Captured --a Dragoness fic--

"No!  Stop!  Let go of me!"

"I can't do that, Dragoness."

"I just escaped, though!" Batman stared down at the seemingly terrified dragon-themed villainess.  She stared back with wide eyes.  It was the first time she'd been captured since running away.

"When you put it that way, it sounds like you need to go back." The girl shook her head frantically, shaking as she shifted her gaze to her feet.  They approached Arkham Asylum, where Jeremiah met them at the door.  He watched the girl with a stern look.

"Welcome home, Alice." he murmured.  She didn't look up.

"This isn't my home, Father..."

"It is, though.  I can take her from here, Batma-"

"Hold it, Jeremiah.  She still needs to be interrogated." The asylum's owner cleared his throat and stepped away at the comment.

"...Of course."

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"You're being recorded." Were the first words spoken upon being locked in the interrogation room.  Alice gave a curt nod.  She, Batman, and an officer were the only ones in the room.

"I know." Came her response.  "And please don't stop recording, despite what my father asks...  I know he'll want to stop me from saying something..." The hero and officer exchanged a glance.  "Chip will make a backup recording in case something happens to the original..." The blocky "necklace" came off the girl's neck and scampered over to the recording device.  He plugged his back leg into it, red eye sparking to a vibrant red glow when he began recording.  The law-abiders tried to hide their bewildered expressions and began the interrogation.

"Dragoness, why did you run away from home?"

"I hadn't the faintest bit of freedom." Alice simply stated.  "Father wouldn't let me out of my room unless it was dinnertime or I needed to use the restroom." The girl's light blue eyes flashed.  She could tell her father was already angered by such an obvious answer.  "I was just another patient...  I felt like it, anyway; the only difference was that I wasn't in a cell and couldn't get out on good behavior."

"And what's up with this machine you refer to as 'Chip'?" Batman asked.  He was surprised by the girl's reasoning for leaving- he could never see Jeremiah as the bad guy.

"Chip was an early invention of mine.  Since I wasn't allowed out and was unable to make real friends, I literally had to make friends." Alice sighed and brushed a finger over Chip's side in a caring way.  "Only you, the patients, and a small handful of the workers knew I existed until I escaped.  Many passed me off as 'Daddy's little girl,' but it was more like 'Daddy's little secret...'"

"Do you know why your father kept you locked up?" It was difficult to believe all of this.  Jeremiah, a bad man?  Definitely not.  hiring that sadistic bastard of a guard didn't count, it seemed.

"Of course I know, but it backfired on him." Alice crossed her arms on he table and rest her head on them.  "He didn't want me going crazy.  Didn't want the patients to negatively influence me.  That plan went bad a few years ago...  I started sneaking out to explore on my own once a week and stumbled upon the wing with the dangerous patients...  I started getting to know them one-by-one.  They were the closest I had to real friends- stupid idea, I know- but it's true."

"...Go on."

"Very well...  They all had one thing in common...  You were the one who put them here.  I've heard all their stories, and..." She sighed heavily and gave batman a serious look, which held a tiny twinge of annoyance.  "Mr. Bat...  Has it ever occurred to you that you might be the one who's wrong about us?"

"Excuse me...?!" That thought...  It was preposterous!  He was the Dark Knight...  Not a lowly criminal like this girl and her friends!  He could do no wrong!  Alice stroked Chip's side again.

"What I mean is...  Well...  You have such a two-dimensional idea bout those you peg as villains...  There's more to us than you allow yourself to believe." Batman grit his teeth and slammed a fist on the table, causing Alice to squeak in both shock and fright.

"No." he spoke, voice low as he tried to regain his composure.  "You're all the same." The girl looked down to her lap in attempt to avoid eye-contact.

"That's exactly what I'm talking about..." Came her quiet voice, childish innocence seeping through.  That little leak was the only thing that gave the Dark Knight enough patience to ask one more question.

"Tell me your relationship with the Mad Hatter.  Is he the reason you became a public enemy?"

"Well...  Uh..." Alice blushed the tiniest bit, wearing a small smile to match.

"I'm waiting."

"Um...  I'm not sure how to phrase it...  Aside from...  Well...  Mr. Bat, have you ever loved someone you couldn't have for one reason or another?"*  The Dragoness cringed at hearing the hero's chair screech against the floor as he swiftly stood.  The man swept toward the door angrily.

"This interrogation is over." he sternly spoke, storming out of the room and leaving a very confused officer and villainess behind.