Love in the Dark

I woke up in a place that I wasn't familiar with. I sat up and let the sheets that covered me fall to my waist. The door opened and three men walked in. The first sat in front of me and said, "Bethany... how are you feeling today?"

I shook my head, "Am... am I Bethany?"

The man frowned, "Yes. Remember?"

I closed my eyes and tried to remember, and then I did. I opened them and nodded, "Yeah.... Yeah. I remember." I put my hands on my head and sighed, "I'm sorry."

Bruce took me in his arms and placed a kiss on my forehead, "It's okay, Bethy.... It's okay."

The two other men, Fox and Gordon, came over, Gordon bending down next to me, "How are you feeling?"

I shrugged, "Fine... I guess.... I don't really know."

He nodded, "It's okay... it'll all be over soon. We've got Crane in a secure cell, along with Joker and Harley.... They're under maximum security and then some. They won't get out."

I nodded and took a deep breath again, "I just... want to be okay again."

Fox came up, "I might be able to help you with that." He handed me a bottle, "It'll take a while, and taste horrible, but after a few weeks of this, your body should be clean of all of Crane's drugs and your system should be immune to any further attempts."

I took the bottle from him and looked at it, "This honestly looks like sludge."

"It'll probably taste somewhere close to it too."

I frowned.

"I tried to make it taste like something nice, but I couldn't."

I smiled, "Thanks for trying."

"You'll have to take it after dinner.... If you don't eat before you might end up throwing it all into the toilette."

I nodded, "Will do, thank you."

Fox laid his hand on my shoulder and said, "We'll help you get through this.... I promise."

I smiled, "Thank you Lucian."

"I need to go back to Wayne Tower and make sure everything is alright there." Lucian smiled and bid everyone good bye.

Gordon was next to leave, going with Bruce as to allow me to shower. I made my way into the large tiled bathroom and caught sight of myself in the mirror. I stopped to look at the reflection, not entirely recognizing the person looking back at me. I moved closer to the mirror, trying to remember who this person was, but all I wanted to see was a mask. I closed my eyes to erase the thought, but when I opened them that's all I saw. I gasped and tried to erase the image.

Gripping my face, I tried to pull the mask off, but every time I did the mirror told me that it was still there. I screamed in frustration and fell to the floor, clawing at my face, trying to free myself of the mask, but to no avail.

"Bethany!" Bruce came in and caught my hands in his, "Bethany, what's wrong?"

"The mask," I sobbed, "The mask.... It won't come off."

Bruce frowned, "What mask?"

I looked at Bruce and I sobbed again, "I can't take it off.... I can't."

Bruce looked past me to the doorway where someone was standing. I gripped his shirt and I cried. He held me close and rocked me back and forth, letting me cry into his shoulder.