(Present Day)
"Goodbye is never the end!"
Those five words echoed in my mind.
The last few hours have flashed by quickly, but those words were what had stuck out in my mind the most.
I knew that eventually I would get caught, eventually, I would be arrested... At least I had been able to do something truly important... At least I saved a friend.
Hopefully one day she'll understand that... I would never want to lose another friend.
Though, at the moment, I don't think I'll ever make another one.
Like I needed more people in my life...
It was in the early morning hours, and I couldn't help but feel exhausted.
I mean, at the moment, I was chained to a grey table in an interrogation room, hearing the bustle of the police station. People were filing in and out of rooms, and the same thing had happened to me. I had been dragged into this room by a few officers and had been handcuffed to the hard table.
The handcuffs were on so tight that they were digging into my wrists.
Good.
The few crimson beads of blood that had started to drip out my wrists contrasted with the outfit I had been detained in... It was mostly black, with swirls of purple and blue... Ah yes, completely inconspicuous.
My weapons had obviously been taken, as well as my mask...
Like I still didn't have one...
My makeup had been smudged, lips chapped, and my brunette hair a mess.
A man with warm brown hair, a mustache of the same color, thick glasses and was wearing a tan waistcoat over a dress shirt and a tie.
Commissioner James Gordon.
"Madeline Rose Taylor, you are under arrest for the murder of..."
He rambled off a few of my 'victims', and I swallowed the urge to say, 'You don't need to tell me... I was there.' However a snappy attitude was the last thing I needed, and I didn't have the heart to have one... And I hadn't for a while.
Eventually, I snapped back to reality, and cut him off when he tried to list my last kill.
"Commissioner, he was nobody, just a scummy abuser and criminal."
"So you don't think what you did was wrong?"
"I never said that..."
I started shifting in this hard, wooden chair that I was stuck in.
"I know murder is definitely wrong, but it had to be done..."
Fuck, I should't have said that... Better to stay silent.
"You know what the consequences for your actions?"
Who would't?
"You have a right to an attorney, and if you can't afford one, one will be appointed to you.
What the fuck is the point?
I started to space out as the man continued to speak to me...
There were times where I knew he was absolutely tired, his head sometimes in his hands, voice tone exasperated.
"You will most-likely receive a life-sentence in Blackgate prison, or depending on how the trial goes, perhaps to a federal prison."
I nodded, completely understanding what I had done and what my punishments would be.
As Gordon turned to leave out the great door, I asked him, "Did you ever consider my offer?"
He stopped, the door was midway open, his textured hand still gripping the rusted doorknob.
"What?"
"I suppose you forgot... I mean... Now that you have the 'Bat-man', you would have no need for my resources," I said, far too smugly.
Taking a deep sigh, the Commissioner turned to me once more.
"I don't work with criminals. It's my job, in fact, to protect people from them."
Stifling an eye roll, I simply looked to him, and said, "I thought the 'Bat-man' was a criminal."
"He is. We are getting work done to find him - we shouldn't be talking about this, and we don't need to. The important thing is that you are going to get put in prison for, most likely, forever. And yet... You seem to show no remorse."
I smirked.
"I never said that."
"So you do?"
"I never said that, either."
He smacked his hand on the table, his emotions flowing through the cracks, probably from exhaustion and I knew I wasn't helping.
"Do you think this is some sort of game?!"
I tugged at my restraints.
"Why should I?"
"People are dead because of you, and you've left a trail of destruction and chaos at your wake..."
"Commissioner, I made your job easier..."
"Now that you're put away, that's true."
He stood up, and adjusted himself and put his hands on his hips, pushing his brown overcoat to the side.
"You truly have a twisted sense of justice, don't you? Perhaps your attorney's options for you will help you...", His words had started to trail off.
"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, while raising an eyebrow. If I was in a more comfortable position, I would've kicked my legs into the table, but at this moment, I was confined, and... This had led me to start regretting some of the decisions I had made. Now... I had no idea what I was going to do with my future. Perhaps the commissioner was right, I had thrown away my future.
But I deserved it, and did it for the better of the people...
"Your legal options include a psychiatric examination, for if you're declared legally insane, you will have different conditions and -"
I cut him off harshly.
"Do I look insane to you?" I sneered.
"I'm a leader of the police department, not a psychologist. I'm not here to make that decision."
I tried to not show any emotion on the outside, but I couldn't believe this... I had tried to leave that shit in the past. I'm not fucking insane, and I deserved to rot in prison.
After a few moments and a little more discussion, the commissioner left me alone. He seemed like a kind enough man, and in this corrupt city, that was a goddamn rarity.
After waiting for a few minutes, the ticking of the clock ominously is the only sound in the hollow room.
Eventually, the door to the room opened once more.
In came a tall, slender man with raven-black hair, crystal blue eyes, and wore glasses.
He also wore a gray suit, with a navy tie. He looked considerably more organized than the disheveled commissioner. With him, he brought a black leather briefcase, and had on dress shoes.
He walked towards the table I was sat at, and spoke to me with a smoky voice.
"I'm sorry that I've kept you so long, Ms. Taylor, it's been quite a crazy night. My name is Dr. Jonathan Crane, and I'm here to help."