The following morning, the encampment was blanketed in silence, not many people were up facing the day yet.

Inside the stolen morgue van, Jane and Bane were both asleep on the shoved together gurneys, their naked limbs intertwined.

Bane stirred at the light knocking on the rear van doors, a low growl passed through his chest as he slowly extricated himself from Jane's arms, anticipating Deborah and a request on the other side of the closed doors.

He was growing tired of Deborah's interruptions.

Bane fixed his features into one of neutrality when his eyes landed on Deborah's face.

"Oh, good morning …. Vanek," she started.

Bane didn't blink at the name that Jane had given him on the spot.

"I hope it's not too early, is Jane around?" Deborah asked as she lifted up a wreath of pinecones, gold bows and bells, shaking it enthusiastically as she added, "just one week till Christmas."

The wreath gave a glaring melody despite missing a few tarnished bells.

The garish sound crawled into Jane's sleeping ear holes, bringing her quickly to the land of wakefulness.

Bane looked back over his shoulder as Jane sat up slowly, rubbing her eyes before he returned his eyes to Deborah's expectant face.

He remained silent, making Deborah uncomfortable and thankful to Father Christmas when Jane appeared next to Bane after pulling on mostly clean clothes and pulling her hair up into a loose bun.

"Deborah," Jane said as she greeted the woman with a warm smile.

Deborah was relieved when Jane appeared, frightfully uncomfortable under Bane's wordless gaze.

"Jane, good morning, it's early but I thought you'd enjoy a walk and a talk," Deborah stated with extra enthusiasm.

Bane settled his hand on Jane's lower back before he spoke, "don't be too long, I'd like to continue out discussion."

Jane looked over and held Bane's eyes, their faces close together at the van's open rear door.

"I'll see you soon," Jane murmured before she brushed her lips chastely to Bane's, sliding past him to join Deborah on the leaf-littered ground.

Jane linked her arm through Deborah's, "come tell me what's new."

Bane watched the two women walk away, compelled from his bone marrow to stomp over and yank Jane off her feet and carry her back to the van, then fuck her until she said she loved him.

He fought his primitive impulses and remained rooted to the spot until Jane and Deborah were out of sight.

In Jane's absence, Bane walked the perimeter, his eyes darting around for any threat, he was in chest-high brush, looking for sticks and branches for a fire later when he froze, falling still when he heard leaves crunching under careful footsteps.

He crouched down in the foliage, quieting his breathing and even the sound of his beating heart as he pulled a curved, serrated blade from his boot.

Bane came up behind the form that was creeping stealthily through the encampment, bringing the wickedly sharp blade to press against the underside of a skinny throat.

Tom Sky shrieked when the cold metal touched the vulnerable skin over his racing carotid pulse.

"Noooooooo, pllllease," Tom cried out, raising his hands, his pleas devolving into incoherent mumbling and prayers to any deity that would fucking listen to the sinning sinner.

Bane grunted in disgust as he pushed the sniveling man to the ground.

Tom Sky crashed heavily to his knees, thankful for the pain, thankful he was alive. He turned and stared up at Bane, putting his hands in front of him in the prayer position.

"Pleas…," he began before Bane raised a large hand.

"Calm yourself," Bane rasped to the cowering man, "why are you here?" he added, impatiently flexing his fingers.

"For, for," Tom stuttered, "for Jane," he added as he fumbled at his inner coat pocket and withdrew the simple gold ring, holding it out to Bane with a trembling hand.

Bane took the ring from Tom's shaking fingers, the thin band looked like a ring for a doll pinched in between his thumb and index finger.

"Jane asked you to retrieve this, why?"

Tom Sky took a deep breath, carefully considering each syllable he uttered to the large man.

"She didn't give me much backstory…said it was important…..she needs it….. just told me where to find it," he stumbled over.

"That's enough," Bane murmured, quieting the stuttering man. "You may leave," he added, his eyes fixed on the simple band.

Tom Sky was more than happy to oblige, he didn't need a bear to pursue an exit.

After Bane dismissed Tom Sky, he stared at the departing forms of Jane and Deborah.

Deborah looked back over her shoulder at Bane as they drew further from the stolen morgue van. "Is he okay?"

As she watched, Bane turned and walked away to the front of the van and a patch of brush.

"He's fine," Jane said as she linked her arm through Deborah's, giving a squeeze as she added with a chuckle. "It'll be good for him to have to wait."

Deborah didn't understand but chuckled along.

Jane noticed something tucked under Deborah's arm. "What do you have there?"

Deborah smiled as she passed over her full coffee cup, Jane gratefully took a long drink, the extra sugar was mother's fucking milk on her empty stomach.

"My father grew up in Europe believing in this forest god," Deborah said as she unfolded a modified advent calendar, adding. "Every year I go out and collect flowers and pinecones."

Jane listened as Deborah explained if she used a fresh flower it had to be for that day, Philip didn't like to see fresh flowers beginning to dry.

Deborah and Jane walked in silence for a bit until Jane spoke without looking over.

"How long ago was he diagnosed?"

Jane nodded as Deborah described the typical diagnosis process without decent insurance, the gaps in care and not covered medication that could've prevented the progress of brain deterioration.

"Dad opens a box for one of our weekly dinners, I'd like you and Vanek to join all of us, Tom finds the best meals," Deborah continued to gush.

Jane gratefully accepted, by that point they'd reach Deborah and Philip's well-maintained living space.

Philiip was still snoring, sleeping, like the near dead.

Jane confirmed dinner details before returning to the van, keeping the coffee cup at Deborah's insistence. Jane promised to bring the cup back that evening before waving and sipping the sweetened coffee as she walked.

Bane looked up from feeding small twigs and ripped paper to the fire's embers as Jane appeared in the clearing, sipping at Deborah's borrowed coffee cup.

"Your walk was enjoyable?" he asked as he returned his attention to the fire, urging it to life with dried brush.

"Yes, thank you."

Jane couldn't help but notice Bane's angry expression, tense shoulders, and abrupt movements.

"Is something wrong?" she asked in between the dregs of the honeybee sweet coffee.

"I don't like that that woman monopolizes your time," Bane stated as he rose to his full height.

"Monopolizes?" Jane asked on a scoff, "a walk hardly qualifies, what the fuck else am I supposed to be doing during that time?"

"Any time with that woman is time away from me, that woman is the theft of time and owes what she has stolen."

"Firstly, that woman has a name. Deborah has stolen nothing from you and doesn't owe you a thing," Jane spit as she threw the empty cup on the ground.

Bane clenched his hands in and out of fists, confronted with her anger.

"You're right," he finally said, his shoulders sagging like a balloon leaking air, forcing himself to meet her eyes as he continued. "I've been too long from structure and training; I've become susceptible to the emotions of the weak. I've fallen from much without the presence of The League."

"The League, what is that?" Jane asked, her anger tempered with new questions.

Bane looked away from Jane for just a moment, speaking once he saw the fire begin to rise, growing as it consumed oxygen.

"Join me," Bane said, "please," he added, picking up the blanket he'd brought to wrap around Jane's shoulders, knowing she'd dressed poorly for the weather.

Jane left the cup where she'd thrown it, the cracked lid bleeding sweetened liquid before joining Bane by the fire, sitting next to him, allowing him to drop his heavy arm around her, pull her close.

As Bane told Jane about every facet of The League of Shadows, Ras al Ghul, his experience with The League, back in the very heart of Gotham City, a city repairing itself, the police department continued to burn the midnight oil trying to put together the crime spree and find a connection, burning every haystack down to the ground, no needle found amongst the ash.

Bruce and Selina had long finished fucking, the excitement of seeing Selina after so long had made Bruce finish in record time.

Their brilliant minds in conjunction with his cutting-edge technology couldn't find the criminal link.

Bane's disciples continued to carry out his words and orders, harvesting at his direction, lives, blood, and veritable gold bars.

The day passed differently for everyone despite being under the same bright sun.

The police department and all the law enforcement minds continued to turn over stones, question CI's and knock down doors in search of a connection to all the crimes.

Bruce and Selina worked behind the scenes to also play the giant hidden picture search.

Bruce and Gordon reunited and touched base.

Whispers of Batman's return began to circulate.

Tom Sky waited outside an upscale Ristorante until a short break and no eyes on the corner of the kitchen.

Tom saw a stop clock counting down in the front of his mind, red digital numbers counting down as he stole a feast fit for a king.

Bane's disciples continued to put bodies in Hefty bags and leave them stacked on sidewalks, modern art.

Decomposition under clear plastic.

Bane spent the day confessing his sins to Jane, telling her everything, opening his chest and showing her his vulnerable center.

In between his admissions, Jane nursed a bottle of scotch, feeling relaxed by the time the sun began to fall in the sky.

She dressed warmly, Bane put on a thicker long-sleeved thermal, his baseline body temperature was high. He slipped the simple gold ring into his pocket when Jane was out of sight.

As they walked towards Deborah's living area, Bane reached out and caught Jane's smaller hand within his.

She looked over, giving him a small smile as they continued the walk in an easy silence.

They found the clearing in Deborah's space alive with music and sound, the long table set with mismatched place settings for twelve.

Familiar faces circulated, greeting Jane and Bane, small talk was abundant before everyone made their way to the table after Tom Sky insisted on putting together each plate, a couple more stops had given him some wonderful accruements that rivaled trained chefs.

Philip and Deborah settled across from Jane and Bane.

For a while, the only sounds were those of knives scraping across plates, wine glasses being refilled and appreciative sounds for the gourmet meal.

"I keep forgetting to ask how long you two have been married, will we get to celebrate an anniversary soon?" Deborah asked as she pierced her fork into an asparagus spear.

Before Jane could try to fumble a coherent reply, Bane settled his hand over hers, speaking without a stutter or stammer.

"I ruined our wedding," Bane started, making Deborah arch an eyebrow as he continued. "I had to leave for a work emergency not too long after we exchanged vows, I wasn't able to make up for that before the bottom fell out of our life," he added, affecting sadness and regret to his tone.

"Then you must," Deborah said as she refilled her wineglass, "renew your vows here, August is a pastor," she added as she pointed to a thin, quiet man at the end of the table who was eating with his face inches from the plate.

He dropped his fork and the biscuit he was holding in the other hand at the sound of his name, looking over to find all eyes on him.

"Yes," he nodded, continuing as he met first Jane's eyes and then Bane's. "Right now if you'd like," he teased before returning to eating.

Jane pressed her lips together, again stopped from speaking when Bane suddenly rose to his feet and then settled on one knee next to her.

"What are you doing?" she asked, nervously giggling as Bane fished the ring from his pocket, holding it up to her briefly before he slipped it onto her finger, "will you remarry me, remarry me like we've never exchanged vows before?"

Jane felt a blush fill her face as she looked at the ring he'd slid onto her finger, how the simple band was finally back at home where it belonged.

Before Jane could speak, across the table, Philip reached for the modified advent calendar that Deborah had set out for him, the little doorway stuffed with acorns, pinecones, and a rock in the shape of a dog.

Philip chose to be the next interruption to Jane speaking as he began to shout and slam the calendar on the table's surface.

"Flowers. Flowers. Flowers," Philip began to repeat.

Jane was the first to notice that Philip soon sounded like he was just saying, "Ow."

She felt herself standing and moving around the table to Philip before she was fully aware of doing it when Philip let go of the calendar and met Jane's eyes as he lifted a hand to the side of his head.

"Ow," Philip barked one final time before the pupils of his eyes drifted in opposite directions and he slumped sideways, falling to the ground.

Inside Philip's brain, a vessel ballooned to the point that it burst. The vessel had stretched as much as it could before it gave one last pulse before spewing a hemorrhagic wave inside his brain.

Death was immediate.

Bane had followed Jane around the table, helped her arrange Philip onto his back.

Bane had watched, awestruck, as Jane started resuscitation efforts on Philip.

She began to sweat as she pumped Philip's lifeless chest, knowing she was filling dead lungs.

Philip was no longer here.

Bane was mesmerized, his brain buzzed with abundant neural activity. The energy produced inside his skull was near infinite from the 86 billion neurons and 164 trillion synapses, give or take.

Bane reached out and put a hand on the back of Jane's shoulder when her face grew red from the sustained effort of compressions and pauses to push air into Philip's flaccid, dead lungs.

"He's gone," Bane murmured.

Jane's shoulders sagged as she sat back on her heels, catching her breath as Deborah walked around and sank to the ground next to her, putting her arms around Jane.

"Thank you," Deborah whispered into Jane's ear when the two women embraced.

Barnabas let Deborah cry within Jane's arms, watching alongside Bane before intervening when it was his turn on her dance card.

Deborah allowed Barnabas to wrap her up as Tom Sky and a few of the other dinner guests began to discuss what to do with Philip's fresh corpse.

Bane pulled Jane to her feet, dropping an arm around her as he led her back to the camp.

Jane looked back once as Bane led her away, watching August kneel down and whisper a prayer over Philip's body.

Jane pressed herself close to Bane's broad side, a heat emanating from his core, thankful for the warmth as a sudden chill descended upon her.

Bane felt her shiver and paused to scoop her up in his arms, holding her close, able to walk much faster once he'd swept her off her feet.

They were next to the nearly extinguished fire before Jane knew it. Bane settled her on the ground and wrapped a blanket around her shoulders before he coaxed the fire back to life, using a scant amount of liquid accelerant he had come across in a battered tin.

The flames licked the night air, spilling out bountiful heat as Bane fetched the bottle of booze that Jane had been steadily working on emptying.

He settled next to her on the sleeping bag he'd thrown on the ground, pulling her close as he passed her the bottle. The ring clicked on the bottle as she eagerly accepted it.

She took a long sip before staring down at the gold band, pleased to see it back on her finger.

"Yes," Jane said softly before taking a deep swallow of the potent alcohol, thankful for the warmth that spread through her chest and belly as she turned in Bane's arms to look at him. She lifted her left hand to cup his jaw, running her thumb around the perimeter of his scarred lips. "Yes," she repeated on a ragged whisper, "I'll marry you."