Willow felt like she was the ugliest being at Arkham. She had once been so used to her dark make-up, her slick straight hair, clothes that showed off her slim and curvy body... but now her face was bare, her hair was a curly and somewhat greasy mess, and the Arkham clothes she was forced to wear did nothing for her. Now, clad in long, thick pajama-like dark gray pants and a matching long sleeved gray shirt, Willow slowly walked down the bare halls of Arkham, a guard on either side of her. Her first month in Arkham hadn't been going so smoothly. She barely ever uttered a word to the Arkham officials, and when her time came to talk to her doctor, Dr. Hiram, she would barely utter two words to him within their hour long visit in his office. It wasn't like she wanted to talk to him anyway, since one of the first things he did was have all of Willow's piercings removed. She was told it was 'regulation', that no inmate have anything they could harm themselves with, and he also told her it was good to start new, and have nothing that reminded her of the Joker. Unknown to her, Dr. Hiram had also arranged for Arkham's private surgeons to fix her two large scars. Dr. Hiram knew he wouldn't get through to Willow until all traces of Joker, physically, had been gone.
But until then he was still making no progress when her time came to visit him. Willow did nothing but lay in her poor excuse for a bed in her bare cell, having all the time in the world to think about one subject and one subject only. Her heel had healed almost completely now, and she could finally walk on her own, though she still wore a thin bandage wrapped around it and her foot inside of her cloth-material gray 'shoes.'
The weeks had gone by slowly, and doctors grew considered at her lack of progress at the asylum. They knew she had been with Joker, and individually a lot of them felt sorry for her, but were confused at her lack of efforts to try and get well again. She rarely ate, and rarely showered with the rest of the woman inmates. She passed up on her 'free-time' hour almost everyday, and spent most of her days in her cell on her cot, her back facing the door. Her eyes were always lined with red due to the unlimited amount of tears she cried every night, which caused some of the inmates in her hall to only complain about the eerie weeps that escaped passed the little bars on her cell door. But Willow never spoke a word to any doctor. She kept all of her problems built up inside her, that is, except when she talked to Jonathan Crane, her only friend in Arkham.
Around the time she had first arrived he was always sitting in the 'recreation room' at the small table right in front of the door against the wall, playing chess with a new person every time Willow walked inside. She never paid much attention to him, but she always noticed how he stared directly at her as she made her way inside and moved towards the couch to awkwardly sit there and watch whatever was on the TV. She always ignored him, but couldn't get over the slight creepy feeling he gave her each time she went in there.
Jonathan Crane, however, found Willow to be striking. All his time at Arkham he had never seen such a beautiful woman locked up. He knew she was the one that had been with the Joker, and it confused him slightly to see she wasn't nearly as 'insane' as he figured she would be, after being with him for so long. She was quiet and reserved, and she never spoke to him or anyone else for that matter. But he continued to observe her over the weeks, picking up on some of her small habits the one hour of the day he saw her.
Finally, just as the end of her first month approached, Willow had enough of how he always stared at her, and she finally made a point to call him out on it.
"What is your problem?" She bitterly asked him once she had stormed inside the room and straight up to the chess table, where he currently sat alone. Everyone was startled to hear her speak, but Willow ignored everyone's startled faces. "Why are you always staring at me?"
Jonathan merely smiled at her as he studied her angry expression through his glasses before he calmly took them off, still smiling as he folded them and placed them on the table in front of him.
"I'm sorry," he said. His voice was deep and smooth, and he cocked his head to the side as he looked into her bright green eyes. "Does it bother you?"
"Obviously," Willow spat at him as she shifted all her weight to the right side, and Jonathan admired how curvy her body was through the baggy clothes that barely fit her. "Obviously I'm not in the best condition, so except that I look like shit and move the fuck on."
Jonathan was taken back but her rudeness for a moment, but he recovered quickly and chuckled to himself as he shook his head. "Oh, it's quite the opposite," he said as he looked back up to her, enjoying her confused face. "You're stunning."
Willow cocked an eyebrow at him as she stared into his light, icy blue eyes. The man wasn't bad looking; he had black hair that ended just barely passed his ear, and it smoothly waved back, exposing his whole face. He had a very noticeable jaw line and shaped pink lips. All in all he was rather handsome, even under his certain circumstances. He was the best looking person she had seen in Arkham at all, but it didn't matter to her.
"Real funny," she said sarcastically and she was just about to walk off until he spoke up.
"I don't joke," Jonathan said in a calm and even voice, and Willow stopped short. "If you ask me you look much better without all that black around your eyes. I'm sure The Joker would too. But you were with him for such a long time..." he looked down and straightened out his shirt before he looked back up to her. "So I'm sure that you already know that."
Willow cocked an eyebrow at him again, her heart stinging due to hearing his name spoken out loud.
"I saw you all over the news, Willow," he said, smirking at her. "I watched all the footage on your court cases they showed on the news, and I have to ask, why not rat him out? It probably would have saved you a trip all the way up here." He sat back and smiled contentedly at her as he crossed his arms, enjoying how she blankly stared at him for a moment.
Willow ignored his question and sighed loudly. "He's coming back for me," she told him in her best convincing voice she could put on, though she only half believed herself. Over the weeks though she had convinced herself that he would. He had to, right? "He's going to come and break me out."
"Really..." Jonathan said in a bored voice. "Then why hasn't he shown up yet?" He parted his lips and leaned forward, before he uncrossed his arms and nodded at the chair in the opposite side of the table, and he smiled slightly when Willow actually sat down with a huff.
"You want my opinion?" Jonathan asked as Willow crossed her arms, glaring at him. He leaned forward and started directly into her eyes. "I don't think he's coming back."
Willow's lips parted at this and she felt that ping through her heart, and for a moment Jonathan saw a real emotion Willow was feeling: deep and pure sadness. For a split second the blank mask that she wore had faded away, only for her to quickly put it back on.
"You don't know that," she said.
"Okay, maybe you're right," Jonathan said as he sat back in his chair. "Why don't you tell me what happened."
Willow remained glaring at him as she bit her tongue. She didn't want to talk to him. She didn't even know his name. Why would she tell him what had happened, and how she felt? Jonathan sighed when he realized she wasn't going to speak, and he leaned forward again, placing his folded hands on the table just in front of his glasses.
"By the way," he said. "My name is Jonathan Crane. Doctor Jonathan Crane."
Willow raised an eyebrow. "You're not a doctor," she observed with a haughty tone.
"Was," Jonathan said. "And I used to work here. I was a psychiatrist. And a damn good one too," he said grinning to himself. Willow continued to glare at him.
"If you were so good," she said. "What happened? Why are you here."
"No, no," Jonathan said as he sat back again, crossing his arms. "You tell me, and I'll tell you. Besides, I asked first." He grinned at her, his eyes glowing, and she swallowed, suddenly feeling dizzy. She hadn't spoken of the incident out loud since it happened, but suddenly it all came pouring out of her. She told him of the whole bridge plan, and all that led up to the explosion. She told him how nervous she had been, but also how excited, and how badly she longed to impress him. She told him of how she and Joker had been acting towards one another, and finally, with a quivering voice, she told him how he had just left her laying in the street as she called for him, and how he just let the police take her away, his safety more important than her own. Jonathan had listened intently, nodding every now and again as he made a hard thinking face, taking in her every word. When Willow finished her story he glanced up and saw she was on the verge of tears again, but this wasn't going to hold him back from speaking out loud his currently thought. Jonathan was an incredibly truthful man, and he spoke it how he saw it.
"Well," he said as he raised his black eyebrows. "Honestly, he's not coming back, Willow." He heard Willow sniffle slightly as she looked at him, but she tried hard not to cry. Jonathan went on, "it was so easy for him to leave you there like that; it sounds like he didn't care. He wanted an out to how he had been acting with you, and that seemed like it was the best way."
"How do you know that?" Willow asked as she frowned at him, sniffling for the last time.
"I was a psychiatrist," he said. "It's what I'm best at. Of course you would think he'd come back for you, he was acting so kindly towards you. But truth is he's the Joker, he has no heart."
Willow swallowed back the lump that had rose in her throat over Jonathan's hurtful words, but yet she found herself wanting him to continue.
"You see," Jonathan started as he leaned forward again. "My theory is, because of thinking about the memory too long and too much, it has warped your mindset on it all, thus causing you to believe he had a good reason for leaving you, which is why you think he'll come for you. Honestly Willow, I'm sorry to say, he doesn't care for you, and he probably never did."
Willow bit her lip as she looked away, and more tears swelled in her eyes. She didn't want to believe him, but deep down she knew he was dead on track, even after just talking to him for about fifteen minutes. "But it all seemed so real," she forced herself to say as she turned back to him, her long brown hair in her face. "I mean, he ever only hurt me once. And after that he was just so... nice to me."
"All an act," Jonathan said. "He confuses people Willow, trust me, I know. Having lived in the same city with him it seems all my life, I've learned quite a lot about him. Truthfully it's a good thing you came here."
"Why?" She asked as she crossed her arms, her too long of sleeves dangling down passed her hands.
"You need help," Jonathan said. "Any girl who thinks the Joker actually, dare I say, loves her needs help."
Willow laughed slightly as she shook her head. She didn't think Joker loved her. That was a completely insane thought. She just figured he was comfortable around her, just liked her. But Jonathan's hurtful words about it all seemed like a slap in the face. She didn't want to believe him, and her scarred mind told her over and over again how he was wrong, he was just making accusations because he was jealous. But deep down this wasn't the case...
"I highly doubt any of these doctors can, will, or even want to help you, for that matter," he said in a hushed tone. "The police are all over them, and the only thing they want from you is information on the Joker so they can lock him up again."
Willow absentmindedly nodded, thinking to herself how he was probably right.
"I'm sorry to say, but it's the truth. Now if you want some real help, talk to me," he offered. "It seems in the twenty minutes we have spent talking, I just got to know you more than any doctor in this building has." He smiled cockily at her and she couldn't help but grin.
"So you actually care?" Willow questioned, and she shrugged.
"I didn't say that," he said as he raised an eyebrow, and Willow shook her head, the grin on her face refusing to fade.
That had been the first time she had talked to him. Their first conversation had gone pretty well, because Willow found herself going to the recreation room almost everyday, and on the days she did she'd always sit with Jonathan to chat. He had finally told her why he was there upon their third or forth meeting. Willow discovered that Jon had created his own type of antibiotic which he called his 'fear gas'. He explained when in contact with it, the victim instantly starts see their own worst fear right before their eyes, and goes into a state of shock. He told her about the persona he had taken on, The Scarecrow. When asked upfront what he did to be locked in Arkham, all he said simply was" 'my 'patients' for the fear gas weren't exactly... voluntary, and I might have used it to keep some thugs out of jail.' He then reminded her how lucky she should consider herself for not being thrown in jail. After some thought, Willow figured he was right.
Doctors were pleased to see Willow actually talking, but what troubled them is that it was only to another inmate, a very dangerous one at that, and this proved very frustrating for Dr. Hiram, until just around the start of Willow's second month.
She had just entered the recreation room and saw Jonathan sitting in his normal spot at the chess table. Her usual seat was open, and Jonathan smiled at her as she sat down. She immediately placed her elbows on the table and started rubbing her eyes with her fingers until she slid her hands up to rub them with her palms. Jonathan frowned.
"Bad night?" He asked, though he knew the answer. Willow always had 'bad nights.'
"I have to meet with the stupid doctor today," Willow said as she considered to rub her eyes.
"Why is that bad?" Jonathan asked as he shook his head, Willow now running her fingers through her tangled hair before she glanced up at him.
"I hate him," she said. "I don't like talking to him."
Jonathan took her answer to heart, he hated all the doctors too, since more and more each day they proved themselves to be rather mediocre when he compared himself as a doctor to them, but as always, he had a bit of advice for Willow.
"I hate them too," he consoled. "And, I know I told you that all they want, really at this point, is information from you so they catch him... again. But the thing is here, if you don't start showing some 'progress'..." he held up his hands to to quote the word, "then all the better reason they have to keep you here for as long as they see fit."
Willow raised an eyebrow now as she sat back in her chair, staring into his icy blue eyes. He grinned when he saw her confusion and he laughed slightly.
"They see you now as totally insane," he said. "When the way I see it is that you're totally being yourself, only, well... sad. But who wouldn't be after being here for more than a few days. Point is, 'sane', to the doctors, is you becoming a completely new person with a completely new and fresh mindset. They want to see that you've completely moved on from your past and you're ready to start new. And they won't even consider releasing you until they see this start to happen." Jonathan had made a point of leaning in and talked rather quietly as to not let the guards hear. "I've seen it before," he said. "I see it all the time, but Michele White was the best case I've observed. I don't know why she went' crazy' though obviously she wasn't, at all, because one day, after spending two months here, she woke up and realized continuing to be herself here wasn't working. So she became the person the doctors wanted to see. She started being polite to them, starting being nicer to other inmates. She listened to every single word the doctors and guards told her she should do..."
By now Willow was making a somewhat disgusted face at him, and he laughed, smiling widely.
"I know," he said. "But it worked. Exactly one month later, she was released."
"How do you know it was all an act though?" Willow asked rather loudly, and Jonathan met his eyebrows in the middle as he held his pointer finger up to his lips. Willow sighed a little and leaned in further. "Like how do you know she just didn't really change?"
"Because she was on the news," he told her. "Doing the same ol' things she used to."
Willow stared at the corner of the white table now as she thought. "You really think if I appeal to the doctors they'll let me go?" She wondered quietly as she moved her eyes back to his.
"I do," he said. "I guarantee it."
Willow thought further, considering this. It had already been two months, two long months. All she had was another two months to go, if and only if she started to become the person doctors wanted. She suddenly grinned slyly. She would pretend to be on the path of recovery, and once she was released, she'd immediately find Joker. It was perfect, really, and all of the sudden she felt completely eager to get started.
"How long have you been here?" She asked somewhat randomly.
"Five months," Jonathan said, sounding somewhat proud, and Willow's mouth fell.
"Then why aren't you on your way out of here?" She asked. "I'm sure you'd be the one to take your own advice."
"Because I was sentenced for a much longer time than you," he put simply. "One year," he added with a sigh as he glanced down his hands on the table in front of him, and he rotated his thumbs around each other.
"A year?" Willow repeated. "That's crazy!"
"I guess," he said. "Honestly, for what I did, I think it's a little short. But I'm not complaining," he added with a smile and a laugh.
"How come I never heard of you?" She asked. "I never saw you on the news."
"That's because if it wasn't about Bruce's latest charity or some other sob story, it was you're boyfriend stealing all the glory. Everyone else gets pushed back into the shadows."
Willow frowned suddenly. "He is not my boyfriend." He glared at him now, ignoring what he had said. "I don't even know what he was... he was just always-"
"No, no, no," Jonathan interrupted. "That is what's going to keep you in here for a very, very long time," he said. "Let it go, and if you can't, pretend." He grinned as he leaned back in his chair, and he pointed at her as he lowered his head. "Consider this your first lesson."
Willow immediately shut up and she slouched down in her chair before she took a deep breath, finding him to be correct, yet again.
"When is the last time you showered?" Jonathan asked, and Willow widened her eyes at him as her lips parted.
"Uh..." she started, and she could feel her face reddening. "Why?"
"Because appearance is everything if you want to show the doctors your 'recovering'." He nodded at this. "Take showers every chance you get, and if you want to really make an impression, request, as often as you can, for your clothes to be washed. It's incredibly annoying to the doctors, but in the long run it works. If they see you're starting to take care of yourself as best you can, it will only speed up the process."
Willow smiled slightly as she considered this. "Awesome," she said. "Thanks for the advice."
Jonathan smiled at this. "So when you get out, are you going to immediately find the Joker?" He titled his head to the side as he waited for Willow to reply. All she did was grin slyly at him as she blinked before replying smartly:
"Joker who?"
–
Willow had slept pretty well that night, though she had a rather hard time falling asleep. She tossed and turned on her bed, and for a full straight hour she wondered what Joker had been doing over her time spent in Arkham, and more specifically what he was doing at that exact moment in time. She almost felt like since her outside life had stopped, Joker's had too, but she knew that he was still out, doing his own thing. She wanted to believe that he was somewhat upset about her trip to Arkham, but then again it made no sense he would be. He had intentionally left her without a second thought. The thought nearly brought on more tears, but Willow held them back, and instead forced herself to clear her mind.
The next morning, however, she woke up feeling rather rested, and after laying in her bed for about an hour, mindlessly tracing patterns on the white wall with her finger, a guard had come to her door to inform her it was time to visit with her doctor. As she walked through the halls she wondered to herself how she should start her 'healing process'. She knew she couldn't instantly start rambling on about everything; she'd have to take it slow.
At long last they had reach Dr. Hiram's door, and he greeted them outside of it, smiling warmly at Willow, though she could see right through it. He allowed her to step inside and she took her usual seat on the comfortable red chair just in front of his desk. As Dr. Hiram walked over to his desk he couldn't help but sneak a glance over at Willow as she situated herself in her seat. He found her to be rather attractive, but he'd never admit this out loud. It was unprofessional, and if he let his mind really decide he found her to be pretty, he'd have a hard time trying to help her.
"So, Willow," he said. "How are we this morning?"
Willow shrugged as she crossed her legs on front of her, Indian style, and she ran her hands over the arms of the chair.
"How did you sleep?" He pushed on as he took out his pad with observation notes. Willow remained quiet until she raised her green eyes to look into his brown ones.
"Okay," she answered, and it was almost bone-chilling for him to hear her voice. "Had a hard time falling asleep, but once I did it was good."
"Wow," he said as he smiled. "I think that's the first full sentence you've said to me all month." He laughed as he wrote something down and Willow took the time to roll her eyes.
"What kept you up?" He asked now as he glanced up at her, and she sighed.
"Thoughts of... the Joker," she stopped herself short, and proceeded with saying his name slowly as she slightly bowed her head, staring at him. Dr. Hiram frowned and nodded at this.
"Thoughts like what?" He asked. "Please, Willow, be specific. I'm here to help you."
Willow wanted to roll her eyes, but she refrained from doing so and instead forced a smile. She quickly thought of what she could say that didn't sound too staged but also didn't make her come off as too far gone.
"Just..." she started. "About that night."
"What about that night?" Dr. Hiram asked as he stared right into her eyes. Willow bit her lip as she looked away.
"Just, why he'd leave me," she forced herself to say as casually as she could, though admittedly it was rather hard. Dr. Hiram nodded at this.
"Yes, well," he said. "Maybe he figured it was time to let you go?"
Willow felt a sharp pain go through her heart and she immediately gritted her teeth as she looked down. Suddenly she felt as though she couldn't do this. A lump had risen in her throat and she swallowed it back as she focused on breathing slowly and deeply.
"I've never seen anyone who's been in your shoes before, I can honestly say," he said in an even and gentle tone. "But I have read other doctor's notes on him, and if I'm being honest with you, it does sound like something he would do."
That lump arose in her throat again, and this time she had a harder time swallowing it back. She clutched the fabric of her pants, and she could feel her own nails digging into her skin.
"He doesn't care about anyone but himself," the doctor continued as if he actually knew this. "I can't get into his brain, nor do I want to, but the fact he kept you around for so long is intriguing. I know it's hard, but you need to hear this and understand this Willow. He is a very intelligent man, capable of making anyone believe what he wants them to..."
Hot tears burned behind her eyes, and Willow let out a quivering breath as one fell from her eye and dripped onto her pants. She thinned her lips as she closed her eyes tight, feeling that same heartache she had felt that night as she watched the Joker go as Dr. Hiram told her all these lies. The doctor continued to go on, basically telling her what a horrible man the Joker was. As if he actually knows this, Willow thought as more tears fell from her eyes. Finally she raised her hands to her face and she covered her eyes as she sniffled loudly. Dr. Hiram stopped talking once he realized his patient was now crying. She had never cried in his office before, and he sat silently as he watched her.
"Willow?" He started, and he waited for her to answer, but only got a sniffle and a quivering breath as a response. "Willow..." he started again. "I know this is hard to hear, but-"
"You don't know anything about him," she said in a shaky voice as she dropped her hands, and she glared at him as two more tears dripped off her face. "You weren't there. You didn't hear the things he fucking said to me!"
"Willow," he started calmly as to not upset her further, and thinking back he quickly realized that maybe he had started off too harsh with her. He figured she could take it, but obviously he would have to go a little bit slower in the future. All he wanted to do now was calm her down...
"No," she said as she uncrossed her legs. "I'm done fucking talking about it!" She stood up now as her face reddened and more tears burst their way through. "I want to get out of here! I hate it!" She stormed over to the door now, but Dr. Hiram stood up quickly and stood in front of the door as he held her shoulders, trying to calm her down. "I want to go back to him!" She yelled loudly as she tried to fight him off, but Dr. Hiram was too strong, and he searched for words he could say to Willow. But instead of speaking to her, he reached for the walkie-talkie on his desk as Willow violently threw her limbs every which way, her hand colliding hard against his chest. "I miss him!" She continued, and the words that she had said without even thinking only caused her to cry harder once she realized how true the statement was.
"Jeffery tell security to get down to office twenty seven, Dr. Hiram's room," he said into the walkie-talkie. "A patient of mine is having another break down."
Willow continued to cry until finally she fell backwards, letting her butt hit the floor as she continued to sob. All she could think about was Joker running through that door and taking her away from it all. She wanted to be in his embrace and take in his wonderful scent, but her mean mind was already telling her it was useless. Suddenly two security guards quickly came through the door and marched straight over to Willow, and they grabbed her arms as they started to hoist her up.
"No!" she yelled as she tried to get out of the grasp, but it proved useless, and beyond the door the guards could see a few other doctors peeking out of their office doors to see what was going on. "Let me go!" She shouted. "Let me fucking go!"
The guards ignored her ear-piercing yells as they started out of the room, Willow thrashing about all the while.
"I want to go home!" She forced out as she breathed deeply, winded from crying so hard. "Please," she said in a quieter voice as she shook her head, tears spilling down her reddened face. "I want to go home!" She screamed as loud as she could. Her voice echoed off the walls, and even startled a few doctors in adjoining hallways who had been in their office. Dr. Hiram stepped into the hall and watched as Willow continued to struggled, trying to get out of the guards grasps. He shook his head as she closed his door, and he turned around, Willow still screaming to the ceiling. He figured it was time to have a little chat with Dr. Arkham about partaking with some changes in Willow's arrangement in the asylum. He knew the best thing to do was force her mindset to change, and erase all traces of Joker from her life, but physically and mentally. And the first thing he was going to do to kick-start this change was fix her horrid scars...
First chapter to the new sequel! (Told you it would come quick) By the way, I don't really take suggestions from other people and put them into my stories. I write what I feel, and I write what I want. Everything I do with this story comes from me because I wanted it that way and planned for it to happen. So leave me some reviews and the next chapter shall arrive shortly