A bullet, 338 Lapua Magnum, was lodged into the head of one of his unfortunate subordinates, pinning them to the wall. They looked so peaceful, unaware they were hit with anything in the first place. They weren't the first target. The bullet had traveled, hitting one body to the far right, ricocheting off the back plate into another poor soul before hitting the last body in the head. A beautiful performance of timing and strategy.

A part of Bane knew that Gotham was a constant danger to his forces, mainly because they were an outside threat and Gotham, as criminal-infested as it was, didn't like other mercenaries stepping into its vicinity. The Batman was hardly the biggest threat. He has to send someone to watch over shipments, property and so on, otherwise his takeover would be diminished as soon as it began. Like with Copperhead, he knew it was another assassin's warning.

"Deadshot."

Bane's men grew frantic. "That mercenary's here too? Great. Before we get a pop off at the Batman, that damn gunman will blow his brains out. What a waste."

Bane, however, smirked, "Lawton is just another player in our game. Doesn't mean he'll win."

A voice suddenly called out, "Are you sure about that, Bane?"

The two men beside him immediately pointed their guns up at the shadow but they didn't even come close to pulling the trigger when one shot hit the first man on Bane's left, bounced at an angle and then shot through the chest of the one on the right. It missed Bane entirely, instead getting caught in one of the already deceased corpses that lurched from the intrusion.

Bane was unmoving, impressed more than anything. As the shadow hopped down, he could hear him chuckling, sniper propped up toward the sky. Floyd Lawton had his signature gear, from the face balaclava to his wrist sniper gauntlets. He was a man on a warpath.

Deadshot sneered as he took off his balaclava, "Now, don't feel too bad when I take the prize. I got to target someone after all."

"Was shooting my men necessary?"

Floyd pretended to consider as he scoped the dead bodies before pressing a gloved finger against his lips, "Mmm, noooo. But it was fun!"

Bane approached him maliciously. "I don't appreciate your antics."

"Oh, grow a pair, big and tall. If you think just because we're supposed to be buddy-buddy fair in the eyes of Black Mask that I won't fuck around and kill a few worthless soldiers of yours, you're sorely mistaken. I got an itchy trigger finger. Since I can't hunt down the people I want to in Gotham while I'm here other than the Bat without drawing attention to myself early, got to take out my impulses on someone," Deadshot winked. "Besides, hunting down Black Mask's men doesn't have the same thrill. It's like he doesn't care. No fun."

Bane's expression became confused until something clicked in his head. "You aren't hunting my men just to kill people...you're hunting them in the hopes that I'll send more after you to avenge them and give you a reason to kill more?"

Floyd did a brief, fake accent with a holler, "Woohoo, that's what I call birdwatching! Hell yeah, baby, I love my hunts, especially getting chased down and seeing those little birdies wet themselves when they look up into the rooftops at the moonlight's gleam on the muzzle of my elegant weapon. Normally, I don't waste much time in one place with one target, killing random people is risky after all but I have to tell you, waiting for Christmas makes the kid in me very excited. So, if I have to wait for my present this year, I'm going to leave Santa a bunch of bodies in return."

There was a fine line between sane and insanity. Honestly, Bane had absolutely no clue where Lawton lied on that spectrum. But there was some amusement regarding it. Making an assassin wait to kill for too long drove him to do hunting sprees. If Joker learned about them, Lawton was in for one hell of a scolding...like a little kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar, not that it would stop him from doing what he's doing.

Bane sighed, "This is the part where I would tell you to stay out of my way on my quest to kill the Batman and to stop killing my men. But given you aren't the first person to do this and my tactics and threats seem to hardly faze any of the other assassins, there isn't anything I can tell you to get you to stop, is there?"

"Given up, have you?"

"I wouldn't say that, perhaps a better word would be 'wiser' to the situation," said Bane.

Deadshot placed his sniper rifle on a platform at eye level and rubbed his hands together in the midst of the cold night. "Well, aren't we all? We always believe we have control of the situation; everyone is at our whim or we can threaten them to do so. The reality is, no matter how hard we try, there will always be a chaotic element in our plans that will drive our most brutal choices, our last-ditch efforts to preserve the remaining ounces of control we still convince ourselves that we have."

Bane approached Deadshot, acknowledging the once over the smaller man gave him with a smile. Lawton huffed, "Don't tell me you've tried to take control of a meaningless battle with the others all this time? That's some pretty hard denial."

"And I suppose you know what I am, hombre?"

"Yes, you're insane is what you are. I've heard your qualms from the others. You fell hard, but I have to admit you're quite the inspiration. At least I know how not to go out."

Deadshot laughed and attempted to move past Bane, only for his arm to get caught and Bane staring down at him in thought.

Bane shook his head, "You don't seem to hate it. So, what do you want?"

Lawton put let pressure on his arm by moving close to the larger man. "I don't know. You're the one stepping on my shoes, Prince Charming. You tell me."

"You want to fool the competition, aiming to be more than you are. You think I am insane, but none of you have been any different."

"It's Gotham, Bane. You don't survive in this city if you aren't a lunatic deep down. Why do you think you feel at home here? Why are you bothering me? You think you can control your emotions, your impulses but you've fallen just like everyone else. I'm as sane as I can be, have a daughter at a safehouse and several more operations in waiting after I'm done here. I know where I lie in Gotham. I know what I want. So, what do you want?"

Bane peered to the side. Batman, he wanted Batman dead. But what else did he want? What else did he need? All of the assassins he met had more to their lives than just hunting down the Bat...and they used him to clarify their ambitions. Companionship, sex, thrills, money, revenge...all of it was more than it seemed. Yet here he was, the only one with nothing else but the Batman. After the vigilante was gone, what was he to do? He never opened himself up to other pleasures of life in prison or outside of it when he could do anything he wanted. He didn't know what he wanted anymore.

"You don't know, do you?" Deadshot spoke low. "Who are you, Bane? I know what I am, and that's what I believe you are too...even if you refuse to see it."

Before Bane could speak, Deadshot placed a quick kiss on his lips and smiled, "If you ever stop by Blüdhaven with no place to go, I'm staying at a hotel there, watching over my daughter. You know, she looks up to mercenaries like us...drives her mother crazy. I bet she would love to meet you one day, the most stubborn mercenary out here."

As Lawton walked off, Bane was frozen before touching his lips. Of course, by now, it wasn't so much of a shock that it happened. It was more like he was surprised Deadshot rolled that way. He assumed the man was straight given his previous relationship, but he'd been wrong before.

It was funny; Bane no longer held any disdain for the action. In fact, he felt like welcoming it. His mind was screaming at him. He loved it. If he had encountered Deadshot when he first came to Gotham, things wouldn't have gone well for Lawton.

So much had changed in him. Bane let out a sigh and savored the rush of excitement building inside. He was very tempted to just abandon his job and take Deadshot up on his offer but he knew the Joker would hardly let him go. And he had a feeling if the Joker found out about any of his encounters thus far, he sensed there would be a twinge of jealousy. He remembered well how the Joker came onto him.

Time was so fickle now. In less than two weeks, Deadshot and the other assassins had broken him down to base instincts, uprooting his perfect image and Bane liked it...even if he refused to see it. Deadshot was right. They all were.

But no, he couldn't let that distract him, not now. He had made it this far and Christmas Eve was only two days away. He was still Gotham's reckoning! The might of Santa Prisca and the dark fire of Peña Dura. He was Bane!

Bane looked down at the bodies Floyd had sniped with utmost precision. There was an appreciation for the talent of marksmanship, one he couldn't help but smile at. But thinking on the realization that he could have been one of the bodies here, he frowned. Out of everyone he had met, Lawton finally got through to him as to why he wasn't the same person who escaped the pit of darkness that was that prison. He wasn't immortal; he wasn't unbeatable. Bane was just another body standing and ever since he stepped foot in Gotham, everyone made it clear he was only a tourist in a museum of corruption and targets.

In a way, he did thank Floyd for reminding him where he stood in the world realistically. But he must break the man's heart. He still intended to kill the Bat if it was the last thing he did and maybe, that was exactly what he needed to do. He lived to die another day, so why not make Batman a pariah in the process? Thank you, Deadshot.

He didn't fear death and if the Batman died, well, there's his job done right there. Win-win scenario. But...he would have to think on the idea first. After all, he wanted to maybe be around to see Deadshot again and take him up on that offer.

AN: Believe it or not, there's been debate on whether Deadshot is bi and I can believe it. Sorry, it took so long to release this piece. I got into the groove of other fics. Now I'm trying to fix up loose ends. Only one more chapter to go!