Chapter 4

As she donned the She-Wolf suit several nights later, Katelyn's mind was racing. She had to get into Gotham General and finish the job. She had waited until the coast had cleared a bit and security around the candidate for Governor had loosened. The hospital's security guards would surely be easily distractible at 2 a.m. She looked over at Shiva lying on the bed and watching her, and nodded her head once. Shiva jumped off the bed and ran to her side. "Let's go girl. You're my distraction. Why don't you break a leg or two off some of those guards." Shiva looked up at her and growled softly. The next minute, they were both out the window and down the fire escape.

At Gotham General, things were quiet. There were two guards posted in the hall where Henry Alders' room was located. One of them was reading a Maxim; the other was playing some bird game on his cell phone. She-Wolf and Shiva had come in through a laundry chute on the floor below, and were now in the shadows of the dark hallway, watching the guards. She looked down at her companion, whispering. "All right Shiva. It's show time. Run."

The dog immediately ran out of the shadows and down the hall, barking loudly. Her intent was not actually to harm the guards, but merely to draw them away from Alders' room long enough for She-Wolf to get in. If a scuffle began, however, Shiva was never opposed to taking the offensive.

As the guards yelled and began chasing the animal, She-Wolf swooped in. She used a key card swiped from a doctor's lab coat to gain access to the room, then locked it and blockaded it behind her. Alders, hearing the sounds, awoke, snorting and incoherent.

"H-hello? Who's there? Nurse?"

She-Wolf jumped onto the bed, the hilts of her knives glistening in the moonlight as she crouched over him. "Not quite, Henry. Next guess?"

"N-no…no! Dear God, no! Who are you!?"

Before replying, She-Wolf grabbed one of her knives and flung it behind her with expert precision, knocking out the lens of the security camera on the ceiling. "Why, I am your executioner, Henry."

"Why? Why? I don't even know you, why are you doing this? What did I do!? God help me!" He began muttering and praying and crying a little bit as she pulled another knife from its sheath on her thigh and stuck it against his neck.

"You'd be wise not to mention that name in my presence, Henry. Where was God when your drug runners took my husband's life? Where was God when you had him killed because I refused to risk my job for your greed?" She leaned in closer, pressing the knife into his skin. "Where was God when you reaped the benefits of my husband and son's deaths?"

Henry Alder's eyes widened with fear and realization. "H-Howel?!"

Katelyn gritted her teeth, pressing the blade in harder, beginning to draw blood. "My son was only three years old when your hired goons took him from his bed…my son died innocent, and you've lived a corrupt and dishonest life far too long. Say good night, Henry."

She swiftly eviscerated him, opening him up from throat to stomach and getting covered in blood. She heard scuffling outside and jumped off the bed, reached up on tippy-toes to grab the knife out of the broken camera lens, then unblocked the door and opened it. "Shiva!"

The dog came bolting around the corner, dripping blood from her mouth. She-Wolf grabbed a chair and heaved it through the window, then her and the wolf-dog jumped through and out into the night before the guards could even catch up.

When Katelyn got back to her apartment, she changed out of the She-Wolf costume in the bathroom and put it in hydrogen peroxide to soak out the blood. She began washing off her face, but she had to stop as the tears came. She hated breaking down like this, but the memory of that tragic night was always still so fresh in her mind. One of the reasons she'd taken the job at Arkham was to begin trying to understand how she could help herself by helping others, but it had only exposed her to the underworld of Gotham's super criminals, and a way in which she could take revenge on all those who'd helped to murder her family. She-Wolf was Katelyn's escape from her oppressive and devastating waking life.

She heard a noise in the other room and looked up, listening intently. She moved to the doorway, peering around. Another rustle, then the sound of something smashing near the front door. She bent down and grabbed a knife out of one of the sheaths on the floor, then began slowly and quietly making her way toward the other side of the apartment. She was appalled to see the Joker there, picking up a broken picture frame that he'd apparently tipped off a shelf and onto the floor.

"Nice family, kiddo…" He shot her a sideways glance. "Too bad they're dead."

She swallowed back more tears, clearing her throat. "How did you get out of Arkham, Joker?"

"Oh, I've got some friends in pret-ty high places, doc," he sharply annunciated. "Mm, sorry about the picture. Your, uh, pooch there gave me a bit of a scare. Say, are you sure it's legal for you to have that thing?" he asked sarcastically. "I mean Harley had those hyenas, but that thing looks like it could take down a yak!" He giggled.

Shiva was standing in the dark dining room, her eyes glistening and her hackles up. She was growling; a long, low sound.

Katelyn pulled her bathrobe tight around her, still clutching the knife, trying to stay reasonable. "Why come here after breaking out? You know I have to call the police to come pick you up…"

He set the broken frame back on the shelf, and took a step toward her. "C'mon now, I just got here! That's no way to make a guy feel welcome!"

"Are you here to kill me?"

"Why spoil all the fun by answering a question like that? Why, when I finally woke up the other day and heard we couldn't have our little chats in private anymore, I just couldn't stand for it! I hate having big brother breathing down my back, don't you?" He began strolling around, picking up little trinkets and knick-knacks and examining them, then tossing them away when he lost interest.

She followed him at a distance. "How did you know about my family?"

"Why, toots, do you really think I'd let any of you nuts down at Arkham hold those intimate 60 Minutes interviews with me without a background check first? I know tons of things about you…" He picked up a candle; sniffed it; tossed it on the floor behind him.

Katelyn tensed for a moment. "How much do you know about me?"

"Tell me where those scratches came from, and I'll tell you something about yourself. Hm?"

She couldn't risk it. He couldn't know her alter ego. "My dog. We were playing a little too roughly. Now tell me how you came to know so much about my life."

"Hm." He smiled, picking up a book from her coffee table and flipping through it aimlessly before tossing it. "Plausible. But I don't really buy it. And as to how I know so much, well, you'd be surprised how much dirt Warden Sharp has on his doctors right in his filing cabinets. Like I said, big brother." His eyes seemed to twinkle at her.

"Fair enough. I won't even ask how you got into the warden's office. You still haven't told me why you're here." Shiva was by her side now.

"Oh, doc. Always so calm and logical. I applaud you, I really do. If my family had been plugged and Gotham's most wanted criminal was strolling around my apartment, why, I think I would go plum crazy." He smiled at her, giggling. "In fact, I wonder if that's what happened?" He looked serious for a moment.

"Yes, well, I've found ways of dealing with it. What do you want, Joker?"

He walked closer to her and Shiva began growling again. Katelyn placed a hand on her head and she whined for a second and then quieted down. Katelyn looked up at him, twisting the knife in her other hand.

"Were you, uh, cutting up a cow before I dropped by, doc? There's an awful lot of blood on that little knife. And here, on your face…" He grabbed her chin roughly with his hand and held her still as he leaned down and licked the specks of dry blood on her cheek that she hadn't scrubbed off. That was the coppery smell from the other day…duh. Interesting.

Katelyn's entire body tensed, and she squeezed the knife tight. Shiva reacted immediately and launched herself at the Joker, sinking her teeth into his arm. He grunted and kicked Shiva off, and Katelyn snapped to her senses and stuck the point of the knife against his gut, pushing him back into the wall.

"No more games! What the fuck do you want Joker?"

He panted, grinning and chuckling and holding his arm. Blood was starting to soak through his tattered purple sleeve and he squeezed it tight with his other hand. "Oh, just this. Really toots, you have no idea how reassuring it is to have met a woman that's not a complete pushover!" As he was saying the last bit, he quickly grabbed her wrist and wrenched the knife away from her and pushed her backwards, so she fell over onto her big recliner. In a second he was on top of her, and before she even knew it Shiva was elbowed aside and unconscious on the floor a few feet away. Now she was finally getting nervous.

"You see, doc, this is me! I'm out again, and I've got plans! And no one is going to help that. NO ONE!" He held the knife against her cheek and brushed her hair back out of her face roughly with his other hand. One of his knees was jabbed into her stomach, and she coughed, finding it hard to breathe.

"M-maybe that's…" She coughed again. "…Not what I was trying to do." She gulped, straining. She would never beg him for her life.

He frowned, lessening his weight on top of her slightly. "Oh? Then what are you trying to do, doc? Hmm? Thinking of pulling a Harley? Joining my ranks? Funny, how the position's just opened back up." He giggled. "And you would certainly fit the position…" He sneered lasciviously.

She gasped in a breath of air, but tried not to struggle. She was strong and well trained, but she knew he had an advantage. "I…I don't know. But if you'll just give yourself up…go back to Arkham and we can keep having our sessions. You obviously have some interest in those…"

He chuckled harder. "You got me all wrong, toots. Sure, I enjoy it when I get a chance to play tinker-toy with your minds in there. But the only reason I ever go back is because I want to…and you've given me some inspiration to stay out for a while. I think I like our sessions here much better…"

She spied him moving the knife out of the corner of her eye and took her chance. She lunged and bit down hard on his wrist. She lurched as he doubled and his knee dug deep into her stomach, but she gathered up whatever coherency she could manage and punched him square on the mouth and scrambled out from underneath him as he reeled.

The Joker slapped his hand over his mouth and cursed, but quickly regained himself. "Hoohoo!" He lunged, pinning her on the ground and holding her wrists above her head so she couldn't get at him. "You know, toots, I kinda like you…you've got spunk." He turned his head and spat out a glob of blood, grinning. "There's something about you, some secret. The blood, those scratches…the way you fight…I think you've got more in common with Batsy and me than you do with those fruit-loops at Arkham calling themselves doctors. I'd like to play with you for a little bit longer…" He began cackling again and swiftly head-butted her, knocking her out. He then stood up, kicked the knife out of her hand, and spit out some more blood.

He walked across the apartment and grabbed the picture of her family he'd been looking at earlier. He decided he might take it as a little memento of their burgeoning relationship. "You're gonna be a fun little nut to crack, kiddo…" He stuck the picture frame into a pocket on the inside breast of his coat, then left the apartment laughing.