Sometime around three in the morning, Bane had heard the commotion erupting from the room in which he had kept Jenna, but he had done nothing about it, and instead continued laying in his bed. The large stack of chairs crashing to the floor had interrupted his thought process that had already been going on for hours, but after he heard Isaac go in there and one of his newest recruits, Zack, yell at him over Jenna's state of still being alive, all had gone silent, and Isaac never bothered to inform Bane of the situation. This only led him to believe that the situation had been of no importance, and he was right.

The majority of the night, Bane analyzed and re-analyzed how that night had gone with Jenna. It was supposed to have been so easy: he would have killed Jenna, placed her body on a public display of some sorts for the entire city to see, and sat back for a while as her parents grieved, a type of pain Bane always enjoyed inflicting on people. Although now Bane wouldn't have to wait as long to put his plans into action, and though he would still have someone grieving in pain, Jenna was still alive. What was difficult to process was the fact that not just one thing had gone wrong about wanting to kill her, but rather many.

First problem was how much he admired her fight and determination. Rather than exuding her fear, she put up an angry facade, determined not to let her fear give him, or anyone for that matter, the satisfaction he craved. It was almost as though she knew that was one of the elements he enjoyed the most. Maybe, deep down, she actually was legitimately angry. She had pulled a gun on him. She was determined to save herself, to find a way out of her nasty situation, even when she understood she had no where to go. He couldn't bring himself to come to the conclusion that she only feared death. If she did, then killing her would not have been a problem. He had expected her to cry and plead like crazy for her life: "Please! I'll do anything! Please don't kill me!" He expected her to cry those cliche' lines, but they never came. She did not cry, not a single tear slid down her cheek, and instead she had held her ground, just sitting there as she waited for death to come. But when she did plead, her words were something Bane never expected to hear from anybody. "Kill my parents..." Who in their right mind would ever give their killer permission to murder their parents in his or her place? Jenna would, Bane answered himself. Jenna's hatred for her parents is more than skin deep. She did not fear death. If she did, she would have fought harder to escape. She would not have shown up to give Bane what he wanted, she would have pulled the trigger the second she stepped out of that car, she would have kicked, fought and screamed her way out of that room and toward the stairs to try and run for safety, and finally, she would have tried to sneak out of the room and building after he had left. She did not fear death, she was addicted to the thought of being away from the life she lived now. But did she realize that in order for that to happen, she was only encouraging her current situation? The second problem was that Bane was interested in figuring that out.

The third thing that had gone wrong was just the simple feel of her skin. Sure, she was attractive, Bane would be lying if he denied that, and it was obvious just by looking at her that she would have smooth skin, but touching it was a different thing altogether. He had never expected that shock to run up his spine when he so absentmindedly curled his fingers back. He had killed plenty of good-looking women... so why was this one so different? What was even worse was the fact that his mind had gone totally blank when he curled his fingers. It was a feeling that he had never even experienced before, not even with...

He had sat up in his bed by this point, trying to clear his thoughts as he decided he was through with analyzing the situation. After the commotion had dyed down outside of his door, and after he decided that sleep would be a welcome element at this point, he decided that if Jenna was still in that room in the morning, alive, then he would go through with the change of plans.

The sunlight shone down the stairs of the basement and ended just at the foot of them, the lights overhead taking over to illuminate the basement. After Bane had gotten dressed, he ventured out of the room, closing the door behind him, and his eyes searched around the area. Everyone was doing the same thing as usual: the ones who remained in the basement were either cleaning weapons or talking amongst themselves, while the rest were upstairs, watching TV and playing pool or outside smoking cigarettes, no doubt. Isaac had been leaning against the door by Bane's room, and once he stepped out Isaac stepped over to him.

"What happened last night?" Bane asked him slowly as he started toward Jenna's door, Isaac walking directly next to him.

"Zack," Isaac answered. "Got the idea in his mind that since you didn't kill the girl, he would."

"Did he?"

"No," Isaac answered. "She just about got out of the room, away from him, but I stepped in and handled the situation."

"Where is he now?" Bane asked as they continued their walk toward Jenna's door, and right before they had reached it he came to a stop and he turned to Isaac as he did the same.

"Upstairs," Isaac replied.

"Kill him," Bane said simply now as he turned toward Jenna's door.

"Yes, sir," Isaac replied with a grin, and without another word he immediately began toward the stairs.

Bane pushed open the door and snapped the light on, his eyes instantly searching the room for Jenna, and his eyebrows furrowed when he did not see her. He took another step into the room, his eyes narrowing on the odd site of five or six folded chairs placed and leaning against the wall in a long box shape, a folded chair sitting on top as a sort of roof of the structure, and the sound of his boots seemed to echo as he took his time with walking right up to it. Inside of it, he saw long, red hair spilled around on the floor and bright red pants on the opposite side, and a small grin came onto his face as he lifted his foot to gently kick the chair in front, and he watched as the structure crashed down onto Jenna.

She gasped as she immediately pushed the chairs off of her, one of them having hit the side of her head, and she cursed to herself as she stood up quickly, trying to ignore the dizzy feeling that overcame her. A shock ran down her spine, however, as the sound of Bane's laughter filled the room, and she turned to stare at him with squinted, tired eyes, only to grow even more dizzy due to the site of him. A black shirt with sleeves that ended at his mid-forearm covered the upper half of his body, the black material only helping to emphasize and outline the large and thick muscles that lay beneath it, and she swallowed as her eyes quickly roamed down to take in the site of his dark gray cargo pants and black heavy boots underneath. Another dizzy spell washed over her as her eyes found his black shirt again, but she decided to blame this on the headache she was starting to get as she stepped away from the wall and over the chairs to distance herself from him.

"A structure of chairs to assist in protecting you over the night," Bane began in an amused tone of voice as he placed his foot under one of the chairs to flip it over in her direction after he had turned his body to face her. "How was that supposed to work?"

"It would wake me up if someone else tried to come in here," Jenna answered in an annoyed tone of voice. "Which clearly, it works."

Bane let out another laugh, his eyes instantly traveling down her body to take notice of the way her shirt had been ripped at the bottom, exposing her stomach and pierced bellybutton, and he noticed the way the material hung down over her hips. He swallowed as he forced his eyes back up, getting angry over the odd dizzy spell that overcame him now, and he turned around suddenly to start toward the door, trying to ignore it. He paused when he realized Jenna was not behind him, and once he reached the frame of the door, he placed his hand on it and glanced over his shoulder.

"Are you coming, or did you forget all that our deal entailed?"

Jenna stared at him, a large frown on her plump lips, and she swallowed before she nodded slightly.

"Good," Bane said slowly now as he kept his eye contact with her, and without another word he nodded his head toward the open door, signaling she should go through it, and without a word of her own she did as her heart began to race.

The second she stepped out of the door, all the men who had been downstairs instantly turned their heads in her direction, and they glared at her as she headed toward the stairs, only to stop when she reached them as she waited for further direction. She ignored the men as best as she could, keeping her eyes fixed only Bane, though this proved to be a huge mistake as well. She could not stop herself from staring at his body through that tight, black shirt, and another shock ran up her spine when he turned around to grab a set of keys off of the wall, the muscles on his shoulders flexing slightly as he lifted his arm up. Jenna's lips parted as she immediately glanced down to stare at her shoes, positive something was wrong with her for making her have these sick desires to look at him, and she closed her eyes tightly, trying to ignore the stinging on the back of her neck due to the shocks that had been running up her spine. Why the fuck did that keep happening?

Bane walked past her suddenly, but just as he had placed his foot on the first step, a gunshot echoed through the air outside on the main level, and Jenna jumped, her eyes going wide as she idly turned to Bane for an answer as to what had just happened. He glanced down at her, and Jenna knew him to be smiling due to the wrinkles that appeared on either side of his amused eyes.

"Your attacker has just met his fate," Bane explained.

Jenna's eyes narrowed on him before she glanced back down when he started up the stairs, and as she followed him she thought back to Isaac's words. That man had died solely based on the fact that he tried to kill her?

The bright morning light was near blinding as Jenna stepped outside behind Bane, and she felt her stomach clench when the site of Zack laying dead in a pool of his own blood on the concrete ground came into her line of sites just below her. She thinned her lips, noticing all the other old blood stains that covered the ground, and she raised her squinted eyes, looking out past the warehouse's property and the field at the Gotham river that flowed ahead. Bane threw Isaac the keys to his truck once he turned around, and he instantly started down the stairs and around the building while Jenna stepped up to Isaac.

"Did you really kill him just because he tried to attack me?" She asked him in a hushed voice. Isaac glanced down when he heard her voice, and he grew surprised to see that she had actually stepped up to him to ask.

"No," he answered as he started down the stairs, Jenna right behind him. "He died because he disobeyed orders."

Jenna made a confused and slightly disgusted face as she continued to walk beside him. "Does everyone die for doing that?"

"Everyone," Isaac replied. "Bane does not offer second chances."

While Jenna thought over his words, he unlocked his truck, and Jenna watched as Bane opened the door to push forward the passenger seat and climb into the back. As Isaac rounded the truck to climb into the driver's seat, Jenna figured she was to sit in the front, so once she reached the truck she pushed back the front seat and climbed in herself, trying to ignore Bane behind her.

Another truck load of henchmen, who had been informed of their duties the night before, followed behind Isaac as he exited the warehouse property, and Jenna stared ahead out of the windshield as she anticipated what was to come. The silence of the large, lifted pick-up truck only helped her to think more clearly, and she hated it. A few moments later, however, the sound of Isaac lighting a cigarette stole her attention, and she turned her head to look over at him as he set the lighter down on top of his pack of cigarettes.

"Can I have one?" Jenna forced herself to ask him, deciding a cigarette was the only thing at this point that would help to calm her nerves, and Isaac glanced over to her with a grin as he exhaled the smoke in her direction, blowing it directly into her face.

"Don't be like that, Barsad. Give the girl a smoke! She is, after all, on her way to assist in the murder of her parents."

Jenna frowned at Bane's words, but still accepted the cigarette and lighter Isaac handed her. She lit it quickly before she placed the lighter down, and she sank down further into her seat as she took a long second drag, hating the way her hands were starting to shake. From his spot in the middle in the back, Bane had noticed this as well, and he watched as her hands continued to shake while she smoked, her eyes closed all the while. While he couldn't shake off feelings of still wanting to kill her, regardless, he told himself that depending on how this morning's events went and how she behaved would determine if she lived or not. She had to be good for something, and if she wasn't, then he'd most certainly find something. He had never spared a single soul his entire career, so to speak, and Jenna was the first, all because of a gut feeling. But Bane would go with that gut feeling, for it was a feeling he had never experienced before. And if things went wrong, and it turned out he had been wrong? Killing her would be a snap... No pun intended...

–

Her house already looked empty when Isaac parked along side the gates, but Jenna knew better as she stared up at it past the driveway. The gate keeper was not at work yet, and Jenna swallowed as Isaac started to get out of the truck before she glanced at the clock: seven fifteen.

She took in a deep breath as she climbed out of the truck, Bane waiting patiently in the back, and once she was out he pushed forward the seat and jumped out himself. Jenna tried to ignore him as best she could while he stood next to her, and she closed her eyes tightly, trying to silently deal with the feeling of wanting to be sick. Bane glanced down at her, and he grinned before he placed his hand on her back to push her forward, and Jenna jumped with a start before she corrected her footing to start toward the gate.

Isaac was waiting there, knowing very well that the gate had to be unlocked, so as Bane stopped next to him Jenna cut across the lawn to start toward the fence. Bane kept his eyes firmly locked on her as she easily climbed over the fence, never breaking a sweat, and his eyes followed her to the gate keeper's controls before she leaned into the open window to push the button to open the gates. She waited there, watching as Bane's men stormed up the driveway, and she felt her entire body start to tremble now as Bane started up the driveway behind them all. Maybe in a perfect world her father would be home and prepared, and be able to take down every one of them. But even as Jenna thought this she knew it was silly. When were her parents ever prepared for situations like this? They had moved to Gotham in hopes of restoring all the chaos that had occurred, but they never stopped to think about the chaos that had been continuing on. Fucking idiots... Jenna thought to herself sadly as she finally started up the driveway herself.

The door was unlocked, which was either very fortunate or highly tragic, though at the moment Jenna had no idea which to think it was. The henchman in front had pushed the door open before they all stormed in, though Bane took his time with stepping into the house. He lifted his head to look around the great hall, taking in the marble floor, the high ceiling, and large staircase directly in front of him. Jenna closed and locked the door behind her, and Bane's eyebrows rose when he glanced over to her, already incredibly surprised with her actions. It was almost as if she didn't want anyone to have the chance to escape. Again, Bane had to wonder if she was aware of what her actions appeared to mean, but his attention to these thoughts were shattered when he heard someone step out of their room.

"Jenna?" Came Robert's voice, and Jenna swallowed as she instantly stepped back toward the wall, only for Bane to reach out and grab her arm with crushing force. She gasped as he pulled her back toward his body, his fingers squeezing her arm, and he held her there just as Robert appeared at the top of the stairs. He had been ready to call out her name again, but he froze instantly when his eyes fell on all the armed men who stood in his hall, their weapons pointed directly at him. His eyes went wide as his jaw dropped, and the last thing he saw before a bullet ran through his heart was the site of his cowering daughter next to the very man they had been cleaning up the city after. Of course, he had not been prepared.

As the silenced gunshot rang through the air, Jenna closed her eyes tightly as her shoulder's hunched up, but she hadn't been fast enough. She had seen the blood splatter behind her father as he started to fall back, and the daunting image was fresh in her mind. All too quickly, however, her mother was suddenly calling out Robert's name as she ran out of their bedroom, but once her eyes focused on his dead frame at the top of the stairs, she screamed when she saw the men down below, and she instantly started to back up as Isaac led half of the team to rush upstairs. Bane started toward the stairs as well, tugging Jenna along side of him, and her stomach clenched as she anticipated to see her father again. But as they started up the stairs, she closed her eyes tightly and held her breath, letting Bane guide her up the stairs and away from the body, but her eyes popped open again when she heard her mother let out another scream. Isaac had grabbed her just before she could run into her room, and Bane finally let go of Jenna's arm as he stepped closer to Isaac while he did the same to Bane. That sick feeling creeping back to her, Jenna instantly stepped away from it all to stand by the railing near her parents room, and she crossed her arms tightly as Bane grabbed her mother's shoulders to pull her closer to himself. She struggled against him as Bane easily turned her around, and he kicked the back of her leg to force her to her knees in front of him, and he quickly took her head in between her hands. Gasping and tears falling from her eyes, Mia glanced up at her daughter in unison with Bane.

"Jenna," he started, picking up on the way Mia flinched upon hearing his obstructed and accented voice. She had only ever seen pictures of this man, the man who was supposed to dead. But it was clear now that he was alive and well, and the sound of his voice only made her cry harder. "Would you like to do the honors?"

Jenna's face faded into a sad and disgusted look as she tightened her crossed arms, and she shook her head as she took another small step back toward the railing, her back touching it now. Mia's eyes went wide while Bane continued to stare at Jenna for a moment longer, and finally with a small shrug he looked back down to Mia, curling his fingers back against her skin out of curiosity, but what was shocking or very expected, he was not sure which, he did not feel anything due to the feel of her equally as smooth skin. He snapped out of his curious daze, however, and tightened his hold on her head.

"It comes to this, Mrs. Silvera," Bane started in a loud voice. "Death by your own daughter's permission. Now that's a strong, loving family if I've ever seen one."

Mia continued to sob as she stared at Jenna, more confused and scared then ever, and Jenna thinned her lips as she glanced away, feeling tears burning behind her eyes, but she fought to hold these back.

"It seems you really screwed up with your only child!" Bane went on. "Did you ever think you'd see the day she'd prefer to stay with me rather than her own parents? Sad, the society we live in. So blinded by want... never having enough useless elements in life and always striving to get more... it blinds us from seeing what is really there... and what's truly important."

Jenna glanced up to Bane now upon hearing his thoughtful words, and her stomach dropped as she struggled to make sense of them. Prefer to stay with him? Where did that idea come from?

"Tell me, Mia, are you more depressed over your financial savings that will be no more, or your daughter's well being?"

"Jenna!" She cried, ignoring him. "Jenna help me!"

"Yes! Help you! Of course!" Bane spoke loudly, and he laughed a second later, his voice only causing Jenna to try and back away even more. "The Silvera family is nothing more than three selfish brats who have no care for anyone but themselves. You, Mrs. Mia Silvera, deserve to die, alongside your husband. But don't worry," Bane went on in a lower voice now, and he leaned down slightly to bring his face closer to the side of Mia's head, and she paused, letting out shaky breaths as she waited. "I'll be sure to take good care of your daughter..."

Again, Jenna had wanted to close her eyes to block out the images, but she was too slow. Without warning Bane leaned up and snapped her neck effortlessly, and he let Mia's limp body fall to the floor in front of his feet. Jenna had jumped at the awful noise, and she sucked in her lips as she bowed her head to let a single tear slide down her cheek. Bane glanced up to Jenna in just enough time to witness this, and he spoke up as he stepped over Mia's body.

"Don't be sad, Jenna! You wanted this, remember?" He lifted his hands up for emphasis as she looked up to glance at him just as he carelessly kicked her mother's body down the stairs, and she watched it tumble down the steps before it landed just at the foot of them. Jenna swallowed as another tear ran down her face, and she glanced back to Bane. The tears wetting her eyes caused them to appear even more aqua than normal, and Bane stared into them a moment longer before he stepped up to her. "Pack your bags," Bane said to her now in a calmer tone, quickly stopping himself from saying what he had originally wanted. He stared at her for a moment longer, growing frustrated with himself for doing that, and he turned away from her, figuring that he'd maybe tell her later. Jenna let out a shaky breath after she had swallowed back all the desire to continue to cry, and she wiped away her tears as she watched Bane walk away from her.

That lump never left her throat, however, as she stepped into her parent's room to get a suitcase, and she paused in the doorway, noticing quickly how torn up the room was. Clothes were littered all around, the dresser drawers empty. Their bed sheets and blankets were on the floor, and any knickknacks and pictures were spread all over the floor. Apparently, her father had been beside himself looking for his ID card that morning. She tried to ignore this thought, however, as she stepped into their closet to grab the biggest suitcase her mother owned, and she reached for it on the shelf, her fingers barely able to touch it, but she jumped a moment later when Isaac stepped beside her to reach it down with ease before he handed it to her. She looked up at his grinning face, but said nothing as she moved around him to start toward her bedroom.

She pushed open the door and paused immediately, however, when she realized her room was torn up in exactly the same fashion her parents room was.

"Your parent's held no respect for other's property." Bane's voice next to her suddenly caused her to jump again, and she glanced up at him as he, too, stared into her room. "Were they searching for this, perhaps?" He held up her father's ID card, holding it in between his index and middle finger, and Jenna's eyes dropped to it before she nodded at him. "Why would they think you took it?"

"Because my dad never misplaces anything," Jenna mumbled as she finally stepped into her messy room to slam her suitcase down on her bed, and Bane took a slow step into her room.

"Misplaced," he corrected, using the past tense now, and when Jenna turned to look at him he was smiling. She understood what he had done there, and she frowned as she headed over to her closet to began taking down her clothes from their hangers. Once she had an arm full, she stepped back over to bed and dropped them carelessly into the suitcase, and as she turned to grab more Bane had stepped up to her bed, and he reached into the suitcase to look at the clothes. When Jenna turned around again, she paused, watching as he picked up all the clothes to drop them carelessly onto the floor.

"You must pack clothes you seldom wear, Jenna," he told her as he looked back up to her, noticing she held similar styled clothes in her arms now.

"Why?"

"We run the risk of you being recognized," he answered in a tone that suggested that was something she should have figured out for herself, and Jenna instantly grew furious at that tone. She let out an exasperated sigh as she dropped the clothes to the floor, and she turned to walk even further into her closet toward the clothes she rarely ever wore, located far in the back. Even these were expensive and fancy looking, but upon digging through them on the hangers she was able to find a few a tank tops, shorts, jeans, long sleeved shirts and plain t-shirts. She stepped out of the closet now, and her eyes instantly found Bane as he glanced over at her for approval. His eyes dropped down to the clothes she held in her arms, and he gave her a single nod before she stepped in front of him to drop them into the suitcase. As she stood directly in front of him, leaning over slightly as she arranged the clothes in the suitcase, his eyes wandered down her body before they stared at her exposed back, due to her torn shirt, and he cocked an eyebrow as he allowed his eyes to roam down further. But he glanced up a quick second later when Jenna finally leaned up to head back into her closet, and he sucked in a sharp breath as he turned to fix his attention on something else other than her.

All while packing, Jenna could not erase the images of her parent's death from her eyes. Her father's death had been quick and gruesome, while her mother's had been prolonged and painful, and just the thought of it caused that lump to rise back in her throat, after it had started to go down. But Jenna would not let herself cry as she finished packing her clothes and moved on to pack a small bag of toiletries. Granted that had been a terrible event, especially when they had died all because of her, she found herself having to be thankful toward Bane for not making her have more of a participation in it. He had let her stand away as far as she wanted, and he did not have someone force her to watch. She had the opportunity to look away, though she had missed both of those opportunities, but all the while in the car she had been terrified that he would force her to do it herself while he watched.

But Jenna couldn't help but to be angry over something Bane had made her realize. Her mother had pleaded for Jenna to save her. Never mind Jenna had shown up with Bane, an obvious hostage as he dragged her painfully up the stairs, and forget the fact that Jenna was standing right in the middle of five armed men who were ready to kill her at any time, as well. Her mother didn't care Jenna was facing just as much danger as she was. She wanted to be saved. If the situation was turned, and it was Mia, or even Robert, who been being held hostage, and it was Jenna who was on her knees in front of Bane, ready to die, her parents would have turned the other cheek, so long as they could live. It was more true than Jenna had ever realized, and Bane had said it perfectly: "the Silvera family is nothing more than three selfish brats who have no care for anyone but themselves." Jenna had always known her parents to be selfish, and she could not deny the fact that she was too, but she never realized just how selfish. They each were so wound up in themselves that they would watch their family members die in order for them to keep living. But Jenna was the one who was guilty of this due to fact. And Jenna was the one who had to live this fact for the rest of her days, however many more she would get to see. But as she finished with her toiletries, she vowed to herself that she would not let another person close to her die, and the person she had in mind was Rodger. Rodger had been her only true friend since moving Gotham, and Jenna would not give anyone permission to kill him. It was disgusting, and it was wrong.

A shudder ran through Jenna when she stepped back into her bedroom as more of Bane's words came to her mind. "But don't worry...I'll be sure to take good care of your daughter..." Take care of how? His words had been so bone chilling, and Jenna continued to shake as she replayed them in her head over and over again, able to hear Bane's voice through that respirator perfectly in her mind. She swallowed back that lump again as she zipped up her suitcase, and she jumped slightly when she notice someone step up to the doorway in the corner of her eye. She turned to glance at Bane, who held his eyes firmly on her. Today had gone better than he had planned. Granted Jenna had not done anything with the assistance in her parent's murder, the actions she did carry out spoke louder than words to him. She had locked the door, sending the message that she did not want her parents to get away, and she had not done a thing to stop Bane when the time had come to kill her mother. She had to have realized her mother's selfishness as she begged for Jenna to save her, and still, she continued to firmly stand there, and she said nothing as Bane carried out her death. She had instantly obeyed him to start packing her things without any word back, and he found it shocking that she did not have a mental breakdown over her parent's gruesome deaths. But he was still desperate to know if Jenna realized her apparent drive to be away from her life, even if that meant having to stay with him. Bane glanced over his shoulder to confirm that his men were busying themselves with other activities around the house, and Jenna watched as he stepped in.

"Do you realize how desperate you appear to be with wanting to escape your life?" He asked her what he had originally wanted, stopping only when he had approached her. Jenna said nothing, though she made a slightly confused face as she stared up at him. "Think about it, Jenna, all your actions up until this point can only bring me to one conclusion. Is staying with me really better than your life of luxury?"

He had not expected her to answer, he could already read the answers on her face and in her truthful eyes, but he was surprised when she did speak. "At least I'm treated like an adult over there," she grumbled as she slid her suitcase off of the bed, the heavy bag weighing her arm down. Bane's eyebrows furrowed.

"How so?"

"I don't know," Jenna replied truthfully in a hushed voice. "I guess it's just better to be treated like a hostage instead of a child." It was the truest thing she had admitted to in a long time, even though it was a terrible truth. Bane continued to stare at her for a moment longer, but when Jenna started to turn, something in her pocket caught his attention. He silently reached out to place his hand on her shoulder, and a shock ran up Jenna's spine as she allowed him to turn her around to face him. His eyes were fixed on her hips, and she held her breath as he reached into her pocket to draw out the knife Isaac had given her.

"Where did you get this?" He asked, and when he glanced down to Jenna he noticed her eyes had widened. It was just what she needed. When Bane was finally acting more civil than ever toward her, for reasons that confused her immensely, of course she would forget to hide that knife better. She could only imagine the thoughts running through his mind as he predicted what her intentions had been.

"Isaac gave it to me," she said quickly. "Last night. It was that guy's."

"He gave it to you?" Bane repeated as he looked back to the knife before his eyes met hers again.

"To... defend myself with, I guess," Jenna replied, and she swallowed as she glanced down to the floor, wishing she could put the heavy suitcase down. Bane stared at the knife again, and a short second later a grin slid onto his lips. He knew he had appointed Barsad as his second in command for a reason. He was a professional when it came to following Bane's orders, and he even found a way to do so cleverly. Bane wanted to keep Jenna alive when his new recruits didn't, and under Isaac's control over the situation, Jenna would stay alive, one way or another. His grin never faded from his face as he handed her the knife back, and Jenna slowly took it from him, confusion in her eyes. But Bane didn't say a word as he started toward the door, and after Jenna had tucked the knife back into her pocket she followed him out of the room.

–

The ride back was quick and silent, and finally Jenna felt as though her nerves were dying down, although the images of her parents were still fresh in her mind. Oddly enough, Isaac had offered her another cigarette, and she smoked it in silence as she stared out of the window. When they reached the warehouse again, Jenna was able to read the sign on top of the building: City Lighting Shipping Warehouse. It was a company she had never heard of before, but it was obvious they had gone under a while ago, leaving Bane the chance to turn it into his lair of sorts. After Isaac had parked, he escorted Jenna back to the room of chairs before he and Bane had left again, and Jenna couldn't help but to grow nervous as she sat alone in the room, her knife opened and ready to use as she held it in her hand. It was an incredible and stupid thing, really, that Jenna already felt a sense of security from the two men she loathed and even somewhat feared the most. But it appeared as though Isaac and especially Bane were the only two capable of saving her if another attack was to happen. It was clear to her finally that Bane's intentions of killing her had faded, and it was because of that fact that she felt herself calm down some.

But when Isaac and Bane returned a few hours later, Jenna couldn't help but to suddenly wish they had not. Isaac had opened the door and announced that Bane wanted her, and upon standing up and heading out of the chair room, she saw Bane standing next to a table in the middle of the large basement. As she neared, her eyes narrowed on two boxes of pitch black hair dye and scissors sitting in front of them, and her eyes instantly widened as she glanced up to him once she approached the table. Bane was staring intently into her eyes, and Jenna instantly started to shake her head.

"I'm not dying my hair black," she stated simply, leaving all feelings of nervousness and fear at the door. This was crossing the line.

"Such bravery in those words you speak," Bane said. "Unfortunately, you have no choice. Take out your piercings."

"No!" Jenna exclaimed as she took a step back, and with a sigh Bane took a large step forward.

"Either you remove them yourself, or I'll take great pleasure in doing it for you." His words were threatening as Jenna could only imagine the ways in which he would carry out that task, so with a pout on her face she reached up to slowly screw off the ball on her eyebrow ring. Bane held out his large, bare hand to her, and once she removed the piercing she placed it on the palm of her hand before she moved on to her nose. She slapped her hands against her thighs as she lowered her arms when she was finished, but when she glanced up at him he was still staring expectantly at her. She continued to glare at him as she finally started to unscrew the ball on her bellybutton ring from under her ripped shirt, and she dropped the jewelry into his hand before she raised her eyebrows and hands as if saying "there? You happy?"

"Your ears," Bane said, ignoring her gesture.

"Why?" Jenna complained as her face fell into another frown, and Bane couldn't help but to chuckle at her frustration over something so trivial. But he did not answer her, he had no need, so with a furious sigh Jenna removed the rest of her piercings and dropped them into Bane's hand. Satisfied, he turned to place them on the table, and Jenna watched as he picked up the boxes of hair dye and scissors before he forced them into her hands.

"Bathroom's up the stairs and down the hall. You are to cut your hair and dye it completely."

It looked as though Jenna was about to cry as she stared down at the boxes, and he watched her, waiting for her response that he knew was coming.

"Can I please just not?" She bravely asked in a quiet voice as she glanced back up to him, and the fierce look in his eye caused her to immediately back down.

"I won't tell you again," Bane replied, and without another word he turned away from her to head toward his door. Jenna bit her lip as she glanced over to her right, and she glared at Isaac as he grinned at her. Why was he always around?

"You gonna supervise?" Jenna rudely asked him as she glared into his eyes, and he laughed silently as he shook his head.

"You're a big girl," he said with a nod. "I think you can cut and dye your hair yourself."

Jenna continued to glare at him until finally she headed over to the stairs, following Bane's directions, and she ignored the few men who were upstairs as she headed toward the bathroom. She snapped on the light, illuminating the abandoned bathroom's floor and walls, and she locked the door behind her before she placed the items in the old sink. The mirror behind it was long, and layers of grime framed the surface, leaving only a small portion in the middle to be clear. Jenna stared at her reflection in this area, her eyes wandering over her long, straight red hair. It was the last thing she felt like she had. She had always loved her hair. Swallowing, she combed her fingers through it, getting out the tangles, and she took in a deep breath as she picked up the scissors. She had never cut her own hair before, and her hand shook as she separated a strand in front. How short had Bane meant? Surely he couldn't have meant to cut all of it. Jenna knew she'd die before she ever did that. So with sucking in another sharp breath, she separated the blades of the scissors, placed her hair in between them, and she closed her eyes as she brought the blades together. A little more than two inches of her hair fell to the floor, and she stared down at the bright red mess on the grimy floor, her heart racing. She knew it was stupid to feel this way, but she couldn't help it.

She felt petrified after she was finished trimming her hair, and as she stared at herself again she frowned. The difference in her hair was incredibly noticeable to her, and as she opened the first box of hair dye she hoped it would be for Bane as well. It had taken her years to grow her hair to the length she had always desired, and cutting it off made her feel like it had all been for nothing. She read the directions for the hair dye with furrowed eyebrows, and she continued to frown as she mixed the formulas before she slid on the gloves to start applying it. The dye instantly took her hair, the first strand being the one directly in front that framed her face, and her lips parted sadly as she tried to take in the dark color. She knew she was going to look terrible with black hair, just fucking terrible, but what did it matter, really? She had nobody to impress.

Jenna had been in that bathroom for almost two hours, and right when Bane had been about to go upstairs and check on her, Jenna started down the stairs, the scissors in her hand, and from behind her newly dyed, jet black hair that she had struggled to rinse in the sink, she held a facial expression of pure sadness and frustration. Bane stepped closer to her as she approached him, her eyes fixed on the ground, but Bane couldn't help but to grow annoyed with her. Had she even cut her hair at all? She stopped when she approached him, and she glanced up to him. Bane had been about to speak, but he paused, noticing instantly how the black of her hair only seemed to bring out her eyes ten times more. He stared into them for a moment until the issue caught up with him, and his eyes wandered down her long hair, his eyebrows furrowing.

"You didn't even cut your hair," he accused as his annoyed eyes met hers again, and Jenna's jaw dropped in protest.

"Yes I did," she argued, but Bane was already shaking his head, and without warning he snatched the scissors from her hands before he grabbed her upper arm to drag her behind him up the stairs, Jenna flinching all the while at the pain. Anger suddenly caught up to her as she remembered what she had told Bane just a few hours ago: "I guess it's just better to be treated like a hostage instead of a child." Right now, however, she did not feel like an adult hostage, but a child in troublebeing dragged up the stairs to their bedroom. A new found fire burned inside of her as she grew frantic while she tried to free herself from his grasp. Bane easily held on however, and he kicked open the bathroom door and snapped the light on before he pushed Jenna in front of him to stand in front of the mirror. She tried to turn her head to glare at him, about ready to speak up, only to let out a small grunt when he grabbed her head and turned it, forcing her to face the mirror, and her eyes went wide as he picked up a strand of her wet hair in front to bring the scissors up to it. Without a care he closed the blades down in the middle of the strand and let the black hair fall to the floor on top of the red hair that she had previously cut, and when he looked at her through the mirror he took a moment to watch the look of horror that came into her face as she stared at the ridiculously short strand Bane had left her with, and suddenly her hair became the most important thing to worry about again.

"You experience more horror from a hair cut than you do your own parent's murder. Perhaps later you can explain to me how that works, but for now go off of that and finish your hair. I'll be waiting." He left abruptly, not bothering to close the door as Jenna continued to stare at the strand, and with a sad and furious pout on her face she knew she had no choice but to finish.

It was worse than she ever imagined. Not only was her hair all choppy due to her unskilled ways of cutting it, but her long locks were no more, and they wouldn't be for a while. Her hair ended right in between her breasts and shoulders, and she couldn't get over how different she looked. Her make up was smeared around her eyes, her face bare of her piercings, and as her wet hair dried it started to wave naturally, something she hated, and she continued to frown as her eyes wandered over her hair. It was disgusting, and it wasn't fair.

But when she returned downstairs, stomping her way down the concrete, Bane had frozen when his eyes made contact with her. He hadn't expected for Jenna to look so much better with shorter, black hair; all that he desired was she looked different enough to not be recognized so quickly on the streets, if the need for her to go out into town arose. But as she continued to storm either toward him or the chair room, he was unsure which, a stronger, unrecognizable force made it difficult for him to tear his eyes away from her. His eyes wandered down her hair and to her breasts, before they roamed down further to stare at her flat stomach, narrow waist and wide hips. Just as his eyes made it down to her slim thighs, she turned to look over at him, and a shock ran up her spine when his eyes quickly traveled back up her body to look back into hers. She slowed her pace slightly, that shock catching her off guard again, and for reasons that were unknown to her her eyes quickly roamed back down his body, and she couldn't help but to take in his black shirt again. Bane continued to stare at her as she walked, noticing her eyes wander back up to his own quickly, and his eyes narrowed in slight confusion as he watched her. She finally turned her head away right when she had reached the door, and she pushed it open before disappearing inside, slamming the door behind her. Bane continued standing there, trying to make sense of what had just happened to the both of them, and he grew provoked when he realized how his heart was racing. He growled to himself as he started over to her door, telling himself over and over in his head that what had just happened was nothing more than two people just looking at each other. It was nothing worth thinking deeply about.

Jenna was slightly shocked to see a dark green cot had been set up in the room, complete with two pillows and even a large black comforter that drooped lazily off the sides, her large suitcase sitting on the side of it. Her heart, which had started to race when she had caught Bane looking at her and when her own eyes wandered over him, was still doing so, and she took a deep breath as she stepped over to the cot. She found it ridiculously odd that Bane would have something bed-like set up for her, but she didn't want to think too much into it. It was better than having to sleep on the floor, and at least now she would be warm, especially when Summer was winding down to an end.

She had just made it to her bag, and she knelt down to unzip it, figuring it would be a good idea to finally change out of her ripped and ruined shirt, but she jumped when she heard the door open suddenly. Staying knelt, she glanced over her shoulder and watched as Bane took a small step into the room, his eyes fixed on hers. She rolled her eyes as she turned back to the face her bag, and with a loud, annoyed sigh she swatted at the short hair that fell into her face before she angrily tucked it behind her ear, only for it to easily fall back into her face. She closed her eyes tightly as she heard Bane take another step into the room, and she tried her best to ignore him and her hair as she finally started to rummage through her bag for a new shirt. Her frustration was evident to Bane, and he watched her for a second longer before he finally spoke up.

"I have a difficult time understanding you, Jenna," he began, and Jenna froze at the sound of his voice, and the words he spoke. "You handled your parent's death so well, yet when you have to change your hair the world ends. Your priorities seem to be... in the incorrect order."

Jenna went back to looking through her suitcase. "What order should they be in?"

Her tone surprised him every time. It held annoyance and lacked anxiety.

"I don't know," he began in a lower pitched voice. "Your situation is unique... you've lost everything and yet you act like it's no concern to you. I expected you to die in your parent's place, sacrifice yourself so they could continue on. Is your hatred for them really that strong?"

Jenna pulled out another black tank top, and she unfolded it to stare at it. An odd pang went through her heart again, not out of sadness, but out of confusion. Was her hatred that strong? "What's it matter to you?" Jenna asked. "I hated them, but..." She trailed off as she stared blankly at the shirt now, unsure of where she was going with her answer, or even more so where this conversation was going or where it had even come from in the first place. Weren't hostage situations usually a lot more... wordless, and painful?

"But yet you still depended one-hundred and one percent on them."

"I did not," Jenna spoke quickly as she turned around to glare at him, only to wish she hadn't. Bane's eyebrows rose as he bowed his head slightly, and she saw nothing but disagreement in his eyes.

"Your money, your clothes, your transportation..." he began to list. "Most people who really hate their families refuse to take anything from them. You relied on them heavily."

"I didn't have a choice," Jenna answered quickly as she turned back around, no longer desiring to defend herself. It would more than likely just get her killed.

"College... a job...?" Bane offered. He didn't understand why, but for some reason or another he was truly interested in her answers. Of all the families he could have wiped out in Gotham, and of all the hostages he could have held on to, it had to be the most stubborn and backwards person in Gotham. Jenna frowned as she stared into her suitcase, her hands clutching the black tank top in front of her. "You didn't want any of those because you enjoyed the free flow of money and being able to do what you wanted with it, without having to worry about important expenses. You lived the life of an adolescent, under your parents control, but felt excitement in sneaking around them."

"I'm sure growing up for you was so much harder," Jenna returned, Bane's offending words stinging her, and she shook her head to herself.

"I was born in Hell on Earth," Bane told her, and Jenna's eyebrows furrowed as she glanced over her shoulder at him again. "Raised in darkness and forced to live in a terrible environment of hope."

Jenna stared into his eyes before she started to turn around. "Doesn't sound so bad," she lied. His answer made her think of herself. Her parent's choice of cities were always Hellish, and all her life she relied on nothing but hope; hope that she could find a way to escape her life and start fresh. She froze, however, when Bane let out a laugh.

"I can understand why you'd relate that to yourself," Bane went on, and it felt like Jenna's heart fell into her stomach. How could he understand the underlying messages in her words so clearly? It was almost as if he could read her mind. "But let it be known that you have no idea what going through hell is really like. Conceited parents and being surrounded by fake people is a sort of... Heaven."

Jenna finally stood up, flinching at the strain on her legs as she stretched them, and she turned around to look at him again, growing more confused by the second. "Have I entered Hell now?"

Bane shrugged. "I don't know... have you?"

"It's not my place to say," Jenna said. "I'm not the one in control here."

"Your situation is what you make of it," Bane said. "Your will to live kept you alive, and it will continue to do so as long as you stay strong in that desire. From what I can make of it, this is not Hell for you. This is... something better."

"Because having everything taken from me and having to defend myself with some stupid little knife is really Heaven on Earth," Jenna retorted bravely, and she rolled her eyes as she started to turn away from him again, and she brushed her hair behind her ear.

"You enjoy it," Bane returned, her tone proving this to be true to him. "All you've ever wanted was to get away from your life. And now you've done so, even if it was in the worst way possible."

The room grew silent as Jenna let his words sink in. Was he right? No, Jenna thought sternly to herself. How could her situation be related to anything but Hell? But at the same time, Bane's words made her feel... funny, like he made her realize things she had always known but chose to keep locked away, deep down inside. Until now. It was so unusual, though, for it seemed as though Bane wanted her to be somewhat comfortable there. He allowed her pack her things, and had even gone as far to set up a cot for her to sleep on. But how could that be? It made absolutely no sense. But deep down, the urge to ask him this was growing stronger and stronger until the point of Jenna opening her mouth to ask, even though her mind was screaming at her to keep quiet.

"Why do you even want me around?"

Bane's eyes widened slightly at her question. She was so curious to the point of being unable to hold back her questions, even in front of him. "I don't," Bane answered truthfully, and Jenna felt a cold shock run up her spine. "But you're... intriguing. Killing you would be a waste, and if I didn't keep you here you'd run and do something stupid."

Jenna's eyebrows furrowed again as her lips parted, and suddenly the room began to spin. She tried to decipher his words like he did with hers, and she tried to understand the hidden message in them, but she could only come up with two things: either he was lying to her, and he did want her around, but she knew that was completely wrong. On the other hand, perhaps he felt some weird feeling about her deep down, like a hunch, or a gut instinct, just like how she felt about him. They were feelings that were unexplainable, feelings that made her eyes idly wander down his body and made her unable to look away from him. Feelings that caused her to feel free to bravely speak out what was on her mind, and feelings that overpowered the fear she should be feeling towards him...

Bane had paused as well as he realized how clearly that truth had come out, though at the same time he had no idea where those words had come from. That odd dizzy feeling overcame him again, and suddenly he felt frustrated, though the urge to continue talking to her increased. It was a feeling that he had never felt before, and he didn't like it.

Jenna could feel him staring at her, and suddenly the air in the room became thick, heavy and hot as she drew in a deep breath, and she turned slightly to glance over her shoulder at him. She stared into his eyes now, trying to make herself afraid. She pictured him suddenly lashing out toward her to choke her to death, but her heart told her that he would not do that. Her eyes dropped down his mask. It was intimidating, with the size of it and all the valves and tubes, and it would make any person instantly feel leery and terrified of him. Though while it did make her feel uncomfortable, she found it be more intriguing rather than terrifying. Her eyes dropped down to his broad shoulders and the muscles underneath the tight material of his shirt, and while she had never seen anyone so huge and strong, her heart began to race as she started to find it difficult to look away. She finally forced herself to look back into his eyes. She wasn't afraid, and she couldn't force herself to be. She was nervous, sure, for her life had suddenly become unpredictable as she was forced to stay with a very unpredictable person, but those gut instincts were overpowering anything and everything logical.

All the while, Bane had been staring back at her, trying to make himself want to kill her and lose interest in her demeanor. But her eyes held so many deep emotions, emotions that were lost under all her trivial problems, and he wanted to know what those real emotions were. Her eyes were so unlike anybody else's he had ever seen, and it bothered him how much he enjoyed staring into them. They only fed his curiosity. His eyes wandered down to her plump lips, and a small shock of sorts traveled slowly up his tinkered spine as he stared them. He tried to picture her mouth torn open as she screamed, truly frightened as she feared for her life and tried to get away, but all he could see now and picture in his mind was the plump pout she always wore them in, or how wide her smile had been in that newspaper picture. His eyes roamed down her body, directly at the same time hers had roamed down his, and he tried to make himself enjoy the feel of how fragile she would be under his crushing force as he killed her. But she was so slender, and curvy, and she held a physical strength that he imaged her to never have. His eyes traveled back up her body forcibly to stare back into her eyes. He had only ever felt similar feelings to one other person, but yet, with further thought, those feelings had been way different. They were feelings of protectiveness, warmth, and the desire to please, but those feelings had been squandered and shattered all within a matter of seconds. It was different with Jenna. Unwanted feelings of want, understanding, and intense physical attraction overwhelmed him, and he had no idea what to do about it. Sure Talia – he forced himself to think her name – had been attractive, but not like Jenna. And Bane could never make himself interested or curious toward her. Her eyes were blank, they held no secret stories and desires. If it hadn't been for Talia, Bane would have never left that pit, and for years he felt as though he owed Talia everything for what she had done for him. But it had all been a lie, and it had all been for nothing. All his destruction had been for her, and she had the mindset of leaving him behind so she could get away. If his feelings toward her had been true and heartfelt, he would have gladly died in her name. But when she left, it caused him to have the biggest realization, and betrayal and hurt flooded him as he sought her out...

Jenna taking in a breath tore him from his thoughts, and he blinked at he focused his eyes on her again. It had been apparent to her that Bane was thinking about something, something important, and while she was curious to know what that, was she knew asking would not help her situation, so she forced herself to stay quiet. They stared into each others eyes for a few seconds longer until Bane suddenly turned around to walk out of the room without a word, and once he closed the door behind him Jenna let out a deep breath. She swallowed as she turned to sit on the cot, and she stared at the floor as she tried to make sense of all that had happened. Everyday more questions arose in her, and strengthened her curiosity, and what was frustrating was Jenna knew she would never know the answers. Why did Bane feel the need to keep her around, when it was clear that he didn't want her to be around? Why did he try to understand her, and why did he care to understand her in the first place? And even more so, why was it so easy for Jenna to act like herself in this terrible situation, and even worse, why did she actually want to answer Bane's questions and find out more about him as well?

She sighed now as she turned her body to lay down on the cot and rest her head on the pillows, and she closed her eyes, only able to see Bane's eyes looking back at her. Just like Bane could read her eyes, Jenna could read his, and like Bane she knew there were secrets that those eyes had seen, dealt with, and were forced to carry. And what was worse than everything – her parents death, her hostage situation, her fight for her life and loss of everything she had ever known – she wanted to know what those secrets were.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Please review, or else Bane will come after you... and I don't mean that in a good way.