I sat there for hours, with nothing to do but think. I couldn't contact anyone. I just hoped that everyone had hidden. Perhaps Harley and The Joker had told everyone exactly what was going on and they were all somewhere safe.
But there was no way to know these things, and that is what drove me crazy. I was lost and in the dark.
I was scared. Would I end up in Arkham, or dead? Neither sounded pleasant.
All I knew for certain at that time was the very room that I sat in. The outside world had become something mysterious and unanswered.
What if every single one of my friends were now being killed off, and I couldn't do anything about it? What if most of them are already dead? What if Harley or The Joker never really escaped? What if they were right outside the door, lifeless.
The poison had acid in it. It would burn right through a gas mask. There was no way to be safe from it other than to never touch it.
I closed my eyes, rocking back and forth in the chair. It was probably evening now. I'd be missing work tonight. Perhaps for the next few days.
Was I supposed to sleep like this? I didn't know if I could. The chair wasn't particularly comfortable, and having my hands wrenched behind me didn't feel too good either. That combined with the anxiety didn't really give me a chance of any sleep.
I could hear Rick moving around above me on the catwalks. He seemed busy, moving about at a rather quick pace.
Why? What happened earlier? I wondered, squeezing my eyes shut, trying to dispel the images of my friends lying there, unmoving and burned by the acid.
No. They're fine.
Are they?
Shut up. They're fine. I really don't need this right now.
I know you don't.
Then shut up! I argued. I can't take an ibuprofen, and the last thing I need now is a headache.
Don't you think it'd just be better to condition your brain not to be ornery when I decide to come out?
How about you go away!
I don't think so. It's not that easy.
I sighed and stopped answering. The voice obviously wasn't going away.
How late is it? I wondered, looking about the room. There were no clocks or windows anywhere. No way to tell.
I closed my eyes and tried to relax and get to sleep. There wasn't really anything else for me to do.
I woke up at the sound of the door opening. I turned and froze up. It was Edward. He was in danger. He would be killed.
"Here you are," He whispered, walking up and untying the gag. "Are you alright?"
"Get out of here. Now." I hissed, shaking my head. "Rick is gonna kill you if he sees you. trust me, you aren't going to be able to smart your way out of it."
Edward didn't even answer, he just started to pick the locks of the handcuffs.
"Edward… get out of here."
"I don't think I want to," He said passively. "The fellow fell asleep up there at his desk, so unless we are unnecessarily loud, we'll be fine."
"How did you even get in here?" I asked, sighing as one of the handcuffs came loose. I started to shake out my stiffened arm.
"A gate to the heavens or a latch down to hell, but to require your destination. You can climb it, or perhaps you fell," he said simply.
"Um, I guess that's a riddle?" I asked. "I really don't have the brainpower to solve one right now."
Edward smirked and chuckled a little. "Alright then. I found a trap door on the ceiling, snuck past your slumbering friend, and took out the guard," He explained.
"Edward… you know you could have been killed," I said, clenching my fist.
"But I wasn't, was I?" he said, pulling off the second handcuff with a flourish.
"But you still shouldn't have!" I argued. "You did-"
"Shush. I think I heard something," Edward said suddenly, covering my mouth. I nodded slightly and listened.
"there were footsteps above.
"Rick's awake, I think," I whispered to him. "Get out of here. Now."
"I guess we'll have to pick the last one later," He said, sighing. "For now, let's get out of here." He laughed and picked me up, dashing out of the room.
"Edward, put me down now!" I said, louder than I meant. He just rolled his eyes.
"What happened to being quiet?" He hissed. I heard Rick running to the catwalk's edge. "He's heard us now."
"Sorry," I sighed, squeezing my eyes shut.
Rick growled and start climbing down the ladder. "Morozov, Green, Perry! get over here, NOW!" he yelled, jumping the last two rungs.
"Speaking in days, I'm two after Friday. Speaking in bowling, I am one less than a pyramid. Add another half of me and you'll have slightly more than a baker's dozen. What am I?" Edward called over his shoulder and he pushed the door open and raced out into the street, the henchmen not far behind.
"What was that?" I asked, looking over his shoulder. Rick was pulling in front of the henchmen now, only a few steps away. I could see the spray canister on his wrist. Any closer and he could get Edward.
"A riddle, of course. What else?" he answered.
"Okay, fine. But why?"
"Because I always leave riddles before a heist," He said, smiling.
"Heist? You're going to rob Rick?" I said. "You must be crazy!"
"I'll explain later," He said. "Now really isn't the time."
'Agreed. So, how do you plan to lose them?" I asked, watching. Rick was falling behind a little, but he was persistent as all heck.
"The narrows can be quite a challenge if you don't know your way around. Lots of twists and turns," he said. "Quite like a maze."
I just kept watching. Rick was catching up again.
"Okay, I need you to fight him off for a few minutes," Edward said, his breath getting short. He'd been sprinting and carrying me for quite a while now. "I'm sure you can keep him busy. Just slow him down."
"What?" I asked. "You really expect me to…"
"Yes I do. So hurry up," he said, stopping for a moment to put me down. Then he bolted off again.
"Wha...' Rick said, glancing at me. he was still a few feet away. I stumbled up, trying to stand. I tottered around for a few seconds before gaining enough balance, just as Rick passed. I reached out, grabbing his shirt and tugging him hard toward the ground. As he fell, I fell down too.
"Morozov! Turn left," he called, trying to wrench out of my grip. I just grabbed onto his arm with my other hand.
"Let me go," he said, reeling his hand back as if to punch me. I flinched away, almost letting go. Rick looked at me and lowered his hands, just trying to stand up
"Don't touch my friends!" I growled, trying to hold him down. The only problem was that he was a lot bigger and stronger than I was. He got up, starting to run again. I reached out, latching onto his foot.
What in the world are you doing, Edward? I asked, struggling to keep a grip on his ankle. At least it slowed him down a great deal.
"Let go Sable!" he commanded, jerking his foot forward and starting to bolt.
"Curse these stupid handcuffs," I growled under my breath as I tried to crawl towards him. He was too far away now.
I sighed and crawled to the side of the road, cursing my inability the whole way.
"Anytime now Edward!" I said, looking up into the air. "Where did you even go?"
That's when a green car drove up and stopped. Edward jumped out, picked me up again, and deposited me in the passenger seat.
"I lost them. We should be fine now," he said, smiling broadly as he took off.
"That was… interesting," I commented. "I didn't slow him down for all that long," I said, shrugging.
"That wasn't much of a problem. I wasn't expecting much, what with your feet stuck together," he said.
"Thanks for that astounding compliment," I sighed, rolling my eyes. "So, where are we going now?"
"I'm flimsy and brown, but still used often. Don't leave me in the rain, lest my walls soften. Kids call me treasures, adults call me tools. You can find me in stores and you can find me in schools."
"A riddle. Of course," I sighed, trying to think.
"And I want you to answer this one," He said. "it's really easy."
flimsy and brown… hmmm. Rain deteriorates it, and it's used as a tool.
"A cardboard box," I said simply. "That was pretty easy."
"I thought that you'd get it. Now, can you get this one?" He paused to hum happily before reciting yet another riddle. "Always old, sometimes new. Never sad, sometimes blue. Never empty, sometimes full. Never pushes, always pulls. What am I?"
Always old, sometimes new? What? I thought, trying to think it through. Never empty, sometimes full? Is this like the glass is half-empty or half full thing?
" I don't know," I sighed, rubbing my temples. And I really don't have the energy to figure it out right now."
"The moon," Edward said. "You know… new moons, full moons, blue moons, and it pulls the tides."
"Oh, yeah I guess so," I sighed. We sat there in silence for a moment.
"Are you okay? He didn't hurt you, did he?" I heard Edward say after almost a full minute of silence. We were almost to the warehouse now.
"No… Not really. I'm fine," I said, biting my lip. "I just was really scared that you all would be dead by the time he let me go, and he was saying that he was going to send me to Arkham…" I stopped and shivered. "I can't believe that I considered him a friend…"
"Didn't you two date a while back?" Edward asked, seemingly amused by that fact.
"Yeah, I guess so. We technically still were. We'd planned one for a week ago before this all spun out of control," I said, shifting my feet around. "I was being held hostage that afternoon, however."
"Tch. It's kinda funny how that sort of thing happens," Edward said. he stopped for a moment, parking the car in between to warehouses, careful to hide it in the shadows. "Seems like we're here, and it doesn't look like they followed us. Let's go get those handcuffs off, shall we?" He said, opening his door and running off towards the window that we'd climbed in before.
"Alright, so what is going on?" I asked once we'd made ourselves comfortable in our little box. "Please tell me that nobody's been hurt."
"Well, I can't confirm that," Edward said slowly, pursing his lips. "Harley has been warning a lot of the rogues and getting them to relocate, but we're still missing Killer Croc, Poison Ivy, and Victor Zsasz."
I just sat there, staring at the floor. "I hope that they're okay…"
"All we really can do is hope, I guess," Edward said, putting his hand on my shoulder gently. "it isn't your fault if they are…"
"I know, I just," I stopped and clenched my fist. "I can't help but worry about them." I closed my eyes, feeling tears starting to form. "I don't want anyone to die.."
"Well, we're going back tonight, when everyone is ready," Edward said. "And we're going to need your help."
"wait… what?" I said, perking up and facing him. "What do you mean?"
"We need you to keep Rick busy while we dispose of the poison. Luckily, he only has five henchmen and himself. So, we're taking a proper number to control that many people. but, if Rick sees us, he'll kill us without a question. You, however, he won't."
"What…" I started to say before edward shushed me.
"Just listen. Your job is to get that cannister away from him and to us so that we can properly contain it. After all the poison has been collected, we'll flood the place with fear toxin and leave them to the police."
"I can't fight."
"Rick probably won't hurt you. And if you get in trouble, we'll all be there to help," Edward said, trying to ease my mind. "You'll figure something out."
"I…" I stopped to breathe. "I'm scared."
"Understandable," edward said, shaking his head. "But moving past that fear is what will really help you. Trust in yourself."
I sat there, silent for several minutes. This was going to be one heck of a night
Author's Note: There we go! One chapter and an epilogue left. Thank you all so much for reading!