Shadows over Gotham

Chapter 6.

By the end of my first week in Arkham, I had, personally, a feeling that I might just be good at this job. Looking at it back now, I realise I actually never was a good psychiatrist, and I perhaps should have known before I got myself tangled up in all this, but that is something that I cannot change now so I won't go brooding over it here.

I was making some real progress with the patients I had, not in the sense of improving their mental health as of yet, but with my unique talent to listen and my friendly, non-judgemental attitude with which I was content to let them be who they are while talking to me, well, they actually talked to me. At this point I wasn't sure if we could call our meetings sessions, it was more like friendly talks between two friends, but, from the beginning, it was always my opinion that you cannot truly help someone unless you first take your time to truly know them and understand them, and that simply couldn't be achieved with the detached, overly professional attitude my colleagues choose to adopt, well, most of them. There were few people in this facility that I liked, but it was really a small number among the rest being a bunch of people that really had no place here I thought.

Thursday for me was another rather uneventful day on my schedule. During the day I had several minor inmates that I was meeting less frequently, because they were more stable than the other, more famous patients and were considered less dangerous. If I was, at the beginning, a bit unnerved by the fact that they actually let us close to the much more dangerous Rogue Gallery, later I realised that they really had no other choice. There weren't many doctors here to begin with, those who stayed were here for many years and were not interested in looking for another job anymore. It was rare when some new brave person decided to try their luck in the infamous asylum, and so it was necessary to challenge the new ones, even if the more decent people in Arkham would object to that, with some of their famed nutcases to take the load off their senior doctors.

But I did have another interesting encounter that perhaps, in later years, defined the nature of my actions. For in that Thursday afternoon I was supposed to have a first session with a man who I really didn't think should have been here. After all, he had more important things to do than being stuck in an insane asylum. It would be, perhaps, easy for you to guess his identity, if I told you that I had to bundle up quite a lot before I was allowed to see him. For Mr. Freeze's cell in Arkham was, well, cold, frozen in fact. I was actually quite surprised when I was led to the very back of the Penitentiary and saw the giant isolation chamber mounted next to a series of elevated platforms fitted with, currently inactive, electrified floor. This area was known as the Extreme Incarceration, and it was designed for some of the most dangerous individuals that couldn't be contained in the normal cells. I felt bad for mr. Freeze being here, for it was a place with heavy security and only a limited access so coming here to see him would be difficult outside of session hours.

As the heavy doors to his cell opened, the air around us instantly became colder and the guards accompanying me were eager to close them again, throwing pitiful glanced at the one who would be staying inside with me. I shivered in the unpleasant cold, knowing that it was probably going to get worse, but then, cautiously, I stepped inside and looked around.

Now, seeing Freeze for the first time, it was easy to consider him to be as cold as he actually looked, but he was always a man of many contradictions. For starters, Victor was never actually a criminal, well, ok he was, but in his case he did have a very good reason to be. During my time in Arkham, as I've learned, Freeze's dear wife, Nora, was temporarily housed and taken care of in one of Gotham's biggest hospitals, a project that was generously funded by none other than Bruce Wayne himself, who, which was surprising to some people, wanted to personally oversee that the woman's body is kept safe.

As I stood in the doorway then and our eyes met, I saw a man whose interest in life was hanging by a single thread, the thought of saving the life of his wife, and very little beyond that. It seemed that whatever happened to him all those years ago has frozen not only his body, but his mind too, as he seemed cold and detached from emotions, speaking always in this strange, almost robot-like manner, but later I learned that it wasn't entirely true. He was sometimes capable of strong emotional responses, especially when it came to Nora, though most of the time he did regarded the world with a calm, level-headed attitude, which was one of the reasons why I came to like him so much. He never wanted to hurt anyone who didn't truly deserve it, which made him so different from the other rogues here.

Getting close to him wasn't easy though, me being a total stranger who came out of nowhere to pry into his personal life. Forming relationships, beyond anything business related that would help him achieve his goal was redundant for him, so I had to approach him carefully. At the end of that first session I felt a deep pity for the man, but I was clever not to show it. Mr. Freeze certainly wasn't in such a desperate situation for me to feel pity for him, and I knew it would only make him angry. My sympathy though was something he appreciated, especially when he realised I was utterly sincere about it. He didn't need a psychiatrist, he needed someone to talk to, a friendly face in the midst of people whose hearts were often much colder than his icy prison cell. And so I asked him about his wife. Not about the accident or her illness, no, I ask him to tell about the past, to tell me about what she was like when they were together. It was hard for him, I could see, but he did fulfill my request, and though I never met her, in front of my mind's eye he painted a picture of a woman who was the center of his attention even before all this happened, a kind and beautiful angel that he loved so much. I was such a moving tale it brought tears to my eyes, and before I left that day, I took all my courage, walked up to him and placed a hand on his freezing shoulder.

"You will have that again," I said, looking into his eyes seriously. "I don't know what will happen, but I believe that one day, you two will be together again. Think about that, Victor," I added, seeing the doubt in his eyes. "because in reality, nothing else really matters but the love you shared."

I left the cell behind me, but could not shake the melancholy that suddenly plagued my mind when I though about the poor man and the empty words I just gave him. I meant them of course, every word, but I also realised how ridiculous it was saying those words to a man who might very well spend the remainder of his life locked away in an insane asylum, never seeing his wife again. As the guards led me out of the Extreme Incarceration area, I turned around and took a one last look at his cell, before the door closed shut. And as I, alone, walked through the asylum's corridors, I suddenly felt a thought that was most unbecoming of someone who worked in this place, someone aware of the danger the people locked in here presented. I thought about how Victor Fries was wasting away here while he should be outside working on his cure and I realised, suddenly, that I wouldn't mind if he escaped. I quickly shook the thought away as I walked out of the building, when I ran into someone I really did not want to see at the moment. It was doctor Thomas, and his quick strides as he walked towards me told me that it was sadly me he wanted to speak too. I suppressed an annoyed eye roll as I turned to look at him with a somewhat friendly smile on my face. "What is it, doctor Thomas?"

"Oh, please, we're colleagues." he said, smiling brightly. "Call me Ryan." He was acting like nothing happened between us last time I saw him, at the same time ignoring the fact that I've been actually avoiding him for the last few days, but I did not wish to speak to him any more than I had to so I just went along with it. "Very well, Ryan. What can I do for you? I am kinda busy at the moment." I said, prepared to go to do anything but staying here with him.

"Ehm, I was told the warden wanted to speak with you." he said, and I nodded, before quickly retreating. "All right, thanks for telling me." I saw in the corner of my eye as he stood there, looking rather stunned as I left, but I didn't care. He was an idiot, one that I was not going to bother myself with. I walked across the asylum grounds to the mansion, thinking about what the warden wanted to speak to me about. I remembered Crane's words from the other day and I was getting quite nervous as I neared the warden's office. I didn't want to get into trouble, not for something I thought to be right.

As I was about to open the door, I stopped and listened as I could hear muffled voices inside. Then, a deep, commanding voice called out: "Come in, doctor Jones. You are expected." Listening to that voice gave me chills as I stepped inside, and there I saw the warden talking to a much taller man with bald head and a thick, neatly trimmed beard. The grey eyes under his round glasses were cold and calculating, and looking into them gave me a feeling of staring into two bottomless, empty wells. When he smiled at me and reached a hand for a handshake I had a strong urge to recoil from him, but I was able to keep myself in check as I shook his black-gloved hand. "Thank you for coming, doctor Jones." spoke the warden from his position in the chair. "Please meet doctor Hugo Strange, he's my advisor occasionally when it comes to the asylum and a prominent figure in the field of psychiatry."

I nodded, and smiled, as I looked at the my fellow doctor again. "Nice to meet you, doctor Strange." At this time, I couldn't possibly know about what the future will bring, and what did this foul and malicious man had in store for all of us, but I could feel when I looked at him, as he stared at me, the cold grip of fear that I was barely able to hide. That man was evil, and he couldn't hide it at all. I felt like I couldn't bare to be in the same room with him a minute longer when, to my relief, he took his bag from the table and headed for the door. "It was nice meeting you too, doctor Jones, but now it is time for me to depart. I will see you next week the same time, mr. warden. Farewell for now." I watched him leave, staring at the door until I could no longer hear the echo of his footsteps, and only then did I turn back to the warden.

"Who is he, sir?" I asked, still rather agitated.

"Nobody really knows, to tell you the truth. He used to travel a lot and now he has a practice in Gotham, but according to him, he much prefers to spend time in places like this. I know very little about his past, but he had excellent credentials and I can hardly deny his expertise. I am truly grateful for his assistance." he said, and there was something weird in his voice, something I couldn't put my finger on. Nervously, I gulped, and then I shook my head and approached the warden's desk. "I hope I will meet him again, then. Did you want to speak to me sir?" I asked carefully, and the warden squinted at me from behind his glasses.

"Yes, doctor Jones. First of all, how do you like it here in Arkham so far? You've been here for a week, has everything met your expectations?" he asked, and I narrowed my eyes in apprehension at his fake amiable tone.

"So far everything has been good, sir." I said carefully. "I think I have made some good progress with my patients, and I hope to make more in the future. In fact," I added, deciding to voice a thought I had for a while. "if you aren't against it terribly I wanted to ask you if you could, perhaps, assign me another patient early."

"And by another patient you mean another rogue, I guess?" he answered slowly, a frown forming on his face.

"Well... yes," I admitted. "if possibly. I have currently only four of them now, but mr. Freeze and Ivy doesn't need as much attention and we're only meeting once a week, the only ones who are really taking my time are the Scarecrow and Killer Croc. Between them and the more regular patients I have a lot of free time, and I wouldn't mind dedicating it to another one from the Rogue Gallery." I looked at him, pleading. "I'm asking you for one, nothing more."

"No." he answered immediately. "I'm sorry, but no. I know it may seem like you have a lot of time now, doctor, but you've been for a week and trust me, once you spend more time with the patients you already have, you will certainly reconsider taking another one. Understand please, I am not underestimating you, I am merely trying to prevent this job from getting over you head at such an early stage because of your overenthusiasm. Now, with that being said, I believe we are done here."

I sighed and shook my head, trying it for the last time. "With all due respect, sir, I believe I can handle it. Just one more patient from one of the doctors, that's all I'm asking, I think the Riddler for example would be a lot more satisfied if I…"

"Doctor Jones." he interrupted, looking at me sharply as he clasped his hands, leaning his elbows against the table. "It seemed I haven't explained this to you properly. You have been here for only a week so far and you are in no position to make such demands of me. As for mr. Nigma, I see no reason to think that doctor Thomas is not capable enough to treat him fairly. You should be grateful for the patients that I have given you, if it was for me, you and doctor Quinzel would not even see any of the rogues for many months, but doctor Strange thought it would be a good challenge for you if we put you in some real action. I personally am starting to regret that decition."

"What do you mean?" I asked, but inside, I already knew what he was talking about. I could only sigh and prepare for the storm. "Doctor Jones, from what both doctor Thomas and mr. Cash told me, you seem really, how should I put it, inappropriately interested in your patients. From what I've heard yesterday, you've even promised Waylon Jones that you will hold his session in the sewers. Whatever reason you have for it, I really don't believe it's a good idea."

I lowered my head and closed my eyes. This was going to be unpleasant. "Sir, it's just a try. I mean, he clearly feels more comfortable there, and I don't have a problem with it, so why not? It's possible he'll be much more willing to talk down there. And the guards will be there with me if anything happens."

"Very well, do as you wish." he said resignedly, but his frown deepened. "But I am not done yet. Can you explain to me, please, why are you acting towards these patients the way you are? I heard you were speaking with Isley for any hours about her plants and that your session with Killer Croc was more like a friendly banter, with you actually encouraging him into recalling his "adventures"." he spat the last word. "And I don't even want to know what you were talking about with Crane, but let me remind you why you're here, doctor. Your task is to get something out of them, something we can use to get the illusions of their heads. You're not supposed to coddle them and be their friend, perhaps you can do that in your "free time", as you call it, but in the sessions with them you will do some real work, you understand? That is unless you want to lose your job here."

I looked at the warden with narrowed eyes, thinking about all the things I wanted to say to him in that moment. How could a man like this be in charge of this facility? At the end I sighed, trying to calm myself down, knowing there was probably no point in arguing with him, and I nodded. "Very well, mr. warden, I understand what you mean, I was simply trying to use a more friendly approach to get them to open up to me more easily, but I will try to keep my sessions more professional in the future. Thank you for not giving up on me yet."

I felt the room as quickly as I could, leaning my back against the wall outside the office. "Bastard." I mumbled, and I retreated into my office. It was after noon now, and in a few minutes, I was about to have another session with Killer Croc.

As I headed towards the Intensive Treatment building where I was supposed to meet Cash and the other guards, I had to smile as I thought about my reptilian patient. Sure he was terrifying, oh yes, he was, but he was also very fascinating, and obviously much more human that he'd let people to believe. I knew he had a horrible past as many of the other people here, him being bullied for most of his life for being different. I hated bullies, more so because I too was the centre of their attention when I was young being a loner and a bit of a nerd, much rather spending time with a book than talking to the other students about whatever idiocy they were currently interested in. Fortunately I wasn't the worst case at school, as I was mostly just left alone, but still, sometimes I thought bullying should serious be consider as crime.

I met with the guard in front of the building and they took me down to its sublevels where the entrance to the sewers was located. I shivered when we arrived there, it was very cold, the air chilled from the water. "Are you sure you wanna do this?" Cash asked me, his face filled with concern, but I smiled at him, trying to reassure him. He was obviously a good man, and I felt a little guilty about snapping at him earlier this week.

We entered the sewer through the barred entrance, and we walked a short corridor, Cash and the guards walking in front of me with their guns prepared, before we arrived to the series of canals that were barely bridged by thin wooden platforms. I was reluctant to step on those, but fortunately, Cash had no such intention in mind. "We stop here." he said, and then he called out into the tunnels. "Hey, Croc, your doctor's here!" At first, there was a growl in a distance and then, nothing, so I rolled my eyes and stepped forward to gently call: "Waylon! It's me, doctor Jones! Will you come out, please?" There was a pause and the soft sounds of splashing water, and then, suddenly, after a few seconds of waiting the water in front of us bursted out as as the huge green body of Killer Croc crashed through it and landed in the corridor. I stared at him in awe as he turned towards us and growled. "I'm warning ya, doc, I am not in a good mood."

Doing some quick thinking, I tried to think of what might cause Croc to be so grumpy, and then, thinking the simplest solution is usually the right one, I turned to Cash. "Has anybody fed him yet?" I asked, and he shook his head dismissively. "No, not yet, we were gonna feed him after the session, doctor, no need for you to worry about it." I rolled my eyes as I looked at Killer Croc, who was quietly seething at the edge of the water. They would actually let him have a session without anything to eat first? No doubt he was so eager to eat his doctors. The more I heard about the practises in this asylum, the more I believed that the reason there was so much wrong with this facility was not the result of poor security, but the absolute disregard for the patients' living conditions, and, more importantly, their rights.

"Mr. Cash," I said. "please be so kind and have somebody bring him his meal, won't you?" I did not care about anything the warden said, I will not have my patient talk on an empty stomach, I was quite hungry myself as I didn't have time for lunch yet. "I'm sure nobody would have a problem with you feeding him an hour earlier, and I am not in a hurry."

Cash wasn't very happy about it, but at the end, he waved his hand over it and just did as I said. After a short time, he returned, and my eyes widened as I saw dragging a fresh torso of a cow inside with the help of one of the guards. Croc, however, perked up at the sighed of it, so I smiled, and said to Cash: "Thank you, mr. Cash. Now put it here, please, and leave." Cash turned around to look at me in shock. "What did you say, doctor?"

"I said leave us, wait by the bars over there." I pointed at the entrance to the corridor. "You don't like it either when someone is staring at your plate while you're eating, do you?"

"So we ought to leave, but you can stare at him all you want?" At first he looked like he was about to forbid it, but when he saw my determined expression, he conceded. He sighed and looked at Killer Croc, who currently had his eyes only for the meat on the floor, and then he handed me a small, black device with several buttons. "This is madness, doctor, you know that, but fine, you just take this, it's a remote control for the collar. If he tries anything, just press it, and we'll come running. I waited for them to leave, and then I stepped away from the carcass to give Croc some space, before I turned to him with a smile, gesturing to it. "He, it's all yours."

I watched as the giant crocodile man lumbered towards the meal, lowered himself down and started devouring it. It seemed to me now that it wasn't much of a meal to begin with, and so it didn't take long for him to done with it. When he raised his head again, there wasn't much of it left. Then, he suddenly sniffed, and turned to be, seemingly forgetting for a second that I was even there. "You still here?" he rumbles, but it was a much less unpleasant sound as before. I smiled at him and nodded. "Evidently." I said, and then I sat by one of the tunnel's walls.

"Thanks." he acknowledged, before he moved and sat down next to me. "I was hungry."

"I could see that." I grinned. "And it was nothing. I don't like doing things hungry either, and I wouldn't want you to eat me instead." I joked and he laughed, before saying. "Then why did you want the guards to leave?" he remarked, stood up and came closer to me. Dangerously closer to me. As he towered over me I did my best not to freak out, and I rose to my feet too, so I could look into his eyes, before turning away from him. "Well, you see, it's much more pleasant to talk when you're not being overheard by people who cannot keep their mouth shut." Seeing my anger, he stopped, and just looked at me expectantly. "Last time we spoke together he just couldn't keep himself from telling the warden about everything that happened with all the details. I was in the warden's office today and it seems like I have officially made the warden angry because I actually care about you all. I was lucky he didn't fire me."

I was looking away from him, so I couldn't see it, but Croc's eyes suddenly soften at this as he looked at me, before he said: "Cash is a bastard, same as the old warden. I look forward to the day when I get this collar off so I can finish what I started." he growled, but then he smiled as I looked at him. "I like you, doc, you're not like the others. If you carry on the way you do, the warden may not like you, but you're certainly gonna make a lot of friends on the inside, if you catch my meaning."

I did, and I smiled, cause I could hear the comradeship in his voice as he spoke, and I couldn't help but feeling happy at his words. We spend the rest of our time in the sewers talking about many things, him for the first time actually being interested in me, and as he was much calmer after his meal I found out he could actually be a rather nice companion after all. I told him about my life, and before long he began talking about his without me even suggesting it. And then it was over, and I had left Killer Croc in the sewers in a much better mood then before.