Chapter 1 - Turmoil

Rachel sighed and rubbed a hand wearily across her forehead. It had been a long day at her office and she just wanted to get home, slip into a hot bath and watch TV. But Harvey was striding up and down in front of her desk, demanding her attention while he rambled on and on about plans to capture Gotham's most evil adversary.

"There's got to be a way to catch him, Rachel, the man's not invincible. He's mortal, just like the rest of us."

"Sometimes I'm not so sure," Rachel muttered, resting her chin on her hands and propping her elbows on the desk. She thought of all the times that Bruce had tried to outwit him, to defeat him. The Joker had survived every time, and what's more, he'd usually escaped leaving only a grim cackle behind to torment the ears of his would-be captors. She couldn't deny it. The Joker was – a genius. A shrewd, psychotic mass murderer, yes, but a genius. She didn't know how Gotham would ever rid itself of him.

"Rachel, are you listening to me?"

She jerked herself out of her reverie and back to Harvey, who was stood in front of her with his hands on his hips.

"Yeah, I'm sorry, Harvey... It's just been a long day, and I'd like to go home. Can we deal with this tomorrow, please?"

His stern face instantly creased with concern and he moved around to Rachel's side of the desk, put his hands on her shoulders, and gave them a reassuring squeeze. "Honey, I'm sorry. You do look shattered; I should've noticed before. It's not been easy for you recently, huh?"



Rachel knew Harvey was alluding to her last encounter with the Joker, when he had held her at knife point in the middle of a roomful of distinguished people. She had been terrified, yes, but there was something undeniably compelling about his behaviour, something alluring about the way his mind worked. When he had held her face in his gloved hand and looked deep into her eyes she had seen far more than a madman reflected within his own black depths. His soul – if indeed he had one – was far more complex than anyone could have ever imagined. Something inside Rachel was nagging at her to discover more, to find out what made this man tick. It couldn't be merely violence and death, could it?

She looked down as she felt a blush spread over her cheeks. She knew she shouldn't be this interested in a man that had thrown her off a building, and it embarrassed her. She made a show of wiping a hand across her brow and blowing into her fringe.

"It's hot in here, don't you think?" she asked Harvey, standing up and moving away from the desk. He looked at her in bemusement.

"Rachel, are you – "

"I'm fine. I just – I don't want to discuss the Joker anymore, okay? This man has been on everyone's mind over the past few days and I'm – I'm fed up with it, to be honest, Harvey."

He still looked confused, but said, "Okay, sweetheart. You're right. All this talk of him can't be doing you any good. Listen, why don't you forget about the whole thing, concentrate on your clients, and let Bruce, Gordon and I deal with the Joker. I won't bother you with him anymore, alright?"

Disappointment washed over Rachel. In her quest to feign indifference towards the Joker she had now created the appearance of having a phobia of him. This was ridiculous. What was he doing to her mind?



"I want to be of use, Harvey. That psycho nearly killed me, and he's out to get many more. How long will it be before he announces that he's going to blow up a government building, or one of Bruce's skyscrapers? We need to corner him, I agree with you on that. Hell, we need to lock him up and throw away the key." She paused and smiled at her boyfriend to break the tension. "I'm not saying I don't want to help. Believe me I do. It's just – I – he frightens me, Harvey."

This, at least, was the truth.

He smiled softly at her in return, moved over to her, and put his arms comfortingly around her. She hugged him back, closed her eyes, and nuzzled her face into his neck, feeling safe and secure within his warm embrace.

"I know he does, honey. But once we have him, Gotham can rest easy. Bruce can rest easy. And so can we. Then we can think about our future, yeah?"

She nodded, trying to ignore the Joker's laughing face, which loomed up before her closed eyes, deranged, messy, and to be honest, just a little bit arousing.