There was really no reason for me to be at Gotham's version of a stock exchange. It was dirty, and smelt of unwashed men who risked everything on the whims of richer men running powerful companies. It was way above my pay grade, but thankfully I was here for a legitimate reason.

One of the ways I helped Mr Reilly, who I still felt weird calling Mathew, was by tracking down the 'other' parent, of the recently orphaned child. A five year old had come in the other day, curly white hair and dimples that would have been beautiful, had he ever smiled. Instead his face was perpetually sad, his mother's death still not something he fully understood.

More often than not, the unknowing and too often indifferent parent didn't take responsibility for the child. Mr Reilly preferred not speaking to such 'people', recently leaving that work to me. At the moment, I was tracking down a Mr Timothy Hobbins. Taking a glance at the photo, one of the American pretty Mr Hobbins holding his current wife lovingly, I looked around for him for the tenth time. It seemed every time I made half a step through the crowd, it converged upon me and I lost my way again. It was vital I found Mr Hobbins as soon as possible; his wife had refused to pick up the phone after I called and explained the situation, and she claimed her husband would have no interest in taking in his son. The only way I could get to the husband without the wife knowing, was tracking him down at his work. This… hell

A heavy foot, from a heavier set man, stomped down on my foot painfully. He glared at me like it was my fault; I bit back the urge to kick him 'where-it-hurts' and moved further alone. Ahead I could finally see the tell-tale white locks that had brought me here in the first place, Mr Hobbins was only twenty steps away and I couldn't be more relieved.

Something loud rang out over the angry crowd before I could reach him; it took me a second to recognize the sound of a gun being fired. Then the torrent of screaming began; I was too late to brace myself for the rampaging bodies. The heavy-set man from before, slammed into me. Biting back a cry I fell to the ground; the tip of somebodies shoe slamming into my face and knocking my glasses off. The pain was slightly easier to ignore than the blindness, but either way I was screwed. The stampeding people lasted for only a second, and then a semi-automatic rang out and everybody dropped to the floor with me. I was yet to hear my glasses smash thankfully, and was quite sure that they were near me.

Everything blurry, I ran my hands along the ground beside me, desperate to see what was going on around me.

There was silence, the only noise seeming to come from my slightly frantic scrambles.

And then I heard it, a noise as unmistakable to me as a police siren was to others. Heavy breathing, through a respirator of kinds.

No

"This is a stock exchange, there is no money here you can steal." The voice came just to the right of me. I turned my head, but could see nothing except one large shape bending over either a midget or a seated man…

"Really, then why are you people here?"

I instinctively ducked my head low, Bane's voice somehow calming and terrifying me at the same time. If he saw me, would he kill me for having escaped? Or has he by some miracle forgotten my existence?

He is a busy man, what with the constant need to murder and hold stock exchanges up for money that they don't have.

The sound of a rolling chair flew by me. I hunched down even lower, using my now long locks to hide my face even more. Heavy footsteps went by me. Then I heard it, something unmistakably horrible. The sound of my glasses breaking under somebodies boot.

The footsteps stopped.

"I believe these are yours."

This is not happening, I am dreaming, this is not happening

I still held out a hand, despite my insistence that this wasn't real, but refused to lift my head. The familiar black rimmed specs fell into my hand; I slipped them on. The damage wasn't too bad, only slightly cracked, but I still couldn't look up at the man I knew to be standing there.

"Small one." His voice brokered no excuses.

I looked up and immediately started shaking. He seemed even bigger than before, a mass of muscle that would tower over all in here, even had they not been cowering like me.

"You look frightened. Do you believe you have done something wrong?"

Finally, I found my voice.

"W—well technically, you said I wasn't a prisoner and I could leave for good if I could escape." He didn't say anything, "I escaped…"

Ducking my head slightly, I tried to fold even more into myself.

Above me, Bane made a contemplative noise. Eyes unreadable, he turned and stomped towards the man he had thrown in the wheelie chair. A man who had probably only just relaxed slightly, probably thinking his ordeal over as the masked man focused on me.

No such luck.

Grabbing his head, Bane slammed it into the console. The entire room winced at the crack. I had to force myself not to go help the man, so accustomed was I to healing somebody whenever Bane was around.

A bald man, one I didn't recognize, grabbed an I-pad from his backpack and set it quickly up next to the unconscious or dead man. Bane grabbed something off said incapacitated man and stuck it into something else. Going by the noise, I guessed a card into a slot.

Job done, Bane moved away from the console. Unsurprisingly, he walked back towards me. I barely bit back a squeak as he gripped my arm and pulled me over to where his man was doing the 'technical' stuff. I was slightly shocked when he didn't immediately release me; instead he forced me back into the console. It was sit on it, or be crushed into it. I chose the lesser of two evils.

"Tell me, Clara, what brings you here this fine Gotham day?" I didn't answer, not wanting to drag Mr Hobbins into this mess. I could see him cowering just to the right of us.

"Do you enjoy spending time around people such as this?" He opened his arms wide, indicating the entire stock exchange. "Perhaps you are here for a different reason.

The photo I had forgotten was in my hand was swiftly removed; he was staring at it before I could fight back.

"Is this man the reason you are here?" He titled his head, regarding me. "Yes, I believe he is." Flipping the card over, Bane read quickly the name on the back. "Could Mr Hobbin's please stand up; I believe that this lovely lady is here for you."

"No!" It shot out of my mouth; I calmed my voice to a whisper. "Please, Bane, don't make this your entertainment."

Bane's eyes crinkled in the corners. A heavy hand came down onto my knee, the same knee he had dislocated once before. A single rough thumb toyed over the pressure point there, making my entire calf tingle.

"I should not need to remind you what I would normally do for entertainment."

Shaking my head quickly, I prayed he would remove his hand. I could feel it through my jeans. It burned.

"Very well, Mr Hobbins." He turned his head, singling out the man himself in only a second.

Timothy Hobbins stared in shock at what was happening, would probably have pissed himself had one of Bane's men not dragged him towards us. He made small whimpering noises as he was thrown down to the right of us. In front of me, Bane didn't even bother turning his body to look at the man, one glance seeming to be enough and his eyes were back on me. I however couldn't look away from the man, in his gaze I kept on seeing his son's similar look of sadness. Now, because of me, that boy might never meet his father or have a true family.

"What is it about this… man, that would compel you to enter a place like this?"

It took me a second to find my voice, and even then it was sadly weak.

"He has a son."

At this Mr Hobbins stopped trying to look at everything but me. His gaze was on me, I knew he was trying to figure out if he had slept with me; I tried not to be insulted when he crinkled his nose at me.

I elaborated. "I work at a boy's home. A child came in the other day, his mother had passed away, and my boss asked me to track down the father…" I decided to leave out the part about his heartless wife. "This was the only place I knew he would be."

Bane chuckled, the noise somehow causing me to feel calmer. Even after all this time, I submitted to my need to not be on this man's bad side.

"Then, this is a joyous occasion." He turned towards Mr Hobbins. "You are to be a father."

With the mask on his face, it was impossible to tell if Bane was mocking the poor man or not. I wasn't going to be the one to point out that Mr Hobbins would probably reject his son, and then make a onetime donation and trust him to our care.

Apparently done with the niceties, the mass of muscle turned back towards me.

"Now, you help those to find their way to their families, what of the ones who have no family… Who are you to deny them entry into mine." Said Bane, opening his arms so I knew he meant his 'brothers' around him.

He knows you have been keeping orphans from joining him

"I offer them an alternative, nothing more."

Bane made a thoughtful noise, then. "You will stop this, alternative teaching, small one."

I opened my mouth to protest; one of the giant hands that had been near my thigh moved itself on top of it. His fingers brushed high on the inside of my thigh, I froze. My eyes met Bane's, there was only a second of calm before it broke it, and pushed down with his thumb.

My body curled in on itself, pain radiating from the artery he was pushing on. It was only when he released it, that I realized at some point my head had fallen forward onto his chest. Blinking back tears, I pulled my body back stiffly, not wishing any part of myself to touch him.

The people around us were whispering, I could see it on their faces that some believed that I had helped Bane gain entry to this place. Two large thumbs, softly wiped away the tears that escaped.

"So long away from us, you have forgotten who you speak to. I am the Sheppard, and soon, all of Gotham shall be my flock."

Outside the noises of the city intensified, Police sirens flooded the room. People around looked relieved, others seemed to be even more scared. I sided with the later; criminals did stupid things when faced with capture.

"How much longer does the program need?" Said Bane, his body didn't shift from near mine.

"Eight minutes." Bane's minion seemed slightly concerned, his accent very similar to Barsads.

Grunting softly under his breath, Bane finally moved away from me. I met his eyes for a moment, they promised a follow up performance.

"Time to go mobile."

Shots rang out around us. Bane's men shouting a furious, "everybody up" that I willingly followed.

My thigh didn't cause me any problems as I was jostled through the crowd, glad to be away from Bane. I turned around for only a second, watching the enormous man grab back his bike helmet.

"Thank you."

I was swallowed into the anonymous masses.

Hey guys, been a bit of time but here is the new chapter the next one will hopefully be very Bane oriented. Review and tell me how you think I am doing so far, if I should change anything… ECT

Again thx to Beta Darkinyron, whose edited chapter will be replacing this one soon.

Xoxo

Future