The first time he saw her dance, Bane was sure his heart had stopped entirely, feeling more terror than he had ever felt, and yet something even more unholy spring forth in his chest, some nameless emotion that pulses through his veins, threatening to envelop him. It is enough that his grip on the door frame splinters the wood slightly, his fists clenching involuntarily as he watched her undulate on the stage, flipping her hair over her shoulder as she lured in the crowd with her predatory smile.
She was intoxicating, and she was deadly, and she was much too young to be so jaded, stringing along men with a coy smile and the swing of her hips as her chocolate hair rippled over her shoulder like a wave, shimmering in the pulsing lights of the club as she moved like a siren, her body rolling and rocking in time with the music.
Surely, this couldn't be happening.
Her father would kill him in a second if he saw.
He should move, pull her from the stage, wrap her in his shirt even as she balked and hit him, enraged at his interruption.
But he couldn't look away.
When Ra's approached them with the mission outlines, Talia was thrilled, for it would be the longest mission she had been involved in, as well as the most involved. Her father was still hesitant to let her out into the world, despite how she excelled in training, besting many of her teachers at record speeds, as her dedication to becoming stronger was enough to overcome even the decade of disease and malnutrition she had endured within the Pit.
Bane was much more hesitant to show emotion about the mission, knowing the inherent risk of each assignment Ra's sent them on; especially one of such magnitude. For all three of them to travel on a mission together beckoned the importance of their task. And with greater importance came greater peril. While Bane had been on quite a few more missions than Talia (much to her chagrin), this deception Ra's planned was on a much grander scale than Bane was accustomed to.
It was foolish to involve Talia. But this was not a thought Bane could ever voice to either of the Al Ghul's, as Talia would have been angry with him for his lack of confidence, and Ra's would not take kindly to him questioning his judgment.
But while Talia had lived and been raised in the pit of the most corrupt, he had tried to shield her from the worst of the evils the world had to offer. It was almost cruel, to thrust her so back into a society from which she was protected; the dark, shadowy underground of a city so plagued with corruption that it's taint would surely stain all who passed through.
It was almost as bad as Gotham.
Talia sat on her bed, grinning with excitement as she once again read through the details for the mission they were being sent on. She had memorized them after the first read-through, but she savored the feeling of anticipation that filled her every time she scanned through the particulars. A mission, one Ra's Al Ghul himself would accompany, with her beloved protector. It was almost too much to ask for, as her experience had been severely limited to several boring diplomatic trips her father had her accompany him on.
And she would be with him.
It was enough to make her overlook the relatively small role she played within the mission.
The journey to Taichung was about four hours long, and there were quite a few other members of the League traveling along side them, sitting quietly among the seats in the private jet, a luxury that only the Demonhead could have afforded. Normally trucks would be loaded and sent off, but due to the distance and the amount of League members traveling with them, it was more economical to take the jet.
Or at least that's what Ra's told himself.
It certainly wasn't because he wanted to watch Talia's expression as she felt the jet lift off the ground, flying for the first time in her life. Ra's tried not to indulge her too much, but it was hard when her eyes would light up with the purest expression of awe he had seen, her grin widening as she looked eagerly out the window, glancing back at him happily.
It was a bad habit, really. But she had given so little in life, denied so much, that while he glorified the ideals of asceticism, it was hard to enforce them on her when such trivial things would bring her such pleasure. And for a moment, he could delude himself into thinking that the eagerness he saw in her eyes mingled with affection for her father.
Delusions, truly.
For the few glances she did steal away from the window were never directed at him. Instead, she looked eagerly over at the masked man across the aisle, hoping to share her enthusiasm. Ra's did not bother to look and see if Bane ignored her presence, or smiled back.
It was bad enough that she cared for Bane's approval over his.
By the time they arrived in Taichung, it was well past sunset, which made it even easier for the League to disperse unnoticed, eagerly seeking out the darkest corners of the metropolis, where the most corrupt hid. Talia stayed with her father, however, not yet allowed to roam free like the more experienced members.
It chafed at her, but she kept her mouth shut for the time being.
However, when Bane made to abscond off into the city, she balked, nearly calling out for him to stay with her, or to take her with him. While her father was a powerful man, to be left alone with him was mostly uncomfortable, and they usually lapsed into stony silence, neither person adept and filling the void with mindless chatter.
Bane came over, stroking her hair affectionately before leaving, his eyes meeting Ra's and not breaking until he had slipped into the shadows. Talia wondered sullenly how long it would be until she saw him again. Knowing her father, they would likely be on opposite ends of the city, working two completely different objectives.
She huffed, following the Demonhead unenthusiastically as he made his way towards the downtown region, trudging through the trash that littered the dirty town. Her face was sullen and drawn. This was not the thriving center of activity she had hoped it to be, no; rather, it was a city mired in darkness and refuse. And while the city was more open and the sky was clear to her, it reminded her too much of the Pit for her to be comfortable.
After some time of weaving through the dark streets, they arrived at what looked like a large warehouse. Rha's pulled a key from the pocket of his coat, unlocking the padlock chaining the two massive doors together. Pulling the heavy doors open, Talia trailed behind her father as he walked into the pitch black, both of them trained to be completely at home in the darkness.
And then, there was light.
The light was blinding, and took a moment to adjust to. There was a bar to the right of the room, with stools and a few dusty tables set up across the floor. The stage was the focal point of the room, however. Unfortunately, it was too late for Talia to thoroughly inspect most of the room, the jetlag catching up to her, and she followed her father diligently up two flights of stairs to a hallway. Pushing open the closest door to her, Talia saw what looked like an office, stepping inside to investigate before she realized her father had already moved down the hallway. The last door on the right was the only one he opened with a key, pressing the door open for her to go inside. Inside, there was sparse but adequate furniture; a bed, a small trunk, a vanity, and another door attaching to what Talia hoped was a bathroom.
Rha's placed his hand on her shoulder, trying to ignore the way she still flinched, ever so slightly, at the gesture. "This will be your room for the duration of the mission," he said, noticing for the first time the weariness that was etched in the lines of her face. "Go to sleep, daughter." It sounded awkward on his tongue, a word heavy from disuse. She did not comment, though, glancing at him wearily before making her way to the other door, disappearing into the washroom.
By the time she has prepared for bed, Rha's had left her room, and Talia was glad for it. It was strange; too strange to hear him call her endearments, especially 'daughter'. Even Melisande had scarcely used the term, preferring 'child' or other nicknames in her native tongue that sounded soothing when she said them, in a way Talia could never replicate, no matter how hard she practiced to master the language.
She fell into bed gracelessly, curling in on herself and wrapping her small frame in blankets. She wondered, tiredly, where Bane was at that moment. Was he asleep, or simply wandering through the city, getting to know it's denizens?. She missed the heat his body would give off when they lay pressed against each other, like they had in the Pit, and on certain nights in the barracks at the League's home, when the nightmares were too prevalent. She would go to him, and crawl into his bed to nestle at his side. And while he would grunt in annoyance, she could feel his arm tighten around her, his fingers tangling in her short curls.
She turned over, trying not to think about him anymore, lest her dreams be plagued with thoughts she could not control.
It was not like Bane was thinking about her. He had a whole city to explore and occupy his thoughts.
There were quite literally dozens of places to go and sleep in the city; hundreds of places to eat, to get lost, or even to find a fight. But Bane wanted none of those things. He was perched atop a warehouse with a steel roof that made for an uncomfortable resting place, but it was closer to home than anything else the city had to offer.
Talia was inside, sleeping.
Rha's would likely severely punish him if he found him atop the building, as he was not supposed to break cover, especially not to simply lie on the roof of their new headquarters; and yet, there was nowhere else he would rather sleep.
Well, maybe one place.
But he would not disturb her, at least not tonight, after such a long flight. She needed her rest. And he would see her soon. While not an integral part of the mission, she would play her role, just as he would, and he was fortunate that they would see each other almost every night.
It was definitely not the worst mission he had been assigned, that was for sure.