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!

I want to send a big thank you to all of my wonderful fans! You guys make writing this so fulfilling and fun. I hope you like this next installment. There is a slight time jump that I thought was necessary in order to move the story forward. I hope it comes across OK to you guys. As always, I live for reviews and I write faster when I get lots of them…. So be sure and review for me! Thanks again to all of you! Enjoy!

- 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 Eight - Nine Crimes

Leave me out with the waste, This is not what I do, It's the wrong kind of place, To be thinking of you
It's the wrong time, For somebody new, It's a small crime, And I got no excuse
And is that alright? Yeah, Give my gun away when it's loaded, That alright? Yeah, If you don't shoot it how am I supposed to hold it?

- Damien Rice

Tiana sat on the floor, running her fingers through her still-wet hair. It had been Arkham's weekly shower day, and though it was never a guarantee that there would be no treatments on those days, it was often true. She and Bane had been given the day off, and she was glad for both of them. Over the last two weeks their treatments had been fairly mundane; good old fashioned shock treatments, drug testing, and something akin to waterboarding, but she was still grateful to receive a full day without any great unpleasantness. Based on Bane's peaceful expression as he meditated on the floor across from her, she felt that he was pleased as well.

She watched him quietly, her fingers never stopping in their attempt to remove the tangles from her long locks. Though he looked far from well, he looked much better than he had those first few days after he had learned of Talia's death. He still obviously grieved for his lost love, but he had not openly showed it since that first night. Most of their time together was spent in amicable silence, but they did speak at times. Never about Talia, or Taina's own ghosts, but about other things. Most often mundane things that had happened to them in their lives, but sometimes deeper subjects, like life in the Pit, or her training with the League. Often after one of their more difficult conversations she would go to her window, to allow both of them the space they needed to process the words that had just filled the space of the small cell.

Tiana was recalling the story that he had told her the night before, about a boy that Bane had saved in a small town in Nigeria. The boy had been cornered by a group of slave traders when Bane walked by the narrow alley. Bane had killed the men and returned the boy safely to his terrified mother. When she had told him that she had nothing to give to him but herself, Bane had given her a handful of money and walked away without ever touching her. Though the story was not one that the greater world would believe, she knew it to be true, and she had liked the way his eyes had crinkled while remembering it.

She was pulled from her thoughts by his voice, "Tell me why you are in this place, Little One." It was both a request and a command, something that she had learned was almost one and the same with Bane. Though she knew he would no longer try to force answers from her, she also knew that he rarely asked things if he didn't truly want the answer.

Still, this was not a discussion she wished to have. She took several minutes to decide if she wanted to share the story of her arrival in Arkham. She couldn't be sure of how he would react to what she told him, if it would lower his respect for her, or even cause him to completely disregard her. Finally, she took a deep breath and looked across the room and into his awaiting eyes. "It is not a happy tale."

"It seems that we both have very few happy tales. I would still like to hear it, if you would care to share the story." She knew that was as close as she would get to being given the freedom not to speak of it, but for some reason it made her feel more confident in her story.

"Well, as I'm sure you have deduced, I was always a disappointment to Ra's. In spite of that, there were situations that required a woman's touch, and with Talia gone, those tasks fell to me. One of those tasks was finding someone in Gotham that would be willing and able to assist the League with their plans for the city. I was lucky, and found Dr. Crane. With very little trouble I was able to convince him that putting the League's chemicals into the water supply would lead to a huge ransom. He was a greedy man and the plan appealed to him, as did my company. After the plans were finalized with Crane, my father bid me to return to the League in order to move forward with the program."

She paused for a moment to calm her rapidly beating heart, before moving on to the more difficult part of the story. "Shortly after I arrived at the complex, it was destroyed, and I was unable to locate any survivors. I fled the area, and by some sick twist of fate, wound up back in Gotham. I was very ill when I arrived here, but a rather strange man found me and took me to the home that he shared with his fiance." Her lips twitched up slightly at the memory of the people that had taken her in. They had been strange by societies standards, but to her they had simply been a joy. "In a way they were exactly the kind of people that my father detested. They were thieves, and were unopposed to violence when it was called for. At first I was appalled by the way they lived, but I learned that there was a reason for all that they did, and they only stole from those that deserved it. Mobsters for the most part… a few corrupt city officials.

"I spent a few months with my new friends, and I thought that I had finally found a place in life. However, when word reached me that my father had survived the explosion, and was in fact in Gotham, I realized that fate was not through with me. I knew when Ra's planned to release the toxin, and so after the kindness I had been shown by those that my father wished to destroy, I was waiting for him. I was already in the Narrows, and when I saw men that didn't fit in, I engaged them. It didn't take long for Ra's to decide that he needed to deal with this unforeseen threat himself." She chanced a glance up at Bane, noting that his posture had stiffened and that he seemed troubled. His eyes dark and full of disquiet.

"So you disagree that Gotham needs to be purged, that it is beyond help?" His voice was low, and angry. She had feared that he would react this way, but because of that she had already thought of what she would say.

"Nothing is beyond redemption. There has to be a better way to bring balance to the world. I don't think that killing millions of people brings balance." She looked back up at him, this time holding his eye defiantly.

His tone was serious when he replied after a moment. "Sometimes balance can only be achieved through sacrifice and bloodshed. Though I agree that it isn't always the best way, it is the only way for Gotham. Talia showed me the truth of this horrible city."

She understood that it no longer mattered what she thought, or what she believed. The conversation had turned to Talia, and now Bane simply wanted to justify her death. She sighed mournfully. "Talia did what she thought to be right. I should think that she may have different feelings if she had not felt driven by my fathers goals for her. Guilt is a strong motivator."

Bane looked slightly shocked and most definitely angry, but he made no move to confront her. "She never felt herself responsible for Ra's' death. The blame for that falls only on Gotham and Mr. Wayne. Talia was only driven by the need for balance in the world, her only reason for coming to Gotham was to do what the League set out to accomplish all those years ago."

Tiana remained silent for a moment trying to determine the best way to proceed down the slippery slope she found herself on. Finally she nodded to herself, understanding things that she never had before that moment. "You are right, brother. She did not act in guilt, she acted in love. Ra's loved Talia; he proved that when he agreed to bring you out of the pit. She loved him as well, so she felt that the best way to show her love was to finish his work." She chanced another glance at Bane and was relieved to see that he no longer looked so angry. "Talia always did love very deeply. You especially…"

"That is kind of you to say, but it no longer matters. She is gone, and her love has gone with her. All that is left is the need to restore balance. Now, please continue your story." His tone was pained, but commanding nonetheless.

She was surprised by his abrupt change of subject, but she dismissed the feeling and pressed on with her original tale. "When my father came I surrendered to him, though I pleaded for him to change his plans; to stop the madness. I warned him that he would die if he tried, but he only laughed at me. He told me that if the cause was worthy then the League was happy to bleed for it." Bane nodded his head in agreement, and indicated for her to continue.

"He told me that I was to be the back up plan. He said that if he failed, then it was his wish… no, his command, that I finished his work. I was to leave this prison and unleash the full wrath of the League upon the people of Gotham. I was his heir at that point, at least in the mind of his men, therefore I would have been able to command them. After he had fully explained what he wanted from me he had the other prisoners released, and once they were gone he placed me in this cell. I understand that he placed a note on the cell door, but I have never seen it, so I can't tell you what it said."

"You could have escaped?" Bane's voice was merely curious, though his eyes held a glimmer of something else that she couldn't quite place.

Her voice was faint and disappointed, "Then, yes. Today... it is no longer so simple."

Bane nodded his understanding, and she knew that he could see it was harder to escape from Arkham today than it had been ten years earlier. "So you disobeyed your father's command." It was a statement, not a question.

She nodded faintly, looking down at the thin layer of dirt on the floor. "I have remained locked within these walls for ten years, and I have never done anything to destroy Gotham. I always followed his orders, but those I did not. Perhaps it was the right decision, perhaps not… I will never know."

Dr. DeAngelo sat in his office looking over the files of his many patients. Most of them were boring to him, but there were a few that he found interesting and exciting. He did traditional treatment on more than nine out of ten patients; talking, medication, the occasional shock treatment or some such… boring. The special few he was given free reign with, however; well he was much more liberal with them. He had gone to med school for all the right reasons – save lives, help people, make lots of money… - but things had all changed when he did his required rotation in the psychiatric ward. He found that he rather enjoyed toying with the crazies, and he had discovered that the sadistic nature he had always hidden could come out and play. No one believed the crazies when they would complain. DeAngelo had immediately switched specialties, and had begun working at Arkham as soon as he graduated. Arkham had seen the potential in him and DeAngelo had moved up quickly, now he was the head doctor at the asylum. He loved it.

He had finally sorted through the first stack of files, noting medication changes and comments for the other staff, and now he was able to move to the files that interested him. The top file was actually the reason why he had begun this tedious part of his job. It was the file belonging to Bane; the man without the mask, as DeAngelo had come to think of him. He found Bane to be fascinating and infuriating. The man rarely ever spoke during their time together, and when he did all he said were things they already knew. This type of behavior was expected, but it still frustrated the doctor. It was also something that he intended to change. It was well known that Bane still had supporters on the outside, DeAngelo needed to learn who they were so they could be apprehended. Then perhaps Arkham would give him complete control over all his patients.

He was only able to focus on the large and irritating patient for a few moments before he moved onto a different file. This file happened to belong to the patient that DeAngelo was the most interested in. The woman had been at Arkham when DeAngelo had started working there. He had been told that she was found locked in a cell after the rest of the patients had been released. He had a copy of the note that had been taped to her door explaining her presence and he looked it over: This is my gift to Gotham. Please be aware that she is the most dangerous criminal in the world. Do not be fooled by her kind eyes and seemingly gentle ways. She will kill every single one of you if she is given a chance. If you have any sense at all you will throw away the key to this cell and never look back. The signature was illegible, but Dr. Arkham firmly believed that the Batman had placed her there, and that she was perhaps the mind behind the attack on the city ten years before. Dr. Arkham had even gone so far as to follow the orders on the note, and the girl had not received any treatment during the first three years of her incarceration.

DeAngelo had brought that to an end within his first week working at the asylum. He had walked by her cell and saw her sitting on her bed, pretty as a picture. He had decided then that he would break her, and make her belong to him. It infuriated him to admit that after seven years he remained unsuccessful. She was actually even more frustrating than her monstrous cell mate, she wouldn't tell them anything. In seven years they hadn't even been able to get her to tell them her name. They called her Jane Doe, or sometimes they used her prisoner number, R15K4.

DeAngelo still had every intention of making her bow to him someday. He had done it to every other female patient in his care and he knew it was only a matter of time before she came to see things his way. He began absently stroking the growing bulge in his pants as he thought of what he was going to make her do with that pretty little body. His eyes closed, allowing himself a moment in which to visualize what he wanted most. In his mind she had to be a virgin, since she had been here from such an apparently young age. The thought of destroying her virginity made him so hard it was nearly painful. He simply loved the idea…

His daydream was abruptly halted when the door to his office opened and Dr. Arkham walked in carrying a big box. DeAngelo jerked his hand away from his crotch and rolled his chair further under the desk to hide the result of his thoughts. He hated how the man that ran the asylum had so little respect for privacy, but he knew it was a price he was willing to pay in order to continue doing his work, his way. He looked up at Arkham with a cold glare that the older doctor completely ignored. "DeAngelo, I have finished my examination of the items that were given to us by GCPD. Since Bane is primarily in your care I knew you would want to study them yourself. I have included a copy of my initial findings, and I expect your report on my desk by Friday."

Arkham set the large cardboard box on the corner of his desk and DeAngelo's eyes went wide. He had heard that Arkham had obtained Bane's personal effects, but for some reason he hadn't realized they would come into his possession. He immediately began thinking of ways that he could use the items against the big man that he now had complete control of. The ideas were endless, and he suddenly felt much more interested in reading the man's file.

He would break the man that had broken the Bat…

Bane stood at the cell door, looking down at the pathetic tray of food that had just been slid through to them. Even after a month of their shared confinement, the people in charge saw fit to only feed one of them. And it wasn't as if it could be said that they were feeding even one of them well. The tray contained a single slice of thin, white bread, a small piece of grey mystery meat, and lastly, a scoop of what looked like vegetables from some sad excuse for a pot roast. He wondered briefly if that was what the meat was supposed to be, but realized he didn't particularly care anyway. It wasn't as if he really noticed the taste anyway, his mouth had suffered too much damage when he was in the Pit to allow for many taste buds to have stayed with him. It did bother him that there was not enough of the food, however, regardless of the flavor.

He sighed softly and walked back to the cot carrying the tray, wondering if his Little One would believe that they had chosen to feed them both, and that he had eaten his while she had been gone. Though he knew that he had lost weight in his time there, it was not as dramatic on his large body as it was on her. He had watched in dismay as her already thin body had shrunk even further, and it enraged him to think that the people here were so set on pain and punishment that they couldn't see they were slowly letting her die. But as mad as that thought made him, it was dim in comparison to the fury he felt at the thought that they were perfectly aware… and just liked to watch her suffering.

His large hand absently fingered the soft crust on the bread, knowing that it was pointless to try to fool the woman. She seemed to always know when he tried to lie to her, or even if he simply withheld something from her. Though they rarely said much to each other, when they did, it seemed as though she could nearly read his mind. He felt that it was unnerving at the least, and slightly infuriating at the worst. The way that her eyes would suddenly darken and the flames within them would jump whenever he tried to keep something from her… it was simply maddening. Perhaps even more so because she rarely reciprocated in the information sharing, she was one of the most quiet and reflective people he had ever met.

Though there had been the one conversation they had regarding her incarceration, which had been enough to tell him much about her. He now knew that her spirit was even stronger than he had originally thought, she was also the true heir to the League of Shadows. He was sure he would need her to complete the destruction of Gotham, and felt that she would be an excellent right hand when the time came. Though her open dislike of her father's plan had angered him at the time, he felt confident that once they were free of the walls of Arkham she would change her mind. If she spent some time in the city she would see how far gone it was, of that he had no doubt. He was able to feel so certain because it hadn't been that long ago that he would have agreed with her, but that was before he had seen the true depth of the corruption in Gotham. Now he was fully aware that the only way to save the rest of the world from Gotham's filth was to burn it to the ground.

Finally, he picked up the bread and took a bite, gritting his eyes closed at the pain. His Little One had brought more morphine on two occasions, but the small doses of analgesic did not do much to halt the pain. They did help a little, at least with the pain in his body. There was not a drug in the world that could help with the pain in his heart, however. The hate, the hopeless emptiness that filled every molecule in his body, the pain that threatened to shatter him into a million pieces; none of those could be helped. He had not had another outburst since the first night he had learned the truth of his pain – and that of his small cell mate – but he knew that the possibility was ever present, waiting to come at him when he least expected it.

He had finished the bread, and picked up a limp and cold vegetable, examining it to determine what it was. He thought that at one time it may have been a carrot, but could not be certain. He placed it in his mouth anyway and slowly chewed it with the teeth that remained in the back of his mouth. During the attack that had left him perpetually in pain he had sustained massive damage to his mouth and nose, but somehow all his front teeth had stayed firmly planted. He had lost several of his molars though, and it made the difficult task of eating even harder. The doctors had marveled at the fact that he had retained as many teeth as he had, and he remembered the comment that one of them had made, 'deep roots'. He felt that the comment applied to more than just his teeth.

He noticed the sound of approaching footsteps, and knew that it harkened the return of his Little One. He set the remaining food down on the cot and slowly rose to his feet, noting that the pain was worsening. The door slowly opened, and she walked in looking weary, but he didn't notice any new injuries on her. He had noticed that they often switched their methods of torture, both with the young woman and with him, but otherwise things stayed very much the same. Most days they would only take one of them for treatment, occasionally they would haul them both out of the cell, leading them to separate places. He had found that most of the time they would try to harm him physically and then ask him questions that he failed to see as relevant. He endured the pain, knowing it was meaningless. Sometimes he would answer their questions with equally meaningless words, but he had been told that the woman didn't even do that. Her silence did not surprise him, but it did make him oddly proud of her.

When the cell door closed behind her Bane watched as she turned to him. Her tired eyes were sparkling in a way that he had never seen before, and he watched a magnificent transformation take place right before his eyes. He watched as her full mouth started twitching up at the corners, and then slowly spread into the most beautiful smile he had ever seen. Her smile was life changing, and he was saddened that he hadn't seen it before. He was certain something that incredible should happen more often. Her face was already beautiful, even when she looked lost and sad, but the smile made her breathtaking. He was literally dumbfounded, and couldn't focus when she started speaking to him. He shook his head slightly to clear it. "Hmmm?" he asked her, still slightly bespelled by her sudden beauty. Her smile faltered and a small, worried frown replaced it. He finally snapped to full attention, hoping that maybe it would bring the smile back, but it didn't. "I'm sorry… I was just pondering ….things… What did you say?"

Her eyes remained on him with a concerned look, but she stopped frowning and repeated what she had said, "Your things are here… all of them." It took another moment for those words to soak into him and then he was overwhelmed by the desire to do something he hadn't done in years, something that he had never thought he would do again. His mind screamed for him not to do it, even as his body did it anyway.

He slowly leaned forward, inclined his head slightly forward and softly placed his lips on the beautiful mouth of the woman in front of him.

Tiana had been surprised when her treatment was cut short that day and Dr. DeAngelo had stated that they would be going back to his office to talk. He hadn't tried to do any traditional therapy in years and she had thought he was done with that. She had after all, never said a word about herself in the entire seven years he had been working with her. She briefly wondered what had changed to make him think that she would now talk. When they had entered his office he indicated that she should sit in the hard wooden chair in front of his desk. He had then paced silently around the room and finally perched on the corner of the desk after a moment.

She didn't flinch when he reached out and firmly held her chin in his hand, a calculating look on his face. "You know that someday you are bound to do what I want. I think I have been very patient, but I am beginning to tire of your game. It's about time that you change your behavior or I will be forced to change it for you…" He roughly dropped her chin, and then moved to his ornate leather chair on the other side of the desk. Tiana held his eye when he looked at her with a hard glare. "I am sending you back to your cell now. We will revisit this conversation soon. Have a lovely evening."

Tiana stood as a guard stepped forward to escort her away. When she turned to exit the room her eyes fell on a cardboard box sitting next to one of his many book shelves. It was totally out of character for DeAngelo to leave a box like that sitting in his office, so it drew her attention immediately. She looked at it surreptitiously as she moved slowly toward the door. When she found the label, it was all she could do to keep her eyes from popping out of her head. The large white sticker had many things written on it, but she only needed to see the first few words; Evidence: Bane, Includes Braces, Mask…. She had suddenly felt that perhaps she would be playing into the doctor's wishes a bit more… She would need to get back to that office in the near future.

It hadn't taken long for them to reach her cell, and though she was tired from the treatment they had given her – the drugs made her drowsy – she had also been very elated. When the door had closed behind her she had turned to her friend, and had been unable to hold back the smile that bloomed from deep within her. She was finally going to be able to help him in a more valuable way. He had looked at her a little oddly, and she had become slightly worried when he seemed to not hear her when she told him about his things. Her face had fallen and she had been prepared to make him lie down and let her check his health, but then his eyes had cleared some and he had asked her to repeat herself. She had, and he had looked very pleased for all of a second, but then something in his eyes had changed and he started to inch his face closer to hers.

Her eyes grew wide and her breath hitched when she felt his mouth touch hers. It was so unexpected, and at first she could do nothing except stand frozen. Then she began to feel the warmth and the unusual texture of his lips, the crease in his lower lip gently caressing her full lips. She could feel her mouth responding to his, and a strange warmth flooded her body when his tongue sought entrance to her mouth. Her lips parted slightly in acquiesce, their tongues lightly began stroking each other. She noticed that Bane had lightly rested one of his hands on the small of her back and the other was now tangled in the hair at the back of her head. She followed his lead and laced her hands behind his neck, beginning to lean her small frame against his firm body.

They stood like that for several minutes, as if in a trance, nothing moving but their mouths against one another. Slowly, Bane began to pull Tiana closer to him, as if he was trying to make their bodies merge and his hand absently stroked her back in slight circles. Unfamiliar sensations were coursing through her body, causing her mind to race. She had never kissed a man strictly for the pleasure of it, she had been taught sex was a tool, and had always used it as such. But now she was giving into the sensations that were filling her body and her soul.

Bane's hand slowly migrated to her side and began to caress her ribs, moving in slow motion toward her breast. Their mouths were working at a faster pace and their tongues had begun to dual in a more aggressive way. Bane was obviously becoming aroused, and she could feel the evidence firmly pressing against her stomach. When she had felt that with other men it had always frightened and repulsed her, but she was surprised to notice that she was pushing her body harder into his and ever so slightly gyrating her body against it. She found that she actually wanted to feel him that way.

Tiana slowly pulled her mouth from his and began kissing along his chin, caressing the many scars in her path with her soft tongue. When she reached his earlobe she sucked slightly and then nibbled it experimentally. Bane groaned slightly in reaction to her and she was compelled to move back to his mouth. One of her hands snaked down and touched his chest while her other hand stroked his head softly; her mouth took up the near frenzied kissing that she had briefly paused.

And then, abruptly, Bane pulled back from her, his hands landing on her shoulders and holding her a little ways back from him. Both of them were breathing raggedly and Tiana could see that his lips were red and slightly swollen. She was confused by his sudden withdrawal from her, but she could see that his eyes were conflicted. Finally he shook his head and looked away from her, his voice a hoarse and pained whisper, "I can't do this…"