Title: Another Way To Die
Fandom: Post-Dark Knight
Rating: M
Genre: Drama/Angst
Disclaimer: Unfortunately I don't own any of the Batman characters. (Except for the ones I've created!)
A/N: Ok, so I basically suck at updating. I know. Things in my personal life came up and zapped all of the creativity out of me. Thankfully it is slowly coming back so I hope to finish this story within the next month or so. Hopefully there is still an audience out there for this story! Please review and let me know what you think!
Also, I am looking for a beta reader for another Batman story I am working on. It's different than this one. It's a Bruce/OC story. Let me know if you are interested in helping me with that story! :)
Chapter Eight
"So what are you trying to tell us?" Gordon asked Locke as he and Batman stood on the roof of the MCU building that night.
"Angela, Vincent's fiancée, has no memory of her life prior to ten months ago." Locke reported. "She told me about it today. Apparently he told her she was in a bad car crash in the Caribbean and when she woke up she had no memory of who she was."
"Interesting." Gordon mused. "I guess it partially explains why we can't find any information on her prior to ten months ago, but it also leads to more questions. Like, what happened to her before that and who was she?"
"My guess is that she isn't who Vincent told her she is." Locke told them. "She's not happy and doesn't trust Vincent. I think she might be willing to turn state's evidence against him if it's handled properly."
Gordon nodded. "That would be wonderful if we could get her on our side." He looked over at Batman, who had been silent throughout this conversation. "What are your thoughts on this?"
"I think it's an interesting development and we need to explore it some more." Bruce said, being brought out of his thoughts. He found it ironic that Vincent would have a fiancée that lost her memory around the same time as Lacy died. He also found it ironic that the woman's name was Angela, given the fact that was the name Lacy had used when she dealt with him previously. Factor in the complete lack of information they could dig up on Angela prior to ten months ago and it all started to form a complete picture.
But it wasn't possible. Was it?
Could Lacy have really been alive this whole time and just been brainwashed by Vincent to believe she was someone she wasn't? It seemed too weird but strangely it made sense.
This was something that he would have to investigate, and maybe it was time that Bruce Wayne met this Angela woman.
"I agree." Gordon nodded, turning back to Locke. "Continue to try and gain her trust. If an opening comes up where you feel comfortable, start laying the groundwork to get her to work with us."
"Yes boss." Locke nodded.
Angela tossed and turned in her sleep that night, having another vivid dream.
"Well hello, beautiful." The figure stepped a little farther from the shadow. "Good book?"
"Not really." She shook her head, turning it to look at him. "But I suppose you didn't really come here to talk about literature. Did you?"
"Eh, I thought about joining Oprah's book club, but then I just got so busy with things. And there never seems to be a good time to just sit and read anymore." He mocked her. "There's too much chaos to cause in this city, too many people to torture and kill."
"Why are you here?" She asked, setting her wine and book on the nearby end table.
"Just wanted to see how you are doing," he slowly licked his lips, "check in on things. It's been awhile."
"Not long enough." She muttered, getting up and walking over to where he was. The moonlight was illuminating the makeup on his face and she cursed the fact that he was wearing the makeup tonight. He was the reason why she hated red lipstick.
"Did ya miss me?" He whispered in her ear with a huge smile on his face.
She bowed her head, not wanting to admit to herself or to him that a small part of her had missed him. Well not the Joker himself, but the tiny part of the Joker that was still her Jack. It was too complicated for her to express verbally that she just ignored the question altogether.
He walked around her and plopped down in the chair, looking at her eagerly as he did so. With false enthusiasm, he asked, "so what have you been up to in my absence?"
She moved over to his chair, standing off to the side of it. "Just working, making an honest living, and obeying the law. But you wouldn't know anything about those things anymore." She replied, putting her hands on her hips. She knew it wasn't right to bait him, but she couldn't refuse.
"He he he ha ha ha ho ha ha." He laughed at her moxie. She was quite possibly the only person that could talk back to him without major repercussions. "That's right. Of course you are obeying the law, cause you're the good one. That's why we work out so well, my pet." He got up and put his arm around her waist, pulling her close to him.
With one quick move, he had a knife out and was lightly moving it across her neck, down to her collarbone. "I'm the bad one," he moved the knife up to her mouth, "and you're the good one."
"You never answered my question. Why are you here?" She asked, focusing on what was happening in the present.
"I'm here," he licked his lips, "because I heard you got a big promotion at work. I wanted to say congratulations."
"Thank you." She replied with a roll of her eyes, knowing that was not the reason he was in her apartment. "Now what's the real reason?"
"So smart, so very very smart." He smiled and paused. "You really are so smart. I love that about you." He took the knife away from her skin and placed it back into his breast pocket. Then he grabbed a hold of her hair and pulled her head back slightly. "I've also heard that you are going to a party with Bruce Wayne next week."
"It's not a date, if that's what you're wondering." Lacy told him, knowing that he thought it was. "I'm only going to make business contacts."
"That may be the truth, but the thing is, I can't allow you to go." He explained. "You see, you belong to me and I don't remember giving you permission to go."
"That's because I don't need your permission." She defiantly spat at him, breaking his hold on her and backing away a few feet. "I don't belong to you anymore, contrary to your warped beliefs. You gave up any claim you had on me and how I run my life when you started wearing makeup and calling yourself the Joker. The moment you started killing innocent people you lost all say on what I do or who I do it with."
"Watch it my pet," he warned, "I would watch what you say to me very carefully."
"Why?" She laughed. "Because you're the big bad Joker? Gotham's number one criminal mastermind? Everyone else in this town may be scared of you, Jack, but I'm not. You should know that by now." She taunted.
"Don't call me that!" He screamed at her. "That name holds no meaning to me anymore and if you're as smart as I think you are you will stop calling me that."
Sweat ran down her face as she sat straight up in her bed. She thought back to her latest dream. The funny thing was, she was starting to think they weren't just dreams. She couldn't understand why she would be dreaming about the Joker and Bruce Wayne. There was no reason for that, right? Maybe she was going crazy.
No. Her gut was telling her that these weren't just dreams. Maybe it was time she did some research of her own. Once her breathing calmed down, she laid back down to get some more sleep. This time she didn't have any dreams.
"Ok. Where to today?" Locke asked as they got into the car.
"I need to go to the library." Angela replied. "And I need you to keep this trip to the library just between us. Ok?"
"Sure." Locke replied, curious about why she was going to the library. He decided to gently probe her for her reason. "But you know if you wanted to read a book, you could just go to Barnes and Noble and buy it."
"I don't want a book though." Angela replied. "I want to look at the newspaper archives."
"Do you want any help?" He offered, wondering what she was looking for in the newspaper archives.
"No thanks." She shook her head. "I can do it myself."
"Ok." Locke nodded. "I can just wait in the front part of the library for you then."
"Thanks." Angela looked over and smiled at him.
An hour and a half later, Angela had compiled a massive list of articles to read through on the computer. Some were of the Joker and some were of Bruce Wayne. Then she also had a list of articles that mentioned both the Joker and Bruce Wayne. That was the one she chose to go through first because it was the smallest.
"Joker kills local businessman Benjamin Newman at Bruce Wayne Fundraiser."
There was something about this title that made her pause. Then a flash
"So you see, Mr. Newman, consultants like me aren't someone to be feared." She smiled. "We're harmless and do minimal damage."
Mr. Newman laughed, as did his entourage and Bruce. "Well you've certainly convinced me Miss Williams. Expect me to get in touch with you soon and we'll talk more about what you can do for my company."
"Thank you very much." Lacy smiled again, reaching into her purse and giving him her business card. "I look forward to hearing from you."
"If you'll excuse us for a moment." Bruce interjected, smiling and pulling Lacy off to the side.
"This party is wonderful." Lacy complimented Bruce as they made their way over to a corner by the window.
"It's ok." Bruce shrugged.
"You don't like fundraisers, do you?" She guessed. While they were talking with other guests, she noticed a slight look of discomfort on his face. To most people it would have been unnoticeable, but she had always been fairly good at reading people.
"Does it show?" He asked with a laugh.
"Just a little." She nodded. "Thank you for bringing me here though. I think I may have opened the door to landing some new jobs."
"Well the pleasure is all mine I assure you. It's nice to bring someone to this type of party who can actually talk to these people in an intelligent way."
She shook her head, as if to get rid of the thoughts and images. Was that a memory? Or was her imagination working overtime? If it was a memory, then why was she at a fundraiser with Bruce Wayne? What kind of consultant work did she do? And where does the Joker fit into all of this?
There were too many questions running through her head. She took a few deep breaths and then returned to the article she was reading.
"The Joker crashed billionaire Bruce Wayne's fundraiser last night for seemingly no reason other than create chaos. Within five minutes of arriving he shot and killed local businessman Benjamin Newman. Then he knocked out Bruce Wayne and engaged in a brief conversation with Wayne's date for the evening, consultant Lacy Williams. It's unclear what the two talked about."
Lacy Williams. That name sounded so familiar yet she couldn't place it. Was that the name she was using at the time? Was she with Bruce Wayne to try and kill him? None of this made any sense to her.
On a whim, she decided to do an internet search. She typed in 'Lacy Williams', 'Bruce Wayne', and 'Joker'. She took a deep breath, letting her finger hover over the 'enter' key. She wasn't sure she wanted to know what she would find. All she knew was that her list of questions was growing rapidly.
