Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters find themselves in. Everything else belongs to someone else and that's the way it's gotta be according to the lawyers.

Shocking Behavior

Wearing pajama bottoms and a light weight cotton shirt, Blake waited for Bane to finish up in the bathroom. He hadn't showered yet, thinking it best to wait until after Bane had left his apartment before he saw himself naked in the mirror while fully awake. Because while he knew logically that what Bane had done the night before was a step in the right direction, taking off the mask while he was actually conscious, he was still pretty damn pissed that he'd been hickied within an inch of his life in the process.

But he wasn't going to dwell on that, the detective reminded himself sternly. He was going to see Bane to the door, start dropping his hints about the surprise he had planned for the other man when he got back, and get a little payback in the process.

Oh was he going to get himself some payback before winter was over.

Turning his head when the bathroom door opened Blake watched Bane come back into the bedroom, well aware that his lover was just waiting for him to let him have it. Which was part of the reason he wasn't letting the man have it in the first place, Blake thought as he smiled in greeting. Couldn't become too predictable, now could he?

"I thought I'd walk you out."

Wary, especially since he remembered well the man's last reaction to having just his pretty ass marked, Bane nodded and told Blake to lead the way, not about to give the detective his back until he had to. It would be safer that way.

"I will call you at nine tomorrow night. After that I won't be able to reach you for a few days." There would be no reception high in the mountains that hid the League of Shadows from the outside world, and even if there had been he would not draw attention to his relationship with Blake to that degree. And yet he couldn't shake the knowledge that his bird too often found trouble without looking for it, and Blake was looking for it in his quest to apprehend the serial killer he sought to entrap every night. What if something were to happen to his lover while he was away? He wouldn't know, not even Barsad would be able to reach them after a certain point.

"I'll be anxiously awaiting your call." Sarcasm dripped off every syllable, the words interrupting Bane's thoughts.

Oddly reassured by the smartass reply, it was annoying waiting for Blake to blow up at him, Bane allowed his gaze to lower enough to appreciate the way the detective's anger made his ass move.

Aware of where the man's eyes were Blake glanced over his shoulders. "Look your fill since you won't be seeing it for a while."

"Do you think to refuse me when I come back?" Now that he was thinking more clearly Bane was willing to admit that Barsad had given him good advice the night before and he had most likely been…unwise not to heed it.

Knowing an opening when he saw it Blake turned around and moved in to fiddle with the scarf that was once again draped around Bane's neck instead of being used to tie him to his own bed. Looking directly into the man's eyes, and very pleased to see the wariness in them, Blake gave him a little, knowing smile. "Oh no, I don't intend to refuse you at all. In fact, I have quite the homecoming planned for you, Mr. Bane."

"Oh?"

"Mhmmm. That is, if you're very good and bring me back a souvenir. No T-shirts, FYI."

"A souvenir." Bane repeated, drawing a complete and utter blank as to what he could possible bring his bird back. It wasn't like the areas they'd be going to were tourist attractions. Hell, they wouldn't even be in commercial airports.

Blake nodded. "Do that, and when you get back we're going to play a little game."

"I don't play games."

Leaning in Blake placed his lips so that every breath he took hit the sensitive nerves of Bane's ear as he told the man that he'd want to play this game.

Wrapping one arm around Blake waist to press the detective's body flush against his own, Bane lifted his other hand so that he could stroke the man's hair. "And why would I want to play this game, Parjarito?"

Pitching his voice low Blake smiled evilly since Bane couldn't see it as he answered. "Because if you win I'll use my mouth on you however you like for a whole week."

Body jerking at the seductive offer, his little bird had certainly not pulled his punch, Bane knew that it was no coincidence that he was being told this, offered it just as he was about to leave. There was no time to argue or throw Blake to the floor and teach him the price to be paid for taunting a predator so openly. And trying to trap one, since that was precisely what this was.

"And what would you get, if you won?"

"If I win?" Cuddling his body up against Bane's, which had gotten awfully tense all of a sudden, Blake nipped the man's ear before replying. "If I win then you have to take your mask off for a week when we're in bed together. Lights off, so I won't be able to see you, but I want your mouth, Bane."

"No."

This being the expected answer Blake simply shrugged. "Fine. I would have thought you'd ask what the game was first, but if you're so sure you'd lose…"

"No." He wasn't going to risk it. Refused to risk it.

Pulling back as much as he was able to Blake met Bane's gaze. "Then have a safe trip. I'll see you when you get back."

Turning Blake loose Bane watched him carefully all the way to the door, walking through it after the detective opened it for him. When he was through he spun around to face his lover, who was leaning against his door casually, nothing suggesting that the man was remotely displeased with him. "You will behave while I'm gone."

Blake just smirked in response, the gleam in his eyes making it clear he'd do as he liked.

"You will stay safe." Bane ordered, his tone suggesting he wasn't above locking Blake up somewhere to make sure of it if the detective didn't agree.

"I'll do my best."

Giving the man a very dark look for emphasis Bane finally turned to leave, suddenly feeling very awkward and…unnerved to be saying good bye to the man like this. He'd be back, but he…hated…literally hated the idea that shortly they would be out of contact. He didn't like it.

Blake moved fast, he knew he had to, but Bane didn't move in time to stop the detective from slapping him across his ass as hard as he could.

And darting back just as quickly, Blake winked and stuck out his tongue before closing the door promptly behind him, leaving Bane behind to stare at the door in stunned shock at Blake's idea of a 'goodbye'.

And he stayed that way for several moments before his lips curved behind his mask, and a sound very close to a chuckle bubbled up from his chest to be distorted by the mask.

He would think later that no one amused him quite like his precious little bird.

)

Finishing up his lunch Blake put his dish and glass in the sink, absently glancing out his kitchen window to the brink wall that faced it. He'd never seen the point in the window given the complete lack of view, but oh well, today he was in too good of a mood to care about that. He'd gotten Bane good the night before and he couldn't wait for the man to return and make him pay for it. Or try, anyway. He was far from out of ideas.

But last night…fuck he was getting aroused just thinking about it. It had gone exactly as he'd intended it to. He'd deliberately stroked himself to hardness before Bane's scheduled call, not telling the other man what his hand was up to while they chatted until his voice and the small sounds he'd pretended to try and hide registered over the crappy reception. As expected Bane had been less than pleased with him, but he'd managed to keep the man talking by listing the various ways he could get himself off instead of depending on Bane's voice to do the trick. Naturally Bane hadn't been familiar with some of the sex toys mentioned, so of course he'd had to explain their uses in great, lengthy detail while Bane's harsh, mechanized breathing gave his desire away even as the man had ordered him to bite his tongue. He'd decided moaning out his orgasm into the phone was a better idea, Blake thought wickedly to himself, sated at the time by his own touch, success, and the fact that he'd left his man hard and hanging as he'd agreed to end the conversation they were having and had said good bye and hung up before Bane could react to what he'd just done.

He squirmed at the thought of what Bane would say when he called again.

Though he should probably drop in at Wayne Manor later on, Blake decided, putting his hand into his pocket to pull out his cellphone. He wanted to be at his best physically when his man came back with no doubt very strenuous activities in mind.

Licking his lips Blake paused in the act of punching in Bruce's number, the sound of hard knocking at his front door signaling an unexpected guest. Shoving his phone back into his pocket the detective headed for the door, checking the eye hole first. It was the Collins boy, David, and he looked scared. Very, very scared.

Undoing his locks as quickly as he could Blake threw open the door and took a step forward as he began to ask what was wrong, instinct kicking in just seconds too late. He had only enough time to sense the unseen presence standing off to the side before he was hit by the bolt of electricity from the taser, losing control of his muscles immediately as he spasmed and hit the ground without being able to break his fall.

He was aware enough to see the same happen to David, the eight year old falling on top of him before being thrown further into the apartment, Blake soon dragged in after him. And then a face appeared so close to his own that their lips almost met, Blake now able to see the face of his attacker clearly as the man leaned down to inject a needle of some sort into his flesh.

Jackson Grey

And as he lost consciousness he heard the man's voice clearly, telling him just how perfect he was as his cheek was stroked with the murderer's other hand.

)

How much time had passed before he regained consciousness Blake had no way of knowing, waking up with aching muscles, a killer headache, and the realization that he was lying on his stomach on a bed with his hands and feet tied. He was in an old, residential basement judging from the size and what little he could see of his surroundings. No windows, just a single bulb above him. Crap. Whimpering. The protector he was had Blake reacting to the sounds automatically again as he shifted his body just enough so that he could see that David was in the room as well, locked in a nearby cage that was only just big enough to hold the boy.

"John?"

"I'm awake, David. You aren't alone."

With tears running down his cheeks the boy babbled and apologized for the part he'd played luring him out of his apartment. Grey had threatened to hurt the child's little sister and mother if he didn't obey and had shown him a knife to make sure he believed him. He hadn't wanted to do it, but he hadn't known what else to do.

Seeing how close David was to slipping into hysterical shock Blake sought to distract while he focused on getting them out of their present situation. "David, did I ever tell you that my first name is actually Robin?"

"No." The boy sniffed, rubbing at his swollen eyes. "It is?"

"Yup. It was my father's name, and he told me once that it was one of the reasons my mother agreed to go out with him. Because his name was a bird's too." Rolling onto his back Blake brought his legs up for closer inspection, relieved to see that the ropes would be easy to untie once he was free. Hopefully his hands would be the same when he could see them.

When David asked what bird his mother had been named after Blake continued the story, especially since it was going to be his mother's blood that got them out of their current fix.

"Her first name was Dove. She came from a family who had a longstanding tradition of naming all their family members after birds. Do you know why?"

"Uh uh."

"Well, I'm about to show you why."

And as he began to slide his bound hands down and over his ass, bending his legs to slide them through, Blake explained.

His mother had come from a family of acrobats, the bird names a good luck charm against the possibility of falling when they took to the high wire. Birds always flew, and so had the Flying Graysons as they'd been called. And one of the things that had made them so good at what they did was that those who were Grayson by blood tended to inherit the family trait of being double jointed.

Blake thought but didn't say that while he'd never had the opportunity to meet his maternal family or learn from them, they'd been killed by a mob boss during a visit to Gotham, he'd done gymnastics in high school and Bruce had further honed his body during his training. Which was why, with very little contortion on his part, he was now able to start using his teeth to undo the rope binding his hands together while David cheered.

Thankfully Grey hadn't gotten fancy, obviously depending on the hands behind the back to insure his prey didn't get a chance to even attempt to free himself. And that was going to come back and kick him in the ass, Blake thought with the darkest intent, looking forward to delivering the kick with extreme bloodlust.

The motherfucker should have left David out of it. That was crossing a serious line.

When his hands were loose he quickly shook them to get feeling back in them, his attention shifting to the door that would be there only way out of the windowless basement they were being held in.

Seconds later, as though his gaze had set off some alarm, the sound of a lock being turned had Blake shifting immediately so that he was sitting up on his knees with his hands behind his back to hide the fact that they were free, the elevation of the pillows just enough that he hopefully wouldn't look too awkward as he sought to undo the rope through touch alone.

The man who stepped into the room didn't look like a monster. They so often didn't. He was actual attractive in face and form, at least until you looked into his eyes. Even in the photographs you could see, from the man's stare alone, that there was nothing human about Jackson Grey.

"You're awake. Good."

"You're going to be sorry you took him." David's voice was full of false bravado, but it was enough to draw Grey's attention away from Blake for the moment. "Detective Blake…his boyfriend is huge. As big as Hagrid from Harry Potter. When he finds out you hurt him he'll crush you like a bug. My dad's seen him. He said he's so big and strong looking that if he played for the Gotham Rogues, they'd actually get to the playoffs for once."

Imagining the damage Bane could do playing professional football Blake had to admit David's father wasn't wrong. Plus men in uniforms were hot.

And he'd done it, Blake thought as the ropes fell away, subtly rotating his feet as he mentally prepared to attack. Game on.

"Is he the one who marked you so thoroughly?" Grey inquired, his focus now on Blake as the boy didn't interest him. "I have to say, that came as quite the…surprise."

Belatedly it occurred to him that he wasn't wearing a shirt and that he was wearing leather pants instead of his jeans from earlier. Fury burned in Blake's eyes at the realization, the idea that the sick bastard had seen him naked, touched him…it pumped up his adrenaline and quickly cleared his head of what remained of the drug. Come here, his eyes challenged now, and I'll rip your throat out with my teeth.

"Such fire and passion. Jeremy was the same. I didn't believe the pictures at first, the video. You look…so much like him." The boy forgotten, Grey's entire focus was on Blake, his face and body conveying his sick lust and intentions. He'd been warned to kill the detective before the end of the week, but how could he? No, he was going to keep him, take him, finally have the man he wanted by his side always. Jeremy had never really understood him, hadn't loved him the way he should have. But this man, who looked so much like his doomed previous love, was obviously much darker, much more in touch with his animal side. Those eyes, they spoke of such anger and bloodlust, they called to him like a siren.

Moving in closer to the bed, his intention to steal a kiss and fan the flames, Grey had only enough time to draw in a startled breath before Blake sprang at him, tackling him to the floor with a snarl of fury.

And as soon as they landed Blake drew back his fist and delivered three punishing blows to the man's face, knocking him out with the first and adding the other two for him and David.

While David cheered and hollered from his cage Blake got to his feet and retrieved the ropes, using them to tie Grey up in such a way that only someone very experienced and skilled with knots was going to get them off anytime soon.

That done he patted the assehole down until he'd found the keys and got David the hell out of his small prison, clutching the boy tightly to him while David did the same.

"Let's get the hell out of here, shall we?"

In wholehearted agreement David asked if he couldn't kick the bad guy once before they left, and not having a problem with that Blake told him to go ahead. He'd take the blame with a clear conscience.

Once that was accomplished Blake gave the still shaky boy a piggyback ride up the stairs so that they could go find a phone. He had some calls to make.