Hey . . . you. Yeah, you, with the computer or the notebook or the phone or whatever else your using to read this chapter. Yeah, go ahead and review. It'd be much appreciated and you can chalk it up as your good deed for the day. Please and thank yous :)
Natalie's part of this chapter was surprisingly hard to write. I don't know, I guess I haven't exactly mapped out how her and Bane should interact with each other quite yet, so to me, anyway, it feels a bit "stiff" between them. Her interactions with Barsad run much smoother and while he IS going to play a pretty prominent role in this fanfic, I don't necessarily need her interactions with him to be as smooth as hers with Bane are. You guys review and let me know what you think :/
After hours of sitting up in indecision, Blake eventually came to the conclusion that he would go see Billy first to deliver the news of Natalie's kidnapping. He figured he mine-as-well get the bad experience out of the way first – an experience he knew right off the bat would be both irritating and extremely migraine-inducing the second he walked into Blackgate's processing and saw the look of slight distaste on the officer's face – almost as if he could hardly believe Blake would have the gall to interrupt whatever important Playboy article that had been diverting his attention.
"Can I help you?"
Blake nodded as he moved up to the front desk, only to drum his fingers on the plywood surface when he reached it. "Yeah, I need to see Billy Simmons, prison number 8867452."
The officer heaved a sigh as he tossed the magazine aside before getting to his feet. Hefting his belt up his rather generously large stomach, he moved over to the computer, where he began typing. After a moment, he heaved another sigh and turned a bored look onto him. "Can't. Sorry. He's in isolation."
"What? Why?" He asked, and the guard rolled his eyes before returning to the computer. A few clacking of the keys later and Blake had his answer.
"Billy apparently caused a prison war yesterday at dinner between our resident Aryan and African American populations. There were five deaths and countless wounded. As a result, he's been placed into solitary by Warden Black until further notice." He turned his eyes up to him and gave a tight smile at the flabbergasted look on Blake's face.
"Billy . . . one guy, caused that big of a riot?" He asked, and the officer gave a shrug.
"I don't know – you'd have to discuss that with the Warden or Head Officer Kane. Sorry, though. You'll have to come back later. If you leave your number, though, we can call you when he gets out and is put back in Maximum."
Blake gave a tight smile as he withdrew his badge and flashed it to him. "No need. I'm Officer John Blake of the Gotham City Police Department. I need to talk to Mr. Simmons about a case that has recently come to our attention. We think he might, uh . . . have a particular brand of insight that will be unique and very helpful to us."
The officer stood there and gazed at him in silence for a moment before speaking. "Then why haven't we received a fax or a phone call or something from Commissioner Gordon telling us that you would be arriving and would need to see Billy? And why aren't you a detective?" He asked, slowly, and Blake inwardly cursed. He had misjudged. Piggy wasn't as dumb as he looked.
He stood there, gaping for a moment and appearing very much like a fish out of water, when a light chuckling came from beside him. Both the officer and Blake turned to look, only to see a small, petite woman wearing the Blackgate guard uniform and her auburn hair tied back in a ponytail behind her head. She was smiling as if something about this scene intensely amused her, and as Blake furrowed his eyebrows in thought, wondering where the hell he knew this woman from, the officer across the counter gave her a respectful incline of his head.
"Officer Kane. How are you this morning?"
Officer Kane returned his nod. "It's been good, Officer Brody. We had a small spat in workshop, but nothing we couldn't handle. We have a problem here, though?" She asked, that same smile on her face, and Officer Brody shook his head.
"No, ma'am, I was just explaining to Officer Blake here that a prisoner in isolation needs -"
"Wait, I know you!" Blake interrupted him, and Officer Brody sent him a mean look as Officer Kane's smile grew just a bit bigger at his words. "You're . . . Melanie Kane, aren't you? We were in the same graduating class back at the academy?" He spoke and she nodded, her smile turning upwards into a full-fledged grin.
"For a minute, I didn't think you'd remember me, but yeah, it's me. How are you, Blake?" Blake nodded.
"Good. I mean, well . . . not as well as I could be, but I'm . . . I'm trying my best to hang in there." He spoke and she nodded, her grin disappearing in favor of a look of slight concern.
"What's been going on?" She asked, and Blake gave a laugh, knowing an opportunity arising when he saw one.
"Tell you what: you set me up in an interrogation room with Billy Simmons and I'll give you the whole run down of my life for the past few days, okay? Hell, I'll even return to favor by listening to your life story, too."
Officer Brody adopted a scandalized look on his face while Officer Melanie Kane stood there for a moment in front of him, a mischievous twinkle echoing in her big green eyes. She bit down on her bottom lip in what appeared like indecision, before looking away. "Okay. Fine. I can get you fifteen minutes, but that's it. Can you finish up in that amount of time?" She asked, and Blake broke out into a grin and nodded as Officer Brody began sputtering.
"That's great - more than enough time, even!"
"B-But, Officer Kane – that is grossly out of bounds!"
"Don't worry about it, Brody, I'll take it up with Black later. He owes me a few favors. Go and call ahead and tell them to put Billy in interrogation room one. We'll make our way down now." She told him, her tone coming out much bitterer than Blake had anticipated. However, those words more than piped him up. He stood there for a moment, as if hesitating on whether or not he should double-check her orders, before giving a shrug. Returning to his seat, he slid the phone towards him, where he picked it up. Quickly dialing a number, he stood there for a minute, waiting, before relaying Melanie's orders to the person on the other side. When he done, he placed the phone back in its carrier before taking a seat. He picked up his Playboy and flipped it back open to where he had last been. He had retained a slightly uncertain look on his face the entire time, however.
Melanie Kane turned another grin onto him as they moved through the double doors by the front counter. "What do you need with Billy, if you mind me asking?" She asked, and Blake gave a shrug.
"He's my girlfriend's brother. Something happened to her and I figured I should go ahead and tell him."
Melanie recoiled then, her eyes widening in surprise. "Natalie Simmons is your girlfriend?" She asked, and Blake nodded, his brows furrowing gently.
"Yeah, you know her?" Melanie performed a motion that was a cross between a nod and a shrug, although Blake easily saw through it. She was trying to play it cool despite the disappointment clearly raging inside her.
"Yeah, kinda. I wouldn't say we knew each other, knew each other, but we came into contact a few times when whenever she would come in to see Billy. She's . . . really nice." She spoke, somewhat lamely, and Blake nodded, his expression softening.
"Yeah, she's amazing." He spoke, quietly, and Melanie shot him a look.
"What happened to her . . . if you don't mind me asking, again, of course."
They continued to walk in silence for a moment before he spoke, his voice still as quiet as it had been before. "You know that robbery at the bank down on Broadway?" Melanie nodded.
"Yeah, of course I do. It's been in the news practically nonstop since it happened. Why?" Blake nodded.
"She worked there as a bank teller and was there when it was robbed. She and her best friend were taken. Kidnapped, I guess you could say."
A look of sympathy appeared on Melanie's face then. "Oh Blake, I'm so sorry!" She spoke, and Blake nodded. He buried his hands in the pockets of his jacket as he averted his eyes to the white linoleum floor underneath their feet.
"Thanks. It's . . . just been a couple of days, but already, it's been hard. We finally found out who took her, but . . . I don't think we're gonna be able to do anything about it and I don't. . I have yet to comprehend that. And then all this shit is starting to happen and I don't know if I can do this without her . . ." He trailed off and Melanie looked away.
"Who took her?"
Blake didn't answer for a moment. "I probably shouldn't answer that."
"But you're going to, right?" She asked with a smirk, and he glanced at her before shaking his head.
"Nope. That's called 'sensitive information' and I'm not at liberty to say." He told her and she gave a laugh and a nod.
"Oh yes, of course, how could I question it? The fate of Gotham hinges on that man's identity remaining a tightly locked secret for now." She spoke, somewhat sarcastically, and Blake nodded, not able to help feeling a twinge of irritation towards her tone.
"It does. More than you think," He murmured and she nodded, although he caught a slightly nervous edge to her body language. He glanced at her. "So what about you? What's been up with you since we graduated?" He asked, trying to lighten the air between them, and she gave a shrug.
"Oh, nothing nearly as stressful as what you've been going through lately. Just working a lot." She told him, casually, and he nodded, knowing that she would have said a lot more and in a lot more of a flirtatious tone if he hadn't mentioned the fact that that he was in a relationship with Billy Simmons' kid sister.
After a moment, they appeared in front of a long line of doors each painted with a simple black number on them. Melanie took him to the first door and stopped. "Okay, Billy should be in there. You'll have fifteen minutes, okay?" Blake nodded.
"Thanks. Should be all the time I need." He told her and she gave a slow nod.
"I'll be out here in case you need me, but I don't think he'll try anything, though. He's in some deep shit and he knows it." He nodded again and they shared a tight smile before he grasped the doorknob, turned it, and stepped into the room. Billy Simmons was sitting at the flimsy card table situated in the middle of the room, handcuffed hands resting on the face. Blake stood there for a minute, gazing at him and once again wondered how two people who gave birth to someone as small and petite as Natalie, could first have given birth to someone as massive as Billy.
He was tall – taller than Blake was – at around six foot three, and was as massive as he was tall – his body hard and corded with muscle. His face was gaunt, though – dark brown eyes and cheeks sunken and his skin pallid compared to the rich bronze tone both him and his sister used to share. The dark chestnut colored hair that he shared with his sister, as well, lay pomaded back against his head, although if Blake was being honest, he doubted if it wasn't so much pomade now, than simple grease. But despite that, he was still handsome. Judging from Billy and Natalie, good looks obviously ran in the Simmons family.
He sneered when he caught sight of Blake standing there, and shook his head. "Gotta say, man, you were the last person I expected to walk through that door. What you doing here?" He asked, and Blake gave a laugh.
"Man, no offense, but you look rough!" He remarked, and Billy gave a snort of laughter.
"Yeah, no shit Sherlock!" He nodded at him. "Where's Nat? Normally she's the one who comes."
Blake didn't answer him, and instead, took the time to move over to the chair opposite him, where he took a seat. When he spoke, he found it hard to look Billy in the eye. When he did, he didn't just see concern. He also saw a certain gleam there that unsettled him slightly. This was the kind of guy who would never get out of the system now. Constant prison life had ruined him – twisted and turned him into someone that he never should have become. Billy would never be released and then be able to function as a normal human being on the outside. That was, if he ever did get released again.
The thought saddened him. Blake knew how much Natalie loved her brother – how much Billy loved his little sister and how fiercely he would fight through hell to protect her. He knew how much it hurt her knowing that Gam Gam would probably die never seeing Billy again; that their children would never get to know their uncle through anything thinner than a plate of Plexiglas and speak to him through nothing more but the disgusting mouthpiece of a black phone.
"Something's happened, Billy . . ." He spoke, trailing off, and Billy nodded.
"Obviously. Why else would you be here instead of her?" His voice was hard and thick – the voice of a man who was obviously trying to keep his cool when he so desperately didn't want to.
"The bank that Nat worked at, was robbed a couple days ago." He told him and while Billy remained silent, Blake saw him swallow hard.
"Is she okay?"
Blake sat there for a minute and for a minute, was alarmed at the sudden connection the both of them had. A heavy air of concern and fear settled down around them and for the first time since he first got the news of her kidnapping, Blake finally found himself sitting there with someone who the news would hit just as hard as it hit him – maybe even harder. Blake got to see Natalie every single day – got to come home and see her, got to eat dinner with her, fall asleep beside her. He woke up beside her every single day . . . Billy, on the other hand, only saw his sister once or twice a month if he was lucky.
Blake finally shook his head and he heard the harsh breath Billy expelled from his lungs. "The bank was robbed and she was taken – kidnapped, more likely, because we haven't been contacted and given a demand like in a hostage situation. Shit, Billy, we don't even know where she is!"
"Who?"
Blake glanced up at him, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "What do you mean, 'who'?"
"I mean, who . . . the fuck . . . took her?" Billy asked, his cuffed hands rolling into fists on the table as his jaw hardened, and Blake gave a laugh.
"Man, why the fuck do you care? It ain't like you can do anything in here!"
It was Billy's turn to give a laugh. "You really want to take that tone, Flatfoot? 'Cause I can say just as much shit as you can. For instance, you say I can't do shit in here – what the fuck are you doing out there? Don't know where she is – only just now figured out who the fuck took her. What fuckin' good are you, Blake?" He shot him a look of disgust. "Man, I fuckin' hate you, you know that, I know that, Nat knows that – it's been that way for a long fuckin' time. And right now, with this news, I definitely fuckin' hate you!"
"Why? Because I'm a cop? Is that it? Or are you just that typical overprotective older brother who thinks that no man is good enough for his little sister?" Blake asked, his own tone taking on a definitively disgusted tone. Billy shook his head.
"You think you being a cop is the only reason? Yeah, it's a pretty big reason, but -"
"Jesus Christ, you know, that is so typical of you criminal types!" Blake interrupted him, a shock of anger in his voice now. "You think-you think you're above the law and when you get caught because you did something stupid, you don't blame yourselves for getting yourself into that mess, you blame us for catching you and the law for putting you away! You know, you're never gonna see the streets again, Billy? Gam Gam is going to die never having seen you again and wondering why the fuck that is because Natalie is definitely never going to tell her where you are because she is so fucking terrified how hard that news will hit her! You chose your path and the least you can do now, is admit that it was you who that chose that path and no one else, and learn to live with it. You weren't coerced into breaking the law – you chose to break the law on your own terms." He shook his head and gave a bitter laugh then.
"And you know what? You can hate me all you want to – I don't give a flying fuck. But the least you can do is give me the respect I deserve as your little sister's boyfriend who loves her and supports her and would never hurt her. And I swear to God, Billy, if I thought I could get away with it, I'd slam your head into this table for insinuating that I wasn't doing everything in my power to get her back because I am! To say anything different is a direct confrontation to how much I love her and do not ever doubt that!"
He sat there for a moment, trying desperately to get himself under control and when he did to a suitable extent, he spoke again: "And for your information, when I do find her and I finally propose to her, I am going to come down here and get your blessing first. I know how much that would make her happy."
Billy recoiled at that in surprise but quickly regained his mental balance and schooled his expression back into one of blankness. "You have balls, Blake. I didn't think you did." He eventually spoke, and Blake nodded.
"Why, because I talked back to you? Not hard to do when you're sitting there handcuffed." He spoke, and Billy chuckled.
"Oh believe me, Blake, that doesn't matter. I don't need to have my hands free to seriously hurt someone or to kill them."
"So you're a murderer now? I heard what you did from Officer Kane. I would say impressive, but for some reason, 'stupid' pops in my head first." He spoke, eyebrow arching as he did so, and Billy gave a shrug.
"I'm looking to spending the rest of my life in here, Blake. And when you're facing that kind of a sentence, you find ways to not only keep you busy, but to keep you alive, too, without becoming some black dude's girlfriend and changing your name to Cristal. That's what I've done," He shook his head, his expression hardening. "And I ain't becoming some black dude's girlfriend and changing my name to Cristal. You can fuckin' forget it."
Blake nodded and sat there for a moment in silence again. Eventually, he rapped his knuckles on the card table and spoke: "Bane. It was Bane who took her." He spoke, and the wide-eyed look of fear and shock on Billy's face, then, made a lead stone drop into Blake's stomach.
"Jesus Christ, Blake!"
"You've heard of him?"
"Heard of him? Of fuckin' course I've heard of him!" Billy spoke with a laugh before leaning forward. "We have some of his guys here in maxi, although a majority of 'em are in solitary – they don't last long in maxi and even shorter in gen pop. They keep to themselves and no one even thinks of fuckin' with 'em. They are the most bloodthirsty, ruthless men in here – even the Aryan's give those bastards a wide berth!" He shook his head, his expression turning pained. "Blake, I don't . . . if Nat's been taken by Bane, I don't . . . I don't know if you'll ever get her back. Bane's a legend in here – a veritable boogeyman if you want to go that far. Even the most hardened psychos of our ranks, wouldn't fuck with him even if you paid them!"
"By why would he have taken her, Billy? That's what I don't get – Bane's an international terrorist known for his ruthlessness. He doesn't take hostages – he kills everyone and anyone who gets in his way. Why would he take her and Kai?"
Billy gave a shrug. "I don't know. But I don't like it. Blake, Bane doesn't target just anyone. Natalie did something to catch his eye, and he planned out that robbery at the bank – he had to. Which means, he had to have been watching you guys practically 24/7 to get the information he needed to do it successfully."
Blake swallowed hard. "He was stalking her?"
"If not him, then he got someone close to him to do it," Billy shook his head. "I'm tellin' you, Blake, nothing this man does is a spur-of-the-moment decision. Everything is planned out methodically – down to the last letter. He knew Natalie would be working at the bank that afternoon and he knew that would be the best chance he had to take her. I don't what Natalie did, Blake, but whatever it was, was big enough to both catch his eye and cause him to kidnap her," He looked down and licked his lips. "You find her Blake, and you hurry. I can't help but have a bad feeling about where she is."
Natalie awoke that morning groggy and fuzzy-headed and not at all where she wanted to be. She was laying in the fetal position underneath the jersey covers of the great king-sized bed she had fallen into the previous evening after a rather quick shower. She had gone to bed desperately hoping to awake, that morning and find herself in the one she shared with Blake back at their apartment - that the entire experience had just been one big nightmare. She wanted to awake seeing Blake still sleeping soundly beside her, arm slung over his eyes like he was wont to do.
When she awoke, though, only to find that her wishes had not come true and she was still in the same bed in the same infernal apartment she had been in for the last couple of days, a feeling of profound sadness that bordered on depression, would always descend upon her. Tears would fill her eyes and she would pull the covers over her head and lay there in the darkness for a while, trying not to cry but always failing miserably. She missed him - missed everyone. She wanted him – she wanted Blake and Gam Gam and Billy. She didn't want to be here – she didn't want any of this! She didn't ask for any of this!
Eventually, though, she would drag herself out of bed and reluctantly towards the double doors that separated her haven from the rest of the apartment which He dominated. She knew if she lingered in bed too long, he would march in and get her up himself or otherwise send in Barsad, who would get her up but in a decidedly gentler fashion. She loathed either happening, though. She was a big girl and she would be strong – as strong as she needed to be. Part of recognizing that strength but was also recognizing the fact that she could still get herself up in the morning.
Her thoughts drifted to the man beyond those two doors for a moment when she reached them, and shuddered. Bane. Her captor and the bane of her existence. She never remembered hating someone so passionately in her life, before him.
Opening the doors, she found Bane, Barsad and one of his lieutenant's she had yet to learn the name of, sitting on the three couches in front of the fireplace and TV. A map of Gotham and papers, were scattered out over the face of the coffee table between them. Immediately, Bane's eyes snapped onto her and she avoided his gaze as she shambled her way into the kitchen and the pot of coffee she knew was already made. As far as she knew, Bane didn't drink coffee, but strangely, it was always made when she got up. She didn't know Bane's sleeping habits and as far as she knew, they were the only two ever in the apartment aside from Barsad at times, so it only made sense that he was the one who made it.
Which means he made it strictly for her, because he knew she liked to drink it in the morning. The thought both terrified her and strangely made her heart warm. What else did he know about her?
She also wasn't hungry an would catch a bite to eat later at lunch if she could even keep it down, that was.
"As far as we know, this is how many people are going to be down there when the bombs actually go off . . ."
"No, no, not nearly that many. Stefan went to investigate a few days ago and he said there were actually fewer than that. They lie about their numbers to both soothe the masses and to act like they have control over any given situation."
"Well, they won't over this one. However many is going to be down there, though, doesn't matter, just as long as they are there. I won't have the police giving hope to those who think they will protect them so they don't have to themselves." Bane's mechanical voice ended the quiet discussion. She had hardly paid attention, content to stand there in front of the coffeemaker after readying her coffee and sip it. The warmth flooded through her veins and she closed her eyes and savored the taste as it washed over her tongue and down her throat. She felt a small smile come to her face despite the circumstances she was in. There was truly nothing like coffee in the morning.
"Excuse me, pretty one . . ."
Barsad's quiet voice broke through her reverie and she jumped, her eyes growing wide as she immediately turned her eyes onto him. She had been standing there for so long and so deep in her own thoughts, that she had hardly taken notice of the man coming up behind her, empty mug in one hand.
"Oh, sorry . . ." She murmured and he silently nodded as she stepped aside to allow him to refill his mug. She stood there, still taking cautious but soothing sips of her coffee as her eyes scanned the man standing in front of her. He glanced at her and while he did not smile, she saw it echoing in his beautiful blue eyes, nonetheless.
"How do you like it?"
Her brows furrowed in confusion. "Like what?"
He chuckled. "The coffee, pretty one. What else?"
Her eyebrows rose. "Oh, so you made it?"
He nodded. "I make it every morning. I like it and Bane also likes a cup every now and then. I also couldn't help but notice that you have a particular affinity for it, as well," He glanced at her and gave a nonchalant shrug. "It's nothing."
"Oh . . . well regardless, thank you." She spoke and he smiled and nodded.
"Of course." He gave her a respectful incline of his head before turning and moving back into the living room where his compatriots were waiting for him. She stayed where she was, almost done with her mug and knowing that any minute would have her back in that living room, with Bane's eyes pinned on her like a hawk's. She felt sick at the thought.
"Come in here, little one . . ."
Natalie's heart fell into her stomach when she heard Bane calling for her from within the living room. After placing her mug on the counter, she crossed her arms in front of her chest and stepped into the warmly decorated space. Standing behind the couch of the man she did not know, she found herself immediately beset by both Bane and Barsad's gazes, although Barsad was a lot let blatant in his gazing of her, content to sip at his coffee while observing the map of Gotham unfolded in front of them. She met Bane's eyes unflinchingly, though, and even managed to keep the loathing from her voice when she answered him with a simple yes.
"I will be gone for the rest of the afternoon today with Barsad and some of the others. I expect you to stay here and not foolishly try to escape. I'll return when I can, although I am unsure of when exactly that will be."
Natalie nodded. "Yes. Okay. Whatever."
Barsad arched a brow as he brought his mug of freshly refilled coffee, to his lips. Bane's face and eyes remained largely expressionless. "Are you in need of anything?" He asked, and Natalie's brows rose.
"No. I have everything I need. I'll be fine." Her tone was simple – dismissive. She could see it was starting to grate on his nerves a little. "And I won't try to escape. I'm not stupid – I know how foolish it would be. Wouldn't want your men doing to me what you allowed them do to Kai, now would we?"
Barsad's movements slowed at her words and immediately, he turned his eyes onto Bane sitting hulking and stoic on the couch beside his. His expression was still largely expressionless but when he spoke, his tone belied all the irritation he was starting to feel. "I would allow nothing of the sort to happen to you, little one."
She gave a snort of laughter. "Yeah, wouldn't want to rob you of that pleasure first, right?"
The words were released from her mouth before she could fully comprehend she said them, and when she did, she immediately wished she could take them back and stuff them into the deepest recesses of her thoughts, where they would never see the light of day. Barsad stiffened from his spot on the couch he was sitting on, as Bane got to his feet. Slowly, he moved around his couch and over to her. She swallowed hard, her heart pounding in her chest as he moved to stand beside her. He towered over her short frame – his muscular bulk positively dwarfing her petite, voluptuous frame. Once again, he frightened her, and once again, she cursed herself for the stupidity of her loose mouth.
"If I wanted you, there would be nothing you could do to stop me, little one, just like if I wanted to, that flimsy little lock on those doors, would do naught to keep me out. If I so wished, I would take what I wanted from you, and no matter how much you screamed and begged, no one would come to your rescue and there would be no mercy. But I don't, because I don't believe in forcing a woman to bed with a man she does not want. Be grateful for that kindness."
Natalie felt the harsh burn of tears in her eyes as she turned her gaze up to his. For a moment, she returned his stare with an iron strength before speaking. "You will never know that pleasure. You'll have to kill me for it." She spoke, quietly, dangerously, and after a moment, Bane nodded, slowly. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a slight smile come across Barsad's face, however, it disappeared quickly.
"I know that. For now. But eventually, my little queen, I will have you because eventually, you will want me. And like me breaking down those doors, there will be nothing you can do when that time comes."