A/N: Hello all. I have exciting news! The story is drawing to a close now with only four chapters to go, and it's been a wonderful ride. While my EO story Prey has taken off to heights I never expected, I never forgot you guys who love seeing Bruce Wayne and Olivia Benson kick ass!
This chapter, we set the stage for the climatic finale, with Elliot, Olivia, and Selina fighting Bane and Porter. Meanwhile, Bruce is desperately trying to build himself back up to escape. Also, two faces we haven't seen in a while come back
I want to wrap up the story, so I'm changing a few of these scenes around. Don't worry, it'll still be awesome I assure you.
More exciting news! Just as soon as I wrap up this story, I'll have a new EO story for ya'll. It'll be an AU thriller set during the Space Race called Countdown, with Elliot and Olivia taking on a Soviet spy ring bent on destroying Apollo 11.
On that not, I saw the movie Interstellar. Chris Nolan really outdid himself once again.
Dislcaimer: I do not own either TDKR or SVU, though I'm willing too if Dick Wolf and Chris Nolan are selling.
Enjoy and review.
Chapter 15: Rise
It had been nearly four months, and as winter set in the city of Gotham entered a new era of depravity. Rogue thugs instigated by Porter's men raped and looted their way through the rich neighborhoods, the successful tried in Stalinist-style courts formed by General Secretary Cobblepot and presided over by Dr. Huang. Watching everything from the sidelines, Bane smiled under his mask, enjoying the city destroying every last shred of its morality.
At the courthouse, the personal guards of the General Secretary (his former mob associates known for their loyalty), dragged yet another man out of the makeshift prison in the basement to the main room. "Welcome Mr. Cassidy," said George Huang, sitting on a pile of desks looking like an amused clerk, over the jeers of the assorted criminals.
"What's going on?" asked the former corrupt detective turned go to guy for Bart Ganzel.
"You are Brian Cassidy correct?" Huang continued, "Former Vice President of Security Operations for Bart Ganzel; you have been found guilty by the illustrious General Secretary of living off the blood and sweat of people less powerful than you."
"No," Cassidy breathed, not believing what he heard and about to piss his pants in fear. "No, no, no, I am one of you. Call Bane, call Penguin they'll tell you."
"Bane has no authority here Mr. Cassidy, and the General Secretary has already determined your guilt. This is merely a sentencing hearing. So what'll it be? Exile, or death?"
The choice was easy for Cassidy. "Exile, I choose exile!"
"Sold."
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The prisoners were brought to the North River just underneath the 8th Street Bridge. "Smile for the camera," said the convict guard, a leer on his face.
Bruce snorted when he saw it was Cassidy. Bane and co. had been airing propaganda footage of their exploits on worldwide television, and the exile routine was getting old. Sure enough, the former dirty cop disappeared under the ice; while he wanted to kill Bane, Porter, and Penguin for doing this, Bruce couldn't help but feel that if anyone deserved Exile it was Cassidy.
"Come," the South African gestured to him. "They are ready."
The two of them stepped into the center of the prison, heading for the climbing station as the prisoners began chanting. "What ae they saying?" Bruce asked.
The South African smiled. "Rise."
Tying the rope around his middle, Bruce climbed up to the ledge where he would make the leap. Two months of backbreaking work and exercise had culminated in this moment, the moment he would get out of this hell and go back to Olivia. The chants grew louder He leapt…
…and failed, the rope breaking his fall. The prisoners, disappointed but not surprised, began to melt away while the South African stepped in to help Bruce. "Many have tried my friend."
"I have to do it, for Olivia," he replied firmly, the pain of the rope likely leaving a bruise.
"I told you it could not be done."
"You told me a child did it."
He laughed again. "But no ordinary child. A child, born in this hell, forged by pain, molded from suffering. Not a man from privilege."
The man's words hit home. Bruce had always thought he had suffered in life due to the death of his parents, but no one truly appreciated what they had until it was gone. Alex, Alfred, Olivia. He closed his eyes, trying to picture her face, smiling at him when he woke up in the morning. Olivia. That pain stung even worse than the burn of the rope.
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The blockade of Gotham by both Bane and the Army was effective, nothing getting in or out except for the US Government supply trucks provided by President Walker and the military. However, the General in charge of the Gotham Special Military District wasn't about to play nice. Hidden as deliverymen in one of the convoys were three undercover Delta Force operators, their goal to link up with the resistance movement that was forming.
Taking a turn into a small bodega, the three Deltas entered the back room when a figure dropped from the ceiling and pointed a Berretta 9mm at the leader's head. "Don't move," Selina said in a flat tone, the others reaching for their weapons. "One twitch and GI Joe here gets a bullet in his brain."
"Do as she says guys," the leader said.
"It's all clear." At Selina's call, the members of the Gotham resistance entered from their hiding places at the back rooms of the bodega.
"We're US Delta Force," the leader said.
"You got ID?" asked Tucker, operations chief and third in command.
"No," replied the Delta leader, Selina's gun still leveled at the back of his skull.
"Just perfect," said Tucker, laughing dryly. "So how do we know you are telling the truth?"
"We don't have a choice." Out from the back walked Elliot and Olivia, each with a determined stride. "Nice job Kyle," said the commissioner.
She shrugged at the praise, "Just doing what I do best Stabler." In the months since her escape from Blackgate, Selina had become the top reconnaissance operative for the resistance, slinking in unnoticed to spy on the GCPR and the GPA (while Olivia was also up to the task, for obvious reasons she elected to keep her skills a secret).
"Now who might you be?" asked Olivia, immediately sizing up the Delta leader.
"Commissioner, Chief. Captain Jones, Special Operations Detachment Delta. How many men do you have under your command?"
"Several dozen, but I don't want to divulge how many. The men trapped underground though number almost 40,000," briefed Elliot, the ashen look on his face belying his deep concern for the men and women under his command.
"We estimate the so called "Gotham People's Army to be around the same number, maybe a bit less," added Olivia, who put her talents to work as the Intelligence Officer for the resistance.
"Can we break them out?"
"Yes sir," said Amaro, stepping forward. "We take out the mercs – bear in mind that these are Bane's men, not the thugs and convicts of the GPA – guarding the outflows south of Ackerman Park, we have a hole big enough for ten at a time."
"I've been in contact with my partners down there since the fall," said Amanda, stepping next to her boyfriend, "And they're ready, waiting for the signal from us."
"Guys who haven't seen daylight in months," sneered a soldier.
"Police officers who haven't seen daylight in months soldier," replied Amanda forcefully. Nick grinned at his feisty girlfriend.
"Ok, ok, what about the bomb?" asked Jones.
"That is the responsibility of the lovely Miss Kyle," said Elliot, pointing to the willowy brunette. Olivia grinned inwardly. Aside from her, Elliot was the only person who would associate with the former thief, and the two had gotten close. It would be presumptive to call them friends, but she had her hopes.
Taking her cue, and rolling her eyes at the wink Elliot threw her (though inwardly she didn't mind in the slightest), Selina began her part of the brief. "They have three Russian type trucks which they move around constantly and guard with Wayne Enterprises Tumblers. We use Geiger counters to identify the fakes so we can track them."
"And the triggerman?"
"It's a bluff," said Olivia. "Bane and Porter," She practically spit those two names out, "Wouldn't trust Penguin to hold the trigger, let alone a citizen."
"We can't take that chance. Command doesn't want to antagonize them."
"So we just sit here," interjected Amaro, "And watch as Gotham continues to be terrorized by a Warlord, his personal executioner, and a mobster turned Communist dictator?" Rollins and many of the other cops agreed with him.
"Hold on guys," Olivia said, playing peacemaker. "Before we get into a pissing match I think there is someone who can help."
Jones raised an eyebrow. "Go on."
After divulging the secret, Nick and Amanda led the Delta team off as the leaders began to head back to their various commands. Letting out a breath, Olivia collapsed into a chair, closing her eyes but immediately seeing the face she saw every day, the haunted, pained face of her husband the night they faced Bane and Porter. A tear fell down her cheek. "Liv?" Elliot kneeled beside her. "What's wrong?"
A sob escaped her throat. "I miss him so much. I don't know how much longer I can take being without him." Elliot hugged her close, letting her cry into his shirt.
"I'm sure he's fine Olivia," said Dickie, hoping that what he said wasn't a lie.
Awkwardly, Selina stepped forward. "The kid is right Chief," she finally choked out, everyone staring at her. "Anyone who's stubborn enough to live with you is likely stubborn enough to get back into this shithole."
Wiping a tear from her eye, Olivia couldn't help but chuckle at that. Leave it to the former master thief to cheer her up. 'Please Bruce, I need you.'
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"One thousand and thirty five rich guys executed, one thousand and thirty five rich guys." Penguin threw a dart at the painting to his right, hitting the now deceased Mayor Garcia's portrait right on the nose. "Take one down, pass it around, one thousand and thirty five rich guys dead." He was getting to like being General Secretary of the Gotham City People's Republic.
Sadly, the fun would be over soon, but Penguin would have the last laugh. If Bane and his dog were planning on having him die here with the rest of the scum they were sadly mistaken. He had spent a lot of time thinking in prison, and he had determined that his desire for power had been futile. There would always be a Dent, always be a Stabler, and always be a Bruce and Olivia Wayne. No one like him would ever be truly safe.
What he needed, after revenge of course, was anonymity. To have a position where he had all the trappings of power but none of the notoriety that could cause his downfall. And what better way to gain it than pretend to perish in a nuclear inferno?
Soon, he would be presumed dead, and the thought made him smirk. Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot always had an ace in the hole, and it was time Bane realized it.
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Leading the Deltas through the streets, Nick and Amanda guided them into the public library. "We came here to look for a vantage point," explained Amanda, "But we found a large group from a corporation living here."
"What corporation?"
"Wayne Enterprises."
Reaching the top floor, Nick led them to the two in charge. "Captain, this is Lucius Fox and Casey Novak."
After pleasantries were exchanged, Jones got down to business. "Ok Mr. Fox, what's the situation you need to tell me?"
"Miss Novak here is fully aware of it, as am I Captain. It's about the bomb."
"As the CEO of Wayne Enterprises," added Casey, taking over from the white-haired President, "I have to take responsibility for the construction if the bomb."
Jones looked confused. "You built the bomb?"
Fox took over. "It was built as a cold fusion reactor, the first of its kind. Bane managed to remove the core and turn it into a thermonuclear bomb. The core itself is very unstable outside the reactor and as it degenerates it will soon approach a level where it will detonate."
"How long do we have?"
"We have 23 days, regardless of Bane's revolution or whatever the outside world chooses or does not choose to do."
"So what this means is your appeasement plan isn't going to work," said Nick.
"Can you disarm it?"
"If we get it to the reactor," Fox shrugged, "I can stabilize it, buy us some time for the professionals to do a more permanent job."
Just then, the sound of automatic gunfire erupted in the well below as Bane's men stored the library. Rushing into action, Nick and Amanda headed to the back exit to facilitate escape while the Deltas moved to engage the mercs. Once it seemed hopeless to defeat them, the two cops slunk away to fight another day.
One went down almost instantly, a G-36 round ripping through his gut. Jones and his comrade returned fire with their pistols, but soon were running out of ammo.
A merc tossed an M-67 at them. "Grenade!" yelled Jones, ducking for cover behind a column when it went off. His comrade wasn't so lucky, a piece of shrapnel embedding itself in his brain. Out of bullets, Jones made an attempt to grab a fallen merc's gun when a sharp pain emanated out of his stomach. He looked up to see the smirking face of Dean Porter. "I'll never talk," he choked out, defiant.
"I don't care if you do or not," Porter replied, twisting the blade of his double bladed staff until the Delta leader was dead. Hearing steady breathing behind him, Porter removed the blade from the corpse and turned around. "The Special Forces are dead master," he said with a bow.
"Good Dean, good," responded Bane, patting him on the shoulder with uncharacteristic warmth. "With the days passing by it is imperative that we not lose our focus."
"Sir," Bane and Porter looked up to see two mercs push forward an old man and a pretty redhead. "We found them upstairs. I think these are the ones we want."
Bane approached them. "Mr. Fox, Miss Novak. I must say it is a pleasure seeing you two again."
"If I said the same thing I would be lying," answered Fox regally.
Bane chuckled through his mask. "Take them back to the courthouse to enjoy our accommodations."
"What about the bodies master?" Porter asked, gesturing to the dead Special Forces.
Bane pondered it for a moment. "Get some rope; it is time to show them to the world."
The next day, every news outlet in the country aired footage of three bodies hanging by the neck from the 8th Street Bridge.
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"Bruce?" The ten year old boy, tears falling from his eyes as he lay at the bottom of the dark well, looked up to see his father rappelling down toward him. Thomas Wayne, a look of parental love on his face. "Why do we fall?"
Waking up with a gasp, Bruce looked around. The darkness was still all encompassing, but here his father wasn't going to get him out. He blinked several times to wake up, reflecting on the dream. Usually his dreams were all about Olivia, happy ones of their marriage or terrifying nightmares of her death at the hands of Bane or Porter. This though, this was of his father; was his subconscious trying to tell him something?
"You do not fear death." Shocked, Bruce's head turned to the crippled doctor, whom he thought didn't speak English. "You do not fear death, and you think that makes you strong. It makes you weak. How can you fight, take on your enemies without that fear?"
"You want me to fear death?"
"Not just your own. The way you look at that picture of the woman, you value her life more than your own. You fear your own death not because of any attachment you have toward yourself, but because you know she can't live without your presence beside you." Coughing, the doctor cleared his throat before continuing. "You do not want to consider her death, so you hold yourself back. Love is the strongest emotion there is; it is what gives us our drive, our passion. It comes with fear for the other, but you are trying to suppress it. That is why you cannot make the leap."
Bruce closed his eyes for a moment; the doctor was right. He knew Olivia's love for him ran just as deep as his own, and if she figured there was no hope she would die, just as he would have. "I fear, dying in here, while my city burns. I fear dying here, while Liv dies away from me, alone and heartbroken. I fear, never being able to look into her eyes again, never being able to tell her I love you again."
"Then make the climb."
Snorting, Bruce looked away. "How? I've tried already."
The doctor fell silent, only speaking after several minutes. "Do it as the child did, without the rope. Then the fear will find you again."
The next day, the South African found Bruce wrapping food and water in a shawl. "Ah, supplies for your journey, how presumptuous of you." Bruce slung it over his shoulder and turned to face the smiling man. "I like it."
Reaching the platform, he declined to rope, earning murmurs from the crowd. It didn't last long, for as he began to climb they started the chant, getting louder and louder as he neared the main ledge.
Arriving, he stopped at the edge, the chants reaching near screams and yells. Patting the pocket in his ragged trousers that held the picture of Olivia, his insides trembling in fear, Bruce steeled himself, said a quick prayer to God, and leapt.
The prisoners erupted in cheers when Bruce's hands gripped the opposite ledge, finding joy in their comrade's successful escape.
Reaching the top, the sun hit his eyes for the first time in months; God it felt wonderful to bask in its warmth. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the folded and faded picture of Olivia, kissing it. "I'll be there soon Liv. I promise I'll be there soon." Without missing a beat, Bruce began his journey back to Gotham, back to his destiny, and back to his love.
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Everyone said he was stupid for doing this. His command had said it; Dickie said it; Olivia said it; even Selina, normally a woman of few words, had animatedly tried to convince him not to go out in the streets. However, Elliot Stabler had a job to do. The bomb would go off in forty-eight hours, and there was no one in a position to do anything about it except him.
Knocking on the door of the brownstone, he cursed under his breath. Sure, Ed Tucker wasn't the easiest man to deal with, but Elliot never expected him to be a coward.
The door opened to reveal Laura Tucker, Ed's wife. "You let your wife answer the door when the GPA is roaming the streets?" Tucker appeared behind Laura and ushered her inside. "Did you bury your uniform in the backyard as well Ed?"
"Don't talk to me like that Elliot," hissed Tucker. "Did you see what Bane's men did to those Special Forces? I don't want that happening to my family; I say let the government deal with them."
"Bane's got their balls in a vice, that's not dealing with them Ed. The only way we take them down is from inside the city!"
"Yeah, and when the triggerman sets of the bomb where are we then?"
"You actually think Bane gave the control of the bomb to one of the people?" Elliot asked incredulously. "You think this is part of some revolution? That putting Penguin in charge of a communist dictatorship was a noble thing?" Tucker dropped his gaze to his shoes, silent. "The only person with his thumb on the trigger is Bane; besides, the bomb is going off the day after tomorrow."
"We don't know that Elliot. Now you can go off playing minuteman with Olivia and that common criminal you're banging on the side, but other people have families to protect. Maybe you should think about yours for a change." With that, he slammed the door in Elliot's face.
Sighing, the police commissioner turned and headed back onto the sidewalk. "Why are you following me?" he asked seemingly to no one.
Slowly, Selina appeared out of nowhere. "You are getting good at this Stabler," she smirked at him.
"That didn't answer my question, but thank you."
Selina shrugged. "Somebody's got to watch your back, and the Chief is too forlorn to do it properly."
"Unfortunately," Elliot breathed, a sad frown covering his face. He then realized that Selina probably heard what Tucker said about her. "About what Tucker said…"
"Save it Commissioner," Selina said, holding up her hand, "Believe me I've heard worse things about myself, most of them true by the way." The last thing Tucker said wasn't true, but just thinking about it made the former thief blush. 'Wait, since when do I blush?' She prayed that Elliot didn't catch it.
'She looks cute when she blushes,' Elliot though, smiling. The crackling of his headset radio put that though away. "Heads up sir," Amaro said from a vantage point a mile away, "Large enemy group headed your way."
Hearing the jeers and automatic fire from the men, likely GPA but probably with some of Bane's men sprinkled in, Elliot knew he was a goner. But Selina had a chance. "They're coming."
Selina needed no prompting on who "They" were. "Come on, let's go."
"No Kyle, you go; I'll hold them off."
She stared at him. "Are you crazy? You'll be killed."
"We'll both be killed if I don't do this. You need to keep Olivia safe; get her to a safe place and try and get out of the city." Hearing the GPA thugs close by, he leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek (he had wanted to do that for a while now. "Go Selina." Too stunned to respond, she complied, turning the corner just as a Tumbler and a group of thugs approached.
From around the corner, Selina felt a tear well up in her eyes. She was so confused right now; her heart was heavy with worry, her soul was filled with guilt, and most shockingly of all her mind kept revolving around that kiss. Why had he done it, and why did she like it so much. 'What has become of me?'
The men were now leveling assault rifles at Elliot, chattering amongst themselves on how they bagged the great Elliot Stabler who had put most of them behind bars. The Tumbler's hatch swinging open, Elliot felt like spitting when Dean Porter stepped out of the vehicle. "Commissioner Stabler, we meet again," said Porter, grinning.
"Fuck you Porter," he replied evenly, earning a chuckle and a punch in the gut from Porter, who then ordered his men to start kicking Elliot.
"Enough," he yelled after about twenty seconds, two of his men hauling Elliot to his feet. "You really are a fool Stabler. Coming out of hiding was a bad idea. I just tracked all your friends and your son down." Elliot tried to lunge at Porter but was restrained by the impassive League Warriors. 'At least Olivia wasn't at the hideout today.' He hoped Selina could keep her alive. "All of you are hereby place under arrest."
"On whose authority Porter? Yours?"
Porter smirked. "The people of Gotham."
A/N: Boom! What a cliffy. The suspense thickens with three chapters to go!
Next up, the reunion of our two heroes, and then back to the butt kicking!
God Bless