Author's Note:
This chapter has been updated in my attempts to correct errors and make the story more cohesive. The rest of this author's note is the original text. Thanks to all of you for reading!
Hello everyone! I want to say a big thank you to RennyMichele and SaraSaysSmile! Thank you so much for writing me such encouraging and kind reviews! I normally respond personally to reviewers, but since I couldn't with you two I wanted to let you know how much I appreciate it! Of course I want to thank my other reviewers, readers, and followers. You guys are great! I hope to see a little more attention from you all for this chapter than the last few... I think you guys will probably like it better. Citrus action coming up!
So, if you like this story please let me know! Thanks! I also really enjoy hearing feedback, as well as your thoughts, ideas and predictions. It makes writing this even more fun.
I have gotten into a pretty regular routine of updating this every two weeks, but I promise that if I get ten reviews/private messages on this chapter I will speed it up significantly. Yes, I am shamelessly bribing you all!
OK, enough out of me... on with the story
Chapter Fifteen - Daylight
And when the daylight comes I'll have to go, But tonight I'm gonna hold you so close, Cause in the daylight we'll be on our own, But tonight I need to hold you so close - Maroon 5
Tiana had spent the better part of four hours debating what she should do with the information Joker had given her. Part of her believed him, but a big part of her - the part with a broken heart - felt sure that he was mistaken. She didn't doubt he believed what he said, but it simply didn't add up with what she had seen. Finally, in spite of the fact that her mind was screaming no, she left the shabby apartment and headed down the street toward the old warehouse.
She snuck past the inept guards that were on duty that night, just as she had done on so many other occasions. Though some of the goons they had running around were better than others, she hadn't found any of them to be a challenge for her to get around. She clung to the shadows once she entered the building, drawing no attention to herself with her silent movements. She went to the small room that was occupied by Joker first, and watched him for several minutes. He was silently studying a series of blueprints and Tiana knew that whatever he was looking at would most likely be wiped from the earth soon. It saddened her to know that their plans of destruction were only just beginning, and she could only wonder if there was anything she could do about it. She only watched Joker for a few moments before she grew tired of the sadness it brought her, and she silently strolled away.
Bane's room was in the opposite corner of the warehouse and she carefully made her way to his door. She stood framed in the dark doorway, watching Bane as he crocheted with a troubled scowl on his face. Just the sight of him made her heart hammer in her chest, but she remained hidden in the shadows for several moments. She felt as though if she watched him long enough she would somehow be able to see into his head. Unfortunately, that didn't happen and she decided that she had stalled long enough.
She hadn't even moved, just made the decision that she would, when Bane's head shot up to look at the doorway where she was cloaked in darkness. As she stepped forward he rose from the chair, dropping his work and crossed the room to stand in front of her. He roughly cupped her face with his large, calloused hand and she could feel all the pent up emotion he carried in that touch. She lifted her eyes to his and could see so much conflict and rage filling his, but she could also see a tenderness that she had thought to be gone. In that moment she stopped caring about the rest of the world, if only for one night. She knew that she wanted Bane, needed him really, and she vaulted into his arms. His mask was in her way, but she kissed it as if it were his full lips. She could feel his arm reach passed her and close the door at her back and then it snaked around her waist, pulling her even closer to him.
Her mouth moved to kiss the thin bits of bare skin at his cheeks and her tongue slipped out and caressed the exposed flesh. She wanted nothing more than to feel his mouth on hers and his tongue teasing her body, but she knew it was not a possibility, so she decided to do enough kissing for both of them. One of his hands stroked her back, while the other was firmly placed on her butt, holding her weight up as though she were filled with feathers. Her hands were wrapped tightly around his shoulders, shoulders that were even more heavily muscled than they had been in their shared cell.
Abruptly the silence of the room was filled with his now amplified, lyrical voice. "So, you have decided to join our cause." It was not a question, but a firm statement. As though there could be no other explanation for her arrival. Tiana pulled away from kissing his neck and looked into his eyes. She didn't see the conviction that was so heavily lacing his voice, just confusion.
She held eye contact as she shook her head slowly. "No, I am only here for tonight. I still disagree with what you are doing, but I had to be with you. I couldn't stand the loneliness anymore." Her eyes searched his to see if he could understand what she was saying, but she was disappointed to discover that there was no understanding to be had. Instead, his eyes flashed dangerously with rage and he pushed her away. She landed softly on her feet and approached him warily, awaiting the impending attack, whether it was to be from words or fists.
"If you are not with us, then you are against us." Bane's voice was full of barely concealed rage, but there was also a hint of weary despair that Tiana hadn't expected to hear.
"I could never be against you Bane. I am only against what you are doing to the people of this city." Her voice was hardly more than a whisper and her eyes were full of sadness and resignation as she looked at him. She continued to move back into his space, watching for any sign that he would try to hurt her, but that sign didn't come, and she stopped with her body lightly pressed against his. Her mouth touched lightly against his large chest, placing kisses across it while she waited to see what he would do.
In a movement too fast for her to register before it was done, Bane swept her off the ground and into his arms. "Well, Little One, I suppose we can be enemies in the daylight, and lovers in the dark... at least tonight." He carried her across the room and lightly set her onto his bed. She found that compared to the sagging, and smelly bed that she called her own, his belonged in a five star resort. It was a real twin-sized bed, complete with sheets and blankets. She had to admit that it shocked her a bit that he actually had more luxury than she did. It just didn't seem to fit the man she thought she knew.
She had left her hair free that evening and it spread around her head in fiery cascades as she lay back on the bed. Her luminous eyes faintly reflecting the flames in the fireplace as she stared up at Bane with so much love and lust it seemed to almost radiate from her in hot waves. She could see that his eyes were still conflicted, but that he was pushing the negative feelings to the background for the moment. He simply stared at her for several moments, looking at her with appreciation. Then he slowly lowered himself to sit beside her on the narrow bed, his hand lightly caressing her muscular thigh.
She reached out and gripped his shoulders, gently pulling him down to lay beside her. Then her hands began to whisper across his chest, feeling his muscles bunch and shudder under her fingers. His hands moved up to her stomach and mirrored her actions for a moment, before dipping under the black fabric and caressing the soft skin of her stomach. It felt as though his fingers were full of hot sparks of pleasure as they slowly moved up to her chest and brushed across her left breast. A whimper of pleasure slipped from her lips as the skin of her nipple contracted violently under his calloused fingers.
She found herself at a loss at what to do with her mouth, since his lips was no longer an option for her. She settled for placing light kisses along his neck and the small exposed area of his chest. She alternated her feather light kisses with flicking her tongue and nipping at the tender flesh there, and was rewarded by a rumbling growl that she could feel vibrating against her lips. Her hands had also moved under his shirt and were tracing the slightly raised flesh of the scars that ran across his chest.
Then she felt him move with a violent speed and she found him resting above her, his breath coming out in hitched hisses through the mask above her face. His eyes were darkly filled with lust and she could see that he needed her, all of her, in the most primal way. Her hands quickly slipped down to the closure on his cargo pants and she fumbled with the buttons. She found that he was less concerned with keeping her clothes intact, and was slightly surprised when she heard the sound of her shirt ripping from her full body. He let loose with a primal growl when he saw her exposed breasts, and buried his face in her cleavage, the metal tubing biting at her skin. Her own growl rivaled his as her hands roughly pulled the two sides of his pants apart, the buttons pulling free of the pants and falling to the bed noiselessly. Her arms wrapped around his torso and her legs slid around his waist, there was still too much fabric between them, but they didn't move to change that.
They held still for a few seconds, just feeling each others bodies and inhaling their mingled scents. Reveling in the way that they felt to each other. Slowly her hands began seeking again and she carefully lifted the bottom edge of his shirt, gently tugging it until he helped her to pull it over his head and tossed it onto the floor beside the bed. Her eyes dilated slightly at the sight of his exposed flesh, the expanse of firm muscle and the light lines of his many scars. She reached up and firmly ran her hands over his chest and down his stomach, stopping just above his throbbing erection. She saw his eyes grow wide as she slowly snaked her body lower beneath his and he could see what she intended to do.
When her mouth closed around him she felt his entire body shudder with delight, and her ears were filled with the low moan that passed through his mask. As she began sweeping her tongue around him she knew that he wouldn't last long if she continued, and she wasn't really willing to let the fun end so quickly. So, as her mouth worked him in ways that she had never willingly performed for a man, her hands reached behind him, caressing his firm backside and slowly lowering his pants to the floor. When she knew that he would reach his end in a matter of seconds, she abruptly halted her actions and pulled away from him with a wicked grin.
His breath came out in harsh pants and his voice was hardly more than an animalistic growl, "You know that its not nice to tease... it could get you punished later." He reached up for her and she could see that he meant business, but at that moment she found herself full of playfulness and she spun from his grasp with a giggle.
"Uh, uh, uh..." She waggled her finger at him and skipped to the other side of the room. "You have to catch me first, big boy." She laughed maniacally as he sprang to his feet and flew across the room after her, his eyes filled with lust and a healthy dose of predatory amusement.
He caught her quickly, but she wasn't ready to end the game just yet and she slipped from his grasp as if she were no more substantial than air. Her smile grew even wider when she saw the look of confusion on Bane's face as he looked down at his now empty arms. Then, before he had time to move she flung herself onto his back, wrapping her legs around his hard waist. She planted kisses all over the exposed portions of his scalp and she felt his hands greedily rubbing her legs through the thin material of her pants.
She disengaged her body from his and deftly dropped to ground, strolling over to the bed. She sensuously pulled the leggings off and threw them into Bane's waiting hands. Then she lowered her body onto the bed and beckoned him to her side.
Bane stood at the foot of the bed looking at the beautiful, naked woman that was waiting for him. A large part of him wanted to return the torture she had just put him through, but he knew it was impossible, for many reasons. So, instead he dropped her pants into the heap with his own and slowly slithered between her legs onto the bed. He rested his weight on his elbows at either side of her head and buried his face into the nimbus of red at her neck, inhaling her delicious scent. He regretted that he was unable to kiss her, and he was able to tell that it was deeply disappointing to her as well, but there was nothing to be done about it.
He shifted his weight slightly so it all rested on his left side and pulled his right hand down to gently massage her full breast. He was amazed to find that it seemed even more full and shapely than it had the last time he had been able to touch it. Her skin was silky and had lost the pallor of malnutrition from the prison, and her body seemed to want him more than before as well, even if she had felt like teasing him a little. He moved his head down her chest until it hovered over her other breast, and he lightly nuzzled it, knowing that the tubing of his mask had sharp edges that would hurt her if he wasn't careful. His hot breath caused her to moan and grind her hips against him. His manhood jumped and throbbed insistently at him, telling him what it most desperately wanted.
He lowered his hand from her breast and caressed her waist and hip on his way to her hot, red mound. When he reached his destination he could feel her silky wetness clinging to the copper curls and he slowly slid his finger into her slit. She let loose with a hushed cry writhing against his hand, and he could feel an additional wetness touch his fingers. He knew that she couldn't possibly get any more ready for him, so he slowly positioned himself at her tight entrance and began to push in.
He felt as though his heart stopped as he felt her tight heat embrace him as he ever so slowly slid into her. It had surprised him the first time he had entered her that she could take all of him. She was so small in stature that he had doubted it would be possible, but he had been thrilled to discover that it was. This time was no different, and he let a low growl pass through his parted lips at the joy of it all. He held still for a moment when his full length was within her, allowing her time to fully adjust to his size. He knew that it had been a little uncomfortable for her the last time, and though she hadn't shown signs of pain this time, he wanted to be sure.
After a couple of moments he took a deep, steadying breath and began to slide in and out of her with a methodical slowness. His thumb mirrored his movements on her sensitive nub and he could feel her clenching tightly around him and knew that she was very close. Their play had left them both feeling slightly overstimulated, and he knew that this would be over much too quickly. He was sad that it would be so quick, but he knew that they had the rest of the night to make up for it.
When he heard her breath hitching and could feel the tightness around him getting almost unbearable he sped up his strokes and his thumb circled her at a faster rate as well. It only took three strokes before he felt her shatter around him, and he could hardly hear her cries of release over his own deeper moans, as he crashed over the edge of his own release. The fact that they came at the same time only intensified the sensation for him, as he felt her innermost muscles grabbing him and stroking out every drop of his seed.
He continued to move in her for a couple of slow strokes before he practically collapsed on top of her. If he had been able to think at all he would have been concerned that he would hurt her by resting all of his weight on her small frame, but as it was he didn't even think about it. He could feel her hot and shaky breath on his shoulder and her heart beat as though it was trying to escape into his own chest. The feeling of contentment that the whole thing brought him was unlike anything he had felt before, and he marveled at what he had missed his whole life.
And when he heard her muffled whisper he thought he must have died. "I love you, Bane."
Blake had immediately dressed in the batsuit when Tiana left that afternoon. Though he had promised her that he wouldn't do anything about what they had witnessed that afternoon, he had known the words were lies as they left his mouth. He had no intention of waiting around while more innocent people were tortured and killed by the Masked Menace and the Clown, and she was crazy if she thought he would. The moment that the footage had come on the TV showing the destruction they had wrought on his city he had decided that he would go to the address he had found in the possession of Zsasz. He had never told her about it, and so he didn't expect that she knew about it.
While he trusted her not to harm him, and he trusted that she was trying to help him, he didn't have complete faith in the mysterious woman. She never told him anything about herself, and he had been unable to locate any information regarding her. She was even more of a mystery than Joker, and that was saying something. He had asked Fox to look into her, and when that hadn't worked he had gone so far as to locate Alfred Pennyworth and talk him into coming back to Gotham to help. In hindsight that did seem like a bad idea, considering the fact that Bane was more than likely looking for him in order to exact some cruel vengeance on Bruce, but Blake hadn't exactly thought that through when he had asked the old man to come. At least so far all seemed to be well with the old man and he seemed to be safe. Unfortunately, he also had been unable to find anything about the fierce woman that had been trying to train him.
He had taken the Bat Pod into the city and left it a couple of blocks from the warehouse that lay at the address he was headed to. He had made the rest of the trip on foot, hiding in the shadows as much as possible. When he reached the warehouse and saw the number of guards that were stationed all around it he knew he had found the right place. He also knew that he couldn't possibly hope to get in and get to the men he needed to capture. So instead, he hid in the shadows and watched for some time. He had decided this would simply be an information gathering mission, and that he would give the information to Gordon. Perhaps the two of them could then formulate a plan to capture the dangerous men.
As the evening gave way to full night he was about to leave, but then he saw the most unexpected thing. The familiar form of his redheaded teacher slipped past him and approached the large building. She seemed to get by the guards without any trouble, and within seconds she had disappeared into the dark building. In spite of the fact that he waited until nearly dawn for her to come back out, she never did, and he could only think of two possible reasons why.
Either she had been captured, in which case she was surely dead; or she was on their side, in which case he would make sure she died the next time he saw her.