Part Three: The Heir

Chapter 21

I Drown, You Take Me Down

Sometimes he felt like he couldn't breathe. Sometimes, when the sky was black and the mansion was silent, when he would be all alone and forced to deal with his decisions and the emotions that came with them, he would feel like his lungs would cease to work and slowly, so very slowly that it was agonizing, would his heart stop beating until he fell. He hated it, and would not give it enough attention to see his medical team about it even as it consumed him in loneliness. Consumed him so that it manifested into a monster, and there was no way he could defeat it because it was… himself.

Sometimes, Bane knew, there were monsters that were truly monsters. And maybe he had been one all along. That name of monster that had been spoken over him so long ago.

Sometimes he couldn't breathe.

But there were moments when he could. Moments when the monster would shrink back, waiting for him to leave those precious instances when he would be away from it all, and actually happy. When he was with his child, when Emmeline would learn from him, talk to him, love him in a way he'd never been loved. Those moments were the times when he could feel the expansion and relief of finally taking a breath that did not feel heavy on his chest, that did not cause a constriction that was slowly killing him from the middle of his body and out. At this point in time, she gave him life. She eased the sorrows, stopped the pain, brought sweet liberation to the wars inside him when she would take his hand and guide him. If not for Emmeline, his girl, Bane didn't know if he could survive himself.

Out of all his pain, that was the worst of it.

There was a limit, he'd decided. There very well was a limit to how much one body and soul could take in one lifetime. And he had reached his limit. Perhaps it had happened long ago. Perhaps he had been running on fumes this whole time. Before Gotham City. Before the revolution. Before Talia.

There is so much else.

So much, he thought, lying on his bed and looking out of the windows, the sky starry and the mountains black shadows against the moon in the hours of early morning before the sun would rise. There was too much. And it was weighing him down completely.

At least there was relief, he told himself, the stars reflecting in his eyes, the mask hissing and sating him, cooling his hot insides. At least there was something that could calm the storm, simmer the fire, and ease the pain. He would have nothing if he did not have his small relief. Bane watched a shooting star slice through the sky, followed its fast path until it was gone from his vision, forever travelling through space. Without the relief he would have none. Without the relief, he would never feel enjoyment, he would never feel like a human. He would feel lost.

And when he was not with the relief, his daughter, Bane could admit to himself that he felt nothing at all.

He could barely enjoy Erin when she would come to pleasure the Demon Head.

Looking away from the sky, Bane glanced down between his legs and watched the bobbing head with golden brown hair, the mouth that was wide and stretched around him. Sitting in his bed, with pillows propped up behind his tender back not held within the braces, his legs were open with Erin between them, kneeling before him with a tattered skirt bunched around her thin hips and a tiny sheer bandeau around her small chest. When she would offer him her mouth, or when he would demand it from her as that was the right she'd given him, Erin would try to tantalize him with various states of undress, the sheer band around her now giving him a view that left nothing to his imagination. Her breasts were small, her frame lanky, and her weight something that had never been difficult for him to maneuver. She was submissive. She was quite possibly the perfect lover for a commander of a great army.

But she was not his lover. Bane could never find it in himself to call her that.

And… it took a while for him to release with her.

With her lips stretched wide around his cock and some salvia trailing out of her mouth from overuse, she would glance up at him every now and then, just to make sure he was paying attention to her, just to see if he was feeling the intense pleasure she desperately wanted to give him. And Erin would watch him to feel pleasure of her own. She barely felt the discomfort after giving for such a long time, could hardly feel the ache in her jaw or her hand from when she would pump him when she would have no choice but to take a moment or two to relax her bones. She forced her mouth to remain useful to him for as long as he would need it, made sure that it would stay wet and the suction satisfactory to his size. She enjoyed it better when he would simply fuck her, taking her from behind so she could feel the strength of him. She loved the connection, the joining of their bodies.

But when he asked for her mouth, she gave it to him. She would give and give and give, until he would slip inside her. Until he would unintentionally give her what she wanted.

Bane lifted his eyes in front of him and stared off as Erin continued. She slipped him down her throat with ease, a wet, constricting thing she would gladly use on him over and over, and yet the darkness of his quarters was more appealing to study. He took a deep breath, felt her grip on his thighs. Wondered if she squeezed hard enough, would he snap out of this torture and enjoy her giving body? Would he feel anything at all? Bane only stared at nothing.

Sometimes… he just couldn't breathe.

Suddenly he grunted, his whole body tensing. Finally, he sighed in his mind, gripping her hair to get her to stop before she could add the light grazing of teeth to get him off. He pulled up, watched her mouth slide away and the pop of her lips when he was released. Her eyes batted up at him and she tried to entice him, letting him know that not only could he fuck her, but he could have her. All of her. Every lovely inch.

Erin knew she had to let him know those things in movements, because she still was not allowed to speak unless spoken to.

Bane disregarded her offerings and mentioned towards the space next to him on his bed. "On your stomach," he muttered, knowing she would obey his demand as he pulled off his opened pants and saw to another need. One of protection. Erin had come from a distant village and her body wasn't used to the ways of medical prescriptions, let alone oral contraceptives. Bane had always been responsible in the area before he'd wanted to make a child, and kept available condoms in both his quarters and Erin's bedroom for when he would seek her out for distraction. Erin was clean, and the binding was good enough to prevent pregnancy. He opened the foil and slipped the lubricated rubber over himself, the entire process quite… lackluster considering what awaited him. Bane took a moment as he heard Erin getting comfortable, and stared at his cock in contemplation, wondering if maybe this time he could force sensual pleasure into existence. It didn't make sense to him that he could feel so disassociated from sleeping with Erin even as he was hard and ready for her. His body was here but the rest of him was not.

There had been a time when he enjoyed sex.

He could barely remember what it was like to come and not feel disgusted.

There is so much else.

There was so much that Bane wondered what the hell was he doing, exactly?

He didn't know. All he knew was that his cock was hard and Erin was right there, a perfectly submissive partner who, as he turned to look at her in the dark, was obediently on her stomach, her knees up a little to lift her rear and allowing the skirt to fall back. She'd already thought ahead and removed her panties earlier. Bane didn't know if she'd been a virgin the first time he'd had her, but he couldn't find the will to care since she only ever did the things she knew would get him off. For four years he had been sleeping with this woman.

And for four years, he had yet to feel… anything for her. No love, no affection, no binding tie. Barely any lust.

With the same uninspired approach, Bane crawled behind her and sat between her thighs. He placed his hands on her hips because it was just natural for him to do so, her milk chocolate body already slightly perspiring from her earlier efforts of pleasuring him. Keeping his eyes on her body, and in a way like anything she did would never surprise him, he lifted her hips up some with perfect ease, baring her entrance to him so he could slide inside her. When he did, he pushed all the way to the limit of her…

And felt familiar anger. Anger that had to do with only one thing. The reason for this now. The reason for punishment.

Denial. Rejection. Torture.

Bane pushed it all away as he thrust against Erin, making her lanky body move along the sheets. He always preferred it when he could remain dominant over a woman in bed, having her positioned exactly how he wanted them so that he could find release. It was lucky for them if they got to come during the coupling as well. Bane rarely worked to finish his partner off. There had been only a handful of times when he had, and each one had brought him grief. No more of that, he decided, taking the anger instead of the feeling of being lost and unable to function. He held onto it, clung to it, leaned forward against Erin's body to slam his cock inside her and unconcerned whether his weight was crushing her. Anger was so much better, he thought, thrusting hard enough and long enough to pant now. It was familiar and it was cozy and it could bring him back to a different time, to the man he used to be. Bane loomed over Erin, his chest pressing against her back and keeping her down, his hips pounding against her bottom as he grunted, desperate for release and completion. Erin moaned softly underneath him, grasping the sheets and sighing his name, knowing she wasn't allowed to speak but somehow he never cared if she made satisfied sounds in bed. She clenched around him, held him tightly, took his brutality because she would be cast aside if she couldn't, and that was something she wasn't willing to do. Erin could take anything for him, and everything. She could accept the fact that he was only using her for sex, never even hearing the title of lover for all her efforts of pleasuring him. She was not allowed to develop a relationship with the heir, not allowed to speak to the mother of Bane's daughter. She wasn't even welcomed into his bed for the night to find sleep after he was done using her body.

Another thing Erin had to accept was that even though Bane was fucking her, he was most definitely thinking of someone else.

If Bane could be lost to nothingness, then he most certainly could become lost to anger. He welcomed it with everything inside him and felt its consumption of his being. Practically snarling on top of his bedmate, he fisted the sheets tightly on either side of her as his mind raged, as his body sought fulfillment. The pounds of his hips against her were so hard that bruises would form. He just needed to come. He was so angry, so upset, that all he wanted to do was come inside the detested condom and be done.

Her face came to his mind then in his anger. Her lovely face, her alluring body, her sensual voice. Everything about… her. The creature from the deep.

And it wasn't Erin.

Bane let out a long, low growl as he came, pushing harshly inside Erin a few times before he was finished. He hadn't felt her have an orgasm, had never really paid attention to that happening before. After he was done, after he was completely spent, he felt exhausted and pulled out slowly, sitting on his knees and looking down at Erin. With a deep breath as his heart slowed, trying to keep calm so he wouldn't hyperventilate from overconsumption of the painkillers, Bane carelessly reached beneath her with sluggish movements and took one of her small breasts in hand over the bandeau, squeezing it firmly. She moved her arm to allow him more access as he waited for his head to clear, for his insides to calm.

But when that happened after sex, everything else came flooding back.

He was disgusted in so many ways, resentful of so many things.

There had been a time, just once a long time ago, when he had tried to sleep with Erin in the normal way, the way of caressing her body and treating her like a woman meant to be adored. To make love to her like a man would to his lover of four years. The act of making love was rare for him but he'd done it before, although the times had been very few. He'd tried, he told himself, trailing his eyes down the back of Erin's body. At the time, he thought that he could take her as his lover, allow her to sleep in his bed instead of her small bedroom. He would stop the waiting, the agonizing over something that would never happen, and finally have a woman as his own. In the end, his beginning efforts and the very thought of it all had made him feel a sense of falseness. Erin wanted from him things he was not willing to give her. And Bane…

Bane was the one who couldn't breathe when he was all alone, and forced to see himself.

He scooted away from Erin, sat on the side of the bed with his legs hanging off and onto the floor. Without emotion, he pulled the dirty condom off and cleaned himself, indifferent to the dark kitten eyes studying him. He was used to her now, and could sense when she was about to speak. She didn't surprise him.

"I would be a good lover to you," she said in the darkness, turning onto her back on the large bed and testing the boundaries. But how else would she get him to talk to her? How else would she get what she wanted? And the thing she wanted was him. "If you would have me, liege, instead of sending me away."

"I don't want a lover," he murmured, staring at his hands in his lap, his back kept to her. "You know what this is."

"But I wish for more."

Bane rolled his eyes in annoyance. He could admit that there was something not right about their arrangement. He was not going to be with the mother of his child, and as Demon Head he could have any woman he wanted if that was the case. There was something strange to him, while knowing all of that, that he would remain with this one woman for years. Perhaps the knowledge of the truth would only pull him down, and it was his own way of protecting himself. "I don't want a lover," he repeated softly, not knowing another way to answer her. In the mind, Erin was almost like a child. He had to keep repeating himself over and over to get her to stop pestering him. Only until she would begin again.

"Have you ever had a lover before, Bane? A proper one? Do you even know what it is like?" When he didn't answer her, she moved closer, sitting at his side and leaning in close. She would always try to be close to him, and couldn't even feel astonishment when he didn't push her away. She was persistent. "I don't think you have, truly. How can you say you don't want something you have never had a taste of?" He was still silent, just sitting there. Erin became bold and pressed her lips against the strap of the mask, whispering into his ear. "You must try it. I can assure you that you will enjoy the flavor. I am willing, liege. I have a desire for you to taste me."

Once again he stared off at nothing with her at his side, her breath against him. But he did hear her words. He wasn't invested enough to think of them as a serpent's temptations, but he did hear them, listen to them. He didn't push her away as he usually would when she would plead to him this way. Distantly he wondered if he was falling into a trap, but what would it matter now? Her hand came up and her mouth was still so close, her soft fingers trailing down his chest as she continued to try to get him to see things her way.

"If you would imagine it, my Demon Head. I could be here every night, to take care of you in whatever way you wish. With open arms and open legs, and a craving to see to your every need. You say you don't want a lover, but the benefits of one are quite fulfilling." She had never kissed him before, had never been allowed to, but Erin placed her lips on his bare shoulder. One baby step at a time when it came to this man. Her man, she dreamed. "I have allowed you to enter my body for four years. Is it still not my turn to receive something from you? I give and I give and I give to you," she whispered, moving her lips to his neck, moving that hand down to his lap. Sometimes Bane would have her multiple times in the night before she would have to leave. She took hold of him, and stroked until he would harden for her. "My body is yours, as well as my heart and my soul. I wish to be claimed properly. I wish for you to enjoy my taste…"

Bane didn't realize he was frowning, but if he did he knew he would be thankful that the mask would conceal it. This is what life was now, he thought distantly. Until the end, until even the relief would be gone because he would be, this is what would fill in the rest of the time beyond the work of his League and the raising of his daughter. He would remain here, listening to words of everything he didn't want, and a great, heavy reminder of what he did, something that was out of his reach. Long ago, when he had gone to Erin after a night of disaster, Bane knew he tried not to feel tortured. But trying had ceased happening at some point.

Now… it was only this.

His body was once again not connected to his mind. Erin's hand stroked up and down his erection, and he couldn't even be surprised at the sight. He watched the movement for a moment, took a deep, almost uninterested breath. If he accepted Erin in the way she wanted, he could have her climb onto his lap and ride him, doing all the work until the normal reaction would occur without him having to fight for it in the midst of either disheartenment or anger. Rarely had Bane ever allowed a woman to have that kind of control over him, but it had been enjoyable when he had. He could let her. He could lie back and only watch her, maybe touch her when a part of her looked enticing. He had never allowed her to be on top because he didn't really want to be so connected to her. Erin swiped her tongue over his neck, pulled her hand up slowly and tightly.

And still he felt a sense of… falseness. One he could not overlook.

But he still took the back of her neck, and returned her mouth to his cock. She went willingly of course, that tongue now swiping against the head of him before she slid him down her throat. It was his answer to her temptations. Bane kept his hand on her neck, guiding her halfheartedly as she bobbed between his legs again. He didn't want a lover, Bane told himself. It was easy to keep Erin away from a home in his bed, a place in his affections. A relationship with his child, which was something he would die neglecting her before he would ever allow it alive. There was a deviousness in Erin, a certain kind of obsession when it came to getting what she wanted. She was not good for his family, so he kept her distant at all costs. She was definitely not good for him, and yet here she was, servicing him. She'd once told him that the grip of a woman was not permanent.

He had discovered she was wrong.

But the one who still held him within her grasp was not the one in his bed now.

He was still frowning after she finished him, after a little bit longer when the bandeau had been pulled off and she dozed naked above the sheets, her golden brown hair mussed and her eyes sated like a cat's. Bane didn't look at her as he pulled on clothes, feeling the intense need for brutal physical activity instead of the sexual kind. He needed to fight and he needed to destroy something. Before his child would wake, he would seek out a few of the more seasoned soldiers who would already be up sparring, and give them a challenge.

"You must leave," he told her, the sky outside his windows turning that special kind of dark blue before the sun would begin to rise.

"May I please rest here a few moments more?" she asked him, curling into a ball and turning her voice into one full of weariness. "I promise, liege, that I will be gone by the time your daughter goes in search of you. I will make sure that no one from your family spots me."

Bane turned to look at her. Her eyes were big and bright, pleading to him in that way, that defenseless, innocent way they would fall into just like the very first time he'd seen her. They were lovely eyes, probably the most lovely he'd ever seen.

He inwardly scowled at them even as he gave her what she wanted. He'd never felt eased by those eyes.

"I don't want to find you here when I return," he ordered, his boots now stomping on the ground as he walked off.

A familiar need ached in his chest. That desire to finally breathe.

He couldn't.

"Mama, my shoes."

Dom looked over from the closet while pulling a jacket for Emmeline and saw her daughter sitting on the side of their large bed, staring down at her tiny feet. Her small brown boots were on over her pants, but the ends of the laces remained touching the ground, untied. After closing the doors of the closet that was big enough to house both their clothes, she walked over and knelt on the floor, taking the laces to tie them. It was something Emmeline was tackling, this strange yet unbeatable task of lacing strings together, but she continued on with the patience Bane had taught her to utilize in times of frustration.

But Emmeline was still only four, and sometimes frustration took control.

"One day I will master this," she told Dom, accepting her defeat as her mother tied her shoe laces for her.

"And you'll be the shoe tying champion of the world." Dom shook her head, wondering how she of all people had ended up with such an intelligent little girl. She certainly hadn't gotten that from her. Dom would have either tucked her shoe laces into her shoes, or went with flip flops so she wouldn't have to bother with it. "Until then, I'll happily tie every pair for you."

Emmeline had tried to memorize her mother's hand motions with the laces, but instantly she forgot them. "I'm sure Daddy knows how to do this, and will tell me the trick. He has many laces on his shoes."

Dom pulled the jacket over her daughter's body, tucking her in warmly. "Daddy knows everything, doesn't he?"

She smiled, her face blooming. "Yes. He is a very smart man. Perhaps the smartest of all."

After gathering more clothes, Dom continued to get her daughter ready for her lesson out on the mountains. She would begin some minor weapons training, but only with tools that weren't usually seen as weapons nowadays. She would start with archery first, and move on from there. Something that would seem fun to her instead of preparing her for the life ahead. Dom didn't mind. She would have loved to take archery lessons as a kid, but she'd been too busy learning how to sail and change a flat tire, skills her own father had passed onto her. They weren't of League quality, but it had been something. Something he would have taught his boy if he'd been given one.

But Bane didn't think that of Emmeline. In fact, he seemed born to care for a little girl. And maybe he had been, considering his past with the first one.

"Wouldn't you like to join us, Mama? I know you don't like the cold, but you can bundle up like me. Daddy says if you ignore it, then you don't feel it. Discomfort is all in the mind, is what he also tells me."

"I'm afraid the cold is my weakness, kid. Especially cold wilderness. "

Emmeline took the wool hat handed to her and pulled it over her wavy brown hair. Dom tried to let her help with getting herself ready. Emmeline liked to feel independent. "How come we live here if you don't like the cold? Shouldn't Daddy have moved us to some place warmer for you?"

Dom thought of her answer as she picked various things up from the floor, putting them away in their rightful place. Sometimes she forgot to do it, but since becoming a mother, nothing was more important than cleaning up after the kid, or in this care, picking up after herself for her kid. Their bedroom was roomy but still cozy, large enough for them both, two girls sharing a room. The sheets and blankets on their bed were red and cotton, matching the big rug on the floor where Emmeline would sometimes play if she wasn't in her recreational room. There were dressers and a vanity, racks for some of her toys and the ever present rocking chair, something she'd been unable to part with since Emmeline was no longer an infant in need of rocking. The room was nice, the windows big so she could look at the gloomy sky and the mountains, and maybe even a ray of sunshine in the summer if she was lucky. Looking at that sky now brought her back to her daughter's question.

"You and Daddy live here, so I live here. I like living with you."

Emmeline seemed to contemplate. "Did you live here with Daddy before I was born?"

And these were the questions she dreaded. How could she tell Emmeline of her past with Bane if that past was something so horrible? How could she tell Emmeline that she used to dance for strange men while Bane had enslaved her city, hired her to have his kid he would never care about while Dom handed her over to complete an uncaring transaction? Not to mention the fact that Emmeline was completely oblivious to the true role of a mother and father. One day she would ask her why she wasn't married to Bane, why she wasn't even with Bane romantically. And right now, Dom didn't have the answers.

Good thing she was an expert at putting important things off until the last second. Of course she would give Emmeline answers when it was time to give them, but for now her perfect little four year old could live well without being burdened by her and Bane's mistakes.

"I didn't," she told her, trying to tell her the truth, but still not the whole truth. She wouldn't understand anyway. "I lived in a much warmer place. Daddy came to get me so he could be with you. He built this home for us, so this is where we live now."

Emmeline seemed to approve of the answer. "That was awfully nice of him. I love our home."

Dom mentally sighed in relief. She wasn't ready for this, she thought. She wasn't ready for the questions. Maybe Bane would come up with something, because she sure as hell didn't know what to do.

"Come on, junior," she said, taking Emmeline's hand once she was all ready for her makeshift schooling. "You gonna shoot a bulls-eye for me?"

Her daughter smiled and trotted next to her as they walked the mansion, telling her all the tricks she would be able to do once she learned the bow and arrow. As all four year olds would think, she decided she would be superb at it. Dom agreed with her, as was her job as mother.

Walking through the halls of the mansion, dressed in pants and a tank top with a sweater for warmth that hugged her body, Dom listened to the sounds as she brought Emmeline to the designated meeting area. People spoke in every language here, and at some point Dom had become used to it. But even with all the noise, the League's mansion still held a silence to it, one that was tolerated by those higher within the ranks, and one that was perfected so they could use that silent sneakiness in the field. Emmeline thought nothing of giant men sparring with each other, learning the use of scary looking weapons or ones that would conceal them when concealment was necessary. This truly was the home she loved.

Dom tried not to feel worried by that. She tried not to hate her daughter's birthright as heir.

They passed the main training area, where men and women would be brutal with each other in hopes to someday gain the upper hand from the victor. Games of endurance and stealth were played here too, something that had been practiced for centuries and had not gone out of style. Emmeline would fight there one day, and she would have to be the best as future Demon Head. Certain sounds fluttered to Dom's ear then as they passed the entrance, causing her to slowly come to a stop with her daughter's hand in hers. She knew those sounds and knew them well, a mixture of man and machine, the wheeze of medicine and the gasp of breath. She turned her head and looked inside, somehow unable to stop the motions.

Four men surrounded him, and yet Bane took them all on at once. All dressed in the standard garb of black for training, he grabbed and swung, feinted and attacked, slamming them into each other while barking out instructions at the same time in whatever language the initiates spoke. Even as he looked raging and dangerous, he still somehow held a mentoring way about him, not giving the others a chance to defeat him without a fight, yet still correcting what they were doing wrong and how they could turn the tables in their favor. They listened well. Of course they would listen to the Demon Head, feeling lucky that he of all people would choose them, even though they were no match for him. Bane swung his legs and turned, keeping an eye on everyone at once, it seemed, and sending them to the ground before they would stay down and claim defeat. Dom kept her eyes on him, unashamedly staring even as she held Emmeline's hand. Her daughter was obedient and somehow didn't question her mother's halt, and waited patiently for her to continue leading her. Bane roared out his commands, threw men over his shoulder. Dom just watched, sighed a little, and hardly realized it. Something then caught her eye. A man staring not too far off, watching the training with her because he'd already been within the room.

Dom's eyes met Barsad's, who was standing by the training mat with his arms crossed over his chest.

He lifted a brow, gave her a look. A knowing one. I know what you're looking at, his expression seemed to say.

She flinched back like she'd smelled something rotten, rolled her eyes and waved at him before hurrying off.

Barsad watched her go, then smirked a little while shaking his head. "Silly girl," he muttered.

Dom scurried to the back of the mansion where a large deck patio had been built for outside use, not too far off from the heated pool. Emmeline's teacher was waiting on the sidelines, another hand chosen by Bane and ready to bring the heir into the mountains for archery and to get in tune with nature. Dom knelt at her level and made sure her jacket was buttoned properly.

"I'll be right here as soon as you're done. Please keep this hat on."

"Yes, Mama, I know."

She looked at her daughter's face and gave her a smile, patting her cheek. "You want to go on a date with me later?"

Emmeline unconsciously trailed her fingers down her mother's wavy auburn hair, something she'd done since infancy. "What kind of date? We go on so many."

"Which one is your favorite?"

She thought about it, her rosebud lips puckered as she decided. "I enjoy the dance parties most."

For those dates, Dom would only turn on music and the two of them would sing and dance around their room like fools. Emmeline loved it. "Then dance party it is. Be a good girl for Mama, baby."

Forgetting the baby comment, Emmeline kissed her mother on the lips before running to her teacher. Dom stood on the deck, hugging her arms against the chill as she watched them walk into the woods. She kept her eyes on Emmeline until she couldn't see her anymore, then headed back into the mansion. It had taken a while for her to trust Bane's men with her baby, but after a lengthy conversation with Bane, of him letting her know what would happen to those men if any harm came to his daughter, she learned to be okay with it. She trusted Bane, and if he trusted certain individuals, then she could as well. It would be an hour until she would get Emmeline again. Dom knew to fill the time with getting things done for her when she couldn't do them with little one in tow. She made a mental list as she headed for the kitchen, hoping to snag some food after everyone else had eaten breakfast. After she ate, she realized that she completely forgot everything that had been on that mental list.

Dom may have changed her life for her child, may have become the very best mother she could be, but she figured that some things never changed.

One thing she did remember, however, was that at some point in the week, she would have short meetings with Bane, if he was here and working inside their headquarters. They would only discuss Emmeline and future plans for her, things she may have said that needed to be addressed and whatever else came to their minds. Maybe she should mention the questions, Dom decided, heading for Bane's wing. Maybe they could make a plan on what exactly and how much to tell their daughter as she grew older and became more in tune to what should be. His door was open, she saw, a sign that said both her and Emmeline could enter whenever they wished. Dom walked through the large doors, heard some rustling around.

"It's just me," she called out, stopping for a moment because of the rustling and not wanting to intrude if he was changing or… doing whatever else he did in here. He must have finished training while she was seeing Emmeline off, and maybe he'd forgotten to close the door. She waited a few moments, then became impatient. "Can I come in? The door's open so that means I can come in. I'll close my eyes if the mask is off." Dom lifted her hands and covered her eyes, walking by memory into the master bedroom. When memory ended, she stopped. "As much as I love tripping, I'm afraid I'm going to skip it today. I hope you're decent. Anyway, I've been thinking—" Her mouth zipped closed as soon as she uncovered her eyes. Bane wasn't in here.

But Erin was. And she was very much indecent.

She was standing right next to Bane's very messy bed, some of the sheets having fallen to the floor in her effort to get out of the tangle. Her golden brown hair was mussed and her long-limbed body undressed, standing there only in the bandeau and a pair of panties. Later Dom would realize she must have looked like a fool, blinking at the other woman who had no doubt spent the night in Bane's bed, but she didn't let it affect her now. She could only stare, and in a way like she'd never seen a half-naked woman before. Coming from her background dancing in clubs, it was a stupid move.

Erin bent to pick up one of the sheets and held one corner against her chest as if to conceal herself. In truth, she didn't want to conceal herself at all. "Please excuse me, madam. I became unaware of the time. I must have fallen asleep."

Dom's jaw set firmly and her feet remained unmoving. The only thing that could move were her eyes, and of course it seemed they were moving all on their own, zeroing in on only main focal points. Erin's bare skin, her rumpled hair, the messy sheets that gave away the night's activities. That pretty gleam in those big dark eyes of hers, that gleam that held satisfaction and a certain kind of delight. And the worst one of all was Erin's lack of fluster for having been caught in Bane's bed by his child's mother.

Certain feelings were easy to ignore. She'd mastered it for four years, and maybe even before that. Dom did it now, and turned her back to Erin awkwardly while muttering, "Sorry."

"Please do not apologize," Erin said, her voice carrying a slight worry even though her movements didn't match it. "Bane told me I could rest before beginning my morning chores. I'm afraid the night was not very restful for either one of us. And now I am having trouble finding my clothes."

Dom stared down at the floor, swallowed as the same rustling she'd heard while entering resumed. She thought it had been Bane. Not his lover. "My kid could've walked in here," she said with an edge to her voice.

"I cannot tell you how sorry I am, Miss Dominique. I always make it a great importance to separate myself from my liege's family life. I would never want the heir to find me in such a state." Erin sighed some, found her skirt and slipped it over her hips. She didn't bother with the messy sheets. She rather liked the image. "I suppose I should be thankful that it was you who would see me this way instead of little Emmeline. Perhaps we should both be thankful, yes?"

Erin walked in front of Dom, neglecting to pull her shirt over her head as she checked the mirror, trying to rub down her hair. Dom once again lost control of her vision. Her eyes locked onto the brown skin of Erin's back, and the nail scratches that cut the side of her ribs. She knew Bane and Erin had been sleeping together for a while, knew it had probably started after things had ended romantically for her and Bane. Dom had been way too busy these last four years raising her daughter, and it had been such hard work that she'd never cared to figure out what exactly was going on. This was the first time, during all that time, that she had actually seen the proof that Bane was with the woman.

She couldn't stop the frown. Her reaction seemed to have a mind of its own.

Erin turned and stared at her, lifting a hand to her mouth with sadness filling her eyes. "Oh my," she murmured. "Have I upset you? Please understand that I didn't mean to."

After a moment or two, she was finally able to process Erin's words. She instantly snapped out of it. "What're you talking about? Takes a lot to upset this girl." She checked herself and stood up straighter. She hadn't realized she'd slumped over. "I'm not upset. Why would I be upset?"

The other woman studied her, lifting a brow. The frown was now gone. Erin wondered what happened to it. "I'm not sure. It would be the last thing I would want. I would never want to anger the mother of the heir by seeing me… unsuitable."

Dom reverted back to her usual defense. She waved at her carelessly, her voice flat and dry. "It's not like your little fling is a secret around here."

"Oh," Erin murmured, casting her eyes down some. "I do not inform my relationship with the Demon Head to the League for the fear that I would be judged."

She shrugged. "It doesn't matter. You guys can do what you want. It's not my place to know."

"I am having trouble understanding. Does it not upset you to know that Bane is engaged with someone else? You two have a history and have made a child together. Surely this would not… make you happy?"

Dom looked into her eyes, saw how big and bright and innocent they were, pairing well with that cute little body. And because of everything that was there in those eyes, she had a hard time wondering if this was all for show. Maybe she really was that unfamiliar with certain ways. Dom gave her the benefit of the doubt because the opposite would only drain her. "What Bane does with other women is none of my business. I have to go now." She started past her, wanting suddenly to leave the room more than anything.

"Miss Dominique." Erin took her arm gently and gave her an expression filled with worry. "Please do not inform Bane of my idiocy. He made it clear that I was to leave at a certain time, before the heir would wake. The last thing he wants is to trouble her. This was all my fault."

Dom kept her eyes away from the large, distressed ones, trying to focus on something more interesting. But oddly the best thing to look at was nothing at all. She yanked her arm free. "As long as my girl doesn't walk in on any of these extracurriculars, then I don't care. I don't care about any of this."

"Even so, I cannot apologize enough."

Nodding, because she didn't know what else to do, Dom walked off, leaving Erin in her skirt and bandeau and red scratches scarring her back, along with that innocent face full of unease and a slight embarrassment. Dom left it all behind. But then… she stopped. She hated herself for asking the question. She thought that after all her mistakes, all her screw-ups in life, nothing was more stupid then her next words to Erin. She asked them anyway.

"Are you in love with him?"

Erin's eyes batted. And it seemed she needed no time to think of her answer. Her very confident answer with a careless shrug. "A woman is always in love with her lover."

Dom stared at nothing, and heard the words over and over again in her head. She left Bane's quarters without looking back.

As soon as the other woman was out of sight, that worried and embarrassed face drifted away. Erin took a deep breath and rubbed her hair back, her shirt in hand and still not pulling it over her head. Bane had given her rules and stipulations when she'd allowed him to have her body. She wasn't allowed the true title of lover, she wasn't allowed to sleep with him in the intimate, loving way, and she most definitely was not to interact with his daughter or the mother of his child. Before he'd left, he told her specifically that she was to leave so that Emmeline would not see her in Bane's room, and in the state she was now in.

But Erin had decided that even though she would not screw up a good thing and have Emmeline find her – which would result in Bane wanting nothing to do with her afterwards - it still made the mother susceptible to discovery. The woman Dominique was not Emmeline. And Erin had timed it perfectly. She didn't know if the chosen still had feelings for her liege, or if she'd ever had them to begin with, but now she knew for certain that Bane was off limits. Smiling, she decided that the risk had been a good one. Dominique would stay quiet and not mention to Bane of the slipup. It would only make her seem like she was emotionally invested. At one time, Erin had hoped that one day she could kick Dominique out of the mansion once she convinced Bane to take her permanently.

She decided that it was much more fun to keep her around and allow her to see the prize that would never be hers ever again.

Out in the halls, Dom walked steadily but not so fast as to catch someone's eye and make them think she was running from something. She kept a careless expression on her face, her hands loose and her jaw relaxed. Her eyes didn't show anything other than their usual flighty playfulness, and the very air she gave off was nothing different. She thought she might've even passed Bane, saw him watching her but didn't give him any time. The sight of her door further down the hall from Bane's wing looked like the entrance to Heaven. There was still so much to do before she picked up Emmeline, but she needed to make a pit stop first. Just a quick one. Nothing big at all. She opened the door, closed and locked it behind her. She found the chair in front of the vanity, sat in it with her reflection staring back at her in the mirror. Tan skin, auburn hair, blue eyes. A familiar face.

And then Dom burst into tears.

She'd stayed for Emmeline, she told herself. She had lived in this mansion for four years so that she could be with her daughter, so that her father could be with her, too. She would always choose Emmeline even if it meant living forever in hell, a great sacrifice she was willing to make every single day because she had only conceived her for gain in the beginning. Now her daughter was her life. The baby she hadn't wanted at first, but would now spend every waking hour making it up to her without her even knowing the truth. She would stay in this hell for Emmeline, suffering.

Suffering because, even to this day, she was still in love with Bane.

Dom dropped her face into her hands, and sobbed.

She was almost used to the reaction now.

Bane lifted his brow as Dominique fluttered past him without a wave or even a smile. Usually she would give him one of the two. He watched her go into her room, closed it forcefully and heard the flick of the lock. He'd just finished training and knew Emmeline was at her lesson, and usually during that time Dominique would be doing other things before retrieving her. She was also supposed to speak with him while Emmeline was away, but perhaps she needed to attend to something else first. Heading back to his wing for a shower and time without the mask, he stopped once he saw a familiar body rounding the corner.

It was Erin, and she had just come from his room.

He stared at the space she'd disappeared to, felt the unease rise into his chest. He would always get that feeling when it concerned Erin, yet he still continued this dysfunctional physical relationship with her. Before he'd seen her, he felt relaxed and loose, felt like he'd let off steam that had needed to leave him before he would combust. He'd trained with the others until they couldn't take anymore, until his breathing was too heavy as his lungs were taking in too much of the painkillers. He needed a break, although the decision was made reluctantly. It was better to spar brutally than going back into his rooms all alone, simply waiting for work to take him or his daughter looking to him for attention. But there were some things he couldn't avoid. Bane walked into his quarters, entered slowly as he looked around, sensing something wrong yet unable to figure out what. The unease built, the need to breathe an almost desperate desire. His eyes went to his bed, saw that it was made perfectly, not even a pillow out of place.

Bane looked back to the entrance, remembered Erin sneaking out. Knowing she should have left hours ago.

Then he remembered Dominique. The direction she'd been walking told him she had just returned from this exact spot.

The spot Erin had scurried away from.

Sometimes, people thought they could keep things from him. And most of the time, they were very wrong in thinking that they could.

Bane didn't know what exactly had happened here before he'd finished training, but the feeling in his chest and his instinct told him it had probably been something he wouldn't like. He purposely kept Erin and his family separate from each other. One was not meant to mix with the other. But maybe, he thought, looking to the monitors set up by his desk, maybe he was foolish in thinking it were possible. Slowly he walked to the screens, complete with keyboards so that he could access security in any area of the mansion. There were also guards on watch, but sometimes technology was a necessity as well. He tapped a code into the keys, pulled up the cameras that had been installed in his daughter's room as a makeshift baby monitor for when she'd been an infant, and in case she would be alone while she slept. He'd been instructed that he was only to access the cameras in that room to check on Emmeline, if for some reason her mother wasn't with her. In fact, he'd made a promise not to spy if it had nothing to do with his daughter's welfare. He broke the promise now because the unease wouldn't go away, no matter how many logical conclusions there were. The screen blinked and there was the room. There was Dominique.

She was crying. He could even hear it through the speakers.

She sat at the vanity where she would do Emmeline's hair, her arms folded on the tabletop and her face buried in them, her back and shoulders shaking from her weeping. He had seen her cry before, many times in the past right in front of him. And yet, each time he would see felt like the first time he watched the tears flow down her cheeks when he'd yelled at her in rage. He hadn't seen it in years, had barely seen any emotion from her other than her usual playful, now motherly self. They had forged a partnership with each other for the sake of their daughter, but other than that they pretty much did things on their own. It had been that way for four years.

But to see her cry now still had the same effect on him. He hated it and wanted it to stop.

His face formed into a glare as he continued to watch the sobbing. He had not been obeyed. The rules were very clear, and yet one of them had not been taken seriously, even for that one instant when it counted more than anything. He knew Erin was not very competent, knew that she thrived on her false innocence in things rather than figuring it out like a woman, even though he could see the deviousness in her. She had not left when he'd told her to leave his bed.

And now Dominique was crying.

But… why was she crying?

The sudden question caused his face to settle, making him fall into the chair as he studied the live security footage he had no right watching. Dominique had locked herself in her room after no doubt finding Erin where she shouldn't have been. For so long, she seemed like she didn't care at all what went on with him if it didn't have to do with their daughter. Bane thought he was practically nothing to her other than Emmeline's father now, and the man who provided for them both. They worked well together as co-parents… but that was it.

Wasn't it?

Bane would always be drawn to Dominique. Nothing had changed since the very first moment she started dancing for him in Gotham City. He would still look at her and want her to be near. He would even sometimes wish that she were pregnant again so that she would want him near, too. But Dominique was also right when she'd told him that every time they tried to make something happen, it always ended in disaster. They were opposites and they clashed. They were the two ends of the magnet that would not merge together, no matter how much strength was behind the push. Bane stared at her through the monitor, watched as she sat up and wiped at her face, the crying finally coming to an end. She would only have to look up at the tall ceiling, find the camera and see the little red light that would tell her it was functioning and that someone was watching on the other end. She would have it in for him then, and cause only more distance.

He'd taught his daughter to look out for her mother because Dominique would never possess the same skills as either of them, skills he'd perfected and skills Emmeline was just beginning to learn. Of course he would look out for her too, day after day after day.

He would watch the mermaid from the shore, Bane told himself again. It was the only way he could see her.

But deep beneath the waves, the mermaid wept. And he didn't know why.

Perhaps he no longer carried the authority to console her. The unstoppable wind. The untamable siren. The invisible woman.

Maybe she was invisible to even him now.

Dom patted some face powder onto her flushed cheeks, covering the evidence of her crying gag for when she exited her bedroom and left to retrieve Emmeline. She had the powder for this very reason, and wiped the top of the vanity with a flourish of her hand to get rid of any tan particles. She sniffed, trying to clear her nose, and stared at her face in the mirror. As always, she thought a pep talk to her reflection would help her in her difficulties.

"It's none of your business," she told herself, making a stern face and saying the words she would repeat constantly in hopes that one day her emotions would actually listen to them. "He moved on. You don't even want a man, remember? Remember those days?" She tried, but things inside her had been screwy ever since she met Bane. It seemed like days before him were nonexistent. Like they didn't matter anymore, because now she was stuck with him for life. "We need to go back to that girl. We were never supposed to cry over a man, and here you are… blubbering. You're such a blubberer."

Her reflection had no words of knowledge for her, and her daddy's voice in her head had been silent for years. Sighing, she looked up at the ceiling and spotted the camera, just in case. The little light was off, as it was supposed to be. No one needed to see what had just taken place. What continued to take place every now and then.

Dom had wondered if Bane had put some spell over her once he'd gotten her pregnant. She'd really hoped that was the case, because there obviously had to be a remedy for it, right? He'd filled up her womb, then bam. Suddenly she always wanted to be around him. Suddenly just his touch alone could soothe an uncomfortable pregnancy. When she'd finally had the baby she thought there would be relief from it, an expiration date after a few months living here with an infant to care for. But it hadn't gone away, and Dom had been so close to accepting his offer to be with him romantically, for good this time.

And then she'd seen Erin fleeing from his bedroom when Emmeline had still been a baby. That offer she was going to accept had flown out the window. And Dom…

Dom was still waiting for those pesky feelings to go away. Oddly enough, she never realized she had such patience.

A loud knock was heard at her door. Her body jolted at the sound, but quickly she righted herself and checked her face one more time before answering it. She had to keep herself available if her daughter needed her for something, and sneaking off into her locked bedroom wasn't being available. She pulled it open.

Why was it always Barsad at the other end of her knocking door?

"Let me guess," she drawled, crossing her arms. "You need to use the bathroom?"

He made a face that seemed like he regretted knocking. But he somehow always ended up making that face around her at some point. "I am making a head count. A storm will be passing through tonight to bring the cold."

"You mean it's not already cold? I'm freaking freezing in here."

"Perhaps you must transform yourself into a woman with thicker skin. Even the heir has more tolerance. I apologize that we aren't able to pamper you."

She felt no amusement. "I'm assuming this won't be the first time someone has slammed the door in your face?"

"May I come in, please?"

Dom sighed dramatically, then turned her back on him. "I suppose. But you're ruining my me time. The rest of it is spent with a four year old."

Barsad entered, but remained in the doorway. There was a small storm coming later into the evening, but this was a league of deadly assassins. There was no such thing as a head count, save for possibly Bane's child and her mother. The only reason he was here was out of duty. Bane had asked him to check on her, and without knowing the true reason why since he hadn't been given one, he'd simply obeyed his orders from the Demon Head. Bane knew Dominique trusted Barsad – even though they fought and teased each other - and would think nothing of his visit.

But Barsad could tell that she was sad.

"Something troubles you," he commented, knowing that sometimes the blunt truth worked better with her than beating around the bush. "You may try to lock yourself away, but it never works. You are always reachable, even when you don't want to be."

She sighed again, but not playfully this time, and fell onto her bed, letting her legs hang off the sides. "You got that right. I try to be by myself, and you jerks always scurry after me. Leave me the heck alone for once, would you? I mean, I can't be that popular, right?"

"Are you troubled because you truly do spend all your time with the heir?"

She lifted her head to give him a look. "I love hanging out with my kid."

He shrugged. "Everyone needs relaxation. Even Bane. Even you."

Dom rolled her eyes and snorted some, placing her hands underneath her head. "Bane gets a lot more relaxation than I do." Instantly she regretted the words. Barsad may sometimes look distant, but he was smart as a whip. And he was a tattle tale. She needed to keep conversations away from the subject of Bane. "I think I need to get laid, Barsad," she said casually.

"I'm afraid I can't help you with that."

She sat up and grinned at him. "No? Dang. And here I thought our bickering was just a cute type of foreplay."

"I honestly think I would rather remain celibate."

Dom placed a hand over her heart. "Ouch."

It was only a game, she knew. Dom and Barsad hated each other too much to have pleasure added into the mix of emotions they carried concerning the other. And on some note, they liked each other too much to allow it. It was an odd relationship or no relationship at all. And maybe that's what they liked best about it. At least it wasn't complicated, she thought with relief. Not like with other people living in this big mansion.

Barsad, not feeling awkward standing aimlessly in her room, said, "If you don't want to tell me why you are upset, then I can't help you and you must suffer alone."

She lifted a brow. "Who says I would want your help even if I was upset?"

"Levels of authority, Ms. Cross," he told her, always managing to snip back at her own snippiness. "If there is one person who can assist you in your troubles, it is me. I am the right hand to the Demon Head. And it does not take a man of prestigious intellect to understand that my Demon Head is the very thing that troubles you. Again."

"What the heck are you? Pro Bane and Dom? Get the hell outta here." She shooed him off.

"As you wish," he muttered, feeling like she'd kicked him out of her sight every single time he told her some kind of truth she didn't want to hear. But he would not leave without feeling accomplished in some way. One day, if in the near future or years from now, he would get what he wanted. And what he wanted was to evict a certain pretty face with devious and overthinking eyes. "But I will not leave without offering you some advice."

She could have teased him with that. But because suddenly she felt like she had nothing left to give, she placed her hands in her lap and looked to him. Barsad made sure she was giving him all her attention before he would continue.

"When you wield a sniper, the most important asset is your eye. If your sight is not at full potential, then your weapon is utterly useless. To claim your target, you must have an eye that observes everything, one that knows the next move before it is initiated so that the enemy cannot gain one step ahead of you. The eyes behind the sniper are patient but ready to act, working overtime yet extremely focused. And when given the signal, when something catches your eye that screams a silent warning, your trigger finger squeezes, and the target is no more." He spoke slowly, willing for her to understand. For once in her life, let her understand. "I believe you have the ability to pull the trigger of your sniper, Dominique. But before that, you must use your vision to spot the warning before acting. Stay focused. Use your eyes, your ammunition, and do not miss your chance to take the target down before the sniper is used against you."

He left then. Dom stared at the doorway, processed his words. She sat up straighter, felt an epiphany coming on. She came to the conclusion.

"He's a weirdo," she whispered to herself, then decided to go wait for her daughter.

Later on, Dom sat in the second rocking chair she owned that was placed inside Emmeline's recreational room, her leg kicked out and rocking slowly. Emmeline sat on the floor by her toys, relaxing in the way a four year old girl would do. She had one doll on her lap, a brush being pulled through its surprisingly tamed hair and another in a toy high chair, just sitting there since she'd pretended to feed it. Dom watched her as she played, realized that she was caring for her dolls by speaking to them in Arabic. She would repeat some of the same phrases Bane would say to her, obviously mimicking him. Dom only sat and relaxed, watching her silently as she played before the next task would call her name. And that next one would be to get her kid some food.

She felt better now. She felt more like herself. After one of her crying episodes, ones that came on only every now and then, she would feel like they'd never happened to begin with. She could go back to being her usual self who didn't care about what Bane did beyond her, knowing that his personal time with women was none of her business and something she didn't even want to know about in the first place. She liked it much better when she would feel this way. She much preferred it when Bane was just her parenting partner, and nothing more.

She wished it would stay like this. But unfortunately, the countdown seemed to only reset until the next breakdown.

Not something she wanted to be thinking about, she told herself, knowing she needed a task to get everything besides her child off her mind. If she needed to get laid, then it was a good thing she could take care of that herself. Self-service was the only way she was getting any physical satisfaction these last few years, and it would obviously have to do until something changed.

Problems like this weren't so hard until she'd met Bane. The bastard.

Rising from the chair, she called out to Emmeline. "I'll be right back," she told her, waiting until her daughter looked at her so she knew she was listening. "I'm gonna tell someone to bring you some food, okay?"

"Yes, Mama."

Dom walked out of the recreational room, keeping the door wide open so she could listen out for any problems. She just needed to grab one of the servants who tended to the needs of the heir, and in just a few moments Emmeline and Dom would have something sweet to snack on. She pulled her sweater tighter against herself, wondered how much freaking colder it could get at this time of year. Surviving winters in the mountains was not one of her favorite things, but she'd prevailed because this was her home now. And would be for more years to come. She would stay.

She didn't know what the future held for her, but figured it was too exhausting to think about now. Dom passed one of the smaller rooms, the door cracked open. She stopped at a dead halt.

She blinked. Something inside her had stopped her, had told her something… not right was going on. She'd spotted something in her peripheral as she'd passed. As she'd passed the room she knew belonged to Erin. Dom drew her brows together, took a small step back and stood in front of the crack that opened to her bedroom. She saw Erin's back as she peeked in. Saw her lift her hands with an object in each.

Barsad had said the eyes were the tools for wielding the weapon, a silent weapon. He'd said to use them to strike the enemy down. Stay focused, were his words. She understood them now. She could see.

Dom watched closely and silently, spotted the details like the thin needle in one of Erin's hands, as thin as a hair, and a condom in the other. There was a pile of those condoms on her bed next to her, obviously meant for Bane, a pile she'd already fixed and somehow re-foiled.

Erin took the needle, and punctured the condom slowly and precisely.

Dom's eyes widened some.

She was damaging the protection. She was trying to make it so Bane was not protected at all. Erin made many holes in the condom, such inconspicuous holes that Bane would never notice. She wasn't trying to stay childless. In fact, she was destroying the very thing that would make her remain so. And Bane didn't know.

Rage consumed Dom as she watched the entire process.

And then her heart stopped as Erin turned to look at her.

TBC

A/N: Yes, I know, everyone hates Erin. Don't worry, loves. You know I can make even the most wrong scenarios right. Tell me what you think will happen. Should Dom tell Bane what's going on? And will he even believe her? Sometimes, sex can cloud the mind. Even sex with someone you know isn't good for you. Which lady will come out on top? The mother of the heir, or the wily lady servant?