Lucy's POV
I look down at my arm as the craziest man in Gotham injects something into me. I was probably crazy for trusting him. I was probably going to fall out dead in ten minutes or something. Or my arm is going to explode. It's hard to say when dealing with someone who you've been raised to fear your whole life.
But, to be honest, he's been very cordial with me since I've been here. He tries to make sure I'm comfortable, and that all my needs are being met. I guess I'm just not seeing the side of him that people fear. I can tell all of his goons fear him. Even his number one guy, Johnny. But I just couldn't find what was so scary about him.
"What is this?" I ask him as I look at the syringe.
"I'm hoping it's something that can nutralize the sodium hydroxide levels in your blood. They're double what mine are," he explained and pulled the needle from my vein.
"Am I going to stop aging too?" I ask him.
"Most likely, yes," he nods with his back to me. "Though it's not as great as it sounds. Johnny and I are the same age. Yet I watch him grow older and slower every day. I know that he will continue to age and inevitably die. My own fate is questionable. Perhaps one day I'll die too, but when I do I will look exactly as I do now. That's the only thing about my future that I'm certain of."
"Is it the same for Harley?" I wonder a loud.
"Yes. She hasn't changed one bit since I...well since she was exposed to the acid," he turns around and carefully examines the injection site. "No discoloration, that's good. Any burning, stinging, or itching?"
"No, it's cold actually."
He nods, "Cold is good. Frankly, I can't understand why you don't have an elevated body temperature. With 22% sodium hydroxide your skin should feel feverish."
I shrug with a half hearted smile, "I'm just a walking contradiction."
He mixes something green into a glass of water and holds it out to me, "Here, try drinking this."
"And what is this?" I ask looking at the putrid color of it. It certainly wasn't a very attractive shade of green.
"Zinc sulfide. It might taste a bit unplesant and your pee will probably glow for a few days," he shrugs and tries to keep from smiling.
"Oh, great. I've always wanted my pee to glow," I say sarcastically and take a sip, "Oh my god, can't you inject it? Make it into a pill or gel cap or something? This is awful," I scowl looking at it.
"I probably could, but it would take a lot of time. It's just easier and faster this way. Bottoms up," he pushes the glass to my lips again.
I get a mouthful and almost spit it out. I wasn't sure if I could get it down. I can't even begin to describe the way it tasted. There was literally nothing to compare it to. And what was it going to do to me? Was all this strange stuff he keeps putting in me gonna kill me? I watch his face as I continue to drink this disgusting mixture. Slowly his non existent eyebrows are knitting together.
"What?" I ask, "Am I turning green?"
He slowly shakes his head, "Not all of you, just your eyes."
"My eyes are turning green?!"
"Umhuh," he nods and reaches for a mirror. "It should wear off in a few days."
I look at my eyes. They've always been blue, just like his, but now they look like freaking glow sticks! I'm probably going to end up blind or something. "I guess it's a good thing you won't let me go anywhere," I sigh and watch my eyes grow brighter by the second.
"Imagine how the poor people on the streets felt when they saw me? I glowed from head to toe, not just my eyes."
"But your eyes went back to their normal color, right?"
"Uh, not exactly. I was born with brown eyes," he carelessly shrugs. "Worst case scenario, I'd say they could possibly go paler, maybe a shade above white, but of course that depends mostly on the sulfuric acid."
"What sulfuric acid?" I question.
"The sulfuric acid that I haven't figured out how to get into your system yet," he dangles a glass bottle marked sulfuric acid.
I start to feel such to my stomach. I quickly reach for a trashcan and hurl into it. I feel him taking my hair and holding it away from my face. It was very kind, but nobody likes to throw up in front of people. I felt embarrassed.
I can hear him sigh, "Well, so much for that approach."
I raise my head with a groan, "I think I know how the rats feel now."
"HaHaHa!" He busts out laughing. Now he sounds like the maniac from TV. It's the first time hes laughed that way around me. I still don't know why people are so scared of his laugh. It wasn't scary at all. "Cheer up! I have no emotional attachments to the rats! HaHaha!!"
I laugh with him as my stomach settles. It was nice. He soon starts mixing things again and looking at microscope slides. Occasionally he scribbles down periodic elements and such.
"Do you think Harley wants to meet me?" I softly ask.
I hear him sigh as he tests his hands on the counter and drops his head, "I have no doubt about it. Of course she would want to meet you."
"I'd like to meet her too. Can I?" I ask watching his form slump even more at the counter.
"It's complicated Lucy. She wants nothing more than to kill me. She's been trying for twenty years. If we could get past our own pettiness, yeah, but sometimes its hard to forgive people who have wronged you. It takes baby steps. But I want you to meet her too. She's mourned your loss for two decades, just imagine how much she blames and hates me for it. I wish I could change things, I honestly do." He turns around and faces me again with his arms folded. "I will do my best to arrange for you to meet her. I think it would help her to lose some of her animosity towards me."
