Elizabeth felt heavy, tired and every part of her body hurt. 'What the hell happened?' Slowly she opened her eyes the white ceiling above her hurt her eyes, she blinked twice the room came into sharper focus. Her tongue was heavy in her mouth, she tried to wet it with saliva but found she didn't have any. She tried to sit up but couldn't find her balance because her arms were bounded together. Despite her grogginess she wiggled her butt and shoulders forcing herself to sit up against the headboard. She accomplished it after a minute of struggling.
"Oomph."
"Oh, you're awake. The wooziness will wear off soon, just relax." Elizabeth looked towards the direction of the voice. A man in a blue jumpsuit was leaning up against some glass. She blinked several times in disbelief as she gazed around the room. Looking back at the man her eyes widened in shock.
"Now don't sc—" Edward's voice was lost amongst her scream of panic. Elizabeth jerked frantically trying to remove the straightjacket.
"Calm down," Edward said covering his ears. She stopped screaming but began breathing rapidly still struggling to get out of the restraints. The door at the end of the hallway open, Dr. Gullenrow rushed in, followed by a guard.
"Miss Howard please calm down," the doctor said.
"Wha-? Why? What the fuck is going on!?"
"I'll explain but please calm down."
"Okay, okay," Elizabeth took several deep breath and nodded, "I'm okay, now what the hell is going on!?"
"Well, it's rather difficult to explain…I'm not even quite sure myself…"
"Tell me!"
"Well…yesterday you were brought in by Batman because you…well…"
"WHAT!?"
"You attacked and killed several people at Wayne Industries and the cells at Gotham PD couldn't contain you or keep the other prisoners safe from you. So you're here because we know how to deal with people like you." Dr. Gullenrow said this very quickly but Elizabeth still heard every word. She sat in stunned silence, shocked beyond all belief.
"I'm going to come in now to remove the straightjacket, okay." Dr. Gullenrow opened the cell and carefully stepped inside. He gestured to Elizabeth to get off the bed; she did still trying to comprehend what the doctor had told her. Dr. Gullenrow undid the straps and the jacket fell away. Elizabeth gasped at her reflection in the cell's glass her clothes were covered in blood along with her face. There was a dark metallic taste in her mouth, she licked the sticky substance on her lips it was the same taste of iron. She looked down at her chest to make sure what she was seeing wasn't an illusion, she plucked at her shirt the material was stiff and crusty. Her hand too was covered in blood and under her nails she saw little chunks of skin. Elizabeth looked again at her reflection and into the deep golden eyes of a wolf.
Elizabeth shivered despite the warm water flowing around her. The water running off her skin had finally stopped turning pink on the shower floor. She grabbed the small bar of soap the asylum had provided her with and lathered up.
"Hurry it up!" The female guard commanded.
"Sorry, if there was a lot of blood," Elizabeth bit back; she quickly rinsed and shut off the water. The curtain was jerked to the side and a thin towel was thrown at her.
"Dry off and learn some respect for your superiors." Elizabeth scoffed under her breath. "What was that?" The guard said grabbing her by the hair.
"Ow! Bitch!" Elizabeth broke away but some of her hair was ripped out by the roots.
"Now finish drying off in silence or missing hair will be the least of your worries." The guard threw her hair on the ground.
"Is she almost done in there Miss Rosslend?" Dr. Gullenrow asked through the door.
"Yes, sir, just drying off," she replied in a surprisingly friendly voice. Elizabeth looked at the guard assessing her. She was a few inches taller than her with her blonde hair tied back tightly, a harsh looking face and a large amount of muscle for a woman. "What are you looking at?"
"Nothing important," Elizabeth stated truthfully. She finished drying and grabbed the cotton jumpsuit uniform of the asylum. Looking woefully at it she slipped inside and zipped it up, with no bra or underwear and the unknown surrounding her Elizabeth felt completely miserable and alone. 'What I wouldn't do for a friendly face.'
The guard grabbed her arm, "Say a word about your hair and you'll never say anything again when I'm done with you," she whispered in her ear. The guard tugged on her hair again and led her out the door.
Dr. Gullenrow smiled at her empathetically when he saw her. "If you come with me Miss Howard the police would like to talk with you." He placed a pair of handcuffs on her and took her from the guard. Once they had turned the corner he released her arm, "I know you won't do anything silly."
"Of course not Dr. Gullenrow."
"Down this way." He led her down a flight of stairs and through several more hallways before stopping. "Here we are. Now don't worry about a thing, I'll be in there with you the entire time." Elizabeth nodded and Dr. Gullenrow opened the door. Two cops were waiting inside, one rather large male and a hard-looking Hispanic female.
"Miss Howard." The female said, "I am Detective Montoya of the Major Crimes Unit and this is my partner Detective Bullock."
"Hello," Elizabeth said quietly, looking away from Bullock who was staring at her intensely.
"Please sit down we just want to talk." Dr. Gullenrow led her to the hard metal chair facing the officers. Elizabeth's eyes glanced between Montoya and Bullock waiting for one of them to speak.
"Do you know why you are here?" Montoya finally asked as she opened a file next to her.
"Dr. Gullenrow said I had killed some people at Wayne Industries yesterday."
"That's right," Bullock said his voice harsh and mean, "You killed four people and put two more in the hospital." He grabbed Montoya's folder and threw several photos in front of her. Elizabeth looked down at them and vomited a little in her mouth.
Dr. Jyuugatsu, his throat was ripped open and she could see his wind pipe, blood was pooled around him matting his hair down. The clothing around his stomach was shredded and Elizabeth could see some of the intestines that were nearly spilling out of him. Dr. Dysart looked up at her with vacant eyes her cheeks and nose missing, chewed off. Long gashes marred her chest and abdomen, her ribs peeking out from under her clothing and her guts trailed off the edge of the photo.
"Disgusting isn't it you freak," Bullock said, "I've seen the worst those Rogues have but this just makes me sick."
"Shut it Bullock." Montoya snapped grabbing the photos. She looked at Elizabeth who had paled significantly and was beginning to sweat. "Miss Howard," she said leaning over the table, "can you tell me what happened?"
"I…I don't know, if I hadn't seen the blood on me I would think this was some sick joke. I couldn't have done this."
"You did though, we have video of you."
"But I…I don't…I can't believe it."
"Believe it girly everyone else does," Bullock said as he pulled out a copy of the Gotham Herald. On the front was a large picture of her with crazed eyes trying to break free of Batman. The caption 'Animalistic Murders at Wayne Industries' headed the page. A smaller title underneath read the photo: 'Batman wrestling mysterious woman after she brutally attacked six Wayne Industries employees'. Elizabeth's eyes went wide in shock, her life was officially ruined.
"Now what were you doing at Wayne Industries in the first place?"
A half an hour later Elizabeth was ready to hit officer Bullock right across his fat face. He had been completely rude to her the entire time, his partner had tried to keep him under control but it is obvious that he wasn't going to lay off. Fortunately for him the interview ended before Elizabeth lost her cool.
"Here," Bullock said throwing her the paper, "something to read until your trial."
"Ass," Elizabeth sneered after the door was shut.
"Don't talk that way," Dr. Gullenrow reprimanded, "I'll take you back to the cell now."
"Okay…hey Dr. Gullenrow is it possible for me to get a bra or at least some underwear to wear?"
The doctor blushed heavily, "you mean you weren't given a pair?"
"No, and it's rather uncomfortable."
"Of course I'll have some sent up with dinner."
"Thanks." They were silent as they passed several rows of inmates most of whom were leering through the glass at her.
"Miss Howard…I know it's unneeded for you but all inmates are required to join in group therapy sessions. Tomorrow is the scheduled day for the section you are in so, I just want to warn you, the Rogues' sessions are usually very volatile and they don't react well to new members. I'd prefer you not to join in but the rules must be followed. Also they like to haze new patients so to speak with tales of their worst crimes, as Mr. Crane puts it, "We like to instill the proper fear in them.""
"I see thank you for warning me."
"Of course I hate to see a nice girl like you in here, a shame what happened."
"You're telling me," Elizabeth whispered under her breath as Dr. Gullenrow unlocked the door leading to the Rogues' hallway. As they walked down the hall the Rogues looked out at her with curiosity. Only Jonathan and Edward had gotten a good look at the new arrival last night and it wasn't every day that a woman joined them in the Rogue's gallery, even if she wasn't an official Rogue.
"My, my," the Mad Hatter said stroking his chin, "She does look familiar but I can't think where I've seen her before."
"A fine specimen of bird, but just as untouchable as Ivy, I would say."
"Two good looking women in two weeks," Two-Face said, "but we prefer twins with double DDs."
Dr. Gullenrow open the cell door and un-cuffed her, she stepped inside and the door was shut behind her. "I'll see you in a few hours when dinner is ready Miss Howard, try and stay sane until then please."
"Will do doctor," Elizabeth smiled. Dr. Gullenrow nodded to her and left. She stopped smiling when she heard the hall door shut behind him. She was alone with the Rogues who were saying pervy things about her. Again.
"Pointed ears and at least one golden eye," the Riddler said smirking and leaning up on the glass wall. "We meet again Elizabeth, though this time under more interesting circumstances. Were you so anxious to see me again that you committed a crazed crime?"
"Shut up." Elizabeth snarled, walking over to the bed and lying down.
"Now don't be so harsh, tell me was your hair always that odd grey colour or did you dye it?"
"Ignoring you." She half sang, opening the paper to a random page.
"Don't be a poor sport."
"Edward, you know this girl?" The Mad Hatter asked.
"Why yes you've met her as well, she is the building inspector that was here two weeks ago."
"I knew I had seen her before," he muttered under his breath and said in a clearer voice, "Welcome to Arkham my dear, I am Jervis Tetch though you may call me Hatter if you wish."
"Thank you Mr. Tetch," she said over her paper, "I'm Elizabeth Howard; it's a pleasure to meet you."
"I thought you were ignoring us?" Edward said incredulously.
"Still ignoring you." Jonathan and Jervis chuckled at the stunned looked on Edward's face.
"Ah! So cruel," Edward said dramatically, "even after I went through all that trouble to send you a graduation present." Elizabeth didn't respond but simply turned the page.
"Did you like your present? Were you able to answer my riddle? I thought it a quite simple one…Eliza—"
"Yay the crossword puzzle isn't filled in yet!" Elizabeth opened the drawer that had the ear plugs and pulled out a felt tipped pen. Sitting up on the bed she folded the paper and smirked playfully at Edward. "Hmm… four down…Christmas visitor, well that's easy Santa."
"Elizabeth," Edward said softly. She glanced up smiling.
"Hmm?"
"Would you let me do the crossword?"
"Maybe, though I might still be ignoring you…you never know."
"I'd let him do it, Miss Howard," Professor Crane said, "He can be quiet annoying if he doesn't get his way."
"You mean it can get worse! Oh dear, if I must, but maybe if he was a bit nicer I will let him."
"Elizabeth, please let me do the crossword."
"Okay…I guess I'll have to read them off for you, one across is…"
Edward and Elizabeth finished the puzzle in about twenty minutes and for the next three hours or so Elizabeth, Edward, Jonathan and Jervis made small talk with Oswald and Harvey pitching in their two-cents every once-in-a-while. Mainly it was the three Rogues inquiring about world events and asking her to read from the newspaper.
"Have you read the front page yet?" Jervis inquired.
"Umm…no…"
"Could you, Miss Howard, I always find them the most interesting."
"Umm…well…I suppose…ah…okay." 'I'll have to read it sometime.' Elizabeth cleared her throat and flipped to the front page. "'Animalistic Murders at Wayne Industries' Yesterday afternoon four Wayne Industry employees were killed in a brutal attack by an unknown woman. Two security guards were injured also in the attack and are in critical condition at Gotham General. The victims' names have not yet been released. Bruce Wayne was also involved in the attack but received minor injuries. Luckily, Batman arrived before any more people were injured and after subduing her took the crazed woman to Arkham Asylum. As of now Arkham has not commented on the current condition of the woman.'
'An insider informed us that the offending woman was invited to Wayne Industries by Bruce Wayne who has had an ongoing relation with her. Bruce Wayne was unavailable for comment but a spokesperson told our reporter that the woman was there to receive a treatment for her genetic mutations. This only begs the question of why Wayne Industries, who has been known to search for cures for Clayface and other genetically mutated Rogues, is treating a person who, up-till-now, has caused no trouble for the Gotham public.'
'While all of Gotham remembers the victims, Gotham Herald will continue to follow this appalling story in hopes of witnessing firsthand the creation of new Rogue, bringing you the details first.'" By the end of the article Elizabeth needed to hold back her anger so it didn't show in her voice. 'Creation of a new Rogue! Bastards don't know what they're talking about! I'll rip them to bloody pieces if that's what they want!'
"So we've heard Gotham's version, now what really happened Miss Howard," Jonathan asked.