A/N: What's up SVU and TDK lovers? I'm doing fine myself, and I'm ready to give you guys the new chapter.
And now we come to the big moment, the fight between our two heroes and Bane/Porter. Bum, bum, BUMM!
Disclaimer: I own nothing. If I did Bane would rule NYC and it would be up to Liv and El to take him down.
Enjoy and review!
Chapter 10: Shattered
The charter cab that Fox had kindly paid for pulled out of Wayne Manor, leaving Bruce alone in the pelting rain. Holding a copy of the Gotham City Ledger over his head, he ran as quickly as possible to the front door. Despite his speed, Bruce was soaked when he reached the door.
"You know, you'll never be able to get in without a key Mr. Wayne." A small smile appearing on his face, he turned to see a smug looking Olivia, beautiful with her wet hair and clothes clinging to her body.
"I never needed a key officer," he replied back. "You know, you live here too."
"I do Mr. Wayne, but my dolt of a husband didn't give me a key either."
"If I recall correctly Mrs. Wayne, your husband gave you a set of unique gifts, so you shouldn't be complaining." Rolling her eyes, Bruce chuckled. "If you have any bright ideas, I'd love to hear them."
Grinning, she dragged him out from under the doorway to skirt around the entire mansion. By the time they reached the back doors on the patio, they were completely soaked. Olivia bent down and expertly picked the lock, the two barging into the manor as quickly as possible. "Where did you learn how to do that officer? I'm sure the Academy didn't have classes on lock-picking."
"Oh shut up," smirked Olivia, removing her waterlogged jacket. "When you grow up in the Narrows and take down criminals dressed like a bat one can't help but pick up a few things. I also know how to hotwire a car and hustle pool."
"All skills that you might need," Bruce said, throwing the wet newspaper on a table. It read: From Billionaire to Bum, with a massive picture of him. "I hope you didn't marry me for the money, now that I don't have any."
He said it in just, but Olivia wanted there to be no doubt. Wordlessly, she strode over and pulled him into her embrace, clutching him tightly and kissing him languidly on the lips. "Don't ever think that Bruce," she whispered breathlessly. "I love you so much."
"I love you too Olivia, more than you could ever know." They held each other for a moment, before Olivia shifted her gaze to a small cabinet covered with a white tarp. Pulling it back, Bruce wrapping his arms around her from behind, she revealed a group of pictures.
Picking up one, it was of their secret honeymoon in the Wayne Family resort house on Guadalcanal, as remote as one could get. She smiled, reliving the memories; by the feather light kisses her husband was placing on her neck and shoulders, Bruce was doing the same. "I think this was the happiest time of my life. You, me, no one else…" She shivered as he placed a kiss at a particular sensitive spot behind her ear.
"It was for me too," Bruce said back, lightly nibbling her earlobe causing Olivia to moan. "Neither one of us wore too many clothes those two weeks."
Olivia blushed. "No, we certainly didn't." Setting the frame down, she picked up another, this one of his parents. She felt Bruce immediately stiffen behind her. She turned and saw the deep pain in his eyes, breaking her heart. Despite the years the death of his parents was still a sore spot for him, one that she had did her best to help. Cupping his cheek, Olivia made him look her in the eye. "Your parents would be proud of you Bruce. I promise you that."
He nodded, both of them having the discussion before. Reaching out, he grasped the last frame, this one of Alex, laughing at the camera at some joke now lost to history. He stared at the happy blonde face in the picture, knowing now that she had wanted this for him all along. "How?" he whispered softly.
As always, Olivia knew what he was thinking. It was almost a sixth sense. "He had his reasons Bruce. Alfred loves both of us." She could sense that he didn't really want to talk about this, and neither did she. With all the Ganzel and Bane crap going on, it was best to put this away for later.
At that moment, all the lights in the manor just went out, causing Olivia to jump with a yelp. Bruce smirked, "Did Badass Benson just yelp in fear?"
Olivia glared at him. "First of all, it's Badass Wayne now, and secondly Batgirl certainly doesn't fear the dark."
"Good point beautiful." He could see her melt in his arms, kissing the tip of her nose. "So I guess now that the power's been cut off the heat will be too."
"Yeah; how will we stay warm?"
Bruce wiggled his eyebrows, "I know of a way."
Olivia rolled her eyes and was about to come back with a saucy comeback when she felt his lips on hers. She moaned into the kiss, closing her eyes and running her tongue along his lower lip. He enthusiastically obliged, their tongues battling for dominance. "Oh Bruce," she sighed as he led her backwards to the couch. However, fate had other plans; Olivia tripped on a cord causing them to topple on the floor. "Well, that sucks," said Olivia.
"Nope," replied Bruce, sucking on her neck. "The floor will do nicely."
She only growled in response as they began to strip out of their wet clothes, both soon completely naked on the rug. Olivia ran her hands over his muscled chest, dotted with the various scars of half a lifetime of struggle. He had truly been to hell and back. Pulling him down, she kissed her husband warmly. "I love you."
Hearing those words, Bruce's eyes radiated love. "I love you too Liv." He kissed her jaw, leaving a trail of pecks and sucks down her neck and chest, stopping to lovingly kiss every scar of her own.
She gasped at the feel of his tongue on her breast. Her hands shot out and grasped his head, tugging at his hair. "Please, Bruce. Don't keep me waiting."
He looked up and smiled. "How could I ever deny you?" With one move, he came face to face with her and entered her with a grunt.
Olivia moaned as he began to move inside her. They had been intimate for the past six-and-a-half years, but every time they made love was like the first. The room was filled with their combined moans and gasps as both of them climaxed simultaneously.
About an hour and two additional rounds later, Olivia was busy stroking a fire in the fireplace, the warmth permeating the room counteracting the chilling effect of the weather. Staring at his wife, the flickering light from the fire illuminating her intense beauty naked and wrapped in a throw blanket, Bruce propped himself up on an elbow. "I am discovering new things about you every day. Who knew you could stroke a fire?"
Chuckling, Olivia pushed around some of the coals to even out the burn. "A year before you came back, El and I were on an undercover operation to catch a park ranger serial killer. We were staying in a cabin in the woods, and the fire was the only source of warmth."
"I hope nothing happened between you two," said Bruce, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her in to his embrace.
Giggling, Olivia snuggled into his side and kissed his shoulder; even being both Batgirl and Badass Benson, nothing made her feel safe quite like being in her husband's arms. "You have nothing to worry about. He's like a big brother to me. Besides, he was married."
"Come on," Bruce needled a bit. "If you weren't secretly in love with me and he weren't married, do you think something could have happened between you two?"
Olivia took her time thinking about her answer. "Well, if that were true and he were younger, I think it would have been easy to fall for him. But I love you, and El's preoccupied with our little thief." She could feel his laughs vibrate in his chest. "If I didn't know better, I'd say he was in love with her."
"That's not hard to picture." Bruce looked down to see Olivia looking at him skeptically. "What? Don't you believe in love at first sight?"
"You know I do Bruce, but El and Selina? That's just a bit far-fetched isn't it?"
"I don't think so. You can read our police commissioner like a book, and I'm certain she likes him. Miss Kyle has an allure to her; who knows, if you weren't in my life I may have pursued her."
Olivia stared at him, slacked jawed. "I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that. I do have to work with her tonight." She rested her head in the crook of his neck, inhaling his masculine scent. "I love you so much Bruce Wayne."
At that comment, Bruce felt a pang of guilt. Olivia was a goddess, someone who deserved far better than the life of struggle and sorrow that he could offer. "I'm so sorry Liv."
Her head jerked up immediately, Olivia not at all knowing where he was going with this. "What are you talking about Bruce? What could you possibly be sorry for?"
"For getting you involved in my shit. You deserve more than me Olivia; you deserve a happy life with a stable house and a half-dozen kids, not the brooding, broken man that I am."
She pulled him tighter in her embrace. "Get this in your thick skull Bruce Wayne, I love you and want nothing more than to be with you. You are a good man and there is no one I'd rather be with. So if you say anything like that again I will personally kick your ass."
Bruce couldn't help but chuckle at the seriousness of her tone; he knew it wasn't just talk. "I still don't know how I deserved you, but I'm glad that you chose me to love."
"I think the same thing," she whispered. "Bruce, about what Alfred said. Why didn't we have children in the last six years? What stopped us?"
Sighing, Bruce responded honestly, "I'm not sure; it could have been my guilt over Alex or the fact that I'd never be a good father."
"You'd be an excellent father Bruce. With my genes it's I who'd be the horrible parent."
"That's not true; you are the most loving person I know and I would love to have a baby with you. A little girl who looks just like her mommy."
His words touched her like no other. "No, a little boy who is a miniature copy of his daddy." Leaning forward, she looked into his eyes. "After all of this, after Bane and Porter, I say we leave this city, get Casey to fly us somewhere to start a new life, just you and me. Fox and Casey will preserve your parents' legacy and Elliot is grooming Gordon to take over the GPD. We can have the life that Alfred knows we both need."
He smiled at her. "I'd love a new life with you. I love you."
"I love you too."
After another round of lovemaking and a quick nap, both Liv and Bruce rose, heading to the Batcave where their suits waited. "Ready Liv?"
Olivia grinned, slipping on her cowl. "Damn straight!" It was time, the time to face the new evil in their city.
TDKR TDKR TDKR TDKR TDKR TDKR TDKR TDKR TDKR TDKR TDKR
Sitting cross-legged on a slab of concrete in a subway tunnel, Selina waited patiently in her patented catsuit. "Don't be shy," she called out to seemingly no one.
After about five seconds, Bruce and Olivia stepped out of the shadows on either side of Selina. 'How does she do that,' Bruce asked his wife silently with his eyes.
'I have no idea?' was the reply. 'Elliot will certainly have his hands full with this one.'
"The Waynes tell me you can give me the Clean Slate," Selina said professionally.
"That depends," growled Bruce.
"On what, may I ask?"
Olivia snorted. "We acquired it to keep it out of the wrong hands. We need to know it will be used wisely."
"Still don't trust me do you?" asked Selina with a sneer, her white teeth sparkling in the flicker of the tunnel lights.
"Not as far as we can throw you," responded Olivia evenly, not falling for this act. She didn't fully trust this woman and she knew Bruce didn't either, but one didn't always have nothing but good options.
Selina cocked her head to the side, looking apologetic. "Awwee, so what can I do to change that?"
"Take us to Bane," stated Bruce, his tone not skirting the point.
"Very well." Selina stood and motioned for Bruce and Olivia to follow her. "Bane's men patrol these tunnels frequently, and they're not your average brawlers."
Looking at her husband with a smirk on her face, Olivia answered for the both of them. "Neither are we."
Upon reaching the sewage tunnels, the three split up, each heading in a separate direction. Walking nonchalantly, Selina ran into a merc, who automatically raised his AK-74. "Behind you."
The Merc swiveled, running straight into Bruce. "Boo."
The screams brought another merc running over. "Above you," said Selina. This time the merc wasn't able to say anything before Olivia grabbed him from above.
Heading down another tunnel, a pair of mercs saw Selina and bolted. They didn't go far before they were pulled into dark alcoves on opposite sides.
Checking his corners, a merc heard a sound and fired his AK-74 into a dark tunnel. The light from the muzzle flashes were like a strobe light, showing Bruce getting progressively closer until he enveloped the merc. His buddy ran for it but was hit by one of Olivia's electroshock darts, collapsing in pain and tremors.
"This way," Selina said, Bruce and Liv falling in behind her. Gesturing to a large, cylindrical well, Bruce and Olivia entered. Pressing a small button to the side, Selina watched as a large gate descended, walling them in the well. The two looked at Selina, their surprise quickly changing to anger. "I had to do it or they'd kill me," Selina explained.
"You are making a very serious mistake," rasped Bruce.
"Not as serious as yours… I fear."
Slowly turning, Bruce and Olivia noticed a large, well-muscled man dressed in boots, fatigue pants, and a flak jacket staring at them from across the catwalk which cut around the middle of the well, an outer ring circumventing the perimeter. "Bane," they both growled.
The masked mercenary tilted his head, both hands grasping the straps of his flak jacket. "Let's not stand on ceremony here, Mr. and Mrs. Wayne."
Selina stared through the gate, mouth slightly open in shock. Something fluttered in the pit of her stomach, something she couldn't place.
Striding forward, her batons deploying, Olivia called out to Bane. "You are outnumbered Bane."
The leader of the New League of Shadows chuckled through the mask. "While it would still be a fair fight Mrs. Wayne, I think the risk isn't worth it."
A clang ringing out behind her caused Olivia to turn around. "Dean."
"We meet again Olivia." Porter leered at her. "I'll give you one last chance to take me back," he said cockily.
A look of disgust overcoming her mouth exposed by the cowl, Olivia assumed a fighting stance. Dean, still smirking, removed what looked like a silvery tube from behind him, the ends automatically deploying a long blade from either side. "I'll take him, you take Bane."
"Got it Liv," whispered Bruce back, proceeding forward. Around the well, Penguin and Bane's men watched the coming fight, the former gleeful while the latter were more reserved.
At the same time, the two heroes lunged at their opponents. Bruce threw a succession of right and left hooks, catching Bane in the face and chest. The masked man took it with little damage, grabbing a coming punch in his grip. "Domesticity has cost you your strength; victory has defeated you." He then threw an uppercut, catching Bruce in the jaw and causing him to stumble back.
Meanwhile, metal clashed on metal as Olivia and Ported dueled, on the catwalk, soon entering the outer ring. Porter brought down his staff, Olivia catching it with her batons mere inches from slicing her head open. With a glint in his dark, soulless eyes, Porter swiveled around and slashed upward with the other end, forcing Olivia to jump back. "You fight with tenacity Liv, but you lack the fire, the iron resolve. Love has made you weak." With that, Olivia charged, launching blow after blow with her nightsticks.
Bane now had Bruce on the defensive, lashing out with powerful punches that caused the Dark Knight to stagger. He was no ordinary foe; his speed and strength were only matched by his ferocity. Grunting, Bruce threw a left hook but it was deflected by Bane, who launched a swivel kick. Bruce toppled off the catwalk, using his cape to sow his descent. Bane was right behind him, climbing down using chains.
In the outer catwalk, Olivia wasn't faring any better. Any blow she managed to hurl at Porter was easily parried and turned into a counterstrike. Not to mention what while the nightsticks were meant to stun, his blades could easily kill. "You rely too much on technology; that dependence has cost you your skill." Head-butting her in the cowl, Olivia fell to the floor. She recovered just in time to see the blade descending, catching it with crossed nightsticks.
"You fight like a younger man," observed Bane, blocking another punch as they sparred underneath a stream of water. Bruce grabbed him by the neck and sent blow after blow to the pit of Bane's stomach. "Admirable, but completely futile." Bruce snarled, punching Bane twice in the mask but the masked man wasn't fazed. He leapt into the air kicked Bruce yet again, sending him sprawling. Reaching into his belt, Bruce threw a cluster of smoke bombs. "Ah, theatricality and deception are powerful tools against the uninitiated. But we are initiated aren't we Bruce." Bane grabbed him by the throat, lifting him up effortlessly. "Both members of the League of Shadows. But you betrayed us."
"You were excommunicated," growled Bruce, "By a gang of psychopaths."
Hurling him against the wall with a snarl, Bane opened his arms wide. "I am the League of Shadows! Here with my apprentice to fulfil Ra's al Ghul's destiny!"
Leaping nearly ten feet to the central catwalk, Olivia grabbed a Batarang off her belt and hurled it at Porter. The former FBI agent gracefully ducked and jumped after her, his boots hitting the metal with a clink. "Using your superiority in mobility, well done. If you had chosen me instead of the traitor I could have made you a master."
Olivia scoffed. "You honestly think I would have chosen you? You are a heartless monster." She lunged, but Porter pulled back and kicked upward, causing her to stumble back.
"We are the deliverers Olivia. You and your husband," he said the last word with a sneer, "Are nothing but pretenders." With ha growl, he lowered his staff and charged.
On the water laden floor below, Bane was relentless, easily weaving and jinking away from Bruce's attacks with surprising agility. "In your life of comfort you grew soft. Olivia has undone what our master instilled in you." He grabbed Bruce's arm and threw him nearly ten feet. "Instead of initiating her, the ways of the outside corrupted you."
Groaning, the merciless assault taking its toll, Bruce called out to his wife. "Liv! Lights!"
Getting smacked in the jaw by the base of Porter's staff, Olivia heard her husband and clicked a small switch on her utility belt.
The lights all of a sudden went out. "Ahhh," said Bane, amusement in his voice. "You two think darkness is your ally, but you merely adopted the dark. I was born in it, molded by it."
Olivia moved silently on the catwalk, trying to reposition herself for a counterstrike when she heard Bane address her. "Olivia, you may think Bruce prepared you for the dark, but I made sure Dean spent his entire training in it." Without warning, Porter emerged from the blackness and lunged with his bare hands, causing Olivia to drop her nightsticks. "He is the best there is, apart from myself. I didn't see the light until I was nearly a man. By then, it was nothing to me but blinding!" Reaching out into the darkness, he grabbed Bruce by the neck and threw him against one of the metal water tanks.
"Nooo!" cried Olivia, seeing the entire scene. In this moment of distraction, Porter delivered an incapacitating blow to the pit of her stomach, sending her flailing over the side. The apprentice followed her the same manner as his master did with Bruce. Olivia managed to use her cape to slow her fall, but Porter was on her before she could compose herself, gripping her in a headlock that Olivia couldn't break free from. She was helpless while Bane advanced on her husband.
"The shadows betray both of you, because they belong to us!" With several killer blows to the head, Bane cracked the cowl, Bruce too weak and spent to put up even a weak defense.
Both now watching the masked man, Bruce lying on the wet surface and Olivia in Porter's grip, Bane stepped toward the center of the well. "Now it is time to show you where I made my home. Where I slaved for months in my quest to bring justice." Reaching into his pocket, Bane removed a detonator and pressed it, destroying the ceiling. Chunks of concrete plummeted, as well as a desert camouflaged shape. Olivia gasped, realizing it was a Tumbler.
"Alright men!" shrieked Penguin, on top of things. "Let's go get em! Waugh, Waugh, Waugh!" At his command, the mercs roped up to the Wayne Enterprises Applied Sciences armory, beginning to secure the weapons.
"Your precious armory, gratefully accepted. We will need it for the coming months."
Summoning his last reserve of strength, Bruce rose. "Ah, I wondered which would break first." Bruce lunged at him, but it was effortlessly blocked by Bane. Olivia squirmed in Porter's grasp, her heart ripping to shreds. "Your spirit?" Bane lifted Bruce over him, "Or your body?"
"Bruce!" cried Olivia as Bane brought him down against his knee, the crunching sound of a broken back echoing through the well. A tear fell down her cheek, Olivia feeling every bit of pain her husband did.
Ripping the now broken cowl of Bruce's face, Bane threw it to the side like rubbish. Gesturing to Porter, the apprentice released Liv from his grasp. "Go to him Olivia," said Bane.
Olivia wasted no time, ripping off her own cowl and crouching next to her fallen husband. "Bruce," she was full on sobbing now. "I've got you." Gently, she cradled his head in her arms and brought it to her chest, tears cascading down her cheeks.
Alternating from watching this scene unfold and from observing the inventory checks above, Penguin squawking orders to the men, Selina realized the feeling in her stomach. It was guilt, along with sorrow. She had never in her adult life felt this before about the people she betrayed or used to benefit her. IT was frightening.
Her mind suddenly flashed to the azure blue eyes she couldn't stop thinking about, a feeing deep inside warning her that he would be disappointed in this. She shook it away. What was done was done, and now the only thing that mattered to her was survival. As she fled the area, there was a small part of Selina that knew her thoughts were wrong.
Approaching the two, Bane towered over Olivia, looking into her eyes. "I will break you two, destroy your very souls just as you destroyed my master. You, Olivia, must watch as everyone you love dies around you. You will be utterly alone, remembering this as the last time you ever saw your beloved husband again. You will feel every bit of pain and anguish that he will go through, knowing that there is nothing you can do to stop it." Turning away, Bane receded into the gloom, Olivia bending down and kissing Bruce's head.
"Remember Bruce, no matter what I will always be with you," she said, resting the palm of her hand on his heart and kissing his brow. "I love you."
Drifting towards unconsciousness, Bruce took one last look at his wife's angelic face. "I. Love. You. Too," he choked out, eyes finally closing. Olivia clutched his body, sobs raking her body.
Malevolent chuckles brought her out of her haze. "Olivia Benson reduced to a grief-stricken wreck, all for shaking up with a traitor." She didn't even look up, knowing Porter's evil voice anywhere. "Such a waste." Porter brought the butt of his staff against her head, causing her eyes to go black.
A/N: What a scene! I hope I did it justice.
Now that Bane is taking Bruce to the pit, what will he do with Olivia? What of Elliot and Selina? And where does Penguin fit into all of this? Find out next time
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