Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from the Batman genre – this encompasses all films and cartoons in the Batman universe. This is a fanfiction based on the Nolanverse, hence any characters from Batman Begins, and the Dark Knight, do not belong to me, and I am not making any profit from this story. The Batman is the creation of DC comics.
Hi all this is my first fanfic, really hope you like it, first chapter is more to set the background of the new characters I have created for this story, there will be more of the Joker and his interaction with them in the next chapter. Hope you enjoy it, please let me know what you think :-)
Chapter One: Flashes of Purple
The rain outside was getting heavier, replacing the silence in the car with a dull thumping rhythm that made the already dismal circumstances of their journey tonight seem all the more bleaker. Jim Gordon glanced at the rear view mirror to look at the young girl, seated between two of his officers. She sat rigidly with her head bowed down, still staring intently at her feet. Silvery-white strands of hair masked most of her face, but he spotted the silent tear stains that had ran down one of her cheeks. He felt sorry for the poor girl; having to go through this, she was barely 15, her life so far pretty much being one of suffering and anguish. He sighed to himself sadly, thinking back on the files he read about her and the rest of her siblings' past. To think people could justify causing so much pain to young children, in the name of science and military research, it was wrong.
He was glad for the girl that Wayne Enterprises had stepped in but also very wary of the consequences; Bruce Wayne had bought out the research labs that had been testing on these children, but in the process of doing so, he had created an uproar amongst military officials and had developed some very powerful enemies. Plus the media was kicking up a storm over it all, trying to question anyone involved with the children on how safe they felt it was to bring them to Gotham in the first place. It had caused so much controversy that the media and public had almost sidelined the death of Harvey Dent, the witch hunt for Batman and all the destruction caused by the Joker......almost. He was sure that that man still loomed in the minds of Gotham's citizens, like he did in his.
Still Bruce Wayne was definitely a brave man to take them under his wing. He had been allowed to adopt Estell, currently in the car with him, and her older brother Alex, aged 17, who had refused to come along. They now lived with him at his apartment complex as they were deemed safe enough for this to happen. However some people had their reservations about this. Jim was unsure what to think about it himself, but so far they hadn't caused any problems over the past month of them living with Bruce. But the other two.....well...... it just hadn't been as simple as that for the twins, hence their car ride to Arkham. Years of experimentation and what he considered to be more than unpleasant alterations, had been the hardest on these two. They had definitely taken the brunt of the testing. He was still unsure of what exactly the scientists had been up to. All he got from the files were that due to the childrens' unique abilities, inherited apparently from their deceased mother, the scientists had been trying to develop them into weapons for the military. It was mad to him.
Now the twins were considered to be a danger to themselves and society. Bruce Wayne had had no choice other than to send them to Arkham to, what he had told the press, allow them to receive medical help and a chance for a normal life. Truth be told, whether he had believed sending them to the asylum would help their psychosis, he had been presented with either sending them to Arkham or with the notion that they would have to be, not so kindly phrased, "put down". There was a lot of arguments over what would be best, a lot of people, the mayor included, thought they were too dangerous and protested against them being sent to the asylum, believing they were beyond hope, but Wayne was persistent in his belief that they deserved to be given a chance. Jim was thankful of this, after knowing what had happened to them, it would have been too cruel not to try to help them. Arkham wouldn't exactly be paradise for them, he was sure of that but he couldn't see any other solution, other than to give them back to the military research labs.
So here sat Estell solemnly in the back of his cop car; doctors had requested for Estell and Alex to visit their older twin brother and sister to aid in the rehabilitation process, so far it hadn't been going well. Alex didn't want to go, and Jim couldn't blame him, the boy had only just been freed from a life as a test subject, surrounded by people in white coats, Arkham would no doubt seem similar. Estell just wanted to see her siblings no matter how scared the situation made her feel. Wayne had meant to go but was called on an urgent business meeting, which Jim was sure had been about them, so he'd asked the commissioner to escort her for him.
He came out of his thoughts realising they were about 5 minutes away now, a shiver ran down his spine as he spotted the looming silhouette of Arkham in the distance. It had been barely two months since he had set foot in that horrible place, two months since he had personally escorted the insane clown prince of crime, The Joker, to Arkham. Much to his relief of course, the mad-man had caused so much chaos, so much grief and heart-ache, that the city of Gotham was still reeling from it all. Still he really disliked this place, even if its purpose stood for helping to keep Gotham's streets safer.
Jim cleared his throat catching Estell's attention, she lifted her head slightly and looked in his direction, she'd been listening carefully to his thoughts, concluding he was a kind man and maybe someone she could trust, though trusting people other than her brothers and sister was something alien to her and wasn't a notion she would rush into.
"We're nearly there Estell," Jim announced, turning round in his seat to look at her, "I know how uncomfortable you are about coming here, I just want to reassure you that nothing will happen to you in there, although this place isn't very pleasant and there are a lot of sick and dangerous people," the Joker coming to mind as he said this, "they are all locked up and can't hurt you. You'll also see a lot of doctors," he saw her tense up at that, "but they are nothing like the ones you have encountered, they help the people here, so don't be frightened by them, ok?" he smiled at her in hope of reassuring her further, but he wasn't convinced she was.
Estell simply nodded at him, bringing her head up fully to stare out the window as they came to the security gates of Arkham, the rain was still pouring down around them. Having only seen rain for the first time a couple of weeks ago she found it fascinating and had a strange urge to jump out the car and run around in it. She thought against it though, Jim Gordon and the other men in the car with her felt incredibly tense and it wasn't for the same reasons she was uncomfortable. She kept getting flashes of purple from them and a great deal of anxiety that came with it, in fact ever since she came to Gotham many of the people she'd encountered kept having this sensation, especially Mr Wayne. She was curious to delve further and understand it but she'd been told it was rude to do delve into a person's psyche, listening to the occasional thought here and there was good practise, but otherwise she shouldn't do it unless there was very good reason to. It was just all very strange.
The guards opened the security gates and the car rolled on through to the entrance. Estell's stomach began to tie up in knots as the car came to a halt and she spotted a stern faced woman in a white lab coat, standing at the front doors of the asylum. Jim Gordon opened his door and stepped out the car, the two men sitting next to her followed suit, it was just herself and the driver still left inside. Jim came round to the open door next to her.
"Come on Estell try not to be scared, remember what I said to you earlier." again he smiled at her and reached out a hand. She hesitantly took it, stepping out the car, instantly enjoying the sensation of the cold rain falling on her skin, it aided in calming her for a second then once again fear overtook her. She began to shake as Gordon lead her towards the women in the white coat, still sporting the stern unsmiling expression. She squeezed his hand hard as they reached the front door, he squeezed it back reassuringly as he addressed the psychologist in the doorway.
"Ms Evans I presume sorry we're........." he was cut off short.
"Its Dr. Evans," came a curt reply, "please follow me inside we're already very behind with today's schedule, thanks to your late arrival. She then turned abruptly and stormed down the corridor, not looking to see if she was being followed.
Jim mumble sarcastically under his breath about how it was nice to meet her, having been rudely cut off, and began to follow the psychologist down the hall, giving Estell a little nudge to follow as well. The other two police officers walked behind them silently, watching the small girl in front of them for any rash behaviour, they had been warned she might become overwhelmed and freak out.
Estell did not like this tall shrude woman at all, she was sour faced and had the same smug, self righteous attitude that she had come across in many of the female scientist back at the research facility. She shuddered remembering that horrible nightmare. So far this first encounter wasn't boding well on how she felt about her visit here, the similarity was making her very nervous, the knot in her stomach getting bigger, what if this place was just another testing lab, and this was all just a trick to capture her. Then all the painful tests will start over again. She had only been free for a month, it wasn't fair. Tears began to fill her piecing green eyes and She glanced at Gordon who was still frowning at the doctor in front of him. She began to slow her pace not wanting to carry on, Jim noticed and stopped to look at her, he saw tears begin to tumble down her face. They had pretty much come to a security barrier, where the female psychologist a head of them was showing the guard her clearance, and asking him to let them all through.
Estell had stopped moving all together now as well, the officers behind her glanced knowingly to each other, mentally preparing themselves to grab her if need be. Jim approached her, putting a hand gently round her shoulders. She tensed up at this not wanting to be in this situation any more and really wishing Alex was with her. The paranoia had set in, he was just being nice to trick her, they all were, so that they could bring her here where they've kept Tari and Val captive. It all made sense didn't it? But then why hadn't she detected any deceit in Mr Wayne or Mr Gordon's thoughts and why hadn't they forced Alex to come with her? Maybe she was just letting the fear overwhelm her.
"Estell, its ok, I thought you wanted to see you're brother and sister?" Jim asked softly he could see she was clearly unsure on whether she wanted to be here or not..
" Actually it will only be her sister Tari, we've had to heavily sedate Val, he was becoming too hostile and unstable so we've had to keep him in a comatose state, Tari will however be in constraints the whole time, she can still be quite volatile when she wants to be, we can't afford to have any more inconveniences today, if it was up to me I'd have them both kept in a coma".
Estell glared at the doctor, most of her fear momentarily being replaced with anger, this was noticeable to Dr. Evans as she saw Estell's green eyes flash dangerously at her. It was now common knowledge amongst the psychologists what that meant, having dealt with the twins for a month now.
"Is Mr Wayne absolutely certain this one is safe?" Dr. Evans asked Gordon nervously. He had also noticed the flashing glow in Estell's eyes, which faded as soon as it had appeared.
"As far as I'm aware Estell and Alex have behaved fine, and pose no threat to anyone, am I right Estell?" he looked at her a hint of worry in his face, its not everyday you see a person's eyes glow, even if it was for a second. What the hell did those people do to these kids?
Estell turned her glare away from the doctor having forgotten all of her previous fears and just wanted to make sure Tari and Val were ok. She saw the worry in Gordon's expression, instantly knowing why, a little embarrassed that her emotions could be so readable, and she softened her features.
"Um yes that's right, I just want to see them that's all, sorry I just really wish it didn't have to be here, its making me nervous," she turned back to Doctor Evans, her expression turning to one of dislike. "Alex and I can't do most of the things that Tari and Val are capable of, they put us through different experiments, they concentrated more on strengthening our telepathic capabilities."
Doctor Evans shifted her weight and narrowed her eyes suspiciously at Estell but didn't respond, instead she tapped the bullet proof glass window, that looked in on the guard. There was a buzzing sound as the heavy door's bolts slid open and it became unlocked.
"Lets continue shall we." she turned and pushed the door fully open, which had been evidently sound proof, because everyone was suddenly met with the eerie echoing shouts and screams of various inmates situated beyond.
Gordon sighed to himself, it never gets easier when that door gets unlocked.
Estell was taken aback a bit as a wave of mental hysteria hit her when they ventured through the door, she bit her lip and shoved them all out, not expecting such a backlash. It was very easy to block out having been trained to do so, and it could have been avoided if she'd known it was coming, which in this case it hadn't been. Silly really she probably should have known better given the circumstances of where she was but her mind was a bit pre-occupied.
They were lead along long dank corridors, each with rows of cells filled with the asylum's patients. Some sat quietly as they passed, barely taking note of their existence. Others screamed incoherently banging at the glass fronts of their cells. That for Estell was an unpleasant thing to see and her heart went out to them all, knowing exactly what it was like to sit in a glass box and be starred at indiscriminately by passers by. She didn't want Tari and Val to be in here, there may not be nasty experiments but it was still the same prison environment. She would talk to Mr Wayne and plead with him to let them out.
Suddenly out of seemingly know where three men in white appeared in front of them all, startling her from her thoughts. They were grappling with a large inmate who was trying to struggle from their grasp, the man kicked out his foot connecting with the face of one of the orderlies knocking him to the ground unconscious, allowing him more freedom to punch and kick at the other two. Estell stood rigid watching the scene unfold before her.
"Oh god! not again, Terry how did patient 15 escape again!" Dr. Evans was clearly frustrated by what was happening rushing over to help restrain the patient. "Jim could you give us a hand here?"
Jim Gordon and the other two officers ran over to help restrain the violent thrashing man, while Dr. Evans pulled out a syringe from her lab coat, filling it with a clear fluid. Estell ignored the grunts of protest and angry screams coming from the patients mouth and the combined efforts of the 5 men trying to restrain him. Her mind was totally focused on the glinting needle in Dr. Evans hand, something in her mind snapped at the sight of it, so many nightmarish memories running through her brain as blind panic hit her and she bolted in the opposite direction of that needle, not caring where her legs were carrying her not listening to the shouting jeers of inmates she passed. She just kept running, paying no attention to where she was or what direction she was going in. She just wanted to be away from the doctor, away from the needle, she wanted to be with Tari and Val, she'd be safe with them.
Finally coming to her senses a bit after what seemed like hours of running, but in fact had only been a couple of minutes, Estell came to a halt, exhausted from bombing down endless winding corridors. She leant up against a wall to try to catch her breath, not really registering the fact that she was leaning up against the glass window of an inmate's cell.
Still breathing heavily she noted that this corridor was a lot darker and dingy than the ones earlier, it was eerily silent too and she became aware that she had no idea as to were the hell she was, or how to get back to Jim Gordon. The fear came back suddenly, feeling she was in a very vulnerable situation, with lots of people in white coats lurking around any corner. Not good.
"You seem neerrrvous, what's a peerritty little thing like yourself getting lost in a naaasty place like this hmmm?"
Estell spun round with a start at the strange voice behind her. There in the shadows of his cell sat, well a very peculiar looking man in her opinion, his head hung slightly to the left in an inquisitive fashion, dark green-blond curls were hanging messily across his eyes but she could see a large devious smirk forming on his lips, something else about that smile was strange but she couldn't put her finger on it, the dank light of his cell made it quite hard to see his face properly, she shrugged it off as shadows. It was his eccentric attire that seemed peculiar to her, mostly purple, wait a minute PURPLE, something triggered in her mind and that strange sensation she'd been feeling from people seemed to suddenly resonate out of him. Why?, what was so special about this man? Fears put aside, she became very curious all of a sudden, pressing her hands up against the glass and peering at him closely. His eyebrow rose slightly and she realised she'd been gauping at him and uttering the word purple absent mindedly. She shifted again feeling embarrassed for the second time today. She cleared her throat, wanting to get to the bottom of this.
"Why is everyone thinking about you?"
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Really hoped you liked my first chapter, again sorry that it focused mainly on building on new characters I've created for this story, just felt it was necessary to do that to form a basis. Please feel free to leave comments...Purple Twist :-)