This was actually meant to be all chapter 20, but the thought of combining the two chapters as you see now - hurt my brain. Too many wooooords, far too many; so I just cut 'em in half. Poor Lily, she thinks Bane's driving her barmey. No wonder...those eyes are quite captivating *drool* Haha, I joke. I'm more of a Scarecrow kinda' girl.

"No one even knows how hard life was
I don't even think about it now because
I've finally found you."

XXI.

Craving You.

"Gotham is in a state of emergency; city officials have either been captured at their homes or murdered by the masked terrorist sources are claiming is calling himself Bane. We will keep you updated on this dire incident as it develops..."

"It will be wonderful working with you, Bane."

Lily's eyes roved over the sort-of-young doctor, Crane. His greasy dark hair was slicked back; his twitchy little nose was constantly playing host to his sliver spectacles which slipped down every two seconds; his fingers embedded in the groove between his eyebrows in a bid to keep them up. His eyes were glassy and the faintest of blues, his quirky mouth was pouting and petted, he looked soft, weak, a cowardly little man with a thin neck which poked out of his boxy suit at the top, his head sitting on it like a peanut. Lily didn't like him and eyed the sweaty palm which was extended to her. She felt Bane's eyes dig into her face and Barsad's knuckle embedding itself into the small of her back to prompt her to smile at the good doctor. Grasping his slick hand, Lily grimaced,

"Good to meet you, doctor."

"Charmed, and you are?"

Her response was cut off by Bane who had been standing behind the doctor with his beefy arms folded over his chest; with an impressive clear of his throat, Bane unfolded his arms and strode around the trio of people and waved a hand, gracefully brushing Lily aside in her pretty outfit.

"Nobody," He said deliberately, throwing her a look which told her to keep silent.

Lily bobbed her head shortly and glanced at Barsad who was looking her up and down as though he would choke her. She ignored him and instead made a point of purposely brushing shoulders with him, watching silently alongside him as Bane led the doctor away, his big hand rested on Crane's nervous, quaking shoulder.

"I scrub up well, don't I?" Lily teased and Barsad scoffed, his rugged face cracking into a smile.

"Who found you that?" He asked, his brow furrowing at the preposterous get up.

She smiled faintly and touched the soft fabric which clung riskily to her thighs and shrugged softly,

"Found it in one of the chests in the hotel. Thought it was ironic, a good 'FU' to Bane."

Barsad's smile disappeared with the insult to his boss thrown in which only made Lily's mirth more genuine.

"You're the worst sort of people," Barsad spat. Lily gave him a sidelong look, her eyes dark;

"Well what can you expect; we're in league now are we not? Or are you going to run to Bane and tell him my outfit offends you?"

"I'd tell him your smirking face offends me," He countered and Lily chuckled mockingly and stepped forward,

"I don't think he'd agree with you." She said over her shoulder and ignored him as he strode up alongside her urgently,

"What are you getting at, souris? You know what's to happen today...right?"

"Yes."

Barsad's mouth was shut as she stopped abruptly and turned; she could see Michael behind Barsad hailing her; his expression was taxed as he seemed to be labouring with somebody on the other end of the phone. Lily nodded and turned her attention back to Barsad as Michael turned and began to wrangle again with whoever he was on the phone with.

"He's letting them out today. Everybody in Blackgate...he's going to begin his revolution."

"That doesn't bode well for you, why are you smiling? You know that some of those men in there are killers,"

"And?" Lily shrugged, "You and Bane are killers and look how cuddly you two are."

"Oho, you have no idea, kid. You think that just because Bane's got your back you can peacock around? You're in for a shock."

"How so?" Lily frowned and Barsad chuckled,

"When Bane and I unleash those dogs; there will be a chain of command."

Lily's eyes narrowed as she listened and Barsad minced his words, slowly and with silent glee;

"First they'll answer to Bane, then me," He looked over at the doctor, "Then Crane. No one's gonna' answer to you. Nobody has a clue who you are."

Lily's dark eyes lost some of their assurance and she thought she saw a smile flicker over Barsad's face; she crushed down her annoyance with him and instead slathered on that plastic smile, drew up her scrawny shoulders and presented herself as untouchable. As Bane had told her to do and preened,

"Well then we'll see us about changing that, won't we? Dr. Crane!"

Lily revelled in Barsad's confusion as she strode past him without acknowledgement and extended a hand back out to Crane. Bane's eyes were sharp and flinty as he watched her approach, small, determined and pretty she grasped Crane's hand with such zealous and earnest eagerness, Bane had to look away;

"Actually, when you asked before who I was; I just thought you should know that my name's Lily and I am your new advisor."

Dr. Crane's fidgety eyes darted from Lily to Bane, from Bane to Barsad and then back to this girl, this woman who still had his limp hand in her grip.

"A-advisor?" He quibbled and Lily nodded with a smile.

"Yes. Who better than I to help you decide who is guilty of corruption? Somebody who lived underneath the heel of the decadent for so long would have a wealth of...experience to help you sift and make a decision."

She could feel sweat trickling down her back as she sang out her memorized words; words that sounded nothing like she had ever uttered before. They made her sick, she felt nauseous, disgusted but she was rest assured that she had to do this. She had to pull this off in front of Barsad, for her own safety as well as the poor bastards Bane was going to throw to this bony weasel in a suit. If Lily could save anybody, she'd need to integrate herself with these maniacs.

"Well, Lily? I will be happy to work with you as well..."

"Wait!" Barsad barked, breaking the handshake to Crane's barely concealed relief.

"What is it, Barsad?" Bane growled and the merc faltered,

"You...She is nothing! How can you allow this...this girl to be in on our plans?"

"Which is exactly why I allocated her a task; you nagged that she was worse than useless down below, but maybe up here..." His eyes trailed over Lily, stood there rigid with fear and anxiety in her good quality dress.

"Maybe up here she can be of use to somebody. Somebody like me, which means she'll be useful to somebody like you."

"Links in a chain." Lily said quietly and Bane dipped his head shortly,

"Yes."

There was a pause as they all stood there; the only one Lily thought truly had no idea what was going on was the poor doctor. He cleared his throat nervously and shuffled his feet before Bane said with finality,

"So, we all understand each other. Good. Dr. Crane, please get acquainted with your new advisor. Barsad, come, we have a city to liberate."

Lily looked on with narrowed eyes as Barsad's sharpened glare lingered, venomously with quiet hatred before he fell into a step behind Bane who left smoothly without a second glance to Lily like he always did. When they were gone, Lily turned and beamed brightly at Dr. Crane and held out a hand, indicating for him to follow her. The sickly feeling returned as she led him through the plaza, past mercs who all eyed her strangely; all wondering who this woman was and what her position was; where did she fit in to Bane's grandiose schemes of revolution and liberation? Even Lily didn't know that; she thought it would be fitting to know that Bane didn't either, memories of the night before flashed in her brain, before her eyes, vivid, poignant she could recollect them so perfectly in her own head it almost made her vomit.

Obviously the moment Bane had left her room, the first thing Lily did was grab a pillow and scream loudly into it; her wails muffled by the lushness of goose feathers. After that, she sat and waited. Bane came back no less than twenty minutes later holding a pile of folded clothes in his hand, Lily's eyes lingered on the little pile and she almost felt guilty for what she had done; it was strange to see Bane holding something so domestic, like watching a bear suddenly get up and start ironing clothes or pass you the phone; completely unnatural. His own eyes widened only slightly when he beheld Lily once he opened the door to her room; she thought she had made the big man more unsettled than even the Batman.

Sitting on the bed, back straight, dark hair a messy damp haze of black frizzled around her face. She had shed her towel and thrown Bane's huge coat over her bare shoulders, the whole garment swamped her, she was utterly covered but there was something about the way it enclosed her, engulfed her; it almost drowned her delicate beauty beneath the heavy material and Lily watched carefully and saw Bane's gaze hang on. Her eyes were empty, like chips of ice as cold as her fingers which she wrung inside the sleeves, her teeth chattered. The hotel was only powered by emergency electricity – Bane's bombs had knocked out the main power, so no heating was on what so ever. After a tense moment, Lily's glassy eyes finally flicked over and fell on Bane; she would have been lying if she said there was no calculation in what she was doing, she wanted to know what he wanted. This was the only palpable thing she could think of which would give her an answer fast – this, or greet him totally naked and see how he reacted, but that was too rowdy for Lily to even contemplate.

There was an attraction, Lily wasn't overly versed in detecting when a man was interested but she wasn't completely bereft of knowledge. A man like Bane was strange...Everything about him screamed violence, danger and suffering but Lily found that she cleaved to him more than anybody else in the world, he'd ensured her safety, and given her everything that he said he would when she never asked for any of it. Although it wasn't much to look at, what he had given her was something more than physical, Lily thought that in his own strange, weird way; he was trying to give her a place, but as to why she still couldn't work out; her only indication as to what Bane's intentions were when it came to her was that he wanted to protect her, molly her; Lily didn't agree with that. She wasn't some pet to be caressed and then sent away, she wouldn't be his little play thing that the men identified as 'Bane's woman'.

"You must be cold." Bane said at last.

Lily's eyes glazed for a moment, peeping down she saw her legs poking out from under the hem of Bane's coat and she felt a chuckle gurgle at the back of her throat as she realised how petty and silly she looked. Glimpsing back up, she shrugged and let out a breathy laugh, shaking her head.

"I thought this would bother you..."

He moved further inside the room, closing the door with a well placed heel. They both ignored the token slam and Lily watched as Bane regarded her, guardedly, like a cat that's found something interesting but is too cautious to really approach; she observed dethatched as he prowled before her, ill at ease, unwilling to come any closer.

"Does it?" She asked lightly and Bane's gaze stabbed her.

"It can't be more surprising than when I first saw you."

She motioned with her hand, her fingers closed over her nose and mouth, her palm pressed against her face mimicking his mask and said subdued,

"Y'know, it's quite a shock the first time..."

He nodded,

"You asked why I wear it."

Lily shrugged and looked away,

"Barsad said it was your business. And I'm just a nobody...Nothing and why would you tell anything to nothing?"

"Why without a doubt?"

"I don't know...you tell me," Lily bartered, "Why d'you wear it really?"

His eyes were away from her again and he sat the clothes on a small table; wiping his hands together as he strode around the room, stalking in front of Lily. When his eyes found her again she was looking at him, her eyes big, innocent despite her risqué garb. He threw her a cautionary glance as if to tell her to keep her distance, Lily peered down at her hands and listened as he said,

"You think you should know?"

"Why do you always think that I think that I'm entitled to know...You're striking, is it a crime to be curious?"

"Anything's a crime in Gotham thanks to Harvey Dent." He said, watching her.

Lily shrugged again,

"Nothing to do with me, or with your mask. Why do you wear it?"

"Curiosity," Bane said ponderously to himself, "It's your one trait...You're inquisitive and you don't relent..."

She remained quiet, her eyes following him as he backed up on his heels; his hands still swarmed in front of his chest, rubbing them together over and over again.

"You really want to know?" He asked, Lily felt her stomach flip in her curio. She nodded.

"My past is short...I didn't start living until I was a man grown. All I've known before life and during is hostility. Take you for example, when did you stop living?"

The question took her off guard and Lily frowned trying to follow his train of thought,

"Well...I discharged myself from hospital when I was sick only because it felt like that damned slip with my name on it was the only thing I had any say in...If I didn't want to be there then I didn't have to be."

Lily bit her lip at the recollection and her heart hurt at the thought of John's caring face.

"So I left. Because I could and that's that. I went outside and found an alleyway to fall asleep in and then...you."

He stopped and turned, looking at her closely; his hands stilled.

"You're nobody...nothing special, yet...Like I said; something tells me I should be kind to you."

"Yes, but what does that mean? And why do you wear that mask?"

She was practically demanding the information from him now; her hands balled into fists, buried in the sleeves of his coat; she shivered and tucked her legs underneath herself.

"I've found in my life that bloodshed has to be met with a certain amount of pity. Saving you was something I could pour back into Gotham. You may not have seen it, but you're different."

"I've felt it..." Lily admitted, her head bowed, "I don't know what you're doing...I can't understand-"

"It is not for you to understand just yet, what I'm doing, you're part – it will become clear soon."

Lily's distress was so; she felt tears burning in her eyes as she shook her head and rubbed her eyes on the back of his coat's sleeves.

"This...all this," She tried to explain through sobs, "It's too much...I-I can't believe what you did...I can't believe I'm not more bothered about it! I feel like you've done something to me... bust me. Broken my Goddamn brain!"

When she opened her eyes she hiccupped and blinked back tears, Bane had hazarded a step closer, his distance was still a comfortable one for him; Lily on the other hand wanted nothing more than a warm hug from familiar arms. Her chest seemed to break in two when an image of John flashed and that just made the tears flow warmer and faster down her cheeks. Her face was stoic as the bitter tears plunged down her face,

"And you know you have...don't you? No one else down in that sewers got what I did..."

"What was that exactly?"

"Y'know, the whole; 'I'll not let anybody hurt you' routine. Straight after you said that, Bane, you slapped me off a wall! What am I supposed to think? I don't know what the hell's happening half the time."

To her surprise, her unbridled disbelief she saw a glitter of guilt gleam in his dark eyes and he looked away.

"I didn't want to do that, Barsad's a shrewd man – I can't seem to be losing sight of our mission. You don't know, but you are the very opposite of everything we are trying to achieve."

"Huh?" Lily scowled and Bane shook his head and came closer still,

Taking her hands in his; Lily gasped and leaned back as he knelt before the bed – it was eerily reminiscent of their first meeting. His eyes were almost earnest, his voice as usual was learned and thick erupting from behind the twisted mass of tubes and vents; Lily ignored the mask and focused on his eyes;

"Your tears are meaningless here." Lily blinked uncomprehending his gentleness as he wiped a tear away.

"You're safe, tomorrow is important. I want you to sleep."

"Why? Why do you want me to sleep?"

Lily's caution was repaid with an irritated sigh, but he humoured her.

"There's somebody I want you to meet. You need to be fresh, I need you to be completely convincing tomorrow."

His hand was still on her face, snugly and warmly; Lily nodded and sniffled, her own emotion draining her of energy. She unfolded her legs from under her and accidently bumped Bane's chest with her knee,

"Oh, sorry!"

She gasped and absently patted the place where she'd bumped, like he was John or someone like that...someone normal. His eyes when hers locked with his were perplexed, searching, utterly bewildered; so much so that it made Lily snatch her hand back as though it had been burned, like he had done to her before. Lily averted her eyes and pulled his coat in closer,

"Sorry..."

Her voice was a whisper of remorse as she tried to fold into herself and get away from him and his dark eyes.

"Get some rest," He said getting up. Lily, without any pretence gripped his forearm making him look at her,

"I feel like you're trying to drive me mad...Bane, what are you doing to me?"

His response was delayed; Lily gulped, vulnerable, naked save for his coat, her hair a curly mass of chaos around her face, one white shoulder peeking out from the confines of the warmth.

"I'm saving you." Was all he said, his hand cupped her face.

Lily felt her chest tighten, she was frozen there; unable to do anything. The intimacy too much for what it seemed they were but his coldness and her witlessness confirming what they indeed were to each other. Did he really view her as a ward? Someone he felt he needed to look after? No, Lily didn't think so.

So he left. Lily was alone, frozen to the bone; her tear-tracks left chilly bitter markings down her face.

"Uh, Lily, is it? Is everything alright?"

Lily's eyes widened a little as she realised that she was standing like a complete moron before the good doctor; she shook her head and smiled brightly.

"I'm sorry, Dr. Crane. Through here, please and we'll get you settled in and you can view the...cases."