A/N: thank you for the comments, all of you are so sweet. Told you I would get it up soon! Sorry for the wait and I hope it doesn't suck. i'm starting to worry Bane's becoming a little un...baney.

The water hit his back sending a jolt down his spine. Clean, warm water, something had been so foreign to him had now become part of his daily routine. Usually it was a river or any water source he could find, no soap, no luxuries such as shower gel, although that wasn't something he used even now. But he couldn't deny it felt nice, to feel clean, and warm, even if he couldn't remove his mind from the girl sleeping in the next room.

Almost eight hours had past, and he hadn't removed his eyes from her for a second. He had done all he could. Removing her wet clothes and wrapping her with as many blankets as he could find. That really was all he could do.

Even so, he had stayed up and watched her. The violent shivering had subsided at around 4am to a slight tremble, and by 6am her skin was still cold to touch, but not quite the sub-zero temperatures it had been before.

That's when he finally left the chair, removing his mask so he doesn't have to feel the restraints for five minutes, taking a shower, perhaps he would change his clothes, maybe even sleep. No. he would wait for her to wake up before he did. She had passed out some time between the lake and the apartment, and the words leaving her lips had been inconsistent babble. No. he would wait to sleep.

It feels like an eternity before he leaves the warmth of the water, drying himself off and tugging on his trousers, and pulling the mask on.

Just as the screaming starts.

He darts into the bedroom to find her on the bed, back arched, screaming at the top of her lungs. He can't make out the words she's saying, lost with within the cries coming from her, and for a moment he's unsure of what to do. Leave her? He had seen her experience the nightmares before, twisting and turning, crying out in her sleep, but never like this.

Bane has to wake her. He can't take it.

"Alice?"

He's by the bed, hovering over her. How was he meant to do this?

"NO. STOP. PLEASE!"

"Alice!"

He grabs her roughly, and the immediate contact seems to snap her awake. She tries to fight him for a moment, to get away for him, but after a few seconds she seems to realise where she is, who she's with as she stares at him with wide terrified eyes.

"you were only dreaming." He tells her as calmly as he could manage, "there's no reason for you to,"

He's cut off because she's suddenly moving towards him, reaching around him, and it takes him a moment to realise that she's embracing him.

He feels himself slowly, steadily, moving his arms around her, one hand moving to her hair, the other to the small of her back. She smells like winter air, and even though her skin is still cold he can feel this warmth radiating from her, or maybe it was coming from him.

"Thank you."

Those were certainly two words he never imagined he would hear from her, certainly not with such conviction, certainly not willingly.

"if you hadn't of come, I…"

Bane squeezes her tighter, not wanting to hear the rest of that sentence, and the wordless act from him seems to be enough for her. He knows she's talking about the lake, but that doesn't need to be talked of anymore. He holds her there, unsure of how long, perhaps because he doesn't want to let go. Alice doesn't seem to be letting up her hold either.

"I'm so tired," she says softly. "and cold, and everything kind of hurts."

"You were very lucky."

"lucky…. Well I must be the luckiest person alive then." She says with a dark chuckle. "rapists. serial killers. Psycho bitches. I survive them all don't I? freaking invincible"

"perhaps we have more in common than you think."

She seems to be resting her head near the crook of his neck, and he can feel her chest rise and fall against his. It's all rather intoxicating.

"which nightmare plagued you this time?"

He's not sure why he asked. He never did before. But she seems to hold on tighter, he can feel her fingers digging into his skin.

"there was this…this man on the ice. He fell through first and, I tried, but…"

She doesn't need to say more. He can hear it in her voice. He died. She didn't. And now she feels guilty.

"I suppose it's just a new thing to have nightmares about."

One of his hands is slowly making its way up and down her back, reassuring her as best he could.

"his death is not on you."

She pulls back then, only slightly, just enough for her to face him without him having to relinquish his hold on her.

"so, no…it was very foolish of you little one? Why do you want to die so badly little one? You must push this past you to be stronger little one?"

His eyes move to her own, to her mouth, unsure if where to look at this moment. But he lets go of her, pushing himself away slightly so she in unable to hold onto him.

"You found me, a stranger, a frightening one at that. Alone, hurt, you did not ask questions, you didn't abandon me, you helped me. So why would I belittle you for that?"

The question hung in the air for a moment between them.

"because you have before."

"no." he shoots back immediately. "those men. They were set out to hurt you, and would have done so if you hadn't of acted. You did what you needed to. Only you should have acted faster."

"not with Zsasz- "

"If you hadn't of killed him, I would have. I almost did until you intervened, or do you not recall?"

She stared at him for a moment. Licking her dry lips.

"every day."

"you have only ever done what you needed to. Because of me. Because of the situations I have put you in."

Bane pulls himself away from her, unable to force himself to look at her. But he can feel it, her eyes burning into him as words continue to fall from his mouth that he had never expected to. And that she probably never thought she would hear.

"I cannot change what has happened. With Zsasz. Or Talia. But it is my fault for bringing you here to begin with. I should never have done such a thing."

That wasn't something he thought he would admit, but really, what was there left to loose. He was sure Talia had told her things, at least…her view on their situation. Really, was there any point in hiding it anymore?

"So, why did you?"

He feels the bed shift slightly, and suddenly he can feel her closer to him, almost touching him, but he still can't bring himself to look at her

"Bane?"

Should he tell her? It would make him sound weak. That he was unable to control his emotions, and in a snap decision had changed everything entirely. It's not like he had ever done this, although, no woman had been able to have such an effect on him before, not since Talia. No person had made him care about what happened to them, until now.

"From the very second I left you in your bed that evening, the one when we first met, you have consumed….my thoughts. Distracted me. I went to your house but I didn't understand why, I went there to kill you." The silence in the room is deafening he's not even sure he can hear her breathing. "I needed it to stop. Unfortunately, I could not. Then I saw you at the stadium. With him. Something inside me snapped."

"so…you took me away from the only person in this whole city I care about, and kept me prisoner. Treated me like…. that."

He looks over to her tired face, the hurt in her eyes almost overwhelming him.

"I have been there." He finally says. "Taken away from my mother. Locked up before I even knew what was happening. Kept prisoner for most of my life. Scared to even close my eyes."

He thought she might understand, but the hurt in her eyes slowly turns to rage.

"then why do it to me? if you understand how this feels, why?"

He stands from the bed, ready to leave, ready to run from her, but he can't.

"I believed, if I made you like me, cold, dark, then you would want me also. I never enjoyed your pain, as much as you wish to believe I did, not for a second. I only wished that you would have learnt…to behave."

"fuck you." She spits at him.

"I was mistaken. You are incapable of being a monster."

He can't bring himself to turn towards her. He can't stomach to see the hatred.

"I can only say, that I am sorry, for what I have done. For the pain I have inflicting upon you and made you suffer through. I cannot change it nor take it back. Nonetheless, it is something I truly regret doing."

Alice doesn't know what to say, or really what to feel. She can remember glances of the past fifteen hours, only just. She doesn't want to be there right now, having that conversation, all she wants to do is sleep. Her mind was trying to focus on Bane, but it kept slipping to Talia, what she had said. That Bane wanted Alice to love him.

No. That couldn't possibly be true. Although from the way her was watching her now, she wasn't really sure.

"I will do anything you require of me, to make it right. If you will allow me to."

Alice wants to hate him so much. She hears this voice telling her that over and over. And she does, deep down she hates him for the pain he's caused her, for everything. But she's unsure how strong that hatred really is.

He's still facing the door, almost refusing to look at her. In all this time she's never seen him like this, as if he's ashamed. She stands from the bed, slowly, her legs trembling as she does.

Bane must have heard her because he's quickly turning towards her, grasping her arm gentle when she sways slightly.

"How am I meant to know you won't hurt me again." She asks.

"I can only give you my word."

Alice looks in his eyes and she can see it, shame, hurt. The one thing she truly remembers from the river is the way he looked at her when he found her in the cold, like for a moment, he had been terrified of losing her. It was the same look he had when she woke up from her nightmare and found him there again, grasping onto her, like he couldn't ever let go.

Maybe…Talia had been right.

"what do you want, Bane?"

He seems to grip tighter, his breathing suddenly heavier.

"maybe, I should start asking you, what it is you want?"

God, was this really happening?

She's shaking from nerves as she moves forward slightly, her hands coming up towards his face, his mask.

"when was the last time you done this?" Alice asks, as she expertly undoes the clasp on the back. The mask cast aside on the bed.

"a long time."

His face is somehow different, less hard, less terrifying. Alice can see the faint hints of stubble, making the scars that are scattered across his face more obvious. She doesn't want to imagine what happened for him to obtain them.

"perhaps I can make this easier for you."

He steps forward, forcing her to move back until the back of her knees hit the bed and she's forced to sit down. For a moment she's scared, that is until he kneels down in front of her, placing his hands on her thighs, gripping tightly, his eyes focusing on hers.

Alice can feel bane's hand move to hers, his thumb brushing against the deep fresh scar that now decorates her palm, a constant reminder for years to come. He brings her hand to his lips and places a kiss against the wound, slowly, gently, perhaps the gentlest act he's done to any person in a while, the sensation sending a jolt down her spine. Perhaps it's just been far too long since she's been intimate with anybody, but she really doesn't want him to stop.

But the sound of door destroys everything.

"wait here." He says roughly as he grabs his mask, seemingly annoyed.

He leaves, closing the door behind him and Alice allows herself to breathe. That couldn't be it. Surely.

God what was happening. She had never even thought about doing this with…. with Bane. What if he got what he wanted and cast her aside, that was a very real possibility?

Carnal. That's what it was. Carnal lust fogging up her brain and making her all foggy. No. she wasn't going to let this happen. No freaking way.

She hears the the sound of voices die and the front door close, it's less than a second before he walks back in.

"I made arrangements for your grandmother."

Her heart stops. She can feel the stillness in her chest for a few moments and terror seems to creep inside her.

"What do you mean?"

He sits next to her, hands gripping on his thighs, eye appearing to be staring at a very interesting spot on the wall.

"she's currently on her way out of Gotham. She put up a bit of a fight apparently, but she'll be out within the hour, and if you so wish, you will follow."

A sudden relief washes over her, even if she is confused.

"why would you do that?"

Alice can see him swallow hard, his breathing becoming slightly heavier.

"you would never leave without her. In order to keep you safe, I must protect her also. Talia still believes you are dead and I intend on keeping it that way." He pulls the mask from his face, casting it aside on bedside table. "I cannot change what I have done to you, but I can attempt to make it right. Starting with getting you out of Gotham, and away from me."

She can't really believe what she's hearing, or that this is the same Bane that had been making her life hell for the past few months.

"she going to be safe?"

He only nods slightly.

"do you want me to go?"

"it is the only way to keep you safe."

"that wasn't my question."

She feels his hand on her thigh, gripping it ever so slightly, his thumb brushing delicately against her skin.

"I cannot bare the thought of losing you again. But it is the only way to keep you safe."

Her hearts pounding as she moves to place a kiss, slow and long, against a rather deep scar residing against his jaw line. She can feel him suck in a breath when her lips meet his skin, and when she opens her eyes she can see his are closed.

So she does it again, this time to one a lighter one on his cheek, and she feels his body tenses under her touch.

Maybe it was more than carnal lust she was feeling. Maybe she is starting to go a little crazy, because without even thinking about it, she places her lips against his.

A/N: ;)