Disclaimer: I do not own and am in no way affiliated with The Dark Knight franchise.

"There is a stubbornness about me that never can bear to be frightened at the will of others. My courage always rises at every attempt to intimidate me."

―Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

Chapter Three

Cold seeped into every part of Audrey's being as she opened her backpack. Flashlight in hand, she began to sort through the different medicines on the pharmacy's shelves. Shivering, she burrowed further into the brown scarf wrapped around the lower portion of her face as she squinted to read expiration dates. The drugs they could use she dropped in the backpack, pills rattling in their white and orange bottles. Every so often she would stop and listen before resuming her task.

The pharmacy had been heavily picked over but clearly not by anybody with a medical background. Just addicts looking for a fix, probably. This was not a surprise.

The walk over had been an eye-opening one. Going strictly from Point A to Point B meant she saw the same things day in, day out. Though they weren't exactly on the fringes of the city, the Boy's Home was more sheltered than she thought. The terror that held the city in its grip was worse than she could have imagined. The further she had gone into the heart of it, the worse things had become.

She saw houses with windows that were boarded up or covered by newspaper or sheets. Cans hung above doorways to alert the people within to potential intruders. Some houses looked empty. Others still were not so lucky. She passed by the splintered door of one of the bigger, more expensive townhomes within the city where giant, sinister looking maroon puddles covered the concrete steps leading up to it. Stop thinking about it, she chastised herself. You knew what the situation was going to be like. Bleak. It didn't bolster her spirits, but it did help her to keep her focus on the task at hand.

Satisfied with her haul, and having reached her capacity for unease, she zipped up the bag and wove through the maze of tipped shelves. The floor was a sea of empty bottles and loose pills that she was careful not to crunch or kick. Sunlight was a welcome relief as Audrey hopped out of the broken storefront window. She turned her face up and let it warm her before beginning her trek, excited to get back to St. Swithin's.

Then she heard a shriek and a gunshot.

It had come from an alleyway a few feet in front of her. She froze, mid-step, not sure whether to run forward or away. Self-preservation told her to flee, that it wasn't worth getting involved in. You have a duty, the medical professional in her hissed nastily.

"Which doesn't require putting yourself in harm's way," she whispered to herself. She thought again of the raided home she had passed. "Don't be stupid." She turned, ready to walk away from the scene when another sound caught her attention.

"MOMMY!" a small voice, desperate and frightened, shrieked from around the corner.

Ignore it. It's probably a trap. Ignore it, Audrey commanded herself, turning away again.

"MOMMY! MOMMY! MOMMY!"

The faces of the boys at St. Swithin's flashed before her; she wouldn't have abandoned one of them and she wasn't going to desert this kid either. She turned the corner, crouching low as she did so. She breathed a low sigh of relief at the sight of a dumpster. She hid behind it and carefully peeked around to see what was happening.

Two men were standing under a fire escape. The shorter, burlier of the two was examining a gold necklace, a large diamond cross dangling off the end. "Keep that brat quiet," he snarled to the taller man. The hint of a red scarf under tall man's gear identified him as one of Bane's mercenary crowd. A small boy, who couldn't have been older than six, was struggling in his arms while a woman lay unmoving on the ground. "How much you think this dumb broad was worth anyway?" the beefy guy laughed. Judging by her bulky, expensive looking fur coat and the child's own state of warm dress, Audrey imagined it had probably been quite a bit.

The other man said nothing, choosing instead to take quick surveillance of their surroundings. He had a sleepy look about him, but his eyes were attentive in their sweep. Eagle eyes, she nicknamed were eyes that didn't miss a thing and they were moving in her direction. Damnit, idiot, duck! She pressed herself against the wall, hoping she hadn't been seen, fumbling for a moment before extracting the pistol from the back of her waistband.

In and out before she was missed, right?

Sorry, Dad, she silently apologized.

She took a steadying breath before walking out from her hiding spot, gun pointed at Eagle Eye.

"Let him go." The words came out smoother and bolder than she had thought they would.

Both men released what they were holding and remained motionless. The necklace clattered to the ground while the boy looked at Audrey in awe and confusion, his tears stopping abruptly. She knew what a sight she must make: a short, scrappy woman holding up two thugs. If it hadn't been happening to her, it would have been laughable.

But the magic of the moment wasn't going to hold forever.

"Run, kid!" she shouted.

Even in his grief-stricken state he didn't need to be told twice. Good job, buddy, she thought as he took off at full speed. A terrible roar echoed in the alley. Beefy was running at her. Without thinking, she stepped out of his path, sticking a foot out as she did so. He tripped, chin hitting the pavement with a hard crack. A horribly timed giggle escaped her mouth as she turned and sprinted. Heavy footsteps followed but she had the advantage.

Until she looked back.

It was an amateur mistake: one that began with Lot's wife and had managed to span the test of time. How many times had Audrey made fun of characters in horror movies for doing the same thing before getting themselves killed?

"See?" she said, waving her hand at the TV screen where a blonde teenaged girl had just tripped over a tree root. "If she had been paying attention to what was in front of her, she'd still be alive. A tree root! That was her downfall." She snorted.

"Okay, Smarty Pants," Beth joked. "You think you would survive? You wouldn't want to look back to see where they were? Not even once?"

"Not even once."

It was not a tree root, but the laces of her left shoe that caused her ruin. How and when they had come undone would forever be a mystery. All she knew was that one moment she was sprinting and the next she was crashing toward the ground. She flung her hands out to brace herself, but her elbows buckled on impact. There was just enough time to turn her face before she made contact with the unforgiving cement.

This is it, she had time to think. This is how I die.

She lay there, trying to come to terms with that fact. There was no point in getting up. She could hear the crunch of gravel as they caught up to her. While her fall obviously wouldn't have killed her, she couldn't say the same for the men. Especially Beefy. While she couldn't imagine that any of Bane's men liked to be held at gun point, it had to be especially embarrassing to be him right now.

Someone roughly pulled her into a sitting position. The beanie she had been wearing fell to the ground causing a wave of curly chestnut hair to spill out, covering her shoulders and face. Eagle Eye had a firm grip on one of her shoulders. With his free hand he held the backpack. A wave of nausea rolled over her and she wondered if she had a concussion. The chances were highly likely.

"You stupid bitch!" Beefy's chin was busted and freely bleeding. He jammed the barrel of a gun, MY gun, she realized, against her cheek. There was a sharp, pinching pain as he ground it in. Click. "I should kill you right here."

A rhyme from college came back to her: Gunshot to the head, you're dead. Bullet in the mouth, you bleed out. It was not a comforting thought. She squeezed her eyes shut and found herself hoping that it was quick and painless.

"Maybe we should see what she's got first." She opened her eyes and stared up. "Check the bag." It was the first time she had heard Eagle Eye's voice. It was quiet, but firm, with the hint of an accent that might have been British. Now that she could see him up close, she noted that he looked familiar, but her head hurt too much to try to place where or why.

"The fuck does it matter, Barsad?"

It turned out to be a rhetorical question. Beefy was clearly lower on whatever totem pole the mercenaries operated on. Relief flooded Audrey's body as he lowered the weapon. Eagle Eye tossed him the bag and she watched Beefy dig through the medicine she had worked so hard to collect.

"What are you doing with all of this?" Eagle Eye- no, Barsad asked her. That can't be his real name, she thought wildly. This isn't a Dickens novel, for fuck's sake. A giggle rose in her throat, but she was sure if she laughed now it would be until she cried or went crazy or they killed her. She needed to pull herself together and concentrate on getting out of this. If there was a getting out of this.

"I was going to sell it," she said. A stupid, well-rehearsed story. "A bunch of junkies live outside of the apartment I'm in. I figured I could use it to get them to leave me alone."

Barsad released her to inspect the contents for himself. She briefly entertained the idea of running, but her head and heart were pounding and everything had a blurred quality to it. Instead she watched as he pulled one of the bottles out, intently studying the label. He frowned, looked at her, and then back at the label. Her stomach sank. She hadn't counted on anyone being smart enough to conduct a thorough inspection. Clearly this guy was not a run of the mill hired hand.

Squatting in front of her, he held up a bottle of Penicillin. "You were going to give this to addicts? How stupid d'you think they are?" The intensity of his gaze, as his eyes locked onto hers, made her want to squirm, but she remained still and silent. He was probably as good at sniffing out fear as he was lies.

The other man tapped his foot, arms crossed in front of his chest. "Let's shoot her and be done with it."

His gaze did not waver as he stood back up. "No, Pence, let's take her to court. I'd wager she's working with the rebels and Bane wants an example made of them. Crane can figure out what to do with her."

Death, Audrey thought, would be kinder.

Pence, obviously tired of whatever game was being played, decided enough was enough. "This one? A rebel? Don't make me laugh." He waved a hand in her direction. "Just look at her." That sparked a lively debate between the two giving Audrey a chance to think.

At least now she knew the rumors were true. Not that knowing helped; not when what lay ahead was likely some kind of gross torture or God only knew what other horrors. She thought of her father. She had to be tough, not stupid.

"Okay, you're right." The men stopped bickering. "I'm a nurse. I've been working with some other volunteers to help people- children in this part of the city." She did not feel it necessary to mention the name of the orphanage.

"Why lie?"

"I didn't count on you going through my bag. Figured you'd be more likely to let me go if I seemed like I was just a run of the mill low life."

That serious stare was back on her and the silence following her statement bordered on painful. It was only her fate being decided after all. Please believe me, she pleaded.

She was hoisted on to shaky legs.

"We'll let Bane decide," Barsad announced. His companion grunted but offered no further argument. "Our operation could use more medical help," a voice whispered in her ear. "But no promises." She gave a faint nod of acknowledgment, wondering why he was trying to help her- if that was what he was doing. A small buoy of hope rose in her chest. As he jerked her along, he spoke again, louder. "If you try to run," he warned, not bothering to look at her. "I will shoot you."

The buoy turned into an anchor and sank back into the depths. Pence, who had been leading the way, turned around and grinned at her.

It was not, she decided, a theory she would be testing any time soon.