Author's Note: Next chapter you're definitely going to see some of Stella's tabloid headlines. Thank you again for all your wonderful comments and support!

"Women are never so strong as after their defeat."

― Alexandre Dumas, Queen Margot, or Marguerite de Valois

Chapter 3

After agreeing to produce a small, bi-weekly news tabloid for Bane, Stella soon found herself headed downtown with Barsad. It was her intention to visit key locations where she could pick up story ideas by interviewing as many of 'the people' as possible.

Barsad knew that Blackgate inmates were concentrating in the upscale areas for now, so for Stella's own safety he chose to travel with her through back alleys to avoid trouble. He was quietly determined to outfit her with a gun, though he strongly suspected she would give him trouble on that subject.

Maneuvering around crowds of shell-shocked citizens and malcontents, they eventually encountered a group of unruly boys wrestling amongst themselves. One of them, a sturdy 11-year old, stood up from the roughhousing and demanded the group's attention.

"Hey you guys, watch me!" He shouted. His hands gripped the invisible lapels of his jacket as he began to practice his version of Bane's swaggering steps. "Take control… Take control of your ci-tay." He mimicked loudly, his youthful voice echoing throughout the alleyways.

Boisterous laughter soared all around, before gradually dying away as one by one the boys recognized Barsad. The stunned sharpshooter stared incredulously at the one who mocked Bane, before eventually launching into a maniacal giggle of his own.

"That's very good, Ahmed!" Barsad cackled as he wiped tears of laughter from his face. "You're very talented!" He recognized the boys as being from Father Reilly's orphanage, as they were the same boys who had done occasional work for Bane in the sewers.

"Are you gonna tell him about this, Barsad?" Ahmed demanded boldly.

"Don't worry!" Barsad assured him with a wide and calculating grin. "I won't tell Bane. But in return, I want something from you, Ahmed." Barsad had just stumbled onto an idea that he was eager to put in motion. He had previously learned that when negotiating with Father Reilly's boys, it was better to get to the point and speak to them man-to-man in order to get what he wanted.

"This lady is Stella Browning, and she is your friend." The sharpshooter explained. "She's publishing a small tabloid newspaper for Bane, for which she requires reliable downtown distribution. I'm coming to you about this because no one in Gotham knows the city's grid as well as you men. We have worked together successfully in the sewers. So, can I rely on your services again?" Barsad asked.

Ahmed eyed Barsad with suspicion, as Stella stepped in to do her part. "It won't be a heavy tabloid." She assured the boy. "One page, cardstock, double-sided and folded in half. It will weigh almost nothing. You won't have any trouble delivering it. And I'm sure we'll be able to arrange a reward for your services." She promised impulsively, her eyes appealing to Barsad's alarmed expression.

"What kind of a newspaper?" Ahmed inquired, still suspicious.

"That's a fair question." Stella nodded. "It's going to be about surviving in the city while Bane is in charge. It's going to be about hope, because Bane wants us to have hope. Is that acceptable to you, Ahmed?" Stella asked.

Ahmed stared at Stella and felt his heart ache for the mother he couldn't remember. He shook himself back to reality and quickly looked to Barsad. He liked the idea of a reward.

"We ask that you deliver the tabloid in neighborhoods where the rich have been cast out, and in the peoples' neighborhoods." Barsad said. "Put them into mailboxes and mail slots, place them in high traffic areas, pass them out wherever you encounter line-ups for supplies…"

As Barsad moved to explain the details to some of the other boys, Ahmed reached for Stella's hand.

"Stella? Are you Barsad's girlfriend?" he asked shyly.

Stella was taken aback by the friendliness and trust of the boy, especially in light of his suspicion of Barsad. "No, Ahmed, I'm not. I believe Barsad is married!" she answered amusedly as she squeezed his hand.

"Did you know that Bane has a girlfriend?"

"He does?" She returned in a conspiratorial whisper, sensing that this was exactly the kind of information she needed for her secret Gotham story. "Well, what's her name?"

"Talia…. Talia Uhgool."

"Talia Uhgool." Stella repeated.

"Yeah!… She's Bane's boss, too."

After arranging to meet with Ahmed in two days, Barsad guided Stella through the city's rubble to the Court House, which had been severely compromised by Bane's men. Stella barely recognized the building. The judge's podium was stacked to the ceiling with desks and books, and at the very top of the stack sat Judge Jonathan Crane.

"Come closer, Ms. Browning!" Judge Crane called from his perch, his boyish voice echoing throughout the hall. "Happy to meet you. I was just informed that you would be visiting me. Please sit down and we'll begin our interview. You have exactly five minutes!" he stated, setting an egg timer before him and striking his gavel to indicate the antique chair on the floor.

However brief, Stella didn't enjoy her interview with the unbalanced judge because she could only wonder how it would feel to be sitting in the antique chair, knowing death was imminent. There was an element of humanity missing in the judge that disturbed her, and she was grateful to leave the chair. She didn't realize that Barsad stood ten feet behind during the interview, as Bane had directed him, with his rifle poised. Afterwards, she stayed to watch some of Crane's judgments, but as soon as Barsad spotted her angry tears, he urged her onwards.

He then ushered Stella to Gotham Pier, where citizens who chose a sentence of "exile" met cold, watery deaths. Stella interviewed several of the workers who kept the traffic moving on the ice, while Barsad remained vigilant that she didn't go anywhere near it herself. Bane's orders.

Next stop was the Daggett building, which was the place where Bane and his men set up operations after rejecting the offices of Gotham Woman. "I thought you might be interested in the opulence of this building, or should I say, the former opulence." Barsad sneered. "We trashed Daggett's rooms and evicted everyone. You might find a good story here…"

Stella toured a few floors and interviewed the members of Daggett's domestic staff who were still being held by Bane. At one point, Barsad excused himself, because Bane had summoned him to the building's parking garage.

"What's going on in the parking garage?" Stella asked with her usual curiosity. Abraham, who had taken Barsad's place, simply shrugged and shook his head, though he knew very well what was going on.

Before she could protest, Stella saw Natasha emerge from an office on the third floor. She was wearing doctor's scrubs and her long brown hair was braided.

"Hey!" she greeted Stella. "I finally met Bane!"

"And… are you okay?"

"I'm well, thanks! She replied cheerfully. "I've taken over a doctor's office and a condo unit here, so I'm set up. I had the distinct impression that Bane was none too pleased that I was a woman, especially when he told me I had to prove myself worthy of his army. I countered that the only way I could do that was by proving myself in my field. And I politely suggested that I give him a complete physical." Natasha laughed infectiously. "He really had no choice but to accept my challenge!"

Stella squirmed enviously at the thought of Natasha examining a gloriously naked Bane. Although it was on the tip of her tongue to ask Natasha for details, she thought better of it. That was unethical, and it was time to put a stop to her unhealthy attraction to the terrorist.

"Well, at least someone knows what's behind the mask now." She said sarcastically.

Natasha smiled perceptively at the blushing, pony-tailed journalist. "You know, you could do a lot worse, Stella. Now come on in. I want to take your blood and check you for concussion again."

In the parking garage, Bane and a few of his men were holding yet another prisoner, who was captured outside the offices of Gotham Woman that same afternoon.

"Why don't you tell me who you are and why you are here." Bane wheezed as he ripped the gag tape from the prisoner's mouth. The man, dressed in an Armani suit, was chained to the floor, and he shuddered at the sight of Bane's mask. "My men claim you wanted to be captured." The masked man suggested with mock disbelief.

"I've already explained it to your goons! I'm Matthew Black!" the man boasted with an obvious air of entitlement. "I'm the publisher of Gotham Woman, and I've accounted for all its employees but Stella Browning. I noticed how many men you had watching the building, and I put two and two together. I figured you had her, because she's definitely a prize for dirty foreigners!"

Bane gestured to his men. "Leave us." He ordered in a sinister tone. He suspected the interrogation was about to enter sensitive territory and he didn't want his men to know that he could be ruled by jealousy or weakness for a woman. It was bad enough that some of them were aware of his relationship with Talia.

After all the men except Barsad had retreated, Bane roughly hoisted the publisher into the air and violently slammed him against the wall, cutting off Black's ability to breathe properly.

"Assuming I do have Stella Browning, what is she to you?" Bane asked in a lethal tone. He disliked having to ask the next question. "You are… her lover?"

"N-no!" Black squawked, desperate to breathe, and easily sensing Bane's possessiveness toward Stella. "She says she's never had those kinds of feelings for me."

Bane silently considered the man's answer for a time before responding.

"But you want her..." he observed unsympathetically.

"I…I…" Matthew stammered. The handsome publisher paused for moment before deciding to go for broke. "Look, pal…" He smirked condescendingly, assuming Bane's mask was an impediment to romance. "I know you can't relate, but of course I want Stella – who wouldn't? There's a running competition between me and two other guys from the office as to who will fuck her first!"

Black himself had slept with many women, and he'd pulled some crazy stunts to lure them into the bedroom. Getting himself caught by Bane's men was by far the craziest, but Matthew Black was seriously beginning to regret his supreme arrogance.

"…so you thought you'd swoop down to rescue her," Bane continued, speaking in a low tone, his voice a disturbingly chilly center of calm, "because she might be grateful to you… see you in a different light. Does Mrs. Black know of your extramarital obsession, Mr. Black?"

Black's eyes widened in terror, as he realized Bane was privy to far more than just his longing for Stella. He had flattered himself with the fantasy that Stella would be grateful for his rescue and willingly submit as he banged her all night long. But that fantasy had faded significantly once the masked man began his interrogation.

"Look…" Black sputtered. "You don't know what the hell you're talking about. Just keep my wife out of this!"

Bane's eyes glittered dangerously. "Your attempted rescue failed." He rumbled. "I am very sorry to inform you that Stella Browning is no longer in your employ. She works for me now."

"You filthy bastard! You're fucking her, aren't you?" He charged as he lunged at Bane despite the weight of the chains.

A toxic combination of jealousy and aggression surged through Bane's body, and he responded by crushing Matthew Black's windpipe with the fingers of his left hand. He patiently watched as the man twitched and gurgled, before falling into the same heap as the chains that held him.

"No." Bane answered lightly as he waited for the man's body to stop twitching. "Not yet."

Sensing his lieutenant's approach, he turned his head to the left.

"How did you know about the wife?" Barsad asked.

Bane turned full circle to look Barsad in the eye. "I was bluffing…" he admitted cheerfully, his eyes twinkling. "Bring her to me, Barsad, by way of the south stairwell."

He was waiting patiently at the foot of the south stairwell when Barsad arrived with Stella.

"What's going on down here?" She asked nervously as Bane gestured for her to walk with him.

"You are here because my men captured an extremely handsome fellow today, a Mr. Matthew Black, as he approached the offices of Gotham Woman." Bane stated in a business-like manner.

"Matt...? Where is he now?" Stella asked, trying not to show any alarm.

"He claimed to be your employer, and that you were the only member of his staff not yet accounted for. He correctly assumed that you were our prisoner, and deliberately got himself caught in a misbegotten attempt to rescue you.

"So where is he now?" Stella asked, the panic rising in her voice.

"You did not tell me you had an admirer." Bane said ominously, gripping her arm possessively and pulling her close. The white hot jealousy he endured earlier had returned with a far greater intensity.

"There's nothing between us." she exclaimed, horrified by the suggestion of a romance between her and the conceited publisher. "Even if I were attracted to him, he has a wife, so I would never have anything to do with him. I've told him that over and over! Stella struggled to wrench herself free from his firm grip. "Let go of me, please!"

Bane felt himself relax significantly as he released Stella. He was very pleased that her story matched the one told by Black.

"Well, apparently he did not take your protests seriously." He observed as he urged her forward. "His intent was to rescue you in hopes of winning your affections, my dear. A very foolish move, since he had no real plan for escape once we captured him."

Stella's eyes narrowed. "What is it with you men?" she asked, directing an accusing stare at Bane. "You walk into women's lives and make decisions for us behind our backs, because you think you know best, and because it's what you want. And you won't take 'no' for an answer…"

"He will not bother you anymore." Bane interjected. The knowledge that three men had wanted Stella had strongly aroused his manhood – without his permission. He normally wielded strict control of his appetites, but lately he'd experienced a few surprises.

"I'm …so humiliated." Stella seethed quietly. "I can take care of myself. I don't need a man to rescue me."

"I shall endeavor to remember that, my dear." Bane frowned as he fought a commanding urge to take her body.

As they rounded a corner, Stella was confronted by the corpse of her boss, face up and motionless on a pile of chains, with a permanent expression of agony on his face. She viewed the scene in a paralyzed state before finally rushing to the nearest corner and kneeling to vomit on the concrete floor.

Apart from the few times he had shown her unwanted attentions, Matthew Black had been an excellent publisher, nurturing her career at Gotham Woman after her return from Africa. He didn't deserve an end like this. No one did. Stella felt as though she had hit bottom. Matthew Black was dead; Gotham Woman and her job were well and truly dead. She was a prisoner in a city that was scheduled to die in five months. This was her reality, and she wondered how she could go on.

Bane watched silently as she choked on sobs and dry heaves, and nodded approvingly when she began to control her emotions with deep breathing. She would soon adapt, he assured himself.

"Come, Stella." he said softly, extending his hand to her, and using her name for the first time.

Stella turned to look at him, wiping her tear-stained face with her sleeve. She had promised herself that she would never cry in his presence, but the vow was short-lived.

"Did you kill him?" she asked quietly, noticing the blood on his fingers.

"Yes." Bane offered. He saw no reason to lie to her.

Stella placed her fingertips to the floor and pushed herself into a standing position.

"I can get myself up, thank you."