Legend's Apprentice

Peace

I woke up around four in the afternoon and took a moment to revel in the quiet and the sunshine that came through the curtains. Then I groaned as I thought about all I needed to do. I needed to clean the fingerprint dust up from the entryway and in my room. I needed to get a new mattress pad, sheets, and a blanket to replace the ones that the police had taken for evidence. I needed to make appointments with my doctor; I'd gone to Planned Parenthood for my birth control and knew they could take care of this too. In two weeks I needed another pregnancy test (they'd test the blood I'd given at the hospital for the first test), in six weeks I needed to be tested for STIs. In ninety days, HIV. Then at six months, HIV, syphilis, and hepatitis. They'd already given me what the doctor described as routine empiric prophylaxis for chlamydia, gonorrhea, trichomoniasis, and bacterial vaginosis. Because who knew with the Joker, I was also given a hepatitis B vaccination that had to be repeated at one and six months.

I'd probably have to quit my job and go home to Pennsylvania for the summer. I couldn't stay here with Sam and Mindy; I couldn't forget that the Joker had said that if they'd been home he would have had to do something about them, and I wouldn't risk being a threat to them. And there was no way I could afford an apartment by myself in New York City; even hovels were out of reach. The Joker was out of commission, but what if he asked somebody to take care of me?

But I didn't want to go home, I wanted to stay here for the last few months before college, with my friends, doing things, working. My situation seemed suddenly very complex, and without analyzing anything too much, I grabbed my phone. No messages or alerts. I smiled sourly. Then I called Emma.

She was at the tower and told me to come over. No questions.

There was a guard I didn't know rather than Barney, which was kind of a relief. He called up for Emma, who came to get me and took me up to her office, locking the door behind us. I was grateful, remembering how people just come and go. "I'm surprised to see you," she commented. "I thought you'd be at work. But you don't look ok. Do you need to see a doctor?"

I kind of half-laughed. "I have seen a doctor," I said. The euphoria I'd felt earlier from beating the shit out of the Joker had faded. "Last night, the Joker broke into the house, shot me up with some kind of toxin, kidnapped me and raped me. Then I kicked his ass."

Her eyes flipped open and her mouth moved, but no sound came out. Then, finally, "What?" A moment more, and she said, "Are you comfortable telling me more?"

"I was asleep,' I said slowly. "Something woke me up, I'm not sure what, but it might have been the needle in my neck. He injected me with some stuff that was based on curare, he said. It paralyzed me. I was all limp, I couldn't move anything. There was a cure for it, an antagonist, that he injected around my eyes so I could look around and cry. He wanted to see my reactions. He took me to this house outside the city. He cut off my clothes and terrorized me and put me on a ventilator because my diaphragm stopped working," I said dully. "He said he was going to break me and keep me as a sex toy. Then he raped me. But the drug wore off faster than he expected and I was able to kick him off me. And I beat him to a pulp. And I don't regret it, but now I'm not feeling very good. And he said that if Sam and Mindy had been there--they're visiting their son--he'd have taken care of them. I can't stay there, I can't risk them because of some psycho. And the best part is that it was mostly recorded. He made a recording in my room why he was taking me and there were cameras set up in the basement of the house." Her mouth hung open. "I know I'm supposed to be an adult now, but I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do," I added forlornly when my eyes started to water.

We both jumped when the doorknob rattled and somebody began banging on the door. I had to work to keep myself in my seat. Emma got up and strode to the door, opening it but wedging it with her foot so it wouldn't open more than a crack. "Is somebody actually dying, Tony?" she asked crisply. I could hear his puzzled negation. "Then it will have to wait. I have something more important right now." And she shut and locked the door again. I have to admit to being impressed.