Stitched Together

Chapter Sixteen
Drugged

The house was unusually quiet for still being so early in the evening. As Doll lounged on the table that stood in the center of her bedroom she heard no noise from downstairs. She heard no footsteps or the television. She was enjoying the quietness but it made her feel a little uneasy. The house was never this quite.

It was only a few minutes later that she did hear noisy. She heard the front door open and close then heavy footsteps traveling up the steps. They stopped at her door and then the person behind knocked. Doll sighed before rising up on the table. Walking over to the door and sticking her head out she found Tommy standing there with a box of pizza in hand. Doll looked at him curiously. She didn't request any food.

“I don't remember placing an order.” Doll told him eyeing him curiously.

“I thought you would soon and I was out so I stopped and got it for you.” Tommy explained with a small smile. Doll frowned at him. Tommy was a suck up but he never was this much of one.

“Is everyone gone?” She asked referring to the lack of noise.

“Uh, yeah me and the guys are going to go out. You know, since you don't have anything planned for us.” He told her.

“I don't plan.” She told him plainly a frown still on her face. “But sure go out and have your so called fun... just don't do anything stupid.” She stressed to him. She finally opened the door wider and took the pizza from him. Checking the contents she founded everything to be correct. With a nod she turned back in to her room and closed the door in his face.

“At least I got a pizza out of the deal.” Doll muttered to herself as she hoped onto her table.

She sat the box of pizza open in front of her. She tore the pepperonis off the slices before eating them as always but it wasn't long before Doll noticed a change in herself. After her second slice she stared to become unnaturally drowsy.

“You’re so dead Tommy.” Was the last thing Doll muttered before she passed out and fell off the table, hitting the floor on her back.

Tommy stood outside the club he had brought the other men to on his cell phone.

“Yeah trust me she doesn't except a thing. The plan is going to work. She took the pizza. She probably already out by now.” Tommy said.

“Good, that bitch will see that no one messes with me.” The voice on the other end said. It was the voice of no other than Simone Carrillo.

“She will. I promise. Do you want me to go ahead and press the button?” Tommy asked him.

“Yes, I'll have a few of my men go collector her after wards.” Carrillo told him. “After you do that your job's done. Just enjoy yourself and I'll take care of our little doll problem.” After that the call was disconnected. Tommy worked fast as he pulled a small detonator out of his pocked and pressed the button. Somewhere in the mist of the narrows Doll's precious home was falling apart around her.

When Doll regained consciousness the first thing she noticed was that she was bound in the familiar restraint of a straight-jacket and she also noticed that her feet were shackled to the floor. She almost thought she was back in Arkham if it wasn't for the room she was in. It looked like every other warehouse in Gotham; dank, dirty, and dark. Doll gazed around and noted that she seemed to be alone but she had no doubt in her mind who was behind this. Carrillo would pay deeply for whatever he planned to do to her and Tommy was as good as dead.

'Does he plan on trying to scare me?' Doll thought sarcastically in her head. She snapped her attention to the door on her right when it opened. In stepped Carrillo and behind him was a large man who Doll didn't recognize or care to.

“Bout time you showed up. I was starting to get lonely.” Doll mocked from her restraints.

“I feel like you'll lose that smart mouth of yours pretty soon.” He remarked as he and his friend stood in front of her.

“Are you willing to bet on it?” Doll asked with a large smile on her face that stretched her scars. She could tell by the look on his face that he was already losing his patients with her. Doll didn't really care- she wasn't afraid of him. He was going to learn that quickly. “What do you except to do to me? Because as you can see my face is already messed up so that throws that out.” Doll remarked to him.

“When I'm done with you your face will be the least of your worries.” He told her. She watched as his large lackey cracked his knuckles.

“Do I look like I worry about anything?” She asked with her eyebrows raised. He didn't answer but just continued to glare out her from his spot a few feet away.

“Never the less you’re not getting out of this alive.” He told her like it was a simple fact. Doll shrugged his remark off. She had heard that before to. She wasn't afraid to die, she just simply preferred not to. “And as much as I enjoy this stimulating conversation I think it’s time to get down to business.” He snapped his finger and the large man beside him handled Carrillo a large needle full of a dark green substance.

“Oh, you plan to drug me. How wonderful!” Doll mocked again with a smile.

“Yes, a drug curtsey of your favorite doctor.” He told her.

“Crane gave you that?” She asked nodding to the needle. He gave a nod with a large smile. “I hope it's not fear gas because you would have wasted your money.”

“No, he let me know that you're immune to his fear gas when I asked about it. Though I think this little mix will work just fine.” He looked down at her with a cruel smile. “It's an extreme muscle relaxer. It slows down your reflexes and your brain responses and while it does that it slowly kills you. But don't worry all the pain my boy here inflects on your before you die… you'll feel it just fine, you just won’t be able to do anything about it.”

“Well, that just sounds fun.” Doll remarked dryly as she watched him. He came closer to her and he watched her intently for any sudden movement or resistance. Doll gave none as he pushed the needle into her arm and injected the green substance into her. The effect was almost immediate. Doll was alert just like he promised but she wasn't able to move at all.

“Oh good it's already working. I guess you won't need your jacket anymore.” Carrillo said to her. The large man stepped up to her and untied her straight jacket. Doll fell limply in the chair. Her blue eyes stared up at the blurry image of the large man as he loomed over her menacingly.

“Now my boy is going to show you what happens to people that mess with me.” Carrillo told her. After his last word the large man’s fist connected with her face. Doll was sure that her nose was broken as she felt the blood run down her face and into her hair.

Doll couldn't remember much after the first few punches. The last thing she really remembered was the feel of her blood running down her entire body and seeping into her clothes and hair. Her whole body screamed in pain but there was nothing Doll could do to make it stop, she couldn't even laugh it off. She wondered if this really was the end for her. She didn't want her ending to be because of some mob leader and his boy beating the life out of her. She wanted to go out in a bang... this wasn't a bang. The last thing Doll recalled happening to her was her bruised and broken body being curled on the slimy floor of the warehouse before Carrillo's boy kicked her right in the face. Everything went black after that.

It was just a little after ten in the morning when Gordon got the call. A girl's bloody body was found in a dumpster in the Narrows. Normally that wouldn't have been too unusual in that part of Gotham but the description of the girl is what caught his attention. The man that found her spoke of several scars on her bruised face. The remarkable thing about the girl though was that whoever she was she was alive. An ambulance had been called and had sent the girl to the hospital before Gordon had even heard about it.

He gathered his coat and bag before he stormed out of his office to head straight to the hospital. He had to know who the mystery girl was. When he arrived at Gotham General he went straight to the help desk and flashed his badge at the lady behind the desk.

“There was a young girl brought in just a little while ago. Severely beaten and was found in the Narrows do you know who I could talk to about her?” He asked the woman nicely.

“Doctor Johnson took her but he's still looking over her. As soon as he's done I'll send him to you if you don't mind waiting.” She told him gesturing to one of the empty chairs in the waiting room.

Gordon gave her a brief, tired smile. “I don't mind waiting, thank you.” He told her before making his way to one of the empty chairs lined against the waiting room wall.

He had been waiting for over an hour before the nurse at the front desk waived him over. She pointed over her shoulder to a middle aged man with light brown hair that was walking towards him.

“I heard you wished to speak to me, Commissioner?” Doctor Johnson asked.

“Yes, it's about the girl that was brought in.” Gordon told him as he wiped his glasses off before placing them back on his face.

“She was in pretty bad shape when she came in. We have her stable but she's still unconscious. I'm not sure when she'll wake up.” He explained.

“Do you have any idea who she is? Did she have any kind of ID on her or anything?” Gordon asked him.

“No we didn't find anything on her. She's almost unrecognizable as it is.”

“Can I see her?” Gordon asked him suddenly.

“I suppose there is no harm in that but like I said she's not likely to wake up anytime soon. I'd give her at least a few days before she wakes up.” Johnson told him as he led the way to the patient’s room.

Doctor Johnson wasn't lying when he said the girl was almost unrecognizable. Her face looked like someone took a cheese grater to it and bruises and cuts covered her arms and legs. Johnson informed him that she had a broken ankle on her left foot as well as her right wrist being sprained and her left arm broken. He also informed him that when she was brought in that she was overdosed on a deadly mixture of muscle relaxers.

Gordon looked over the body carefully. The girl lying in the bed was small and thin with long blonde hair. Even though the girl's face had a broken nose and two black eyes he could still make out highly familiar scars on her face. Stepping closer Gordon took a breath in when he saw that the girl's ear lobes were ripped apart in the center. Bracing himself he gently picked up her right hand and examined her fingers- all five finger tips were scared just like Doll's. There was no doubt in Gordon's mind that this was her. He wondered what could have happened to her. He had never seen her this bad before.

“Commissioner, is everything alright?” Doctor Johnson asked after Gordon stood there still staring at the broken body of Doll. Gordon shook his head before turning back to face him.

“I need you to close the door.” Gordon told him. He gave him a confused looked but did what Gordon asked him to. “What I'm about to tell you can't leave this room. Do you understand?”

“Of course.” Johnson replied still confused.

“Your patient is no other then the criminal known as Doll.” Gordon told him slowly watching the doctor’s face. Johnson's eyes went to the body on the bed to Gordon several times.

“What do you think happened to her?” He finally asked. Gordon glanced over at her with a frown on his tired face.

“I'm not sure but she currently has a lot of enemies.” He told him. “I would like to stay with her. If anyone gets wind that she's here I'm not sure what will happen but it won’t be good. I definitely don't want the news to travel back to The Joker. If anyone asks the patient is a victim of Doll's that is in recovery.” Gordon told him. Johnson shook his head letting Gordon know that he understood before leaving Gordon alone in the room with the unconscious Doll.

Gordon had stayed at the hospital for three days with no movement from Doll. The only people who knew who the patient really was, was Gordon, Doctor Johnson, and Batman. Gordon had gotten in touch with him the day after Doll arrived at the hospital. He asked Batman to keep his ears open for any news on who did this to her. So far nothing had turned up.

Gordon glanced up from the case file in his lap when he heard a groan coming from the bed. It was the first noise she had made since she had been in the hospital. Gordon walked carefully over to her bed and stood over her. He saw her left finger twitch as she let out another groan. A few seconds later he watched as her confused blue eyes opened and stared at him. She didn't say anything as she stared at him. Her face was scrunched up in confusion she looked at him and then around the room.

Gordon was getting slightly worried when she still hadn't said a word. He knew Doll loved to talk, she wasn't one to sit and be quite. He watched as she rose up to a sitting position on the bed.

“It's good to see you’re finally awake.” Gordon said breaking the silence that had filled the room. Her eyes snapped to his but the look on her face was one he never saw on Doll's. It was a look of pure confusion.

“Do I know you?” She asked him. He gave her a curious look; he wasn't sure what type of game she was playing. He studied her face as she continued to look at him. Her eyes widened a little as he continued to be silent. He knew something was dreadfully wrong when he saw fear in her blue eyes.

“You really don't remember me?” Gordon asked her to be sure. She shook her head back and forth. “What do you remember?”

She was silent for a few minutes as he looked down at her hands. “Um, I don't really remember anything.” She finally answered. She looked back up at him expectantly.

“You don't remember who you are?” Gordon asked her. Once again she shook her head no. “Let's call your doctor in.” Gordon told her before calling the front desk to ask for Doctor Johnson.

“Are you my dad?” Doll suddenly asked him as she continued to study him. Gordon almost chocked on air when he heard the question.

“Um, no I'm not. I'm the police commissioner of Gotham.” He explained to her. “You can call me Gordon.” He gave her a small friendly smile.

“If you’re with the police, why are you here?” She asked curiously. Gordon shifted uncomfortably but was saved from answering when Johnson came through the door. He looked highly alarmed when he saw that Doll was awake.

“She's awake?” Johnson asked panicked. He was worried about his safety and the others in the hospital. He didn't believe she would wake up this soon.

Doll looked from the doctor's panicked face then back to Gordon's. “Why is he looking at me like that?” She asked confused.

“She doesn't remember anything.” Gordon filled in Johnson. He ignored her question.

“That's not overly surprising. She had severe head trauma plus the drugs in her system affected her brain. It wasn't unlikely that she would wake up with no memory of the event.” He explained.

“No, she doesn't remember anything.” Gordon said stressing the last word to get his point across.

“You mean she doesn't remember who she is at all?” Johnson asked surprised.

Johnson turned his attention back to Doll who was still watching them from her bed. He had never seen her in person. He had just heard about her and had seen her videos on television. She didn't look like someone that could cause so much damage. He supposed one of the reasons that she was so deadly is because people underestimated her because of her size and the fact she was female. Looking at the girl in the bed though didn't even seem to be the same girl he had seen and heard about.

“What's going on? What happened to me?” She asked again. She was on the verge on panicking and neither her doctor nor Gordon seemed to want to answer any of her questions.

“Someone found you and called 911. We were hoping that you would wake up and be able to tell us.” Gordon told her.

“Why would someone want to hurt me?” She asked Gordon. She watched him shift uncomfortably again before letting out a large sigh.

“It's because of who you are.” He finally told her. He hoped that was enough to satisfy her but she still had the same curiosity that Doll always had.

“So I'm someone important? Like I'm rich or something?” Doll asked. Gordon thought about how to answer and she waited patiently.

He watched her as she studied herself. The first unusual thing she found was her finger tips when she prodded the scars curiously. She then took her hands and ran the down the new scars on her bare arms and then she reached her face. Her lips turned down in a frown as her fingers traced the old scars on her face. Gordon thought she might actually cry. He knew for certain that this was no game; she honestly didn't remember who she was. This girl had no recall of what she had done to hundreds of people and families.

“There's not much that we can do about her memory loss. It's possible that she'll get it back in a few days or even a few weeks or maybe if we’re lucky she'll never get it back.” Johnson told Gordon. Gordon wasn't so sure he liked his last suggestion or the doctor’s casual opinion about it. “If you need anything else just page me.” He told him before leaving Gordon alone with Doll.

“He didn't seem to like me very much.” She commented when the door was shut.

“Not a lot of people do.” He answered her truthfully. He saw out of the corner of his eye that she looked at him in confusion.

“Why?” she asked simply. He didn't give her a verbal answer. He couldn't bring himself to. Instead he pulled out her criminal record from his brief case that sat beside the chair he had been sitting in for days. He handed it to her with a sad smile.

He watched her from his sitting position in the chair. Her blue eyes widened considerably as she read and looked at the photos. Every case that Gordon found that was Doll's doing was in the folder and the folder itself was packed.

“I did all of that?” She asked him as she stared down at a picture that was taking from one of her videos she had sent Gordon. Her painted scared face stared up at her from the photo. She was smiling in the photo and her blue eyes twinkled with a dangerous glint.

“Yes, you did. That's why I've made sure that no one knows who is truly in this room.” Gordon told her.

“Why are you so nice to me? That doctor wasn't. You said you're a police commissioner, you should hate me just like him and everyone else.”

Gordon thought over what she said thoroughly before answering. It was true he didn't hate Doll. He understood that she has turned Gotham upside down since she arrived here. He had seen all of it. He always felt a strange connection with her that he probably shouldn’t have as the commissioner of the city. He wanted to see her locked up and getting help but he would never want to see her hurt, no matter if she deserves it or not. Gordon believed in the justice system.

He honestly believed that Doll needed help no matter how much she insisted that she was sane. She had issues that needed to be addressed. Something had happened to the girl before Doll and Gordon wondered if that girl still existed. He highly doubted that this girl he was now talking to was her. The girl was still Doll. She still had some of her mannerisms, she just didn't remember who she was or the turning point in turning her into the monster that she is.

“We have a special relationship. I've been on your case since the beginning.” Gordon finally told her.

“Do you know how I got these scars?” She asked gesturing towards her face. Gordon shook his head.

“You've had them since I've known you. I've asked you and the doctors at Arkham did as well but you never give an answer; not even a fake one.” Gordon watched as she continued to look through her file.

“It's amazing that I did all this. I mean I'm just one person. Why is everyone so afraid of me?”

“It's because you don't care about anyone. That made you severely dangerous. You just did what you wanted.” Gordon told her gently. She sighed as she laid back on the bed with her file in her lap. Her eyes closed as she ran her finger tips once again over her scars.

“I'm a monster.” She muttered to herself.