Authors Note:

Hello everyone!

Thanks so much for reading and thanks so much for reviewing!

Take Care and All the Best!

Chapter 4:

"Master Wayne let's not make rash decisions…" Bruce Wayne interrupts Alfred's statement by saying "I'm not making rash decisions. I am going to go find her as myself, not as the Batman."

Alfred sighs as he watches Bruce Wayne button up his last button on his white-collar shirt. He slowly asks "Very good, sir. But when you find her, then what will you do?" Bruce puts on his black blazer and replies while shrugging "I don't know, Alfred. I am making this up as I go along."

Alfred nods and whispers back casually "And that right there, sir, is the definition of making rash decisions." Bruce turns around to see Alfred giving him a smirk. Mr. Wayne bites his lip, and walks over to his grey couch, sits and says in utter bewilderment "I know, Alfred. It's just that…. two weeks ago I thought I lost her and now I still have a chance."

Alfred nods as Bruce continues, "If I save her, we'll be together. She said she was going to wait for me. She said…." Alfred sighs at the last statement. Miss. Dawes was going to marry Harvey Dent, but Alfred never had the heart to tell him. Alfred clears his throat and whispers trying to focus on the positive "Yes, well, maybe she is waiting for you right now, sir, to save her."

Bruce nods once, grimaces and says terrified "Yes, I have to…she…" he stops, stands up and places his hands over his face while exclaiming "God! It must be horrible for her, to be stuck with that freak. He's probably making her play some ridiculous game that has to do with ending of her life."

Alfred shrugs and whispers "Well, sir. I think we need to spend less time worrying about that, and more time on saving her in time." Bruce bites his lip as Alfred asks, "You do want to save her don't you?" Bruce nods and Alfred smiles while saying, "Well, then. What's the plan?"

- - -

"What do you want from me?" Rachel screams again. Her foot stomps hard against the floor as she asks the question. The Joker smirks at her and says slyly "Well, well, look who decided to join in on a little foreplay. You know I like that fight in you…." He takes a few steps towards her and corners her into the white wall behind them.

His warm breath grazes her neck as his knife moves from her stomach up to her throat. Rachel's eyes narrow at the feeling of the cool steel at the crook of her neck. The Joker laughs loudly at her reaction and she takes this opportunity to ask again "What is it that you want?"

The Joker suddenly stops laughing and flips her around so that her tied hands are in front of him. He slowly nibbles her back with his gloved fingers and his steel friend makes his way down her arms to her hands. He moves his head to the back of her ear and whispers "Want to play a little game, beautiful?" Rachel mutters into the wall "No" and the Joker licks his lips in response. Rachel shudders at the sound of his tongue smacking on his lip. It sounds revolting, wet, and hideous just like the maniac that was now running his hands down her back side.

The Joker nods once and says angrily "Well Miss. Dawes, I don't think you have a choice." He uses one of his hands to slam her head straight into the wall. Rachel's head hits the wall in front of her so hard that in reaction she falls straight onto the floor. The Joker chuckles loudly as the sound of the doors opening, fill the room.

The Joker turns around to see one of his men standing in the room. The thug clears his throat and says to his boss "Ugh…boss. They just finished airin' our little movie…" The Joker interrupts and asks " And how are the reviews?"

The thug bites his lip and replies, "The whole city is goin' crazy. Their all runnin' 'round like lunatics, they've been really scared since they found out that you've returned to Gotham."

The Joker chuckles and says through a wide grin "Well, what great news! Now, that's one really great review. Maybe we should make a sequel, hmm?" The thug chuckles at his boss's dark joke and before he is about to leave the Joker says, "I didn't tell you to leave did I? And… I didn't tell you to come in either. Maybe I should teach you some manners, hmm?"

The Joker turns around to face Rachel once again who is now resting her head on the cold floor. The thug shakes his head and replies nervously, "No, you didn't boss but I thought…." The Joker laughs at this, turns around, and interrupts "Oh, that's cute. You thought, well you know this city already thinks too much, maybe…"

The Joker holds out his knife in front of him and says "…. maybe, they should learn to just do things". He pauses, turns around to face the thug and says hotly "Like me!" Suddenly, the Joker's throws his steel friend right into the head of the clown, killing him instantly.

He chuckles wildly at the sight as Rachel screams. The Joker turns around to face her and says casually "Oh, I almost forgot about you, Puddin'. Pardon my rude manners, Barney's advice must of slipped my mind for a second." Rachel watches the Joker laugh at his joke and she screams out "That's not funny!"

The Joker abruptly stops laughing, takes a few steps towards his prisoner and says quickly "Really? Well then, tell me a joke." Rachel's eyes widen at his request so she asks puzzled "A joke?" The Joker nods, lifts her up onto her feet again and says "Yes, a joke. Like Ha Ha…… a joke."

The Joker slams Rachel once again into the wall and utters darkly "If you don't think I'm funny, then your going to be the funny one around here. Now… tell me a… joke….that ugh…..you find funny." Rachel looks into his sinister eyes and tries to think of a joke. The Joker wraps his hands around her neck and says into her ear "You're a real bad comedian, Miss. Dawes. Keeping your audience waiting like this. I am giving you five seconds….5….4…"

Rachel screams out "No! Okay! Okay! I've got one…Knock Knock." The Joker grips her throat tighter and whispers under his breath "A knock knock joke? Amateur." Rachel rolls her eyes and repeats "Knock Knock."

The Joker licks his lips and asks dully "Who's there?" Rachel gulps and replies "Who." The Joker's eyebrows squint together at the joke. He has never heard this one before. So he asks "Who who?" Rachel mutters the punch line softly "Stop talking, you sound like an owl."

The Joker watches Rachel's worried face for a second, and then he falls into a fit of laughter. Rachel sighs in relief as the Joker's hands drop from her throat. But the Joker yelling "Boys" cuts that laughter short. Quickly two clowns holding machine guns come into the room and when they do they realize why the boss has called them.

The Joker nods to them as the clowns start picking up the dead body of the thug. The Joker mutters through his yellow teeth "And boyz, wash my steel friend. He hates it when he's dirty". The clowns laugh as they carry the thug out the door. Rachel scowls at the way the Joker talks about his knives. As if they were his friends, as if they were real people.

The door slams closed and the Joker walks towards Rachel once again and mutters, "Now, Miss. Dawes, we are going to play a little game." Rachel's eyes widen as he begins to search through his pants pockets. But her eyes narrow as the Joker holds out a deck of cards. Rachel asks baffled "Cards?"

The Joker rolls his eyes and replies back sarcastically "No. Ring around the Rosy." He pauses for a second and straightens out his voice before saying "Of course, cards, Princess." The Joker takes out another knife from his right pocket and Rachel then says "You know I am going to need my hands to play…" The Joker chuckles at her attempt and whispers back huskily "Not at this card game, beautiful."

- - - -

"Replay that" Bruce Wayne states completely intrigued in the Jokers news report. Alfred peers up at the screen and asks "What this, sir?" He rewinds back a bit and pushes play at the part where the Joker is grabbing at Rachel's thigh. Bruce nods and points at the bottom half of the screen while saying, "See this…this is interesting."

Alfred chuckles and says with a smirk smacked across his face "Yes, I am sure your sexual fantasizes about Miss. Dawes are, but we should stay on task Master Wayne." Bruce shakes his head and points to the floor of the mysterious room. Bruce bites his lip and says confused "I feel like I've seen that floor before somewhere. I don't know… maybe I'm going as crazy as that sick nut job."

Alfred lifts up his jacket sleeve to reveal a watch. He glances at it quickly and says out loud "It's 6:30 in the evening, sir. We have a couple of hours left, Master Wayne. We should focus on finding Rachel, not on interior design." Bruce chuckles this time but stops suddenly and screams, "Push pause!"

Alfred pushes pause and then Bruce asks happily "Did they re-furnish that warehouse where Dent was taken to that night when his face burned?" Alfred clears his throat and replies baffled "They re-painted the walls white…. and re-tiled the floor with the same type of…"

Alfred stops in mid-sentence, smiles and mutters, "You're a genius." Bruce smiles in return and says egotistically "Some people have called me that, yes." Alfred chuckles with happiness as Bruce says "6:32, I'm going to be late. I have a date with a lunatic and I just can't miss it."

Authors Note:

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I am not sure about this chapter; I hope you all liked it!

Take Care!