I winced as I gingerly brushed my fingertips over the yellowy green bruises where Harley had gripped my arm. I stared into my mirror, discovering my mouth was set in a firm line, making me look like dad. The thought of imitating him just made the grimace deepen; I knew I should go talk to him, make sure he's alright. The Joker had got in a couple good punches, as he always did, but my body was so sore and tired, the thought of making the hike to the cave's elevator made my muscles scream in protest.
At the sound of someone loudly clearing their throat in my doorway, I yanked my sleeve down, covering the evidence of my discomfort. I turned and as I recognized the figure immediately, a smile played on my lips.
"Hello, Miss Echo," He smiled with his hands respectfully held behind his back.
"Hey Alf, Dad still in the—"
"Cave? Yes, I suppose, that's where I left him to find you."
He crossed the doorway and sat gingerly on the edge of my crisply made bed; he looked around him, at the neatly dusted and organized room, a chuckle bubbling from his throat. I tried my best to hide my limp as I took a seat beside him and studied his familiar cleanly shaved face, not a wisp of white hair out of place on his head.
"I've always loved your room the best, do you know why?" he looked warmly at me, a hint of pride in his eyes.
I shook my head and waited for him to go on, "I have never had to clean this room. It's always perfectly in order and not a speck of dirt to be seen."
I smiled weakly and breathed a laugh.
"What's the matter?" His dark eyes clouded with concern, but I looked away, casting my gaze on the pattern of my bed spread.
"Have you ever felt like you should be remembering something, as if you had a memory that you forgot?" I chose my words carefully.
"Hmm, well that's rather peculiar, no..I can't say I have. I know what'll make you feel better though, a nice hot cup of smoothing tea."
He slowly stood up and crossed over to the doorway; he paused with his hand lightly on the door frame. He turned his head to look back at me, his gaze was almost that of pity.
"You're like your father in many ways, as I'm sure I've told you before, Miss Echo. But…in some ways, you're very different as well. The problem that your father has, is not allowing himself to forget," something flickered through his eyes as he briefly stopped, "I guess what I mean is that if you ever have the luxury of forgetting what you've encountered in your job, I wouldn't go chasing after it."
And with that, he was gone without a sound. I shook my head, Alfred has always spoken the truth, whether it was what I wanted to hear or not. I understood what he was saying, but I don't think what my mind was skipping over was anything related to my Batgirl identity. It felt more like a feeling I was stowing away, like I was hiding a secret from myself which I didn't think was possible.
I slunk out of my room, ignoring the pain in my legs as I padded down the grand stairs. As soon as my feet hit the base of the polished tile flooring, a voice called out my name from the top. I listened to the heavy steps of Dick and held in a sigh.
"Hey Gorgeous, where you going?" He asked smoothly as he jumped over the last couple steps, landing with a dull thud next to me.
"Check on Dad, he was sort of quiet after we got back," I folded my arms over my chest, knowing all too well that his eyes had a habit of dipping too low.
Dick let out a snorting laugh, "He's always quiet."
I flickered my eyes up towards his, staring hard enough to falter his smile. He knew as well as me that Dad blamed himself for anything and everything that went wrong.
"Anyways, he likes to be alone anyways, let's not bother him. Come on, it's Friday night, lets go see a movie. I might even pay for you, if you behave yourself," his cocky smile was back and confidence shone in his eyes.
"I'd rather have a date with the Joker," I snapped and pushed onwards.
Dick didn't say anything else, but I could hear him following behind me. I put him out of my mind as I headed to the closest entrance way into the cave. I ducked into Dad's old study and quickly crossed the carpeted room to the grandfather clock. I hated this study for some reason; it used to belong to my grandfather and it seemed like the livelihood of the room died with him. Dad refused to move anything out of its place and no matter how many times Alf cleaned it, the old items seemed to constantly be covered in a thin layer of dust and age. On the desk, there were open books with yellowing pages and an old dirty glass, that once held wine before it dissipated into the air.
I couldn't stop the chills running up and down my back as I set the clock hands to 10:47. I suppose that the sight of this room would be comforting if I had actually met my grandfather, but now it felt like I was stepping into some place I didn't belong. I heard a faint click as a panel in the wall cracked open, I slipped through and waited for Dick to stride in behind me before finding the cool handle on the inside of the panel and pulling it closed. I flicked the lights on and removed Dick's arm he managed to curl around my waist.
I punched in the code and waited until the elevator's gears groaned to life and we started our descent, picking up more and more speed. As I stepped out, my eyes focused on a picture so familiar to me. Dad was staring at the monitor and its flashing images, even though I knew he didn't really see them. I lightly walked up behind him and gently placed a hand on the smooth material of his black cape; he jerked out of his thoughts and seeing that it was me, he straightened up and pulled a smile on his face. It was the same smile he put on when he was just Bruce Wayne greeting business associates or when I walk in on him and Alfred talking in hushed tones.
"You're going to hurt your eyes," I smiled the same smile back.
"Maybe then I'll be as blind as a bat, fits my job," He chuckled.
"What are you thinking about?" I said, my voice getting lower and my fake smile fading.
He grimaced and looked back at the monitors, "It was too easy. We captured the Joker with almost…minimal…casualties and knowing Harley, she would've thrown herself at the cop car if it wasn't staged. I've been waiting for the phone to ring, for the news from Arkham that he escaped, but nothing."
He shook his head and Dick spoke up from inside the bat mobile, "I don't get it, we finally succeed in a mission and you two are over there worrying about every fucking detail. Can't we just win for once?"
"No," Dad and I said in unison and shared a look.
Dick rolled his eyes, a gesture that made me want to smack him across the face in annoyance.
I turned back to dad, "Why don't we—"
I was cut off when sudden darkness swallowed everything in the huge cave. I felt dad hurry to stand up as a crazy cackle echoed in my ears from somewhere in the darkness in front of me. Memories of that laugh flashed through my eyes along with the familiar stench of gasoline, sweat, and gunpowder.
"What do you want, Joker? Show yourself!" Dad's fiercely low voice made me flinch.
"Tsk, tsk, now I thought bats could see in the dark!" The Joker was closer than I thought and his scent loomed closer as he snickered.
A thought shot across my mind; I wasn't in uniform and I had no mask. I silently progressed to the stairs of the upper level, relying on what I remember of the cave's layout to not run into anything. The lights flick back on and for a few seconds I was frozen.
"Well, where do you think you're going, little girl?" The Joker's gravelly voice shot adrenaline through my body and I took off running as far away from him as I could.
"Get her, Jester," I heard him hiss before his low voice was out of earshot.
I scrambled up the metal stairs, extending my legs out to take two at a time. I just had to make it to my extra suit; if I exposed my identity, I exposed all of us. I jumped over the Batwing and dodged stainless steel filing cabinets, until someone flew into me with all their weight. We both tumbled to the ground, I barely had time to catch my breath before hands flipped me onto my back and I glared into his face as he straddled me.
"Well who the hell are you?" he snickered and his scars stretched upwards.
I struggled underneath him, but he just tightened his grip on my wrists. Did he really not recognize me? It felt unreal to be in front of Jester without him knowing who I was. My mask did cover most of my face and all of my brown locks and I tried my best to disguise my voice when I had to speak at Batgirl, but it seems like he should've put two and two together.
"Wow, you really are stupid," I sneered and spat into his face.
"Listen here girly," He started and wiped of my spit, exposing a smear of his tanned skin from under his makeup.
I quickly recovered, "I mean, don't you recognize me? I'm Justice Wayne."
I made sure to include an air of importance to my voice. His hand came down hard across my face.
"Do I look like I keep up with the news on Gotham's precious Bruce Wayne or his offspring?" he hissed.
I groaned as a headache crept over the right side of my head and his ears perked up at the noise. A thought flashed through his eyes, but faded before I could decipher it. I stared straight into his cool green eyes, a gesture I could tell he wasn't used to; he held my hard gaze, never looking away.
"Am I interrupting something?" A giggle rose from the stair case.
I was tempted to glance at the red and black clad Harley as her heels clicked closer, but I refused to be the first one to look away and he showed no signs of giving in.
"Stop screwing around, Jest! Get the chick and get in the van already 'fore Mista J gets done wringin out the bat!" Her voice turned into an impatient whine.
My thoughts turned to dad, what was Joker doing to him? My fear most have momentarily shown through my eyes, because Jester's expression slightly shifted before he stood up, yanking me with him.
-Thoughts? Questions? Cries of anguish? Review review review.
