Ann was left staring at Bane's back, the implication of what Talia had said hanging in the air like a thick fog. It wasn't even an implication, it was a promise.
"You're going to die, Bane?" Ann questioned angrily.
"Yes," was all Bane said, keeping his back to her.
"And when were you planning on telling me?"
"I assumed you would just figure it out," Bane explained extremely briefly before talking a few steps towards the bathroom. Even though she should have known there was nothing she could do about it, Ann grasped at his arm in an attempt to hold him back, desperate for more information.
"You can't do this to me," tears were starting to pool up in her eyes making Ann glad that Bane was not facing her, although this would be far from the first time he saw her cry. "You can't just kidnap me and convince me to have a kid with you and then die before the kid is even born! That's not fair!"
"Isn't it?" Bane said, rounding on her. "The very fact that you are having this child is saving you from the bomb. We will make sure that you get out of the city. That should make you happy, yet you're mad that I'm not surviving? What did you think you were having this child for?"
A bomb. The word finally sunk in for Ann. Talia had said that Bane had planned to destroy the city for her father, this Ra's al Guhl person, but she never said anything about a bomb until today.
"You're blowing up the city?" Ann asked, rapidly thinking off all her childhood friends, all the memories, her parents, the place she grew up- all of it would be blown away. The tears were flowing freely now.
"Of course," Bane said, his eyes lacking any emotion but never leaving her face.
"You can't do that!"
"I didn't realize this was your decision," Bane quipped back, his tone far too joking for Ann's taste. As she glared up at him, Bane continued. "You will survive this. Your parents left the Gotham a month ago..."
"How do you know that?" Ann demanded, hoping Bane never interacted with her folks. It was bad enough that if they paid any attention to the news, they knew that she was Bane's kept woman, but for them to actually have seen Bane, saw how massive and deadly he is in real life...Ann couldn't bare the thought.
"You thought I wouldn't find out what happened when you escaped the first time? You were even wearing different clothes."
Ann remembered the coat that her mother forced her to take and for the first time since her abduction, her heart ached for her mom. She wanted someone to tell her everything was going to be okay, that somehow this was all just another phase in life.
Ann looked at Bane, whose patience towards her has saved her life just as much as the baby will. Here was a man who was okay dying for a cause he seemed to truly believe in, no matter how insane it seemed to her. Ann didn't want to loose him either.
She took a step forward and wrapped her arms around his stomach, burying her face in his chest and squeezing him (as much was possible) out of habit. Ann felt Bane stiffen under her for a second and wondered how many hugs he's had in his life, he doesn't really look like the hugging type, but he relaxed after a second. He didn't hug her back, but brought one big hand up and placed it on top of her head. It was a little odd, but any affection from Bane was enough for Ann.
"Enjoy your last few days here," Bane said. Ann enjoyed the way his chest rumbled in her ear as he spoke, but pulled away to look up at him again.
"I don't want you to die Bane," Ann pleaded with him. He only looked at her for a second before putting both hands on her shoulders and pulling her back in. A huge smile broke out on Ann's face and she embraced him once again. Bane mimicked her in an awkward version of a hug, but when he squeezer her like she had him, he made her back crack painfully.
Ooo
Over the next couple days, things were relatively calm. Bane never spoke of the bomb again, but it weighed heavily on Ann's mind. She thought of a thousand scenarios that could save both of them but knew Bane wouldn't want to hear any of them, so she kept silent.
Bane was rather busy, but he now slept in the room every night. He always awoke before Ann did, even though she almost always went to sleep before he did. Sometimes he would be at the desk, reading something on loose-leaf paper, or he would be at the window looking out over the city. But he always waited for her to wake up before he left for the day.
Although he never initiated anything sexual in that time, he did touch her a lot more, like an arm around her shoulder to guide her through a hall, or she would wake up in the middle of the night to find him fast asleep and holding her close. Every once in a while, when they would be talking, Bane would pause and look at her with a very strange look in his eye, one that Ann only saw in those moments, and he would reach out and cup her cheek with one hand. They ever said anything about it, but Ann loved those few moments more than anything else. Ann would always think that those were his few moments of regret, that he wished he could change their situation. But in the end, he always took his hand away. He always resigned himself to his duty.
The guards stayed outside of her door, but she was allowed to come and go. They just went with her. On the second day, Ann asked why they were still there.
"There is a small Resistance," Bane explained. They were for protection, basically, even though she hardly left the hotel. There was nothing to leave for. The streets were deserted now; only mercenaries and convicts were left roaming around. Ann sometimes wondered if they knew what was going to happen, if they had resigned themselves as well.
But the day after she asked Bane the question, the American and Frenchman were gone, and in their place was Barsad.
The first time Ann opened the door and saw him, she was quite taken aback. Her face reddened immediately and he refused to look at her, just staring at the wall ahead of him.
"Barsad!" Ann said in surprise, not even meaning for it to slip out. The other two guards refused to tell her their names, so she had grown to ignore them over the few days, but it would be impossible to ignore the awkward tension that filled the air even then. She hadn't seen him since their incident and certainly never expected he be one of her guards.
"Bane sent me," was all Barsad said at first, sill staring at the opposite wall.
"Oh," Ann's hand dropped from the door handle. She was just going to go for a walk, which usually entailed ignoring the men that followed her, but it would be impossible to do with Barsad. "So, um...how have you been?"
She was just trying to take the tension down a notch, but it didn't help when Barsad gave her a curt answer.
"Fine."
"Yeah, me too," Ann said awkwardly, shifting her weight from foot to foot.
"Were you going somewhere?" Barsad asked. Ann was caught off guard, not expecting multiple syllables let alone multiple words.
"Oh, I was just going for a walk," Ann explained, gesturing down the hall with a flail of her arm, even though Barsad wasn't even looking at her.
"Don't let me stop you."
With that, Ann took her cue and started to walk away, crossing in front of the man. For some reason, she really didn't expect him to follow her like the other ones did, but she soon heard the sound of his footsteps and the gentle clang of the gun as it was jostled around.
They walked in silence for a while. Ann usually didn't say much on her walks, no one they came across really would care what she has to say, but the other guards would talk and gossip with each other. Barsad just stayed a couple feet behind her, saying nothing, and the few times Ann looked at him, he refused to look at her.
It was driving her mad, she had considered him a friend and because of Talia, he wouldn't speak to her. It got to the point where the lack of noise was almost deafening, ringing in her ears.
"Okay," Ann said, suddenly stopping and facing him full on. "This has got to stop."
"What?" Barsad asked with a straight face, making Ann's blood boil.
"You not being you!" Ann shouted. "You haven't seen me since...since then and you just don't have anything to say about it?"
"You weren't talking about it either," Barsad retorted.
"Yeah, well..." Ann had to search for words. He was right, she wasn't doing anything to help it either.
"I'm sorry," Barsad said unexpectedly.
"What?" Ann asked lamely.
"I said, I'm sorry," Barsad was finally looking her in the eye. "I thought I was doing what was right." Ann was strangely comforted with those words. It did, at the time, seem like the right thing to do. He was just trying to be a good 'brother', however weird this fraternal organization is.
"Yeah, me too," Ann mumbled, crossing her arms and staring at the floor, suddenly unable to meet his eye.
"Well I'm sorry," Barsad said in his joking tone that Ann was desperate to hear minutes ago, but was now so unexpected that it caught Ann completely off guard. "I didn't realize I was so bad."
"That's not what I meant," Ann's face felt like it was on fire, she was blushing so hard. It took her a moment to stumble over her words, and even then could only manage to mumble it out.
"Calm down," Barsad said, finally smiling. "It was just a joke."
Ann forced a smile and a small laugh that sounded so fake that Barsad's smile twisted into a confused grimace.
"So, where were you off to?" Barsad asked, walking past Ann, leading the way.
"I was just going to walk around the hotel," Ann answered, catching up to him so that they could walk side by side. Barsad looked at her out of the corner of his eye with a sad look on his face.
"Who knew my brother would choose such a boring woman."
Ann went to retort, but saw the joking smile back on Barsad's face and let it go. Barsad, though, noticed Ann's demeanor and softened, speaking his next words with almost reverence.
"He sent me to prove a point, you know," was all he said, leaving the conversation at that and allowing Ann's heart to flutter at Bane's defiance of Talia on her behalf.
From then on, things were better between Barsad and Ann. Ann, for a while, still felt very awkward. He would smile at her and she would think of his lips crashing down on her; he would run a hand through his hair and she would think of gripping it when he was between her legs. It wasn't from wanting though, more so from embarrassment.
But then she got sick around him.
It wasn't from a pregnancy syndrome, it was far too early to show any symptoms. It had to be from something she ate or anything else, but Barsad took it as the ultimate sign. After their walk, Ann invited Barsad to hang out in her room, thinking it would be weird having him just beyond the door. It was only moments after she asked him to make himself comfortable that she felt her stomach turn.
When she left the bathroom after flushing and brushing her teeth, Ann opened the bathroom door only to be startled to see Barsad directly on the other side.
"I'll get Bane," He declared, turning on his heel and quickly walking to the door.
"It's fine!" Ann yelled after him. "I'm fine!"
"Bane should know that you've been ill. It could be the ba..."
"It isn't because of a baby," Ann cut in quickly. "It's way too soon. You have a daughter! You should know how this works! Jeez, how much sexual education do you guys have?" Ann's increasing frustration with the complete lack of knowledge of the female body from the men around her burst out. Barsad looked taken aback for a minute, but quickly composed himself and opened the door.
"I'll go get Bane," was all he said before he shut the door.
Ann could have left, she could have gone on another walk, but flopped down on the bed and flicked on the TV (only to flick it back off when it was only static. The news finally went out) and waited for Bane to inevitably show up.
But she had taken Bane 'inevitably showing up' for granted. She waited for a couple hours, then dozed off with the lights on. Several hours later, the light clicked off and a familiar weight settled into the bed beside her. One thick arm forced itself under her and pulled her close, wrapping Ann up in Bane's chest and enveloping her with his smell. This should have been a comforting gesture, but Bane had never cuddled (no matter how weird it is to associate that word with Bane) with her while conscious before, it always seemed to happen when they were both asleep.
Ann turned herself around in his arms so that her face was buried in his chest, listening to his heartbeat.
"Bane?" Ann broke the silence with a familiar exchange between them.
"Hmm?" He hummed, as expected, the vibration of his chest ringing in her ear.
"It's going to happen soon, isn't it?"
"I don't know," Bane answered flatly.
"I don't believe you," Ann just felt it, deep down, that this might be the last hours she has with Bane. And his answer was anything but consoling.
"You'll have to take care of yourself again. Can you manage that?" Bane jested in an attempt to pull Ann away from the subject, which she let happen.
"I did it long enough without you," Ann retorted. "I'm just worried about this bastard child you're making me have by myself."
"Don't worry, someone should come and collect it before it causes too much trouble," The way that Bane said that, with such little emotion, struck Ann. This child would be the last thing he left behind and he just seemed not to care. Or, she concluded, he was trying very hard not to care.
"I'm not going to let your League of whatever just take it without a fight," Ann promised, turning her face to look at him. She could only see the outline of his cheeks, jaw and mask in the moonlight, but she swore she could see a bit of an upturn in his face when she said that.
"I would be disappointed in you if you didn't."
Ooo
It felt like the buttcrack of dawn when Ann was violently ripped out of her sleep and out of the bed. Before her brain could catch up, she heard the familiar slightly-Southern voice of the American guard barking orders at her.
"Get dressed, Miss Goynes, there isn't much time," He commanded.
"Wai..what?" Ann asked groggily.
"Now, Miss Goynes!" He was now yelling at her, similar to that of a drill sergeant. But evidently she didn't move fast enough for him because he just took her by the arm again, making the clothes fall to the floor. He dragged her to the door by the wrist with Ann still trying to shake the sleep from her, still unable to fully distinguish if this was a dream or reality.
"Shoes..." Ann managed to croak out before he got her into the hall. With an exaggerated huff, he released her and picked up the first pair he could find, shoving them into her chest before resuming 'guiding' her.
He took her right to the elevator and Ann was now awake enough to grasp the situation. Bane wasn't there, it was far too early, and every person she has seen were armed, ready, and rushed. Today was the day.
"Get in. Go to the lobby. When you get there, go outside. Someone will meet you there," The American ordered her. "and for the love of God, please don't get lost."
Ann didn't have time to respond. She was roughly shoved into the elevator and by the time that she composed herself, the doors had shut behind her. As it started to move down, Ann quickly slipped on her shoes and braced herself for what was to come. Bane said that she would be taken out of the city, but where was she supposed to go after that? Did anybody even really care?
She didn't have much time to mull over it. The doors opened and beyond them were just a madhouse. Men everywhere, some armed and some not, but as Ann stepped out the elevator, she saw a couple people handing out weapons and just general commotion everywhere. She didn't see Bane anywhere, let alone Barsad or anyone normal sized. Ann was quickly shuffled around, but ended up near the exit. Releasing a sigh of relief, she followed her orders and left the building with a wave of mercenaries.
"Ann!" She heard over all the noise, if only barely. But even with all of the people around, Ann was plucked from the crowd by one strong hand and she found herself beside Bane once more.
A smile broke out across Ann's face, happy to see him again before this was all over. But he was looking anywhere but at her. He was barking orders to anyone and everywhere, dragging her with him as he maneuvered through his army. Ann got knocked around and once she tripped, but Bane never stopped. He was making his way toward a line of armored vehicles, where, once they broke through the mass of bodies, she saw two familiar faces.
Barsad stood next to the open back door of one of the vehicles in the line. Inside was Talia, hair pulled back and a scarily serene smile on her face. Bane didn't go towards them; instead he drug Ann to the one behind it. Ann looked over her shoulder, seeing Barsad watch them. When he noticed her looking, he gave a curt nod. Bane opened the door to the car he took her to, but before Ann got in, she could see a slender arm extend from Talia's car, taking the door and slamming it shut.
Bane all but shoved her inside, where there was already a driver and an armed passenger were waiting.
"If you don't get her there safely, don't bother joining us," Bane warned the two men before he went to close Ann's door.
"Wait Bane!" Ann yelled in an attempt to be heard over all the noise. He paused, looking up at her. He looked exasperated, but he was waiting. Ann didn't quite know what to do, but tentatively reached out anyway, placing both her hands on either side of Bane's face. He closed his eyes for just a second, but they snapped back open. Bane then reached out himself, running his thumb roughly, almost bruising, over Ann's lips.
"Goodbye, Ann," Bane said with finality, turning away from her and shutting the door behind him.
The vehicle took off with lightning speed, jostling Ann in the back. She braced herself on the doorframe, not really watching to see where they were going. She just had the last interaction she would have with Bane, and the thought of that choked her up badly. It was sad to know when it would be the last time one sees anyone, but to know that it was this man who...
Ann still couldn't bring herself to say she loved him. Because part of her knew it wasn't true, but she still did love him in a way. She reverted back to her original sentiment, she cares deeply for him, and to care for anyone means to love them-at least a little bit.
The driver took a sharp turn and Ann crashed against the opposite door. Then he sped up, driving incredibly fast, which only made Ann fly forward harder when the car suddenly came to a stop.
"Get out here," the passenger snapped at Ann and she didn't need to be told twice this time. She found the door handle as quickly as she could and she barely had two feet out of the car before it sped back off.
It was then she realized where she was; one of the many bridges that led out of Gotham. But now, looking across the water, she didn't see any of the other ones.
"Miss Goynes, this way," a voice came from behind her. Looking around, she expected to see a recognizable face in the crowd, but there were only a handful of people, civilians from the look of them, who were looking at her like she grew a second head, all lined up on a short barricade with gun-laden men guarding the other side. One of them had a red scarf and Ann's heart soared, this would be someone that could help her out.
She ran toward them, but before she could reach them, a yellow school bus pulled up to them with a long line of cars behind it. When it came to a stop just feet from her, a lithe man with dark hair bound from the doors. The cars behind spilled with people and everyone rushed forward, all talking and most crying.
"You have to let us through!" Yelled the brown-haired man at the mercenary, who just ignored him. "There are children on that bus!"
"Come on, Miss Goynes, there isn't much time," the guard urged her as if he didn't hear the other man.
"Ann Goynes?" The man turned to her, studying her with surprise. "You're Bane's..."
"Yeah, that's me," Ann cut in, not wanting to know what he was going to say. She didn't want to know what the court of public opinion thought of her. But he didn't seem to spare her another thought, turning back to the guards and urging them to let the bus go through. More and more people were surrounding them, each of them begging for passage to the other side. But the mercenary didn't seem to notice any of them, keeping his eyes locked on Ann.
"Now, Miss Goynes!" He shouted over the crowd.
Ann didn't know what to do. Seeing all these people who were trapped, doomed to die while she was granted access to the other side. Her heart tugged for those children that the man claimed he had, but he had disappeared from her side. Looking around, she saw him back at the bus, talking to another man with a clerical collar. From this angle, she could see a bunch of little faces with their noses pressed against the bus windows.
"Can't you just let them through?" Ann yelled back at the guard, pointing to the bus.
"I can't, Miss Goynes. I need you to get over here right now; we have a vehicle waiting for you."
Without really thinking, Ann turned on her heel and ran away from the border, losing herself in the crowd and rounding the school bus. There, by the door, she met the brown-haired man again.
"Is there anything I can do to help?" Ann asked. He seemed surprised to see her again, but his features quickly softened and he gave her a small, kind smile.
"I don't think so, unless you can get us across…" He trailed off, looking at the mass of people, all of them trying to get across. A shot rang out and people screamed and Ann knew one of them had tried to cross without permission.
"I tried, I'm sorry," Ann mumbled.
"What are you doing here, Miss Goynes?" He asked hurriedly, if even a bit rudely.
"Ann," She corrected, getting tired of everyone addressing her like that, the way that Bane did.
"Detective John Blake," John reached out his hand as if by impulse and Ann, by impulse, accepted it before fully realizing what that meant.
"Then you know what's going on? You're an officer, right? Where is everything happening? Do you really think a bomb is going to go off?" All the questioned tumbled out of her before she knew what she was doing. He was helping a bunch of kids, for Christ's sake, he probably had no idea.
"Your guess is probably better than mine," John admitted, looking at the city over his shoulder then back at the kids before sighing and turning to face the city head on.
"I'm really sorry," Ann said lamely, joining him. "I wish I knew how to help, but I just…I didn't do anything."
"You can still go," John reminded her. "You have to hurry, though. It's going to be any second now."
"No," Ann decided. "I'm a citizen of Gotham too. If all citizens can't get across, I don't want to either."
He accepted this answer, pursing his lips and gazing at the metropolitan's skyline. Without a warning, a black mass flew over them with such a loud, sound burrier-breaking noise that Ann clenched her eyes shut and covered her ears.
"It's Batman!" John sounded so happy, so shocked, that it forced Ann to open her eyes and look off at the quickly departing jet, carrying what looked to be a giant ball. It passed the horizon with such speed that if Ann opened her eyes a second later, she would have missed it. Although, she wouldn't have missed the huge, bright explosion that happened just moments later, exactly where Batman flew.
The bomb had gone off. Gotham still stood. Everyone was silent for a second, but the cheering and celebration broke out just a second later. Stranger hugged stranger, the kids were bouncing and knocking the bus all about, but Ann could only think of one thing; that Bane might have survived this.
Without another thought, Ann dashed off down the bridge, running back to the city. It felt like she was running with all her might to her, but it only took John about three steps to catch up with her, grabbing her arm and forcing her to stop.
"Where are you going?" He demanded to know. It was then she realized he could be an extremely valuable asset, being part of the force.
"You know where they were fighting, don't you?" She didn't even give him a chance to respond before asking again. "Don't you?!"
"Yes..." He answered, sounding very unsure.
"You have to take me there, or tell me where it is," It was Ann's turn to demand something. John must have sensed her urgency, or perhaps he just didn't want her to get away before he could question her, but he pursed his lips one more time and then nodded his head.
"Okay, I will," He was still holding her arm when he took of running and she stumbled to keep up with him. It was an anomaly to her why all men seem to feel the need to drag her, but he did manage to find a car with the keys in the ignition.
They both got in and John pealed out with expertise, showcasing a police talent. They were off the bridge in no time, twisting through the streets. As they got closer to the center of the city, more and more they had to swerve around a body in the road. Shops were burning and debris was everywhere, but people were celebrating in the streets. Ann could see John force back his smile as he watched his people, their city, alive, slowing for people to make way for them.
The road did eventually get too blocked up to keep driving. John turned off the car and ordered her to follow him, but as Ann opened the door and stepped out, her foot met the ribcage of a victim of the siege. Ann screamed, recoiling from the body and John came up behind her, taking her by the elbow.
"Come on Ann, we have to hurry before…" He paused for a moment. "Why do you want to go anyway?"
"I just…" Ann searched for the right words. "I just have to know something."
He seemed to accept this answer and resumed guiding her through the carnage, eventually stopping where it seemed to be the highest concentration of destruction, right in front of the courthouse. The steps that were once full of pushing people trying to catch a glimpse of the trials within were now stained red with the blood of the bodies that lay on them. It was only a couple, but there was one with a red scarf and a mop of brown hair.
Ann had to know, she had to figure out for sure, so she went up to the body, turning it just slightly enough that she could see his face. When she saw Barsad's looking back at her, pale and blue-lipped, the fact that she expected it didn't make the moment any less hard.
She choked back a sob, holding one hand over her mouth. Ann let the body go, stroking his hair as if that could do him any good now, and heard John come up behind her.
"A friend of yours?"
"Sort of," Ann answered without looking at him.
"I know him," John said, also recognizing his face. He had probably seen it quite a few times, loyally next to Bane.
"No you didn't," Ann replied, realizing she hardly did either. She stood up, knowing that if Barsad was here, Bane would be close. She took a quick inventory of the bodies around here, knowing she would be able to easily recognize the giant. Looking up at the building in front of her, Ann had a thought that he could possibly be inside, still alive and looking out one of the windows like he did back at the hotel.
She rushed inside, door already swinging on it's hinges, looking like it got knocked off with something big, like a motorcycle, so getting in was no problem.
Inside was deserted, oddly quiet compared to the celebration (and mourning, no doubt) happening outside. She didn't really know what she expected, as she searched every corner of the main room where Crane once sat. On the back wall was a large hole in the wall, big enough to have been Bane, but there was still no Bane in sight.
"Who were you looking for?" John asked, having followed her inside and silently let her look around. He knew who she wanted so she didn't even bother to answer. She just walked by him and out the doors, letting the sun hit her skin and let herself realize it was over. She was so wrapped up in her thoughts she didn't even notice that Barsad's body was no longer there, along with the rest of the red-scarfed mercenaries.
Bane was gone, and whether he was dead or alive didn't matter, because he wasn't there anymore. Ann thought desperately where he could be, where she could find him, but drew all blanks. He wouldn't have gone far from the center of the action, he would have let himself die here. With that thought, Ann let out a small half laugh/half sob and sank to the ground, wrapping her arms around her knees and looking out at the city. John sat himself next to her, leaning back on his arms and looking out with her.
"I'm sorry," He offered up.
"Yeah, me too," was all Ann said, letting a silence fall over them for a while as the sun sunk lower in the sky. Ann knew she was going to have to face the world again soon, but she left the life she was going to have to rebuild until tomorrow.
Fini.
Not really, there is going to be an epilogue coming soon that I have been planning since literally the dawn of this fic, so I hope you all stick around for that. I haven't been writing author's notes lately because I haven't had anything to say, but I do just want to give a thank you to everyone who has been leaving such kind reviews lately. It's a big motivation to continue.