Hello, all! This is my new story I decided to write up after re-watching the Dark Knight Trilogy. I hope that this does justice... Sorry I didn't post it when I said I would, but here it is!

Disclaimer: I only own my little plot and my OC's. Anything you recognize from the movies, I obviously do not own.

Enjoy! Make sure to leave a review!

~0~

Batman was dead.

A man who owed the city absolutely nothing, gave everything to save it, while the one who sought to destroy it lived.

The authorities found Bane, barely breathing and unconscious. While most would agree to let him die for his crimes, Gordon insisted that he was taken in for due process.

"We have to show them that our way works," he stated at a press conference the morning after they took Bane into custody. "If we let him die, we put ourselves at their level. The people of Gotham are better than that."

The villain in question was taken to Gotham General Hospital and put under Doctor Sophia Robinson's care, much to her reluctance, but she took an oath that she would preserve life…and she intended to keep that promise no matter who the patient was.

She was able to stabilize the monster and was now standing in his room, monitoring him and taking notes on her clipboard as she did so. Though, there were more than a few harsh glares that were thrown his way even though he was not awake to see them. As Sophia was adjusting the morphine level for his IV, Bane stirred and his eyes fluttered open. This went unnoticed by the doctor, who was infused in her work, so he was able to take in his surroundings in peace for a short moment.

He was in a hospital, that much he could tell, and it was safe to say that he was surprised to be alive just as much – if not more so – as the people who found him. Then his eyes landed on the doctor, focused on the IV bag and writing things down. She was fair skinned, the stereotypical blonde hair and bright blue eyes, lips plump and naturally red. Though she was what most would call "beautiful", Bane did not much pay attention to things like that.

"You're awake."

He smirked, the tone of her voice not matching the gentleness of her face. "Where is my mask?" A wince nearly escaped him at the sound of his own voice. It was so much less menacing and powerful without the device.

"Taken to the lab for testing. Don't expect to get it back anytime soon, if at all." Sophia knew she was being harsh, and a part of her felt sorry for it, but then she remembered who she was dealing with….what this man did. Soon enough, she did not feel sorry at all.

"Is this how you treat all your patients, doctor – "

"Robinson."

" – Doctor Robinson? Or am I getting the special treatment?"

She ignored him, much to his amusement, closing her clipboard and looking at him with a rather blank expression, but she could not fool Bane. The anger within her blue orbs was eminent. "Press the red button on the side of your bed for a nurse if you need assistance." And then she turned, striding out of the room without another word to him.

Bane shook his head and chuffed, sighing as he lay back down on the pillow.

Suddenly, his breath hitched in his throat and it suddenly dawned on him that he was alive and not dead like he was supposed to be. Talia… Did Talia live as well? He moved to stand but was stopped by the handcuffs that were latched around both of his wrists, keeping him attached to the bed. For a moment, the masked mercenary thought about breaking free, but he was too weak from his injuries, to fatigued.

It was then that the morphine suddenly kicked in, dulling the pain – but not completely terminating, especially in his face – and making him feel rather drowsy. His head rested back onto the pillow and he closed his eyes, a lone tear trailing down his cheek as he drifted off into a light slumber.

~0~

"I won't do it." Sophia's voice was defiant, her chin stuck in the air as she spoke to Commissioner Gordon. "I will not help the man whose men murdered my husband."

"Doctor Robinson, I am sorry for your loss. I understand that man is a monster, and I can't imagine what you must be going through – "

"Do not patronize me, Commissioner. I don't want your pity, that's not why I came here. I'm just informing you that you will need to find someone else for the job."

"He needs to live. We need to show these people that our way is what prevails! Why do you people have such a hard time understanding that?" Gordon was dedicated to proving to the villains of Gotham that corruption was not how this city would be run any longer.

"If it is any consolation, I get your reasoning, I truly do." Her voice was firm, her expression unwavering as she spoke. "But you will have to carry out your crusade with someone else, because I will be a part of it no longer!" It was when Gordon flinched that she realized she was shouting, and it surprised her. It was not often that her voice was raised, and she quickly lowered it down to a whisper. A whisper so full of sorrow and heartbreak. "You cannot ask me to do this."

The man sighed, placing his hands on his hips and shaking his head slightly. The sympathetic side of him wanted to let her go as she wished, for he too knew what it was like to have your family taken from you. Luckily, his was still alive, thanks to Bruce Wayne. "Doctor Robinson, you are the best one for this job. We will pay you well – "

Sophia's face twisted into a snarl. "I don't want your money."

"Fine. Don't do it for the money. Do it because you took an oath, when you became a doctor, to serve and to heal. Do it because it is the right thing to do. Be better than him."

Her jaw clenched and she looked away, hating him in that moment for using that against her, but she knew that he was right. This was the hardest thing that she has ever had to do, even harder than watching her husband die in front of her...due to Bane's men.

Sophia could prove to Bane that, even though he has inflicted nothing but heartache upon her, she was better than that. Revenge was not the way…

Turning her gaze back to the Commissioner, she nodded once and only once.

~0~

The next morning, Sophia returned to work, her face tired with circles under her eyes. Sleep did not find her that night, or really any night since her husband's passing. It only brought her nightmares and more despair.

There was commotion coming from her patient's room, making her brow furrow as she heard the voices carry down the hallway. Bane's was more calm, though the nurse on duty sounded highly destressed and was nearly shrieking with frustration. As she walked closer, she could vaguely decipher what they were saying.

"She will be here any moment! What more do you want from me?" The nurse said in that annoying voice of hers that made even Sophia's eyes roll. One thing she has always taught herself on the job is to remain calm, no matter who you are dealing with or what the situation might be.

"This morphine is not enough for the pain that I have to endure. If you could acquire my mask and return it to me – "

"I'm afraid that is not possible." Both sets of eyes turned to Sophia as she walked in the room, and not so much to her surprise, the nurse was gone in an instant.

"Make it possible, Doctor Robinson. I am a very irritable man when I do not have my mask."

"There is nothing I can do about that, Mister Bane, but I can sedate you if the pain is too much for you to handle." She acquired the clipboard and examined his diagnostics from the time that she was gone. The doctor wanted to make some comments about him feeling the same pain he inflicted on so many people, but she figured that to be childish so she refrained.

"Ever since I have woken, I feel as though you have something that you want to say."

It was then that the young doctor looked at him for the first time, really looked at him, her eyes scanning over his features. There were always rumors as to how the man looked under the mask, and she now found that none of them were true. Incredible disfigurement was what people speculated; no lips, broken teeth, no nose. The only thing on his face that was abnormal was a lone, jagged scar across his lips from the left side of his nose and down to the bottom right side of his chin. It was rather…anticlimactic. She was also reluctant to admit that he had a rather handsome face. "I want to clarify one thing, Mister Bane. I am not helping you because I desire to, or think that you deserve it. Frankly, if it were up to me, I would've let you die. The only thing that is keeping me from allowing that to happen is the oath that I took; to preserve and protect life. Something that you do not seem to understand." She gripped the clipboard against her chest until her knuckles turned white, the sudden urge to smack him rising within her. "The only things I will ever say to you will have to do with your medical condition and nothing more. Do you understand?"

There was amusement in Bane's eyes, and he could not help but chuckle lowly in his chest. "I understand you perfectly well, Doctor Robinson. Your dedication to your work is admirable. And if you do not mind telling me where Talia is, I would request that I see her."

Sophia was quiet, her eyes on him then as she suddenly realized that…he didn't know. He did not know that Talia had perished… "Rest," She said, ignoring his question as she turned to leave the room. "I will be here to check on you in a few hours."

~0~

Well, there you have it! Chapter One. I have chapter two written up and ready to go, but I want to see the type of feedback I get from this one first. Please leave a review if you feel so inclined... Constructive criticism is always welcome!