The Wolf, The Doctor, and The Avox [oneshots]

I want to chop him into tiny little pieces and force him to eat those little pieces of himself before jabbing a damned stick of eyeliner through his eye. I've had it with the make-up and dress-up every single day. This mansion is not a dollhouse and I am not his doll. Especially not today. A girl only turns nineteen once, and I will not celebrate that as Naveen Casovnik. Screw her and screw Riddler and screw this fucking place! I want to scream, but that little bit of satisfaction would only lead to hours of misery that I'd rather not deal with. But if this prick looks me dead in the eye with that fucking smile and calls me Naveen Casovnik one more time---

The edge of Mr. Tattle's paint can hits me in the arm and I can't help but grumble. At least until he taps me again, clearly wanting my attention as we approach the mansion. And despite his full hands he manages to raise his hands, linking his fingers in just the right way, signing. "What's happening?"

The fact that clutzy Mr. Tittles can sign surprises me, but I don't question it. I only shrug and sign back as best as I can, "He's an idiot." That's when Riddler sends Mr. Turtles to the backyard with the shovel. Seems he needs even more landscaping done even though I saw him hire an entire team of professionals last week to redesign it like the Lotus Fields of the 62nd. He made me go out there and sit so he could paint a picture of me. Just one of my many duties being a very expensive Avox redesigned to be some dead girl. I wish I could be stationed somewhere else - even the Training Center has to be better than this. At least there I wouldn't be expected to answer to someone else's name.

"I've brought a little friend over for a visit," he says, disappearing into one of the big rooms with no real purpose. I pause outside the threshold, rubbing my temples. I don't want to serve food to one of his many admirers, or hang up their coat, or tend to their every need. I don't want to meet anymore Capitol freaks here to see what wonderful artistry was put into my facial reconstruction. Fuck them. "Use your manners, say hello."

I round the corner, feeling another bit of rage rise up within me when he pokes at the fact that I lack a tongue, and that it was he who ripped it from my mouth. But when I look up, about to force a smile for the honored guest, that rage dissipates into despair. The cable ties in my hand suddenly feel very heavy, the shovel I had handed to Jasper popping into my mind. I shake my head slowly and toss the cable ties to the ground. He can't do this, he cannot do this, there is no way he will do this, no no no. My brother looks back at me passively. I want to cry; I can feel my throat swelling shut as I try hard to swallow a whimper. This isn't real.

"Now, Mr. Lovecraft here has lots of relatives. Six brothers, a mother, a father. I considered inviting them as well, but perhaps another day?" I stand frozen in place, looking into my brother's eyes. He stares back at me. The terror on my face must be getting to him; I see his adam's apple slowly slide up and back down as he swallows anxiety. I want to hug him, run to him, scream at him, explain who I am, tell him to run, something - anything - but I can never make words again and I'm so shocked that my limbs have frozen. Only when I feel a tear roll down my cheek can I move, wiping away the tear, surely ruining my make-up.

"Sit them down," Mr. Riddler whispers to the burlier Avoxes he keeps as security guards. Before I know it I am being forced into a chair, zip tied to it, facing my brother who despite putting up a much more of a struggle, is still completely contained. I ump up and down on my chair as best as I can, trying to get Mr. Riddler's attention, but he is preoccupied picking out a knife from his elaborate collection of them that he has hanging on the wall. I scream. He doesn't care, only twirls the knife between his fingers, slowly approaching my brother who sits staring at me, trying so hard to connect the dots. To him, I just look like a dead girl he had bet on ages ago. I begin to sign the letters of my name, getting to the 'G' before the Avox next to me breaks my pinky finger.

I screech.

"You've been behaving quite poorly lately, Miss Casovnik, and honestly, I'm sick of it," Riddler starts, his face stern and jaw set. "I tried to get through to you. I've been quite generous. But all this misbehavior, that ends now," he says, looking me dead in the eyes. I shake my head fiercely, trying hard to free myself from my restraints.

He whirls around and jabs the knife into Isiah's thigh. We both scream. "Right?" I nod and nod and nod and nod just so he will stop, I want him to stop, he needs to stop. I try to say the word yes but it comes out as some foreign whimper of sorts. Making an Avoxed person speak is embarrassment enough. He didn't need to hurt my brother. He didn't need to do anything but show me the kid and I would've played his little game.

"Good girl, I'm so glad it only took one brother."

And then he pulls the knife from Isiah's leg and jams it into his throat. I screech words of nonsense into the air as blood spurts from his lips and his eyes - those baby blue eyes that i have had my whole life - roll into the back of his head. I sob an shout squirm until they finally cut the cable ties and let me collapse to the ground. I crawl over to him, pull the knife from his throat, blood spurting onto my face making me jump and sob harder. I cut the ties from his wrists and ankles and he falls forward onto me, a slump of dead weight collapsing into my arms. I hold him, rocking back and forth as my mascara colored tears drop onto his face, his dead eyes looking to somewhere in the distance.

"You made a mess, Naveen," Riddler says from the doorway. "I suggest you clean it up."