Into oblivion

FALLING

📚

My eyes slowly blink open, it's like they have weights attached to them. My lungs feel like I'm breathing in nothing but dust, it's suffocating. My arms and legs are tingling all through and through, are they even there?

"Mia" someone yells which makes me look up, everything is crumbling apart. The walls are gone, pillars in half, ground missing, roof collapsing above me and the whole place is littered in smoke you can barely see a thing.

What the fuck happened.

"Mia?" he's getting louder but moving or speaking isn't an option for me, I'm stuck under something.

"MIA!" panic blares in his voice.

"MIA!" anger.

"Mia?" pain.

"Mia-" relief as he finds me. He falls to his knees before me "please say something" his chest moves in speed as he waits for me to say something.

"Bane" another voice follows behind him close by "BA-" silence "MIA OH MY GOD" it's Max, he too has fallen to his knees beside me.

"Max she isn't responding" he's scared-no terrified.

"We need to lift the concrete of her"

They disappear from my view but I can hear their feet shuffling about. They both begin to pant out of breath trying to lift something, I don't understand what until it begins to feels like my lower body is being burnt alive. The shear pain makes me want to scream it all out but I don't, I breath in deeply feeling my eyes begin to burn from the threatening tears, Nicholas falls back down pulling me in his arms.

"It's okay you're okay just breath" his eyes are glossy and fully bloodshot as I look into them.

"I'm okay" I manage to say as oxygen finds its way back into me. My head buzzes from the dizziness but it's all coming back to me, piece by piece I remember it all.

"She's bleeding from her hands I need something to-"

"It's not mine" I say taking my hands from Max "not all of it anyways" he pauses for a second but quickly understands what I mean. My eyes wonder over him as he's literally drowned in nothing but dust and smoke but it's clear enough to see that he's also more than littered with cuts and bruises.

"What the hell happened?" I ask the only question I could, mainly because I'm afraid of asking the most important one of all, where are they.

"I tried to warn you guys but it was too late, more of his guys came in with a bazooka's and well..." he doesn't bother finishing as its all pretty self explanatory, my body begins to tingle with warmness and soon after I start feeling my legs.

"We need to go can you walk?"

"She doesn't need to" Nicholas says standing up and picking me up with ease.

"Let's hurry before they come back" Max runs out ahead whilst he walks slowly holding me in his arms as everything else crumbles and burns around us. I look to the side seeing the bars countertop empty, the floor empty.

They're gone.

"Max where's the water?" Nicholas asks as he sets me down carefully onto the leather seats or the car. I don't stay in place for long as he pulls me into him the second he sits down himself with a bottle of water and a clean white cloth.

"I need your hands Amore" he takes them slowly setting the now wet cloth over my bruised bloodied knuckles, it hurts like hell.

When he wipes the blood off I look down seeing the mess that's left, you can see my bones clear as day but luckily I'm not bleeding too bad "Mia fuck" he sighs staring at me but i just keep looking at my hands unable to meet his gaze, mainly because I know what it holds, comfort and that's the last thing I need or want.

"Where are they?" I finally ask looking at Max through the cars rare view mirror, his eyes meet mine and he knows he can't lie now.

"Gone" is all he says.

"Max when we get back I want you to check every hospital there is for a female and male badly injured" Nicholas orders before getting back to me "we'll find them"

When I don't reply he slowly cups my face in his hands making me look at him "we'll find them Mia" he reassures me and I believe him, cuts of all shapes and sizes decorate his face but the one above his eyebrow catches my attention the most.

He notices me staring and begins to look away "I need to clean your hands" his avoiding technique needs a little working.

I ignore his stupidity like always taking the bloodied cloth from him "look at me" it wouldn't be Nicholas Bane if he didnt hesitate now would he, but still, he looks at me and I take my chance to carefully wipe as much of the blood and dirt out of the cut as I can.

"I'm sorry" I say as his arms hug my waist whilst I clean off the remaining dust.

"What for?" his eyebrows furrow at my words making his soft eyes grow confused along the way.

"For all of it Nicholas"

"Well I'm not"

"But how can you s-"

"Because I love you Mia, and all of this is nothing compared to what it would feel like if I didnt have you"

I knew I loved him before today or the day before yesterday and the days before that and many days before all those other days.

But this time it's different.

This time I think I've fallen straight into the game of how far I can fall before I hit the very bottom of it all, because as I look into his eyes it's as if I've known them for eternity, as though those shades of green and brown are my answered prayers and countless blessings brought right to me. Falling in love doesn't just have the word falling in it for no reason, it is because you literally fall with no control whatsoever, you cannot escape or survive the fall it simply consumes your every nerve, your every breath and the very beat of your heart because it no longer beats just for you, it beats for that other person too.

Love is painful and messy, Sometimes it hurts to the point of physical pain but you'd gladly except it for them. I guess in a way it makes you crazy because why would you go through all of that for someone who isn't you. but I'd gladly fall over and over for this human being in front of me if it means I'll have a life where he is in it. Even if one day I finally do come to my fall and land, but till that day comes I want to love him with everything I have.

"I love you Nicholas" I had to say it and not because he did and I felt compelled to say it back but because actions could never express them and I know words cant either but I just needed him to hear it.

He pulls me into his arms kissing the top of my head. I lay my head onto his chest and think about everything that went down in detail. If I wasn't so busy going after them specifically I could've stopped the explosion, I could've sorted that part out and still has time to finish Belle and Rayan off but I was too consumed.

But then me blaming myself for what already happened makes no sense, what I can do now is make sure it never happen again.

And it won't.