Disclaimer: I do not own and am not, in any way, affiliated with the Dark Knight franchise.

"There is no greater sorrow
than thinking back upon a happy time
in misery"

― Dante Alighieri, Inferno

Chapter Twelve

A loud clatter, the crashing of one of the trays containing what had been sterilized instruments, caused Arjun, Audrey, and the patient they were working on to jump. Audrey whipped around to see a pink faced Andy hurriedly trying to set it back upright. He began to choke out an apology, but she turned back around before he could get a real word out.

"Fucking a," the man lying face down on the table muttered. "Stop dicking around, Andy."

Apparently, Andy's incompetence was renowned.

The man in question had gone through a window and fallen backward onto a sea of glass that they were now picking out of his neck and the back of his arms. They were almost finished, it was just a matter of disinfecting and bandaging the more severe lacerations.

Absorbed in her task, Audrey only heard the shuffle of feet behind her when they were already in the room. Arjun stopped working, made a lament that only she could hear, and began stripping off his gloves. "Keep working," he instructed.

Risking a brief glance up, she saw Bane and what she had come to refer to as his entourage. This was not unusual- every so often he came in to have Arjun fiddle with his mask. The good doctor was the only one in the whole operation he could trust, it seemed.

Before she glanced back down to the man on the table, she caught Barsad's eye, careful to make no expression, until Arjun snapped the curtain around Bane closed, his indicator that she needed to get back to work.

(-)

She was washing her hands at the sink, patient on his way out of the office, when the awkward silence that had fallen over the ward broke.

"How long does this process usually take?"

Normally Audrey would have ignored it, assuming it was some impatient new guy. The entourage boasted at least one new member every time Bane turned up, but this was a woman's voice. Foreign, judging by her accent. Audrey walked over to her desk and sat down, casually picking up the book she had been reading earlier.

"Never more than an hour, ma'am," Jack responded before anyone else could. The eagerness in his voice, that desire to please that he almost exclusively used for Bane, was what broke her. Her eyes flicked over the top of the book to the group gathered around the curtain.

A woman, beautiful and with a commanding presence, was standing amongst them. She looked familiar. Audrey had seen her face somewhere before, she was sure of it. Though her dark hair was braided down her back (in a fashion Audrey noted was similar to her own), she was dressed in an outfit that certainly wasn't part of the required mercenary attire. "Thank you, John." Between the condescension in her tone, the wrong name, and the way her strikingly blue eyes fixed on Jack with boredom, Audrey couldn't help snickering.

She hurriedly glanced back down at her book as all eyes moved on her. Oops.

"Ah!" the woman exclaimed. "And who's this?"

"Audrey Campbell," Barsad answered. Knowing she could no longer continue her ruse, Audrey put the hardback down. "She's a nurse."

"I'm sure she can speak for herself, Barsad."

He nodded, back to standing at attention, but she thought she saw a look of unease pass over his face. Whoever this woman was, she clearly held a lot of power. Audrey didn't pretend to understand the dynamics of this group, but she had never seen Barsad take a backseat like this. On your best behavior, Aud.

The woman approached the desk and held out her hand. Audrey stood up and shook it, meeting her eye and feeling as though she were suddenly under intense scrutiny. "I can, actually. But he's right, I'm Audrey."

She smiled warmly at Audrey, taking a seat on the desk and motioning for Audrey to resume her own. "Tell me, Miss Campbell, how do you like it here?"

"Oh, uh… I like it fine. Everyone here has been really…" She swallowed and forced a smile. "Really helpful. Doctor Mahindra is a good man to work under. Better than some of the doctors from before."

The woman laughed. "The facilities are not the best, I'm afraid, but do you find you are managing?"

Audrey began fidgeting with the end of her sweater under the desk, picking at the fabric. "Yes, of course. No complaints from this corner."

"Excellent." She motioned at the desk. "What are you reading?"

Oh, thank god. Audrey felt the tension leave her shoulders and had to hold back a sigh of relief. This was a much safer line of conversation. "Cat's Eye. I'm on a Margaret Atwood kick, at the moment."

This elicited a raised eyebrow. "Heavy reading to do in your free time."

Audrey shrugged. "Yeah, maybe, but I like bad ass women in my stories."

"The Handmaid's Tale was always one of my favorites." The woman dropped her voice conspiratorially. "Nolite te bastardes carborundorum."

It was Audrey who raised an eyebrow, almost defiantly, this time although she didn't realize she was doing it. She crossed her arms in front of her chest, leaning back slightly in her chair. "Don't let the bastards grind you down. Very apropos."

Her words hung in the air. Barsad's lips tightened, letting Audrey know she was very closely toeing the line of stupidity. Then the woman laughed and the room relaxed. It was an amused, airy sound. "My dear, you're a treat." She turned to Barsad. "Wherever did you find her?"

He side-eyed her as though considering her for the first time. "On the street."

It was not, Audrey supposed, technically a lie.

"I don't mean to interrupt, ma'am," one of the men cut in. Behind him, Arjun was opening the curtain, Bane's massive figure behind him. "But we're ready to leave."

"Thank you." She turned back to smile again at Audrey. "And thank you, Miss Campbell, for your assistance in our mission."

"Of- of course." Audrey stammered. "It was a- a pleasure meeting you."

As she watched them walk out, the woman looped her arm through Bane's and began a conversation that looked pleasant. He looked down, mumbled something that Audrey couldn't quite hear from that distance and the woman laughed. They looked like a couple whispering about the other guests at a party.

Then it hit her.

She'd just spoken with Miranda Tate.

A shiver of unease ran through her. What the hell is she doing with them?

Arjun collapsed into the chair next to her and closed his eyes, folding his hands methodically over his stomach. Audrey shifted uncomfortably. A sea of questions was lapping at her mental dam, waiting to spill over and out of her mouth, but Arjun was as likely to give her insider information as Jack was to let her go: not very.

She picked up her book and pretended to read it. Occasionally she would glimpse over to see if he was relaxed enough yet. After several minutes of this, she could take no more. She stretched out, the old chair groaning in protest at having to bend that far back, and sighed louder than necessary to draw his attention. "That was…"

"Different?" Arjun suggested.

Audrey laughed. "I was going to say uncomfortable, actually. Hey… can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"What's the deal with, uhm-"

"Talia?"

"Who?"

"I'm assuming you are asking about the woman that accompanied them?"

No, that was definitely Miranda Tate, my man. "Sure."

Arjun opened one eye and examined her. She played with the end of her braid, trying not to seem overly eager. "I'm afraid it's worth more than my life to speculate on Bane's personal affairs, my dear."

"Can I ask you another question?"

"Of course."

"How did you get mixed up in this?" She gestured at the room. "No offense, but this seems way above your skill set.

"The League, you mean?" She nodded. A look of hurt flashed briefly across his face and Audrey wondered if she should have kept her mouth shut.

"I'm sorry. You don't have to answer if-"

"Bane offered me a second chance. One I still don't think I deserve."

Audrey felt her jaw drop. What was it with Bane and redemption? Hadn't Barsad said something similar the other night? Once again, she felt her views being called into question. "What?" It came out ruder than she had meant it to, but Arjun didn't seem to notice.

He sat up, aware that he was not going to get his afternoon nap in. "It's a long story. Rather, it feels like a long story and an unpleasant one."

"This just in- I'm not going anywhere any time soon."

Her sarcasm did the trick, Arjun laughed then stopped. "You might think less of me afterward, I'm afraid." He did not meet her eye as he said this. Unthinking, Audrey laid her hand on top of his. She wanted to tell him that he was the only person who had treated her with kindness from day one, the only person she trusted completely in this whole messy scenario that was now her life, and that it wasn't possible for her to think of him differently. But the words would not come. It felt too much like making a promise she wasn't ready to keep. Regardless it gave him the push he needed.

"Growing up, I always knew I was going to be a doctor. My parents pushed me into it, yes, but I was interested in the material. I had this- this grand notion that I would be a hero, of sorts. I don't have to explain this to you, I've seen the same look in your eye, like you want to save the world." Audrey blushed, but said nothing. "My father came to America a wealthy man and there was enough money that I could attend college without debt. I did everything you are supposed to do to live the American dream: I got my degree, became a top surgeon, got married, had a child, a suburban house with a white picket fence. That last part is not a joke, by the way."

His face lit up in a brilliant smile, but there was a distant look in his eye, as though he were no longer there and seeing her.

"Next, you'll be telling me you had a dog named Spot," Audrey said softly, trying to lure him back into reality. She wondered if she hadn't made a mistake in asking him about this.

It worked. He turned toward her again, a mischievous twinkle in his eye. "Oh, yes, there was a dog. His name was Jack."

Her eyes widened, mouth forming an "o" of delighted surprise. "You're lying!"

"I am not."

They dissolved into a fit of giggles that would have put school children to shame.

Audrey wished, later, that she could have put that moment in a bubble.

When they finished, Arjun pushed his glasses to the top of his head and rubbed his eyes. "Then the accident happened. When you work long hours in a hospital, you become accustomed to operating with little sleep. We were driving to visit my parents. I had worked twelve hours and I should not have been in the driver's seat, but I convinced my wife that I was okay. We were not yet out of the city, I was nodding off and thinking about pulling over to let her drive, when a drunk driver ran the light and crashed into the car. Had she been driving, maybe her reaction time would have been better, maybe she could have pulled forward. I don't know." His words were coming out more rapidly now. "I don't remember much of it until the hospital. They said that it would have been quick and painless for my son and my wife. The driver and myself were relatively uninjured."

"Jesus," she whispered. "Arjun, I'm so sorry." She felt stupid, wishing she had more to offer him than that.

He waved her sympathy away. "I harbored a lot of anger for that man, but I was also mad at myself. I should have done more. I should have been the one in the passenger seat. Besides, what I did next…" he trailed off. "I was no better than he was. Alcohol became my solace. One day, I showed up to perform what should have been a routine transplant and I killed that patient. I was drunk, I should not have been allowed anywhere near that man. The hospital worked out a deal with the family, but I was forced to resign. So ended my career. I was at rock bottom. I left the country and ended up in some godforsaken place where I was determined to drink myself to death." He paused. "I was in a bar when Bane approached me. He paid my tab, told me that he admired my previous work, and offered me a place in his League if I could clean up my act."

"And you accepted just like that?" There was no judgment in her tone, only curious awe.

"What else did I have to live for?"

They stared at each other, Arjun coming down from his recollection while Audrey tried to digest everything she'd just heard. She could not line up that version of Arjun, the messy, depressed drunk, with the one sitting next to her now. He seemed reserved, yes, but professional and so upbeat given the circumstances. Nor could she quite swallow the idea of Bane to the rescue. Again.

Jack sauntered into the doorway and immediately sensed that something was off. He looked at Audrey, trying to read her face for information. When he didn't find what he was looking for, his expression changed into a scowl and he leaned against the frame.

"Can I help you?" Arjun asked politely.

"Load of supplies came in. Need y'all to come and sort through it."

Audrey smirked. "We'll be there in a second, John."

Jack's body tensed, his face flushing slightly before he turned and stalked off. Arjun shook his head unable to hide his grin. "You would make things a lot easier on yourself if you did not provoke him so much."

"And deprive myself of the one thing that brings me pleasure in this hellhole? I think not."

Arjun rubbed his face again and replaced his glasses. "To each their own, I suppose. Let's go see what they've brought us now." He stood up, ready to go when Audrey got out of her chair and stopped him.

"Thank you, for sharing that with me. And-" she wrestled with how to say the next part. "You're still okay in my book."

Arjun put his hand on her shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze, before stepping out.

A/N: You get a back story, you get a back story, everyone gets a back story! Thank you for reading.