Thanks for all the positive feedback on this fic! & to the folks who PM'd with questions, theories & plushhhiies haha. Please review, let me know what you think...I know that it's moving at a slow pace but as somebody once said to me on this very site; "Don't be afraid to draw out chapters. It's Fanfiction, we're dork enough to read it."

Wise words. Wise words, indeed.

Thanks, guys!

XXII.

Revolution Is Duty

"So, what does your job entail as my 'advisor'?"

Crane asked carefully, one of his brows cocked. Lily grinned warmly and bit down her dislike towards him and swooped down into one of the deliciously plush seats, motioning with a hand for Crane to sit too. He did, his spindly legs bent up on the low seat; his smooth as glass eyes never left Lily. Sitting near him was like being trapped in a snake pit; Lily felt as though slippery tails, flicking tongues and beady eyes all converged on her; she shook herself and rolled her shoulders slightly;

"You seem nervous," The doctor remarked, one of his hands came up and he rested his chin on his knuckles.

"Not at all," Lily lied plastically, "No. As your advisor...I basically fetch and carry for you."

His expression remained bland and Lily's smile wavered,

"A glorified assistant, I'm afraid...but..." His curiosity tickled, he looked up slightly,

"Taking advice when it comes to dealing with some of these officials would be, uh...wise."

"Why you? Why not somebody else?" He wondered aloud, his eyes hovering over Lily suspiciously.

She took a breath and steadied herself. She had to be smart; if she wanted to help anybody then she would need to think. Plastering her most engaging smile along her pale lips which she'd hidden under a coat of lipstick, Lily eyed Crane as though he were the most charming, handsome man she had ever laid eyes on and preened only ever so slightly in her pretty dress and gave him a breathy laugh as though he had said something very witty.

"Well, why not me? Bane thought you would like an assistant. 'Advisor' is just the title Bane tagged on to make me sound indispensable to you."

He nodded, "And why should I take your advice?"

"I spent a lot of time down below; in the sewers with Bane and his militia. Down there I was known as somebody who had been wronged by the elite," Lily's pride was bruised as the words left her mouth.

She had never thought of herself as 'wronged' by anybody, not even her parents who had left her all alone. To sit before this worm and lie through her teeth made her ill, but she pushed it aside and nodded,

"Being an underclass citizen in Gotham can be very...trying. Having the opinion of an every woman would make you seem less biased, Dr. Crane. That's all."

"I see," Crane bobbed his head, "But this whole fiasco is rather biased-"

"No, you're mistaken." Lily stopped him, ready to hurl.

"Bane is liberating Gotham. Saving the city from the clutches of the corrupt...You will preside over a court where Bane will have no power..." She hoped she didn't sound as deluded as she believed she did.

Crane's eyes narrowed and he smiled thinly.

"Well of course; Gotham shan't be a dictatorship, there will be justice for all who have been wronged."

"Yes..." Lily concurred, "That is all Bane wants to accomplish, but he doesn't want the people thinking you're sentences are based on wholly your own preconception...After you're incarceration."

The doctor's eyes were like snake eyes as they grew narrower; he appraised the girl before him. They became shadowed behind the spire of his fingers which he was pushing together making the tips go white. Lily watched him push his spectacles up and lean forward slightly, one leg cocked up and over his other; an ankle resting on a knee. He reminded Lily of a grasshopper or a stick insect.

"You seem taken with his ideals...How long have you worked for him?"

Lily's breath became short; the doctor's eyes were like icicles as he bored into her, discerning her angle.

"Not long, but rest assured; I will be a very discreet assistant."

"You're his eyes and ears in my court, then." He said with conviction and Lily gripped her knees.

"E-excuse me?" She stammered as Crane shrugged indifferently,

"Of course he'll be having somebody keeping an eye on me. I thought it would be one of these brutes," He waved a hand and made a disgusted face, "One of his troglodytes with more brawn than brains."

"Ah..." Lily breathed and the doctor smiled,

"I don't mind you keeping tabs, and I'll take your advice...which I presume would be Bane's advice masquerading as your own? In which case, what choice do I have?"

Lily's mouth dropped and then jerked back up while the doctor only smiled pleasantly at her, like he'd just asked her what the time was and was courteously waiting for her to tell him. She nodded dumbfounded and Crane's eyes took on a new brightness as this little puzzle had been resolved. He sat back with newborn authority which almost made Lily shrink, but she fought it and kept her composure.

"You're sharp," Was all she could say with a smile and he shrugged again, annoying her.

"Not a very good actress, I'm afraid, but I'm sure you'll serve as a adequate go-between." He said aloofly.

"How did you know?" Lily pondered and Crane's eyes danced as he smiled condescendingly,

"Well spoken but uneducated, your manner isn't professional. It would be obvious to anybody who had experience with corporate types, if I'm honest. Although you remind me of a certain brunette I once knew. She had your...manner."

His unveiled aloofness nearly made Lily get up and punch him right in that scrawny throat but she restrained herself and smiled prettily,

"Well, there's no getting past you, Dr. Crane."

"Please, Scarecrow will do for now." He said with a nod and Lily cocked an eyebrow,

"'Scarecrow'?" His eyes were unwavering until she shrugged and nodded, "Sure, okay, fine."

"So, now that we understand each other, what about these cases?" Crane said,

"Oh, yes; uh, give me a minute."

He watched without comment as Lily leaned over the side of her chair and retrieved a binder full of papers on the officials Bane hadn't killed on sight, or the ones that didn't put up a fight and were now being thrown into a makeshift prison yard outside City Hall. Lily felt dirty holding the binder and handed it over to Crane as quickly as possible, wiping her hands on her knees afterwards. Flicking through the papers, the doctor's eyes scanned them rapidly; he nodded briefly and sniffed,

"So Bane's trying the elite of Gotham...This'll be fun. It will undoubtedly put the fear in them."

Absently Lily nodded; her thoughts muddled. She was unsure if this was the doctor whom Michael had mentioned, the one Bane had retrieved from Arkham, and her curio was so that she eyed him carefully. Too hard for Dr. Crane's liking, his eyes pierced up at her from his musings over the files, he raised an eyebrow;

"Is there a problem?"

Lily's own eyes widened and she looked away,

"Oh, no...It's just...you don't seem very...uh, crazy."

"Ah," Crane nodded, "Looks can be deceiving. Your boss is a testament to that fact."

"Yes, Bane isn't what he appears-" Lily was cut off by Crane's dark chortle,

"Actually, I meant me. You're my advisor now. We'd best keep up appearances."

Her reply was stemmed by footsteps thumping behind her; with a frown she abandoned Crane to his files which he returned to, ignorant to the commotion that was building in the plaza.

"Excuse me." Lily said and got up, leaving Crane alone with his binder.

Stepping out into the plaza, Lily recognised the thin merc from the night before and made her way through the throng of mercs who were all too absorbed with the television mounted on the wall to mind her intrusion. She shuffled up beside him and asked quietly,

"What's going on?"

"Bane's outside Blackgate, there's a news cast there – they're filming it live."

With that, Lily's own eyes were fixed on the television now too. Her heart was beating rapidly in her chest, thudding and hammering against her ribs so hard she could hear it pounding in her ears. Her breath died in her throat when she saw Bane, miniature on the screen; amble up onto the roof of one of his car-things. He looked imposing even from here; Lily licked her dry lips and made a face when she tasted lipstick.

The next five minutes changed everything. John eyed the Commissioner, who sat rigid on his couch, his hands balled up before his face, his eyes fixated on the television which flashed images of Bane's militia herding citizens, burning, breaking, fighting, wielding guns alongside newly-freed convicts and to John's disgust, bellhops, waiters and the general public all joining in. No rules, no consequences.

Bane's speech which had unravelled everything; Harvey Dent, Gotham's White Knight, their golden prince who died at the hands of a cold-blooded killer was the epitome of hypocrisy. A lie within a lie, concealed by seemingly good men; Commissioner Gordon was frozen.

"All those criminals who were locked up for eight years in Blackgate and denied parole under the Dent Act...That was based on a lie?"

He said quietly, his tone more mild than he had meant it to be. Commissioner Gordon unclasped his hands and shrugged so softly, his head shaking slowly from side to side; like a man trapped between a rock and a hard place,

"Gotham needed a hero..." He explained with quiet despair.

"Yeah, well it needs it now more than ever." John replied with the same quiet tone,

"And you betrayed everything you stood for." He accused his brow furrowing.

Commissioner Gordon turned quickly, his eyes fiery; but his testiness died almost immediately, replaced by the weight of his own guilt again as he couldn't deny it. He shrugged once more, peering up at John;

"That's the point." He said with a nod.

John felt his temper rising.

"The rules aren't weapons anymore, they're...shackles." The Commissioner said calmly almost to himself,

"Letting the bad guy get ahead...One day," He added with a saddened expression, "You might face such a moment of crisis."

Suddenly his own anger flared and he hissed with unyielding fury,

"And in that moment I hope you had a friend like I did!"

John stepped back in the face of the normally soft-spoken Commissioner's anger,

"To plunge their hands into the filth! So that you can keep yours clean!"

With a shake of his head, John felt some light die inside of him. For his entire career as a police officer he had always held an unshakable loyalty and admiration for Commissioner James Gordon, he had looked up to this man, this broken man in recent years and now he knew what was crushing him. A lie which was wasting this once brilliant man's soul; seeing the Commissioner's betrayal of his own ideals laid bare before him and the husk of a battered old veteran nearly made John weep, but even he could not see why the Commissioner would cover up such a lie.

"Your hands look plenty filthy to me, Commissioner."

"Step forward, those who would serve!"

Bane bellowed; making Lily's hair stand up on end. The mercs around her were all nodding and jeering at the television, waving their guns in approval of their warlord; Lily found herself stepping back, frightened by the chaos erupting around her as the men became more and more rowdy in their empowerment listening to Bane's metallic voice blast through the room.

"For an army will be raised! The powerful will be ripped from their decadent nests and cast out into the cold world that we know and endure! Courts will be convened..."

Lily's little eek of fright was drowned out by the mercs' shouting as she felt a hand grip hers, turning; her eyes locked with Dr. Crane's.

"Let's get out of here," He suggested in his nondescript way, his eyes darting around furtively;

"It's getting a little bit raucous for the likes of us."

Lily nodded, her ears pricked for the sound of Bane's powerful voice,

"Spoils will be enjoyed!" He shouted over the din of the plaza.

"Blood will be shed! The police shall survive as they learn to serve true justice!"

Gripping Crane's slick hand, Lily was roughly pulled from the crowd by Crane unceremoniously. Her head was swimming; what did Bane mean by the police serving true justice? Was John buried beneath the city like she had been? Was he alright? She prayed that he was, she truly did hope he was safe.

"This great city," Bane said with authority which made Lily stop to look back at the television. "It will endure."

Just before she was hauled from the room by this surprisingly strong, stalk-like man she heard Bane say with finality.

"Gotham will survive."

Thrown inside her room, Crane slammed the door and ran a hand through his hair; the binder of officials under one arm. Lily's breath was uneven and she could feel a rattle on it. Clearing her throat, she sniffed and cursed herself for getting mixed up in this...this madness. What Bane was doing was way beyond anything she had ever thought possible, she thought that maybe he was after something else, money, and technology – whatever. Not total domination of her city, her home. She shivered at the thought of Bane standing atop that car-thing and felt a retch coming on at the fear which gripped her belly.

"'None shall interfere, do as you please', Bane knows how to rile a city."

Crane said appraisingly making Lily look at him.

"He's..." Lily was at a loss for words, "They'll go mad...everyone will just go nuts!"

"No," Crane shook his head and wiped his glasses on the hem of his suit jacket.

"Gotham is a city of apathy; the general populace will just bob along as they always have. The prisoners from Blackgate, though...Those men and women will be out for revenge – the ones who were wrongly imprisoned."

He said with a nod, "The more violent ones will just be along for the ride."

"Gotham will be a city of killers and opportunists by the end."

Crane said finally and popped his spectacles back on with a jaunty flick of his wrist.

"They'll be our new peers" He remarked eyeing Lily hard, "So we should make a point of befriending them."

"'We'?" Lily said and he nodded,

"Well, yes. You are my advisor and as mine and Bane's middle man, you won't go unnoticed. You'll have an opinion and some people may hate you for it. This is a lucky time to be alive, but it is also a very delicate climate."

Lily's eyes narrowed as Crane came closer, a sadistic smile played on his gaunt face,

"Criminals, I've learned from experience can be quite fickle. My advice to you would be this: stay close to Bane. Once you start influencing sentences your power will be envied."

"I don't know what you mean?" Lily said stupidly, her head spinning.

"It's curious the precarious position Bane put you in...Considering."

Lily frowned and Crane chuckled at her witlessness and shook his head,

"Of course I did my homework on you. Bane may have only freed me last night but I spoke with a few of his mercenaries; they all told me different little yarns about you, Lily."

"Yarns'?"

"Bane's lover was prominent among them, but judging from your fear and genuine distress at his actions I'd say that's unlikely. But the thing they expressed the most was his unwillingness to be rid of you, makes me wonder what he plans on doing with you. It should be interesting...But like I said, you should exercise caution."

"Thanks for the advice." Lily murmured cagily and Crane smiled bitterly,

"My pleasure, I expect you to do the same."

"It looks like I've made a friend then..." Lily commented and he peered down at her with his faint eyes,

"Indeed."

Flinging clothes and supplies into a duffel bag, John muttered under his breath as the Commissioner still sat glued to the screen of the TV. He had barely moved a muscle and John was finding his stoicism unsettling. He was about to ask the Commissioner where he thought they should go to lie low when something on the television caught his eye. His hands stilled and his chest positively tightened with anxiety, relief and a good deal of disbelief. The Commissioner turned and frowned up at him,

"What's the matter, son?"

"Shh!" John snapped and vaulted over the back of the couch and leaned into the TV, his eyes squinting.

"No..."

"Footage taken yesterday outside the Gotham football stadium, shows a man attempting to defend his city from terrorists by wielding a shotgun, the man, Harry Gains, was gunned down at point blank range by one of the mercenaries..."

In the left corner of his TV, John nearly choked; it was her. Lily was hiding behind one of the armoured vehicles Bane's mercenaries used. Over her shoulders was strewn a coat he had only seen around the shoulders of one other person in Gotham; Bane. His heart soared to see her alive and safe, but his levity came crashing back down to the ground at a nose dive when he saw her get in the vehicle and speed away.

"Oh, Lil...what the hell have you gotten yourself into?"