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10 years he had stood by his brother’s side, silent and obedient. Willing to do anything that was asked of him, asking nothing in return. He waited as he watched Talia run both of them into the ground with her madness. He waited as he tended to Bane’s broken body while taking care of his own wounds while they waited for the extraction team to find them. But this he would not endure.
It began several weeks after he’d dragged Bane, unconscious and bleeding, back to the sewers. Both of them were delirious from blood loss but somehow he stitched them up well enough to avoid bleeding out. Bane hadn’t spoken a word, choosing to respond in grunts, if he responded at all. Barsad took it with as much grace as he had with everything else because he knew Bane felt the weight of the mission’s failure. The news of Talia’s death had only made things worse and Bane stopped responding altogether. He didn’t eat, sleep, or drink; he simply paced the small space silently like a caged animal. It broke his heart to see Bane reduced to a shadow lurking in the corners. He’d always been in love with the man; knowing his life would be entwined with Bane’s.
But this was unbearable; watching the man that he would gladly give his life for, just allow himself to waste away. It was after yet another unsuccessful attempt to coax Bane into drinking something that Barsad’s patience snapped. He began shouting at Bane, shifting from English to Russian as his fury finally reached its boiling point. Bane merely looked at him. His eyes empty and unseeing. Barsad’s anguish only seemed to grow at this lack of response. It went on for what felt like ages and when he finally had gone hoarse, his anger slipping from him, he just stared back at Bane.
"I have loved you from the very first day and I have given you my life. Do not forsake me." Bane made no response, didn’t even move, so Barsad sighed, nodded and retreated to his cot. He did not cry, not because he had no reason but because Bane’s obvious indifference had stunned him so thoroughly that he could not shed a single tear. Bane did not love him. It was simple as that and yet he could not bring himself to hate the man as he should for letting him believe that they could be anything but a soldier and his commander.
Barsad hadn’t realized that he’d fallen asleep until he was startled awake by thick arms turning him gently to face Bane. His panic was momentary as Bane spoke, his voice was so low and raspy that it heart Barsad to hear it. “Forgive me.” It was only two words but it felt like a mountain had moved inside of the sniper and suddenly the tears that refused to come fell from his eyes freely. Bane continued, broad fingers wiping at the tear stains. “You are and have always been my greatest treasure. I have treated you unfairly and for that I will forever be sorry. I love you more than I thought possible. I cannot be the man you deserve or possibly even need but if you would allow me one more chance-“
"Yes." Without another word Barsad kissed Bane with all the love and passion he had for the man. Bane melted into the kiss almost immediately and pulled the other man into a bruising embrace. Each man pressed into the other desperately trying to get closer, impossibility be damned. This wasn’t enough but it was a start. And Barsad was a patient man after all.