Cassidy landed on the shattered glass.

Blood gushed out of her shoulder. She wanted to scream, but she bit down the urge.

Strained hisses came and went, bubbling inside her like a howling beast.

"It's over. Get up" Lyle ordered.

Cassidy caught a glimpse of a small crack on the floor. Getting larger. Until a tiny green root emerged.

Its leaves were small and ill-formed, but if anything was a good omen, that was it.

"I SAID GET UP!"

Cassidy, her anger building, grabbed onto the reception desk, pulling herself up until she stood. Still as a statue.

Lyle raised the handgun.

She looked, when, as she thought panic would set in, a shadow of a smile crept onto her lips. She even lowered her head, hoping he wouldn't notice her giggling. It was insane. He was holding a gun to her, and she found it funny. That was when Cassidy realized.

That, for the first time in a long time...

... She wasn't scared. Not in the slightest.

Brushing the fringe off her face, she stared straight at him, making sure he could see every detail of her.

They were unflinching, both matching each other in bloody wounds.

But Cassidy was the only one who saw the sadness in their situation- Lyle... was too far gone to see it.

Her gaze softened, unable to say anything that would make him stop. All she could do was look at him, pleading, even though she knew it wouldn't do a thing.

He kept the gun aimed at her head while, in his other hand, he flipped out a phone. She darted to it and then back to him, and it occurred to her that he hadn't pulled the trigger. Not yet. As if he wanted her to see what he saw, just for a moment. Even if she couldn't understand.

She tried saying something- when the ground shook.

More green roots sprouted up, growing by the second.

Both of them almost fell through the cracks as the rumbles grew louder, faster.

CRASH!

Lyle jumped out of the way as gigantic green vines smashed through the doors, lunging at breakneck speed toward the West Wing.

Cassidy could only see Lyle's face through the other side of the vines. A jungle wall. And it had done its job to separate them.

Lyle dragged himself away as he saw his phone and gun tangled in the twists and turns of the green, disappearing.

His nostrils flared like a bull as he charged back to the cafeteria.

It wasn't over. Not by a long shot.

///

"What's taking her so long?!" Joker snapped, looking at the time on his phone.

23:49.

Muttering, he ran to the table, picking up the walkie-talkie.

"Hellooo? Boys? Cassie?! Anyone there?!"

No response. He threw it on the floor.

"BAH! This is getting ridiculous!"

Bored out of her mind in the corner, Margaret groaned.

"How long are we supposed to wait?"

"M-m-maybe she's right, boss-" Rocco, another inmate, stuttered. "- Shouldn't we just-"

Suddenly, tremors rumbled from the ceiling like an earthquake, sending everyone off balance.

!!!

Giant vines burst through the walls, blasting rubble everywhere.

Most who had the sense ducked to the ground. Except Joker.

"What?!"

Vines wrapped around the hostages, shielding them out of sight.

Inmates fled the room as vines smashed holes in the wall. All those who tried attacking it were tossed away like dolls.

"No... NO!"

Joker shot it, achieving nothing except for a few small bullet holes, oozing a yellowish sap. Joker had gotten their attention.

They spread toward him.

The only ones who heard him scream were the hostages.

"What's happening?!"

Aaron, already free, aimed his hook at the zip ties on Joan's wrists.

"Doesn't matter! We need to go!".

///

Lyle rushed to the doors of the cafeteria, his entire body hunched over. Rabid.

He picked the lighter from his pocket, flicking it until the spark ignited into a single flame.

Tears streamed down his face.

There was no other way to end it. Arkham... everyone... They needed to be put out of their misery.

Once and for all.

He threw it into the gasoline, lighting flames through the door cracks...

... Straight to the pipe bombs.

WHOOSH!

Cassidy dove to one of the East Wing cells as a blinding light sped through.

Outside, everyone reeled back as the explosions ascended, blasting through each floor like a firework show. Glass and shrapnel, flying everywhere.

"NO!"

The police dragged Henry away as he cried, struggling to break free.

"Get him back to safety!" Jim Gordon shouted.

Jim turned to the inhuman shriek behind him and watched, bewildered, as green vines burst through the 1st Floor walls.

"What the-"

One of the longer vines stretched out, throwing something outside. Or rather, someone.

In the rays of the flashing police lights, Joker peeled himself up off the ground.

Growling, he ran, but a spotlight from the sky shone down on him alone, stopping him in his tracks. Something, like a police helicopter- hid in the clouds.

Squinting, his expression changed to terror when he saw Batman, gliding down to him, his wings outstretched like the claws of a demon.

Before Joker could do anything, Batman kicked him headfirst, knocking him out cold.

///

Gentle fingertips brushed the fringe from Cassidy's face.

Cassidy woke to the touch. It was warm. Familiar.

"M... Mom?"

Katherine smiled through tears as she stroked her daughter's hair.

If it were a dream, then it was more real than either could have imagined.

Cassidy realized they were not alone.

Elizabeth. Amadeus. Diana. Pearl.

They gazed at her, all without a sign of blood. No mark of pain on their faces.

But... All of you are...

She sat up, the grass floor tickling her hands like she was in a field. Daisies and tulips adorned the corners, clustered together.

"... Where are we?"

It looked like Arkham... But it couldn't be...

Cassidy looked at the pure white walls, then back at herself.

"Am I... Dead?"

"No. Not at all" Katherine said, kneeling by her side.

"But you need to wake up," Pearl said with a serious expression. "It's not your time"

"But... You're all here! I- I don't want to leave!"

"You'll see us again- promise"

Elizabeth and Amadeus took one last look before walking down the hallway, vanishing in light.

"No! Wait!"

Cassidy tried to stand as Katherine and Pearl walked away- but her knees were stuck.

"Oh, and sorry we never got to watch that film" Pearl called out. "See it without me, ok? You won't regret it"

Pearl motioned for Cassidy to look behind her...

And another's eyes met her own.

Standing a few steps away, Jeremiah held out his hand, beaming with pride.

A lump formed in Cassidy's throat. There was no time for her to know what to say- but he was her grandfather. She wanted to be with him. Even if only for a little while.

Don't leave... Please...

She reached for his hand as a bright light filled the room.

///

The ruins of Arkham Asylum were laid bare.

The trail. The party decorations in the visitation center. The auditorium and the knocked-over projector, the scrapbook in Hugo's office...

... And Elizabeth Arkham's painting, burning in the office that Cassidy once called her own...

And the East Wing.

Cassidy slept by one of the cell basins, motionless, her dress trailing near the scorching rubble.

Her hands twitched.

Jolted awake, Cassidy lifted her head, her back aching, wanting to stand but not steady enough. The hallway was foggy, thick smoke covering the ceiling. It would be deadly to try and stand.

Cassidy crawled out, keeping low to the ground. She slowed, coughing, tumbling past the white-hot fragments of glass and stone.

Flames raged like an inferno from the East Wing entrance, writhing toward her, up and up.

Forcing herself to look ahead- there, a few feet away, she saw part of the wall, cracked open, the police sirens blaring within reach.

///

23:55.

Arkham Asylum was on fire.

Flames engulfed the upper floors, soaring past the roofs of the old clock tower as they reached the sky.

"Do not resist arrest!"

Jim Gordon held the microphone so close to his mouth, he practically spat down it.

"I repeat: DO NOT resist arrest!"

Arkham inmates ran, only to be greeted by police lights and whirring helicopters from above.

Some fell to the floor, coughing up fumes, others were running for whoever was in front of them.

A hand grabbed Jim's shoulder.

"We've had to evacuate!" The senior firefighter croaked. "The fire's out of control!"

Jim wrinkled his nose as smoke wafted to him, and he turned his head.

The spectacle of water hoses had little effect on the burning building. And the firefighters were slowing down.

"What about the others?!"

"I'm sorry sir, we saved as many as we could- there's nothing we can do!"

"Damn it"

Jim shoved the speaker in his pocket, turning when he heard maniacal laughter behind him.

"The missing hostages—where are they?!" Batman growled, lifting Joker by the collar of his suit, their faces inches apart.

"Why ask me? I didn't kill all of them!"

Batman slammed him against the van and cracked the side of his jaw, over and over, until the clown's laughter gurgled.

Jim watched black gloves splatter red, skin tearing, bones breaking.

"I don't have time for this," Jim said as he stormed past the firefighter.

Usually, he would sigh and scratch his mustache, trying to avert his eyes. But not then. Not as he saw the smug smirk on Joker's face every time another hit landed.

No.

He was done playing.

"Commissioner! Over there!" A police officer shouted.

Before he could give Joker a piece of his mind, Jim peered toward the burning building.

There, through one of the holes in the wall, Cassidy emerged- stumbling through the smoke and rubble as if she were a ghost.

The ivory dress she wore...

Soaked...

... In blood.

"Oh god..."

Jim trembled as he grabbed the police speaker from his pocket.

"We need medics at the East Wing—NOW!"

Safe at last, Cassidy looked into the distance as paramedics rushed to her, sirens blaring louder...

... Finally- she had made it.

A/N: Well done, Cassidy! You deserved it.