Don't bring a bag lunch – either leave the grounds for a quick bite or eat a big breakfast and try to get through the day without eating. Don't hang around after dark unless you're forced to take call – and then perch next to the biggest, nastiest guard you can find for the duration. Never spend time with a patient near the beginning or end of a med cycle unless there is a shatterproof window between you. And never let an inmate lull you into believing he's harmless. "Harmless" is an antonym for "Arkham inmate."
- An unofficial survivor's guide for Arkham Asylum Staff
"Want an apple?" Martha Kent indicated the shiny piece of fruit on her desk without raising her eyes from her computer screen.
"Thanks." Harvey Dent chewed thoughtfully for a moment. "Gala?"
"Pink Lady." Martha leaned back in her chair and pushed back her bangs. "What time is it?"
Harvey looked through the small window at the darkening sky. "Time for all good doctors to run screaming from the madhouse."
Martha laughed and reached for a second apple. "Doctors with a social life, you mean." Her eyes found the clock on her computer monitor. "Hey, it's time for your meds, Harv."
He withdrew a few capsules from his front coverall pocket and downed them with a half-opened bottle of spring water. "Why do you do this?"
"Do what?" said Martha, though she knew what he meant.
"You know what I mean. Do you have a death wish? You wouldn't be the first. Or do you think your affiliation with the Justice League protects you?" Harvey asked.
Martha shook her head. "If anything, I think that makes me a bigger target. Look, I assess people pretty well. That's one of my strengths. Between adjusting your meds and getting some other stuff straightened out, I think we've made a lot of progress. And, honestly, you help me. Your insights on some of the other inmates are useful. You helped me a lot with Slipp."
Harvey gave a short laugh. "That wasn't insight, it was a joke. I can't believe you tossed a live rat at him and dared him to swallow it whole."
"It got his attention," said Martha. "He stopped hissing at me."
After a moment of silence, Harvey said, "It doesn't mean a thing to me that the guards are treating me better. I know they're only doing it because you ordered them to." Martha looked at him and nodded.
"I know you mean it, though," continued Harvey quietly. "The respect. When you talk to me."
"I do," said Martha, softly.
Harvey looked at his lap for a moment. "You should go home, Dr. Martha." He looked tired; the burned half of his face was drooping a bit more than usual. Martha walked him back to his cell. They had an unspoken agreement that Harvey's free time in her office would be limited to when most of the staff had left for the day; Persky would probably be outraged if he knew she'd been removing him from his guarded, ultra-secure cell without authorization, but she also believed Harvey needed this. Real respect was the key to his compliance. Without it, he would not take his pills or adhere to Arkham's multitude of regulations.
"Harvey," said Martha, just before she locked him in. "I kinda have two sides to me myself." Their eyes met for a moment, then Martha closed the door.
She had hours of work ahead of her. Her last jaunt with the Justice League had set her back days and she couldn't afford not to make up the time. She didn't know how the rest of the staff did it; even with her ability to stay awake for days, it seemed like the work just never kept coming.
Lian, who knew her better than anyone, claimed this was because Martha was a perfectionist who enjoyed making more work for herself. This wasn't altogether wrong. But the fact was that there was just a lot to be done at Arkham, she thought. The chaos and fear that was infused into the culture of the asylum interfered with most doctors' ability to produce the detailed and painstaking work most psychiatric institutions required. Martha didn't blame her colleagues – she knew she had considerably less to fear than any of them – but she did wish things could be different.
She dropped into her desk chair and pulled up another patient file. Lian had wanted to go out tonight. Martha called the house to let her roommate know she wouldn't be able to make it. She was relieved to find that Lian had already gone on without her.
Next Chapter: An attack on the earth, an argument and an enlightening conversation at Wayne Manor.
