ᴛʜᴇ ɢᴏᴛʜᴀᴍ ᴇғғᴇᴄᴛ
ʏᴏᴜ ᴄᴀɴ ʀᴜɴ ʙᴜᴛ ʏᴏᴜ ᴄᴀɴ'ᴛ ʜɪᴅᴇ; ᴛʜɪs sɪᴍᴘʟᴇ ᴘʜʀᴀsᴇ ɪs ᴘᴇʀʜᴀᴘs ᴛʜᴇ ᴇᴘɪᴛᴏᴍᴇ ᴏғ ʜᴜᴍᴀɴ ᴇɴʟɪɢʜᴛᴇɴᴍᴇɴᴛ. ᴏɴʟʏ ᴡʜᴇɴ ʏᴏᴜ ʀᴇᴀʟɪᴢᴇ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ʟɪᴇs ʏᴏᴜ ᴛᴇʟʟ ʏᴏᴜʀsᴇʟғ ᴡɪʟʟ ᴏɴᴇ ᴅᴀʏ ғᴀᴅᴇ ᴀɴᴅ sʜᴏᴡ ʏᴏᴜ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛʀᴜᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡɪʟʟ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄʜᴀsᴇ ᴇɴᴅ ᴀɴᴅ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴀsᴄᴇɴsɪᴏɴ ʙᴇɢɪɴ.
Her feet dangled over the edge of the roof she sat on.
The familiar chill in Lu's spine caused from the lack of warm material mingled with the heat that her blood created by rushing through her veins. Lu looked down at the pub from the other side of the street. It was dark and noisy on that side of the city but it sent a thrill through the girl's muscles that she wouldn't trade for anything.
It was funny to her; when she was at home, snuggled in a thick blanket and sprawling on the couch it was the only place she wanted to be. Because she didn't have to worry about anything; she could be herself. But the same could be said when she was out in the cold, dark and smoggy parts of Gotham. When she was in that uncomfortable suit and her fingers yearned to pull out her sword she also felt at home.
The entrance of the pub propped open and a tall blonde man walked out with a shotgun slung over his shoulder and a glass cup in his hand.
Lu pulled her legs in and lied down, trying her best to hide the large samurai helmet she wore. She'd thought about inconvenient it was at times but she wore it for the reason that the ancient warriors did; to frighten the enemy. Lucinda wasn't all that tall and in many occasions her latex and metal get up actually got her confused for some dominatrix rather than a killer so the only thing that still freaked her victims was the strange headgear she sported.
The girl watched with sharp vision as the man swallowed the clear liquid in his cup and bent down to place it near the wall beside him. She used that moment of distraction to maneuver her way down the wall of the building she was stalking him from. She stealthily dashed towards the edge of the building as she pulled the small daggers tucked in the belt on her waist. Suddenly she threw her body over the building and dangled from the ledge until her footing was ready. She then slid down the wall, her daggers grinding against the cement and making a ruckus that was drowned out by the pounding of the music and chatter coming from the bar.
The girl stared out from the darkness of the ally timing her arrival just right. She still needed to keep her identity known to a minimum amount of people; ideally only those she intended to kill and die to recent events, Ed.
Some time went by and the man who guarded the noisy pub didn't seem to leave anytime soon causing Lu to become impatient. After realizing that he wasn't going in any time soon and being as impatient as she was, Lu simply walked forward.
The man looked her way and a perplexed smile pulled along his lips. He eyed the girl's body, defined by the tight black suit she wore and only noticed that she had ill intentions when he saw her nimble fingers playfully spinning a black bladed dagger in her hand. The man tugged on the sling, making his gun swing forward but as soon as he held onto the weapon a sharp pain was already rushing over his arm. He looked down to see the dagger that was formerly in Lu's hand lodged in his wrist.
He looked up to the girl again to see her happily coming closer. He quickly pulled the blade out of his flesh and an unbelievable amount of blood started to gush out just as Lucinda had expected. She knew the man wouldn't know that she'd just punctured his radial artery and that by pulling out the blade he'd actually be signing his own death sentence.
She suddenly started to walk faster as she pulled out her katana and the man stared down at the amount of blood that was flowing out of his limb. While he was preoccupied by the pain in his arm Lu swiftly dug the tip of her blade into the man's chest, making sure to slice his heart and pulled it out just as fast. The tall man instantly fell to his knees and Lucinda stood in front of him, watching him bleed out with not even the slightest bit of remorse. After she was sure he was gone she sheathed her weapon, stepped forward and opened the door to the pub.
The inside managed to be worse than outside; with a thick layer of smoke and a commotion so great no one even noticed the strange female walking into the bar. Lucinda used the darkness of the place to make her way to a more secluded corner. A couple of women kissing near the bar stumbled across her and Lucinda moved out of their way as she stepped into a hallway where a couple of guys spoke in hushed whispers about a ship coming in at the docks with a supply. Lu looked around to get an idea of the layout of the club and understand a better way to get into the room that was heavily guarded.
She may have gotten into the place easily but that was one guy, not five guys with chrome guns. Lu turned back around and mixed with the crowd that danced, drank and talked loudly on the disorganized dance floor. She noticed that there were tall glass tubes that a circled around the stage. Women and a couple of men danced inside the tubes as if they were on display as strobe and laser lights lashed their attractive bodies, bringing even more attention to them. The girl noticed a man that carried a long black gun walking up to one of the tubes and opening it. The girl who was in nothing more than a skimpy huntress type of costume and a plastic bow and arrow smiled and was led down the stage towards the guarded room that Lu deducted was the boss's private quarters. Lucinda quickly rushed through the place and guaranteed the empty tube for herself.
The girl wasn't exactly a dancer but she knew enough to seduce a drunken bouncer, that and her suit could easily grab anyone's attention. She stepped into the wide glass pipe and a different type of music started to play. She felt her chest thumping from the strong bass that bumped through the speakers as she swerved her hips and tried her best to keep her katana behind her. Perhaps the people dancing below wouldn't recognize a real sword when they saw one but a professional assassin certainly would and Lu had a hunch that the giants that chose the next entertainer to amuse their boss were just that.
The music actually did its job of diverting Lu and before she knew it she was actually enjoying herself. It was as if whatever she was about to do wasn't a duty anymore; it was fun. The way the girl coiled her body to the beat soon managed to get one of the guard's attention and she noticed him walking up to her from the other side of the pub. Lu was glad that her mask covered her sly smirk. Soon a different guard was opening the tube and shooting her an enticing smile as he took her hand and helped her down from the stage before carefully escorting her to the door he was formerly stationed at. He opened the large black door and Lu bowed as if she was a ninja to make the outfit more convincing and the guy chuckled at her. She walked in and was amazed to see that there was another version on the party outside happening inside the room. What separated the VIP room was the number of half-naked men and women and the amount of drugs everywhere you looked. Lu was a doctor but you didn't have to be one to know that the quantity of white powder in that room was enough to kill a crowd. She instantly recalled why she was there in the first place.
The Russian mafia had recently closed a deal with some providers that sold them the purest of heroin. Every high-class addict in Gotham was shoveling over thousands to the Bratva and Lu had gotten word of it.
After killing a dirty M.E for sweeping an obvious gang hit under the rug she noticed a peculiar tattoo on the man's chest; a virgin Mary holding the baby Jesus. Lucinda had a rough knowledge on the meaning of certain gang tattoos from her previous jobs and knew that it was a Russian marking. She looked deeper into it and apparently it stood for a brother who would never rat his comrades. The man didn't say a word but his need to hide the Russians recent strikes was enough to get her snooping.
A couple of days later Lu knew that heroin was the name of the game and what a game it was; according to word of mouth the drug was coming in by the pounds and that only made her more determined to find the source. The girl had initially thought that the numbers she heard were exaggerations but now that she was actually in one of the gang's headquarters and the dust they snorted by the plateful was all in front of her she was sure the information was no joke.
Luckily for her everyone in the room was either completely entranced by the drug or suffering the sting of the after effects. She walked close to the edges of the place to call as little attention as possible but it was pretty difficult with the outfit she modeled.
Suddenly a man eyed her from the other side of the room and Lu knew she was in for some unnecessary trouble. The man walked up to her, sliding a hand over his slick chocolate locks. He was wearing more gold on one hand than Lu had in her entire vanity.
"Hey, devotchka, big boss is in here; I'm sure he'd like to see you."
The girl's green eyes grew wide as she heard the phrase. Lu had gone to The Castle expecting a sub boss who would squeal if pressed enough. From there on out she'd trace the place where they kept the stock and spill some more blood. But this was completely unexpected. She wasn't a stripper and she wasn't about to stoop so low simply to get away with her life. But still, she'd already killed that bouncer out of impulse and her rule of thumb was her core rule. As she was lead to an even more reclusive room all she could do was think of how freeing it would be to show what she could truly do without having to answer to a night-per-capita moral code.
The boss's headquarters was spacious and dark but neon signs bathed the room in red light. The man showed her in then left just as quickly. The room had about 5 men sat around desks counting the largest sum of money Lu had ever seen in one place. A large man sat behind the desk placed in the center of the room and Lucinda presumed that was the so called "big boss". He'd just finish snorting a row that was neatly cut on the glass surface ahead of him and looked up to see Lucinda standing there.
"Wow." He grinned and slid his finger over the glass to pick up the remnants of the powder which he rubbed on his gums.
"Come over here, bunny."
Lu would have slashed the man then and there if it wasn't for the other guys around him. Instead she walked forward cautiously as the man watched her with a hungry expression. He suddenly raised a hand and the girl stopped. The boss stood and Lu was actually a little scared by the size of the man. He had dark hair and his bright blue eyes were so clear they reflected more of the red light in the room and made him look like the devil incarnated. The other guys in the room paid no attention to their chief's actions and simply went on counting the seemingly endless wads of cash. Lucinda could make out the gun on the man's waist and tried to think of how she would make it out of this one alive.
Before she even had anytime to rationalize a plan the man was sliding his hands over her body. Lucinda bit her bottom lip hard to keep from doing anything to the man. She had to leave and she knew that there would only be limited ways to do that without losing her dignity. Just as these things flashed through her mind the boss pulled Lucinda back and leaned on the edge of his desk before roughly turning the girl around. At first she didn't understand why but after he slammed his crotch onto her and started to grind she caught on.
Lucinda saw red. She raised her hands; one was on the man's face distracting him while the other reached for the grip of her katana. The man took one of Lucinda's fingers in his mouth and started to suck on the latex that covered it. The girl scoffed and pulled out her sword.
"There's no way in hell."
The blade came out slashing the man's chest and neck due to the difference of his size compared to Yin's. The guy started coughing blood as he stammered something indistinguishable. All the other men in the room looked back to the girl holding the bloody sword and their boss's jugular squirting the dark liquid all over the fur carpet he was laying on.
Lucinda grew stiff. She raised her finger as if trying to calm the men.
"I didn't mean to do that…" She shrugged and cocked her head.
"Well not tonight anyway."
In less than a second all five men were pulling out their guns and Yin was replying by tossing a handful of small blades in a row. Two men dropped their guns and started screaming at the metal edges lodged in their eye. The three other guys started shooting and Lu began giggling as a defense mechanism since she was actually too scared to think. A bullet grazed her arm and the girl shrieked in pain. The sudden throbbing in her flesh snapped her back to reality and she came back twice as fierce. The girl ducked and flipped back the desk the man she'd killed had been sitting at. There were more gunshots and Lucinda tried to concentrate on the years of martial arts and other mental training she'd put herself through.
She took a deep breath and isolated the sound of the gun clicking in one of the men's hand. Just as he pressed the trigger and another bullet came out flying Lucinda raised her katana and the bullet ricocheted and continued to glide through the side of another guy's head. The girl raised her head to see if her little stunt had worked. Upon noticing that the man who was beside him was still looking down to his friend Lucinda jumped back out from behind the desk and sliced his neck in an instant.
There was still another guy shooting in her direction but he had just gone out of bullets. Lucinda couldn't help but giggle at his shit luck. She flung her sword at the man and watched as it pierced perfectly past his ribcage and out the other side. One of the guys who had had their eye perforated managed to grab a hold of the gun he'd dropped and shot towards Lucinda. However seeing with only one eye threw off his aim and he missed Lu completely. She dashed forward, pulled her weapon out of the man's chest and slashed the other guy's neck. She walked over to the other man she'd mauled and noticed he wasn't breathing anymore, apparently the shock of having his eye spilling out of its socket had given him a heart attack.
The girl looked for a way out of the room that wasn't the door from which she'd entered and noticed that there was a large black window behind the dead boss's desk. She sheathed her katana, walked over to it and propped the exit open. Suddenly there was roaring of people screaming as men speaking in Russian and English all together shouted commands.
Lu looked at the open window ahead of her and suddenly the door was smashed open. Her head snapped back to see more men coming after her with knives twice as thick as her katana and a couple of guns. It made her shake instantly as the adrenaline shot through her body. Her mind told her to get the hell out of there; she'd only ever went against thugs and sleazy john doe's and those men were 6 feet of trained assassins not to mention there were about 10 of them and one of her.
She felt her head thumping, screaming at her to leave, telling her that she was already deep enough in debt after killing all those men. She shook her head harshly as she squeezed her eyes shut. There it was again; that torturous voice in her head telling her that she had to make things right.
Balance, Lu. You have to have balance.
It was like an endless game and she never felt as if she was ever getting better at it. It was like a leash keeping her from unraveling the full ruin that she had the potential for. She'd always felt it, deep inside she knew that the incident with Nathan was merely an excuse. She'd seen an opportunity to reveal the darkness she'd always kept tucked under her childlike emotions and she grabbed onto it with both hands.
The thing was that in order to keep the excuse valid to herself her mind had morphed into a prison. There had been a set of rules that were burned into her brain and that administrated her every action with micro precision. It told her to not react with the complete vivacity that she truly wanted to, it ordered her to not speak the lively things that bounced around in her head simply because she had to keep herself in line. She couldn't show emotions in her daily life because she was already much too expressive during the night; when the darkness of the city twirled and merged with the darkness that seeped from inside of her.
But it was lonesome; to never be seen for whom she truly was. To have to avoid people all together because she knew that whatever relationship she built would be a shadow show; all just an elaborate game of pretend. That's why when she found out that Ed harbored the same obscurity in him she believed it to be fate.
She had thought that Nathan was her liberator; the one who helped her find the courage to do what she'd always wanted to. But in the end he'd only been a crack in the shell that kept her true self. The feelings she had merely dripped from the fracture his death had created but it hadn't set her free. She was still trying to be someone, something, she wasn't; a hero.
Lucinda had wanted to believe she was doing this because she'd been tragically awakened to the viciousness of the real world. She wanted to say that she'd lost the boy she loved and had turned bitter because of it but she was well aware that was a lie.
For starters she never loved Nathan. That was one of the hardest part of the lie she told herself. She had to create a feeling that never existed and this was supposedly the feeling that fueled her actions. For that reason she had invented an exaggerated version of the scene in her mind. She played it back every time she felt the dark telling her the truth. And so there was a confusing and painful war in her mind between the lie that told her that she was merely an antihero and the truth that wanted to reveal to her what her wild soul really wanted.
Even when she was younger she'd caught herself in small acts of opposition to the side of her that she tried to portray as her whole self. She wasn't innocent. She never had been. She always felt her parents' explanations as a feeble attempt to make her believe that the world worked in your favor. That's why she liked her uncle so much; because the first serious lesson he'd ever taught her was something she'd known or at least felt all along and that is that you got to make things happen.
It's all up to you. The world isn't going to be nice. The world isn't going to fix your problems. Whatever happens to you happened because you made it happen with your own actions.
Lucinda felt the sudden acceptance wash over her like acid rain and she opened her eyes again. All that had been processed in her mind in a fraction of a second and everything seemed to moving in slow motion. Her green eyes went down to the men she'd already slaughtered strewn across the floor. She looked back up to the gangsters rushing towards her and a wicked grin opened behind her mask. Lu pulled out her katana again and twirled the blade in preparation for the fight she was about to get into and the men suddenly realized she had a certain level of skill.
The girl cocked her head while looking to the guys in front of her with an electric feeling buzzing through her body as a sense of freedom she'd never felt before kept her from even slightly fearing the odds.
"Let's dance, you ditz."
•••
The warm fire crackled and danced behind Oswald as his eyes glimmered with that spark he thought he had lost. The scene ahead of him would be considered appalling to most people but it was currently the man's pride and joy. The remnants of his enemies before him was exactly the type of ego boost he needed after the embarrassing situations he'd put himself through recently. If anything, that phase of his had taught him that he would never be respected without the vicious ambition that defined his true personality. He was reborn, renewed and eager to take back his kingdom with claws and fangs.
"I was going to ask if you wanted help on getting rid of the 'vandals' but I see you beat me to the point."
Oswald jolted as he stood to see Lu's familiar figure standing at the door to the dining room. He huffed and sat back down. Yin walked around the dead body, observing the gashes the man before her had recently created. She let out an amused giggle as she noticed the severity, liveliness and number of lacerations on the woman's chest and neck then looked up to stare at the strange little man in front of her. She thought of how riveting it was when an unsuspected or unlikely person could also be the author of such damage. Oswald stared back at the girl, bloodied knife in one of his hands, a glass of wine in the other.
"Oh, so now you want to share?"
Yin forgot about the corpse and faced Oswald.
"Actually I was looking for a swap."
He raised an eyebrow at Lucinda and the girl walked up a bit.
"I was going to offer getting rid of the evil stepmother if that deal from the other night was still up but given the current circumstances I'm sure we can think of something else."
Oswald let out a sardonic laugh and reeled back as he looked at the girl who looked shambolic and elated all at once.
"And why would someone as… resourceful as you need protection?"
Lu paced around, waiting for the right words to form in her mind.
"Let's say I started a gang war."
"There's always been a gang war."
"Yeah but I struck a nerve."
Oswald seemed interested.
"Who?"
"The Bratva."
Oswald simply scoffed as he stared flabbergast at the girl.
"What did you do?" He nearly chuckled at what he was hearing.
"I heard there was some crazy numbers drifting around about their heroine supplies and accidentally killed, quote on quote, big boss at The Castle." She curled her index and middle fingers twice to demonstrate the quotation she spoke of.
The man sitting down closed his dropped jaw and raised a hand, as if asking for a moment to process what he'd just been told.
He knew The Castle; it was nearly as big as his former club, a fortress of cobblestone walls and crawling with men three times as big as the girl in front of him.
"You went to the Russian's point just because you didn't like the fact they were growing."
"I went to the Russian's point because I was trying to keep this city in order. But I'm done playing God."
He set the blade down on the table and grabbed one of the empty glasses he had set on the table earlier.
"Sit down, friend. Let's talk."
Yin didn't think twice. She pulled back a chair and reached out to hold onto the glass of wine as Oswald poured the rouge liquid for her.
"First off, who are you?"
This time Lu didn't answer. As a matter of fact she never had to worry about such a thing. The only other time she was asked to identify herself was when Ed met her for the first time. She'd said that silly little pun only so that he would instantly know she was the doctor he'd met earlier. What was the use of a fake name now anyways? She was tired of playing safe. She'd let her demons off their chains and they were just itching to play and they played rough.
"Fuck it." The girl shrugged and Oswald straightened his back as he watched with curiosity.
Now that she had just recently dirtied her katana with flesh and fluid and the smell of death swirled around her as she sat face to face with a killer of equal ranks she accepted the truth of her situation. She wasn't going to hide anymore. In fact she was going to face the reality of her choices for the first time in a long time. Lu took her hands to either side of her jaw. A clicking sound was followed by the clanking of the metal mask that she had over her lips coming off.
Oswald's blue eyes widened as he took in the sight of the female's entire face.
"You're the" He choked up, still flabbergast by the uncanny revelation.
"Yeah, I'm the doctor." She reached out for the glass of wine again and this time brought it to her lips. Before taking a sip she looked up from the red liquid to Oswald and introduced herself.
"Lucinda Yin."
The man glared at the girl who took gulped the wine and rested back on the chair she was sat on. He couldn't believe his eyes though somehow it wasn't a complete shock to him. Gotham was full of peculiar twists and tricksters; it seemed the city had a knack for creating the most efficient liars. Suddenly he recalled the question he had for the girl since the first time they met.
"Why'd you help me escape… at The Rat Pack?"
The girl looked at the bottom of her empty glass and smiled a little. Oswald took the hint and poured her a bit more of wine. She eased into the situation more with the alcohol coursing through her body and sighed.
"Back then… I was playing a game with myself; trying to be a savior, karma's right hand lady. If you'd asked me the same thing this morning I'd say something along the lines of 'you helped me with that lady and so it was only right that I helped you in return'."
"But…" Oswald caught onto the girl's train of thought and her piercing green pupil darted back to the man.
She grinned and slowly took off the helmet that held her hair up. Lu's wispy locks cascaded down in wonderfully disarranged patterns and she threw the gear to the ground. Oswald's gazed followed the headpiece as it crashed on the floor then returned to gaze at the girl smiling. It was a type of smile he was all too familiar to; in fact he'd been smiling that same way just recently. It was the type of smile you have when you realize something important, when you become independent of any internal restrictions and accept a truth you'd long known.
"But let's be real; I'm no hero."
Oswald quirked a brow as a grin of his own tugged on his lips.
"That's not even the true concept of karma." She trailed off as she nipped the drink again.
"I kept trying to keep this city at bay…" She looked into Oswald's eyes and cocked her head.
"Or at least that's what I told myself. Deep down… I knew I liked it; it wasn't any social deed. But I'm free now. I don't want to pretend like I want fix this place anymore… I would never have made it anyway."
The man squinted and fixed his gaze on Lucinda.
"What do you want Lucinda?"
The girl stopped for a minute, placing her glass on the table and looking down as if to discover what drove her now that her false idealistic thoughts were dead. Living by self-imposed rules for so long had accustomed her to believe that nearly everything was off limits but now that she'd tossed such regulations aside she felt entitled to all the things she'd missed.
Lu looked back up to Oswald and grinned.
"Everything."
•••
The morning sky was grey and the atmosphere was unfriendly but Lucinda had never felt so happy. She looked like she was walking on sunshine and a sweet expression graced her features. An unusually strong gust of cold wind rushed by causing Lucinda's red coat flap and the girl smiled at the prospect of what lied ahead of her that day.
Lu had felt lost after hearing that Ed had been imprisoned. The girl was still fond of him despite his animosity towards her. She had tried telling herself that he deserved it; that it was simply his long awaited karma but this new Yin couldn't care less about what he deserved, what drove her now was what she wanted. And she still wanted Nygma, perhaps now more than ever since she didn't have the need to be constantly confronting him just to uphold a moral standard.
She thought back to the previous night and drew in a satisfied breath as her black heels clicked on the pavement. Oswald had been more than accepting and Yin had liked the man's flexibility since the first time they'd met. It seemed that outcasts were good at befriending each other. And though Lu didn't take orders anymore she and the ex-mobster had talked over at least two bottles of wine, partly the reason for their quick connection, and found that a partnership between them would be beneficial in more ways than one.
"You know what the best thing about someone who want's everything, Lucinda?" She could still hear Oswald's voice reverberating in her mind.
"They'll do anything for it. I'll keep your image under wraps but you'll have to put it to good use"
"Oh goody, I got a job already." The girl had grinned as she joked with her new friend.
"Indeed, Dr. Yin."
It just so happened that Oswald's request intertwined in the best way with Lu's own wishes and so it was settled; Lucinda would be Oswald's inside person in Arkham.
After everything that Hugo had put him through it was only natural that once he was back to his normal self he'd want revenge on the psychiatrist. Lucinda wanted blood, no matter who's it was, and agreed instantly. The fact that she'd be closer to Ed only worked as a bonus.
Lucinda walked into the dark building already knowing exactly what to expect. From the countless years that her uncle had worked there he'd collected the wildest stories and Lucinda had ended up hearing each and every one of them with absolute interest. She took a look around taking in her surroundings; the breaches in security and other details that might be useful to Penguin.
"Lulu!" A familiar voice called out and the girl instantly spun around to her uncle walking up towards her.
He was in his lab coat and still held the pencil he was probably using recently due to the fact that an inmate was being taken from the same direction he was coming from. Lu smiled sweetly. He uncle had always been kind to her; she knew he didn't understand her, the few times she'd accidentally demonstrated her dark parts he'd been confused, but he never judged her and for that she respected him.
"Hey, Uncle Tony, how are you?" She stepped forward to meet with the man.
"I'm good. I'm so glad you're here." The man took a good look at the girl he considered a daughter and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Let me take you to Dr. Strange."
Lu's ears pricked up at the name but she easily feigned a neutral reaction as she nodded.
"Sure."
Anthony led his niece to a section of the facility where a man in a suit stood beside a woman in a coat observing the prisoners.
"Dr. Strange." The man started as Lucinda followed after him.
The guy who'd been called turned and Lucinda made sure to capture every detail; the format of his beard, his round glasses, his impeccable suit. One thing was for sure; he didn't look like the type of person you'd expect to torture people.
"Ah, Mr. Yin." He opened up a smile that Lu would have realized was fake from a mile away, however her uncle wasn't so the type to see the cruelty in the world so easily.
"And you must be Lucinda."
The girl smiled falsely as well as she looked from the man to the woman looking down at her with a tightlipped smile.
"Yes, nice to meet you, Dr. Strange."
"Likewise, Mr. Yin…" He turned to the man and nodded.
"Thank you for introducing us. We'll be heading over to my office to begin the interview."
Anthony nodded and looked to Lu who smiled again.
"Good luck." He whispered and Lu grinned.
The three remaining doctors watched the man leave and although it was the first time he'd seen Lucinda, Hugo already felt the girl was some similar to himself or Ms. Peabody than he familiar. She had an aura to her that he recognized well; it was that of someone who caught onto details. That type of profile could either get you a long way or get you killed in Arkham; the deciding characteristic between the two is what one was willing to do with these details they noticed.
Yin knew she had to be convincing, perhaps after recent events she would never be seen as innocent again for the atmosphere of death never really leaves a killer; it's only ever hidden. But if she had a strong feeling that tugging on Hugo's heartstrings wasn't as easy a task as it seemed. Oswald had told her about what he'd gone through at the place but it was basically the same things she'd heard as table conversation during her youth. It didn't shock her one bit but it left her perplexed as to what would be the best way to appeal to a person who lacked empathy all together.
Lu was taken to Dr. Strange's office along with the woman who seemed to be his shadow. The place looked organized and strangely refined for a prison office. She instantly understood that her new target was a sophisticated man, yet he surrounded himself in a place filled with broken minds and lost causes. This was confusing to Lucinda for she'd always been just the opposite, hiding her true self behind social standards. Strange was utterly willing, almost as if eager, to display his perfectionism and though he appeared cool Lu sensed a characteristic that had originally drawn her to Ed; he was hungry for praise and Lu had taught herself the art of people pleasing long ago.
As the man walked around his desk and calmly took his seat before observing Peabody closed the door Lucinda connected the dots; Hugo Strange had a God complex. He liked to transform things as to feel in control. Peabody was his loyal subject and would ultimately be Lu's doorway to the deeper levels of the asylum.
"So Lucinda, I've taken a look at Green's recommendation letter. It seems as if you're very efficient." He eyed the girl with hands folded over his desk.
His gaze was cold and dissecting but Lucinda was able to evade the thousands of other question he secretly posed with the look. She understood what he was doing; purposely trying to mix her mind as to which of the details she should pay closer attention to, the question or the slicing glare.
The girl smiled and crossed her legs. Peabody didn't miss the action and her brows instantly furrowed, wary of the probable new staff.
"Many see Arkham as a dump; a dead end. I grew up hearing my uncle telling me how his job was to restore people to their original state; to reboot them. And though I do agree that Arkham is nowhere near the end I don't think we should strive to restore them. How can someone be the same after they've been through unforgettable experiences? I don't believe we can."
Peabody couldn't help but speak up.
"Then why would you want to work at an asylum?" Lucinda turned her head to look at the woman in the coat. She'd felt her dislike for her since she'd arrived and Lu saw that she was Hugo's right hand.
"What else would you want to do these patients?"
The girl had chosen her words carefully and had hoped that it would lead the conversation to this point. Hugo observed intently as Lu shot the woman a witty little grin.
"Recreate them."
Peabody looked over to Hugo and the man raised his brows as if to tell her he'd made his decision.
"I agree completely, Ms. Yin."
Lucinda faced the man again and smiled satisfied.
"You can start tomorrow. Ms. Peabody will be in charge of familiarizing you with each section of our facility and will decide where you'll be posted. Is that all right with you, Ms. Peabody?" The doctor looked over to the woman and Peabody stiffed up.
"Of course."
Lucinda smiled and stood from her chair along with Hugo before reaching out to shake his hand.
"Thank you Dr. Strange."
"Nonsense, it's a pleasure to have someone with such… potential join us."
Lu nodded happily and headed out. Peabody waited until she was out of ear range to express her apprehension towards the girl.
"Are you thinking of doing what I think you are?"
Hugo smiled that clever smile that found its way on his lips whenever he felt Peabody worrying too much.
"She's not as dimwitted as her uncle and she's definitely capable of more than what she shows."
"She just got here; we don't know how she'll react."
"Ms. Peabody." Hugo spoke up mostly to keep the woman from continuing her worrisome comments. If there was one thing that the doctor liked it was observing people's reactions.
"Put her in with the level nines. Report to me how well she manages."
"You intend on adding her to the Chimera Project, don't you?" The lady turned to watch Lucinda walking away.
"I do." Hugo smiled and walked away from his partner with a million ideas going through his mind.
Lucinda looked at the common room as she past the high security exit of the prison. There was some commotion and a familiar voice spoke up a little louder than the rest. Lu would have recognized that tone anywhere and the girl's heart started to beat a bit faster. Her green eyes darted around the inmates all dressed the same until she found what she was looking for. She drew in a breath as she saw Ed like that. He was walking over a table and saying something she couldn't make out too well. Honestly Lucinda didn't mind the details, she was just happy to see him. She thought that he'd be different but this was another thing completely. Ironically, although he was in his prisoner's uniform and behind bars he looked utterly unrestricted.
The girl thought of all the horribly wonderful things they would be able to do together now that they'd both allowed they true natures to flourish. Abominable, violent, brutal, romantic, loving, erotic thoughts swirled around in the girl's mind and she smiled with a wicked twinkle in her jade eyes.
