Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the plot. Thanks for reading, let me know what you think of it.

Music is Art

'Music is art, and art is integral part of the human experience.' Anne Frasier

"-highway bloody robbery. That's what this is, Robbie. And it's bleeding disgraceful too, given our long history together." Apparently completely unaware of his impending doom, the Englishman's attention was focused solely on Robin as Bane approached, which suited him just fine. "But fine, if you want to be that way, I'll not only buy you dinner, you opportunistic sod, but I'll make you breakfast tomorrow in bed. AND walk the bloody dog for you besides. Final offer."

"You're going to cook on my bed? How is that an incentive?"

Bane knew enough about English culture to know that the two fingers the man gave Robin was not meant to be a peace sign. Far from it

Grinning despite the fact that he'd just been told to go fuck himself, Robin held out a hand and told the unknown man he had a deal, effectively sealing said man's fate since Bane had no intention of allowing anyone else to touch the cop until he was done with him.

And then Robin proved his superior self-preservation instincts by sitting back and twisting his body in his chair so that he could better meet Bane's gaze. "Hey, Sweetie."

Sweetie?

Having been clued in, the soon to be gone Englishman turned to face in his direction, giving Bane a closer look at the oiled hair, con man grin, and rumpled clothes that said traveler or just out of bed to Bane's discerning eye. Though the man lost his grin completely after a moment to no doubt process the mistake he'd just made, talking his way into Robin's bed.

"Oh fuck a duck."

"Eames, Bane. Bane, Eames."

"Oh fuck no. No, Pet. I know he's your ideal man aside from the whole internationally wanted criminal thing -are you trying to put my darling in an early grave? Does he know?" The Englishman shook his head even as he said it. "No, obviously he doesn't know, or he'd be here asking you if you're taking the piss instead of me. Or plotting his untimely demise." A finger jerk in Bane's direction, followed by a slightly apologetic look. "No offence, but this can only end badly for you on a number of levels."

Still grinning Robin jerked his chin in Eames's direction. "He's my brother's problem, not mine, FYI. And Eames, Arthur does know. That Bane and I aren't dating or 'shagging' as you Brits like to call it."

"Normally I'd trust you with my life, but I know your taste in men too well to believe that, Pet."

The once over Eames gave him made it clear that Bane was Robin's taste.

Which would have gone a long way towards reassuring Bane that the man was not going to be a problem he'd need to remove immediately if not for one little thing.

"Breakfast in bed?"

Bane revised his opinion of the Englishman the moment Eames realized that moments before Bane had been viewing him as a possible rival for Robin's affections. Most men would have paled, stammered, offered up some excuse in a futile attempt to save their own skins. In this case though, Eames's eyes were narrowed and accessing, something protective in his stance now that made Bane think this man would fight a fight he knew he couldn't win for Robin's sake. Bane appreciated loyalty.

"He's bribing me to let him sleep in my guestroom." Robin informed him, when Eames didn't rush to explain himself. "Airport's a mess, no flights going out any time soon from what I've heard, and none of the decent hotels have rooms."

Since he was responsible for the problems at the main Gotham airport, he had a few things coming in that he hadn't wanted anyone to be aware of, Bane knew that to be true. As for the lack of hotels…he knew that there was a massive comic book convention being held this weekend in the city. He'd seen some of the attendees on the news that morning.

"I see."

"I was hoping to stay at Arthur's, but I'm afraid he'd kill me very dead if I entered his sanctum without permission. And he is, alas, not answering his phone at the moment. So-"

"So I'm his second choice."

"All men must come in second to my darling Arthur. He hath decreed it."

Laughing, Robin nodded in absolute agreement.

And as if summoned by the mere idea that he might not be any man's first choice, the sound of music and a woman singing in what Bane recognized as Serbian filled the air before Eames yanked his cellphone out of his pocket, accepted the call, and all but purred out a hello to his 'darling'.

"Well that will keep him out of trouble for a couple minutes."

"So he is your brother's lover?" He'd have Barsad look into him.

"They're complicated. And he's not remotely my type."

He was glad to hear it. "I'll make a note that badly dressed Englishmen who have an appreciation for Serbian music are not your type."

"Serbian-oh. The song. Eames loves Eurovision, and his ringtone for Arthur is 'Molitva's' chorus. It was the 2007 winner. Mine is the opening of 'Mr. Downtown' from the soundtrack for 'That Thing You Do'. In case you were wondering."

"Eurovision?"

"You don't know Eurovision? Oh, Sweetie, you have been…no. Nevermind. Eurovision would make your head explode." Laughing, Blake jerked his head in the direction of the box Bane only now remembered he was carrying. "That for me?"

"Perhaps."

Pushing his chair back Robin got out of his seat and came around his desk, the way he moved his body, it was a pleasure to watch and Bane looked his full as his bird swaggered over to him until they were all but chest to chest. And the look in Robin's eyes when he tilted his head back to meet his stare…well that look packed as much punch as his bird no doubt did in a fight.

"What's in the box?"

"It's heavy."

Curiosity lighting up his bird's eyes, Robin moved to the side and motioned towards his desk.

Walking over and setting the box down beside the chocolate Eames had been using to bribe Robin with moments before, Bane watched as Robin hurried over to rip off the tape on the top, Eames wandering over as he continued to talk to Arthur about someone named Ariadne, all the while eyeing the new box with just as much interest as Robin was.

Pulling out the packing peanuts, and sending them flying out behind him like he was a dog digging for a bone, Robin made a sound of delight as he reached in and…

"I'm not going to be able to lift this, am I?"

"I'll get it. You talk to Arthur." Eames offered the phone to Robin.

"You're not stronger than me. Bane will get it for me. No touchie."

Eames looked insulted. "I am as strong as you. Stronger than you."

Waving that away while telling his brother over the phone what was going on, Robin motioned for Bane to retrieve his present for him.

Reaching into the box Bane grasped the sculpted metal base of the lamp and brought it up and out of the box, all the while keeping his focus on Robin to catch ever moment of the other man's reaction. Insiders had told him that the stained glass gift had been the biggest hit, and this…he hoped would get a similar reaction.

And Robin's eyes went wide with delight, the grin that split his face bringing out those dimples as the cop immediately reached out to touch even before Bane had set it down on the desk's surface. The contemporary art deco lamp was shaped like a tree, a wisteria to be exact, and Bane had decided on it the moment he'd spotted it.

"It's gorgeous."

"You do have excellent taste for a criminal mastermind." Eames agreed.

"Hold on one sec. I'll send you a pic." Removing the phone from his ear Robin took a picture of the gift and then presumably sent it to his twin before handing it over to Eames, telling him to talk to Arthur so that he could admire his present.

Which he did, very thoroughly, before stepping away from it to press his lips against Bane's in a friendly kiss that he didn't see coming. And which ended before he had a chance to deepen the kiss, or even get a real taste of Robin's mouth.

"Thank you. I love it."

"Robin."

)

If there was one thing that could be said about his sorta stepmother-no, scratch that, there was a LOT of things he could say about Captain Lara Harper, Blake corrected in his head, but one of the things you could say was that she had horrible timing. Or at least she did in his case. Particularly on those occasions when she came to speak to him not as one cop to another, but as someone who would have been his stepmother if she hadn't dumped his father before he and Arthur had come to Gotham.

The fact that she was using his first name, instead of his rank and last, meant that unfortunately this was going to be one of those latter situations.

"Captain Harper. What can I do for you?"

"You can start by explaining what Mr. Bane and Mr. Eames are doing here?" Her arms crossed in front of her, a gesture she made often in Blake's presence, his father's ex-wife gave them all the cop look that went with her outfit. Pants, shirt, and jacket to hide her sidearm. She wanted to be seen as one of the guys and heaven help the person stupid enough to suggest she wasn't.

Even Eames was better dressed than she was. Some of the time.

"I was just leaving." Eames volunteered immediately, knowing her well enough to be wary as he slipped his phone back into his pocket. "Robin was just going to give me the spare key to Arthur's place."

Taking the hint and pity on the man, who could blame him, Robin reached into his own pocket, pulled out his keys, and removing the one Eames needed tossed it at him. "Walk Buffy when you get there."

"Ta. And I'll walk Mr. Bane out as well." Eames shot a look at Bane that Robin immediately reinforced, hopefully conveying to the man that Bane staying would not be a good thing for him. Not that he didn't think Bane could handle going toe to toe with Harper, he did, but nothing good came of pissing her off.

Thankfully Bane got the message and nodded. "Until next time, Lieutenant."

"I'll look forward to it."

Especially since that brief taste of his man-Bane, had left him wanting more.

Watching the two leave together after saying goodbye to both of them, Blake couldn't help but think that he should be worried about them being together unsupervised before turning his attention back to the scowling captain in front of him.

"Apologies, Sir. What can I do for you?"

"You're accepting gifts from an internationally renowned crime boss?"

"No. I'm accepting gifts from an internationally known businessman who is believed to have criminal ties and yet has never once been successful charged with a crime in any of those countries. And I'm giving him stuff in return too, just for clarification. He's not my sugar daddy, though he does have a hell of a lot more money than I do." Which was appealing as hell, actually, since it meant he didn't have to wonder if it was his family's money or connections that interested Bane.

"Robin."

"Sir."

"Think of your father before you do something stupid."

There were many things he would tolerate from her, and not just because she outranked him, but when it came to his father and her using him to keep him in line…no. "Respectfully, Sir, you don't want to bring him into this. And you can't tell me who to date. Which I'm not even doing so..."

"I'm not just saying this because of Shin. I don't want anything to happen to you either." A sad, rueful smile curved her lips. "But I know that look in your eye. It's the same one he gets when someone tells him he can't do something, and he decides to do it just to make a point. So I'll leave it…but you know that IAB is looking into you even harder now, right?"

Since she was his superior Blake settled for a 'duh' look.

"Just like your father." And there was a world of complicated emotion in every syllable of that sentence before she turned and started to walk away, pausing at his desk to look at the lamp.

"Your grandfather is going to want to steal that from you."

"He totally is."

A more real smile this time as she looked back at him. "And pick up those packing peanuts you sent flying all over the place. The cleaners have enough to worry about around here."

And then off she went, leaving Blake to muse that as fun as it had been to send said packing peanuts flying, he was sorta regretting it now.

)

The information his people had dug up on Tom Eames thus far suggested that the art restorer slash forger was not someone Bane needed to worry about when it came to Robin's affections. While his conversation with the man on the way out of the cop shop had been brief, Bane's gut said the Englishman's attentions were focused solely on the other Blake twin. Complicated as that relationship apparently was. Eames had even asked him about the other gifts he'd given Robin, with a look in his eyes that made Bane think Eames was already planning how to go about wooing his own Blake with presents.

Since he was no longer plotting the man's removal from his city Bane had wished him well in his endeavor.

It was interesting that Eames's main profession was traveling the world restoring paintings and other words of art, but that the man also had a side business forging them as well. Which obviously Robin's brother would have to know about, and through him…Robin? And yet the man was treated like a friend and invited within the family compound, so to speak. Had spoken with affection and knowledge about how Robin's grandfather was going to covet that lamp, and how it just figured that Harper had waited until her ex wasn't in the building to talk to Robin about Bane.

The two had a very complicated relationship it seemed.

Setting aside the weights he'd been using when his phone went off, Bane picked it up to check the number, smiling when he saw the name on his screen.

"Lieutenant Blake."

"Mr. Bane."

"To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Well I thought I would thank you again for the gift, especially since I need to know where you got it. My brother forwarded the picture of it to my father and grandfather, and grandfather wants one just like it."

"I'll send the information to you." Briefly he considered just gifting the man in question with the lamp, but Bane's instincts told him that that would harm rather than help his chances. "And what does your father think of the gift?"

"He thinks you're trouble. But trouble with excellent taste."

"And your stepmother?"

"Technically not my stepmother. And she doesn't like you. But she really doesn't like anyone."

"You?"

A thoughtful pause. "We're complicated. She's not my mother, we never had that relationship, but she's always taken a special interest in me because of my father. Who she, in her stunted, wrongheaded way, loves. Ergo we're important to her because we're important to him. Plus according to her I need more adult supervision than my father gives me. It used to drive her nuts that we'd hang out at the station."

"Most would agree that children do not belong in such a place."

"We weren't your average kids."

"Very true. And why is that?" Barsad still labored in vain to uncover the truth about the first twelve years of the twins' lives, which was something that irked the man to no end. For himself, it only intrigued Bane that much more.

"Born that way, I suppose. We've never been the sort to settle for being average. And I knew I was going to be a cop."

"And why is that? You don't need to work, and if you wanted to there are would be countless professions you might pursue that would be more financially rewarding, not to mention much less frustrating and ultimately pointless."

"Pointless?"

"This is Gotham City. Crime flourishes here as it does nowhere else in this continent. Remove one criminal and five more takes his or her place."

"That bad, huh? Guess I'll just have to work that much harder than. Care to throw any names my way?"

"The names I could throw your way are not men I wish you to have an acquaintance with." A moment's pause for emphasis. "And given the time, shouldn't you be out having dinner with your brother's complication?"

"Obviously no one's ever taught you how to smoothly change a topic. And actually Eames is currently giving Buffy a bath." A sound of exasperation. "Can't take your eyes off her for a second, which he unfortunately forgot since he walked her last. Not that I'm sorry about that since now I don't have to give her one later. I'm manning the grill at the moment since we both like our steaks well done."

"You never did tell me how you ended up with a dog named Buffy."

"Long term client of my grandfather's passed away, left him the dog, her stuff, and money for upkeep in her will. We tried to change her name and her taste in pink, believe me we tried, but she won't answer to anything else. And heaven help us if we don't dress her up properly."

"Dress her up?"

"Buffy loves her bandanas. And outfits for special occasions. You'll see."

"Will I?"

"At this point I don't doubt it. Especially since I called to ask you to dinner."