Batman and The Grey Lady

Part Two

If you see a horrific vision enough times, it eventually loses its power over you. Like the head falling out of the bottom of the boat in Jaws, or Freddie Krueger chasing after another teen in their fevered dreams. This is how Lila felt about the Scarecrow, on the nights when he visited her cell. She still screamed, because that's what he expected and she wanted to please him, really she did, but it was a controlled scream, which abated the moment he asked the question he always asked. Lila ignored it and irritated Dr Crane immensely by starting to sing the song her father had taught her:

"Three, Six, Nine, the goose drank wine,

the monkey chewed tobacco on the streetcar line.

The line broke, the monkey got choked

And they all went to heaven in a little rowboat,

Clap, clap…"

That song had earned her the beatings she'd never received as a child, but she even found out how to arm herself against those. She'd learned that if she let her body go limp, like a drunk after a night of heavy boozing, it hardly hurt at all.

That's why on the night of the Scarecrow, as Lila began to think of it, when all the inmates escaped from Arkham Asylum Lila felt no fear, despite the ghastly images before her eyes. Only one image terrified her. It was the bat man with the burning eyes. Something about that vision left her cowering in a corner. It was as though the eyes held a truth about her that she didn't want to acknowledge.

Finally she was able to break through the crowds, her now silver hair, spreading behind her, giving people who couldn't see her face the idea that she was a frail, elderly woman. She disappeared into the night and escaped Gotham.

Alfred was making stew again, and for reasons he couldn't remember, it made him think of Lila. He hadn't seen her since the day he turned his back on her in the asylum. Now, he and Bruce were living in one of Bruce's luxury hotels while Wayne Manor was being rebuilt. Despite the fact that the hotel had the finest chefs in the world, Alfred insisted on cooking all Bruce's meals, and his own. The stew was for him. He'd picked out some prime steak from the market for Bruce, who, Alfred felt, was badly in need of some iron.

"Smells good, Alfred," said Bruce.

"I didn't here you come in, Master Bruce."

"It's the Ninja in me,"

"Or I'm going deaf," said Alfred, with a poor attempt at jocularity.

"Can I have some of that?" asked Bruce.

"It's only stew, sir. It was for my supper. I've got you…"

"I like stew. I sort of got used to it in prison. Didn't look or smell as good as yours, though."

Bruce sat at the kitchen table, to make it plain he meant to stay and keep Alfred company. He was tired of sitting alone night after night. Rachel had gone off to Washington to change the world from inside the White House, and she hadn't called since.

"Stew it is!" said Alfred. "I'll get the crusty bread."

The two men ate in silence, Bruce sipping a glass of red wine, Alfred drinking a glass of English beer that Bruce declared was 'too warm to be palatable.'

"Do you know what the smell of the stew reminded me of, Alfred?"

Alfred drew in a deep breath. Probably the same thing that had transfixed Alfred.

"You were cooking it the day we got news of the death of Lila's parents."

Alfred looked at Bruce, wondering if he could possibly know.

"Yes, I think I did," he agreed.

"It's funny how aromas can bring somebody back to mind. On that same evening I was sniffing at my dad's books, trying to recapture him. Anyway, how is Lila? I haven't seen her for years. She was a funny little thing, always following me around. I was a bit cruel to her. I guess she's all grown up now."

"I don't know," Alfred admitted. Of course, he knew Lila was grown up, but he meant he didn't know how she was.

"You don't know? Doesn't she write? Or call?" What was it about women? Bruce thought, remembering Rachel's promise to keep in touch.

Alfred said nothing for a while, as if struggling to decide whether to tell Bruce the whole truth.

"She was in the Arkham Asylum for a while," said Alfred. He breathed a sigh of relief. It was quite easy to say once he'd set his mind to it.

"What?" Whatever Bruce was expecting, it wasn't that. "I thought she lived in England?"

"A lot happened while you were away, Master Bruce. Lila came back to Gotham. She married a local psychologist. His name was Dr Martin Grey – a good man who did a lot of pro-bono work among the needy. Then…" Alfred paused.

"What? Come on Alfred. You can tell me anything."

"She'd become mixed up with this sect called The Sisterhood. They're an all-female group dedicated to returning chastity to the world. They're dismayed by all the sin that abounds and as you know, Gotham was seen as the new Soddam with more than a hint of Gemorrah… still is in some places. One day, she saw her husband onto a local bus. His car had broken down. They later learned that Lila had tampered with the controls so he had no choice but to take the bus. It blew up. Killing everyone on it. Thirty people, including women and children … and her own husband. They found the explosives in Lila's bedroom, covered in her fingerprints. They found the leaflets and propaganda that The Sisterhood had published. She didn't even bother to try and cover it up. That was six years ago. She was taken to Arkham Asylum. I last saw her about five years ago. I …I should have kept visiting but…"

"She blew people up, Alfred. You don't have to condone that." Bruce was struggling to take it in. He had the ridiculous image in his mind of a tiny five-year-old girl, setting off the detonator of a bomb, and watching a bus explode before her eyes. It was hard to imagine how Lila might look as a young woman.

"No, you're right. But sometimes when I looked at her, I still saw that little girl. Admittedly she was a spirited child, but she'd cry over a bird that had broken its wing in the garden. I let her down."

"How? You didn't put the bomb in her hands, Alfred," said Bruce.

"No. I just sent her to the Sisterhood when she was just five years old."

Alfred waited for that piece of information to sink in, then continued. "I thought it was best. I had my duties here. I couldn't bring up a little girl as well. The Sisterhood, as I understood it, was a non-denominational group of nuns who ran an orphanage. I had no idea of their true motive. They brainwashed her when she was vulnerable. I'm not making excuses," Alfred added quickly. "She knew right from wrong, but if I'd had more influence on her life … perhaps…"

"It's not your fault, Alfred. And she's locked up now, right?"

"Master Bruce, she was in the Arkham Asylum. As far as I know, she was still there when all the other inmates were set free. I hadn't even thought to ask if she was still there. That's how much I'd put her out of my mind…"

Alfred looked down at his beer, ashamed to look his earnest young master in the eye.

Bruce held out his hand and put it onto Alfred's arm. His first thought was that he wanted to help Alfred. His second thought was that Lila, if she was free, might commit another atrocity.

"I'll ask some questions. We'll track her down, and then get her some proper help, in a reputable institution. I doubt Crane was trying to rehabilitate her, but we'll find someone who can. I promise."

"Thank you," said Alfred.

End of Part Two