December 27, morning
Jonathan emerged from the shower, and was relieved to find Quiz and Query gone. They'd helped themselves to whatever the girls had left in the kitchen, and left a sink full of dirty dishes for him to deal with, along with the nauseating smell of scorched eggs.
He couldn't help making comparisons. But on the whole, he tried not to think about it.
--
The Captain opened her eyes, wondered briefly how it was that she felt so safe lying in the Riddler's arms when anyone else would have had her too tense to breathe, and then went back to sleep.
They both knew this wasn't forever, but it was going to be so nice while it lasted. They never even knew that Quiz and Query had been gone.
--
Techie was wide awake, which was more than could be said for her companion in the night's guard duty. He was young—an honest-to-god college student interning for the Joker while he worked toward his business degree. What he planned to do with said degree, she couldn't have answered, but she was grudgingly impressed that neither the late hours nor the security guards nor even the Joker himself had killed the intern yet.
She helped him out by making sure that no one ever saw him as anything but perfectly alert during their shift.
He had more than repaid the favor.
--
Al was alone, and not at all happy about it.
Oh, she hadn't expected Arkham to be all sunshine and lollipops, but to be honest, she hadn't quite realized what she was getting into when she'd decided to stay with Kirk and have a snack.
Stupid Kirk. She wasn't going to fall for that one again. Not even if he offered her more chocolate.
This was her first time in Arkham (privately, she didn't doubt it wouldn't be her last, but she wouldn't say so and dash the poor doctors' hopes of curing her) and she hadn't expected to be placed in solitary without even having done anything to deserve it. They said it was for observation. They said it was for her own protection. They wouldn't tell her how long she was going to be there, and they wouldn't give her anything to play with.
She was ready to start tearing her hair out.
For all her antisocial tendencies, Al wasn't used to being truly alone, especially in an unfamiliar and thoroughly unfriendly place. She wanted to go home. She was dying for the sight of a familiar face. And she was…afraid.
She wasn't prepared to admit how afraid, even to herself, until that afternoon her lunch was delivered by someone who was not an orderly.
"Squishykins?" she asked, hardly able to believe her eyes. He glared at her, giving a tug on the hat of his pilfered staff uniform so that it covered a little more of his face. She heeded the unspoken warning enough to restrict her voice to a whisper, but she couldn't resist approaching the glass as if to take his hand. To her surprise, he pressed his own hand to the glass, matching her gesture for a moment before abruptly pulling away to slide her meal through the opening.
"Hatter said you were here," he said gruffly. "Are you hurt?" She shook her head, no. He must be so disappointed in her for letting herself be captured. She should have fought harder to escape.
"I'm okay…" The breath caught in her throat. No, she was not okay. "I'm scared," she whispered, hoping he wouldn't be too pleased to hear it.
"Don't be. If you're fit enough to walk out of here, I'll be back by the end of the week with a plan. A good one," he said ironically.
"You mean…you're…rescuing me? Okay, who's the girl?" He blinked in surprise. "Well, no man ever goes this much out of character unless he's doing it to impress his girlfriend." Jonathan's face suddenly, unaccountably, flushed scarlet. Al felt her jaw drop. "You got laid!" she blurted.
Without a word, he turned on his heel and walked away. She felt as if the bottom had dropped out of the world.
"Wait! Don't go! I'll be nice. Just don't leave me here, and I'll never say a word about it. Please!" Reluctantly, he looked back over his shoulder.
"I'll get you out of this, Al. I promise." She stared at him like a kicked puppy.
"You will?"
"Of course I will, you dolt. I wouldn't wish this place on anyone. Not even you."
She didn't quite dare believe him. But she gave him a smile before he left. For the time being, that had to be enough.