Disclaimer: I do not own and am not, in any way, affiliated with the Dark Knight franchise.
"Every heart has its secret sorrows which the world knows not, and oftentimes we call a man cold, when he is only sad."
― Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Interlude – I
Barsad stood on the balcony, glass of whiskey in hand. He swirled the contents around before draining them, shifting his gaze out over Gotham City. It was a shithole when they had arrived and there had been little improvement since the takeover. He felt an urge to throw the tumbler over the side, imagined listening to the satisfying sound of the glass shattering on the street. Instead he walked back into his room and set it on the table, pinching the bridge of his nose in an attempt to stave off the headache he'd been fighting since the morning.
He debated having another drink but decided against it. He needed to have his wits about him with her in the house. She couldn't still her temper or her tongue, which made her reckless, but she wasn't stupid. He thought about the morning's scene with Jack, the look on his face had been priceless, the tosser, and couldn't help smiling. Yes, she was infuriating, but he had to admit that she was amusing too. Little spitfire, indeed.
Then he remembered the way she looked at him, like she was disgusted by him, and he fell back on the bed with a sigh. The whole situation was, for lack of a better definition, completely FUBAR. Nothing had worked out the way it was supposed to. Of course. As if he didn't have enough to worry about already.
Over the last twenty-four hours he found himself wishing that he'd never met Audrey Campbell.
When he'd seen her in the alley it had been like something out of a movie. He was not a man who believed in Fate, or much of anything, but in that moment he might have been persuaded. It had been a courageous move: standing there, gun pointed at them, prepared to trade her life for the boy's. When Pence had fallen behind, he had been prepared to let her get away. He hadn't even been trying to catch up to her, not really. Then she'd had to go and bugger that up. Thankfully Bane had taken little convincing in seeing her usefulness.
Then Bane was a man in love himself, wasn't he?
He didn't fancy he was in love with Audrey, but she had some kind of hold over him. No denying that. Last night, when he had heard her crying, a part of him had wanted to go in there and apologize. Say something to make it easier. But he knew it would have been an unwelcome gesture and he didn't need her to get the wrong idea. When the sniffles had stopped and the light breathing of sleep started, he'd snuck in and left the water bottle.
His hand stung from hitting the wall. That had been stupid, but his patience was only good for so long and she was constantly trying it.
Again he saw those brown eyes, lovely and doe-like, flash angrily before she stormed off.
He was, by no means, a good man. The time for that had come and gone with her. Rebecca. But he didn't want to think about her, not tonight. It would only serve to put him in a worse mood than before. He rolled over and switched off the lamp knowing sleep was still far away.