"Let's go."
She looked at him and smiled quickly before wrapping one arm around his waist so he could put some of his weight on her. She felt him tense up and hesitate for a moment before he gave in and started to lean some of his weight into her and put his arm around her for support.
"Down here! Move down to the next level!"
He heard the voices very clearly now. The SWATs weren't that far away from them. Shit. He knew they'd really have to move fast to even have a chance in hell of getting out of here before it was too late. He could feel the adrenaline starting to course through him.
She started to move fast along with him in the opposite direction of the quickly approaching voices toward a door. "This way. Hurry!"
He followed along with her, putting more weight on his ankle than he really should have, but desperate times called for desperate measures. Plus, he had felt far worse pain than this. No, this was nothing really.
When they got to the exit and he saw the split doors he swore under his breath knowing they weren't going to find stairs behind it. Life was never easy was it? He pulled the doors open to reveal a large empty elevator shaft with a few cables in place and no elevator. Fuck. He looked disapprovingly down the seemingly endless dark hole and smacked his lips before looking over at her, narrowing his eyes. "Dead. End. Got any other bright ideas, Einstein?"
She held his glare for a moment longer before glancing in the other direction. The voices and the footsteps accompanying them were growing louder and closer every second that they stood there. She looked back at him. "This isn't exactly a dead end, you know. We can still climb down."
He raised his eyebrows at her in disbelief as she reached into the pockets of her black pants and pulled out a pair of black gloves. She put them on fast and reached out for the closest cable and grabbed hold of it. She was serious about this. Well, she certainly had spunk; he had to give her that.
He turned around to scope out any other nearby exits that would be a better option than this one. He spotted one way at the other end of the room. Shit. The voices were getting too close; he'd never make it, especially with his ankle. He turned toward her again and she was motioning for him rapidly with one hand.
"Come on. This is our only chance. It's either down the rabbit hole or stay here to get carted off by them."
Oh, what a choice that was. Go to Arkham or climb down a dark fucking elevator shaft with her? He sighed and licked his lips, reaching his gloved hands out for another one of the cables. He gripped it tight in both hands while continuing to look at her, still trying to figure her out. Maybe it was just the current circumstances, but there was something about her that was very difficult for him to read.
She smiled at him and jumped off the ledge and started climbing down. He followed after her. She was fast, but he wasn't having too much trouble keeping up with her. They continued down several levels until they could no longer hear the voices and footsteps.
"I think I see a door over there. Let's take it."
She had stopped climbing and was indicating another door to their right like the one they had used to get down here. They both started swinging towards the door. He was the first to gain enough momentum and held his long, good leg out to kick the door in. He watched her swing through the door and stood there waiting for him.
When he swung to the ledge he made the mistake of landing on his bad ankle. He hit into her hard and they toppled to the ground. He pressed on top of her and she made no moves to get away from him. Intrigued, he looked down into her mysterious green eyes for a moment. He stood up, wincing when he put too much weight on his bad ankle again, and brushed himself off. He quickly turned his attention to looking for another exit. This time hopefully one with fucking stairs.
She stood up and was at his side again. She instinctively went to wrap her arm around his waist again for support. He glared down at her, his dark eyes boring into her. She thought of the old saying of "If looks could kill," and wondered if whoever coined that phrase had done so with him in mind. She swallowed hard and shook her nerves off. "I, uh, I think there's another exit over there to the right. I think maybe that one has stairs."
"Really? Are you, uh, are you sure about that this time? Hm?"
She smiled nervously at him, nodding. "Pretty sure. We should go."
She started to pull him along with her towards the exit, but he had stopped her and pulled her back against a wall. His arms were pressed on either side of her, his hands resting against the wall, creating a barricade. Her breathing picked up and her heart started to pound in fear. His face was right in front of hers and his dark eyes were glaring at her.
"Not. So. Fast. Speedy." His voice was deep and angry. "I have a few questions that I, uh, that I want answered first."
She spoke softly, her eyes never leaving his. She didn't move a muscle in fear he'd kill with even the tiniest move. "Can't they wait? I don't think that now is exactly the time for playing twenty questions."
He laughed slightly and then ran his tongue along his lips. "Funny. Well, uh, I see things just a little bit differently. I've got questions and, uh, I want some fucking answers. Now. Got it?"
She pressed her body further back into the wall away from him. Her voice was still soft. "Yes."
He smiled briefly before wiping it away with the flick of his tongue over his red painted lips. "Good. Now, tell me who the hell you are, doll."
She continued to look up at him, backed against the wall, her expression never changing. "Raven. My name is Raven."
"Well, uh, Raven, why don't you go ahead and tell me what you were doing here, hm? See, I find it just a little bit too convenient for you to just appear here right before they took me away."
"You didn't want them to take you away, you know."
His right hand was gripped hard at her cheeks now, pressing her head up against the cool, hard wall. He was practically growling at her, his voice filled with an acid tone. "You don't know anything about me. Don't, uh, don't ever make the mistake of making assumptions about me again. You do and I'll cut your tongue right out of your pretty little mouth. Now, let's try this again. Answer my question."
She felt his amazingly strong grip loosen enough for her to speak. "I was here to get you out."
"And, uh, why is that exactly?"
She drew her lips into a half smile against his slight grip, feeling the cool fabric of his purple glove against her lips. "Because you're the only one who can get rid of the Bat."
He raised his eyebrows slightly, considering this and then rolled his eyes and laughed briefly, nodding. "So, you're helping me get out of here because you, uh, you actually expect me to do something for you? Is that what you're telling, Raven?"
She looked directly into his dark eyes. "I can't let you go to Arkham until you're finished doing what needs to be done, Joker."
He snarled at her, slamming her head hard against the wall. He brought his face directly in front of hers, a few strands of his hair falling onto her cheek. "Hate to, uh, disappoint you, but I've got a little bit of a newsflash for you. I don't work for anybody, but me, doll. I certainly don't do favors for anyone either. Got it?"
"Yes."
He dropped his hand from her head. She looked at him, questioning him. "Is that all you needed to know now because if we don't get moving they're going to catch up to us."
He backed away from her and glanced back over his shoulder at the door leading to the stairs and then took a quick look around the room. He didn't hear any more footsteps or voices, but he knew that didn't mean they weren't still coming for him. It was probably every cop in Gotham's wet dream to be the one to catch the infamous Joker. She was right. If they were going to get out of here they had better get out now.
"I'm finished…for now."
"Good."
She was at his side again and hesitantly wrapped her arm around his waist again. They headed towards the door in silence. When they finally reached the door she felt relieved when she opened it to reveal a set of stairs. She smiled up at him, "See? What'd I tell you? Think you can make it down these?"
He shoved her off of him and grabbed the railing of the stairs. "Not a fucking invalid. You go ahead of me. Ladies first."
She hesitated for a moment as he stretched his long arm out gesturing for her to move ahead. She guessed they had about five more floors to go before they reached the bottom and she wasn't sure if he could really make it down those stairs on his own with that ankle. However, she could tell by the fiery look in his eyes that there would be no argument at this. Oh well, at least he had the railings to lean against.
"Fine," she started off down the stairs in front of him.
She could hear him behind her in the dark. He was moving surprisingly fast, but she could tell by the few low groans he had let escape that he was hurting.
After he was starting to form a new hatred for stairs and was considering killing the asshole who invented them he finally saw the red exit sign glowing on the wall above him. He heard her footsteps stop and she started trying to open the door. He didn't see it budging any time soon. Weak. Pathetic. He reached the door and pushed her away with one arm. He kicked the door a few times with his good leg before it finally sprang open and the soft glow of street lamps outside began to pour in on them. He inhaled a big breath of fresh air from the outside, closing his eyes. When he opened them he turned to her, grinning. "Y'see, my little fledgling, that's how it's done. Now, uh, I don't suppose you've got a plan of how to get away from the building do you?"
She smiled, nodding at him. His face was illuminated by the soft glow of the street lights outside. "Well, I drove here."
He looked out the door briefly and then turned his head back to her, sucking in a breath through pursed lips and then smacking his lips together when he let the breath out. "Yeah? Well, uh, where's the car at? Hm?"
She pointed out the door for him. "Down that alley there."
He nodded and stuck his head out the door again looking for any cops or people that might come for him when they saw him. He didn't see anything from this side, which appeared to be the back, except the dark alley ahead of them and Gotham Harbor to the side. He could still see the ferries out there and he remembered Batman knocking the detonator out of his hand before he had a chance to do anything. Oh, Batman, you miserable fuck, if only you knew.
He felt her arm wrap hesitantly around him again and he jumped slightly when she started to tug on him, snapping him out of his thoughts. "Well, are you coming or did you change your mind?"
He smiled and ran his tongue along his lips, shifting his eyes from the ferries to her. "No, no, no. Let's go."
They took off down the alley towards her car in the dark night. They walked as fast as they could manage with his ankle, incase anyone should be lurking around in the shadows. They constantly kept their eyes open to their surroundings making sure there was nobody around. When they finally reached her small black car he stopped her from getting into the driver's side. He grabbed her arm tightly and spun her around, pulling her towards the passenger door.
"A ta-ta," he patted her cheek roughly, pressing his body into her against the car. "I'll be taking our little escape from here, cupcake. How about you give me the keys, hm?"
She stared up at him, confused. His face was so close to hers that she could feel his breath on her. "What?"
He had his switchblade out and was holding it up against the side of her face. "The keys, Raven. Give me the fucking keys or I carve your pretty little face up like a pumpkin."
She knew he wouldn't hesitate to do exactly as he had said. One wrong move and she would be dead before she even had a chance to realize what was coming for her. She took a deep, nervous breath.
"They're in the car. Under the mat on the driver's side. The doors are unlocked."
She watched, still in shock, as he smiled slightly, never lowering his knife away from her face.
"That's a girl. Now get in."
He pulled open the passenger door and shoved her roughly into the car. He put his knife away inside his coat and began digging for something else.
"What are you doing?"
He found what he was looking for and dangled it in the air for her to see. He grinned wide and laughed excitedly. Oh if only he could see the looks on their faces; on his face now. He contained his laughter and looked down into her confused green eyes.
"Well, you were right about one teensy little thing. Y'see, I'm not quite finished here. No, no. I've still got a few more cards up my sleeve."
With that he turned around and pressed a button on the detonator and they watched as both ferries along with the Pruitt building erupted into brilliant orange fire; lighting the dark Gotham night sky ablaze with chaos and destruction.
He stood outside of the car for a few minutes, laughing to himself with a huge grin plastered on his white painted face. He was basking in the sheer beauty of the explosions and wreckage around him. Gotham Harbor had never looked more beautiful with fire dancing across it's waters. He put the detonator away and closed the passenger door shut before limping quickly over to the driver's side.
He got in, pushing the seat back to accommodate his long, lanky legs. He reached down under the mat and fished out the keys then turned to face her as he stuck the key in the ignition. He still had that same eerily happy grin on his face. "Let's go home, To-To."
He erupted into bouncing high-pitched giggles as he slammed his foot on the gas and they peeled off out of the alley and away from the burning building and harbor behind them. Oh, was it ever great to be free!
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-AUTHOR'S NOTE-
- I'm back from my writing hiatus! Earlier than expected too. I have to say that I'm glad to be back and I hope those who added this to story alert because you liked Angel are still with me on this as well as any newcomers who added this just because they were intrigued. I hope you are all enjoying this as well. Hopefully I will get back on some sort of a regular schedule with writing and updating this because I love to write a lot during the fall and the season is fast approaching so I'd like to see a lot get accomplished. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I hope you'll continue to keep reading! Thanks for reading I appreciate it! Do review if you feel inclined to do so. ;) I love to know what people think about my writing.
-Disclaimer Time!- (like Hammer Time only not as catchy a tune...)
Yeah...I own none of these characters except for Raven. She's my brain child. That's it, though. Credit goes to the awesome geniuses who created the rest of these amazing characters and the companies that own the rights to said characters.
