Bane paced around his room.

His boots rhythmically echoing around him in a slow even gait.

To a casual observer, he would seem calm.

They would be wrong.

Steam practically seeped out of his mask he was that angry.

He wanted to break something.

He should be content that Patrick was now in the inner circle.

But he wasn't.

Watching Patrick kill Jack Ryder had caused an adrenaline rush to flood his system.

And Grace, crying and sinking into the arms of his subordinate set his veins alight with fury.

He had promised Patrick that he wouldn't harm Grace, but now that he was a full member, he didn't really need to keep to their bargain anymore.

Now she would know the difference between his threats and his strength.

His fist clenched.

The thought of hurting-

A knock sounded at his door.

Finally, Barsad had certainly taken his time returning Grace.

He opened the door to see a smug-looking Bartov. The man was practically bouncing on his heels.

To say he was irked that Grace wasn't back would be an understatement.

"Why are you here?"

"Your lady is holding onto Barsad very tightly. Just thought you should know." Bane didn't respond other than to take a threatening step towards the smaller man. "I don't blame him. She is very pretty when she cries. Even perfect Barsad may be tempted to have a taste of her."

Bane's eyes narrowed into slits.

"Careful, brother. You are about to step over a line. One should you cross, will be the last thing you will do."

"I am just warning you, man to man, keep an eye on them. They are very close."

Bane squared up to him. He could see Bartov swallow nervously.

"And what do you hope to gain by bringing this to my attention?"

"When he betrays you. Know that I warned you."

"Why would Barsad betray our cause?"

"I don't speak of the League."

And with that, Bartov walked away.

Bane didn't have time to process what Bartov had said as slow measured footsteps were heading his way.

He could hear faint whispering. One voice was unmistakable.

"I wish you would take me back to the main hub. I miss our talks."

"You know I am no longer your main guardian."

"I wish you were." She whispered the last part.

They rounded the corner and he felt a little betrayed when Grace flinched at the sight of him.

Bane watched Grace take a step closer to Barsad.

"I'll talk to you later." Barsad whispered.

Before he could step forward, he watched Grace throw her arms around Barsad.

Barsad didn't return the hug.

"Thank you." She stepped back and didn't look at Bane as she entered his room.

Bane watched Barsad closely, saw the way his eyes followed Grace's figure as she walked.

Bane raised a brow.

Barsad finally looked at Bane.

"I'll head back to my post." He nodded and turned to leave.

"Barsad?" He called.

Barsad halted. Bane watched a tense line appear in his shoulders.

"Yes?" He turned.

He scanned his face. Looking for… something.

"S-Sir?" Barsad's voice wavered slightly.

"We are about to reveal ourselves, I hope there is no apprehension on your part."

"None at all. I am ready."

"Good."

With that, Bane made his way into his room.

Grace was lying on his bed, facing the wall.

She looked like she was asleep.

He edged his way over to her.

"I thought the world of him, you know."

Bane didn't answer.

"He was my big brother. Someone that was always there for me. Someone I could count on."

Bane sat on the edge of the bed, watching the blank look on her face.

"But my brother was never a good person. I'm starting to see that now. I wish I had seen it earlier." Her voice was a mere whisper. "But I never thought he would kill someone. Not until he met you." Her cold eyes met his.

"He made his choice."

"You gave him the knife." She accused.

"He used it."

"You made him kill Jack."

"No loss to Gotham, I am sure."

"I didn't want that and you know it."

"It was not a matter of what you wanted, my dear."

"Of course, as if I would get anything I wanted from you."

"What do you want from me?"

"Sometimes I don't want anything. Not anymore." She sighed dejectedly.

"We will be leaving the sewers soon." He didn't know why he said that.

"We?"

"Yes."

"You're not going to let me go?"

"I don't…let hostages go." He didn't know why he paused in the middle. For a moment, he was about to say something else.

"If you were going to kill me, would you tell me?"

He didn't answer.

Too many thoughts flooded his mind.

"If there ever comes a time when I'm no longer needed. Please do it yourself. I don't want you to pawn me off to one of your followers like a coward."

While he didn't appreciate her comment, he did appreciate her honesty. He was not a coward, but he didn't plan on killing her.

xxx

It was some time later.

They hadn't spoken since she called him a coward.

He watched her twist on her stomach in sleep.

He wanted to sleep too, but the residual adrenalin from earlier hadn't left his body.

Bane grabbed his back brace and headed out to the makeshift gym near the hub.

Several of his followers were in the gym too.

All training and practicing as they should.

What was surprising was when he saw Barsad sparring with Patrick.

Didn't he say he was heading to his post?

Barsad deflected a punch and elbowed Patrick in the ribs.

The man collapsed with a grunt.

"Again."

"Go easy, I'm not made of ribs." Patrick grunted, easing into a fighting position.

"Not good enough. You need to be able to hold your own against someone who wants you dead."

"I know I've just killed a guy, but that's not how I operate. I hack people's computers. I steal their secrets. I don't need to bust someone's shoulder to be useful to the League."

"You have no idea what could happen when the League reveals itself. We all need to be ready."

"You really think some ordinary prick is going to mess with us? We're the League of Shadows." Patrick scoffed.

"You must build humility with your strength, never underestimate an opponent." Barsad advised.

"Wise words, brother." Bane called, startling Patrick.

"Jeez, do you ever make a sound or do you float when my back is turned?"

"Stealth is often more important than strength."

"Yeah, sure. Too much tiptoeing for me. I bet you would all make such pretty ballerinas." Patrick laughed sarcastically.

When he looked around to see if anyone joined in, he just saw a disgruntled looking Barsad.

He turned back to where Bane was, only to see an empty space.

"Wha-"

His legs were swept out from under him and Bane had his arms pinned behind his back before he could comprehend what happened.

"You were saying?" Bane smirked down at Patrick.

"Got it. Stealth and grace are very important."

At the word 'grace', he clocked Barsad at the corner of his eye.

He watched the same tense line appear in his shoulders.

"You need more training. Show him the standard we expect from our recruits." He nodded at O'Brien.

"Uh... Sir, I was teaching Fitzgerald." Barsad frowned.

"You were. I thought we could have a little chat. You informed me of your intention to go to your post."

"I…was for a while, but then I came down here and I saw Patrick struggling to use the weights. I also needed to… burn off some frustrations."

"It's not like you to get frustrated."

"After what happened…" Bane could see his eyes flickering for a second. Bane followed his line of sight to see Patrick practicing his hand to hand combat with O'Brien. "I think we all needed the distraction."

"You've seen initiations before. Taken part in your own one as well." Bane began chalking up his hands. "Why was Patrick's different?"

"I've never had to comfort an hysterical crying woman after one." Barsad pointed out.

"Yes, you were quite the gentleman with Miss Fitzgerald."

"How is she?"

"She is asleep."

"What do you plan to do with her when all hell breaks loose?"

"The future of Miss Fitzgerald is not your concern."

Bane moved into a fighting stance.

Barsad immediately copied him.

Bane struck first, Barsad dodged it and sent a series of jabs at Bane, each one was blocked.

Bane had strength and size, whereas Barsad was quick on his feet.

Some of the men, who were sparring around them, even stopped to watch the showdown.

Bane sent a particularly brutal kick towards Barsad, causing Barsad to double over with a grunt.

Barsad, to his credit, recovered quickly and returned the favour with a swift punch to Bane's knee.

Bane didn't react other than to attack Barsad with more ferocity.

Bane normally would hold back when fighting Barsad. The man was smaller in stature and better suited as a sharpshooter, but Bane didn't hold back today.

Another swift punch was sent towards Barsad's face.

He dodged it, but Bane knew he would and stuck his leg towards Barsad's chest.

Barsad was thrust back with a loud 'oof'.

Even some men in the crowd hissed as Barsad landed on his back with a hard thud.

"Dude." O'Brien whistled.

"Is he okay?" Patrick whispered.

"Yeah, Bars has dealt with worse."

"I wasn't asking about Barsad." Patrick muttered.

Bane swiftly turned to both men who quickly pretended to go back to sparring.

Bane turned back to see Romesh and Dimitri helping Barsad sit up.

"Do you think anything's broken?" Romesh asked a wheezing Barsad.

"It-It's get-" he couched, "getting hard to br-breathe."

Bane had never seen Barsad like this before.

"I think you may have a broken rib." Romesh pressed against Barsad's side.

Barsad clenched his fist in pain, but didn't let out a sound like other men would.

"Oh my God." He heard a quiet voice behind him.

"Grace!" Patrick called out. He was too distracted to block the punch O'Brien sent his way. Now he had two members on the floor. "I'm okay!" Patrick called out.

Grace wasn't watching him though.

Her eyes were on Barsad.

Her steely gaze shifted to Bane.

"What on earth is wrong with you?" She sounded disgusted with Bane. He didn't respond. Everyone in the room looked uncomfortable. "You are built like a tank. You could've killed him."

She tried to make her way to Barsad when Bane saw red.

He grabbed her arm and didn't even flinch when she tried to slap him.

Her wrist was in his grip before she could hit him.

"Let go of me." She snarled.

"How did you get out of our room?"

"You forgot to lock your door."

Did he?

She wrenched her wrist free and made her way over to Barsad.

"Are you okay?" She knelt down beside him.

Grace was making him look like a fool.

All eyes were on him to see how he would react.

"It's looks worse than it actually is." Barsad's eyes were cast away from Grace.

"Don't try and sound brave. I've done first aid training and I've seen stuff like this at the school yard."

"This isn't some high school fight, Grace." Barsad made to stand.

Both Grace and Romesh helped him stand.

"Do you have somewhere to examine him?" She asked.

"Yes, the medic office." Romesh started to turn with a visibly pained Barsad.

"I'll come with you." Grace made to leave when a strong arm wrapped around her waist and lifted her off the ground.

"Bane, put me down or I am going to make your life as miserable as you've made mine!" She yelled as he carried her out of the area.

"You are more than welcome to try." Bane carried a struggling Grace. She kicked her legs and tried to pull on his arm.

They passed by other members of the league. Most cast their eyes away from the spectacle Grace was making of herself.

Others shook their heads in disgust with her behaviour.

Once they were behind a locked door, he slammed her against it.

"I have no idea what has happened to you, miss Fitzgerald, but this tantrum stops now."

"This isn't a tantrum. This is me calmly letting you know that I am done being your little doll."

"You are not my doll."

"What am I then, your teddy bear?" Her eyes shifted up to his tattered bear sitting above his filing cabinet.

"You should sleep."

"What I need is some fresh air." Tears misted her eyes.

"We don-"

"I know!" She screamed in his face. "We don't always get what we want." She sneered as tears leaked from her eyes. "How would you feel if you were locked away from the sun for weeks on end?"

"I know the feeling well." He spoke quietly.

"You are full of shit." She scoffed. "You wouldn't know what it's like to be locked away through no fault of your own. For the mistake of someone else."

But he did know.

He was sentenced to life in prison in place of his father. A man he had never met.

"You would do well not to assume anything about my life."

"I could've left you know. I could have run away, told the police, talked to Vicky fucking Vale about you. But I didn't."

"And why is that?"

"Because I saw you trying to kill Barsad."

"And that bothered you?"

"He's my friend."

"He is nothing to you."

"Someone sounds jealous. Did you wish it was you I ran to instead?"

With that, Bane stepped back. She didn't get a chance to let out another snarky comment when he unlocked the door and left.

"Make sure you lock the door!" She shouted through the barrier.

He did as she suggested, almost breaking the key in the process.