Bed Rest (Bane)

Black......all it was...is black. Everything dark...and then..through two narrow slits light crept it's way into the everlasting darkness and Mark's head turned to reveal he was in the infirmary of, The Nest. So many unanswered questions? First was to remember what the heck exactly had happened...He was drugged, that's for sure, he could tell by how groggy his body was and..."Ouch." His side was in immense pain, what the heck? Was that a stab would he was feeling? "Oh yeah..." It was all coming back to him now; the fight with the Furi clones, the desperate move he had made at the end and even getting jabbed in his abdomen. It was all starting to make sense, took a minute for him to process it, but he rememebred.

Now the only question was; How did I get here though and we win? Consideing he was still alive Mark Rowan had to assume so, but then again, What happened to the grey clone and the others? Could he have been rescued while Fury and the lizard being were killed? Geez, he hoped not. One thing was certain, he had to get out of this bed and go find out what was going on. As well as locate his ring, which wasn't on his finger peculiarly. He guessed it must have fell off when he lost consciousnesses. I hope I didn't lose it...I mean can you even get a repalcement powerring? As Mark thought this he painfully began to ruffle his sheets, attempting to move his nearly naked body.

After Mr. Pacific put Mark where she wanted him, she undid his bandages and checked her stitches. They looked great for field work, but new bleeding had occurred in a few new places so she stitched them up as well. After which she replaced the compress with a few different plants. She figured he would sleep like a log for a while, so she crashed in a chair by his bed and went to sleep.

Half a day later, Bane woke up and stretched. Her throat was parched so she left to find some coffee and food. She returned with a cup of coffee and a bowl of cereal. Mark was awake and trying to get out of bed, she laughed lightly and moved closer. “How are you feeling so far?” She knew he was in visible pain, “Want anything for the pain? I got pain killers, opiates, a bottle of whiskey.” Bane smiled again and sat down on the edge of the bed and munched on her cereal.

OT: Sorry for wait. Wanted to make the post decent. :3

As Mark attempted to get out of bed, suddenly his doctor entered and he understood nearly everything. It would appear he had been rescued and even though he stated he didn't need her earlier, he was indeed very glad that Bane had joined the team. If she hadn't, his injuries could've been much more severe without her nursing him and probably life threatening. "I'm not gonna lie, I've been better haha." Mark smiled at Bane and laid back down a bit, feeling more comfortable now, but in the back of his mind he wondered if she had been the one to strip him. Although he was pretty sure Bane was a professional and that kind of stuff didn't phase her. "Whiskey? I don't think I'm old enough for that, but if that's what you're giving your patients to ease the pain I can see why you're so highly regarded." Mark joked and spoke slyly towards Bane while placing a palm upon his forehead as he waited for all of his senses to kick in while the medicine wore off. "Actually, if you know the whereabouts of my little blue ring I'd much appreciate it."

OOC: Thanks for making my earlier super quick post feel bad hehehe

BIC: Bane watched as Mark moved around and fidgeted in bed. She continued to eat her sandwich and watched as he adjusted and finally got semi-comfortable. He had looked better, she thought, like that time he was in that one shirt… she shook her head lightly to try and rid herself of the confusing thoughts and caught the tail end of his joke. She had noticed however, that he had noticed that he had been stripped and she blushed oh so slightly. “Whiskey is one of the best out there for pain, but if you’re going to be all macho on me and not want any so be it.” While he was facepalming himself she glanced at up at him and noticed how handsome he was and oh so sly.

She gave him a mischievous grin, “Oh a little blue ring, where did I put that?” Playfully she fake wondered what she did with it. “Let me see I think it’s right here.” Bane pulled up out of her t-shirt a necklace with a beautiful butterfly watch and a shiny blue ring. Both sparkled and shined with an unknown brilliance. “Hmmmm… This little blue ring you mean?”

Mark's steel grey eyes glinted as he noticed the shade of blue with his peripheral vision and then rotated his entire gaze towards Jacky. However happy he was to see his ring, Mark also gazed brazenly at his medic. She had kept him safe, saved his ring in a special place right by her heart in a rather fetching locket necklace and nursed him back to health. As far as Mark Rowan was concerned, for a young female girl, Jacky Luca was an exceptional woman and he really doesn't know how he could have survived without her. "Oh thank heavens." Mark then sat up revealing his bare chest and mid section as his sheets fell into his lap and he extended his palm to receive the ring rather than getting up because even though she had already probably seen him indisposed, he didn't fell it right to just get up and move about in the buff. "You're a life saver, literally, haha. But seriously, I can't thank you enough. I was joking about the whiskey thing, but you know what, I'm gonna listen to the doctor's orders...On one condition."

Mark then hinted a devious smirk at Bane as he awaited her approach to receive his weapon of power. "The doc's gotta have some to, not that you need it, but I'm sure operating or even dealing with little old me couldn't have been the easiest task ever." Performing surgery was never racking and she was so young, especially on a teammate, but even then Mark was sure she had done well under the pressure. He could tell by the handiwork on his stitches. So to celebrate Bane being an epic doctor and him still being alive, why not take a quick swig?

Bane continued to smile and pulled the watch and ring combo over her head. As her arms moved up, as did her shirt, exposing a bigger sliver of skin than earlier. She undid the clasp and slid the blue ring of the chain. Mark sat up and a lot of male skin was suddenly in view. She dropped the blue ring into his outstretched hand. He looked better, his color was coming back, and he was moving much better than earlier. As he named his one condition she laughed and went to find the bottle she had stashed.

Bane thought about everything she knew about Mark. She knew the shape of his body, muscles, that he went to school, and that he was quite funny. As she tried to find the bottle, her mind kept drifting back to the crater and the argument she had with that one Pendragon guy. Damn, she had been seriously protective of her man… her man! What was she thinking! He was a Night Hawk, and she was just doing her job. Wasn’t she? Ahhh… she was so confused, yet again. Finally she located the bottle and a pair of crystal glasses and headed back to Mark’s room.

Lounging in the door she studied Mark some more. He was handsome, that’s for sure. Smiling and shaking her head she poured them both a glass of Whiskey and handed it to him. She quickly remembered his stitches as he moved, and noted that they needed to be checked in a minute. She raised her glass. “Cheers. To you not dying, and the awesomeness of the Night Hawks.”

After giving Teen Lantern his ring back, he placed the most powerful weapon in the universe upon his middle finger and expected to instantly suit up or begin to heal, but it was out of juice. He would need to recharge it before anything super happened, but first some bonding time with Bane. It was no secret that Mark had a thing for girls who saved his life or aided him in some way. He found them kind of interesting; he liked strong women, not the dainty Cinderellas. Maybe it was because they reminded them of his mother, she had been strong all the way until the end. Besides, it would seem Jacky had agreed to his terms with the whiskey. Keeping that in mind he took the glass of whiskey she handed him after examining the ring a bit more as she poured the elixir and then looked into her emerald green eyes before toasting back to her with a grin. "I'll drink to that."

They both took it down and then Mark asked for another, and another. Two and one half glasses were consumed before Mark decided to take a break. Boy, he hadn't tried drinking in a while. Usually he only drank with his foster family when one of the kids grew up and was sent off to college or moved out. It was always a joyous occasion, but right now the thing on his mind was Jacky. Like she had been studying him, he had been studying her back. She was a pretty fit girl, not a boring personality for someone who studied medicine so in depth and drank tea. Not his life style, but hey, Mark kept an open mind and he had promised her a psyche evaluation. "Ok doc *hiccup* I think I'm ready for that mental examination we talked about. Ask away." As Mark spoke he leaned back a bit, letting the affect of the alcohol kick in. He wasn't The Blue Lantern right now; Mark Rowan was just a normal seventeen year old guy, who may have had one to many glasses of alcohol at the moment, but hey it wasn't everyday that he drank. Also, the occasion was pretty joyous; celebrating still being alive and he owed it all to the girl next to him. As Mark thought this he nearly forgot he had stitches in and moved awkwardly until the slight ache reminded him.

Bane was mildly surprised and greatly pleased that he had looked into her eye. Most people found them odd and scary. As Mark kept asking for more she kept pouring, and matching him glass for glass. Almost three glasses later, Bane grinned as Mark started getting a little tipsy. Whereas Bane could drink almost any man under the table, but she giggled as if tipsy. Well maybe she was, just not on alcohol, more like… well you know oxytocin and all that stuff. "Ok doc *hiccup* I think I'm ready for that mental examination we talked about. Ask away." His psyche eval… now? She didn’t think this would be a reasonably good time to do it, but then again she could learn more about Mark now than under normal conditions. He winced a little and Bane sat next to him and leaned on the back wall. She glanced at his side and decided to check the stitches, just in case. It also gave her a very good reason to get closer to him.

They looked fine, just a little irritated, but that was to be expected. She thought about what to ask and decided to just start somewhere. “How about we swap information. You know, you tell me something and then I tell you something. And we go back and forth until we run out of stuff to say. Shall we start with something basic? Tell me about your past. Family, friends, girlfriends etc etc. Or anything you want to tell me.” Bane believed in equivalent trade, but she had so many stories, back stories, fake stories, and what not, that she wasn’t really sure which were true anymore. But she’d tell him the ones she thought were most accurate. Glancing at her now empty glass she snagged the slow draining bottle of whiskey, took a swig, and leaned back against the wall.

Bane sat down next to Mark and checked his stitches. Meanwhile, he began to feel the effects of the alcohol kicking in. His mind wandered a bit as he gazed at her while she focused on his wound, but then snapped out of it once the proposition about them sharing information was brought up. "Right. Right, lets do it." Geez, Mark needed to control himself, specifically his emotions. They were running wild and if his ring wasn't dead it would tell him that Jacky was freeling about the same way at the moment. However, he couldn't tell what she was thinking, just like all the other clueless males in mankind before him, especially in his current condition.

Mark pulled up his bed sheet a bit as he leaned back with Bane and thought of her question. "My past? Not much to tell really; my mother died giving birth to me and my father skipped out long before I came into the picture. I was brought into a foster home at a young age and ended up liking my foster parents more than any who tried to ever adopt me. Lived with them and all the kids that were in the same boat as me ever since. They became like a real family to me, ya know? Each child that spent more than a month in there was like a new brother or sister and then one day, BAM! Little blue guy falls out of the sky, I go check it out, get attacked by these things I've only ever seen in comic books and get rewarded for fending them off with a magic ring that can create anything I desire." Mark did, not, mean to say that last part! He was supposed to say think of, not desire?? However, he had to admit being in close proximity to Bane at the moment was what probably caused the Froidain Slip. As time went on she seemed to get more and more attractive to Mark, and Jacky was no slouch in the looks department to begin with. Although, Teen Lantern just tried to block these thoughts from his mind by focusing on the exam. "Ok, your turn. So tell me a little bit about yourself doc. Why is it a 16 year old girl became so interested in medicine at such a young age?"

Due to the fact Bane wasn’t around all the time, she ran her own shop, and that she was sorta a new member of the Night Hawks, she was genuinely surprised by Mark’s answer to his past. She grinned mischievously and continued to flirt outrageously. When Mark asked about her past, she almost shut up like a clam. The past was a touchy subject more or less, and it was complicated. “Well let me see… Both my parents departed from this world shortly after I was born. The foster care system in Italy is as corrupt as they come. I somehow ended up in London, England were I was adopted by a mad chemist. It was from him were I got my love of medicines so to speak.” She turned and looked Mark squarely in the face. The next part was going to be hard. How do you explain to someone you really, truly, like and would date, that you’ve killed more people than many dictators ever did. That you have the Black Market by the jugular, and could do with it would you want. Then how do you explain that you’ve done all those things for family. But that some of them were not your fault, but that some of them were. How do you tell someone that? “ Mark I…” Bane couldn’t. Telling Mark all of her past, even some of it would be too dangerous. The less he knew the better. A lone tear scrawled down her cheek. “I can’t tell you want you truly want to know Mark. But I don’t want to lie to you either. My past is so full of dark holes that I’m afraid you’ll fall into one and never come out of it. I can tell you however; that the later years of my life are full of a happiness that comes with finding family.” Bane looked at Mark and prayed he would understand.

(I sincerely apologize for the lag in reply. It's hectic here before spring break with mid finals and all.)

Mark sat and listened to Bane's detailing of her history now. The word mad scientist caught his interest. From the first part of her answer he deduced that she also had kind of a rough upstart in life. He didn't speak a word; Mark was a good listener and that was a skill no powerring could give him. Upon her pause, however, he finally faltered and spoke up as he watched her face contort to sadness and she spoke his name with a secondary pause. "Yes Jacky. Go ahead, I won't judge you." Although, her reply to this was less than satisfactory. It was obvious she had done some things. Stuff she wasn't proud of, but Mark Rowan was very understanding. He had met many kids who had a hard life and joined gangs, however, upon coming to Mark's family's foster care home they usually shaped up. Turned out the only thing most delinquents needed was a bit of hope and care introduced into their life...Go figure.

The main point was Mark didn't judge others off what they did in the past, it was about what they were now and in the future. "I completely understand, and I'm not going to push you to tell me." The blue superhero then leaned forward and wiped the tear form her cheek while looking back at her lovingly and continued to hold her face in his palm as he spoke his next piece. "Jacky, understand what I'm telling you now. I don't care about your dark past, what you've done, who you were..It's all behind you now. It's behind all of us. I know the Bane and Jacky Luca of today and she happens to be one of the most heroic beings I've ever met without using a magic ring or super strength." Mark then drew his face closer to hers within the moment subconsciously not even realizing he was making the motion. Although, the excuse would be he was rather tipsy, the alcohol was just compelling him to do what was in his heart at the moment. Even though Mark believed it not to be be hope, but lust, it was hope; hope in connecting with someone, hope in keeping his teammate safe, and hope in making her feel the same way he was right now and then receiving the same in return. It was all just strong hopes for Mark Rowan at the moment as he drew closer to her lips before trailing off his last sentence. "And if you're really that afflicted about your past sins or hardships, just know...I'll always be here for you, just as you were for me in my hour of need. Not with with medicine and herbs, but a hug and everlasting shoulder to lean...on..." Marks eyes closed just before he drew his face to hers while caressing her shoulder with his hand and drawing her near to him. Meanwhile, his other palm was still gently plastered around her face, carrying it's flawless complexion in his palm like a delicate wild flower.

Bane was glad to finally have someone who could try to understand. Her siblings didn’t really get all of Bane’s emotions, and weren’t really sure how to cope when she had her meltdowns. She always ended up fighting her demons all by her lonesome, and that grew harder every time. As Mark put his hand on her face, a creeping warmth blossomed in heart and her stomach. Maybe this is what they called the butterflies. It was an amazing feeling and Bane wanted to hold on to it for ever. Mark said he didn’t care about the past, and that meant a lot to Bane. She hoped though that if he ever found out the past, that he wouldn’t have a complete and utter meltdown and flip out on her. Mark got closer and closer as he talked and the warmth started spreading even faster. Her heart was beating so hard she thought it would stop dead from all the exertion it was doing at this precise moment in time. Someone to lean on, that would be wonderful. To not have to carry the weight of the world on her shoulders by herself. And to be hugged by Mark was almost more than her poor heart could take. Almost. Not quite though."Thank you Mark." She whispered. Bane closed her eyes and moved closer to Mark’s face and leaned in to his kiss him. As the kiss finally connected a feeling of amazement and an electric shock streaked through Bane. Hope. Hope for the future, for their possible relationship, and love. She loved him, she really did. It finally came to her that Mark had always been there; even from the very first time she had met him. That the feeling, she was having now, had started when she started talking to him the very first day of being the Night Hawk medic. Bane never wanted this over-coming feeling to end, never. She leaned in a little more, and subconsciously hoped that he sincerely felt the same way about her, as she did about him.

As Bane kissed Mark back he felt the ring begin to power itself up a bit. Not enough to do anything,but her hope in direct connection to him was empowering it or was he inspiring it in her? He wasn't thinking of this now, however, he was too into their lip lock now to care about anything else but that. Mark was not the type of guy to kiss and then pretend like it never happened, he was indeed a very intensive lover. So when he chose to kiss Bane it meant something to him and he now fully gave into the emotion completely and admittedly the lust that was filling his body that came with it, although, he tried to mentally tone down one natural occurrence from their situation.

However, he couldn't help it once she leaned into him. Jacky had Mark in her spell; an emotional hold on his heart that only strengthened as he began to caress her leg now with the hand that was on her chin just a moment later and then placed the other along the sprawl of her back. The kiss had evolved from an innocent happening to a battle between their lips and tongues now. Mark only deviating from it once to kiss and barely suckle her neck as he kept his eyes closed during the duration of the the quickly heating up occurrence. He could not hide his feelings for her or down play them any longer, physically, he was definitely showing this and through his actions and the transfer of feelings when they kissed he knew she felt the same. No ring required to tell what would happen next or if they were on the same page. The exam was inevitably going to get a bit more in depth than they both originally imagined...

Bane gave up fighting her conscience and succumbed to her desire. She was craving company, and man had she found it. As Mark moved his hands, she melted in closer to his shirtlessness. Her hands moved of their own accord down his toned back, as if trying to anchor her to him in everyway possible. It was pointless to deny herself anymore, so she waged an all out war in their passionate kissing. She had him in everyway possible now, and she knew it. With a slight gesture and a teasing move, she slowly stripped her shirt off, exposing lots of skin and a black spider web tattoo down one side of her body. Still teasing and taunting him, she continued to furiously kiss him. Seeing as it was going to go there, and Mark knew it, Bane decided to start the fun.

Well I should hope you know what happened next, but for those of you who don’t know what’s going on. Lots more stripping occurred, a bed sheet was lost, and a whole lot of time and raw passionate energy was used up. Let’s move on to a few hours later.

Bane gave Mark a teasing grin, that implied so much, seeing as what had happened over the last few hours. She snuggled up to him closer, to the point of basically laying on top of him, tracing out his muscles and whatnot. She wasn’t really sure where to go from here, seeing as it had been a while for her. Looking at Mark she wondered out loud. “Now what are we going to do?” It was a good question to say the least.

( Lol hours! Wow!! You give Mark much more credit than I would've :p )

What were we going to do? A more appropriate question was what had they just done!? Mark momentarily replayed the event though his mind; the feeling, the urge, the touch, the taste, the sounds. The more he thought bout it, the more he realized they were lucky he didn't rip his stitches at some points. In either case, he didn't know how he felt right now. Mark Rowan had definitely given into temptation and as the effect of the alcohol wore off and clear thoughts entered his mind he realized that might not have been the right choice. He really did care for Bane, truly and utterly, but she was his teammate and as so a relationship between the two of them just seemed rather implausible. If he got hurt she would worry and maybe save his life over a pedestrians, which was much more important, and vice versa. Mark couldn't live with the guilt of that kind of situation.

However, the Nighthawk hid all of these thoughts and buried them in the back of his head, for the moment at least and just enjoyed her warm sweat glazed body laying on top of his. Meanwhile, placing one hand behind his head and smiling while rubbing his other palm all they way down her backside to her thigh and then back up to her shoulder. A motion he had made over a dozen times in the last hour or so and a variety of others. Neither's body was a mystery to the other anymore, Mark was aware and in-tune with every spot, nook, and area of tension she had and the same went for Jacky. His feelings towards the girl could not be described within any words he could produce in English or on Earth and he was sure in many other universal languages as well, yet he still needed to answer her.

Calming his still rather erratic and aroused heavy breathing he spoke to Jacky in a matter of fact type tone. "-Sigh- I dunno, but we should probably discuss well...all this." At this point Mark began to sit up and rubbed the back of his cranium with the hand he had placed behind it choosing his next words carefully. "I wanna be honest with you Jacky, what we just shared wasn't a mistake and everything that happened I fully intended on doing, but...We shouldn't have done it." That being said, Mark looked away, allowing the only real fear he had felt since receiving his weapon of power to creep out into the open. "I'm a bit worried I guess you could say, were teammates and if the others were to find out there could be tension, in the field things could get complicated, and then there's the fact that at any moment I could be called away to some distant galaxy and never see you again." Mark was laying it all out, as stated before he wasn't the kind to just do this kind of stuff and then never talk to or see the woman again, but he just didn't see anything after this point working out between them and he wanted to make sure this was clear before they left the room, or else he felt he'd be leading her on. "I'm not gonna deny that there's strong feelings between us. If anything we just proved that without a shadow of a doubt, but I don't think we should take it any farther than this. I don't want to hurt you and I can't promise that I'll even be around for you or even be alive by tomorrow; most Lanterns don't survive their first two years in duty." That being said, Mark waited for her reply, it made him seem wrong to drop this on her right afterwards. Especially when there were no objections during the very very long moment they just had, but as stated before Mark had given into the emotion of love. A personal failure for someone who was supposed to promote hope solely over all others.