Five Years Later
The life Ann cobbled together after Gotham's siege was fairly good, all things considered. After meeting John Blake and demanding he take her to find Bane, he brought her in for questioning several times. It was eventually concluded that Ann really was completely ignorant of most of the situation and no charges were brought against her. She learned about everything she missed and how everything she did see really effected the city. She learned of the trapped cops, the terror the mercenaries-who were protectors to her-caused in the streets, how valiantly Jim Gordon, Blake, and many others fought back.
When her pregnancy was confirmed, John urged her to accept the witness protection that was offered to her. John Blake, in that short time, became a very dear friend to her and assisted in getting her accustomed to life again, so through that and through the police questioning, the reason she was taken had come into light. But she refused. For a long time, Ann didn't know why she felt so strongly about staying, but eventually accepted that she was hoping, sometimes desperately praying, that Bane was alive out there somewhere and if she stayed in Gotham, he would be able to find her.
With that thought often came the thought that if Bane knew where to find her, then the people who were going to try and take her baby did as well. She knew they would find her whether she moved or not, so she was going to stay in her city. She pushed that aside and settled into her new apartment, accepted a new job as a secretary in a theatre, and let the next nine months pass.
And pass they did, and at the end of them, a baby girl was born. Ann decided to name her Natalie. She thought long and hard about naming her memorably after Barsad, but couldn't for the life of her figure out how to make it feminine. Natalie fit the often ill-tempered baby well enough. For a long time after she gave birth, Ann was very depressed, but when Natalie started filling out, Ann saw that her eyes were Bane's eyes and her ears were Bane's ears and Ann took comfort in that.
The years past and no one came for Natalie. For the first year, Ann was always looking over her shoulder and even had Natalie sleep in her room with her, close enough that Ann only had to open her eyes to see her. By the second year, her paranoia had started to wane, and by the fifth she hardly thought about it. Hardly.
A short relationship bloomed between Ann and John following Natalie's birth, but quickly fizzled due to lack of interest on both sides. To Ann, it felt like John was only seeing her out of some warped since of duty, and Ann knew she was only using him for the human contact and comfort. But their friendship remained well and he grew close enough to Natalie to be a constant figure (ie: babysitter) in her life.
Ann moved up in her theatre company, to the point where she was home a lot less, making her use/abuse John's willing service more than normal. She was now in charge of all productions, forcing her to stay at the theatre late. Natalie loved John, and John never seemed to mind coming over, seeing the little girl probably took his mind off of work for a while. For years, they never had any problems.
Then one night, five years after the siege, Ann had to stay late at the theatre again. A show had just opened, and like every opening she's a part of, she would think of Bane. These days, she was thinking about him less and less, but he was always at the forefront of her mind during an opening. Which is probably a reason for why she had such a strong reaction when she went into her office after the show and found it covered in roses.
Wall to wall were flowers with hardly enough room left for a pathway. They were all different colors and in full bloom, making her normally stuffy office smell like a garden. While any other person, any other time, would see this as a sweet (and no doubt expensive) gesture, it made Ann shake with fear. It was a sign, and she knew it.
She didn't waste a moment and immediately rushed to her desk where her phone was stored safely in the drawer, tripping over a few blooms along the way and not caring when their vases shattered. She ripped the drawer open, which caused several of the vases on her desk to tip over as well. With tears clouding her vision, Ann quickly found John's number and had to wait long, painful seconds for him to answer.
"Hey Ann," John's cool voice said in her ear, and that tone calmed her a little but didn't stop the tears that were already poring from her eyes.
"John, is Natalie okay? Where is she?" Ann practically yelled into the phone, no doubt startling John on the other end.
"Um, yeah," John said, sounding uncertain. "She's right here. Do you want to talk to her?"
"Yes!" Ann turned a little too quickly, knocking into another vase and sending it crashing down.
"What was that?" John asked, concerned.
"It was nothing. It was just a vase, just..." Ann stopped herself before everything came spilling out of her mouth. There was no need for John to know if this was really nothing at all. "I'll be home soon."
"Okay, I'll see you..." John cut off and there was a small bell sound in the background, faint but enough for Ann to hear. "Someone's at the door, I gotta go."
"Wait, John!" Ann pleaded, but it was too late. Ann's heart was in her throat; someone showing up to her apartment on the same day the flowers arrived was just too coincidental. She wasted no more time before running from the building, taking off like a madwoman. No one knew she left, she didn't even lock her office, but she knew she needed to go home right that instant.
She ran faster than she had ever ran before, convinced that she wasn't going to make it in time, that John wouldn't be able to fight them off, that Natalie would be taken from her. Natalie was the only thing that pulled her through some dark times, the only one that was with her during the long winters, her support, the love of her life, everything that a person can be to another person. If she was just taken, and after so long, it would destroy Ann in a way that Bane's death couldn't.
Her apartment was only a few blocks away from her hole-in-the-wall theatre, but the distance never seemed longer than it did then. Ann was no where near in shape, a baby and a full time job replacing hours she would have spent at the gym, so by the time she did make it to her building, she was forced to stop and take a few deep breaths.
As she stood there with a hand on the exterior wall of her building, gasping for air, the door opened. Out stepped a man who Ann, at first, thought she had never seen before. He wasn't carrying anything in his arms and wore very basic clothes for the beginning of winter: a coat, gloves, long pants, and boots. Then he looked Ann in the eyes and there was a deep familiarity there that Ann didn't share, but then he pulled a red scarf over his mouth and walked away.
It was that which made Ann know who this person was; he was the mercenary sent to take Natalie. But his arms were empty and there were no other brothers around, that she could see anyway, so she rounded on him, determined to get information from him.
"You are not taking her," Ann called out to him, hoping he would still hear her even though he was a distance away now. For a split second after she spoke, she was worried that she had misinterpreted the entire situation and that this man would think she was crazy. He turned around though and lowered his scarf, his breath making big puffs in the crisp air.
"I figured as much when that boy nearly shot me for suggesting it. I'm sure Bane would love to know that you have shacked up with a police officer," The American, she recognized him now. His face was older, more lined, but his appearance paled to the name he dropped.
"Bane? Is Bane still alive?" Ann asked desperately, taking a couple steps his way. She couldn't believe this, shouldn't even entertain the thought, but the way he said it definitely meant to have that implication. She never did see his body.
"His recovery was as much of a surprise to us as it is to you, but yes, he is alive. And he wants his daughter," His tone was dark and deep, his southern accent hardly noticeable now. His words both comforted her and chilled her to the bone. Bane was alive, it was like her prayers had come true, but he didn't come for her like she dreamed. He sent somebody to take Natalie away.
"She's not leaving. Not if Bane can't even come himself," Ann said bitterly.
"Fine then," The man said, not giving her a chance to say anything more before turning on his heel and walking away.
Ann watched his retreating back for a moment before darting inside, making quick work of the stairs and when she made it to her door, she didn't even bother to try and fish out her keys but rather knocked on it, hitting it as hard as she could. Her neighbors must have thought there was an emergency, and to her it was.
"I told you," came John's muffled voice through the door, "if you step one foot into this apartment, I'll..." At that, John ripped the door open, obviously expecting the mercenary to be on the other side. When he saw her, his stiff shoulders relaxed a bit, but he still pulled her inside without saying a word and shutting and locking the door behind her.
"Ann, a man came..." John started, but was cut off by a small voice.
"Momma!" Natalie squealed when coming around the corner, running to Ann with brown curls bouncing, and threw herself in her mother's arms. "Momma, there was a man at the door who said that my daddy was looking for me and that you were okay with me going and he was weird and I didn't like him but did he really know my daddy? Why did you want me to go away Momma? Why are you crying?"
Just like any child, Natalie talked at a rapid fire pace, telling Ann everything she could as quickly as she could.
"It's okay baby," Ann said, holding her daughter close and stroking her hair. "I'm not letting anyone take you away from me."
"What about Daddy?"
The question almost made Ann swallow her tongue. Natalie knew she didn't have a father, at least not a present one. She saw the other kids in her preschool classes with their fathers, so of course she had asked where her father was before this. Ann always just told her that Natalie just had a one-parent family (who in their right mind would try and explain that parentage to a toddler?) and Natalie seemed to accept it well enough. But here was the information Natalie had probably been desperate for for years and Ann didn't know what to say to her. So she just held her baby close, cradling her on one hip.
"I'll tell you later," Ann whispered in Natalie's ear, hoping that would buy her enough time to think of something to tell her. "You can go home, John."
"What?" John looked offended. "I'm not going to go right after that happened! I'm going to stay here tonight."
"You really don't have to," Ann insisted, worried that John was going to go to the police. Hell, he WAS the police. There's no doubt he would bring this up, and there was no doubt that it would start another round of questioning and, more than likely, she and Natalie would be forced into witness protection.
But she had only just found out Bane was alive, a hope she had long since given up on. The thought was still making her heart soar, but she kept telling herself that he hadn't come for her in five years. For five years she thought he was dead and raised his daughter with acute dedication, living a life she knew he would be able to find her doing, and he never even sent a note.
"I really think I should," John insisted right back.
"Fine," Ann conceded, sitting on the couch, still carrying Natalie. "How was your day?"
"Other than having to threaten a intruder at gun point, it was fairly dull," John joked, sitting next to her and clicking on the TV, which was already set to Natalie's favorite station, immediately entrancing the girl.
For a while, John and Ann talked while Natalie watched the television, sometimes joking but also about grim things like the incident earlier and the consequences of it, whether or not anyone should be told about it (Ann heartily said 'no', but John didn't look convinced), but Ann never talk about Bane. She didn't want John to know.
Eventually, long after Natalie had fallen asleep in Ann's arms, Ann finally convinced John that she would be okay if he went home and he reluctantly left. She went to bed soon after, but she might have checked the deadbolt and slide-lock more than once before she took Natalie into her room and locked that door too. Natalie did have her own room and slept in there every night, but Ann didn't want to let go of her that night, afraid that, the second she did, someone else would come knocking on the door.
She laid her daughter on the bed and quickly dressed for bed, slipping in next to Natalie and turning off the light.
Several hours later, Ann suddenly woke out of a deep sleep, jolting up in bed immediately. Something was wrong, but through the grog of sleep, she couldn't quite think right. She felt around on the mattress next to her and felt Natalie still there, breathing peacefully. The fan was going and the clock on the wall was ticking and everything seemed to be in its place. Ann's eyes were starting to adjust to the dark, but she had calmed her self down enough to slip back down and try to fall asleep again.
But she suddenly realized that she didn't have a fan going and she shot up again, recognizing the soft wheeze of metallic breath.
"Oh my god, Ba…" Ann started, shocked, making out the massive form in the chair next to her bed- on Natalie's side.
"Shhh," He commanded and then returned to being silent and still.
"Bane?" Ann questioned, needing a confirmation.
"Hmm," Came the familiar reply, making a smile split across her face.
"Bane, where have you been?" Ann demanded, climbing out of bed. "I didn't even know you were alive." She had to remind herself to be quiet, not wanting Natalie to wake up just yet, if at all while Bane was there.
"I didn't know I was going to be for a long time," Bane replied in as quiet of a voice as he could manage, his familiar tone warming Ann and drawing her close to him. "What is her name?"
"Natalie," Ann answered as she rounded the bed and faced him head on. "What happened?"
"I was hit with what I think was a cannonball, and I nearly died. My recovery took years, which is just as well. The League also needed to recover," Bane explained so calmly that Ann couldn't believe it.
"Why didn't you ever write? Or call? Or anything? It was five years, Bane."
"The post doesn't often make it to my home," Bane was joking with her, simultaneously making Ann's blood boil and take comfort in his familiarity.
"I missed you," Ann admitted, coming closer, almost toe-to-toe, with him.
Bane looked at her for a long moment and Ann tried to stand her ground, even with her weak knees. But then the sitting Bane stretched an arm out and wrapped it around Ann's waist, pulling her close to him, between his legs, and almost forced her to sit on his leg. It was an intimate move, one that would be strange for them five years ago, let alone then. Ann loved it as much as she hated it.
"I heard that you have been taking comfort in other men," Bane accused, no doubt talking about John, but still holding her close to him. From here, Ann could smell him again, causing her heart to jump to her throat from longing. For years she had wanted that scent again.
"He was just babysitting her," Ann explained. "But you're not taking her from me."
"I don't intend to." Bane said, looking down on her, his eyes burning into hers.
"Mommy?"
Both of their eyes snapped to the bed, where the small body of their daughter was sitting up, rubbing her eyes.
"Natalie baby, go back to bed," Ann said gently, sitting up off of Bane's lap and going to comfort her daughter.
"Who is that?" Natalie was ever perceptive, probably got it from her father. Ann kneeled in front of her and looked at Bane, trying to think of what to say.
"He is…um…" Ann stumbled, unable to say the words.
"Are you Daddy?" Natalie directly asked Bane.
"Natalie!" Ann exclaimed, shocked at her daughter's easy revelation.
"Yes," Bane answered her, not looking at Ann.
"Bane!"
"Mommy," Natalie addressed her. "You said that you would tell me about Daddy later and it's later and Daddy is here."
"Yeah," Ann said slowly, looking hard at her daughter. "You're right."
"Can I see you?" Natalie was addressing Bane again, but didn't wait for an answer before crawling across the bed and flicking on the lights. She turned back around and by then, Bane had stood up, allowing her to see him in his full, gigantic splendor.
"Wow," was all Natalie said for a moment. "You're really big."
"Yes, I am," Bane agreed, allowing Natalie to look him over for a second.
"My name is Natalie," Natalie introduced herself, sticking out her small hand.
"I'm Bane," He took her hand in his, swallowing it and most of her forearm as well. Ann watched this exchange in amazement.
"I like your face," Natalie said suddenly, "It's special."
"Natalie, that's not very…" Ann started, but stopped herself. It was nice of her, in a way.
"Thank you," Bane accepted the compliment. "Do you want to go on a trip with me?"
"Bane, no…"
"Where?" Natalie asked, ignoring her mother.
"To my house," Bane told her.
"Stop it…"
"Where's that?" Natalie continued.
"Far away from here."
"No!" Ann yelled above them both, making Natalie jump. "I'm sorry baby, but you can't go with Ba…with Daddy."
"Why not?" Natalie looked up at her with big blue eyes, begging her in a way that Ann had once tried to beg Barsad.
"Yes, why not?" Bane joined in.
"Don't encourage her!" Ann chided him. "You can't go with him Natalie, we have a life here."
"She would be raised to rule the League of Shadows, Ann," Bane defended the decision, revealing something Ann had forgotten about. Talia had once mention she would be having an heir. "Talia died in the failed revolution and I have been doing the best I can, but there needs to be someone training to take on the responsibility when possible, but she would need to train for just as long as any member of the League, so she would need to come with me. That, I think, it a life worth living, not to mention her birthright."
"I wanna do that!" Natalie exclaimed from bed, cutting through Ann. "Please Momma, I wanna be a princess!"
"You wouldn't be a princess Natalie," Ann tried to say, desperate to not give in.
"Actually, it sort of would be like one," Bane countered. Natalie's eyes sparkled and she clasped her hands together dramatically, a large grin breaking out on her face.
"No, no, no," Ann shook her head, crossing her arms and refusing to look at Bane, staring hard at the floor. In this time, Bane took the opportunity to gather Natalie in his arms. "I can't let you take her from me. She's all I have."
"I never intended to leave you behind." Bane's comment forced her to look at him, tears flowing freely now. When she saw her daughter in his arms, it choked her up enough that she sobbed just the tiniest bit. But at that small noise, Bane reached out for her too, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and leading her and Natalie out of the door, out of the apartment, and on another foolhardy adventure.
Ann admitted to herself once that she would follow Bane anywhere, and five years and a baby later, it still proved to be true.