Bane woke up to cold hard instruments poking and prodding him. Dr. Delalune was there checking the drains. With a shock, Bane noticed his mask was off, he raised his arm observing that IVs were in his arm.
"Quit that," Eclypsa said and gently pushed his arm down. "I have to check your blood pressure." She pumped up the arm cuff and slipped the stethoscope underneath. Bane closed his eyes drifting off from the medication thinking that she was uncharacteristically gentle. He tried to stay awake but drifted off.
An indeterminate amount of time later, he woke up in a clean hospital bed with his mask on and the doctor next to him. Bane reached for her and surprisingly, she didn't swat him. Instead she merely sidestepped him. "You have to stay in bed for at least a week," Eclypsa said. "You're stable and at no risk for anything for now but you need bed rest and you will make a full recovery. I dug out most of the bullets and closed everything up, the drains are to drain the remaining blood that pooled in your abdominal cavity. Stop that! Don't touch it!" Now she swatted his hands away from the drains.
Loopy on drugs, he grabbed one of her hands and held it to his chest. "If you had the choice, would you choose me?" She gave him an inscrutable look. "Like what? If you weren't trying to take over the city?" He made the effort to shake his head.
"Would you choose to stay with me. Just me. No strings attached," He rasped frustration mounting in his chest at her bewildered look. "Ok calm down, you're getting a bit too worked up. Explain it to me later," she soothed.
Bane sat up and roared, "No! Only I can protect you! Only I can make you happy. But you aren't! Why aren't you happy?" Eclypsa stunned, put her other hand on his shoulder and gently pushed him back down. In silence she stroked his forearm until he released her other hand. "Why can't you just be happy with me?" He asked miserably. Eclypsa bit her lip and answered after a pause, "I don't understand you. I don't understand what makes you need to control me. I can't even see my patients without Barsad watching my every move! I don't like being so trapped and you scare me. "
Bane ripped of his mask and snarled her, "Is what you fear?! My face?! My deformity?!" He grabbed her and forced his lips on her. Eclypsa pushed back desperately, trying to break his grip but Bane was far too strong. He broke off when the pain became too much and accepted the mask she held. She stroked his scarred face and helped him put it back on. By the time it was in place he was winded and perspiring.
"I'm sorry. I just...I don't know." She tried lamely. "Scars and superficial things like that don't scare me. What scares me is being useless, a trophy, uh, and being happy and safe while there is so much unhappiness around me and being unable to do anything. With you, I won't have a purpose!" She held a slender hand up to cut him off, "No. helping your men would serve your purpose, not mine. I became a physician to help those who can't help themselves. I'm not a visionary, I don't want to change the world. All I want to do is to buy people more time to spend with the ones they love and let them change the world."
"I knew my place in my world. And I loved it. You...tore my world apart and now I feel adrift." Eclypsa sat down next to him on the bed and held his hand in her lap. Bane marveled at the differences between their hands. Her hands were elegant, pale, and slender like the crescent moon. Perfect and unblemished hands holding his much larger, tanned, and scarred hands. Hands that probably held nothing heavier than a semi-automatic. She glided her fingertips over the lines the scars made and tried to continue her thought. "I don't want the life you offer. I want to feel safe, with you I'd be looking over my shoulder every minute to see if some insurgent will target me because I'm connected to you. I want stay in one place, make a home, you know? But that's not possible with Hydra. They helped you but they will expect something in return."
Bane looked at her with clear grey eyes, the storms within were finally calmed. He finally understood her, not like he would stop trying to cage her, but now he felt a connection. He took his hand from her grasp and reached for her face. Remarkably, she held still and allowed him to caress her face with a kiss of his touch. She leaned forward to do something with the IV but didn't move away. Bane was awed by the feel of her skin underneath his fingertips. Gently, almost worshipfully, he traced her cheek down to her jaw. How could someone feel so soft and smooth and delicate? He was reminded of his size when he saw his hand on her neck. As he tangled his hand in her inky locks, he thought that someone this frail, this delicate had to be protected. She was much too weak to take care of herself, let alone defend herself. Anyone bigger (her being so small, that was basically everyone else), could hurt her.
Bane fought the sleepiness that suddenly came over him and resolved to keep her by his side. For now, he would have the Asset watch her closer. With that in mind, he finally went to sleep.