Disclaimer: I do not own Batman Begins/Dark Knight/ or Dark Knight Rises.

Chapter 1

The League of Shadows, home sweet home. Well maybe not so sweet, but it's the closest to a home I've ever had. Even though I'm the only girl here, not to mention one of the youngest, I still don't receive any special treatment, whatsoever. If anything it's made my training harder. Ra's just wants to test my abilities; we can't have any weak links in the League of Shadows. Being a nineteen year old girl the other members, who know my true identity, mistakenly doubt my abilities. Until they see me in action that is, then they know to never question my position again. Because of my position among the higher ranked I'm always on the more dangerous missions. It doesn't really bother me though; I find the easier, simpler missions a bore. I'm one of the most efficient assassins and fighters Ra's has had in his league, which makes me one of his favorite pupils. Which he has raised me from the age of thirteen and sees me as his daughter, so that might have affected his opinion of me as well.

My previous home was in one of the corrupt cities that needed destroyed so it could rebuild itself into a better place. I was a late bloomer, not yet looking like a young woman, and my mother had liked to keep my hair shorter than most other girls. Having my hair short was a form of protection from the scum who roamed the streets preying on the week, as well as a way to keep me from overheating from the blistering heat of the sun. So Ra's had thought I was a boy at first.

In the vile place that I was, being a helpless child made you a target; as a result, my father gave me a pocketknife to protect myself. I learned to defend myself rather well and that pocketknife became my only friend. At one point traveling beyond the front door was to dangerous for me and my parents pulled me out of school and I began to teach myself with some of the books I snuck out of my father's study. By the time I was twelve I had taught myself three different languages and was brilliant at math. I also made a fierce exercise regimen and trained every morning. I wanted to prepare myself for the day I felt was coming, when that door would no longer protect me from whatever waited on the other side. That day came one day as I was in mid-push-up.

BANG!

Shouting came from our living room. I rushed to my pillow grabbing my pocketknife and peeked around the corner towards the living room. The front door had been broken into and there were three people dressed in all black ransacking our living room. I walked towards them and my father and mother came out or their room and followed me in.

"What are you doing in my home!?" my father shouted at them.

They turned to look at him and got into their fighting stances. My father's fury quickly changed into fright after seeing their cold glares set with determination.

"Wait! Don't kill me! Here," he said pushing me towards them, "spare me and my wife and take my child instead."

I felt betrayed looking back at my father. I realized then that my unemotional detachment from both of my parents made their resentment for me even stronger. They had blamed me for my mother's lack of fertility. The three figures, who from the looks of their broad shoulders and imposing stature were obviously men, looked down at me with brief confusion before quickly composing themselves and snapping my parent's necks. They looked back at me and I guess they presumed that I would be an easy kill and left the smallest one of the three to finish me off. I grasped the pocketknife even tighter.

The man charged at me and I swung my knife up in an arch stabbing him in-between his ribs, hopefully puncturing a lung. I pulled the knife out of his chest with some difficulty and he punched me in the gut. I blocked his next hit with my arm, though now my arm was in excruciating pain, and swung my pocketknife with the other arm and sliced his stomach open. Now having trouble breathing, he swung at me while holding his stomach with the other arm. Barely landing a blow, I remembered something I read in my biology book about the human anatomy, so I swung the palm of my head up into his face and shoved his nose back into his brain. He looked at me as his eyes glazed over and fell face forward.

I heard another noise behind me and spun around only to be faced with another man clad in black. He slammed me into the wall with his hand at my throat. I tried to speak, but my efforts were futile with as much force as he was putting on my neck. His eyes held loathing and surprise, but apparently not enough for him to not bring along my premature death.

Another man came in behind the one who was slowly choking the life out of me and told him to release me. I looked up at the man after I had abruptly fallen to the floor. Even though he had the same uniform as the other men there was an air of authority around him that demanded your respect. His line of sight was slowly gazing from the dead man to me. He looked abnormally calm for me to have just killed someone that was obviously connected to him in some way.

"Well at least you have rid me of the weak," he said with a unique accent.

His response to his comrade's death surprised me and I voiced my confusion.

"Pardon?"

"This was a fairly easy mission, the fact that he was able to be killed by a small child, no matter how new to the League he was, is proof enough that he deserved to die."

I was angered by the way he called me a small child and curious about whether or not he would kill me too.

So I asked, "Are you going to kill me now?"

"Why would I do that when you show such great potential?"

Seeing the obvious confusion on my face he continued.

"My name is Ra's Al Ghul. I am the leader of the League of Shadows and I would like to give you a proposition. You may either join your parents or the League. I suggest you choose wisely."

One look at my dead parents and the unnatural angle of their necks made that decision for me.

Author's note: This is my first fanfiction so it might not be up to par with some of the other Bane/OC stories. Even though I don't think The League of Shadows accepted girls, or at least they didn't before Talia arrived, I hope the reason for Serenity being there is realistic. I know the fact that she was able to kill a member of The League of Shadows when she was a child doesn't seem possible, but by making him a new member he would have had less mental and physical training than most other members which would've made him overconfident and sloppy when faced with an 'easy kill'. Bane will not make an appearance until Chapter 3, so don't hold your breath. I will try to get Chapter 2 up as soon as possible, but I don't have an internet connection at my house. So I'm going to apologize in advance if it takes a little while before I'm able to update.