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Careful What You Wish For

There was a saying, 'Be careful what you wish for. You might just get it'. Bane was very familiar with both the saying and the truth of it, having experienced the latter a few times in the past. Was experiencing it now as Bane ran full out through the hallways as he made his way towards his living quarters and his mate. His mate who someone had just attempted to assassinate according to the man Barsad had sent to inform him of the situation minutes before. Yes, the messenger had also relayed the fact that Bane's Pet was fine and had suffered nothing more than some bruising from hitting the floor to escape danger, but Bane would not allow himself to believe that until he saw Robin for himself. Before he knew without a doubt that his mate still breathed and lived and was probably currently waiting to blame all this on Bane.

Please let the omega be waiting to yell at him in their bedroom.

He should not have tempted Fate by wishing for something, anything to happen to distract them all from the awkwardness that had ensued once Kei had left the room. From what he'd seen in Talia's eyes when she had looked at the boy. What Bane knew Ra's al Ghul had seen in his daughter's eyes.

Talia had seen that they'd seen and tried to change the subject. She'd failed horribly in the ten or so minutes between Kei leaving and the messenger arriving.

The horror, disbelief, and shock of all that and its implications was taking a backseat now though, the majority of Bane's thoughts veering between fear for Robin and the question of how this could happen in the first place.

He'd known when he'd chosen that room and its design that the balcony and its glass doors were a security risk. An obvious target. He'd known that and lived there anyway because he'd needed it. Needed to have that access to the outdoors and the sun and fresh air. He'd spent decades in The Pit...death was preferable to living in the dark and closed in.

But there were security features and details put into place to guard against attack from that point. No one should have been able to get close enough to the compound without being detected. How had this happened? And more importantly, who had dared to make the attempt in the first place?

The answers that came to mind turned Bane's stomach.

Entering the short hallway that led to his rooms Bane growled at the two men standing guard at the door to get out of his way, the men moving swiftly to do so with the one opening the door for him while the other reported that there had been no sign of the shooter as yet.

Breezing past them Bane stalked into his room, his eyes scanning the room as his gaze sought-there.

Robin sat on the floor, his back against the bed. The boy was sitting beside Bane's mate, the whispered conversation the two were having ending upon Bane's arrival as the two turned their heads to look in his direction.

"No sign of the shooter." Barsad stated from slightly behind him, Bane aware of his second standing directly across from the other two. Standing guard.

Bane jerked his head to acknowledge that he'd heard and then turned his attention back to Robin, demanding confirmation that the omega wasn't hurt. He had no visible injuries but...

"My bruises have bruises. But I'll live." Robin smirked ruefully. "And Barsad saved my butt, which you love, so he deserves a raise. You do pay him, right?"

Ignoring the butt comment-however accurate that first statement might be-Bane took the last couple steps needed and then asked Robin to stand up so that he could look him over himself. Not that his eyes hadn't already made a thorough inspection, but he needed to see Robin moving and touch him. See as much evidence as possible that his mate was alive and well.

Sighing, Robin placed a hand on the bed and then used it to leverage himself up, Kei standing up with him.

Their closeness bothered Bane, his order for Kei to go stand beside Barsad harshly spoken and riddled with an underlying threat if he wasn't obeyed.

Kei obeyed.

"Someone's grumpy. I'm the one that almost ended up dead, you know."

"I am aware." Bane growled as he moved in and started running his hands over the omega's body, searching for breaks or signs of discomfort. Were they alone he would have had the other man strip so that he could see every inch of skin, but they weren't and Bane would not allow neither Barsad nor Kei-especially Kei-see his mate naked. Robin wasn't a fool, after all. He was a trained professional who would have been taught First Aid. Would have taken inventory of himself and be aware of any non-visible injury that he needed to make them aware of. If only because if he died there'd be no reason for Bane to care what happened to the young alpha who had-

Not thinking about that.

"Question." Robin began, drawing Bane's attention fully back to the present. "If I told you I told you this would happen would you throw me off your balcony?"

"No. The only one to die today will be the one who attempted to kill you. Though I might add to the bruises on your precious ass if you push me."

"Right. Twenty bucks says you don't find the person who did this."

Bane glared at Robin even knowing that the silent threat wouldn't do any good. A lifetime living in Gotham had completely desensitized the other man when it came to threats of violence. That or the leniency he'd shown the former cop thus far had given Robin an overinflated sense of security. In which case he was going to have to do something about that. Soon.

Forcing himself to content himself with only checking his mate over from the waist up, Bane returned his hands to rest on Robin's waist once he was done. "You will go nowhere without protection until the individual is caught. Competent protection." Bane clarified, since he wasn't about to trust Kei to do anything but stand around and look pretty.

Ugh.

"Saw that coming." Bringing his arms up between them Robin placed his hands on Bane's chest and then slid them up until he reached Bane's shoulders, which he rested them on. "Sucky day for both of us."

That was one way of putting it, yes.

"If it makes you feel better you have a big kiss coming your way for making sure we get to keep Kei."

Since that statement made him think about things he did now want to think about Bane just glared coldly in Robin's direction before telling him to go and sit on the bed to rest awhile. He'd just had a shock and needed to recover.

"Dude. I grew up in GOTHAM. This ain't nothing new."

"And yet you would return to it. Chose to remain there once you'd reached adulthood."

"It's an acquired taste. And it's my city."

"He's very possessive." Kei added from behind them. "Stupidly so."

Robin bent at the waist sideways to give Kei a look without Bane's bulk blocking him. "Shut up."

"You're both children."

"I could point out that if that's true you're basically calling yourself a pedophile...but I won't. Because you did good today saving Kei even if I probably wouldn't have been shot at if you'd taken me seriously when it came to Talia wanting to kill me." A smirk. "I'll go sit on the bed like a good little omega while you have a special meeting with Barsad to discuss who Talia most likely set up to take the fall for this."

And slipping out of Bane's hold-which he allowed-Robin did exactly as he said and sat on the bed with his legs together and his hands laced and resting in his lap. The blank face he wore finished the image Robin was deliberately presenting to annoy Bane. He was succeeding.

It almost made Bane wish, just a little, that the omega had been winged by the bullet. Or at the very least traumatized into silence for a day or two.

)

Nerves mostly settled now that he knew Robin was all right-though the snarky omega would probably be shooting off at the mouth on his deathbed-Bane pointed a threatening finger at Kei and ordered the younger alpha to sit on the bed as well. But on the other side so that the boy's back was to Robin and he was facing the balcony. The only thing he was good for, Bane told the boy, was as a human shield. It was too much to hope that Kei would see a new threat to Robin's wellbeing coming.

Kei's brows furrowed. "I don't know that much about it...but wouldn't the bullet just go through me and fragment that much more as it entered his body?"

Robin shrugged as he answered before Bane could tell Kei off for questioning him.

"Probably. But even without you there I'd be dead, so just do it anyway."

"Okay." Shrugging his shoulders just as negligently as Robin had Kei walked over and around the bed, taking up his position on the other side with a complete lack of self-perseveration. Not that the boy had ever demonstrated any sense of self-preservation. Ever. It made absolutely no sense to Bane whatsoever that his levelheaded second in command and a woman as brilliant and cunning as Talia would ever-

Fuck. He was not thinking about that right now. No. If Talia continued to show interest in the boy then he'd have to think about it later, but for now he had happier things to think about. Like taking out his current mood on whoever had dared to think they could come into his territory and steal the life of Bane's mate.

"I can't see the face you're making right now...but I'm going to lay odds I wouldn't like it if your face stuck that way."

Bane looked over at Robin, then made the deliberate choice to ignore him for the sake of his sanity. Instead Bane turned his back on the bed and its occupants and walked over to join Barsad, his next words spoken in a language he was sure neither Robin nor Kei understood.

"How did this happen?"

Barsad stared at him for a long, telling minute in silence.

"You know how this happened." Barsad said finally in the same language Bane had used. "I am your second. The one you can trust always to tell you the truth and speak up when it is called for. I will not lie to you in order to aid you in lying to yourself. Your omega is wrong about many things...how Talia feels about him and her desire to see him dead is not one of them. The assassin got through our defenses because he either resides in this compound or came with Ra's al Ghul's entourage. He took his shot and then returned to the compound."

"If she wanted him dead she has only to order it done."

"And you would allow it." Barsad agreed, inclining his head slightly. "But what would her father think? What justification would she give? And would you forgive her for making you make that choice? She is not a fool, Bane. She needs you too much to risk alienating you that way. Not if she can manipulate the same results while appearing blameless."

"My loyalty is to her before all others." Bane stated firmly, refusing to acknowledge the possibility that it would or could be otherwise.

"Would you put your child in harm's way if she ordered it? Would you make the same choice as Abraham, and sacrifice your son for the one you worship blindly?"

"There is no child!"

"But if there was...whose life would you choose to save? To protect above all others?"

Barsad's words hung heavy in the air. Both knew what the answer was, after all.

"Do you think she'll risk that you won't chose her? She will not suffer a child of yours to live. Robin is the one who would carry that child. Eliminating him now, before he bears you young, is her wisest course of action."

There was only one way Bane could respond to that, and that was to order Barsad to take the boy and go and find the shooter. Now.

"Yes, Sir."

Making no attempt to press the issue Barsad turned his attention to telling Kei that they were going now. They had a sniper to hunt down.

"Me? What am I going to do?"

"What he said." Robin gave Barsad a look that said he thought the beta had lost his mind.

"Now."

"Okay..."

Hopping off the bed Kei strolled around the bed, calling to Robin over his shoulder not to get dead while he was gone.

"Aye, aye, Captain."

"Call me Ishmael."

The boy's parting shot made Robin laugh a lot, Barsad's lips actually quirking just a little in amusement too before Bane's second lost all expression in his face as he nodded at Bane and then followed Kei out of the room, leaving Bane alone with his mate.

The silence was as loud as a scream as the two of them looked at each other.

"So...since we're not going to talk about the elephant in the room...what are the chances I can get an ice pack around here?"

Immediately on high alert Bane hurried over while demanding to know what sort of injury Robin had failed to disclose to him earlier.

"Easy, Baby. I'm okay." Robin put up his hands. "I'm just bruised, like I said. I figured I'd ice them. Look a little less rainbow come morning. Not that I don't look incredible in rainbow, I totally do at Pride...but this wouldn't be a happy rainbow."

"Pride?"

"Yeah. Pride. It's like a parade slash festival. Happens in a lot of cities around the world. Wearing rainbows is sorta required."

Bane didn't do rainbows. Or bright colors. Or really anything that could ever, in anyone's mind, be deemed colorful. But it didn't surprise him that Robin would do so. Very little about the man would probably surprise him at this point.

"I'll send for some ice. Go take a hot shower first."

"Sounds good. Well except for the ice part. But what ya gonna do?"

Shrugging his shoulders Robin slid past Bane and headed for the bathroom to do as ordered.

"Keep the door open so that I'll hear you if you need me."

Robin glanced at him over his shoulder, holding his gaze for a moment with a small smile on his face before continuing on his way without saying a word.

But he left the bathroom door open.

)

Trailing after Barsad Simon thought about asking if the beta wanted that kiss now. To make him feel better. He was pretty sure that Barsad was not in a good mood. Not that he was an amateur, much less an expert when it came to reading facial cues. But even though he hadn't been able to understand the conversation Barsad had had with Bane Kei still had a pretty good idea what the two must have been talking about. And Bane would not be pleased that Barsad probably wouldn't be able to produce the man who had taken a shot at Robin.

"He's dead, isn't he?"

Barsad glanced at him out of the corner of his eye as he asked what Kei meant.

"The guy who tried to shoot Robin. She'll kill him, won't she? For failing?"

"Depends on how valuable and loyal he is."

That made sense. And Kei appreciated the fact that Barsad was at least acknowledging who was behind this. It wasn't the same as the beta being on his and John's side, but it was still reassuring.

"We're not really going to go hunting for him together though, are we? I wouldn't be able to protect you."

That earned him a dark look as Barsad stated very coolly that he didn't need protection.

"I'm not insulting you. I know you could kick my ass without trying. You can probably even spar with Bane without ending up black and blue. But if a whole bunch of basasses came at you at once you could get really hurt and all I could do is call for help and then get hurt with you."

"You need to develop some pride. And ego. And basic alpha tendencies."

"Really? Most alphas are testosterone driven idiots who only think about sex and fighting."

Barsad shook his head. "That's not what I meant."

"Ah...that's pretty much what you said." Or at least Simon was pretty sure it was. "Just pretend I'm a beta or omega in your mind. I'm never going to be an alpha." Pause. "Well I am but-you know what I mean. Don't you? Sometimes I'm horrible at explaining things."

"I understood."

"Good. Now where are we going?"

"I'm going to talk to various guards who were stationed outside leading up to the assassination attempt. You're going to follow me quietly and do as little to draw attention to yourself as possible."

"I can probably do that."

"Do it."

Finding himself unexpectedly amused, Simon found himself quoting Star Wars. And he didn't even like Star Wars aside from John Williams' epic score.

"Do or do not. There is no try."

That earned him another head shake from Barsad.

Definitely time to be quiet. And not quoting Yoda.

Life in the League of Shadows really did suck pretty much all of the time.