Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the plot. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it.

So I thought I'd do a chapter completely from Simon's point of view. Mostly because I needed a sorta filler chapter and I enjoy thinking of how Simon sees the world. If you enjoy and want me to write more from his point of view let me know!

It's A Hard Knock Life

Why couldn't people just learn to get along? Or at least use their words more efficiently and frequently? These were just some of the many questions Simon constantly contemplated at times like this. Thanks to his experience in foster care Simon was well aware that small children could be quite successfully taught the concept of using their words rather than fists, so really why did adults struggle so much with it? Weren't you supposed to become smarter with age? Was it just because talking leveled the playing field for both parties? The average person older than a toddler could talk after all, while fighting ability varied greatly depending on the person? Unless of course the two people in question spoke different languages, in which case using one's fists did make more sense.

"You need to concentrate on this fight and only this, My Son. No getting lost in your thoughts."

Doing his best to hide his annoyance at having his thoughts interrupted, Simon nodded grudgingly in understanding. Then he looked off to the side where Barsad was talking with the alpha Simon had been informed he would be fighting today in order for Danilo to judge his skill levels.

Which just proved his point about the stupidity of the human race. Because here he was about to face off against this Danilo person in combat, and he had absolutely no wish to hurt him. But he had to hurt him in order to prove that he wasn't absolutely useless as a bodyguard, and therefore was worth keeping around a while longer. Because of course there was no value in an alpha who didn't like to beat the crap out of people.

His designation was so under evolved.

Stupid Bane. If not for that idiot John would be here. He'd feel better if he was. If Danilo started to grievously injure him because of Barsad John could rescue him before serious damage was done. John had told him he'd been training with Batman, and had assured him that he was confident in his ability to beat senseless anyone here save for Barsad and Bane. Which might be an exaggeration, John hadn't seen a lot of them in action after all, but Simon figured that if nothing else he and John could beat the crap out of Danilo together if need be.

Would Barsad intervene on his behalf?

The thought in his head now Simon tuned out the last minute instructions his adoptive father was giving him with practiced ease and instead mentally debated the likelihood that if things went horribly wrong he could depend on the beta to save him.

Hard to say.

A hard pinch to his arm had Simon biting back a yelp as he glared at the man who'd delivered the pain.

"Pay attention. Danilo is an honorable man, but he will not go easy on you. Particularly with Barsad watching. And Barsad will lose interest in you if you appear a weakling. His current interest in you needs to continue."

Rubbing his poor arm Simon muttered that he didn't see why.

"He desires you greatly. As long as that is the case he will let no real harm to come to you." The man pitched his voice so low Simon had to lean in to hear him. "Look at your friend and how he uses Bane's desire for him to his advantage. Learn from him. It never occurred to me that you might be his type, but I could ask for no better mate for you than Barsad. He will take excellent care of you after my passing."

Simon considered for a moment pointing out that he could take care of himself…but this wasn't the regular world he was living in. When it came to the League of Shadows he did need all the help he could get, yes.

"So you think that I should fuck his brains out?"

His father made an expression Simon had never seen on his face before. He wasn't quite sure how to interpret it.

"Or are you suggesting the whole cow analogy?"

"Cow?" His father repeated faintly.

"The idea that I should string him along as long as possible because why buy the cow if you're getting the milk for free."

As Simon waited in expectation his adoptive father raised his hand to pinch the bridge of his nose.

"Just do your best to remember what I have taught you. Your fate might depend upon it."

"Yes, Sir."

"Go limber up."

)

Doing as so ordered, it was never a good idea to disobey when he was on the receiving end of that particular look, Simon walked a short distance away to do some stretching that reminded him of gym at school. And those were never good memories since they usually involved him failing at some sport horribly or being gawked at once he'd started being good looking. Thoughts of school in general were never pleasant, really. Thank God that period of his life was over. Though there was that song about how high school never ended, and Simon supposed that there was truth in that statement.

Switching his thoughts over to what his father had had to say about Barsad since that was more interesting to contemplate, Simon pondered what to do about his father's suggestion that it was in his best interests to pursue a relationship with the beta. After all in theory he understood the older man's reasoning, and Simon wasn't opposed to the idea of sleeping with Barsad because it was-oh. Well now he felt more than a little stupid.

He'd only ever gone out with omegas, and only a few at that before washing his hands of the whole relationship/dating thing. He'd never dated a beta before. But more than that he was living in a world where people weren't permanently attached to their phones. Which meant if he were in a relationship he wouldn't constantly be barraged with texts, phone calls, and X rated pictures. And if someone wanted Simon they probably wouldn't say so just because they'd be afraid of what Barsad would do to them as the second strongest man around. Only Bane was tougher, and Simon knew the other alpha was more likely to paint his mask neon pink than ever desire him. Particularly with John around to hold his interest and insure Bane's brain cells continued to die like flies.

And Bane would be paying dearly for his stupidity soon enough, Simon mused with absolutely zero sympathy for the other alpha. Everyone said Bane was supposed to be a genius but obviously not, if he thought forcing John to revert to his omega status was a good idea. It was a horrible idea. And not just in the obvious ways that John had mentioned, but in the simple fact that by causing John to become an omega again Bane was handing the other man a weapon that John would use mercilessly to get what he wanted from Bane. Simon was pretty sure that Bane would end up wrapped around John's finger in no time.

And they'd all suffer for it whenever Bane didn't give John his way.

He was very fond of John. He was. But teenage omegas on street level Umbra were still, to some degree, omegas. Their hormone surges were just too strong for the drug to control. The high grade stuff John had been on in the last few years thanks to Wayne were a whole other story, but the social workers in their neighborhood…what they'd had to pass around paled in comparison potency wise. Which meant that while John had never gone into heat while they'd been rooming together, the mood swings, erratic behavior, and a need to be cuddled and pampered had definitely come into play whenever his roommate's heats should have happened. Which meant Simon did have some idea what John was going to be like in the near future and…not good. Definitely not good. And if Bane got John pregnant…God save them all.

He really didn't get why his kind loved omegas so much. The fact that anal sex was so much easier with them was not, in Simon's opinion, a good enough reason to subject one's self to them on a regular basis. Yes they smelled incredibly good, but they were so clingy and emotional and prone to manipulating you with their sexuality. He'd had the sense to swear off of them when he was still a teenager, yet here was Bane, nearly twice Simon's age, actively seeking one when he could have had the improved, fake beta version of John.

Though the fact that he was a great deal smarter than the average alpha was not news to Simon. Not that most of them were smart enough to realize that.

"Are you ready to begin?"

Turning his attention to the man he was supposed to injure in order to save himself from being maimed or killed at a later date, Simon bit back a sigh and nodded as he followed Danilo to the center of the thankfully deserted sparring area. He disliked being stared at.

Coming to a stop where he thought was appropriate Simon bent and brought up his arms so that his fists were aimed towards the ceiling, planting his feet at the same time as he prepared to defend himself as he'd been taught by Father. With probably a bit of John's techniques thrown in since these Shadow people were so obsessed with fighting the way their trainers had taught them. Back when John had tried to teach him to defend himself, he'd taught Simon to fight dirty. Never fair.

Assuming a much more conventional stance, Danilo told him to attack him.

"I just defend, I don't attack."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't attack people. I dislike pain. And as a bodyguard it's my job to protect, not start shit."

Since only his adoptive father and Barsad were in the room, Simon imagined that the muffled snicker he heard was from the latter.

"As you wish."

The punch Danilo threw at his face was easy enough to evade by simply tilting his head to the side. The other alpha had slowed and significantly reduced the power behind it since the whole purpose of this bout was to determine Simon's skill level. They weren't fighting with the intention of severely hurting each other. Or at least Danilo presumably wasn't. Simon was willing to maim if it got him out of more of this in the future.

He managed to block the following six blows aimed in his direction, moving as little as possible each time and feeling every hit that he was forced to block with either leg or arm. The more he moved the more likely he was to lose his balance, trip, or get caught off guard. It had taken nearly a year before his adoptive father had been willing to accept that there was nothing he could do about Simon's inherent clumsiness, but eventually the old man had devised this method of defense. Ergo Simon had spent years having kicks and punches aimed at him until blocking had become muscle memory. The aim was to defend himself from serious harm while both tiring his opponent out and lulling said opponent into thinking that Simon couldn't attack. Which he could. Sorta.

Wheezing out a gasp of pain when the seventh attempt, a kick to his ribs got passed his guard, Simon glared at his opponent but resolutely got back into position while ignoring both the pain and the way it was affecting his ability to breathe. He knew how to keep functioning even while in pain. He'd learned that well in Gotham, well before he'd ever known the League of Shadows existed.

More jabs and blows were aimed at him, Simon not at all surprised to see annoyance and frustration in the other alphas eyes. This was not how fights between alphas were supposed to go. Or even fights between alphas and betas. His lack of aggression and movement were completely throwing Danilo off, which was of course the-now.

Seeing an opening Simon surged forward and delivered a straight punch into the man's gut to knock some of the wind out of him while also leaving Danilo open enough for the other fist Simon aimed a little higher to deliver a solid cross to the alpha's solar plexus.

Then he backpedaled a couple steps to give the man some room. And put himself more out of range.

And to give credit where credit was due Danilo was still on his feet and only slightly hunched over, the shock on his face rather comical in Simon's opinion. Normally he had difficult reading people's faces, but in this case it was rather obvious.

Turning his head to look off to the side, Danilo's voice was much more jagged as he commented that his former master had devised an interesting method of fighting for his son.

"He is not one of us. Nor will he ever be. But he is competent enough to guard Bane's Pet."

Crap. Competent enough to guard a Pet. But Bane's mate?

The blow seemed to come out of nowhere, Simon aware of pain and then he hit the ground with a loud thud, his legs kicking out defensively thanks to his training rather than conscious thought. He connected too, which kept Danilo back just long enough for Simon to sit up with one arm wrapped protective around his own gut.

Owww!

"On your feet." His father ordered, Simon shakily doing so since the punishment for not doing what the old man said when it came to his training was lots and lots of laps. And he wasn't even allowed to hum while he did them.

Danilo let him get to his feet, which Simon appreciated. Though it was hard to feel gratitude towards someone who'd just hurt you. Especially since Simon was fairly sure he was going to be feeling the injury and the ones coming his way for days to come.

Joy.

)

Some ten minutes later Simon's arms and legs were well on their way to being black, blue, and a rainbow's worth of other colors. His stomach hurt, as did his jaw, but Danilo hadn't landed any debilitating blows and that was the main thing. Or Simon was hoping that that was the main thing. Because if he was being judged on his ability to cause Danilo injury Simon was fairly sure he was failing this. He'd managed his two original hits and two more glancing blows. But that was it. Danilo was way more dangerous than he was.

Blocking a well-aimed kick in his direction, and wincing as the force behind the blow sent painful shockwaves up his arm, Simon gave some thought to some of the nastier ploys John had taught him. How would trash talking go over?

But that was the last strike aimed in his direction, Danilo relaxing his pose.

"That's enough for now. Go sit down while I confer with your father."

The man didn't have to tell him twice.

Bowing his head in respect, well, in gratitude for the man not trying to hurt him anymore anyway, Simon gingerly made his way over to one of the benches off to the side. Sitting down took three times longer than normal, but at last he was down and could lean back against the cool concrete walls.

Fuck but he was going to hurt tonight.

"Here."

Opening his eyes, he hadn't even been aware he'd closed them or for how long, Simon looked at the water bottle being held out to him.

A moment to consider. "My arms don't work."

"They did a moment ago."

"That was then. This is now."

Barsad shook his head and then took a seat beside Simon, passing the water bottle back and forth between his hands as he stared straight ahead.

"You defended yourself well."

"Thank you. Unless you're being sarcastic. In which case I'm well aware that I'm not a badass. Which never made sense to me because what does one's ass have to do with one's fighting ability? I've been told I have an excellent ass, and I'm no John McClane or Black Widow."

"I wasn't being sarcastic."

"Then thank you." Carefully Simon tried to roll his shoulders, wincing at the reaction that that got. "Father is going to make me all but bathE in that foul yak ointment he likes so much. Though then again his arthritis is so bad he'd probably not up to applying it. Which means I'll have to do it and won't be able to reach a bunch of spots. Do you think Bane would be willing to let me borrow John for a few minutes so that he could do it? I don't like being touched by most people, though I would imagine there are those in this compound that would be willing if I was willing. Which I'm not sure I am. I'll have to wait and see how bad the pain is later. It's going to be bad, isn't it? I can feel it. No pun intended. Though if I were in the right frame of mind I'd maybe think that was funny. Do you think it's funny?"

"No. I don't find it amusing that you're in pain."

Simon considered asking if Barsad meant that in the sense that he didn't like the idea of anyone in pain or just Simon specifically, but decided there was more important things to ask.

"Is he going to try and train me more? Because both John and Father have tried and this seems to be the best I can manage. I'd rather leave the blood shedding to people who actually like doing it."

"You are the strangest alpha I have ever met."

"You mean the most evolved one."

A low chuckle. "Perhaps."