Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations the characters find themselves in. Thanks so much for continuing to read and giving me feedback on my work. It's muchly appreciated and I do read every review you send me!

Note: The Scrabble related injury is totally based on a true story. I will never do that again lol.

After A Trying Day

Blake wasn't sure, but he had a feeling that Bane had finally gotten it through his incredibly thick skull that Blake had been right about Talia all along. Okay, knowing Bane that was probably hoping for too much. The alpha was probably still in denial that his precious little darling was a narcissistic psychopath with delusions of grandeur and future world domination. But when it came to the whole 'Talia is the one trying to kill me, Idiot'...Blake was getting the vibe that that might have finally sunk in. Or was being considered as a possibility at the very least.

Whatever it was, something had hit Bane hard and it showed. Big time.

Which was why Blake found himself suffering through a disgustingly bland and healthy soup that needed salt added, stat. And don't even get him started on the mixed grain bread he was given to go with it. He wasn't even offered any butter for it!

God, he missed butter. But asking for some probably wouldn't go over well so Blake refrained. For now.

Of course if the worst happened and Bane did knock him up the alpha better be prepared to stock up on a fuck-ton of chocolate, pizza, fries, hamburgers-fuck. He should not be thinking of all the amazing food he could be eating instead of League crap.

Eating his dinner with all the enjoyment of a kid being force fed the most disgusting cold medicine ever Blake finished it as quickly as possible and then pushed the bowl aside with the serious hope that it wouldn't be refilled.

It wasn't. And Bane had hardly touched his but pushed it away once he confirmed that Blake didn't want anything else.

"We'll return to our room now. Barsad, take care of the boy."

Orders given Bane rose from his chair and motioned for Blake to do the same. A glance in Simon's direction confirmed that he at least looked okay with this turn of events, and a brief glance in Barsad's earned him a very slight nod of reassurance. Barsad would look after Simon for him. At least to the best of the beta's ability. Simon probably wouldn't make it easy for him. But trusting that Simon had a babysitter of sorts who, completely against his will, cared about him, Blake got to his feet as well and said his good nights.

That done Blake allowed Bane to herd him out of the kitchen and into the main hallway without a word of complaint or backward glance. Which was a good thing since Bane was obviously in a hurry to get out of there, even placing a hand on the small of Blake's back to keep him moving and close.

Sneaking glances at Bane's face as they walked Blake thought to himself that he could practically see new lines carving themselves into Bane's already lined and bumpy face. The man was seriously stressed and bottling it all up like a complete idiot. That amount of stress-yeah, it was going to blow sooner rather than later. And call him crazy, but Blake was willing to bet that no sane person wanted to be in the room when Bane lost control of himself.

Ergo, for the sake of all humanity-especially himself-something had to be done to relieve some of that pressure.

Sex was the obvious answer, but currently Blake would prefer to avoid since it wouldn't be all that enjoyable. He was still recovering from his heat on top of being sore as fuck thanks to his heat, the after effects of his transition back to an omega, AND hitting the floor hard earlier to avoid being shot. Plus he'd specifically said his ass was off limits for the next little while and going back on that edict would not bode well for future negotiations.

Above and beyond that stress sex was usually, well, stressful. Also occasionally insulting if the stressed person was still focusing on their problems while you were sucking them off or they were balls deep in your ass. He had enough reasons to want to beat the shit out of Bane without adding to the list.

Working out the stress by working out or fighting was the next, arguably most logical choice-only it was late and Bane was determined to stick to him like a burr. In the mood Bane was in he might seriously damage or even kill his opponent too. Blake also had a feeling that if he volunteered to spar a little with Bane the alpha would have a number of things to say about Blake's prowess without ever letting him throw a punch. So yeah, offering to spar with Bane would do no good while also giving Blake new reasons to want to cause the man significant injuries.

He couldn't suggest they watch and movie or TV show to veg out and relax with because there wasn't a TV. And while there were laptops and such Blake figured that Bane would nix the idea on the grounds that Western culture was evil and all that yadda yadda. Or he'd want to watch the most boring documentaries ever created. Hard pass. Bane probably didn't do soothing baths either. Not that Bane would fit in one unless it was a supersized one. A moonlight stroll was out since they had to worry about snipers at the moment. Maybe yoga?

Imagining Bane doing yoga was certainly improving his own mood, as in tickling his funny bone, but Blake figured he might as well rule that out too. Or at least move it to the 'last resort' list for future consideration. Would anyone in this hell hole have board games?

Okay, Blake had to snicker a little at the ideas that popped into his head.

"What amuses you?"

Jolting a little because Bane was being a man of even fewer words than normal, it took a moment for Bane's question to register with Blake.

"My twisted thinking. As in I just pictured some really weird games."

"What do you mean?"

Blake shrugged. "Well I was thinking about how we could spend the rest of the night and wondered if anyone around here had board games. That led me to imagining what kind of board games League of Shadows people would actually play in what passes for 'leisure times' around here. So at first I thought, well sure they might play games like 'Risk' or chess...then I imagined them playing 'Battleship' to plan at sea operations. Or using 'Mousetrap' as a guide to how to capture people."

His kidnapping had been a fuck-up from start to finish after all. Obviously these people needed practice.

"Mousetrap?"

"Yeah. It's a kid's game where you-nevermind." He wasn't that lacking in common sense, thank you very much.

"You enjoy board games?"

"I like some of them. 'Scrabble', 'Monopoly'...some trivia games. I haven't played the first two in forever. I nearly put my fucking back out the last time I played 'Scrabble'."

Bane went still, turning slightly to look at him with confusion on his face. "How would you injure yourself playing that game? I know it."

"Well I was bored so I thought what the hell, I'd play a game by myself. So I put it on the floor, tiles on either side of the board...and played a few games because I got caught up, ya know? Then I tried to get up off the floor and discovered that spending over a couple hours hunch over a game board...not a good idea. Fuck was I sore the rest of the night. Never again."

"You should have stretched properly first."

"In hindsight, yes." But seriously, who stretched before playing a board game?

And now he was thinking of playing 'Twister' with Bane. Trying and failing of course, since with Bane's bulk the game wouldn't last very long. They'd end up on the floor pretty damn quick. So if they were playing 'Sexy Twister' it would be all good. Better than good, really. Well...unless Bane squashed him in the process. Bruised or fractured ribs were a bitch.

"How would you even play 'Scrabble' by yourself?"

"Why do people say it like that? It's not that hard. You just play one side and then play the other like you have no idea what the 'other side' has planned. The only thing I could never understand was why my left side won the majority of the games. It was weird. Like at least eight times out of ten."

Bane simply looked at him, then stated that he would procure a board and then they would play.

"Get a dictionary too."

"I don't require one."

"Yeah, well I do." How else was he supposed to 'cheat' by finding words he didn't even know were words.

Something in Bane's eyes suggested that he knew precisely why Blake wanted that dictionary, but Blake wasn't about to deny himself any advantage he could find. Please. As if.

Again likely thinking along the same lines Bane just shook his head a little, some of the stiffness leaving his shoulders. Maybe a sign of amusement? Who knew? Stupid tin can. The mask was definitely coming off once they were in their rooms.

And with that in mind Blake started to lengthen his stride a little, eager to get back to-well not the safety of their rooms because hello, almost killed in there today-but at least it was theirs and Bane would hopefully be more comfortable and would ditch the mask for the night. Or maybe not. Shit, would this stress Bane out, being back in that room knowing what had almost happened mere hours ago? But if that was the case surely Bane would have had them moved to another room. At least temporarily. He knew that the glass had already been cleaned up and replaced because he'd heard Bane and Barsad discussing that earlier while the two were having one of their little powwows. Should he ask? Maybe Bane was just being too alpha to admit that he wasn't okay staying there. Of course suggesting that that might be the case would mean risking denting the alpha's ego after Bane had already had a helluva bad day. Alphas.

Rolling his eyes at his thoughts Blake was about to turn his head and sneak another quick look in Bane's direction when-Bane took his hand.

Gaze immediately dropping down to the space between them Blake watched in stunned fascination as Bane laced their fingers together. Together. And...well okay, it was Bane's left hand holding his right so Bane still had full use of his dominant hand and he didn't-but still...Bane was holding his hand in public. Not swinging it, naturally, but it was very couple-ish and not at all subtle. People could see.

Looking back up in Bane's direction Blake lifted his eyebrows, silently asking for some explanation.

Bane held his gaze for a moment-then looked away. But kept a firm grip on his hand.

Seriously? What the fuck?

But no answers came and Blake found himself shrugging and going along with it. It had been one weird, long ass fucking day.

Thank God it was almost over.

)

Bane had ordered Barsad to take care of Kei without stating what exactly that entailed. Or what Kei's new status within the League was now that Hitachi was dead. Bane had also apparently lied to Talia and her father, claiming that he had accepted responsibility for the boy for Hitachi's sake. Barsad had no doubt that Bane had actually done so to appease his potential mate. Or at least mate for however long the omega managed to stay alive before Talia killed him. But the point was Bane hadn't specified what his plans were for Kei and Barsad had judged it wise not to bother his leader with unnecessary questions until tomorrow. Especially as he'd prefer Kei to be under his own care until Bane stated other plans.

So he would take the boy back to his rooms with him, Barsad decided. As he had the night before so that Kei wouldn't be alone in his grief.

Though in all honesty Barsad had no idea how the other man was handling his grief. Kei was pretty much acting like his normal, abnormal self and had all day. There had been no changes that he could-Nevermind. The day was messing with his head and perceptions. Kei hadn't hummed once today. Or sang anything. The closest he'd come was saying 'The Lord's Prayer' at the funeral. That was not normal. At least not since the cop had started spending time with the boy.

Of course if anything could suck the music out of someone it would be the al Ghuls, Barsad acknowledged with a small smirk.

Regardless, he couldn't leave the boy on his own without adult supervision. So they were going back to his rooms and Kei would continue to reside there until Bane stated otherwise.

"We're going to your room?"

"Yes."

"Oh."

Not sure how to interpret that Barsad slowed and turned to the side a little so that he could see Kei better. All physical and verbal cues were appreciated when dealing with the confusing younger man who constantly made absolutely no sense. And currently...Kei was looking at his feet, arms crossed in front of him like the younger man was giving himself a hug. His posture was one of defeat, not even defensive.

"Would you rather stay in the room you shared with your father?" There was comfort in the familiar after all. He was willing to stay there too, if Kei wanted his company.

Kei shook his head.

"A room by yourself?"

That got him a jerk that was likely meant to resemble a shrug.

"Kei. I'm asking you what you'd prefer. Speak."

Finally Kei looked up, looking very young and defeated as he stared at Barsad with those big, sad eyes that made Barsad-well made him feel and want to do things he really shouldn't want or be thinking of doing. Especially at the moment.

"But it doesn't matter what I want. It never does. You're in charge of telling me what to do until Bane decides he wants to tell me what to do instead. You aren't supposed to think or have free will in the League of Shadows, remember? Trying to do either of those things will get you killed."

Not even bothering to touch on Kei's opinions when it came to the League-what would be the point after all-Barsad instead stated very coolly that if Kei preferred to be alone and not share Barsad's room then this was his opportunity to say so without reprisal.

"You sound like there'd be consequences."

"Kei."

That earned him a deep sigh, Kei muttering something that Barsad didn't catch.

"What did you say?" Barsad demanded to know, his tone making it clear that there would be consequences if Kei didn't answer him. His patience was shot.

"I said I thought I was done with this shit."

"What shit?"

"Being in foster care type shit!" Was the boy's surprisingly loud response, the words spewing out of Kei now as anger and pain took over. "I figured my life with Father would be the last home I'd be placed in and then once he died I'd be killed too. That or I'd have to kill myself because the alternative was worse. Now here I am being placed in another 'home' until you don't want me around or Bane wants me somewhere else. And you're constantly telling me not to sing or be myself so it's even more like foster care and-and I'm legally an adult in every country in the goddamn world! Why the Hell am I still being treated like a child! Like a burden on League society. I don't-I didn't-why can't I have a home and a family?! Why do I have to be alone?! I wasn't ready for him to go!"

Reacting to the tears shimmering in Kei's eyes Barsad took a step closer, his voice softer as he reminded Kei that Hitachi hadn't wanted to leave him. The old man had very obviously struggled to stay alive as long as he had, knowing that once he was dead Kei would be in mortal danger. One didn't always have control over the time of one's death. And Kei still had the cop. Still had Blake. He wasn't completely alone.

That he wanted to say Kei had him too burned in Barsad's throat. But he couldn't. They both knew it.

"Until Talia kills him. Of course Bane will kill me then too..."

"Unless Batman saves you both first." Fuck. Had he seriously just said that?

"Then he better hurry up." Lifting a hand Kei used the heel of his hand to wipe the forming tears from his eyes, blinking any future ones away as his lips curved in just a hint of a rueful smile. "And I know what you're thinking...real alphas don't cry, right?"

"On the contrary, I've made plenty of real alphas cry."

That earned him a rusty laugh. The sound made Barsad unreasonably happy.

"So what do you want to do now, Kei? You just said you want to be treated as an adult-so make a decision."

Barsad was not expecting Kei to stick his tongue out in reaction to that. The shock of it left him dumbfounded.

"You should see your face."

Face immediately falling into an unreadable expression, he had a rep to protect, Barsad said Kei's name one more time, his tone hopefully conveying the fact that he'd reached the end of his rope on the topic.

"Your room."

"Fine. Let's go."

"Yes, Sir."