Chapter 1

"Okay Melissa you're up. Your cast is good and strong now, so I want you to focus on your kickover today."

I watched Melissa cross the mat to work on the uneven parallel bars. It was 3:45 on a cold, gray Friday afternoon at the Gotham Y. Since my graduation from Gotham University I had been coaching the girls' gymnastics team from Gotham Central School three days a week, something I regretfully would be giving up come Monday when I started my new job. I still couldn't believe I landed the position. Arkham freaking Asylum! I would be a first year resident working with some of the most dangerous criminal lunatics the city had to offer. I had just gotten the news the previous day and I was so excited I could burst!

"Hey Harleen!" I plastered a smile on my face and turned to greet the familiar voice.

"Hey Dick, how's it hanging? And will ya please call me Harley, everyone does."

Standing there, looking yummy as always was Dick Grayson, boy billionaire and one of the most amazing gymnasts I had ever met. He was a fellow coach for the boys' gymnastics team of Gotham Academy.

"Hang on a sec Dick." I shouted across the mat "Nice front handspring Denise, great improvement over last week!" I turned back to give "pretty boy" my attention.

"So Harley, I hear you're leaving us?" He asked with a slight frown fixed on his extremely handsome face.

Most of the women at the gym fawned over Dick with his cerulean blue eyes, chiseled features and perfect ass. Although I could appreciate a nice looking fella with the best of them I myself was more a brains over brawn type of girl and Dick always struck me as being a little obtuse. We had a few classes at GU together but he dropped out after a couple of semesters, right around the time I was starting pre-med. I suppose when you're adopted by a famous billionaire you don't really have to worry about your career path too much.

"Yeah I am, but I'll hopefully we'll still run into each other on weekends." I replied brightly.

"Arkham, huh?" he ran a hand through his thick black hair, "What in the world made you apply there? I mean, it's full of the most violent criminals Gotham has ever produced. Aren't you scared?"

"A little I guess." I replied with a half-hearted shrug "But mostly I'm just psyched! No pun intended." He chuckled as I continued, "Dick, I didn't go into Psychology to spend my days writing prescriptions for everyday depression and anxiety patients. Not that I couldn't do good work pursuing a private practice, but it's just. So. BORING!" I sighed, "I need something more exciting to keep me interested and I've just always been drawn to extreme personalities. Which, come to think of it, is probably why I haven't felt the urge to date for a while. Extreme personalities, great for the career but for the love life….not so much."

He laughed out loud at that.

"Well, I wish you the best of luck, Harley. It will be a lot less interesting around here without you."

He held out his hand and I reciprocated, noticing as we shook how rough his hands were. It wasn't what I expected from a billionaire, even one that was a gymnast.

"Please though, just be careful. We're all going to be worried about you working in that place." I released his hand

"Of course I will Dick. Anyway, they won't throw me to the wolves right away. It's pretty typical to deal with the non-violent patients for a while before you start getting any of the juicy cases. I imagine it'll be quite some time before I see any real action. Take care of yourself, Dick."

"You too Harley. You too."

I turned back to my class, "Okay girls, lookin' good! Let's pack it in and call it a night!"

By the time I left the gym it was twilight and a steady drizzle had started to fall. I had forgotten my umbrella so I slung my gym bag over my shoulder, burst out of the front doors and sprinted to the parking lot. As I began the drive from Gotham's West Side to my apartment in the Bowery I let my mind drift and tried imagining what Arkham would be like. I must have really zoned out too because before I knew it I was passing Monolith Square. Of course the only reason I noticed I was passing Monolith Square was because of the swarm of cops.

I had no idea what the heck was going on but whatever it was, it was big! It looked like the entire Gotham police force was surrounding the square and the SWAT team was there in full body armor. I didn't get much more of a look before I was detoured by a panicked looking traffic cop. 'I guess I better switch on the news when I get home,' I thought to myself.

I was about ten minutes from my apartment when I noticed a van coming up behind me fast and driving erratically. I figured whoever it was had to be drunk and I suddenly felt my fight or flight response kick in. Before I could even try to turn or pull over the van swerved to overtake me, sideswiping my car and taking my side mirror along with them. Shaken, I pulled over and shut off the engine then attempted to open my door to assess the damage when I noticed another car coming just as fast if not faster than the van. I slammed the door shut just in time as a big black car blew past me. I launched a stream of curses out the window at the jerk when it hit me. That was not just any big, black car. That was the flippin' Batmobile! Holy crap! I almost got run over by the Batman!

Once my shock wore off I got out of the car and groaned when I saw how bad the damage was. It was drivable at least but now my already sad vehicle was just pathetic. The door wouldn't shut all the way, the mirror was completely gone, the moldings were partially torn off and dragging on the ground and the paint job was fucked. I didn't have collision insurance, my student loans dictated that I remain on a very tight budget so I knew there was no way it was getting fixed anytime soon. Knowing the cops were tied up back at Monolith Square and being that I hadn't been able to make out the license plate of the van I figured trying to get a police report was just a waste of time. I sighed, yanked the door back open and slumped into the driver's seat. As I pulled away I heard a sickly scraping sound that got worse as I accelerated. Boy I was really gonna make a great impression on my first day at Arkham.

I finally made it home and realized quickly that there was no point at all in locking the car since I couldn't fully close my door, and since the Bowery was one of the worst neighborhoods in Gotham I silently said goodbye to my shitty stereo. I turned, walked into the building and climbed the three flights of stairs to my floor. One of my neighbor's cats wound itself around my legs and I gently pushed it away with one foot. Once I got into my apartment and kicked off my sneakers I realized that the only thing I wanted at that moment was a nice hot bath. I was still wearing my gym clothes and between the workout and the stress I wasn't smelling particularly fresh. Plus, my muscles had begun to tense up and ache from the accident.

I sat in the bath until the water went tepid and my fingers got pruny. The adrenaline from earlier had finally worn off leaving me utterly exhausted. My drooping eyelids and fatigued muscles convinced me to forget watching the news and just get to bed. I'd check the paper in the morning. I was dead to the world before my head hit the pillow.