Chapter 3

I wake up to the sound of incessant knocking on my door.

"Yes?" I bellow out.

"Ra's requests your presence."

Hurrying, I get up and notice Talia still asleep on my bed. After binding, braiding, and covering I nudge Talia awake. She groggily looks up at me before smiling and rubbing her eyes.

"Come, our presence has been requested by your father."

Talia jumps out of the bed and unexpectedly lands on her toes before grabbing my hand. Surprised by her show of balance I give her a proud smile.

"That was a very good landing Talia."

She looks up at me with a grateful smile. I then realize it might take her awhile before she feels comfortable talking openly. It doesn't bother me much since I don't usually talk a lot either. I open the door and we begin walking to the front room. When we arrive Ra's is standing there waiting for us. He gives us a nod of acknowledgement and starts walking away after gesturing for us to follow. I suppose we are going to see this 'Bane' man, seeing as we have just entered the medical wing.

The doctor ushers us towards a slightly opened door and Talia clutches my hand even tighter. Looking into the room, I notice the biggest man I've ever seen. It's almost a little comical because he's so bulky he has to lie on two beds pushed together. Of course, now isn't the time to laugh. Not that I would anyways, I don't normally show emotions, such as laughing, Talia's been the only exception.

Talia rushes towards the man while dragging me behind her. I study his face and notice there are a lot of cuts and bruises marring it. Otherwise, some might have considered him attractive. An IV is attached to his arm, probably delivering pain medication judging by the bandages that are practically covering his entire body.

Groaning in pain he slowly opens his eyes and looks at the tiny hand placed on his bicep. Talia had apparently inched closer to him without me noticing. He gradually looks up at her, gaze full of fatherly love. He glances at her other hand, which is slowly trying to cut off the circulation in mine, with confusion. Then he follows that hand leisurely up my arm and to my face. He stares into my eyes and at first he looks taken aback, then after glancing back at our enclosed hands he looks enraged. With a growl he tries to lunge at me. Thankfully, they had him strapped down, but it didn't stop me from moving in front of Talia, even though I knew his intentions weren't to harm her.

"No, Bane! Stop! We're friends!" Talia yelled, trying to calm him down while clutching my leg.

Abruptly, he stops and looks at Talia with shame and immediately calms down. Ra's finally decides to step in, "So now that we've all been acquainted I would like to explain a few things. Bane this is Alexander, he is one of my most trusted members in The League. You will be rooming with him since I don't have room for you elsewhere. Talia will have her own room next to mine so I may keep an eye on her. The reason I had them brought here was because I assumed Talia would want to see you one last time before you have to put on the mask.

This mask will distribute a constant inhalant that will help alleviate some of the continuous pain you will be in due to the extent of your injuries. I have decided to offer you a place in The League of Shadows to prove my appreciation for the protection you gave Talia. You will begin your training when you are completely healed, which shouldn't take much longer. Talia you will be beginning your training today now that you are the heir of The League of Shadows."

Pulling me to the side, Ra's talks to me quietly, "I trust your judgment. If you wish to tell this man your secret you have my permission. I think it will be difficult to keep this from him anyways now that you two are rooming together. I hope you've enjoyed your solitude while it lasted."

Nodding at us in dismissal, he turns and leaves the room. I step into the shadows to allow Bane and Talia to have a private moment and to let my mind think about our situation. I'm not really worried about the fact that I'll be sleeping in the same room as the man who just tried to kill me. I think his murderous thoughts might have lessened thanks to Talia defending me. I'll probably wait until it's absolutely necessary before I tell him about my secret. I'll think more about this later. I tune into the last part of Talia and Bane's conversation,

"Do you trust this man?" he asks Talia, his pain expressed through his voice.

Confusion settles on her face before she remembers my façade, "Yes Bane, he is very kind to me."

He looks at me with speculation and suspicion before nodding at her.

Moaning in pain he says, "I'll accept that…for now, but we'll talk….more about it later."

He grimaces before passing out due to the amount of pain that the IV on his arm can't block. Oddly I feel sorry for him, but I don't dwell on it. After kissing his cheek Talia walks over to me and grabs my hand and we head to the mess hall.

We ate in comfortable silence before parting ways. I go to the main training room and practice my balance while I let my mind go rapid with random thoughts.

Bane seems more of a trustworthy than a trusting person. I don't anticipate him to be friendly towards me anytime soon. It doesn't bother me though. I know the main reason he is cross with me is because he is protective of Talia. He is also in a new environment which probably results in him being constantly guarded. I do desire to have an understanding between us and I think I would rather have him as an ally than an enemy.

Ra's seems reluctant to keep him here, but I think he feels that he owes Bane for protecting Talia. Right now Ra's is at one of the local Bhutanese prisons. He heard rumors of an American man who keeps beating up the more dangerous and experienced prisoners. I think he believes this man will make a good addition to The League. I'm not sure about this, but I trust Ra's decision.

Talia appears to be a sweet girl. She will become the leader after Ra's steps down and deems her ready. Which means her training will be as rigorous and strenuous as mine, maybe even a little more. I've decided that I will aid her if she asks for my help. For whatever bizarre reason, I feel a bond growing between us. I have yet to decide if this is a good thing or not.

I break out of my reverie when I notice it's time for dinner. We only have two meals here, breakfast and dinner. It might seem unusual, but it leaves us more money to spend on things such as equipment or weapons. I grab my tray and sit next to Talia. She tells me about her training, which was in the training room where Ra's instructs all of the newer members. She says that she thinks she's got the hang of things even though she had to learn by herself because of Ra's absence. She asks if I will take her to see Bane before bed, which I agree to.

Author's Note: I feel that for a child to grow up partially in The Pit it would have to leave some kind of mark whether it's physical or mental. So Talia will mostly express her emotions through her actions for now, but she'll gradually come out of her shell. Not only is Bane protective of Talia, Serenity is going to be too. I'm not going to make Talia grow up into a manipulative bitch, even though that's how she is in most other Bane/OC fanfictions. I'm not shunning the ones that write her in that way I just don't think it would work with my story. I'm going to try to keep it as close to the original Batman movie story lines as possible, but with a few tweaks here and there. I apologize for my random updates. I might have mentioned before that I don't have internet at home, so I mostly get to post whenever my Chemistry teacher is nice enough to let me use her computer. I send out a thanks and metaphorical cookies (or whatever other dessert you prefer) to all of my followers, favoriters (← I'm making this word temporarily correct), and reviewers.