"Tell cook he is no longer needed here, brother," Bane bellowed as he and Barsad watched Kitty disappear into the kitchen. "Assign him to City Hall instead."
He had impulsively decided that he was going to play along with Kitty's claim of amnesia to see how far it would take them. After years of planning and hard work, he had all the time in the world now that Gotham was under his thumb, and he was going to enjoy every minute of it. Especially if it meant play-acting with Kitty Nash. He more than anyone deserved to enjoy the spoils.
"I don't get you," the frustrated Barsad complained. "You've just had two perfect days in Gotham with the crowd at your feet. You killed it, and now you're going to risk it all by playing silly games with her. She's trouble, and she's up to something!"
"Of course!" Bane chirped as he and the sniper followed Kitty into the kitchen. They were surprised to see that she actually did intend to prepare dinner.
She had already rummaged through the fridge and cupboards, and assembled ingredients on the butcher's block.
"I think you will find that very few of our men eat greens," Bane observed as he tucked his thumbs under his fortified vest and gestured to a paper bag full of Brussels sprouts.
"I sure as hell won't eat them," Barsad snorted.
"Oh, but Mr. Barsad, you will when I get through with them," Kitty answered brightly. "I'll do steaks and baked potatoes as well."
Bane nodded. "A wise choice," he conceded. "You will soon learn to curate the meals accordingly. Mr. Barsad can help you with that."
"And you? What can I cook for you?"
"You need not worry about me. I take my meals in private, with my own chef," Bane replied mysteriously.
"Oh," Kitty frowned. "That's a shame. You look like a man of exquisite taste. I was really looking forward to cooking for you."
Secretly she was crushed, because cooking for him was one of the strategies she had planned in her quest to win and break his heart. Nevertheless, she was determined to work on him.
"I cannot help but feel disappointed that your amnesia allows you to remember Mr. Barsad, but not me." Bane lifted a lock of hair that had fallen loose from her pony tail, examining it thoroughly.
"I'm so sorry. I wish I could remember you. Honestly, to me you are...extremely memorable. You might jog my memory if you tell me what goes on around here all day."
She very nearly got lost in his dark brown eyes as she awaited his answer. Up close and personal he was an effortlessly charismatic man.
Meanwhile, Bane's fingers twitched for a time as he considered his reply, his eyes smiling above the sinister-looking contraption that concealed his nose and mouth.
"There is a witching hour," he finally said.
"Oh? That sounds intriguing. What...what is that?" She asked cautiously.
"It is the hour upon which you take me under your spell."
"Oh!" Kitty gulped, as her expression turned serious. "I hesitate to ask, but what kind of spell?"
Bane's smile grew even wider. "I will only say that I derive a great deal of pleasure from it, and that you are highly skilled."
Barsad leaned against the massive, high-end stainless steel refrigerator, shaking his head in disbelief. He fully intended to put a stop to the nonsense between Bane and Kitty before it got out of hand.
"Oh my," Kitty's palm flew up to steady her heartbeat as she feigned modesty. "I think I'll sit down."
"Please do," Bane allowed. "This is your home, after all."
"What...what do we do during the other 23 hours," she asked as she settled on a kitchen stool.
Bane's breath filtered haltingly through his mask, and it occurred to Kitty that he didn't wear it just to scare people. He wore it because somehow it was related to his ability to function normally. Up until then she had paid little attention, only noticing the penetrating eyes, muscular body, and lazy swagger that made her damp between her thighs.
"It is imperative that you regain your memory, Katrina, and in that regard I prefer to let nature take its course instead of bombarding you with information you cannot possibly process at this time."
Bane had initially observed that she was a woman constantly in motion, stretching and squirming like a cat. He had not failed to notice the way she carefully stroked each surface she came in contact with as if it were the naked backside of her latest lover. He reckoned that her brilliant blue-eyes were daggers capable of eviscerating a man's soul.
The woman claiming amnesia displayed neither of those traits. She sat demurely with her knees pressed together and her hands clasped tightly in her lap. Her blue eyes were uncertain, but trusting.
She was good. She was very good. He wanted to compliment her on her acting ability, but he didn't want to spoil the ruse. He couldn't detect the femme fatale beneath the benevolent visage, but he knew she was there. They were both of them playing a similar game, and he wondered who would tire of it first.
Beneath the city of Gotham lay miles and miles of tunnels, sections of which hadn't been seen by the naked eye since the last of the construction workers retreated to the surface.
One of those tunnels had been occupied for months by Bane and his mercenaries as they planned their assault on the city, and it was there that Barsad had summoned an extremely annoyed Talia al Ghul for a late night meeting.
"This is highly unusual, brother," Talia scolded. "I'm taking a huge risk being away from Miranda's post at Wayne Enterprises."
"I know, I know," Barsad nodded. "I hate to rat on a brother, expecially when that brother is my boss, but I'm worried that Bane has gone off the deep end with the actress we abducted."
"First of all, I am your boss, brother, and secondly, I applaud any effort Bane makes to move out of his comfort zone."
"Just hear me out, okay? Now, she physically attacked Bane for ransacking the theatres, and she ended up out cold on the floor for her efforts. Bane then ordered us to leave her for dead in the snow, where she was found and taken to the hospital. Now that she's out, she claims to have amnesia. She thinks Daggett's place is her home, that she cooks for us mercenaries and only remembers me, not Bane."
"Where is this going, brother? I must return to Wayne Enterprises, and you should be out threatening the U.S. Army," Talia replied, examining her immaculate French manicure.
"The thing is, she's faking it, innocent demeanor and all. Bane knows it, and she knows that he knows it, and they're both getting off on the pretence. It's fucking perverted foreplay if you ask me."
Talia sighed. "Ah well, that's wonderful news, brother! I've long encouraged Bane to spread his wings, but he always makes excuses. I fear that his approach to his work might grow as stale as his appetites."
"Look, Talia, I've seen this woman in action before her alleged amnesia. She's bad news, and I want to know what her game is. All I'm asking is that you check the situation out for yourself."
The next morning the mercenaries generally looked after their own breakfasts, while Kitty cleaned up after them, still grinning from her trial by fire the night before. The dinner could not have gone more smoothly. In addition to the grilled steaks and baked potatoes that she planned, she made a roasted Brussels sprouts side dish with mushrooms, bacon and garlic - a triumphant addition that yielded no leftovers. The mercenaries gathered around the long table in Daggett's minimalist dining room, ravenous, rowdy and approving. Even Barsad grudgingly complimented her on the meal, and it was then that Kitty realized she had all but forgotten how much she loved to cook.
She used to host small dinner parties in her shabby studio apartment with her theatre friends. Most worked menial jobs as they went from one audition to another, hoping for the big break. In those days Kitty worked magic with discounted supermarket items like day old bread, rubbery vegetables, and stale-dated chicken thighs.
It didn't matter how little the feast cost. it was the camaraderie that was important. Eventually, all that fell away as her career took off and she forgot about the woman she used to be and the friends she left behind.
Kitty jumped as she rounded from the refrigerator to find an exotic looking woman standing before her.
"Who are you," she asked in the meek tones of Jenna. "How did you get in here?"
"Vlad let me in," Talia al Ghul replied," And you don't need to know who I am."
Kitty instantly recognized the exotic-accented voice as the one she'd heard speaking to Bane the night she'd been abducted.
"Are you one of the mercenaries? If so, then your uniform is a heck of a lot fancier than theirs." She noted that the woman was quite beautiful, and her mahogany coloured hair was contained by an expertly constructed braid.
"I told you to forget about who I am," Talia ordered, "Let's concentrate on who you are. Katrina "Kitty" Nash, celebrated stage star. A fiercely competitive perfectionist. Temperamental. Disliked by peers, ex-lovers, shopkeepers and restauranteurs. Adored by fans who overlook the bad publicity."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Kitty insisted.
"You are also a fraud. My lieutenant told me the whole story. You and Bane are playing some kind of secret game together. He called it 'perverted foreplay'."
"My, but you're rude," Kitty, said, sporting an offended visage. "Yes, I am an actress according to Mr. Barsad, but I don't remember any of that. All I know is that I live here and I cook, and I'm nothing like you just described me."
"How can you be so sure of that if you have amnesia?" Talia asked shrewdly.
Kitty's hackles had begun to rise, but years of training had taught her to focus, and stay in character no matter what.
"I'm not that woman you just described." she insisted. "I feel it in my soul."
"You only pretend to be an amnesiac," Talia whispered. "You must be doing it for a very important reason, because here you are slaving over a hot stove and washing up instead of basking in the glow of nightly standing ovations."
"Even if I could remember that part of my life, I can't work. Mr. Bane cut all the power and ransacked the theatres." Under no circumstances was Kitty going to tell the mysterious woman that she had vowed revenge for all Bane had cost her.
"One more thing, Ms. Nash," Talia threatened. "Bane may appear worldly to you, but he is hardly that. I am the only world he knows, and always will be. He gets everything he needs from me. Do you understand?"
Kitty understood only too well, thus it was time to drop the good-girl facade in order to match wits with the woman with the exotic accent. She reached behind her head to release the long black hair from its confinement, allowing it to cascade around her shoulders. As the glossy mane settled, the left corner of Kitty's mouth curled into the knowing smirk that had long become the actress' trademark.
They stood staring at one another as two headstrong women determined to get the upper hand.
"If that's the case and you truly give him what he needs, then why did he steal me away and put me up in this pricey palace?"
"Stupid girl! You don't know Bane. He was born in prison, and ever since he left it, he's literally taken everything he can get his coarse hands on. He is a child in a man's body."
"Oh no!" Kitty chuckled huskily. "He's no child! He's a flesh and blood, fully formed, intelligent man. Cold, cunning, methodical, mesmerizing. He'd make a wonderful actor. I'd be Desdemona to his Othello any day."
"Very well. Learn the hard way, then," Talia hissed. "For Bane the world is one big toy store, and like all children he bores easily. He will soon toss you back on the shelf where you belong, and you will forever bear the very real damage of his having played with you for only the briefest of time."
Hours later, Kitty had all but forgotten about the mystery woman who had threatened her when she heard the freight elevator door scrape open in the back hall.
"Delivery!" A vaguely familiar male voice sounded as he emerged behind a large cart loaded with grocery supplies.
The man was Detective John Blake, dressed in work clothing.
"What are you doing here?" Kitty demanded as quietly as she could manage.
"GCPD now has a man inside Bane's army, and that would be me," Blake muttered. "Got myself a gig ensuring the uninterrupted flow of food supplies to the mercenaries. And I've been keeping tabs on you ever since I drove you home from the hospital."
"You're stalking me? Why?"
"Because I didn't like how I left you that day in your loft. It sounded like you were planning to do something crazy, and I was right." His expression turned grim as he noted the chef's apron she wore.
"Why'd you throw in with the warlord?"
"Why don't you just butt out!" Kitty whispered. "You have no goddamn business following me! You're going to ruin everything!"
"Tell me what I'm gonna ruin, Kitty," Blake demanded as he packed one of the freezers with numerous packages of french cut bone-in pork chops. "You can tell me. You're not in any trouble."
"I don't fucking care about getting into trouble," she said as she pulled canned goods and packages of pasta off the cart and stacked them on of the pantry shelves "Getting into trouble will be worth it when I'm done with him."
"Sounds promising. You gonna kill Bane?"
Kitty paused for a long moment as she leaned her forehead against the pantry door.
"He and his army destroyed my career, my theatre, and personal things that were meaningful to me. I don't have anything else in my life. I told you that day in my loft that I was going to get him!"
Blake noticed that her voice trembled as she avoided looking at him.
"So you're gonna kill him," he said, bringing up the subject of murder again.
Kitty took a deep breath and fixed her determined blue eyes on Blake.
"First I'm going to screw him. Then I'm going to make him fall in love with me. And then I'm going to break his fucking heart!"
A long pause followed as Blake digested her words.
"You'd do that," he winced. "You'd really do that? How can you even contemplate having sex with the guy? What are you made of, anyway?"
Kitty smirked in the face of Blake's piety.
"In case you haven't noticed, Bane is hot. Intoxicatingly so. I've wanted to fuck him since the first time I laid eyes on him. Believe me, it won't be a hardship."
"He's a big guy. Could be an animal in the sack," Blake suggested.
"Oh, Detective," Kitty shivered. "I certainly hope so!"
Blake frowned, briefly wondering if he was out of his mind for what he was about to propose.
"Look, I have an idea. My partner's underground with the rest of the cops, and I need somebody to work with me above ground. You have balls and a cool head. So, what do you say? Wanna work with me?"
Kitty seemed genuinely taken aback by Blake's suggestion. It had been a long time since anyone had asked her for a favour, because anyone who was familiar with Kitty Nash knew that a favour always came with strings attached.
"To do what?"
"I gotta admit I like the idea of you breaking his heart. Make him vulnerable and it's possible he might be easier to take down. You could keep me informed on his state of mind."
"How do you know you can trust me," Kitty exclaimed, still dumbfounded by Blake's proposition. "My reasons for doing this are purely personal and selfish. I'll leave it to your kind to save the city!"
"Just think seriously about it, okay? I'll be back in a few days."
"Wait!" Kitty whispered. "How do you want to take him down?"
"Dunno," Blake shrugged. "I'd personally like to ship him to his own kangaroo court in shackles, and force him to do a perp walk out on the ice. I'll work that out while you're making him fall in love with you. Any idea how you're gonna to do that?"
Kitty related her plan all about her claims of amnesia, and Bane's being amused enough to play along with it.
"What if he doesn't fall in love with you?"
"I'm already halfway there, Detective! I was abducted because he saw something in me that he wants. I don't know if you've ever seen my show, but sweet Jenna is what he wants, not ball-busting Kitty.
Blake winced again. "He could decide to stop playing along at any time and break your neck. It's not exactly a solid plan."
"That won't matter if I do my job well enough. This isn't my first time at the rodeo, Detective. I know how to destroy a man. The lines will gradually blur until he's so head over heels he won't know what hit him. And that's when I'll crush him. He'll think twice before he messes with me again."
Author's Note: Thanks for reading!