Present

Selina didn't mind prison. She could care less for the crude jeering. She sits in her cell, alone, contemplating her grand escape. Every second she wasted in this sick city, the thinner her lifespan becomes. Despite her face being all over the news she hoped the masked man didn't know she was still here. Thinking of him made her think of Raja, and thinking of Raja made her nauseous.

Deep down she had knew the masked man wouldn't give her back, bringing him the Batman was more for the sake of saving herself. What did he even want with Raja? Of course she's drop dead gorgeous, but he doesn't seem like the type that falls for beauty alone. Whatever he wanted with her, hopefully it's enough to keep her friend alive. Now if she could only find a permanent way to stay out of danger. Selina chuckles to herself, what a dream that would be to be free of such a vicious lifestyle.

"Hey! Hey doll face." Selina hears a prisoner call out to her. She groans internally, gazing at the fugly man in the cell across from her own. She could guess how long he'd been in the slammer based on his sleazing eyes alone- clearly its been a while since he's seen a woman, so she estimated he's been stuck in here for at least three years. His hands clench the iron bars keeping him within his cage, glaring at Selina like she is the meat and he is the carnivore.

"What's up darling." She says coolly, choosing to indulge the man. The man reeled back like something struck him, perhaps surprised she would speak to him at all. She assumes he has self-esteem issues.

"Uh…" she also assumes he is one of those assholes on the street who enjoy catcalling women, but when they turn around and confront him all of a sudden he can't talk.

"Well, what do you want?" she asks plainly, she stands and goes to the cell door.

"Oh, I think I know." She says as she gradually brings a hand closer to her nether regions. The man couldn't look away, 'too easy' she thinks to herself.

"To bad you'll never get the chance to have a taste."

Bane revels in her touch. He almost lost it when she wrapped her legs around his waist. Rubbing his hands along her back and eventually grasping her thighs and urging them wider, he grinds into her, feeling his blood grow warmer when she releases a shaky breath. His love for Maria had always been platonic, but now that she has become Raja all he could think about at the moment is how badly he wanted to kiss her.

However, with the mask in the way, all he could do is breathe in her scent. She's talking to him but he's not really listening though he talks back so she doesn't think he isn't paying attention. He was going to move her further onto the bed, but then she brings up Talia and at that point he stopped everything he was doing. He hadn't spoken to Talia since he came back from the pit. He'd completely forgotten about her, ever since he found out Raja is Maria, and a heavy sense of guilt washes over him. Raja stares at him in confusion as he walks over to her dresser and takes the dagger lying on its surface. He brings it to her, handing her the weapon.

"This belonged to Talia' Al Ghul," He says,

"She is the little girl in your memories. And she is also your sister." She examines the dagger, feeling along its rugged blade.

"I had a sister?"

"You have a sister."

"Where is she?"

"She is here, that is all I can say." Raja frowns at him,

"She's apart of your plan to destroy Gotham." She says this with certainty (and her guess is spot on) but Bane does not entertain the idea.

"Finish cleaning my clothes, dawn is approaching and I have much to do in the morning." He knew she hated when he averted her questions, and found it amusing to see her eyes burn with anger. She sucks her teeth and tosses the dagger on the bed, stomping out the room and slamming the door behind her. He sits back on the bed, snickering to himself. A few moments later she returns, but she doesn't go pass the boundaries of the doorway.

"Why do you want to destroy Gotham?" her expression is deadly serious.

"It is not my desire to destroy Gotham."

"That's a load of bullshit." He glares at her, not liking the demanding tone she has taken nor her persistent probing of his plans. He would care for her, but there is a limit to how much control she could exact over him. He stands, moving towards her and smirks when her countenance becomes very guarded.

"I am merely a liberator."

"As if anyone would believe someone as menacing as you would be a liberator."

"I can be convincing."

"Convince me then." He stares down into her eyes. For once he has no clue what she could be thinking. It's pointless trying to deceive her, because she already knows what kind of man he is. Nonetheless he comes up with something.

"Why do you cling to this city?" her gaze falters,

"…I don't."

"Then why do you care for its well being?" her lips part but no words are said. He smiles, knowing he won this round. She is quite similar to this city's caped vigilante. They both seem to have this crazy notion that Gotham, even with its overdose of flaws, is worth preserving.

"Tell me more about my sister." She mutters, deciding to switch the topic, unfortunately for her he has no desire to indulge her. When Talia emerged from the pit years ago, she left behind a great deal of her innocence. By the time she was sixteen years old whatever speck of light that existed within her had diminished.

She is a true creature of the darkness - just like him.

He prefers Raja keep her perception of Talia as a child. He has a feeling she would not take to the present Talia too well.

"In due time." He tells her.

As Talia Al' Ghul looks into the mirror all she could think of is how despicable she's become. She believed herself to be numb, taught herself to not be attached to anything. But then she had never met Bruce Wayne. She had never met someone so intricate. She had never known anyone who would go to such lengths for a people who don't deserve an ounce of salvation.

And anyone who truly looked into his soul would realize that Bruce Wayne is no more than a mere façade to hide his true persona. He intrigued her. And ever since Bane took him far away a couple of weeks ago she has been feeling terribly ill. Sleeping with him wasn't part of the plan. But she had felt something genuine, something she didn't know she could still feel at all. The last night she saw him, they were cuddled together. He had felt warm and she felt safe and he had whispered to her those heart ripping words- "I love you". She wanted that moment to go on forever.

And then he was gone and reality slammed into her chest.

"Do not forget who he is. What he had done." She mumbles to herself. He is the man that killed her father. That's the only reason she would ever step foot in this forsaken city. Bane thought differently, he still believes in the League of Shadows mission to 'restore balance' in the world. He has yet to know that she didn't care about the league's duty- as much as her father tried to instill his mantra onto her it never took hold.

All she wanted was revenge. Burning down Gotham was simply a ruse to appease the league, but all she ever wanted was for this city's dark hero to suffer. Talia exhales and turns away from the mirror. She can't dwell on this now. She would be meeting Lucius Fox soon. She forces herself away from the glass, grabbing her suit jacket off her bed and slipping it on. As she's slipping on black heels her cell phone begins to ring. She swiftly answers it,

"Yes?"

"The fuel is set." The voice belongs to Barsad, instantly she switches from Miranda Tate's soft attitude to her own rough personality. She also remembers that everything said must be said cryptically, that way if her calls were being traced anyone would assume she is simply a boss scolding her employee.

"And what of the trash, has it been taken care of?"

"Well...No." she feels a rush of anger,

"I thought I said-"

"-I can't take out the trash Ms. Tate-"

"-Why not?" her words are like acid,

"You need to talk to the head manager about that." And he hangs up, not giving her the chance to argue. Talia has the impulse to throw her phone, why would she need to speak to Bane about some bitch he's adopted? Why did she even task him with killing Bane's slut? Talia grabs her purse as she heads out of her small condo.

"If you want something done you have to do it yourself." She mumbles to herself. Bane would be angry with her, but he'd get over it.

Her existence is what gives him purpose, which is why he will always belong to her.

Barsad watches Bane, Raja Hughes, Miranda Tate, Lucius Fox, and one other member of Wayne Enterprise descend from a large lift. Raja stood closest to Bane, while the other three were being handled by league members. As they approached he moved away from the control panel for the energy reactor Bruce Wayne secretly built underneath the city. His superior took his spot, and points to the machine,

"Turn it on." He commands,

"I won't do it." Fox snaps, and his response is met with the eldest of the group being shoved onto the ground and a gun aimed at his head.

"Resistance is futile." Bane says,

"I won't turn it on." Fox retorts, the sound of the gun being cocked rings throughout the area,

"Wait!" Tate yells,

"Lucious they will kill this man. No matter what we do, it won't slow them down." With that said she approaches the control panel first. She lays her palm flat on its surface, allowing the machine to scan it and light green in approval. Lucius, reluctantly, does the same, as well as the other board member. Once the last palm is scanned the machine begins to hum with life.

"Take them back to the surface," Bane says,

"I will allow people of their status to experience the new era of civilization." the three Wayne corps members are taken away, and Doctor Leonid Pavel is brought into the fray. Barsad remembers when they took him six months ago, having to go so far as to fake his death just to keep the feds from searching for him.

After all his a nuclear physicist, and the only one in the world who can turn Wayne's energy reactor into a bomb.

The man is old and terribly frail. Keeping him alive and healthy enough just to perform this one action was a full time job. He has a heart condition that makes him prone to strokes, which doesn't help at all when he's forced to be under constant stress.

"Go on Doctor. Do your work." Barsad's superior says nonchalantly as he takes a seat. Raja stands rather close to him, which he finds odd considering she's supposed to detest him. Despite his boss's horrid treatment of people there are women who found him appealing- whether the attraction lied in Bane's domineering guise or mysterious qualities Barsad could never tell nor did he really care. Raja catches him staring, and smiles impishly. She whispers something to Bane, who in turn glances his way as well. His boss speaks to him in Arabic,

"What did you do with the animal?" Barsad has the impulse to roll his eyes, but he suppresses the desire.

"It awaits her at the new base." he replies in the same language. Raja looks back and forth between them, frowning. Bane is satisfied with his answer, and does not appease Raja's inquiry. She huffs and crosses her arms, like a pouting child.

"There, your reactor is now a four ton nuclear bomb, just as you wanted." Doctor Pavel says to Bane.

"Take the core out of the reactor." Bane says to his soldiers, motioning with his hands as well.

"Wait! You cannot! If you remove it from its case it will decay in a matter of months!" the Doctor pleads,

"Five months, by my calculations."

"Yes, and then it will self detonate!"

"For the sake of your children Doctor, indeed I hope it does."