Trapped : The Island of Torment

Chapter 28 : Find The Truth

Alice sat in the study of Wayne Manor, alongside her younger brother Liam, as they poured through the various maps and books available in the family library, which Alfred Pennyworth, the Wayne Family butler is more than happy to grant them access to. Thanks to Alice's son-in-law they now know the island's name, Lian Yu, but the island's location is a mystery. But both Alice and Liam are up to the task, both having served in the South Korean Navy, earning their sea legs in the process. "Lian Yu..." Alice murmured. "Seemed Chinese." 

"It is certainly Chinese, we should cross reference the name in the dictionary, if they have it here." Liam said. 

"And we still have no idea who kidnapped my little girl." Alice said. "I'm worried." 

"Not only your little girl Alice." he said. "My daughter was taken as well." A knock was heard on the door and Alfred walked in, carrying a silver tray. 

"Would you like to have some tea? Mrs Reagan? Mr Kim?" Alfred greeted politely. 

"Thank you Alfred." Alice said. "We would need it." 

"How's the children?" Liam asked, as the butler set the tray on the polished wooden table. 

"The young children are soundly asleep in their beds Mr Kim." Alfred replies. 

"Ah, I am not asking about my sister's grandchildren." Liam said. "I was referring to them who broke my niece's trust and indirectly caused her to miscarry." 

"They are more than determined to help out Mr Kim." he replied. "To quote Master Drake : 'To win back the trust we have lost.'"

"But it still cannot revive the two infants that my niece loss." Liam said. "If you have seen her grief yourself, it is heartbreaking. She had slowly but surely placed her faith in your master's children that was not her own, only to end up in this situation." Alice did not respond, but inside her heart, the pain remained. She had also been by her sisters' sides when they miscarried, so she understood the pain herself. 

"Losing a child, let alone an infant, is heartbreaking." Alfred said. "I can confirm, as I too visited her in the hospital."

"We have no intention to blame you for quoting him." Alice said. "But we cannot forgive them for believing in she who dragged my daughter's name through the mud through the lies she spewed." 

"We were fine with Bruce dating her, as it was his own decision, but when Isabella was dragged into the relationship, we could not stay silent." Liam said. "Isabella was lucky to have Masako Saito as her mentor, she was able to mask her sadness in public like a kabuki actor. Masako was worried when she went to stay with them in Japan." 

"Hideyoshi Saito was her husband, and to them, she was like a daughter to them." a voice was heard at the door, which had been left ajar when Alfred came in.

"Father." Alice rose to her feet, greeting her father. Uriah walked in, but he also had Tim Drake's arm locked behind his back as he did so. "What brings you here?"

"Bruce had informed us about where Mariko and Makoto were taken." Uriah said. "Have you not learned your lesson not to eavesdrop on people's conversation boy?" he asked, letting go, and not pushing him to the ground later on. He had no intention to humiliate them further, as it was a waste of his time and energy. 

"Master Drake." Alfred furrowed his brow in disagreement. Tim Drake got up and brushed any dust he had from his clothing. 

"I do not know how long this boy had been here when I arrived, but I can be sure that he would have heard every word the three of you have talked." Uriah said. Alice and Liam were stone-faced as a result. 

"Father." Alice said. "You wouldn't be here for the purpose of capturing eavesdroppers are you?" she asked. 

"Truly." Uriah said. "I remembered coming across the island's name during the campaign in Vietnam, which had recently just come to mind." he approached the books and maps on the table and pointed to a tiny island in the North China Sea. "Here." he said. "Lian Yu Island, which is Purgatory Island in Chinese." 

"Purgatory?" Alice asked. "It is not a good sign." 

"It is too late for you and the rest of them to rectify what they did." Uriah told Tim. "Once the trust is broken, it is near impossible to salvage it, no matter how hard you tried." Uriah then casts him out of the study without a word, sending the young man to the kitchen, where he meets with the others. 

"How'd it go?" the woman asked. 

"Isabella's grandfather caught me eavesdropping and threw me out." Tim explained. "He's not going to let us help, even if he doesn't say it." 

"How did it go so wrong?" she asked, her head hanging low. "Bruce didn't appreciate us trusting Selina's words over his, but even if Isabella's family behaves in the same manner... we screwed Isabella over." 

"Not to mention that Isabella was nearly killed in a car crash when Selina caused the crash by deliberately allowing Isabella's motorcycle to crash into her car to kill her, just because she was working with Bruce on a case." 

"She went that far? Even though they were working together?" Tim asked.

"Yeah, Bruce told me." 

"You serious Duke?"

"Positive." Duke said. 

"No wonder he left Selina." Tim said. "She was jealous enough to do this." 

"That's why Bruce was angry when he found out about our dumb decision to believe in Selina's words, which turned out to be lies." the woman said. "Because he was, I'm not sure-"

"He witnessed the whole thing happen in front of him." Duke said. "He had footage from his cowl as evidence." 

"We should watch it." the woman said. "Can any of us connect remotely to the system down there?"

A while later

Tim Drake pressed play on the footage, obtained remotely from the Batcomputer through his tablet, as the four of them huddled in front of the tablet. The footage begins on a road, with Isabella speeding in front of him on a motorcycle. They didn't exchange words, but several road signs are present in the footage. "That's the interstate highway." the woman said. As they continued to travel a silver sports car sped past, fishtailing to a halt in front of Isabella's vehicle. Instinctively, Isabella slammed on the brakes, but it wasn't enough as she still crashed into the vehicle and was sent flying, landing hard on the ground. Bruce then stepped out of the motorcycle and approached the sports car, ripping the door open, which revealed that Selina Kyle was in the driver's seat. 

She merely laughed in antipathy as Bruce pulled her out of the car, slamming her against the hood of the car. The four of them were horrified, as they saw through Bruce's point of view, i.e. the footage, as two men rushed to help Isabella, one holding her up as blood trickled down her lips. She went limp despite the men helping her and Bruce handcuffed Selina, giving her a strong blow to knock her out cold. "What the hell?" the woman whispered. 

"Told you." Duke said.