Welcome to chapter one of Spade. This is my first Batman story and nothing belongs to me except the doctors and Raven. Hope you like it!
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It was a gloomy, cold morning in Gotham City. A light snow drifted from above and collected on the ground. A girl in her twenties strode down the sidewalk, braving the cold to get to work. Her name was Raven McKane and, unfortunately for her, she had a job at Arkham Asylum as a filer and deliverer, meaning that she would take files with occupant information, file them under the correct name and then take other papers and deliver them to the councilers and doctors, sometimes while they were in a session. This made her feel uneasy at first but, she got used to the unblinking glares of the one in counciling.
The asylum loomed in front of her as Raven made her way up the steps to the front door. She opened the door and stepped inside, nodding to a few of the other workers in greeting.She went to her office and hung her black trenchcoat on the back of her chair and then went next door to freshen up her coffee. Every now and then, when she had some time to herself, Raven would wander through the asylum's halls and see what some of its occupants were up to. Most of the time they were screaming in their cells or plotting a way to break out. On this particular morning, while Raven was delivering something to another filer, Raven came across the asylum's newest occupant, he was actually just returned to the asylum after busting out. They were bringing him inside and dragging him by the collar of his lime green jacket to a new cell. He kept trying to get away but the grip the two security guards had on him was not effected by the writhing of his wiry frame. Raven approached the secretary that had helped her get used to things,"Who is that guy?" she asked.
The secretary, Ellen Owens, looked up from the form she was filling out,"Apparently, they finally re-captured the Riddler."
Raven looked back down the hall to see the two security guards dragging the Riddler up a flight of stairs,"Thats the Riddler? I thought that jacket looked familiar. I've heard about him on the news, he interests me." Raven was considered the new kid in the asylum. She had just moved to Gotham about three months ago and wasnt quite up to date on all of Gotham's rogues and villains. "Yeah thats him all right, he broke out about the time you moved here actually. Took 'em long enough to get him back here." Ellen followed Raven's gaze,"You know, you could probably find some way for to talk to him." Raven looked back at Ellen with a curious look in her eyes,"How?"
Ellen continued to fill out the form,"Well, you could try and pursuade the doctors to let you 'council' the Riddler a little." Raven rolled her eyes,"Please, they'll never go along with that im not 'certified'." Ellen thought for a minute,"But, I've seen you talking to some of the other inmates, they seem to like you. Even the Joker carried a normal conversation with you. If you can do that, imagine what you could do with the Riddler."
"You do have a point. You dont normally talk to the Joker without being insulted somehow but, I seem to have some sort of bizzare charm on some of our inmates."
"See? You should pitch it to them." Ellen urged.
Raven rubbed the back of her head,"I dunno. It would be quite interesting though."
"So go for it. At least ask."
Raven hesitated but nodded in agreement,"Alright then. I'll give it a whirl, I just hope I dont go insane in the process." Raven grinned and headed upstairs to the counseling unit. All the doctors were busy with papers and heading to counciling appointments. Raven walked over to the information desk and asked where the Riddler was being taken. She wrote down cell number, thanked the lady at the desk and sat down on a couch to sip on her coffee a little more before going to visit one of the councilers.
"Hey Raven!" A voice called from across the room.
"Hey, Dr.Monroe. How are you?" Raven greeted her friend. Doctor James Monroe had been friends with Raven since she came to the asylum.
"Im good actually. Did you hear? We finally got the Riddler back."
"Yeah, me and Ellen were talking about that downstairs," Raven grinned,"She said I outta council him sometime."
Dr.Monroe laughed,"Sorry, you know, its actually not a bad idea."
Raven choked on her coffee and looked at Dr.Monroe, a bit startled by his response,"You really think so? Why?"
"Well,"he began,"Ellen told us about your power to tame the inmates. She told us the story how about you actually managed to get a good, normal talk with the Joker."
Raven looked at the floor,"Yeah, she mentioned that same exact story downstairs. Said if I could do that then I could probably do a whole lot more with the Riddler."
James nodded,"And Ellens right. I believe our occupants like to have a chat with someone other than the doctors every now and then. I think it makes them feel like they fit in more, they're more comfortable. And, actually, according to the notes that some of the councilers have taken, some of the inmates consider you a friend. They have talked about you during their sessions and have said some very nice things about you."
Raven's eyes gave off a glint of interest,"Really now? A friend? Who were some of the inmates that said this?"
"Hm, lets see if I can remember. Two-Face seemed to think you could carry a nice conversation. Harley Quinn liked your talk about card games. Poison Ivy admired your knowledge of botany and, even the Joker himself enjoyed a conversation about your experiments with pyrotechnics and explosives." Dr.Monroe recalled.
Raven grinned, remembering that conversation with the Joker,"Yeah, that one was fairly interesting. I think I might have given the Joker too many new ideas though. It kind of surprises me that Poison Ivy would admire my botany knowledge. Most of what I learned came from high school agriculture classes." She gave a small laugh and took another swig of her coffee.
"So, what do you think? Do you think you could handle it?" Dr.Monroe questioned.
"What? Counciling the Riddler? Well, during my high school years I was known as 'The self-proclaimed Dr.Raven' due to the fact that I would help people who were either on the verge of going insane, going into depression, or were having dating problems. The name eventually kinda stuck to me. This is much bigger though. I would be dealing with a clinically insane human-being. Well, why not? I suppose I could give it a whirl but, I think I would like to observe one of the Riddler's counciling sessions first if, of course, that isn't too much trouble." Raven continued to sip down her coffee, waiting for a repsonse from James.
His eyes searched the ceiling for an answer,"I think we can arrange something." he finally replied. Soon, Monroe and Raven were heading down to Dr.Victoria Ridges office, one of the best councilors in the asylum, to ask her opinion on the idea.
Dr.Monroe knocked on Dr.Ridges door,"Come in."
"Good morning, Dr.Ridges." James said as he entered the rather small office.
"Good morning, James. What can I help you with?" Dr.Ridges folded her hands on her desk.
"Raven and I would like to ask your opinion on something." he replied.
"Yes,"Raven stepped into the room,"Ellen came up with the crazy idea that I should council the Riddler."
"And then I agreed and said it was a good idea. I thought, maybe we could let Raven observe one of his counciling sessions and then, well, we could go from there." Monroe explained, running his fingers through his jet black hair.
Victoria thought for a minute and then smiled a little,"I suppose this couldn't hurt too much. Who knows? Maybe talking to someone other than a councilor could be good for the Riddler."
"Thats exactly what I said, Dr.Ridges."Monroe stated,"You know my whole belief thing, about how some of these guys would feel more comfortable talking to someone who doesnt take notes on everything they say, someone they can just talk to."
"Yes, you have mentioned that to me,"Dr.Ridges gaze turned to Raven,"Alrighty then,Raven. We shall set you up on a date with the Riddler and see what happens. If you feel comfortable in his prescence then, who knows. You could become his councilor. I believe they have him in a session tommorow. How does that sound?"
Raven grinned widely,"That sounds good to me."
Victoria wrote a quick note on the calendar sitting on her desk,"Okay then, your all set for 10:00 tommorow morning. Good luck."
Raven wrote that down next to the Riddler's cell number. She followed Dr.Monroe out the door, giving Dr.Ridges a quick "Thank you" on the way out. Tommorow, Raven's job was going to get a bit more interesting.
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Well, there it is. Chapter 2 may take a little longer to come up with(if there is one), my brain is dead after writing this one. Please R&R.