A/N: Thanks again to DaisyJane for the beta and all of the suggestions. One more after this – I mean it this time.
RESISTANCE
A large douse of moldy smelling cold water hit his face, bringing him back to consciousness. He lifted his head to find his captor standing over him holding a now empty bucket and wearing a smug, satisfied expression. Bruce glowered at him.
Bane laughed, "You know, puta, if I planned to keep you alive for longer than a few days, I would take some time to teach you some humility. But since you'll be dead within the week, I would be wasting my time." He tossed the bucket into the corner of the room and went to sit on the chair, making himself comfortable for conversation. "As soon as your more talented associates give up their search, we will begin making our way back to Gotham. Despite your efforts, corruption remains the norm in the city's government and legal system. My conquering the Batman will provide for an easy transition into full control of Gotham – criminal and otherwise. To gain the obedience of the more colorful residents, it will of course, need to be a public execution…"
Bruce rolled his eyes, preparing to endure another heavily accented rant, this time a detailed account of how, when, and where he would kill him. Bane was just oozing smug machismo. Bruce had no idea how long he had been unconscious. He did know that Diana had been with him for a very short time and he'd probably been out for a lot longer – hours, most likely. Long enough, at least, for him to feel that some of the soreness had faded from the repeated blows to his chest, abdomen, and back.
He inhaled slowly, bracing himself for the stabs of pain that would come from his cracked and broken ribs. There was no pain. He frowned. He inhaled and exhaled deeper. Nothing. Physically, he felt fine. The realization quickly dawned that Diana had done more than share his dream. She reconnected their souls and left a part of herself behind. An entirely unfamiliar surge of panic flooded through him. Her life now depended on him surviving this and whatever else that came until he could put a stop to it. Again.
Damn it. I didn't want this. She was now forcing this on him. He felt a hot rush of anger momentarily supplant the concern for her safety. He would not be forced. Batman would not be forced. It wasn't what he wanted, but if he had to keep hurting her until she stopped – so be it.
Batman pulled on the manacles that held him to the two iron rings embedded in the rock wall above his head to test his strength. They didn't budge. He began to scan the room again, analyzing all of the possibilities of escape. He felt more urgency. His freedom now equaled Diana's life.
As he began to construct different ways to free himself, he grew angrier with Diana. Each possibility was now considered in light of the risk involved to himself. In the current situation, the ultimate objective would be his own safe escape. He briefly wondered what was to happen when the mission involved the safety of others. His own was often disregarded. It was usually disregarded. Diana had just made his mission that much more difficult. He was now already second-guessing himself as he ran through his current options.
While he was weighing his alternatives, something Bane said caught his attention. The diatribe had moved away from a discussion about how he planned to kill Batman, onto a detailed description of the 'unfortunate circumstances' about to befall his friends and family.
"Of course, in order to firmly establish my control over Gotham, there will need to be a number of loose ends to tie up before and after I kill you. First to go will have to be your friend, the Commissioner. He'll be much easier to dispose of while he is dealing with the fallout of your death and Gotham's rising crime rate in your absence. Perhaps I'll release one of the el locos in Arkham to take care of him…."
Bruce felt his anger turn to rage and his blood begin to boil. He breathed deeply and closed his eyes to suppress the emotion and maintain control. It wasn't working, the fury continued to grow as Bane continued his rant.
"Los dos pájaros – your two birds – will need to be exterminated as well. I do not desire to be constantly concerned that they will interfere in my plans or seek revenge after your very public execution." Bane laughed in eager anticipation. "Bruce Wayne's sons will be so much more vulnerable and easier to kill than trying to hunt down Batman's protégés."
The knuckles on Bruce's hands clenched into tight fists. He was used to his own life being threatened. That happened almost daily. Multiple times. But now, this psychopath was threatening his family and friends. He could feel his heart pounding harder in his chest. He could hear the sound of it pounding in his ears. Batman's well-developed self-control was rapidly slipping away. As he pulled harder on his bindings, above his head he felt one of the steel rods move.
It was still several hours until dawn. The six founders had joined together to search for their seventh. Rather than teleport into unfamiliar terrain, they had used one of the Javelins to fly from the Watchtower to the southern Appalachian Mountains.
Once they reached the area where they had lost radar contact with Batman, they split into two teams. Superman, Wonder Woman, and Green Lantern left the plane and began to search for the wreckage closer to the ground. Shayera, Flash, and J'onn remained aboard the aircraft. J'onn continued to try and reach Batman telepathically while Shayera and Flash piloted and used the Javelin technology to scan the area.
They also retained communications with Nightwing and Wonder Girl who had returned to Gotham to collect the Batwing, as Robin had just finished with the final repairs. They were to rendezvous with the League and assist with the search, utilizing the Batwing's more advanced surveillance technology. Oracle was currently accessing all available research on the mountain range to determine where there might be mines large and shallow enough to house Bane and his henchman.
Inside the Javelin, Wally was engaged in a non-stop stream of chatter that revealed his high anxiety level. "…and why is the Batwing's technology more advanced than the Javelin's anyway?" he asked.
Shayera rolled her eyes as she glanced over at him. "Let's see, besides the obvious fact that he's Batman and would naturally keep the best for himself? I would probably hold back the high ticket items in the Javelins too given how many crash, explode, or otherwise get destroyed annually."
"But Bats is the one that destroys most of them!"
"He pays for them too. Wally, how about when we find him, you ask him why?"
Shayera sighed with satisfaction when there was finally silence inside the aircraft.
Diana, Clark, and John were flying just above the tree line, looking for signs of the Javelin's wreckage or any other signs of Bruce. John was using his ring to illuminate and scan the area, although Clark and Diana's enhanced vision allowed them to see where they needed to through the darkness. Clark had the additional advantage of being able to use his x-ray vision look through trees or any other obstruction. He was the first to spot the parachute Bruce had used to escape the exploding Javelin. He motioned for the other two to follow.
Clark called in the finding over the comlink, "His parachute is still tangled up in a tree."
The three landed on the ground and began to search the immediate area. Shortly, the Batwing arrived on the scene and hovered above, flooding the area with light. Diana caught sight of an object that reflected the light from the Batwing. She floated over to investigate.
"I've found his utility belt," Diana called out over her communicator.
"Don't pick it up." responded Nightwing from inside the Batwing above them. "It's got counter-measures to prevent it being stolen. You'll get a jolt of electricity if it isn't handled correctly. I'll be right down."
"No need," replied Diana, moving out into a clearing and within view of the hovering aircraft. She had the belt hanging from one shoulder, wrapped diagonally across her chest. "He showed me."
When her comment was met with absolute silence, she added, "So I could remove it." More silence. "He needed medical treatment!"
Another few seconds of silence was interrupted, of course, by Wally speaking over his communicator. "Did he show anyone else? J'onn, did he show you?" A loud thud could be heard over the comlink. "Ow, Shay, that hurt!"
"Let's focus," Shayera replied. "Is there anything else down there?"
Superman and John landed next to Diana in the clearing. "No, it's all clear," replied John.
"He said he was probably inside a tunnel or mine, about 25 miles from where the Javelin exploded," said Diana. "We just don't know in which direction."
"The mine would need to be a good distance from any potential tourist activity, hikers, campers, and the like." replied Nightwing. "Oracle recommends trying one of the tributaries off of the Lake, which is 20 miles or more southeast from here. The whole north shore doesn't have any real road access for miles that can be seen from satellite feeds. Just some old trails."
Without another word, Diana quickly took off toward the southeast. Superman and Green Lantern followed close behind her.
"Shayera and Nightwing, hang back." Superman ordered through his communicator. "I don't want them to hear us coming and rush their plans." He didn't say it out loud, but they all knew what he meant. He didn't want Bane and his thugs to have any advance warning that could give them time to kill Bruce before they could get to him.
By the time they reached the area north of the lake where Oracle thought they would most likely find Batman, J'onn and Donna had joined them. The five paused in midair to survey an expanse of mountains that lined the area between them and the lake.
"Can you see inside any of those mountains?" asked John.
Clark did a quick scan of the mountains. "I can rule out all but a few." He pointed out several mountains scattered throughout the range in front of them. "For some reason, I can't see into those."
"Bruce thought he was in an old mine with enough lead deposits left to impair your vision. J'onn, could you phase inside those and take a look around?" Diana asked. J'onn nodded and flew toward the mountains in question.
J'onn communicated back to the other five telepathically. "I'm not finding evidence of any previous mining activity." After a few more minutes, he contacted them again. "There is a very large mine. Inside there are a number of off-road vehicles and approximately two dozen men. They appear to be waiting for something."
As the six heroes planned their mission, inside the mine Bane continued on his tangent. He was enjoying the power he currently wielded. "Unfortunately, he wouldn't post much of a risk to my operation, but we cannot allow anyone living who might inherit Bruce Wayne's money or prevent my taking control of it. And I will control it. Attorneys and judges, I've heard, are as easily purchased in Gotham as police officers."
Alfred, he thought as he continued to pull harder on his restraints. His captor began to chuckle as he watched Batman struggle against his bonds. "As I was saying. The simplest way would be to cause a fatal heart attack in the middle of the night. There is no honor to be gained from the murder of an old man. I will make a promise to you that he will feel nothing. However, los pájaros, will have to be disposed of much more painfully and publicly to fully satisfy Gotham's thirst for blood."
Bruce pulled harder and harder on his chains as Bane ranted. He had leaned comfortably back in his chair, completely unconcerned with Batman's struggling. When the steel rods finally pulled free of the wall, Bruce used his momentum to carry him forward and knock Bane off of the chair and onto his back. The masked man looked up at him in surprise. Bruce began to hit him with his fists as he stood over him.
The shock quickly wore off and Bane took the first opportunity to grab the front of Batman's suit and use it to propel him up over his head. Bane rose to his feet as Bruce crashed into the wall, falling hard onto the floor. As soon as he hit, Bruce rolled over and kicked Bane's feet out from under him, dropping him hard to the floor before pouncing on him again, hitting him with his fists.
As he fought Bane, Batman's senses picked up on the new sounds coming from outside of the room. He could hear crashes, yelling, and several terrified screams.
While Bruce was momentarily distracted by the noise outside, Bane managed to reach up and grab Bruce around the throat, using that leverage to throw the smaller man off of him. As Bane got to his feet, he looked around for Batman, of whom he had lost sight. Taking advantage, Batman jumped onto his back and attempted to render him unconscious with a chokehold. Bane quickly backed up and crushed Bruce between himself and wall. Just before he was forced to let go, Bruce tore loose one of the tubes that delivered the venom to Bane's bloodstream.
When Batman dropped to the ground, he rolled back toward his adversary, knocking his feet out from under him and sending him onto his back. He used this opportunity to grab the free venom tube and wrap it around Bane's neck and pull it – hard. Batman did not react when the other man lost consciousness within seconds.
Suddenly he found himself flying across the room, hitting the wall and collapsing onto the floor. He quickly got to his feet and turned, getting into a crouch position and ready to attack his next challenger.
Diana.
She had entered the room silently and had quickly assessed the scene before her – Bruce with one of the venom tubes wrapped around Bane's neck. Despite the fact that the man was unconscious, Bruce continued to squeeze – hard. If she had accomplished what she had intended earlier, Bruce now had enhanced strength and that would mean that she only had seconds to stop him before Bane's neck would break. She flew forward and pulled Bruce off, sending him flying across the room.
She dropped to one knee, unwrapped the tube and checked the man's pulse and breathing. Bruce stood watching her. Finally, she rose and turned to face him. He stared at her in silence.
Diana spoke first. "He's alive," she said. "Are you okay?"
Batman didn't respond. The eyes that stared back at her were emotionless and cold. Diana's forehead crinkled as she regarded him seriously. She'd seen that look before. Hell, everyone had. It meant that there would be no acknowledgment of her question and no discussion about what had just happened.
His gaze dropped from hers and he stared at the belt wrapped around her until she silently handed it to him. Batman fastened his utility belt around his waist, then pulled on his cape and cowl. He next bound Bane at the hands and wrists with meta-grade zip tie handcuffs he had retrieved from his belt. All of these tasks were performed in silence.
When he had finished, he walked toward the door, pausing as he passed her, "He shouldn't be alive. Not only is your life at risk now, but so is everyone else's."
Diana turned and followed him outside of the room. "Bruce." When he didn't stop, she repeated his name. Finally, she yelled angrily, "Batman!" Finally he stopped, but didn't turn.
When he remained still, turned away from her, she added, "Look at me when I speak to you."
He turned to face her, pushing back his cowl. The fury in his eyes shocked her.
After a few moments of looking at each other in silence, he growled, "How did you…why is it back?"
She had to force herself not to avert her eyes from his loathsome glare as she responded, "While I was with you, I tried hard to focus and give you as much of myself as I could. Even though I knew you wouldn't reciprocate. I didn't know if it would work, but judging from his condition," she nodded toward the door where Bane currently lay unconscious, "I guess something came through."
Apparently she was strong enough to have willed this for him, even if he didn't want to accept what she had offered. It was masked from her, but his anger now mixed with fear - for her and of himself and what he could be capable of when those he loved were threatened. "He knows who I am," he said. "He said he intended to kill Jim Gordon, Tim, Dick – even Alfred. And I wanted to kill him. If you hadn't come, I probably would have. If he tries to hurt them, I still could."
"You are stronger than you give yourself credit for. You just need some training –"
"He knows who I am and they're still in danger. Right now. It was hard before not to cross the line. Now I could do it much more easily and because of what you've done, if someone tries to hurt them, I may not stop myself in time."
"Do the others know who you are?" Diana asked looking past Batman toward the unconscious men lying strewn around the cavern.
"No, just him. But he'll use it. Any way that he can."
"We'll talk to Gordon. Just before we came into the mine, Dick told us that he just is waiting on the main road with armored vehicles to take Bane back to Gotham. We'll figure out how to stop him from using your secret against you."
Batman shook his head and continued to glare at her. "It won't matter. There are others that might keep it to themselves, but not him. His only real objective is to destroy me. That's all it's ever been. And he'll use my family to do it."
He abruptly turned, pulling down his cowl, and walked over to where Superman and Green Lantern were standing, discussing the best way to transport these men out of the cave and to Belle Reve. Diana silently followed.
At the far end of the cavern, Donna had been listening to Bruce and Diana's conversation. Right after they walked away from the room where Bane lay unconscious, she slipped in, uncoiling her lasso as she passed through the doorway.
After deciding how to proceed with the prisoner transfer, Batman returned to check Bane's restraints and prepare to transfer him to Commissioner Gordon's custody. As he entered the room, he caught sight of Donna whispering to the unconscious man lying on the floor. The glow of her lasso lit up the room and he could immediately see it was wrapped loosely around him.
After a moment, Donna removed the lasso and it instantly stopped glowing. She then stood and turned toward the door, freezing in her tracks when she realized she had been watched. Donna raised her chin defiantly when she soon found herself on the receiving end of Batman's suspicious glare.
"What are you doing?" he growled.
"Solving your problem. When he wakes up, he will have no memory of Batman's identity," Donna responded.
"He is my responsibility. Regardless of what he's done, you have no right to manipulate his mind or body because you think it is the right thing to do!" He grew louder as he berated Donna.
"Hypocrite," she shot back at him. "You talk about not wanting to risk Diana's life while you risk your own but you would let Dick, Tim, and Alfred be at risk when it could be prevented. I haven't known them long but I already love them and I will do whatever is necessary to protect them, even if you will not."
Diana walked through the doorway, back into the room, having heard their argument and sensing her sister's emotional mix of surprise, fear, and anger.
Bruce took two angry steps toward her with his fists tightly clenched. "I will decide how I protect my family," he said. His voice was barely a whisper but it was laced with anger.
"You like to make all of the decisions, don't you? You don't like not being in control of everyone and everything."
Diana was growing increasingly uncomfortable with the level of animosity being exchanged between the two and attempted to cut it off. She stepped between them and said, "What's done is done. Let's focus on getting him secured and back to Gotham."
Bruce ignored her and continued to address Donna. "Control? I wish I had control. Too often I find myself and my life being manipulated by the whims of a meta-human that thinks they know best." The fear he felt earlier was quickly being extinguished by his growing anger. "I've had enough of metas forcing on me something that I don't want." Flashing with anger, his eyes moved to Diana's as he finished speaking.
She shouldn't have been surprised by his comment, but Diana still felt as if she'd been struck. However, like Donna had, she stood her ground and stepped forward. "I'm sorry that you feel that way. Like my sister, I would and will do whatever necessary to protect those I care about. That means doing whatever necessary to keep you in this world because, despite how easily you can hurt me, I don't want to have to live in it without you."
She paused, taking Donna by the arm and leading her to the door. Before walking through it, she turned back to look at him. "I know I said otherwise, I won't force myself into your life or into your dreams. At least for now as I think you need some space to process this situation. I think it's time Donna and I go. When you would like to discuss this further, calmly and rationally, you know how to reach me."
He said nothing as he watched her leave. Despite his anger, he felt for the second time in a day like his heart was being ripped from his chest. Seconds after she left, Dick appeared in the doorway and looked at him with disappointment.
"Back off, Bruce," he said. "You're overreacting."
"Back off?" Bruce growled. "What she did – "
"I know what she did," Dick said, cutting him off as he crouched next Bane double-checking his restraints. "After that tirade, everyone does. Donna did what she thought was necessary to protect us. She's an Amazon. That's what they're trained to do. You should know that."
"Mind control. A violation. If we do it, it makes us no better than them – Scarecrow, Hatter, Grodd."
"Is that what you really believe? She used a gift she was given for the purpose that it was intended. Donna is as pure hearted as Diana. After everything that's happened, surely you know that Diana would do the same thing if it were necessary? It might take her longer to act since she'd know you'd disapprove – but if she felt it was necessary, she would do it without guilt and without regret. What wouldn't Diana do to protect you? For that matter, what wouldn't you do for her?"
"We have other options."
"Yeah but I think Donna forcing him to forget your identity is better than you killing him," Dick said baldly.
Bruce just stared back at him in angry silence.
"I can see the severe bruising around his neck, Bruce," Dick continued. "I am a trained detective as well and I think it looks like Diana or someone probably stopped you before you broke your number one rule. Donna calling you a hypocrite wasn't completely wrong now was it?"
When Bruce looked away, Dick persisted, "Bruce, how is scaring the Hell out of some thug to get information any different really than what she did? You're still controlling them. Using fear to affect their behavior. It's about the reason why. That's what makes us better than them."
Dick sighed when Bruce again had no response. "Come on," he said. "It's dawn. Let's get this scumbag out to Gordon and go home."
E/N: Reviews would be wonderful!