Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters get in.

Dedicated to mjHOPE94 from AO3 who found two of the three small references in Chapter 8! The big one was Blake saying 'If you like it all that much it's yours' from Belle's conversation with the bookstore owner. The other two were Blake wearing a 'dreamy, far off look' and Bane wishing he'd kept his 'nose stuck in a book'.

Life Is So Unnerving

He'd gotten the news about Blake after the meeting with Talia, Barsad relaying the details he'd been sent while he'd been waiting in the car. Bane's second in command had watched the conflict in his leader's eyes with interest, not even all that surprised when Bane ordered him to go on without him, putting him in charge of dealing with the rest of the tasks they'd planned to complete before heading back to the house for the night. The Gotham detective had a light that attracted Bane to him, Barsad thought but didn't say, one that made his comrade determined to protect and preserve that light even when common sense said it would be better to smother the light so that they could return to the darkness they were used to.

In this case though…he wanted Blake to live long enough for Bane to see the difference between the 'light' the man mistakenly saw in Talia, and the very different light that their captive possessed. What would happen if Bane did come to see the differences clearly, and understand what those variances meant…well that could change a great many fates.

So Barsad accepted the new orders without comment and arranged for a vehicle to come pick Bane up to take the man back to the house and the new light in his friend's life.

Once Barsad was gone and he'd been left alone in the abandon warehouse to wait for his transportation to arrive Bane allowed his emotional shields to drop completely, picking up a piece of discarded pipe from the ground with hands that shook ever so slightly. Breaking it into gradually shorter pieces, the effort and destruction focusing his thoughts a little, Bane mentally reminded himself that his apparently accident prone detective was fine. According to the report Barsad had received from Phillipe Blake's worst wound was a gash on his arm. Apparently the idiot had sought to provide some medical aid to his attackers while they'd been waiting for their pick up and had been slashed with a blade for his trouble. The wound was supposed to be minor, but he wouldn't believe that until he saw it for himself.

What the hell was wrong with his ignorant, naïve, and just plain stupid detective, Bane mentally raged as he threw aside what was left of the pipe and turned his attention to breaking everything in his vicinity with cold, methodical fury. Why did the man not understand that this was a war zone, that sympathy or compassion for your enemies only got you killed? How could Blake not know that the majority of people running rampant in the city were not remotely worth his time or effort and that he should be focusing only on his continued survival? The City of Gotham had done absolutely nothing to warrant the headstrong fool's loyalty and blood and if he had to beat that knowledge into the man's head he would at this point.

The idea suited his mood perfectly in fact.

And while he was at it, Bane mentally added, Blake would not be allowed to step a foot outside the house unless he or Barsad were with the detective at the time from now on. The simpleton simply couldn't be trusted to remain in one piece without adult supervision. In fact, locking the man in his room wasn't entirely out of the question at this point because how dare Blake upset and worry him like this! He shouldn't care, Bane knew he shouldn't care, but he did and it was getting increasingly harder to pretend that that wasn't the case. He wasn't a man who lied to himself, who refused to see the truth or take the easy way out.

Why couldn't there be more things wrong with the detective? The man was from Gotham, born and bred, he should have more flaws, be corrupted and twisted from decades spent within the city's crime filled streets. Yet somehow, through all the trials and hardships the detective had faced, despite the darkness that lived within the man's soul, Blake was a brilliant, blazing shield that wouldn't be dirtied or used by anyone.

It reminded him of when he was very young, in The Pit, struggling for a brief glimpse of the blue sky whenever the opportunity arose. Eventually he'd stopped seeking out the unexpected burst of color in his dark world as he grew up, hating the brief glimpses that had become a cruel taunt, but every once in a while he hadn't been able to help himself, to believe that someday, perhaps, he'd get more than a glimpse. Eventually Talia had become his sky, one he could hold and call his own, and yet…and yet she didn't make his heart ache the way the promise of the sky had when he was a boy. As Blake did sometimes, when the detective looked at him as though he were a man and not a monster.

But Talia was what mattered, Bane tried to tell himself, desperate to believe it and shut out the voice that said that maybe, just maybe, he was lying to himself about that.

)

When Bane finally arrived at the house it was to find that Phillipe was standing guard outside Blake's bedroom, the young mercenary having taken it upon himself to watch over the detective until he was told to do otherwise. No one had told him what to do after bringing Blake back to the house so he'd thought air on the side of caution, the other man explained while standing at full attention, wound up tight as a spring though he tried not to show it. He knew that he might be punished for the slight wounds Blake had received when they'd been ambushed, and he was ready to face his punishment without flinching. He'd heard the rumors of what the detective was to Bane. Death was a possibility.

"His arm has been taken care of?"

"He insisted on cleaning and bandaging it himself when we arrived here. He did a competent enough job, and seemed to have no problem using it when he threw together a meal. After he finished eating he retired to his room and has made no request for medical assistance."

Knowing Blake's stubbornness well Bane ordered the man to continue to stand guard until he returned, the mercenary heading off to his own room to collect his medical supplies before coming back with the sack in hand. If the wound needed further attention he would see to it.

"You are dismissed. Go back to your base camp."

"Yes, Sir."

Beating a hasty retreat Phillipe looked back to watch his leader enter the detective's room in spite of himself, not sure what to think of what he'd thought he'd seen in the other man's eyes while they'd been discussing Blake. He wouldn't speak of it though, not to anyone. Definitely time for him to be leaving though, before he did or said something stupid.

Unaware of what he had possibly given away moments before Bane scanned the bedroom for signs of life and found the room empty. Since he assumed Phillipe valued his life too much to lie Bane turned his head in the direction of the bathroom, which was the only other place Blake could be. Walking over to the door he listened intently, his ears not picking up anything that would indicate it was in use in some way. Still, Blake could be in the tub, Bane reasoned, soothing the muscles the man had no doubt strained with a hot soak.

Deciding to check Bane opened the door soundlessly and stepped inside, his gaze going automatically towards the huge black tub to the right of him. Naturally he saw the bandaged arm draped over the edge right away, the limb hanging limp and unmoving, the angle suggesting that the rest of the man's body…

Dropping the sack to the floor Bane was beside the tub in seconds, his logical mind taking in the fact that aside from the bandaged arm the rest of Blake's body was submerged under water, the man's eyes closed and body relaxed.

"No!"

On that exclamation Bane reached in and slid his hands under Blake's arms, yanking the younger man up and out of the tub to suspend him in mid-air, water flying everywhere. Easily taking the detective's weight Bane let out the breath he hadn't even realized he'd been holding as Blake body sprang into action, the detective's hands flying out to grip down on Bane's shoulders for support, his eyes open and fiercely alive as he demanded to know what the hell was wrong with him.

"You will not drown yourself!" Bane ordered, desperately relieved to see that he hadn't been too late and trying to hide it.

"I wasn't trying to drown myself, you idiot! I was practicing!"

Seeing Bane's confusion Blake rolled his eyes, body relaxing slightly now that he knew what was going on. "You do know what happens to cops in Crane's 'court' right? We all know we have a choice between a bullet in the brain or a walk across the ice. Anyway, ever since I found out I've been working on conditioning my body, trying to increase the time I can stay under before needing to come up for air. If I was trying to kill myself there are a lot quicker, easier ways, FYI."

Bane was both willing and able to see the truth of that statement now that fear no longer had him by the throat, inhibiting his common sense. His detective was a fighter, a survivor. His pet would not choose death unless no other option was open to him.

"You will not be sent across the ice."

"Better over prepared than under." He was determined to escape after all, and recapture was always a possibility. Cops went straight to Crane.

Unable to argue that point, he believed in preparing for multiple outcomes so as never to be caught off guard, Bane simply continued to study the man's face in silence until Blake said his name softly in a questioning manner. "Yes?"

"You do realize I'm butt naked and getting you soaking wet, right?"

He hadn't, actually, but now that Blake had drawn his attention to their circumstances Bane was very much aware of the fact that water was dripping and divided on its way down the very warm and naked body he was holding up so that Blake was actually looking down at him. His clothes were soaked through as a result, clinging to his frame as lovingly as the water clung to dips and curves that had recently become more pronounced on Blake's body since he'd been exposed to Venom.

Not wanting to look or think about that body Bane forced himself to return his gaze to meet Blake's. "Your wounds are minor aside from your arm?" He'd been briefed that that was the case, but he wished to explain away the thorough way he'd been looking over the detective's body.

"Yeah, I…Shit."

Glancing in the direction that Blake was now looking Bane took in the red that was spreading over the former white of the bandages. This was something he knew, something he could take care of. Carefully he turned and then set Blake down so that he was flatfooted on the ground now, Bane's voice broking no argument as he told the man to go take a seat on the bathroom counter. He'd take care of the wound.

"I can handle it. You should be doing bad guy stuff, not helping me." Bane was the enemy, Blake reminded himself sternly, trying desperately to hide how aware he was of their present situation. Thinking about Bane sexually again would not end well for either of them, and he was going to remind himself of that fact until it sank in.

That he found the ease with which Bane had held him up ridiculously sexy, on top of the muscle play which had just been the cherry on top, was embarrassing enough without Bane catching on.

Not liking the way Blake was refusing to look at him now Bane laid down the law so to speak. "You will sit or I will make you."

Pretty sure that he'd fail epically if he tried to stare Bane down, Blake shook his head and gave in, grabbing a large bath towel to wrap around his waist since he wasn't about to stay naked with things so weird between them. Once that was secure and in place he leaned down to take care of his bath water, sorry he couldn't soak longer, and then crossing the room Blake hopped up on the counter to start undoing the bandages he'd put on earlier. Trying to school his features as the wound came into view Blake wasn't happy to see that his arm was still bleeding sluggishly, making it clear that just wrapping it up again wasn't going to do the trick. Dammit.

Having retrieved his bag Bane set it beside Blake and then reached out to study the wound, silently debating whether it was deep enough to require stitches. Not quite, he decided, announcing that he'd clean it and then use butterfly bandages to close the wound properly, which was what Blake should have done in the first place.

Not about to argue, Bane no doubt knew a lot more about this kind of thing than he did, Blake gave the go ahead to do as he liked. At least he wasn't going to have to get stitches, he told himself, poking at the wound with his finger like the touch would magically close it up.

"Don't do that." Bane ordered as he set out the supplies he'd need.

Dropping his hand away with a sullen look Blake lapsed into silence, ignore the mercenary so that his brain didn't register the man's order to stay still until Bane splashed some sort of liquid on the wound that had him yelping in startled pain.

"THAT HURTS!"

"If you stayed still it wouldn't hurt as much."

"Well if you hadn't sent me on the tour from hell this wouldn't have happened!"

"If you had stayed in the vehicle you wouldn't have been injured in the first place."

Blake gasped in outrage. "Well if your man hadn't put us in danger I would have been safe."

"Well you should have learned to protect yourself better."

Death glares went back and forth for a couple minutes before Bane remembered what he was supposed to be doing, the mercenary forcing himself to focus on the wound once more as he again told Blake to stay still BECAUSE this would sting a little.

Prepared this time Blake grinched his teeth and managed not to swear as the wound was thoroughly cleaned, silently repeating over and over again that this wasn't nearly as bad as being exposed to Venom and damn if he was going to look like a complete and total wimp in front of Bane again. And while that helped a little the detective didn't unclench his teeth until the cleaning part was over and Bane turned his attention to applying the butterfly bandages.

"By the way…thank you…for saving my life…in theory. For not wanting me to drown, I mean." The words came out awkward as hell, but Blake knew it would bug him if he didn't at least acknowledge that Bane had thought he was in trouble earlier, when he'd scared the hell out of him. "And thanks for fixing up my arm…even if it is totally YOUR fault I was out there in the first place."

"You're welcome."

Blake waited until the wound had been tended to in Bane's eyes, the bandages perfectly spaced and aligned before he spoke again, well aware that his previous apology had left a lot to be desired considering that it had occurred to him while Bane was playing doctor that he had asked Barsad to ask Bane for a favor on his behalf. A favor that Bane might not be inclined to give now, though the man didn't look angry as he moved back a few steps so that Blake could slide off the counter.

"This looks really good." Studying the job Blake was willing to admit it looked a hell of a lot better than it had earlier.

"It would be advisable for you not to injury yourself in the near future again." He would not react well if that were to happen. He seemed to lose more and more control every time someone tried to take the detective from him…Bane was almost afraid of what he'd do should there be a next time.

Blake gave him an annoyed look. "You do know I've never set out to injury myself, right? That it's you putting me in dangerous situations that's the problem here. You stop doing that and neither of us will have to go through this again until you blow me up."

It was on the tip of Bane's tongue to inform Blake that the tour of the city hadn't been his idea in the first place, but he reined that impulse in since the curious detective would want to know whose idea it had been. Blake couldn't know about Talia, no one could.

Since Bane wasn't responding to the truth, big surprise, Blake sighed and headed out of the bathroom, feeling a definite sense of déjà vu as he was followed out of the bathroom like a mama duck and her duckling.

Bane was definitely no duckling though, Blake thought with a smirk, and his feelings for the man were most definitely not parental.