A/N: Sorry for the delay, I got caught up in writing Prey and my unpublished novel, so put this on the backburner for a while. I plan on seeing this through however.

This story is set in 2015. While you guys are all wondering what Bruce and Liv are doing right now as TDK morphs into TDKR, you're just going to have to wait a bit. With me writing Prey as well updates will come weekly instead of biweekly.

Disclaimer: sigh

And now the moment you've all been waiting for, the conclusion to the trilogy!

Law & Order: The Dark Knights Rise

Chapter One: The Masked Man

1991

The council had chosen. By a vote of eight to three, the hastily convened excommunication tribunal had booted the master and apprentice out of the League of Shadows, forbidden to return. The young fire-headed maiden and heir to the entire organization was in tears. Possessing all the stubbornness and ferocity of her bloodline, she stormed into her father's office and started screaming at him, tears falling with wild abandon. "Why father! Why did you do this?"

"I had to Talia," said Ra's al Ghul, the Grand Master of the League of Shadows. "Their ideas threatened to destroy all of us."

Talia al Ghul wasn't buying it in the least. She might have looked like her beautiful mother, but she inherited the sharp mind of her father. The trumped up charges regarded a difference of opinion between the two men and the official doctrine. While the doctrine called for stealth in getting the results, the two men had pushed for a more open attack, to add a propaganda dimension to show the world why their corruption was evil. "That wasn't the reason and you know it! You just can't stand them, especially him in particular. They remind you of mother."

The harsh words hit home for the old warrior, but he shook away the pain. "Leave Talia, NOW!" She stormed out, still sobbing.

From her room, she could see the two bundled up figures of her protector and his apprentice climbing down the mountain, banished forever from the League of Shadows. Talia could see the man who had saved her from death turn and wave a final goodbye, never to return. That night, she cried herself to sleep vowing that she would never have anything to do with her father or his goals, not when they caused this much pain.

2009

Five months after the guilty verdict that shook the world in The People v. Oswald "Penguin" Cobblepot, the City of Gotham gathers to celebrate the second annual Harvey Dent day in tribute to the late white Knight and Hero of Gotham. In attendance were Congressman Alejandro Munoz and Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions, co-authors of the Munoz/Sessions Harvey Dent Organized Crime Act which has been used to nearly destroy organized crime in the United States in the year and a half after it passed. Also attending were Gotham Mayor Anthony Garcia, philanthropist and former Special Prosecutor in the Penguin trial Casey Novak, Police Commissioner Elliot Stabler, Deputy Commissioner Ed Tucker, and Chief of Detectives Olivia Benson.

Commissioner Stabler said the following: "We can never cease to be grateful to Harvey Dent. His death, even if it resulted in the near extinction of Organized Crime, will always leave a hole in our collective hearts. I should know, I was his friend. It will be a long time before someone inspires us like he did, like he continues to do. I believed in Harvey Dent…

Six years later

The Land Cruiser rolled and jostled over the unpaved road laid out in the middle of the Kazakh Steppe. As the howling Siberian wind rocked the vehicle more ferociously than the uneven dirt track, the driver made a quick sweep of the human cargo. Dr. Leonid Stepanovich Pavel sat shaking with nerves in the passenger seat, Barsad and one of his trusted guards keeping watch on the three prisoners in the back seats, keeping their AKMS carbines leveled even though the men were bound and had black hoods wrapped over their heads. The work of nearly his entire lifetime would begin to end in his triumph today, he was sure of it.

Waiting at the airstrip, as trip of grass as were many in the former Soviet Union, CIA agent Will Marshall waited for the arrival. Dispatched to Afghanistan to hunt for Al Qaeda terrorists and their foreign supporters (who were rumored to include escaped mass murderer the Joker), he had been diverted to this miserable excuse for a nation which proved that all third world shitholes were tropical to pick up some nuclear scientist. If there was a textbook shit mission this was it.

The Land Cruiser glided to a stop in front of the CIA team. Dr. Pavel left the car first, hurrying to join his protection. "Welcome Dr. Pavel. Glad you could make it," said Marshall with a forced smile. The driver got out next, making Marshall raise an eyebrow. "Special Agent Dean Porter as I live and breathe. What's a Bureau paper pusher doing in this part of the world? Surely they didn't need you to escort Pavel to me."

Porter forced himself to smirk when he really wanted to snap this guy's neck. Though the job of FBI resident in the US Embassy to Kazakhstan was in fact a backwater, he had a distinguished record that made him a legend in the FBI. He deserved some respect, but would put up with the jokes for now. "Well, they didn't need me for that, but I brought along someone who does have something additional for you."

"What," said Marshall, gesturing to the prisoners Barsad brought out of the Land Cruiser. "These schmucks? What would I want with a bunch of common criminals?"

Smirking, Porter answered. "They aren't common criminals Marshall. They work for the Masked Man."

Marshall's eyes went wide. "Bane?" This was huge. Bane was up on the most wanted terrorist list with only Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, Ayman al-Zawahiri, and the Joker rating bigger ransoms. He had been implicated in several arms smuggling enterprises to North Korea and Chechen militants, a massacre of ten Navy SEALs and Australian SAS in Afghanistan, and masterminding two coups in Central Africa that resulted in regimes hostile to US interests. There was even a rumor he had an associate that had infiltrated high up into the US intelligence apparatus, though Marshall didn't believe such a fairy tale. Nabbing him would make his career. "Get them on board!"

TDKR TDKR TDKR TDKR TDKR TDKR TDKR TDKR TDKR TDKR TDKR

Cruising over the Mountians of Tajikistan at only two hundred yards above the snowcapped peaks, the Antonov An-24 twin-engine piston passenger plane settled in level flight. Marshall was going to get these men to talk, and what the Justice Department Lawyers didn't know wouldn't hurt them. He commanded one of his men to open the cabin door, wind whipping into the cabin. The roar was deafening.

"Ok gentlemen," he began, brandishing a Beretta semiautomatic while his men toted MP-5 submachine guns (Porter, standing to Marshall's right, didn't draw his Glock to Marshall's surprise, though he discredited it). "The flight plan into Bagram I filed with the agency listed the passengers as me, Agent Porter, my men, Doctor Pavel here, and only one of you!" He directed two of his men to haul the first hooded mercenary to the door, where he was lain head out the frame. "Tell me what you know!" He fired the Beretta, the man not saying a word. "He doesn't play well! How about you!" They manhandled the second man to the door. "Tell me about Bane! What's his motive? Why does he wear the mask?" This one was silent as well. "Impressive loyalty for a hired gun!"

"Maybe he's wondering why you would shoot a man before throwing him out of a plane. Quite pointless isn't it?" Marshall and his men turned to the third mercenary, the voice Caribbean with a slight mechanical tone to it. While they were puzzled and Dr. Pavel was visibly shaking, Porter just smirked.

"What's so funny Porter?" asked Marshall, shutting the door.

"You have to admit this hired gun is right about your methods." The smirk on his face grew wider.

Marshall snarled and approached the third mercenary, gun leveled at his face. He was about to pistol whip him when he abruptly pulled back laughing. "Well, at least you can talk! Who are you?"

The voice was chillingly flat and devoid of emotion. "It doesn't matter who we are or where we came from. All that matters is our plan Mr. Marshall." Puzzled, Marshall reached down and pulled off the hood, revealing a bald man with an elaborate breathing apparatus on his face. The Masked Man. Bane. "Nobody cared who I was until I put on the mask. Now my head is worth nearly eight million US Dollars is it not?"

The CIA agent scoffed. "A bit too self-important are you? So if I pulled off that mask, what would happen?"

"It would be extremely painful…"

"Really?" Marshall laughed. "You're a big guy."

"For you."

The AN-24 banked, heading on course for Kyrgyzstan. "For such a macho man who fancies himself a military genius, answer me this Bane. What get caught?"

"Oh that's simple. Dr. Pavel refused our offer in favor of yours. We needed to see what he told you of our plans."

"Nothing!" yelled Pavel, sweating bullets even in the cold cabin. "I said nothing!"

Overhead, a massive Lockheed C-130 Hercules quad-piston transport roared into a holding position over the smaller Antonov, which was a pixie compared to the C-130.

"So what's the next step in your brilliant plan huh?"

"Crashing this plane."

From the rear ramp of the C-130 four airborne commandos dropped, connected to the plane by extendable cables. They each carried an AK-74 folding stock carbine armed with rubber bullets that wouldn't penetrate but could fracture a skull and knock out an enemy.

To Marshall's surprise and horror, Bane stood and removed his hands from behind him, both unbound. "There will be no survivors." Immediately, the commandos began firing into the cabin, hitting the forward CIA guards and incapacitating them. While not averse to killing them with real bullets, it was imperative that this look like an accidental crash.

Kicking Marshall in the chest, Bane turned and began engaging the other guards. They had guns but Bane was stronger and faster, quickly overpowering them. Marshall, grabbing his Berretta, leveled it at Bane and prepared to fire. Out of nowhere, a stinging pain hit his arm, forcing him to drop the gun. He was about to turn and give his as yet unknown assailant when another blow hit his temple. The CIA agent collapsed to the floor. He looked up and his mouth dropped when he saw the smirking face of his assailant. "Porter, why?"

Chucking softly, Porter reached down and took Marshall in a headlock. "The spark is catching." With a crunch, Porter snapped his neck.

On the aft section of the An-24, Bane's troops bolted two massive steel cables to the aluminum skin and barked a radio command to the C-130. The monster transport increased its speed, causing the smaller Antonov to flip in midair, both wings shearing off. Bodies tumbled to the bottom of the aircraft, Bane, Porter, and the two others holding onto the seats while a terrified D. Pavel was still strapped in.

Both massive arms gripping the seats, Bane dropped to the row where Porter rested. "It's good to see you again master," said the FBI Special Agent to the man that was as close as a father that he ever had. When Ra's al Ghul picked the ten year old Porter off the streets of Gotham and brought him back, Bane had been his master and the two forged a bond not easily made.

"Welcome back to the order Dean," replied Bane with a level of affection in his voice only reserved for Porter and one other. "I must say, it hasn't been the same without you." After their excommunication, twenty-four years ago, Bane had stayed behind in the third world to recruit a new League of Shadows while Porter left to return to the USA and rise up the ranks of the FBI. He and Bane knew it would come in handy one day, as it did now. They hadn't seen hide nor hair of each other since then (except for a few garbled communications after Ra's al Ghul died), but with the master plan beginning to unfold the reunion was something they both desired.

At that moment, the troops blew open the tail section of the plane, descending head first with harnesses and two body bags. Bane and one of his men unzipped the bags, revealing two corpses one of which with a resemblance to Dr. Pavel and another resembling Porter. They hooked up IVs from the corpses to the two men, siphoning blood to exactly where the US authorities would extract from. Pavel screamed while Porter grinned, the pain welcome. He had spent his life backing a corrupt nation with no one he could really trust (well, there had been one), and now that he was back in his master's New League of Shadows, there was nothing he wouldn't do.

The transfer complete, Bane buckled Pavel to his harness while the others buckled in to theirs. Finished with his, Porter looked to one of the mercenaries. "No, they expect one of us in the wreckage brother."

The warrior looked up at the legendary apprentice to the master. "So we have started the fire?"

Porter grinned. "The spark has caught my brother."

"And the fire rises," added Bane. The man smiled hopefully and laid back, content with martyrdom.

One by one the men left the stricken An-24. It soon came Porter's turn. "I shall see you in the transport master, and soon the world will burn."

"You are still the man I trained so long ago Dean. It makes my heart burst with pride." Unabashedly grinning, Porter pressed the automatic tug on his harness pulling him back to the C-130. Hearing the whimpering Pavel, Bane looked him in the eye. "Calm down Dr. Pavel, now is not the time for fear." He removed a detonator from his pocket. "That comes later."

Pressing it, the entire Antonov detected from the cables and plummeted to the Kyrgyz landscape below, leaving Bane and Pavel in the sub-zero wind of the mountain air.

The fire rises.

A/N: I know this is sort of short, but this is kind of a prologue. I couldn't really put anything else in the opening Bane section could I?

How many of you guessed the SVU character I said would fight for Bane? Remember when Olivia kept seeing something dark and familiar in Porter's eyes? Well now you have your answer. LOL!

Next up, Harvey Dent Day 2015. We'll get to see Elliot, one of his grown up kids, Selina Kyle (I'm going to have fun writing her), and you'll finally get to see how far Bruce and Liv's relationship progressed.

The fire rises!

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