A/N: This chapter went through a lot of editing, and to be honest, I still hate it. This is actually chapters two and three mashed together … but yeah … Still not a lot of the rogues, I'm trying! Next chapter, I promise! As always, reviews are appreciated: faves are loved 3

Avery didn't even remember going to bed last night, and she definitely didn't want to be woken up by lights turning on and guards shouting. The lights scalded her eyes and her not so kind treatment of her body was coming back around. "Karma's a bitch," Avery muttered into her pillow.

More shouting.

"Rise and shine!" Avery wanted to flip the guard off. Shine is not what her migraine needed.

Her mind ran in circles, the events of last night played like a movie montage. Batman … the pole … screaming … Avery hadn't been pleased when they woke her up to take her in. In all honestly she knew she'd end up back in Arkham, it was inevitable if she came back to Gotham she'd end up in Arkham again. Avery rolled her eyes and fixed her jumpsuit. The rest of the night she'd been sedated. Easier for the doctor to poke and prod her if she wasn't trying to bite his finger off, she guessed.

"Come on, sweetheart," the guard had a heavy Long Island accent, "He grabbed Avery by her upper arm, antagonizing a particularly nasty bruise.

"Where the hell are my shoes?" Avery groaned. Witty comments came to the tip of her tongues, but in all honestly, they wouldn't make the pain stop.

"No shoes any more, sweetie." Avery did a double take and followed the grabby guard.

"No shoes?" She submitted herself to be cuffed (why cause herself more pain?) and walked with the guard down the hall.

"Nope. The doc says that you can run if you got shoes." The guard shrugged and went silent. There was no more getting info out of him today. That didn't matter; Avery had gotten all she wanted for the day. Security had tightened in the past few years. Arkham had finally caught up to the fact that you couldn't keep the most ingenious criminals locked up in one place without people escaping. When they reached the door to the cafeteria Avery noticed another upgrade in security. The guard took out a key card and scanned the door. Maneuvering his body between Avery and the keypad, though still keeping an iron grip on her upper arm, he opened the door. "You've been here before, Watts, you know the drill."

"Do I know you?" Avery wiggled out of his grip and waited for the cuffs to be unlocked. The guard ignored her comment and let her hands free. Muttering about the guard getting the stick out of his ass, Avery glanced around the cafeteria. Nothing had changed, much. Even the inmates were the same.

Guards lined the walls, some familiar, some new. They were keeping an eye on the orange clad patients. Some were recognizable from the media. Others were completely unknown. The underground criminals and past escapees like Avery. One particular green haired patient's hand snapped out to grab her wrist.

"Long time, no see!" the Joker exclaimed, pulling Avery down in the seat next to him. Avery let out an oomph sound when her back collided with the hard plastic table.

"Hello, Joker," Avery rolled her eyes. "What do you want?"

"Me?" the sociopath raised his eyes in the most "innocent of ways", "Now … why wouldn't I want to meet an old … asset …" Avery snorted. "Seriously. Where have you been?" Joker gave a twisted smile.

"Around," Avery shrugged. She didn't tell the intake doctor where she'd been and she wasn't going to tell the Joker. Not yet, at least. "If you'll excuse me, I'm hungry."

"You'll sit with us? Won't you?" Joker looked like a sixth grader.

"Stick with the evil you know?" Avery offered. The Joker's only response was hysterical laughter. She made a mental note to keep an eye on him and took the opportunity to get up. The cafeteria reminded Avery a lot of high school. The patients were sitting in a variety of tables. There were probably thirty patients in the cafeteria at the moment. She could almost name each traditional clique. In one table were the jocks, mostly gangsters who had some bullshit insanity defense, probably escaped once or twice. She recognized several of her higher class clients; one even offered her a smile. That put a weight in Avery's stomach No one should recognize her. She went to extreme measures to change her appearance in between jobs. Her hair may be pretty fried, but still … she'd been a blonde when she met that client. Her hair was brown now … Avery forced herself to push back the panic and act indifferent. Maybe she was just here last time … Avery shook her head and continued scanning the cafeteria.

There was a table full of white collar criminals – probably high school's traditional "nerds". Probably hackers and con artists like her. Our people. It would be great to talk to others … exchange details. If the Joker has ulterior motives he won't be happy … Avery rolled her eyes, "He won't be happy either way. I don't play his game." She answered herself. Maybe she really was crazy …

Avery spared the rogues table a second glance. It had grown in the time she'd been getting her oatmeal. There was Ivy and the Joker, both very familiar faces. A vaguely familiar blonde was practically sitting on the Joker's lap. And then there was him. Avery nearly dropped her tray. He was sitting a good distance away from the other rogues, but his ice blue eyes were patiently listening to the conversation.

Avery was a frail sixteen-year-old girl to begin with. Between the lack of nutrition and staying indoors, she looked as though the wind could knock her over. Most of her hair was ice blonde, but it had had time to grow out and the dull red roots stood out like sore thumbs. Deep circles covered her brown eyes, sleep never came to her anymore. Dr. Crane sat across from her; his ice blue eyes analyzed the thin teenager. "Are we going to talk today, Avery?" Avery refused to meet his ice blue eyes. There wasn't much she had anymore, but what she did have she'd like to keep. Stubborn as always, she bit her tongue."Miss Watts, I asked you a question, I would appreciate an answer." He kept up the cool and calm psychiatrist façade but the ice was seeping into his voice.

Avery turned her eyes to her fingernails. They weren't terrible, she kept them under minor control by biting them. No nail clippers. Wasn't Arkham grand? "What are you? My mother?" Avery's voice was smooth and well used. She wasn't mute. She just didn't want to be in Arkham.

"No, Avery, I'm you're psychiatrist," Avery cringed at the term. She wasn't crazy … not psychiatrist worthy. "But, what about your mother?" Crane offered a smirk.

"What about her?" Avery returned his smirk, still not meeting his eye. How does it feel, Crane? Havign your own methods turned on you? Avery's smirk grew into a Cheshire grin.

"Were you close?" Avery shrugged, her lips were sealed again. "That doesn't explain much? Did you like her?" Avery shrugged. Crane let out an exasperated sigh and took off his glasses and began to clean them. Avery felt her blood run cold. He only took off his glasses when he was frustrated with her and when he was frustrated with her …

"Watts? I have other ways of making you talk." A wave of nausea crept through her stomach. Avery had a feeling what those "other ways" were. Stay strong, she reminded herself. Again, Dr. Crane let out a sigh, this time it was more dramatic. Definitely for show. "Avery? Tell me. What is it you fear?" His voice was darker, more sinister. Real terror already pulsed through her veins, anticipating the good doctor's next move. Her teeth grazed her lower lip, putting just enough pressure to help keep her control. "Miss Watts, you and I are going to have a successful appointment one way or another," his voice was short and clipped, real annoyance was seeping through. Today was going to be terrible, she knew it.

"One last question," he bent down beneath the table for a second. When he came up his smile grew wide. It wasn't a pleasant smile. It was the kind of smile that mimicked death. Sweat began to form at her hairline. "Do you want to see my mask?"

"No!" Avery nearly screamed, catching the eye of several people around her. "Um, sorry …" The inmates around her shrugged and moved on with their lives. But there they were. The ice blue eyes staring directly at her. In a flurry of movement, Avery skittered to the table as far away from the rogues. Away from Dr. Jonathan Crane.