Chapter Ten: He Appointed Them and Called Them Disciples
Bane clenched his teeth until his jaw popped as a ripple of pain spilled across his broad chest.
"You'll continue to have spasms as you heal," Jane flatly stated, adjusting his warm coat around her shoulders as she tried to find a more comfortable way to sit on the gurney.
The dead didn't bitch and moan about the traveling accommodations.
Bane dropped his eyes to Jane's tightly wrapped wrist.
"How is your own injury?"
Jane spoke without looking down at her wrist, "it'll be fine."
Bane pulled his notepad and loose sheath of papers onto his lap, returning to making notes about the end of Gotham City, each letter was deliberate, careful, precise.
Jane watched him for a few minutes before she cleared her throat, speaking when he paused in writing a capital L.
"I need to use the bathroom."
Bane looked up at Jane, "what else do you require?"
"Well I'm thirsty and should probably eat at some point," she stated, thinking that snacking on red and green holiday chocolate candies and caffeine wasn't the most nutritious.
Bane set aside his stack of papers, he knew Jane's needs were legitimate, but his diminished capacity left him feeling a touch vulnerable, he searched for a compromise in the space of silence before he spoke.
Jane caught the wince he tried to suppress from contorting his features as she slid her eyes to the van's rear doors.
Despite his physical discomfort, Bane didn't miss Jane's scrutiny of the door handles and how many steps it would take to be free of the van's confines.
"Do not be foolish," he warned on a wheeze, bringing Jane's eyes to meet his.
Jane pressed her lips together, weighing the short distance to the doors and his weakened state and ability to move quickly.
"I know it seems tempting, but it would be unwise," Bane added.
"Would it?" Jane asked with a scoff as she crossed her arms.
All life bled out of Bane's eyes as he spoke, his voice a rasp that only Jane and the dead could hear.
"I will throw open the back of this van and offer a reward to the first person that goes to the address on your license and opens your mother from stem to stern."
Bane felt a charge at the fire that filled Jane's eyes, everything she didn't say. He watched her small hands clench into fists, he could see her mapping out how she would disarticulate him.
Bane could see what would happen if Jane had sharp objects in her hands.
It would be like surfing the event horizon and coming out a plate of dissected linguini with her skillful scalpel handling.
"And what pray tell is this reward you're offering?" Jane asked on a low seethe.
The corner of Bane's scarred lip pulled into a nasty sneer as he spoke. "Surely there is someone here who's been missing the comfort of a woman's body. I will ascertain a value after a thorough exploration," he added in a growl that made her stomach coil into a knot.
He plodded on, his tone lower and more dangerous with each spoken word. "If that's offensive, there is always this," he said as he pulled her necklace from his pocket.
It wasn't thirty pieces of silver, but it was good the fuck enough that there'd be enough money left over after killing her mother to buy antibacterial soap to wash their hands.
Jane sat up straighter, tightening her fingers in the plush, wool collar of his coat.
"Why can't you just leave me here, just stop…..please?" she tried for, struggling, ultimately failing to add more.
"You will only be rid of me through death, and I still have much to do," Bane stated, his tone coarse, as though he was speaking through sand as he added. "I am not ready to die but I shall oblige you a swift exit from this world if you cannot endure further Jane."
"I'll endure," Jane hissed, adding sharply, "I still need to use the bathroom."
Bane kept his expression neutral as he considered the logistics of her request.
He was saved from having to formulate a response when a god awful screeching began outside the van, followed by a series of urgent pounding on the sides of the van.
Jane pulled his coat tighter around her shoulders, her eyes wide as the pounding and wailing approached the rear doors of the van, a scrabbling noise soon sounded of the handles being jostled.
Bane pulled a five-inch Italian stiletto from his boot, the point of the blade was as fine and pointed as a needle.
Jane slid back on the gurney as the doors were pulled open, blinding sunlight filled the inside of the van.
"No, stop, wait," a woman's voice called, exertion straining her shouted syllables as she ran towards the slender, tall elderly man who'd opened the doors.
"Flowers," the man shouted. "I am Flowers."
Jane watched a middle-aged woman jog up to join the thin man, waving her hands.
"I'm so sorry, this is my father, he's unwell, I'm sorry," the woman babbled, thankful to any manmade deity when Bane sheathed the knife.
"Flowers," the man repeated on a pleading wail, "I am Flowers."
"Dad, please, dad," the woman murmured to the old man before turning back to Bane and Jane, seeing a lot but letting nothing show in her eyes or tone.
"I'm Deborah, this is my father Philip," she introduced.
"Flowers," Philip screamed at her.
"Yes dad," she said with a tired smile. "Flowers, this is Philip Flowers."
Jane smiled and slid down the gurney towards Deborah.
"Hello, I'm Jane, nice to meet you," she said as she extended her hand.
Bane watched the two woman shake hands and exchange pleasantries; Deborah unable to keep from sliding her eyes over to Bane.
"This is Vanek," Jane said as she nodded towards the Bane as the absolute picture of stoicism.
"My father and I have been living here for two years, what brought you two?" Deborah asked.
"This economy and the job market, those insurance premiums," Jane vaguely mumbled, affecting a sadness as though she'd lost all to the gross national product.
Deborah nodded sympathetically at Jane's vagueness, "I understand, dad got sick and he lost his health insurance, mom died right after, we eventually lost everything," she trailed off as she watched her father shout at a brindle dog who barked right back.
Jane recognized Philip Flower's moderate dementia or similar neurological disease.
"We just met and all," Jane started with a chuckle, forcing joviality despite fuck all.
"Is there a place where I could…?" she started before Deborah held up a hand. "I have a commode set up, right over there," she added as she pointed to a spot past a tangled patch of blackberry vines.
Jane pressed her lips together as she looked over at Bane, all of his attention on her as she met his eyes.
"I'll walk with you," he stated as he slid down the gurney and stepped down out of the van, his movements careful.
Bane held out a hand towards Jane, she forced herself to pretend everything was completely normal and reached out for his hand.
She allowed him to help her down from the tall van and after Deborah got her father away from his continuing shouting match with the dog, the four of them walked to the Flowers temporary turned long term residence.
Jane was ready to pee her pants by the time Deborah showed her the makeshift bathroom and hinky shower set-up.
The bathing area was shrouded with bed sheets and Jane could see Bane's formidable shadow as he paced the area while she emptied her bladder.
Jane emerged from behind the curtains to find Bane standing with his arms crossed over his broad chest as he stared at the clusters of tents of every different color, vehicles with one to four tires and shopping carts with varying contents, used to transport anything and everything from bicycle to body parts.
She flicked her eyes past his bulky form to find Deborah holding a reusable shopping bag from a major retail chain that had been put out of business with the rise of online shopping.
Bane's hackles rose as a loud, jovial voice sounded from just beyond the blackberry patch.
"I have returned."
"Tom, I'm so happy to see you, I've been worried," Deborah cried with relief as she rushed to embrace the squat man who resembled a fat-bellied penguin as he waddled closer.
"This is Tom," Deborah started, "he founded our settlement," she gushed. "This is Jane and Vanek," she said to Tom.
"Tom, Tom Sky," he said as he enthusiastically shook Jane's hand until her tits shook pleasingly.
Jane returned his handshake while Bane waited for a beat, staring down at Tom's hand.
"Tom Sky," Bane finally said as he shook Tom's hand, aware of the man's smaller hand and delicate bone structure.
Tom winked, "I fly around and see all."
"And what do you do with the knowledge of your sight?"
"I entertain sales to all, sometimes for money, other times for a trade or something else," Tom said in a sing-song tone as he licked his lips and narrowed his eyes at Jane. "Is she all yours?" he added in a slimy tone, his expression belonging to the grotesque.
Bane squeezed Tom's smaller man until he was near tears, "yes, she's mine but we will negotiate a price and you will report everything you see and hear only to me from this point forward."
Bane kept the pressure on Tom's softer hand steady until the diminutive, slimy man dropped to his knees, pledging fealty for an end to the suffering.
"Yes, I will tell you everything," Tom murmured on a pained whisper as he dropped his head and stared at the ground, tears freely rolling down his chubby, flushed cheeks.
"Fly away," Bane growled as he released Tom's hand.
Tom couldn't scramble away fast enough, still too frightened to be embarrassed that he'd pissed himself.
"Return each night when the moon is at its highest point in the sky with your secrets," Bane called to Tom's retreating back, his voice permeated Tom's core, he bobbed his head as he wordlessly waddled away faster.