The Games We Play

Visitor

~Nightwing~

The glass cell transforms into opaque glass as I arrive, as do all the cells in the hall. This was Arkham's protocol for visitors, so a patient's family and privacy was safe from other inmates.

One look in her cell and I was in awe at what I saw. Kate's tiny figure curled up on her bed, clutching her bear tightly. Her head sunk over her body, her soft brown curls tangled and covering her face. Her whimpering and tears made her face flushed. Her bright blue orbs popped against the red of her eyes from crying. "And you said she hasn't spoken in days?" I question the nurse, wishing I knew sooner. The emergency contact listed on her application was to a burner phone. Bruce noticed something wrong when her book had not been touched for days.

"Not since her treatment with Dr. Crane."

I didn't ask what happened to her other doctor, Bruce and I already knew she went psycho. Another reason why I didn't want Kate anywhere near these people in the first place. She too had a very intelligent mind, but an awfully large imagination.

"Hey...look who's here," I smirk, trying to cheer her up as I enter the cell. She didn't even acknowledge me. Her bright blue eyes were glazed over with red rims. She looks pale, broken. Her body is thinner since I last saw her, her bones showing through as food sat at the edge of her bed, uneaten.

"Hey...it's me," I state, trying to relax her with a smile. A friendly face in hopes to cheer her up.

I glance over her once more. The poor girl seems out of it, but they told me she hasn't been on meds for days. I imagine that to is the truth considering the line of untouched cups beside her nightstand. "Kate, come on...say something..."

"You're not real."

Kate's voice quivers, tears falling from her cheeks. Her hand shakes as she reaches to break herself free of me. My heart drops, seeing her reaction.

Arkham was never meant for a person like Kate. She shouldn't have been here this long, who knew what triggered this reaction. I told Bruce for days we should have gotten her out of her. I told him we should have never let her go back.

I gaze into her eyes, taking her trembling hand in my own. "I am real. I am real."

"They told me your not real, none of this is real." Her breathing is unhinged as she tries to back away from me. I catch her just before she could fall off the bed.

"I am, look at me. Look at me Kay." I take a deep breath, shaking my head. What could I tell her to make her believe me? This condition we told Arkham about was made up. Bruce and I just did it so she would fit in, we never thought there was a possibility that she'd end up believing it.

"None of this is real.."A tear fell down the side of her cheek, "your not, he's not....I'm not."

He's not? I wonder who he is. If he was the one who did this to her. I notice an orange fragment lingering in her eyes. I look closer, pursing my lips in dismay. This looks like the effects of Scarecrow's fear toxin, but how did she get injected. I hug her tightly, running a hand through her curls. "It's okay, it's okay....I'm real." Her body is freezing to the touch.

I hold onto her, a concern look in my eye.

I look down to see her skin, slowly starting to fade away like she was disappearing. Perhaps it was an illisuon but I've lost her once before. She was in no condition to go invisible. "KAY!" I grab her arm tightly, not wanting to lose her again. I give her a look of reassurance as her head slowly lifts to meet my eyes.

Her expression is shocked to see me standing before her. "I am real." I pull her into a kiss, trying to calm her down. Her heart starts to slow as I hold her in my arms. My hand runs through her hair, as I am trying anything to calm her down. We sit in silence, as she just stares at me. I reach to the floor to pick up Her bear, I place it into her arms. Kate exhales, her eyes locked with mine.

"When was the last time you slept?"

Kate pauses for a moment. She shakes her a head a little as she recalls what happened. "Monday."

"Today's Friday."

"I've been longer." She replies stubborn as always.

"I should have taken you out of here a long time ago, this isn't a place for you."

"No. I'm staying." I knew I had to choose my words carefully, just because me and Bruce couldn't find a feed into her cell. It didn't mean the people around couldn't.

"You're not like them," I reassure her, placing the teal blue necklace back around her neck. It was meant to be a comfort, if things got this bad she was supposed to call for help. The gesture served as a reminder. She could leave at any time.

"You don't have to be here...come home Kay, leave with me."

"I-" She bites her lower lip, her mind elsewhere. Her eyes held a pain in them I could not explain. "I can't..."

I open my mouth to speak, and I hear the guard knock on the cell door.

"Mr.Grayson. Wrap it up. Your thirty minutes is up."

I pause, taking her hand. I want her to come back with me. All she had to do was say it. Bruce could get her out. We can find another way to get information. Why would she stay? Why would she torture herself with staying here? She acted like she deserved this. The silence fell over us, the clock running out.

I take a deep breath.

"Promise me you'll sleep tonight."

Kate rests her head against my chest. She nods. Her fingers gently slip something in my back pocket. I try to hide a smirk, shaking my head. This is why Bruce likes her, always putting the mission first. She was never conflicted. I assume the paper held some information about the rouges or Arkham.

I kiss her, whispering in her ear. "2 weeks."

"I can handle it." Kate takes a deep breath. She pauses before pulling me into a forced kiss. Her lips feel tense, an uncertain awkwardness between us. Only did I know why, the truth I can't tell her just yet. I brush the curls out of her face to look back at her, making sure she was ready for this. I wasn't sure if I was.

What can go wrong in 2 weeks? She's already made it this far.

I leave the area, waiting until I get in the limo to see what she gave me. Slowly I open the small note left in my back pocket.

Dr.Crane Bad.

Cell Locks pointless.