The taxi left them before a typical looking bar. Inside was lively, but not jam-packed. They easily found a booth. In a minute drinks were on the table, and they toasted the old times.

Then, Vic considered the pleasantries done and dove into what really interested her at the moment.

"What's the deal with the man-ape?"

Selina looked a tad surprised at the question.

"Bane? What about him?"

"Is he your charity project?"

The woman's back stiffened with shock at first, then she bent down with hysterical laughter.

"Oh, Kitten, you're cuter than you know."

Vic frowned. When her cousin called her cute she inevitably meant 'stupid'.

"I don't know if I'm all that comfortable with him around the house. I don't know him, you said he's your and Bruce's colleague, and frankly, I'm surprised you're fine with him being home alone with the kids. And me!"

"Did he make a pass at you?" Selinas voice sombered.

Vic turned her head away, suddenly terribly interested in labels on the bottles at the bar.

Seeing how her fears were unfounded this time, Selina giggled.

"Do you want him to make a pass at you?"

"He said I was too thin to be attractive," Vic admitted with a small voice.

She sniffled and let herself be gathered close in a loose hug. "And I don't know why, but if someone like him thinks I look like a bunch of sticks, what do normal, successful people must see?"

The hand patting Vic's back stilled.

"You're doing this again, Kitten. Just like in high-school."

"Am not…"

"You had an eating disorder because you wanted to fit in with the wealthy kids. And you thought if you'd be like them you'd be happy. Did that ever work?"

"No."

"So stop acting like you're better than Bane. You don't know him."

"He's not being nice to me either."

"I thought he's at least civil."

"Well okay, maybe he isn't as bratty as me."

"You're not that bad. Just a bit spoiled." Sel smiled and tousled Vic's hair a bit. "Why don't you try to be friends with him? Maybe you two could find some common ground?"

"Like what? The amount of protein in his lunch?"

"Kitten…"

"Yeah, I know. I'll try to be nicer. I'm just bitter because I hoped I could visit you and say I landed a spectacular job."

"You had something lined up already?"

"It didn't work out," she said. An understatement of the year.

"Something will come up."

"Until it does - no more talking about work or lack of thereof. Let's gossip about people we know."

"How about Bane?" Selina baited.

Vic took to it hook, line and sinker. She visibly perked up.

Before she opened her mouth for good though, Selina chuckled.

"Interested in him, Kitten?"

"Eww, he's not my type, you know that!" The words were accompanied by a matching expression of disgust, and a tad too animated waving of arms.

Then why does it matter what he thinks? Selina thought but wisely didn't voice her opinion. It was funnier to watch Vic struggle.

"People change with age. Some mature…"

"As you did, Mrs Accountant in Chief?"

"Exactly."

"I went on a stroll around the house and saw the pearls in your bedroom," Vic blurted out. "I didn't mean to be nosy, just wanted to get the layout of the rooms in my head," she added pleadingly.

If anyone in the world would understand it was Selina. She couldn't be mad - she had the same urge to explore and find the most precious trinkets around. Even if the desire to swap them for herself was gone, she would understand that need to touch and see how it felt around her fingers.

At least that's what Vic hoped for.

"Don't do that again."

"I won't. I'm sorry. Please don't be mad."

"I'm not, Kitten. They are a family heirloom."

"Really?"

"They belonged to Bruce's mother. She had them on the day she died."

"Oh," was all Victoria could have said. Any questions she might have had evaporated from her head, leaving only a profound sense of guilt. "I'm being such a bitch."

"Well, no one changes overnight. Besides, do not expel that completely. It helps in life, to have some confidence."

If only she knew what results her pep talk would have, Selina might have bitten her tongue. As it was she happily swigged her margarita, sighing contentedly when she could for once just relax.

oOo

Bane was rapidly advancing in his research, reading the newest intelligence briefing he received this afternoon and relishing the quiet that fell around the house when he heard the women return home.

He glanced at the clock. Half past ten. Not very impressive.

There was some commotion downstairs, and quite a lot giggling. From the pitch, he suspected they both were pretty sloshed. It surprised him that the Cat indulged in anything more than a glass or two. Victoria, on the other hand, seemed to be too fond of the bottle. But that wasn't his problem.

He settled back into his reading.

When they came out today he couldn't help but notice the outfit Vic chose for the night. He had to stop himself from laughing out loud… But truth be told the amusement came after a healthy dose of appreciation. What an unpredictable little thing, the Cat's cousin was. Bane didn't expect that she hid anything feminine under her big sweater, and he was proven wrong. ANd then, when she turned, he found that not only her body was easier available than he thought, but also she was adorned with a very interesting ink on her skin.

Whether he liked it or not, Vic was getting more interesting by the minute. And Bane relished a good riddle...

The house fell into a nightly lull again, interrupted only by soft creaking and rumbling of the wood.

Suddenly, someone yelped on the corridor. A second later his door rattled and burst open.

Bane's right hand clasped the Smith & Wesson he kept at his bedside, hidden from view. At the last moment, he stopped himself from pointing it at the intruder.

"Whoops!" Victoria giggled and feebly tried to regain her footing, clawing onto the door handle. "This isn't the bathroom."

"No, it's not," Bane admitted.

He didn't move from his bed, but the hand that travelled to the side slowly returned to his lap.

Victoria seemed transfixed with the movement. An enigmatic smile tugged one corner of her mouth upwards.

The lopsided expression looked cute, Bane had to begrudgingly admit to himself. Even if it was a bit silly. He sent an amused look her way, coupled with both his eyebrows rising up and a slight tilt of his head.

She blinked owlishly a few times when she focused her gaze somewhere around his chin.

"Sorry," she said finally when she gathered enough brainpower to muster a reply.

She stayed in the doorway, hanging on to the handle and grinning stupidly.

Bane sighed with exasperation, moving his printouts to the side.

"Off you go."

"Why?"

The question was unnecessary. She obviously only tried to spite him.

Bane's lips stretched in a predatory smile. Since she played almost nicely in the afternoon, he could let it pass… But decided against it. He wanted to get back at her, at least nominally.

"Because this mattress is too squeaky."

He didn't mean it, of course. She was just an annoying brat, testing his patience. The taunt was there only because his superior intellect made a calculation. That would be the fastest and most effective way of getting rid of her. And possibly scaring her enough that she'd keep her distance from now on.

Or so he thought.

"Oh, sir, you're getting ahead of yourself." She didn't sound put off in the least. To make matters worse, she leered while her slurred words came out sounding in a way that proved she did spend most of past decade overseas.

It was his second nature, an involuntary reflex to play along.

"It rather seems that you did, darling." As soon as he said that Bane knew he made a grave mistake.

Victoria gasped and licked her lips when he stood up and stretched his considerable frame. The involuntary roll of his shoulders to loosen the rigidness in his back had her stance changed to signal high-alert. Or high-attentiveness.

It did something to his head.

"Why do you sound British all of a sudden?" She asked breathlessly.

"Do I? I don't think so. Perhaps you misheard." This time he made sure to add an over-generous amount of throaty French delivery. The safest bet now was to play it as a joke. He stepped closer, smiled seductively, and bent over a bit to grab Vic's shoulders.

"Wha…?"

The woman was obviously stupefied. Not for the reason Bane initially intended, but he could make the focus she had on his body work to his advantage. Even though he had the strongest urge to test his earlier words while giving her a lesson in self-importance.

It was laughably easy to manipulate Vic out of his room. She looked like she was dazed, her cheeks and nose reddened, her lips moist and open into an almost perfect 'o'. But her eyes gave most away, with how she drank in the proximity. Her head was thrown back a bit, face angled up, practically waiting for a kiss...

Bane wondered did she even realize what she was doing.

For a little moment, he too was caught up in the intimacy of his position. He was practically hovering over her, gently coaxing her back with the pressure of his body, but all the time keeping a hair of space between them. The control he had was intoxicating, especially since for once she didn't seem to want to challenge him.

How submissive would she get?

"I bid you goodnight, Victoria," he said with a charming smile and a generous smothering of Spanish accent on his tongue.

And closed the door right into her face.

There was an audible click of the key in the lock, and an incredulous 'Oh, shit!' left Vic's lips, seemingly without a conscious decision on her part.

On the other side, Bane chuckled and went back to his reading.

Almost on auto-pilot, he tracked her movements, listening in on her in the bathroom. That house had some really thin walls.