As I slowly began to regain consciousness, I opened my eyes. Tied up, of course. I got used to getting hit in the head with some stupid criminals that I don't feel annoyed anymore. I know Jeremiah ordered my kidnapping but I don't know why and I'm not certain if I want to know the reason.

"Look at me." I know it was Jeremiah talking even though I was still looking at my feet. I'm in a huge truck because I felt the place moving. There were people on my right and left, undoubtedly Jeremiah's followers.

I groaned as I lifted my heavy head to look around before laying my eyes on him. "You're four or five shades lighter than your own skin. And that's wrong make-up, unless you're trying to be a clown," I breathed out, staring at him in the eyes.

"You think you are hilarious." His speech pattern really bothered me.

"I take it that you didn't kill Bruce, since you didn't mention about him."

"You might think that my brother had forgotten about you," he calmly said, ignoring my utterances. I groaned inwardly. "You're not part of his big plans, you're like a side dish – a garnish. I have his diary here with me." He took out a small black book with colorful stickers on it. "You see… the pages are filled with his state of mind, mostly about mother, Jim Gordon, Bruce Wayne and me. But there is one page… about you."

I gulped. "I refuse to know what he wrote or drew about me," I murmured, glancing at the pages of the book on Jeremiah's hands.

He opened a page and showed it to me. The woman in the bad drawing is evidently me, since she was wearing a hijab. In the picture, I was in a cage with snakes all over. He remembered my fear of snakes.

"I would love waking up to your face like this," Jeremiah read of a little handwriting at the side of the picture. There were other scribbles as well and he read them one by one. "My source of entertainment. I hate your smile." I gulped again. "I think he wrote this few years back after he killed mother. You see… I want to do everything in this book, because I'm better than him. I can achieve what he cannot."

"You are scared of him," I shakily said, trying to find the courage in me. "Look at you, comparing yourself to him." My voice is getting louder and sharper. "You hate to admit that he's way better than you. Just like you said, he likes to destroy things, but he chose to do that. No one asked him to do what he wants to do. But you… you killed Jim, you maybe killed Bruce and you're doing this whole city-destroying using his diary as a guideline. So you tell me who is better than who."

"I don't understand what is your purpose to say all that." He cocked his head slightly to his right.

"Oh, it's not for you." Then I looked at his followers around us. "You think that he's better than Jerome?" I spat. "Just because he's Jerome's twin brother, it doesn't mean that they're the same." One or two people were starting to show doubtful looks. I didn't stop my words. "Jerome is fun and all about having fun, even though it involves killing people. But Jeremiah is not fun at all. How can you stand some narcissistic man who thinks he's the best of all?" Jeremiah was about to say something but I cut him off. "I mean, look at you. You can't even dress the way you wanted. What about being free? You wanted to be under control of this man?"

"Enough. Those words are meaningless. Let's talk about what I'm gonna do to you. I'll do exactly what he had drawn. What do you think?"

I instantly shivered as I imagined snakes slithered around me. But I didn't say anything, glaring him as hard as I can. I took a quick glance at his followers (the ones who faltered) but they returned to their stoic face. I suppressed a sigh of defeat and tried to find ways to escape.

"Though you wouldn't stand as a chance," Jeremiah continued. "My men had made them agitated for a specific reason." To prevent my lips from quivering, I set them in a grim line. "Now… look at that. Terror." His hand raised up, gesturing to my face. "What a pretty sight. He didn't kill you because he enjoys watching you. After all, there is a fine line between comedy and tragedy."

"Jeremiah… Your brother is dead. There's no need to be scared anymore. He's gone. There's no need to do this. This is absurd. Take out all the explosives." I know begging won't work on him but I'm grasping at straws now. The moving van gradually slowed down and stopped.

"Are you saying that I'm not sane?" he implied, standing up from the seat. Two men, each on my sides, jerked me up to stand as well.

"I'm saying don't do this. You twist my words. I never said you're crazy."

His light-colored eyes studied my face for a moment before he gave a nod to his men to bring me out. I looked around the area that they brought me. Gotham Zoo. He's gonna throw me into a cage of snakes, I horridly thought. I stomped my foot to the man's foot on my right and pushed the man on my left with my shoulders. My feet lightly dashed away from Jeremiah. When I heard guns shooting, I ducked my head lower. It was quite difficult to run with your arm secured tightly against your body. A sudden sharp pain at my back made me grunt and I collapsed face first to the ground. My eyes shut tight while I breathed harshly through my mouth. They shot me. Suppressing the pain, I managed to stand and turn to look at them. The man that I met before I was kidnapped was the one who shot me.

I cracked my brain to recall who he is. Then, he shot my left thigh. I cried out and fell on my knees. "Thanks to you, I only have one ball left," he fumed. Oh, he was the one at the circus last year during Jerome's first insurgent. The man who I shot at his private parts.

"That is enough," came Jeremiah. "Throw her into the cage. We have a schedule to follow."

I felt my body was dragged by the upper arms. Since they weren't being kind, the dragging just made the wound on my backback and thigh hurt more.

It hurts too much, I said in my mind. I could feel blood flowing down my back and thigh. And I couldn't even stand properly. I kept on chanting prayers silently to make me forget about the pain. When I looked up to where we're going, we entered a man-made cave. A signboard with green and yellow colored letters hung at the entrance. Reptiles.

This is it. I'm facing a snake, or some snakes.

My eyes went wide in alarm as I saw a huge python inside a huge glass cage and we're approaching that cage. "No! No!" I yelled, attempting to get away from the hold on me.

"He's not alone. There's another one inside. They calmed down for now but when someone gets into the cage, they'll switch their combat mode on," said Jeremiah. "I told you before; my men had provoked them for hours. They'll kill any human being that walked into that cage."

I felt the rope around me loosened and then they abruptly pushed me into the cage and locked me in. I didn't even dare to bang the glass because I was afraid that I would anger the snakes more. There was a faint smell of smoke in the cage. I found burnt fire crackers on the ground. This must be how they riled up the snakes. From the corner of my eyes, I saw movements. I planted myself further against the glass in fear.

Loud knocking made me yelp in surprise. Some of Jeremiah's men purposely banged the glass and it made me more afraid. I gazed at Jeremiah with pleading eyes. If he want to kill me, it's better if he killed me right away, instead of like this. I hate snakes. I'm terrified of snakes. I never confront any of them but something about snakes scares me.

One corner of his lips lifted faintly and then suddenly I felt cold smooth surface skimmed around my legs. I tensed. I was afraid to move a muscle, still looking at Jeremiah. He made a gestured with his hands as if he was taking picture of me. He then instructed his followers that it was time for their next move. He mentioned something about a core relay and leave me here alone. Meanwhile the snake slowly tightened its grip and slithered upwards to my waist.

The python squeezed my wounded thigh so I fell on the ground with a suppressed grunt. No one's going to find me here. The snake will probably eat me if he's hungry. I was starting to have complications to breathe properly since he wrapped around my chest as well. I began to mutter prayers and my family appeared in my mind. My husband. My son. My parents. Mrs. Weller. I felt a tremendous guilt that my son had to lose his mother so early. I cried from both pain and sorrow.

Out of the blue, I faintly felt a pour of liquid over me, wetting my hijab and blouse. The snake's grip slowly slackened and he skidded away. I was half conscious and my eyes were still closed, but I was aware that I was dragged roughly out from the cage. Multiple numbers of rough taps against my cheek made me opened my eyes.

"Wakey, wakey, sunshine." As my vision adjusted, I can see the person over me. He was smiling cheerfully.

"Zsasz," I breathed out weakly. "Thank you."

"What? You better speak up. I can't hear you," he raised a non-existent eyebrow. "Oh, sorry. I forgot you were strangled by a snake a minute ago."

He stood up and walked away. "Wait," I said louder. "You have to help. There are bombs all over the city."

"Uh…" he hesitantly pondered. "Not that I care of?"

"But why did you save my life?"

He pulled something out of his inner jacket. It was a Walkman. "Very good songs in the tape you gave me." He put the headphones on and started grooving alone, closing his eyes, probably imagining himself dancing on a stage.

I remembered lending him a tape with a number of disco songs, but I lend it to him. He never gives it back. I struggled to sit up because I have two bullets under my skin at the moment. "Hey," I called Zsasz, who was still in his music zone. "Hey," I croaked again. "Need help here. I'm bleeding." I stared at my wet blouse. I have no idea what the liquid was but I know it smelled horrible. Since Zsasz was still dancing, I took out my phone from my jeans pocket with difficulties.

"Who are you calling?" asked Zsasz, taking off his headphones.

"The hospital," I huffed. "What did you pour on me?"

"Vodka. Snakes are not fond of Vodka."

I grimaced in disgust. "Well, at least Vodka saved my life." He snatched my phone from my hand before I get to call the hospital. "Hey! I'm dying here."

"One of my Zsaszettes can fix you. She's one the way. It's quicker than waiting for the ambulance," he sang and then putting back his headphones on.

A few minutes of watching Zsasz dancing later, three women with funky wardrobe turned up. I don't know their names but I'm going to call them Traffic Light Girls, since one sported with red highlights hair, another yellow and the last one green. Yellow and Green hauled me up and brought me somewhere as Zsasz and Red walked ahead of us.

"Nice to meet you guys," I weakly whispered. I didn't received any response which is cool for me. I recognized the place we are at. A clinic. I noticed veterinarian medical books on the shelve that we walked passed on. No one was inside the place. Then the girls on my side laid me on a huge bed. I winced as the mattress touched my back.

Zsasz approached me with his headphones hanging around his neck; I could hear Cheryl Lynn's Got To Be Real song blaring through them. "With or without anesthetic?"

"With," I quietly responded. I'm too weak to get angry and shout at him.

"Aww," he pouted. "Boring. Gotta go. I would have stayed if you choose without anesthetic." Then he waltzed out to the door, leaving me with the Traffic Light Girls. Yellow swiftly cut my pants, making a big square hole around the entry wound. Green was pushing a trolley of utensil towards the bad while Red was flicking her fingers at the tube of a syringe.

I closed my eyes and let them do their things. It was amusing that I let criminals treat me, when they could kill me anytime now. A normal person would have called the police and ambulance immediately, but I decided to put my trust on Zsasz and his girls. Hassan is going to have a fit if he knew about this. I don't mind. At least I got stories to tell to my future grandkids.

I woke up to a dark room. Even with my dizzy head, I could make out where I was. I was still inside the zoo clinic. Lights entered between the blinds, illuminating the room a little bit. Traffic Light Girls just left me here after patching me up?

Suppressing my sore body, I rose to sit up. I felt secured bandage around my torso. As I ran my hand across the bandage, I noticed that I was topless with only dressing around my abdomen. My jeans were still on but with one leg shorter. They must have decided to cut the jeans off to wrap the bandage. The unpleasant odor of Vodka reached my nose so I took my hijab off.

I can't get out looking like this so I scanned the room, looking for something to wear. Maybe a lab coat or something, but I found none. I forced my legs to move and stood up with much difficulty. I leaned my elbows on the bed. The anesthetic medicine was still inside my body so I felt slightly nauseous. I found my bloodstained blouse on the floor and picked it up immediately and put it on.

4.51

That was shown on the clock. It's almost five in the morning? I was out that long? Did the bombs set off? Has all the people evacuate? Has my family evacuate? I found a telephone at the corner of a desk and staggered towards it, knocking off a trolley, creating a loud crash in the silent atmosphere. I raised the phone to my ear to check if the landline is working. Satisfied with the continuous toot sound, I punched Hassan's cellphone number hastily and waited for him to answer.

"Hello?" he answered. His voice sounded very weak and hoarse.

"Babe, Assalamualaikum."

"Sarah?!" This time his voice was louder but there was a hint of shakiness in it. He sighed in relief. I could tell he was extremely worried. "Waalaikumsalam. Oh my God. You're alive! I thought you're, that you're… are you okay? Where are you?"

"Gotham Zoo. In a clinic. I can't really move properly and please bring some clothes."

"I'll be right there. The roads are still in traffic because of the evacuation but wait for me. Don't go anywhere." He put extra emphasis while saying the final sentence.

I almost cried at the tone of his voice. "Okay," I whispered.

After ending the call, I turned on the lights in the clinic, though I regretted it instantly because I saw a messy blood-spattered mattress. The fallen trolley had all the utensils scattered on the floor. I discovered two bloody bullets on the floor and picked them up. I'm keeping you guys, I said inwardly, and then put them inside my jeans pocket.

A long forty minutes later, I could finally hear noise outside. I clenched the scalpel in my hand tightly; a weapon that I acquired just in case. I stood up and glued myself against the wall to wait for the person to come in. When the door was barged in, I was thankful to see Hassan. He pulled me into his embrace the instant he saw me.

"Ow, ow, ow," I recoiled. He let me go immediately and studied my appearance.

"Oh God…" he remorsefully said. "They said you were missing suddenly after the clock tower was destroyed and… and there were a few officers claimed that they were hit behind their backs… I thought… I thought the worst thing had happened to you. You were gone too long. Too long." He rested his forehead against mine and took a few deep breaths to calm himself. I felt sorry for making him felt this way.

"Jeremiah got me and threw me into a snake cage." The muscles in his jaw ticked when I said it. "And I was shot, twice. Do you bring me some cloths?"

"I was at the precinct when you called me. They had secured all the bombs."

I looked in the bag and blue colored shirt peeked out. I had to wear a police uniform again. "It's okay. I love to play cops anyway," I joked, trying to lighten up the air, though he didn't say anything. I turned the bag upside down so that the contents would fall out.

He helped me put on the police uniform. "You sure you don't need hospital?" He asked as he put on the top for me. I know he was staring at the dressing on my back. I shook my head. Then he helped with the pants and belt. "I thought I lost you." He embraced me again, this time carefully. "I don't have scarf with me," he apologized, tucking my hair behind my ear. I glanced at his black turtleneck. You see, my husband has only black, gray and white in his wardrobe except for the jeans.

Knowing him, he must be wearing a black undershirt. "Take off your clothes," I demanded. "Give me your turtleneck. I can make a hijab with it." I picked up my jeans and took out the two bullets and put them in the pocket on the attire I'm currently wearing.

He took off his coat and turtleneck shirt and passed the turtleneck to me. I skillfully put in on and wrapped it around my head. It became some sort of a simple turban. "Malik is with Mrs. Weller?" I asked, even though I knew the answer, receiving a nod from him. "All right. Let's go."

We jogged (I jog-limped) out of the clinic and moved into the car. It roared to life and Hassan hit the gas in high speed towards the precinct.

"Why didn't they lift the evacuation order? I thought all the explosives were secured," I asked as we were trapped in traffic. The blinking traffic lights reminded me of the Red, Yellow and Green. I never get to thank them for what they did to me.

"Because that bastard Jerome's still out there. Anyway who saved you? They patched you up good."

"Zsasz and his girls. A returning action for 'giving' him a radio cassette."

He nodded, reaching for my hand on my lap, grasping it warmly. "I'm very thankful that you're here. I don't know what to do if you're gone."

The sun had risen up by the time we reached Gotham Central. We walked inside and were greeted with Jeremiah sitting with poise in a holding cell.

"You bastard!" I fumed, limping briskly and pointing an angry finger towards him. Jeremiah looked vaguely startled to see me, before returning to his stoic face. His pale face was adorned with blood and bruises.

"Hey, Muffin. Calm down," Alvarez came to me, blocking my sight from Jeremiah. Hassan appeared at my side, pulling me away from the cell. I kept on glaring daggers to the criminal, wishing that my glare could actually hurt him.

Bullock came to me, saying how relieved he was seeing me. "First, there's a bomb exploded and I thought Jim died. And then another bomb exploded and the next thing happened, you went missing. Yesterday was tough for me. You better make up for it, Muffin." He gave me a pointed look.

"He meant thank you for being alive," Jim jumped in, smiling faintly.

"So, how did you arrest him?" I asked.

The captain of the GCPD looked hesitant to give me an answer. "He went to Wayne's Manor and shot Selina. She's in the hospital with Bruce." I could tell he was not lying but he was hiding something. A new information.

My head jerked towards Jeremiah; I tempted to throw something at him. Something heavy and maybe sharp… right at the left side of his chest. "Planning on murdering me, Sarah?" Jeremiah voiced out. I scoffed, turning my back on him, refusing to talk to him. It's useless trying to reason with him.

I told Hassan that we need to pick up Malik from Mrs. Weller so we departed from the precinct after saying our goodbyes. I planned on going to the hospital to visit Selina after picking up my son. When we arrived at Mrs. Weller's apartment, I saw two huge luggage by the door. I stared at the old woman kindly.

"Thank you for everything, Mrs. Weller. I couldn't do it without you, living in Gotham," I expressed.

"You're not evacuating? Are you out of your mind?" she shrieked.

"The bombs are secured. I don't know why they still persist on the evacuation."

"Because maybe the explosives are still active," she snapped. "Go home and packed your bags. Run away from this city. For once, listen to me, Girl."

"You go first, Mrs. Weller," I said with a playful wink. "We have to go to the Gotham General first."

"Just make sure you'll leave the city." She emphasized, handing a sleeping Malik to my arms. Malik is not a heavy baby but because of the suture at my back, I winced uncomfortably when I cuddled him.

"Take care, Mrs. Weller." I closed my distance with her and kissed both her cheeks. The Mrs. Weller I know would keep her expression blank or annoyed, but that moment she looked sad. "We will see each other again. I promise."

"Thank God, you're not a fretty baby. Or you just like your mama to help others?" I said to my son in the baby carrier attached to my body. I pushed a male patient with a wheel chair out of the hospital. Hassan and I decided to help the hospital staffs to clear out the patients. They were taking the ferries since most of their patients cannot walk. I walked back inside to take another patient.

It has been hours since the Gotham City Courthouse was blown up. It has been hours since the US National Guard arrived in the city to help with the evacuation. It has been hours since Bruce Wayne was kidnapped. It has been hours since Jeremiah Valeska went missing.

Selina was resting in her room unconscious, waiting for her turn to get moved out for the evacuation. I was relieved to know that she was alive but she might not be able to walk again. I remembered Ivy. Before, Selina and Ivy were inseparable. But now… things had changed. I was contemplating to go to the park to tell Ivy to evacuate but I surmised it is better for her to stay here. If she go out, she might done more damage. Besides, the bombs were all secured.

Suddenly, a loud blast was heard, followed by another and another. It didn't stop but I had lost count because the quakes from the explosions caused me to crouch on the floor, hugging Malik in a protective embrace. He cried out loud, most probably shocked at the loud noises. I kept on chanting prayers of protection. A few seconds later, the explosion stopped and then the bright hallway became dim. I straightened up and checked up on my son, just in case I may have hugged him too strong. I hushed him, whispering sweet nothings to calm him down.

I heard my panicked husband calling my name from the end of the hallway. "Here!" I yelled, waving my hand. "Where were those explosions? They feel like faraway."

"The bridges. I saw from the window, the bridges are all down," he breathed out, heavily panting. He must have run to find me and Malik.

"The people who were trying to leave the city…on the bridge… all of them…" I couldn't finish my words. I felt heated and dismayed.

"Let's save all these people here first," he softly said, earning a weak nod from me. "They were clearing up the second floor now so Selina will be out soon."

"The staffs will make sure that all the patients will be safely moved. I want to go to Gate Street. The children. Who are going to evacuate the children on the streets? The ferries are our only chance. We have to get them to the port."

The harbor was hectic since the boats are the only way to get out of Gotham. Cars were honking and people were shouting. The soldiers tried their best to get maximum number of people to the boats but I don't think we could make it. There were only a few ferries left and I wasn't certain that the ferries would return to fetch the rest of us.

At the back seat, five people were struggling to fit into the confined space. Dee, Rue, Troy, Sean and another unnamed little girl, who was mute. We only found these five kids at Gate Street. I had promised them that everything is going to be fine but looking at the situation right now, we are far from fine. We are going to be trapped in the city.

"This is useless. Let's go back," I suggested, waiting for Hassan's thoughts about this. "We can't make it to the boat. Look at all these people."

"Where should we go?"

"I don't know. Our place? The GCPD?"

Hassan grunted in frustration and turned the car around. We were literally on the sidewalk since the roads were blocked by other cars. From the direction of where Hassan was driving, we were on our way to the precinct. I guessed it must be because the precinct is closer. Turning my head, I glanced at our passengers who were constricted on their seat.

All five of them have different facial expression. Troy looked bored, entwining fingers with Rue who looked drained, leaning her head on Troy's shoulder. Her other hand was holding Dee Dee's, who was biting on her lower lips in anxious. Sean was on Troy's other side. He was crying silently. His nose and cheeks were red already due to the constant wiping with his sleeves. On the other hand, the new girl, she was indifferent. Not one single expression was on her face. I don't think she knows what was going on. At first I thought she was deaf as well, but she heard everything and don't understand anything. She looks like she's from the Asian origin. I tried all other languages that I know; Malay, Cantonese, Japanese, Korean and Tagalog, but she understood none. Hassan tried sign language but she also didn't understand them.

"Hey," I talked to her. Her pupils shifted to my direction, still with an expressionless face. I pointed my index finger at myself. "Sarah." Then I pointed to my husband. "Hassan." Then I lifted my son a bit to show his face. "Malik." Malik cooed at the sight of the mute girl. His hands raised and flapped vigorously, hitting my face in the process. "Huh? He likes you." I flashed a smile at the girl, though receiving no respond from her but she was staring at Malik with a slight curiosity. I almost did not notice the change of expression; she was too… void. Then I pointed my index finger to her, trying to get her name. And the next thing I know I screamed in pain. Hassan hit the break immediately.

"What happened?" he alarmingly asked as I placed my hand to my chest.

"She broke Sarah's finger!" Troy responded in an amusing tone.

"I'm fine. It's not broken." I loudly clarified. "Almost broken though." If I hadn't pulled away quickly, it would break. "I know you don't understand what I'm saying but I didn't appreciate what you just did," I scolded after turning my head to the mute girl. There was something on her face. Perhaps regret or confusion. What I know is that my anger dissipated. Maybe she doesn't know anything at all. Maybe she was raised different. Maybe what I did before was offensive for her.

Letting out a sigh, I returned to my usual position, smiling at Hassan when our eyes clashes, letting him know that I'm fine. Then, he continued driving towards the precinct. I caressed Malik, praying that the city would get all the helps she needs.

Fuuuhh... That was fun.

End of Only Human: Different Normal.

Next story is titled Only Human: Heroes.