CHAPTER ONE – CLOSURE

Stepping through the heavy doors, Nina Raven's headache doubled in an instant. Stark white tiles threw the glare of the neon lights into her eyes without mercy, and the stench of chemical cleanliness grasped and clung at her skin and clothes. It was as if the entire place had been fermented in bleach.

Nina stopped for a moment, leaning against an impeccably clean wall in an attempt to settle her dizziness. Her pulse was beating a loud, heavy rhythm behind her eyes, and nausea gripped her stomach. A nudge to her shoulder, perhaps sharper than intended, broke through the growing ache in her temples.

"I'm afraid I have to hurry you, Miss Raven," Officer Cash remarked gruffly. "That is, if you still intend to see this through." The officer made no effort to conceal his disapproval; he firmly believed that this was no place for the young woman to be, but she had insisted. The higher-ups had given their consent, and that was that. He had been assigned to protect her, not to change her mind. Not that it had stopped him trying.

"Lead the way, officer," Nina replied, voice steady even though her mind was spinning – and not just from her headache. But she and anxiety were well-acquainted by that point, and her determination could keep its symptoms in check.

She adopted a brisker pace as she followed the officer down corridor after harsh white corridor, trying not to dwell on how each step was bringing her closer to a monster. Instinct told her to turn and run, but her need for closure kept her moving forward.

"This is it."

Nina watched as Officer Cash gestured to the door, the same bleached white as the walls, with its tiny barred window. All that separated her from the monster inside.

A sharp rap of the officer's knuckles and the door was opened, revealing four figures: two orderlies built like wrestlers, one frazzled-looking doctor, and huddled at the far side of the small room –

"Tyler…" Nina muttered; the name tasted bitter on her tongue.

The trembling mess of a man in the corner – all sickened pallor and bloodshot eyes – could not inspire fear, not anymore. Something new took its place. Was it pity? No, not pity – disgust. Nina felt the churning heat of it branch out from the pit of her stomach, nostrils flared and lip curling. Without the fear of the monster, her hatred of the man finally overwhelmed her.

The man's wide, manic eyes abruptly turned to the young woman in the doorway, and he flung himself forward. The orderlies barely managed to restrain him, pulling him back just as he clawed at her sleeve.

"Nina!" he cried out, his hoarse voice bordering on a shriek. "Nina – baby – please! You have to – you gotta – Nina!" His cries dissolved into a stream of incoherent gibberish, but still he struggled against the orderlies' grip, writhing and spitting like a rabid beast.

"Miss Raven, perhaps you should move back," Officer Cash interjected, clearly uncomfortable with how close the man had come to attacking the young woman under his protection.

Nina shuffled backwards slightly as the officer tried to position himself between her and Tyler.

Tyler.

She could hardly believe it was the same man in front of her. They had told her about the state he was in, but she hadn't really understood their full meaning until now.

"What happened to him?" she murmured, just loud enough for the officer to hear.

"Scarecrow happened to him," Cash explained, feeling uneasy at having to speak the name. "He got a lungful of that psychopath's latest toxin – ended up hallucinating god knows what terrifying things until his mind finally cracked. Now he spends most of his time writhing around and screaming at the walls. The plan was to try and find a way to treat him, but he lashes out at everyone and everything for as long as he's conscious. Three days back he put one of the doctors in the ICU, that's when the decision was made to move him to the Penitentiary. Nothing we can really do for him I'm afraid, not for the time being."

Nina listened carefully to the officer's words, knowing in the back of her mind that Tyler had been through – and was still going through – a horrifically traumatising experience at the hands of one of Gotham's most twisted criminals. But all she felt was relief. One monster dealt with at the hands of another.

When Tyler continued to fight against the orderlies' strong grip, and his babbling turned into howling and snarling, Nina was ordered to leave the room until they sedated him. After a few minutes the screaming died down, and Tyler was strapped, unconscious, to a gurney.

Nina followed behind as the gurney was pushed along the maze of corridors towards Tyler's new 'home' in the Penitentiary ward, staring down at his restrained form.

He had been so kind, when they had first met – gentle and caring and polite. Always there with an umbrella when it rained, or to come over to her apartment at 2am when she needed someone to talk to. He had showered her with gifts and compliments, and she had thought he was perfect.

But two months into their relationship, things had begun to change. It started as tiny things, here and there – a backhanded compliment, a disapproving look when she had left for a night out with her friends. She had brushed it off because it was hardly anything, and besides, he loved her. Didn't he? He told her he did, all the time; but 'I love you' soon became 'no-one else will'. And the first bruises appeared: on her wrists where he'd tried to stop her walking away; on her back where he'd shoved her into to door; on her cheek when she'd gone against his will.

Bruises that were still visible, in fading shades of green and yellow, on her shoulder where Tyler had just pulled her sleeve down.

She had tried to leave, just once, and he had threatened her with the kitchen knife. Later, as he told her she should never have made him angry like that, he had said he didn't mean it. That he never would have used the knife. But Nina had seen it, in his eyes – his pure, deep rage – and she believed that he could kill her. More terrifyingly, she believed that he would kill her, and she didn't think he needed much provocation to do it. And so she stayed: a prisoner in their apartment, in their relationship.

Until that day. Standing in the Penitentiary, ears ringing with the screams and howls of the incurable, she was not afraid. She watched as the orderlies locked the heavy door of Tyler's cell, and smiled for the first time in months. Now, he was the prisoner.

And finally, Nina was free.