Secret Six #14. Scandal is trying to explain to Bane why she said they needed the Bane who broke the Bat. They need the master strategist Bane was back then, the guy who wore the Bat down while observing and learning about him, the one who steadily took control of all organized crime in Gotham. She says she knows the Venom just makes him a monster, but that's what they needed, a Bane not encumbered with the concern he has for Scandal. So she took the Venom herself. Then that were-creature thing showed up, she tried to kill it while screaming at Bane to get lost, and so on. I'm confused as to what she was going for her.
1st possibility: She took the Venom to make herself into the monster she described. That'd be an admission that she cares for Bane, in some way similar to how he cares for her. Except there's her mention of the need for tactical genuis, and she said she knows the Venom doesn't help there.
2nd possibility: She hopes the Venom will make her act so horribly it will destroy the bond between her and Bane. That would go along with what she said a page earlier, when she tells Bane she feels the prison is inside each of them, destroying what holds them together. Bane doesn't buy into that, but Scandal does, and she might think Bane was just lying to keep her spirits up, which I can see him doing. If so, she might think that whatever the Venom would unleash in her is sufficient to finish the job. That Bane would no longer feel the same protectiveness to her he had been, and that would clear his mind, letting the brilliance shine through again.
3rd possibility: She had realized that there was no time to get Bane's mind straight, so they weren't going to be able to handle things in a clever manner. In which case, brute force would have to win the day, and since Bane refuses to take Venom, leaves her.
I think the 2nd is the most likely, and it might have worked. Not immediately, as Bane refused to abandon her against the Grendel thing (for all the good he did), and he didn't devise some brilliant scheme that enabled their escape. However, afterwards, Bane assessed how the team has done since he joined, found them wanting, and seized command. Not only that, but he said Jeanette agreed with the move, which means he must have been discussing it with her some time prior to their boarding the helicopter. He was solidifying his base before he made his move. Then he benched Scandal, and has since added Black Alice to the group. Black Alice does seem commited to the cause, and she's certainly more powerful and versatile than Scandal, so from those standpoints, it should bolster the team. Plus, Scandal's likely addicted to Venom now, and has less experience dealing with that than Bane, so she's unrealiable.
The fact Bane made that call in spite of Scandal's protests might suggest that her scheme worked. Bane is seeing clearly now, and making moves in the best interests of the group, regardless of personal feelings. Of course, one could also interpret his benching of Scandal asa protective gesture. Keep her out of the fight so she won't have an excuse to take Venom, or be put in more danger. It's a parental gesture, grounding the child, or keeping her out of some activity she wants to participate in over her objections. I'm inclined to think Scandal went for the second option, only it didn't work. Bonds aren't broken as easily as that, at least not when you're dealing with Bane.
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