Behind the Mask (A Batman and Robin Fanfic)

Chapter Twelve

Bruce Wayne/ Batman’s POV:

Dick, or rather Robin, tried to hide it but I could see that he was shaking. He obviously wanted to keep up a tough act in front of me and the Commissioner, but I could tell that he was truly horrified. Seeing that girl’s brother dead must have made the whole situation real for him, I wished more than anything that he didn’t have to have that burden.

After wrapping up our meeting with the Commissioner, I met with Robin in the parking lot to the GCPD.

“What am I supposed to do now?” he asked. I struggled to find the answer to his question; he was more shaken up than I had seen him be in a long time.

“Go home, we’ll regroup and then figure out a plan” I said bluntly, finding this girl had just become major priority.

“Okay…” Robin replied submissively.  He was clearly exhausted. Underneath the street light, I took a closer observation of the cuts and bruises that covered his face. I was enraged that he took on Bane alone, he knew better than that. But knowing all the pressure he must have had been feeling, I decided not to let him feel my wrath.

Normally, Dick was very light hearted and always cracking jokes. But once this girl had got kidnapped by Joker, his mood changed drastically. He had all the reason to be angry.

Robin delicately slid onto his bike, which was apparently painful for him; I wondered just how badly Bane kicked his ass.

I began to walk off in the opposite direction of the Batmobile, when Robin spoke up.

“You’re not going home?” he asked.

“No, I have a lead that I need to look into” I replied honestly. Normally he would have argued about coming with me but he was too exhausted for that.

“Alright” he yelled as he sped off into the night.

Using my grappling hook, I propelled myself on top of the tallest building. By surveying the land with the night vision goggle built into my mask, I noticed a boat leaving Gotham pier. I fired another grappling hook in its direction so I could get on board. The boat was going to the one place where I thought I would be able to find answers.

Arkham Asylum.

Arkham Island was a small shriveled up piece of land in the middle of nowhere; it was the perfect place for a detention center for the criminally “insane”.

The cement walls seemed to scream with the horrors they had seen. Large metal doors marked the entrance to the asylum; I pushed through them and was met with the encouraging sight of several security officers.

“I need to see Patient #7430.” I said sternly.

“Password?” The guard asked, as it was standard protocol.

“Wednesday.”

“Right this way, Batman” The guard replied. I recognized him as one of the regular guards of the island.

As I passed down the concrete, locked-down corridor, I thought watched the criminally insane in their natural habitat. I recognized nearly all of them, as I had been the one to capture most of them. Finally, I reached the cell I had been looking for.

The guard typed his pass code in to the lock pad and the door opened.

 I entered the concrete cell, and watched as the man lying on the bed that hung from the wall barely noticed me.  He looked different, as all criminals did once they were stripped of their individuality and put in prison attire. He may have looked different but his attitude was still the same.