Speak of the Devil

I whipped around and pointed the gun to the source of the voice. A familiar face with crystal blue eyes stared wide eyed. The barrel was pushed into his throat.

“Dammit, Barsard. I don’t want to kill anyone else,” Lowering the gun; I took note that he had also exchanged his original attire for the soldier get up. His hands were black from operating heavy machinery.

“Didn’t know you had it in you,” a bit of an accent slipped out. There was a hint of amusement in his voice. He looked down at the thug and shrugged. “He didn’t matter anyway.” Barsard waved his hand toward me so I could be next to him.

“Shall we be going then,” wiping my hands on my jeans, “I hate being late.” I swung the gun onto my shoulder and held the medical kit in my right hand. Footsteps followed, meaning Barsard was close behind.

As we got closer to the site, I couldn’t help but let the gears in my head turn. Bane hasn’t seen me in years, probably since I worked out the kinks to his mask. How could he have possibly known where I was, how he knew where to look, how he even knew what my profession was, or even my hours…?

“Talia…”

“Yeah, she’s here. A bit of a pain if you ask me.” Barsard was now walking in stride with me, most likely to stop someone else from shooting at me. The drilling and hammering grew louder with each step we took. There was a distinct rhythm to it.

“She is in Gotham?” I looked up to Barsard, peeking through my eyelashes. It works on men with the most erotic desires.

“Don’t give me that look either,” he whispered, “I’d do the most damage to your body. Can’t tell you anything else, love. Find it out on your own,” he kept walking, not daring to peek at me, “Bane told me you could figure it out.”

I pouted, being on the clock for sixteen hours and then having this mess thrown on me isn’t exactly what I would call a good day. Barsard should’ve just told me.

Bane thinks I’m intelligent. That’s going to be used against my initial medical pursuit. None of it made any sense. If Talia knows about me, then that must mean she has been in Gotham for a while. I would recognize her in an instant. She’s not that hard of a person to miss. I have seen every single powerhouse business owner in the city, mostly because they’re all old farts or they’re like Bruce Wayne who go mountain biking in the Alps. But I know for a fact he doesn’t since he’s the Batman, and I’m positive no one in the city has figured it out. The only woman that comes to mind is Miranda Tate, and she’s the person I’ve never seen. A woman who has been here for four years, someone who could have been tracking my moves since I arrived in Gotham last year…

Talia is disguising herself by being out in the open?

“And here we are,” Barsard stopped in the middle of a bridge like aisle, “Home sweet home.”

“Where’s Bane?” I asked, peering around the giant honey comb structure. It smelled so bad largely due to the running sewage system.

“Speak of the Devil, and he shall appear.” The mechanical voice, so polite and daunting in a mix, carried itself into my ears.

I turned around to see the massive man with his metal contraption, that damn complex mouth piece. He should be thankful I found a way for him to survive. My face contorted into some sort of grimace and smile. Being nice to Bane wasn’t that difficult. I didn’t want to be impolite at our first greeting.

“Hello, Bane.”

“Hello, Natalia.”