A/N: I can't believe I'm already at chapter eighteen. It seems like just yesterday that I posted chapter one. I also can't believe that this story has gotten over 250 reviews! That's the most reviews I've ever gotten on one of my stories before and it feels amazing. I'm so super happy that you guys all like this story so much. It makes me feel oddly accomplished. But anyway, like last time, the Joker and Harley Quinn are currently in the lead in my poll by only two votes. If this isn't who you'd like to read about in the sequel, go ahead and vote on which villain you'd like to see The Black Swan battle! Vote as many times as you'd like if this website will let you!
Like last chapter, I'll be using content from The Dark Knight Rises, so WARNING: SPOILER ALERT! If you haven't seen the movie and want to find out what happens yourself, reading my story wouldn't be advisable. But if you've seen it, or you just want to read and find out what happens, then by all means, read on!
Disclaimer: I do not own Batman, or any of its characters. They all belong to DC Comics and Christopher Nolan… Even though I'd really like to. If I did I would put much more John Blake in the movie. And my characters would most definitely be added.
Reviewers and Replies:
REDROBINS007: Well, that's alright! You're reviewing now, and that's what counts. I'm really glad you've been reading this since the beginning, and I'm glad you like this story. I'm also, really glad you reviewed. I love hearing what my readers think of my story, whether it is a good or bad review. But yeah, I know. I wanted to make them kiss a long time ago, but it was never the right time. When I was writing it, I decided that I made everyone wait long enough. Thank you for voting on my poll! I'm super happy that you're excited for the sequel, and I for one am excited to write it. I already have a bunch of ideas in my head for it. Thank you so much for reviewing! I hope to hear from you again. :)
Her Highness Gaki-chan: I know, I was sad when I wrote it. I was like, "Aww, my poor Elijah." But it will be alright. There will be more Elijah soon. You're the youngest in your family? I'm the oldest, with three younger siblings. It's not really a good time. They're pretty annoying. But anyway, thank you for the review! I hope you like this chapter as much as you liked the last one.
samdel1997: Haha, I love how excited everyone is that they finally kissed. I'll admit, I was really excited when I wrote it. I stopped while I was typing it and smiled really big, and yelled "NOW KISS" and typed it. I felt very accomplished when I wrote it. Well, at least now I know that the guest was you, and that you reviewed the last chapter. :) I hope you like this chapter as much as the last one. Thank you for the review.
brijane: I think that John isn't putting two and two together with Rosalie and the Black Swan because he's blinded by his attraction and liking for her…maybe? Don't know… he's a smitten guy. I'm glad you like this story though! Thank you for the review!
IaMcHrIsSi: Thank you for all of the reviews! I hope you had fun on your vacation! No worries though, Selina will show up soon. I can't leave her out of this story. Again, thank you for all of the reviews. I hope you like this chapter as much as all of the other ones.
WinterRain36: Aw, well I'm actually touched that my scene with Elijah almost made you cry. It's awesome that my writing can inspire emotions like that. And, I'm glad you were happy about the John/Rosalie kiss. Thank you for voting on my poll though! Feel free to vote as many times as you'd like for the villain you'd like to win. Thank you so much for the review. I hope you like this chapter as much as the last one.
kindleflame5: Thank you for the review! I'm really glad you liked their kiss! I was so excited to write it. And I'm also glad you liked their Avengers chat! I agree. The movie was brilliant. I really hope you like this chapter as much as the last one. I really enjoy reading your reviews, and I can't wait to hear from you again.
PowerToThePeople23: I don't know that Bruce will come back during this chapter. I may extend this chapter to get to that point, but if not, he'll definitely be back in the next chapter. Thank you for the review! And I hope you like this chapter as much as the last one.
Ravenmore45: They sure did kiss. I was very excited to write it! Thank you so much for reviewing. I hope you like this chapter as much as the last one!
Luli Cullen: Thank you so much for your review. I hope you like this chapter just as much as the last one.
RainbowSky: We'll see ;) Thank you for reviewing. I hope you like this chapter as much as the last one.
-IWRU-
SPECIAL FORCES BODIES HANG IN THE CABLES OF GOTHAM BRIDGE
Rosalie glares harshly at the computer screen that shows a live feed of Gotham's newscast. She runs her black gloved hands through her hair, and rubs her unmasked eyes. She hurriedly puts her mask on and climbs out her sister's window. She uses the rooftops of buildings and alleyways to make her way to John's apartment building. She uses the fire escape when she arrives and stops when she gets to John's bedroom window. She sees him pacing in his room, looking over some papers, and she taps on the window. John looks sharply over, and lets out a breath when he sees the Black Swan at his window. He opens the window and she climbs into the apartment. She breezes past John, and heads out into the living room where Gordon is sitting. He is genuinely surprised when he sees her standing there, and he glances behind her to see John entering the room as well.
Rosalie paces back and forth in John's living room furiously, shaking her head.
"What the hell happened?" she finally asks in a low, calm voice. Neither of the men answers and she stops pacing and looks at them expectantly. "Well?"
"We brought in men that we thought could help," Gordon says simply, and Rosalie raises her hidden eyebrows.
"Yeah, I gathered that. Unfortunately for them, they're hanging from the Gotham Bridge. They weren't much help were they?" Rosalie snarls at them. "Where exactly did you bring the 'Special Forces'?"
"To City Hall. To meet Lucius Fox, the one man who can stabilize the bomb," John answers confidently.
"Oh, you mean the bomb that Bane said he'd detonate if anyone brought in any outside help?" Rosalie asks, incredulously. "And you brought them to City Hall? Where almost all of Bane's men congregate? You're a detective and a Police Commissioner, and you're both acting completely incompetent!" Rosalie exclaims.
"Alright, that's enough," John says, glaring at Rosalie.
"That's enough? Tell that to the men that you brought into this city, that are currently hanging dead from the bridge," Rosalie tells him. "Okay who is this Lucius Fox?"
"He built the bomb," Gordon tells her. "He said it was originally built as a fusion reactor. Bane turned the core of it into a bomb, and disconnected it. He can reconnect the bomb to the reactor and stabilize it."
"So where is he now?" Rosalie asks.
"We don't know. We were going to bring him with us when we left, but he made us take Miranda Tate instead," John says.
"So he's still at City Hall with Bane's men after he was associating with the Special Forces men?" Rosalie asks, rolling her eyes, and clenching her jaw. "Well, I don't think they'd just kill him. They'd probably put him through one of that psychopath Crane's trial."
"Well that doesn't help us," Gordon says. Rosalie holds back a biting comment, to get on with business.
"I'll watch over the 'trials' for a while. I'll look up Fox tonight. If I see him, I'll get him back," Rosalie says, turning to go back to John's bedroom. A thought comes to her mind and she stops, and turns back around. "Let's not pull another stupid stunt like this again. You're lucky we're not all dead right now."
"Tomorrow we're having a meeting. I want you to be there," Gordon says.
"Where?" Rosalie asks, and Gordon gets up and scribbles down an address on a small piece of paper and hands it to Rosalie. Rosalie glances at the address and nods to Gordon and John. She retreats back to John's bedroom and climbs out the window, onto the fire escape, and she makes her way to City Hall.
-IWRU-
Rosalie frowns deeply, and glances away when she sees another Gothamite break through the ice and plunge into the freezing water. She watches as Bane's men re-enter the building to bring out another innocent citizen for their unfortunate demise.
"Please! Let me go!" a girl screams. Rosalie straightens herself when she hears the familiar voice. Her jaw drops when she sees two of Bane's men leading Missy out to the ice. By the position of the sun in the sky, Rosalie can tell that she needs to be heading to the meeting place to meet Gordon and John. Without a second thought, Rosalie jumps from the low roof, directly behind the two thugs.
"Manhandling women," Rosalie says, shaking her head. "That seems to be a common trait with all of you guys."
The men turn around sharply, and the first man that turns around immediately meets Rosalie's gloved fist. She fights back a smirk when she hears the sharp crack of the man's jaw. She kicks the other man in the chest, sending him stumbling backwards. Rosalie easily takes the man's gun from him when he falls to the ground, and shoots both men in the chest, effectively killing them both. If Bane got word that the Black Swan was lurking around during these 'trials' he'd have them guarded more closely. Of course, seeing two of his men dead won't put his maniacal mind at ease, but Bane's men would be more on guard if they knew it was the Black Swan and not just one of the civilians.
Rosalie grabs Missy's wrist and quickly drags her around to the side of the building. Rosalie watches as a few of Bane's men run out and see their fallen comrades dead on the ground. They all begin talking to each other furiously, and they retreat back into the building.
"Thank you, so much," Missy whispers from behind Rosalie. Rosalie turns around and looks Missy in the eye. Missy frowns a bit at Rosalie, and squints her eyes. "You look really familiar."
Rosalie keeps her face expressionless. "You're welcome," Rosalie says, lowly. The two of them stiffen when the back door to City Hall opens and slams. Rosalie grabs Missy's wrist and the pair of them quickly dash away from the building. They stop at the building that the meeting is supposed to take place, and Rosalie glances at Missy. "Where's your family?"
"They're… d-dead," Missy says, tears forming in her dark eyes. Rosalie frowns a bit, and nods.
"You'll come with me then. I'll take you someplace safe after this meeting. Just stay quiet while we're there," Rosalie says, knocking on the back door of the building. A few moments later, the door opens, revealing Gordon pointing a gun at her. When he sees who it is, he lowers the gun, allowing the girls inside. He glances at Missy, confused.
"Who's this?" Gordon asks.
"Missy Vasco," Missy says, quietly, glancing at Rosalie.
"Vasco. As in, Vasco Incorporations?" Gordon asks, and Missy nods solemnly. Rosalie gives him a look that tells him not to say anymore. Gordon nods slightly and walks back over to the table. "Where the hell are they? It's not like we have a lot of time here."
"How long?" a man asks, and Gordon looks at him.
"The bomb goes off tomorrow. We have about eighteen hours to do something," Gordon responds, and Rosalie hears Missy gasp from behind her. Rosalie frowns a bit and thanks whatever God, or god like deity is out there that she got a full eight hours of sleep the previous night, because she knows that she won't be getting a wink of sleep until the bomb is stabilized, or she's dead.
"To do what?" the man asks Gordon.
"We mark that truck, get a GPS on it," Gordon says. "Then we can start thinking about how to take it down."
Rosalie briefly frowns at the lack of a plan, but she knows that for now, it's the best they've got. Everyone's head snaps to the side when there's a knock at the door. Rosalie tenses, and moves protectively in front of Missy. One of the other men goes to the door and opens it. Everyone relaxes when on the other side of the door stands John and about ten other men. John spies the Black Swan and sends her a nod, which she returns. John looks at Missy with a confused expression, but a glare from the Black Swan makes him advert his eyes.
"Foley. Where's Foley, dammit?" Gordon shouts. He grabs his coat and heads to the door.
"Where the hell do you think you're going?" Rosalie asks lowly and exasperatedly.
"You shouldn't be out on the streets," John says, attempting to block Gordon's path. Gordon just pushes his way past John, ignoring the looks everyone is sending him.
"Men," Rosalie hisses, annoyed. She hears Missy stifle a laugh behind her, and Rosalie sighs. "Come on," Rosalie says to Missy, and heads for the door.
"Where are you going?" John asks her.
"Taking her somewhere safe, and then going to make sure that our lovely Police Commissioner doesn't get himself killed by being so stupid," Rosalie says. She walks out the door with Missy trailing behind her. Rosalie quickly leads Missy to her apartment which wasn't located terribly far away from the meeting place.
"Who lives here?" Missy asks.
"You'll know soon enough," Rosalie answers. "You'll be safe here."
Missy nods and yawns widely. Rosalie smiles a bit.
"If you'd like to sleep, the bedroom's there. I assure you, the owner of this apartment won't mind," Rosalie says, and Missy nods a bit. Rosalie swiftly leaves the apartment, shutting the door tightly behind her.
Rosalie roams the streets for nearly an hour, looking for Gordon. She ducks behind a corner quickly when she hears people approaching. Her eyes widen considerably and she quickly slaps both of her hands over her mouth when she sees Bane dragging a struggling man down the sidewalk. The man puts up one hell of a fight though, but despite the fight that the man puts up, Bane just looks amused.
Rosalie frowns in thought when the man hits Bane in the mask, and one of the valves comes undone. Bane clutches at his mask frantically with one hand, while the other grasps the man's neck. The man gasps, and wheezes while trying to pry Bane's massive fingers from his neck. In a second, the man falls limp in Bane's grasp, and the large mercenary drops the man unceremoniously to the ground. Bane pays no mind to the lifeless body at his feet, as he's more occupied by his mask. Eventually, he gets the valve replaced on his mask and his breathing evens out. Afterwards, Bane stands a little straighter, still not giving any attention to the man at his feet.
"I know you're there," he says calmly, and Rosalie moves farther into the alleyway. "You must be the one causing all of the trouble in this city. Your attempt at trying to rid this city from the evilness that has spread is a folly. But as I suspect you already know, your recognizable attempts have gone to waste because the bomb is set to detonate in the next sixteen hours. Because of this matter, favorably for you, I won't kill you. You like everybody else in this city will instead, feel the fire."
Rosalie tenses when she sees Bane stroll past the alley she's hiding in, without a single glance in her direction. What unnerves her the most is the fact that he knew she was there. Rosalie glides deeper into the alley, and resumes her search for Gordon. Rosalie stops suddenly when she hears a very familiar voice she'd been missing for the last few months.
"Never steal something from someone you can't outrun," she hears her sister say. Rosalie grins as a kid runs past her with an apple and Rosalie comes out from behind the structure she was hiding behind.
"I remember that lesson very clearly," Rosalie says to her sister, who turns around quickly and grins.
"Good to know you're still alive," Selina says, moving forward and embracing her sister.
"I told you to have faith in me," Rosalie says. "It pains me that you had such little confidence in me."
"Don't be so dramatic. We both know you have a tendency to do some pretty rash things," Selina says with an eye roll.
"Well I learned from the best," Rosalie says with a grin.
"A cat and a swan. I've never heard of them getting along in the wild, but I guess there's a first time for everything," a deep voice chimes in from behind the sisters. "Though you were much better at protecting your identity than your sister was," the man says, referring to Rosalie. The sisters turn around sharply and their eyes widen simultaneously.
"Nice to see you alive," Rosalie says with a smile. "Though you need to shave. Looking a little scruffy there Bruce."
-IWRU-
A/N: Annndddd Bruce is back! Not much to say, except keep your eyes peeled for the next chapter. And go vote on my poll so I can begin the sequel as soon as I can after this story is finished!
Suggestions?
Comments?
Leave them in a review!