"Where do you think you are going?" Bane bellowed as though nothing romantic or sexual had occurred between himself and Kitty.
"Back to my place," Kitty replied, buttoning herself into her coat. "I'm tired of living in other peoples' rooms. So many people have used this place. I feel sorry for Detective Blake when he comes back and sees what has been done to his bachelor pad. He'll blame it on me since he told me I was welcome to stay here as long as I wanted.
Bane grabbed her by the wrist, preventing her from getting any closer to the door.
"Your living space has very likely been looted and raised," he said lowly.
"Then I'll have it fixed. I just happen to know a few carpenters that you put out of work when you destroyed the theatre district."
Bane's brow furrowed. "If you leave here now, you will no longer have access to me," he threatened coldly. "If you try to go to the penthouse, you will not be admitted."
"Oh, come on!" Kitty chuckled as she ran her hand down the front of his fortified vest. "We both know you don't mean that. What happened between us could lead to something good, but I really do need to go home. So, when you want me, you know where to find me."
For an answer Bane stopped Kitty's wandering hand and squeezed it to the point of crushing it.
"When I want you," the incredulous mercenary repeated. "You are so completely wrapped up in your ego, career goals and appetites that you don't recognize what's happening here. I have seized Gotham, Katrina. Buried its police force. Destroyed its infrastructure and activated a bomb that will reduce the city to ashes when it goes off. Where will you and your career be then?"
Wide-eyed, Kitty stared at Bane for what felt like an eternity. There was something about his tone that made her fear him all over again — just after she had begun to believe she could tame the warlord of Gotham.
"An opposing force seeks to undo all my years of sacrifice and hard work. She wants to deactivate the bomb, take Gotham in hand and mold it to her liking."
Kitty swallowed hard. "Well, I've heard a lot about your bomb... but is it real? That thing you rolled on to the football field could have been a plastic model for all I know. Still, I have to hand it to you. You have the entire city terrified, and you've made your point. Gotham is a corrupt pile of rubble, so why not move on? As for your opposing force... it sounds to me that she only wants to make Gotham a better place. You are talking about Lady Macbeth, aren't you?"
"Foolish woman!" Bane thundered as he pounded his fist on John Blake's tiny dining room table. "Your theatrical comrades are out there every night, as are a team of athletes, rogue Blackgate inmates and bands of local citizens. All risking their lives to raise a rebellion because however misguided their cause, they at least believe in something."
"I was one of them," Kitty reminded him in a panicky voice. "Until you kidnapped me again."
Bane's shadow rose, swallowing up Kitty's trembling form as she pressed herself against the dining room wall.
"You believe in nothing but your self. I saved you. We both know you never would have lasted out in the field because you are too busy admiring yourself. You told me that you regret the way you treated Mateo Garcia, and that you are trying to become a better person. I see no indication that your claim is genuine," the mercenary rasped as he and his twitching fingers came even closer to Kitty.
"I...I don't understand. What do you want from me?" she whimpered as she flinched in the face of his frightening proximity.
"How appropriate that you should ask! As a matter of fact, I do want something from you. I want you to go out and perform just as your colleagues do."
"Oh...maybe that's not such a good idea..." Kitty stalled. "Surely your men are closing in. I could get hurt... or killed!"
"Is it too much to ask that you show a modicum of courage," Bane frowned. "I will protect you. You will not be shot."
Kitty pulled herself away from the wall and Bane's shadow.
He was right. Danny, Brady and Alia had been risking their lives night after night, while Kitty dwelled in relative safety and comfort.
"Obviously I don't have a choice," she said reluctantly. "I'll do it, but what for?"
"You will know soon enough. In the meantime, I will tell you what to sing."
"You are a member of The League of Shadows, brother. It is unconscionable that you managed to get yourself taken by a group of mere actors, then chained to a bed, and then disrespected by a gang of Blackgate prisoners. You've had a spectacular fall given your position as Bane's lieutenent. Perhaps I should rethink your commission," Talia threatened.
Barsad flinched beneath her scathing criticism.
"It won't happen again, Talia," he muttered humbly.
"From now on, you are to stay clear of media scrums. It has been my observation that you enjoy commiserating with tv hostesses and watching yourself on the news. That's how you risk letting your guard down and getting yourself captured."
"Yes, ma'am," Barsad nodded.
"That all ends now. I've assigned Vlad Petrov in your place. But don't worry, my friend. I have plans for you."
"What plans?" Barsad frowned, dreading a humiliating punishment handed down by the daughter of Ra's al Ghul.
"While you were incarcerated, I had a revelation. I've come to realize that my father was a fool, and squandered his chance to destroy Gotham. Now that the city belongs to me, I've decided not to blow it up. I want to remake it in my image, and I want to be loved by the people. Brother, I will need your expertise in helping me to transform it into a shining city on a hill."
Barsad stared at Talia with a great deal of trepidation, sensing that she was not quite herself.
"Shouldn't you be asking for Bane's help?"
"Ordinarily I would," Talia replied, tossing her mahogany locks, "He has been deeply hurt by my decision, so I'm giving him space to get used to the idea. He's making time with that second-rate actress, but I put up with it because I don't want a rift to develop between us. He'll come around."
Upon reporting to Talia, Barsad's next call was to Bane, who was back at the penthouse.
After expressing relief that there had been no wear and tear on Barsad at the hands of Kitty's colleagues, Bane was eager to have his thoughts on Talia's new direction.
"I trust she spoke to you about it, brother," Bane said.
There was a long pause between the two men.
"Permission to speak freely, sir," Barsad mocked.
"Please do," Bane chirped.
"Well, she's off her rocker is what she is! Whatever happened to avenging the old man's death and finishing his work? Our entire plan is predicated on Talia's rabid need for revenge, and now she wants to throw it all away in order to glorify herself? If you're the guy I know you are, you're not gonna let it happen are you, brother?"
"I will admit to moments of self-doubt and guilt over my opposition to her new plan," Bane said. "Many of us have put long years into this project and thus we are justified in our disappointment."
"How about we do a mutiny?" Barsad whispered ominously. "We could blow up the city just like we planned."
"Let us not be hasty," Bane cautioned. "When she informed me of the new plan, she said something that has stayed with me. She said there would be no need for clowns and scarecrows, and that I would have to reinvent myself."
Barsad whistled."That's pretty cruel. As if you could do that with the snap of your fingers after all these years of being programmed by her and her old man."
"I have decided that if she goes through with this change of plan, I will have no recourse but to oppose her and force her to face her failure," Bane mused. "She will rue the day she made me the face and the muscle behind Gotham's occupation."
"Atta boy," Barsad said. "Let's get started on that mutiny, shall we?"
"Not so fast, brother," Bane cautioned again, mild amusement reflecting in his voice. "There is something I should like to try first."
Inside Miranda Tate's elegant townhouse in the sky, Talia dismissed the maid, threw a log on the fire, and stepped out of her diamond encrusted kitten heels.
The maid had turned down the bed, and now Talia tossed the remains of her scotch into the flames and untied the peignoir gifted to Miranda by a Parisian lover.
As she settled beneath layers of goose down, her mind buzzed with the details of the meetings she'd taken as Miranda Tate that day.
She had argued that despite the doomsday scenario, it was necessary to assemble a team on the assumption that the city would be saved, thus Gotham's needs could be immediately addressed.
She had boldly suggested that she take on the role of interim Mayor for an undetermined time.
"With Mayor Garcia and John Daggett dead, Commissioner Gordon missing and Congressman Gillies incapacitated, we need strong leadership. As Chair of the Wayne Board I'm perfectly suited to the role. After all, this is what Bruce would have wanted."
Just as Talia began to drift off, a woman's voice penetrated the cold winter sky. She sang softly at first.
As the woman's voice grew stronger, Talia bolted out of bed and threw open the terrace doors.
Isn't it rich
Are we a pair
Me here at last on the ground
You in mid-air
Send in the clowns
"Damn Barsad," Talia hissed. "When is he going to get his act together and round these people up for judgment? Do I have to do everything myself?"
Isn't it bliss
Don't you approve
One who keeps tearing around
One who can't move
Where are the clowns
Send in the clowns
"Stop it at once!" Talia shouted into the night, having temporarily divested herself of Miranda Tate. "Show yourself, you coward! Or will you wait for me to hunt you down?"
Meanwhile, perched in the casement window of a low-rise condominium corner unit, an alarmed Kitty glanced at Bane, who was huddled behind her, his rifle poised.
"Finish," he rumbled. "Barsad is on the ground. Her threats mean nothing as long as we are here."
Kitty nodded reluctantly and drew in a deep breath, faltering slightly as she began the next verse.
Don't you love the farce
My fault, I fear
I thought that you'd want what I want
Sorry my dear
But where are the clowns
Send in the clowns
Don't bother they're here
The night sky grew silent again as Bane ferried Kitty to safety through a maze of sewers and tunnels.
Talia nearly broke the glass terrace doors, violently slamming them shut as she returned to bed, wide awake and furious.
"Did you hear the singing last night, ma'am?
Miranda's maid Alice had just laid out the philanthropist's daytime look — a burgundy Dior suit with a forest green scarf — and was now following her to the vanity.
"I did indeed, Alice." Miranda replied cheerfully. "Isn't it inspiring that so many of our citizens have braved the cold and the danger to try and stop the mercenaries. It gives me such hope, but I worry about their safety!"
"I just enjoy the free entertainment from stage stars," Alice enthused.
"Really?" Miranda smiled as she handed her hairbrush to her servant. "I'm afraid I've been so busy I've scarcely had time to notice. Give me a braided updo today, will you Alice?"
"Right away, Ms. Tate. Did you also hear the angry woman trying to stop Ms. Nash from singing? She threatened to hunt her down. It sounded as though she was very close to this building."
Miranda stared into the vanity's mirror with Talia's cold eyes.
"No, I didn't. I must have nodded off. You say the singer was Ms. Nash? Do you mean Kitty Nash, the actress?"
"Yes, Ms. Tate. I'd know her voice anywhere. My sister Felicia and I saw her in 'Oklahoma' and 'Sweeney Todd'.
Talia grit her teeth. It was bad enough that neither Barsad nor Bane had been able to capture the singers, but now it seemed that Kitty Nash had joined rebellion.
"Send in the clowns..." Alice sang quietly. "Don't bother they're here."
Talia frowned as something tugged at her memory.
Her own voice. Her own words.
Words that had all but dismissed Bane from participating in her future plans for Gotham.
'There will be no need for clowns and scarecrows.'
Miranda leapt out of her chair, startling Alice.
"Leave me now," she ordered Alice.
"But Ms. Tate, I haven't even done your hair yet."
"Leave me, Alice," Miranda insisted, barely able to conceal Talia's fury. "I'll dress myself!"
Talia fumed as she dressed, and hastily styled her hair.
She was certain that Bane had capitalized on her 'clowns' comment, and was now using Kitty Nash as his musical messenger.
She reached for her Birkin bag and headed for the elevator, intent on calling a meeting between herself, Bane and Barsad.
"It's true," Talia muttered as she rode Miranda's private elevator to the main floor.
"I really have to do everything myself."
A/N: 'Send in the Clowns' is from 'A Little Night Music', by Stephen Sondheim.