Title: Control

Fandom: The Dark Knight

Rating: M

Pairing: OC/Joker/Harley

Genre: Drama/Angst

Disclaimer: Unfortunately I don't own the Joker or Batman.

A/N: Thanks for all the support with this story! Enjoy!

Chapter Four

The Joker sat in the backseat of the car with Harley, hanging his head out the window to feel the breeze as the car sped through the streets of Gotham. Man, it felt good to be out and feel the wind on his face.

Harley had broken him out about a half hour ago and he was surprised to see that she really had taken care of every detail. That meant she was good at taking direction and following through with plans.

Perhaps he would keep her around after all.

Will, one of the Joker's longest lasting goons, had been the one to pick them up from Arkham and was now driving them around Gotham so that the Joker could see the city he was going to reclaim as his. Not much had changed in the city since he was last free, but he would make sure that everything changed now.

"Take us back to the hideout on Elm St." The Joker commanded after bringing his head back into the car.

"Sure thing boss." Will nodded, making a left turn and trying not to stare through the rear-view mirror. He had never seen his boss have absolutely no makeup on and it was hard to look away. But he knew that if he got caught staring, he would be dead in seconds.

"You have a hideout on Elm St.?" Harley questioned, impressed.

"I have hideouts all over this city." He corrected her. "Because you never know when you'll need to get supplies."

"What kind of supplies?" She asked with a chuckle.

"Well I certainly can't go around town looking like this!" He exclaimed, pointing to his bare face and drab Arkham-issued clothing. "No one would be scared of me like this."

"I like the way you look right now, Mistah J." Harley complimented. She had never seen him in his makeup, except for in pictures, and thought that he looked better without it. "I agree with you about the clothes, but I like seeing your face." She reached up to touch his scars but he grabbed her wrist.

"Don't even think about touching them." He warned.

"Ok." She backed off, breaking the hold he had on her wrist and dropping it to her lap.

"So…," he continued, "where was I? Oh yeah. Supplies. Well I'll also need some explosives, a television, ropes, gasoline and a phone, all of which I can get at any of my hideouts. Well, I'll need to get the gasoline somewhere else. I doubt I have enough there."

"Ah," was her reply. "Are you going out tonight?"

"Yes." He nodded happily as he stuck his head back out the window. "I have a lot of lost time to make up for and there's no time like the present."

"But I thought that we could stay in and maybe have some fun…" She started rubbing his thigh seductively.

He groaned, but not from pleasure. Bringing his head back into the car, he removed her hand from his thigh. "I am going to have some fun tonight, but not that kind of fun. You see, I've been away for far too long. It's time to let everyone know that I'm back and ready for more chaos. And I can't do that if I'm…entertaining you."

"Can't you just stay home tonight and do it all tomorrow?" She asked. "You've been gone for so long already. What's one more day gonna hurt?"

"You just don't get it Harley, do you?" He had to take a deep breath to keep from slapping her, which is what he really wanted to do. "This is something that I have to do. So I am going to go out and do what I do best and you, my dear, are going to stay at the house. This isn't up for discussion or debate and you certainly don't get a vote in the matter. Understand?"

"Completely." She nodded slowly. All she had wanted was what he had promised her. He promised her that when she broke him out of Arkham they would be together in every way that a couple in love could be. She linked her arms across her chest and tried not to show that she was pouting because that would most likely make him angry—and she didn't want that.

"Good." He smiled. "Glad that's taken care of."

"Sir, before you go out tonight, you might want to see this." Alfred told Bruce as he turned on the television.

"What is it?" Bruce noted that Alfred had a weird look on his face. Then he saw what was on the television.

"Welcome back to GCN, I'm Mike Engel. The breaking news story we are following right now is the escape of the infamous Joker from Arkham Asylum. The Joker has been kept in a high-security cell at Arkham for almost two years now but has somehow managed to escape tonight, killing three guards and seriously injuring five others. There have been reports that a female doctor at Arkham helped him escape but the police aren't confirming that yet."

"Damn it Alfred!"Bruce exclaimed angrily. "This isn't good."

"I know sir." Alfred replied.

"The police have already released this statement: Yes, it looks like the Joker has escaped from his cell at Arkham but that does not mean that it is time to panic. We are confident that we can find and capture him quickly so please do not worry. That is our message to you. Our message to the Joker is that we will find you and put you back in Arkham very soon."

"So it looks like the police aren't too worried about the Joker's escape. Let's hear from some of you though. First caller is Mary Sue. Mary Sue, what are your thoughts on this?"

"I am very concerned about this, Mike." She exclaimed in a high pitched voice. "I mean, look what happened to the city the last time he was free. The police better catch him soon or else everyone in this city's just gonna get fed up and move."

"Thank you or your opinion Mary Sue." Mike said, getting ready for the next caller. He found it odd that he didn't have the name of the next caller on his screen but shrugged it off. "Hello? You're on the air with Mike Engel."

"Yes, I'm a long time listener, but a first time caller." The Joker's voice boomed. "Although I have sent in many videos that you have graciously played for me."

Mike immediately recognized the voice and cringed. He wasn't sure what to do with the Joker on the phone.

"What's wrong?" The Joker asked. "Have I actually made you be at a loss for words? I think that's a first!!"

Mike collected himself and his thoughts. "So what can I do for you?"

"I just wanted to call in and say hi." He laughed. "I've been away for far too long but I wanted to tell everyone out there in Gotham that I'm back and ready to resume normal activities. And I really wanted to tell the police that I look forward to watching you try to capture me again, but I wouldn't hold your breath. You see, I'm never going back to Arkham. I'm here to stay!"

"Ok." Mike nodded, trying to stay calm. "Anything else you want to say before we go to commercial?"

"Yes." The Joker laughed again. "Uh, I'd like to give a shout-out to my very dear friend Batman and let him know that we will be seeing each other real soon." Without another word he hung up.

"Well," Mike sighed, "that was obviously the Joker. We're going to go to commercial now and we'll be back in a few minutes."

Bruce turned off the television. "Well I guess the time has come to take care of him once and for all."

"Do you want me to call Lacy and let her know about this?" Alfred asked. He didn't mind being the one to call her. He just wanted to make sure that someone let her know what was going on. She deserved to know.

He looked at the clock to make sure that it wasn't getting too late in L.A. "No. I'll do it." He left the room to go call her on his cell phone in his bedroom. He picked it up just as it started to ring. Looking at the caller id he saw it was Lacy. "Hello. I was actually just getting ready to call you. How are you doing?"

"Is it really true?" She asked, skipping the pleasantries. "Is he really out of Arkham?"

"How did you know about that?" He asked, curious.

"GCN has a website and I signed up my email address to find out about their breaking news stories." She explained, noticing he never answered her question. "So it's true?"

"Yeah, I'm afraid so." He told her. "The Joker has escaped."

"Took him long enough." She said in an annoyed tone.

He scowled at her comment. "Look, I want you to stay where you are. I don't want you getting any delusions of grandeur and coming back here—at least not until I've taken care of the Joker."

"Delusions of grandeur?" She laughed. "Gee Bruce; it's nice to know you think so little of me. Why is it so hard to believe that I could actually beat the Joker at his own game?"

"It's not. I have complete confidence in your abilities." Bruce sighed. "But look, the thing is that I just want you to be safe and the only way that's going to happen is if you stay where you are."

"I appreciate you wanting to keep me safe but it's not your job." She pointed out. "I'm a big girl and I can make my own decisions."

"I know that." He told her. "Please promise me that you will stay where you are? Please? I don't want to have to worry about you any more than I already do. I'm going to take care of the Joker myself and it won't be long until this whole thing is over."

She knew that he would try to take care of the Joker as soon as he possibly could, if for no other reason than to try and dissuade her from enacting her plans. He made a good point though. If he was going after the Joker, the last thing he needed was to be worrying about her safety. "Fine. I promise I'll stay where I'm safe."

"Thank you." He sighed in relief. "That's all I ask."

"Are you going to go after him tonight?" She asked.

"Yeah. I'm gonna head out in a few minutes." He told her.

"I don't want to hold you up…"

"No, it's ok." He assured her. "I like talking to you." This was the first time that they had talked since his trip to L.A. Things ended awkwardly between them and he wanted to talk about it.

"I like talking to you too but the last thing I want to do is keep you from your job. Gotham needs you." She told him. She suspected that he wanted to talk about his visit to L.A. and wasn't sure she was ready to talk about it yet.

"Yeah." He agreed begrudgingly. "I guess I should go. I'll check in with you in a few days, ok?"

"Ok." She laughed nervously. "Don't go getting yourself killed or anything."

"You either." He told her before hanging up.

She put her phone down and sighed, staring at her computer. She was still on GCN's website and they had an article on there already about the Joker's escape. The thing that stuck out in her mind was the mention of a female doctor helping him escape.

She knew from experience that he could be extremely manipulative and probably used his tactics to convince the woman to help him escape. But was it also possible that he has already replaced her with someone else?

She laughed at the thought. Truthfully it didn't matter much to her. The addition of another female in the mix would definitely make her have to revise her plans, but if it were true, then it might work out for the best.

She felt bad for lying to Bruce on the phone. Contrary to what she told him, she wasn't going to stay in L.A. There was no way she was going to stay away from Gotham at a time like this. She had too many things to do and a score to settle with her 'dear, loving husband'.

She stared at the picture of the Joker, wishing things hadn't come to this. But she couldn't change what had happened and she knew now that she couldn't change him.