Disclaimer: I do not own and am not, in any way, affiliated with the Dark Knight franchise.

"No reflection was to be allowed now: not one glance was to be cast back; not even one forward. Not one thought was to be given either to the past or the future. The first was a page so heavenly sweet-so deadly sad-that to read one line of it would dissolve my courage and break down my energy. The last was an awful blank: something like the world when the deluge was gone by."

― Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

Chapter Fifteen

Hands gripped her throat, closing off her windpipe, lifting her off of the ground. Her feet kicked wildly at the air. She clawed at the hands, but they were too heavy and large. When she looked up, it was into the cold eyes of Bane. Behind him stood Barsad watching on with that perfected emotionless expression; except for his eyes which were apologetic.

"Help," she wheezed.

He hesitated, but in the end he ran to her. He stopped short, looking around helplessly before pounding on the invisible wall that separated them. His body slumped dejectedly and he placed one hand on the glass wall, staring at her. Audrey closed her eyes, preparing herself for the end.

Then something changed. The fingers felt longer. There was less power and more malice in the grip. Her eyes flew open and she was looking right into a pair of dark, burning eyes. She kicked out, frantic to get away. Jack grinned and leaned in, his lips brushing her ear.

"No one's gonna help you, honey," he whispered.

Audrey sat up in bed with a gasp, scraping at invisible hands. It was a dream. A stupid, stupid dream. Her comforter lay on the floor, the sheets a twisted mess all around her. Though it was cold in the house, and even colder outside, she was sticky with sweat. With a frustrated sigh, she turned and punched her pillow before falling back on it.

From the foot of the bed, Lobelia snorted indignantly. The pug, annoyed that her sleep had been interrupted, hopped off. Audrey snickered at the prissy clack of her nails against the hardwood floor as she trotted out the bedroom door. Dumb dog.

Nightmares had plagued her since she had been home and if it wasn't nightmares, it was dreams of Barsad that left her with a dull ache all day long. That was the most frustrating part: waking up and reaching over to the other side of the vacant bed. They hadn't even been together for long, not in that way at least. She caught sight of the scarf on her bookshelf and stared blankly at it. Two days, she reminded herself. Only two days left until detonation.

How two weeks had turned into two days was beyond her. Some days she felt she had made the most of that time, some days she felt she had completely wasted it.

Though the sun hadn't quite risen yet, Audrey knew she wasn't going to get back to sleep. With an irritated sigh she rolled out of bed. Quietly, so as not to wake her dad, she slunk downstairs and wrapped herself in a blanket on the couch. She picked up the book she'd been reading, Rebecca, and tried to lose herself in it.

After half an hour, she gave up, dropping it on the table in disgust. She was having trouble concentrating and the story left her stomach in knots. Too heavy.

Truthfully, it reminded her too much of Barsad.

From the kitchen, she could hear ceramic clinking.

"Morning," she grumbled, collapsing into a chair at the kitchen table.

Alex eyed her from his spot by the kettle, she could feel it. She watched as he poured her a cup of water and added the instant coffee before depositing a mug in front of her. She murmured thanks, wrapping her hands around it. "Rough night again last night." It was not a question.

"Shit. Sorry, Dad." Evidently she was worse than she'd thought.

He held up a hand. "It's okay, I was already up." He paused and took a long drink from his cup. "It's none of my business, but if you want to talk more about it…"

"I know where to find you."

Alex sighed, but said nothing more. He sat down at the table, keeping an anxious eye on her. It made her feel like she was the fragile one.

Lobelia padded in, sitting at his feet. Audrey watched as her dad leaned down and fed her a piece of toast. In spite of her sour mood, she laughed and was relieved when her dad followed suite.

"Coming in today?" he asked.

"I'll try to be less cranky. Promise."

(-)

The boys' home was such a different feeling now. It reminded her more of what work outside of Gotham had been like. Father Reilly had expanded his clientele and offered up the facility as a sort of refugee camp. It was easy to lose herself in the day to day and it didn't hurt that she almost always left feeling considerably better than she had going in.

"Hey, sexy lady," Beth greeted, bumping her hip against Audrey's and standing next to her at the counter where she was looking over some paperwork. "How's it going?"

As was the way of their friendship, the time they had spent apart seemed like nothing. Beth had pulled her into a fierce hug, gone off on her for scaring them like that, and then proceeded to extensively question her after saying how much she had been missed. She was the first, and only person, who Audrey had completely opened up to about what had happened in the time she'd been gone. Well, almost all of it.

There was silence as Beth digested the end of the story. She opened her mouth, closed it, and drained the wine glass in front of her. Audrey worried her lower lip, waiting for a response. To keep herself busy she opened the second bottle of wine, the cork coming out with a soft pop.
"That…" Audrey's back stiffened. She did not turn around. "God, that sounds like something out of a terrible romance novel. You're a walking stereotype, Aud."
Her shoulders relaxed, a guffaw escaping her. Beth giggled and soon they were both laughing so hard they were crying.

"Hey yourself!" Audrey greeted, knocking back. "It's slow."

"Yo Miss Audrey and Miss Beth! Lookin' good today!" Carlos, called, winking at them as he walked by with a group around his age.

"Hi Carlos!" both women chimed. Carlos' face lit up in a grin as he doled out high fives to the group of boys patting him on the back. Audrey chuckled. I missed this. I really did.

"That kid's confidence, I swear…" Beth trailed off, shaking her head in amusement.

"Speaking of confidence," Audrey began in a conversational tone. She set aside a sheet of paper before turning to look at Beth, brown eyes twinkling spiritedly. "I saw your boyfriend earlier." The blush that crept over Beth's face contrasted starkly against her blonde hair. She broke into a coughing fit but succeeded in digging an elbow into her friend's ribs.

"You're such a troll!" she whispered furiously. "And keep it down! If so much as one person overhears I will never hear the end of it."

"Yeah, well, if you two stopped those long, passionate glances over your shoulders…" Here she paused to dramatically recreate Beth looking over her shoulder and then Blake squinting over his. "Ow!" she yelped, receiving a hard smack with a rolled up manila folder.

A small face popped up on the other side of the desk. Beth's green eyes narrowed in a glare and Audrey covered her mouth with her hand. "What's up, Mark?" Beth asked.

"Blake's asking for you." His face twisted in concern when Audrey burst into laughter. Beth lowered her head, pinching the bridge of her nose and closing her eyes as she did so. "Uh… Miss Audrey? You okay?"

She nodded, attempting to pull herself together. "Yep. Great, kid. We'll be there in a sec." She dug around in her jacket pocket and tossed something to him.

His eyes lit up as he took in the candy bar. "Sweet! Thanks, Miss A!" He took off to find somewhere to savor his treat in peace.

"No, Mark. Thank you."

"You are such an asshole," Beth muttered under her breath. Audrey linked her arm under the other woman's and steered them in the direction of Father Reilly's office. "Yes," she agreed. "But an asshole that you love."

When they entered the already cramped office, Audrey took up a position against the wall closest to where Alex was sitting. Beth perched next to her on the end of Reilly's cluttered desk.

"Thanks for joining us," Blake said once they were settled. With laser-like precision he focused on Beth.

"Wouldn't have missed it for the world," Audrey replied with a knowing smile. She had to swallow a laugh and muffle a cry as Beth's fingers pinched the back of her arm.

John had asked an endless amount of questions when Audrey had shown up that first day, only easing up when Beth had stepped in and saved her from having to do another tell-all. She could understand his concern, she knew she was more prone to irritability and found her patience, even with the boys, ran much thinner than it had before. But he didn't shut her out of meetings and took any information she provided seriously.

For the next two hours, they talked strategy: what to do if there was an opportunity to get the boys out, where to spread the word, what places to avoid. Audrey had been able to help out the most with that last part, having a general idea of where the highest concentration of Bane's army would be. Their priority, of course, was keeping the kids safe.

Privately, Audrey thought this was all a waste of time. There were too many risks involved and a lot of their plan depended on someone violating the terms that Bane had spelled out. Once she had tried to voice her opinion on the matter and it had erupted in an argument that had left everyone in a foul mood. Since then, she'd only spoken when pertinent.

Once the meeting was adjourned, everyone cleared out. Audrey stood just outside of the office with Beth to discuss what they needed to divide and conquer for the rest of the day.

"Ladies," Blake interrupted. "Sorry, but can I borrow Beth?"

"She's all yours." Audrey beamed as the blonde shot her a death glare. Lovebirds, she thought as she watched them walk away. As if on cue to ruin her happiness, an image of Barsad sitting on the couch with his head in her lap as she read flitted through her memory. An arm slung around her shoulders, bringing her back to reality. Is this really how you want to spend your last two days? she chastised. Pining? Grow up.

"Hey," Alex said, giving her a quick squeeze. "I'm going to take off. See you tonight?"

"See you tonight," Audrey agreed. "Love you, old man."

"Love you too, kiddo."

(-)

The rest of the day passed long, but productive. All she wanted was to kick up her feet and relax on the couch.

When she got to the townhouse, the first thing she noticed was that the front door was unlocked. Again. Come on. A thousand times I've told him… She sighed, pushed it open, and dropped everything on the entry table.

"Dad! I'm home!" she greeted.

The silence following was deafening. There wasn't even the familiar clack of Lobelia's claws on the floor. Maybe he went out or got caught up in something after he told me he was leaving. But that was unlike him and she hadn't seen him in his office or with Father Reilly on her way out.

A muffled thump came from the living room that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

"Dad?" she called out softly, her throat suddenly dry.

Willing herself to walk forward she moved into the living room. The lights were almost all off except the reading lamp by the couch. In the corner, in his armchair, was her dad. He shook his head riotously at her, trying to tell her something.

"Dad? Are you o-?"

"Run!" he yelled.

But she couldn't. Even though everything in her body was screaming at her to get out of there, she remained steadfastly in place. Something rustled in the shadows behind him.

Then she heard it.

The voice from her nightmare.

"Hello, darlin'."