is burning this city to the ground if I can't watch its destruction with you?"
In that fleeting moment Talia was the small child from the desolate pit he had once sacrificed everything to protect.
"Perhaps my company no long suits you though?"
She turned her back from him, her voice filled with a cold insinuation. As Bane had watched her grow over the many years he had seen in her an impulsiveness, her mood ever changing. It had made Talia an impressive actor, the varying roles she had to assume during missions were like a second skin, utterly indistinguishable, but her most recent identity stood apart from the others.
Miranda Tate wasn't so much an invented character as she was a missed opportunity. She was the woman Talia could have so easily become, if fate had been kinder, if destiny had kept her mother from the pit and not for the first time Bane wondered if this realization had done something to Talia, had unhinged her in some way. Bane pondered these thoughts for only a brief moment before he saw Talia's features clear again and like the sky after a passing storm her eyes lightened and that all consuming smile once again shown through.
They had talked for another hour before Talia had slipped out the way she'd come but Bane sat for a long time after contemplating all that had happened and all that had yet to happen. Even though his mind was brimming with more pressing matters Bane was still unable to chase away a pair of intense and unyielding eye and with a bone deep weariness he sighed to the surrounding darkness,
"Where have you flown to my little bird?"
Little did Bane know that there was someone in the blackness, listening.
Little bit shorter this time but I've got a fun little in between chapter planned and I hope to have it up by next week. Hope you liked it let me know what you think.