Willow's POV
The evening was cold but I did not care. My housemates had gone out for the night leaving me alone. The apartment I live in was a five bed in midtown Gotham with the stunning view of Arkham Island, my bedroom had the best view of the Madhouse. Even though my room was the largest of the five bedrooms my flatmates refused to have the room because of the view.
My long raven hair was fanning out across the single bed that was in the corner of the room as I lay looking up at the ceiling waiting for my next job. My hair stood out against the blood red bed sheets. The safe under my bed lay open and its contents were spread out across the red carpet. My "work" laptop was sat open on the pillow of my bed decoding the message I had just that second received. I sat up on my bed my hands running across the cotton sheets. I sighed thinking about the assignment that was due to be given back to me; my night-time antics had given me little time for college work. My "work uniform" lay on the bed next to my laptop in a neatly folded pile of black leather. I picked up the smooth pile and strolled across the floor, dodging paperwork, bags and my boots that had originally been in the safe, to the screen that I changed behind every day. I pulled my black t-shirt over my head and threw it into the washing basket, followed by my black jeans, which left me standing there in my underwear. I buttoned up the sleeveless white blouse and slipped the skirt over my legs and tucked the blouse in at my waist, my black floaty skirt reached just above my knees and fluttered every time I moved.
My laptop buzzed and a video call came through with a voice that could only belong to the Riddler.
"Willow I need a word..." he demanded.
"If you don't want a job done, then get lost Eddie." I spat back grabbing the laptop off my bed.
"Why do you talk to me like this, Willow?" He continued in the same demanding tone.
"Simple, I have a job to do. So if you want to chat you pay for it." I replied with equal anger.
I did not need to be broken out of Arkham, Willow." The Riddler exclaimed.
"I don't care I did my job, and stop calling me Willow my name is Tiger!" I yelled in anger dropping my laptop back onto the bed.
"Willow..." he started "Get lost Nigma! Unless you need me to break somebody out of jail then I'm not listening." I growled cutting him off followed by a death glare.
"Turn to the news quick, you won't be happy."
My hands fumbled around the oak bedside table looking for my LG TV remote. My hands gripped onto the smooth, shiny plastic and pointed it at the flat screen. I pressed the power button and the TV buzzed into life.
"Killer croc has just been arrested by the Batman after escaping from Arkham three nights ago. Killer croc disappeared from the asylum on Tuesday night. The cannibalistic murderer puzzled doctors when he escaped as he got out of his cell without forcing the door open. The Batman and the GCPD believe that he had help escaping and will do so again. The GCPD is still on the lookout for The Riddler who escaped last night. Now onto the weather."
Anger rose up in my chest. After all the effort it took me to get into his solitary confinement cells, he winds up back at the Madhouse. I wanted to scream but before I could The Riddler spoke.
"That guy was a waste of your time Willow."
I turned to face the screen my eyes filled with anger.
"I SAID GET LOST NIGMA." I yelled not caring if anybody heard I ended the call and punched the wall in rage. God, I hated the Riddler. The constant riddles and questions. A message came through from him, more accurately a riddle.
"Riddle me this, which days apart from Tuesday and Thursday have a T at the beginning?"
I stared at the screen for a moment before replying:
"Today and Tomorrow."
I could almost see him chuckling as he read my reply, beside Croc The Riddler was the only person who knew my real identity; not even Harley Quinn knew that her cousin was Tiger the wanted jailbreaker. I barely had time to pull my leggings on before a second call came through. I answered it and was greeted by a heart wrenching laugh. Joker.
"Harley, five grand on the table. Tonight." Joker stated in his usual confusing yet perky tone.
"Deal. Tiger out." I replied as he ended the call. There was no point negotiating with the Joker as they would often end with you dead. I stood with a smile on my face. I now have a job to do, and an excuse to be out late. I shoved the laptop back into my safe and locked it with the key which hung on a chain around my neck when not in use then pushed it back under my bed hidden from view behind the fake panel. I pulled my leather boots over my feet, the supple leather cushioned my feet and was moulded perfectly for my slender stance. My black leather jacket hung over the back of my desk chair. It was nothing special just something I had been given when I left high school by my best friend, she went on to join the Penguin's ranks and I had not heard from her since. My makeup box lay open on my dressing table the shades of lipstick barely differed from each other but the rainbow of eye-shadows mingled among the red lipsticks. My mascara, eyeliner pen, foundation, powder and brushed lay in the open draw. I sat down on the wooden stool that had a pillow stapled to it and sighed. The night was going to be long. I applied the pale foundation onto my pale skin then the mascara. My hand reached under the dressing table and pulled out a second makeup box; this box was not filled with the wide array of colours the main one was but one black eye shadow, the brush to apply the eye shadow and one black lipstick. The black eye shadow made my blue irises stand out and give me a soul piercing gaze; however the lipstick was the only colour Tiger would wear. Finally I finished with thick black eyeliner.
I ran the brush through my raven black hair as I tied it into a semi-high ponytail. The evening had finished turning to night when I descended through the hidden hatch that was in my en suit under the bathroom rug. As the hatched closed all I had to do was pull a cord and the rug returned to its original position. It was not a coincidence that I lived in this apartment with its secret hatches and corridors that only I knew about. I was the owner of the apartments but it was all under a different name and bank account. My real apartment was in the basement and was the perfect hide out for a jail breaker. Even though the stairs on the floor above said basement they lead down to the real basement that was next to my hideout. The room was about five by six meters, about the same as my bedroom excluding my en suit. The room was filled with my tools of my trade. The CCTV camera in the apartment block entrance hall was recorded on the computer on the desk in the corner of the room. In the far corner of the room her black Harley Davidson rested against the wall with the customize helmet with white tiger stripes painted on it lying on the small table in front of my bike. Thick heavy fabric lined the walls to muffle echoes that would bounce off the concrete walls. I strolled over to the bike and stretched my arms above my head. My black leather belt lay over the bike's seat, each pouch contained a handful of tools; the same tools in each one. Hair grips and safety pins were easy and cheap to buy so they often get thrown away after one use; however my specially designed lock picking set cost me ten thousand dollars to have custom made for Arkham Asylum's cell doors whilst the set for Black gate cost me five thousand plus another two thousand for an electronic lock by passer. I spent three years picking locks with hair grips and safety pins until I saved up enough cash to buy a lock picking kit.
My "work" phone beeped as a call came through. I looked at my phone lying on the table next to my helmet the caller ID belonged to the Riddler. I wanted to scream but I automatically answered the call.
"Hold for a second Eddie." I said immediately as I connected my Bluetooth headset to my phone, I slight beep signalled completion. I pulled the modified headset onto my head and readjusted the microphone.
"What do you want Nigma?" I asked in a disapproving voice.
"You're going after him aren't you?" he sighed.
"Asks the one with all the answers. Well, yes and no. The Joker asked me to get Quinn out. So I may as well get Croc as well." I replied with a slight laugh as I fixed the belt around my waist, letting it hang loosely over my hips.
"And they say I'm mad. Just be careful Tiger."
"Thanks for being a friend Eddie, and I will be careful." I replied with a smile as I pulled my helmet over my head and attach the phone to my belt, hanging up in the process. I lifted the tinted visor so I could see clearly then strolled to the large steel door leading to the sewers. I pulled open the metal door with all my might even though it was on runners. The back draught from the sewers made me wrinkle my nose in disgust, just like it did every time I left my hideout. I pushed my bike into the sewers then turned around to pick up a black canvas rucksack painted with diamonds. I skipped out and closed the door behind me; setting off the air freshener just as the door was ajar then closed it firmly hearing the click as it locked automatically.
The purr of the engine calmed my nervous just as it did every time I got ready for a job. My hands gripped the handlebars making the top half of my body lie on the petrol tank, but also giving me an aerodynamic posture. The bike pulled forward roaring like a tiger, the noise echoing through the sewers. I pulled down my visor as the speed increased. The sewers were originally Killer Croc's territory but after I had a run in to him seven years ago, after the Blackgate riots and the first appearance of the Joker, when I was sixteen, I was able to bargain to have free passage in the sewers between my hideout and the sewer's overflow pipe that I used to get out of the sewers.
The night air was cold, just like my room was, but it did not matter I was working that is all that mattered to me. The ride to Arkham was steady and uneventful just like it had been every other time I had gone to the mad house; but something in the air did not feel right. I shrugged off any bad feelings I had and continued on my mind set on getting Quinn and Croc out of there. Arkham loomed up ahead, I pulled over not wanting to get too close as security had increases since the Joker's escape last week. The bike came to a halt behind a large bush, hiding it from the Arkham Asylum's search lights. The ground was soft from the rain that had fallen only hours before, it squelched under my feet as I walked down to the Asylum through the woods until I reached a metal fence topped with barbed wire. I sighed walking along the fence until I reached a large tear in the chain-link fence. I shook my head in amusement, for all the extra security the security was really relaxed. I ducked through he tear into the Asylum, I wanted to laugh there was not a guard in sight. I skulked through the grounds of Arkham until I reached a sewer hatch.
"Perfect" I whispered to myself as I descended the ladder into the sewers. I wanted to vomit the sewers on Arkham Island were worse than Gotham's sewers, it was almost as if they were rotting away with sewage.
I trudged through the stinking pipes avoiding the sludge, feeling glad that I was wearing my boots. I could hear the yelling of the inmates echoing through the tunnel but I could also hear the high pitched laughter of Harley Quinn. I reached a drain cover where the laughter was the loudest before it died around five minutes ago, the cover was just out of my reach no matter how much I stretched.
"For God's sake." I almost yelled in anger, but just managed to whisper it. I pulled out a ball of nylon rope from my pocket and stretched it tightly across the diameter of the pipe. I balanced on the rope giving me an extra thirty centimeters of extra height, making it easy for me to lift the cover. The lights flickered off just as I had lifted the cover so I was hidden from the view of the prisoners and the guards. I dragged my small body onto the paneled floor, hoping it was not about to be electrified. As I sat up I looked around unable to see anything. My hands found the button on the rim of my helmet and it activated the night vision on my helmet. The inmates had all retired to their beds except one, Harley Quinn. Harley was sat on the floor by her cell door waiting for me.
"Quinn." I whispered to her as I walked across from the drain. "I'm here to get you out of here."
"Did Mr. J send you?" Quinn asked in return as she stood up gripping the cell bars tightly.
"Yes, The Joker sent me to get you out." I replied as I unrolled my lock picking kit. The cold, thin metal tools slipped into the lock and with two minutes there was a satisfying click from the lock; the cell door swung open. Harley smiled as she stepped out of the cell and flung her arms around me.
"Quinn… You're squishing me… and we haven't got time for this." I coughed pushing Quinn away. I flung the rucksack at Quinn who caught in with her right hand. "You know the drill Quinn."
Quinn nodded and fumbled with the bedsheets and she pulled two pillows and a blond wig from my rucksack before she threw it back at me. After a few minutes she was ready to leave; I beckoned her towards the pipe but she just shook her head and skipped off in the other direction that was when I noticed the other inmates were all awake. Something was not right.
"Harley what is going on?" I asked in a stern whisper. Harley stopped and looked at me with a smile beaming across her face.
"Mister J didn't tell you. Mister J's homecoming party is tonight and the bat's the guest of honour. I'll make sure you're on the list, kid."
"Don't call me kid." I said as I lifted the visor on my helmet revealing my bright blue eyes that were almost identical to Quinn's eyes. Harley grabbed onto my wrist and dragged me through the corridors.
"Quinn, get off. You're hu..." I tried to say before Harley slipped her hand under my helmet and covered my mouth and pulled me into the shadows out of the sight of two psychiatrists. They walked past us without noticing anything. We waited for the corridor to clear completly before moving on towards the prioner storage. Each step echoed through the halls as we ran; Harley hand still gripped my wrist so tightly it had started going numb.
Two guards stood either side of the large door watching the corridor carefully.
"How are you going to get in there?" I asked with a slight frustration.
Croc's POV Her scent drifted into my nose; her perfume masked the freshness of her natural scent. I knew she had not come for me; the monster she had broken out of here three nights only for him to be re-arrested. I could smell somebody else's scent mingling with hers; this scent belonged to her cousin. Harley Quinn.
Hi Starlight999 here, after a guest review i realised I had forgotten Willow was wearing a helmet so I edited the part where Harley covers Willow's mouth.