Edward had been waiting for this moment ever since he came to Arkham City. Excitement thrummed through him when he heard the first reports from the Courthouse. Batman was in Arkham City. Finally he would end the Batman once and for all.
He opened the communication lines to his men strategically placed in Park Row. "Listen up, peons," he said. "It is time to set my plan in motion. You will head to the church just beyond Two-Face's territory. There you will find the medical team sent in to help the political prisoners." At that, Edward chuckled. Even the stupidest of people would recognize there was no helping the civilians in Arkham City. "Take them to their designated location which I will now read."
Edward read through the list, making sure that his men understood their orders. But he paused when he came to a certain name.
Jeffrey Hardy.
His blood boiled with rage. Jeff Hardy was the man who seduced his Lilli. He whispered sweet nothings into her ear and pulled her into his bed. Nobody, nobody but Edward could touch his Lilli. And Edward would make sure Jeff Hardy would never touch his Lilli ever again.
Oh yes, Edward has something special in store for Jeff Hardy.
-x-
The last time Lilli had been to the museum, she was twenty. An exhibit about arctic wildlife had just opened and her college roommate wanted to go see it. It has been fun, Lilli admitted to her roommate as they walked around the museum, reading about polar bears and killer whales. Right up until a fourth grader broke away from his field trip group and puked on Lilli's shoes.
Now, the displays were empty of learning material and filled with garish displays holding dead bodies. Though some were empty (one had a broken door like someone broke out) and Lilli wondered what they were for.
Penguin came to a stop by the foot of the giant, mechanical Tyrannosaurus Rex and snapped his fingers on his good hand. "Go get the doc a first aid kit," he shouted and some men scurried away.
Lilli awkwardly sat down on the steps; she didn't want to wander around the room lest someone shoot her. But within minutes the man returned lugging a large white case. Lilli stood and cautiously approached Penguin as his lackey opened the case.
Inside were rolls of gauze, bandages, antiseptics, antibiotic, ointments, scissors, tweezers, and tape. Painkillers were absent, she noted but she didn't know if Penguin took them or they were never there in the first place. She pulled out the gauze, scissors, and tape. "I need something to use as a splint," she said. "Otherwise they might not heal right."
"You heard the doc," Penguin barked at his men. "Go get something to use as a split."
She watched another henchman run over to a broken display case and pull out two short branches. It wasn't the cleanest thing in the world so she ran some antiseptic over them and her hands. That was the closest she would get to sanitation.
Luckily (or unluckily?) it was a closed fracture but without an x-ray she couldn't tell the specific type of fracture. She could only set it and hope it healed as straight as possible. She took Penguin's small hand in her own and took note of the swelling.
She prodded around until she found the break. "This is going to hurt," she said and without warning she snapped the bones back in place with a loud snap.
Penguin's good hand came flying up and slapped Lilli in the face. She squawked in pain and stumbled, holding her face. "Tha' bloody hurt!" He snarled at her.
"You don't have any painkillers," she replied shakily. "What else was I supposed to do?" Her cheek stung but she ignored it. "I need to splint it now and wrap it."
"Do it," he growled at her.
She nodded mutely and placed the sticks on either side of his wrist and started wrapping it. She wrapped it tightly, ignoring the snarls Penguin sent her way. She felt numb as she tied it off, making sure he had limited mobility. "There," she announced. "I'm finished."
Was her going to kill her now? Or maybe he'd let her live to keep him healthy and make sure his wrist was healing? She watched as Penguin inspected his wrist.
"Well now," he said. "Tha's not a bad job. Tell ya wot, Doc. I'll keep you around. For now."
Hope swelled in her chest. He was really going to let her live? She didn't want to believe it.
"But I don't want you running about my museum like some kiddie on a field trip," he continued. He paced around and Lilli watched him intently. He may have said he'd keep her around but it didn't mean she'd be left unharmed.
Penguin snapped his good fingers and at once, two thugs grabbed Lilli by her arms and hauled her to her feet. "Toss her in the Wayne display," he ordered.
She yelped in pain as one of the men pulled on her arm roughly. Another slid open the door to one of the display cases which contained a Hawaiian vacation theme. The man hoisted up by her arms and bodily threw her into the case. Lilli's head collided with the back of the case and she groaned. She managed to twist around in time to see the display case door slide shut.
Lilli weakly pounded her fist against the door but it was futile as the man locked it. She choked back a dry sob. Once again she found herself in a cage with another rogue holding the key. She curled up in a corner and watched Penguin waddle out of view, deeper into the museum.
And then there was nothing to do but wait.
Wait for what, she didn't know. She listlessly watched Penguin's men come and go throughout the museum. Many would pass by without sparing a glance but some ogled her openly. A couple looked perturbed and she wondered if they worked for Edward. Some of them had to; she saw the list.
What would Edward do when he found out Penguin had her? His hideout was located within the same neighborhood perhaps even next door. Would he bargain with Penguin for her return? Or do something drastic? Knowing Edward, it could be the latter.
I should have never left.
She curled up into a corner and rested her forehead against the glass. She watched a pair of men descend the staircase, talking animatedly. "Will the boss give us some of them to mess with?" One asked.
"No idea. I hope so. Gordon thinks he can send cops into our territory? He's gonna learn the hard way he ain't got no jurisdiction here."
Lilli's ears perked up. Cops? Here in Arkham City? Couldn't be. But still she felt hope kindle in her chest. Cops meant contact with the outside world. Yet Penguin had them so he'd kill them…
As if answering her thoughts, she heard the distant sound of footsteps. A man fell onto the floor in front of the display case. He wore a dirty white wife beater with the words 'DEAD COP' spray painted on his chest.
"One thought he could run from us," a third man joined the thugs. "What say we teach him a lesson?" He waved a knife around as the cop struggled to his feet.
Lilli sighed and tuned it out. She knew it wouldn't end well. It was a waste to get her hopes up. She pulled her legs closer to her chest and began to rock. She did look up until she saw a black shape out of the corner of her eye. She glanced up to the stairs but saw nothing.
And then it happened.
One second a thug was standing in front of her case. The next he was on the ground as a black shaped dropped on top of him. Lilli gasped.
Batman.
He was here! Lilli practically pressed her face, refusing to blink—to look away for even a second lest this was just a figment of her imagination—as she watched Batman fight and make short work of Penguin's men.
When all three men were on the ground, unconscious, Batman walked towards the cop. "You're safe… for now," Batman said and Lilli nearly wept. He was real.
"Thank God!" The cop replied.
"You may want to hold off on thanking Him until after you've answered my question. Who are you?"
"Sorry, man. I'm a cop. Gordon sent us in here. I'm from the 13th Precinct, part of the strike team. Been in here since the beginning."
"If Gordon sent you, you'll know the code?"
"Oh yeah, yeah! He said… Oh man, what was it?"
The code. Now!"
"It's "Sarah!" He said the to tell you the code is "Sarah"."
Batman nodded once. "You're safe, officer."
"It's Jones, Batman. Elvis Jones."
"Gordon said he always wanted to send your team in."
"He wanted to know what was going on in here," Jones explained. "Guess we found out. There were ten of us. Hopefully there still are."
"I told Gordon it was too dangerous to send you in. Stay here. If the rest of your team is alive, I'll find them."
Was he going to leave? Oh god, he can't leave! Lilli rapped her knuckled against the glass, getting the attention of the two. "Please let me out," she begged. She could feel tears beginning to form.
Batman walked over to the display. His eyes looked over it once before he pressed a button. The glass slid open and Lilli tumbled out. She felt strong hands take hold of her shoulders, steadying her.
"Thank you," Lilli cried as she stood. "I didn't think you'd ever come."
"What's your name?" Batman asked.
"Dr. Lilith Collins," she replied breathlessly. "I've been here God knows how long. Penguin found me wandering the streets," she babbled. "I fixed his hand, hoping he wouldn't kill me right then and there. It worked but he threw me in there and I—"
"You're safe, doctor," Batman interrupted. "Stay here where it's safe. Officer Jones will look after you."
Lilli nodded. "Thank you," she said again. "Thank you for coming. This place is… this place is hell."
-x-
Batman headed down the hall of museum and activated his comms. "Oracle," he said.
"What do you need?" She asked.
"Look up a Dr. Lilith Collins."
"Sure thing. Just a moment. Ah. Dr. Lilith Collins. Currently works at Gotham General… and several people filed a missing persons report on her nearly three months ago including her parents, a Dr. Nicole Bremer from Gotham General, and Dr. Jeffrey Hardy. Someone in the GCPD tried to investigate her disappearance but looks like Strange shut it down. The report says her apartment was ransacked and a witness confirms seeing TYGER operatives outside her apartment building the night she went missing."
"I just came across her locked in a display case in the museum," Batman replied. "Any ideas why a civilian doctor would be locked up in Arkham City?" But he knew Strange didn't need reasons to lock people up.
"Let me see. Aha. She worked at Arkham Asylum for a brief period of time. After Joker's attack up until Sharp shut it down. Hang on, there's a flag on her personnel file from the asylum. Huh… that's alarming."
"What?"
"Dr. Gretchen Whistler made a note in her file. "Lilith Collins has been receiving riddles from Edward Nygma. He has demanded Dr. Collins come to his sessions even though she is not a psychiatrist and unequipped to handle such a patient. Nevertheless he demands to see her." Sounds like Nygma was becoming obsessed."
Already, the gears were turning in Batman's head. "Oracle. After Nygma was arrested by TYGER, how long was it before Dr. Collins went missing?"
"Three weeks."
Nygma had something to do with the doctor's appearance but she somehow ended up a prisoner of Cobblepot. Not for long, he remembered; she fixed the man's hand. But he knew Nygma. The Riddler would obsess for years over something. The man hadn't given up on his crusade to unmask him. It wouldn't take much for him to find someone who appeased his tastes.
But to confirm it, he'd have to speak with one of Nygma's henchmen. And, as his detective vision revealed, there was one just around the corner. Along with twenty more of Penguin's men. And Penguin himself.
-x-
The battle was tough and even tougher with the TITAN infused henchman but Batman defeated them all. His heart pounded as he pressed his boot down of Nygma's informant's chest. "I know you work for Riddler," he said.
"Screw you!"
Batman put more force on the man's sternum. "What orders did Riddler give you concerning a dark-haired woman?"
The man gasped for breath. "H-he told us to contact him the moment we saw a dark-haired woman with green eyes! We was to bring her to him straightaway."
That proved there was a connection between Nygma and Dr. Collins. It was something to exploit when he found Nygma in the City. For now, he'd keep her safe with the 13th Precinct.
Batman's knee came down on the man's head, knocking him out.
-x-
Lilli didn't wander far from Officer Jones. His presence calmed her; let her know her ordeal was almost over. Batman will get us out. I can see my parents soon. Hope filled her and she couldn't squash it this time. And she didn't want to.
"How did you end up here, doc?" Officer Jones asked.
Lilli looked up at him. "I used to work at Arkham Asylum. Strange had me arrested because I stole sensitive information from the asylum when he bought it."
"What kind of information."
"Medical files," she responded. "On the Joker. He's sick. Bad."
"How bad?"
"Dying bad."
Officer Jones snorted. "Not too upset about that."
Lilli smiled faintly. "Me either." She rubbed her shoulder. She could still remember the way she felt when her body hit the ground after he dropped her out a window.
Thump. Thump.
Officer Jones snapped to attention as he tucked the butt of his gun into his shoulder. Lilli shifted behind him. But to their surprise, a man wearing a blue mechanical suit walked towards them. Mr. Freeze, Lilli realized with a start.
"Freeze," Officer Jones said, not lowering his gun but not pointing it at the man. "Batman let you out?"
"He did," Mr. Freeze replied. "He requires my assistance and I require Cobblepot.
Lilli stared at him, mouth agape. She had seen pictures of Mr. Freeze before but she never met him in person. The suit made him taller and he dwarfed the two. He didn't have his freeze gun, she noted. Yet without it, the iceman was still intimidating. She kept her distance, watching him warily as he examined the display case containing a woman in ninja garb.
She wondered how he got here. The last she heard Joker was looking for him. Guilt stabbed her when she remembered it was because of her Joker wanted him. She opened her mouth but shut it when she heard footsteps. That could only be one person…
"Where is Cobblepot?" Mr. Freeze asked as he turned around to face Batman.
Batman, in response, threw Oswald Cobblepot onto the ground in front of Mr. Freeze. Even on the floor, compared to the two men towering over him, he looked incredibly small.
"Well, look who it is," Penguin sneered as if Batman hadn't defeated him in his own museum. "Mr. Fr—AAAAAGH" He screamed as Mr. Freeze stepped on his injured hand. Lilli winced.
"Enough," Batman commanded. Mr. Freeze didn't respond as Penguin kept screaming. "Freeze! Enough."
"Of course," Mr. Freeze replied smoothly and removed his boot from Penguin's hand. He leaned down and picked up Penguin and slammed him into the ninja's display case, cracking the glass. "You will regret what you did, Mr. Cobblepot," Mr. Freeze said icily. He brought Penguin to the display case where only minutes ago Lilli had been and opened it. Carelessly, he tossed Penguin inside and shut it.
"You two should head back to the Iceberg Lounge," Batman informed Lilli and Officer Jones. "There's a clear path. The rest of the 13th Precinct is there."
Officer Jones nodded. "Thanks Batman. C'mon doc, let's leave those guys to their business."
"Thank you," Lilli said again before following Officer Jones deeper into the museum.
Lilli's jaw nearly dropped when she saw the small lake inside the main exhibit room. "I remember when this used to be an exhibit about the deep ocean," she murmured.
"Yeah. Cobblepot ruined a really nice place."
They descended the steps and gingerly tested the sturdiness of the ice that stretched from one end of the room to another. It held their weight and they began to cross. "Careful you don't get too close to the edge, doc," Officer Jones warned. "There's a shark down there."
Lilli shivered. "I'll be careful."
-x-
And that warps up chapter twenty-six. Also I'm not dead. Not only did I have work and other responsibilities heaped upon me, I had a hell of writer's block. But I'm back.
Three chapters left.
See ya in chapter twenty-seven!