I woke up to the sound of a clearing throat. I sat up and rubbed my eyes blearily before looking at the person tapping their foot and staring at me.
"Uh, good morning?"
My head was really fuzzy and my eyes were watering. I wasn't sure why at first, but then I realized that this was probably my first time in this life to be exposed to so much pollen. I sneezed once and focused on the person in front of me.
She was quite beautiful. Her vividly red hair flowed down her shoulders like a waterfall and her lightly tanned body was toned like an athlete's. She had the kind of body and face that would inspire painters throughout history. I found myself reminded all too well that I had begun going through puberty.
All of that paled before her eyes though.
She had the most vividly green eyes I had ever seen. They shone like emeralds. I was mesmerized for a few seconds before I managed to pull myself together. I shook my head to clear the fog from my brain. She stood there without speaking, patiently glaring at me.
"I'm sorry, was this your spot?"
Her eyes narrowed a bit more, and she spoke with a smooth but firm voice. The plants swayed to a breeze I couldn't feel as she put her hands on her hips.
"This is my home."
My head wasn't clearing up. Everything was stuffy. I sniffled slightly before nodding apologetically and looking around.
"Sorry, it was so beautiful that I couldn't resist. I had never seen plants in person before today."
She pursed her red lips and raised an eyebrow at me. The breeze shaking the plants disappeared. I pulled up into a cross-legged sitting position and watched her, feeling incredibly awkward. My nose had started running, but I didn't have any tissues. I settled for using the receipt for the donuts that I had bought earlier. It was awkward and at first, I just smeared it around, but I eventually managed to clean it up properly. I didn't want to make a bad impression on this pretty lady by dripping all over the place or wiping my nose with my hand.
When she spoke again she sounded a lot less annoyed and threatening. I was still intimidated, but that was because of how beautiful and dignified she was, not because she was scary.
"You've never seen plants before? Explain."
My sinuses throbbed badly, but I ignored it as I answered.
"I was raised in a lab since I was a toddler. I never left the building, so I only knew about plants from books and videos. They had these stupid plastic plants as decorations, which is stupid. It's like they were too lazy to take care of real plants. I asked for a plant when I was seven, but they refused..."
Why did I just tell her all that?
The lady's eyes widened in shock. She looked me over and seemed to notice my hospital scrubs for the first time. My sinuses throbbed once more as she asked me for my name and story. I wiped my nose one more time before speaking.
"My name is C23… Umm, no wait, it's Vincent, Vincent Irving. I was sold to some lab when I was three years old. They were doing some sort of experimental procedure on a bunch of kids, and I was the only survivor. They put me through the tests and training for ten years. I only found out a week ago that they were doing it for this old geezer."
My disgust never showed through my natural poker face as I continued.
"The old crackpot was planning on using some sort of weird machine to transfer his mind into my body. He wanted to be an immortal superhuman, and that was the way he was planning on achieving it."
The lady stared at me in shock. I found myself waiting patiently for her to pull herself together. I watched a variety of emotions flicker across her face, mostly anger, but I thought I caught a hint of empathy and recollection for a brief moment. She struggled to regain her composure. She paced back and forth as the plants around her seemed to writhe and twist under the influence of the wind.
"How did you escape?"
The throbbing had eased off. I still felt like I ought to tell her everything, but I forced myself to give a half-truth.
"The Goblin broke me out. He stole a bunch of stuff and blasted his way out. If it wasn't for him I doubt I would have been able to leave."
She seemed curious about the Goblin, and my quick description left her puzzled. I would have been surprised if she recognized it though, considering I had only become him for a couple of hours at most.
I sat there awkwardly for a moment, watching her think. Eventually, I spoke up. It felt oddly rude though.
"So... May I stay here for a while? I don't have anywhere to go and I can't exactly reveal my identity; I don't want them to catch me again."
The woman hesitated for a moment. I got the impression that it wasn't that she was unwilling, but that she wanted to consider the whole situation before making a decision. In the end, she nodded. I forced a smile past my naturally deadpan expression.
"Thank you very much."
She smiled back and I felt my heart skip a beat. I shifted a bit and stood up as something occurred to me.
"I'm sorry, I never even asked your name."
The lady blinked once then answered.
"Call me Doctor Isley."
Only ten years of experience keeping my emotions from showing kept me from reacting. I forced a smile and shook her hand while a phrase that was quickly becoming familiar went through my mind.
'Oh right… This is Gotham.'
