Welcome, welcome, welcome back! Okay so this is how this story is going to work, because I'm updating my CraneXOC story currently as well I will be posting these chapters once every month. 'What! Once a Month' you say. Yes once a month however, they all will be longer than the chapters of 'The Riddle of Love' (all over 3000 instead of 2000) as soon as I am done with 'The Bookworm and the Beast' I will switch to updating this story every two weeks.
So for this chapter I would recommend re-reading the last chapter of 'The Riddle of Love' (as this story starts almost immediately after) but I will be doing a re-hashing of everything important in this chapter and the next so it's not critical (if you've just gotten done reading the first it might get a bit tedious but push on it'll be worth it). Anyways I hope you enjoy!
Elizabeth Howard had no opinion on her life. Like many lives it was full of good and bad things but for her each and every good thing seemed to be perfectly balanced by the bad. For example; it was good that she did not have to pay her current hospital bills. However, it was bad that this was due to the fact that she was currently in police custody. Good: she was rescued from being held captive for two and half months. Bad: she was most certainly going to jail for robbery and the murder of at least thirteen people. Good: somehow she seemed to have avoided insanity. Bad: the police were currently taking her only source of comfort as evidence.
"Give it back!" Elizabeth yelled at the officer as he roughly grabbed the green jacket away from her.
"This is police evidence." The officer said.
"Fuck police evidence that's mine!" The jacket belonged to the Riddler it was the one that he had wrapped around her shoulders after he had helped rescue her and it was the one she had been clinging to since. "Give it back!"
Elizabeth tugged and pulled at the leather restraints holding her wrists to the bed but they wouldn't give. The heartbeat monitor was beeping wildly calling the nurses in. They tried to calm Elizabeth but she just kept demanding the jacket returned.
"Please officer you are distressing the patient can't you return the jacket."
"No, Miss this is police evidence."
"But why do you it need it now? Can't you leave it until later?"
"Why so this freak can cuddle it?"
"Freak!" Elizabeth roared forgetting about the jacket for a moment.
"Yeah," the officer said, "you're a freak, a monster, an experiment gone wrong and you want me to give back the jacket of another freak jus…" The officer trailed off. Elizabeth had gone eerily still, no movement, no expression, just the piercing gaze of a predator. The nurses who had been trying to hold her down released her backing away slowly.
"You've insulted me officer. I don't like to be insulted. When people insult me they only do so once. Officer I don't need to know your name just your scent." Elizabeth sniffed deeply her eyes closing for just a second before snapping back open. "And I will remember you…Of course I might forget it accidently if you give me back that jacket."
The officer's hands tightened around the evidence bag. "No. I don't give in to threats from monsters like you." And with that the officer turned and left. Elizabeth slumped back on to her pillows disappointed by her failed attempt at intimidation. The nurses checked her pulse and asked her repeatedly if she was okay. Elizabeth nodded and she didn't even respond when they checked her restraints tightening them even further. She turned her head to the side breathing in the lingering scent of her only comfort that would be gone tomorrow when they changed the sheets.
The next day Elizabeth was lying in her bed, as she had been for the past week, when two officers entered the room followed by an older looking gentleman in a white lab coat.
"Good morning, Miss…Elizabeth."
"What do you want?"
"To talk. I'm here on behalf of GCPD they want me to see if you are mentally ready to answer some questions about the events that happened."
"It's alright you can say my imprisonment or whatever the term is."
"Then you are willing to talk to me?"
"What makes you qualified?"
"Well I am a state psychologist."
"So was Dr. Grout yet he believed I was fine until I crashed the Vreeland party."
"Are you saying that you purposefully lied to Dr. Grout?"
"No, I'm saying that only person I've seen do psychology well is Dr. Crane."
"Mr. Crane is no longer a doctor. It doesn't matter though, Miss Elizabeth, what matters is that you need to trust me. I'm not going to tell anyone what you tell me I am merely here for an evaluation."
Elizabeth looked the man up and down, his greying hair, hollowed face, and ruffled jacket, he looked like a man who had been stretched and released so many times he no longer held his shape. "How often do you do this?"
"Quite a bit, I just never have with someone who…well…someone with your background."
"You mean a killer." The doctor fidgeted with the hem of his lab coat telling her that she was correct. "Take off you lab coat."
"What? Why?"
"Because then I'll let you "evaluate" me." Looking slightly disgruntled though still very pleased that she was complying the doctor immediately slipped off the coat and hung if on the back of his chair.
"Thank you Miss H—Elizabeth. Now for my first question, why did you have me remove me coat?"
Elizabeth sighed; she was regretting her agreement already. "Because you looked too much like him."
"Like Cain Cuvier?"
Elizabeth's teeth clenched together at the sound of the name. "Yes."
"And people who look like him bother you?"
"Obviously."
"Why is that?"
Elizabeth dug her finger nails into the flesh of her palms and released them slowly. "Why do you think doctor? That man tortured me for two and half months surely if I wasn't bothered by his memory that would mean something is wrong with me."
"I wasn't implying that anything was wrong with you."
Elizabeth laughed but it was lifeless laughter. "Of course you weren't." The doctor coughed awkwardly unsure of how to respond. "Go on doctor ask you next question, I have all day but I'm sure you don't."
"Thank you, uh, can you tell me, what is your relationship to the Riddler?"
"Partner in crime."
"And that is all? Then why did the Riddler come to your rescue?"
"Edward Nygma came to my rescue not the Riddler."
The doctor furrowed his eyebrows. "What do you mean? Edward Nygma is the Riddler."
"Exactly but the Riddler is not Edward Nygma. The same way I am the Wolf but the Wolf is not me. When Edward wears his suit, puts on his mask, and twirls his cane he is the Riddler; but when he hangs his bowler hat in the morning after a night of crime he is simply Edward Nygma, the man who likes classical music, enjoys three meat pizza, and points out all the errors he spots in a movie."
"You speak of him as though he is a normal man."
"Under all the green I think he might be…next question doctor I'm bored of this one."
"I—very well, Miss Elizabeth can you tell me—"
"Hey!" Someone shouted from the door cutting off the doctor. "Who the hell are you?"
The doctor stood quickly, grabbing his coat as another man stormed into the room. "Wait I know you, you're one of those scumbag reporters from The Tattler. What were you doing with my client!?"
"Just a small interview thanks for your participation!" The "doctor" slipped past the other man and ran out the door.
"Stay away from her!" The man shouted down the hall before closing the door gently. "Good afternoon Elizabeth, how are you?"
"What the hell was all that and who the hell are you?"
"Sorry, I am Richard Peterson, your lawyer and that worm was a reporter from The Tattler."
"He said he was a psychologist of the state, he had two police officers with him."
"All reporters, it's something they've pulled before. Tell me, what did he ask you?"
"Well how do I know that you are who you say you are? Show me your license." Peterson smiled and pulled out his wallet, placing the BAR license in front of her face so she could read it. "Excellent. He asked me, why I asked him to remove his coat and what my relationship with the Riddler was. What I want to know though is why am I only just seeing you, I've been here a week."
"Excellent question, I took over this case from your previous lawyer, you might remember him, he came and talked to you your first day here and you tried to attack him. Anyways, I took over this case at the behest of my usual client, Edward Nygma."
"Edward sent you," Elizabeth said a small smile forming on her lips.
"Yes, now down to business. The detectives are coming today to take your statement. Now make sure you tell the truth about what happened to you with Cuvier but don't answer any questions about your relationship with Mr. Nygma or really anything else. Now I'll be here with you because Bullock can get rough sometimes when he meets criminals."
"God damn it, Bullock. That's just what I need," she muttered under her breath.
"I know he can be hard to handle but I've dealt with him many times before."
"Heh, where were you when he interrogated me for the Wayne Industries incident? God, I swear if it wasn't for his partner…" Elizabeth trailed off with a roll of her eyes. There was a knock on the door at point and a short slightly chubby nurse popped her head in.
"Sir, it's time to change her bandages, if you could step out for a moment."
"Of course," Peterson said standing. "It's been a pleasure meeting you Miss Elizabeth." He stuck out his hand to shake her hand; he held it out for several long seconds before he realized that Elizabeth was cuffed to the bed. "Ah, yes, I'll be outside." With that he left Elizabeth and the nurse alone in the room.
"Good afternoon, Elizabeth, how are you today?" The nurse asked wheeling the small cart of medical supplies by Elizabeth's bedside.
"Decent," Elizabeth replied, "I would be doing much better if the doctors un-cuffed me."
"Oh you know we can't do that, we have to think of the safety of the other patients." As she spoke the nurse undid the thick leather buckle that held Elizabeth's right arm to the bed. "Be grateful that we undo them for this."
The nurse allowed Elizabeth to flex and stretch her arm before taking it to undo the old bandages. Elizabeth looked away from the wounds as they were revealed. They weren't overly gruesome but wounds reminded Elizabeth of her weakness during her time with Cuvier. Cuvier had forced her into a psychotic state with every experiment, Elizabeth had resisted as first but eventually she gave up. The bite marks on her arms were caused by her own teeth in her desperate attempts to maintain control over her psyche and they were a reminder of her weakness.
Soon the nurse had finished with her arms and instructed her to sit up. Elizabeth did as instructed lifting her head as high as she could, allowing the nurse to more easily reach around and undo the bandages on her neck. Her teeth clenched together as the cool hospital air hit the burn encircling her neck, however, Elizabeth didn't mind this wound like she did the ones on her arms. This burn was caused by the electrical collar Cuvier had been forced to use on her to make her submit. Yes, she had given in, in the end but the presence of the burn reminded her of how long it had taken him to break her and how desperate he was.
"Okay you can lay back down, last one." Elizabeth did as she was told and closed her eyes as the nurse removed the thick bandage over her right eye. The nurse used a dry cloth to wipe away the gel-like antiseptic. It still stung a bit when she reapplied the medicine and Elizabeth breathed in sharply. According to the doctor she had been lucky that she was rescued when she was if the cut had gone untreated for any longer the infection might have spread to her eye. This gash wound most definitely scar and it was the only wound Elizabeth couldn't remember receiving. Sure there were a few other various cuts and bruises but a head wound this size surely would be memorable. Unless it had happened after Alyssa had been subjected to the serum. She could barely remember anything after that.
A slight frown crossed Elizabeth's face. Everyone still refused to tell her what happened to Alyssa. She assumed they hadn't found her yet but the officers she had asked could at least tell her that; tell her they were looking. God. What if they weren't looking? What if she was dead? No. No! Alyssa had to be alive. She had survived the serum, she saw it. Cuvier said they needed to run tests on her. She had to be alive.
"Are you okay?" The nurse asked waving her hand in front of her face.
Elizabeth blinked. "Yeah, yeah, just thinking."
"Good, would you like me to send your lawyer back in?" The nurse said strapping Elizabeth back onto the bed.
"Yes. Thank you." The nurse left and Elizabeth realized that she hadn't asked her name. Even though that nurse had been attending to her for the past week Elizabeth had never asked. It didn't matter in the long run though. What did matter was her lawyer slipping back into the room.
"So, Elizabeth, I snuck down to the lobby while you were busy, Bullock and Montoya are on their way up."
"Oh joy."
"Yes. Now remember, answer their questions with a little info as you can, make them pry for details. Don't say anything to incriminate yourself or Mr. Nygma, obviously. I'll be here to make sure Bullock doesn't get too rough so don't be afraid to use sarcasm and insult them like Mr. Nygma."
Elizabeth laughed. Edward would insult the cops. She would try and avoid it however, riling them up would do her no good. A knock on the door signaled the arrival of the detectives.
"Come in," Elizabeth called out. When the impressively fat detective and his Mexican partner Elizabeth pretended to be shocked. Maybe she'd be a little sarcastic. "Detectives, what a surprise."
"Shut it freak." Bullock said in his usual gruff tone and then he spotted Elizabeth's lawyer. "For fuck's sake, not you."
Elizabeth looked over at her lawyer who had gone very stony faced. "Is that a threat, detective Bullock?"
"Do you want it to be?"
"Bullock." Montoya warned.
"Yeah, yeah. Not the time." Bullock groaned moving further into the room so the Montoya could enter properly.
"Good afternoon, Miss Howard." Montoya said ignoring Elizabeth's lawyer and Bullock by refusing to look at either of them. Elizabeth visibly stiffened at being called Miss Howard but she managed to maintain her cool.
"Good afternoon, detective. How can I help you?"
"We were wondering if you could answer some questions for us, about what happened between you and Cain Cuvier."
"Yes, I can do that."
"Yeah, you can freak."
"Bullock quiet. I told you that I'm conducting this interview." Bullock sighed, 'whatever', and slumped down on one of the metal hospital chairs causing it to groan under his weight.
"May I sit Miss Howard?" Montoya asked gesturing to the seat on the side of the bed opposing Peterson. Elizabeth's body tensed again at being called that name.
"Call me Elizabeth and please feel free."
"Thank you, now Miss Elizabeth some of the questions may seem tedious but please answer to the best of your ability. If you feel uncomfortable with a question you may decline to answer but remember we are here to help." Bullock scoffed in the corner of the room but Montoya didn't acknowledge him. "Now, how and when did you and Cain Cuvier first meet?"
"A few days after my trial this summer I was walking down the street when a car pulled up next to me and forcibly suggested I get in. I didn't see where it took me as I was unconscious but when I awoke I was taken to see Cuvier." This was a very abridged telling but as Peterson had told her, no details.
"And what did Cuvier want at that time?"
"He wanted to cut a deal with me to help him figure out why his formula had worked on me and not others. I refused."
"And how did you escape?"
"Batman." Bullock scoffed when she said this.
"Why didn't you report this incident to the police?"
"I had just been declared innocent by reason of insanity. I really didn't need anything to do with the police."
"Did anything else involving Mr. Cuvier and yourself occur between the incident you just described and the most recent one?"
Elizabeth took a few seconds to answer. Cuvier had lured her to an abandoned apartment complex with intelligence she had garnered from the Falcone's, however Cuvier himself hadn't actually been there. Instead some of his thugs had tried to kidnap her again but this time Elizabeth had gotten the better of them by falling into the same unconscious rage that had sent her to Arkham in the first place. According to Batman he had gathered all the evidence that incriminated her, which Elizabeth managed to steal and destroy, but she still didn't want to confess to the murders at the moment. "No, we had no contact until the most recent incident."
"Can you describe how you were taken the second time?"
"Edward and I were out and a van pulled up. Guns were pointed at us and to avoid bloodshed I got in. When they put the guns away I tried to disable them but I had previously been injured and they got the better of me."
"And this was Edward Nygma you were with?"
"Yes."
"Can you tell me how you were previously injured?"
"I had a broken rib. How I received it is not relevant." This was a lie. Elizabeth had received a broken rib when four of Cuvier's men had jumped her in an alley. She would have been fine if one of them had not shot her in the chest, luckily Elizabeth had been wearing her specially designed bullet proof suit. However, she didn't want to tell Montoya this as it could lead them to discovering that she had been with Edward selling their stolen goods to Penguin. She had no loyalty to Penguin but his Iceberg Lounge was a nice place and it wouldn't be right of her to have it investigated only a few months after opening.
"Very well, after you were taken what is the first thing you remember?"
"Waking up."
"Could you describe what you saw?"
"They had strapped me down, I couldn't see much. Just Cuvier but then they brought in Alyssa and Cuvier told me what he was going to do."
"And that was?"
"Alyssa was going to be his next test subject all the previous ones had died, you see, and he needed me to help him figure out how to make the serum work on her or else she would as well."
"And did you?"
"Yes." Elizabeth looked at Montoya trying to read her face. She was hiding something.
"What else did—"
"I know it worked." Elizabeth said suddenly interrupting her.
"What?"
"I know the serum worked I saw her, she lived! So where is she!?" Elizabeth was starting to get riled up and Montoya was trying to calm her down.
"She's dead, freak, and six feet under." Montoya rounded on Bullock and pulled him out of the room but the damaged had already been done.
So I'm doing this question thing at the end of 'The Bookworm and the Beast' and I really like it so I'll do it here too.
Fox is coming out with a new show 'Gotham' this Fall, it's a prequel to the Batman story and focuses on the GCPD. For this story they are introducing an OC called Fish Mooney, a female African-American mob boss. It got me thinking that this show would be a great way to introduce a lot more diversity into the Batman cannon in their villains as of my last count in all of the reoccurring villains of Batman (including all of the Batman spin offs like Nightwing) there are only 24 independent female villains (independent meaning they solo, lead a group, and/or a major leading force in that group) and I can only think of a few (men and women) who are non-white. I find this very disappointing.
So finally my question: Should 'Gotham' use the opportunity to introduce new villainous characters or should they stick to doing the young versions of current villains?
