The Familiar Darkness: Part II

By: Corbin

Disclaimer: I still don't own any of it, darn it. :)


"Does the boy suspect anything?" the Doctor in the white lab coat asked one of the orderlies who watched the boy in the cell via a hidden security camera. Robin was blindly feeling about the cell, still searching in vain for some weakness to his prison.

"It's far too early to tell for certain, but I don't think he knows anything."

"You're certain he won't be able to escape," there was a slight tinge of doubt in the Doctor's voice, he knew this boy was clever.

"Doc, not even the Boss could get out of that cell if you didn't want him to," the orderly replied with a grin.

"See to it that boy remains a prisoner."

"No worries, Doc."

****

He had no way to gauge time. There was no window in the cell to allow the light of the sun or the glow of the moonlight to tell him the time of day. It felt early though. Most of the prisoners were quiet, much to Robin's relief. The moaning was very difficult to tune out, hopefully the prisoners would sleep a bit longer.

Robin heard footsteps coming from down the corridor. The lights in his cell flashed on forcing him to blink as his sight adjusted. As his vision returned, two orderlies were nearly on top of him. He took a quick step back and prepared to fight them, the men looked at each other and smiled. They then turned to the boy.

"Easy there boy. We don't want to hurt you," one of the orderlies soothed holding his hands out in a nonthreatening gesture. "Doc would like a word with you this morning."

Robin did not ease up his stance. The two orderlies took a step closer and Robin stood his ground, "Tell him I don't feel like talking."

One of the orderlies gave an apologetic smile, "I'm sorry, but you don't have a choice in the matter. Doc needs to talk to you and you're coming with us one way or another."

The orderlies closed in on him, just as they reached for him he attacked. The boy landed a good roundhouse to an orderly's face. The orderly shrugged off the blow as if it were nothing. Robin knew he wasn't holding back, why weren't they backing off?

Any normal person would have either given up on him or lost consciousness. These two men were unusual, not only did his best blows barely touch them, they hadn't struck back in retaliation. Sooner or later someone was going to have to give up.

Robin was beginning to see that he was fighting a pointless battle, but he really didn't want to just give up. He was nearly backed into a corner, one of the orderlies grabbed the boy and forced him into a sleeper hold. Robin knew he only had a few seconds before he'd black out. He tried to free himself, but the grip was too firm.

His body was starting to buzz, the lack of blood to the brain was sapping the fight out of him. He clawed desperately at the arm wrapped around his throat, but it wasn't any use. Robin's eyes rolled and his body went slack into the waiting arms of the Arkham orderly. He was carried out of the cell. The sound of the door slamming shut echoed through the halls, followed by the anguished cries of the prisoners.

... TBC . . .