Chapter 1: Eco-Terrorist
So here's the first chapter to the second story to A Comedy of Errors. If you haven't read that one yet, I highly suggest you do because you will have no idea what is going on in this story :)
Also I only own my characters. Though I do use my imagination when dealing with other villainous Gothamites, but I still can't claim them.
Bagheera laid on the van's leather seats, which smelled of gun powder and sweat, in a soft slumber. Her night had been plagued by nightmares with smiling clowns and loud explosions. The nightmares and lack of sleep had secretly plagued her since the events of the Joker two years ago; the only good thing that had come out of the Joker being put away was that the media had laid off of her. She had seen the precinct's shrink just for show in an attempt to get her colleagues and William Barba off of her case. She had made a habit of telling everyone that she was fine and that she hadn't really been affected by the killer clown, and at times she believed it herself, but late at night when she lay beside Barba in his large home, the dark images would find her. She lay in the light slumber and her simple black collared shirt rose just enough to show off the scar that the Joker had left her with. The men that surrounded her took in the old wound and each one felt a shiver of unease come through them. Each one had an interaction with the mad man, but none of them had wounds like the woman that lay in front of them.
"What's her problem," a Gotham police officer on the low end of the totem pole asked in a thick Gotham accent that told everyone in hearing distance that he spent his whole life in the Gotham Narrows and probably still resided within its poverty lines.
"She was up all night getting ready for this," Detective Mark Hamill, Bagheera's current partner since Angela Ramirez had resigned, informed the team of undercover police officers in annoyance, "So you better give her some respect."
Mark Hamill stood an even six foot with an All American boy next door look to him. He held the lightest of brown eyes and razor cut blond hair. He had been the quarterback for his high school football team which led to a scholarship at Gotham University where he managed to pass every class with honors. Mark held himself like a proud man when he entered a room and he had a slightly crooked grin that lit up that room. He was well on his way to gain a place at Quantico to become an FBI agent once he made a name for himself in Gotham City. He and Bagheera worked well together and had brought down several criminals while the Joker lay dormant in his cell at Arkham Asylum.
Bagheera shivered from the November chill that found its ways through the cracks of the old van. The van was white. Old bullet holes from previous raids had been patched up many times before so it simply looked like the van was a piece of junk that was owned by a clumsy driver. Bagheera opened her blue eyes to see the men looking down at her with intrigued eyes. She felt the cool air move underneath her shirt and she quickly pulled herself up from her laying position.
"So what's this all about," another officer, who was a fresh baby face straight out of the police academy, asked.
"This location has been identified as a meeting area for the Eco Gang," Mark informed them, "Our informant has told us that there is a meeting between the big shots to determine their next target. The Eco Gang target businesses and the wealthy in a deluded attempt to read the world of what they call 'terrorists against the world'. They are very, very dangerous," Mark looked over to his partner and suggested, "You should warn them about Pam."
Bagheera nodded at her partner and looked to the men that had been loaned out to them for backup, "Pamela Isley has been a rising star in the eco-terrorist front. She has connection to every leading sect in the United States and Canada. Before she decided to enter a life of crime as an eco-terrorist, she was a very important member of the botany department at GU. She uses this training in developing the explosives that the gang uses against corrupt businesses."
Bagheera held a photograph of the red headed Pam dressed in a doctor's coat holding a large Venus Fly Trap that she had taken care of while a professor at Gotham University. Her smile seemed to sparkle as she held the plant tightly in her arms as if it were her own child.
"She's dangerous," Bagheera warned the officers that looked at the photograph with a look of disbelief, "I've arrested her twice. The first time the Batman interrupted our sting op. She was carrying a nine millimeter in her purse with the five magazines ready on the side, a bottle of her special mace hooked on her hip, and a pair of freshly sharpened scissors in her bra. She was a wild animal."
"Pam Isley goes by the name Poison Ivy," Mark added, "The tips of those scissors are laced with a deadly poison from a plant from West Africa. In that first raid, she killed two men."
"The second time we cornered her," Bagheera said as if she were telling a casual story from her childhood, "I asked her to surrender and she surrendered without a problem. She was very polite and she gave up all of her weapons when asked."
"She don't look too bad," the thick accented officer said with a shrug of his shoulder as he took in the picture of the simple, yet beautiful, woman.
"She's even more unpredictable than the Joker," Bagheera informed them, "If she doesn't surrender peacefully, I expect some real help. Now, gentlemen," she eyed each one of the men that looked at her, "don't think this is going to be some cat fight between two girls that you can hoot and holler for. She is very dangerous. She is HIV positive, which she contracted from a high school boyfriend, so be careful around her. She could spit, bite, cut herself just to get away from you. Be careful when you place her into custody, she could have dirty needles in her hair or needles adorning her outfit. I cannot reiterate how dangerous she is."
"Well one look at me-"
"No," Bagheera interrupted in quick anger, her blues eyes sparkled from the sudden flash of anger at the sexually rude comment that the officer was about to make, "This isn't the time for macho man bullshit."
"Bagheera," Mark whispered in an attempt to calm her sudden change in attitude. He had learned that since the events of the Joker, she had lost a considerable amount of patience with men that wanted to demean her knowledge on the criminals that tried to rule the city.
"No," Bagheera continued on with her previous level tone, "She is not interested in men since what her old boyfriend did to her. In fact, she would rather you all be dead than alive. She has been seen with a string of female lovers. One of which died under mysterious circumstances when she was going to testify against her at our request the first time we brought her in."
The van came to a slow halt in front of the large abandoned plant. Bagheera looked out the darkened windows to see the large building that barreled over the top of them like a reigning monarch. She pulled on her bulletproof vest and placed her weapon in its home on her hip.
"Let's get this done good and clean," Mark informed the team, "It would be nice to have a bloodless takedown."
Bagheera ignored her partner as she opened the sliding door of the old van and pulled herself out. She looked to the roof and smiled inwardly when she did not see the sign of the Batman looking down on them in anticipation of knowing that they would screw up.
"You okay," she heard Mark as he walked beside her, "You didn't sleep again last night did you?"
"Not really," she answered in a whisper so the others couldn't overhear them, "I'm still suffering from nightmares. I mean," she shrugged as they stopped at the closed door, "I don't have them as bad as before, but they're still there."
"If you need to take some time off after this-"
"No," she answered as the thick accented officer busted the door down, "I'm good."
Bagheera and Mark rushed into the building with their weapons ready. They watched each other's back as they moved through the dark maze of the building. They could smell fertilizer and gun powder as they walked deeper into the building.
Laughter erupted throughout the building around the two detectives. Bagheera looked with sharp eyes for any sign of the woman named Poison Ivy.
"You go with them," Bagheera whispered to Mark.
"I'm not-"
"I have a better chance of living through this than you do," she informed him in an even tone as they continued to move down the long, dark hall, "You go find those men."
"Come on Lew Lew, I see you haven't brought the Batman," the dark, feminine voice announced with a dark chuckle, "Can't catch me."
Bagheera nodded to her partner who slowly walked away from her to catch up with the other officers.
"Pam," Bagheera hollered through the darkness, "You have nowhere else to go," she placed her back against the wall as she came to a turn, "You really think the men in the Eco Gang take you seriously? All you are to them is a girl that can make some shit bomb," Bagheera smiled at her own clever joke about fertilizer made bombs.
"I think you spent too much time with the Joker," Poison Ivy announced from somewhere in the darkness.
The detective moved quickly away from the side of the wall and trained her gun with steady hands on the darkness in front of her.
"Where are you Pam?"
"Here," the criminal announced with a dark laugh as she dropped from the pipes that slithered above her. Pam smiled at her as she looked down at the gun.
"Nice outfit Poison," Bagheera said sarcastically as she took in the woman's green leather dress that fit her curves tightly to lure weak minded men to their death, "You take the beautiful, but deadly appeal from your Venus Fly Trap? Didn't some shithead student kill it?"
Bagheera pointed her gun at the woman's head as she watched anger ripple through Ivy's vivid green eyes. The detective couldn't help the smile that painted her own features as she watched the criminal's attitude change so suddenly.
"Bagheera, darling," the almost purr like voice of Poison Ivy said in contained anger as she glared at the detective, "You always surprise me at how you made it in a world dominated by men without getting a little dirty."
"It wasn't easy," Bagheera answered casually as she trained her weapon on the woman, "Now you want to help me continue climbing that ladder until I break that glass ceiling by surrendering to me?"
...
Bagheera smiled as she looked down at the wonderful meal that sat in front of her. The penguin like tuxedo wearing waiter poured her and William Barba a very expensive red wine. She couldn't help the smile that painted her red lips. She placed a white cloth napkin upon her lacey red and black dress. Tonight was a special night for her and William Barba who sat across from her with a happy smile upon his face as he took in her triumphant smile.
"To Detective Lewis," Barba announced with a proud smile as he raised his glass of wine to her, "for taking down another criminal."
Bagheera smiled as she allowed the tip of her wine glass to clink against his.
"She wanted to blow up your building, District Attorney Barba," she said with a happy chuckle, "because you let Bobby Falcon off."
Barba chuckled as he fiddled with the box in his pocket. Nervousness riddled his body as he took in his longtime girlfriend. She had stuck by him through the stress of running for DA and he had stuck by her while she tried to get over what the Joker had done to her. He had spent hours looking for the perfect ring that could explain to the world how much he loved Bagheera Lewis.
"It was needed," Barba informed her with a charming smile, "I'd prefer having a rapist behind bars. We can always get Falcon on something else."
She shrugged her shoulders as she offered him her prettiest smiles, "I give him less than a month before the Batman catches him for you."
Barba reached out to her and held her hands in his own. He gave her a small, reassuring squeeze as she looked down at the gesture with slight confusion on her face. He knew that she had learned that he only gave her reassuring touches when something potentially life changing was going to happen to her. He allowed his thumb to absently rub soft circles upon her palm as his free hand dug into his pocket for the small, velvet box that contained a beautiful ring.
"Bagheera," Barba asked as he hid the box just beneath the table so she couldn't see it, "I want to ask you something."
Bagheera's blue eyes widened and her breath caught in her throat as she watched Barba slowly pull the box from underneath the table. She felt her mind race and her heart slow as she watched him fiddle with the box in his hand.
"Bagheera," he asked as he looked away from the box and into her blue eyes that sparkled while his thumb continued to draw circles upon her hand, "Will you," he paused as he watched tears fill her eyes and pull her right hand away from his hand to hold in her gasp that wanted to escape, "…go to the Gotham Giants vs. Metropolis Mustangs football game? My sister's boyfriend is the coach there."
"What," Bagheera asked in confusion at the strange question as she looked down at the red velvet box that he still fiddled with in his nervousness.
"No," Barba said as he patted her hand and pulled away from her to open the small box, "I want to ask if you would give me the honor in being your husband?"
The tears that Bagheera's eyes had collected fell down her cheek as the light hit the solitaire diamond surrounded by a simple love knot. The diamond and the beautifully polished silver sparkled as the light hit them as he presented her the shining, expensive ring. She could feel the eyes of the surrounding patrons looking towards them with happy whispers.
"Oh my God," Bagheera whispered as she neared breathlessness as she looked down at the engagement ring. She shook her head in disbelief. She had known that he would be asking soon. They had dated for a long time, they had had their ups and downs during her time trying to get over the events that the Joker had put her through and the stress of an early campaign, but for the most part William Barba had been perfect for her and seemed to think the same of her. She did love him. He was the first man that she had ever felt such intense, confusing feelings for. He made her happy and when she wasn't happy, he would reassure her with a simple touch that everything would turn out fine.
"So," he said with a slowly forming smile, she could see his nervousness as he watched her carefully for her answer, "Am I going to have a Mrs. Bagheera Barba in my life?"
She smiled as she slipped the ring upon her finger and pulled herself away from her chair in haste. She hurried over to his side in excitement that even to her seemed out of place.
"Of course I will," Bagheera said through happy tears as she threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly not ever wanting to let him go. She closed her eyes and took in his cologne as he squeezed her in return. She could hear random patrons clapping for them as she reluctantly pulled away from his warm embrace that made her feel safe from all the vile things in the world.
"I love you," she whispered the same words that she had whispered so many times before.
"I love you too Baggy," Barba said, allowing the Joker's nickname for her to slip off his tongue by mistake.
Bagheera sat back in her place as the waiter came to check on them. A bubble of uneasiness danced inside of her stomach for only a moment at the sound of the old nickname. She wiped the sudden tears of happiness away from her cheeks as she looked down at her new ring that shone bright on her finger.
"It's so pretty," she said with the lingering effects of astonishment still on her face as she took in the beauty that Barba had placed upon her finger.
"I think you've just made me the-"
Bagheera's cell phone rang loudly, interrupting her future husband's stereotypical admission of how she had made him the happiest man in the world. A look of annoyance and slight embarrassment came over her as she pulled her cell phone from her small black handbag. Gordon's name peered back at her and she looked at Barba with a simple roll of her eyes.
"It's Gordon," she said as she took the call.
"Not a good time," she answered as she looked to her future husband who picked up his glass of wine in a successful attempt to pretend that he was not listening in on her conversation. Bagheera gave him a soft smile at his valiant effort.
"It's about the Joker," Gordon informed her.
Bagheera's blood ran cold as countless possibilities rushed through her mind. Her eyes quickly took in her surroundings in an attempt to locate any men that may be working for the Joker, but she only witnessed the elites of Gotham and the few lucky Gothamites that had saved up for a night in the luxurious diner.
Barba watched as the blood seemed to rush away from her face and her bright eyes faded as what seemed to be dread filled those eyes that had been filled with happiness only moments ago.
"What's wrong," he asked as he reached for her visibly shaking hand.
Bagheera jerked her hand away from him before his skin touched hers.
"Did he escape," she asked, her voice was small as she awaited the answer.
"I need you to come-"
"Did he escape," she asked once again, this time her voice was filled with venom.
"Bagheera," Gordon answered, "I need you to come in now."
She listened as the other end of the line went dead from her boss hanging up on her. Her heart sank at the thought of the Joker escaping Arkham. She had the sick feeling in her stomach that he would come for her. She had left him with two more holes in his body, she was sure that he would add a few holes to her as an act of revenge for what she had actually accomplished against him.
"I…uhh," she looked around the restaurant and then to the district attorney that had just asked her to marry him, she bit at her lip and shook her head, "I am so sorry Will," she choked the sob of fear that wanted to escape her, "I have to," she paused as she bit at her bottom lip, "I have to go to work."
"What is it," Barba asked as he watched her slip out of the chair, carrying her small handbag with her. He felt a sense of sudden estrangement come over him as he watched his fiancée walk towards the coat check to grab her black coat before she exited the warmth of the restaurant to enter the cold, November world outside.
...
Bagheera stepped out of the cab in front of the Gotham PD just as she had done from the start of her career back in Gotham City. The many memories from that day until the Joker had been convicted ripped through her mind as she looked up to the tall stone building that loomed above her.
Her black heels slid from under her as she walked towards the icy stairs, but she quickly caught herself before she busted her tailbone on the hard cement. Her heart beat as adrenaline moved through her. She had bravely faced off with the Joker, but the thought of having to do it all over again now that she actually had a life and people that cared about her scared her beyond belief.
She hurried through the hallways until she found Jim Gordon standing in front of a picture of the Joker that had been placed on a projector and thrown against the wall. Her partner stood beside him as they seemed to share some secret conversation.
"Gordon," Bagheera announced her arrival as she hurried towards the two men. She tried to hide the worry that crossed her features as they turned to look at her. Mark turned to look at her with a look of surprise as he took in her 'dressed up fancy' appearance. He watched as she stuffed her hands in her jacket pockets, but his quick eyes had caught the glint of a new ring on her finger. He allowed a knowing smile cross his face he took in his blue eyed partner in crime fighting.
"Wow," Mark announced playfully as he looked her over in amazement, taking in the slight curvature of her bare legs that her dress allowed to show, it was something that no one in the precinct had seen before from her, "I've always said the DA was a lucky man, but damn you are too good lookin' for a smug bastard like him."
Bagheera gave him a soft smile, but it quickly escaped her as she looked back to Gordon and the worry replaced the smile as she said with almost tangible worry in her voice, "The Joker?"
"You remember Crawford," Gordon asked simply.
Bagheera's brows furrowed as she recalled the man that had been trying to gain a date with her, "Gregory Crawford," she answered, "He is the head of Arkham Asylum. He took Jonathon's position after..."
"Well he's called," Gordon informed her, "It seems that the Joker won't speak with him or acknowledge his existence."
"Still," Bagheera asked with what sounded to the men as disbelief.
"He has a new psychiatrist that he does talk with," Gordon informed her as he looked over to Mark.
"I've collected a little background on her for you," Mark said proudly as he handed her a manila file, "I decided to save you the leg work."
Bagheera opened it to see a photograph of a pretty, young blonde woman with a promising glint in her pale blue eyes that seemed to shine just as brightly as hers. Her ring glinted in the wind
"Harleen Quinzel," Bagheera read aloud. Her brows furrowed as she tried to recall where she had seen the name before.
"Crawford doesn't think that anything unprofessional is going on between the two," Mark insisted as he watched Bagheera's look of confusion cross her face as she continued to read the file he had gathered, "Is something wrong?"
"I recognize this name," she informed him as she moved over to her desk where the large file on the Joker laid hidden beneath the other files that she had collected over the last few years, "Here," she pulled the file open and pointed to one of the previous diagnosis on the Joker, "this is the only in depth diagnosis based off of the footage that the Joker had submitted to the news stations."
Mark took the file away from her and took in the slightly dusty smell that had accumulated around it from months and months of being stuck at the bottom of the drawer.
"The Joker, from archival footage," Mark read aloud, "seems to suffer from a manic state of depression probably evolved from severe scarring to the face, delusions of grandeur, and likely a form of anti-social personality disorder described by several stories of the victims. This diagnosis is in no way permanent and only based on given evidence from the Gotham City PD. More will be known if the criminal known as the Joker if he is captured alive and sent to Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane," he looked over to Bagheera then Gordon and nodded, "Signed Dr. Harleen Quinzel."
"If the good doc made this I can bet my bottom dollar that she's only talking to the Joker to make herself famous," she informed the two, "and what better way to get famous is to diagnose a high profile killer?"
"The Joker is using her own ambition against her," Mark asked as he connected the dots. Bagheera smiled and nodded at him. They worked brilliantly together. She never had to connect the dots for him. He had always followed her line of thought every time.
"The road to Hell is lined with ambition," Bagheera said as she took the file away from her partner, "He's trying to do the exact same thing to her that he did with me. He wants to make her famous to manipulate her into thinking that she owes him something."
"You think she will do something," Gordon asked.
"I think that's your call Commish," Mark answered with a shrug, in an attempt to take some of the stress off of his partner and put it on the man that was in charge.
"Still," Gordon said simply, "I want you to go down there. Talk to him. Get an insight into his psychiatrist."
Bagheera nodded at the request and grabbed her badge from her desk drawer. Mark followed behind her with a large smile.
"I always kind of hoped that he'd escape," Mark admitted with the happy grin still pasted upon his face as he caught up to walk beside her towards the door, "How great would it be to get into Quantico with the-"
He stopped midsentence as he realized what he was about to say. He knew that his partner had tried countless times to be re-accepted to the behavioral science unit at Quantico after the Joker incident, but they had sent her notices that the sections had been filled time and time again.
"I'm sorry, Bag," he began, but she quickly cut him off.
"This is a one man job," she informed him as she placed her hand upon the door.
Mark quickly grabbed her hand and whispered, "You don't have to go through this alone."
"No," Bagheera whispered in slight anger, "don't suggest that I need-"
"I wasn't," Mark tried to explain, "I mean," he sighed and looked at her ring and gave her a soft smile of reassurance, "Nice ring. He came to show us last week, he asked if you'd like it. William's a good guy. He really cares about you."
Bagheera smiled at the friendly compliment that her partner had given her. She nodded and whispered her thank you to him as she pushed the door open.
"Be careful," he said to her as he watched her make her way to the elevator to the ground floor.
"Oh," she said as she turned around quickly to look at her smiling partner, "are you going to testify at the Ivy trial Thursday or do you want me to go?"
"You can go," Mark answered with a smile, "I have a few things to do around town that day. My parents are coming in for Thanksgiving this year. How about you and Barba?"
"We'll probably go to his parents' house," she answered with a smile while acknowledging how domestic she felt since falling for William Barba, "They came to his house last year."
They both shared a chuckle just as the elevator doors opened for her to leave Gordon's floor. She took a deep breath as the doors closed back on her, hiding her away from her partner and her co-workers. The silence in the elevator was comforting as she thought about Arkham Asylum and what lurked there.
"It'll be fine Baggy," she whispered to herself and took a deep breath as the door opened with a ding. From her place in the elevator, she could see small flakes of snow falling from the sky. A shiver ran through her as she watched the wind blow the flags from across the street harshly in the sky.
"You called yourself Baggy, Bagheera."
I hope you liked the first chapter. I wanted to start it with a criminal that hadn't been used in the Dark Knight series so here we have Poison Ivy. And I shamelessly changed her up a bit, I more or less wanted a character with a disease that could be considered fatally poisonous to others. Plus I think it may fit the darkness that I have put into the previous chapters.
And we have a little happy Bagheera for a moment!
So, so far what do you all think? What about Harleen Quinzel? You think they may get along? What do you think about her new partner (which I totally stole the name Mark Hamill from the Joker's voice actor in the animated series)? I thought a great dynamic duo within the police department was needed sort of like Benson and Stabler from SVU :)
Reviews are always welcome! :)
