In This We Found the Darkness

When Simone was 15 years old she had gotten arrested for stealing chemicals from her school. She wasn't big into chemistry. She just liked the reactions she got when she mixed the right chemicals. Unfortunately being a 15 year old street rat left her no place to go so she allowed herself to get caught. It was a plus on her end because she was out of the cold and stuck in a warm interrogation room. That was the first time she had captured the attention of a certain terrorist organization.

She had turned 16 just after her release and had went back to old habits. Though she was more cautious she found herself in trouble yet again after creating a very small bomb on accident. Or so she claimed. She was sitting in an interrogation room again, wearing a black long sleeve shirt and a pair of blue double lined jeans. Her black and white converse shoes were old and falling apart. She was bouncing her leg up and down and chewing on her finger nails as she waited for a detective to come in and talk to her.

When the door opened she expected to deal with the same female detective as before but it wasn't a girl. Her eyes landed on the man and she instantly felt her stomach drop. The man looked relatively young, somewhere in his 20’s. He had short dark brown hair that was lifted up in the front just a little. His blue eyes immediately met her and she pulled her hand away from her mouth. She sat up and watched as the man seated himself across from her. He was wearing a plain black shirt that seemed just a little loose on him. Even with his wide forehead, Simone declared him as the hottest detective ever. There was also something familiar about him but she couldn't place it.

“Simone Vares.” His voice carried an accent of some sort.

That made Simone press her back into the chair and look closer at the man. When he leaned forward into the light she got the right view of his face. She recognized him! He was the man that caught her hiding a gun in an alley behind a dumpster. Even though he could have called the cops on her he just smiled at her and gave her advice as to where to hide a gun. It was hard to see all of him but when he turned and a light from the building shined she caught a good look at him.

“You're that guy from the alley.” She commented.

The man smiled at her. “I am. I am also the man with your file.” He held up the manilla folder and opened it. “You like to build things, don't you?” He asked.

Simone looked the man in the eye. “I don't know what you mean.”

The man held his smile as though he was impressed with her reaction. “I'm talking about the bomb.”

She raised her eyebrows and shrugged her shoulders. “Bomb? I don't understand. Why would I build a bomb? I'm trying to become a FBI agent, I already started looking at the colleges.”

“When you were 13 you built a knife in the sole of your shoes. You were caught with it and got expelled from school for a year. Then at 15 you were caught stealing chemicals and now you found yourself caught again because you made a bomb.”

The man continued reading her information. “Child services think your with some rich people and they think you're with child services. It looks like your parents died in a house fire. Your father tried to kill the whole family but only you survived.”

Simone kept a sad confused look on her face. She knew what he was talking about but she learned very well how to adopt on the streets. She became a good actor. A grifter if you pleased.

“I don't-”

“Simone, let's cut the bullshit. Before you continue your very good act, I think you should know something.” He leaned his arms on the table and leaned forward. “I am not a cop or a detective. There is a reason why you are here and it's not because you got caught.” He began to explain.

Simone's light and sweet facade turned into her hard bitch self. She put on her resting bitch face and stared him down. She wasn't that gullible. So she crossed her arms over her chest and waited for him to continue.

“As a matter of fact, I've been watching you for a while now.” He continued.

Simone raised her eyebrows. “Uh-oh stalker alert.”

The grinned again at her retorts. “My name is Barsad and I'm here to offer you a job you can't refuse.”

Simone scanned the man with her eyes. “Really?” She asked.

And he was right. As soon as Simone found out she would have a shelter and be able to actually the things she wanted to make she was ecstatic. If she remembered what Christmas felt like, at the time, she probably would have agreed that Christmas came early. Barsad escorted her on a few planes where she then met Bane and thus became the second female to ever join the League of Shadows.

The sound of running water was the first thing Simone heard when being pulled from her sleep. She opened her eyes and saw Bane looking down at her. She let out a gasp and sat up, completely blindsided by her company. It had been a while since she woken up with someone in the same bed as her. It certainly had never been Bane either so his appearance in her bed made her confused.

Bane wasn't completely in her bed. He was sitting on the side, looking down at her with his brown eyes. His mask made his breathing noticeable. Simone was surprised him walking up to her didn't wake her up.

“You must have been tired.” Bane commented.

Simone nodded her head very gently because her eye was killing her. “Yes I did, thank you.” She answered politely.

“After you put ice on your eye I want you to come see me. We have things to discuss like your debt and how you will pay it off.” Bane kept looking at her as he spoke.

He pushed off the bed and let out a quiet groan in pain. Simone felt sympathetic towards the masked giant. She couldn't imagine feeling so much all the time. Just her black eye was driving her crazy but for Bane, his pain was way worse. She could tell. Sometimes it sounded like his breathing became labored even with the mask on. It was a sound that managed to haunt her. The mask may have kept the pain at bay but it was still constant and she gave Bane the utmost respect for dealing with it.

Simone noticed the small bowl of ice with a white face cloth hanging in it and gave her head a nod. Bane reached up and held onto the sides of his vest that he was wearing. She remembered Bane always held onto his vest or the chest area of his jackets. She never knew why and never bothered asking. She just observed as she was sitting up in her bed. His brown eyes stayed on her face and she wondered what he was thinking.

“Don't let this happen again. You're more useful alive then you are dead.” Bane commented before leaving her alone.

As soon as he was out of her sight she let go of a breath she didn't know she was holding. Despite her history with Bane she knew he wouldn't hesitate snapping her like a twig. He definitely had the strength to do it with all the muscle he had. The man had such big arms and hands it was scary just to be around him sometimes.

But as she did many years ago, she took his words of advice and did as she was told. She placed ice on the face cloth and gently held it over her aching eye. The sound of running water was all she had to keep her company and she accepted that. Then another sound came in. It sounded like power tools up by the ceiling. She already knew what they were doing. Installing explosives both above and underground. She would know, it was her idea.

Her alone time didn't last long because Barsad came by with a pile of clothes in his hands. They weren't clothes from Simone's apartment, they were the clothes she wore when she was in the League of Shadows. She honestly never expected to see them again.
Especially the red scarf. It was the same scarf that Barsad had wrapped around his neck.

Her clothes weren't like the rest of the mercenaries. They were picked out by Talia Al Ghul when she first accepted Simone into the League with Bane. Instead of a bunch of heavy army clothes Talia picked out lighter clothes for her. She had dark brown cargo pants with a matching belt, a dark grey long sleeve shirt that went under her small black bullet proof vest (it didn't cover much but she was thankful to have the armour), a brown motorcycle style leather jacket, and a pair of matching combat boots.

“Enough ice for now. Get dressed so we can go see Bane.” Barsad spoke with his usual accent.

Simone put her ice and rag back in the bowl and turned to the ! mercenary. He showed no signs of leaving and Simone was content with it. She would rather it be Barsad watching her change clothes than any other mercenary. He may have been a terrorist but he never would have tried taking advantage of her.

She turned her back and lifted her black long sleeve off first and then dropped her pants. After changing into clean black undergarments, she put on her cargo pants and belt. The whole time she could feel Barsad's gaze practically burning into her skin. As much as she wanted to peak over her shoulder she decided against it and went on to tying the red scarf around her waist as she used to wear it.

“It's not right. Here, I'll help.” Barsad stepped right behind her and began fixing the red scarf.

The closeness of his body caused the little hairs on the back of her neck stand up. Or maybe it was his hot breath on her bare back. Either way it gave her the chills and the two of them fell into an awkward silence. She didn't like him being able to see her burn scar but she loved feeling his eyes on her. She loved it more when she felt his warm fingertips press into her lower back.

“The scar on your back looks good. Better than I remember.”

Simone felt a sudden warmth flood in her gut. “I was afraid it would have never healed.”

“You’ve always healed gracefully.” Barsad removed his fingertips from her back and went back to tying the knot in the scarf. “All done, now finish getting dressed.”

Simone quickly put on her hair grey long sleeve shirt and coat before tying up her combat boots. When she turned around Barsad was still staring at her with those cold blue eyes of his. Those eyes dragged down her body before returning to her face. Neither of them spoke. They didn't have to. So Barsad turned on his feet and and began heading to Bane’s little rest area.

As they passed tunnels Simone came to a clearing where she could see little waterfalls. From far back she could see all metal ladders and the way they had formed the sewers into. Everything was connected. They went up a few flights of stairs and rounded a corner where Bane was clearly waiting for them. Bane's eyes landed on Simone before turning to Barsad. Like always Barsad dug in his pocket, pulled something out and handed it to Bane. It looked like a little transmitter of some sort.

“Seem familiar?” Bane asked in his strange mechanical voice.

He was talking about her last invention. When she had became an official member in the League of Shadows Bane wanted to test her skills in explosives. She showed him all the artistic ways she could make simple things so dangerous. Like a can of soda or a remote to a car, and then came her latest idea. It was what she called a reverse transaction bomb. It was like every other explosive weapon but it had been reversed. The bomb itself was the detonator. Who ever pushed the button had 30 seconds to run before they became pink mist.

While it was a great idea it was also the biggest mistake she had ever made.

“Yeah that's the last one I ever made.” She grabbed the detonator from Bane and opened it.

Then frowned when she realized it was like the last one she made but it wasn't the one she made. Whoever made this one didn't know what they were doing. There were wires crossed all wrong and whatever chemicals were in it. . . They definitely didn't smell like the right ones. Either that or they were way too old and had lost their flare.

“Or not.” She looked up at Bane.

“We’ve tried recreating your interesting little invention and somehow can't get it right.” Bane reached forward and held his massive hand over Simone's shoulder. “You will be given supplies, I expect you to make three bombs like this. But they need to work. I trust that even after 7 years you still haven't lost your touch.” Bane retracted his hand and went to holding his vest.

She turned and looked at Barsad who didn't even offer her a glance. She let out a sigh and went back to looking Bane in his dark eyes. “I'll make a list of what I need. When will you need them by?” She asked.

“Tomorrow.” Bane answered.

“Tomorrow? Bane that's a lot of work.” Simone argued.

“You have a lot of debt that is due. I expect nothing but the best.” Bane reminded her.

Simone felt her frustration cloud her brain and she had the urge to stomp her feet like a little child. But it was Bane's orders, or possibly Talia’s. Either way, they were above her and she was to do what they said. That, and she didn't have the guts to the giant in front of her. She pitied whoever did because Bane knew how to break people. He did it well. When he broke Simone he reshaped her and turned her into something stronger and because of that the two shared a bond.

“Paper and pen?” She asked Barsad.

Barsad dug in his jacket pocket and pulled out a small notepad with a little pen attached to it. She instantly began writing down the list of supplies she needed. When she finished she handed it back to Barsad who was still quiet. He held up the notepad and spoke only two words.

“No problem.”

While Barsad helped obtain the supplies Bane allowed Simone to have some personal items like her toothbrush and her hair brush. It was all in a black duffle bag. Simone was brushing her teeth Bane came up from behind her. She heard his footsteps and spit out the remaining toothpaste and water. Before she could even turn around Bane placed his big palm over the back of her neck. Simone's body froze and she held in her breath. Just one squeeze and he would crush her neck. Her body trembled and she felt her heart pound.

“I do hope Simone, this is the last time you run.”

Simone didn't speak at all she remained silent and stared at the wall and sink In front of her. She slowly nodded her head and waited for Bane to release her neck. He wasn't squeezing it but just having his palm over it was enough to make any man piss himself.

“Make the weapons and after that I will train you again. Barsad says you are off and you need a touch up.” Bane released her.

She turned around to face Bane. “I'm not off. Just a little rusty.” Simone argued.

“Barsad says you need it and I believe him. I trust the one who stayed over the one who ran away like a coward.” Bane replied.

Simone kept eye contact with Bane and stepped in the space between them. She had to tilt her head up since she was only at chest level with him. They both kept quiet but Bane's breathing could be heard loud and clear.

“Tomorrow then. I'll have the detonators ready and I'll prove the both of you wrong.” She challenged.

Bane raised his eyebrows as if impressed but didn't say anything to prove it. Instead he just stood there holding his vest.

“I look forward to it.” He replied before turning around and walking away.

Simone ran right beside Bane. “Wait! My guns. Where are they?” She asked.

Bane looked down at her.

“I'm entitled to them Bane.” She pointed out.

“You will get your weapons when I feel you deserve them.” Bane answered and proceeded to walk away from her.

She tightened her ponytail and walked back to her spot. Training with Bane was going to kill her. She was out of practice whether she wanted to admit it or not. She didn't fight and go on missions constantly like before. She didn't have to. Now she was regretting it.
Now she was going to get her ass kicked again because her mouth just wrote a check that her ass couldn't cash.

“Fuck me.” She whispered to herself.