Love Lost, Love Home

Chapter Nine: Surviving Arkham

     (A/N: Hey all, I just wanted to put a big TRIGGER WARNING on this chapter! The character has a mental breakdown, and there are descriptions of violence! It's a depiction of my character's stay at Arkham Asylum and is a delve into mental health, which could be triggering to some people! So I just wanted to put the TRIGGER WARNING on this chapter!)                                                                           

                                                                           *Five Years Ago*

After days of tracking the Joker's location, I finally found him! The old Sionis Steel Mill. I should have looked there first. I broke through the window of the office. He wasn't in here. I looked down into the main area. His thugs were there, but not him. I turned and went through the doors, into another area of the building. There he was. I growled. He would PAY for taking Jason away from me!!!! My biological Father turned around, smiling as usual.

"Ace! So nice to see you! I hear you've gone through a lot of trouble to find me! Why the rush, kiddo? It's not like you've got a boyfriend to save anymore!" He said, laughing. That hurt. It hurt me badly. But, I reigned in my temper, temporarily.

"Where is he?" I asked.

"I don't know who you're talking about." He said, laughing again. I was beginning to lose control.

"MY BOYFRIEND!! MY FIANCE!! MY JASON!!!" I screamed. There were tears pouring from my eyes. "I want his body!! I want my boyfriend's body!" I yelled. He began laughing again.

"Oh, sorry kiddo. I've already burned his body, and spread his ashes who knows where!" He began laughing. I saw red.

"No...No!!!!" I screamed, and tackled him, beating the Joker as hard as I could, cursing him, cursing everything. I thought I was actually going to beat him and be able to lock him in Arkham forever. I underestimated him. As I pulled back to punch him again, he used the flower on his lapel, and sprayed my right eye with acid!! I screamed and fell back, holding my eye. He stood, laughing as usual.

"I must say, Ace, you have learned a lot from Bats! But not enough!" He said, and I saw him grab a crowbar! I curled in on myself, as he started beating the crap out of me with it. I had made the same mistake Jason did. I went after the Joker, alone, and then I underestimated him. I tried to fight back, but he had the upper hand.

"My name isn't Ace!!" I growled.

"Oh, but it is! No matter how much you try to deny it, you are mine! You belong to me, you ARE me! At least, you will be!" He laughed. "You should have stayed with me, Ace. If you had, your little birdy would still be here!" He stopped beating me, but I was so weak, I couldn't take the opportunity. "You must feel horrible. Ol' Bats must hate you!" He said. I shook my head.

"No...no, it wasn't my fault!" I cried. He laughed, as he went at me with the crowbar again.

"Oh, but it is! Jason is gone, and it's all your fault!" He kept saying things like that, and it was destroying me! By the time he decided to stop, I was barely holding myself together. "Well, I suppose Bats will be here soon to save you. I'll just leave him a little surprise for when he gets here!" He dropped something on the ground, and walked out of the room. I slowly turned my head. He had left a bomb! It was going to go off in five seconds!! My eyes widened. I quickly grabbed it, and threw it away from me. Unfortunately, I wasn't paying attention to where I threw it, and it exploded on the ceiling. Debris fell on me, including a huge slab of the roof, crushing my right leg. I screamed in pain. I couldn't move. I was left alone with only my thoughts, and they weren't great. I could still hear his laugh in my head! I don't know how long it was, but soon, someone was moving the debris off of me.