The Bane of Our Existence [The Dark Knight Rises]

10: As Far As You'll Take Me

The men all went back to work, but Bane remained exactly where he stood. Looking at Bría, he exhaled deeply and reached over. Taking the gun from her shaking hands, he placed it on the table beside them, and quickly faced her again. When he grabbed her hands, she jerked away from him in shock, but he held too tight for her to break from his grasp.

Part of her was terrified.

She should have played it cool. Now she looked weak.

"Now you have blood on your hands, Bría," he said calmly. "How do you feel?"

"I feel..." she stumbled over her words, they were all racing through her mind. A million thoughts pulsed through her neurons. She felt sick to her stomach, she felt powerful, she felt as though she had shed a layer of herself that she could never get back, she felt like she had pushed the city of Gotham back, she felt strong.

Bane waited for her to answer.

"I feel strong," she admitted, looking into his eyes as she said it.

"You are strong."

For some unexplainable reason, Bría blushed. She looked down at her boot-clad feet to avoid Bane's knowing eyes, but it was impossible to hide anything from him. Forcing herself to regain composure, for she was an adult and had no reason to shy away from anything that was put up against, she straightened her shoulders and lifted her head.

"I want more," she said, unsure where the words were coming from. "Gotham has given me nothing, all it has ever done is take from me. Since I came here, years ago, the city took and never gave back. I understand that I could simply walk away..."

Bane stood stock still, as usual, focusing on her. He watched the movement of her facial features, sensing truth in her words. All the workers around them were busy minding their own business, getting work done. It was as if it was just the two of them, face to face, one on one. The intent with which he was focused on her was a privilege.

She continued, "But it will just keep on taking, until someone takes it back."

"We are taking back Gotham," Bane reminded her.

She glanced into his eyes, staring hard and without faltering, she said, "And that is why I choose to stand beside you."

Bane hooked his hands into his utility vest, his thumb tapping the edge of it. Then he walked past Bría. His heavy foot steps made the metal gate below his feet shake and shudder, as if in terror. He didn't stop when he called, "Follow me" to Bría.

She quickly did as he said, not because she was afraid of what would happen if she disobeyed, but because she wanted to. She wanted to follow, to learn, to see the destruction of Gotham. To be given more information about his plans, it would be an honour. She did not know where this darkness was coming from; was it hereditary? Surely not, her mother was so kind. But she did not know her father. So she followed behind Bane until he was in the backroom where he slept, and then she shut the door behind her.

"Your ambition does not cease to impress me, Bría," Bane told her. He turned to face her again. "I've seen great change in you since your arrival here."

"Thank you, Bane."

"You should not be down here with the masses. I would like you to come to the stock market," he informed her.

She processed this bit of information; it meant that she would be putting herself at risk of being spotted by police, killed in action, or even arrested and pressed for all the information she knew about Bane. She wouldn't talk, of course. But what really made her think, was that she knew there was going to be civilian casualties. There was no way such a public event wouldn't end up with a few dead bodies. On both sides. She had once killed a man desperate to die, and only just killed a man who was a petty criminal. Now she may have to kill innocent people.

As if Bane read her mind, he told her, "No one there is innocent. No one in Gotham is innocent."

She nodded, understanding. "What will you have me do?"

"Be my hostage."

"Your hostage?" she said incredulously.

He stepped towards her, one large movement and was only an inch away from her. She could feel his warmth radiating from his exposed body; the amount of energy and heat that his muscles alone produced was astounding. Overhead, the lights flickered, making small crackling noises as they tried to hold on to the power. Bane reached his hand up and touched Bría's chin, lifting her head slightly so that she was looking directly at him.

"How far will you go into the darkness?"

Bría couldn't help but wonder if there was more to his sentence, that perhaps he meant to say more but forced himself to cut it off there. The question hung in her mind, it was a question she had thought about a lot as of late. She knew that she would go as far as necessary, for this was the first time she felt she had purpose in so long. She embraced this new darkness, and so the only thing she could do was go deeper inside of it.

"As far as you will take me," she told him.

"Excellent," he didn't release her chin, a sudden tension between them. It felt as though there was something left unspoken, something both of them wished to address. It was not, however, the time for it. "I will ensure your safety, you have my word."

"Tha-" she did not get to finish her sentence when there was an explosion in the cavern, making the lights shut down and the dust of the concrete all around them rain down over their heads. She breathed it in and got it in her eyes, so she shut her lids and coughed. When she regained her senses, she looked up and Bane was gone, but his heavy foot steps told her that he was heading towards the source of the explosion.