A/N: I have based the description of Gotham City, Arkham Island and Arkham's layout of it's facilities from the maps of all four Batman Arkham games.
The drive from Gotham City to Arkham Island had been easy to navigate. Once Harleen had left the main traffic and turned onto Merchant Bridge, that specifically lead to Arkham, it was unnerving to see hers was the only car on it's way toward the island. No other vehicles drove alongside her toward the asylum. Perhaps the staff had all come in earlier? She had left later than she wanted to.. hopefully she wouldn't be the last straggler to pull into work today- and on her first day no less.
The island was coming into sight now. Just as she pushed her foot a little harder on the accelerator, she saw another vehicle on the other side of the bridge, leaving the grounds and heading toward Bleake Island in Gotham. She hardly glimpsed the man behind the wheel as he sped off. She wondered if anyone ever received speeding tickets on this bridge, he had to have been pushing near 70mph. She seemed to zoned out for the rest of drive there. Driving alone on a straight bridge gave her tunnel vision. It wasn't until she was decreasing her speed by gently nudging the brake pedal that her eyes refocused and saw she was nearing a turn in the road. The four major lanes coming off of Mercy Bridge merged into a simple two-way street that made a curved right turn onto the island.
Either side of the road was flanked by tall, looming trees, the leaves falling and blowing across the damp street Harleen drove over. She almost did a double-take as she read a large bright yellow sign with thick black letters that read: Hitchhikers May Be Escaping Inmates.
That's unsettling, she thought with a sarcastic raise of her eyebrows. More trees continued to to guide the road further toward the infamous asylum.
Another lazy turn of the road put her in front of the Arkham Asylum gates, the only entry onto the grounds of the estate. The trees had been so dense she hadn't noticed the gates until she was right in front of it.
She parked her car and stepped out, the engine still running. She was already a bit late, a few more minutes wouldn't do much damage. The wrought iron gates were tall and although looked old, seemed to be well kept. Each gate met the other in a perfect arch, the curling iron letters displayed Arkham Asylum. There were two hooded statues holding up lanterns at either side of the entrance gate. The faces of each weren't particularly masculine or feminine, but both were somber with empty eyes. It appeared that the gate wrapped all around the grounds. The fence continued on with sharp barbed wire that encircled the sharp pointed tops of each bar. Trying to climb that would be impossible. She briefly wondered if a patient had ever attempted it. Had anyone ever escaped?
She gazed through the closed gate, wrapping each hand around a bar and breathed out heavily. Arkham was both appealing and eerie to the eyes.
Eerie. It was the most characteristic word that encompassed the feelings Harleen experienced. Eerie place, indeed. Gotham City was known for it's depressing weather, but Arkham Island took gloomy to a whole new level. The swirling clouds overhead seemed sinister and looming. There was an odd green tinge in the air, as if she were breathing in the color as well as seeing it. But the grass of the estate wasn't quite the green she'd see in a neighbor's yard. The grass that grew on Arkham Island almost had a gold tone to it, creating a strange green glow that probably explained the green tones in the air around her. The buildings in the distance looked old, historic and full of secrets. She was almost giddy at all the interesting things she would learn about Arkham. The Asylum wasn't just famous for it's inmates, but for the rich history as well.
After she parked her car in a separate parking lot, she made her way back up to the old gothic gates and pushed one side open. It creaked in protest but swung open easily enough. She closed it behind her, certain it was supposed to remain closed at all times. She tuned on her heels and confidently strode down the path, feeling as if she were about to accomplish something wonderful here and that Arkham Asylum was were she truly belonged.
She walked up the main path, not remembering where she was supposed to meet her mentor, Dr. Leland. She had given her interview with Dr. Leland at her college campus so she was unfamiliar with the island. The main path was made of mostly compacted dirt and some gravel. Luckily she was a talented enough walker-in-heels. As she walked up to the main building ahead, she couldn't help trying to take in all of Arkham as she did. There were smaller buildings that scattered the grounds among the larger facilities, most no bigger than a roomy bathroom. A armed guard walking out of one told her they must be a guard stations of some sort.
Arkham Asylum looked as though it had never been renovated since it's construction. Vines grew randomly over statues, the stone steps were worn, grey, and cracked all over. Some completely split in two and were never replaced. Shrubs grew up around corners of the building and near windows, almost as if to keep whatever was inside from getting out. The grass held it's unnatural swamp green hue. It didn't help the atmosphere of the place, but seemed to reinforce the desperation of Arkham. What was broken outside housed what was broken inside.
Intensive Treatment. The large building in front of her was square and solid-looking. A guard leaned against the wall, watching her approach. Two cameras scanned the front of a tall doorway that didn't have normal doors, but two interlocking mechanical doors. She held up her badge, but the guard just nodded and went back to staring out into the distance.
Loud clanking and whirring metallic sounds filled her ears as the doors automatically opened at her approach. Immediately she saw the most complex looking security system. Wires hung from the ceilings and connected to the several cameras that lined the hall. A guard at a Check-In counter to the left of her stood behind a security glass and was hovering over a desk with a monitor. He had his automatic rifle slung over his back but must have heard her coming because as she walked up, he straightened up, took his rifle in hand and seemed to put more authority into his stance.
"Can I see your I.D. badge.. Miss..?"
"Quinzel. Dr. Quinzel," she said, holding up her badge to the glass between them. As he looked at her name and began to go down a list of names on a clipboard, she looked at how suited up he really was. His helmet had a cage that covered his face, his bluish grey shirt was almost completely covered by a bulletproof vest. His hip holster had a baton clipped on the left side, extra magazines for his rifle clipped on the right.
"Yes, Dr. Leland is waiting for you at the end of the hall." That was all he said as he turned back to the screen in front of him.
Walking down the hallway she looked around her. The walls were white tiled but didn't look very clean. Wiring for all the cameras were pinned up on the ceiling, the cameras following every movement detected. There were more guards as she walked, each one as armed as the guard who checked her in.
Was all of it really necessary?
At the end of the hall, as stated, was Dr. Leland. She had her white doctor coat buttoned nearly to the top, black dress pants, and hands folded patiently in front of her.
"Good morning, I am Dr. Joan Leland. I will be showing you around Arkham on your first day today, then give you the run down before you meet your first patient," She extended her hand to Harleen who shook it quickly.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Dr. Quinzel, but you can call me Harleen," she smiled brightly. Dr. Leland seemed to relax a bit, giving a curt smile.
"Very well Harleen. Come this way," she said, directing her down the main hall. "Here, at Arkham, we hold the integrity of our doctors very high. Our goal here is to treat the patients, cure them if possible, but we must never be unrealistic. Every patient is different. There are no over-night recoveries." She looked at Harleen as if she expected her to argue.
"No, I understand. I am prepared for hard work ahead. I'm just very glad to be here," Dr. Leland gave her a small nod and began to go over regulations of Arkham but Harleen wasn't paying attention. She had to admit she was a bit annoyed. Why did Dr. Leland look at her like that? Did she think Harleen would think expect to cure someone overnight? Or that this job was just a temporary thing to her until she moved onto something else? She remembered when she told her friends at college she was going to internship at Arkham Asylum. They looked at her like she was joking. They never took her seriously.
"And through here is where the patients eat their meals, if behavior dictates." Dr. Leland's words brought her back to the conversation. When had they gone outside? They crossed the terrace outside the intensive treatment ward and were now heading to the penitentiary; a large red brick building that had barred windows and barbed wire everywhere. They both scanned their I.D. badges and the doorway that had blue glowing electrical currents shut off. Taking the first door on the right, they entered a cafeteria. There were only a handful of patients and guards. One was stationed at the entrance where they came in and one near the cafeteria workers. The few others walked around, patrolling or stood near their charges.
"We only allow a few patients to eat together at a certain time. A precautionary measure to ensure the least amount of hostility or aggravation." Harleen gazed across the tables. There was a man sitting by himself, muttering at his food, another who ate quietly, staring out into space, and a young woman with stringy brown hair who kept looking around her as if someone were about to take her food away. The last patient stood out the most. She had green tinted skin and fiery red hair. She sat at the only table that had a small beam of sunlight hitting it from an above window. No doubt she was the infamous Poison Ivy Harleen had heard of on the news. Movement caught her eye. Were those... leaves on her skin? Were they moving on her skin? It looked like she had leaves growing from her skin and each leaf was bending upward, trying to reach the sunlight. Dr. Leland noticed Harleen watching.
"Yes, that is Pamela Isley. She requires sunlight at least twice a week for an hour to stay healthy. She has been allowed 3 times a week now due to good behavior."
At the sound of her name, Ivy looked over at Harleen and narrowed her eyes at her. Harleen didn't feel threatened though, so she simply smiled at her, giving an acknowledging tilt of her head. Ivy looked confused for a moment, perhaps not sure why someone was smiling at her, but she returned with a small smirk of her own, then put her attention back to the sunlight. It wasn't a friendly response, that was for sure. Harleen got the sense Ms. Isley had jeered more than smiled.
They exited the cafeteria and turned back down the main hall toward maximum security. The hallway widened from 6 feet to 12 feet across. The cells had about a foot of concrete between them. She was able to see directly into the cells because each cell wall facing the hallway had a large thick glass door. It was almost like looking into the windows of pet shops and watching the puppies play. No puppies here, though, just the raving, psychotic madmen Gotham spewed out. The rooms weren't very large, maybe a 10x10 space, with a cot nailed to the floor, a toilet and a small metal sink that had a hole directly above it in the wall. She imagined that's where the water came out of. They passed many cells, occupants of all sorts.
Earlier when they had began their descent into the wing, she had seen a few criminals she recognized. Edward Nygma, known as the Riddler was first. His cell was the first on the left, notably near the wing's nurse station. He looked at her as something beneath him, but still stared at her as she walked by. There were a few nondescript patients here and there; she passed by what must be Poison Ivy's cell. It had a small picture of a flower with a circle around it and a slash going down- obviously a warning of no plant life near her. She must still be at the cafeteria because her cell was currently empty. Further down they went, past a man in his cell with a calendar, or several, ripped out with the pages stuck to his cell's walls everywhere. He was talking about how the month of August is a special month to him and eyed her more than she liked.
That's when Dr. Leland had mentioned to her to 'try not to stare, it could provoke angry behavior', but she wasn't paying full attention. She heard a soft chuckle. It was coming from the end of the hallway they were in. Dr Leland had been stopped by a nurse asking a question and Harleen continued her slow pace down the hall, curiosity itching at her to go see who's cell it was. As she walked closer, the chuckling became louder. She knew who's cell this had to be.
She stopped in front of his cell and gasped.