horrendousness

[onapalehorse]

From this.

"You will find strength, and peace."

He promises, with belief.

Comments

[onapalehorse]

"Stop feeling it."

He says, instead.

"What is it you fear, then pain? I will be fair, you will know that if it is coming, it is necessary. You know also that you can withstand it. The fear does not make sense, it only coils you uselessly tighter, and eggs you into decisions that are wrong."

Captured wrist rotating lightly in Bruce's hand.

"This will not be easy to understand, until the first few times I have bandaged your hurts and put you into a soft bed afterwards."

[lasiurus]

He understands it from a psychological point of view. He's aware of his own damage, and how it drives him. But the idea of it in practice runs right against everything he's taught himself to be.

But he remembers a time before, in the mountains, when he had learned to submit to life-threatening tests just to master his fear. There had been a certain peace in it.

"I don't fear pain. I fear dying before I can save the people I care about."

And Bane is more than capable of killing Bruce if he feels like it.

[onapalehorse]

"Love."

Sorrowful.

"That, I cannot cure. I can, however, swear that it is not my intent to kill you."

[lasiurus]

Bruce considers, and nods at last.

"I can deal with that."

For now.

[onapalehorse]

"Good."

He announces, nodding in pleasure.

"Very good. Your safety is my undertaking, I know that trust is earned, not owed. Obedience, however, is your duty. Do you see the difference?"

[lasiurus]

"No. I've spent too many years obeying men I shouldn't have trusted."

He doubts that's news to Bane.

"I'll do what you say, but only to a point."

[onapalehorse]

"Then that, right there, is a neat summation of the problem we face. Your trust, and how it scares you into defiance."

Sounding quietly pleased.

"I will not win your trust by coddling you. But I think I can- prove to you your new consistency, while you try to save them from within the social structures you now forcibly inhabit."

[lasiurus]

The worst part is that when Bruce examines his actions from that perspective, Bane is right. He would have fought anyone yesterday, it's true. But it had turned into a fight against Bane himself and not against his captivity.

He looks over his shoulder at him.

"You'll help me save them?"

[onapalehorse]

"Probably never to the degree that you hope. You would see this new regime smashed, and I think it suits this country well enough, for the time being."

Meeting his eyes, thoughtfully.

"As such, how will you see any choice I make as aid?"

[lasiurus]

He can argue the merits of enslaving millions of people later; for now he just wants Alfred and Fox safe.

"By letting me go in after them. By helping me protect them when I get them out. I won't ask you to be my accomplice, but I will ask that you not stand in my way."

[onapalehorse]

"I will consider it. But I fear right now that turned loose on the hunt, you would not fly back to my arm."

He points out, as one of his broad arms does snake over Bruce's shoulders, weighing heavy across his chest. If he did lift it a few inches, it'd be right across the throat. For now, it's a quiet embrace and subtle threat, to see how bad the trigger is.

[lasiurus]

Bruce breathes in deep, like he's climbing to a ledge he plans to jump from. The memory of the soft bed and large window is keen enough that he can talk himself into giving Bane an inch of leeway.

So another slow breath, and he leans back against him.

"I don't know where they are now. You'll have time to convince me to come back here."

[onapalehorse]

"You'll be too busy at first to look for them. What are their names?"

Checking, fingers lifting, stroking his hair.

[lasiurus]

He realizes then how deep his distrust--his fear--has gone, that he hesitates to even answer the question.

But chances are they're dead already.

"Alfred Pennyworth and Lucius Fox. I was taken before they were but they're ordinary people--they might still be alive somewhere."

[onapalehorse]

"Lucius Fox came out on top of this revolution. He runs a small, fortified encampment- out of your manor, actually, heavily armed and guarded, a safe haven for your kind."

He tells him, palm dropping down, body sliding away from his- Bane is used to people who experience intense emotion very physically.

[lasiurus]

Bruce acts out, at times, but when the emotion is really powerful he goes as still and pale as the boy who had watched his parents bleed out in an alley.

He stares up at Bane, begging him silently not to be lying about it.

It's when he speaks that he finally moves, turning to face him.

"And Alfred?"

[onapalehorse]

"A name I do not know. I will have to search for him."

He murmurs, watching him closely, reaching out eventually to put both hands on his shoulders.

"Perhaps we will have Fox here and you can ask."

[lasiurus]

This time he doesn't flinch.

"Is it safe to move him here?"

[onapalehorse]

"I'm not sure. For him, certainly, for my house, perhaps not. He travels heavily armed, in the machinery you used to use, with an entourage of trained men. If he knew you were here he would probably burn us to the ground to take you."

Amused, quiet.

"I would win, but you might never forgive me for it. You do not need to fear for Lucius Fox."

[lasiurus]

Bruce nods, voice quiet.

"You know how many people have died out there. For all I know, Fox is the only person I have left."

So no. He would never forgive Bane or anyone else if Fox was harmed. But this also means he shouldn't overlook the help that has been given to him.

"...Thank you. For telling me."

[onapalehorse]

"You're welcome."

He answers, letting his shoulders go, sitting back on his knees, reluctantly.

"It would be a mistake to continue with you in this state. You are too open; we would go too far, you would regret too much. We'll simply talk."

[lasiurus]

"I can take it."

Sounding more like the man he'd been before the war. The expression in his eyes isn't so hard, or flat.

[onapalehorse]

"Yes, I know, and then tomorrow you would remember yourself and be back to trying to stab me in my sleep. I had intended to take advantage of the softness from yesterday, but this-"

Shaking his head.

"-I do not trust your consent. It would be trickery."

[lasiurus]

"I'm not out to trick you."

It doesn't occur to Bruce that there might be a different side to this.

But he settles again, legs crossed, back straight.

"Who do you have out there? In the war?"

[onapalehorse]

"I meant my tricking you."

He promises, quietly.

"I have no one."