Chapter 3
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A/N Third Installment! The pressure is on. Pardon for the lack of updates…School is beginning to take a toll. But I wonttt give up! KAY read.
She held her breath, and turned her gaze to the door way as her thumb pressed on the call button. She did not move, and couldn't hear anyone coming, since her walls were sound proof.
Ten second went by at molasses speed, but she heard the door handle being jiggled. No one could hear her protest not to open the door even if she could form her mouth round the words. She had no phone in her patient's consulting office, so as not to disturb anyone in the midst of their conversation or stories. She was on the twenty-ninth story of one of Gotham's largest buildings, only fifth to Wayne Enterprises.
She only had a call button if she needed help, and the only way help would come would be if they came through that door. She could only count on the Joker's bluff.
The door flew open, as a team of rather large, black-suited security guards, and Smithson burst in. Her heart skipped a beat, and then an ear-splitting explosion emanated from the doorway. Swan didn't have time to utter a scream, she just put her arms over her head, and waited for the immense milli-second of agonizing pain, followed by abrupt death.
She lifted her arms.
So, this was what heaven was like. White and powdery, and just like…her office?
She blinked a moment.
"What's going on in here?!" Smithson nearly shrieked.
Oh, great. How did Smithson get into heaven. Was she in the right place?? She said nothing.
"Doctor Swan?" Smithson dusted himself off a bit, then walked to her and patted some white powdery substance off her head. Coming back to her senses, she made a face and swatted his hand away.
"What just happened?" He repeated, the security looking equally disillusioned.
He swiped his index finger along the frame of the chair that Swan sat silently in. rubbing his index and thumb together, he rose his hand to his nose to take a good sniff.
"Baby Powder. Baby Powder! SWAN! Where is The Joker?!" Finally able to put words together, she managed to say in a voice just barely above a whisper.
"Gone…"
"Gone? Gone where, gone?"
She pointed to the open window.
"Smithson…get the Gotham PD on the phone…I'm not really sure what exactly happened…but… the press was right. The joke is on us. I don't know how. I don't know when, but somehow That Joker managed to outsmart us one of the most intelligent firms in Gotham. From inside his cell! He's been planning this the whole time!"
Smithson stared right through her, as if he didn't even hear her.
"Gotham's most…sinister criminal…escaped…out of your office…through a window…and left us baby powder…" He seemed lost in a trance. Doctor Swan, however, all of a sudden found this infinitely humorous.
"To dust our asses with, perhaps?" She nearly chuckled. This was unbelievable. "Because apparently, we're too much of babies to have the slightest idea of what goes on in that man so we need diapers. Did you hear me, Smithson?"
He looked horrified.
"How can you find this amusing, Doctor?! Gotham is in danger! You are in danger. There is baby powder blanketing your entire office, are you aware of the cost of steam cleaning, lately, Miss Swan? Rates are not compliment to the circumstance of the economy!"
The sound of police sirens were made audible through the open window.
"Don't just stand around, you Goons! You, with the snaggletooth, take Doctor Swan to the lobby to be escorted by an officer…and you…with the hair…and you and you, start cleaning up this mess? Do I have to do everything? MOVE it!"
The security guards exchanged annoyed glances at one another for their obvious denigration, but obeyed otherwise. The man with the snaggletooth followed Swan to the elevator, the whole time in silence. She was deep in thought.
He was lying. Just one big bad joke. He managed to rig the doorway, the cell door, perhaps even having a few friends help him along the way. He was aweful and evil and sinister…but she couldn't even begin to credit him for his intelligence. The man was so in tune with his environment, he must have been plotting the past two-and-a-half weeks, she thought to herself. But what does that mean regarding his story of his childhood. His scars. Were they a lie also?
She was taken to the Gotham's Police Department, in which she was asked a series of probing questions by several detectives.
"Look, I don't know. I only imagine the Joker has been planning this for weeks," she explained to the third detective. "I can't give any of you different answers, I'm afraid I don't have them. All I know is what he told me of his background, which is confidential due to my therapist/patient code; and that he told me my office may blow up if people come through the door. It was rigged, somehow, by baby powder that exploded all over the room," she finished, exasperated.
"I'll handle it from here, James, thank you," A voice behind her said. The detective immediately dismissed himself. She turned to come face to face with Gotham's finest: Commissioner Gordon.
"Well I'll be. If it isn't Dr. Alexis Swan. So good to finally meet you, I've heard of your good reputation in Michigan, and you've even managed to work your magic on Gotham's most deranged," he said, shaking her hand firmly. She smiled.
"All but one, Mr. Gordon, all but one. It's a pleasure to meet you as well." He gestured for her to walk alongside him, leading her to a elevator.
"Come with me, Doctor, I'd like for you to meet someone," he said, and after a moment he began again cautiously. "I'm sincerely impressed that you're not at all rattled by this. Either that or you hide it well."
Doctor Swan smiled again. "Well, Mr. Gordon, I've seen plenty of disturbing stimuli since I've been working, you learn to put away any fear or reservations you have. If I didn't, I wouldn't be a very good psychologist. To be honest, I'm mortifyingly terrified by this Joker character. But equally intrigued."
"And you wouldn't be a good scientist if you weren't intrigued, I suppose?"
Dr. Swan nodded. On the tenth floor, Commissioner Gordon led her to a lab. A tall dark man in costume awaited.
"Greetings once again, Batman," Swan said, nodding toward him.
"Doctor Swan," he acknowledged.
"You two have met?" Gordon said, surprised.
"Only briefly," Swan replied.
"Well I suppose that saves introductions. Mr. Batman?"
"Yes, Doctor Swan, would it be impervious of me to say I told you so?" Batman said in his deep steady voice.
"Not at all. Though, I don't think I nor anyone else saw this coming,"
"Yes, I would advise you to stay somewhere safe until the police get a lead. The Joker loves attention, no doubt he'll pop up soon enough. But until then, it won't be safe to sleep in your home."
"We'll make the arrangements, Dr. Swan," Gordon said.
"That's fine. However, I refuse to be absent from my job even one day. My patients need me, and I will not go against my code to see them," she said, sternly, her eyes narrowing at both of them. They were silent, until Gordon spoke up.
"Very well…rest assured, you will have maximum security on all floors. We won't let anything like this happen again."
"Sounds excellent," she said, and by now, Batman had vanished. "Still getting used to that," she added, noting his absence.
"Takes a while. Perturbing, isn't it?"
Doctor Swan stayed the night in a secure loft in town provided by maximum security. She had the eerie feeling that she was being watched the whole night, and couldn't stop her heart from drumming against her chest as she recollected the memories from earlier. The rabid look in The Joker's eyes before he darted out the window; The low growl to his voice when he toyed with the idea of her being blown to pieces. She was sure he would burst through her window any moment somehow.
Somewhere around 4 am, she fell asleep. No Joker paid any visit to her quarters. The next day, she went to her office as usual, though this time there was triple the security. Smithson made sure everything was examined for potential harm. She saw her patients on schedule, and she began to relax as the day went on. She did however, have two phones in her office now for security purposes.
It was like this for five days. No sign of The Joker and any of his disturbances. By day five, Doctor Swan had increasingly calmed.
1:33 p.m. Doctor Swan's office.
It was her half hour interlude between her next session with a patient. She strode into her office, closing the door behind her. Relaxation, for a bit, at least. But as soon as turned to fully face her office, she immediately noticed something that wasn't quite right.
Ever the logical observer, she quickly surveyed the room, her eyes darting. What's so bizarre? She thought. Her eyes finally stopped at her desk. It was usually a mess of paperwork and sharpie permanent markers, with her pens and pencils neatly collected into a mesh holder.
The mess of paperwork was still there, and so were her sharpies. Well, most of them. The green, red, and black ones were in the mesh holder. Dr. Swan never stowed her permanent markers in her mesh holder. Never. She cautiously approached her desk, and reting just beneath several pale yellow sticky's, she uncovered a shrewd drawing. It looked as if a child had drawn it, messy scratches of green and red but at the same time it was very detailed. Intricate. Though from how close she was looking at it, it looked like scribble. Taking several step backwards and looking down at it, she felt her heart quicken.
The drawing was a scribble of two thick black rings, and below it, a red and green bat-shaped figure. Separately, it made no sense, but pairing the scribbles, it showed the details of a hideous grinning face…the face of the-
"You, ah, catch on quick, huh Doc?" She heard a gurgly voice behind her say. Before she could swivel on her heels, she felt an arm snake around her torso, and another around her neck. Quickly after the gesture, she felt cold, smooth metal press against her neck. She gasped in surprise.
"Ah teh-teh-teh-teh," He warned, pressing the metal more firmly against her throat.
"What…what are you doing here," she choked out. It was all she could manage, the criminal was nearly cutting off her circulation.
"You said you could help me, Doc," He began.
"Please," she gasped. "c-cant breathhh,"
He let out a sigh equivalent to a child expressing his disproval.
"Oh, fine. I'll seceed to your vitals. Use you're inside voice, though. We wouldn't want-"he flashed the grotesque butchers knife in front of her face-"we wouldn't want to let things get out of hand now, would we, hmm?"
She choked some reply of cooperation, and he released her from his hostile embrace. She placed her cool fingers on her throat, feeling for any sort of bruise or abrasion. Of course the joker was too skilled to leave any mark. Yet.
"Give me three reasons why I shouldn't press the call button right now, whatever you may do to my life," she demanded, putting a good distance between herself and The Joker.
"Mnh," he replied, licking his lips and scars. "Okay. One, this time I do actually have this whole place rigged to several volatile, ah, explosives, two, I have several Gotham thugs dressed up as security men to dismember any of your staff that looks like their tryin' anything funny, and, ah, three," he licked his scars again. "Three…Your call button was disabled," he looked up and thought a moment. "As of, mnh, 9:07 this morning. Go ahead try it, try it."
She clutched the pager, but didn't press it.
"L-Let's say it does work," she stammered, now trembling but trying to maintain a serious face.
"The call button."
"Yes, the call button. That works, but you're not lying about the explosives. Then what?"
The joker fished something out of his purple coat. something small, and it was ticking.
"I believe you know what this, Doc?"
Of course she did. It was the main connection to an explosive, you press the button and…bingo.
"Now, ah, you can call my bluff if you'd like," he reasoned, but his eyes conveyed dangerous elixir.
"What do you want," she demanded, but being careful to keep her voice low.
"I hate repeating myself. But, I will for you, beautiful. I just want your…help," His voice dipped into almost a growl at the last word. "According to your diagnosis, I have several disorders, that, if go untreated could be potentially dangerous," he turned the rather large knife in his fingers, making it look surprisingly easy.
Doctor Swan could only stare.
"Think about it, Doc, I sweep you away, the public goes into an outrage that one of Gotham's best psychologist's has been kidnapped by a ruthless criminal…You're safe and sound giving me personal treatment, I return you here when you think I've made progress, and I leave you alone, done deal."
"But what's the catch…"
He let out a quiet bout of laughter.
"Doc, I don't plan, I'm impulsive. Call it organized mahem. Maybe you'll publish a book about me, we could be partners!" He grinned hideously, toying with the idea.
"Batman will come after you."
"Yes, as he always does. Maybe he'll catch me by the ankles, or I'll escape him yet again. We're cat and mouse, he and I. Besides he could make things interesting. Weigh your priorites carefully, Beautiful, 'cause if you refuse, Of course I'll kill you, disapear out the window, and blow this dump up," He twirled the knife in his fingers like a baton.
Once again, she was left without a choice. Risking the lives of the people in the buidling were out of the question. But where would she end up? Most likely at the bottom of Gotham's pier.
The Joker was a skillful salesman. He made it appear as if his victim had a choice…but truth of the matter was…Doctor Swan was going with him.
There was no other option. And she knew it.
A/N treacherous cackle now, review
