Author's Note:

This chapter has been updated in my attempts to correct errors and make the story more cohesive. The rest of this author's note is the original text. Thanks to all of you for reading!

Here's another chapter for you all right away. I hope you like it! It doesn't reveal much, but it's setting up for more action packed and interesting chapters soon. Please review!

- I do not own any of the Nolan characters used in this story; I only own my original characters and ideas. I am not making any money from this story.

Chapter Two – Fear

No sleep, Today, Can't even rest when the suns down, No time, There's not enough, And nobodys watchin me now
When we were children we'd play, Out in the streets just tempting fate, When we were children we'd say
That we don't know the meaning of, Fear, fear, fear, Fear, fear, fear, We don't know the meaning of...
Wish I, Didn't know the meaning of...

- One Republic

Tiana had slipped into the window sill as soon as she had heard the sounds of a prisoner being moved toward her cell. She had had treatment that morning and really lacked the energy to fight today. She knew she could sleep in that window sill if she had to; it wouldn't be the first time. She also knew how to hide within it, looking like nothing more than another dismal shadow. She watched as the cell door opened and a giant of a man was roughly pushed into her space. A guard entered after him and removed his bonds, eyeing the darkness around him with fear. He knew what lurked in the shadows of this cell, knew that he wouldn't be the first guard to leave this place in a body bag if he crossed her. But she didn't move, she just watched with her burning green eyes.

The guard had scampered out of her den and she could hear DeAngelo alert the man to the fact that he wasn't alone before the cell door had quietly closed behind him, locking her alone with the colossus. She studied the man with caution, trying to figure out why he seemed so familiar. He was by far one of the largest men she had ever seen, well over six feet in height and probably weighing in at over 250 pounds, all of which was pure muscle. His head and face were without the slightest trace of hair and she paused to wonder at the fact that they had allowed him to shave. His face did have some very nasty scars and was slightly disfigured by them, but she couldn't help but notice that he remained handsome in spite of it. Or perhaps because of it even, she mused. He had expressive eyes that were trying to look dangerous, but she could see that they were clouded with pain. She doubted that anyone else would see that, but she was familiar with the feeling and could see what she knew to be within herself.

She watched as his shoulders sagged and he muttered at himself, and she knew that he had decided he was alone. He moved slowly to the small bed and perched at the edge of it, his head dropping in exhaustion. She heard his nearly silent groan and was surprised to feel a strange tug within herself. Understanding. She knew exactly how he felt. And then she knew who he was. The Masked Man was resting before her. And he was unmasked.

Suddenly she felt the urge to drop from her hiding spot. She had no idea why, or what she planned to do, but she knew she had to confront him. She was not afraid of him, nor did she hate him like most everybody else within the walls of this place. She was just curious, and curiosity was an emotion she so rarely felt anymore. She dropped down onto the floor, moving with the grace of a leopard leaving his perch in a tree. She landed lightly in front of him, in a fighting crouch. Her green eyes blazed at him with their strange inner fire and she watched as his head snapped up to look at her in surprise.

Tiana was confused when she saw the fiery anger leave his eyes, only to be replaced by a softness that seemed to reach into her soul. He looked at her as if she was something precious; something that he thought had been misplaced, only to be suddenly found in the least likely place. No one had ever looked at her like that and it literally took her breath away for a moment. She felt suddenly compelled to move toward him, to reach out and touch him.

She stepped forward and out of the deep shadows that had shrouded her face, tentatively lifting a hand in a gesture that was completely unfamiliar to her, and undefinable. Then, the softness left his eyes as quickly as it had come, to be replaced with nothing but violent rage and hate. He flew up off the bed, causing Tiana to stumble back and nearly fall. His fists were curled at his sides and she could feel the violence that was preparing to explode from him. She held her ground, not feeling fear, no longer feeling anything really. She simply watched him as he stalked toward her, knowing that if he caught her he would most likely crush her like a flea.

When his body was inches away from hers and she could feel his muscles bunching to attack, she raised her right hand and placed it on his chest, gently pushing him back. His eyes dropped to stare at her small hand resting on his chest, and she could see a bit of his rage was replaced by utter confusion. She spoke quietly, her rich and warm voice only barely audible, "Stop. I have no urge to fight you brother. You can have the bed." Then she turned and sprang back into the window sill and rested her head against the cool glass, closing her eyes.

Bane was left staring at the empty space that had seconds ago contained a woman. The woman had not been his Talia however, and the moment he had realized that, he had become enraged. Mostly at himself, for not spotting the girl in the window and for thinking that he was alone. Now that he knew the girl was there, he could clearly see her form in the window when he turned to look for her, and he didn't know how he could have missed it before. He could distinctly see her small frame curled in on itself with her head resting on the dirty glass, her eyes closed, her breathing deep and even. She almost looked asleep, but that was impossible, it had been less than 30 second since he had nearly ripped her head off. He could almost hear the echo of her softly spoken words still reverberating through the cell. There was no way that she was as at ease as she appeared.

An unusually intense spasm of pain wracked his body and he had to fight to stay on his feet. He couldn't fight the growl of pain that flew out of his mouth unbidden, however, and he felt her eyes on him again. He looked back at her with a glare, expecting to see cold and calculating eyes looking back at him. He expected to see her slipping out of the window ready to attack him at his display of weakness, but what his eyes found shook him to the core. Her eyes shone like enormous, beautiful emeralds that were lit with an internal flame, but instead of hate or even fear, she simply looked at him with understanding. She knew what he was feeling and she didn't judge, didn't pity, she just understood.

She nodded her head at the bed and that sweet voice came again, this time stronger, "It's not very comfortable, but you should feel better if you lay down. You need rest: I imagine they will start with you tomorrow. I promise no harm will come to you by my hands." She just closed her eyes and resumed her calm breathing when she finished her short speech.

He looked at her distrustfully for a moment, pinned to his spot on the dirty floor. He focused on his own breathing and tried to release some of the tension within his body, unsuccessfully. He looked longingly at the bed, but knew that regardless of what she said, he could not trust her. He would have to remain vigilant. He supposed that he could go to her and simply break her neck, allowing him to rest, but for some reason that idea was not overly attractive to him. He turned on his heel and walked to the wall next to the door, dropping to the floor with his back resting against the wall. This position reminded him of his time in the pit and he was feeling a rather deep sense of déjà vu at the similarity of this place and his old home.

He took his time analyzing the resting woman before him. After a few minutes he was able to see that while her breath looked calm and restful, there was actually a very forced nature to it. Every once in awhile she would take a deep and shuddering breath and he was able to see the false calm leave her face. It would be replaced with a jumble of emotions; fear, pain, anger, sadness, and guilt, just to name a few. But that fleeting exposure of her true self would only last a second at most, quickly replaced by that calm exterior.

Her face was undeniably attractive, not even factoring in her strange and compelling eyes. She had high cheekbones that had just a touch of natural blush; her nose was fine and somehow familiar. Her lips were full and naturally a color that most women tried to achieve with lipstick, but there was no makeup in the world that could create that color. He actually detested makeup, and found the girl more attractive for its lack. With her eyes closed her face looked oh so young, but those eyes had held so many years in their depths, and he couldn't decide her age.

He continued to look her over, sweeping his eyes down her contorted body. It was difficult to see much because of the way she was sitting, but he did notice that she had a full and womanly body. Though she looked a bit on the thin side, he decided that it was due to a lack of rations, not a natural tendency to be unhealthily thin. Her breasts were full and couldn't be hidden, even by the ugly grey outfit that she wore, the same type of outfit that his own body was covered by. He was suddenly overwhelmed by a deep curiosity about the girl/woman in the window sill. There was something incredibly familiar about her, but he could only guess that it was due to his original confusion of her identity. He had only wanted it to be Talia, and so he had seen her for a moment.

The first thing that had brought him to his senses was the fact that this woman had long, curly red hair, not Talia's shorter dark brown curls. The color was muted in the dim cell, but he thought it was most likely a vibrant color in the light, perhaps like a penny, but probably a deeper red than that. He had then realized that this woman was smaller than his Talia, probably at least a couple inches shorter and several pounds lighter. In thinking it over he also realized that she had moved with an inhuman grace. Talia had been beautifully graceful and had trained her body to be an incredible weapon while they were with the League, but this woman moved as if she didn't have bones. More like a wild animal than any human he had seen. His curiosity in the woman deepened and he glanced back up at the windowsill, where he was startled to find her green eyes looking at him intently.

She spoke once more, "So we don't trust each other? I suppose the bed will enjoy its night off… Sleep well brother." She again closed her eyes and after a few minutes he saw that her breath really had become deep and regular. Sleep had found her, it took a lot longer to come to him.

Tiana awoke when she felt the first warming rays of the sun hit her back through the grimy window behind her. She knew that it would be about an hour before they would come to take her for yet another round of treatment. Their latest ideas for treating her alleged insanity consisted of giving her a drug that somehow sensitized her pain receptors and then putting her into ice cold water, where they would insert a "mildly" charged paddle. This would cause all of the water to become electrically charged, and her body would scream, but she never let a single sound escape her lips.

They had told her that this treatment was expected to aid in her anger management. How they came up with that idea she didn't know, and she honestly thought that they were just hoping that they could make her scream. She knew that all of the other patients in this madhouse sure screamed a lot. They had commented on her quietness and her general docility, but they also knew that she would sometimes turn deadly. They assumed that it was for no reason, just a psychotic break, but she knew that it was only when someone tried to go too far. They tried to cross that one boundary, the only one that she held to. They could hurt her all they wanted, they could ask their foolish and redundant questions, but those that tried to force themselves on her… well, they didn't live to talk about it.

She looked down at the man sitting against the wall facing her. He still slept and she couldn't help but feel a bit annoyed that he had refused the bed. She knew that his body needed it and that he would only suffer and become weaker from the mistreatment that he was inflicting upon his body. He would need his strength for the pain to come. Both the physical and the mental pain that she knew awaited him.

She silently dropped to the floor and stretched, lifting her hands above her head and bending backwards until her fingertips brushed the ground. Her hair dangled in the accumulated dust on the floor and she took one hand to lift it out of the grime, keeping the fingers of her left hand gently resting on the ground for a moment longer. She slowly rose back into a fully erect pose and fluidly reversed her direction, leaning forward with her left elbow resting on the ground. She jerked up when she heard the sharp intake of breath from the Bane.

She looked into his now open and pained eyes. His voice was clear and slightly lilting without his mask to change the tones of it, "That type of flexibility and strength does not come from rotting in a cell. What are you doing here?" She looked him in the eyes as she continued to stretch out her body, trying to keep her breathing in check. She could not afford to stop her stretches; she knew that she only had a few moments before the guards would come for her.

As she watched Bane she noticed his eyes flash, but his body was held completely in check, not even his face betrayed him. She knew that his pain had intensified from his night of sitting on the cold concrete. He could not continue this any longer. She halted her stretches in midstride, instead moving toward Bane with purpose. She would make him lay on that bed if she had to. She hoped that he would do it willingly though, the energy needed to force him would be too much. She couldn't expend her precious strength on the needs of another like that. And yet, that was exactly what she was about to do.

She found herself at his side in the blink of an eye and she cautiously reached down and took ahold of his strong shoulder. She could feel him flinch under her hand, but he didn't try to pull away from her, and he didn't try to fight her. She looked into his eyes and saw that he didn't have the fight left in him at that moment. She crouched down and encircled his shoulder with her small arms, "Brother, you must fight. Release all that anger that you are trying to hold in. It is the only thing that will allow you to survive this hell." Her green eyes shone as they stared deeply into his stormy blue eyes. "You must rise."

Bane lay on the bed that was much too small for him. He had gently brushed the girl's arms from his body and had risen without her aid. He would never force another person to help him rise. Talia had brought him from the pit and that was the only help he would need. He was not weak. He kept repeating those words in his mind as he attempted to fight back the pain.

She had not fought him in any way and had simply backed away from him, giving him the space that he needed to maneuver his large frame. Once he had gotten to his feet she had just quietly followed him with her eyes, watching as he walked to the bed and sat down on it. He had been more aware of their height difference as he had moved away from her, realizing that she didn't even reach his shoulder. How had she dreamed that someone as small as she was could possibly move someone his size? She must really be insane; he chuckled to himself at the thought. Well, she was in an insane asylum, he mused.

He had only barely reached the bed when she had turned from him and walked quietly to the cell door, and he had been surprised when it opened and two guards stepped in, holding automatic weapons. One held his gun fixed at Bane, while the other held his pointed at the woman. A third guard had then entered and placed handcuffs on her proffered hands, leading her roughly from the cell. As she walked out of the cell she had looked back over her shoulder at him with a look that he couldn't quite place, something akin to pleading, though he couldn't imagine that was what it had really been. The guards with the guns had followed her out and the door had sealed shut behind them.

That had been several hours ago, by his estimation, and he was beginning to wonder what was taking so long. Weren't sessions with mental doctors supposed to only last an hour? His suspicious mind was concocting many reasons why she should have been gone this long. Most of them were geared around the idea that she was actually a spy that had been planted to find out some hidden secret. But others included the idea that perhaps she had been instructed to kill him and was now being punished for not following orders.

As the hours pressed on his anxiety grew, both in his theory that she was good and in that she was evil. In either case he felt like it would not end well. In fact he would very much prefer that she was there to torture him and try to steal his secrets. His anxiety had changed into anger, and then full blown rage as time ticked by. He had risen from the bed, and was pacing, while his head spun with rage and pain. When he heard the locks on the door he turned, preparing to rend the girl's head from her body as soon as the door closed behind her.

And then she walked through the door, and all the rage evaporated when he realized that she had been punished…