Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters end up in. Everything else belongs to someone else and that's the way of it.

And A Bit Alarming

He believed Blake's words, and Osito's need to be repaired weighed on him, but Bane still couldn't shake the feeling that if he trusted his treasure to the detective something horrible would happen. And it wasn't even that he feared the man would destroy the bear, it was just this knowing in his gut that if he allowed Blake to handle and touch Osito he would be altering the dynamics between them in some undefinable way. But there had to be some way to define it, explain it, the mercenary thought as he looked away from Blake, feeling unable to meet the detective's gaze at the moment. He hated not understanding what it was about Blake that aroused such conflicting and confusing thoughts and emotions in him. And it was only getting worse the more contact they had, like ants under his skin that crawled over nerves and made him want to squirm and rid himself of the infliction.

It was while his eyes sought relief that his gaze happened to land on the bed and note the fact that there were pieces of paper propped up on the pillows.

Curiosity had him walking over, Bane seeing Blake start to move to intercept him out of the corner of his eye. Turning his head he gave Blake a look that made it clear he was to stay where he was, Bane waiting a moment to let the implied threat sink in before allowing his attention to go back to the stationary, pleased when the detective made no move to stop him.

Picking up the papers Bane read both of them, his expression revealing nothing until he was finished. Glancing in the direction of the other man, who was pointedly ignoring him from the looks of it, Bane smiled just a little behind his mask.

"You are an interesting man, Robin John Blake."

"Back at you."

Stuffing the paper s into his pocket Bane studied Blake's embarrassed profile for about a minute and then ordered the younger man to remain in the room as he would be returning shortly. If Blake was not in the room when he returned…he would not like the consequences.

)

Thankfully for all involved Blake was sitting on his bed, waiting, when Bane returned fifteen minutes later with Osito and the sewing kit he'd picked up recently in the hopes of once again trying to repair the teddy bear on his own.

"You will fix him and I will overlook your earlier actions." Bane announced. "If you wreck him I will take it out on you and the food rations your boys' home receives."

His threat obviously pissed Blake off, but the detective accepted both the bear and the kit without complaint. The man's glare was fierce enough to convey his thoughts without words though.

Watching the man select a brown spool of thread, one that would blend in with his bear's fur relatively well, Bane noted that Blake looked surprisingly confident cutting off an appropriate length and then threading it through the needle after knotting the end.

"So the cut in the back looks deliberate…that staying?"

"Yes."

"Fine." Obviously opting to start small Blake made quick work of reattaching the bear's loose eye, asking Bane who had given him the toy once that was done.

"He was cast into The Pit with me. I know not who gifted him to me."

Blake accepted the answer and then went to work on one of Osito's ears before inquiring as to whether or not he was allowed to cut out the human hair that had been used on the stuffed animal since it made the poor guy look like he was a voodoo bear of some sort.

Bane agreed with a hidden smirk, noting that Blake is very good at sewing.

"Mrs. Potts would be delighted you think so. She was my Home EC teacher." He added, when Bane gave him a questioning look. "She was very British, very stern on the outside and a total marshmallow on the inside. Looked a lot like a middle aged Angela Lansbury, actually. Her two favorite things were tea and shaking her head over whatever trouble her son Chip had recently gotten himself into."

Thinking that Chip was a strange name, though his own wasn't much better, Bane turned to another British topic. "I have read the Harry Potter books." The detective had written that book series on the very top of his list in capital letters. Apparently the man was a fan.

"Yeah? Excellent. I'd much rather talk about those than Watership Down, especially if you want to watch those movies too to do a comparison. Except the sixth movie. I refuse to watch that one on principle." Blake made a disgusted sound, having to remind himself to be very careful with what he was doing since very bad things would happen if he accidentally harmed the teddy bear.

"I have not watched the movies."

"That's probably for the best. Only about half of them are true enough to the books and the heart of them to appeal to true fans." And on that note Blake descended into a rant about how at the premiere of the seventh movie he'd actually heard a girl in line state that she couldn't remember how Harry had gotten his scar. Seriously. How could anyone with a remotely working brain not know the answer to that question?!

Both taken aback and amused by the man's passion for the topic, Bane simply sat and let Blake rant on and on about how the movies had mislead audiences, noting that the detective could multitask as every rip on Osito save the one at the back was closed with near military precision.

When he was done Blake handed the bear back over to Bane, belatedly realizing that he'd probably been on a tangent for quite a while seeing as he'd even finished all the fraying points on the toy's body. Color flushing his cheeks and ears he rearranged the items in the sewing kit while apologizing for no doubt boring him with his little rant.

It took Bane a moment to respond, irrationally charmed by the ear blushing. "I did not mind."

Searching for another topic that had nothing to do with the fact that Bane seemed to view him as a fascinating science experiment gone wrong, and inclined to stick with the Harry Potter theme so that he wouldn't have to have another discussion about Watership Down, Blake thought about the other man's interests and asked Bane what he thought of the Ministry Magic. That was another thing he could talk about for a long time, especially given his extreme hatred of Umbridge.

As it turned out, Bane could spend quite a lot of time dissing the Ministry too.

They had fun.

)

It was two days later that Bane got a possible explanation as to what it was about Detective Blake that drew him so strongly, and afterwards the mercenary would think he would have been a lot happier never knowing. The catalyst for the discovery was a discussion of Gellert Grindelwald and Albus Dumbledore, Blake's love of the Harry Potter series such that he got very passionate when arguing his viewpoint on the novels and characters in them. And it was not wise, Bane learned, to insult Albus Dumbledore around Blake.

"He made mistakes, paid for them, and you of all people don't have the right to call him weak." Blake informed him, his arms crossed and his eyes alight with righteous fury. "Albus's whole life was defined by the people he loved, and there's no way someone like you can understand him because you don't get love. You've probably never loved another person in your life!"

"I have." The words slipped out, but Bane was too caught up in the argument they'd been having for the past hour to worry too much.

A hint of interest came into the detective's eyes. "What kind of love?"

"Family." He finally admitted.

"Okay…so if this person was killed by-nevermind, you can't even put you in Albus's shoes because you've never been in love with someone. You don't understand what that does to you, means to you." Breathing out a frustrated breath Blake just shook his head. "Let's move on to something else-which doesn't involve you bashing Dumbledore or Dobby. Bash Dobby and I will have to try and hurt you."

He had found the Malfoy's former house elf more than a little annoying, but he was willing to forgo mentioning that if it meant their discussion could continue. And how he was curious about something else, anyway. "You are in love with someone?"

"What?"

"Apparently, to understand Dumbledore's character, you must know all types of love. You seem to think you understand him, therefore I am curious about who you love."

Looking faintly embarrassed now, Blake shuffled his feet a little, studying them as he spoke. "Well I haven't found-will likely never find the someone I would want to spend the rest of my life thanks to you-but when I was in high school there was this guy I was pretty gone over."

"Did he return your love?"

"Nah. He was straight, and just saw me as this guy on the track team he hung out with sometimes after meets and practice with the rest of the guys." Blake's lips curved a little now as he went back into his memories, remembering that day so well. "He was a year older than me and was graduating, so I figured I had nothing to lose by telling him- I'd long ago decided that I wasn't going to live a life with regrets. So I asked for a few minutes of his time and told him how I felt, telling him I knew he was straight and didn't expect anything from him. He was sweet about it."

"You still love him?"

Utterly confused as to why Bane would care about his sad love life Blake answered anyway. "I don't pine for him, if that's what you mean. I just…won't ever forget him. First love and all that. Heaven and Hell at the same time."

Now it was Bane's turn to be confused. "Both Heaven and Hell?"

Blake grinned and nodded, thinking Bane hadn't exactly missed out when it came to the trials of high school romance. "The thrill of catching a glimpse of him in the hallway and the pain of seeing him kissing or flirting with someone else. Dreaming about him night and day, planning your lives together and how he'll suddenly realize you're the one for him and confess his undying devotion to you. Then there's the struggling to appear cool and interesting at all times, which usually results in you looking like an idiot somehow because you can't really function when he's looking at you, giving you his attention for a few heart pounding minutes. Then there's working your body to exhaustion to impress, the hours spent in front of a mirror and covertly watching him to the point where you're borderline stalking him." Blake laughed. "And that's all before you factor in sex and how that completely fucks you and your brain up."

"That does not make romantic love sound very appealing, Detective."

"It's not for sissies." Blake agreed. "That's one of the reasons marriages don't seem to last these days. No one wants the work that comes with keeping the love and marriage alive. They're all just too damn lazy, and sure that any day now an APP will appear that will do that for them too."

"You believe you would be different?"

Blake's nod was decisive and without hesitation. "I wouldn't be a perfect husband, that's asking a little too much, but I'd devote as much attention to my partner as I would my work if I loved him. I've seen way too many cop relationships crumble because of the job, so I try not to ever get involved with someone I don't think could handle that and accept that I need to protect people as much as I need air. Which is another reason I've been single for so long." He ruefully added.

"No one in the city of Gotham would be worthy of you." Bane agreed, only realizing how his words could be interpreted after they'd already left his lips.

Mouth dropping a little in shock Blake could feel his face and ears heat up again even though he had absolutely no reason why. It wasn't like Bane had meant…he would never…why had Bane said that?

Both men going silent, unable to think beyond the words still hanging in the air, the two didn't look at the other as the awkwardness of their present situation weighed on them.

And it was while Bane tried to wrap his mind around what he'd said that it slowly dawned on him that he currently felt and behaved in a way that suggested that perhaps-just perhaps-his irrational reactions to the Gotham detective could be the beginnings of…romantic love. He was drawn to the other man as he'd never been drawn to another before. He felt possessive and protective of Blake, not wanting other men near the detective and even countering Talia's orders to protect him. Then there was his persistent attempts to connect with Blake, his willingness to overlook the detective's earlier transgressions and the fear he'd felt at the idea that Blake's exposure to Venom would kill or break his 'pet'.

Without a word Bane got up and clutching Osito against his chest informed Blake that he was leaving for the day.

"Okay. Later." Was Blake's lame response, still very confused about the way their conversation had ended.

Nodding, Bane got the hell out of there, not exactly sure what he was going to do after returning Osito to his room but sure that he absolutely had to get away from Blake until he could think clearly.

)

Blake had justified Bane's compliment by the time lunch time came around, having decided that the mercenary had simply been stating his contempt of the people of Gotham once again. It hadn't been meant as a compliment or a statement of interest, and reading more into it suggested he was losing it in a big way. Then again, Blake reasoned, he had been shot, kidnapped, experimented on, and threatened plenty recently, so technically he was holding up better than a lot of people would in his shoes. And thinking about that had him realizing that he wasn't even really sure how much time had passed since he'd been taken. The television in his room didn't get any channels, you could only play movies on it. The bedside table clock gave time but not date.

We're his captors keeping him unaware on purpose or coincidentally? He'd ask Barsad as soon as the man came with his lunch.

And that's exactly what he did, Barsad informing him that it was the twentieth of December.

"The twentieth? Oh shit!"

Barsad hid his surprise well. "Problem?"

"Yeah, there is most definitely a problem." Ignoring the mercenary completely Blake couldn't believe that it was so close to Christmas. He only had four days, the detective thought as he slid his fingers through his hair in agitation. He had to have Christmas, celebrate it as he'd always done. His mom had been all about Christmas according to his dad, and the man had always gone all out for that one holiday in his wife's memory. Whatever else was going wrong in their lives he'd always known that the one thing his father wouldn't mess up, wouldn't forget or overlook, was Christmas. And even after he'd been placed in foster care and then the boys' home he'd pulled himself out of the dark world he'd so often inhabited in order to celebrate the holiday in their memory. He had never missed a year.

Calm down, calm down, Blake told himself, unaware of just how panicky and agitated he looked at the moment. He might have been kidnapped but Bane hadn't said anything about him being confined to his room now. That meant that he could leave the room and…and given the amount of entertaining and partying the Parrish family did there had to be Christmas stuff somewhere. And okay, a lot of it would probably be expensive crap that he would never use but surely he'd be able to find enough usable stuff to decorate his room.

As for the other important stuff…

"Barsad, am I allowed in the kitchen? And if I am how well stocked is it?"

"You'll eat the lunch I made you."

Since there was no sign of the grey stuff Blake assured him that he would before asking his question again.

"We're well stocked." Barsad admitted, eyes watching Blake cautiously since he didn't know quite what to make of the man's sudden interest and intensity. "This house was far enough out that the looters hadn't gotten to it before we took control and…put it off limits."

"Excellent. And am I confined to my room now?"

"I was not given orders to that effect."

"Even better. Lunch please."

Really confused now Barsad continued to successfully hide that fact and instead handed the tray over to Blake, watching the man dig in with a speed that suggested he wanted to get the meal over with as soon as possible so that he could do something else.

Normally he would have assumed that the man had come up with some sort of plan to escape or cause Bane injury, but he doubted that was the case at the moment. The naive detective had already tried to get away today and had failed epically at it. Blake would plot and plan more for his next attempt, or he would if the detective had any brains in his head. Or could the man be interested in the kitchen because he thought to poison them all? That would be a little creative but also doomed to failure. He personally looked after his leader's food and would take it upon himself to shadow the other man while he was in the kitchen if that's where they were going after lunch.

And it was, Blake announcing that that was where he wanted to go as soon as he was finished eating.

This time Barsad wasn't able to hide his surprise when he was informed why.