Chapter 1 - The Unknown

Eleanor Darnay's world was spinning at a stomach turning speed. Muffled voices and shuffling echoed through the dark room that she was in. There was a moment of silence before Eleanor's blue eyes snapped open. The ceiling she stared up was made of stone as there was a reverberation of running water. Coming from her left was a source of light. Eleanor didn't move as she tried to remember how she got to this place. The last thing she could recall was a white cargo plane and it's call sign; N12ITG. But then, there was nothing. She didn't even know what day it was. A man's voice broke through the air. "Ellie?" She turned her head towards the voice to lay her eyes on a man with brunette hair, facial hair, and blue eyes. He wore military fatigues and a ballistic vest with .50 caliber rounds on his chest. Around his neck was also a crimson bandana. "How are you feeling?" the man asked, with a G36C resting against his waist. Panic ripped through her and she shot up from the musty smelling cot. Quickly scrabbling away, she tumbled over the edge and fell to the concrete floor. Eleanor pressed her back against the wall, hoping to create more distance between her and the man. "Ellie, what's wrong?"

"Who are you?" Eleanor demanded. "And why do you keep calling me 'Ellie'? My name is Eleanor."

The man let out a brief chuckle. "Ellie, it's me. Barsad," he began. A smile remained on his face. Perhaps he thought she was simply playing a trick on him. When the fear etched on Eleanor's face remained, Barsad's smile faded away. "Barsad, as in, your only brother?" His deep blue eyes searched her's, waiting to see a spark of remembrance of some kind. But there was nothing. Barsad felt a pang of anxiety. This was not according to Bane's plan and there was no certainty of the outcome of his little sister and this sudden amnesia.

Bane was sitting on a large metal chair, deep in his thoughts. Behind him, he could hear footsteps quickly approach him. "Bane." He rose to his feet and turned around to see Barsad holding his sister by the arm. Bane took notice of the distressed facial expression that Eleanor gave him. "We have a problem," Barsad stated, jerking his sister forward. She stumbled to her knees with her palms flat on the ground and her eyes fixed on Bane. She was still her outfit that she wore on the mission to obtain Dr. Pavel from his plane. She wore a short, navy, pleated skirt that had white trim on the bottom. The form fitting, long sleeve shirt that match the color of the skirt was still on and was obviously dirty. She also wore black thigh-high stockings and combat boots. Her outfit was similar to a Japanese school uniform. "She can't remember anything." Bane's eyebrows raised at Barsad's statement.

"Nothing?" Bane questioned and Eleanor jumped at his deep voice. Bane's eyes remained on the girl as he observed her trembling shoulders.

"She doesn't even remember who I am," Barsad replied with a hesitated tone. Bane could still remember the plane being released and a piece of debris striking Eleanor. And then she was dangling from the rope, blood trickling off into the wind as her body stayed unmoving. He would have never thought that a simple trauma would cause the girl this severe case of amnesia.

Bane strolled up to the girl, his feet booming in the process. He squatted in front of her, just as she directed her eyes to the ground. Bane smiled underneath his mask. "Little bird," he started and Eleanor rose her head up the man. There was a sickening feeling deep in the pit of her stomach, bubbling. He lightly placed a hand on her head of pale blonde hair. "You do not recall who I am nor where you are at?" She shook her head, unable to speak. Bane removed his hand and placed it by his side. Everything was so confusing at the moment. There was no recollection of this place, her so called 'brother', this beast of a man, or even who she was. Each and every memory in her head simply stayed blank - like a TV screen lit up black. Nothing. "Do you know who you are?"

"Eleanor Darnay, b-but that's it." A thought struck her. "I don't even know my own birthday…." She trailed off.

"October 30th. You're 24 years old," Barsad answered and Eleanor glanced at the man as he stared at her. Bane studied the girl as she stared back at her brother, their eyes meeting.

Her blue eyes then redirected back to him. "Leave us," Bane commanded a moment later. His men turned and began to trail out of the large room without questioning. Eleanor nervously stayed where she was, watching the men, including her brother, leave the room. There were no words exchanged between the two after they were left alone. Only the noise came from the waterfall in the middle of the room and the distant hammering in the background. To Eleanor's right were large computer screens that brightly lit up their side. Bane raised arm, about to help the girl her feet. Eleanor reacted much quicker. Before she knew it, her right fist swung across the large, shirtless man's face; which made an audible 'thud'. The silence continued after she jumped up to her feet, wondering what the hell that was about.

Her knuckles painfully cracked when she released her fist and she cursed underneath her breath, "Fuck…"

"That sounds like the Eleanor I know," Bane rumbled and raised himself into standing position, clearly unaffected by her right hook. The man towered over her, easily over six feet tall.

"I-I'm sorry," she stuttered. "I don't even know why I did that. It was kind of a-"

"Reflex?" Bane finished and she pressed her lips together. "You have excellent reflexes after the many years of training in The League of Shadows and well," his eyes trailed over her figure, "other reasons…"

Her eyebrows creased together out of confusion. "What other reasons?" she asked.

"Dr. Jonathan Crane, a psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum, has a few connections, including the scientists in Gotham's Department of Genetics," he explained to her.

"Genetics?"

Bane nodded. "You voluntarily accepted an experimental serum that change the make up of your genetics," he told her. Eleanor stared at the man in a daze at the realization. "You let yourself become more than just a member to fulfill Ra's Al Ghul's destiny. You are part of Ra's Al Ghul destiny. You are a knot in his destiny. You and your brother have been following me for years. I am Gotham's reckoning. We are here to place judgment on the borrowed time that this city has been living on," he annotated as his stare burrowed into her. The same sickening feeling dwelled in the pit of her stomach and she felt like she was going to hurl. She was part of a plan to destroy this city and willingly changed her body for this man. Who was she really? And did she actually want to remember? Bane took note of her eyes welling up with tears. "What is wrong? Gotham is a breeding ground for suffering and injustice. It is Gotham's time to die. This is the most important function of the League of Shadows as it has been preformed for centuries. You understood this when you joined the League of Shadows."

"But I can't remember anything about joining your little Ninja Turtle group," she hissed at the man as she glanced around the sewer. "I would never destroy a city full of innocent people in it!"

"Oh but you would," Bane disagreed. "You would cut their throats without a moment of hesitation."

She pressed her hands against her ears, blocking out Bane's voice. "Shut up! Just shut the fuck up!" Eleanor screamed as the tears finally began to fall. He quickly snatched her by throat and jerked her towards him.

Eleanor began to beat against his bare chest, screaming for him to let her go. Bane shook the girl hard. "Despite how much you fight against these thoughts, you will remember them and who you really are," he growled, pressing a thumb into her trachea. She gasped against the pressure and gripped his wrist with her feet kicking. "And when you do, my little bird, you and I will burn Gotham to the ground. The people of Gotham are simply ants and, we are the boot that steps on them."

Author's note: Hey, guys! Please leave me a review, letting me know what you thought of the first chapter! Thank you!

~Salem~