Chapter Text
I scratched my ear carefully, making sure that I didn't hit the earring in the cartilage. I had it done a week ago, and it still hurt like a motherfuck. Oh wells. Scanning the room, I sip my champagne and look for an exit. No such luck. Then I realise my younger sister is trying to get my attention. With that annoying habit of saying my full name.
"Ophelia Jean Kenway! I am trying to talk to you!" she whines and even stomps her foot. Really?
I nod, "Obviously". Amelia frowns with a familiar expression, not understanding what I just said. I roll my eyes and start to move away. My beloved twin sister pulls off another annoying habit. She flicked me. Right at the spot where I had shaved a small part of my hair. I turned around and was fully prepared to launch into argument mode when she dragged me closer to her and pointed across the lavish ballroom.
"See, that's Bruce Wayne! Isn't he dreamy?" Amelia whispered to me and grinned.
I shrugged, "I guess? He's not really my type…"
Emey looked shocked, mouth open and everything, and said, "How can you say that? It's not like you've talked with him or anything".
I blinked a few times. Had my sister just said something that made sense? I stared at her, trying to see if she was secretly an alien or something. "Yeah I guess…" I trailed off, still staring.
Our aunt Penelope glided over to us. Aunt doesn't walk, run or even mildly jog. She must glide. "Girls, we are new here. We must make a good impression if we want to get a place in Gotham's high society" Aunt looked at us expectantly then began to make discreet shooing motions, "Well, go on. Mingle!" With that, Aunt glided away to probably go yap on some poor bastard's ear.
I sighed and turned to Emey. In a dead serious voice said "Alright, you go court Wayne and get him to marry you. I will continue to court this corner. The one that no one is around" I gestured to a nearby corner. Amelia rolled her eyes and pointed to another man across the room.
"How about him? He looks nice…" she trailed off as the man in question gave us death glares. For no apparent reason.
"Yeah, no" I said, flicking the bird at the weird guy. Discreetly, of course. His forehead had a vein that looked it was about to pop. Amelia did a fish impression and stared at me. It was weird seeing such expressions on a face that was pretty much mine. I punched her shoulder and Aunt glided back over to us. She was looking at Emey but she had a disapproving air to her.
"What are you two doing?" in the same voice that commanded attention in a board room. I stared off in the distance, trying to ignore her as my sister promptly told Aunt everything. Amelia never could resist her. There's a reason why Penelope Kenway was known to some as the Woman Made From Iron. It wasn't business tactics that's for sure. Iron Woman turned her attention to me.
"You did what?" she asked quietly but furiously. Aunt was one of those kinds of people who didn't get loud when angry, she got quiet. Scary quiet.
"I need some fresh air" I said abruptly and walked outside. I nearly tripped over my dress in my stupid high heels. I sat down on a nearby fountain and ripped off the goddamn shoes. Rubbing my feet, I looked around trying to see if anyone else was around. Seeing no one, I swiveled around and dipped my feet in the cool water. The soft material of my long black dress moved in the slight breeze. I shuddered due to my plunging neckline and no back.
"Hello Ms Kenway" a male voice behind me said. I turned around the best. I could while keeping my feet in the water. It was the Weird Guy Who I Flicked The Middle Finger At. Great. I took a quick sip of my champagne.
"Hello" I greeted in response, "You know my name but I don't know you".
Guy chuckled, "You know me well enough to give me the middle finger". The tips of my ears burned. I shrugged and turned away. I heard fabric ripping. I looked back at the man. What the hell was he doing? He had ripped his shirt and slapped himself in the face. The champagne flute was ripped from my hand and smashed on the ground. Guy grabbed my wrists and tried to pull me out of the fountain. I started struggling and hitting his chest. Guy grinned then started yelling.
He was screaming shit like "Get off me" and "Stop hitting me". What the hell was this guy on? The worse thing was, he got the attention that it seemed he was looking for. Soon, guys were pulling us apart and holding me back. What the flying fuck? The Weird Guy started saying that I had attacked him for no reason when he was asking if I was okay. I thrashed against the men holding me. What on earth was going on? I tried to reason with the men and I stopped moving.
"Please let me go. I haven't done anything…." I pleaded. Soon the police came. Who called the fucking police? An officer took down Weird Guy's statement and another took down mine after the men had let me go. I told him what happened, starting from the party to where they found me. Most of the party guests had moved outside. Guess the police are more interesting. I saw Emey standing next to that Bruce Wayne guy. Next to her was Aunt Penelope, looking disappointed. I moved my eyes away, focusing on my accuser. He was glaring at my sister and Wayne. Especially Wayne.
"Alright Mr Elliot. You can go, we may want to talk to you further later on" said the officer.
The glare vanished as quickly as it had been seen. "Actually, it's Doctor Elliot" said Doctor Elliot smugly. The cop apologised but Doctor Elliot just thanked him for stopping me or something along those lines. Who the hell was this guy? The cops seemed to be bending over backwards to make sure he got what he wanted. And it appeared that what he really wanted was me in the back of the police car. In the getting arrested way. Not the porno way. God no. Well I hope he doesn't want that. These cops might give it to him. Anyway, the officer who took my statement led me to the car. He advised me to watch my head while gently pushing me in after handcuffing me. His partner got in after an ear bashing from the Woman Made From Iron Who Probably Wishes She Wasn't Related To Me. Looking out the window, Amelia was yakking to Wayne while hanging on his arm. Either protesting my innocence or condemning me, and also mentioning that we were incredibly close looking cousins or something. Whatever she was saying, Bruce Wayne didn't seem too interested in it. He was sort of glaring at me but not really, more like seriously contemplating something.
Maybe he thought I didn't do anything. Well, he could think or judge or whatever all he wanted. He couldn't help me now. As we drove anyway, I realised the worst part. I was being taken to a police station, probably charged with assault, my legs were really cold and I had no shoes on.
******
"Ms Ophelia Kenway" said an older man with hair that was more white than grey. "I am Police Commissioner James Gordon. How are you feeling?" He asked laying a manila folder on the grey metal table. I was taken to an interview room after arriving at that station. I had been about an hour before I got to see anyone. They gave me some old shoes for me to wear. It wasn't too bad but they felt weird and uncomfortable.
"Alright considering" I shrugged.
The Commissioner stared at me before saying "Considering…?" with a roll of his wrist, indicating I should continue.
"Considering I'm being accused of attacking some guy I had barely talked to. Look, I'm not crazy or anything. I don't go around attacking random people!" I said, my voice rising slightly in distress.
"Well it says here in your juvenile record-" began Gordon as I cut him off.
"My juvie record? That's supposed to be sealed! Wait, why would the Police Commissioner be interested in an assault case?" I asked.
Gordon sighed, "Ms Kenway, you have been alleged of assaulting Dr Thomas Elliot". He put emphasis on the name and acted as if I should know who it was.
"Should I mention that my family and I are new to Gotham so we don't really know anyone yet?" I revealed.
He nodded and told me, "Well, the Elliots are like the Waynes as the families have been in Gotham a long time. Dr Elliot is also a well-respected surgeon who works at the Arkham Asylum, an asylum for the criminally insane".
Gordon looked through my file while I stayed silent. I was going to get out of this mess? Once I was prompted by the Commissioner, I told him my entire story. He left soon after. As he did, I felt a sinking feeling. Was I actually gonna make it out of this shit or will I have to spend time in prison or something? What would happen to me if I wasn't released and had to go to prison? I shuddered.
*****
My hearing for bail went terribly. The lazy court appointed lawyer barely knew what was happening. I had a wonderful visit from my aunt beforehand to tell me that I wouldn't be getting good legal representation. Apparently my daft mother wanted me to go to jail and had refused paying for a lawyer. Probably sick of having to pay for a lawyer as pretty much had one on retainer as a kid.
Anyway, the prosecutor said I was a danger to society. Me? A danger to society? I'm too cute to be a danger to anything, much less an entire society. Honestly. In the end, my goddamn lawyer said that I was "mentally unstable". The worst thing was that the judge agreed.
I was to be reprimanded to the Arkham Asylum without bail until my trial started in two weeks. Needless to say I was shocked. The amazing, fabulous Dr Elliot gave me a small, hidden smile from across the courtroom. He had something to do with this. Didn't the Commissioner say he worked at that asylum? Well…
Before the court cops grabbed me I shouted "Wait!" Chatter in the court that was previously rampaging, silenced. I licked my lips, thinking of how to word my oncoming sentence. Always think on your feet hun as my Dad used to say. "Isn't dangerous for me to live in the same place of that as the man I am accused of assaulting works? He could possibly make me change my story or something…" The judge looked unconvinced as I trailed off. Before he spoke, probably to call me stupid, I jumped in with, "Wouldn't it be classified as a conflict of interest?"
Chapter Text
Did you know that there's a crocodile person at Arkham Asylum? Or crazy psycho clowns? I saw both as I was led to my cell. After a fair amount of walking, I was shoved into a small room with a man scribbling on the floor. The man looked up angrily as I stepped inside. He had orangy red hair and green eyes. His face turned into a sneer as he looked me up and down. He wore the same ugly orange jumpsuit as me.
One of the guards said, "Oi Riddler! You got yourself a roommate!" And laughed as he closed the door and walked off. Asshole.
The tips of my ears burned from embarrassment, "Um, hi" I said meekly. The man simply snorted and turned around, returning to his scribbling. I sighed. This was going to be hard. I walked over to the double bunk bed. "So, which one is yours?" I asked politely.
"Both of them" he answered simply, continuing to write. My arms flopped to the sides. Really?
"Alright. Then which do you sleep on?" I questioned.
He stopped writing and looked at me like a child, "As I said, both" talking to me slowly. I stared at him. Was he serious?
I pointed to the bottom bunk. "I'll take this one" and sat down on it. The man rolled his eyes and returned to his writing, what looked like a bunch of short sentences. This guy was seriously uptight. Time to act the way I do around the uptight. Annoying the hell outta them. "What's your name?" I asked randomly after about 10 or so minutes.
He sighed angrily and threw his pencil on the floor. "You insist on this don't you?" He said, sounding pretty pissed. Good.
"Insist on what?" I asked, sounding really innocent.
"Asking me stupid and unnecessary questions! You know my name. The guard just said it" the man fumed.
"Oh yeah! What was it again? Diddler? Fiddler? Piddler?" I mused.
"Riddler!" He screamed in frustration.
I made a noise of disbelief. "You sure?" I really think it was one of the others…" I said.
If looks could fucking murder me, then Riddler's would be holding the largest and most dangerous pointy thing in existence. After glaring at me for a bit, he returned to what I presumed was his riddles although, although I think I saw a grocery list or two in there.
Someone started clapping. The slow, sarcastic clap that is usually followed with a witty remark of some kind. A tall, wiry man in the cell across with an amused look on his face.
"Well done dear. First day and you've already pissed off one of the smartest men here" he remarked, not as witty as the clapping promised but he seemed pretty damn happy.
Riddler straightened up and turned to the other guy. "One of the smartest? I am the smartest!" Riddler proudly declared. The other guy just rolled his eyes. Riddler didn't look too happy at his declaration being dissed.
I, being as graceful as a walrus in an underwater minefield, waved as said "Hi". Other guy appeared almost shocked at manner being used in front of him.
Other guy appeared almost shocked at manners being used in front of him. He returned my hello and said, "I am Jonathan Crane. I also go by Scarecrow".
I nodded, "Cool, cool". I looked around, not sure what to do next. An alarm sounded. Jonathan and Riddler both stood away from the glass. Guards began to come around and escort people from their cells.
"Just do what I do" whispered Riddler as two guards opened the cell. We were both handcuffed and led out a kind of cafeteria style eating area. Our handcuffs were unlocked. "This is new" muttered Riddler.
A guard shoved us into a pile of plastic trays. "Move it" he barked.
Riddler and I quickly picked up a tray and got in line. We were soon joined by Jonathan. "Is this where we get our lunch money stolen?" I whispered as we were given some hideous mac and cheese, suspicious jelly and a juice box. Grape, apple and mango. The choices were endless. "What is going on?" I asked.
Riddler and Jonathan shared a look and both shrugged. We sat down at a table with me sitting next to Jonathan and across from Riddler. As I inspected the mac and cheese, a woman sat down next to Riddler. She had short hair and cool green eyes.
"Selina" nodded Riddler politely.
Selina nodded back. "So, who's this?" Selina asked looking me over.
Beside me Jonathan tried the jelly and coughed it back out. "Don't. Eat. The. Jelly" he sputtered out as I half-heartedly tapped him in the back. I also used the non-pointy end of my plastic crappy fork to sorta manoeuvre my jelly away from me. Jonathan watched me and did the same. Riddler just looked at us and rolled his eyes. He then began a deep and intense conversation with Selina about something to do with security systems or something. More people were led into the cafeteria and soon the place looked like it was pretty full. There were clown people, an ice guy in a fancy techy suit and some disgruntled seriously short people just to change things up a bit.
A man walked out onto a nearby podium set up in the back of the cafeteria but it was still centre enough for everyone to see. "Ahem" he said and he got everyone's attention. Those who didn't give their attention were then 'encouraged' to look. "Patients of Arkham Asylum, you have been put into our care because you pose a significant threat to society. However, here we give you all plenty of opportunities to prove that you have been cured of your respective mental illnesses. That is why, in three weeks from today, those whose behaviour is acceptable will be given a chance to demonstrate this fact to our staff. Today however after you eat, some of you will go to a park to pick up litter".
There was a collective groan. The man glared at us. How dare us mere mortals moan at the rich and rewarding prospect of trash picking. "In other news," said the man after he cleared his throat, "Dr Elliot will not be seeing any patients due to him being on service leave for two weeks" pointedly looking directly at me. I shifted slightly. The man, who declared himself to Warden Sharpe, rattled off some more news and stuff. He soon left after this amazing speech.
Selina walked up to me, "I don't believe we've been properly introduced. I'm Selina Kyle. You may know me as Catwoman. You are?" she asked as we were led out of the cafeteria.
"Oh shit sorry, I'm Ophelia Kenway" I said. Her eyes widened. We were handcuffed and led onto a bus. I was released and forced down next to the clown lady. Selina and Riddler sat behind us. Jonathan and what looked like a burn victim on one side of his face. The bus jostled us as it flared to life.
"So," Selina leaned over, "Kenway huh? Isn't that one of the old families of Gotham? As in, old money?" This perked everyone's interest.
I gave a small unenthusiastic laugh. "Old money. Right. Look what good it's done me" I muttered. "I wasn't open to that side of the family. I don't know if we have money or not" I said a bit louder.
"Hmm, what side of the family were you open to?" asked Jonathan leaning forward, causing his square frame glasses to fall towards me slightly.
I shrugged, "The usual stuff I guess". Jonathan was about to ask another question when a man from the front of the bus began to talk. Grateful for the interruption, I listened carefully.
The guard gave a whole speech about the right way to use the pointy sticks to actually pick up litter and not stab each other with. Another guard made a joke about how he wished that we would stab and kill each other so he'd have "less maggots to deal with". Arseface.
Once the lead guard finished his speech and sat back down, I think one of the guards called him Aaron or Cash or something, the questions began again. After the umpteenth time I had been asked about my family's financial status by Selina, I turned around and asked her "What does it matter if my family has money or not?"
Selina didn't even blink. "You're the new girl and we don't know much about you, sweetheart. 'Sides, we need something to gossip about when things get real boring" she smirked. "So how 'bout it? Is there any money in the Kenway coffers?" she leaned in real close.
"Probably not. My sister likes to spend" I shrugged again, looking at the front of the bus. I did not like talking about my family.
The girl next to me looked me over then began to talk to Selina about something, I don't really know what. The girl spoke with a really heavy Brooklyn accent and was talking in nearly a whisper. We spent the rest of the trip in silence. Riddler had somehow smuggled some paper and a writing implement onto the bus. I could tell because he used the back of my seat as his desk. Jonathan and the burn guy talked quietly in front. I took the time to look around at my fellow inmates/patients.
There was a guy wearing a black skull mask sitting next to a seriously short, pudgy man wearing a monocle and had some really weird hands. Neither of them looked like they really wanted to sit together.
Behind them there was an older man sitting next to a slender much younger man. He must have been about my age. The older man had an eyepatch and was looking out the window, as cool as a cucumber. The younger guy however was in a much worse place. He had bags underneath his eyes, which were looking around wildly like he was a wild animal looking for escape. He seemed to hunch over and was really sweaty. His bloodshot eyes caught mine and he made a strangled noise and looked away quickly. No one else seemed to notice.
Well except the massive man two seats behind Eyepatch and Probable Anxiety. The man wore a mask similar to those Mexican wrestlers wore. It reminded me of some of the posters I had seen around my local bodega when I went for groceries and stuff. There were these tubes that were implanted into his back, arms and neck. He was chained to bus with heavy chains but I had the feeling that if he wanted to, he could break free. He seemed to be assessing me as we both stared at each other.
Then I did the most dorkiest thing I could do in the situation. I gave a weak, barely there smile and a small wave.
I had caught him by surprise and off guard, I could tell. Then he smiled and waved back.
The bus came to a stop and I turned to the front, feeling like much less of a dork.
Chapter Text
We were released from our cuffs in pairs and then trampled off the bus. The park we were to clean up, with our amazing pointy sticks, was Robinson Park. It was quite a beautiful place, especially in a city like Gotham. Grandma would love this park. We were handcuffed again, back into pairs which were different from before. I was with Jonathan, Riddler with the girl who I was sitting next to earlier, I think her name was Harley. Selina was with the monocle guy who turned out to be every short, which she didn't seem too happy about. The burn guy in front of me was paired with the older, eyepatch guy. The Mexican wrestler was by himself in the same heavy chains as before. The last pair to be chained together was the Black Skull Mask and the Probable Anxiety Sufferer.
The Black Skull Mask guy turned to his forced partner. "Don't I know you? And your father?" he asked. He had a really gravelly voice.
"That's Black Mask. The other man is Alberto Falcone. He's the heir of the Falcone crime family. Black Mask's mob is in direct competition with the crime family" whispered Jonathan. I nodded in reply.
Alberto Falcone made a strangled squeal. "I can't be partnered with this man" he started shouting. Falcone shouted and shrieked more objections but stopped when he pointed directly at me. "Her! I want her to be my partner!" He yelled. Oh. Dear. God.
I just wanted to be left alone. To fly under the radar. Crap. The more I thought about it, the less than impressed I felt about Alberto Falcone. I had just been standing there minding my own business and actually looking forward to having someone to talk to during this boring activity. But no, Al needed to be with someone he didn't consider threatening. I wish I had my Uncle Edward here. Or even Uncle Nate. Grandpa would have been good too.
We were handcuffed together and each pair were given an area, a bag for rubbish and one stabby stick each. Since I was pretty pissed at Falcone, I stabbed rubbish like I was my worst enemy and said little. I would like to think I freaked him out a bit. Then my conscience made a glorious return. I stabbed an empty chip packet and sighed. I tried to look Falcone in the eye but he was more interested in weakly stabbing trash. Sighing again, I took a quick look around the park.
The rubbish picking was taking place in a beautiful clearing with trees surrounding us from all sides except the way we came. Before us there was a massive rock formation which had a little waterfall nestled between some of the rocks high up on top. Standing on top of one of these rocks was a tall man, dressed in all black with two little points on top of his head and a long flowing cape. Next to him, but not on the rocks, were three other figures. From left to right they seemed to be getting smaller. The last one was about the size of a child. These must be the Batman and Robin I've heard so much about. You didn't have to be in Gotham long to hear about the Dark Knight and the Boy Wonder. I guessed that they were the tallest and smallest figures, I just couldn't figure out who the other two were. People from the Justice League maybe? Batman was hella serious and just standing there while the other figures including Robin seemed to be arguing or talking. I couldn't tell which due to the distance there was between us. Although I was able to identify that one was blonde haired girl and another was another girl, with what might've been dark hair.
I looked around for the other 'patients'. Riddler looked pissed off and was holding back the urge to start screaming at her, from the looks of it. Harley didn't seem to notice this and if she did, she didn't care. She must've talked shit about the codename he picked out for himself. He must've picked, I doubt anyone would give him that name. However, Jonathan had noticed his discomfort and found it immensely interesting. I wonder if those two were dating. I'll have to ask Selina, she'd probably know. She probably knows most of the secrets around here.
I felt a tugging on my arm. I looked over at Al, "Why the fuck do you want to go over there?" The 'there' in question was a particularly dense area of trees and bushes.
Al had the decency to blush, "I need to go to the bathroom".
"Oh. Right" I responded lamely and let him drag me into the greenery. After about 5 minutes of walking, Al found a suitable tree and ordered me to stand guard. Rolling my eyes, I agreed.
I felt sorry for the guy. Right till the moment he tried to bash my head in. I was sitting on a nearby rock and poking the dirt with my pointy stick. Hearing noises, the rustling of bushes and male voices I stood up and moved closer to the tree. I was about to call out Al's name when a new noise filled the air. Metal scraping on metal. I couldn't figure it out until I saw one half of the long chain connecting mine and Al's handcuffs fell to the ground, along with a single cuff.
What the hell was going on? Then it clicked. Prison break. Al must've got some of his mob buddies to bust him out. That'll teach me to be mean to the creepy, slightly crazy mob guy. Al must've remembered me because he and a bunch of heavy set guys appeared from behind the tree, glaring at me. Shit. "Ummmm, err" I mumbled as I took a few steps backward. Suddenly, large arms tightened around my waist, pinning my arms to my sides and forcing my right hand to drop the pointy rubbish picker. "What the fu-" I began to shout before one of the men's arms moved and placed a large hand on my mouth. I started to struggle and tried to scream past my attacker's hand. Why, oh why the fuck hadn't I been nice to the fucking mob guy?
Al came towards me and picked up a large rock. I kicked my feet out, hoping to make contact with his ridiculously flat stomach. No such luck. The goon standing next to Al grabbed my legs before they could hit his boss. Shit. Shit. Shit.
The last thing I saw before black was Al's arms raised, about to use that bloody rock. Shit.
Chapter Text
"Fucking hell Jonny! You tryna help or finish the job?" I shouted as Jonathan pressed antiseptic coated cloth to my bleeding head wound. Jonathan raised one of his eyebrows and released the painful cloth from my head.
"Jonny?" he asked, smiling slightly.
I pouted, "It was either that or Jon Jon". Jonathan shook his head smiling, and replaced the cloth on my head with a new one. I hissed in pain.
Cash came over and gave me a visual once over. "Crane, you're with Kenway. Make sure she doesn't do something stupid again" he ordered. Jonny nodded in response. Once Cash left I rolled my eyes. Jerk. Cash was probably one of the nicest guards though. Which was saying something. Maybe nicest was the wrong word. Fairest, probably.
"Ophelia?"
"What?" Shit, Jon was talking while I zoned out. He sighed and gave a small smile, "Long story short, you're fine but your head will hurt for a while".
"Thanks" I smiled as I rubbed my wrist. They had removed my handcuff soon after they found me apparently. Jonathan nodded and began to pack up the meagre first aid kit he had been given. I looked around. Turns out I was right, Batman did show up. He was currently conversing with Cash. A pouty little boy was next to him, whom I assumed to be Robin. The other two figures were in the area where I had been bashed over the head with a rock. Hope they find Falcone. Bastard. My head stung.
"What the hell Jonathan?" I muttered as I looked over. It wasn't Jonathan. "Oh god. What are you doing here?" I said, with my arms crossed over my chest.
"Attending to your head wound. What does it look like?" Elliot responded smugly. It looked like a douchebag being a douche.
I rolled my eyes and stared at the waterfall, ignoring Doctor Douchebag. "Being ignored by the great Ophelia Kenway. Whatever will I do?" Elliot questioned while putting more solution on my head.
"No idea. Do your job maybe and stop acting like a dick" I muttered quietly.
"What did you just call me?" asked Elliot.
Perhaps not that quietly. Time to leave. I shrugged. "A wonderful person" I grumped, standing up. Before I could walk away, the doctor with the world's greatest bedside manner grabbed my arm.
"What did you call me?" he repeated once more, looking really pissed. For every second I refused to answer and stared at him in the eyes, he put more pressure on my arm.
It was getting really painful when Cash called out, "Pair up! We're leaving!"
Elliot reluctantly released my arm and slowly walked off.
Jonathan must've seen some kind of look on my face because he asked, "You alright? Besides the cut?"
I nodded slowly then looked at him and smiled, "Yeah, I'm fine".
*****
The bus ride was uneventful. The guards enforced a 'no-talking' rule. I guess they didn't want more people planning another break out. Once we reached the asylum, there was a welcome home present of sorts. Group therapy. Now that's something to make me want to break out. We kept pretty much the same group except the older eyepatch was taken to maximum security. High security risk apparently. We were taken to the cafeteria area and 'encouraged' to sit on chairs way too small for a normal sized person. Penguin flourished whereas the rest of us failed, especially Bane. He just stood. The chairs were set up in a semi-circle with a normal sized chair and a small table in front. We had been waiting about 5 minutes before our psychologist walked in. More like stumbled though.
"Hi everyone! How are we all?" she asked, setting her papers down. She received a wave of groans and mumbles in response. "So, all of you just came back from the park I understand?" The psychologist asked without turning around, ferreting around for something. More grumbles. "Alrighty. Ah, found them" she held up multiple manilla folders and turned to face us. Must be the Asylum's files on us. Most were somewhat large in width, but some were pretty thin. The psychologist herself was thin, with caramel coloured skin, similar to a cappuccino. She had wild dark brown, almost black, hair which she was able to tie into a low ponytail. Generally dishevelled, is what I would describe her as. I also noted she didn't actually introduce herself. "So, shall we begin? Everyone say one thing about themselves" she pointed at Bane. "Please start" she said and Bane nodded. Bane cleared his throat and the psychologist, who still hadn't bothered to introduce herself, looked attentive. Bane then launched into a speech, spoken fully in Spanish. Anyone else in the room who didn't know Spanish was just sitting there, bored as all hell. I knew a bit, so I was able to follow along some. Bane's voice was deep, masculine and sounded a bit like a blender full of rocks or the voice of a box a day cigar smoker. The psychologist nodded and wrote notes. Then she responded. Perfectly. In Spanish and everything. This place was full of surprises.
Some guards moved into the room. One spoke to the psychologist and soon I was being moved out of the room. Instead or going to my cell, I was escorted to an office. The door opened and the world's greatest doctor scowled directly in my face.
"What is she doing here? She wasn't scheduled in until tomorrow" Elliot grumped to the guard escorting me.
The guard shrugged and mumbled something about orders. Elliot sighed and rolled his eyes. Things were really awkward as the guard released me and Elliot pointed me in the direction of the chair. I half sat/half fell into the chair while Elliot closed the door and moved gracefully behind his desk.
"How's your head?" asked Elliot, pulling out medical equipment from a drawer and setting it out on his desk.
I shrugged, "Fine. Stinging a bit I guess".
"Mmh" was the only response given, He picked up a pair of funny tweezers. Elliot pulled up another chair next to me, sat down and started examining my cut, pulling off my band-aid with the tweezers. I sighed. The sooner this was over and done with, sooner I could may be get some sleep. "The Commissioner told me that you never met me before you attacked me, but we both know that's not true, isn't it. He also mentioned that you claimed that you and your family were new to Gotham, however your family is one of the oldest families in Gotham. He realised that soon after your meeting with him. He mentioned that he would be setting up another meeting soon" Elliot mumbled quietly as he inspected my cut and wiped it down with an antiseptic wipe.
"I don't know what you mean. You attacked me remember? You walked out, we chatted and you started acting all weird, ripping your shirt and grabbing me" I responded angrily, crossing my arms and looking ahead of me, and away from Elliot. I ignored the remark about my family. Everyone will figure it out sometime.
Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw his brow furrow. "I don't remember any of that", Elliot was silent for a few moments, "But I do remember growing up with you, for a few years at least" he said as he placed a new bandage over my cut. "There. Its waterproof. Should be fine in the shower" Elliot said as he placed the tweezers and the bottle of antiseptic onto the desk and removed a pair of rubber gloves that I hadn't noticed him putting on.
I shrugged. I seemed to be doing that a lot lately. "It's easier to say I've never been here before than to say I grew up here" I mumbled.
Before Elliot could make any kind of comment, the guard from outside stepped in the doorway. "Doctor Elliot, we have to umm… go" he said and made a gesture in the other direction.
Elliot cleared his throat and nodded, "Yes. Let's…". He then got up and walked through the door, holding my forearm.
Elliot then escorted me to the shower block. He was right, we had known each other as kids, Bruce Wayne as well. Apparently our parents were all friends and that's how we all met. Me and Amelia were some 4 to 5 years younger at the time so I don't think we had much in common.
The shower block itself was old, full of various kinds of mould and smelt terrible. Like a tuna sandwich that I had once left out in the sun as a science experiment. Not good overall. Elliot left quickly and I was forced to strip. A quick visual inspection of me was done and I hopped into a small and cramped cubicle. The water was frigid at first but son became lukewarm. I looked around and saw the same group that I was with the entire day and three guards that I could see. I was ripped out of my thoughts by a loud catcall coming from one of the guards. Heat surged through my body, especially my face, due to embarrassment and mainly anger. I ignored him. Not rocking the boat and such. I really didn't want to get in trouble. I must not have given those assholes the response they wanted, because they continued with their calls and comments.
"Hey guys, what the hell?" said a different guard, one who must've just walked in. He was cute, young, close to my age. Dark hair, light blue eyes, nice cheekbones and looked pretty fit. Seemed kind of familiar, like I had seen him at a party but at which event would I see a mental asylum security guard? Anyway, he was one of the few guards who wasn't hassling me and seemed to really dislike and possibly take offense to it. Maybe he had younger sisters or something.
"Pfft, just having some fun Jack. What's the big deal?" said one of the guards who were doing the catcalling.
"She's just a girl in a shower and you're three larger guys. You're freaking her out, quit it" Jack responded, folding his arms in front of him.
The guy Jack was talking to was about to respond to this interruption of his 'fun' when another guard put his hand on the firs guard's shoulder and muttered something about it not bein worth it. The group left soon after. I finished my wash and used a nearby towel to dry myself. The towel was old, maybe it came with the original building, and had definitely seen better days. Dressing quickly I became very aware of the fact that my face and at the very least my ears, were burning red due to how embarasing that had been. And everyone had seen it!
Thankfully, Selina and Jonathan finished their washes soon after mine. I waited for them near the exit and the guard Jack. I tried not to stare and make things more awkward, but I did notice that Selina had a great body and that Jonathan was much skinnier than the majority of other 'patients'. It's funny, some women would kill to have his body for themselves.
I walked with the others, once they were dressed of course, in hopeful silence, not wanting to talk about what had just happened. No such luck as Selina asked a question, but not the one I was expecting.
"What happened to your back?"
A wave of anxiety hit me. They noticed that? Of course, they noticed a lot. "Nothing. My back is fine" I told her quickly. She opened her mouth to say more but we had reached her cell and she was being pushed in by a grumpy guard. I wished her a quick goodnight and in return got a goodnight with a look attached that promised that we would continue our 'talk' at a later time. Wonderful, something to look forward to tomorrow.
In contrast, Jonathan asked no questions and settled on observing me until we were pushed into our cell and locked in. "Lights out in 10" the guard told us, then walked off.
I flopped onto my hard bed, moved under the covers and wished Jon "'Night". I received a mumble in return. It was difficult to sleep once the lights went out. Noises could be heard from everywhere, including screams, distant and close, from other patients. Unsurprisingly Jon slept fine with no problems. I turned constantly until finally falling asleep, with the last thing on my mind being how I would lie to my new 'friends' about the terrible scars on my back.

Vanilla Tigger (Guest) on Chapter 2 Thu 06 Feb 2014 06:54AM UTC
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Makin_It_Wayne on Chapter 2 Tue 30 Sep 2014 04:59AM UTC
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Volpetrickster (Guest) on Chapter 2 Tue 30 Sep 2014 02:03AM UTC
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Makin_It_Wayne on Chapter 2 Tue 30 Sep 2014 04:59AM UTC
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LexxxLou on Chapter 4 Wed 06 Apr 2016 04:36PM UTC
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