Stockholm

Chapter 1:

"Through the Looking Glass"

"The powerful feed ideology to the masses like fast food while they dine on that most rarefied delicacy: impunity."

Naomi Klein

"Lena," His voice was gruff and unforgiving. A reflection of the man whom it belonged to, "Are you listening to anything I'm saying?"

"Yes, dad, of course I am." She lied, looking down at the sparse notes she'd slowly begun doodling over in her legal pad. A look of annoyance flashed in his cold eyes, though she made a point not to notice it. Like always.

If Walter Noel, standing Dean of the Arkham Asylum, had been fortunate enough to have the son he'd so desperately wanted, he was sure that he could have felt secure in resigning his position in the next few years. As it so happens, his late wife, Mallory, had died giving birth to the stubborn, free-spirited daughter who was the living reminder of everything Walter couldn't stand. At least, that's what Lena had surmised from nearly 20 years of being given the cold shoulder. Whether it was the truth or not, she'd probably never know. There was no talking to her father about that sort of thing.

"If you're going to pretend you're listening, the least you could do is feign interest while you're at it. I've spent 35 years as Dean and I'll be damned if I pass the torch to you without you learning a single thing." Without giving her a second to retort, he dove back into the lesson he'd been giving on the hiring of hospital administrators.

She had to give it to the old man, while he may have never looked upon her with an ounce of kindness, he seemed to truly believe in her ability to run the hospital upon his retirement. Though, that would hardly be surprising to anyone on the outside looking in. Lena was not only a naturally intelligent girl who'd received only the best at-home tutoring and schooling growing up; she had also practically spent her entire adolescence and teenage years in the administrative offices at Arkham. Her father had made sure that once she'd reached the age of 13, most of her schooling was done in an office adjacent to his own, where he could keep a watchful eye on both herself and her tutors. She could never quite wrap her head around why he took such a seemingly dull and easy job so seriously. Or why she needed to be so heavily groomed for it. She'd not only been taught the ins and outs of all of the administrative duties that game with running the asylum, but had endured rigorous psychological and psychiatric training as well. Things she thought would have been better left to the actual doctors and hospital staff. Walter Noel assured her, vaguely, every time she'd questioned this that Arkham was not a normal asylum. Therefore, it required an abnormal Dean and staff.

While there were plenty of people who would have looked upon her life with envy, due to her privilege and station in life, Lena had grown up resenting it most days. She'd never had any friends of her own choosing, the only other children she'd ever been around being those of the board members. All of which were judgmental, close-minded and dull, just like their parents. She had little to no real world experience and while she'd spent most of her free time as a child reading any and every book she could get her hands on, most people who met her would have described her as unbelievably naïve about the world around her. Lena was an idealist and a dreamer, through and through. In a city like Gotham, she stuck out like a sore thumb.

It was on Lena's 20th birthday that she was allowed into the medical wards of the asylum for the very first time. Though this was the last way she wanted to spend such a pivotal birthday, she knew to argue with her father on the matter would be in vain.

She was assigned to shadow the chief administrator as well as psycho-pharmacologist, Dr. Jonathan Crane. Crane was held in extremely high regard by Lena's father and she had met him a handful of times. He was a handsome man, there was no denying that. There was something about him that struck Lena as.. odd, though. Odd was the only word she could come up with because the feeling was so faint and only crept around in the farthest recesses of her mind when she looked into the striking bluish gray eyes of the young doctor. His gaunt facial structure and calm gaze allowed nothing more to slip past for analysis.

"Where's this go to?" She asked playfully, interrupting what he'd been explaining about the medication routines in different wings of the hospital. The only indication of his irritation at being interrupted was the slight flare of his nostrils that she pretended not to notice. She was pointing toward a large, steel sliding door across the hall. It wouldn't have struck her as strange, if it hadn't been for the fact that this was the only door they had come across in the entire building that hadn't had a plague next to it with a description of what was inside.

He sniffed quietly, unfazed, "Not important to what we were talking about, Miss Noel. Now, if you'd follow me we can visit the pharmaceutical closet an—"

"Dr. Crane," she interrupted again, placing mock respectful emphasis on the "doctor" in his title, "I believe my father asked you to give me the full tour of the grounds. 'Leave no stone unturned!' Isn't that what he said?" It wasn't often that she pulled seniority on members of the staff. In fact, she absolutely hated the idea of it. She knew most of them already viewed her as the entitled brat who was only getting such a prestigious position because of who her father was, not because she was someone who actually deserved the position. It was clear in that moment, as Dr. Crane eyed her coldly and let out a sharp sigh, that he too, shared that sentiment.

"Of course, Miss Noel." He responded, barely opening his lips so as to not reveal his clinched teeth. She flashed him a bright smile and stepped back so he could open the door for her. She watched as he raised his badge to the small, black sensor that every door in the hospital had, for security purposes. She was taken aback when the top of the sensor rolled back to reveal an additional keypad beneath, something none of the doors they'd entered thus far had. Evidentially, this room was not intended for normal hospital staff's use. No wonder he didn't hadn't wanted to bother with showing me, she thought passively. Once he'd finished keying in the code, the door let out a long hiss and slid open quickly.

Inside, there was what looked to be a security desk, framed by over a hundred differen screens that seemed to be hooked up to CCTV cameras all around the building. Lena stepped past the doctor who'd obviously been trying to use his body as a blockade to keep her from entering as he quickly tried to explain that it was simply the security office for the asylum.

She stood behind the swivel chair that was tucked into the desk, glancing curiously over the screens. There seemed to be a camera in every cell, which made sense considering the amount of criminally insane that were sheltered in them. They wanted to be sure they could watch over their every move incase they became a danger to themselves.

As she continued her scanning, she noticed a screen in the far right corner that was different than the rest. The camera seemed out of focus and the lighting was terrible. It was obvious that their were patients in the room though, stretched out on hospital beds. From what she could make out, they seemed to be writhing quite a lot. She couldn't put her finger on why, but it struck her as unsettling. Not in the obvious ways that the mentally ill can sometimes be upsetting to those who aren't used to seeing them. In a way that it seemed like it shouldn't be possible for a human being to move that way. Before she had any more time to dwell on the though, Dr. Crane was clearing his throat loudly, beckoning to her with an agitated hand.

"Satisfied with your snooping?" He spat, raising his perfectly manicured brow at her. She gave an embarrassed nod and followed him out of the room.

"I believe that should about cover our tour, Miss Noel. I hope you found it informative. Do you have any last questions for me today?" It had taken them nearly 3 hours to complete the tour and Lena could feel her feet beginning to ache. Though she'd always known Arkham was huge, she'd never imagined how it would feel to actually walk through the seemingly endless corridors, offices, and cells. After the incident in the "security office", she'd been mostly obedient for the good doctor. Only asking questions when it was obvious he was ready to answer them. Being sure to not speak out of turn when he was explaining the various functions and processes held in different parts of the hospital.

She racked her brain, trying to think if there was anything she was still curious about, chewing her lower lip. The dark room. From the cameras. She couldn't believe she'd nearly forgotten about it. He'd managed to keep her busy enough that she hadn't had any time to think about it since then. She realized she hadn't seen any such room on their tour and she wanted to know why.

"What about that room that was on the security cameras? The dark room with all of the patients strapped to beds?" As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she could feel something deep inside her mind tugging at her. Telling her she shouldn't ask that.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what room you're talking about. I've showed you every inch of the hospital, Miss Noel." Crane didn't even skip a beat. He didn't look bothered by the question at all. Lena felt that little voice begging her to drop it then and there, but she wasn't the type of person to give up that easily.

"Well, we must have missed a room, Dr. Crane. I know what I saw and we haven't seen a single room like it." He cocked his head slightly at that, expression unchanging.

"Would you like to go back to security and I can show you that no such room exists?"

Not able to stand being wrong, Lena gave him a quick nod and they headed back up to the 3rd floor.

Once again, Dr. Crane keyed in the code. As soon as the door was open wide enough, Lena slipped in and ran to the desk, eyes finding the screen they'd found earlier. She couldn't help the quiet gasp that left her lips as she registered what was on the screen. No longer did it show the dimly lit room with the patients and their disturbing movements. Now, it was yet another cell, with a young, male inmate sleeping on his bunk inside. Nothing abnormal in the slightest.

She turned to Crane, a blush of embarrassment and frustration creeping up her neck, "It changed.. I swear, it was right here." She pointed insistently, "Someone must have changed it or-or something.."

"Miss Noel.. is everything okay? Are you feeling well?" The tone in which he asked her made her even more upset due to it's underlying patronizing and judgmental feel. The last thing she needed right now was for this man to psycho-analyze her.

"Dr. Crane, I know what I saw. There was a dark room, with several patients. They were all moving around very strangely. I couldn't make that up." She took a deep breath and spoke as calmly as she could, trying to get her point across.

"Hm.. well, I'm sorry to say that there is no such room in this building, Miss Noel. You can ask your father as well, I assure you he'll tell you the same thing."

"I'd like to ask him, actually. Let's see if he's busy." She quickly responded, not giving him any more time to try to convince her.

Upon arriving on the top floor, Lena entered the area where the offices of the board members and her father were located. She kept her stride quick, making Dr. Crane have to work to keep up with her. She didn't care if he was annoyed with her. She couldn't stand someone trying to make a fool of her. She knew what she'd seen. She was not the type of person to imagine something like that. Sarah, her father's personal assistant, looked up from her computer when she heard Lena and Dr. Crane approaching and gave her the practiced polite smile that she always flashed people she was forced to be kind to.

"Hi Lena! If you're looking for your father, he asked not to—"

"I'd like to talk to him now. The doctor and I have a question for him." She interrupted, gesturing to the visibly impatient man behind her.

Sarah blinked several times, clearly annoyed, before pressing a small button on the desk, paging them into the office.

"Lena, Jonathan.. how was the tour?" Her father asked from his seat behind the large, mahogany desk he'd bought years before from a friend in London.

Before Lena had a chance to open her mouth, Dr. Crane stepped forward, appearing suddenly concerned, "Mr. Noel, I am sincerely sorry to have to do this, but.. I'm concerned for Lena. I believe she may be suffering from paranoid delusions. I hadn't noticed it until I was able to spend one-on-one time with her this afternoon. I was wondering if you might allow me to take her in for treatment. Just for the next few days so we can see just how serious this is."

Lena was sure that if her jaw hadn't been so tightly clenched, it would have hit the floor. Paranoid.. delusions?! Is he serious? She couldn't believe the words that had come out of his mouth. There was nothing wrong with her, she knew that. She'd barely even had anxiety growing up, let alone paranoid delusions. She opened her mouth to protest but her father spoke sooner.

"Wh-what? What kind of paranoid delusions? Are you sure, doctor?"

"I believe she is suffering from visual hallucinations and it was obvious in the way she reacted she I questioned her on the existence of what she was seeing." This slimy motherfucker.

"Dad, I don't have any idea what he's going on about. All I wanted to know about was this room that we saw on the security cameras! It was dark and there were all of these patients who were moving around and it was wron—"

"Lena, please. Try to calm down. Dr. Crane is among the most highly-esteemed psychologists in Gotham City. If he's worried, I fully believe that it is for good reason. He only has your best interest in mind. Please just let him do his job." Her father looked genuinely worried for her, which was a first. She just couldn't believe he had so little faith in her that he would immediately believe Dr. Crane, with absolutely no evidence. Whatever argument she had left, died on her lips as one of Crane's nurses came to usher Lena downstairs to take her blood pressure, following intake protocol. She was in absolute shock.

"Thank you, Mr. Noel. I promise, I will have a detailed report for you as soon as have more information on Lena's condition. I will do whatever it takes to treat her." On the surface, his words had the feeling of sincerity you wanted to hear when speaking with a medical professional.

To Lena though, it sounded hollow and false. The words of a man who knew how to get what he wanted, at any cost.

Author's Note:

Hey folks! This is my first fic in ages, so I'm really hoping you enjoy it. I know this first chapter probably felt a bit slow but I promise it'll start picking up here soon. Let me know what you think!

RH