Lunch Date

After my therapy session, it was back to my cell for an hour before lunch. My daily schedule (except on weekends) from now on was: therapy first thing in the morning, then a break, then lunch, then a break, then recreational time, then back to the cell until it was time for dinner, then the rest of the day was to be spent in the cell to think about the terrible things I've done or whatever they expected us to do in here. It just seemed like a whole lot of nothing to look forward to everyday.

I basically stared at the ceiling in my cell for an hour, trying not to look across the hall where the hulking giant was staring at me again. Well, I didn't actually know if he was staring at me because I didn't look over, but I could feel it. You just know when people are staring at you. Around the hall, several cells were empty, meaning people were out at therapy or whatever else they did at this time of the day. The slowest hour of my life continued to crawl by until finally, around 11, a guard I didn't recognize let me out for lunch. I used to eat lunch at 12, so I figured they had the different cellblocks eating at different designated times. Or a mixture of both, I wasn't really sure.

What I was sure of at this point, was that Arkham Asylum was a damn maze. Every hallway looked the same to me and I was pretty sure that was never going to change at this point. The guard led me down drab gray hallway after drab gray hallway until we walked through a set of steel doors and into a drab gray cafeteria.I at least recognized this part of the asylum.

The giant square room looked like any other area of the asylum, shitty luminescent lighting over gray walls and gray tiled floors. The tables were like the ones you would find in any high school cafeteria across the country, with the small round seats on little metal pegs. At the front of the cafeteria was the counter where you would go through the line. As soon as you arrived in the cafeteria you were supposed to get in line, get your food, sit down to eat, then leave. Really though, I didn't know what I was even eating half the time. Something with vitamins pumped into it probably.

I looked around as I moved towards the front of the room where a small line was already forming. There weren't a lot of people in the room at the moment, but that didn't mean it wouldn't fill up fast when other people did get here, which meant I needed to get in line now. Technically you weren't even allowed to sit down before you got your food. If you weren't hungry you were just supposed to tell a guard and they would leave you in your cell.

The people sitting at the tables were scattered out with only one or two tables having more than one person sitting at them and no one was really talking to each other. This wasn't really out of the ordinary. Some of the inmates in the line in front of me turned and gave me a look. They're sizing you up because you're new meat. I didn't recognize any from category nine but they definitely knew I was up there judging by their glances at the number printed on my shirt. They quickly looked away after seeing it. It's not like I was that imposing physically so they probably figured I was a real nutjob or something. Well, you kinda are. Sometimes I really hate myself.

I moved slowly through the line, trying not to make eye contact with anyone. If I learned anything from my stay here it was that it tookvery little to set off a mentally unstable person. On my old hall someone once asked a woman if she wanted a piece of gum. Instead of saying no, she bit a piece of their ear off. Yeah, crazy people are crazy. I'd like to think I wouldn't ever resort to biting someone's ear off, though I guess I couldn't say that definitively. Given the right situation, I might.

Lunch appeared to be some sort of brown mush between two pieces of bread with an apple and some fries. It might have been a sloppy joe outside of Arkham Asylum. I grabbed a juice and kind of stared at my tray while trying to find an empty table in the corner. Somewhere where people won't look at me or close me in on all sides. I found a small round table in the back left corner and sat on a seat where I had a view of the rest of the cafeteria. It was definitely beginning to fill up. The line for the food was getting longer and I started to recognize people from category 9 coming in. The green lady was the most noticeable one. She was standing next to the blonde bimbo with the pigtails, who, thankfully, had quit crying.

This is such a shitty situation. I picked up my apple, which was probably going to be the only thing I ate, and started nibbling on it. I didn't have much of an appetite today, especially after my first therapy session with Strange. For some reason I glanced up, it was like back in my cell when I felt the big guy across the hall watching me. I started scanning the cafeteria, looking for the source of my uneasiness when I locked eyes with Roman. He was still standing by the double doors, which meant he had just walked in. I couldn't see his eyes from this far away but his head was turned this way. He isn't looking at you, don't be an idiot.

I didn't have to force myself to look away since my attention was quickly diverted to the tray that had just been placed directly next to mine. I could feel someone who had a good bit of height on me hovering over my shoulder. I tentatively looked up and saw Two-Face standing there. I was confused. What does he want?

"Mind if I sit?" His voice was deep and surprisingly smooth. It was also very clear, which was impressive considering half his face was burned off. I didn't know what to say so I didn't say anything, which I guess he took as me not minding because he sat down next to me. "I heard you killed a doctor?" That's a nice conversation starter.

"Do I know you?" Wow Vi, there's a cold-blooded psychopath sitting next to you and you decide to be rude to him. Great start.

He chuckled a little, so I guess he wasn't fazed by my bluntness. "Not yet you don't." He half-smiled, no pun intended, and took a bite of a french fry. "I remember seeing you in the armory back at the museum." I guess he remembered that little tiff too. Interesting what these crazies remember. "And the hallway when they brought me in."

"You have a good memory." I didn't really know what else to say. When I thought about the last time I saw him, he seemed considerably more unstable than he did at the present. For one, he wasn't referring to himself as "we" or "us" anymore. He was probably on meds again in here, which made him think more clearly. He's still dangerous, and you need to be careful. Without thinking, I glanced over at Roman, who was now towards the front of the line. His attention however, wasn't on the tray in front of him. He was standing still staring over at our table. From what I could tell he wasn't even looking at me. Then again, it would be hard to look at me while still glaring holes into Two-Face, which was what he was doing at the moment. Just like he did to Eddie back at the museum when I was talking to him. Yeah, but that was then and this is now. Six months is a long time and a lot of things can change during it.

"No, I just wouldn't forget your pretty face." That brought my attention back to Two-Face. I looked at him kind of incredulously, which made him chuckle.

"Gee, do you say that to all the ladies in the asylum?" At this point I wasn't feeling threatened by him, considering he was basically hitting on me, which was weird in itself, so I continued to nibble on my apple.

He looked like he was about to say something in response when another tray slammed down opposite of ours. Roman stood there leaning across the table giving Two-Face a look that scared even me. Two-Face casually put another fry in his mouth before greeting our new lunch buddy, "Hello, Sionis."

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Roman all but growled out. He looked like a mad dog, hunched over with his shoulders bunched up. Roman wasn't a small guy, so he looked pretty intimidating right now. Two-Face on the other hand looked completely unfazed. I didn't know what to do so I just looked between the two, my apple half way to my mouth.

"Having lunch with a pretty lady, which you're kind of ruining right now. So if you don't mind, why don't you find another table to sit at?" Two-Face talked like someone who was used to giving orders and having the other person listen to them. Which would have worked I guess, if that other person wasn't Roman Sionis. Sometimes I doubted Roman's insanity, but right now I could basically feel it coming off of him in waves.

"Actually no. I don't think I'm going to move. I think you're going to get up right now and never go near Violet again because if you do so help me-" Two-Face cut Roman off with another mocking laugh, which pissed Roman off even more. This is going to get interesting pretty soon.

"I think you need to be careful who you try and boss around now Sionis. I would've thought you were brought down a few pegs given your humiliating ousting from your own factory by the clown back in Arkham City. You haven't had power in Gotham for years now, so please run along before something you regret happens." It sounded like a nonchalant threat, but the quickness with which he said it told me he had been waiting for a while now to say that to Roman. He knew exactly what to say to set Roman off and boy, did he just say it.

I didn't realize Roman could move so fast, but he was across that table throwing punches before I had time to process what was happening. I just sat in my seat watching the two grown men grapple on the ground like teenagers. All around me whistles were blowing and suddenly guards appeared from all sides, grabbing the two men and pulling them apart. I couldn't tell if Two-Face landed any hits on Roman since he had his mask on, but Two-Face had a busted lip. He was still laughing at Roman even as the guards were dragging him out of the cafeteria. He only approached this table looking for a fight, you know. I figured this was the case for both men. Two-Face had seen me with Roman back at the museum and probably assumed there was something going on. Too bad he was wrong.

My apple was still halfway to my mouth when both of them disappeared through separate doorways. I looked down at my tray and just stared at it, processing what just happened. What I got out of that was that Two-Face had a lot of power now and Roman not so much. Well, Two-Face had power by default technically. The power in Arkham City, and therefore Gotham, had been split three ways before Joker bit the-no. He's not even dead. I hadn't thought about that little detail for a while now. It was almost like an insignificant detail I just accidentally forgot, except it wasn't insignificant at all. I must have zoned out for a bit because when I saw a hand frantically waving in front of my face I had to blink a few times to focus on the man standing next me. Another familiar face.

"You okay, Violet?" Eddie looked at me with concern in his pretty green eyes. Evidently, he just witnessed the scuffle that took place. I looked around the cafeteria and saw that a lot of people were glancing over at me and whispering to the people next to them. Great, more unwanted attention.

I nodded my head and asked him, "What the hell just happened?"

His eyes brightened up and he clapped his hands together, "Ah! She speaks!" He sat his tray down and sat in Two-Face's recently vacated seat, pushing the other tray away. "That was long in the making. Two-Face has been egging Roman on for a while. Roman has been basically ignoring him but seeing him with you pretty much pushed him over the edge, which is what Two-Face wanted would be my guess." Eddie always spoke in such a know-it-all tone, and I guess he could be considered a know-it-all since he was like really smart. Normally I'd find this kind of annoying, but right now it was comforting.

"Why would I matter?" I asked. Don't play dumb. I knew what I wanted him to say, but I didn't know if I was right to be thinking this way. You aren't right. He doesn't care about you, you heard Edward. He just told you their fight had been long in the making. You didn't change anything.

He looked at me like I just told him I had five arms or something. "Violet, you are not that ignorant, surely." I raised an eyebrow. He responded with sighing dramatically. "Are we really going to have to go over this again?" He slumped forward and rolled his eyes. Eddie could be quite dramatic.

I shrugged my shoulders. "I thought he hated me seeing as how we're out of the city and stuff. I'm no one now." Which, I really was confused about because I was just another insignificant girl now that we were out of Arkham City. I really thought the look he gave me the last time I saw him was one of hatred.

"Hate you?" Eddie chuckled a little, "No. Not hate." He smirked to himself and I wasn't sure what that meant. It means he feels nothing for you. "I think he was hoping he wouldn't see you again though." The matter-of-fact way he said it made my heart sink a little. He didn't hate me; he didn't feel anything for me.

"Oh." Was all I muttered, trying to take another bite out of my apple. I knew this would happen. What did I really expect, I mean, I only knew him from one night I spent with him. He did help me through that night though. No, you followed him around like a lost puppy and basically made him help you by default. I closed my eyes.

Eddie, sensing that something was off quickly said, "Not like that. I think he was just worried that if he saw you again it would be under unfavorable circumstances. Which, I mean, it is, since you're a category 9 patient now." He turned in his seat to face me fully now, "By the way, have you seriously lost your damn mind?" He poked my forehead playfully.

"You know Eddie, I'm not even sure anymore." I meant it to be a joke, but it came out sounding like I really didn't know.

"In all seriousness Violet, you shouldn't have killed Milton. It's going to bring you a lot of unwanted attention, as you just saw." He was staring straight into my eyes now.

"What? You mean Two-Face?" I thought he had just said Two-Face was hanging around me because he was trying to get to Roman?

"Yeah. And a lot of other inmates probably." He spoke slowly, as if explaining something to a child. "Trust me when I say, someone such as yourself doesn't need the extra attention." He turned back to his food and started eating now.

I didn't know what he meant by someone like me. "What does that mean?"

"It means, that you are young, inexperienced, and therefore, an easy target. Most people are in here because they deserve it. You don't deserve to be in here Violet, and most of the inmates know it." He paused, "Although, keep killing off psychiatrists and they might change their minds." He chuckled a little, but I didn't laugh. I did deserve to be in here though. I realized then, that no one else knew that I had actually been clinically diagnosed with mental disorders. They must all think I'm just in here because of what I did in Arkham City. You should probably use that to your advantage.

"Eddie, I do belong in here though." I was thinking about my past. I obviously had a lot of stuff going on, but he didn't need to know all the nitty gritty details.

"Oh, don't tell me Strange is getting to you already." He spit out Strange's name like it tasted bad in his mouth. Can you really blame him? "You've only had what, one session with him so far?"

I nodded my head but asked, "Do you think he's completely full of shit? I mean aside from the sketchy things he's been involved with. Do you think he's a good psychiatrist?"

Eddie, again, looked at me like I was speaking in tongues, "Yeah, maybe in an alternate universe where everything is backwards and upside down." He laughed a little, "Geeze Violet, what kind of meds does he have you on? You aren't completely doped up on me here are you?" He laughed again and picked up his own apple.

"I wish I could tell you." I said this, not expecting to get the reaction out of him that I did. He sat his apple down on his tray and looked at me seriously.

"What do you mean you wish you could tell me?" I stared at him blankly. "Don't you know what kind of meds you're prescribed? Because you're supposed to know." I felt something like panic surge through me.

"No. I have no idea what I'm on. The nurse who gave me the shot didn't even know what it was she just said-"

"A shot?" I had Edward's full attention now and he no longer had a joking air about him. I didn't know what was so odd about that. I mean I thought it was weird that I was getting shots and not pills, but I didn't think it was really anything to worry about.

I nodded my head, "Yeah. I'm not on any pills anymore, just all shots." He had a blank look on his face, which I figured meant he was thinking hard about something, "Don't a lot of patients get shots, or…?" I was getting more and more worried about this.

"No. Every patient I know of is solely on pills. They only use shots when sedating unruly patients." He glanced around him for some reason, "Listen Violet, I need you to pay attention to whatever Strange says about these shots in your therapy sessions, even little offhanded comments that you think don't matter." I didn't like the urgency in his voice. Why was he so worried?

"Do I need to be worried?" I asked, my voice coming out quieter than I intended.

Eddie didn't answer for a second and when he did, he didn't sound so sure, "I wouldn't be just yet. Strange is being watched pretty closely after the Arkham City thing. He wouldn't get away with trying to hurt any patients again, not this soon anyway." Ever the pessimist. It didn't make me feel any better. I suddenly didn't want to talk about this anymore. My mind wandered back to Roman and I felt better just thinking about him. Not good Vi, not good.

"Where did they take Roman?" I asked, looking around the cafeteria and noticing people were starting to get up from their tables. Lunch was almost over.

"Roman?" He wiggled his eyebrows before answering my question, "Well, Violet, fighting is frowned upon here." He said this so seriously that I couldn't help but laugh. He smiled when I laughed, which made me feel a little better, "He'll be in solitary confinement for a few days. Two-Face too, but probably not as long since he didn't start the fight." He seemed to notice the other people getting up as well and motioned for me to stand up to throw my food away.

"Where are you going now?" I asked, not wanting to be separated from Eddie. It was nice being with someone who didn't want to kill me. You don't know that Edward doesn't want to kill you. Don't assume things like that.

"I have therapy now." He said with an eyeroll. "Then a break today."

"Don't you have a break everyday, then?" I asked, wondering why he said he had a break today.

"I have rec time every other day during that period." He looked at me, confused again. "Doesn't your schedule alternate?"

"No. I have the same thing everyday." I paused, "So do you not have therapy with Strange every day?" I really hoped this wasn't another thing for me to worry about.

Eddie shook his head "I only have therapy sessions with him twice a week." He looked troubled by this too, but said nothing else about it, "Do you have rec time coming up?"

I dumped my tray in the gray garbage can and started walking towards the door with him, "Yeah, when you're on your break."

He pulled on my arm to slow me down and said seriously, "Stay inside. They'll ask you if you want to go to the rec room or the exercise yard. Stay inside." The guards were coming at us now. "And for your sake Violet, try and make some friends. It'll help you survive in this place for a little longer at the very least."