Chapter 7
Author: Oh man so much happens in this chapter – sorry it's longer! Don't forget to review! Even if you think your review won't matter – FALSE. It matters! Also, thank you random 'Guest' Reviewer who decided to read this story instead of sleeping. You're my hero.
Disclaimer: I do not own Batman or any of the characters within the franchise. I own the original characters of this story as well as the plot that are not directly tied to the movie.
Myra felt that she and Bane were parallels, different sides of the same coin. Myra figured he had killed three bad men for a good reason, whereas she had inadvertently killed three good men for a bad, almost selfish reason. Myra felt that her actions had transcended her into the same plane Bane inhabited from a moral standpoint. While their motives may have been different, and the effect that the deaths of those individuals had on them was extremely varied (with Bane barely bashing an eyelid, already forgetting those he had eliminated, and Myra unable to wipe the faces of the officers whose death she had influenced from her mind), they came together in one regard; if given the chance to go back in time, they wouldn't have changed anything differently.
As they made their way back to the underground reflow base, Myra found the cot in his room was replaced with a second-hand full-size bed that took up a good portion of his room and was pushed up against the corner where the books had once been stacked. The books were relocated under the bed for storage. She wondered how it got replaced so fast, concluding that Bane must have texted or phoned someone back at the base to have it replaced before they got back.
Myra was initially confined to the room, though the door wasn't locked, and no one watched to ensure she stayed in the room; it was more of an unofficial request. She noticed an increase in activity in the base, as well as an influx in unfamiliar faces. That, if anything else, encouraged her to seek refuge in the room where she knew no one dared enter.
During times when Bane wasn't away on business, he would usually saunter into the room in the evening, taking off his military vest and brace, shirt, and sometimes his cargo pants and he would then crawl into the full-size bed next to Myra who was usually already in it nestled under the covers. While the bed was generally large, it wasn't a queen or a king size bed; Bane was also a large fellow, so he usually had to sleep right up next to Myra if he wanted to maintain any comfort while sleeping on the bed.
Sometimes Bane would pass out immediately after settling in the bed, barely getting an arm around her to pull her close. Other times he would bring his hands to her hips to pull her back up against him in a proper spooning position, his head generally leaning down to take in her scent at her shoulder for several minutes before either Myra or Bane passed out; it was hard to say who was lulled into sleep first by the soft mechanical breathing generated by his mask.
There were other times, of course, in which passivity and sleep weren't immediately on their mind. One positive outcome of having an actual bed instead of a cot was that Myra no longer had PTSD concerning the cot suddenly breaking from under her during the adult activities she engaged in with Bane. The bed withstood the force of their actions, and they were both able to eventually pass out and sleep tangled in each other's limbs under sweaty sheets.
The routine that had been established prior to her leaving was also eliminated; gone were the days where, like clockwork, Bane or Barsad would come in and keep her company. She had to go seek out their company if she wanted it. She didn't initially mind this, but she found Bane and Barsad to be particularly busy and distracted; more so than usual. She decided to keep her requests to a minimum, finding other ways to keep herself occupied. This led to the eventual transition into her first job that she had declared as one of her conditions upon her return.
Bane deposited a substantial amount of money into an account and put her in charge of it. This shocked Myra initially, surprised at the trust he had in her; she could easily transfer the $2,000,000 she was now in charge of into her own personal account and go run off somewhere and live comfortably for the rest of her days. She didn't do that of course, but the fact that she could and that Bane, to some degree, anticipated that she wouldn't because he trusted her made her feel more connected to him on another level. His only indicator was that she explore and utilize some investing and savings techniques that she had learned while working in the stock exchange as well as from school. She was able to do this all through online trading directly from a computer that Bane also provided her.
Considering she had only really worked in the Gotham Stock Exchange for several weeks, her insight and intuition when it came to invest in stocks was severely limited. After the first week, the $2,000,000 was down to $800,000. She almost wet herself the morning she realized she had made several really terrible investments. She was extremely reluctant to even bring it up, hoping Bane wouldn't even notice that a huge amount of money was suddenly missing from the account.
However, he eventually asked her idly how she was doing with the account, and she reluctantly divulged the news awkwardly. Bane didn't say anything but gave her a look that clearly indicated he knew she could do better than that. Myra thought that was the end of it, and that she would just keep utilizing the rest of the dwindling funds in the account until it possibly ran out due to her failures.
The next morning when she checked the account again, however, she saw that the money had been mysteriously replenished, even with an additional $1,000,0000. She was both shocked and grateful, feeling like it was the equivalent of waking up one morning and finding a rose or a cute stuffed animal next to her head from a partner as an indicator from them that they were thinking and cared about you. However, a replenishment of money and an additional $1,000,000 was way more useful than a rose or a stuffed animal, in Myra's opinion.
She was considerably more careful this time around, not wanting to disappoint Bane again with her inadequacies. She managed to invest properly, raising the $3,000,000 up to $4,250,000 in a few weeks, which was shocking. She felt that she had learned a great deal about the art and intricacies of trading stocks during that time, and that it was incredibly refreshing to actually be able to invest and explore options without feeling like one small step would cause her own financial ruin. This allowed her to make trading decisions that weren't motivated by emotion.
She also liked the freedom of exploring and investing in what she wanted, without a company dictating the type of stocks she should invest in. Bane would sometimes come into their room and see her glued to the computer, fixated on the stock numbers that fluctuated throughout the day, blatantly ignoring him as she entirely focused and devoted herself to her task. He didn't mind, for that level of involvement in an activity was his intention all along. He also knew it would have the inadvertent side effect of allowing Myra to educate herself further about finances and stocks, possibly making her feel like her career and degree didn't go to waste. He wasn't going to disclose that being one of the main reasons for him assigning her to the account, however, much preferring that she assume that she was in charge of a large amount of money in hopes of making that sum even larger to aid Bane on a financial level. He, of course, didn't need assistance on a financial level. Again, not something Myra needed to know.
Bane was also aware of the monster he created through the observation of the friendship Myra and Barsad formed, who undoubtedly were the closest to him on a personal level at the base. He would sometimes overhear Myra make half-hearted complaints about Bane to Barsad like, "Doesn't it bother you when he does this…?", with Barsad nodding non-committedly in agreement. He noticed Myra usually had these complaints when she must have known he was within ear shot, possibly testing for some sort of reaction, which Bane never gave.
After roughly two weeks of this routine, Myra was informed of her second 'job'. Her designated job was doing supply runs out of town. While she wasn't allowed to fly solo despite her flight record and private pilot's license for both small private airplanes and helicopters that she had acquired following her grandmother's death and her exploration into the world prior to entering the college life, she was allowed to be co-pilot and keep track of the supplies that they were picking up.
The first day of her new 'job', she was escorted by the main pilot (who was a gentleman named Steve who was a very passive individual, to Myra's amusement) to a rooftop where a helicopter was parked idly on a helicopter pad. She was wearing an unflattering green flight suit to try and 'blend in' with Steve, who wore a similar suit. A few of Bane's men were already inside the helicopter, ready to accompany them to their destination. She was practically hopping with excitement on the roof as she made her way towards the helicopter.
She didn't make it all of the way to the helicopter, however, for she felt a hand grab her abruptly on her upper arm, stopping her in her tracks. She turned around to see Bane, his other hand holding a pilot's helmet. She looked down at it as Bane released his hold on her arm and grabbed the helmet with both of his hands, bringing it up over her head and slowly lowering it back down as if he were about to crown her on the head with an imaginary crown.
He settled the helmet over on top of her head, squishing it down non-too-gently so that it fit snuggly around her face.
"You aren't to take this helmet off while you are out, is that understood?" Bane said as he shoved some of her hair up inside the helmet for her with his large fingers.
Myra looked up at him as she attempted to adjust the helmet to be a bit more comfortable on her head.
"Why? I'm pretty sure if the helicopter crashed, this helmet isn't going to save me," she said jokingly.
Bane kept his hands settled on the helmet as he looked down at her, his brows furrowed into a look of concern but also clearly giving her a look meant to indicate this wasn't something he was willing to compromise or discuss extensively about.
"While that would be unfortunate, it's not to protect you from injury. It's to hide your identity," he said, finally removing his hands from her helmet, crossing his arms over his chest as if challenging her to debate his reasoning.
Myra thought about the logic behind his words. Myra's mysterious disappearance from her housing that the state had provided her while she recovered from her 'ordeal' would undoubtedly lead to some sort of missing person's case. It wouldn't be regarded as a kidnapping, a murder, or even an attempted suicide on her end because she had clearly taken the time to remove her personal belongings from her apartment indicating she had time to pack and to leave without a trace; something she would not have been afforded to do if she were kidnapped or killed. Bane preferred the authorities simply thinking she ran away or even was dead.
Myra had no reason argue, but instead started pushing the tips of her hair up that he missed into the helmet to further disguise her appearance. When she was done, she let her hands settle on her hips with her arms bent akimbo, giving him a nod, the excitement that radiated from her similar to a grade-school student off to their first day of school and bidding their parent farewell.
Bane simply regarded her; the sound of his breathing mechanically amplified from his mask. He finally let out an irritated grunt before turning away and sauntering off back towards the exit of the helicopter pad.
Sometimes Myra, Steve, and a handful of Bane's men would pick up supplies that were just a half an hour to an hour away from Gotham. Other times it required hours of air travel and an overnight stay before they eventually reached their designation. When the trip required more than several hours of Myra's time, Bane would send Barsad with Myra to ensure that everything went smoothly. Barsad seemed indifferent about this arrangement but didn't seem particularly put-out when Myra made him play cards or converse with her about a variety of topics during their down time when on these trips. Since Myra's return and her apparent adoption by Bane, Barsad seemed significantly more open and freer with the information he shared with her.
One name that came up during these conversations was "Talia". Myra was genuinely shocked and surprised to learn that Bane wasn't actually 'the leader', but that he, in fact, followed someone else. She got the immediate impression that this woman must be a wizened, aged old soul with vast wisdom in the realm of mercenaries and plots.
Aside from Myra extracting as much information she could out of Barsad about Talia and Bane in general, she also managed to give Barsad unsolicited advice about what women might want from a man, in case he was curious and wanted to improve the relationship he had with his wife. Myra wasn't sure if he ignored her when she talked about these kinds of topics; his face always remained non-committal and passive.
One thing that Myra noticed during these supply runs was the actual contents of the supplies. She got the impression that there was going to be some sort of siege within Gotham, though she knew that idea was ridiculous. The amount of food, ammo, and various supplies they were picking up could support Bane and his men for months, years even. She wasn't sure why he even needed this much stuff to be filtered into Gotham, considering they could get most of the supplies within Gotham if they wanted, and if it wasn't a conventional item, then it would just be a short drive away. She didn't ask questions and was just thankful she was doing something that didn't involve injuring people or blowing things up.
The random soldiers and mercenaries under Bane's command accepted her without much regard, though those that may have seen and knew her as a hostage may have found her presence odd. Most simply assumed she was a shorter male, since when she was out performing duties, on top of wearing the helmet, she wore a loose flight suit with a baggy jacket to hide her narrower frame. She also took note that when Bane was in his element of issuing orders and commanding his men, he gave her no mind; in fact, he gave her little to none of his attention unless it was necessary to perform a task. He would barely even look at her if they passed paths, though she would see his eyes flicker towards hers once in a while. She didn't hold it against him, knowing he had to maintain an image of authority and that he also had to concentrate on the numerous amounts of tasks he was simultaneously juggling in his mind while going about his day.
There was one instance, however, when she was walking in an isolated hallway in the underground reflow system, absorbed in the material list in front of her, failing to hear the footsteps quickly approaching behind her; or perhaps they were purposefully silenced to mask their presence. Either way, she felt a large hand grip her upper arm and swing her around abruptly, causing her to drop her clipboard, her expression one of complete surprise.
She looked up to see Bane, evidence of a smile on his face by the textured crinkles around his eyes as he looked down at her playfully. He brought a hand up to cup the side of her face, his other hand moved to her hip, holding her lightly as he closed his eyes and brought his forehead down to touch hers in an intimate gesture. He held this position for several moments, taking big deep breaths as if he were taking in her scent. And then just as quickly as he came, he detached himself from her and continued on his way right past her, leaving Myra dumbfounded, her mouth held slightly agape.
She bent down to pick up her clipboard, wiping it off of debris and water that had marred the paper.
"Can't go anywhere these days without getting harassed…." she joked to herself, a smile spreading across her face.
After roughly a month of Myra's supply running, the frequency of the trips significantly diminished. Bane didn't elaborate on the reasons for why he no longer needed her to go and fetch supplies as regularly, though she assumed it had something to do with the fact that their storage was already at full capacity and that it seemed absurd that they would even have the remote chance of consuming and using all of the supplies they did have.
One morning, as Myra sat idly on the bed reading a book, Bane entered the room. The weather had transitioned slowly into fall, which warranted warmer clothing. This resulted in Bane frequently wearing a large shearling brown coat that had a collar that flared around his neck. It looked comfortably lined with light-colored wool and looked extremely warm. Myra always wondered where he would even get a coat like that, almost jealous and wishing she had one like it.
He didn't fully enter the room, but very apparently was there to deliver her a quick message.
"Pack up. We're moving," he said simply, turning to leave through the door.
Myra startled at his statement, looking around their room that they had both co-habited for several months together now, feeling a pang at the prospect of a change in her surroundings. True, while they did live underground in the sewers, and it generally smelled and was moist and was noisy and dark, Myra had grown to enjoy it. Mostly, if not entirely, because Bane was also there. This realization allowed her mind to ease at the prospect of moving somewhat. Before Bane could fully exit, however, Myra jumped from the bed towards him.
"Moving? Moving where?" she asked hurriedly.
Bane turned to give her an impatient look and a sigh through his mask, eyeing her up and down. Myra got the impression he had somewhere he had to be and had limited time for explanations.
"You'll find out when we get there. Pack up what you want to bring; leave everything else," he said, turning again to very clearly dismiss her.
Myra turned to look at what she could even potentially pack. She hadn't brought a lot with her; mostly clothes and some smaller personal items. She shrugged and simply began shoving her entire life's contents into a duffel bag without further thought.
Bane came back several hours later to retrieve her with her belongings. He flung her large duffel bag over his shoulder with ease and exited the room without further fuss. Myra simply followed him, stopping at the door to turn and give the room with the pedestal sink, full-size bed, shower, and books that had held a significant amount of memories for her one last final sweep before turning back to catch up with him.
Bane led her to the surface street, Myra blinded by the sun that was shining down on them. She turned to Bane, worried about him walking so brazenly and open around in the street, seeming disinterested in the prospect of someone seeing him. They made their way to a large SUV with tinted windows, Bane flinging the duffel bag into the back of the car, before opening the back-passenger door for Myra to hop into it.
She flung herself into the car, putting a seat belt on. She looked up to the driver, seeing Barsad in the driver's seat. She flashed him an excited smile, feeling the type of excitement she would feel as if they were about to go on a family road trip, though he simply stared at her with a look of passive disinterest. Bane got into the front passenger side, and as soon as his door was closed, Barsad put his foot on the petal and they made their way down the street.
They didn't drive far, and Myra almost knew immediately where it was that they stopped at; John Daggett's penthouse building. She pressed herself against the tinted glass to gaze up at the building, her mouth dropping slightly. She wasn't sure if they were stopping here first for an errand run, or if there was some other motive.
When both Barsad and Bane got out of the car, with Bane going around to grab her duffel bag, she knew that this was the new 'home'. She got out of the car reluctantly, eyeing Bane. She felt like it would be an extremely awkward and uncomfortable scenario to encounter the owner of the company she once worked for, particularly since she was accompanied by the same men that had taken her hostage, which he would undoubtedly know about.
"This…is John Daggett's building?" Myra stated hesitantly.
Bane turned his head to give her a look.
"Astute observation. It is indeed," Bane said with condescension.
Myra narrowed her eyes at him, her lips forming into a line.
"I don't think…I….don't want….is he letting us stay with him…..? I don't think…..Does he know you….?" Myra couldn't even figure out which question she wanted to focus on, too much was going on through her brain.
Bane must have picked up on her trepidation and unanswered questions.
"John Daggett is dead, we have taken ownership of his building," Bane said simply to clear the air.
Myra stared. How had I not heard about the owner of the company I once worked for dying? Who was in charge now? How did he die?...
Myra's eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"How…..?" she asked, almost not wanting to know the answer but feeling compelled to ask the question anyhow.
"I killed him," Bane said simply, turning his body to look at her straight in the eyes, seemingly not caring that they were standing open in the street between the entrance to the penthouse building and the vehicle they arrived in. Barsad stood off to the side, looking around their surroundings idly.
Myra's face paled. While she knew Bane had certainly killed people, the prospect of him killing people 'just for sport' or because they had something he wanted was…. Monstrous? Inhumane? Insane?
Bane must have picked up on her extreme unease of the situation. He approached her slowly so that he could lower his voice and speak to her on a softer level.
"He overstepped himself. You may also not be aware, but he was instrumental in pointing you out as a hostage for my men to take during the Gotham Stock Exchange incident. We were to work with him to ensure you were returned quickly and safely. His handling of that matter was…disappointing," Bane said, lowering his chin to analyze her, waiting for her reaction.
Anger immediately replaced the sympathy and unease she had felt over the prospect of John Daggett's death. THAT ASSHOLE. He CHOSE me? He told KNOWN terrorists and merceneries to pick me out and take me? GUH! ….what an absolute miserable human being. I can't believe I worked for him. GROSS.
Bane could see the anger rising in Myra's chest and in her eyes. While his words were mostly true, he decided to hold the added bit that while indeed John Daggett had pointed out his employees in brown coats and thus as appropriate targets, he thought it wouldn't hurt to let her think that John Daggett specifically chose her for various nefarious reasons. Bane chose the hostages in brown coats that day at complete random; there were at least a dozen brown coats at the stock exchange. She just happened to be closest to Bane when he made his selection.
Bane watched with humor as Myra's lips slowly started forming into words, presumably of the slur variety, as he grabbed hold of her upper arm and coaxed her forward into the penthouse building. She went obligingly.
Being relocated to the penthouse allowed Myra and Bane a taste of what it was like to actually live together in a domestic capacity. It provided them a moderate level of privacy and lack of predominantly militaristic and collapsible equipment and furniture, mildew, slime, moisture, mold, and pipes consuming their environment.
Myra was even surprised and quite frankly, enjoying some of the more luxurious amenities, almost blatantly ignoring the fact that they even had access to and were using the penthouse because Bane had killed John Daggett.
Some of these amenities included an actual fitness and weight room, and indoor pool with a sauna and hot tub, a bar next to the pool, a huge library, a private home movie theater room to watch movies on a projector, and a game room that had activities like a pool table and vintage arcade machines. While Myra knew that the penthouse didn't strictly house just her and Bane knowing he had moved a good portion of his men to the building also, she was always curiously surprised as the complete lack of occupants using these rooms when she went and explored.
Bane had allowed Myra to tag along with him when he went to a room in the penthouse building that was strictly designated for weight lifting and body building. Or she simply followed him one day when he ambled his way to the location like a stray cat; it was hard to say how the arrangement of her accompanying him while he worked out actually began.
It initially started with her just either standing or sitting and ogling him at his feats of strength before it eventually transitioned into giving him words of encouragement, and ultimately 'advice'. Considering she had no prior weight lifting or body building experience, her expertise was usually nonsensical and borderline distracting.
The routine of her offering him advice like, 'You have to lift it better," or "Your face looks like it's going to pop," was either ignored by Bane or he would pause from the exertion he was currently undergoing as if regarding her advice. He would allow himself to catch a breath before his head would slowly turn to her as if latching on target, saunter over to her, and then snatch her quickly to bodily lift her up in repetitions as a replacement for the heavy object he had been lifting. Her weight paled in comparison to what he had been lifting, so these moments were usually treated as a time for Bane to regain his stamina and recover from fatigue. Myra found these instances incredibly thrilling, sometimes bursting into fits of laughter and clinging desperately to his forearm as she tried not to squirm else she throw her balance off and cause Bane to lose his hold on her. One time he teased her by pretending to lose grip on her and dramatically lurched her one direction as if about to drop her, but he ceased doing that after he experienced a golden liquid raining down onto him after Myra very clearly wet herself.
Myra went into the bathroom of the master suite to find Bane brushing his teeth hurriedly with his mask resting on the edge of the sink. She saw he was using the toothbrush with a red handle; that was her toothbrush. She immediately grimaced.
"EW. That's my toothbrush!" Myra exclaimed, horrified. Disgusted.
Bane lifted his eyes to the mirror in front of him, using it to gaze at her from a reflected angle. He finished several last aggressive sweeps of his mouth with the tooth brush, unphased by what she said before he dispelled the foamy contents of his mouth into the sink, rinsed it quick, putting the tooth brush with the red handle on the same spot on the sink where she had been placing hers, and put his mask back on.
"Oh? Does it matter? I seem to recall an instance in which we thoroughly explored each other's mouths," he said, as if that rationalized the use of her tooth brush.
She continued to scowl. "Yes, that's different. I wasn't swiping plaque off of your teeth with my tongue," she said.
Bane nodded at her, seeming to agree with her point. "Interesting. Well, if that's your stance, you had better use your own tooth brush then," he said matter-of-factly.
"That is my tooth brush," she said.
"No, it's not," he said, as he swung the medicine cabinet door open, revealing an identical red-handled tooth brush sitting on the shelf inside next to his shaving equipment. "I believe this is your tooth brush."
Myra's face turned red. Oh yeah. I forgot I put it there... She let the redness creep into her face, crossing her arms over her chest awkwardly as her anger slowly deflated from her chest. Ooops. I've been using "HIS" toothbrush….
Bane found this incredibly amusing, who passed by her but not before resting a hand on her shoulder and giving it an affectionate squeeze.
Not soon after the relocation of Myra and his men from the underground sewer system, Bane payed a visit to the Wayne Enterprise Board. He stood patiently at the head of the table, his men holding the full table of board members hostage in their seats by gun point as they waited for the expected arrival of Lucius Fox and Miranda Tate.
"I still don't see the need of a board meeting for the energy project," Fox said was heard saying out in the hallway as he was approaching the board room.
"Bruce got a lot of things right. Keeping the board in the dark was not one of them," Miranda replied to him.
Miranda and Fox rounded the corner into the board room but stopped in their tracks at the spectacle of Bane standing at the head of the table flanked by several of his men holding assault rifles.
"How good of you to join us. Chair. President," Bane said to Fox and Miranda. They simply stared back at him.
"All I need now is one more ordinary board member," Bane said as if he were in the process of collecting a full set of action figures and was just one-shy of making a complete set. Bane turned towards Fox.
"Mr. Fox, would you like to nominate?" Bane inquired with strained politeness.
The look Lucius Fox gave Bane indicated very strongly that no, he did not want to nominate anyone for that role.
"No. I will volunteer," Fredericks quickly volunteered, not wanting to putt Fox in the awkward position of having to delegate someone as a fellow hostage.
Bane immediately began exiting the board room after having a complete set of board members.
"Where are you taking us?" Fox asked. Bane didn't respond.
"You were right, commissioner," Foley said as he entered Commissioner Gordan's hospital room.
"What happened?" Gordon inquired with concern.
"Your masked man kidnapped the Wayne Enterprises board. He let most of them go, but he took three of them into the sewers," Foley explained with excitement and anxiety in his voice.
Gordon stewed with this information briefly in his hospital bed before turning to look at Foley decidedly.
"No more patrols. No more hide and seek. Get every available cop down there and smoke him out!" Gordon said with heated passion.
"The mayor won't want panic," Foley eased out.
"So, it's a training exercise," Detective Blake said, offering a solution.
Foley nodded, seeming pacified with that excuse, turning to go but stopped to give Gordon one last look.
"I'm sorry I didn't take you seriously," Foley said apologetically, before he turned and left.
Blake turned to leave also, but Gordon stopped him.
"Not you!" Gordon shouted, grabbing Blake's attention.
"You're telling me the Batman's gone, so you chase up the Daggett leads. Any way you can," Gordon ordered Blake.
"Yes sir," Blake said with a slight nod, leaving the hospital room to go and complete this new task assigned to him by Gordon.
Bane led the three Wayne Enterprise board members to an underground structure that also served as temporary storage for some of the more lethal weapons that were acquired from the armory at Wayne Enterprise. They made their way down a long cement spillway, before Bane issued an order for a small hole to be blasted with explosives against the wall at the end of one of the spillway corridors. Once a hole was blasted, they made their way through to the spectacle of the nuclear reactor seated in its core.
Bane ambled up to a large terminal next to the nuclear core, motioning to the board members.
"Turn it on," Bane ordered them.
None of them respond to his demand. Bane waited several moments more before he gave a signal to Barsad, who immediately pushed Fredericks to the ground.
"I only need one other board member. There are eight others waiting," Bane says threateningly.
"I won't do it," Fox says boldly, decidedly, seemingly disinterested in Frederick's vulnerable position.
Bane signals again, and a pistol is cocked against Frederick's head.
"Alright stop. Lucius, you'll kill this man, and yourself and you'll barely slow them down," Miranda says as she approaches the terminal requiring a board member hand print. She puts her hand print over the glass, followed reluctantly by Lucius and Fredericks. The power of the core immediately starts revving.
"Go on then. Do your work," Bane says as he turns to Dr. Pavel. Dr. Pavel immediately begins to perform the task of militarizing the nuclear core reactor.
Bane turns his attention back to the board members.
"Take them up to the surface. People of their status deserve to experience the next era of western civilization," Bane says, dismissing the board members.
After approximately three hours or so of Dr. Pavel's workings, he sighs, easing himself back away from the nuclear core.
"It is done. This is now a four-megaton nuclear bomb," Dr. Pavel says with exhaustion.
Bane nods agreeably before gesturing with his hand toward the nuclear reactor.
"Pull the core out of the reactor," Bane ordered.
"No, you cannot!" Dr. Pavel shouted in dismay. Bane's men immediately begin dismantling and removing the core from the reactor.
"This is the only power source capable of sustaining it," Dr. Pavel continues, clearly distraught.
Alarms start to go off, indicating the severity of the core being removed from the core.
"If you move it, the core will decay in a matter of months!" Dr. Pavel rationalizes, still very clearly dismayed.
"Five, by my calculations," Bane says passively.
"And then it will go off!" Dr. Pavel screams.
"And for the sake of your children, Dr. Pavel, indeed, I hope it does," Bane eases out before he rises up from his seated position, moving towards the exit with his men and Dr. Pavel in tow.
Meanwhile, during Detective Blake's investigation into the pattern work based on the civil engineering maps he acquired, he made a startling discovery involving the use of cement laced with explosives around the city. He immediately realizes that it's Bane's intention to blow up the entrances around the sewers, ultimately trapping the police officers that are, in that moment, being funneled into it by an impassioned Foley in the hopes of catching Bane. Detective Blake tries to contact Foley in desperation to alert him of the impending plot, to no avail.
Bane returned back to surface after his task of releasing the nuclear reactor from the core was complete, thus setting in motion the 5-month detonation timer. He exited from below ground to the stadium where a Gotham Rogue's football game will be taking place. Bane listened idly during the initial singing of the national anthem, nodding contentedly.
"That's a lovely, lovely voice," Bane said idly, to no one in particular.
Bane signaled to Barsad to hand him the detonator, waiting for the child signing to finish his song and exit the field.
"Let the games begin," Bane said in jest, as he pressed the button. A massive rumbling of explosions was heard deep underground, as if a monster was stirring from a deep slumber.
The explosions immediately trapped the police inside the sewers. It also lay waste to the football field. The bridges and means of getting out of Gotham were removed, as explosions crippled them at the middle. The mayor of Gotham was killed from a planted explosion inside the executive viewing box at the game. After the rumbling subsided, Bane entered the field. He grabbed a microphone from a fallen referee.
"Gotham…take control!" Bane said, raising a hand
"Take control of your city!" Bane said again as if making an attempt to calm down the spectators.
"This…this is the instrument of your liberation," Bane continued, as he took a step back as Dr. Pavel was brought forth onto the field.
"Identify yourself to the world," Bane said as Pavel was dragged in front of him and forced into a kneeling position.
"Dr. Leonid Pavel, nuclear physicist," Pavel says reluctantly.
"And what is this," Bane says, pointing to the nuclear bomb that was also brought out onto the field.
"It's a full primed neutron bomb with a blast radius of six miles," Dr. Pavel explained into the microphone.
"And who is capable of disarming such a device?" Bane inquired energetically.
"Only me," Dr. Pavel said with mild pride.
"Only you," Bane said, with a hint of sadness creeping into his voice.
"Thank you, good doctor," Bane said, before twisting Dr. Pavel's neck, killing him instantly.
"Now. This bomb is armed! This bomb is mobile! And the identity of the triggerman is a mystery. For one of you holds the detonator. Now, we come here not as conquerors, but as liberators. To return control of this city to the people. And the first sign of interference from the outside world or from those people attempting to flee this anonymous Gothamite…this unsung hero, will trigger the bomb," Bane boomed into the microphone, turning his body to sweep his audience with a grand wave of his arm.
"For now, martial law is in effect. Return to your homes. Hold your families close. And wait. Tomorrow, you claim what is rightfully yours." Bane drops the microphone onto the corpse before turning to exit.
While Myra wasn't a sports fan herself, she had been watching the news that evening. The news immediately diverted to broadcast the events that were happening at the Gotham Rogue stadium. She got up from her seated position on the bed and started walking like a zombie towards the TV, not sure that what – or who - she was seeing on the TV was true.
However, it was hard to mistake Bane for anyone else. She felt the vibration of explosions erupting and going off near her building outside, causing her panic and fear wondering if her building was about to collapse. She turned her attention to the broadcast of the stadium being blown up, as well as the bridges around Gotham being destroyed. She also watched, riveted, as Bane delivered his speech to the stadium. Her mouth dropped open.
While Myra knew who Bane was – he's a mercenary – she always assumed he preferred working in the shadows and maintaining a certain level of anonymity. This also meant that his acts of terror were most definitely limited in scope in an attempt to limit the attention being diverted to him. When he blew up Gotham's infrastructure, and essentially took all of the citizens of Gotham hostage, Myra quite frankly didn't know how she should feel about that. She didn't feel 'great' about it. In fact, she felt downright nauseous.
She had never felt more awkward around Bane than she did when he eventually made his way back up to the penthouse room that they shared. She didn't immediately look at him, and when she turned to face him, she didn't look at him in the eyes.
Bane noticed, but he didn't react or draw attention to her behavior. His mind was obviously occupied with an infinite number of tasks that were set in motion. He left her in the room after briefly rendezvousing with her to check in on her.
Myra waited for him to exit before she beelined to the game room to process her thoughts. While she didn't want to consider herself 'desensitized' to Bane's nature, she definitely felt sensitized to his recent exploits. Not as much as she would have cared months prior; but still on a level that required her to go and contemplate her life choices. Am I an accomplice? Am I enabling him to do this? Am I a bad person for caring for someone who does bad things? Does that make me bad too? Am I just as guilty as he is?
Myra settled on the use of a vintage Pacman arcade machine to settle her thoughts. She played for an hour or so before she heard someone enter the room. Bane approached her, standing next to her and observing her as she maneuvered the joystick to manipulate Pacman into eating digitized fruit on the screen. He looked into the glass to stare at her reflection, making eye contact with her against the backdrop of 'womp womp womp' sounds.
"Having fun?" Bane asked casually.
Myra didn't divert her attention immediately from the game, purely focused on her task at hand. She even had a bit of tongue sticking out of the corner of her mouth in concentration. The game transitioned into the phase in which Pacman was pursued by the ghosts, and she immediately was overcome and died. Myra sighed.
"I was having fun," she said quietly, very clearly insinuating she wasn't simply talking about the nature of the game.
Bane continued to eye her, her double-innuendo not missed on him.
"You know, you may leave at any time you wish. You aren't bound to me. To Gotham. I know you are aware of the events that happened earlier. While my words hold true to every other citizen here, if you truly wish to leave this city, I will make sure you are escorted out safely," Bane eased out, bringing a hand to gently cover hers over the joystick.
Myra looked down at his hand engulfing hers. Her initial reaction was to recoil, but she felt it hard to do so. Her shoulders even sagged slightly as if a tension that had been building up between her shoulders was suddenly released.
"And the bomb? You plan on blowing up Gotham?" she asked, finding the question ridiculous even as the words flew out of her mouth.
Bane squeezed her hand.
"You have nothing to worry about. I promised you nothing would happen to you, and I hold true to my word. Trust me," he said, as he moved to stand closer behind her.
Damnit. Why….guh. It's hard to be mad at him. He knows what to say to me to make me just…'melt'. Submit. Give in. Roll over.
Bane looked her over as she was very clearly processing her thoughts before diverting his attention to the wall of neatly stacked board games lining a huge shelf.
"Would you care to play a board game?" he asked curiously, hoping to lighten the mood and divert her thoughts away from impending doom.
Myra turned to look where his attention was diverted to, and then turned back to him before shrugging her shoulders non-committedly.
"Yeah I suppose," she replied in a bored tone.
Bane ignored her passiveness and seeming disinterest and sauntered over to the row of board games. His eyes immediately snapped onto one game in particular. He reached for it and snatched it out of the pile before Myra could object. He put it on the table right next to the shelf.
"Scraaaaaabblle? Nooo…." Myra pouted.
Bane smiled behind the mask, taking a seat in one of the chairs and stretching his arm out to the vacant chair across from him invitingly. Myra sighed once more before dragging her feet to sit across from him, slumping in her chair dramatically and clearly making a point about her stance on playing Scrabble with him.
Myra let Bane set the board up as she watched idly, twitching her thumbs together and looking around the room idly, even letting her eyes settle back on the shelf of board games. Her eyes did a double-take when she saw a dictionary propped up inside the book shelf that harbored mostly games. She got up from her spot, Bane eyeing her with suspicion as she walked past him to immediately snatch the dictionary off the shelf and went back to go plop herself back in her seat.
She looked up at him with a huge smile on her face, clutching the dictionary against her chest like she was holding the holy grail.
Bane just watched her amusedly as he finished setting up the game.
Myra had to admit that it was much more enjoyable this time around now that she had the added benefit of using the dictionary. True, she took twice as long as she normally did, and she received glares and looks of impatience from Bane that seemed twice as agitated, but she didn't care. They were even almost out of tiles indicating their game was almost over. She looked at the score, shocking herself to see that they were almost neck-to-neck. She looked over at how many tiles Bane had left. Three. She looked at how many she had left. Two. And it was his turn to go. If he was able to find a word that could use up all of his tiles, then he'd win. Myra looked up and gave him a threatening glare.
Bane returned her glare, pausing for several moments, before he let his fingers grab one of his tiles and place it on the board. He then went to snatch the second tile, teasingly, before he slowly placed it on the board too. Myra's eyes were pure daggers as she waited to see whether he was going to reach for and use his last tile.
Bane made a dramatic pause, even resting his hands in his lap for several moments before his hand reached up and his fingers plucked the last tile out of his tile rack and placed it on the board. Myra reacted quickly.
Myra launched herself onto the board, preventing him from placing the tile. She was so close to winning against him, her emotions overtook her at the prospect of him beating her by such a fine line. Tiles flew everywhere as her body slapped on top of the board. Bane's hand was still in mid-rise in the air as if he was still in the process of placing the tile. His eyes became instantly steely and angry at her outburst.
"Why did you do that?" he asked angrily.
Myra kept herself planted and prone over the table on top of the Scrabble board, though at this point the board was beyond being remedied and re-populated with the tiles. She gave him an annoyed look.
"Because you were about to win. I should have won. I almost beat you!" she said angrily.
Bane just stared at her, putting his hand down slowly as if he were holding himself back from an outburst. His eyebrows remained furrowed.
"So? You didn't win, and you weren't going to, because I clearly bested you," he said angrily.
Myra returned his steely stare, not caring about his logic.
Bane regarded her for several more moments before he slowly rose from the chair, making a noise as if his weight was a physical burden on his bones.
"I wasn't made aware that we had traversed into the realm of savages. In that case…" Bane said seriously, almost sadly, before reaching forward in an attempt to quickly snatch Myra off of the table. He was either going purposefully slow, or Myra's senses and reaction were heightened, for she cleanly slid off the table in reaction to his attempts to grab her. She maneuvered to hide under the table from him, lettered tiles trailing her like confetti as she transitioned to the floor on all fours.
She turned herself around, a grin plastered on her face to try and capture the direction of where Bane intended to make his next move. She barely had time to scope her surroundings before she felt a strong grip on her ankle that pulled her cleanly from under the table. A sound that was very clearly a combination of laughter and a scream erupted from her mouth.
Bane twisted her body around as he fully removed her from under the table, reaching down to bodily lift her up and fling her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. He rested a hand on her butt, giving it an affectionate pat as he made his way to the pool table. Myra's giggle-scream fit ensued.
"If you intend on acting like a savage, you are going to be treated like one," Bane said as if he were a professor conducting a lecture. Myra had no idea what he could possibly insinuate by that. Her laughter ceased as she immediately began pondering the implications of his words, her brows furrowing in slight concentration.
When they reached the pool table, Bane removed her from his shoulders and pushed her face-first against the pool table, easing her down to bend at the waist and for her chest to rest flush against the green felted surface. Her curiosity, as well as a slight tingling forming between her legs, was piqued.
She put her hands palm-down against the pool table surface to leverage herself up to look back at him questioningly, but he immediately pushed her back down without explanation. Myra felt herself submitting willingly, turning her head to rest her cheek against the lush green felted surface. Her eyes wandered around as she heard movement and sounds behind her that was very clearly an indicator that Bane was unbuckling his belt and unzipping the front of his pants. Well, this is new. If this is how savages act, sign me up.
She waited patiently until she felt his hands grab hold of the side of her own pants and underwear, giving one aggressive tug down her legs to slide them off. She felt his hand grip her ankle one at a time and snake it out of her pants for her, undoubtedly so that she could spread her legs wider without the impedance of the pants.
Myra let her hand roam against the soft felted surface of the pool table idly, almost in a show of boredom an impatience, knowing Bane must be watching her. Bane responded by reaching forward and forcing her legs apart aggressively, causing Myra to open her lips and a soft 'humph' to escape from her mouth. She closed her eyes, preferring to shut out her visual senses knowing there wasn't anything for her to look at anyway, and perhaps the removal of that key sense would heighten the rest of them. She was right.
She felt his hand snake around to her front to probe her gently, to test her readiness and arousal. She was definitely aroused, though it may have been difficult for Bane to have interpreted it based on her theatrical show of boredom and indifference. Bane didn't use his fingers to probe for very long, for Myra felt him press up against her as he positioned himself. He maneuvered his cock to her entrance, teasing her gently by probing just the tip of the head into her only to remove it quickly, repeating the process several times. Bane could see her hands scratch against the green felted surface of the pool table in annoyance and impatience. He grinned before he eventually grabbed hold of her hips with both of his hands and drove his own hips forward with unbridled strength.
Myra let out a gasp as she felt the length of him stretch her opening and drive up inside of her, the new angle in which he entered her from behind causing the ribbed hood of his penis to rub and stimulate her inner flesh in the best possible way. She grasped at the green felt with her fingers, no longer in annoyance, but in an inexplainable sensory overload as she felt her insides being thoroughly filled up by Bane.
Since she was denied her sense of sight, unable to look or focus on him, it seemed that all of her energy and awareness was funneled into her sense of touch. And he was definitely touching her. That was all she could think and feel as she felt the length of him stretched her wider to allow him to access and penetrate her in the most intimate of ways.
Bane was pushing and reaching new limits inside of her due to the slight frenzy in which he now seemed to be employing his thrusts, as well as the advantaged position of him thrusting into her from behind with little to no impedance. She didn't know this level of stimulation was even possible. As her chest was pressed and squished into the table, air forcibly escaped her lips each time he thrust into her causing her to release a soft 'Hnph" through her lips.
She turned, straining her neck to peak over her shoulder at him. The look on his face was one of pure unwavering concentration with one brow deeply furrowed into the rigid hardware of his mask as his half-lidded eyes bore into her back, as if one slight misstep on his part would result in cataclysmic doom for humanity. She loved it. She couldn't maintain that position, however, the strain on her neck too great so she moved to resettle her cheek back on the green felted table top reluctantly. She wished she could capture the imagery of him with photographic-like detail due to the feelings that inhabited her core as she peaked at him thrusting into her from behind with pure unwavering focus and determination.
She felt as if Bane could sense her starting to orgasm and release sooner than she did, for the pace in which he was using immediately began to become more frenzied and expedited, possibly due to him sensing an easing of her muscles around his cock and a release of an additional level of arousal that also coated him, making it easier to perform his task he deemed fit for savages. This, of course, only expedited Myra's orgasm, and she came almost as soon as she felt it build up.
Her legs buckled under her from the overwhelming sensation, unable to hold herself up even as most of her weight was pushed up against the pool table. Bane immediately responded by reinforcing his hold on the side of her hips to leverage her up, now using his hold to pull her back into him as he thrust in to her, bringing him even further into the deepest reaches of her body with reckless abandon. Myra felt her feet leaving the floor on several instances as he brought her hips up and back to meet his.
She knew as soon as he came. It was hard to miss; the feeling of a small explosion as the very distinct feeling of his cum being funneled up into her. His penis throbbed and pulsated inside of her for several moments as the last remnants of his own orgasm was spent into her. He bobbed himself in and out several times slowly, seemingly relishing and enjoying the feel of her and knowing his time was almost at an end. He waited for several moments more before he pulled himself out of her with extreme care and mild reluctance.
When Bane released the hold on her hips, she let her knees buckle so she could fall onto the floor properly. She let out a huge sigh from her mouth, her eyes still closed as she rested her cheek against the leg of the pool table, one hand still clutched to the edge of it to keep her body upright. Her eyes had been closed during the whole ordeal, and they slowly opened when she heard Bane zipping the front of his cargo pants.
He looked down at her on the floor with mild amusement, his breathing still obviously strained from the exertion he just put his body through, but that didn't stop him from making a point in mild jest.
"Well? I hope that makes you reconsider acting on your savage tendencies the next time we play a board game," Bane teased.
The look that had inhabited Myra's face slowly transitioned into something else entirely; she was clearly going to be reconsidering her actions in the future, but for all the wrong reasons. She even let a playful smirk to tug at the corner of her lips as she tightened her grip on the edge of the pool table to pull herself up. As she was pulling herself up, her legs buckled again beneath her in an apparent orgasmic aftershock. She fell back down onto the ground with a thump on her behind, her legs very clearly non-compliant and numb. Her eyes transitioned into heated anger as she glared up at him as if he were the reason she was on the floor, which was highly debatable.
Bane let her seethe in anger for several moments, before he reluctantly reached down and grabbed her discarded pants and underwear. He moved to stand immediately next to her, reaching down and snatching her legs so he could snake her underwear and pants over her legs like he was dressing a toddler. Myra immediately began protesting and kicking at him, finding renewed enough energy to writhe on the floor and pull her own underwear and pants up without his assistance.
After she had pulled her clothing on, he picked her up off of the floor in a clear show of sympathy. Myra let her hand roam the side of his face leisurely as they made their way back upstairs, her eyes transfixed on his as she was still very much settled in a state of aftershock and bliss and notions of him holding Gotham under martial law forgotten.
Myra and Bane were utilizing the use of the indoor home movie theater, watching an old and obscure French movie that Bane had insisted on when he saw it in the collection of movies John Daggett had owned. Myra was mildly bored with the movie, but she enjoyed sitting next to him in the leather recliner with his arm rested lazily on the armrest that connected their chairs so that she could hold his hand idly.
Someone entered the home theater room behind them, and Bane waited to divert his attention from the movie to the individual that entered until they stood directly in front of him.
"Sir, Talia is here to see you," Barsad said as he looked down at Bane in the darkened room, a failed attempt at masking a moderate level of annoyance from his tone.
Bane returned Barsad's gaze steadily before he disengaged his hand from Myra's and he slowly rose himself up from the comfort of the leather recliner. Myra watched as Bane exited the room without another word.
Myra let her attention fall to Barsad, who still stood in the same spot as he watched Bane exit, the look of annoyance still on his face.
"What's bothering you?" Myra asked curiously.
Barsad just furrowed his brows in concentration before slowly turning to look at Myra.
"Nothing," he said simply.
Myra glowered at him, crossing her arms in front of her chest.
"Is it this Talia person that I've never seen or met but hear about occasionally? Why does Bane even follow her?" Myra said snidely.
"That's a good question," Barsad said brazenly, seemingly surprising himself with his retort based on the sudden uplift and shock on his face. He quickly looked at Myra as if he had divulged a deep, dark secret.
Myra just returned her gaze at him curiously.
"He….has followed her since they were both in prison together. He saved her…from death inside the prison. She eventually got out."
Myra couldn't help herself from thinking of an older woman who looked worse-for-wear, who was rough around the edges and must have done something sinister to end up inside a prison.
"When she got out, she made her way to her father, who was a leader of a…. group. When he died, she took over. Bane is a member – I'm a member - of that group, so therefore we follow her," Barsad continued.
Myra was surprised as the amount of information that Barsad seemed to be divulging freely to her. She listened thoughtfully.
Myra got the distinct impression that Barsad didn't necessarily agree with Talia's managerial style or leadership direction.
Myra was making use of the large indoor pool, sitting on the tiled edge so that she could dip her feet and legs into the cool water. She turned her head when she heard the door open behind her.
Bane strolled in shirtless in a pair of black swim trunks, a towel slung over his shoulder. Myra's eyebrows shot up her forehead at the casual spectacle, wondering where he even got the swim trunks. He ambled up to stand next to her, taking in the water before looking down at her seated position.
"Mind if I join you?" he asked politely.
Myra leaned her head back to look up at him, giving him a look that clearly indicated she knew he very well could do whatever the hell he wanted. She wasn't one to ignore politeness, however.
"Yes, you may," she replied curtly.
Bane flung his towel onto the ground, turning his body to face the water before jumping in without further ado, curling his body into a cannonball to cause maximum splash. Myra was not a fan. She brought her hand up to shield her face from the water rained down on her. When he surfaced the water, she gave him a glare. He returned her gaze, crinkles evident at the corner of his eyes indicating he thought what he just did was incredibly amusing.
He waded up in front of her, curling his hands around her calves for support as he stood up in the water in front of her, the water just reaching his chest. He eased himself forward between her legs, gliding his hands up over her knees and to her thigh.
"Why aren't you in the water?" he asked curiously.
Myra eyed him. "It's too cold," she said hesitantly, readying herself to pull her feet and body out of the water if she felt any indicator that he meant to pull her in abruptly.
Bane maintained her gaze, letting his hands slide up from her thighs to gently grab hold of each of her hands, gingerly curling his fingertips against her palms as he outstretched her arms on either side of her as he slowly started easing himself back away from her, maintaining physical contact with her hands.
"Come. I'll keep you warm," he said knowingly, as he attempted to tenderly coax her from her seated position on the side of the pool.
Myra wasn't entirely convinced of the truth behind his statement, but she did feel the heat that radiated off of him just from his fingertips into her palms. She looked at him with a sassy slant of her shoulder, easing out a massive sigh as if she were being terribly inconvenienced. He eased himself forward again closer to her, circling one hand behind her waist to coax her body into his while is other hand intertwined into hers.
She felt herself being pulled from her seat and into the water directly into Bane's body, her legs being coaxed around his middle and her chest pressed firmly against his. She had to arch her neck back to prevent her face from smashing into his as she observed him skeptically, feeling a cold rush of water consume her lower body. The heat that radiated off of him, however, made that cold rush seem inconsequential.
She removed her hand from his so that she could wrap both of her arms around his neck, leaning her head forward to rest her chin on his shoulder contently. Bane immediately started wading through the water with the extra passenger in his arms, keeping one hand pressed firmly against her bottom to hold her up against him, which Myra felt him periodically squeeze, his other arm being used as a massive paddle to propel him around the pool.
They waded around the pool like that for several minutes, Myra convinced by Bane's words that yes, he would indeed keep her warm. Almost too warm. She eased her head back away from his shoulder to peer up at him as he continued his aimless wanderings around the pool. She brought both of her hands up to capture his face between her palms, easing his head down to hers so that she could plant a loud kiss against the exposed skin below his eye and above his cheek. She repeated this act again, moving her kiss just a millimeter or so over from the first one. The only indicator that Myra knew that Bane enjoyed her affections was that he had allowed her to guide his head down towards hers, as well as a visible softening around his eyes. He continued to maintain his focus on the water in front of him, however, as if a monster would emerge from below at a moment's notice, requiring his full attention.
Myra's kisses got louder and more obnoxious, the skin under his cheek sometimes forcibly getting pushed up into his eye, forcing it closed. That didn't deter him from his trajectory around the pool, however, seemingly quite capable of navigating the water with just one eye.
Myra leaned back to look at him, running her hands over the top of his head against the smooth exposed baldness that wasn't covered by the mask hardware. Bane finally turned his eyes to look at her, his eyes softening even more as he searched her face.
Myra heard the door open to the indoor pool room behind her. She saw Bane's eyes move from hers to divert to the individual who entered, maintaining his hold on her and also not ceasing his idle trolling around the water as he did so.
Myra turned to look to see who it was. Barsad returned her gaze when he saw her head swing around to look at him. She gave him a deadpan look to make sure he understood he was ruining a 'moment' she and Bane were having. Her hands fell from Bane's face, feeling immediately bashful of the affections she was giving Bane now that there was an audience. Barsad looked like he could care less. He simply stood there and looked at Bane expectantly.
Bane finally released a sigh through his mask, moving towards the edge of the pool and releasing his hold on Myra. Myra gasped as she was dropped into the water fully, immediately overcome by how cold the water actually was. She felt her lungs constrict, disabling her from vocalizing her discomfort. She just bobbed in the water, rigid, frozen and uncomfortable.
Bane used his strength to pull himself out of the pool at the edge. Myra tried following him, hopping up and down in the water, her toes barely able to touch the bottom of the pool without having to fully submerge herself. She tried getting Bane's attention but could only feel her teeth chattering.
Bane turned to look at her, amusement overtaking his face as he saw her physical state. He took her in for several seconds before bending down and grabbing her by her upper arm to bodily haul her out of the water like a wet cat.
Once Myra felt her feet make contact with the ground, she immediately beelined towards the towels that had been thrown into the corner as Bane followed Barsad out of the indoor pool room, clearly not caring that he was soaking wet and leaving a trail of water as he exited.
Myra wrapped herself like a mummy with all available towels before going to a reclining chair at the edge of the pool, taking a seat in it and leaning back, closing her eyes with a huff and a soft smile forming on her lips.
Myra was seated at the desk in the large master suite with her legs crossed, reading a book, when she felt an additional presence in the room. She immediately looked up from her book and saw a woman with deep brown curly hair, exotic eyes, and lips slightly upturned as she stood gazing at Myra. Myra's eyebrows shot up.
"Can…I help you?" Myra asked, confused and surprised.
The woman sauntered in, her body swaying sensually from one side to the other as she approached Myra. The look she was giving Myra, despite there being a mask of humor, did not make Myra feel well; if anything, it gave her chills. She felt as if the woman was approaching her to wish her ill-intent. Myra got up from her seat and stood on the opposite side of it to use it as a barrier between her and the woman, if need be.
"Who are you? You aren't supposed to be here. Get out," Myra said boldly, though her voice wavered, and she didn't feel quite as confident as the woman walking toward her seemed to be.
"I just came to take a look at Bane's pet; I heard he was keeping one caged up here somewhere," the woman said, amusement thick in her voice. She had a slightly foreign accent.
Myra instinctively looked around the room, mild excitement building in her chest at the idea that Bane had brought a cat or a dog up here without her knowledge. She immediately felt foolish, however, understanding what the women insinuated. Myra narrowed her eyes at being referred to as a 'pet' and being 'caged up'.
The woman gave Myra a thorough look-over, her eyes roaming from her bare feet all the way up to her head, before repeating the process. The look the woman gave indicated she was disappointed, expecting something more exotic or interesting than what she was seeing in Myra.
Myra looked down at herself. She was dressed in a pair of worn-out baggy sweatpants, a loose t-shirt with a stain on the front from spilling juice on herself that morning, wore no socks, allowing for stubble to be exposed which was visibly populated around her exposed calf and ankle - a clear indicator she hadn't shaved in a while - her somewhat greasy unwashed hair was in an extremely loose and messy lopsided bun that balanced precariously on the top of her noggin, and it was safe to say that she wore no make-up. She even had a slight red blemish erupting on her chin from either her skin being too oily, or not applying enough moisturizer. Considering she was applying no moisturizer, as well as making no attempt at cleaning her face of excess oils, it was a toss-up on which scenario was the culprit. Myra had not felt self-conscious about any of these attributes, until now. She was a stark contrast to the polished woman in front of her, who practically glowed with a coat of glossy red lip gloss that finished her look.
Despite this, the woman kept approaching her. Myra maneuvered herself fully around the chair to use it as a shield against the intruding woman, but the woman simply reached out casually and grabbed a strand of Myra's ashy blonde hair, fondling it between her two fingers. The smile she gave Myra was extremely unpleasant. Myra frowned.
Before Myra could properly react, she heard loud footsteps approaching the entrance to her room. She turned her attention away from the woman to see Bane standing in the doorway, irritation clearly written on his face as he bore a stare into the back of the head of the woman that maintained her attention on Myra almost as if she didn't even hear or need to acknowledge that Bane entered. She already seemed to know who it was.
Bane let his eyes analyze the situation, seeing Myra cornered with a genuine look of fear on her face.
"Talia, I told you to meet me down stairs," Bane said, clearly irritated.
Myra let her eyes refocus on the woman in front of her. This is Talia? I thought she was….old. Not a beautiful vixen. Myra's insecurities started flaring up. She knew Bane followed her devotedly, and now she started questioning why he followed her.
Talia deepened her smile at being caught being disobedient, almost like it was a game with Bane. Myra continued to stare, taking it all in. She's not even scared. She does what she wants. She gave Myra's hair one last stroke before dropping it, giving Myra one final suggestive look-over before turning her attention back to Bane.
"I just wanted to take a look at the pet living in the master suite. I hope she's keeping your… feet warm enough at night," she mused, but turned to look at Bane indicating she had hoped that he had more self-respect than what it appeared he currently had considering the company he kept in his room. The look she maintained on Bane looked almost as if she were in on a joke. And Myra was the joke.
Bane turned his attention to Myra after Talia said this, clearly waiting to see what her reaction would be to Talia's eloquent insults. What he saw wasn't exactly encouraging; Myra continued to look extremely uncomfortable as if she were transported into a foreign land, unable to speak or communicate the local dialect. Myra felt as if she had been inhabiting the plane of gods and goddesses and was suddenly found out. Being a mere mortal, she definitely didn't belong here.
Talia reluctantly started walking towards Bane before exiting through the door to make her way downstairs, but not before she let one of her hands glide across Bane's chest suggestively, intimately. Bane watched Talia exit fully, ignoring her affections, before he turned his head to look at Myra. Myra was frozen in the corner, her hands held up against her chest and her eyes were large. Disturbed.
Myra had felt a pang of unexpected jealously – possessiveness – flare up when she saw Talia glide her hand across Bane's chest in such an intimate and knowing way. She almost wanted to shout out at her and tell her to stop. She couldn't get the words out; Talia had seemed so comfortable, so intimate in the way she had interacted with Bane, it made Myra feel inadequate; like she was the one that should be told to 'back off'. But she didn't tell me to 'back off', because I'm not even worth it. Her feelings quickly deviated into something else; doubt. Questioning. Discomfort. Worthlessness. Second-hand. The 'other woman'.
Myra stood frozen, these thoughts swirling in her mind as her gaze slowly shifted to the corner of the room. I don't know where he goes…he could be spending the time he doesn't spend with me, with 'her'. That would make sense. He's gone for days sometimes…he never tells me where he goes. If he's sleeping with her too…ew….There goes that 'exclusive membership'…. She stared at nothing while these thoughts festered in her mind. Bane turned to look at Myra, seeing that she was in deep reverie over what she saw. The pain and discomfort she was feeling were obvious over her features. Bane sighed before he closed the door behind him, leaving her in the room alone while he attended to business with Talia.
Author: Oh boy, I don't know if I can express how much I *really* dislike Talia. She's the WORST. Absolute worst. Also, review!