The plot thickens...thank you as always to those who review. I must admit it makes me write faster! ;)


Chapter 9: We All Fall Down


There were certain sounds that Alfred could always count on when the elevator let him off at the mansions lowest level. The first was the soothing drip of water off the stalactites to the cavern floor, where they pooled and awaited even more liquid. The second was the call of the bats as they used echolocation to find one another in the vast darkness of the underground. The last sound was something rather uncommon to these caves, and that was the whirring sound of machinery.

The largest of the computer screens was exceptionally active at the moment, flicking through pictures that looked like microscope specimens, until a click of some unseen button brought the screen to rest on a particular greenish blue picture.

"Studying up on your High School Biology Master Bruce?"

Usually, Bruce Wayne sat in the darkness as himself, but tonight he sat in the darkness as Batman, and Alfred knew the Lobster Newburg on the tray would be cold and ruined within the hour.

"Tom Pleasance has put out a $50,000 reward for anyone with information that leads to Jervis Tetch's capture and his daughter's safe return."

Alfred nodded, pouring coffee in a cup he knew would never get touched. "I'd imagine that has everyone in the city doing foolish things."

Batman sat back in his chair, eyes narrowing at the screen before him. This case had become his white whale, and like Captain Ahab, he was beginning to experience the madness of the chase.

He moved the stack of yellow envelopes off his lap, tossing them carefully onto the first clean counter space he spotted. The smell of the Lobster Newburg, whose sauce was now chilling and separating in its decadent puff pastry bowl, only reminded him that food had not been a possibility at lunch and would not be possible for dinner. He knew Alfred meant well, and tried to serve him in the manner he had served his parents, but no one could swing from rooftops with that sort of brick in their stomach. The aroma of it, as usual, was intoxicating. Sometimes he wondered if giving up the pleasantries of life to be Batman was worth it, and then he thought of the fear in Alice Tetch's eyes and how close cutting out meals had brought him to the answer, and he knew it was.

"Commissioner Gordon has been sending over everything that people send to him. Unfortunately, a lot of it is purchased items from the costume shop on Derren Street. People keep sending in hats and bow ties, claiming they belong to The Mad Hatter."

"Have any of these daring citizens ever heard of DNA?"

"Apparently not..." Bruce Wayne tugged the cowl of his hood back, shocking Alfred as he picked the coffee cup off the tray. People made him angry when they treated the police as if they were idiots. No one in their right mind would ever fall for the story of an average citizen, managing to pick the hat off the head of a member of the rogue's gallery. People had no respect for the job or the lifestyle of those who kept them safe at night, and yet Bruce Wayne pitied their gullibility.

"The only sound piece of evidence anyone has turned in, came from a clerk at a grocery store two days ago. He said that he rung a guy up with Jervis' description, and when he exited the store, he closed his line to try and collect evidence. He sent the mud from the shoe he found to the crime lab and Gordon sent it to me. This is what I've come up with."

Once again Alfred's attention was directed to the large screen with the bluish green matter. "My own science education is rusty, but those look like plant cells."

Bruce Wayne hit another button, and a smaller screen in the right hand corner popped up with an image of a news article that dated back five years. "Scientists in Gotham were experimenting with using algae to break down Uranium in run off water from the nuclear plants."

"Really? How did that turn out?"

"The project was abandoned due to lack of funding, but no one told the algae that. It's apparently thrived in the toxic wastelands on the outskirts of Gotham."

"So now your best lead is finding someone who lives in a toxic dump?" Alfred raised a skeptic eye brow, trying to tidy up a stack of books that were precariously close to the edge of the desk.

"Yes, and thankfully I think I know just who to talk to."

With a few clicks of the keyboard, all other images blacked out, leaving only one, and that was the black and white image of Poison Ivy.


Jervis slept fitfully both nights after his encounter with Alice in the park. In his tormented dreams he could still feel her body so very close to his, and the soft sensation of her lips fluttering like butterflies over his own, melting his reason and driving him mad. Did any man love a woman as he loved his Alice? He thought not….

It had been like a bizarre dream, with all of Gotham dressed in the purity of white to mark this miracle.

Their lips met and he allowed his arms to circle her waste, spreading warmth between them.

If she wasn't right down the hall, he'd believe he dreamed the entire scenario, but it had happened….her actions…her words…

"Oh Jervis, do you smell that? Nothing smells quite like freshly fallen snow."

It tore at him…all of it….

"Alice…I love you…"

"I know Jervis…I know."

…and no matter how hard he tried, his mind kept playing the events over and over again. Especially cruel were the moments after their lips finally parted.

Jervis could finally feel her pulling from him a bit, and ever the gentlemen, he slackened his embrace until his arms finally fell away; useless at his side. The woman before him, eyes aglow, cheeks rosy, and lips swollen from their encounter, was like a deity, and his eyes silently worshiped her.

She looked embarrassed, casting her gaze away from him and over to the horizon of flocked trees just to the right of them. "Jervis that was…"

"A miracle…"

"What?" She raised a delicate brow, obviously not agreeing that the past few minutes could be lumped into such a ludicrous category.

Holding his hands to his heart, he danced in a circle, kicking up a fine mist of snow that the wind took and carried off like a ghost. "My patience has been rewarded with a miracle of miracles. How curious faith becomes when prayers are answered .How wondrous and glorious is fate and the path it has put me on! "

Alice could see the tears falling freely from his eyes as he rushed to her, kneeling before her like a knight returning to his princess. Unfortunately for Jervis, Alice could only see him as the fool. No matter how many times he gave her proof of the depth of his madness, it never ceased to shock and bewilder her.

"Jervis I…"

"You need not be embarrassed my love, as I am not the sort of man to lord such an event over you. Love could never judge you for the past, and love will not judge you for the present."

"But Jervis…"

"Oh pish posh, you needn't explain. This is the happiest of nights…the most glorious of moments…" He stood and pulled her into a spin, circling around one another at arm's length as if they were two children, merrily indulging in a game of 'ring around the rosie.'

"Jervis it was a mistake!"

Suddenly all motion stopped, and he stared at her incredulously as the snow fell around them. He looked wounded far beyond the measure of health as he staggered away from her, and his normally bronze kissed skin had taken on a deathly pallor. "Come again?"

"I got caught up in the moment Jervis and…I was acting foolish…impetuous… I wanted to correct it now before I gave you the wrong idea." She rubbed her arms, feeling the wind pick up.

"You…needed to correct…my happiness?"

Alice could feel nervous butterflies forming in the pit of her stomach. She was out alone in a secluded area, muffled by snow, with a madman with whom she had just foolishly played the coy maiden.

"That isn't what I meant…I didn't want to hurt you m…"

He put up a hand to silence her, and just when she thought she would surely be dead, he lowered his gaze, speaking in a barely audible decibel. "Come Alice; let us get out of the cold."

Jervis tossed and turned in his bed a bit more as hot shame washed over him. His words were so revealing and she cast him off without a thought. The very replay of the things he said made him want to sob with embarrassment. He could also remember the pitying looks of Pamela and Harley as they re-entered the underground. Once Alice's blindfold was off, she made a run for her room and locked herself in. It was starting to become such a habit with her; he barely remembered her ever walking to her room calmly at all.

The girls had tried to question him, but for once he allowed his pain and anger to lash out at the only people who cared for him. So, when Harley tried to hug him, he grabbed her by the collar, his face dangerously close to hers as he ground out in a low whisper, "leave…me…alone."

He had done everything he could for that girl to see how he loved her. He had taken care of her and provided for her when no one else in Gotham wanted her… but it was time to cut his losses. How he desperately wanted to kill her.

The first night after the incident, he had fantasized about barging into her room, and taking the kisses from her that he had so desperately craved whether she wanted to give them to him or not. Then he would drag her to her knees before him in fear, as he had once done before her in love. In his mind, he could see himself then closing his fingers tightly around her throat until the spark went out of her eyes…but a world without Alice Pleasance was the end to Wonderland.

His only option now was to force her to listen to what he had to say. He had done this to make her see that he never used her to become a super villain and that there was a reason behind the Mad Hatter, and by God, if he accomplished nothing else it would be that. After that, he would release her to the surface to go about her life as if they had never worked together. He would try and put the fact out of his mind that she would eventually find another to love and marry, and he would forever be alone. The thought made him cold and numb, but the memory of his outburst in the courtroom so long ago, kept him in check. Alice already thought he was a monster, no sense in proving her right.

Yes, after the talk, everything would be over.


"Ya mean ya kissed him, and then said ya didn't want to? No wander Jerrvy almost tore my head off!" Harley watched Alice incredulously, barely balancing her chair on two legs.

Pamela sat on Alice's bed, listening more intently to the two blonds than she let on.

"I didn't want to hurt him. This has been so stressful. Neither of you understand being held against your will and what it does to you…"

Harley snorted and Pamela's brain wandered to all those lonely nights in Arkham, listening to the screams of the inmates that lasted in to the wee hours of the morning. She thought of her narrow little window that barely let the sun in, and high stone walls that kept the fresh air out…but she knew at the moment this was a moot point.

"Awe Ally, I'm sorry ya ain't havin' such a good time here. I'd like ta stay around longer ta chat, but I'm sure my puddin' misses me!" Her smile broadened at the very thought of the strong white arms that would await her when she got back to the hideout, and the chair finally landed on all fours with a momentous thud. How horrible it must be for girls like Alice, who just can't seem to find happiness.

Every move Harley made, always seemed to have a gymnastic quality to it, and Pamela often caught herself admiring her friends control over her own body. She leapt out of the chair instead of standing, landing perfectly on her feet.

"Does that mean you think your 'puddin' may be out of Arkham?"

"He was in Arkham?"

Pamela could only shake her head at her friend's obliviousness. Naturally Harley thought she was in a loving relationship where if she needed to step out for a few days to help a friend, the Joker would naturally understand and give her the room to do so. It aggravated Pam to know that the truth of the matter was that the Joker had been taken to Arkham the night of the fashion show. Her best friend had unknowingly abandoned that psycho, and would surely come back to her next time sporting broken bones and lots of bruises.

Alice only nodded, never quite sure how to react to Harley's unstable nature. If she squinted, she could pretend that Pamela was quite sane, but Harley never hid her lunacy long enough for Alice to feel like she could talk to her, so when the bouncy blonde hugged her she stiffened. She also found that she had been holding her breath through Harley's goodbye to Pam, and never released it until the door to her bedroom clicked shut.

Pamela was always more seductive in her movements, and her body slinked from its sitting position to standing rather fluidly. Alice was hoping they would have a chance to talk, but the cold glint in Pamela's eyes told her otherwise. She tried not to take it personally, knowing that Pamela didn't like the Joker very much or Harley's association with him.

"Look, Alice, dear…I really am getting very sick of both you and Jervis. I tried to be kind and let this little fiasco play out in the bowels of my home, but I'm tired. I guess I've come to care for you as some sort of friend, but our little relationship is no longer working you see. The two of you are not making progress. Helping you is going to get Harley knocked around tonight, and if Jervis doesn't dispose of you soon, I will personally handle this situation as I see fit."

Pamela moved towards the door, refusing to look back at Alice, who sat wide eyed and hurt on the couch by the fire. "But, we had so many conversations…I thought you were on my side…how could you just turn on me?"

Pamela stopped at the door, staring straight forward. "Honey, what part of psychopath don't you understand?"

With that Alice found herself alone, more scared than she had been the first night of her arrival, and now she had even more confusing emotions to sort through.


"Puddin' I'm home!" Harley crept around the darkened hideout that was normally teaming with members of the Joker's gang. Tonight however, the entire place was as still as death.

"Puddin?"

It came out of nowhere…a sharp punch to her jaw that sent her sprawling on the floor. She tried to say something, but a swift kick to her stomach forced vomit up instead. Harley was ready to fight, until she recognized the pale gleam of snow white features, barely masked by the darkness. "P..puddin…."

The joker knelt by his sidekick, looking unconcerned at the blood seeping from her split lip, or the ragged breaths she took to keep from suffocating that only caused choked coughs. He grabbed her hair, forcing her eyes to meet his.

"You were a very naughty girl Harley. Do you know where I've just come from today?"

Harley knew better then to speak when he got like this, and could only slightly shake her head no, as the hold on her hair was too tight to allow movement.

"Arkham Harkey…I was in Arkham…listening to the jabs from everyone that the Bat managed to bring me in…but somehow you managed to escape. Do you know how it feels to have your superiority questioned?"

Once again Harley shook her head no. She managed a yelp as the Joker ripped her up by her hair, before throwing her into the card table near the center of the room."

"Of course you haven't! You've never had a superior moment in your life!"

"But muffin, I was sure…you were too smart to get captured by the Bat. I thought you was waitin' for me at home!" As Harley picked herself up off the ground, she knew she should have stayed down…as she noticed the murderous gleam in the Joker's eyes, she knew she should have kept her mouth shut.

"Are you saying that I didn't turn out to be smarter than the Bat?"

"No! Puddin' I was only sayin'…"

She yelped and ducked just in time, as a chair went sailing over her head and splintered in to the wall behind her. She would have been in hysterics at this point, if wasn't all a normal part of life with the Joker.

There was a beat, and when the Joker felt she had paid her dues, the heaviness in the air lifted and all was calm. "It's alright Harley, I forgive you."

Harley stood a little straighter, wiping the blood from her lips on hr sleeve. "Ya…ya do?"

"Yes of course I do. Come here baby!" The Joker opened his arms wide, and Harley squealed and flung herself into them obediently. It didn't matter that she might have a broken rib, because one smell of his cologne made the whole world go away.

He stroked the points of her costume in place of her hair, smiling as if nothing had happened at all. "In fact, I'm very happy with you. You're going to help daddy get something he wants."

"Oh?" She looked up at him, eyes full of adoration.

From within his striped purple jacket, he pulled a flyer that Harley took from his hands as he backed away from her. "What's this?"

"Our newest Joke Harley. I couldn't have written a better punch line myself!"

Her eyes scanned over the picture in front of her. She began wordlessly mouthing the paragraph before her, only allowing the final sentence to slip out into the air…"$50,000 will be rewarded to anyone with information leading to the capture of Jervis Tetch a.k.a The Mad Hatter and the safe return of Alice Pleasance!"

The Joker plopped down into his desk chair, allowing it to lazily turn.

"Puddin' I don't understand."

"I helped Jervis get Alice in the first place. I practically brought the girl to him on a silver platter. Now in an extraordinary stroke of irony, we're going to undo everything we've done!"

"But puddin' Alice is kinda scared of you…how are we supposed to get her ta come with us? I don't think Jervis is gonna let her go so easily."

"That's why we're not going to go in and take her Harley. You've been wasting time helping her so she trusts you. You're going to go in and lure her out quietly, right out from under their noses." The thought of embarrassing both Jervis and Pamela brought a malicious grin to the Joker's lips.

Harley smiled, bounding over to perch herself on the side of her beloved's desk like a cat. "She'll be happier back with her dad anyhow! Hey puddin' when we get the reward, does that mean I can buy some pretty dresses?"

"Harley if this works out to my satisfaction, you can have whatever you like."