Disclaimer: As always we'll own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters find themselves in.

Neither One Prepared

Staring blankly at Bane, the man's expression was impossible to read at the moment, Blake tried to comprehend what he'd just been told. Because it sounded like Bane had just told him that in roughly twenty four hours he was going to be taken back into Gotham and set free. That couldn't be right though...there was just no way. Bane wanted him here, he knew that, and above and beyond that how would it look to Bane's men if he did that? Just let a cop go free to rejoin the resistance that continued to do their level best to strike out against Bane and the other criminals to the best of their ability. He'd never-the only way he'd imagined leaving Bane's side at this point was death by bomb or-.

The woman. The one who was really in charge of Gotham's occupation and imminent destruction. The one who'd ordered him exposed to Venom and whose orders Bane apparently didn't go against even when he knew she was wrong. Maybe this was HER idea. But unfortunately he couldn't speak of her either, couldn't let Bane know that he knew she even existed, so Blake just continued to stare back at Bane, hoping that he would say something, anything, that would make it clear whether he truly was going to be let go the following morning...and how Bane actually felt about that fact.

"Your Batman is no longer in The Pit."

That was not what he'd been expecting but- "What do you mean? Where is he? What did you do to him now?"

"We don't know where he is. We assume he is on his way here."

Suddenly finding his legs again Blake bounced to his feet, forgetting for a moment what Bane had said before this latest bomb had been dropped on his head. "He got out?! Out of The Pit?! And he's coming back here? Of course he is. He's coming back and-and when people see him-this is exactly what we-YES!" Punching a fist in the air Blake grinned in triumph, eyes glowing with relief and absolute certainty that this was going to change everything. That finally he wasn't going to have to force himself to believe that Gotham could survive the League of Shadows even when anyone with half a brain could see their odds were next to nil.

His hero was alive though. Alive and on his way back to Gotham. And he believed that with every fibre of his being, that now they really stood a chance.

But happy as he was the euphoria of Bane's words only lasted so long, he couldn't not be aware of Bane presence for long, and slowly Blake's smile dimmed a little, eyes narrowing in calculation and growing dread now. "Why? Why would you tell me that, especially if it's true. You know-I've seen the way you look at and react to my tattoo, to the mere mentioning of Batman. And letting me go, when you know I...what's going on, Bane? What are you up to?"

What is SHE up to, he silently added, because he couldn't believe that Bane cared so little to give him false hope just to be cruel. If this was all a lie it was HER lie, one Bane had been ordered to tell him.

"Nothing that involves you. I have told you what you need to know. Now for the rest of the day-" Bane's voice went quiet for a moment, the mercenary clearing his throat before finishing, "for the rest of the day you will stay with me. Then tomorrow you will return to Gotham and whatever fate has in store for you before your city is no more."

Sitting down again, it struck Blake as the brightest move he could make at the moment, Blake didn't bother to try and keep eye contact with Bane, wanting to hide his own thoughts and feelings now as it abruptly sunk in that even if Bane wasn't lying, and he really was going to be returned to Gotham alive and Batman might come...this was the end. The end of them.

Not that they really were a them, us, couple, or whatever you wanted to call it or put it. They weren't friends or allies, Bane a terrorist to his hostage, and yet... And yet all the joy Blake had felt earlier at the news of Batman's escape, the small flame of hope he'd experienced at the idea that he might go free for real, all of those emotions were gone or buried under the realization that the next time he faced Bane, if there even was a next time, they'd do so as enemies on opposite sides of the battlefield.

Jerking a little when a hand he'd come to know as well as his own grasped his chin, Blake had no choice but to look up to meet the gaze of the man who'd crouched down in front of him, Bane's approach having gone completely unnoticed. And in Bane's eyes, for a brief moment, Blake saw his own thoughts echoed in those stormy depths and knew that no, this parting wasn't something Bane wanted either.

But that look was gone as quickly as it had come, Bane shutting him out again as easily as the man must don his mask every day.

"One would think you'd look happier at this news."

Blake didn't even have to think about that, automatically shaking his head. "No. No matter how this ends, it won't end...the way I would want it to."

There was complete understanding and agreement in Bane's eyes for a single heartbeat, and then he was getting to his feet, motioning over to a nearby table that turned out to hold the breakfast that had already been prepared for him. Blake hadn't even noticed it earlier, nor did he have any interest in it now and said so. If Bane wanted it he could have it, he'd leave the room since he wasn't allowed to see the man behind the mask.

Blake didn't even try and hide the bitterness behind that statement as he too rose up to stand, facing Bane with as much bravado as he could manage at that particular moment.

"You will eat. Tomorrow and the days after you won't have food so readily available, especially if your former comrades don't find you quickly or welcome you back."

He wanted to argue about that, even the thought of eating made him want to be sick, but Blake also knew that Bane had a very valid point. Food had been hard to come by before, he wouldn't be surprised if things had only gotten worse in his absence. And the more fuel he had in his system the more likely he'd be able to run or fight if he ran into trouble. As much as food didn't interest him, ending up dead or walking on ice appealed even less.

So he didn't argue, walking over to the table to pick up the plate of bacon and eggs, opting to just sit on the floor to dig in.

When Bane sat down beside him Blake accepted the large glass of orange juice he was handed, gulping it down in one go before handing it back to Bane, who simply set it aside and remained sitting beside him on the floor while he ate, not saying a word but obviously supervising to make sure that he ate everything on the plate.

As soon as he was done he held the plate up for Bane's inspection, like he was a child proving to his mother that he'd eaten everything as ordered so that he could have dessert.

"I'll give you food before you return to the city, enough to get you by for a while."

"Now you tell me. Thanks." Blake forced himself to tack that last part on, because really, he didn't want to spend their last day together being a little shit. As much pleasure as that gave him, especially when Bane was pissing him off, that wasn't what he wanted to remember for as long as he had left on his too often God forsaken planet.

So instead he set aside the plate and then asked what they were going to do now.

"What would you like to do?"

)

And so they bundled up and headed outside for a walk in the cool air, neither talking about anything really as they simply appreciated the weather and being outside without any walls or obvious boundaries. They could just keep walking really, right off the property and to the very edge of Gotham if they wanted to. But then there was just the ice and death, and they both knew it. They could only walk so far together, and then it would be all over for both of them.

To erase that dark thought Blake scooped up some snow from a bank as they passed it, asking Bane idly if he'd just shoot it out of the sky if he were to throw it at him.

"A waste of a bullet, and I would possibly hit you in the process given our close proximity."

"Tell that to Barsad." It was muttered, but Bane heard him well enough.

"He shot at you?"

"At the snowball I levied at his head. He didn't hit me, obviously, but it took all the fun out of it and stopped the impeding snowball fight completely. Though it was pretty boss that he blew it out of the air like that. The man's got skills, though I will deny saying that if you tell him I did." Blake managed a real grin for a moment, dimples and all before his expression went back to a calm mask.

Bane considered this, then reached down to make his own snowball, well aware that Blake was watching his every move as intently as he'd watched the other man eat his breakfast before. Snowball making wasn't a talent he'd honed by any means, but once it seemed well packed and in the right shape he looked over at Blake and threw it at the detective's head.

Dodging it was automatic for Blake, as was the hurling of his own snowball, which didn't hit either.

Nor did most of the snowballs that were quickly made and thrown at the other, many falling apart in flight because they hadn't been packed properly before thrown. In a way it was like the snowballs were all the words that they wanted to throw at each other, words that would demand things from the other that they both thought or knew the other couldn't give him. It was freeing, really, to focus completely and totally on the snow, on being able to put everything that was poisoning them from the inside out into something that couldn't really hurt either of them.

Blake had more skill, obviously, this was a 'sport' he knew well while Bane might have spent some time in cold climates over the years, but he sure as hell hadn't spent them tossing around snowballs. And the oddity of their weight, which was never consistent, and constructing them properly on the run from 'enemy' fire meant that oddly enough Bane found himself at the disadvantage in this 'fight'. He didn't even mind though, because Blake was laughing and smiling at him now, and that was worth more than a couple snowballs to the head.

They were cold, wet, emotionally exhausted, and winded when Blake called a ceasefire, Bane accepting this even though he was well aware that his little bird fought dirty enough to cheat. But Blake had meant it so they stopped throwing things and settled for leaning against trees for some support, watching each other as their breath appeared as white fog in front of them before fading away until the next breath.

And again Blake broke the silence, dimples still showing even now that there was nothing else to distract them from the other. "I needed that."

"I as well."

Pushing off from the tree Blake stumbled over to stand in front of him. "But just so you know, for future reference, you throw like a girl."

"A girl?"

"Yup. A sissy girl, I should add, since some girls actually have damn good arms." Lifting a hand Blake gave Bane's shoulder a comforting pat that was completely at odds with the detective's grin. "But don't feel bad about it, no one's perfect."

"In stamina I defeat you easily."

"I could make so many comments about that, but I'm going to be the better man here and preserve what little sanity you and I have between us and not jump all over that." What went unsaid, but both thought, was how much they wanted to jump the other and test that stamina out for themselves.

And watching the strangest expression come over Blake's face, one he didn't recognize but that sent a shiver running down his spine, Bane cocked his head to the side and asked him what he was thinking now. It was important, Bane knew, somewhere in his gut he was sure of that.

"Let me think about it some more on the way back to the house. Then maybe I'll tell you."

)

Remaining quiet for the rest of the walk back to the house Blake had come to a decision by the time they headed inside. He'd accepted what he could and couldn't change, and knew what he was willing to regret and what he wasn't. There was a calm to him now, a knowing exactly what to do for the first time since this whole fucking mess had started and turned his world on its axis. What was coming tomorrow, he sure as hell didn't know, but in this time and this place, for this day, he did know. He would mold the way he wanted it to go and to hell with everything going on outside this house and in their lives.

And with his plan in mind Blake pointed out that they both needed a hot shower, and that afterwards Bane could meet up with him in his bedroom if that was okay.

Blake could see in Bane's eyes that the man wanted to question the request, but thankfully he didn't argue or ask after a long study of his face, nodding instead and parting ways from him once they were up the stairs, each going to their individual rooms to use their showers and change into dry clothes.

Showering quickly and economically because he knew that Bane would, Blake dried off and then headed into the bedroom to pull on just a pair of silk pajama bottoms before going to the closet to retrieve an article of clothing he certainly hadn't thought he'd be needing while he was being held hostage there.

But he'd taken his pick and was running the smooth material through his hands when Bane came in wearing his usual black T-shirt and khaki pants.

Running his eyes over him Bane asked with a hint of amusement if he was so worn out he needed to take a nap now.

"No." Walking over to the bed Blake took a seat towards the end and then asked Bane to take a seat as well, with his back against the headboard. After a pause Bane did as he'd been asked, Blake waiting until the other man was settled before he shuffled over and then straddled Bane's legs as much as he was able given their size. "Trust me?"

"To do what?"

Blake leaned in and showed the tie, holding it just a short distance in front of Bane's eyes. "It's not see through, see?"

"Yes." That Bane had no idea where this was going was obvious in even his mechanized voice.

Rather than answer the unspoken questions he saw in Bane's eyes Blake shifted up to a more seated position and then lifted the strip of material up to his own eyes, tying the ends at the back of his head together as he turned the tie into an effective blindfold.

"What are you doing?"

"You don't want me to see you, but this way you can see me." Blake touched his fingertips to either side of his head. "I can't see anything."

And on that note he leaned forward again to feel around Bane's head until he reached the straps that held the mask into place, fumbling a little but with the obvious intent to remove the hunk of metal he hated so much.

Bane said his name softly, but made no attempt to stop him, so Blake kept doing what he was doing until he finally worked the mask free of Bane's face.

"You'll tell me when you need to put this back on."

Not waiting for confirmation of that Blake used the positioning of his hands as guidance, moving in close to press their lips together.

)

Note: Chapter Twenty-four's references were the discussion about Bane needing to smile from Cogsworth and Beast's conversation, and the primeval comment from Belle's conversation with Gaston. Chapter twenty-five was Blake's conversation with the mirror, mirroring Gaston and his lackey discussing how to manipulate Belle by using her father. In chapter twenty-six it was the the baroque/rococo style of the mansion's hallway, same as the Beast's castle, as well as Blake repeating Maurice's comments when the man first entered said castle. Also was Barsad's comment that he thought Blake would be the one to break the spell, and at the end Beast's response to Cogworth's question of why he let Belle go was echoed by Barsad and Bane.