The Dark Knight Series © Christopher Nolan
Fire in the Blood © Hurlstien

– 10 –

Bane hadn't said anything about what happened the night before, and Feo was glad. She herself had been quieter than she usually was, refusing to make eye contact until after a quick breakfast; and even then it had been a fleeting skim before she'd returned to petting Sabah. But now she was beside him as they stood behind a corner in the CIA's hideout, waiting for Viktor's bomb to go off. With its detonation, they would have a clearer route that led deeper into the building where they would plant another bomb, providing a secondary distraction and giving Viktor the time he needed to find the computer files and archives he'd been tasked to destroy.

Bane glanced down to see the woman biting her nails.

"Remember to control your breathing," he said, "Go slow. There is nothing to rush for."

Feo swallowed and nodded. Though she had practised this many times before, even managing to remain undetected by Bane himself for a full five minutes, now she was doing it for real and she couldn't fight the jumpy sparks that flashed beneath her skin like live wires… nor the memory of the kiss she'd planted on Bane's lips the night before. But with him acting as though nothing had happened, she found it easier.

Bane returned his attention to the hallway beyond the corner when the distant detonation of the bomb Viktor planted shuddered through the building. It was small; Modupe had made a set of them to be used specially for diversions, limiting the blast radius and lowering the chance of injuries caused – if any – while still providing a damn good distraction. Yells rose up from down the corridor and Bane watched as people came stepping out from their offices. Security guards emerged and began to head in the direction of the explosion, away from Bane and Feo. Now was their chance to move.

Bane led the way down a different corridor taking them to the southern-most half of the building, and together they became invisible, moving like spirits – their shadows morphing into the things people think they see in the corner of their vision, only to look and find nothing there. Of course, most of the cameras they passed stationed around the building picked them up, but with people's attention on the blast, they would not be seen until it was too late.

Their footsteps made not a sound as they entered a supply closet to set up the next bomb, far enough away from the first to keep security busy while Viktor worked. Feo swung the backpack from her shoulders and took out the explosive hidden there. She handed it to Bane and he entered the code to activate it when the door to the supply room opened.

Barely a second passed before Bane's boot kicked the newcomer square in the chest, sending him flying back into the hallway wall.

"Move," Bane ordered. Feo she did as told, but exiting the room and closing the door behind them, the two were met with a security guard on each side. Bane wasted no time, almost becoming ethereal as he homed in on his target and lodged his fist into the man's throat before he had time to think. Spluttering chokes and wheezes followed as he fell to the floor, only to be replaced by two more guards coming up behind him.

The man in front of Feo watched his colleague's downfall, while Feo pinched herself out of her hesitation and used his distraction to her advantage. Before he could register her movement, she kicked the inside of his knee, forcing the leg to bend out to the side and buckle. Her fist darted out to catch him in the ribs, but he blocked, his mind now alert to his attacker.

However, before either of them could make another move, the bomb planted inside the closet detonated and blew away the door and surrounding wall. Smoke filled the area like fresh cavity insulation as the remains of the closet smouldered. Bits of plaster crumbled and hit the floor like the scampering of rat's feet and a sizable portion of ceiling caved in. Feo's ears rung with a loud 'beep' as she pushed herself to an uneasy stand. She felt like she was in slow motion as she turned, looking for Bane, and found his bulky silhouette through the smoke. She spat out broken bits of brick and mortar and was about to call out to him when something round and cold pressed itself against her throbbing jugular. Her hair was seized, and she wished she'd cut it like she meant to as her head was yanked back.

As the smoke cleared, Bane became visible once more; three bodies were slumped on the floor around him, and a knife was in his hand, blood trickling down the blade and beading at the tip. She could hear raised voices getting closer as more figures appeared behind him.

"Drop the knife." The guard ordered and Feo felt the gun's nozzle shiver against her throat. She dare not move as a fleshy hole a little bigger than her fist appeared in her mind, blood leaking out from between chipped ribs that pierced the glistening meat. Her body was completely frozen. "I said drop the knife!"

She barely registered Bane slowly hold out his hand and drop the weapon, before something hit the back of her neck hard and she slumped into darkness.

They had only been in the cell for a minute or two when Bane felt Feo stir at his side. He sat cross-legged, and the shackles clasping his wrists rattled when he glanced down to see her sit up and discover her own restraints.

"What… what happened?" she asked. "Where are we?"

"You were knocked unconscious," he said, "Then we were escorted here, a holding cell." He didn't sound too happy about it, and he knew Feo could feel the tenseness in his voice as he looked away from her and stared straight ahead. But contrary to what she might've thought, he did not blame her; it was simply bad luck and timing on their part. Perhaps, even with all the commotion the bomb caused, someone still caught sight of them on camera – things didn't always go the way you wanted them.

"Oh… S-so, what now?"

He took a deep breath. "The building is on high alert, so the only way Viktor is getting out of here is by setting off another bomb. Once that happens we will use the confusion to break out." He glanced back at her to find her expression confused, so he lifted his arms, and with one swift yank, broke apart the cuffs on his wrists. He then slid a paperclip out from under his right mask strap and began to bend and twist it.

"What is that for?"

"To pick the lock."

"Oh." Feo seemed to space out for a moment as Bane's dexterous fingers shaped and warped the wire. "Did you kill those men? I saw blood on your knife."

"Surprisingly not," he said, "though, they may be hospitalised for a while." And Feo had to smile at how his voice remained rather chipper and nonchalant. "It is best casualties are kept to a minimum – deaths even more so. I don't want to give these people any more excuses to hunt us down."

She shifted, making herself comfortable. She sat cross-legged beside him, but facing the opposite way and he felt her thigh rest against his as his mind was cast back to the night before. He'd be lying if he said the kiss hadn't surprised him, and it made him question his understanding of the girl. They'd been travelling together for seven years now, and in that time she'd grown from a fourteen-year-old child to a woman of twenty-one. His lessons in Maths and English, philosophy and subjects of a darker nature, like that of self-defence and infiltration, had shaped her into knowledgeable person… though she still retained traces of naivety. But again, he'd be lying if he said this was all he'd noticed. Her physical changes had not escaped him. She was taller now, reaching to just under his collar bone, and her face had matured, lengthening a little and shaping a slightly stronger jaw. Her nose was small but pointy, her eyes were hooded, and her lips were thin, while her hair still retained its greyish black shade. Her hips were wider and her breasts, while still small, had filled out over the years. No, he hadn't missed a thing… apart from her apparent infatuation with him.

"You weren't in Georgia to sightsee, were you?"

Her question caught him off guard a little, though he had anticipated she would try to wheedle more information out of him at some point. He didn't answer as he made the finishing touches to the new lock pick.

"But, I don't suppose I can talk…" she said, "I haven't exactly been truthful with you, either."

At this, Bane turned his head and watched her from the corner of his eye.

"So… how about an exchange?" she tried. She sounded uncertain, and so she should be; not many would think it a good idea to try to dig around in the man's privacies, and Bane's first thought was to refuse. But he supposed he owed her an explanation; he always had been secretive about his past and why he'd dragged her through so many countries, seemingly aimlessly, since the day they met.

"Alright," he said, "… After you."

Feo finally looked at him and Bane thought he saw the spray of a blush before she looked away again. "You remember I said I was in a car crash, and that it was my father who had been driving?" She paused. "Well, he wasn't my father… it's just, he was like that to me," she said. "Hans Feore, the man who gave me my name. He took me in from the street when I was eight." Bane continued to watch her as she seemed to lose herself in her memories, old memories, memories where it was like squinting through frosted glass. "I lived with him for a few years, before he was killed in the same car crash that gave me my scar." She gestured to the silvery line that cut down her neck, curving jaggedly at the bottom and stopping before her collar bone. Bane stared at it for a second, then reached up to feather his rough fingers along it. Feo jumped at the contact, but quickly relaxed as she began to lean into his touch. The action was not wasted on Bane, and neither was the brightening of her cheeks. He felt his chest warm at that… and in response quickly withdrew his fingers.

As though awoken from a reverie, Feo swallowed. "It was storming and I… I guess the car coming toward us had to swerve or something," she paused. "I do not really know what happened… After that I had to learn to survive on my own again, until I met you…

"I know I said I was taught to repay my debts, and that that was the reason I offered my services, but…" She hesitated, then mumbled: "I just didn't want to be alone anymore."

Bane didn't say anything. Her confession hadn't exactly been revolutionary, but he could see why she may've felt guilty lying to him before she even knew him. Not that it mattered now.

Feo stayed silent for a while, before glancing at him and timidly clearing her throat a little. He nodded, now it was his turn.

"I was born in a prison known as The Pitt, and from that moment I was to serve my missing father's sentence," he began. "Ever since I was freed I have wanted to find him. That is the reason I was in Georgia."

Feo nodded as things he'd said to her in the past began connecting in her mind.

(So then, what is your ambition?

Knowledge.

Of what?

Certain things…)

'… His father,' she thought. His past cryptic answers made sense now.

"Is that why we travel around so much?" she asked.

Bane nodded. "A friend helped me escape my prison, bringing with her a rebel group lead by her father, The League of Shadows – that is how I know Viktor… he had difficulty during his training and I helped him," he said. "But I was excommunicated by the leader after little over a year."

"Oh," Feo frowned and leaned toward him, yet another blush flaring across the bridge of her nose. "Um… what does 'excommunicated' mean?"

"To be… removed, from something."

"They kicked you out?" She sounded surprised. "Why?"

Bane didn't answer, neither did he look at her and Feo took the hint. She kept silent as she mulled over what he'd told her, and Bane was thankful she had no more questions; he was not a man to divulge his past so readily. The young woman was lucky she got as much as she did.

They were quiet for a little while, before Feo sighed and gently leaned against him. "Being in here reminds me of that book you gave me, Rita Heyworth and the Shawshank Redemption." Bane nodded, recalling how he'd given it to her for her sixteenth birthday. "Fear can hold you prisoner. Hope can set you free," she recited, as though she'd read it directly from the book itself. Bane huffed a little and she looked at him. "You do not agree?"

"Not quite," he said, "Fear can give you strength – hope… can destroy you." Again, he wasn't looking at her.

Feo frowned at the floor as the man she'd shot came back to her. Fear had made her shoot him, and she was alive because of it… but, was that really strength?

Before either of them could dwell too much on their musings, the explosion they'd been waiting on rattled through the walls and shook bits of plaster from the ceiling. Immediately Bane turned to Feo, grabbed her wrists and yanked apart her shackles. He then moved over to the door and quickly checked through the small window, before inserting the warped paperclip into the lock. But when a light knock came from the other side of the door, Bane looked up to find Viktor's face grinning at him from behind the small pane as he jingled a set of keys. Frowning, Bane withdrew the wire as Viktor unlocked the cell.

"You did not think I would leave you here, did you?" the man asked.

Bane chucked away the clip. "Actually I did."

Viktor looked disappointed, but quickly perked up again. "Come with me, okay, I know a way out." He gestured to the left and set off at a fast walk as Bane and Feo followed.

Bane didn't ask how Viktor knew he and Feo had been locked away in a holding cell, or how he'd managed to get his hands on the key to said cell. But however he'd done it, it was these skills that made Viktor worthy of the League of Shadows, and were exactly why Bane didn't trust him.

"I take it you succeeded in destroying the files?" Bane asked as he, Feo and Viktor entered the League of Shadows' safe house. After breaking out of the CIA building and finding their hidden bikes, Viktor had split from the duo and the two separate teams had weaved through the streets for almost an hour, making sure no one was tailing them, before meeting back at the safe house.

Modupe was sat by the dead fireplace, a plate and cold cup of tea chattering in his hand with a thin blanket over his knees, while Sabah was stretched out in a square of sunlight beaming in from the window.

Viktor nodded as he closed the door and unravelled the scarf from around his neck. "Yes indeed, I–"

"Good – now it's time for you to hold up your end of the deal; what do you know of my father?"

Feo heard the impatience in Bane's voice and decided to stay out of the conversation, instead moving to kneel by Sabah and stroke the cat's head.

"Ah, yes, okay." Viktor nodded quickly, taking the tea cup from Modupe's shaky hand and emptying it into the sink. "Last I heard he was spotted in Surat, India. Go to the safe house we have there and I am sure they can tell you more."

"When was this?"

"Eight days ago."

Bane's dark eyes held Viktor's in a tight grip. "It seems especially convenient that the man I'm searching for happened to be found only eight days ago by an organisation that shouldn't have any interest in him or his whereabouts." Bane took a step towards Viktor and Feo felt her muscles tighten. "Explain yourself."

Viktor swallowed and held up his hands. "Okay, okay… the League has occasionally kept eyes on you ever since you left–"

"Were excommunicated."

Viktor nodded. "Excommunicated. I-I asked a few close colleagues of mine to search for your father, so I could help you should he be found, you know, as a thank you for helping me during my training – I swear, it was pure coincidence that your father was sighted just a few days before you arrived here. I swear."

Bane kept his gaze on Viktor for a long moment, before bowing his head. "Yesterday you told me the League has fallen on hard times."

Viktor nodded, letting out a small, inaudible breath. "Yes, it has… Ra's al Ghul's ambition to destroy Gotham and restore balance failed–"

(I saved you on a whim. But… there is no balance in this place.)

Feo frowned as her mind dug up an old, old memory, a memory from the night she met Bane. She had been tired, scared, and still weathering the lingering throws of pain from her head and arm; he could've told her anything and she wouldn't have cared – she remembered thinking what he'd said was odd, but there wasn't a thing in the world that could've made her bat an eye lid.

"–Quite a few of us were killed and… well…"

"What?" Bane demanded, his voice betraying him to reveal a trace of worry. Feo flinched at that.

"Ra's is dead."

Bane's shoulders lost their tense edge, and the pressure that had built up in the room eased almost instantly.

"We are now trying to recover and build our numbers back up."

Bane nodded slowly. "… What of Talia?"

Viktor paused and he looked a little proud. "She is leading us."

Feo glanced up from stroking Sabah as Bane held Viktor's gaze. While it may have seemed he remained steely, Feo could see relief in his eyes, and something hot began to bubble in her gut.

"The recovery is going well so far, but it will take time for us to get back to full strength," said Viktor. The room grew silent for a moment, the only sound being Sabah's loud purring. "I've told you everything I know," he glanced down at Bane's wrists and smiled. "Now, shall we see about getting those shackles off?"

I found this chapter rather difficult; Bane explaining himself to Feo was awkward to write
– Bane explaining himself or opening up to anyone doesn't seem very Bane-like to me – hence why he didn't really say much.

I'd really like to know your thoughts on this chapter, 'cause this is where it's gunna start getting a little more interesting ;D
I'm hoping I haven't gone too fast with the information, but if I have and there's something you aren't clear on, pop it in a review and I'll try and work it into the next chapter.
It'll make me better at Author-ing :D, so please don't be shy!