The Bane of Our Existence [The Dark Knight Rises]

13: What Lies Beneath

They did not take twelve hours to complete the task and return to the cavernous base underneath the streets of Gotham. Basard guided her to the back room even though she knew her way there as well as anyone, and part of her wondered if he was going to report to Bane what she had done, worrying about the well being of citizens. It didn't matter that she had good inside of her, she wouldn't let it interfere again, but she was trying to find out how it could benefit her. No one in these tunnels and caverns were civil, kind people. She was an anomaly.

Basard knocked on the frame around the entrance, for there was no door, just a dark green curtain.

"Enter," Bane said, his mechanic voice more like a melody than something that could strike fear into the hearts of men. It was when his voice was paired with the visual of him that incited fear.

Basard and Bría entered, and both stood there waiting for further instruction.

"You may leave, Basard," Bane told him.

Basard ducked his head and disappeared behind the curtain. The fabric came to a stop and it was just Bría and Bane in the room then. He was not facing her, but was standing tall with his hands in front of him. Once again, she studied his massive frame, wondering what sort of hell he had to go through to not only survive the damage done to him that caused those scars, but also to become so strong. She knew she would never be as strong as him -physically that was obvious- but mentally as well. She wasn't sure what she could endure, and still stand tall.

She wanted to be strong like him, and he was slowly guiding her. She knew that she had to erase all her past from her mind to become strong, she had to get rid of the good that she had been taught by her mother. It was then that Bría realized she would have to say goodbye to her mother, for she was the anchor that was holding her down.

"You succeeded," Bane mentioned. "And now I am putting my life in your hands. Tell me, Bría, why should I trust you?"

She wished that Bane could read her mind, to feel the thoughts that had just crossed her mind. Then he would know that she was ready to give everything else up to understand his world, to completely understand him.

"You should trust me because you bring out something inside of me that I have only tuned into once before in my life. I've always known there was a darkness inside of me, but I've been so scared of it. That is, until now. I want to understand you, and what you do... So much more than I can put into words," she admitted.

"Would you like to know how I got the mask?"

"Very much so," she told him, her voice quiet.

"I was born into hell, the Pit, they call it," he did not turn to face her as he told his story. "There was another born there, a girl. Her innocence was her only crime, and when it was threatened, I acted. Saving her life was the end of mine, I believed. You see, Bría, I acted upon something inside of me that was good, and it nearly cost me my life.

"In time, the girl's father returned for me, a reward for saving her life. The mask was his gift to me, so that the pain would subside, so that it was bearable. A local anesthetic at first, each passing day I needed more. As I trained in the League of Shadows, I learned to control everything."

Something deep in Bría's mind registered those words, the League of Shadows. Why did it bring the feeling of a memory to her mind hearing that name?

"When I remove this mask, you will see what lies beneath."

"And you need something to ease that pain while the mask is off," Bría realized.

Bane didn't move, he did not even nod his head.

Bría got to work, taking a bottle of the heavy dose narcotic, Fentanyl. It would give him a swift relief of pain, but in high doses it was lethal. She was rusty, not having practised any life saving methods in many, many years, but it came back to her naturally. The pill form would not work for Bane, it had be to be changed into a liquid and then injected straight into the blood stream. She poured a few pills into a bowl, and began to crush the pills. They quickly became a powder, and then she grabbed a lighter from the table. Adding a small amount of water, she began to heat the bowl, watching as the crushed pills and water became a perfect dosage of pain relief for Bane.

When she was done, Bría withdrew a fair amount of the liquid Fentanyl. She looked at Bane and asked, "How many years have you had intolerance?"

"Over two decades."

She nodded, then withdrew a bit more into the needle. Lifting up to eye level, she flicked the needle and pushed the plunger so that one bead fell from the point. Ensuring there was no air in the vial and needle, she turned to Bane, satisfied with her work.

"I am trusting you with my life," he reminded her, as he took a seat on the cot.

"As I trust you," she said, "with mine."

This convinced him, and he held out his arm. Bría grabbed the rubber tube from the first aide kit and began tying it around Bane's bicep. The band was hardly long enough to tie, his muscles too large. Finding a vein was all too easy, for her had many protruding from his skin. The needle pressed against his firm skin, and then she pushed it through. Bane did not flinch as she pushed the plunger down, giving him the entire dose. Not only was he very large, but he had a high tolerance to pain relievers.

She withdrew the needle and then untied the tube. Instant relief flooded Bane, for now he had Fentanyl in his system as well as whatever his mask was pumping in. When he exhaled deeply, he paused for only a moment to allow the drugs to really affect him, then he reached his hands up to his mask. He detached it from the back, and then cupped the front with the palm of his hand. Leaning forward, the mask fell off into his hand. He continued to look down, as if ashamed to show Bría what he looked like underneath it.

Finally looking up, he placed the mask on the cot beside him. His face was not what Bría had expected; she had thought it would be so deformed that she would have to look away, like some of the car accidents she had come across in her days as a paramedic. It was clear that the beating he received simply for saving a child in The Pit was brutal; it had damaged his palette and his nose was entirely offset, like someone who had broken theirs too many times. There were deep scars along his chin, ancient but still protruding from his flesh.

He was, beyond it all, quite comely.

Bría glanced at the platter of food that was beside him.

"I'll leave you, then, if my job here is done," she said.

"Stay," he replied, his eyes locked on hers. 

So although Bane's mask coming off is never mentioned in the movie, and since Nolan's version of Bane is different from the comics, I wanted to address it. He has to eat to survive, which means at some point he has to remove the mask. I was reading up on fan theories, and apparently Nolan stated the mask simply delivers anesthetic to curb the pain caused by his beating. Obviously his face was damaged too, but from what we can see of his face it didn't look too deformed aside from the scars. So I really wanted Bane to expose this part of him, this secret, to Bría.