A/N: The final of the Bane series. Getting closer, folks. Keep reviewing! And keep sending words!

Fallout

She was livid. Standing in front of him in her living room, hands on her hips, she glared daggers at him until he couldn't take their jabbing anymore and he lowered his head.

"Please don't be mad."

"Please don't be mad," she echoed furiously. "Are you kidding me?"

"I just…I had to, Grace. I'm sorry, I didn't want to keep it from you. But I had to."

Grace continued to eye him angrily as he kept his gaze on the floor. She'd found out. Of course she'd found out. How the hell had he expected to keep such a thing from her? The Sac prison had called to confirm his visitation after he'd left and Grace had taken the call. The guard calling told her that prisoner Dan Hollenbeck would be ready in question in a private room, as per Agent Rigsby's request. Grace had thanked the man politely, hung up, and promptly had a rage attack.

Dan Hollenbeck. Wayne had gone to see Dan Fucking Hollenbeck. Without telling her, no less. Without telling anyone. She'd clenched her fists and barely kept her scream in her throat. Instead, she sat rigidly at her desk for the rest of the day and stewed.

Why? she'd fumed inwardly. Why is he talking to that bastard? It's been a year. Can't we just leave well enough alone?

Her usually flawless typing sported some serious typos as her fingers clicked along without her brain's full attention.

Grace didn't know what she felt worse about. Was it the fact that Wayne had lied to her? Yeah. That stung considerably. Was it that every time she thought about Dan, she instantly felt like a fool? Yeah, that too. Dan had duped her into thinking he was interested in her to get at Jane. It made her feel gullible as well as unattractive. She knew the latter was a little sillier than the first, but she couldn't help it. Everyone in the building knew she'd been taken for a ride, just like they knew that her budding relationship with a handsome lawyer had gone down in spectacularly public flames. She might have been able to handle the hurt better if no one had known, being the private creature she was, but no. The whole thing had to blow up with the dazzling effect of a train wreck and fireworks combined. Everybody watched. Everybody tsked. Everybody discussed it over their coffee, on their stakeouts, 'round the water cooler.

It had taken her months to walk down the halls and not feel the eyes of others watching her.

And that didn't even cover the fallout with Rigsby. That fateful night, she'd gone from wanting to kill him for his ridiculous interference to hugging him tight and nearly kissing him in mindless relief. He'd attacked her boyfriend like a jealous husband, acting like he had every right to yank Hollenbeck aside and threaten him.

Even now, Grace felt herself get riled up at the memory. Who the hell did he think he was? Hell, if she wanted to date a super villain straight out of Marvel Comics who owned an evil weather machine and kicked puppies for fun, then that's exactly what she'd do. She needed no permission and no approval. From anyone, least of all from a colleague who bullied her suitors without a blush but couldn't so much as pass her a stapler without stuttering shyly.

And then Dan almost killed Wayne.

That changed everything.

It shouldn't have, Grace knew. The principle was still there. But…

But.

He'd been beaten. He'd been cuffed and left to bleed on the freezing tiles. He'd tried to protect her. He'd tried to defend her. The only thing he hadn't realized was just how much protection and defense she'd actually needed. He'd restrained himself and kept his threats verbal. If he'd indulged his instincts and beat the shit out his rival, Dan never would have seen Jane. He wouldn't have threatened him and Grace. He wouldn't have shot the guard.

If Wayne had behaved like a maniac, Hollenbeck never would have had the chance to.

But he hadn't. And he'd paid. So when the cuffs finally came off her wrists, Grace ran to him. She found him, bleeding and leaning against a wall. She didn't think. She went to him. She held him. She whispered "I'm sorry" and meant so much more. And when she pulled away, her lips instinctively sought his, wanting to comfort him as well as herself. Everything about work and the rules were forgotten. She cared for this man and he was injured because of her. She wanted to kiss him and tried to.

Fate intervened.

Stupid, lousy fate.

These thoughts tormented Grace long after the dust settled on that whole clusterfuck.

She came back to the moment, looking at his dark head lowered against her anger. Once again, she was furious at his interference and he was taking it without a fight. The familiarity of the situation cooled her a little. Here he was, no doubt trying to protect her again and accepting her ire as a necessary blow.

She took a deep breath and skipped to the end, moving into his space and slipping her arms around him. His head went up and he inhaled sharply in surprise, but lost no time in wrapping his arms around her back and pulling her close.

"I'm still mad," she huffed into his chest. "I still want to know why the hell you went to see him."

"Baby, I'm sorry," he offered humbly, clearing just wanting to end the fight. "I won't see him again. I promise." His hands coasted over her shoulders, seeking comfort in her closeness.

She pulled back to look at him plaintively. "Just tell me why. Please, baby," she used the pet name to calm his anxiety. "What happened that made you go out there?"

His eyes slanted away from hers and she squeezed him tighter. No looking away, it said. One of his hands worked its way into her loose hair. He sighed. "The dream is driving me crazy."

Her eyes softened and she began rubbing his back softly. "It's just a dream," she repeated her late night consolation to him. "It'll fade with time."

"It's had plenty of time," he rasped darkly. "A year, actually. But still I wake up thinking that you're dead and it's my fault. I can't take it anymore."

Suddenly he leaned down and scooped her up, swinging her legs over his forearms and squeezing her tight as he walked over to her sofa, falling backwards into its comfy depths. Grace held on and gasped when they hit the cushions and bounced slightly. His actions felt lighthearted, but his motivations were pure need. He buried his head in the V of her chest and raised knees. "I had to look him in the eye and ask him straight out."

"Ask him what?" His ear was right next to her lips, so she kept her voice soft.

He sighed again. She felt the warmth of his breath through her shirt. "Why he chose you, of all the women we work with. And then…how he could be with you, even for a week, and then try and hurt you." He turned his head to look at her. "And…I had to see him again, just so I could stare at the man you liked, you touched, and know that he'd never have that again. Because I have it now."

Her brow raised in amazement.

"Wayne, I don't understand. Are you mad that he touched me? Or are you mad that he touched me and didn't mean it?" she asked.

His head arced slowly back and forth miserably. "I don't know which one makes me want to kill him more."

She huffed, mildly indignant. "Would you like me to give him a second chance? Try and convince him that we could be good together if he'd just let the whole Jane-killing thing go?"

Rigsby knew she was making a point, but it didn't stop the muscles in his neck from flaring angrily at the very idea of her and Dan together. He couldn't help it. This woman drove him to such possessive madness that the mere mention of her with someone else made his fists clench and his hackles rise.

"You wanted him, and he used you to try and kill our friend and would have shot you to get to him. For being with you, I want to beat the shit out of him. For almost killing you, I want to rip his heart out through his mouth."

She loved him for his honesty, but she had to make say her piece. "So, what? Do you plan of visiting all my ex-boyfriends and beating them up retroactively for daring to be with me before you came into my life? Should I have locked myself away in a tower, all clean and virginal, on the off chance that that you rode by and took an interest?"

He grunted in frustration, but she pushed on.

"Wayne, be fair. I've never asked about your ex-girlfriends and I don't plan to. I don't care who you've slept with in the past. It's not important. The important thing is that I'm with you now. Of course I get a little jealous at the idea of them being with you. Touching you. Making you happy. But that's not fair, is it? It's not fair to you."

His eyes blinked in surprise at her admission. She was jealous of his exes? Jesus Christ, was she kidding? Rigsby snorted softly. As smugly happy as her jealousy made him feel, she had to know how completely unnecessary it was. He was crazy about her. The women from his past didn't even enter his mind anymore, not since Grace had pranced into his life and set his world on fire. He loved the idea of her fighting for him, but recoiled at the notion that she might feel threatened by the girls that he could only remember as pale practice relationships. They couldn't touch her. No one could. Miss Universe herself could chain herself to his bed and breathily swear that her only mission in life was to bake cookies for orphans, read to blind people, cure cancer and fuck him into an early grave.

Thanks, Kiki, but he already had an angel that could do all of that and more.

He glanced up at her apologetically, but stayed his course. "I don't blame you for having exes, babe. Yes, the thought of other men touching you and making you happy makes me crazy, but that's not what I went to see Hollenbeck about. The truth is that I hate him. If I'd been a man about it, I would have confessed how I felt and maybe he never would have had a chance with you." He looked down, embarrassed. "Then he betrayed your trust. And after that, he threatened you physically. I went to the prison today because I had half a mind to tear his arms off and beat him to death with them."

Her anger broke and she smiled despite herself. "Big, tough protector, huh? Defending me against all the bad men in the world?" She snuggled deeper into his lap. "You never did tell me what you said to him in the bathroom."

He scoffed lightly. "Subsequent shit occurred. It didn't seem important afterwards."

She squeezed him affectionately. "You could tell me now. Just for kicks."

He reddened. "C'mon. Does it really matter anymore?"

She chuckled at his embarrassment. "C'mon, yourself. Whatever you said to him, you should have said to me. So tell me now. What did you tell Dan?"

He chaffed at hearing that bastard's name in her pretty voice. He cleared his throat and looked down. "Basically? I told him I'd kill him if he hurt you."

She chuckled. "You need a new line."

"You asked," he defended with a pout.

"I did," she agreed. She snaked her arms around his neck and held him. "Thank you for telling me. And…I sort of want to thank you for scaring other men away from me." She looked up shyly. "It's kinda sexy, watching you lock horns with other men. Especially since…" she smiled and didn't finish.

He nudged her gently. "Since?" he prodded.

She closed her eyes and bit her lip. "Since you're so much bigger than everyone else. It's hard not to get excited knowing you're stronger than most guys."

He smiled with embarrassment. "You sure didn't think so at the time."

She rested her forehead against his temple. "I wasn't really allowed to show it, was I? Plus I was mad at you."

He nuzzled his cheek against her nose. "Seems like you're always mad at me."

She placed a dozen kisses across his cheekbone and murmured, "You barged into my life and my heart and refused to leave. I'll always be furious with how hard I fell for you."