With or Without you

Chapter1: The Phantom Admirer

A/n: I decided I would do the rest of the story after the following it got here on and the positive comments on another website. Ill do my best to do this villain Batman justice this based off a Role play with a Bane on twitter. Enjoy. All the foreign words I use in this story the translations will be at the Bottom of the chapter. Help me out and I if I mangle my Japanese or French they're both my third and fourth languages. By the way Bane wont be in this until the second chapter all it is is just hinting. Oh and the weird paragraphing is so this story isnt ONE GARGANTUAN chunk of test and its easier to read.

I remember when I first met Bane. I never knew his real name but that's what he called himself, he was no prince charming, he didn't have wavy locks or cute button nose or a dazzling smile. Not that I knew of anyway, he always hid his face under that black luchador mask with the red eyes. Despite the way he looked, he was always polite to me and very much a gentleman. Never so much as raised his voice at me. Always called me a "palomita*" " mon' amour**" "mon' petite fleur***". All of that changed one day, I wont bore you with the details here .

this is My side of the story:

The autumn afternoon was gloomy as the gray clouds hung in the sky, but it was warm below in the streets of Gotham city. This heat was only a minor discomfort to the young lady as she carried the large brown bag of groceries down the dirty streets past the teenagers playing hooky on the corner smoking cigarettes trying to look intimidating and 'hard' to anyone that would pass by.

The brunette swept past them as if they were ghosts with her armful of foodstuffs humming a tune of some song only she knew part of and continuing on her merry way lost in her own thoughts and things she had to do throughout the day. The young woman's name was Ruby Moon the Third. Miss Ruby was in her mid twenties, tall, with short dark red hair, dark eyes despite their color her eyes were expressive. With these features and the name like Ruby Moon you'd never know her father was the international thief Arsene Lupin the Third She'd recently moved to Gotham from Paris,France. Like her father she was a thief and carried on the family tradition.

In Reality her father abandoned her in Gotham leaving her to fend for herself , so she became a permanent resident in the famous city. Once in a while he would send her an email or a letter to her letting his daughter know he was okay with the occasional deposit in her account, why he ever 'ditched' her she could never figure out. She walked up the stone steps to her loft, when she noticed something laying on the ground next to the door. It was a crème envelope with her name written neatly on it . Next to the envelope was a bouquet of the reddest largest African roses shed laid eyes on, each was the size of a mans fist. Ruby picked up both and took them inside, she set the flowers and the grocery bag on the counter forgetting them for a moment, taking the envelope and turning it over in her hands as she was about to tear it open she remembered something her father had said "Always open anonymous mail form the side never from the flap, smarter men have lost fingers when opening letters from strangers", she stretched over to the small beat-up table next to where she was sitting and pulled open the drawer sweeping things from side to side paper clips, screws bits of paper until she found what she was looking for a miniature katana that served as a letter opened.

The young lady carefully sliced the bottom of the envelope and spewed its contents onto the table and backed away all that fell out was a white card with a few lines upon closer inspection

it read

"Senorita,

I saw you one day as you were walking

you are muy hermosa

you are a rose among the gloom of this city

though I do not know your name

I would like to one day put a name to such a beautiful face

Please accept these roses Miss Hermosa to add to your beauty"

Con amour,

An admirer.

Ruby blinked for several moments trying to take in and read the last line again out loud " An admirer" she couldn't help but smile, just then reality hit her the only other people she knew were criminals, low lives or crooked business men.

"Who is this clown? Who does he think he is?" Ruby thought to herself, a vision of Gothams famous criminal The Joker popped in her mind , he was quickly eliminated from the list of "suspects" he doesn't speak Spanish and hes definitely not the romantic type AND hes got his Harley Quinn.

Edward Nigma? No, hes much too stuck up and this isn't a riddle or a puzzle this had more emotion and sweetness to it last she'd heard 'Eddy' was locked up in Arkham.

Two-face? Nope this says 'I' and not 'we' again ; doesn't speak Spanish last she'd heard he wasn't on speaking terms with her after an argument they'd had that after a 'job' that ended in him nearly gunning her down and Ruby running for her life with her tail between her legs with no 'loot'. Why would he suddenly turn sweet on her? Nope. Definitely NOT Harvey.

The young woman kept turning the question over in her mind trying to look at it from different angles and thinking up of different possibilities. In the end she let out a sigh of defeat and chalked it up to someone she knew trying to play a joke on her and tossed the whole idea out of her mind "Roses were a nice touch though" she smiled looking back down at the card. When suddenly she was brought back to reality by a rustling on the kitchen counter from inside the grocery bag that startled her, she inched closer when suddenly "mreeew", from out of the grocery bag popped up a curious little Calico kittens head,"Pochi*" Ruby breathed with a sigh of relief then chuckled as she picked up the tiny cat and placed him on the polished wooden floor and began putting groceries away as he scampered at her feet. .

The kitten had been a gift and a peace offering from fellow thief and now friend Cat-woman. For a brief period they'd had a bitter rivalry over, marks, loot, heists and jobs. It got to the point where instead of stealing they'd just trade blows and insults finally they both decided a truce should be called in the name of productivity.

Later Ruby sent her a pearl necklace with matching earrings and Cat-woman sent Ruby the little Calico kitten that she later named 'Pochi' because of all the different colored spots he had on him.

Ruby continued putting away her provisions , the question kept creeping back up in her mind.

Later as the sun set and the sky was blanketed with stars, Ruby put the bouquet in a vase with ice water placing the vase by the window, she kept playing with the roses until they were just perfect. As she stared at the lovely arrangement she as ambushed by a sudden yawn. Ruby stretched feeling ready to lie down in her comfy bed, Pochi was already asleep in his basket nestled in an old shirt of hers he had claimed as his own. She closed the window locking it tight and checked her door making sure it was securely locked, although she was a thief she couldn't help not wanting to be robbed herself or worse murdered. After she was satisfied Ruby walked barefoot into her room, she opened the window in her room to let some air in, the outside had safety bars so it was okay to open the windows she undressed and changed into an extra baggy t shirt and hopped in into bed. For what seemed like an eternity she lay in the dark and began thinking about the note and the roses again wanting to sleep but unable to get the mystery out of hr head.

No one had sent her roses like that ever, or had said such nice things to her. Is this how she should be feeling? Is this what people feel when they get things like this?.She soon rolled over and succumbed to sleep peacefully dreaming of a rose petal bath and delicious wine that ran from a fountain.

The next morning she was awakened by Pochi pawing at her nose for his breakfast. " Yes,yes mommy knows you fat kid" she grumbled sleepily, with one big yawn Ruby willed herself out of bed and flinched as her feet touched the icy polished floor she shuffled across the cold floor to the pantry to retrieve a container of "Lil' Elegant Feasts" cat food for her fuzzy companion and the bag of coffee. She dumped the cat food into the kittens bowl, she looked back at the vase with the roses from yesterday, they were still there Ruby had thought they were a dream which brought back the question of 'Who would send her these things'. She poured the coffee grounds into the coffee filter pressed the button and sat on the counter as it brewed mulling once again over the possibilities and crossing off names on her mental list, her thoughts were scattered by the beeping of the coffee maker signaling the pot was full and ready.

Later that day she sat across the street at a cafe with a stack of books her nose buried in a book that read 'Le Chevalier de' Leon' and sipping on tea or at least she was pretending todo in reality she was trying to get the schedule of the armored car deliveries to the casino run by a mobster, each day shed show up with a stack of books or laptop. Inside the stack of books was a wireless camera that recoded the time and the date when the armored car would show, or shed record it on her laptop having a fake screen up of the news or weather. Today was no different and soon she would break in and steal the delivery of money ad leave a mocking note just like her father would. When Ruby was done she got up to pay for her drink to go the girl at the register smiled and said it was alright her drink had already been paid for.

"What?" Ruby shot back incredulously as if she didnt under stand what the woman had said " Yes, a gentleman came in and paid for you drink" the girl at the register explained. Ruby took her iced tea and began her journey home was this the same person that sent her the roses and the card? If it was who was this phantom admirer?.

Ruby stopped at a sushi place on the way she frequented called 'Orochi rockstar' to get some dinner for her and Pochi.

When she placed her order just as she was about to pay the man at the counter explained her money was 'No good here' someone already paid for her meal. She had the same reaction just like back at the cafe, she tried to get the man to tell her what the mysterious benefactor looked like ? all he could tell her was it was a very tall man and he didn't leave his name just a photo of her and instructions she was not to pay for anything she bought and left a small wad of cash just as he left.

Ruby left the restaurant in a daze, this was no coincidence this was the same man. Now she had ONE tiny clue who her phantom admirer was ' A very tall man' "That really narrows it down" Ruby told herself sarcastically rolling her eyes at this thought and continued walking when she got home, just like the day before there was a crème envelope with her name on it but this time there were no roses, she rushed inside nearly tripping on Pochi who was scampering across the floor, excitedly tossing the bags on the table and tore open the envelope without hesitation to read the note inside

" Miss Hermosa,

I trust you enjoyed the roses

I also trust you enjoyed yourself today

Please do not be afraid I'm merely an admirer of you and your exotic beauty

In due time I will reveal my identity and all will be explained

until then I will admire you from a far

con amor,

Your humble servant and admirer"

Ruby put down the card unsure of what to feel, a smile spread on her lips as well as a slight blush " I think Im in love" she exclaimed " I THINK IM IN LOVE!" she shouted to the empty apartment giggling like a little girl and falling back on to the sofa clutching the card to herself...

Thats it for Chapter one, Chapter two will finally have Bane in it I promise.

Translations:

Palomita: ( term of endearment) Spanish For Little Dove

Mon' Amour ( Term of endearment) : French for ' My love'

Mon' petite fleur ( term of endearment) French meaning ' My Little flower'

Luchador (Spanish) for Fighter or Wrestler

Pochi (Japanese) for 'Spot'

Le Chevalier De'leon: (french) meaning " House of Lion"