The Bane of Our Existence [The Dark Knight Rises]

9: Cold Blooded

It was not long after their close encounter that Bane had Bría working alongside him, rather than harnessed up placing explosives along the ceiling of the cavern. A small but quick functioning laptop sat in front of them, Bane and Bría were crouched down as they studied it. He pointed out the important factors, what they were planning on doing next in Gotham; most of it went over her head, anything to do with stocks and the stock market was beyond her interest. As she had never taken the time to learn about it, she knew little about how it all worked, only that the rich and the crooked revelled in it.

"We're going to attack the stock market?" She asked.

Bane nodded his masked head, "That is correct, Bría."

Before she could say anything else, two men entered the vicinity. Although Bría had not sensed their arrival, it did not go unnoticed by Bane. Without looking over his shoulder or moving at all, he asked, "Why are you here?"

No one made a sound, Bría herself had turned to look over her shoulder to see two men standing over Commissioner Gordon. He was laying on his back, unspeaking, and clearly in a lot of pain. The man on the right kicked Gordon and gestured towards Bane, "Answer him!"

"I was asking you," Bane told them.

"He's the police commissioner..." the man stated, for Bane had not turned to look and so surely he did not know who he had brought, the importance of the man laying weakly before them.

Bane had an expression on his face that Bría couldn't compute, with only being able to see his eyes it certainly made it difficult to read him. She no longer feared him when she looked in his eyes, but she would also not betray him and she believed he sensed this in her. He kept her close for she was not a faithful soldier that had been working with him for many years, but she was also no longer just a stranger. She watched as Bane tossed out the remains of a cup, stood up and rose to his full height and potential.

Still crouched, Bría twisted at the ankles and hips to face the men fully, as opposed to looking over her shoulder as she had been doing before. She wondered if Gordon would get a look at her face, and recognize her as the ex-con who had disappeared.

"And you brought him down here?" Bane asked, leading them to the realization of the mistake that they had made.

He strode over to them, only taking three steps to close the large gap. It would have taken Bría at least double that.

"We didn't know what to do. We just thought-" the man on the right was cut off.

"You panicked," Bane told them, "And your weakness has cost the lives of three others."

"No, he's alone-" The man began to explain himself, but Bane gripped his neck and physically lifted him off of the floor. The man squirmed and choked, until Bane tightened his grip and fractures his cervical spinal column, his windpipe, all the muscles in his neck. The crunch made Bría grit her teeth together; in all her years serving as a paramedic and being in prison, she had never seen anything quite like this spectacle before her.

The man on the left tensed, his shoulders near his ears. He didn't look Bane in the eyes when Bane told him, "Search him. Then I'll kill you."

It was then that Bría rose to her feet, her thighs burning from remaining squatted for so long. She stood beside Bane, tiny compared to him, and watched as this man searched Gordon despite knowing he was going to be killed the moment he was done. Bane ruled by fear, those who made mistakes had no place there, and Bría understood. As a paramedic, there was no margin for error, for it could cost a life. For Bane, mistakes and failure were not an option, for it could cost him his entire plan.

The man began handing Bane items. Bane's deft fingers took them. The first item was a few sheets of folded paper, the second Gordon's gun. Although Bane took the gun, he was entranced by what was written on those pages, already opening it up and reading what lie beneath.

The man with a death sentence looked to Bría as if for sympathy, that she -being a woman who was surprisingly close with Bane- could talk him out of killing him. She kept her body rigid, hands locked together in front of her. Her eyes moved away from the man, her face remained stern, and she glanced over at Bane who was still swept up in what he was reading.

The commissioner, in a moment of freedom, rolled into the rushing water, which lead down to the outflows, although there were hundreds. Everyone began firing shots at him as he slid down, covering his head and trying to remain small. Some shots hit him, there was no doubt, but Bría could see that he was alive when he disappeared out of bullet range.

"He's dead," the man who brought him there stated, his hands curled around the gun he'd shot at Gordon with. The way he spoke, it sounded as though he thought he would no longer be killed for his original error. But he was wrong.

Bría glanced at Bane and his attention was drawn from the paper, to her eyes. She shook her head once to tell Bane that Gordon was not dead, at least not that moment he wasn't. It was clear that he would likely end up dead within the hour, if his wounds were left untreated.

Bane understood what Bría was telling him, and then to the cowardly man.

"So show me his body," Bane commanded.

"The water runs to any one of the outflows; we'll never find him," his voice began to shake.

Bane grabbed a tracking device from his right hand man, Barsad. He turned to Bría and stood right in front of her, their bodies only an inch apart. His hand, wrapped in a leather brace, grabbed her and with his other hand he brought the gun to her hands. She wrapped her fingers around the weapon; she'd never used a gun in her life. It sent jolts of electricity up and down her spine. It was clear what Bane wanted her to do, although she was unsure if she would be able to do it.

Do it, or die.

Those were her options.

Bane looked her in the eyes, and suddenly she felt every emotion drain from her. She was strong enough to do this; she'd chosen this life over millions of other options. This moment had to come, sooner rather than later.

When he saw that she was ready, he turned and walked back to the man in the toque. He tapped his shoulder, "Follow him."

"Follow him?" The man asked.

Bría raised the weapon, and pulled the trigger. The man looked shocked before he fell into the water, and Bría knew that he would die. She didn't need the accuracy of a skilled soldier, she simply shot him in the gut where his organs were bundled. Whatever organ she hit, and she knew she had hit at least one, it would be the end of him. Shakily, still holding the gun out, she felt her mind go blank.

She had officially murdered someone, in cold blood. 

Dedicated to gothamsiren89 ! Thanks for supporting my story! Go check out their Batman story "The Demon Within"!