45 minutes later Tanya emerged, still wrapped in a towel. A thug was at the door. He leered at her.
"Hey sexy," he licked his lips. She recognized this man. He was one of Maroni's thugs, one that she had helped expose. Panic gripped her. She back stepped, trying to get back into the bathroom. She had no such luck. The thug, (Moretti, if she remembered correctly) had already seized her arm.
"Where you going beautiful?" hers eyes widened with the fear even more intense than what she felt for the Joker.
She grappled for the doorknob behind her, desperately trying to get in. Moretti pressed her hard into the door, the metal handle digging into her lower back. All fight ebbed out of her. She started to slink down towards the floor as he reached for the towel. Tanya let her mind go blank, convinced that she had no chance of overpowering this man. His breathing was heavy in her ear, and as his hand brushed her bare, moist skin she felt nausea overtake her. She prayed silently for it to be over, bracing herself for the worst.
Footsteps sounded faintly in the distance, but sped up, increasing in pace. Tanya chanced a glance ans was surprised to see the face of the last man she desired to see. All trace of mirth was gone from his expression, replaced with anger. The Joker came barreling around the corner and threw the Moretti off of her. Tanya almost lost her towel and the thug went flying, yanking at the only barrier she had. She screamed and jerked away, spinning, looking for an out. She took the opportunity to swing the bathroom door open and race inside. She slammed it closed and threw the lock and sat shaking, her back braced against the door. Her knuckles were white, death-gripping the towel around her.
"What did you think you were doing?" the Joker's voice was cold, with no hint of his trademark humor.
"C'mon boss, I was just gonna have a little fun. That ain't against the law now, is it?" Moretti attempted to justify himself, his voice laced with a poison cockiness. There was a scuffling sound before Tanya felt something slam into the door behind her. She closed her eyes, trying to bite back tears.
"The only law around here is my law. What I say goes." the Joker's voice was little more than a hiss, but Tanya heard every word. "And I remember saying not to touch her. Don't you?"
The only response was a banging and scraping of shoes against the door. Tanya wanted to cover her ears, but something inside of her needed to hear. She heard Moretti scream a deep, throaty cry of pain she never expected or even knew existed. Unable to take it anymore, she slammed her hands over her ears, trying to find a happy place in her mind. The faint sounds of something smacking the door and then rolling to the floor still worked their way into her consciousness. Then it all went silent. She slowly uncovered her ears.
"Open the door," she heard the Joker's command. Not wanting to test him, she stood up, unlocked the door and swung it open. His hulking figure filled the doorway. He was smiling a strange little half smile, and holding, to her horror, a small, very bloody knife. She backed up and he pushed past her, exposing Moretti lying on the ground. He was sporting a blood drenched shirt and the same smile the Joker wore, gasping for air. With every painful attempt to breathe, the flaps of his ruined face blew open and blood and saliva flowed out of his mouth. His eyes were locked on Tanya's, gray and fading quickly.
With one last Herculean effort, he spat at her. "Bitch," he muttered. With a last blood-laced cough, the final light left his eyes. Blood flecked the once white towel. Tanya gasped and moved backward, straight into the Joker's chest. She spun around, unsure of what she would rather look at, the bloodied and mutilated body in front of her, or the man who had done it. The Joker dried his now clean knife on the bottom of her towel.
"It's so hard to find good help these days. Wouldn't you agree?" he said with the air of someone discussing the weather. Tanya clutched the towel closer to her.
"Relax sweet cheeks, I just killed the guy who was going to rape you. You should be hugging me," he opened his arms as though inviting her embrace.
Appalled, she found her voice. "I wouldn't be in this situation if it wasn't for you in the first place." He laughed.
"Touché. Ah well, what's one less crook huh?" he patted her cheek. Tanya pulled away, disturbed. "Don't look so serious sugar tits," he walked to the rack where his jacket still hung from earlier and pulled it on. She could see a glimpse of the inside, lined with glinting knives. He tucked the most recently used inside it with the others.
"Like my collection? I find knives more fun than guns. Guns are too quick. You get a better view of a person when you use a knife," he winked at her and turned to the mirror. He smoothed his dirty hair back and fiddled with his make-up. "You need clothes. Not that the population wouldn't be thrilled by you doing the news naked." Tanya raised her eyebrow.
"I'm not doing the news. I'm here."
"So small minded. You see, the beauty of technology is that you can broadcast anything from anywhere to anyone. Which is convenient for a person of my profession, whose job takes him all over." he stepped past her and into the hallway. Not wanting to be alone with the body, Tanya rushed to catch up, her bare feet nearly slipping in the pool of blood near the door. The Joker was holding open the door to the room she had been held in earlier. She stepped inside timidly.
"I think I got a pretty good estimate of your size. The clothes are complements of the crime lords of Gotham." He snapped the door shut. Tanya inspected a pile of clothing in the corner. It was tailor-made and of expensive fabric. There was even a change of underwear. She pulled them on, eager to be covered. They fit like a glove. She tried not to dwell on how he had her measurements. She lifted up the red and black outfit that was folded on the ground. It was a one piece body suit, complete with a hood. Confused, she inspected it, recognition finally occurring. It was a harlequin outfit, a red and black court jester looking thing, with a collar and a hood complete with the two pronged pieces and bells. In short, it was ridiculous. She thought about stalling, but was afraid of what the consequences would be. Tanya pulled the outfit on with some difficulty and found that she could not zip it up unaided. Sighing, she pushed open the door.
The Joker was leaning on the wall outside of the room, idly flipping a joker card between his fingers. He inspected her with a smile. "Se manifique!" he kissed his hand.
"I couldn't zip it up," she said with a tone of embarrassment. She knew that she should be more afraid then bashful, but her face flushed anyway. The clothes did not leave much to the imagination, and even though he had already seen her naked, she felt mortified. He motioned for her to turn around. She did and he jerked the zipper up.
"Now you only need the make-up." In his hand was a tube of red lipstick. Flashes of his victims, all wearing the red smile that was his calling card, came to mind. She stumbled backward.
The Joker made a clicking sound with his tongue. "Now, now, now, just stay still and this will all go faster and easier." Tanya shut her eyes tightly. She felt the wax of the stick across her lips and cheeks. She also felt him rubbing something across her eyelids. When he was finished, she opened her eyes to come face to face with her reflection in a small, round mirror. She looked outlandish. She was a female version of the Joker, sans the scars. Heavy black shadow coated her eyes and even though she was scowling, the red gave the impression of a goofy smile.
"Do you like it? I have to say, black and red are your colors." He squeezed her face between his hands, the way older family members did when you were a child and they told you how much you had grown.
"What do you want me to do?" she said, unwilling to let emotion show on her face.
"Exactly what I tell you to," his eyes flashed.
She followed him outside to a series of cop cars. Inside were police officers or people dressed to resemble officers. There had to have been at least five vehicles, including a SWAT fan. Something in the back of her mind connected this with an earlier story she had done on stolen police paraphernalia. The Joker pushed her toward the van. She hesitated at the back door, recalling the last time she was put in a van. Irritated, the Joker hefted her into the back and pushed her down onto one of the benches inside. He flopped down next to her. The inside of the van was freezing cold, and as the small fleet of counterfeit law enforcement began to move, Tanya found herself shivering both from the temperature and the anticipation of what was to come. The Joker was humming lightly to himself. He pulled out a deck of cards.
'Slap jack?" he asked pleasantly. Tanya just looked at him. "Suit yourself." He shrugged and tucked the cards back into his jacket. She lost herself in her thoughts, wondering what her purpose was in all of this. After a few minutes the car came to a halt. The Joker stood up and left the van, shutting her in with a wink. Tanya pressed her ear to the cool metal sides, listening, trying to figure out what was going on. She could not hear anything.
She paced the inside of the van, jiggling the door handle, looking for a way out. Ten minutes later, she gave up and flopped to the bench. Five minutes after that, and despite her dire situation, exhaustion claimed her and she fell asleep. The scraping of metal doors being opened jolted her awake. Two disguised thugs hauled her out of the van. They were in front of a bank. She walked through the double glass doors. Inside employees and customers were bound, gagged and rigged to what looked like a rather large bomb. In the center of the chaos was the Joker. A machine gun was slung casually over his shoulder. He turned to her.
"Time to find out what you're here for," he told her. As if on a cue, three of his thugs ran forward, holding cameras and other broadcasting equipment. Tanya's heart skipped. She knew what she was. The Joker had chosen her as his mouthpiece. She was one of the most trusted and well-known reporters in Gotham. By kidnapping her, the voice who urged them to never give up hoping, he could demoralize the city. By dressing her like a literal clown, and forcing her to report on all of his malfeasants, he could instigate much more fear than just killing her would do.
A microphone was forced into her hands and she was positioned in front of the camera. The hostages looked at her with wide eyes. She was horrified to see children and elderly people among them. Most adults looked at her with recognition and confusion.
"As you can see ladies and gentlemen, your beloved reporter is not dead. She's just working for me now," he laughed again. A child began to sniffle and cowered closer to his mother. Tanya looked at him with pity. The Joker approached her, pushing a stack of cue cards into her free hand.
"Read these," he instructed, jerking her hood up and over the mass of curls. She shuffled through them. They were terrorist demands.
"If I do this, will you let them go?" she pleaded with him. He just smiled.
"We'll let the fine citizens of Gotham decide that. You're on in five." He stepped out of the way of the camera.
Tanya took a breath and bit back the tears that threatened to break free. She needed to be strong, for the hostages and for the citizens. The red light on the camera went on.
"Citizens of Gotham," she began. She kept her chin up and her voice steady, not betraying her inner feelings. "This is Tanya Heathrow reporting from the Gotham City Upper City Bank. The Joker would like me to report that you as citizens are faced with a dilemma. Wired to a large amount of nitroglycerin is all of the money in this bank as well as all of the money in 15 other banks in Gotham City. They are set to blow in half an hour at 5:30 p.m. You can stop the destruction of nearly 75% of the money in Gotham. However, there is a catch." She began moving, forcing the camera to move with her, until she was positioned next to the child clutching his mother.
"Also wired are 47 hostages, of various ages. You have a choice, citizens. Either the hostages can go free, or the money. You now have 28 minutes to respond. If the mayor does not make his decision, and call the bank within the allotted time, both money and hostages will be destroyed. If he does, one goes free. The choice is yours." Tanya allowed her eyes to plead with the camera. As it faded out, the Joker began to laugh hysterically. The camera went off and the thugs took the equipment away.
"Let the game begin," the Joker checked his watch. Tanya knelt next to the child and his mother.
"It will be ok," she mouthed, praying that it would be. She felt the Joker behind her. Tanya stood up, forcing herself to turn and meet his eyes.
"Good job, sweetheart. I was right to pick you. You're much cooler under pressure than that blonde bozo I used last time." Tanya bit the inside of her cheek. Mike Engel, the reporter to whom he was referring, was a friend of hers.
"I did what you told me to," she said stiffly.
"You left out your trademark sign off. Why was that?" he leaned next to her, giving her a look of genuine interest.
"Your laugh drowned out anything I would have said anyway. I'll be sure to get it in next time," the bitterness spewed out before she thought of the consequences. Thankfully, the Joker found it amusing rather than insulting.
He laughed again. "Glad to know it's not because you think there is no hope left. Maybe the next 20 minutes will change that."
"I doubt it," she pulled the ridiculous hood off of her head and shook out her afro of ringlets.
"Don't be so sure. The people who make this decision are the people with the majority of money in these banks. They're not as high and mighty and moral as you, honey." Tanya knew he was right, but refused to believe they would let the hostages die.
"If they let these people die, they'll have an uprising on their hands."
He shrugged. "Either option creates chaos, and that works for me." he wound his arm around her waist. "Smile for the people gorgeous; that frown is making them nervous." he kissed her cheek again.
The next 20 minutes passed by in utter agony. Tanya sat on the ground, trying her best to distract the hostages. The child had shied away from her; her makeup was too frightening. The Joker was leaning casually on the teller stand, checking his watch every so often. Tanya was sweating, the makeup dripping into her eyes. Only the ring of a phone cut through the silence. During the wait it had rung with various mayor impersonators, each demanding that the hostages be released, or that the money be spared. There were five minutes left. The phone rang again. Tanya stiffened.
"Hello Mayor," The Joker answered pleasantly. "Have you made a decision?"