A/N: Greetings all. Thanksgiving week is finally here!
Two snippets of news for everyone. First off this is the second to last chapter of the Trilogy, and it is the one you've all been waiting for, the big battle!
Second is that Countdown will be out on Black Friday! I hope all of you check my new EO story out!
So, Bruce and Liv are back in action; will they stop Bane and Porter before Gotham blows up? Will Penguin make his getaway? And what of Elliot and Selina?
Find out right now
If you guys like crossovers and the movie Titanic, I recommend this story: Gotham City Meet Rose Dawson! by my friend MissOperaGhost
Disclaimer: I own nothing, but if I did I wouldn't have to post this on fanfiction.
PLEASE REVIEW. AND IF YOU HAVEN'T READ OR REVIEWED CHAPTER 19 OF PREY PLEASE DO SO AS WELL
Chapter 17: Liberty or Death
With commissioner Stabler captured and Kyle and Chief Benson off God knows where, Nick and Amanda knew that the only way to restart the resistance movement was to save a few fellow officers from the tunnels. They had formulated a plan together; it would be risky but there was no other choice. Neither of them wanted to stand by while their city burned.
After sneaking a message threw a sewer grate earlier that morning, the two split up. While Amanda covered him with a silenced sniper rifle Nick knocked out one of the GPA guards watching a manhole near the main entrance to the tunnels.
'So far so good,' he thought, quietly approaching the sandbag lined manhole. Prying the lid off, he whispered inside, the cops ready to exit below. Grabbing the hands of one of them, he hauled the man up only for him to be shot in the back.
"Hands up!" barked a gruff voice. All around Nick soldiers swarmed; they carried themselves like professionals, unlike the cocky swagger of the GPA. 'Shit, must be Bane's men. Amanda, a little help would be nice.'
"Trying to pull a fast one on us officer?" asked the leader, a completely bald black man with a slight British accent. Not waiting for a response, he kicked Nick square in the chest, sending the detective tumbling down the embankment to the tunnel below, the entrance blocked by rubble.
"Sir? Sir what's going on?" Hearing the voices below, the merc decided to secure the tunnel. Nonchalantly, he took a grenade off his belt and pulled the pin, dropping it into the tunnel. "Shit! Grenade…" The explosion ended any attempt to escape. "Tunnel cleared."
Down in the tunnel, Nick tried to get up but the mercs punched him in the gut and shoved him to his knees. As the leader dropped down, a second group trotted forward. "We found this one hiding a ways off sir."
Nick looked up, gasping at who they had. 'Amanda? Shit!' She looked rumpled but still the feisty blonde he had come to love. Writing like the fighter she was, one of the mercs slapped her. "Motherfucker!" snarled Nick, running into him like a linebacker and braking his nose before the others could restrain him once more.
"She your girlfriend?" asked the leader when they were both on their knees facing them. Looking at each other, Amanda and Nick gave the other a loving look before both spitting on the ground. The leader smirked. "Fair enough." As he raised his G-36, a black figure dropped behind him.
With swiftness, Batman began dispatching the mercs, using his fists and sometimes their own guns to knock them down. The leader swiveled but Amanda delivered a swift kick to his shins while Nick knocked him out with a punch to the temple. "You missed a spot," grinned Amanda breathlessly. Looking down, Bruce kicked the last man conscious.
"So what's the plan now?" Nick asked.
"We free the officers," replied Bruce, taking a mine off his belt. Using all his strength, he chucked it at the wall of rubble; when it exploded it shifted the concrete but not by enough.
"We need something bigger," Nick observed.
Pursing his lips, Bruce looked at his wrist, holding up four fingers, then three, then two, then one.
In the background, the Bat swooped in. "Big enough for ya Amaro?" quipped Rollins as the Mk 19 grenade launcher blasted a massive hole in the rubble.
"I need you two to get as many people off the island as you can."
"Won't be easy with the Army blocking the bridge."
"Do what you have to," Bruce replied.
Soon, the entire GPD began filing out of the tunnels. Organizing the men (having been brought via the Bat by Olivia), Jim Gordon formed them up into a large column. Now that they had an Army, it was straight up Grand Ave. and into the fight.
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Having flown on the Bat to a deserted section of the Narrows, Bruce and Olivia guided Selina and Dickie into a decrepit alley. Looking over at the former thief, the younger Stabler saw what his dad saw in her. She was a strong woman, both fierce and cunning, and not to mention drop dead gorgeous. She in effect was like Olivia, and Dickie firmly believed that if Liv didn't have Bruce in her life she and his dad would have gotten together.
Noticing his stare, Selina turned to him. "You alright kid?"
He shrugged. "I'll be better when the city's free."
"Won't we all," she replied in her trademark bored tone. A thought came to her. "How's your father?"
Ahead of them, Bruce and Liv's hearing picked up. 'Oh this will be interesting.'
Dickie thought the same thing. "He's fine, thanks to Batgirl here." A sly grin spread on his face. "He worries about you."
Selina nearly froze, her heart fluttering at that statement. 'God damn it! What's wrong with me?' "He does?" she croaked out.
"Yep, all last night he whimpered your name in his sleep. He must really care about you." She was too stunned (and secretly happy) to speak while Bruce and Olivia suppressed a snicker. However, as quickly as the humor came it went away, for it was time for business.
Unlocking two containers at the end of the alley, the two batpods were revealed in their full glory. "Officer Stabler," rasped Olivia. "I need you to take this one and head over and provide Gordon and the Army with anti-armor support."
Looking the batpod over like a kid on Christmas morning admiring his presents, Dickie nodded. "I got this." Straddling the vehicle, he looked over at the two heroes. "Even though I don't know your names, I thank you." Then he turned over and looked at Selina. "Miss Kyle, even though I don't expect you to, I hope to see you again. I haven't seen my dad happier since he and mom got a divorce." With a wave, he departed, zooming out.
Knowing enough not to needle Selina, who's mind was probably racing a mile a minute right now, Olivia motioned to Bruce, who took over. "Here's the clean slate." He tossed a USB drive into her hand. "I need you to head over to the vehicle tunnels and blast through the barricades. We need to get as many people out of the city as possible."
Selina raised an eyebrow. "And then what?"
"Well, preferably you come back and help us mop up the rest of the GPA, but no killing."
"Aren't you worried I might slip away?" she said half-sarcastically.
It was Olivia's turn to speak. "We trust you to do the right thing."
This confused her. "You still trust me? After the last time in the tunnels?" She may have been someone to whom loyalty was a fluid commodity of expedience, but even she knew that something like what she did was unforgivable.
"True, but if Elliot trusts you, then that's good enough."
Her head dropping, Selina barely knew who she was anymore. She had always been the dogged opportunist, doing whatever and screwing over anyone it took to get ahead; that had always been what Selina Kyle was, but now she wasn't so sure.
Looking back up at the two heroes, she let some of this pour out. "Why don't you leave? Why must you stay here? You don't owe these people anything, and you've already given them everything."
Taking Olivia's hand, Bruce stared into his wife's eyes. "Not everything, not yet."
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The flags fluttered in the soft breeze, the early morning sun giving them an ethereal glow. To the thousands of men and women of the Gotham Police Department, it was a good omen. As they marched forward toward their fight for freedom, it was heartening to see the symbol of liberty grant its approval.
Leading them at the van, Captain James Gordon had arranged the force in a compact column along Grand Avenue. The line stretched quite deep with men, the SWAT with their tough armor and riot shields at the front while the remainder of the uniforms readied behind them to press through any breach in the enemy lines. Joining him were two decorated Sergeants, one holding Old Glory itself and the other holding a yellow Gadsden Flag, which had been produced as a sort of homage to the warriors of liberty 1776 edition.
Ahead of them, the mass of the Gotham People's Army, headed by Bane's elite mercenaries, began to take up firing positions in the middle of the street. Before Gordon could order the advance, the line of cops parted behind them and none other than Deputy Police Commissioner Ed Tucker stepped forward, clad in the full splendor of his dress blues and clutching a 9mm Beretta in his hands.
"Glad you could join us Ed," Gordon remarked.
"Wouldn't miss it for the world Jim," replied Tucker.
The host ahead had halted, the malevolent forms of four Tumblers joining the GPA foot soldiers at the final intersection before city hall. "Disperse!" yelled a voice. "Disperse or you will be fired upon!"
"There's only one police in this town!" Tucker hollered back. With a flick of his wrist the GPD column began to move forward at a slow march; the cops were mad as hell. This was their city, their home, their land. No trumped up Communist or psychopathic criminal could take it away from them. But through some miracle, Gordon and Tucker kept them restrained.
Descending the courthouse steps, Bane and Porter observed the coming column. "Open fire," ordered the Masked Man halfheartedly.
The guns of the Tumblers swung into action, leveling themselves directly at the column. As the cops cringed, a low whirr filled the air as the Bat descended out of the sky, firing two Hellfire missiles at the Tumblers. Swooping out of the area, Dickie roared in on his Batpod destroying the last two, firing at the foot solders with an automatic pistol.
"Make ready!" yelled Gordon. Automatically the front line of shield bearers kneeled while the riflemen behind leveled their M-16s. "Take aim!" They had one shot at this while the GPA were reforming themselves. "Fire!" The rifles barked, the police sending three round bursts at the GPA van.
The mercs and criminals disorganized from the volley, Tucker hollered to his department. "Charge men! Charge!"
"Freedom!" screamed the column as it erupted forward, all the anger and rage let out at one instant. The surviving mercs began firing at full automatic, but the Bat, Batpod, and the volley had disrupted them enough so that the column quickly closed in and slammed into the GPA lines. It was now a vicious melee, one that would decide the fate of Gotham.
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The explosions could be heard all across the city. At the orphanage, Nick and Amanda were helping a group of children into the bus. "Is it starting?" asked Calvin.
"Sure is buddy," responded Amanda, giving him a small smile.
At the docks, Penguin and his small, loyal contingent of bodyguards heard the sounds of battle too. "What do we do boss?" one asked.
Penguin looked at him like he sprouted wings. "Fuck them! Let's get on the sub." Why should he care about what happens to them? They were expendable, and about to perish in a nuclear blast. Nope, now was time to save himself. The, merchant ship was waiting off the coast, and soon he'd be completely free.
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Elliot lay crouched between two large trashcans in the snow, waiting along the bomb truck's usual patrol route. From what Batgirl told him and what his men had discussed, he had one shot to get on the truck and plant the jammer or whatever the hell it was on the bomb before the triggerman blew it to hell. 'Why do these things keep happening to me?' he thought. As a lowly beat cop back in the day he hadn't imagined rising this far, and definitely didn't imagine having to deal with two masked vigilantes dressed like bats.
The truck and its Tumbler escort soon drove down the street, the mercs manning them professional despite the attack on city hall. They had their orders, and until Bane or Porter changed them they were not to deviate from them under any circumstances.
At the signal from a spotter, a commandeered (actually more or less captured) GPA technical shot out of an alley and began peppering the Tumbler with .50 cal machine gun fire. Laughing off the bullets, the Tumbler leveled its cannon and blasted the pickup as its crew fled.
Using this distraction, Elliot ran forward unnoticed and grabbed hold of the back end of the trailer, searching desperately for an entrance. He could not find one, his mind reasoning that it was at the front end.
Before he could run to it however, the truck started up again, almost throwing him off. Now he would have to try and get to the front while the truck was in motion. "Just fucking perfect."
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The square in front of the courthouse was a virtual hockey arena; the ordered column and organized host had crashed into each other, the area degenerated into disorganized masses going at each other with wild abandon. The GPA had numbers and equipment on their side, but the cops were more motivated. While their enemies had grown fat and complacent subsisting on the stolen treasures of the city, the men and women of the GPD were hardened by their months in the tunnels, and the new-found iron was paying off. Slowly ground was given, slowly the column pressed forward.
Flanked by his defacto honor guard, Bane waded into the fray. He lashed out at cops indiscriminately, easily brushing off anyone who dared to challenge him. He was about to cave in the skull of a rookie when a batarang smacked into his arm. He turned around, eyes narrowing at the figure who approached.
"You came back," he observed. "To die with your wife and your city."
"No," Bruce growled from under his cowl. "I came back to stop you." Both moved at the same time, each sending a barrage of punches and counter punches, neither giving any ground or quarter.
To the side about fifteen yards away, Olivia struck out at a pair of mercs. She incapacitated one with her shock darts, the other toppling with a smack from her nightsticks as it came in contact with his temple. Catching the fight between her husband and Bane, she began to rush over before a glint of bright steel entered her vision. Quickly, she swung both her nightsticks to block the blow, only to come face to face with Porter.
"I'm going to enjoy this," her ex leered.
Olivia's lips curled into a snarl. "So am I."
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Squeezing the trigger mechanism on the Batpod, Selina watched as the makeshift barricade blew to places. With all the GPA gathered at the battle site it was just too easy. There it was, freedom. She had the clean slate in her pocket and the world ahead of her. All Selina had to do was gun the engine and whoosh out of there.
But she just couldn't bring herself to do so. Much as she tried to deny it, she had changed since this mess had started. So now Selina sat on the Batpod, both sides, the new and the old, warring inside of her. 'What to do? What to do?'
A vision of cerulean eyes flashed in her mind. "God damn it."
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While the battle for the city raged around them, Bruce and Olivia focused single-mindedly on their opponents. Blocking a forceful jab at his shoulder, Bruce slammed his fist into Bane's armored chest, sending the Masked Man stumbling a few paces. Bane was slightly shocked; the traitor had obviously toughened up since they hast fought. 'No matter.' With a snarl, he lunged and grabbed Bruce, tossing him up the steps. Bruce, pain radiating out of his back, managed to regain his footing just as his palm caught Bane's fist right before it could reach his jaw.
Steel collided with titanium as Porter's dual blades skirmished with Olivia's nightsticks. Unlike last time Olivia kept calm, focusing all her strength to offense while simultaneously dodging and weaving with a sort of fluid grace. She had been practicing and improving over the last months same as Bruce, and it showed. Unable to catch her, Porter was the one losing his cool, launching furious jabs and slashes but every time meeting either air or titanium.
Twirling around, Olivia let loose a batarang, the metal slashing a small wound on Porter's arm. Hissing, he charged, Olivia leading him backward toward the top of the courthouse steps, right where she wanted him. Looking straight into his eyes, Olivia found nothing but fury, a bright, blazing hate in them. It had always been there, but for so long, when they worked together and dated he had hidden that look; only once, when she broke up with him at Bruce's fundraiser had that hate risen to the surface, if only for a moment. It only made her hate him more. Catching a downward thrust of his staff, which he brought down with a rage-filled shout, with her crossed nightsticks, Olivia swung around while crouching, knocking Porter off balance and sending him into the courthouse. She fired one of her darts but it hit the staff instead, sending enough charge to bring down Porter but not enough to incapacitate him.
Bruce sent a well-aimed right hook right into Bane's mask, but the stubborn warrior shrugged it off and sent an uppercut of his own at Bruce's jaw. While a move like that with the force that delivered it would have nearly knocked him out before, the new Bruce was unfazed, dodging out of the way as Bane's blows pulverized a column. He charged the Masked Man, sending a powerful jab right at the mask. A crack rang out as the analgesic gas began to seep out of the mask, Bane suddenly being flooded with intense pain. Struggling to fit the tube back in, it gave Bruce the opportunity to bring him down and kick him inside the courthouse, glass flying everywhere as it shattered.
Bruce walked inside, easily turning away an attack from one of the mercs. Grabbing the G-36 that the fallen warrior dropped, Bruce surveyed the room. Olivia was busy restraining Porter, her legs keeping him face down on the ground, while Casey stood in the corner. "Guard the doors," he rasped, throwing the G-36 to Casey, who nodded.
"Where is the trigger?" he snarled at Bane, keeling and grabbing him by the lapels of his fleece jacket. "Where is it?" He shoved him against the granite reception desk. "You would never give it to an ordinary citizen!"
"Don't tell him anything!" yelled Porter, only to receive a sharp kick to the ribs from Olivia.
"Shut up!" Olivia looked at the defeated figure of Bane. "You're plan has failed Bane, where is the trigger?"
"It is not over until one of us dies," the Masked Man croaked out, the pain of his wound becoming unbearable.
"Not until the city is safe. Then, and only then, do you have my permission to die."
Bane stared at him, then at Olivia. "I broke you, both of you. But you came back."
"I always knew Bruce would come back to me," Olivia said, sending a loving glance at her husband.
"But how did you?"
"You don't think you were the only person who could escape?" asked Bruce.
"But I never escaped."
Bruce's jaw dropped, confusion striking him. "But the child of Ra's al Ghul. The child escaped the pit."
"But he is not the child of Ra's al Ghul." Hearing a voice behind him, Bruce turned to get stabbed in the side with a knife. Casey smiled sweetly at him. "I am."
"No!" Olivia screamed, giving Porter a window to kick her shins, knocking her to the ground where he assumed a position of over watch.
"And while I'm not ordinary," the redhead continued, removing a detonator from her pocket. "I am a citizen."
"Casey?" Olivia sked breathlessly, in shock and disbelief that her best friend was with Bane and the others. "Why?"
She turned to face Olivia. "Talia. My name is Talia." She looked back at Bruce, enjoying every minute of this. "My mother bore me in the pit. She didn't make it, but someone did help me. My protector." She caressed Bane's face lovingly, snapping the gas tube back into place. "I climbed out and found my father, convinced him to rescue my protector, but by then it was too late." She patted the mask. "The League took us in, but my father could never accept Bane, neither him nor his apprentice," she looked at Porter, "My only friend. He only saw two monsters who couldn't be trained, an eternal reminder of the hell he left my mother to die in. He excommunicated Bane and Dean from the League of Shadows, only because they loved me. I never forgave him after that." She then stared into Bruce's eyes. "Until you and Olivia murdered him."
"He was going to kill," Bruce painted, the pain radiating out of the wound, "Millions of innocent people."
"Innocent is a strong word Bruce," Casey replied. "You should know that. I will avenge my father by destroying Gotham, killing the two people who ended his life." She twisted the knife, causing Bruce to whimper and a tear to escape Olivia's eye. "You see it's the slow knife, the one that waits years before it slips in," she armed the trigger, "That cuts the deepest." Her thumb pressed the button.
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Elliot struggled into the container, quickly setting the device on the bomb. Something inside told him he had just made it.
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Nothing. Silence hung in the air, before Olivia broke it with a chuckle. "It may have been a bit too slow Case."
A brief look of anger appeared on Casey's face before she shrugged it off. "Stabler. He must have gotten on the truck. Dean, is it headed here."
"Yes ma'am," he replied. "It should be arriving momentarily."
"Good. Well you two, congratulations. You have just bought Gotham eleven minutes. Come Dean, we must protect the convoy." She turned to Bane. "Goodbye my friend, make sure they both feel the fire." With that she exited the courthouse, quickly trotting to the truck which she mounted with Porter.
"Come on!" yelled Tucker, firing at the GPA. "Just one more push!"
"Kill them," Casey ordered. "Kill them all."
The Tumblers opened fire, felling dozens of cops, one of them being Tucker.
Casey smirked, but then remembering that Stabler was in the back. "Go," she ordered Dean. "Take care of our dear friend the commissioner." A gleeful grin on his face, Porter climbed out of the cab.
Back in the courthouse, Olivia had quickly scrambled to Bruce's side, caressing his face, kissing his lips, and keeping pressure on his wound. "Don't worry my love, everything's going to be fine."
"I sincerely doubt that," Bane countered, grabbing a 12-gauge shotgun. "I know my orders are to keep you alive." He leveled it at Olivia's head. "But you two will have to imagine the fire."
A crash echoed through the room as two large 20mm cannon shells decapitated the Masked Man. Both Bruce and Liv turned to see Selina stepping off the Batpod. "About this whole no killing thing, it's not really my style."
Shaking her head, a small smirk on her lips, Olivia helped her husband up. "We need to get that truck to the docks."
"On it," Selina said, sending off a fake salute as she sped away.
A/N: Whoa! That was intense wasn't it? I knew it was a good place to end because even I'm wanting more.
One more chapter to go, both the thrilling conclusion and an epilogue.
Be sure to check out Countdown on Friday and read and review Chapter 19 of Prey
God Bless