Welcome Back to the Asylum

Prologue

"Come on, come on, push! You can do this!"

There was a lot of screaming this day...

Gabriel was holding Willow's hand and cringing as she nearly busted a few of his fingers. It happened so suddenly; her water broke that morning and Gabriel insisted they go to the hospital right away. She agreed and the two of them called for a cab to take them to Gotham General Hospital. The cab ride was long and hard on her while her body moved through the birth process. She must have been pretty far along by the time they arrived to check in. A nurse brought a wheel chair and Gabe rushed alongside them until they made it to the delivery room. He threw down their suitcase of supplies and was instantly by her side. So here he was, coaching his girlfriend and trying his damnedest not to pass out from the nervousness.

"Ah! Oh my god! Get her out!" Willow cried as another contraction ripped through her body.

"Just relax Willow, you're doing fine," the doctor said and he began maneuvering his fingers along her perineum to help with the stretching. "The head is near, just bear down on the next contraction."

Willow groaned and tried her best to relax against the cushions waiting for the next burst of massive pressure. She slowed her breathing and tried to use some of her techniques from lamaze classes. She would have taken up the epidural if she had arrived at the hospital earlier, but doctors told her it was too late and she was ready to push. Another wave of pressure started up and she started pushing once again, at this point ignoring any coaching. "Burning!" she screamed.

"Head's out," the doctor commented. Nurses behind him were rushing around preparing for the delivery and to clean up the infant.

Gabe's nerves flared up when he watched the doctor take a bulb and begin clearing out the baby's nose and mouth.

"One more push should do it Willow," the doctor said and he carefully held the bottom of the baby's skull and waited.

Once she felt that familiar pain again, Willow pushed incredibly hard and finally gasped when she felt the infant leave her body. The baby girl was immediately placed onto her belly and she gently touched the little one's head.

Gabe grinned at the sight and he also put his hand down on the still wet baby's back, stroking gently. They had a minute with the baby before the nurses took her to clean her and make sure she was breathing alright. The doctor began to work on Willow's afterbirth delivery while nurses prepared to clean her up as well.

"You did so good," Gabe said into her ear and left a kiss on her temple.

"I'm so tired," she replied.

"You deserve to rest now."

"I'm starving. I hope they have chicken sandwiches in the cafeteria."

Gabe smiled, "I'll get you one when you're all comfortable again."

Ten minutes went by and the nurses felt the baby was okay enough to be given to the parents. One of them brought the bundled baby over to Gabe and placed her in his arms before all but one nurse left the room. It couldn't be helped, a tear formed in Gabe's eye, but it didn't fall.

"Amelia Rose..." Gabriel said and left a small kiss on Amelia's forehead.

"Amelia Rose Johnston," Willow corrected, "Can't forget her last name can we?"

"Right, I can't forget her last name." He peered down at the little girl, "My little Amelia, my baby daughter..." Gabe smiled again and then handed off Amelia to Willow. "I'll go get you that sandwich now, my love." He kissed her on the cheek and left the room.

Willow relaxed back into her pillows and examined her new daughter's features. The baby had very dark hair and bright blue eyes. It was hard to tell at this age which parent she looked more like and Willow was hoping her bloodline would shine through more than the other. She had a chance to cuddle with the baby for a few minutes in silence until Amelia started to fuss. Willow rocked her a bit but the infant still cried. "Oh this is going to take some getting used to," she said and tried shifting the baby into another position only to have more cries emit from her.

Gabriel returned with a large tray of food, "Got a couple things. I guess I was a little hungry too. Oh, I see we have the first of many sleepless nights upon us."

"Yeah, I'm not sure what's wrong," Willow said and she touched the baby's cheek to gently caress it. The baby's head turned and immediately her little mouth opened. Willow's finger slipped into Amelia's mouth and she felt the baby suckling. "Okay I guess she wants to eat." Willow then sat up, with help from Gabe and adjusted her pillows. She slipped off the hospital gown since it was in the way and positioned Amelia next to her left breast. It was hard at first and Amelia kept slipping off the nipple. With the help of a hospital lactation consultant, Willow was able to get Amelia to latch properly.

Gabe had already eaten half of his meal by the time Willow was ready to eat hers. "This is pretty good for hospital food," Gabe said as he watched Willow plow through her sandwich. His eyes fell on the nursing infant, "She's got quite an appetite. Been hanging on there for a while."

"I know and this is not the most comfortable thing I've ever done. I think she's bruising me!" Willow said, amused. Once Amelia appeared to be finished, Willow separated the baby's mouth from her skin and held the little one up on her shoulder to burp her. It took quite some time and an exchanging of parents. Gabe managed to get Amelia to do it.

It was a long first night as well. Both parents tried their hardest to sleep, but the infant in the bassinet did exactly what all babies did...cry at every hour, on the hour.

But they loved every moment of it...

17 years later...

The asylum lights had been shut down for the night and all inmates were comfortably housed in their respective cells. Orderlies made the rounds and the doctors went home for the evening.

All was quiet in the high security wing...except for cell 343. There was lot of groaning and growling coming from the cell as a very angry clown was ready to rip his hair out if he was trapped within his cell any longer. He'd just been given his daily dose of medicines and as usual, it made him queasy. When he was first returned to the asylum after the death of his arch nemesis Seven, the orderlies began injecting him with a special serum to prevent his use of plant based attacks. It took him about a month to figure out it was the medicine. Apparently this serum was developed by Wayne industries and provided to the head Psychiatrist, Dr. Stephen Blaze, protege to Dr. Strange who has since passed away after years of being ill.

He rolled around in his cell and decided that the time to leave the high security prison was close. He'd been waiting a very long time and studied every inch of the hospital when he was taken out of his cell. These days the doctors thought they were making a lot of progress with him so they would never expect for him to concoct an escape plan, especially for someone his age.

Joker was pushing near 70, but he remained youthful from the lazarus pit. He could easily resemble a man in his mid thirties. He also had no intention of giving up his youth and once he escaped, he would go on a world search for a new pit to extend his life force again.

There was also the question of going after Ra's Al Ghul and possibly his son Gabriel. Joker still held a grudge against Ghul for the horrible situation the bastard put him in so long ago. As for his son, Joker was annoyed with how well the kid's life turned out. Gabe, try as he might, could not avoid the tv cameras in the beginning and there was a lot of coverage on Gotham tv news regarding the boy's hard life. After about a year of seeing his son on tv, Gabe suddenly went into hiding and that was the end of it.

As for Joker's assets, Sera's money, it was untouched and kept frozen until Gabe finally managed to straighten things out with the police department and Gotham City Bank. Gabe threatened to destroy all connections Joker had to Sera if he stepped out of line. Joker behaved in the asylum, but still Gabe erased the clown's claim to Sera's fortune...and it pissed him off.

Joker growled. He would get back at his son and take back his inheritance, but first...the lazarus pit...