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It took only one week in the free world for Talia to figure out that she loved it. She woke up when she wanted, ate what she wanted, and could basically do whatever she pleased. Except go outside.

"Bane, I have been trapped in her for days, I need to go out!"

A highly annoyed Talia followed her fake husband around the apartment as he gathered his things to go out for the day. He, somehow, had found a job. He did not reveal to her much about it, and she assumed it was not the most legal of occupations, which frustrated her even more.

"It is unsafe out there for a girl such as yourself." He replied without even sparing her a glance. Talia roughly pushed herself between him and the kitchen counter and forced him to make eye contact with her.

"You forget, my friend, that I have been trained in the art of hand-to-hand combat. I have had hours of weapons training. There is not a thing these men can throw at me that I cannot handle. And I am a woman, I am not some child you can keep locked in the house!"

A stretch of silence followed her rant, and she felt her blood boil as he gave her a less than enthusiastic look.

"I am doing what is best for you."

She pushed past him and stalked in the direction of the bedroom. Bane shook his head and chuckled to himself. That teenage rebellion was at an all time high today. Even so, he hated to leave knowing she was angry with him. Defeated, he went to the bedroom. As he had expected, she was sitting on the bed, cross legged, and brooding.

"Would it please her highness if I took her to the market with me this evening?" he asked.

"It's a start."


By noon, Talia had run out of things to keep her occupied. She had washed their clothing in the bath tub, washed herself, cleaned the kitchen, and made her bed. She also fluffed the pillows on the couch, since that was where Bane insisted on sleeping. After finding she had run out of mundane chores to occupy her hands, the urge to be outside raged once again.

Naturally, Bane had locked the door before leaving, giving her quite an obstacle between her and the outside world. The ninja princess took one look at the pitiful lock and decided it was worth a try.

Two paperclips she had found left from the previous tenant and half an hour of frustration and heated language gave way to the door knob turning in her sweaty hands and the bright rays of the sun landing on her face. She smiled to herself in triumph, feeling all the more powerful. She ran back inside, grabbed some of her "going away present", and decided to do part of the shopping for Bane while he was out.


She had to admit to herself, as she wove her way between the sea of people, that she had not been this nervous with Bane at her side. She swallowed hard and reminded herself that this was what she had wanted, and that she could not let him know that she was beginning to think he was right. For a woman who had had such an unusual childhood, being surrounded by people was almost a culture shock. It reminded her of the last time she had been exposed to this strange world.

She had been so young and so scared then. Bane had just sacrificed himself to give her a chance at freedom, and she had been thrown from The Pit with nothing but the rag of a dress she wore. She remembered her feet, how they had burned as she ran through the desert, scared and disoriented. She had slept alone for the first time in her life, and it had been the most terrifying thing. Awoken by the haunting images of her protector drowning in a sea of flesh had jolted her awake, and she had continued her journey after finding that sleep would evade her that night.

To this day, she sometimes wonders how she had done it. How she had survived long enough to find her father. Long enough to be put in another kind of pit, one where what she really wanted was visible, but so out of reach.

She shakes her head to clear her mind of the memory and focuses back on the present. She knows they need food, and some new clothes would be nice. She thinks of all the food she knows how to make and what she would need to buy to make it. She knows it is easier for Bane to eat soft foods. She quickly decides to make a soup the cook at her father's house had taught her, and darts to the side of the market where all the produce is located.

The vegetables she needs are easy to find, and she feels relieved when she successfully makes her first purchase. With the bag clutched firmly in her arms, she moves down the row of merchants to find the rest of her ingredients and some clothes.

Talia stumbles upon the clothing first, and stops to check for something acceptable. The part of the city they have chosen to live in is a poor one, and she is slightly disappointed to see that all the clothes are plain and very simple. Just as she goes to ask the merchant for the price of a shawl she thinks would work better than the rag wrapped around her head, she is startled as a commotion in the alley next to the vendor breaks out.

There is a woman, who could not be much older than Talia herself, pinned to the wall by a man. He is holding her wrist tightly in his hand and in an awkward position. The woman is pleading with him frantically in her native tongue. He practically growls a response and throws her to the ground, sending a stack of crates tumbling to the sandy ground.

Before she can fully register what she is doing, Talia drops the bag of vegetables and darts past two older women purposely trying to ignore the scene. The man does not see her coming, as he is too busy screaming at the frightened woman on the ground. Her fists are fast and she catches him off guard. Within seconds he is on the ground, stunned, unsure of what hit him. Turning quickly, Talia kneels next to the woman and hauls her to her feet. The shawl around her head reveals only her eyes. They are wide and brown and glistening with tears.

"Run, get out of here." She gives her a push on the back in case she doesn't understand the language. The woman whispers to Talia what sounds like a rushed thank you and runs.

The man is up and on his feet when Talia turns back around and he sloppily throws a punch her way. She dodges it and slams a heel into his side. The air escapes his lungs in a loud woosh and he stumbles. Quickly, while he is still winded, she locates two of the pressure points on his upper body and watches with satisfaction as he slumps to the ground, the use of his muscles leaving him.

With a grin of fulfillment Talia turns around to retrieve her vegetables. She is not surprised to see the whole town staring at her, practically gawking. A cold sweat breaks out on her back and the grin falls from her face. Quickly, she runs past them and grabs her bag, and does not stop until she is back in the apartment.


She is shaking when she arrives back home. Dropping the vegetables onto the table, she slumps into the chair, her head in her hands. She pulls in a shaky breath and holds it, trying to rid herself of this ball of fear that has accumulated in her stomach.

She knows she should not have done what she did. She and Bane were in hiding. They needed to have as little attention brought to them as possible. Talia figures by now half the town will know what she has done. Bane had told her that women were not treated as equals to the men in this place. She knows this, and yet she could not stop herself.

Talia knows exactly why she did it. Images of her mother, being dragged from her cell, flash behind her eyes and she wills them away. Seeing that woman today, cornered by a man, made her feel as though she was watching her mother be murdered all over again.

Except this time, she had done what she had imagined countless times doing for her mother.

Talia is not the kind of girl who cries often, but the tears slip past her eyes before she knows it. She rubs them furiously, angry at herself, at the world, at her life. She usually tries not to think of her mother, as the memories bring nothing but pain and regret, but now they are coming without her being able to stop them.

She lets a sob escape her lips as she sets her head on the table.


Bane hears of Talia's fight three hours after it takes place.

He had found a job overseeing the loading and unloading of the delivery trucks that came to town every day. It was a simple job. He stood outside the building as the men inside unloaded countless pounds of guns, ammunition, drugs, and various other packages he wasn't interested in knowing about. They had been impressed with his brute strength and lack of interest for organized government. He would start here, he thought, and eventually work his way up the ladder.

The last truck of the day came in the late evening, and one of the men came outside to ask Bane for his assistance with the unloading. He had nodded mutely and followed him inside, where he proceeded to unload the plain, unmarked boxes from the truck.

In amongst the useless chatter of the other men, one topic in particular caught his attention.

"So, did you hear about the woman who beat the shit out of some guy today?"

"What?" the other man replied genuinely shocked.

"My brother saw the whole thing. Said this guy caught a girl tryin' to steal some of shit, and just has he was about to really lay into her, this woman comes out of nowhere and just puts him down."

The other man laughs loudly as he tosses a box to the next man in line.

"That one won't last long."

Bane barely registers when the box lands in his hands.


He is fuming by the time he reaches their apartment, and he throws the door open angrily. Talia, who had fallen asleep curled up on the couch, jumps up in to a sitting position.

He slams the door shut before stalking into the kitchen and whipping the shawl off of his face. Placing his hands on the sink, he bows his head and breaths deeply. He doesn't want to explode on her, he really doesn't, but knowing she has done something so stupid and irresponsible makes him want to throttle her.

She knows he knows. She has no idea how he does, but he does. Why else would he be so angry? From where she is sitting she can see how tense the muscles in his shoulders are, how the vein going under his mask is throbbing. She has only seen him this angry a handful of times, and never has the anger been directed towards her. For probably the first time, she is genuinely afraid of him.

The seconds seem to last hours for her, as she sits on the couch, afraid to move. She wants to go to him, explain why she did it, why she had to, but the words won't come out. Finally, he turns to her.

"Have you any idea what you've done?"

His voice is ice, and she looks down, unable to meet his gaze.

"I'm sorry." Her voice comes out much more timid than she would have liked.

"Sorry is not good enough."

He is kneeling in front of her so fast she barely has time to realize he's there until his thick hands are latched around her arms and he is pushing her back into the couch.

"Everyone knows what you did. Everyone is talking about it. Words travel fast, darling. What do you think your father will think if he hears of this somehow? His daughter goes missing and there is a rogue woman on the loose in the closest city to his home. Do you not think he will figure it out?"

She can't help the tears that build in her eyes once more. She could take being berated by her father, her teachers, but not Bane. The mere thought of Bane being so angry with her hurts her.

"I didn't…I didn't want that. I don't know what happened…I just…"

"You weren't thinking." He gives her a particularly hard shove to emphasize his point. His hands are like vice grips on her arms and she wiggles slightly to try and relieve the pressure. A tear drop falls and lands on her flushed cheek.

"I'm sorry, Bane, I am. I really am." Her voice cracks as she looks into his narrowed eyes.

"You purposely disobeyed my orders, went out in public where you could have been seen by one of your father's scouts, and then you attack a man who isn't harming you? I'm beginning to think you almost want to be found." There isn't an ounce of sympathy in his voice, only anger.

"No! I don't!" she cries to him, shocked by his accusation. "He was hurting her, Bane, I had to help her."

"You didn't even know her. You owe her nothing! If it had been you she would have turned her back on you!"

Talia is crying now, scared that the one person she had in this world is seemingly turning against her.

"I'm sorry…I'm so sorry." She repeats, her head down, tears falling freely. "Please don't leave me." The last part is a whisper, and she instantly regrets saying it.

Bane lets go of her arms roughly as he pushes himself away from her.

"I've given my life for you. How dare you risk both our safety to help a woman who never cared for you like I have."

She buries her face in her hands, knowing he is right. Knowing that it is him she should be thinking of and no one else.

"Go to your bed. I wish to lie down."

Numbly, she stands and heads to the bedroom, unable to look at him.

How had things gone so badly so quickly?


As the sun slips below the horizon and the small apartment becomes black with night, Talia lays on her side, eyes fixed on the wall. She hasn't really moved since Bane sent her away. She is scared, lonely, guit-stricken, and confused. At the time, she had thought what she was doing was right, was what she should have done. Now, she is doubting herself. Was Bane right? Should she have turned her back and let the woman be beaten? Should she have walked away?

No.

A voice in her head fights her feelings.

I had to do it. I couldn't have lived with myself if I had walked away and left her. I couldn't have dealt with the fact that I had failed my mother and another innocent person.

But what about Bane? The man who had saved her, raised her, protected her? She knew what her father would do to him if they were ever found. Was that woman worth his life?

Her head begins to throb as she is caught within her mind. She needs to go to him. She needs to talk to him; make him see that she had been justified. Stiffly, she stands up and creeps down the hallway.

He isn't sleeping. She knows this as soon as she can hear his breathing. Quietly, she goes to the front of the couch where he is laying and sits on the floor, much like a child.

"Bane?"

Her voice is soft, barely a whisper. He opens his eyes and looks at her. She can already tell he hasn't forgiven her.

"What."

"I'm sorry Bane." She starts, her voice still quiet. "I wasn't thinking today, you were right. And I shouldn't have left the house. I know I shouldn't have. But please…please understand why I had to help her. I saw her Bane, and I…I saw my mother. I saw her being beaten by the men of The Pit again. I couldn't do anything then, but I can now. I couldn't let that woman be hurt…not when I had the power to stop it. I had to do it for my mother…I had to do for that woman what I couldn't do for her."

She had thought her confession would have made him see why she had attacked that man. She thought it would make him forgive her. It did the exact opposite.

"You owed that woman nothing, and you owed your mother even less."

His words strike her like a blow to the face and she is caught off guard.

"What?" she hisses.

Bane sits up quickly and grips the cushions of the couch in his iron-like grasp.

"I did not stutter."

"How could you say that about her?" Talia is the one angry now.

"Have you never thought about it, Talia? Are you so blinded as to see that woman damned you to The Pit? That she chose your father over you?"

"What are you talking about? My mother loved me."

Bane was screaming at himself inside to stop talking, to not continue with his story any more. His anger got the better of him, and he rounded on her.

"Your mother was a princess, royalty, and she let your scum of a father impregnate her. Your grandfather, so enraged, sentenced your father to a life in The Pit. But your mother, knowing that she was carrying you, requested to take his place in The Pit so your father may survive. Do you not see it? She sacrificed you, her unborn daughter, to save a man who did not deserve saving."

Talia sat back on her heels, blinking rapidly, the wind out of her sails. Immediately Bane regretted every word. The look of shock on his Talia's face broke his heart in so many ways, and he had caused it.

"Talia…" he began, slowly reaching a hand out to touch her face.

"Don't." she hissed, withdrawing from him. She looked betrayed, lost.

She quickly stood up and grabbed her shawl from the table while heading towards the door.

"Talia, where are you going?" Bane was on his feet, catching the door just as she was about to close it.

"Don't." she repeated, tears falling for the third time that day. "Please, just don't."

He took a step back, remorseful, as she threw the shawl over her face and retreated into the night.