Chapter 3: A Frantic Exit

Her head felt light and dizzy, and when she finally opened her eyes, the world was blurry and spinning a bit. She groaned, trying to lift a hand to her throbbing skull, but her arms felt so heavy.

"Yin? Yin, are you awake?" a voice asked, and she blinked hard to pull the world around her into focus.

"W-wha—"

"Yin, can you hear me?" the voice went on, and she tried to nod, the motion sending white lances of sore pain shooting through her head.

"Wh-where…am…I?" she finally managed to ask as her vision started to clear. A familiar young man was sitting near her, looking at her with a face full of concern, but she couldn't remember who he was. An older man, his red hair graying and glasses sliding down his nose, was leaning over the edge of a bed.

She was in a bed? But why? She should be out, patrolling the streets or—

Trying to sit up caused her chest to burn as though on fire, and she fell back with a cry.

"Don't move, detective!" Gordon said sharply, coming over and placing a fatherly hand on her shoulder. "You could rip out the stitches."

"Stitches?" she repeated, confused.

"For the past couple of days you've been incapacitated here at the hospital." said the young man by her side. "You, uh, took a nasty cut to the chest, what with that girl's scythe having three blades and all."

Now she remembered. The girl called Wraith, who'd broken into headquarters and stolen something from the Evidence Room! She'd cut her…

"You were slashed up pretty nasty." said another cop at the foot of the bed. "You've been out this whole time while the doctors have been working around the clock. That scythe just missed your heart chambers."

"You—you lost a l-lot of blood, Yin. We thought you were dead…" the man next to her murmured. Now she recognized him. Tankinson! He looked so different without his sunglasses on…

"Wh-what happened to the thief?" Ellen asked, looking up at Gordon, whose grim face warped into a scowl.

"Locked away in Arkham. Seems she's got a split personality, like the Ventriloquist." he said darkly.

"And…the stolen evidence…?"

"Still trying to figure out what it is she took. The bat's going to come back tonight and look for us. Maybe he'll notice something we missed."

Yin sighed in relief, nodding. That was good. Batman would figure it out, and then they'd recover the stuff. "Good. Then we can get to the bottom of this mess."

"Actually, detective…" the commissioner said in a regretful voice, "I'm afraid that won't be happening."

"What? Why?"
"You may still be alive, but you've taken more damage than you could imagine. Several veins and arteries, a heart valve, and your right kidney…they've all been shredded beyond help…You've had to have them replaced with new tech from Wayne Enterprises, but you're not the bionic woman or anything. Nor are you even fit for active duty; if something were to go wrong on the field, you could die in an instant. I'm sorry, Yin. I'm so sorry this happened. But if you wish to remain with Gotham PD, you're going to have to transfer to a desk job."

"What…?" she gasped, her stomach twisting in cold knots. She had machines inside of her to keep her alive? No longer fit for active duty? A desk job? Tears began to build behind her eyes, and she fought to keep them at bay. "Y-yes…Commissioner. I'm sorry I failed you."

Jim looked close to tears himself. "No, detective. I'm sorry we failed you. I would love to have you return to the squad, but I can't afford to have you die on me for real this time. You're a great cop, Ellen, and an asset to the force. But I don't want to put you in danger like this again. I'm sorry."

He left from the room, the other cop at his heels, while Cash Tankinson still sat next to her.

"I-I'm…I'm sorry, Yin." he said quietly.

She had no idea what he was apologizing for, but she didn't care. Using what little strength she had, Ellen Yin reached out and hugged her one-time-partner, seeking comfort and human compassion as she began to sob uncontrollably.

Sadie Curio was walked into recreation time, the orderlies behind her in a pissy mood, and she made a mental note to memorize their names. They'd pay for those shoves they were giving her. Once in the room, her eyes sought out the one person in the room worth talking to.

"Zai!" she called, and the girl's head shot up.

"Sadie!" she called back, her eyes sparkling as her expression brightened. "You're back from solitary!"

"And kicking! What's up?" she asked the younger girl, coming over and sitting on the table her friend was drawing at. Joker wasn't around this time, which she considered odd, but she appreciated the chance to talk to her friend without the clown around, trying to manipulate them both when they weren't looking.

"Not much." Zai said, closing her sketchbook out of habit. Zai never let anyone watch her draw over her shoulder, and rarely showed anyone her art. "Just the new girl."

"New girl?" Curiosity repeated, puzzled. She hadn't heard of any new arrivals at Arkham, and she was sure the guards who kept watch on her while she was in solitary confinement would have at least mentioned something about it amongst themselves.

Zai pointed toward the ceiling, and when Curiosity looked up, she saw a pair of legs dangling off one of the rafters, kicking back and forth idly.

"What the—?" she started.

"You'll see." Zai answered with a nod. "Just give the orderlies a couple more minutes to notice she's 'missing.'"

Puzzled, Curiosity continued to watch the feet kick until she heard a shout.

"Oy! Where's the ghost girl?" one of the orderlies yelled.

Ghost girl? Now Curiosity was really curious.

"A ghost?" one of the inmates gasped, ducking under a table in fear.

"Hey, Johnson!" the first orderly yelled again. "The ghost chick is missing."

"I'm not missing." said a voice from above. "You're just not using your god-forsaken eyes well enough." It sounded irritated, and had a rough quality to it, like some angry woman from a screamo band. The orderly who'd been shouting came over near their table, glaring up at the ceiling.

"Get down from there, missy, or so help me, God—"

"Whatcha gonna do, Jer? Throw your baton at me? I never would've guessed you were on your high school drill team." the voice said, and Curiosity and Zai both stifled a snicker. Jeremy Levangie glared daggers up at the rafters, his face going bright red.

"Get down from there, Pendragon, or I'm calling for backup." he snarled.

"And how are they going to help you get me?" the woman taunted him, "What, are you going to stack yourselves on top of one another like a barrel of monkeys? Don't tell me you were the only guy on the cheerleading squad too!"

This time Curiosity didn't bother to supress her laughter, and even Zai giggled out loud. Jeremy glared at them.

"Knock it off! It's not funny." he snapped.

"Oh, leave them alone, Jer. Don't be bitter just because they have a sense of humor and you don't." the woman said in irritation. "Besides, if you want me to come down, why don't you use that little brain of yours and figure out how to do it without anyone getting a bloody nose?"

Curiosity had a feeling she knew what the girl wanted, and going on a whim, she called up to her. "Hey! Could you please come down here? I wanna say thanks for making me laugh!"

Immediately the feet withdrew. "Well, since you said please…" she sounded amused. The next second, something dropped from the rafters right onto the table next to her. It was a girl, just a little younger than her, a little older than Zai, with pale skin and dark hair that fell to her shoulders. She had green eyes a few shades darker than Sadie's own, and she was grinning mischieviously.

And she had wings.

From the back of her gray Arkham uniform sprouted two large, midnight-blue feathered wings, which she quickly folded against her back as she crouched on the table. The way she was hunched over, she didn't give Curiosity the impression of an angel or a bird, but rather an overgrown, feathery gargoyle.

"Then it would be rude of me to say no." she finished, before turning to glare at Jeremy. "Thank God. I was beginning to think this place was completely devoid of manners."
"That's not funny, Pendragon!" the orderly shouted, "You do it again, I'm seeing you to solitary confinement, personally!"

"Name's not Pendragon, stupid." the girl hissed, "You want her, you wait until she 'wakes up.' Till then, call me by my proper name or I'm going to slice you open, cut out your liver, and shove it down that big old mouth of yours. Do I make myself very clear?"

Jeremy Levangie gulped, glared at her one last time, turned on his heel, and stomped off to sit by the other orderlies, his expression thunderous.

"Nice one," Curiosity whistled, "You better watch out though. He'll backstab you first chance he gets."

"He does, and I'll have his head on a plate in seconds," the girl said casually. "You're a new face."

"Likewise, but I'm not really new. I just got out of solitary. And, you are?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Call me Wraith." she answered, grinning in a friendly way. Curiosity chuckled to herself. Well, it certainly wasn't every day that Arkham got someone so open for her to talk to. She didn't trust her, not yet anyway, and a lot of that was thanks to how sociable Wraith was being, but she seemed okay.

"Curiosity." she said, grinning back, displaying all of her sharp teeth. "And the quiet one is Zai, by the way."

"We met in group therapy." Zai spoke up suddenly, glancing up from her sketchbook. She looked rather embarrassed and ashamed, like she wasn't supposed to have mentioned that detail.

"Oh. I see." Curiosity said, slightly taken aback. Why hadn't Zai mentioned that before? Wraith snorted.

"Group therapy's a joke. Someone ought to rename it, 'Strange's-time-to-get-high-off-criminal-analysis' or some shit like that." she muttered, folding her arms, still crouching like a gargoyle. Curiosity laughed.

"Or, 'Strange's happy time'?" she suggested.

"PFFT! You implying he gets off to analyzing the group in group therapy?" Wraith cackled, clutching her sides in laughter. Curiosity roared, pounding her fist on the table, and even Zai hid a giggle behind her hand.

"Man, I bet he does, the creep!" Curiosity howled.

"Oh lord, that's so sick!" Wraith snorted, snickering.

"You're hilarious! Why the hell are you here, anyway?" Curiosity chuckled, and Wraith sobered a little, wiping a happy tear from her eye and shrugging.

"Nearly off a cop, some chick named Yin or Yang or Yo-yo or something. But we're complicated, Miss Pendragon and I. So we were put here instead of at Blackgate."

"Whoa whoa whoa! Did you say Yin? You killed THE Yin, of GPD?"

"Almost," Wraith said with a scowl. "Damn bitch won't die. In fact, I just recently heard she's pulling through the surgery." Her scowl deepened and she added darkly, "Boss is not going to be happy when I get back to him."

Curiosity stared at her quietly. Was Wraith implying she had a split personality? If she did, it would make sense they sent her here instead; after all, that's what they'd done with Arnold Wesker, the Ventriloquist. But had she really almost killed Detective Yin? Not that Curiosity felt sorry for the woman; the cop had been a thorn in her side from the start, and it had been the same way for Zai. But this newbie, almost kill Yin? She glanced at Zai, hoping her friend would catch the question in her gaze. Zai glanced at her, understood, and nodded confirmation.

Well now, she thought in amusement, Maybe it's not such a bad idea to make friends with her after all.

"Your boss, huh?" she asked casually, and Wraith nodded, looking thunderous.

"He told me to kill the detective. I did what he asked, so it's not my fault if the woman's too damn stubborn to die, but I'm still going to get grilled like hell about it anyway." she muttered angrily.

"What, he doesn't like failure? News flash to your boss," Sadie said, waving her hands like they were blinking neon lights, "No one ever likes it when the employees fail. But it happens, so you ought to get over it. Everyone fails, and it's not like getting on your case about it is going to help." She snorted angrily. People could be so stupid sometimes. But then, like she always said, karma was a bitch.

Wraith looked at her, raising an eyebrow. "Try telling that to him sometime." she laughed wryly. "Far as he's concerned, failure from me isn't an option." She shuddered, staring down at the wood of the table, her wings ruffling. "I don't want to know how he plans to reward failure…"

"Then screw it, I will tell him!" Curiosity snapped, really annoyed now. "Sounds like this boss of yours needs to be taken down a notch."

Wraith looked at her, an odd expression on her face.

"You mean that?"

"Well, duh!"

"So…let's say that I've got some friends planning to bust me out of here tonight. This is completely hypothetical, of course." Wraith said casually, with a pointed glance in the direction of the orderlies. A smile found its way onto Curiosity's face, and even Zai looked up in interest.

"Sure. Go on." Curiosity said, and Wraith grinned again.

"Well, should my friends—hypothetically—bust me out of this house of hell and lunacy, would you like to come along? Both of you?" she looked at Zai, who jumped and hid behind her sketchbook. "It gets boring at the boss's place, and even the girls can't stay long most of the time. They've got their own…work to deal with. And like you said," she smiled smugly at Curiosity, "Boss could use a few criticisms here and there."

"Any reason why you can't give him trouble?" Curiosity demanded. If the girl was so keen on raising a little hell for her employer, why didn't she do it herself?

A dark look passed over Wraith's face. "That's…complicated."

"Don't tell me you're in love with him." Curiosity snorted, her opinion of Wraith teetering on a cliff edge.

"I'd sooner go skinny-dipping in a deep fryer!" Wraith threw her head back laughing, then sobered up again, still smiling wolfishly. "No. Like I said, it's complicated. Come with me, and you'll see what I'm talking about."

Curiosity was intrigued now, and if the look on Zai's face was anything to go by, so was her friend. She smiled and held out her hand for a shake.

"You know something, I'll take you up on that, newbie. Now when exactly is this hypothetical escape going to happen?"

"Some time after dinner…if it were really happening," Wraith said innocently, shaking hands with her, "You'll know when you hear the gunfire. Hope you're not afraid of ghosts."

"What, you kidding?"

"Nope," she said, "And I hope you know where your guys' stuff is kept here. I'm not leaving without my effects, which we would only get one chance to grab. So if you want your stuff, you're going to have to get it and get it fast."

Abruptly she hopped off the table, and looked at them both as though trying to keep a straight face.

"See you later tonight, ladies." she said, giving them a mock bow, and flounced off to the other end of the rec room, where she sat down and started talking to another inmate. Curiosity and Zai watched her a moment longer, then slowly turned and faced one another.

"Well?" Curiosity asked.

"I…I don't know, Sadie. I'm not so sure we should trust her. She even made Dr. Strange shudder, and that was after one therapy session. And how do we even know these 'friends' of hers would let us come along? How do we even know there's going to be a breakout and she's not just leading us on?" she said, frowning.

"Well, where's the fun in life without a little risk or two?" Curiosity asked with a smile, then she leaned in and whispered, "And if she is lying, I'm sure one of us can see to it my knife meets her back."

Zai gave her a rare smile.

"Fair enough."

Adrian was just coming back down the hallway, the last of her rounds for delivering supper over, and her nerves were racked. Neil was right down that same hallway, and though she hadn't had to serve him his food, she'd still had to pass his cell, see him looking out at her.

"Hello, Addy…" he'd murmured. "Pity you're looking well. But that can be forgiven. It'll almost be better that you're in perfect shape when I break you."

She'd shuddered and gone right past him without a word, delivering meals to the other detainees. On her way back, she refused to look at him, but merely sped up her walk, even though she caught him still watching him out of the corner of her eye.

"Are you ignoring me, little sis? That's not polite. I'm going to have to draw your death out some more for being rude…"

The second she got past his door, she broke into a run until she was out of the hall, then slowed to a stop and composed herself. She couldn't afford to have any of the doctors—especially Hugo Strange—see her get so worked up at what Neil was saying to her. One of them could easily declare her unfit for duty, and then she'd be out of a job before you could say 'Louisiana.'

She was passing Johnson in the hall, who just finished delivering a meal to Killer Croc—better him than me, she thought—when the alarm began to wail, the red lights flashing as the Asylum's security system went nuts.

"What's going on?" She shouted.

"No clue!" Johnson answered.

It wasn't a drill; Arkham never had drills, out of respect to the patients who were caused distress by the alarm system. Someone had broken out…or in. Adrian was praying it was neither, that the security system was acting up because the Chief of Security had been messing with it, or that some small rodent had chewed through some wires somewhere. Just as she was praying to every god she could think of that this was the case, guns began firing in the hall.

"INTRUDER!" a guard shouted from one of the upper levels.

"Hell…" Adrian muttered, and more shots were fired off, accompanied this time by a high, keening wail that made her hair stand on end.

"LOOK OUT!" Johnson shouted, ducking as a bullet went whizzing where his head had been only seconds ago. Another shot was fired, and Adrian dropped to the floor with a scream. She heard something break, and a door crashed open.

"DAVIS!" roared a Cajun accent.

"Oh NO!" she gasped.

"DAVIS!" Killer Croc shouted, and his running footsteps started to shake the floor. Adrian scrambled to her feet and began to run…

Two guards down, three more running, and the orderlies going in circles like chickens with their heads cut off. So far, so good. Azhure shot in front of Banshee, letting out an eerie cry as she sought out Guen. Banshee raced after the eagle, trusting her hunter's instincts.

"Come on, Mags!" Banshee shouted over her shoulder, skidding as she rounded a corner.

"Keep your tea cozy on, I'm comin'!" the thief shouted back at her irritably.

They charged down the hall, Banshee holding her twin Uzi's before her in warning, and the orderlies were smart enough to get out of the way. The guards? She went through an entire clip before they grew some brains.

Azhure came to a halt before a cell door numbered 318, and screeched, circling in front of it. Banshee jammed another clip in each gun as she approached the cell.

"Guen!" she shouted, "You hear me, girl?"

A pair of green eyes appeared in the barred cell door window.

"Loud and clear! Magpie with you?"

"Right here, love!" the pink-haired English girl yelled, coming to a halt right next to Banshee.

"Stand back, Guen, and cover your ears!" Banshee shouted, aiming for the door's lock.

"Wait!" Guen said, not moving. "There are two girls, Zai and Sadie! Next two cells over from mine! They're coming with us!"

"YOU NUTS?" screamed Banshee.

"No time to explain, sis!" Guen shouted back. "Mags, I need you to raid the storage, grab the effects!"

"On it, mate!" Magpie said with a salute before taking off.

"This had better be good, or he's gonna maim us all!" Banshee said, firing at the lock until it broke open. She threw the door open, just managing to catch Wraith's tackle-hug.

"Thanks, hon!" she said, "I promise I'll make it up to you!"

"Holding you to that!" Banshee chuckled, taking aim at the doors of cells 319 and 320. The doors swung open once the locks broke, and two girls stepped out. One seemed pretty normal, with her long dark hair covering one eye. The other had green hair that was just a bit shorter, and her teeth were filed down to points. Banshee wondered what in the hell Wraith had done to drag them into this, but she didn't have time to wonder for long. Two more guards came running at them from both ends of the hall….

Zai stepped out warily when the lock on the door broke open, and saw Curiosity emerge from her own cell, looking surprised. Wraith was already there, with a mocha-skinned girl dressed in skinny jeans and a pinstriped shirt wielding a pair of Uzi's. She glanced up and down the hall, trying not to scream when she saw the guards rushing at them.

"SHIT! DUCK!" the mocha-skinned girl roared, spinning on the spot into a crouch, her Uzi's whipping out to the sides as she fired off several shots into each of the guards. Curiosity pulled Zai back just in time, and then they were off running before the guards hit the ground. Zai really didn't like the sudden physical contact, but the situation was chaotic, and she didn't really get a chance to voice it. Wraith was dragging both she and Sadie along by the hands as she ran, and the other girl was right behind them, holding her guns at the ready.

"Where to?" Wraith called over her shoulder.

"Bottom floor, south side! Erin's waiting in the van!" the girl shouted back.

"Got it!" Wraith yelled, suddenly stopping next to one of the overhanging catwalks. She pulled both girls up next to her, seizing their collars. "Hope the Arkham diet's been working out for you two. I can only hold so much weight! At least we're only on the third floor…"

Zai was puzzled for a second, then realized what Wraith was talking about.

"What? No! No way! I'm NOT jumping off—"

"You wanna stick around and play pool with the guards?" Wraith asked, "No? Didn't think so! Hold on tight!" And they surged into the air and over the railing as she snapped her wings open, starting to plummet. Sadie cackled with glee, but Zai could only scream as the floor rushed up to meet them. Wraith beat her wings hard, slowing their descent, and they hit the ground lightly, as though they'd done no more than jump off one of the rec room tables. Zai's heart was hammering like crazy, and she was fighting back tears, almost screaming again as Banshee suddenly dropped out of nowhere next to them, hissing and whipping out her Uzi's again. More guards were on this floor, and charging toward them, but Banshee stood first, spinning on the spot as she emptied the Uzi's, a loud, haunting wail ripping out of her throat as she fired.

"RUN!" she screamed, and they were on their feet again, racing for the door. Another figure came up beside them, a girl about their age in all black, her hair dyed a bright pink, and she had her arms full of something…

"IS THAT MY DRESS?" Zai screamed.

"Nice to meet you too, mate." the girl said in a rough English accent as they reached the door.

"DUCK!" they heard Banshee shout somewhere behind them again, and they all dropped into a kneeling position as bullets flew overhead, breaking the south side door. Wraith was up and running, slamming into it sidelong before stumbling out of Arkham and down the steps. Curiosity rushed out after her, grabbing Zai's arm despite her protests, and they were out!

"ERIN!" Wraith yelled, and a pair of headlights snapped on somewhere nearby, nearly blinding them. A huge black van roared to life, coming to a screeching halt in front of them, and Zai saw a redheaded young woman poke her head out of the driver's side window.

"In the back!" she yelled, "Hurry!"

"You heard the ginger!" Wraith said, wrenching the back doors of the van open. "Come on, in in in in IN!"

They didn't have to be told twice. Zai jumped in the back of the van, Curiosity at her side, Wraith jumping in behind them, followed by the pink-haired thief, who pulled the doors shut. Zai noticed the inside structure of the van was remarkably like the Mystery Machine off of Scooby-Doo, and half-wondered if the name was printed on the other side of the van.

The passenger side door opened, and Banshee tumbled in, screaming, "FLOOR IT, RED!"

The van shot off, sending the girls in the back bouncing and hitting the sides, making Zai snarl in pain.

But at least it was the victorious kind of pain. The pain that said they were out of Arkham at last.

The girl driving, Erin, seemed to have no concept of driving, (not that Zai thought she could do any better,) and ran down the man at the gates right before they opened. They sped down the bridge that separated the island from the rest of Gotham, and took off down the streets, the van weaving between the rest of traffic, and onto a street that was hidden by an overpass just as the police units began swarming the Arkham bridge.

"Erin, the next time you rescue me, I'M doing the driving!" Wraith yelled, rubbing her head where it had bumped against the van.

"You know you could be a little more grateful! I'm risking life and limb here to save your sorry ass!" the redhead snapped back as they pulled onto another side street Zai hadn't noticed.

"I love you too, Erin." Wraith muttered.

Her heartbeat finally starting to return to normal, Zai sighed and sat down on a tarp, feeling relief.

"Hey…" she said, feeling something move under her, "This is a very lumpy…"

"OW!" a somewhat Southern yelp came from under the tarp, "Get off me!"

Eyes widening, Zai jumped up, bouncing a few feet, and pulled the tarp back to reveal Adrian Davis, the female orderly staring up at them in wide-eyed horror.

What the hell was she doing here?

"What the—OH, SHIT!" Wraith screamed when she saw Adrian, who started to reach toward her pocket. Zai remembered the blonde woman had recently bought a tazer, and thinking quickly, balled up both hands into a fist and brought it down on Adrian's head, knocking her out cold. Strangely, it felt extremely invigorating.

"Oh, man! Another hitchhiker?" Banshee groaned, looking into the backseat.

"Nice one, Zai!" Sadie said appreciatively, throwing her friend a grin. Zai smiled back, feeling suddenly better about this whole ordeal.

"You know, he's not going to be happy that we've got the Sister Act going on here." Magpie suddenly remarked, sliding the boxes of their things away from her. Zai caught her own box, hugging her sketchbook and clothes to her chest.

"Oh, man," Wraith groaned, burying her face in her hands as she let her box of belongings slide right past her. "He's gonna kill me!"