Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations I put all my poor victims in.

I've Got My Eye On

After consuming his own meal downstairs Blake headed outside and ignoring the fact that Barsad was keeping close by found himself a snowbank, turned around to give it his back, and then let gravity do its thing as he leaned backwards and tumbled into the mound of snow. And stayed there, remaining quiet except for assuring Barsad that he was fine when the mercenary came over to find out what the heck he was doing. Even with his eyes closed Blake knew the other man was rolling his eyes at him, but Barsad didn't prod him for further explanation and that was the main thing as Blake remained right where he was, ignoring the coolness of the snow even as some of it slipped under his coat to dribble down his neck, his thoughts far more important than a little discomfort.

Mainly…what the hell was going to do if Bane took what had happened the night before and this morning as an invitation for future sexual encounters?

He wasn't a tease, or at least not in the sense of not following through after the teasing, so this wasn't exactly a situation he knew how to handle from past experience. Frankly he'd been so mad at Bane before that he'd acted rashly, without thinking, and that had led to the showering incident. The very pleasurable incident that he really wouldn't mind repeating on a purely physical level, but which probably wasn't a good idea on an intellectual level, which was what he needed to think about now.

Odds were he was a dead man walking, and it wasn't like he was suddenly thinking about marrying Bane, becoming his little wife, and giving him six or seven big strapping boys just like him. He couldn't get pregnant, obviously, and if he got an STD at this point…well he wouldn't have it long before he was ash on the ground. This wasn't a case of Stockholm Syndrome either, though his choice would be so much easier to make if that were the case. And when it came to his actions harming others, well in the end the only one harmed by his decision either way were the two of them.

And maybe Barsad since the bastard couldn't seem to stop sticking his nose into things, Blake mentally added with a grimace, deciding then and there that he was going to chuck a snowball at the mercenary before he headed inside as punishment. He'd still be happily pissed at Bane if the bastard hadn't caused him to have his stupid epiphany. But since mentally bashing Barsad was something he could do all day, it wasn't like the mercenary hadn't given him plenty to work with, Blake forced his mind to go back to his original musings since that couldn't wait for later.

Ergo, time to make his treacherous mind go back to the question of what he was going to do if Bane decided to join him in bed or the shower again while gorgeously naked and wanting to give him more delicious orgasms.

Scratch the thought about orgasms, Blake ordered himself, he'd never get any good thinking done if he did.

So there was the matter of his superiors, not to mention Batman finding out, but seriously, he could not imagine a situation where he met up with any of them and they asked him about his recent sex life. Far more likely they'd meet, if they met at all, before or during a major gunfight, a citywide war that would take precedent over his personal life because really, this wasn't a fairy tale where such things took a back seat to the realities of life. And if for some odd reason said conversation did take place, well it wasn't like his years in foster care hadn't taught him how to lie through his pearly whites. He didn't doubt for a minute that he could look any of his superiors in the eye and tell them 'No, Sir, not me, I guarantee it' if they asked if he'd gotten sexually involved with Bane.

The Batman probably would see through him, they were just too damn much alike in some ways, but in that case he'd just point out that there were plenty of things he could throw in Wayne's face as proof that he was one to talk when it came to making bad life choices.

But seriously, he couldn't see those conversations coming to pass expect in the form of them asking if he'd been raped while in Bane's custody, which he'd be able to say in absolute honesty had not been the case. So really, when he really thought about it, the only way he could see them finding out that he'd slept with Bane willingly was if Bane told them as a way of punishing him or twisting the knife so to speak. And if that happened…he would personally so put lead into that tight ass, and he wouldn't feel an ounce of regret for the brief moments he'd have left before Barsad took him out.

Yeah, he was definitely checking a snowball at Barsad's head.

Grinning at the thought and the mental image of the mercenary's face, this was gonna be good, Blake sat up and shook his head, dislodging some of the snow embedded in it.

Then making a snowball as covertly as he could manage Blake very carefully stood up once it was completed, got a mental sense of exactly where Barsad was behind him, and then whirling around threw the ball as hard as he could in the mercenary's direction.

Without missing a beat Barsad drew out a gun and fired, the snowball exploding in midair with not even the debris so much as brushing against the other man as the flakes hit the ground once more.

Pause. "Well that was both cool and disappointing."

"Don't do it again."

"Or you'll….?"

"I'm not going to seriously injure you so that you can use that as an excuse to turn away from Bane." Barsad's reply was as cold as the snow he'd just avoided while he returned the gun to its holster. "But I could quite happily make it impossible for you to run if you want to push me. I'm sure Bane would appreciate the easy access."

Blake's jaw dropped. "Are you threatening to kneecap me if I throw a snowball at you?"

"The correct term is limb punishment shooting."

"If I'd liked you before this would change that." Just imagining how much that would hurt had Blake paling a little, especially when he realized something else. "You don't consider that a serious injury?"

Barsad just smirked, knowing that he'd won this round. A nice change of pace to his way of thinking.

"Sadist bastard."

)

A short while later, after warming up with some hot chocolate and cookies with his sadist bastard of a babysitter, Blake opted to head up to his room for the time being. Turning on Christmas music, though he kept it to low, background music this time, Blake smiled as the cheery sound warmed him more than the chocolate as he walked over to his tree and got down on his knees before rolling over and stretching out on his back with his head under the tree.

The bright lights, the music and the scent of pine, yeah, he was good for the moment.

So of course Bane decided to come in less than ten minutes after he'd laid down, the sound of the other man's heavy steps cluing Blake in to who was visiting, so that he didn't bother to stick his head out from under the pine tree's boughs.

"What are you doing?"

"Communing with Obi-Wan Kenobi."

"Come again."

Rolling his eyes Blake shook his head at the both of them. "I'm relaxing under my tree. And to answer your next question Obi-Wan Kenobi is a character from the Star Wars movies. In the good ones he acted as a spiritual guide sometimes. I was just being sarcastic."

"And you are in need of spiritual guidance?"

"I'm in need of many things, but I suppose that's one of them. What about you? Something I can help you with?"

Instead of answering Bane walked over and then copied his earlier actions, stretching out so they were shoulder to shoulder, their heads both turned so that they could meet each other's gaze before Blake turned his head to its early position, Bane doing the same.

"Perhaps I can help you."

Blake had to snort. "I don't think you're really the person I should be debating with when it comes to whether or not I should let you fuck me."

Dead silence greeted that statement, and when Blake couldn't help but turn his head to meet Bane's gaze again he found the mercenary looking at him like he'd just suggested he have a sex change.

Laughter. Peals and peals of laughter bubbled up from Blake's throat in reaction to the funniest expression he'd ever seen on anyone's face, much less Bane's. The sound of his laughter spilling out in bright merriment was the happiest sounds the room had ever heard as his dimples came up and Blake's whole body heaved and shook in response as he gave himself completely over to his amusement at Bane's expense.

Though when he did finally get himself under control Bane's eyes revealed nothing, what was visible of his face shuttered as well.

"Sorry….but if you could have seen the look in your eyes..." Shaking his head as he got himself mostly under control, no easy thing, Blake's voice still rang with amusement as he stated that it was a pity about the mask, it would have been so much funnier if he'd gotten the full effect.

"Is that why you said that in the first place?"

It took Blake a moment, but putting two and two together he decided that he was in too good of a mood now to fight. "No, I was serious. If I just wanted to make you make toon eyes at me I would have told you that I was actually born in France, as a girl, but had a sex change to avoid the amorous intentions of an evil guy named Gaston."

And okay, he was back to uncontrollable laughter. Priceless. Absolutely priceless.

With the thought being to get the full affect Blake reached over to finger the mask, not really surprised when his wrist was caught before his fingers could do more that brush over the straps holding the mask in place.

This time he didn't say anything though. Instead he just waited to see what Bane would do with the hand he'd captured. And when Bane let go and laced their fingers together instead he was surprised, but he didn't jerk his hand away either, allowing the hold before turning his attention back to the view above them.

"Are you ever going to let me see what you look like without that mask on?"

The pause gave Blake a moment of hope before it was dashed by the quiet no Bane gave him.

"I felt your mouth last night, so I know you've got some odd scarring that's misshaped your lips a bit, and your teeth aren't perfect, but I don't care about that. So I'm going to have to assume your refusal lies in your determination to be defined by that mask instead of what's underneath."

"It stays on."

For a long moment Blake gave serious thought to pointing out how childish and stupid Bane was being, but decided to aim for what would hurt the most, so to speak. And everyone knew, when it came to a manle anatomy, where to aim to do the most damage.

"Well if I can't have your mouth then my ass is off limits to your cock. And I'm not likely to suck it any time soon either."

And on that note Blake brought their joined hands up to his lips. And bit down lightly on the fleshy part of Bane's hand.

)

Staring over at Blake, how did this man so completely destroy his world and rearrange it so effortlessly, Bane struggled to process all the information he'd just been given. The idea that his bird had been lying here debating as to whether or not to let him touch again or not had been surprise enough without this latest statement about the fact that certain sexual acts were now no longer allowed because of his refusal to remove his mask while Blake could see him clearly. Since meeting the man and accepting that his attraction was physical he had done some research into what sexual relations between men were like so he did know that there were plenty of other things that were not included in Blake's banned list. Such as what they'd done this morning.

But he wasn't a complete fool yet where his very smart little bird was concerned.

"And why would you let me touch you?"

"Are we really going to have to have another talk about the fact that I don't fuck people for personal gain? Because if we do I can't guarantee I won't punch you, Christmas or not." For emphasis Blake let go of his hand. "And that would ruin my Christmas, since I'd probably break my fucking hand on your jaw."

"The more often you say fuck the more mad you are at me."

"Give the man a medal." Was Blake's sarcastic reply to that one before he maneuvered himself out from under the tree, getting to his feet so that for once he towered over Bane. "So are we fighting or are you going to get it in your head that the only reason I haven't jumped you at this point is the fact that I have a fairly decent conscience, which has some problems with me sleeping with a mass murderer slash terrorist."

Taking the insults without a hint that they'd so much as registered, it wasn't like he hadn't been called such things before and worse, Bane got to his feet, needing to feel in a position of control as he looked down at Blake, staring into those brown eyes that met his with such open heat and defiance. That the room buzzed with the chemistry they shared, giving life to the air like just before a lightning storm, made the precipice they seemed to be standing on that much more dangerous.

"And you've decided you can be with a mass murderer?"

"What I've done is remind myself of the fact that I promised myself that I'd live a life free of regret because I had so much to regret when I was a kid. And the more I think about it, the more sure I am that if I die in next week or in a month…I'd regret trying to ignore the fact that I've never wanted someone the way I want you."

Not knowing what to say to that Bane just stared.

Which Blake apparently interpreted the wrong way judging by his next words.

"No, it's not Stockholm Syndrome. Believe me, I think what you're doing to Gotham is as fucked up and wrong now as I did before I'd even met you. Though I would probably visit you in prison, should that happen, though you're more the die fighting sort of guy, right?"

He would not allow anyone to lock him away again, but Bane was nonetheless curious. "And what would you tell them, when they asked why you wanted to see me?"

"The truth."

Moving in closer Bane deliberately crowded Blake in as he asked him just what that truth was.

"That no matter what they think you're not evil or a monster. You're a fanatic who tried to change the world for the better in a really stupid, misguided way."

Using his body Bane had Blake backed up against a wall before the detective even seemed to realize what he was doing, and then it was too late thanks to Bane's body mass and the fact that Bane's fingers were wrapped around his neck, holding him in place.

"Most would say you're a stupid, misguided fool to speak to me that way."

"I'm not afraid to die by your hand or get blown to bits by your bomb." Rather than struggle Blake remained perfectly still under his hand, his gaze unflinching. "Afraid for the people whose lives you hold in your hands, yes, and afraid for you and the price you'll pay for all this. But me? No. You planning to send me to my maker tonight, Bane?"

"So eager to die?"

"Some, including me, would say what you're doing suggests a much bigger suicide wish than me standing up to you."

Everything hinging on his next question, Bane took a moment before asking it, bracing for the answer.

"And would you mourn or celebrate my death?"

"I'd mourn you."

Believing him, and that was a hard but good jolt to his system as for the first time Bane truly allowed himself to believe that he mattered to Blake even if his little bird didn't like it. The fact that he questioned this as much as he had…that made this real.

Bane loosened his grip, fingers ever so slightly stroking the skin beneath his finger pads. "Then I'm sleeping in here with you from now on. So long as you're here."

"And how long do you think that will be?"

"Until I say otherwise."

"Okay."

Wanting to kiss the man more than he wanted to take his next breath, Bane had to settle for drawing Blake into his arms, closing his eyes in utter contentment when he was at least allowed to hold him and keep him close.

At least for now.

)

Chapter twenty-one's reference was Blake's use of Lumiere's introduction to the song 'Be Our Guest' when Bane confronts him in the shower, and chapter twenty two was Blake's 'for once it might be grand' lines while talking to Barsad and Barsad quoting Cogsworth's lines to the Beast on how to get into Belle's good books. This chapter is Blake's referring to himself as little wife and describing having six or seven strapping boys, the 'No, Sir, not me' line, and the obvious one of Blake joking that he used to be a French girl hiding from a guy named Gaston.

As always, fireworkmage, you're the best for catching my extras. Serious kudos.