Chapter 2 - A White Crane
Eleanor was back in the room she had awoken up in. She sat on the cot for hours, staring at the stone wall. Her head was spinning. Bane's words seared in her brain like fire. "Despite how much you fight against these thoughts, you will remember them and who you really are. And when you do, my little bird, you and I will burn Gotham to the ground." Eleanor wasn't sure how she was supposed to feel. Pissed? Satisfied? Or just confused? What she did feel was lost. It felt like she was a new born soul shoved into this horrible body and life. She couldn't grasp the idea of watching a city burn down, taking its people with it. What kind of person was she to believe in that destiny?
The sudden sound of the metal door to her right opening, made her grip the bed. Bane, and Barsad trailed into the room with three more men behind them. There was one man in particular that caught Eleanor's attention. He wore a slick gray suit, metal rimmed glasses, and had a briefcase in his hand. He looked professional, but there was a slight twitch in his lips, almost as if he was trying to hide a smile. His eerie blue eyes observed the girl - a little too closely for Eleanor's comfort. "Eleanor, this is the Dr. Jonathan Crane that I had spoken about. Dr. Crane, this is Eleanor," Bane said, introducing the two.
"I don't need a psychiatrist," she hissed, glaring at Bane and then the psychiatrist. "I just want you get the hell out of my face."
"Miss Darnay, may I call you Eleanor?" Dr. Crane asked politely, extending his empty hand.
"You may not," she snapped at him.
He dragged a metal chair in front of the cot and sat in it. "Well, Eleanor, you see…Bane is looking forward to us meeting and becoming acquainted," he said, ignoring the looks received from her. "He says you can't remember anything after a certain accident?" Eleanor stared at him for a moment before nodding. "I'm here to help with that." He placed his briefcase in his lap.
She shook her head. "I don't want to remember."
Dr. Crane's eyebrows raised at the unexpected respond. "Why not?"
Licking her dry lips, she glanced at her brother and Brane who stood to the side. "I'm a horrible person," she whispered. "I wanted to burn a city to the ground." A small chuckle escaped from the doctor's lips and Eleanor stared at the man in disbelief. "Why do you find that funny?" He unlocked the briefcase and opened it.
"Because, I'm here to help," he replied. It took Eleanor a second for it to process in her head. The words sank deep as flashing memories of fire exploded from her mind. He was here to help. Not her, but Bane. Eleanor jumped to her feet, pushing the bed behind her. The metal frame wailed against the floor as a pair of arms snaked around her. She screamed and struggled against the man's grasp. A hand captured the girl's jaw. That's when she realized it was Bane's. His other hand placed the bottom of a gas mask over the mask he already wore.
"Bane, please don't!" she begged and watched his harden eyes soften just the slightest bit.
"It is necessary," he told her just before the doctor's face came into view.
He was smiling at her as he slipped on a poorly stitched burlap sack mask. The doctor brought up his palm up to the girl's face.
"Why are you doing this?" She questioned with a quivering voice.
"I respect the mind's power over the body. It's why I do what I do," he simply stated. For two seconds, everything was silent besides Eleanor's hyperventilating gasps. "Just try to breathe normally." With the slightest flick of his wrist, a cloud of white powder disbursed into the air. She held her breath, refusing to breathe in the fumes. There was a sudden pain of someone punching her in the gut, making her sharply draw a breath of air. The air felt thick as the substance filled her lungs. The men let her go and she stumbled slightly towards Bane. He gripped the girl by the shoulders, holding her up. Bane's face was in focus as the rest of her surroundings wavered in and out. It was almost like the movement of a speaker when there's too much bass. In and out. In and out.
Bane watched her widened eyes stare at him. He knew how the drug worked. It was the final test that Ra's al Ghul had given to him to complete his training. The veins in her neck began to budge as well as the one on her forehead. "Eleanor, breathe," He told her. She breathed in loudly. Her nails deeply dug in Bane's skin, breaking the skin.
Eleanor felt the warm wetness that began to ooze out of Bane's skin. The red lines of blood that trickled down formed itself into tiny red spiders. They crawled up onto her hand and she jerked her hand away. She tried to break away from Bane's hold on her, however, her efforts did no good. The spiders were now making their way up to her forearm. "Bane, get them off," she pleaded. "T-there are spiders on me!" She could feel the tickling sensation that their little legs gave. The walls around her began to run, like freshly new paint dripping down a canvas. "The room. The room," she mumbled as her eyes zigzagged across the room.
"Eleanor," said a scratchy voice that bloomed through the silent room. Eleanor's looked at the doctor to only scream. The burlap mask was moving just like a real one would when giving an expression. "It is time to remember" he told her and she began scream again.
Her legs were kicking at Bane as she tried to twist her body away from the Doctor. She could see flashing memories of two adult - a man and a woman - and then there was a little boy with dark blue eyes. She and him held hands as dust was kicked up into the air. A car was now in the distance. That's when she realized who the little boy was. "Barsad," she wheezed. Not a moment later, her back arched and her teeth loudly gritted together. Bane twirled Eleanor around, still holding her head, and shoved her back against his body as she went into convulsions. Coming from the doctor's mouth were spiders - hundreds of spider spewing from the depths of his mouth. The flashing memories was like she was watching TV. There was no way to stop or pause. They just kept coming.
"Barsad, give me your belt," Bane ordered and Barsad quickly took off his belt as he watched his sister seize up again. Bane snatched the belt from him and waited for the opportune moment.
Her face that was red was twitching in his grip. Time flew forward and she saw herself standing in front of a mirror. She was young, maybe 13 years old, and behind her was a man. His face was aged with wisdom. He was staring at her reflexion and she got the sense of…love? He felt like a father to her. Eleanor took notice of a flower in her hair. It was blue. "Blue Poppy," she whispered and got long stare from Bane. She was final starting to remember. There was a man on all fours in front of her, begging for forgiveness. "He must be judged and accept the consequences of his actions. My child, you must be ready to defeat evil of all shapes and forms," the man whispered in her ear. "I understand, Ra's al Ghul," she said aloud. "Now go." Eleanor watched the sword in her hands swing towards the man. The man's stare froze when the blade sliced through his out stretched neck. A second later, his head fell to the wooden floorboards. Bane watched the girl's face twist in horror. This was not going well. He stuffed Eleanor's mouth with Barsad's leather belt just before she bit down hard and went into another convulsion.
This went on for hours - maybe three or four. The entire time, Bane held Eleanor as she went in and out of her fits. He was now alone with her, sitting on the cot as she slept soundly. Her head was in his lap and his hand rested on her head. The memories of her being drugged with Fear Gas waw fresh in his mind. She spoke of Ra's al Ghul and the Blue Poppy. After that, she just continued to mumble about spiders, murdering a man and begging Bane to kill her. He was disappointed. Eleanor was once a strong soldier of the League of Shadows. She was a promising part of Ra's al Ghul's plan on Gotham. But now, she was just a shell with the mentality of a young girl. He stroked her blonde hair as he tried think of a way for her to be useful.
Killing her would just simply be a waste now.
Bane could still remember the day that Ra's al Ghul brought in her and her brother after finding them homeless. Their parents had abandoned them when Eleanor was six years old and only a year had passed when Talia's father found them. Ra's al Ghul saw potential in the siblings. Eleanor's pale skin, blonde hair and bright blue eyes stood out from the rest when he first saw her. She was young but he saw the strength that was hiding underneath that little girl's skin. Just like when she was a child, her legs are scrawny, similar to the rest of her body. To many eyes, Eleanor had the face of innocence. However, like every animal, she had a cruel and merciless instinct. She completed her training within two years - months before her brother. Bane could see the bond that Ra's al Ghul and Eleanor had made while he trained her. It didn't take long for her to consider him as a father. He still could remember hearing the stories of her abusive father just before their parents left them. Barsad saw it as a blessing for them when they were abandoned, especially for his sister.
Eleanor stirred in Bane's lap and opened her eyes. The drug was almost completely worn off from her mind. "Bane," she groaned as she felt him stroke her head.
"Sleep," he told her. She watched him for a moment through her eyes that were barely open. It appeared she was searching his face for something. "Eleanor, you must rest."
"I remember meeting you," she whispered and Bane remained silent. "And why you call me 'little bird. Ra's al Ghul used to call me 'his little crane'." For the first time in years, Bane saw her smile at him. The two simply stared at each other for a moment. "I also remember m-my parents. They left Barsad and I, didn't they? Or was that just a bad dream?" Like before, Bane didn't say a word. Eleanor nodded as tears welled up in her eyes. "They did." She let a breath of air, trying to control her emotions. "It feels like it just happened yesterday," she mumbled just before her eyelids began to slowly close.
Bane started to strok her head again. "The League of Shadows became your family," he said and just as she slowly drifted to sleep, another smile appeared on her face.
He stared at the smile, observing the emotion of happiness on Eleanor's face. It was a strange sight to see after all these years with her. Her face looked like a porcelain doll against the snow that day when Ra's al Ghul brought them back to the temple. Barsad stayed along her side as they approached. Her frail body was wrapped in Ra' al Ghul's cloak, the edges trailing on the snow. The only thing Bane could see was her - a small white crane among shadows.
Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please let me a review letting me know what you think! Thanks!
