Again always a big thanks to the people who took the time to review and read! If you remember in the last chapter I announced that there would defo be a City and Origins and that would be it. However, tonight I saw the trailer for Arkham Knight...and it looks so sexy. I hope all you guys will stick around!
The radios where back in the asylums control, survivors were called, the ones that were still in Arkham East and North were told to stay put as no one knew if it was entirely safe to walk to different areas of the asylum. However while police cars, boats and helicopters were called to head over to the asylum Cash had brought over some people and the Doctors from inside the Medical building had also joined.
Each colleague of the asylum embraced one and other with tight hugs, and silent sobbing. Cash nodded at Batman and congratulated him on defeating the Joker then turned to Filly and without warning pulled her into a suffocating hug. "Need to breathe Cash." She heard him chuckle and he released her from his tight grip.
From the corner of his eye she noticed a tear ready to leap and roll down his cheek but Filly pretended not to notice, "I'm glad you're alive sweetpea."
She smiled at him and was about to return the hug but Gordon had finished with his call and turned towards Filly and pointed his finger straight at her, "You" he quietly spoke,"I want a word with you."
Batman put his hand on the commissioners shoulder trying to keep him back but Gordon shook it off and approached her. She swallowed the lump in her throat and stared up at him, he could be intimidating when he wanted to but his body language relaxed then he gave a little quiet, tired sigh.
"Thank you," he held out his hand for her to shake, she took it then Gordon added, "But this doesn't mean I trust you completely."
"Understood sir." And she did. There had been many points during the night where it seemed that she was with the Joker and not the Batman, it must had really confused him but her attempt to rescue him gave him his answer even if he wasn't entirely convinced.
The ambulance crew were the first to arrive, they quickly saw to the other Doctors who were still in shock. Filly's wound had took longer to heal that expected but the bleeding had stopped though she forgot that her blouse was completely soaked, the medics rushed to her side and removed the shirt, she tried her hardest not to burst out laughing when she saw their faces. They gave her a blanket to wrap around herself with but her cheeks were blooming red at the cold wind beating against her, she quickly checked out the small guard huts and found a navy shirt and a strong Arkham waistcoat. The shirt wasn't a perfect fit but it would do and the waistcoat was a lot heavier than she expected; returning to the group the doors to the visiting centre started to creak, Cash and a few other fit guards ran over, guns pointing at the doors ordering all those inside to walk out slowly hands in front of them. The Jokers goons obeyed the orders knowing that the battle had been won, they were lined in three rows and waited until reinforcement police vans turned up.
Soon enough dozens of riot vans and police cars turned up along with a few more medical crews, Gordon order his men to scout this section of the island first and to try and figure out how many casualties there had been, so huge groups of police and doctors split up and headed into the Visiting Centre, the Medical Building and the Penitentiary, and the goons from before where taken and placed in the secure police vans.
Aaron Cash stood with the survivors, numbers of tonight's body count kept climbing one after one stretchers came out from all the asylum buildings with sheets covering the dead. Filly's smile was gone and replaced with a sort of defeated expression. The Joker had been stopped, the inmates back in their cells and the blackgate prisoners on their way to another secured location, it would have been such a grand victory but the deaths of good people weighed everything down.
"Don't beat yourself up," Aaron stood beside her and hugged her shoulder, "You and Batman saved us."
She looked up at him and recognised the same feelings she had, he hid it much better than her. Aaron watched with her as the final body came out of the Medical building, he sniffed keeping his barriers up. "It's not your fault Cash."
He didn't reply to her comment, he rubbed the sweat from his head and looked at her as if he was about to confess to a horrid crime.
"I saw something Filly, it freaked me...nothing freaks me out but..." she let him take his time. "It was Sharp, he was muttering to himself but I couldn't make out what he was saying, I mean I've caught him muttering before but I didn't think anything of it. Then he took a knife, I dunno where he took it out from but he cut his fingers and started drawing on the floor with his blood." She placed her hand on his shoulder, "He kept whispering things to himself, mostly saying 'I am the spirit of Amadeus Arkham' and 'Batman'."
That was one of the creepiest challenges of the game for her personally, but she had no clue the Cash had seen what he had done,"Cash keep this conversation between you and me, we can't let Warden Sharp's little incident break out. We gotta show everyone that we're still strong, we're not all broken."
He gave a small nod. From the corner of her eye she spied the Dark Knight watching them, of course he'd already know what the warden had done.
"Right, we better get these officers ready to spread to the other buildings." He said tiredly.
"No Cash, I'm needed here, you need rest. These officers won't have a clue how these systems work , I'll keep them right." He looked as if he was about to argue but again he only nodded, realizing just how exhausted he was.
"I forget I'm not as young as I used to be" he chuckled to himself. Officers began to make their way back waiting for the next orders but the Commissioner was back on the phone frantically making calls to other places and the Batman was nowhere insight. Filly addressed the officers and called for there attention but they took one look at her but then continued their own conversations, some even laughed at her. And this didn't please Cash.
"Show her some respect! The Batman and her saved lives tonight she is not a child." At that the chatting ceased and now they all turned to her.
"So what are you called then?" one from the front said rudely.
Gritting her teeth together Filly stared hard at the officers in front of her. She had gone through so much trouble and pain, saved and helped out whenever she could and this was how she was treated afterwards. She got into the officers face, his cocky grin falling down surprised by how quick she was, "My name is Emily Rogers-" she said to him but loud enough for other's to hear.
Then she backed off and shouted, "-and I am the Daughter of Arkham Asylum so you all better god damn listen to me. In some places of the asylum there shall still be prisoners of Blackgate and patients who'll be unconscious but there will be a chance that a few are up and about. The prisoners will not likely have guns and will likely submit to arrest quickly. However, as for the released patients they are mentally unhinged and will charge at you so do not approach. We have tranquillizer snipers and these will take them down separately."
Arkham guards who were fit enough to stay and help get the Island back under control were given the tranquillizer sniper's and they lead large groups into all the different parts of the asylum, it was slow at first but they pushed through, Filly left one of the groups to search for Batman. She knew he'd be fine but something poked the back of her head, her instinct's told her the mansion so he bounded over there first before any officers.
The damage to the Mansion was astonishing, she was surprised that the full place hadn't caved in or burned, but the mansion was one of those buildings you know who survive an apocalypse. Walking over the dead and passing the unconscious made her skin crawl, no matter how many times she saw a deceased guard her eyes would never get used to all the images, it was different on a TV screen but in front of her...it was haunting.
Filly ran her hand over the large fallen bell, opened a memory to see if it had recorded the last time Batman had come through but she found nothing but her hunch wouldn't go. Heading to the Wardens office there was a burning and ash like smell, she cautiously turned the corner but was taken aback when she came across a hole in the wall.
The wood work had been blown to pieces revealing a mini corridor leading into a secret room. There was small dust clouds floating gently to the ground showing that it had only been like this for a few minutes. Walking through, the room looked like a regular office in the mansion, Batman was staring at a notice board, she smiled at her hunch. She took in more of the office, it did look ordinary but why was it blocked off? This was the first time she had ever came across this room, all of her friends who had played the game hadn't told her about it unless they didn't know it existed either.
"What is this?" she asked approaching his side. The map was large and along the top were photographs of buildings.
"This is a map of Gotham City and Arkham Island, a whole section has been highlighted" he stated as his eyes glanced over the building's that had been noted down.
"Well whatever Warden Sharp has planned, its been approved." she said noticing the word in bright red letters stamped on the map and various papers scattered on the desk. "I'll do some digging round when things have calmed down here and I'll get the information to you somehow." But no doubt he and Barbara will be on the case and strike lucky before her.
Sitting on the desk was an big, old computer, Filly had no clue what was showing on the screen but many official looking papers had the Wardens signature at the bottom. She picked up a pile of photos and shuffled through them, more and more buildings, one had a strip club sign, another she guessed was a courthouse and the last of the pile was a theatre, it was obvious which one it was.
"We'll have to make sure this is hidden. We'll move a bookcase in front of it, no doctors, officers or guards can know about this." he stated. Filly figured he was hinting hard on her to not tell Cash about it. Filly left the room to give Batman the space he needed to scan in the room, she chose a bookcase but struggled to move it but suddenly the batclaw grabbed hold of it and the Dark Knight began to pull. Filly tried catching the books as they fell, when the bookcase was in place she sat them back on but she was concerned that others would notice it had been moved.
"Who gave you the title Daughter of Arkham?" he asked taking her mind off it.
"I, I dunno. Plus Filly doesn't exactly strike fear into the hearts of criminals but Daughter of Arkham does the trick." she laughed, "But it's only a nickname."
He nodded, "I was impressed by how you handled the officers, you would make a good leader in these sort of situations. I can see why Cash is fond of you."
"Really?" she was surprised that he had seen her little speech, "I didn't expect them to listen to me the first time, after all I'm just a teenager. Although I feel that I've had to grow up pretty fast tonight."
They both headed back to the entrance of the Mansion, guards and officers began to enter the building now to gather the inmates and help gather the dead.
"So what happens now?" she asked him.
"Get this place under control, try and make it safe again." he said simply.
Filly bit her lip and glanced at him from the corner of her eye, "It's not going to be easy."
They were back in Arkham West, lines of police vans and cars filled with Blackgate prisoners left she was unsure where they'd be locked up now although some were sure to go to the hospital as well. Gordon was back on his phone, she couldn't hear the last part of his conversation with Barbara but he ended it with a smile knowing that he'd be able to see his daughter again.
"Shame about your car. Can I give you a ride?" there was a smirk playing on Gordon's lips, he would love to see this huge armoured hero in a small car.
Batman returned the small smirk,"Thanks Jim, but I have one on the way."
"Get some rest, you deserve it", he turned to Filly, "What about you Miss, is there anywhere you can go?"
"I'll be here making sure nothing else happens. This is my home Commissioner, I don't have anywhere else to go."
Just as Gordon was about to reply to her the radio in the cop car announced that there was trouble back in Gotham. The events tonight gave Harvey the perfect chance to cause a bit of trouble while Batman and most of the best officers on the force where on the island.
"Stay safe Jim. And Filly," he turned to her while she grew red as he finally called her by her nickname, "Be strong." With that the Batwing roared and hovered about them, the Dark Knight used the batclaw to board his air craft then he flew to Gotham City to face another fight, leaving the asylum to heal.
"How do you think he does it? Where does he find the strength to carry on?" asked Gordon more to himself than Filly. She didn't reply as she didn't know either but if she had to guess, it was his love for Gotham that kept him going.
So the next chapter is the final one! This chapter is a bit scratchy, kinda filler but I'm ok with it :) Please drop me a wee review or two my lovies!