A/N: Hello, all! I'm so sorry that it took me so long to get this next chapter up. I was visiting a friend for a few days and wasn't able to write. I promise to update as frequently as possible from here on out.

"Come on now, Talia. Hit me."

Talia furrowed her brow and swung her fist meekly at Bane. Her fist ricocheted harmlessly off of his hard chest, and he sighed and shook his head. Bane was trying to teach Talia how to defend herself, in case another prisoner should ever 'try anything,' as he had said.

She wasn't doing very well. She knew that. She was too scared to hit Bane, for he was her only friend, and she worried that if she hurt him, he would not be her friend anymore. But Bane was insisting.

"Harder," he said, and though his voice was firm, his emerald eyes were soft. He gestured down his shirtless abdomen, at his lower stomach. "It will hurt worse here," he said matter-of-factly.

"But I don't want to hurt you," Talia insisted, shaking her shaved head resolutely. Bane's eyes softened even more, and he flashed her a tiny smile.

"You won't hurt me too badly, little one. And, anyway, I'll forgive you. I promise. This is important."

Talia took a steadying breath and pulled her fist back. Then she thrust it forward as hard as she could and made contact with Bane's stomach. His abdominal muscles were so taut that, once again, her tiny fist bounced right off. She shook her hand wildly, cursing under her breath at the pain in her fingers.

To her chagrin, Bane was chuckling quietly. She glared at him and narrowed her sapphire eyes. "I'm doing the best I can."

"I know you are." Bane nodded and smiled warmly. He coursed his hand roughly over Talia's buzzed hair, as if to muss it. "Your best is very good, little one. Someday you'll beat me."

Talia waited patiently in the training room, sitting on the floor with her legs crossed and her hands folded neatly in her lap. She had eaten porridge that morning, and she was waiting in the room for it to settle in her stomach before she started her training.

Her stomach was churning now, and it wasn't from the porridge.

She was terrified to fight Bane again, and at the same time hopelessly motivated. On the one hand, he was far larger and stronger and would probably defeat her every time they sparred. On the other hand, this gave her almost unlimited license to touch him, and the thought made her heart flutter with excitement.

She'd returned to her room the night before and had lain awake for hours. She tossed and turned, desperately clawing at sleep that never came. All she could see in her mind's eye was a whirlwind vision of him clamping his hands on her waist and pushing her against his door. The glow in his eyes – the flash of passion – had been unmistakable. He wanted her; she knew it. He just couldn't admit it to himself enough to take his actions further.

And did she want him back? Desire was a strange feeling for Talia. She'd never experienced anything like the throbbing emptiness she'd experienced back in her room, longing for his hands to be upon her again. She'd coursed her own hands over her body, but of course they felt nothing like his. His were strong and gripped firmly, encompassing her body. Talia knew full well what went on between men and women, for she had once accidentally entered a usually-empty corridor to find a female initiate with her male partner, joined by their anatomy. She'd only been fourteen and had stared wide-eyed at the sight of the man pumping himself in and out of the female initiate's body. Talia had shamefully watched the amorous couple for a few moments before silently slipping around the corner and back the way she had come.

She had promised herself never to engage in such frivolous and licentious behavior. It was not becoming of a true member of the League of Shadows and, anyway, Talia doubted her father would be terribly happy to find out she was behaving in such a way.

But last night, as she lay awake and cold and alone in her bed, Talia wondered at the prospect. Would it feel good? The female initiate she'd seen in the corridor had certainly moaned and gasped in a way that expressed pleasure. Perhaps someday, with the right person, Talia could feel that, too. Now, after Bane's heated touch, she realized she had seen the first glimpses of what her body was capable of feeling.

Talia was shaken from her reverie by the sound of the training room door creaking open. Bane stepped in, cautiously walking into the room and shutting the door quietly behind him.

"Good morning." His mechanically filtered voice echoed in the dank space. Talia grinned at him, perhaps a bit too enthusiastically. She quickly tempered her smile and cleared her throat, embarrassed at how glad she was to see him. "Did you eat breakfast?" Bane asked, and Talia felt her heart laugh at how he doted over her like a mother hen, just as he'd done when she was a child.

"I did," she confirmed, nodding as she rose to her feet. She straightened her blue brocade tunic, which she'd chosen because of how the raw silk matched her azure eyes. Bane continued to step into the room, closer to Talia. His hands were balled at his sides and his eyes looked anxious. It seemed as though there were something he needed to say. "What's wrong?" Talia asked gently, longing to reach out and place her palm against his bare chest.

"I…" Bane shook his head as if to rid himself of a fly and coursed his hand over his bald head and his mask straps. "I wanted to apologize… for last night."

Talia furrowed her brow in confusion. "Apologize?" she repeated, shaking her head. "I wanted to thank you for last night."

"No, Talia. No. It was very inappropriate of me to touch you that way, and I'm very sorry. It won't happen again." Bane held his hands up defensively in front of himself.

"It won't?" Talia asked in a soft voice, feeling sadness well up inside her.

"No. I promise." Bane's voice was firm. Talia said nothing. She felt too rejected to question him, for then she'd seem desperate and cloying for his attentions. "I thought today we would practice with the shinai."

He stalked heavily to the barrels of weapons in the corner and pulled out two of the traditional Japanese bamboo swords. It was good practice to use the shinai, for they prepared the fighter to use steel weaponry in real combat. Fighting with the bamboo swords also helped hone skills like attacks, counter-attacks, evasive maneuvers, and balance. Talia was especially skilled with the shinai, and she wondered vaguely how Bane could have known such a thing. Perhaps one or two of Talia's previous opponents had let him in on her areas of expertise.

Bane tossed one of the bamboo swords to Talia, and she expertly snatched it out of the air. She touched its shaft to Bane's weapon and nodded slowly, signaling that she was ready to begin. Bane struck first, lifting the shinai quickly over his shoulder before bringing it down toward Talia's arm. She deflected his hit with a smooth, sliding motion, and instantly went on the offensive, striking him firmly at the waist before he could respond. She smashed her sword roughly against his muscled abdomen, and Bane grunted in response. He took a few steps backward, toward the wall, and attacked again, more intently this time. His shinai struck Talia's hip, but as soon as he made contact, Talia swung her sword in a wild swirl.

She had been aiming for his shoulder, but his shinai clashed against hers and slid it upward, causing her to instead hit his face. The shinai struck Bane's mask, and all of a sudden there was a frightening hissing noise emerging from the apparatus.

Bane instantly dropped his sword and clutched at his face, his voice howling in pain. He slumped against the wall and began fiddling anxiously with the tubes in front of his nose and mouth, trying to reconnect the two that had become loose.

Talia's shinai clattered to the ground as she rushed forward, sinking to her knees before Bane and placing a shaking hand on either side of his face. Tears instantly rose to her eyes as she watched Bane's trembling fingers reconnect his mask. He moaned in agony all the while, and when it was finally reconnected, he shut his eyes and tipped his head back against the concrete wall.

"Bane!" Talia exclaimed, clutching desperately at his cheeks with her tiny hands. "I'm so sorry, my friend; I was aiming for your shoulder and -"

"It's all right, little one."

His words silenced Talia, and when he raised his quivering fingers to brush her hair from her eyes, Talia felt a tear tumble down her cheek. She chewed on her bottom lip, angry with herself for crying. She very rarely cried, but her guilt now was eating her alive. Bane's steely gaze met hers and his fingers moved to sweep away the tear from Talia's cheek.

"I'm fine," he insisted, his voice little more than a whisper. "I'm perfectly fine."

But Talia knew he'd been in immense pain. The way he'd staggered backward toward the wall, the horrible sound of his shinai rattling as it fell to the ground, the terror in his eyes as he'd clutched frantically at his mask…

"I'm sorry," Talia said again, shaking her head. "It was an accident, Bane! I never would have aimed for your mask."

Bane nodded slowly. "But others will," he reminded her, "and I must be prepared to fight the pain."

"You wouldn't have any pain at all if it weren't for me," Talia grumbled, shifting her weight uncomfortably. "The mask you wear, the scars that course over you now… all of it is my fault."

"No." Bane shook his head very firmly. "All of it was the price of your freedom, a price I would have gladly paid a thousand times over."

Talia felt a sudden urge to be nearer to him then, at the sound of his kind and reassuring words. She wiggled her body and scooted forward, between his bent and parted knees. Bane stared at her as she pulled herself up to him, and he made a strange little murmuring noise when she put her arms around him and rested her face in the crook of his neck.

She stayed there for a long moment, silently inhaling his unique scent. His aroma flooded her with memories of lying flush against him in the night, breathing in the reassuring tang of sweat and musk.

At last she felt Bane's arms close around her, hesitantly holding her against him.

"I was so grateful," Talia mumbled into his neck, and Bane shuddered at the feel of her warm breath against his skin. "I am still grateful."

"It was you who made the climb," Bane reminded her. They were silent for a long moment again, as Bane tipped his head back and sighed quietly. Talia felt his arms tighten a bit around her, hugging her near as if he never wanted to let her go.

So much for his promise, Talia thought, amused. This embrace felt distinctly different from the ones they'd shared those years ago. This time, there was heat radiating from each of them to the other, and there was a tension coiling inside Talia.

Without thinking, she kissed his neck where her head was cradled. It was the gentlest of kisses, just a touch of her lips to his sensitive skin. Nonetheless, Bane reacted as though she'd just disrobed him in one fell swoop. He sucked in breath, hard, and pulled Talia off of his body.

He held her back and stared into her cerulean eyes. His own jade gaze was firm and unyielding, as he murmured, "No, Talia."

He shook his head, but the way his hands trembled on Talia's shoulders, she knew he was convincing himself as much as he was convincing her. She felt complete and utter rejection, as she had earlier, and her eyes welled again. Embarrassed, Talia swept away the tears and sniffed to regain her composure.

"Please, Talia," Bane whispered, squeezing his eyes shut. "You have no idea what I am capable of doing to you."

"How do you know that?" Talia asked defensively, suddenly irritated with his assumption of her innocence. "I know more than you think I do."

Bane's eyes cracked open and he stared at her, confused. Talia crossed her arms over her chest with a childish huff.

"And… where did you learn all of this information?" Bane asked her accusingly, his eyes growing concerned.

Talia knew what he thought. He thought she'd let someone defile her, and the thought horrified him. Whether he was repulsed by the thought of someone taking the body of his beloved Talia, or whether he was jealous, she did not know. She furrowed her brow.

"I… walked in on two people once," she admitted, her cheeks growing very warm, "and the other female initiates have had wagging tongues."

"Ah." Bane nodded. He seemed relieved to hear that she had little or no experience with men, and he said, "Good. You're too young to have…" His voice trailed off then, and his hands slipped from Talia's shoulders.

"I am a woman now," Talia said sensitively, with another huff. "Perhaps I should take a lover, since you will not have me."

She rose to her feet and turned to pick up the two shinai from the ground. As she stalked to the weapons barrel, she heard Bane throw himself to his feet and quickly walk after her. She felt herself whirled around by the shoulder and saw Bane's eyes shining with anger.

"Do not ever say such a thing again," he growled, his voice sounding as though it would be unwise to question him. He pointed a finger at Talia, chastising her in a way he'd not done in years. Talia narrowed her eyes at him in a glare, but he said jaggedly, "You are too young, Talia."

"Am I?" she demanded, suddenly flush with rage. How dare he presume to know what she was ready to do, ready to feel? "Am I too young to lie awake in my bed, unable to quench the thirst inside of me? Am I so young that I still have a child's body? Am I too young to do this?"

With her last word, she pulled herself flush against him and rose onto her toes. She yanked Bane's head down toward her and thrust her mouth against his neck. This time, her kiss was not gentle. She did as her instincts told her to do, coursing her tongue roughly against his skin. She nipped and sucked and knew she'd leave a mark. She only vaguely cared.

"Talia, stop." Bane tried to sound firm and commanding, but instead his voice was a desperate whimper. Talia's hands wandered down Bane's chest as she ignored him and continued to kiss his neck. Her fingertips coursed over his firm pectoral and abdominal muscles, sending both of them into a shiver. Her hands paused at the waistband of his thick pants, and she lost her nerve.

She knew fairly well what lay beneath there. It frightened her a bit to think of touching or even seeing it, though a part of her desperately wanted to do so. Her fingers trembled as they lingered at his waistband, and she felt Bane push her away by her shoulders as he'd done before.

"Talia…" he said, his breath ragged through his mask, "We must not..."

His sea foam green eyes were fraught with anxiety. Talia wanted to remind him with her words that she was no longer a child, but she thought she had reminded him of that rather effectively with her actions. The look in his eyes told her that he knew. He knew she was no longer a child, and he feared his own lack of control around her.

So he did want her, then. She thought it odd that he'd said 'we' instead of 'you' in telling Talia that they must go no further. It was as if he did indeed view himself as an active participant in perpetrating her loss of innocence.

She saw his throat bob with a thick gulp, and Talia could not help herself. Her shaking fingers reached up to stroke his throat, brushing gently over the spot where she'd been rough with her mouth. Already, an angry red welt was forming there. Bane shut his eyes against the feel of her touch. He shuddered violently when the fingers of her other hand curled around his waistband, now eager to know more vividly what lay beneath.

Bane's hand dropped from Talia's shoulder, and he placed his fingers gently over hers at his waistband. Talia fully expected him to wrench her hand away, but he shocked her by guiding her hand a few inches lower, until Talia felt a slight bulge beneath his trousers.

When her hand reached the place where his manhood lay, Bane looked like his knees were going to buckle. He gulped hard again and squeezed his eyes shut. Talia was emboldened by his reaction, by how badly he seemed to want more despite his own scruples. She quickly let her other hand fall from his neck and began to fiddle with the buttons of his trousers. Bane stumbled back a bit and leaned heavily against the barrel of weapons where Talia had returned the shinai.

His breath was heavy and unsteady through the filter of his mask as Talia pulled apart the fastenings of his trousers, preparing to free his manhood. There was only one problem – she didn't know what to do.

She thought back desperately to lewd conversations she'd had with other initiates. One had talked about using her mouth on a man, but Talia was frightened she'd do it all wrong and make Bane second-guess himself. Another woman had told Talia that using just her hands, she could bring a man to the peak of his pleasure.

So Talia boldly reached into Bane's trousers and wrapped her hand around the throbbing shaft of his member, hesitating for a brief moment as she did. He seemed so large, so intimidating, as she pulled his cock free from its cloth prison and stared at it in her little hands.

At the feel of her hands upon him, Bane gasped and gripped the edges of the barrel behind him. "Oh… Talia…" he murmured, his voice a groan in the silence of the room.

Once again, Talia followed her instincts and began stroking him very gently, paying close attention to how he reacted. When she brushed her fingertips over his tip, he practically writhed against the barrel, and so Talia focused most of her attentions there. One hand wandered down to the mysterious place at the base of his shaft, weighing the pair of orbs there in her palm.

Soon she noticed the sheen of clear liquid at the tip of his cock, lubricating her hand movements. Talia felt her breath hitch at the sight of him, engorged and slick. Heat flushed angrily throughout her entire body, and moisture blossomed insistently between her aching thighs. Meanwhile, Bane panted frenetically through his mask and moaned softly, his fingers clutching anxiously at the rim of the weapons barrel.

Talia wasn't entirely sure that she was doing any of this right. It seemed that she was onto something, given Bane's visceral reaction to her touch, but she needed reassurance. As she pumped her hand against him, she whispered in a trembling voice, "Like this?"

"Just… just exactly like that, little one," Bane mumbled, his voice nearly incoherent. He reached from the barrel to entangle his fingers in her mahogany curls, pulling her face against his chest. Talia heard his heart racing, felt his chest heave with frantic breaths, and then he said rather firmly, "You must stop now, though."

He went so far as to wrench her hands from him, and Talia looked up at him with confusion and rejection in her eyes. She was even more baffled when he quickly seized his member and tucked it up against his abdomen, buttoning his pants as expeditiously as he could.

"What's wrong?" Talia asked cautiously, very certain that she'd done something to offend him. Bane took a deep and quaking breath.

"When a man… finishes… while doing this," he began, looking very embarrassed, "it can make quite a mess unless there is a cloth or drain nearby."

Talia nodded knowingly, realizing that she had indeed heard a female initiate mention the viscous fluid that resulted from a man's pleasure. She, too, felt embarrassed now for some reason. Was she a complete harlot, pumping her hand against him in a frenzy of emotion and passion?

But Bane did not seem angry, and as he caught his breath, he cradled Talia's face in his palm and his eyes crinkled calmly. Talia knew she was smiling at him. She had not seen his smile in years, not since he'd gotten the mask, but she remembered it well. He'd had thick, pillowy-looking lips. His smile had been broad and bright. Talia wondered absently what it would be like to kiss him on the mouth, and she stared at the mask wistfully. Her fingers wandered up to stroke the contraption, coursing over the cold metal tubes and gliding up the strap on his cheek. Bane's eyes shone as he stared at her, and his own fingers squeezed her face very gently.

"How you've grown, little one," Bane said, his voice barely audible through the mask. Talia reached up with her free hand and pressed his fingers more firmly against her cheek.

Talia was jarred from the blissful moment by the sound of the door opening behind her. With a start, she jumped away from Bane and turned to face the door.

Ra's al Ghul stepped briskly into the room, and when he did, he looked rather suspicious.

"Why aren't you training?" he asked Talia accusingly.

"We've just finished with the shinai," Talia insisted, not entirely lying.

"We were just about to begin practicing with the poles," Bane added, quickly pulling two long rods from the weapons barrel. "She's doing very well. She handily defeated me with the shinai."

Ra's al Ghul nodded and began backing slowly from the room. "I want three more hours of training in before you break for midday meal," he insisted, and Talia nodded obediently. She could not help but notice the look of intense distrust and skepticism that her father flashed toward Bane. As Ra's shut the door, Talia gulped, realizing that the entire situation had been much too risky for her liking. She instantly regretted having touched Bane here, in the training room.

As Bane handed her one of the long wooden poles, Talia sighed to herself. If she wanted to pick up where they'd left off, it would mean another sneak to his room in the middle of the night – as long as her father did not catch her sneaking.

A/N: Thank you SOOO much to the people who have reviewed. Your feedback is appreciated more than you know.